Special Report: Reason Five: The Developing Global Religion

Special Report: Reason Five: The Developing Global Religion
Vol: 13 Issue: 31 Thursday, October 31, 2002

Religion is a hot topic in the news these days. We are in a state of war with al-Qaeda. When three thousand Americans are murdered by people who believe they are doing God’s will, it should be cause to put that religion under a microscope.

But something curious happened instead. Rather than putting Islam under the microscope, we elected to lump Islamic killers into a larger religious group called ‘fundamentalists.’

In order for the Politically Correct to make that stick, it was necessary to conclude that Islam is really a peaceful religion hijacked by a few Islamic fundamentalists.

It doesn’t take too much time to break down this little bit of doublespeak into its component elements.

A religious ‘fundamentalist’ is one who follows the fundamentals of a religion. If the fundamentals of Islam were peace, then Islamic fundamentalists would be peaceful and violent killer Islamists would be an aberration. That is as plain as the nose on Arafat’s face.

It is also worthy of note that a ‘religious fundmamentalist’ and a ‘religious extremist’ both describe the same thing.

To the dictionary, an “extremist” is ‘one who advocates or resorts to measures beyond the norm’, whereas a “fundamentalist” is ‘usually a religious movement or point of view characterized by a return to fundamental principles, by rigid adherence to those principles, and often by intolerance of other views and opposition to secularism.”

Clearly, by definition, ‘fundamentalism’ and ‘extremism’ are polar opposites, not synonyms. All this double-speak works in the public mind, however, because it is about religion.

An Islamic fundamentalist is one who practices the fundamentals of Islam by rigidly adhering to its principles. An Islamic extremist is one who advocates or resorts to abnormal measures.

Since both describe the 9/11 terrorists, why is the emphasis on ‘fundamentalist’ and ‘extremist’ instead of being on “Islamic?’

Now THAT’S an example of a fundamental question.

Similarly, there are Christian fundamentalists. They are those who rigidly adhere to Biblical principles, are intolerant of any suggestion there is a way to heaven apart from Jesus, and are opposed to secularism, like removing the Bible from public property and removing references to God from the Pledge of Allegiance.

And there are Christian extremists. Like those who blow up abortion clinics to stop the murder of unborn babies or shoot abortionists so they can’t abort any more babies.

The polar opposite of a fundamentalist whose adherence to Biblical New Testament principles tells him that judgement against abortionists will be meted out by God, not by the Church.

Note we have two examples of extremism. The kind that can find fundamental religious justification for indiscriminate murder in the name of advancing Islam.

And the kind that can find fundamental religious justification in committing targeted murder in the name of ending the murder of the unborn.

Both are extreme positions.

But the kind of looney-toons that would kill for Christ and think they are following Him makes up a tiny, tiny number that clearly have missed the point of salvation.

And if you were to put them all in one place, it would occupy part of a small-town police department’s day to round them all up.

There are enough Islamic extremists for us to have a war with.

Christian fundamentals teach us to love God above all things and love our neighbor as we do ourselves.

Since the worst place anybody can end up is hell, the most loving thing for a Christian to do is to help them avoid ending up there. To most of the world, that is ‘hate speech’ and is even so defined in some countries, including Canada.

Islamic fundamentals teach that anyone who refuses to convert to Islam is less than a full person, a ‘dhimmi’ who is without rights and can be persecuted or killed as necessary.

I say all that to say this. The war against Islam continues to morph into a war against religious fundamentalism. Any religious fundamentalism; Islamic, Christian, Jewish, Sihk– it doesn’t matter.

The Bible speaks of the false prophet of Revelation 13 seizing control of the world’s religious systems, making them all one religion ‘with two horns like a lamb’ but that ‘spake as a dragon’.

Such a religious system could have no room for fundamentalism, since, to be global, it must be all-inclusive.

It couldn’t teach that the only way to heaven is by martyrdom in jihad; neither could it teach that the only way to heaven is the way Jesus said it was.

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

Under the supervision of the false prophet, John says, “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.”

Clearly, these are the Christian ‘fundamentalists’ of the Tribulation period.

We are engaged in a global war against Islamic fundamentalism at the expense of ignoring the fundamentals of the Islamic religion that spawned it.

Since this makes absolutely NO sense of any kind in the natural, the only explanation is supernatural. When looked at from the Apostle John’s perspective, it makes perfect sense.

Exactly what the final form of the global religion will be is unclear, apart from it being a counterfeit Christianity (two horns like a lamb) but will preach the all-inclusive siren song of the Dragon (Satan). There can be no room for fundamentalism of any stripe in the global, all-inclusive religious system of the last days.

Whatever its final form will be, one thing is clear.

The Bible says anybody who won’t join it, worship its leader and take his mark will be declared an enemy of the state, unable to buy or sell and subject to being put to death.

The war on fundamentalism and the developing anti-fundamentalist, all inclusive religious worldview constitute Reason Five in the Omega Letter Intelligence Digest series, “Six Reasons Why We Believe These Are the Last Days.”

Special Report: Reason Four – The Global Economy

Special Report: Reason Four – The Global Economy
Vol: 13 Issue: 30 Wednesday, October 30, 2002

In medieval times, there were no banks where peasants could safely store their small amounts of gold and silver. It became the practice to store that hard money at the local metalsmith/jeweller who had a secure safe.

The jeweller would issue paper receipts, which could conveniently be exchanged instead of hard money for small transactions. Hence, the term ‘good as gold’.

The jeweller noticed that he usually had on hand more gold at any given time than he needed to meet withdrawal demands. He began to issue extra receipts, which he loaned out at interest.

As long as everybody didn’t show up at the same time, the theft went unnoticed as the jeweller lent out money he didn’t have and collected real wealth in the form of interest in return.

