ProphZine #43 June 15,1997 This newsletter is available in HTML format on the PropheZine website at http://www.prophezine.com/search/database/is43.0.html Kim Koster.....................Welcome iNEWS DIGEST..............Intermind comes to PropheZine Pastor Geoffrey Kragen....PROPHECY....or something else to argue about? Grant R Jeffrey................The Hebrew Codes John Ankerburg...............Where is the Ark of the Covenant Kim Koster......................The Rising Power that is Being Ignored Jim Bramlett....................God's Judgment on America Lori Fiechter.....................A Prayer for the Lost PropheZine Newbytes PRN Newswire....Dept. of Treasury Announces First Union Smartcard Jacki Juntti.........Soups NOT on !!!!! SNS News Service...U.S. Votes Jerusalem as Isreal's Capitol. Lee Underwood...............F.Y.I. - Israel in the News ***************************************** Welcome to PropheZine # 43. I would like to encourage everyone to check the PropheZine website if you have not be there for a while. The Discussion Board is up and running with quite a few interesting subjects under discussion, including discussion on the Torah codes that Grant Jeffrey treats in his in-depth article "The Hebrew Codes." PropheZine also has a new Torah codes archive; check it out at www.prophezine.com. I would like to take a moment to state that articles run in the PZ newsletter are not necessarily the views of PZ or staff. I think it is our responsibility to present different views from time to time so that we may all be well informed of what is being taught and discussed in the world and go to God's Word and see what he says on the subject. I am always on the lookout for interesting articles for future issues from any of you budding authors(I won't turn down any articles from you well known authors either ;-) My e-mail address is KKOSTER@datawise.net or send them to Ray at ray673@best.com. *********************************** PROPHEZINE using INTERMIND for iNews Digest Department Using Intermind Communicator(TM), PropheZine provides new information in a timely manner, and it does so without requiring the user to plow through an elaborate search process. In addition, there is easy access past news. Intermind Communicator(TM) is a program used on your own computer. When you have Intermind Communicator running on your computer, it will automatically poll the servers to see if new updates are available. If so, the new information will be "pushed" right to your browser and you'll be notified. There are over 200 publishers from which you can chose information about everything from Apples to Zenophobia! This way, you have the advantage of receiving timely new information without having to scour the contents of a number of websites. You can also "filter" the information based on "topics," which categorize the information. If certain topics are of no interest to you, then you need not be inconvenienced by their appearance in the update. Download Intermind communicator and subscribe right now-it's free! http://www.prophezine.com/inews/pzim.html ******************** (Editor's note: The next article was first published in PropheZine newsletter #1. I thought it would be interesting to run it again.) Prophecy OR....Here's Something Else to Fight About By: Pastor Geoffrey Kragen This is a online magazine about prophecy. We hope that it will be helpful in your study of God's Word. But anytime we discuss prophecy it is like trying to cross a minefield without a map. Of any study in scripture, prophecy can generate more controversy among believers than any other topic. Therefore, let's start this discussion by defining the word prophecy: "1.a. An inspired utterance of a prophet, viewed as a revelation of divine will. b. A prediction of the future, made under divine inspiration. c. Such an inspired message or prediction transmitted orally or in writing." (1) As you can see, prophecy is not limited to that which foretells the future. It also includes all inspired revelation given by God to the prophet. The prophet tells forth God's words. And, these messages may include foretelling, as well as forth telling. Generally, when Christians talk about studying prophecy, they mean the study of eschatology. And that is defined as: "The doctrine of the last things. Included are two distinct but inseparable questions: the destiny of the individual -- life, death, immortality, the intermediate state, and resurrection; and the destiny of history -- the Day of the Lord, the end of the world, judgment, and the kingdom of God in the new world." (2) Frequently, when Christians talk about studying eschatology, the concern is about future events. This is what leads to the battles. Often, we forget that the real issue when considering future events isn't the events themselves. What is vital is remembering that God is in control. He will restore His creation. He will bring an end to unrighteousness and suffering. I have been teaching the book of Revelation to an adult Sunday School class. It is difficult to do so without getting into the different prophetic systems. I have reviewed them all, pointing out which approach is most consistent with a proper handling of scripture. The primary message of Revelation is not about future events, it is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Without the book of Revelation, we have an incomplete picture of the work of our Lord. The Gospels only present His First Coming. His provision of the payment for sin is recorded there. This provision allows for peace between the Creator and humanity. And while Christ does refer to the coming kingdom, His role as the coming judge is not the primary focus. In the book of Revelation, Christ's Second Coming is depicted in detail. And with this coming, He will bring judgment on all who reject His shed blood as the only payment for sin. Without Revelation, we do not see that the righteous God must judge and send into eternal darkness all who reject Him. "The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done,. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20: 13-15). I mention Revelation specifically because the problems with studying this book are typical of the study of prophecy in general. We spend so much energy examining every little detail and nuance through the microscope of our prophetic system that we lose sight of the big picture. And no matter how convinced we are that our system is correct, we may be wrong. Assume for a moment that we live in the pre-incarnation period. We are committed to understanding God's Word. In studying the prophets, we may well come to the conclusion there will be two Messiahs. One will be the suffering Messiah. The other will be the ruling Messiah. This conclusion is wrong. This same problem arises when we are dogmatic about our understanding of future events. We will only have a complete understanding of God's program after the fact, not before. However, this doesn't mean we shouldn't study prophecy. Our prophetic system shouldn't be a test of our orthodoxy. Methods of interpretation should be of greater concern. How we view scripture affects our understanding of the Church and Israel, and therefore our comprehension of God's character and nature. Any system of interpretation that denies the distinctions between God's program with Israel and His program with the Church has an extremely detrimental effect on a complete understanding of scripture and future events. Nevertheless, eschatology is important. The study of prophecy is a study of major sections of scripture. Therefore, it must be undertaken. After all, we are told to study all scripture. "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17). John F. Walvoord states: "The importance of prophecy should be evident, even superficially, in examining the Christian faith, for about one fourth of the Bible was prophecy when it was written. It is evident that God intended to draw aside the veil of the future and to give some indication of what His plans and purposes were for the human race and for the universe as a whole." (3) The problem isn't studying future events, but getting obsessed by them. We can be so caught up trying to figure out what is coming that we lose sight of the fact that we are to continue working right up to the time Christ comes for us. Jesus put it this way: "Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns" (Matthew 24:45-46). An obsession with future events can undermine our ministry and Christian credibility. Some time ago, a group of people sold everything they had, went and sat on a mountain, and waited for the Rapture. And so now they have nothing, and their government is hostile about efforts to spread the Gospel. One ministry has had struggles with expansion, because of the founder's view of prophecy. He believes that since Christ is returning immediately, there is no point in expanding. In another case, an evangelist, who has had a successful ministry to a specific minority group, now spends more time pushing his prophetic theory than reaching out with the message of salvation. God will work out future events as He sees fit. Our understanding of these events has no effect on how they will occur. Although it is acceptable to disagree in the specific eschatological approach we take, we must never let this get in the way of unity on the fundamental truths of the Bible. No one is saved by their understanding of prophetic systems but only by the shed blood of Christ. The study of prophecy is vital. The war over systems is destructive. As we study prophecy we must never forget the words of Paul: "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit -- just as you were called to one hope when you were called -- one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all" (Ephesians 4:3-6). 1. AMERICAN HERITAGE ELECTRONIC DICTIONARY, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992. 2. THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPEDIA, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, MI, 1982. 3. Walvoord, John F., THE PROPHECY KNOWLEDGE HANDBOOK, Victor Books, Wheaton, IL, 1990, p. 10. Statement of Faith I believe in the Verbal Plenary Inspiration, by GOD, of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, that they are completely inerrant in the original autograph, and the only infallible authority in faith and life. I believe in one GOD, existing in three co-equal persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I believe that Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, and is both fully GOD and fully man. I believe that the indwelling Holy Spirit is GOD at work in the believer, to reveal and glorify Jesus Christ. I believe that GOD is the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe; that man was created in the image of GOD, that he sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also spiritual death (which is separation from GOD); that all human beings are born with a sinful nature and are subject to the power of the world, the flesh and the Devil. I believe that Jesus Christ voluntarily died for our sins as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice and that all who believe in Him are justified (saved from the penalty of sin and declared righteous) by grace on the basis of His shed blood and resurrection. I believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead in His resurrection body, ascended into Heaven, and presently lives there for us as High Priest and Advocate. I believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, the eternal blessedness of the saved, and the everlasting conscious punishment of the unsaved along with Satan and the other fallen angels. I believe that all who receive by faith the Lord Jesus Christ are born again of the Holy Spirit and thereby become children of GOD and members of the body of Christ. I believe that the Christian life is not a reformation (self-improvement), but a transformation, in which Christ lives through the believer's whole being. Such a life will be pre-eminently characterized by the fruit of the Holy Spirit. ******************************** The Mysterious Hebrew Codes by Grant R. Jeffrey (from his book "The Signature of God") "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter." Proverbs 25:2 Recently, researchers in Israel discovered a staggering phenomenon of hidden codes beneath the Hebrew text of the Old Testament that reveal an astonishing knowledge of future events and personalities that cannot be explained unless God inspired the writers to record His precise words. The material is possibly the most important evidence I will present in the book that will prove to any unprejudiced observer that the Scriptures are truly inspired by God. Rabbi Michael Dov Weissmandl, a brilliant Czechoslovakian Jewish scholar in astronomy, mathematics, and Judaic studies, found an obscure reference in a book by a fourteenth-century rabbi known as Rabbeynu Bachayah that described a pattern of letters encoded within the Torah. This discovery during the years before World War I inspired Rabbi Weissmandl to begin exploring for other examples of codes hidden within the Torah. During the war years he found that he could locate certain meaningful words or phrases, such as hammer and anvil, if he examined the letters at sequences that were equally spaced in the Hebrew text. In other words, if he found the first letter of a significant word such as Torah, and then, by skipping forward seven letters he found the second letter of the word Torah, he continued to skip forward the same number of letters to see whether or not the complete word Torah was spelled out in the text at equally spaced intervals. Rabbi Weissmandl described this phenomenon as "equidistant letter sequences" (ELS). The rabbi was astonished to find that an incredible number of significant words were hidden in code within the text of the Torah at equally spaced intervals. These spaced intervals between significant letters varied from every five letters, every seven letters, and numerous other intervals. However, once they found a particular word spelled out at, say every 22nd letter, the balance of the letters from the words in this group were also spaced at a 22-letter interval. Initially, Rabbi Weissmandl could not be certain if this phenomenon was truly significant or whether it was simply due to the great number of possible combinations of words and phrases that could occur by chance arrangement by skipping forward various intervals of letters in the Hebrew text. The proof that this phenomenon was evidence of a supernatural intelligence and design was confirmed almost forty years later in Israel. The invention of sophisticated computers and statistical