Eric Casagrande (23 Nov 2007)
"Isaiah 5: 20-23"
Hi John & All:
With the upcoming Annapolis-Covenant-With-Hell Conference, I found myself reading a very incredible news story this evening (Thursday). It's a story which fully epitomizes the dark moments in which the world has entered. For not only has the line been drawn in the sand, it has now irrevocably been crossed.
A few weeks ago I was praying late at night, when suddenly a knowing came up in my spirit. On the Jewish calendar, the current year of 5768 is known as a shemittah - that is to say, a sabbath rest year (Leviticus 25: 1 - 4). I realized this when a fellow collector in the Society of Israel Philatelists, wrote an article relating to the four-stamp Shemittah set, recently issued by Israel Post.
But as I was praying, a knowing crept up inside my spirit, in which 2007 is the year of judgment. It's something that I never realilzed previously. Looking back we crossed over a line on May 16th, 2007, the 40th anniversary date marking the recapture of the City of Jerusalem, on the Jewish calendar.
After that date, everything suddenly changed.
On June 14th, 2007, the Palestinian political machine imploded, when Hamas staged a military coup and asserted control over the Gaza strip. This brought about a rife division within palestinian society, effectively crippling Mahmoud Abbas in his conquest for a second State within Israel. But just when it looked as though the Israeli people had finally managed to free themselves from the horrors of Oslo -- the unthinkable happened, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert grabbed the shock paddles, resuscitating the palestinian political corpse.
Just one month later, on July 16, 2007, President George W. Bush announces to a worldwide television audience, his plans to bring together an international peace conference by no later than the fall of 2007, in order to deliver peace in the Middle East, as well as to carve out a Palestinian State from within Israel.
In a massive collapse within the United States banking industry, hundreds of billions of dollars are lost when the faulty sub-prime mortgage market quickly plunges off a cliff, sending shockwaves around the world. The Central Banks of both the United States and Great Britain must infuse unheralded amounts of cash into the system, in order to stave off high-level bank failures.
The United States dollar, long regarded king-of-the-world, finds itself crushed by very disturbing economic reports, and the rising price of oil. Unable to prop itself up any longer, it goes into free-fall against nearly every major currency in the world, including those of some third-world countries.
On October 3rd, 2007, President Bush vetoed a $35 billion child healthcare bill that would have been payable over 5 years. Then on October 21st, 2007, Bush asked Congress for an additional $46 billion to continue the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, bringing the cost to nearly half-a-trillion dollars, all of which has been funded by the U.S. taxpayer, despite initial promises from Bush that it would entirely be paid for by Iraqi oil money.
In early October, Richard Roberts, President of Oral Roberts University, was facing a rather lurid lawsuit, alledging corruption among other things, and is now facing investigation by the Internal Revenue Service. Then during the first week of November, the Senate Finance Committe announced the beginnings of their investigation into six of the largest Christian televangelists in the U.S., based on possible financial misapporpriation.
Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice announces that Israel will have to make some hard choices for peace. Word eventually leaks out this will involve Israel surrendering both the Temple Mount and half of Jerusalem. In a speech to the United Jewish Communities General Assembly, held in Nashville, Tennessee, on November 13th, 2007, Rice further states that these hard choices will also mean giving up all claims to the West Bank.
During her seven-trip tour of the Middle East, in an interview that looked like something out of the Left-Behind series, Condoleezza Rice announces that she knows all of the Bible and believes in Jesus. It's not the first time we've heard such a flawed claim. President Bush also spoke similar words prior to the events of 9-11. Unfortunately in both cases, their defiance of the Word of the Living God concerning the land of Israel, reveals the truth in this matter.
Finally, on November 20th, 2007, the United States Government confirms that the Annapolis Peace Conference will run for three days from November 26th through November 28th. As it turns out, the start date is the 60th Anniversary to the very day on the Jewish calendar (Kislev 16), on which the U.N. passed Resolution 181, allowing for the creation of the State of Israel.
So we have the President and the Secretary of State both claiming to know the Bible and Jesus Christ. Yet both are in clear violation of His Word, and I do not accept the premise that two such highly intelligent people, in areas of high power, would be so incredibly ignorant of Bible prophecy, or misled by those around them. I would find it much easier to believe they are acting on the deceitful side, saying whatever they have to in order to influence others. This is particularly true of President Bush, whose religious beliefs seem to have become ill-defined in terms of true Christianity, and more Universalist.
In other words, they claim evil is good, and good is evil --
"Woe unto them that call evil good, and
good evil; that put darkness for light,
and light for darkness; that put bitter
for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Woe unto them that are wise in their own
eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
Woe unto them that are mighty to drink
wine, and men of strength to mingle
strong drink:
Which justifieth the wicked for reward,
and take away the righteousness of
the righteous from him!"
- Isaiah 5: 20-23
Which brings me to the news article that I first mentioned. It was written in the Jerusalem Post, by Knesset Member, Benny Elon. The article sounded very promising in the title (for those who are against dividing up Israel), where it states: "This Thanksgiving, Olmert is the Turkey."
While the writer castigates Olmert and past Prime Ministers who divided up the land of Israel, refering to it as the "Oslo Nightmare", he very curiously says President Bush is completely innocent of any wrongdoing in this area, despite the fact that Bush himself created the Roadmap to Peace, that now has Israel on the verge of giving up the entire West Bank, the Temple Mount, as well as half of Jerusalem! Sure .... nothing unbiblical about those ideas.
It's just another obvious example of someone who believes good to be evil, and evil to be good. Someone else trying to falsely blend in amongst those who are truly committed to the Bible. While their actions are very obvious to strong Christians, nevertheless, they may not be so obvious to those who are weaker in the faith. People who might be easily deceived.
All these incredible events took place after the 40th anniversary of the Jewish people's recapture of Jerusalem.
Things are going to get a lot more worse as we approach the nearness of the rapture, and the beginning of Daniel's 70th week. Wicked (under the guise of Christianity and otherwise) will become more and more wicked -- while those who are truly committed to our Lord Jesus Christ will stand out from the world more and more.
See ya in the air,
Eric