Over the years, the practice evolved into what is today the fractional banking system.

The fractional reserve system is the discounting system employed by national central banks. It is also a massive fraud. I’m not here to debate the rightness or wrongness of it or to tilt at windmills. I’ll just briefly outline the facts.

The Federal Reserve system is neither ‘federal’ or a ‘reserve’. It is an internationally held private banking consortium. All banks in the Federal Reserve System become Federal Reserve banks by buying Federal Reserve stock.

The largest concentrations of stocks are held by five major US banks who are in turn owned by the international money trust.

Attempts to seize control of the US central bank of issue by the European Money Trust resulted in the US Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Banking Panic of 1837, the US Civil War, and the banking panics of the 1890’s and 1906.

(This is incredibly interesting stuff, but it is really detailed. Space doesn’t allow for a full explanation, but I will put together a much expanded version in a later Omega Letter report. For now, I have to hit the high points in order to connect the dots to Scripture for the purposes of this series.)

The seizure of control was accomplished by the 1913 passage of the Federal Reserve Act, written by a German immigrant named Paul Warburg. Warburg was the Fed’s first governor, from 1913 to 1918.

Paul’s brother was Max Warburg, head of the German Secret Service. A partner in their joint banking firm was the head of British intelligence. When the war ended, all three met again in Paris to hammer out war reparations against Germany. The bank selected to handle the transfer of wealth from Germany was the neutral Swiss Bank of International Settlements, headed by brother Fritz Warburg.

Warburg, Kuhn and Loeb are major stockholders in the Fed, and many of the names of European banking aristocracy control major stock control via proxy through offspring US banks.

The Federal Reserve system removed the US from a barter system to a debit system. A barter system was one in which currency was backed by gold. For every dollar issued, there was a dollar’s worth of gold in the treasury. (Remember the jeweller?).

In the debit system, the Fed issues fiat dollars to control the economy, but each one is worth fractionally less, since it is just a case of cutting smaller slices from the pie.

That is what creates inflation. The Fed controls inflation by either cutting back or increasing the supply of dollars.

But it is still theft, albeit legal. In 1914, a good suit cost a $20 gold piece. Today, the same suit costs $500 — or the same $20 gold piece.

Since there is no wealth backing today’s money, there is no need to actually issue currency. Paper currency is a temporary measure to create the illusion of wealth. Now that everybody knows the truth but apparently nobody cares, the illusion is unnecessary.

(How much cash do YOU carry compared to your use of debit and credit cards? Me too. It’s convenient, isn’t it?)

Here are a few numbers to crunch. There is about $48 billion worth of gold in the US Treasury.

The US Gross Domestic Product is about $3 trillion. The US national debt is around $6 trillion.

So? Let’s turn those billions and trillions into something easier to understand. A million seconds equals twelve days. A billion seconds equals thirty-two years. ($48 billion in gold, remember)

A trillion seconds equals THIRTY-TWO THOUSAND YEARS! The US national debt is $6 trillion!

That kind of impossible debt is what makes the most powerful man in the United States the Chairman of the Fed, not the President. When the Fed says jump, EVERYBODY from the president of the US to the president of the local branch bank asks, “how high?” The Fed Chairman can tank the market with a word, and tank the whole economy with the stroke of his banker’s pen.

President George Herbert Walker Bush still blames Greenspan for his loss to Bill Clinton in 1992, claiming Greenspan created a temporary artificial recession in the months leading up to the election.

All the world’s central banks are centralized again as members of the UN’s central banking scheme via the IMF and World Bank systems.

The central banking scheme is part of a larger global system that came into being under the UN General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) signed in 1948. The GATT agreement eventually became today’s World Trade Organization (WTO)

I hope you are following all of this. I had to skip over a lot to make to this point without having to do a series just on this single topic. Here is where we connect the dots.

The truly global economy was born simultaneously with the Computer Age that made it possible. The Computer Age officially began with the invention of the transistor by Bell Labs in 1948. There were computers before that, but before the transistor, they weren’t reliable enough to be practical.

The centralization and integration of the US economy was replayed throughout the industrialized world. Cash is a global anachronism. The only logical next step is electronic money.

Last week, the idea of an ‘electronic wallet’ was advanced that much further with the approval of the Digital Angel e-chip for human implantation.

Two thousand years ago, John recorded the antichrist’s principle method of maintaining control of his government.

“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. (Revelation 13:16-17)

It was never possible in any generation in history. Until this one. And, from our vantage point at this moment in history, it seems like the next logical step.

The existence of a manipulated, centralized truly global economic system at this time in history is Reason Four in the Omega Letter Intelligence Digest series, “Six Reasons Why We Believe These Are the Last Days.”

Special Report: Reason Three – The Developing Global Government

Special Report: Reason Three – The Developing Global Government
Vol: 13 Issue: 29 Tuesday, October 29, 2002

The battle at the UN over whether or not the United States has the right to preemptive self-defense underscores the global perception there is a need for a supra-national government to oversee national affairs.

Probably the last body anybody would have guessed would immediately bow the knee to the United Nations would be the United States House of Representatives, but to listen to them, that is where the real power to make war is vested — not in the Congress, but at the United Nations.

The power to make war is often what is referred to as the ‘Divine right of kings’ — since war is something that occurs between two sovereign rulers.

The entire world is abrogating that right over to the center. No matter how that is spun, the net effect is that of ceding sovereignty to the UN.

How can America be sovereign while subordinate to the UN when it comes to national security?