analysis finally enabled us to analyze the text of the Bible to prove that these codes could not have been produced by random chance. Although Rabbi Weissmandl found many coded names by simply manually counting the letters in the text, he did not record his discoveries in writing. Fortunately, some of his students did record several examples of his code discoveries. Over the following decades, students in Israel who had heard about his research began searching the Torah for themselves to ascertain whether or not such codes actually existed. Their discoveries ultimately resulted in the research studies at Hebrew University that have proven the validity of this research. The introduction of sophisticated high-speed computers allowed Jewish scholars at Hebrew University to explore the text of the Torah in ways that previous generations could only dream about. Equidistant Letter Sequences A group of dedicated Jewish scholars in Israel, following up on Rabbi Weissmandl's research, found many additional hidden codes embedded within the text of the Torah. A paper called "Equidistant Letter Sequences in the Book of Genesis" was published in 1988 in the scholarly Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. This academic magazine is one of the most prominent mathematical and scientific journals in the world. The study was completed by Doron Witztum, Yoav Rosenberg, and Eliyahu Rips at Hebrew University and the Jerusalem College of Technology. This study has been republished in several other respected scholarly journals recently, including Bible Review, October 1995, and on the Internet. Their discoveries of complex Hebrew codes that reveal supernatural and prophetic knowledge about the future is causing tremendous consternation in the academic community because it challenges the long-held beliefs of liberal scholars who generally reject verbal inspiration of the Bible. This scientific discovery is earth-shaking in its consequences because it reveals a staggering level of mathematical design and intelligence which could only have been produced by a supernatural mind, providing unshakable mathematical proof that the Bible was truly inspired by God. The incredible data demolishes forever the false claim by liberal scholars and skeptics that the Bible was written and edited by uninspired men and that it is full of errors and contradictions. Despite the fact that numerous scholars and scientists have attempted to challenge the validity of this Torah research, the evidence has not been refuted. Every Jot and Tittle Jesus Christ, Himself, affirmed that the actual letters composing the Scriptures were directly inspired by God and were preserved in their precise order throughout eternity. "For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled" (Matthew 5:18). The English word jot is our translation of the Greek word iota, the Greek letter i. This iota is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew letter yod, which is the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet. The word tittle is the Greek work keraia, derived from the smallest Hebrew grammatical symbol. Jesus Christ stated that even the smallest of the letters and grammatical marks in the original text of the Bible were directly inspired by God. This intriguing statement by Jesus about the Scriptures has been confirmed two thousand years later by means of an intricate analysis of the Hebrew text of the Bible by mathematicians and computer scientists in Israel. To their total surprise, these researchers discovered that every single letter of the Torah fits into a complicated tapestry of staggering mathematical precision. In this regard we should remember the provocative words found in Proverbs 25:2, "It is the glory of God to conceal matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter." This phenomenon of Hebrew codes was placed beneath the text of the Bible thousands of years ago. However, it has been hidden successfully by God until our generation. Many of these codes could not have been discovered by manual examination of the text. The invention of high-speed computers, developed in the last twenty years, enabled the researchers to examine every possible combination occurring in any of hundreds of possible intervals (from every second letter to every 500th letter, for example) throughout the millions of Hebrew letters in the Old Testament. However, once detected by the computer program, anyone can personally verify the existence of the code by manually counting out the letters to see that a particular name is spelled out by skipping the appropriate number of letters. The Process of Analyzing the Torah Using the ancient Hebrew textus receptus (the Masoretic text) of the Torah, the scientists began by eliminating the spaces between the Hebrew letters, words, and sentences throughout the first five books of the Bible. The traditional Orthodox text was written in this manner--without punctuation marks or spaces between the letters, word, grammatical marks, or sentences. To demonstrate what this would be like, let us take a sentence in English and write it out as it would appear in an ancient Hebrew manuscript. THEBIBLEWASWRITTENINHEBREWWITHOUTPUNCTUATIONMARKS To understand this sentence, we break it up with appropriate spaces: THE BIBLE WAS WRITTEN IN HEBREW WITHOUT PUNCTUATION MARKS There is a curious tradition in the writings of the ancient Jewish sages who claim that Moses first saw the Hebrew letters of the Torah revealed in his vision on Mount Sinai as a continuous sequence, without spaces between letters, composed of letters of black fire appearing upon a background of white fire. The sages wrote that Moses wrote these divinely revealed letters one-by-one in the five books of the Law, the Torah, as he recorded God's commands to Israel. In their initial experiment, reported in their 1988 paper, the scientists arbitrarily chose three hundred Hebrew work-pairs that were logically related in meaning, such as hammer and anvil, or tree and leaf, or man and woman. They asked the computer program to locate any such word pairs in the Genesis text. Once the computer found the first letters in Hebrew of "hammer," it would look for the second letter at various intervals or spaces between letters. If the program couldn't locate the second letter of the target word "hammer" following the first letter at a two-space interval, it would then search at a three-space interval, then a four-space interval, etc. Once it located the second letter at, say, the twelve-space interval, it would then look for the third letter at the same twelve-space interval, and so on through the entire 78,064 Hebrew letters in Genesis. The computer also looked for coded words by checking in reverse order. Since the computer can compute millions of calculations every second, the scientists could quickly examine every 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th letter, for example. The sophisticated computers could examine every one of millions of possible combinations to discover encoded words that no human could ever have found manually, including such words as Hitler, Berlin and Sadat. After the program had examined the text for each of the three hundred word-pairs, the researchers were astonished to realize that every single word-pair had been located in Genesis in close proximity to each other. As mathematical statisticians, they were naturally astounded because they knew it was humanly impossible to construct such an intricate and complicated pattern beneath a surface text, such as Genesis, which told the history of the Jewish people. After calculating the probabilities of this phenomenon occurring randomly by chance alone, they published their calculations in their scientific journal. The odds against the three hundred word pairs occurring by chance in the text of Genesis are less than one chance in fifty quadrillion. To express this number another way, it would look like this: one chance in 50,000,000,000,000,000! Most scientific journals consider an experimental result significant if it exceeds the probability of one chance in twenty. The bottom line is that only a supernatural intelligence, far beyond our human capacity, could have produced the pattern of secretly coded words found in the Bible. More Surprises As they studied this pattern the scientists discovered that many of the coded words described future events and personalities in human history, from ancient times until today. When they looked at the string of Hebrew letters in Genesis 1:1, they counted forward forty-nine letters from the first letter (tav) of the Hebrew word Torah and found the second letter in the word. Skipping forward another forty-nine letters, they found the third letter of the word Torah. Incredibly, the Hebrew word Torah was spelled out using every fiftieth letter in the text. To their surprise they found that the opening verse of Exodus, the second book in the Bible, contained the same word Torah, once again spelled out at the same fifty-letter intervals beginning with the first appearance of the letter. However, when they examined the opening verses of the third book of the Bible, Leviticus, they did not find Torah encoded. However, they did discover the word God was spelled out when they skipped forward every eighth letter from the first letter yod that appeared in the book. Upon examining the initial verses of Numbers and Deuteronomy, the fourth and fifth books of the Bible, the scientists again found that the word Torah was encoded. In the Book of Numbers, the word Torah is spelled out in reverse at a fifty-letter interval. However, to their surprise, while the word Torah was also found to be spelled out in reverse order in the Book of Deuteronomy, it appeared at a forty-nine-letter interval beginning with the fifth verse of the book. Mathematicians calculated that the odds were more than three million to one against the word Torah being encoded by chance alone within the opening verses in the first five books of the Bible. Bible students know that the number fifty is very significant in Scripture. For example, God commanded Israel to free their slaves and return family lands that had been pledged to a lender on the fiftieth Year of Jubilee. In addition, the Bible reveals that Law itself, the Torah, was presented to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai by God precisely fifty days after their miraculous Exodus from Egypt. These coded words are interlaced in intricate patters at evenly spaced intervals in the text reading both forward and backward. The scientists realized that these coded letters formed words and associations of such complexity and design that it is absolutely impossible that the patterns could have occurred by chance. It is fascinating to observe that the key word "Eden" is encoded repeatedly sixteen times within the relatively short Genesis 2:4-10 passage of only 379 Hebrew letters dealing with the Garden of Eden. The odds against sixteen "Edens" occurring by chance in such a short passage is one chance in ten thousand. Another fascinating feature of this phenomenon was found, in Genesis 2, which deals with the Garden of Eden. Scientists found twenty-five different Hebrew names of trees encoded within the text of this one chapter. The laws of probability indicate that the odds against this occurring are one hundred thousand to one (Professor Daniel Michelson, Codes in the Torah). 25 Names of Trees encoded in Hebrew in Genesis 2 Word Skip wheat 5 vine-18 grape -6 chestnut 44 forest -3 date 5 accacia -3 bramble 7 cedar -5 nut 13 fig 14 willow-15 pomegranate 8 aloe 6 tamarisk 2 oak 17 poplar -85 cassia 7 almond 5 mastic -2 thorn 5 hazel -13 olive 3 citron -3 fir 8 Thousands of detailed and precise patterns and codes such as these were discovered hidden in the Hebrew text of the ancient Scriptures. Mathematical and computer statisticians, after exhaustive statistical analysis, concluded that this patter of coded words could not have occurred by chance nor could a human writer have purposely produced this phenomenon. Their conclusion is that only a divine intelligence could have directed Moses to record this precise text containing such complex codes thousand of years ago. Other Mysterious Codes Reveal God's Prophetic Foreknowledge The scientists discovered that some of the words coded in the text of the Torah concerned events and personalities that occurred thousands of years after Moses wrote the text. Naturally, many academics rejected out of hand the possibility that this phenomenon could be real. However, despite many attempts, no one could refute the data. They recently discovered a pair of words - "Zedekiah", the last king of Judah in 587 B.C., when Jeremiah was a prophet, and "Matanya", which was king Zedekiah's original name before he ascended the throne (2 Kings 24:17). Incredibly, they also found the word "Hanukkah", which refers to the festival of lighting the Menorah that commemorates the rededication of the Temple after it was recaptured from Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 165 B.C. The word "Hanukkah" appears near the word "Hasmoneans" which is the famous name of the family of warriors led by Judias Maccabee, the Jewish general who defeated the Syrian armies of King Antiochus IV Epiphanes. How could the writer of Genesis have known about King Zedekiah and the Festival of Hanukkah when the Book of Genesis was written centuries before they occurred? Egyptian President Anwar Sadat Possibly the most astonishing of the phenomena recently discovered involves codes that reveal events that occurred in our generation. As one example, the name of the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat occurred together with the name of the leader of the Moslem Brotherhood assassination team that killed him. The same code sequence also contained the year of his assassination, 1981, and the words "president", "gunfire", "shot", and "murder". Incredibly, even the Hebrew word for "parade" appears in this coded sequence. President Sadat was assassinated during the president's review of a military parade in 1981. Adolph Hitler, the Nazis, and the Death Camps Were Prophesied in the Bible Truly one of the most incredible of the hidden codes is their discovery of the words "Hitler", "Nazis" and names of several of the actual death camps embedded within this text of the Book of Deuteronomy: "For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward: He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name. He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen. Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude" (Deuteronomy 10:17-22). In the Hebrew text of Deuteronomy 10:17-22 , the word "Hitler" in Hebrew is spelled out at a twenty-two letter interval. Beginning with the second last appearance of the Hebrew letter (bet) in this passage, researchers counted every thirteenth letter from left to right. To their amazement they discovered that the coded letters spelled out the phrase, "b'yam marah Auschwitz", which means, "in the bitter sea of Auschwitz". As they carried the counting forward another thirteen letters they came to the letter resh . From this resh, they counted every twenty-second letter from left to right. To their amazement they found the word "Hitler", the name of the greatest enemy of the Jews in history, the one who almost conquered the Western World in World War II. It was Hitler's satanic obsession against the Chosen People that motivated him to create the Final Solution which ultimately slaughtered over six-million Jews and another six-million Poles and Russians in the murderous death camps in Eastern Europe, such as Auschwitz. Amazingly, the actual names of the Nazi concentration camps, "Auschwitz" and "Belsen", were also encoded close to the word "Hitler" and "Berlin" in a cluster of letters hidden within the text of this passage in Deuteronomy. Scientists found that Deuteronomy 33:16 also contained a hidden message about the Nazi Holocaust. Beginning with the first Hebrew letter mem, they counted every two hundred and forty-sixth letter from left to right and found that the coded letters spelled out the phrase, "Melek Natzim", which translates as the "King of the Nazis". Another group of nearby letters spelled out the phrase, "laiv m'Laivi" which means, "the heart from Levi", referring to the Levites, one of the twelve tribes of the Jews. Incredibly, this same passage yielded another hidden code about the rise of Nazi Germany; the phrase "kemi bait rah", "an evil house rose up". One of the most fascinating of these Nazi codes appeared in Deuteronomy 32:52. Beginning with the appearance of the first letter aleph, the researchers counted from left to right every six hundred and seventy letters throughout the passage, and discovered the name "Aik'man", which is a Hebrew form of the name "Eichmann". Adolph Eichmann was a Nazi official who designed the Final Solution, the evil system of concentration camps used in the Holocaust. Eichmann and Hitler were among the greatest killers in history. The whole series of hidden codes dealing with Nazi Germany ended in Deuteronomy 33:21 with a final astonishing code. Beginning with the letter resh that appeared in the word "Yisrael", researchers counted every twenty-second letter from left to right and found the tragic phrase "re'tzach alm" describing the terrible sufferings of the Jews during the Holocaust, which translated as "a people cry murder, slaughter". I have often been asked by Jews about why the Bible's prophecies do not say anything about the Holocaust, the worst event in the history of God's Chosen People. Now we can see that God included these coded words beneath the text of the Bible describing this terrible time of persecution. Skip Word(s) ------------------------- 50 the Holocaust Found in the passage of Deuteronomy traditionally quoted as foreshadowing the Holocaust- "and I will hide my face on that day because of all the evil that you did for you turned to other gods ..." (5 31 16). Other close word-pairs found on Hitler Word(s) Skip Germany153 Berlin -4 the troubler 9 Nazi 12 he was a great hunter 1 the breaking of the Jews 153 Hitler -31 Nazi -1 the butchery for the heart of a man is evil from his youth 1 Auschwitz 119 the Holocaust -2 Holocaust 2 The French Revolution in the Torah Another passage in the Book of Genesis revealed a cluster of encoded words that deals with the French Revolution. The following words are clustered together: "Mapecha HaSarfatit" (which spells "the French Revolution" in Hebrew), "Louis", the name of the French king, and word "Beit[house of] Bourbon", his royal dynasty. In the same cluster were the following words: "Hamarseilles"(the name of the French national anthem) and the word "Bastilla"(the infamous French prison for political prisoners that was stormed by revolutionaries). Interestingly, this cluster dealing with the French Revolution appears embedded in Genesis, chapters 39-41, which describe Joseph's imprisonment in Egypt. The Hebrew word for "Bastilla" is found encoded within the sentence in Genesis 39:20 that describes "the prison in which the king keeps his prisoners". It is fascinating that these messages and data have been hidden secretly within the text of the Torah for thirty-five centuries until today. However, a skeptical and scientifically minded generation in our lifetime has generally rejected the authority and inspiration of the Bible. There is a greater need for our generation to see evidence and proof that the Bible is the true Word of God. In the sovereign plan of God, it is only in this generation of sophisticated high-speed computers and new techniques of statistical analysis, that men could both discover and fully appreciate this divine message from the past that introduces our skeptical generation to the God of their future. Dr. David Kazhdan, chairman of the mathematics department at Harvard University, warned those who would casually reject this evidence of Torah codes: "The phenomenon is real. What conclusion you reach from this is up to the individual". The Scientists Prove Their Findings The Israeli scientists wrote a follow-up paper for submission to Statistical Science, a scientific journal that insisted that a group of opposing scholars review and challenge their data and examine their computer program before publication. Despite the fact that all of the reviewers held previous beliefs against the inspiration of the Scriptures, the overwhelming evidence and the integrity of the data forced the editors to approve the study's scientific accuracy and reluctantly publish the article. Robert Kass, the editor of Statistical Science, wrote this comment about the study: "Our referees were baffled: their prior beliefs made them think the Book of Genesis could not possibly contain meaningful references to modern day individuals, yet when the authors carried out additional analyses and checks the effect persisted. The paper is thus offered to Statistical Science readers as a challenging puzzle". ("Equidistant Letter Sequences in the Book of Genesis", Statistical Science, August 1994). The study concluded that the peculiar sequences of Hebrew letters at equal spaces from each other that formed significant words could not possibly have occurred by simple coincidence. The Response From Recognized Experts I realize that this information will sound almost unbelievable to many readers. However, the well-respected mathematician, Professor Kazhdan of Harvard University, and his fellow scientists from other universities including Yale and Hebrew University in Jerusalem, have confirmed that this is "serious research carried out by serious investigators". These recognized experts in mathematics wrote a letter confirming the value of this research in the introduction to a recent Israeli book about this phenomenon called Maymad HaNosaf (The Added Dimension), written by Professor Doron Witztum of the Jerusalem College of Technology. Professor Witztum is the leading researcher on these Torah codes. Realizing that this discovery is extremely controversial in today's academic world, these scientists encouraged additional research on the phenomenon and declared that "the results are sufficiently striking to deserve a wide audience". In light of their known attitude of rejection of the Bible's inspiration and the supernatural, their statement is a powerful endorsement that the phenomenon is legitimate. One of the most interesting of the experiments examined the text of Genesis 38, which describes the history of Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar, who gave birth to two sons, Pharez and Zerah. The Book of Ruth tells us that King David, the greatest king of Israel, was descended from Pharez in this manner: Pharez was the ancestor of Boaz, who married Ruth and gave birth to Obed, the father of Jesse, who was the father of King David. Every one of the five Hebrew names of these ancestors of King David were found encoded at forty-nine-letter intervals, hidden within the text of Genesis 38. Incredibly, these five names also appeared in the correct chronological order as recorded in the Bible. The statisticians calculated that the odds against these five names occurring in this passage in the exact, chronological order they lived, are more than eight hundred thousand to one against this happening by chance. They also examined the text of Genesis 28 dealing with Jacob's vision of the ladder to heaven, which he received at Mount Moriah, the "place of God". The scientists found the key words "Temple" and "Torah" encoded at twenty-six-letter intervals in a continuous sequence of nine Hebrew letters. The occurrence of these two significant words occurring together in sequence in a biblical passage declaring that "this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven" is extraordinary. The researchers calculated the probability of these key words occurring by chance in this passage dealing with the "place of God" was less than one chance in seventeen billion (17,000,000,000). Coded word found in Genesis 1 28:10 - 1 28:17 Word(s)Skip Temple -26 the Torah 26 the Palace 26 Zion -26 In another analysis, they examined the first chapter of Leviticus, which records God's laws concerning the priesthood of Aaron, the High Priest of Israel. They found the Hebrew name "Aaron" encoded twenty-five times in this one chapter, not counting the four times the word Aaron appears in the normal surface text. The odds against this occurring by chance are more than four hundred thousand to one. Aaron in Hebrew (Aharon) found 25 times [22 listed here] in Leviticus - (the Torah of the Priests): Word Skip Aaron -4 Aaron -6 Aaron -9 Aaron 18 Aaron -21 Aaron 26 Aaron -26 Aaron -32 Aaron 36 Aaron -44 Aaron 62 Aaron -64 Aaron 76 Aaron -78 Aaron 87 Aaron -87 Aaron 109 Aaron 136 Aaron-139 Aaron 141 Aaron 150 Aaron 180 (See also the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Vol. 151 Part I, 1988 p. 177,178.) Scientists who have studied these results state no human could create such a Hebrew document containing hundreds of encoded, significant words hidden within this text. They concluded that it would be impossible to reproduce this phenomenon in a Hebrew text even if they had the help of a group of brilliant language geniuses, or the assistance of the world's most sophisticated super-computers. In addition, it is impossible to account for the prophetic knowledge of future personalities and events found in these codes. The inescapable, logical conclusion is that God inspired Moses to record the precise Hebrew words in the words of the Torah. In addition to demonstrating that the text of the Torah was dictated by God, this evidence of this marvelous design destroys the false theory of the skeptics that the Book of Genesis was created by different "editors" who interwove several different texts centuries after the life of Moses. Only one supernatural mind could have imposed this marvelously complex design upon these five books of the Law. Only God could have designed the text of the Torah. Recently, the researchers discovered similar codes throughout the Old Testament. More Astonishing Discoveries In a 1994 follow-up paper, the team of researchers recorded the results of their search for pairs of encoded words that relate to events which occurred during the period long after the time when Moses wrote the Torah. They selected the names of thirty-four of the most prominent rabbis and Jewish sages during the thousand years leading up to A.D. 1900. Interestingly, the researches simply selected the thirty-four sages with the longest biographies in the Encyclopedia of Great Men In Israel, as well-respected Hebrew reference book. They asked the computer program to search the text of the Torah for close word pairs coded at equally spaced intervals that contained the name of the famous rabbis paired with their date of birth or death (using the Hebrew month and day). The Jewish people celebrate the memory of their famous sages by commemorating their date of death. Incredibly, the computer program found every single one of the thirty-four names of these rabbis embedded in the text of Genesis paired at significantly close proximity with their actual date of birth or their date of death. The odds against these particular names and dates occurring by random chance were calculated by the mathematicians as only once chance in 775 million. Scholars at the Statistical Science Journal who reviewed this experimental data were naturally astonished. They demanded that the scientists run the computer test program again on a second sample searching for the next thirty-two most prominent Jewish sages listed in the encyclopedia. To the astonishment of the skeptical reviewers, the results on the second set of famous sages were equally successful. The staggering result of the combined test revealed that the names and dates of their birth or death of every one of the sixty-six most famous Jewish sages were coded in close proximity within the text of Genesis. An article in Bible Review magazine by Dr. Jeffrey Satinover, in October 1995, reported that the mathematical probability of these sixty-six names of Jewish sages and their dates of birth or death occurring by chance in an ancient text like Genesis was less than one chance in two and a half billion! Interestingly, the researchers attempted to reproduce these results by running the computer program on other religious Hebrew texts outside the Bible, including the Samaritan Pentateuch. The Samaritans developed their own variant text of the five books of Moses, called the Samaritan Pentateuch, which differs in many very small textual changes from the Hebrew Bible, which is the basis of our modern Authorized King James Version. Despite the surface similarity of the two texts to the normal reader, the researchers could not detect word pairs in the Samaritan Pentateuch or any other Hebrew text outside the Bible. When you carefully think about the phenomenon you can see that even a minor change of spelling or choice of words would totally destroy the precise sequence of Hebrew letters that reveals these hidden words coded at evenly spaced distances throughout the text of the Torah. A reviewer insisted they attempt to find codes in a Hebrew translation of Tolstoy's famous novel War and Peace, because it was the same length as the Book of Genesis. However, the phenomenon was not present in War and Peace; nor any other