Author: atharris

ISIL takes the Mosul Dam

by atharris, posted in ISIS, Middle East

Seemingly there is no end to the advancement of ISIL and their quest to take the Levant (The Levant today consists of the island of Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and part of southern Turkey). ISIL ha now taken the giant, hydroelectric Mosul Dam. If Baghdad falls, IS will control the whole country of Iraq.

The IS has captured the hydroelectric dam on the Tigris River, which provides northern Iraq with power and is the largest in the country. Its failure could send a 65-foot wave across large areas of Iraq including a flood one meter deep in Baghdad.


Also Thursday, Islamists overran 14 towns with Christian majorities in northern Iraq, putting tens of thousands to flight with an ultimatum: Convert to Islam or die. Church leaders have appealed for immediate help.

http://www.debka.com/newsupdatepopup/9365/

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/03/world/meast/iraq-crisis-isis/index.html

IS has captured 2 more Iraqi cities and thousands of children are stranded without food or water.

According to Lt. Col. Ralph Peters, terror group ISIS has occupied two Kurdish towns in northern Iraq, Zumar and Sinjar. Thousands are reported to have been forced to leave, Fox News reports.

A map shown on America’s Newsroom on Monday now shows 17 cities completely taken over by ISIS in Iraq, Jordan, and Syria.

Peters considers ISIS more than just a terror group now, becoming a more “well organized militia.” He also says that the Kurds are “the one people in the whole region we should be supporting”…..

http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/isis-spreading-captures-two-more-iraqi-cities

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/tens-thousands-iraqi-children-stranded-facing-death-after-isis

ISIL has now entered into Lebanon taking the city of Arsal and moving ever closer to Israel.

The radical Islamic terror organization, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), has gained a larger foothold in Lebanon as it faces off against the Lebanese army.

 

Hezbollah announced on Wednesday that for the moment, it has no plans to confront ISIS. Hezbollah leaders told the Lebanese Daily Star that it has only agreed to provide logistical support to the Lebanese army. However, should ISIS capture significant territory, Hezbollah leadership implied that it would enter the fray.

 

Since Monday, Lebanese forces and members of ISIS have been squaring off in northern Lebanon. According to reports, ISIS has captured the city of Arsal.

http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/19668/isis-captures-city-lebanon-threat-moves-closer-israel/#VVvQfFy4PXykxp2x.97

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/05/world/middleeast/isis-lebanon-syria.html?_r=0

Today IS took over the city of Qaraqoush in Iraq, the largest Christian city in that country.

Iraqi militants seized control Thursday of the country’s largest Christian city — reportedly telling its residents to leave, convert or die….

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/08/07/militant-takeover-iraqs-largest-christian-city-mountaintop-siege-fuel-calls-for/

In 2009 at Camp Bucca in Iraq, a US military detention camp, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi now leader of ISIL was released, but made a startling statement before he left.

The Islamist extremist some are now calling the most dangerous man in the world had a few parting words to his captors as he was released from the biggest U.S.  detention camp in Iraq in 2009.

 

“He said, ‘I’ll see you guys in New York,’” recalls Army Col. Kenneth King, then the commanding officer of Camp Bucca.

King didn’t take these words from Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as a threat. Al-Baghdadi knew that many of his captors were from New York, reservists with the 306 Military Police Battalion, a unit based on Long Island that includes numerous numerous members of the NYPD and the FDNY.

 

The camp itself was named after FDNY Fire Marshal Ronald Bucca, who was killed at the World Trade Center in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

 

King figured that al-Baghdadi was just saying that he had known all along that it was all essentially a joke, that he had only to wait and he would be freed to go back to what he had been doing.

 

“Like, ‘This is no big thing, I’ll see you on the block,’” King says.

King had not imagined that in less that five years he would be seeing news reports that al-Baghdadi was the leader of ISIS, the ultra-extremist army that was sweeping through Iraq toward Baghdad.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/14/isis-leader-see-you-in-new-york.html

ISIL has continued to make good on their promises. Next to Iran, they are the biggest threat to the Middle East and possibly the world today; acting on their threats. There are even reports that Iran (shia) is supporting ISIL (Sunni) and helped to develop them. ISIL is currently in other parts of the Middle East that has not yet made the headlines such as Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, and has allegiance from some African country terrorist groups such as Boko Haram. Will ISIL be the instigator of Psalms 83? A tumult is defined as “a loud, confused noise, especially one caused by a large mass of people” and “confusion or disorder”. Currently that is the case in the Middle East with all the various wars and confusion between the various Muslim groups as Sunni is now fighting Sunni and Shia supporting Sunni……

2 For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.

3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.

4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. Psalms 83

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9th of Av update

by atharris, posted in Israel, Middle East

A hoard of coins from the fourth year of the Jewish Revolt against Rome — minted months before the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE — was found outside the capital and announced by the Israel Antiquities Authority on Tuesday to coincide with the Ninth of Av, the date commemorating the destruction of the Second Temple.