Instead, we have something called ‘collective sovereignty’, as Kofi Annan explained in a recent speech, saying the “UN was chartered to prevent another global war”, and that its founders recognized that, “agreeing to exercise sovereignty together, they could gain a hold over problems that would defeat any one of them acting separately”. (Kofi Annan to the UN, Sept 11, 2002)

Clearly, sovereign authority rests with the United Nations in 2002. The objections raised by the French, Russians, Chinese, the EU — all are rooted in the basic principle that no action can be taken without UN authorization.

There is no need to prove either the need for or the existence of a global government. It just isn’t a very good one.

The UN’s days are numbered — that much is evident. If it can’t control Iraq, how can it lay claim to any genuine global authority?

But it was designed as a global government and has created a massive infrastructure of global institutions like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization and a massive interdependent infrastructure of NGO’s [Non-Governmental Organizations].

They can’t simply vanish. The ensuing global chaos would be catastrophic.

While the UN’s days are numbered, the days of global government are not.

There are three pillars upon which the Bible says the antichrist will build his global government. Revelation Chapter 13 describes his absolute control over a global government, a global religious system and a global economy.

“And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.” [Revelation 13:7]

The global government foretold by Scripture will stand in opposition to Israel, in particular over the question of the final status of Jerusalem.

“And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. ” [Zechariah 12:3]

The existing global government stands in opposition to Israel over the final status of Jerusalem.

The global government foretold by Scripture “opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped.” (2Thessalonians 2:4)

The existing global government’s default position on any issue involving either the United States or Israel is one of opposition.

The US and Israel are also the only two states on earth founded under the authority of Scripture. Israel is the seat of Judaism and America is the seat of Western Christian culture. The phrase ‘US-Zionist imperialism’ is not uncommon language in UN speeches or in UN resolutions.

The Bible makes it clear that the final form of global government will not be headquartered out of UN headquarters in New York. It will be headquartered out of the revived Roman Empire. (See Reason Two – ‘The Revived Roman Empire’ Vol: 13 Issue: 28)

As this generation begins to draw to a close, having created the need for a global government and developed the necessary infrastructure, the UN is on the verge of dissolution.

Add to that the convenient revival of the old Roman Empire, the EU’s lust for global power, and the fact it already operates according to a political template that has already absorbed nearly 25 countries and you have a picture entirely in harmony with the prophecies of Scripture for the last days.

The Bible said such a system would exist in a single generation, somewhere in time. At the same time as all the other single generation events, like the restoration of Israel, the revival of the Roman Empire, and the developing global religous system we’ll discuss in the next installment of this series.

When you sit down and consider the odds, it isn’t hard to see why the developing global government is Reason Three in the Omega Letter Intelligence Digest series, “Six Reasons Why We Believe These Are the Last Days.”

Special Report: Reason Two – The Revived Roman Empire

Special Report: Reason Two – The Revived Roman Empire
Vol: 13 Issue: 28 Monday, October 28, 2002

The prophet Daniel was roused from his bed at the command of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Summoned before the king, Daniel was commanded to interpret a dream that troubled the monarch.

Daniel was given a two-fold task; before he could interpret the king’s dream, he first had to tell him what it was. Nebuchadnezzar forgot the details — he just knew it bothered him.

“But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;” (Dan 2:28)

Daniel began by telling the king what the dream was, and that his dream was to be a vision of the ‘latter days’. “As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.” (Dan 2:29)

“Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.” (Daniel 2:31-33)

Daniel himself interpreted the vision as four successive world kingdoms. Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon was the head of gold. History proved the chest and arms of silver to be the Medo-Persian empire, the belly and thighs of brass was the Greek empire of Alexander the Great and the two legs of iron became Rome.

Daniel’s explanation of the successive empires specified how each would be overthrown and by whom, except for Rome. Daniel says that empire gives way to the empire represented by the feet and toes of the image. The Roman Empire grew too large to manage and was split into the Western and Eastern empires. The west was governed from Rome, the east from Constantinople. When the political empires collapsed, the spiritual empires of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Catholic Churches remained.

“And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.” Daniel 2:42

The ‘iron mixed with miry clay’ reference is interesting. Partly strong and partly weak. “And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.” (Daniel 2:43)

In the late 19th century, Otto Von Bismarck noted the change that was coming over the global power structure. “We live in a wondrous time in which the strong is weak because of his moral scruples and the weak grows strong because of his audacity.”

Those ‘moral scruples’ of which von Bismarck spoke were the principles of democracy that were beginning to take hold in Europe. The days of kings wielding absolute power were gone — war became too dangerous a practice to engage in frivolously.

The two wars that scarred the first half of the 20th century were the result of efforts to unite Europe by force.

The 1948 Benelux Treaty resulted in the establishment of the Western European Union (WEU). With the signing in Brussels of the Treaty of Mutual Assistance of the Western Union (United Kingdom, Benelux, France) Europe began to come together in the name of peace, not conquest. The 1948 Benelux Treaty led to the 1949 creation of the Council of Europe which in it’s turn led to the expansion of the Belelux Treaty under the terms of the 1957 Treaty of Rome which led to the Western European Union.

Eventually, the Western European Union grew to ten nations. The Maastricht Treaty in 1993 created the European Union. The EU grew out of the original ten members of the Western European Union as associate members.

The original ten became known as Assembly of the Western European Union. Here’s a thumbnail sketch of WEU history from their website.

“On the initiative of the Belgian and French Governments, a preliminary joint meeting of the Foreign and Defence Ministers within the WEU framework was held in Rome on 26 and 27 October 1984. It was marked by the adoption of the founding text of WEU s reactivation: the “Rome Declaration”. Work on the definition of a European security identity and the gradual harmonisation of its members defence policies were among the stated objectives. Ministers recognised the “continuing necessity to strengthen western security, and that better utilization of WEU would not only contribute to the security of Western Europe but also to an improvement in the common defence of all the countries of the Atlantic Alliance”.