modern Hebrew writing. In fact, an exhaustive analysis reveals that no other Hebrew text outside the Old Testament contains these mysterious codes, not even the Hebrew apocryphal books written during the four hundred years before the birth of Christ. Naturally, following the appearance of this article on divine authority in Bible Review, there was a virtual onslaught of letters to the editor in the following monthly issues attacking the article in the strongest terms. Most of the critical letters dismissed the phenomenon out-of-hand without seriously considering the scientific data that was presented. Several critics attacked the author's argument and data in ways that revealed they either failed to grasp the actual statistical method used to detect the Hebrew codes or they didn't understand the rigorous methodology that eliminated the possibility that this phenomenon had occurred by pure random chance. After his research was published in Bible Review in November 1995, the original researcher, Dr. Jeffrey Satinover, responded to his critics who had challenged his assertion that a pattern of elaborate and significant words was encoded within the text of the Torah. Dr. Satinover replied to his critics as follows: "The robustness of the Torah codes findings derives from the rigor of the research. To be published in a journal such as Statistical Science, it had to run, without stumbling, an unusually long gauntlet manned by some of the world's most eminent statisticians. The results were thus triply unusual: in the extraordinariness of what was found; in the strict scrutiny the findings had to hold up under; and in the unusually small odds (less than 1 in 62,500) that they were due to chance. Other amazing claims about the Bible, Shakespeare, etc., have never even remotely approached this kind of rigor, and have therefore never come at all close to publication in a peer-reviewed, hard-science venue. The editor of Statistical Science, himself a skeptic, has challenged readers to find a flaw; though many have tried, none has succeeded. All the 'First Crack' questions asked by Bible Review readers--and many more sophisticated ones--have therefore already been asked by professional critics and exhaustively answered by the research. Complete and convincing responses to even these initial criticisms can get fairly technical" (Bible Review, November 1995). Some critics have suggested that the Israeli scientists simply played with the computer program long enough, that by chance alone, "they got lucky". This objection raises the relevant objection that there might be numerous unreported "hidden failures", a common problem in most scientific research today. To prevent this from occurring, editorial observers from the Statistical Journal demanded that the scientists analyze their data by examining a completely new group of personalities that were chosen solely by the Statistical Journal's editorial judges, namely the sixty-six most famous Jewish sages. The results I quoted earlier were based on this group of individuals chosen by these judges. In addition, the judges appointed by the Statistical Journal analyzed the computer programs to determine that they were both valid and neutral in their design. We need to keep in mind that the standard text of the five books of the Torah was published years ago in widely available computer programs and printed texts. These texts cannot be modified. In fact, as a result of the production and sale of fascinating "Torah Codes" computer programs that are now available in North America, anyone with a computer and lots of time can personally verify the existence of these codes beneath the text of Scriptures. I have personally verified the presence of these fascinating patters of hidden codes during long hours of examination using the computer programs I acquired several years ago in Jerusalem when this research was just beginning. Professor Harold Gans, a senior researcher who examined sophisticated foreign government intelligence codes for the U.S. Army, has publicly confirmed the existence of these codes as reported in Statistical Journal through the use of advanced analytic techniques and his own sophisticated computer program. Dr. Gans is a brilliant mathematician who has published 180 technical papers. Gans learned of this discovery by Professor Witztum of coded words hidden within the Torah. However, as a skeptic, he initially believed that the claims were "ridiculous." Unlike many readers, as an intelligence specialist dealing with complex codes and computers, Gans had the technical ability to test the claims and data for himself. In 1989 he created a complex and original computer program on his computer to check Witztum's data. For nineteen straight days and nights, Gans let his program examine all possible variations and combinations in the 74,064 Hebrew letters in the Book of Genesis. Dr. Gans' program checked through hundreds of thousands of possible letter combinations at many differently-spaced intervals. Finally, Gans concluded that these Torah codes actually existed and that they could not have occurred by random chance or by human design. He had confirmed the absolute accuracy of Professor Witztum's conclusions. As a result of his discoveries, Professor Gans now teaches classes in synagogues throughout the world about the incredible evidence proving divine authorship of the Bible. A follow-up study examined the data on the sixty-six Hebrew sages in the last 2000 years. Incredibly, Dr. Harold Gans' study found that the text of Genesis also revealed the encoded names of the actual cities where each of these sixty-six sages was born. Professor Witztum produced a new scientific paper, on this new set of data about the cities of the sages which proved the odds against this occurring by chance was one chance in 250,000,000. In response to the claim that this phenomenon is a result of simple chance, the scientific team determined that the odds against even the simplest codes occurring by random chance is only one chance in 62,500. However, when we examine the most complex patterns mentioned in this paper the odds are far in excess of billions to one against the possibility that this phenomenon has occurred by random chance. I can assure you there are many additional examples that will be revealed in the future. Careful investigations are now being conducted by many scientists from other universities and laboratories that confirm the supernatural nature of the phenomenon. A Caution Regarding This Phenomenon of Hebrew Codes There is an important caution we need to keep in mind regarding this phenomenal discovery. Remember that no one can search the Torah using these codes to foretell future events. The reason is that it is impossible to extract the encoded information unless you already know what the future facts are. The information about future event cannot be pulled out of the text in code in advance of the event because you wouldn't know what to tell the computer to look for. It is only after the event has occurred that you could have the program look for the name of the person or the event and check to see if the codes contain the information concerning the event. In other words, this method confirms that the Torah has encoded data about events that occurred centuries after it was written. However, the method cannot be used to foretell the future. The Bible prohibits us from foretelling the future. The ability to prophesy future events is left to God alone. The Bible clearly forbids fortune telling. The prophet Isaiah warned against false prophets and declared only God can prophesy future events accurately (Isaiah 46:9,10). When an event has occurred and we can verify that the codes within the text of the Bible accurately describe it thousands of years ago then God will receive the glory, not man. Although this discovery proves that some future events were encoded by God within the text of the Torah, we must wait until the future becomes the past before we can find them. It is also important to remember that although the phenomenon of hidden codes is statistically powerful, it is still relatively weak. The proximity of the word-pairs in the Hebrew text is defined only statistically. In addition, the phenomenon of word-pairs appears only when we examine a large number of examples that reveal a much closer proximity than would be expected by chance occurrence alone. Another important point to note is that these Hebrew codes do not contain any hidden theological or doctrinal messages. This phenomenon has nothing to do with numerology. There are no secret messages or theology. God's message to mankind is only found in the open words of the Scriptures. However, the discovery in our lifetime of these incredible codes reveals names and events that provide a wonderful proof to a skeptical humanity that God truly inspired the writers of the Bible to record His message to mankind. The phenomenon of Torah codes is now being presented to Jewish groups and synagogues throughout North America and Israel by a group called "Discovery Seminar," sponsored by the Alish HaTorah College of Jewish Studies. This group was created in Israel by a number of scientists, mathematicians, and Judaic scholars. In addition to presentations in Israel, Aish HaTorah have adapted the material to English enabling their teams to share this fascinating information with Jewish audiences throughout the world showing the divine inspiration and authority of the Torah. Many people have told me that numerous agnostic Jews have returned to their religious roots in Orthodox Judaism as a result of their exposure to this incredible evidence of God's inspiration of the Scriptures. The Implications Even those scholars who are philosophically opposed to God and the inspiration of the Bible are stunned by this research. Despite many arguments and challenges the data still stands uncontested. Secular scientific journals have declared that the phenomenon is real and not a result of fraud or computer error. The simple truth is that this phenomenon could not have occurred by chance alone. Nor could any group of brilliant human beings, even with super-computers at their disposal, produce this awesome result of encoding a huge number of significant names beneath the surface text of the Torah. The odds against these biblical codes occurring by random chance are one in several billion. To those who would casually ignore these odds and suggest that they are not that impressive, consider this equivalent scenario. Imagine that someone blindfolded you and laid out before you a mountain of one billion pills loaded with cyanide. In the whole pile of pills is one pill that contains sugar. Would you blindly swallow one of these pills by chance if you knew that only one pill contained sugar while all of the rest would result in instant death by cyanide poisoning? It would surpass the skills of any group of human writers to encode these complex and prophetic messages within the text of the Torah. Since the evidence is overwhelming that the five books of Moses were written over three-and-a-half thousand years ago we are left with the undeniable conclusion that this phenomenon is another clearly authenticated signature of God upon the pages of His message to mankind. Some Examples; Word-pairs of finds related to technology, science and medicine. Word(s)Skip hammer-24 anvil-5 light beams 975 the candles 7 and burn 1 a proton 1196 a neutron 1910 mathematical 572 sequence-3 sequences 208 convergent 1974 Reaming -3-3 conjecture 9 diseases -5 viruses-304 viruses (in Hebrew) 931 bacteria 434 cholera 4 the cholera 126 Koch (discoverer of the cure) 2 bacilli 2 bacillus 401 bacilli -400 the anthrax 401 diabetes -6 from the pancreas 8390 pancreas 1 insulin 3378 AIDS -6 death 1 in the blood -2 from the monkeys 1612 Here are some more pairs of finds related to places, people and times and history. Word(s) Skip Shaul 1 Jonathan 35 Tzedekiah 7752 Mattaniah (his name at first) -2 Jerusalem 71 Jerusalem 130 an American 1271 American 1271 Yankee 1271 Doodle 1270 Franz 36 Yosef 1 king of Austria 10 a Hapsburg 582 in the city 1 Vienna 9 Jerusalem 198 tsar of Russia 1274 Nikolai 7 Peter 321 the great 1 king of Denmark 688 Waldemar -9 the Great -141 Denmark -19 king of Sweden -2890 Gustav 6504 the Swedish -7 Tomas 9 Masaryk 570 president 2 Prague 1 will be installed 81 10 of Kislev (the day Masaryk took office) The AIDS epidemic - Here are more finds connected with the AIDS virus that appear coincidentally from Dr. Doron Witztum's book, "HaMaimod HaNosaf" (The Additional Dimension). In this case, the text was searched for the word 'a destruction' near the passage in Genesis dealing with the destruction of the Flood (Noah). In the same tableau the minimum occurrence of the words 'in the guise of a virus' is found coincidentally with the words 'AIDS' and 'a terror'. Word(s) Skip I will destroy the man that I have created 1 a destruction -3 in the guise of a virus 220 AIDS -220 a terror 220 The Gulf War - Israeli negotiations with the P.L.O. - These finds connected with the Gulf War and the recent Israeli negotiations with the P.L.O. collected from the Aleynu Seminars and from Dr. Moshe Katz. Each set was found in small matrix tableaus in Sefer Bereshis: Word(s) Skip Scuds -57 missile -1 Russian- ( the Scuds were Russian ) 12 will be activated ( or fired off ) -6 on the 3rd of Shevat -( Hebrew date of first missile attacks on Israel ) 88 Word(s)Skip Schwartzkopf - ( commander of American forces ) 6777 Sadam - ( ruler of Iraq ) 6 they were the mighty men that were of old the men of renown 1 the 2nd of Shevat - ( Hebrew date of first day of the war )20 Iraq -6 on the seventeenth day of the month on the fifth day (the war started on Thursday - the 5th day of the week-, Jan. 17) - this passage refers to the beginning of the 'flood' 1 Word(s) Skip Arafat - (This whole sequence takes place during the story of the fight between Jacob and the angel of Esav.)12 shook hands 1 shook hands 25 with Rabin 8 Kadumi - (PLO 2nd in command) 9 27th of Elul - (the day of the signing) 118 the head of the P.L.O. 1255 Reference: Jeffrey, Grant R., "The Signature of God", Frontier Research Publications, Inc. (1996), p.202-220 "The Signature of God" can be ordered from "http://www.grantjeffrey.com/adsignaturepage.html?121,26" GRANT R. JEFFREY MINISTRIES Additional References for the tables: TORAH SOFT NEWS, VOLUME 1, NUMBER 1, PURIM, 5753 Codes in the Torah, Prof. Daniel Michelson, in B'Or HaTorah, Number 6, 1987, p. 7-39, SHAMIR, Jerusalem. Jewish Studies Magazine, Yeshiva Dvar Yerushalayim, 33, Jerusalem, Summer 5747-1987. Discovery, Jerusalem and Arachim, Bnei-Brak Seminars TORAH SOFT NEWS VOLUME 1, NUMBER 2 