Tag: annex

2017 – A Significant Year for Bible Prophecy

On By AdminIn Israel, Messiah, West Bank3 Comments

As we farewell what has been truly eventful year, I cannot but think that this year was just a precursor to even greater things next year.

For those who know and love the word of prophecy, 2016 was truly annus mirabilis. Having grown up in these amazing times it gives me great encouragement to hear brethren and sisters who have lived many years longer  and have greater hindsight, who are no less awed by the extraordinary nature of current events in the last few years.

However unprecedented these events have been, next year is already looking to be very significant on a number of accounts:

2017 –  a Year of Milestones in Israel

2017 will see three exciting anniversaries that all relate to Israels revival;

  • 50 years since Israel captured Jerusalem (and a Biblical jubilee)
  • 70 years since the UN resolution on the adoption of an independent Jewish state.
  • 100 years since the Arthur Balfour declaration in favour of an independent Jewish state.

God often worked with Israel in Jubilee periods. What will next years Jubilee bring for Israel?

Will Israel Annex the West Bank in 2017?

The annexation of the West Bank has been thrown into the limelight for the very reason that it recently became a real possibility.

The prophets talk extensively about Israel inhabiting the West Bank (“The mountains of Israel”) around the time of the second advent. Ezekiel 38 gives us an indication that Israel will be inhabiting this region at the time when Russia invades.

2017 will be the first year to see both unprecedented momentum within the Israeli government to annex the West Bank and significantly less international power constraining Israel from doing so.

Today, Israel’s government is more supportive of West Bank annexation than what any Israeli government has been in the past, and while every previous US administration have done their level best to stop Israel building settlements and claiming sovereignty over the West Bank, President elect Trump and his Israeli ambassador are about to free the shackles constraining Israel from doing so.

A guest author recently wrote an article on this blog entitled; “Will Israel Annex the West Bank“? Its worth reading in light of recent news.

Yesterday, US Secretary of State John Kerry held a press conference where he made his frustrations clear and for the first time, suggested that Israel is close to annexation.

If it happened in 2017 it would certainly be another incredible milestone and a witness to the fact that the Messiah’s return is very close.

Will 2017 bring Transformation in Europe?

An era of global stability is coming to an end; anti-establishment nationalism is fermenting in most countries, and thrusting this unwitting world into uncharted and volatile waters. Don’t let this be a distraction; beneath the bubbling surface is a number of key projects that the Angels are working on in preparation for the return of Christ.

One of these changes which is yet to take place is the transformation of Europe into the ten nations and leaders (Daniel 2, Revelation 17) who complete Nebuchadnezzar’s image.

Next year will see substantial change in the geopolitical sphere with elections due in many countries, and with that, many new political parties, party policies and foreign policies will be up for grabs. Nowhere will a transformation be more likely, and more pronounced than in Europe, which is facing a tidal wave of far right, pro-Russian, anti-EU elections. Such change in Europe would be more profound than the Brexit and is likely bring about the circumstances for the image of Daniel 2, where the image stand’s in preparation to oppose Christ.

Further Reading

Will Israel Annex the West Bank?

On By Geoff HenstockIn Israel, West BankLeave a comment

Israeli Education Minister, Naftali Bennett, a leader of the Jewish Home Party, recently called on the Israeli government immediately to annex Judea and Samaria, which abut Jerusalem. This area, usually referred to as “the West Bank”, was captured from Jordan during the Six Day War in 1967. In Ezekiel 38:8 the area is referred to as “the mountains of Israel”.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett calls for Israel to extend sovereignty over Judea and Samaria

Approximately 450,000 Israeli citizens live in the area. Most of them are Jewish, while some are Arab citizens of Israel. At present, they live under the laws of the Palestinian Authority and the land they occupy is regarded by most nations as belonging to the Palestinians.

Mr Bennett’s extremely hawkish and provocative suggestion came in the wake of a recent UNESCO statement which denies any Jewish link to the Temple Mount. The Education Minister claimed that the UNESCO statement reflected “the failure of Israel to clearly express Jewish rights to the historic Land of Israel”. He went on to say, “That’s what happens when we don’t treat our own land as ours. The UNESCO resolution is an attempt to deny history. But you know what? You cannot change history. Israel is ours for well over 3,000 years. It will be ours –Jerusalem is ours – but it’s time to apply Israeli law to Judea and Samaria”.

In accordance with the confidence of the Israelis that is suggested in the language of Ezekiel 38, Mr Bennett dismissed concerns about the international opposition such a move would trigger with the words, “Don’t fret global opposition; annex Judea and Samaria now!” This bold position may have been strengthened by comments from Donald Trump’s camp in the United States Presidential election campaign. In June, David Friedman, Mr Trump’s co-adviser on Israeli affairs, said that Mr Trump does not believe Palestinian state. He went on to say that, if elected president, Mr Trump would support Israel’s annexation parts of the West Bank.

The Minister cited earlier precedents for such annexation, noting that, “Menachem Begin in 1981 did the same thing for the Golan Heights. [Prime Minister] Eshkol in ’67 did the same thing in Jerusalem. And there was always a world [that opposed it]. But there was the will power and the courage to do it – and we need to do what’s right for Israelis, for the Jews, and that’s the right thing.”

While not calling for wholesale annexation of Judea and Samaria, other Israeli officials have also spoken recently about increasing Israeli sovereignty over parts of the West Bank. Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked is establishing a committee to organize the legal status of land settled by Israelis in the West Bank. This is intended to resolve the concerns of residents of West Bank settlements that their land may be taken from them.

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely, a hard-line member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, in late October publicly promoted the concept of annexing a significant area in the West Bank. She said that, “The answer to the international struggle over Jerusalem is applying sovereignty over Ma’ale Adumim, which will guarantee Jerusalem will always remain united and develop”. Welfare Minister Haim Katz, also from the Likud party Ms Hotovely’s call for annexation.

Given the reluctance of successive Israeli Governments since 1967 to annex this territory it is unlikely that Israel would move to incorporate Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) into Israel. If it did so, it would need to manage the demographic challenge of several million Arabs who currently live there. Of course, circumstances can change very suddenly, especially in the volatile political climate of the Middle East, and the fact that there are senior Government Ministers willing to advocate for annexation confirms that it remains a possibility.

Whatever the legal status of Judea and Samaria might be in the future, what is certain from Ezekiel 38:8 is that this area will be the focus of the Gogian invasion. It could be that any Israeli move to seize even part of the West Bank could be a trigger that Gog might use to justify his thrust into the Holy Land.