“The Rome Declaration reaffirmed that the WEU Council could pursuant to Article VIII (3) of the modified Brussels Treaty consider the implications for Europe of crises in other regions of the world.”

“Pursuant to the decisions taken in Rome, the WEU Council was henceforth to hold two meetings a year at Ministerial level, in which Foreign and Defence Ministers were to sit at the same conference table.” (http://www.weu.int/)

So we have the military arm of Europe — the real power — resting with the ten nation WEU, under the authority of the Rome Declaration.

Daniel says that the ten toes of iron and clay form the nucleus of the government of the antichrist. The antichrist is the ‘prince’ of Daniel 9:26. “…and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. . .” The ‘city’ [Jerusalem] and ‘sanctuary’ [Temple] were destroyed by Titus of Rome in AD 70 – hence the identification of the antichrist as a ‘prince’ or ruler of a revived Roman Empire.

Daniel 8:25 reveals the antichrist’s method saying, “by peace [he] shall destroy many”. This revived Roman empire that now covers all of Europe came into being by peaceful means after centuries of war aimed at accomplishing the same thing.

The revival of Europe as a global empire is Reason Two in the Omega Letter Intelligence Digest series, “Six Reasons Why We Believe These Are the Last Days.”

Special Report: Reason One – Israel

Special Report: Reason One – Israel
Vol: 13 Issue: 27 Sunday, October 27, 2002

Special Report: Reason One – Israel

One of the most clear and undeniable signs of the last days is the restoration of Israel. It is an event unique in the annals of human history. The Jewish culture, unlike other cultures of antiquity, was never absorbed by its many conquerors. Even after being divided, scattered across the centuries and throughout the world, without land or flag, the Jewish nation survived.

Think this through for a second. Broken into small groups, many unaware of the other’s existence, the Jews survived, culture, religion, unique dietary laws, customs and traditions intact. Thousands of years. Hundreds of countries.

Despite the best efforts of the rest of the world to bring about their destruction through periodic massacres, forced conversions and pogram after pogram, the Jew survived. After having been scattered for two thousand years, today Israel is home to Jews from every country, speaking 86 languages.

In each adopted language, they heard the story of the Exodus. In each host country, sometimes at risk of death, they kept the Passover. When they all came home to the Promised Land, they found other Jews, telling the story of the Exodus, each in their own language. And it was the same story.

They were the same people.

Israel launched ‘Operation Solomon’ in 1991. It was the massive, one-day airlift of the remaining 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel in the midst of the Ethiopian Civil War.

“From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering. In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain.” (Zephaniah 3:10-11)

One can search the annals of history in vain for another people like the Jews. No other people of antiquity have survived into modern times under such circumstances. There are no Amalekites, Jebusites or Caananites. They may have descendants, but they are not a people.

Many Jews can trace their ancestry back to the time of Herod’s Temple.

The history of the Jews was written in advance, including their return to the land of Promise in the last generation.

“And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you. And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, [even] in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; (For the LORD thy God [is] a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.” (Deuteronomy 4:27-28,30-31)

As Moses predicted, the Jews were scattered and persecuted, but, in the ‘latter days’ have been restored for the express purpose of accomplishing their national redemption. (Daniel 9:26).

Isaiah predicted; “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.” (Isaiah 11:11)

“For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.” Jeremiah 30:3

“For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and [for] my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.” Joel 3:1-2

“In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:” Amos 9:11

It seems pretty clear that Israel’s history was carefully planned according to a particular purpose. Don’t miss out on the wonder of it all. Take a second and think it through. Don’t miss this.

Foretelling the future of an entire nation is more than a good guess. Every single person in every single generation has to cooperate exactly, from Abraham forward.

If Moses’ mother had not put him in a basket, there’d be no Exodus. So Moses’ great grandparents could have only married each other.

And what if Habbakkuk’s great-great-great-grandfather decided to be a bachelor? Every single individual choice throughout history — ancient and modern — had to be the exact right choice for the future to work out according to prophecy.

What if David ben-Gurion had been murdered during WWII or if Abba Eban had decided to remain in the British Army, or if Golda Meir had stayed in Chicago, modern Israel might not exist. Meticulous details. But God said modern Israel WOULD exist — in the last days.

“Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. . . Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. . .And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. ” Ezekiel 37:12,19-20

The existence of Israel is a miracle accomplished by God, specifically as He said it would be accomplished. And specifically when He intended — in the last days. When the time came, the world convulsed into World War Two, and regurgitated the nation it had been holding captive until the appointed time.

Three years after the Holocaust, Israel raised her flag on May 14, 1948. For the first time since 702 BC, there was a place in the world called Israel and a home for the Jews.

“And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.” Ezekiel 37:25,27-28)

There is no story like Israel’s. There is no nation like Israel. Of Israel, God said, “I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time:(Hosea 9:10).

Jesus said, “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.”

Israel is Reason One in the Omega Letter Intelligence Digest series, “Six Reasons Why We Believe These Are the Last Days.”

Special Report: Six Reasons Why We Believe These Are the Last Days

Special Report: Six Reasons Why We Believe These Are the Last Days
Vol: 13 Issue: 26 Saturday, October 26, 2002

Special Report: Six Reasons Why We Believe These Are the Last Days

From where we sit, the reality that these are the last days is like the reality that this is the 21st century.

Amazing and marvelous, but somehow, at the same time, not as much of a whiz-bang experience as it would have been if we went to sleep in 1976 and woke up to this morning’s news.

Global terrors like al-Qaeda, weapons of mass destruction, the seemingly inevitable Indo-Pakistani nuclear war — these scarcely rate headlines unless they are a hair’s breadth from catastrophe.

