Weekly Prophecy Review

Religious news from around the world...

• France has ruled Jehovah's Witness is not a religion—meaning it now owes the government $50 million in back taxes. The tax decision was made following an audit of donations.

• The Chinese government estimates there are 10 million Christians within the country. Unofficial estimates are much higher—12 million Protestants and an equal number of Catholics.

• A religious broadcaster from North Carolina, Trans-World Radio, has teamed up with an indigenous group in India, Vishwa Vini, to spread the gospel in that country. Thirteen hours of religious programming in 41 languages is broadcast daily into India. As a result, the radio station receives 70,000 letters a month. These letters are then followed up by workers from Vishwa Vini. The partnership has led to the formation of 355 new churches since 1993.

• A U.S. F-16 fighter fired on an Iraqi missile site after detecting the site's radar had "locked onto" British planes patrolling the no-fly zone.

• At least 25 members of an underground church in Saudi Arabia are being held by religious police. Of immediate concern is that torture is routinely used in order to extract the names of other church members.

• St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Lachine, Quebec is refusing to fire its pastor, even though he is homosexual. The 90 member congregation has defied the Presbyterian Church of Canada which has ordered his dismissal, and now it risks expulsion from that organization. The congregation claims their pastor's homosexuality "does not affect his ability to minister."

News concerning Israel...

• As the U.N. Security Council prepares to debate the plan to expand Jerusalem's municipal borders westward, 50 nations have registered to participate in the discussions.

• Nevertheless, at a recent gathering Prime Minister Netanyahu declared building in and around Jerusalem will continue. When some in crowd began to chant, "Death to the Arabs," Netanyahu objected, declaring that building for Arabs will continue too. "The expansion of the city is for all her citizens, Jews and Arabs alike."

• Israel has purchased three submarines capable of carrying nuclear weapons. Their purpose is to insure that no aggressor can destroy Israel's nuclear ability.

• Authorities in Afghanistan recently refused a consignment of Israeli aid for earthquake victims—simply because it was from Israel.

• This week the official Palestinian Authority newspaper published an article denying the Holocaust. The article stated, "The atrocities of the Holocaust are an invention of the Jews, designed to create sympathy for them."

News that might actually have something to do with prophecy...

Stand-Off in Gaza

This week in the Gaza Strip we saw a tense stand-off between the Palestinian Authority and the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces). As part of the Oslo Agreement, certain roads leading to isolated Jewish enclaves in the Gaza Strip were designated as off-limits to Palestinian vehicles. So, when a PA official sought to lead a convoy of 22 vehicles onto one of those roads, the IDF refused him access. Hundreds of Palestinian cars were then called in to blockade the entire road, thus shutting off access to the Jewish town of Gush Katif. A day later, the IDF gave in to the Palestinians and allowed the convoy to pass through on the "Israeli-only" road.

According to Arutz-7 correspondent Haggai Huberman the Arab trucks, which set out from Rafaich (a city in Gaza), were bound for no place other than Rafaich. In other words, their only purpose was to provoke an incident. Prime Minister Netanyahu rightly denounced the event as a blatant and premeditated violation of the Oslo accords.

Understandably, he and others in the Israeli government see this incident as a precursor of things to come. According to Transportation Minister, Shaul Yahalom, "The events in Gush Katif serve as a general rehearsal of what is likely to take place in Judea and Samaria if the second withdrawal is actually carried out." It should be noted that under the planned second-stage withdrawal an additional 56 Jewish settlements will be wholly dependent on supposedly "Israeli-only" access roads.

We have no doubt that the Clinton Administration will ignore the significance of this incident. The Israelis, however, will not. This may be the very issue which strengthens their resolve to resist American pressure for a second withdrawal—an event which would turn scores of helpless Jewish settlements over to the "watch care" of the Palestinians.

Pray that Clinton and Albright do not prevail in this matter, for if they do—it is just a matter of time before American hands will be stained with the blood of these abandoned Jewish settlers. And though Clinton may be out of office when it happens, God will still hold this nation accountable.

"Egypt will become a waste, and Edom [read Palestinians] will become a desolate wilderness, because of the violence done to the sons of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood. But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem for all generations. And I will avenge their blood which I have not avenged, for the Lord dwells in Zion" (Joel 3:19-21).

Till He Returns...