The coins are all of identical size and age, and possibly from the same mint. Their value has yet to be determined, but they are likely quarter or one-eighth shekel bits, Betzer said. They are all marked with the words “For the redemption of Zion” and “Year four,” indicating they were made during the fourth year of the revolt against the Roman Empire, or between spring 69 and spring 70 CE.

http://www.kosherpress.com/trove-of-jewish-revolt-coins-discovered-near-jerusalem/

Libya Rising

by atharris, posted in Gog & Magog

The prophetic, big picture is no longer fuzzy anymore and each passing day adds a little more focus to the times we live in. The world has been living in the last days since they were mentioned by the early church fathers 2000 years ago, but this generation of today, is living in the final hours of the last days.

Libya spirals out of control as the violence of Islam continues to sweep the Middle East.

Continue reading “Libya Rising” →

ISIL Rampage

by atharris, posted in ISIS, Middle East

ISIL continues to tear across Syria and Iraq leaving a deadly trail of brutality reminiscent of the Holocaust and which the media largely chooses to ignore. These terrorist are of a different breed and intend on ruling the Islamic world; that is if they could.

ISIL has turned to internet media to spread their reign of terror and intimidation. What they are showing is brutality at its worse killing anyone, regardless of religion, that does not support their views.

The Sunni Muslim extremist group formerly known as ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) is using social media websites like Twitter and Facebook and video upload sites like YouTube and LiveLeak.com to strike fear across the Middle East as it wages its brutal campaign to create a caliphate that extends from northern Africa to Iraq.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/08/01/social-media-jihad-islamic-state-ramps-up-gruesome-internet-campaign/

It is quite possible that ISIL will be responsible for some major Biblical prophecy fulfillment. They currently control a large swath of land from Syria to Iraq extending over 300 miles.

Jordan has sent troops along its eastern border with Iraq in concern of a possible ISIL invasion after what they have done in Iraq. The Jordanian army probably would not be able to defend itself from a full assault by ISIL and would depend on US and Israeli forces to help.

The Burden of Damascus.

17 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

3 The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts. Isaiah 17:1-3

Not only Damascus, but the cities of Aroer are destroyed. Biblical, Aroer is roughly the territory of modern day Jordan. The events of today are moving at light speed. Will we see this prophecy unfold in the very near future?

Damascus

Below is a very interesting article from the Daily News out of Turkey on how Islam views Islam concerning ISIL. It is worth the time to read. Part is posted below.

The terror organization ISIL, or with its new name the Islamic State (IS), is it an “issue” reflecting social diseases? Or is it a “project” staged by imperialists to denigrate Islam?

Issue or project?

If we regard ISIL as an “issue,” then we will need to research with scientific methods to understand why these bigoted, savage movements emerge in Muslim societies from the Middle East to Afghanistan, to Pakistan.

If we regard ISIL as a “project” the thing to do is fight “imperialism.” In several Islamic websites and in some newspaper columns, while ISIL’s brutality is condemned, it is written that ISIL is a “project.”

“ISIL is a project developed and grown so ‘Islam and the IS are hated.’ Global powers are staging and supporting this so that Islam is seen as terror. It is serving their dirty ideals … The imperialists are using Muslims as tools to break up the Islamic geography.” (Faruk Köse, Yeni Akit, July 6, 2014)

 

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/what-is-isil-.aspx?PageID=238&NID=69800&NewsCatID=458

As bad as ISIL is, we already know they are defeated and we thank God for His prophetic, inerrant Word!

Isaiah 42:9

9 Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.

 

 

 

The World Polarizes

by atharris, posted in Israel

Tiny little Israel, roughly the size of the state of New Jersey and with a population of one half of 1 percent of the world’s 7 billion people, and yet it has caused a great divide and commotion among the peoples of the world in the midst of their conflict with Hamas.

Interestingly 2000 years ago, Israel was polarized against one man; Jesus. The Pharisees and Scribes of the day were against Jesus, even accusing Him of working for Satan and calling ‘good’ evil. In the end, most of Israel rejected Jesus and went on to see their destruction beginning in 70 AD.

As it was in the beginning with Adam and Eve, and as it was in the days Jesus walked the Earth, so it is today, a fight between good and evil, a fight for the Kingdom. Just as Israel ended in destruction during that time, the world today is facing the most destructive time in its history.

Perhaps you are reading this and looking for a way out of all the uncertainty, war, and the coming destruction? Perhaps you desperately need peace in your life? Jesus is the only way. Do you know Him?

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?

6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:3-6

 

 

Watching the events around the world today, a few verses come to mind.

13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Matthew 23:13

 

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12

 

20 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! Isaiah 5:20

 

3 And I will bless them that bless thee (Israel), and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. Genesis 12:3

 

16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. Revelation 17:16-18

 

7 In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. 8 He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. 9 They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.