Global wonders like the internet, global positioning, Moore’s Law of Computer Processing (CPU power doubles every 18 months) genetic breakthroughs, new cures for old scourges — again, they compete for headline space.

In Europe, new moves towards integration continue to accomplish voluntarily what Charlemagne, Napoleon and Hitler failed to accomplish by force. Soon, the European Union will consist of as many as 25 European states.

In the Middle East, Israel appears doomed to existence as a armed camp in the midst of her enemies, despised by the global community, as evidenced by the sheer weight of one-sided resolutions passed against her — despite the fact she was the victim of five wars of aggression in the last fifty years.

Although Israel is the only Western style democracy in the Middle East, surrounded by a sea of Arab dictatorships, the entire Western world (with the exception of the US) has embraced the Arab cause.

The United States is currently embroiled in a bitter dispute with the United Nations regarding Iraq. At issue is whether or not UN resolutions imposed as a condition of ending the Gulf War should be enforced. The debate is one of complete reverse logic.

On the table is more than just Iraq. The relevancy of the United Nations as a global system of government is at stake. If the UN doesn’t enforce its own resolutions — and then PROTECTS the offender who ignores them, of what value are its resolutions?

The North Koreans recently announced that they never really abandoned their nuclear weapons programs, and Western intelligence analysts believe Pyongyang could have as many as two nuclear bombs right now.

A strike on Iraq could well be the tinder that ignites the Middle East. For Iraq, that imagery could easily become literal.

Saddam has threatened to strike Israel with weapons of mass destruction if the US tries to unseat him. Israel has promised to retaliate with ‘overwhelming force.’

Saddam has a chemical and biological arsenal big enough to kill every human being on earth — if he had the means to deliver it. He doesn’t — but he has the means to deliver it to Israel.

Israel has an estimate 400 nuclear warheads and at least two nuclear-capable submarines patrolling the Mediterranean.

Israel won’t wait for a second strike against it with chemical or biological agents before it incinerates the source and eliminates the threat.

We’ve been explaining all this for more than a year, piecemeal, making broad assumptions that everybody is on the same page.

Beginning with the Sunday edition of the Omega Letter, we will begin a six-part series called “Six Reasons We Believe These Are the Last Days.” We’ll look at Scripture, verse by verse, as it relates to these global developments, and explain how seemingly unconnected events are now coming together — as predicted, and thousands of years in advance.

For some of you, it will be a review. For a few others, it will fill in some gaps. But we hope it will renew that excitement of realizing that we are the generation of which the prophets spoke, the one Jesus was addressing when He said, “This generation shall not pass til all these things be fulfilled.” Matthew 24:34

Osama bin Hidin’

Osama bin Hidin’
Vol: 13 Issue: 25 Friday, October 25, 2002

Osama bin Hidin’

Quietly, and without fanfare, US intelligence has changed its official assessment on Osama bin Laden. Previously, the official position was that although not certain, Osama was believed to be ‘probably’ dead.

The change in assessment came earlier this month in the wake of a message by Bin Laden to his supporters.

The CIA obtained the handwritten message and determined it was in Osama’s handwriting.

Obtaining the letter forced the CIA to reverse its previously held assessment that he was probably dead to that Osama bin Laden is most probably alive, living in Pakistan and planning another mega-attack against the United States.

You must be getting tired of hearing of impending mega-attacks that never come. To give credit where credit is due, there is no way of knowing how many mega-attacks may have already occurred, were it not for law enforcement and intelligence efforts.

We don’t know what the Lackawanna Six would have done, or Jose Padilla, or the thousands of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, or the hundreds of other efforts that were blocked by newly enacted security measures.

At the same time, incessant warnings of impending terror attacks create a tendency towards complacency — which is when the attack will come. And intelligence services the world over are unanimous in their assessment that America will suffer another major blow at the hands of Islamic terrorists.

Until now, US intelligence believed that bin Laden had been trapped during the fierce fighting in December in Tora Bora. U.S. aircraft destroyed al-Qaeda’s infrastructure by bombing the caves that housed the organization.

But new information obtained by the CIA indicates that Bin Laden was not in Tora Bora during the U.S. attack. Instead, he was south of Tora Bora in the area of Malawi.

About three months ago, the CIA received additional intelligence that told of sightings of Bin Laden in Pakistan. The agency located an Afghan national who said he spoke to Bin Laden. The CIA filed this away, but it wasn’t until they obtained the letter that they began to take new bin-Laden sightings seriously.

Abd-al-Rahman al-Rashid, told the London Arabic newsweekly Al-Majallah that al-Qaeda remains intact and uses the Internet and other electronic means to communicate its messages to its global network.

Al-Rahid also said Bin Laden is alive. He is alive. It is not reasonable for him to appear periodically to the media so as to confirm to the people that he is still alive at this time when the United States is turning over every stone in Afghanistan in its search for him, he said. As to the proof, what proof is needed? The proof should be demanded in the first place from the United States. He is alive and the proof should be demanded from the one who says otherwise. They have never said that Bin Laden was dead, unlike [Pakistan’s President] Pervez Musharraf. We tell the Muslims everywhere: Little patience and Bin Laden will appear.

Conventional wisdom would suggest that if bin-Laden were alive, he would just send a photograph of himself holding up a recent newspaper — a ‘proof of life’ — to use the terrorist’s jargon. It’s a fair question.

Intelligence analysts have come up with several answers: One is that Bin Laden has already provided proof that he is alive to his core followers and that is all that counts. The United States simply doesn’t figure in such calculations.

Another possibility is that Bin Laden is waiting for a super-terrorist attack against the United States that will equate or top 9/11. A third possibility is that Bin Laden has changed his methods. He might have decided to remain in the shadows: Throw out hints of his existence, but keep everyone guessing. Say nothing; do a lot.

