End Times Speculation XXIII (ver. 2.0)

[undead_rat]

YHWH promised Abraham that his descendants would be the occupants of Canaan, and Abraham’s children include Ishmael who was the progenitor of the Arabs. I have seen it said that, because Abraham’s wife objected to Ishmael as an inheritor, the Arab claim to Palestine is not valid. I do not agree. The prejudices of a human being cannot nullify an edict of our Creator.

Furthermore, Arabs did not displace a Jewish population. That ethnicity was almost completely expelled from Palestine by the Romans following the failed Bar Kokba rebellion in AD 134.

 

[Muzhik]

YHWH promised Abraham that his descendants would be the occupants of Canaan, and Abraham’s children include Ishmael who was the progenetor of the Arabs. I have seen it said that, because Abraham’s wife objected to Ishmael as an inheritor, the Arab claim to Palestine is not valid. I do not agree. The prejudices of a human being cannot nulify an edit of our Creator.

Oh, I totally agree! We then have to consider Genesis 16:12 in its description of Ishmael:
He shall be a wild ass of a man,
his hand against everyone,
and everyone’s hand against him;
Alongside* all his kindred
shall he encamp.”

I believe this accurately describes Arab culture. I left in the link to the NABRE notes on the meaning of “alongside”, meaning he shall live near but not among his kin. I believe this also accurately describes the situation in Judea and Samaria today. And while Scripture also talks about Ishmael’s descendants being too many to count (Gen 16:10) this statement does not in any way link Ishmael’s descendants with those of Isaac. And in fact, Scripture describes the death of Abraham in Gen 25:7-18, verse 11 states that God blessed Isaac; yet nowhere in that section does it say that God blessed Ishmael. So Ishmael was NOT blessed and his descendants do NOT share in the promises of God to Abraham.

Furthermore, the descendants of Ishmael separated themselves from the promises of God by rejecting the God of Isaac and turning to foreign gods (Maloch, Ba’al and Ashtoreth) and later to a man-made god, Allah.

Plus, there is the war described in Psalm 83 and its listing starting in verse 7 of who shall attack Israel:
“The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,…” (http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/83:7)

Tents are not permanent structures. These are used by nomads, including refugees.

Furthermore, Arabs did not displace a Jewish population. That ethnicity was almost completely expelled from Palestine by the Romans following the failed Bar Kokba rebellion in AD 134.

The key here is your qualifier, “almost completely expelled”. The Romans enslaved most (but not all) of the inhabitants of the cities, especially Jerusalem. They left alone the rural population, since they needed someone to grow the food for the Roman garrison. And despite continued declarations from Rome that Jews were forbidden to live in Jerusalem, the ones who had been left there stayed, and over the decades other Jews began migrating there, so that by the time the Arab Muslim invasions occurred, Jerusalem was almost completely inhabited by Jews. Remember, so long as a single Jew remained, the deed would still be in effect and the land would still be inhabited by the Jews.

 

[undead_rat]

Furthermore, the descendants of Ishmael separated themselves from the promises of God by rejecting the God of Isaac and turning to foreign gods (Maloch, Ba’al and Ashtoreth) and later to a man-made god, Allah.

What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander

If a nation or culture can “separate themselves from the promises of God,” then certainly the most heinous act in all of human history has separated the culture that committed it from YHWH’s Covenant. That transgression was, of course, the conspiracy on the part of Jewish authorities to frame the Messiah on a false charge of heresy and their subsequent demand for His death by crucifixion.
In my opinion YHWH’s tearing of the Temple veil down the middle signified the end of His Covenant with Israel.

BTW, the Church’s teaching is Muslims and Christians worship the same God and that Muslims are included in the Plan of Salvation (and that they come before Jews in this regard.)

 

[Muzhik]

If a nation or culture can “separate themselves from the promises of God,” then certainly the most heinous act in all of human history has separated the culture that committed it from YHWH’s Covenant. That transgression was, of course, the conspiracy on the part of Jewish authorities to frame the Messiah on a false charge of heresy and their subsequent demand for His death by crucifixion. In my opinion YHWH’s tearing of the Temple veil down the middle signified the end of His Covenant with Israel.

