Since the Jews do not believe that Jesus Christ is the `Messiah', they obviously will not accept the New Testament as the Word of God. They will only have the Old Testament to guide them concerning endtime events. Thus, God reveals to the Jews in the book of Daniel when the endtime will begin.
And he said, "Look, I am making known to you what shall happen in the
latter time of the indignation; for at the appointed time the end shall be."
Dan 8:11
"........ for the end will still be at the appointed time."
Dan 11:2
"...... until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time." Dan 11:35b
The appointed time is the beginning of the period of the end time, thus Daniel 11 verse 29 onwards are events in the end time. The king of the north refers to Iraq.
In Daniel 11, God warned them the the end time will start after Iraq (king of the north) attacked its southern neighbour, but ship of the Western nations (Kittim) will help to defeat Iraq.
At the appointed time he (king of the north) will return and come into the South, but this last time it will not turn out the way it did before. For ships of Kittim will come against him; therefore he will be disheartened, and will return and become enraged at the holy covenant and take action;...." Dan 11:29-30a (NAS)
Iraq was having wars with the king of the South for thousands of years. Either he wins, loses or makes peace. But in the last days, when Iraq comes against the nations in the South it will turn out to be different. For ships from the Western land or nations (Kittim in Hebrew) will attack him and he will be forced to retreat. He will then hate and attack the people who belongs to the holy covenant (Christians).
In 1991 AD, because of the refusal of Iraq to withdraw, the West attacked in the war code-named `Desert Storm'. The continuous bombing of Iraq from the American warships and carriers (Ships from the Western nations) based in the Gulf of Arabia destroyed the majority of its weaponry and army. Though the war was one sided, Saddam Hussein resisted and called on `Jihad’ (making it a religious war) and Muslims (making it a holy war) to fight the Americans and the West. Many Iraqis died (with hardly any loss in the camp of the West) and the rest of the Muslim world mourned the killing by the West. Overnight, Saddam Hussein became the `hero’ of the Muslim world. Iraq surrendered and since then it came under UN sanction and supervision. Thus, it is deprived from ever becoming a strong and rich nation again. With Saddam Hussein's continuous verbal attack of the West, the Americans put forth a big budget to remove Saddam Hussein from power or to have him assassinated. So far, they have failed.
This war is significant to Israel because it was also attacked by Iraq using ballistic missiles.
With this incident in 1991 AD, God hoped that Israel were warned that the end time is near. Unfortunately, Israel was blind and in Sept. 1993 AD signed the PLO-Israel Peace Accord giving away the promised land (West Bank and Gaza strip) God gave them as an eternal inheritance. God will allow the coming destruction of Jerusalem and Israel in the following verses Dan11:31,41.
Our Lord Jesus answered His disciple's question of when the end time will begin.
"Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near- at the doors!" Matt 24:32-33
Our Lord Jesus reveals to us the end-time mystery. Israel has to be established again as a nation (fig tree alive - formed in 1948 AD) and while it is still a young nation (tender branch) it will give us the sign (puts forth leaves - sign of great Unbelief) that the maturing, persevering, testing, affliction, purification, endurance and harvesting time (summer) is near. When you see that the above prophecies come to pass (see all these things), then you will know that the End-time events - the 7 Seals (Rev 6) has begun ( at the doors).
This sign was seen on the 13/9/93 when Israel signed the Peace Treaty with the PLO. The area presently occupied by Israel and also other lands were given to Israel by God in His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel). Because of the tremendous pressure by USA, Europe, U.N. and other nations, the Israelites have ceded the Land God gave them to the Palestinians out of the fear of man.
{Note- the Land ceded was Jericho {the first (Alpha) part of the Promised Land the Israelites conquered by the miraculous display of God's power - the walls of Jericho} and the Gaza strip {the land of the Philistines (Jos 13:3) and the giants - Goliath; and the last (Omega) part of the Promised Land to be conquered and only during King David's time}.
God told the Israelites not to fear but to be courageous and to have faith in Him to see His mighty deliverance. As a result of Israel's Unbelief (Peace Treaty), once again the wrath of God will be upon the Israelites (killing and scattering them abroad) and Jerusalem, which will be destroyed by the antichrist. (Luke 21:24)
1st Seal. Since 1993 AD, when the 1st. Seal was opened, there were the great zeal of Christians involved in many activities which are not biblical or the will of God. These were based on the wrong teachings of false christs.
2nd. Seal In 1994 AD, almost 1 million souls were killed within a short period of a few months. These were in various parts of Africa and Europe.
3rd. Seal In mid 1997 AD, the great economic crisis started from the East and has affected all nations worldwide. However, only Israel and the godly Christian nations (excluding the idol-worshipping Catholic nations) recovered almost immediately and proceeded to become richer and richer with the stock markets reaching record high. The rest of the world are still licking the wounds of great recession and the collapse of their stock markets and financial institutions. They have suddenly become very poor. Up to the end of 2000 AD, the situation remains the same with difficult years ahead.
The fulfillment of `Operation Desert Storm' in Prophecy
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Start of the Endtime Events (Index) |
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The Seven Seals |
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The Mysteries of the Horses |
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| The 1st Seal | Site 3 |
| The 3rd. Seal | Site 4 |
| The 4th Seal (Period of Sorrows) | Site 5 |
| The 5th Seal (The Great Tribulation) | Site 6 |
| The 6th Seal (The Rapture) | Site 7 |
| The 7th Seal (Wrath of Satan) | Site 8 |