This could explain why Al Qaeda has released videos in which Bin Laden doesn’t speak or in areas that can’t be identified. The last video released by Bin Laden cannot be traced.

U.S. intelligence believes it might have been released either in the spring of 2002 or last December.

Assessment:

With this background, the latest FBI warning of possible terror attacks against US transportation systems sounds less like the boy who cried wolf and more like a legitimate warning.

“Information from debriefings of al-Qaeda detainees as of mid-October indicates that the group has considered directly targeting U.S. passenger trains, possibly using operatives who have a Western appearance,” the FBI said in a statement.

Captured photographs of U.S. railroad engines, cars and crossings have increased concern about the threat, the FBI said.

This information comes at the same time as intelligence indicating al-Qaeda may be planning strikes on ships in the Persian Gulf and nearby seas, like the one against the French tanker earlier this month.

“Such attacks may be a part of more extensive operations against port facilities and other energy-related targets including oil facilities and nuclear power plants,” the FBI said.

Take a good look around: The United States continues to fight an uphill battle at the UN to get approval for attacking Saddam Hussein. The Arab League said yesterday that a US attack would ‘open the gates of hell’ and that no Arab state would support the US, as it did in 1991.

This time, they say there is ‘no justification’ for the attack. In 1991, Saddam threatened Arab interests when he attacked Kuwait and threatened Saudi Arabia. Presently, Saddam is a threat to Israel and America. That is no threat to Arab interests, hence, from the Arab view, there is ‘no justification’ for supporting an attack.

Libya is threatening to withdraw his country from the Arab League citing its “inefficiency” in dealing with the crises over Iraq and the Palestinians. Libya thinks the Arabs are TOO accomodating to Western interests.

The UN continues to blame the Israelis for being the victims of terror attacks and the United States is still trying to figure out how it turned into the world’s worst bad guy when all it ever really wanted to do was help.

It was only ten years ago that the US was trying to figure out what we would do with the ‘peace dividend’ — all that money we were expected to save in a post-Cold War world in which we had no enemies.

Amazing what a difference a decade can make.

“Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” (Matthew 24:44)

‘True Stories About Converts To Islam’

‘True Stories About Converts To Islam’
Vol: 13 Issue: 24 Thursday, October 24, 2002

We examined Islam’s Jesus in a previous Omega Letter (Vol 12 #21) and saw that to Islam, Abraham was a Muslim and that both Judaism and Christianity are perversions of the primordial faith — Islam.

Recently, the Saudi Gazette dedicated an entire page to the topic of Jews converting to Islam. According to that paper, “More and More Jews are Realizing That Judaism and Christianity are Symbols Leading to Islam”.

One such example of a Jew converting to Islam comes from “Moshe,” who discusses the need for Jews to reevaluate the Tanakh [Bible] and the Koran: “I am Jewish who converted to Islam because Islam is the rational choice. I wanted to believe the Torah is true and like most Jews I tried to block out reality, thinking if I ignore the Koranic revelation it would go away and the facts which the Koran mentions like the universe was formed with a big bang and the planets by the contraction of early gases.”

The following Hadith (tradition) was included in the paper as an example of Jews historically converting to Islam.

“Safwan Ibn Assal relates that a Jew asked his fellow to take him to the Prophet (peace be upon him), and when they came to him they inquired from him about the nine clear signs (as stated in the Qur’an 17:101) ‘after stating them, they kissed his hands and feet and said: We bear witness that you are a Prophet.’

Assessment:

How Islam reaches the conclusion that it is the primordial religion out of which the perversions of Judaism and Christianity sprang is not easy to follow.

The Promise was given to Abraham about 2100 BC. A thousand years later, King David ruled the most powerful kingdom of the ancient world — Israel.

A thousand years after that, Jesus Christ shed His blood on Calvary, was raised from the dead and seen by more than five hundred witnesses before ascending Bodily into heaven.

Over the next three hundred years, the Books of the Old and New Testament were codified as the Bible and Christianity had become the state religion of the Roman Empire.

Six hundred and twenty-two years after Christ, sixteen hundred years after Solomon built the first Jewish Temple, a thousand years after Nebuchadnezzar destroyed that Temple, eight hundred years after the Temple was rebuilt, and more than five hundred years after THAT Temple was destroyed by the Roman legions and the Jews scattered into the world — Islam was born.

But the Koran says Islam was here first. How did they reach that conclusion? Simple. Mohammed simply declared Abraham a Muslim, effectively rewriting history with no regard to fact. That revised history of the Middle East is the one upon which the world relies when evaluating current political conditions. Which is why the world sides so easily with the Arabs on any question of what belongs to Israel and what belongs to the Arabs.

Arafat’s claim that Israel has no historical presence on the site of the Jerusalem Mosque is swallowed whole by both his constituency, and the court of world opinion, despite the evidence.

Since the Koran says Abraham and Jesus were both Muslims, modern Palestinians were the ancient Israelites.

It is on this teaching that the myth of Israel being the usurper to the Promised Land rests. Islam represents a sixth of the world’s population. It is no surprise that the UN follows this same line of revisionist history. After all, there’s nobody alive to ask if Jesus was really a Muslim, and if the Koran is right, the Bible is all made up out of Islamic tradition anyway.

That is why a billion Muslims want to see Israel destroyed and Jews and Christians either killed or converted.

Islam’s goal was, is and will remain the forced conversion of the world to Islam and the destruction of those who refuse.

Strong words, but that’s what the Koran teaches. It’s what history demonstrates. It’s what contemporary Islamic thinkers teach. It’s the central theme of Islam — submission.