It remains, though, that Hashem blessed Isaac, and did NOT bless Ishmael. The promises Hashem made to Abraham, et al, to the Jewish people are permanent and CANNOT be broken, regardless of the actions of the Jews. There ARE no promises to the descendants of Ishmael. The Jewish people were punished by exile and the Diaspora and a drought that lasted 1,800 years. (more in a minute)

BTW, the Church’s teaching is Muslims and Christians worship the same God and that Muslims are included in the Plan of Salvation (and that they come before Jews in this regard.)

To clarify: the documents from Vatican 2 state that Christians and Muslims worship (or try to worship) the same G_D. NOWHERE does it state that the entity that calls itself “Allah” (literally, THE god, to distinguish itself from the other gods whose idols were kept in the Kaaba in Mecca, until Mohammad cleared them all out) is what Christians know as Yahweh. In fact the descriptions Yahweh and Allah give themselves in their respective books are totally different and at odds. The Muslim desire to worship G_D is being sidetracked into worship of the entity called Allah.

 

[Muzhik]

There ARE no promises to the descendants of Ishmael. The Jewish people were punished by exile and the Diaspora and a drought that lasted 1,800 years. (more in a minute)

There is one promise: that Ishmael will have many, many descendants, and that his descendants will never, ever live among the descendants of Isaac. But that’s it.

Back in 2007 there was a book by Rabbi Menachem Kohen, “Prophecies for the Era of Muslim Terror.” It contained a chapter on the 1,800-year-long drought that the land of Israel experienced, starting in the year 70. Back when the book came out there were a number of people on the End Times Thread that disputed it, so I did the research.

At the time of Jesus, the land was still known as a land of milk and honey – very green, lush, and fertile. Starting with the Jewish Diaspora in 70 and increasing after the expulsions after the Bar Kochba rebellion, the amount of rainfall in Israel dropped. You can see it in the descriptions of the travelers between the time of Jesus and about the year 300 – sometime in that era, Israel went from verdant to desert. It was not receiving the rainfall it had previously enjoyed, as if someone had shut off the taps.

Advance to the early 1800s and the growing Zionist movement that encouraged Jewish emigration to Israel. Records from the Ottoman Empire started measuring rainfall during that period (something every government started doing around that time) and the records show that starting in the early 1900s rainfall started to increase. You can track this increase in rainfall to the increase in the number of Jews returning to Israel on an almost one-to-one correlation: the percentage of increase in Jews living in Israel matches the percentage of increase in the amount of rain. There were just two exceptions 1948, the year of independence, and 1967, the year Jerusalem was reunited.

 

[AlbMagno]

Do you have scientifiic sources for this? Specially about the rain before the diaspora (IDK how scientists reconstruct past climate however).

 

[Muzhik]

If you look up that book I referenced, the rabbi has the historical references in there.

 

[Muzhik]

Specially about the rain before the diaspora (IDK how scientists reconstruct past climate however).

Short answer: by examining historical documents (not just scripture, but things like tax rolls and harvest records) you can get a pretty good idea of how verdant the landscape was. Scientists know that it takes X liters of water per hectare per year are required to maintain that level of greenery. There are also archeological sources, such as examining tree rings, that can be used to estimate and confirm rainfall levels in a particular year. So if harvest records show a decrease in the size of harvests, that can be indicative of a drought.

 

[StephieNorthCo]

It was mentioned on either Catholic Answers Live or St. Joseph’s Workshop that this has been studied several times by various scientists with no explanation. Perhaps this is God telling us that not all physical phenomena will ever have scientific explanations.

 

[Muzhik]

In my opinion YHWH’s tearing of the Temple veil down the middle signified the end of His Covenant with Israel.

This is not consistent with current Christian thought, and in fact, is rooted in Replacement Theology, which has been rejected by the Church. If you do a search for bible quotes related to G_D’s promises, you will find literally dozens which proclaim G_D’s promises to be eternal as G_D is eternal. An example, Hebrews 10:23:

Let us hold unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope, for he who made the promise is trustworthy.