Torah Soft News - Summer '95 SHAVUOS, 5755 Codes in the Torah, Prof. Daniel Michelson, in B'Or HaTorah, Number 6, 1987, p. 7-39, SHAMIR, Jerusalem. Codes in the Torah: A Rejoinder, Prof. A. M. HaSofer, in B'Or HaTorah, Number 8E, 1990, SHAMIR, Jerusalem. Codes in the Torah, discussion- Profs. Michelson, HaSofer, Eidelberg, Rabbi Stolper, in B'Or HaTorah, Number 9, 1995, p. 113-129, SHAMIR, Jerusalem. Jewish Studies Magazine, Yeshiva Dvar Yerushalayim, 33, Jerusalem, Summer 5747-1987. Discovery, Jerusalem and Arachim, Bnei-Brak Seminars. D. Witztum, E. Rips, Y. Rosenberg, Equidistant Letter Sequences in the Book of Genesis, Journal of Statistical Science, Aug. 1994. (Editor's note: To see other articles like this go to the Grant Jeffrey's web site or the Prophecy Central web site, both of which can be reached from PropheZine's prophecy links page at www.prophezine.com) ************************************* WHERE IS THE ARK OF THE COVENANT? >From the John Ankerburg show Question from the Audience: Where is the Ark of the Covenant Now? I've read quite a bit on the Ark of the Covenant and there are different theories about if the Ark's even here yet. Some people think the Ark was taken off by God to the heavenly temple. Others under the Temple Mount. I've read some people believe it's in Ethiopia. I'm sure there are some people in the world who believe Harrison Ford has it stashed in his basement. But my question is, what is your opinion? I'd like all three gentlemen's opinion on this. What is your opinion on where the Ark is and do you have biblical Scripture to back that. And is it necessary for the Ark to be discovered before they build the temple? Dr. Jimmy DeYoung: I believe, number one, that it is necessary for the Tribulation temple for the Ark of the Covenant to be there because of the fact that in order for the Jewish people who are preparing to build the temple right now, they must have the Ark of the Covenant. In the Millennial Temple which will be standing in Jerusalem during the Thousand-Year Millennial Kingdom, Jeremiah 3:16 says we don't need the Ark anymore. The reason for that: the Ark was a prototype of Jesus Christ, and when you have the real thing, you don't need the model. So He'll be here for the Millennial Temple, but for that Tribulation temple it will have to be there. Is it in Ethiopia? I do not believe so. I believe it is underneath the Temple Mount. I have talked to two men, two very prestigious rabbis who said they came within inches of bringing the Ark of the Covenant out. One man said he took a mirror, looked around a wall and saw the Ark of the Covenant. He was a very prestigious rabbi. I would not stake my life on it but I believe he's talking about what he said and he said, "By the way, that's simple. Extrabiblical writing tells us exactly where the Ark of the Covenant is. And the Bible talks about Hezekiah (I believe the king was), who said, 'Take the ark and put it in the special place prepared for it right now.' Not in the temple but a special place prepared." Ankerberg: Oh, by the way, why did he not bring it out? DeYoung: Why did he not bring it out? There was not any place to house it. you have to have the temple standing on the Temple Mount. He said, "We will bring it"...I asked him that question. He said, "We will bring it out when the temple is standing there and we're ready to put it in its location." Ankerberg: Is that becoming the motivation to build the third temple? DeYoung: Absolutely! And all those, (I know every personality and every project involved in preparations to build the third temple), all of those personalities accepted this man as a very, very scholarly rabbi and believe exactly what he had to say. Ankerberg: Elwood? Rennie? Dr. Renald Showers: Another view as to what happened to it was that it was destroyed by the Babylonians or carried by the Babylonians to their country when they destroyed Solomon's temple in the city of Jerusalem in 586 BC. Interestingly, the second temple that the Jews built, when they returned from the Babylonian captivity-- which later on Herod took over and enlarged-- never had the Ark of the Covenant in it. So for centuries the Jews worshipped God at the second temple without the Ark of the Covenant. So they didn't have to have it there at that time to be worshipping God at the temple. If it is in existence today--and it may very well be--I'm convinced as well it's not down in Ethiopia. You know, the tradition has been that the Queen of Sheba came up from there. She had relations with Solomon. They gave birth to a son. And she and the son took the true Ark of the Covenant down to Ethiopia, left a duplicate of it in Solomon's temple. To me, one of the big problems with that is, only the priests of Israel were allowed to touch that Ark and carry it. These were Gentile people. They would have been stricken dead on the spot if they had taken that. In fact, who could have gone inside the Holy of Holies to bring it out when only the High Priest was allowed to go in there and one day out of the year, the Day of Atonement, and even then if he didn't go in there exactly the way God prescribed, he would have been stricken dead on the spot. So I'm convinced it's not down in Ethiopia. Dr. Elwood McQuaid: There's another theory that Jeremiah took the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant, hid it in a cave, and then forgot where it was--that they lost it. The best-bet scenario is that it's vaulted under the northeast corner of the temple. When the implements of the temple that were carried to Babylon were mentioned in Scripture, the Ark was not mentioned. They had plenty of time to hide it and the priests certainly would have done something responsible with the Ark before the Babylonians destroyed the city. DeYoung: Let me just say this, John. I was wrong on the king. It was not Hezekiah; it was Josiah. And it's 2 Chronicles 35:3 and Josiah tells the Levites to take the Ark and put the Holy Ark in the house. It had been in the temple already for 400 years. He wasn't telling them to put it in the Holy of Holies, he was saying, "Put it in the house," and the Hebrew word there basically is saying, "Put it in the special place prepared to protect it." (Editor's note: If you enjoyed this article and want more information, go to the PropheZine prophecy links page and click onto the John Ankerburg site) ************************************** THE RISING POWER THAT IS BEING IGNORED By Kim Koster There are two basic facts that make up the geopolitical arena today--the Russians are getting weaker and the Chinese are getting stronger. In the North Atlantic, across Eurasia and in East Asia, and this can be seen by the confusion in Albany to the vigilance in Hong Kong. But if you look at President Clinton's foreign policies they look like they are intended to do exactly the opposite challenges. As Russia wallows in an economic decline and military reorganization, the Clinton administration is using taxpayer money and making a major effort to head off an invasion of central Europe. Meanwhile, China is growing economically and increasing its armed forces. All the while, the U.S. is decreasing its military might in the region, relying on the goodwill of Beijing instead. The economy in Russia is only half the size it used to be before communism fell, and the economy continues to decline. The military "can only be described as a catastrophy," states a report by a private Russian research group. Our country's main problems with Russia are many: the danger of chaos inside that country and on the borders of Central Asia; the possibility of its losing control of its nuclear arsenal; a breakdown in relations between the military and the government. President Clinton has been able to push the Russians into agreeing to NATO expansion into Eastern Europe only because they are not strong enough to put forth a good job at obstructing it. At the same time China push forward at a fast pace increasing its economic growth. In the last five years China's economy has grown at a rate of almost 12 percent, and its exports are rising dramatically. Most of the exports consist mainly of low cost goods, but China is gaining more access to high technology. The military is also a growth industry. China's defense budget is estimated to be as high as $30 billion and increasing by 10 percent every year. The people's liberation Army is the largest in the world; it has the third largest nuclear arsenal in terms of delivery vehicles. Meanwhile Beijing is having boundary disputes with Russia, North Korea, Tajikistan and India. Our problems with the Chinese all relate to its strength; the growing military; increasing chauvinism, aggressively one-sided economic policies. To keep China from attempts at expanding, such as the military takeover of Taiwan, The U.S must have a greater military presence in East Asia. The Clinton Administration on the other hand thinks that talking with Beijing can bring about results on issues such as human rights and trade, even as America reduces its military deterrent. The U.S has barely any military forces in the Philippines and has decreased its presence in Japan. If Clinton is successful in his policies, in 10 years from now a large, well -equipped U.S led force will be placed in Central Europe, fully capable of deterring Russia. At the same time America's power and pull in East Asia will have shrunk and East Asia will have become the World's next super power. "And the sixth angel poured out his bowl upon the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, that the way might be prepared for the kings from the east." Revelation 16:12 ************************************ God's Judgment On America by Jim Bramlett Is the United States of America mentioned in biblical prophecy? If we are, indeed, in the "last days" before Christ's return, as the overwhelming evidence indicates, is it possible that the greatest Gentile power in history would have been overlooked, or is irrelevant? Or, are references hidden, as are many other prophecies, to be "unsealed" to seekers in the last days according to Daniel 12:4? I believe there are passages that do not name but do infer America. Interestingly, these passages are compatible with current geopolitical developments, and also visions and other supernatural revelations reported by several believers over the years. The message is of severe judgment, and is ominous. Judgment Already Decreed First, a few words about our beloved country. This is hard for me to say about America. When World War II started, I was age 11. My father fought with the infantry in Europe; my uncle with the Air Corps in North Africa. I went to a top military prep school. Later, at a large university, I practically majored in Air Force ROTC, becoming the highest ranking cadet officer and Corps Commander. I devoted my career to the nation's military service, retiring early -- before I was eligible for promotion to full colonel -- only because of a higher priority, a call into full-time Christian service. I laid that promotion at the Cross. But now, even retired as a regular officer, the government has a claim on me as long as I live. I love my country. The flag can still give me goose bumps. I have always been extremely patriotic. I have researched and lectured on America's Christian heritage. I know how God's hand has been on America, starting with Columbus. Yet, to God, the nations are but a grain of sand, and as a nation America has rebelled against God, insulted Him, and declared Him "not wanted." Some believe America will get away with it because "God need" America to fulfill the Great Commission. He doesn't. We won't . Many are praying for revival in America according to the promises of 2 Chronicles 7:14. God will surely honor the prayers. There will be revival, and there will be a great harvest, the greatest the world has ever known. However, based on the parallel of Jeremiah's warning to Israel and God's answer to him, the part of 2 Chronicles 7:14 about "heal their land" -- as relates to the secular culture -- will not be answered until Messiah returns. As with Israel in Jeremiah's day, I believe judgment on America has already been decreed. God's moth-like judgment (Hosea 5:12) is in progress, eating at us slowly, but His lion-like judgment (Hosea 5:14) will soon pounce, devouring us suddenly and completely. Applicability of 2 Chronicles 7:14? Even though 2 Chronicles was not written for probably over a hundred years later, Jeremiah may have tried to implement the principles of it. As a priest, he was surely aware of the promise to Solomon several hundred years earlier, either from the oral tradition or written records. But three different times (three for divine emphasis), God said to Jeremiah, "Do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you." (7:16, NIV). Also see 11:14 and 14:11. In the latter, God says, "Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry I will not accept them. Instead I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague." In another passage, God reiterates His willingness to show mercy and urges Israel to repent. "Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions." (18:11). But in His omniscience and foreknowledge, God then says, "But they will reply, 'It's no use. We will continue with our own plans; each of us will follow the stubbornness of his evil heart'" (v. 12). God knew what their reaction would be; thus, judgment was decreed beforehand. (And even Solomon, after God's clear promises and warnings in 2 Chronicles 7, fell into sin, soon died and the kingdom was split.) Why This Probably Applies to America 1. The End of the Gentile Age . The evidence is overwhelming that the 8times of the Gentilese referred to by Jesus (Luke 21:24) -- the same as the age of the eGentilese referred to by James (Acts 15:14-16), and Paul (Romans 11:25) -- is in the final seconds. We are in the final countdown to what God revealed to Daniel as 8 the appointed time.e It is no accident that America, the largest and most powerful Gentile nation, has been in a precipitous cultural decline in the last half of this century (as Israel, the fig tree, has blossomed) as measured by numerous statistical indicators. And our global cultural influence is taking the world with us, as we daily export worldwide our anti-God and perverted national values . God's prophetic plan and timetable will not be stopped, and it takes precedence over everything. For example, Israel is still in rebellion, largely a godless nation. But God promised to regather them in the last days. He has, in spite of themselves-- and with no effort on their part to comply with 2 Chronicles 7:14, but simply because of His plan. "It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone....Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct" (Ezekiel 37:22, 32). Israel does not deserve mercy, and a further chastening lies ahead. Yet God will honor His covenant with their fathers, which Paul strongly reminds us so that we will not be ignorant or "conceited" as saved Gentiles, wild branches grafted into the natural olive tree (Romans 11:24-25). 2. The Pervasiveness of Evil . As before the Flood, and with Sodom and Gomorrah, and with the idolatrous occupants of the Promised Land before Joshua entered, evil is now so deeply pervasive and entrenched that it must be purged by judgment. Such seems to be a clear message of the prophets and the New Testament writers. The world is rushing madly toward the prophesied Tribulation, "such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be" (Matthew 24:21). 3. Veiled References to America . While America is not mentioned by name in prophecy, some Bible students believe there are indirect references. For example, some believe we are the last-days Babylon of Jeremiah 50 and 51 and elsewhere. The reason is that a number of the references seemingly do not apply to ancient Babylon, or even to a possibly restored Babylon in Iraq, and that America is now the world's major military and financial power. For example, the "rich" Babylon Jeremiah describes lives "by many waters" (USA, not ancient Babylon; 51:13). "She made the whole earth drunk....they have now gone mad" (our drug/sex/rock culture via MTV and other media pervades the earth; 51:7). Our soldiers "have become like women" (homosexuals, women in combat; 51:30). She will be attacked by "arrows" (missiles; 50:9), from "the north" (direction of Russia; 50:3), with her judgment rising "as high as the clouds" (nuclear; 51:9). NASA's space program is implied in 51:53 (KJV), with Babylon mounting "up to heaven" Also, "They sinned against the LORD....the hope of their fathers" (USA, not ancient Babylon; 50:7). Economic Babylon of Revelation 18, the commercial capital of the world, may be New York (the Babylon of chapter 17 may be Rome because of the reference to the "seven hills" in v9). Chapter 18:4 mentions that in one day, and verse 10 says in one hour, she will be destroyed, with the world's government and financial leaders weeping and mourning (18:9,15). A one-hour destruction of a great city is something possible only in the past 50 years, and probable only this decade with the proliferation of nuclear weapons, recently spreading on the black market from the former USSR to terrorist organizations, according to intelligence sources. Only God is holding back Iran, Iraq and other radicals from setting off a nuclear explosion in New York, Washington, D.C., Tel Aviv and elsewhere, until "the appointed time." In addition, a strong case can be made that America and the 1991 Gulf War are referred to in Daniel 8, with Iraq the ram, and America the goat which "came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground" (verse 5, NIV), seemingly our massive intercontinental air and sea lift. In verse 8, the goat is later "broken," or destroyed, apparently after a second Gulf War, possibly soon. We know from verses 20-21 that Media, Persia and Greece were the first fulfillment, but from elsewhere, such as verse 17, we know that the vision, in a dual fulfillment, is for "the time of the end." The above seems more plausible when the following is considered.... 4. Soon Fulfillment of Ezekiel 38 . Another possible reference to America, by conspicuous omission, is in Ezekiel 38 and what most scholars see as an invasion of Israel by Russia and a confederation of Moslem nations. The geopolitical preconditions for this are rapidly forming. There are reasons to believe this may occur in the very, very near future (perhaps at the beginning rather than the end of the Tribulation as some believe). For example, there has been a recent security agreement between Russia (Magog, 38:2) and the leading terrorist state, Iran (Persia, 38:5). Russia is supplying Iran with nuclear materials and--on the black market--with nuclear warheads. (And I have heard the weapons have only a seven-year shelf life!) I have a reliable report of a recent briefing by NATO intelligence that a nuclear war in the Middle East is feared probable! America would surely be involved, perhaps as below : If Israel is attacked according to Ezekiel 38, it is strange that there is no hint of help from its security partner, the powerful USA. Oddly, we do not seem to even be a factor. I believe it may be because, from a military standpoint, America has been neutralized and rendered powerless by a surprise nuclear attack by Russia (see below). This would surely give Russian military planners an assumed and enticing cakewalk to a Middle East takeover, ownership of the oil fields, new mineral resources and an expansion to the Persian Gulf, a stated goal of at least one radical in the wings, Vladimir Zhirinovski, whose autobiography is prophetically titled The Last March South! While Zhirinovsky may never rise to power, this territorial ambition is undoubtedly shared by other radicals--possibly rising star, anti-Christian and anti-Semitic General Alexander Lebed. Of course, we know from Ezekiel 39:1-6 that God Himself will defend Israel and destroy the invaders, to make His holy name known (v. 7). Again, the above still seems more plausible when the following is considered ... 5. End-time Supernatural Revelations . Acts 2:17 promises "visions" and "prophesies" in the last days. I have become aware of and have collected records of visions and prophecies from various believers over a period of years. Some visions have clearly seen a surprise nuclear attack on America from Russian submarines. I also know of an older, respected pastor who had an apparent angel visit in his home, in his study late at night, with the same message of a Russian surprise nuclear attack from submarines. The being just suddenly appeared and disappeared out of nowhere. Also, George Washington reportedly had a vision in his day of America's major wars and a final military attack on America. The idea of a submarine attack is exactly in line with Russia's present defense policy. According to the Wall Street Journal (August 25, 1995), "One puzzling aspect of Russia's defense policy is its emphasis on submarines....is still completing construction of submarines begun in the Soviet era, on about the same timetable as the Soviets produced them....(they) will enter the next century with the largest nuclear submarine fleet in the world." Submarines are basically an offensive weapon. Why are they doing this? It must be part of God's plan. For years, high-tech and missile-carrying Russian subs have shadowed U.S ships or invisibly and silently patrolled the U.S. coast under the radar/sonar cover of their fishing trawlers. For a nation near collapse, on the brink of fascism, this is not a picture of peace and stability. Yet foolish American leaders continue to give billions of dollars to Russia (which they are using on armaments) and shrink our own military, crying, "peace and safety" according to 1 Thessalonians 5:3, "then sudden destruction shall come upon them." With uncanny timing, just moments after I wrote this paragraph, Dateline NBC aired a report that the secret nuclear shelter built in West Virginia for our Congress is now closed and being dismantled -- because it is no longer needed, since the "Cold War" is now over! "Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you," God says. Russian submarines? He says to Magog, "You will devise an evil scheme....You will say, 'I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people'" (Ezekiel 38:10). America, instead of Israel, or both? Other Revelations. Highly esteemed missionary pioneer Hudson Taylor had a vision in 1855. He saw both world wars, followed then by a spiritual awakening in Russia, Europe and elsewhere, as we are seeing, followed by the coming of Christ. Also, in 1930 a prophecy was reportedly given in Russia that a future leader named Mikhail, with a birthmark on his head, would bring open doors for the gospel, which would remain open "only for a short period of time, then it would end and the repression would begin again." Plus, there were reportedly several prophecies in Russia in 1988 that "the door would stay open for about seven years." The doors swung open in 1989! Conclusion There are three witnesses to the above scenario that seem to confirm one another: (1) Scripture, (2) contemporary world events, and (3) agreeing supernatural revelations, such as visions and prophecies. God will answer and honor prayers for revival, even though judgment on the nation has already been decreed. Revival and harvest will come -- but possibly as a result of judgment, and not instead of, a typical biblical pattern. Where is the Rapture in the above scenario? We cannot be sure, and must not be presumptuous. With amazing timing, as God often confirms things to me, the same week this was first printed, NBC News reported new Pentagon alarm at Russian submarines lurking just off the U.S. coasts! Also, just as I was finishing this report, two different audio tapes came to me, both unsolicited, from two people I have never met, both with the message of God's coming judgment on America! Months later I received a similar message the very same day I received a newsletter headlined, "It's Time to Weep for America." Message to the Church. It is time to boldly "blow the trumpet."; The warning should be greatly sharpened to more of a Jeremiah-type warning, that actual destruction is coming, not just deteriorating social conditions or loss of freedoms. "If the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?" (1 Corinthians 14:8). The trumpet call should be to God's own people, since "judgment must begin at the house of God" (1 Peter 4:17). God's message to His people today is to humbly walk with Him in obedience and to come out of the world's value system. Christians should get ready to joyously meet their soon-coming King, and tell as many others as possible about God's grace and salvation . Final Note: In one U.S. Air Force assignment, I was a "Minuteman" -- the commander of a Minuteman ICBM nuclear missile launch crew responsible, if so ordered in the event of attack, for vaporizing ten Russian cities/targets, and in personal possession of the top secret war code. Always "on alert," I was only seconds away from the President's launch command, unsealing the code, and ending civilization as we know it. America's leaders have now dismantled many Minuteman missiles and reduced other defense systems, but oddly, in a spiritual sense, and in one of God's "coincidences," I am still a "Minuteman," still on alert, and still only seconds away from the King of king's shout and command, with His code (from His Word) already being "unsealed," and with civilization as we know it soon to end.) For a free copy of the special report, Christ's Soon Return: the Overwhelming Evidence, or a detailed, verified report on angel announcements of Christ's soon return, send self-addressed, stamped, business-size envelope to Jim Bramlett, 10637 Crystal Springs Court, Orlando, Florida 32825. Specify which report desired; if both, include extra stamp for added weight 8/96 (Editor's note: This was published at the Cutting edge website. If you would like to see some more articles go to The Cutting Edge PropheZine prophecy links page) ************************ A Prayer for the Lost Lord, open the eyes of the spiritually blind And help them to realize--there isn't much time! Life is a vapor which passes away And the time of Your coming draws closer each day. The stakes are eternal--this isn't a game! The prince of this world won't relinquish his claim; Souls have been blinded, deceived, and enslaved; They won't admit they are lost--how can they be saved? Lord, open their ears--why haven't they heard? Soften their hearts to the truth of Your word. They are walking in darkness where the Enemy reigns Only You can release them from their bondage and chains. Loose them, unbind them! Let Your truth set them free! Take the scales from their eyes and allow them to see! Call them and draw them to step out in faith; Until, snatched from the fire, they are saved by Your grace! Lori Fiechter 3-8-97 ****************************** PropheZine News Bytes Department of Treasury Announces First Union Smart Card FT. LEONARD WOOD, Mo., May 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Over 28,000 new recruits will be issued more than a uniform as they begin their army training at Ft. Leonard Wood -- they will also be issued a First Union smart card. Starting today, recruits will use the funds on these smart cards to pay for their personal items such as toiletries and haircuts during their eight weeks of basic training on the post. As the first Visa Cash pilot in the government's history, the Department of Treasury funded program will examine the use of stored value as a prototype for future military operations and for the possibility for eliminating cash in military facilities. By eliminating hard currency, the Department of Defense will reduce their cash handling operating costs by automating services. Featuring an embedded microchip, the Schlumberger manufactured Visa Cash smart cards store money as electronic cash. Verifone Omni 395 card-accepting terminals will be stationed at designated locations and will automatically deduct the cost of the recruit's purchase from the chip balance. The Army Air Force Exchange Service will support all merchant terminals on the post and ensure daily settlement of the smart card machines. "We studied the Visa Cash pilot in the open market during the Atlanta Olympics and were impressed with the technology and conveniences it offered consumers," said Gary Grippo, project manager electronic money with the U.S. Department of Treasury. "We selected First Union as the issuing bank for this project because of their extensive smart card experience and their leadership position in implementing smart card technology." "First Union committed to chip card technology in 1994. We have worked with Visa Cash on several projects, including the Atlanta Olympics and believe that our vision for the future of smarts cards provided us with this opportunity today," said Mike Love, vice president of smart card technology for First Union's Customer Direct Access Division. "We are honored to work with these organizations and to develop this innovative prototype application for the Department of the Army." The Defense Finance and Accounting service will prepare and distribute cards to incoming Ft. Leonard Wood recruits. All smart cards will be personalized with the