I am not saying all Muslims follow the fundamentals of Islam. Many Christian denominations don’t follow the fundamentals of Christianity. But concluding that peace-loving Muslims represents true Islam is like concluding Jehovah’s Witnesses represent true Christianity.

I don’t believe Islam is the religion of the antichrist. The Bible divides the world into four distinct spheres of power in the last days, but from a decidedly Euro-centric perspective.

While the antichrist rules the ‘world’ the Bible also speaks of the 200 million strong army of the Kings of the East, the Muslim/African alliance of the “Kings of the South” and the Gog-Magog confederation, all of whom ‘trouble’ the antichrist from his seat of power in the revived Roman Empire.

The ‘world’ controlled by antichrist is the Western world — the Bible makes that clear. Israel is a part of the Western world by virtue of its culture, values and political system.

But Daniel makes it clear that the antichrist reaches some kind of alliance with the Arab world. Daniel 9:26 says he confirms a covenant between Israel and her enemies, Daniel 8:25 says that ‘by peace’ he will ‘destroy many’.

We are seeing the shadows of what the Bible says is to come developing form and substance.

“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Luke 21:28

Special Report Omega Letter v 1.1

Special Report Omega Letter v 1.1
Vol: 13 Issue: 23 Wednesday, October 23, 2002

Special Report Omega Letter v 1.1

It s time I brought you all up to speed with what is going on here at Omega Letter now, and for the future. We have many things on the burner, almost all of them are just about cooked, and we plan to roll them out all at once as part of an overall site upgrade. Call this one OmegaLetter v 1.1.

First off, we ve gone through all the counsel we ve received in response to our request for some guidance on what to do next. Mike and I were both amazed at the number of members that suggested we RAISE the subscription price! Easily half of the suggestions we got ran along those lines and indicated you d be happy to pay more.

Many of you said the Omega Letter was worth more than the daily asking price of thirty-five cents. What a nice compliment. But our ultimate goal is to increase our distribution and get the message out to a wider audience, not to make money. If we get the message out, our distribution costs will be met without raising subscription prices. But thanks for the suggestion.

A suggestion we DID act on was to get an alternative electronic payment system. We now take all major credit cards directly, rather than through PayPal.

We ll keep the PayPal payment solution, but our merchant agreement with 2CheckOut.com is a co-branded partnership solution, which means you don t need to sign up with anybody or furnish any information to any third payment company.

Nothing to join. Just go to our shopping cart and fill in the required information, and receive instant email confirmation of your order.

2CheckOut.com is the ecommerce gateway we selected to handle the Omega Letter merchant account. Everything goes through our own secure shopping cart and your information is never traded, sold or shared with anybody. Ever.

We shopped around for some time before settling with 2Checkout.com. They offer the flexibility of credit cards, debit cards and electronic checking. Plus giving you the ability to designate recurring scheduled payments, idea monthly subscription payments. You can cancel them at any time by contacting Mike.

That should make things much easier for our members to maintain subscriptions and encourage new members who were discouraged by the hassle of having to sign up with PayPal first.

We think that will go a lot further than raising our subscription prices.

Mike is working on a way to reorganize what is becoming quite an impressive archive of previous issues of the Intelligence Digest. I was reading through them the other day.

It s quite a resource a day-by-day chronicle of the significant events in Bible prophecy as they happened, most times days before the mainstream news saw them coming. Check the dates.

I m not tooting OUR horn; We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 2 Peter 1:19. We find following the Scriptural outline keeps us consistently ahead of the curve.

I highly recommend the Digest archive. And when Mike is finished reorganizing it, it will be much easier to navigate.

We are working on redesigning and expanding access to our forums, with an eye toward creating a wider community — including the lost and curious who can come to the Omega Letter and interact with those who might have that one answer that will turn on the lights and add another name to the Lamb s Book of Life.

Plus — we are developing a membership Question and Answer page where members can post questions directly to us to be publicly posted with our replies for everyone to read. This will be updated daily.

For any interested, we will be offering our members their own Omegaletter email address. Mike works very hard at maintaining our spam and virus filters.

I had also put out an appeal for help, and when I got offers in return, I came to realize I had not defined exactly what kind of help I actually needed. Many of you offered to proof-read, but the Omega Letter is composed in the middle of the night and released as quickly as possible after completion. So I pressed my wife Gayle into service (it’s 4 am – Gayle says hi). A few typos still make it through, but it isn t as bad as it was when I did it myself.

Figuring out what I needed help with ended up looking like a help wanted ad.

Help Wanted

Intern News Editor

Duties:

1. Compose short summaries based on external news reports

2. Upload summaries and post related link to website according to a predetermined schedule.

3. Compose and maintain daily reader poll question.

4. Proof-read columns and articles throughout website.

5. Assist with general editorial duties. News interns will work directly with the Omega Letter editor (Jack Kinsella) via email and internet messenger.

Requirements:

Good grammar skills, full time internet access (DSL/cable preferred) some writing ability required. Familiarity with the basics of Bible prophecy a definite asset.

Salary:

None yet. (It could work into a paying job as the Lord makes funds available, but for now, this is an all-volunteer post)

Send sample news summary (including supporting link to original source) together with a sample poll question with five possible answers to editor@omegaletter.com

All inquiries will receive a personal reply.

Mike has a vision of creating a kind of My Omega Letter with a user customizable interface, with features similar to those offered at Yahoo. Where you can pick the newsfeeds you want, link to your Omega Letter email account, choose your local weather and so forth. That s down the road, but that is where we are heading.

We are working on the audio Omega Letter. The holdup right now is one of internal debate about exactly what kind of format we should use.

Mike prefers a one-man show where I read the Omega Letter for streaming.