So the promises made to the Jewish people are still valid and in effect, regardless of what the Jewish people have done. The tearing of the Temple veil down the middle, rather, is a symbol that the spiritual separation of G_D from His creation is ended. The Blood of Jesus has been spillt for us and with that sacrifice the Wrath of G_D has been satisfied. Temple veils were used in cultures throughout the region because the gods were considered too dangerous for the masses to view directly. In tearing the Veil, G_D was declaring that He would no longer be separated from His people.

You can track this increase in rainfall to the increase in the number of Jews returning to Israel on an almost one-to-one correlation: the percentage of increase in Jews living in Israel matches the percentage of increase in the amount of rain. There were just two exceptions 1948, the year of independence, and 1967, the year Jerusalem was reunited.

I realized I needed to clarify, specifically, in both 1948 and 1967, both of those years were the rainiest on record, more than any other year on record.

 

[Muzhik]

Since you cannot come to faith in Jesus as Christ except through the intercession of the Holy Spirit, we must assume the Jews are still being called to be “a light unto the nations, a lamp under their feet”. Until then, we are to evangelize the way we’ve done it best through the years – through example.

Personally, I believe the conversion of the Jews and of the Muslims both will come through the fulfillment of a yet-to-be-approved apparition in Spain. But, since it is yet-to-be-approved, we are prohibited from discussing it on CAF.

 

[Muzhik]

Personally, I believe the conversion of the Jews and of the Muslims both will come through the fulfillment of a yet-to-be-approved apparition in Spain. But, since it is yet-to-be-approved, we are prohibited from discussing it on CAF.

Speaking of that unspeakable event, if you go to https://mysticpost.com/ and use the search box on the right to look for “Father Livio”, you’ll find an article about something that may happen there in the next 2 years. Could be fun. Probably not, but could be.

 

[undead_rat]

Speaking of an event in the next two years, i prefer the (alleged) visions of Pope St. Pius X (also an unapproved private revelation, but for some unknown reason, we don’t get flagged or suspended for mentioning it here on CAF)

 

[Muzhik]

Which, if you’ll recall, as an unapproved apparition, we cannot discuss on CAF. We CAN tell people to “go here and look for such-and-such”, but no discussions. Or mentions, please.

 

[StephieNorthCo]

Ahhh. I just knew all those cold war bomb shelters would come in handy. We had one planned with space for a small altar and some Lordes Water.

 

[Bartholo]

So I was reading this site about possible natural threats to the earth. I found this tidbit:

Oh, and talking about Big One’s: in 2039, another HUGE comet will pass us by `only’ some millions of Kilometers. However, this estimate is not completely fireproof, for one thing because comets are very sensitive to variations in their trajectory.

From exitmundi.nl

I only mention it here because I seem to remember some one posting about some prediction in the 2040’s. This could be related (just speculating her) also it fits with that article about the years ending in 9’s. So there is that.

Anyway, do you sometimes get tired from all this gloom and doom that is floating around everywhere?

It seems to me that no mater who you talk to, there is so much gloom in the air.

 

[Muzhik]

That 2039 date made me look up some stuff. Here’s a very interesting website:

St. Hildegard and The Convergence of Feast Days in 2038

A number of Catholic prophecies identify a year in which will mark the reversal of a period of persecution the Church will undergo just prior to the time of the Antichrist. The prophecies suggest t…

thefivebeasts.wordpress.com

And stop complaining about the gloom in the air. It’s good for you. Builds character. Or something…

 

[Bartholo]

Sorry, I know. I’ll go and build some character then.

Interesting article there.

 

[Muzhik]

Sorry, I know. I’ll go and build some character then.

Interesting question: if you are building character, do you use brick (which is long lasting) or straw (which is recyclable)?

 

[Donkey]

St. Benedict “To keep death before your eyes daily.”

At this point, scientists are still bad at detecting asteroids about to hit earth. This…we know.

Our joy should be in the Lord.

Every day I face death; I swear it by the pride in you [brothers] that I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. 1 Corinthians 15:31