10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. 11 Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him. Psalm 72:7-11

 

17 His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed. 18 Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. 19 And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen. Psalm 72:17

 

 

 

 

 

Declaring Israel a ‘terrorist state,’ Bolivia’s president ends free entry for Israeli visitors

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/07/30/declaring-israel-terrorist-state-bolivia-president-ends-free-entry-for-israeli/

Rising tide of anti-semitism in Britain as Jewish people face backlash over bloodshed in Gaza

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2707421/Rising-tide-anti-semitism-Britain-Jewish-people-face-backlash-bloodshed-Gaza.html#ixzz393io2QAn

Facebook says page calling for death to Jews doesn’t violate ‘community standards’

http://washingtonexaminer.com/article/2551348

Anti-Jewish slogans return to the streets in Germany as Mideast protests sweep Europe

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the-israeli-palestinian-conflict-spills-into-europe-with-protests-anti-jewish-slogans/2014/07/30/36ca8d41-b5a4-4790-9b53-c94e75da4ba6_story.html

On Monday morning, an Orthodox synagogue in North Miami Beach, Fla., Congregation Torah V’Emunah, found a swastika and the word Hamas scrawled on the outside of the building. A day earlier, cars owned by a Jewish family in Miami Beach were egged, smeared with cream cheese, and defaced with graffiti reading “Jew” and “Hamas.”

 

In Malibu, Calif., graffiti reading “Jews=Killers” and “Jews are Killing Innocent Children” appeared near the entrance to a Jewish summer camp. Pro-Palestinian graffiti was sprayed on a Chabad center in Las Vegas and on an Orthodox synagogue in Lowell, Mass.

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/1.608088

A very good article:

As Operation Protective Edge continues into its fourth week, US Jewish leaders describe in excited terms an almost unprecedented atmosphere of unity among American Jews.

………

However, there is another narrative being voiced as well.

A recent Pew poll highlights an age group that is less than “supportive.” Instead of standing with Israel, the poll finds that a third of all young Americans aged 18-29 (Jews and non) in fact blame Israel for the Gaza conflict.

……….

In a comment on a Times of Israel news article about the poll he writes: “In the US, according to recent surveys, it is largely the younger generation (18-29), the self-proclaimed liberals that chastise Israel the most, yet this is the same generation that cannot point to Israel, Iraq, or Afghanistan on a map (there are many surveys to back that up, too). Empty, misguided conviction in other words.

 

 

 

The 9th of Av

by atharris, posted in Israel

The infamous 9th of Av will fall on August 4-5, a week from today.  Menachem Av is the 5th month on the Jewish calendar. Why is this significant?

  • After Moses sent 12 spies into the land of Canaan, the spies return on the eighth day of Av and report that the land is unconquerable. That night, the 9th of Av, the people cry. They did not believe that God could help them, and the people as a whole were persuaded that it was not possible to take the land. As a result, the entire nation was made to wander in the desert for 40 years Numbers 13, 14.
  • The First Temple was destroyed on the 9th of Av (423 BCE).
  • The second Temple was destroyed on the 9th of Av (68 CE).
  • Betar, the last stronghold in the heroic Bar Kochba rebellion, fell to the Romans on the 9th of Av of the year 3893 (133 CE) after a three-year siege. 580,000 Jews died by starvation or the sword, including Bar Kochba, the leader of the rebellion.
  • The Jews of England were expelled by King Edward I on the 9th of Av in 1290.
  • The Jews of Spain were expelled by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella on the 9th of Av of 1492, terminating many centuries of flourishing Jewish life in that country.
  • World War II and the Holocaust, historians conclude, was actually the long drawn-out conclusion of World War I that began in 1914. Germany declared war on Russia, effectively catapulting the First World War into motion, on the 9th of Av.

Clearly the 9th of Av historically has been a day of judgment against Israel. Will something of significance happen this year? Israel does not currently have a temple but there is some new significant movement in this area with the recent statement of finding a perfect Red Heifer and now a campaign to complete architectural plans for the Temple.

The Temple Institute launches an Indiegogo campaign to build the Third Temple, under the title: ‘Don’t make history, make the future.’

“Now is time for one of its most ambitious projects yet: completing architectural plans for the actual construction……

“It is not enough to wait and pray for the Third Temple,” it concludes. “It is a Biblical obligation to build it.”

The Temple Institute’s campaign will run for sixty days, ending on September 25 – during the Jewish New Year, or Rosh Hashana.

The campaign aims to raise $100,000 toward a building fund for the Third Temple, as part of its wider campaigns to train kohen-priests for Temple duties and rebuild the instruments in the priestly services.

https://www.templeinstitute.org/archive/28-07-14a.htm

Building the temple, says the Indiegogo campaign statement, would “usher in a new era of universal harmony and peace,” as prophesied in the Bible.

As Christians know and understand, the building of the third temple will usher in the 7 year Tribulation.

15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)……….

21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. Mattthew 24:15-21

Temple-Mount-map-4.jpg__600x0_q85_upscale

 

 

 

 

 

Turning Point?

by atharris, posted in Israel/Hamas conflict, Middle East

Gaza’s sole power plant said down after Israeli attack

The only power plant supplying electricity to the Gaza Strip was knocked out of commission by Israeli shelling, the deputy director of the energy authority in the Palestinian territory said Tuesday.

 
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