soldier's name and contain a signature panel on the back for identification purposes. At the end of basic training any unused portion of the First Union issued smart card will be credited to the soldier's military payroll account. "First Union's new chip-card program with the U.S. Department of Treasury and the Department of Defense demonstrates how the Visa Cash stored-value product can be used to solve commercial issues," said Diana Knox, vice president of chip products for Visa U.S.A. "Visa Cash is an open and accountable payment product for small-ticket items that, in the future, will be combined on the chip with credit and debit functionality to give consumers a full range of payment options." Charlotte-based First Union Corp. (NYSE: FTU) provides financial products and services to more than 12 million corporate and retail customers nationwide. First Union is the nation's sixth-largest bank holding company with assets of $137 billion as of March 31, 1997. The Financial Management Service, a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, is the Federal Government's cash manager. The Financial Management Service issues over 850 million payments on behalf of non-defense agencies, annually; manages the collection of over $1 trillion in revenues, including all Federal income taxes each year; administers the Government's central accounting and financial record keeping duties; and manages the collection of the Government's non-tax delinquent debt portfolio. Visa is the world's largest consumer payment system. It plays a pivotal role in advancing new payment products and technologies to benefit its 20,700 member financial institutions, their cardholders and the global economy. Visa's 561 million cards are accepted at 13 million locations worldwide. The Visa Global ATM Network consists of more than 342,000 ATMs in 113 countries. For more information on Visa, visit Visa Expo at www.visa.com. CO: First Union Corporation; Visa; U.S. Department of the Treasury ST: North Carolina, Missouri IN: FIN US: +++++++++++++++++++++++++ Soups "NOT" on!!!! Does this wake anyone up? Please be deciding which Grocery Store you will shop at and which McGourmet Cafe will be your dining out choice? Oh, better change your eating habits too while you're at it so you are not determined to be a drain on the system. Jackie Juntti http://www.nwlink.com/~idzrus/index.html Not a single area of our lives will escape the goals of the globalists. In short, this article speaks of an upcoming meeting in which the UN will draw up plans for FMO's (Food Management Organizations). You will be required to notify the government of the single grocery store you will shop at and the single restaurant you will dine out during the year. Your food purchases will be monitored and regulated. Changing Consumption Patterns in "Human Settlements." "IN ORDER TO STABILIZE WORLD POPULATION, WE MUST ELIMINATE 350,000 PEOPLE PER DAY." Jacques Cousteau in 1991, UNESCO Courier. Notice of Symposium to Outline Gorbachev's and Maurice Strong's "Plans for Your Standard of Living" (Editor's Note: The Notice below from the United Nations to NGOs who attended the Istanbul Habitat II UN Conference announces a symposium to tell participants how to force changes in "consumption patterns" in the 21st Century through Worldwide Planning at the UN. The prime target is reduction in the consumption and standard of living of Americans.) From: Andre Dzikusby way of information habitat To: habitat partners network; NGO committee on Human settlements; earth summit two csdgen@nygate.undp.org Subject: Symposium on Changing Consumption Patterns in Human Settlements, 4/6/1997, New York Date: Tuesday, May 27, 1997 10:20 AM Dear Colleague, I am pleased to inform you that the United Nations Center for Human Settlements (Habitat) is organizing a one-day Symposium on the theme: "Changing Consumption Patterns in Human Settlements", to be held at the United Nations in New York on Tuesday, 24 June 1997 as a part of the parallel events of the United Nations General Assembly special session on sustainable development. The event will be an important follow-up to the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II), addressing the goal of sustainable human settlements development in a rapidly urbanizing world. The Symposium is aimed at bringing together new thinking on sustainable consumption in human settlements, in the growing cities of the developing and the developed world in particular, where the majority of the world's population will live and work by the turn of the century, where most economic activity will take place, natural resources will be consumed and pollution generated - with consequent impact on the environment. The Symposium will also provide a forum to present the findings of an expert-group meeting on the same theme organized by the United Nations Center for Human Settlements, in cooperation with the United Nations Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, at the United Nations in New York in April 1997. The attached flyer gives more information on the event. Should you require any additional information please do not hesitate to contact this office. Your participation in the symposium is welcome. Yours sincerely Kalyan Ray * Chief, BITS/RDD * UNCHS (Habitat) * e-mail: kalyan.ray@unchs.org SYMPOSIUM ON CHANGING CONSUMPTION PATTERNS IN HUMAN SETTLEMENTS Date: Tuesday, 24 June 1997 Time: 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. Venue: Dag Hammarskjold Library Auditorium United Nations, New York Organizer: United Nations Center for Human Settlements (Habitat) Invited Keynote Speakers: Hon. Prof. Dr. Klaus Toepfer, Minister for Regional Planning, Building and Urban Development, Federal Republic of Germany Mr. Maurice Strong, Chairperson, Rio+5, and Chairman, The Earth Council Mr. Nitin Desai, Under-Secretary-General, United Nations Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development Mr. Ismail Serageldin, Vice-President, Environmentally Sustainable Development, The World Bank Mr. Wally N'Dow, Co-Chairperson, Rio+5, and Assistant-Secretary-General, United Nations, Head of the United Nations Center for Human Settlements Invited Panelists: Prof. Tommy Koh, Ambassador-at-Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore Lord Mayor Norbert Burger, Mayor of Cologne and President of WACLAC Mr. Jaime Lerner, Governor of the State of Parana,Brazil Hon. Mr. John Edward Afful, Minister of Environment, Accra, Ghana Mr. Martti Lujanen, Director-General, Ministry of the Environment, Finland Mrs. Kiran Agarwal, Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Urban Affairs and Employment, India Ms. Raquel Alfaro, Consultant, Santiago, Chile UNITED NATIONS CENTRE FOR HUMAN SETTLEMENTS (HABITAT) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blueprint for food THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 1996 Blueprint for Managed Foodcare By KARL-OTTO LIEBMANN The time has come for the eating public to face a stark reality: The consumption of food, if allowed to grow at the present rate, will bankrupt our great nation. Production of food has risen from 10% to more than 30% of the gross domestic product since 1945. The Congressional Budget Office projects that by the year 2010 Americans will spend more money and time on eating than on working, vacationing, and being sick combined. To counter this threat, a junior U.S. senator, (whose name has been withheld upon request) has begun to draft legislation designed to fundamentally reform the way Americans consume food. The proposal, preliminarily dubbed "Managed Foodcare," promotes the cost-efficient consumption of food by regulating access to stores and restaurants. It preserves the principles of consumer choice and free competition. A brief outline will illustrate how the reforms benefit the average eater. Each year, during the last week of December, consumers have the choice of signing up at their preferred grocery store or restaurant for the year to come. These two main retail markets for the distribution of food are referred to as Primary Food Providers. Employers will by law be required to offer employees a choice among at least three so-called Food Benefit Plans. FBPs describe what stores, restaurants, kinds of food and menus will be covered by the plan. FBPs will also furnish comprehensive brochures listing the items approved, such as certain cereals, vegetables, meats, and so on. The lawmakers anticipate that the opportunity to choose only once a year what to eat for the next 12 months will save families innumerable hours of time now spent on gazing at store shelves or menus and comparing brands and prices. During the year of the plan, consumers will be obliged to buy all their food at the chosen store and eat at the restaurant they elected. There will be a designated co-payment, they will also pay a monthly premium to a Food management Organization. FMOs, whose formation will be encouraged under the legislation, are privately owned corporations. They control the production and manage the distribution of food based on a highly variable Cost Efficiency Quotient, whose numerical value is directly proportional to the value at which the FMOs' stocks are traded on the open market. FMOs contract with Primary Food Providers to provide the most cost-efficient nutrition to their enrollees. The key element of the reform is known as "capitation." Basically, stores and restaurants will receive a fixed annual amount of money from their FMO for each enrolled customer, regardless of how much or little he consumes during the year. If the enrollee spends more than his allotment, it will be the provider's loss; if less, it will be the provider's gain. Legislators from New York and California have objected that some people habitually eat more than others or have developed rather idiosyncratic and expensive tastes. Such behavior, comparable to the reckless spending of health dollars by people with chronic or terminal illnesses, could quickly bankrupt the provider. To counter this fiscal threat, the FMOs will maintain personal customer records listing all purchases, creating an "Individual Consumption Profile" (CPI) for each member. The ICP is subject to periodic review and approval by the FMO. People with excessive ICPs are considered "high risk" and may eventually lose their right to be re-enrolled in any FMO. (Soup kitchens and self-help groups will no doubt assist these misfits.) To rein in abuse of specialty shops and gourmet restaurants, access to these establishments will be controlled by the primary food providers. They will serve as "gatekeepers" and decide whether and when a consumer should be referred to specialty providers such as Italian bakeries or French restaurants. Their decisions will be guided by their conviction that packaged breads and cakes or fast food can meet the same nutritional needs as delicatessen food. They also recognize that the more money from a fixed, capitated amount that consumers spend on outlandish food, the less will remain for primary food providers. The proponents of managed Foodcare sum up their argument by pointing out that their proposal preserves and protects genuine American values. The new laws support yearly renewable consumer choice, and at the same time reduce unnecessary and costly culinary options. They encourage corporate and individual responsibility by rewarding thoughtful management of food supply and demand. Capitation will further thriftiness, invention, and imaginative sales practices. Ultimately, Managed Foodcare will accelerate the accumulation of capital in the hands of those who know best how to promote a healthier and leaner America. ------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Liebmann is an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine. [Those of you who know nothing or very little about Liberalism, a de-emphasis of Socialism, which is nothing more than a softer word for Communism, had better study the subject if you care about your future. Do yourselves a great favor and start by reading the Communist Manifesto; compare it to the U.S. Constitution. You will be shockingly enlightened at the usurpation of power in the U.S.A.] [The "ultimate" objective of Socialism/Communism is not the re-distribution of wealth, but the control of the people of the world by a tiny group of appointed World Dictators, with the help of an ignorant, dumbed-down "peace-keeping force." This is exactly why the United Nations was founded. Get ready folks!] Daniel Webster, (1782-1852) Congressman and patriot once said (prophesied) that "There is no nation on earth powerful enough to accomplish our overthrow. Our destruction, should it come at all, will be from another quarter. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ US Votes Jerusalem As Israel's Capital (SNS News Service -Israel-6/12) In a 406-17 vote, the United States House of Representatives voted a united Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The house also approved $100 million to move the US Embassy from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem. The vote was contrary to the position of the Clinton administration feeling it would harm the ongoing peace process between Israel and the PA. The vote was praised by Israel and was the subject of criticism by PA officials. Some Reactions: Senior Netanyahu Advisor, David Bar-Illan - "We are delighted that the Congress has recognized Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel and that it will remain so forever." PA Minister Hanan Ashrawi - "A resolution of obvious support for Israel ..puts a big nail in the coffin of the peace process and the credibility of the United States as a peace broker," In addition, the US officials issued a strong condemnation of the PA law barring the sale of [Arab] lands to Jews. To date, three Arab land dealers have been executed as a result of their dealings with Jews. House Speaker Newt Gingrich linked the murders of the land dealers directly to PA officials. Gingrich stated the shooting of land dealers in the head was "Nazi-like." State Department Spokesman Nicholas Burns rejected calls from US representatives to suspend aid promised to the PA due to the racist land law. As reported earlier by SNS, Senator Jesse Helms and Congressman Benjamin Gilman have been in the forefront of the campaign to cut off PA aid until the law is rescinded. Senior Arafat advisor Nabil Abu Rudeineh denied that the PA ever implemented the law or had any connection to the three murders. (Israel has already stated they have obtained a copy of a "wanted list" issued on official PA stationary, for the land dealers who are suspected of having dealings with Jews). ************************************** F.Y.I. - Israel in the News Week Ending: June 14, 1997/9 Sivan 5757 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Sow with a view to righteousness, reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the L-rd until He comes to rain righteousness on you." Hosea 10.12 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ U.S. CONGRESS RECOGNIZES JERUSALEM: The US House of Representatives has voiced its support for Israel's claim to Jerusalem as its eternal and undivided capital, Kol Yisrael reported. In a non-binding resolution, the House voted 406 to 17 in favor of the resolution. The House also approved $100 million to move the US Embassy from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem. The vote was contrary to the position of the Clinton administration feeling it would harm the ongoing peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). Israeli officials welcomed the move. David Bar-Ilan, the Prime Minister's communications advisor said he was "delighted" by the resolution. Sources close to Arafat stated he has expressed his anger over the American decision. PA official Saeb Arichat stated the bloodbath in the area [Israel] will be a direct result of the decision and those who supported it will be responsible. US Congress or PM Netanyahu will not decide the future of Jerusalem stated Arichat. The decision was a "declaration of war" against the Palestinians, a senior PA official said. (MED, ICEJ, SNS) POSSIBLE SYRIAN SURPRISE ATTACK: Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak told the Washington Post the army has information on a possible surprise attack by Syria. 