I prefer an interactive format, where Mike and I discuss things on the fly, without a script, based on the major issues raised by the relevant topic of the day.

We can t quite come to a meeting of the minds, and I run a benevolent dictatorship. Give us a little direction here. It s YOUR Omega Letter. Which format would you prefer?

That s our report to you as we approach our one year anniversary.

You are our Charter Members, the ones who caught our vision, the tide that has carried us this far. We think of you as personal friends.

The Omega Letter website will be one year old on November 14. That is our target date to roll out Omega Letter v 1.1. It s hard to believe it s been a year. There is much more to do before the Day Star Arises! And very little time.

God bless you all. Jack

James, Son of Joseph, Brother of Jesus

James, Son of Joseph, Brother of Jesus
Vol: 13 Issue: 22 Tuesday, October 22, 2002

One of the most widely used arguments among the skeptics — the absence of archeological evidence of the existence of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, was demolished by the recently revealed discovery of the ossuary of James the Just.

James the Just was the writer of the Book of James, the half-brother of Jesus. The first century Jewish historian Josephus recorded that “the brother of Jesus the so-called Christ, James by name,” was stoned to death as a Jewish heretic in A.D. 62.

If his bones were placed in an ossuary the inscription would have occurred the following year, around A.D. 63.

Flavius Josephus was a Jewish Pharisee who surrendered to the Romans and became the official historian to Titus. He was an eyewitness to the the events he recorded, including the Destruction of Jerusalem and the seign of Masada. His ‘War of the Jews’ is one of the most complete extra-Biblical accounts of 1st century Jerusalem.

An ossuary is a small box in which the bones of the deceased are kept. A year after a person’s burial in a tomb, family members would collect the bones into an ossuary. It was a ritual driven by necessity: Tombs, which were often carved into rocks, were expensive and thus were reused.

As we entered the 20th century, Jesus was considered a dubious history figure Whose existence was attested to only by Scripture and by His followers.

It was at this same time that the so-called ‘Enlightened Thinkers’ began questioning the historical Jesus, instead suggesting He was a mythical composite of several Jewish leaders. A good philosophy, but not necessarily based on an actual historical figure.

In 1962, a plaque was discovered in Caesarea Phillipi dedicating a colliseum to Pontius Pilate. Prior to that discovery, the skeptics said the absence of archeological evidence of his procurate in Judea proved the New Testament story was a myth.

As Donald Rumsfeld is fond of observing, “absence of evidence is not evidence of absence”.

In 1990, the ossuary of high priest Caiaphas ben Joseph, who presided over the trial of Jesus, was discovered in Jerusalem. Until that discovery, there had been no independent archeological discovery of any individual personage mentioned by the New Testament.

Peter’s house in Capernaum had been discovered in 1906 and confirmed in the 1980’s, but left room for debate.

The discovery of Caiaphas ben Joseph’s ossuary established — for the first time — that such a historical personage actually lived and artifacts in the box indicated he died sometime after AD 37.

The ossuary’s discovery was announced in the Biblical Archeological Review (BAR). It is important to note that the BAR is a Jewish secular organization. They do not take a position of Biblical inerrancy. And being Jews – secular or otherwise — they have nothing to gain by proving the existence of Jesus of Nazareth.

Proving the existence of a historical Jesus creates huge problems for Jewish tradition regarding Jesus and Christianity in general.

And huge problems for the Vatican and Marian theology, as we’ll see shortly.

The article’s author, a well-known epigrapher from the Sorbonne in Paris, scrutinized this ossuary carefully.

Scans by electron microscopes show no trace of modern tools and full evidence of layers of a patina that could have developed only over many centuries.

The inscription’s grammar and script also appear to fit normal usage in the decades leading up to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.

Then there’s the question of whether the inscription refers to Jesus of Nazareth.

The three names it mentions are as common as Jim, Jack, and John today. The author turned to statistical probability. Of the 40,000 men living in Jerusalem at the time, he figures about 20 people could fit the description “Ya’akov bar Yosef akhui diYeshua” or, “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.”

But the mention of a brother is highly unusual on ossuaries. This could hint that the Jesus mentioned here is particularly famous.

Assessment:

There was only one really famous Jesus in the first half of the first century in a city the size of Jerusalem.

“Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? ” (Matthew 13:55-56)

The discovery of the ossuary proves the existence of Jesus Christ with more archeological certainty than there is for Plato, Aristotle, Nebuchadnezzar or Alexander the Great.

Already the skeptics are descending on the discovery, desperately seeking some way to discredit the discovery. Not the least of whom is the Vatican.

It also proves that Jesus was not an only child and that Mary was NOT a perpetural virgin who, after living a sinless life, was assumed into heaven bodily where she reigns as Queen of Heaven.

Which is what Catholic dogma about Mary teaches.

The Vatican explained away Matthew 13:55-56 by saying ‘brethren’ really meant ‘cousins’ and ‘sisters’ was a generic term.

The ossuary’s reference to ‘James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus’ could signal a coming split at the Vatican between the Marian theologians and Marian worship and worshippers of Jesus.

(Creating a kind off off-shoot religion ‘with two horns like a lamb but the voice of a dragon, maybe?)

In any case, one can’t dispute the importance of the unveiling of this discovery. The James ossuary may be the most important find in the history of New Testament archaeology, says Hershel Shanks, editor of Biblical Archaeology Review. It has implications not just for scholarship, but for the world s understanding of the Bible.

Our mission at the Omega Letter is to provide you with evidence of the reality of Jesus, the truth of Scripture, and the soon coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. You want evidence? Brothers and sisters, we’ve GOT evidence!

What the skeptics attempt to do with this evidence in the coming weeks should be interesting.

But for us, we have the words of Jesus, brother of James. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:1-3)