Weekly Prophecy Review

News from around the world...

• The Iraqi Parliament decided to halt all U.N. supervisory inspections in their country. The Iraqi government feels President Clinton's domestic troubles make this an opportune time for such a decision. This action comes in the wake of the resignation of a U.N. inspector who charged the U.S. is now unwilling to confront Iraq over biological and chemical weapons violations.

• The Florida Department of Revenue has recanted and will now exempt a coming Billy Graham Crusade from taxation.

• All 50 of the Christians on the island nation of Maldives are reportedly in prison. They are being held in small cells and are being forced to read the Koran and recite daily Islamic prayers.

• According to Voices of the Martyrs, Christians in Laos are being tortured into revealing who is giving them Bibles. "Investigators" are said to pour boiling water down the throats of believers who refuse to reveal the names of the couriers delivering them Bibles.

• Iran has amassed 70,000 troops on its eastern border and is threatening to invade Afghanistan.

• According to missions researchers, Christianity is growing three times faster than the world's population. Almost all of that growth is attributed to evangelical Protestants.

• The U.S. Senate came within 3 votes of overriding President Clinton's veto of partial-birth abortions. Will they not go astray who devise evil? Proverbs 14:22. May the Lord deal with those craven Senators who refused to undo this evil in the land.

News from Israel...

• Speaking at a convention of the Arab League, Yassar Arafat called on the Arab nations to support his plan to declare statehood on May 4, 1999. He also called on the U.S. to exert more pressure on the Israelis.

• U.S. mediator, Dennis Ross, left Israel this week after failing to achieve any breakthrough which might serve to divert attention from President Clinton's domestic troubles.

• September 17th marked the twentieth anniversary of the Camp David Accords, which brought about peace between Israel and Egypt. One of the provisions of the treaty was that the two parties would refrain from hostile propaganda against each other. But despite two decades of peace, anti- Semitic themes still dominate official Egyptian media. These themes include, denial of the Holocaust, comparison of the Israelis with the Nazis, as well as "traditional libels."

• An Arrow anti-missile rocket was launched this week. In a test, it was successful in knocking down a simulated incoming missile. Sources say the missile system should be fully operational by the middle of next year.

• For the first time, an Israeli government official (though only the Deputy Education Minister) has given his blessing for an event which called for the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple. At the event, a new video presenting a Temple service was screened. Also a model showing what the new Temple might look like was on display.

• Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream International has caved in to Arab pressure and will no longer purchase water from an Israeli company in the Golan Heights. Various Arab groups bombarded the company with e-mail form letters charging that Israel is "notorious for expropriating water resources." More to the point, they threatened to boycott Ben and Jerry's ice cream products.

• The first legal casino opened in the Palestinian city of Jericho. Interestingly, the casino welcomes Israelis and tourists, but bars local Palestinians. It is jointly owned by Austrian and Palestinian businessmen.

• Israel cannot be rejoicing over the appointment of Yevgeney Primakov as Russia's new prime minster. The New York Post reports Primakov's last achievement in the Middle East was when he "cunningly engineered the salvation of his personal friend, Saddam Hussein, from joint U.S.—British military sanctions to force him to dismantle his chemical and biological arsenals." Primakov, who speaks Arabic fluently, is thought to be Moscow's best hope for regaining superpower status in the Arab world.

Feature Story

Rosh Hashana begins Sunday evening

According to Jewish Tradition, man was created on this day 5,759 years ago. That tradition further teaches that the blowing of the shofar (ram's horn) on Rosh Hashana is designed to prompt people to repent of their evil deeds. Some Jews still practice what is known as tashlich, wherein they walk to a nearby body of flowing water and empty their pockets of lint into it, symbolizing the casting off of their sins. Coincidentally, on Rosh Hashana the House Judicial Committee will release much of the evidence (surely the equivalent of sinful "lint") from the Clinton-Lewinski scandal into the news media.

In addition to celebrating the new (civil, not religious) year, Rosh Hashana ushers in a period of ten days of awe, culminating in Yom Kippur. To ancient Israelites, it was known as the Feast Day of Trumpets. Throughout the nation, regardless of which tribe a person belonged to, the Feast Day of Trumpets was a call to come to the Sanctuary of the Lord for the Solemn Day of Atonement.

Christian Prophecy students have not overlooked the fact that numerous significant events in the church's history occurred on Jewish Feast days. Moreover, many believe the next major "church event"—the rapture—will also occur on just such a feast day, i.e., the Feast of Trumpets. Apparently, 1998 isn't the year.

Till He returns...