'War is not around the corner, we are not en route to war, but there is different behavior, a different atmosphere and different thinking on the Syrian side with respect to the possibility of war,' Shahak said. 'We cannot, nor need not, ignore this. The Syrians are talking about the possibility of a surprise attack.' Syrian Vice President Abed al-Halim Haddam said Israel has shut the door on peace and there is nothing left to negotiate. 'Israel's aggressive, occupationist policy will never be in Israel's interests and will never bring about the desired peace and stability, only a just, comprehensive peace can bring about security and stability,' he said. Israel's Channel Two television news reports that the Syrian Army recently completed a series of drills preparing it for a possible all-out war against Israel or a limited operation to seize some or all of the Golan Heights. "The Syrian Army has been or is conducting a long series of exercises that are turning it into a very prepared force," the report said. (Yediot Aharonot, ICEJ) A MUSLIM NEW WORLD ORDER'? Turkey's prime minister has accused western nations of double standards and of failing to create what he terms a just world order. The Turkish leader said in a speech Islamic nations should lead the way in establishing justice, human rights, and democracy throughout the world. The prime minister expounded on his vision of a world led by Islamic states, with Turkey at its helm. He was speaking to culture ministers from the so-called Developing Eight group of countries, who were meeting ahead of a weekend summit of their heads of states in Istanbul. The group brings together Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey. (VOA) PEACE TALKS REMAIN STALLED: Special envoy Osama Al-Baz said his consultations are moving in the right direction and will continue. PM Netanyahu expressed similar sentiments. Nevertheless, the chief Palestinian negotiator Erakat said Thursday's meetings merely demonstrated the depth of the current Israeli-Palestinian dispute, mainly over settlements, and that no one should raise their expectations for a quick solution. There was no direct Israeli-Palestinian meeting Thursday, as had been planned. Such a meeting in Cairo Sunday made no apparent progress, and a talked-about Egyptian-Israeli-Palestinian summit has not yet been scheduled. In a related story, despite reports emanating from senior PA sources, the Prime Minister's Office is denying that Netanyahu has agreed to a building freeze on the Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa. According to PA officials, attorney David Molcho agreed to a freeze of construction on Har Homa during meetings with PA officials, on behalf of the Israeli government. Jerusalem Mayor Olmert reported the tractors are continuing to work according to schedule in Har Homa. Coalition members of the National Religious and Tzomet parties stated if the government does order the halt of the controversial project, it will bring about an immediate break-up of the government. Meanwhile, Kol Yisrael reports the US and the European Union (EU) have agreed to give Egypt an additional two weeks in its mediation efforts between Israel and the PA. Miguel Moratinos of the EU said that if no breakthrough is seen at the end of the two-week period, the US would resume its mediation efforts to resolve the crisis in coordination with the EU. This was agreed last week at a meeting between Moratinos and Dennis Ross. Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak has blasted the two-week deadline. (VOA, SNS, MED) ARAB VIOLENCE IN GAZA: A large mob of Arabs burst through a new fence surrounding the Gush Katif (Gaza) community of Morag Thursday morning. They broke down 200 meters (220 yards) of the fence, uprooted trees, and caused damage to greenhouses. The Palestinians claim that the fence was erected within their territory, but the IDF categorically denied this. IDF troops used rubber bullets to distance the rioters, but they continue to crowd around, waving Palestinian flags, 150 meters (165 yards) from the homes in Morag. On Friday, during the late night hours, a firebomb was thrown at IDF soldiers assigned to protect the community. No injuries were reported as a result of the attack. In other violence, Arabs blocked off the main junctions to Gush Katif for more than four hours Thursday afternoon, preventing any entry to, or exit from the Jewish communities there. The disturbance began when the Palestinians refused to allow a planned ceremony to be conducted in memory of the soldier Yehuda Levy; the junction was to be named after Sgt. Levy, who was killed in the line of duty during the Arab-initiated violence of September 1996. They blocked the intersection, and threw rocks at any Jewish car that attempted to drive through it. After a while, they dispersed, but continued to disturb the ceremony by honking and throwing rocks. The Palestinian police did not take any action against the perpetrators, and were even reported to have taken part in the commotion. (Arutz Sheva) SENIOR PA SECURITY OFFICIAL TO STAND TRIAL: PLO leader Arafat has announced that a senior PA security official in the Ram'Allah area will be placed on trial for his part in the murder of one Arab land dealer. Arafat denied that Toufik Tirawi, a senior security official in the PA, has any connection to the murders of three Arab land dealers. Meanwhile, PM Netanyahu decided to follow the advice of senior security officials and ordered the VIP status of Tirawi revoked. This move will severely limit Tirawi's ability to travel from PA autonomous areas to "Israel proper." State Attorney General Professor Elyakim Rubinstein also supported the move. Despite the threats against those who sell properties to Jews, the sales continue. A building known as Beit Micha'el has been acquired within the last few days by the Ateret Cohanim association. The building, in the Moslem Quarter of the Old City, was bought for a "bargain" price of $600,000. Ma'ariv newspaper reports that in the past month, properties have been acquired by Jewish groups in Abu Tor, Beit Tsafafa, Mt. of Olives, and 1.5 dunams near Rachel's Tomb. (SNS, MED, Arutz Sheva) NETANYAHU WILL OPPOSE 'ANTI-MISSIONARY' BILL: In a letter written to an American Christian leader supportive of Israel, Netanyahu wrote on June 3: "It has come to my attention that a bill before the Israeli parliament concerning possession of missionary literature has created a stir among our many Christian friends in the United States . . . The government strenuously objects to this bill and will act to ensure that it does not pass." Netanyahu also explained how the bill had passed its preliminary reading: "With fewer than 30 Knesset members present at the session, the bill succeeded in passing its preliminary reading in the Knesset. But to become law, it must pass three additional readings." Critics of the bill have argued that it is blatantly undemocratic and could lead to state-sponsored religious censorship. The preliminary reading proposed that it be made an offence "to hold, print, copy, distribute or hand out [any kind of literature] in which there is any form of an effort to persuade another to change his religion". Offenders would face a year in jail. (ICEJ) ISRAEL REJECTS UN DEMAND: Israel Saturday rejected a UN demand that it pay $1.7 million in damages for shelling a peacekeeping base in Lebanon last year. David Bar-Illan, a spokesman for PM Benjamin Netanyahu, said the Shi'ite Muslim group Hizb'Allah started the violence near Kana and should be held responsible for its results. "The blame for war casualties lies with those who start the war and there is no question who began the shelling of civilians and who began the hostilities," Bar-Illan told the Associated Press. About 100 people were killed when Israeli artillery struck the UN base, which was packed with civilians who had taken refuge from a bombing blitz aimed at Lebanese guerrillas. Israel says the base was hit by mistake after the Iranian-backed Hizb'Allah nearby fired on Israeli targets. Both Israel and the US have accused guerrillas of taking refuge at the base. Israel and the US voted against the non-binding resolution, which the UN General Assembly approved 66-2 Friday with 59 abstentions. (Kol Yisrael, SNS) FAMILY AND CHILDREN STOPPED BY PALESTINIANS: Soldiers at the Gross Square stopped a suspicious-looking Arab walking in the area of the Avraham Avinu neighborhood Sunday. They took his identity card in order to perform a security check and told the man to wait. As a result, Arabs in the area decided to then prevent Jews from reaching the middle of the city by stopping them on the road, in the H1- Arafat controlled part of Hevron. Jews are forced to travel in this area because the street in Jewish controlled Hevron has been closed since the middle of March, due to road construction. Armed Arabs, some of whom were in uniform, and others not, stopped a GMC van, full of children, and a family automobile, on the road. They were held there for about 20 minutes. Finally, when the soldiers at Gross Square released the Arab whom they had held, the roadblock was opened and the vehicles were allowed to continue. In another incident, Fatah activists pelted the Jewish neighborhood near Beit Hadassah again Saturday with rocks and firebombs. Starting at about 11:30 in the morning, and lasting all afternoon, rocks were thrown from behind the 12 meter fence built to prevent such attacks and also from behind Beit Shneerson. Rocks reached the army outpost in front of Beit Hadassah, and also hit the building. Soldiers reacted by shooting into the Arab mob. However, they were given orders not to apprehend any of the attackers. The rioters said they were angered by a US congressional resolution recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital. (Hevron Press Office, AP, VOA) IDF PREPARING FOR ALL EVENTUALITIES: The local Jerusalem weekly Kol Ha'Ir reports that the IDF has recently executed exercises in preparation for a re-takeover of the cities in Judea and Samaria. The emergency plan, called Operation Thorn Field', is in case of a renewal of hostilities such as those that occurred last September. (Arutz Sheva) ARAFAT PRAISES HAMAS: Arafat has words of praise for Hamas. A reporter for the Russian newspaper Novoya Vremya asked him whether he feels that Hamas is a terrorist organization. Arafat answered, "Hamas, even its military wing, is a patriotic movement." In answer to another question, the PA chairman said that the Palestinians may very well return to an armed struggle against Israel. On the other hand, there are signs that the PA is becoming increasingly worried about the growing power of Hamas, and its growing relationship with Jordan. Elements within the PA feel that a Hamas leadership is being reassembled in Jordan, centered around Abu Marzuq, who was recently deported from the US to Jordan. In a memorandum to Arafat, Muhammad Dahlan, PA security chief in Gaza, has warned that Hamas is attempting to gain control of municipalities and other institutions within the autonomy, in anticipation of a crisis as the final settlement stage draws near. (Arutz Sheva) STING, SINEAD TO PERFORM FOR PALESTINIAN CAUSE: British musician Sting and Irish singer Sinead O'Connor will perform at a concert in Jerusalem on June 21, to promote a project calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. The concert is to benefit the "Sharing Jerusalem" project, whose slogan is "two capitals for two states." The concert will be funded by the Ford Foundation, the Danish Embassy and the Spanish, Belgian, French and Swedish consulates. (ICEJ) JERUSALEM CHURCH LEADER PRAISES IRANIAN SUPPORT: Greek Catholic Archbishop Hilarion Capucci of Jerusalem held talks recently with Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati on the question of Jerusalem and "Palestine." Tehran IRIB Television reported that Capucci told the Iranian that "the Muslim people of Iran are revolutionary standard-bearers of humanitarian and moral values." Referring to the fact the late Ayatollah Khomeini "used to attach importance to unity as a source of glory for followers of divine religions", Capucci said the Iranians supported "the just struggle of the Palestinian people." "From the beginning we knew that the Zionists' peace process was nothing but a mirage and that they planned to deceive Arab countries," the archbishop said. Capucci, a longtime supporter of the PLO, was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment by Israel for smuggling weapons for the PLO in his church-registered vehicle in 1974. After serving just a third of the sentence, he was freed following strong pressure from the Vatican. (ICEJ) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FYI - Israel In The News "For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not keep quiet" Isaiah 62:1 'F.Y.I.' may be reproduced & distributed in any form. Please give proper credit. Send comments and subscription requests to Lee Underwood at: fellowship@inet-images.com Web site: http://www.inet-images.com/fellowship/fyi.htm