Latest Bible Prophecy Commentary
Update: Palestinian UN Recognition Bid; What Scripture Says About The Economy During The Last Days
Here's an update on the Palestinian Authorities bid for UN recognition.
The
Palestinian campaign for statehood at the United Nations might suffer as a
result of Security Council replacements set to take place in January, according
to a report published in Businessweek on
Friday night.
Pakistan, Morocco, Togo and Guatemala were elected on Friday to the 15-nation UN
Security Council to replace members Lebanon, Nigeria, Gabon and Brazil for the
years 2012 and 2013.
Lebanon, Gabon, Brazil and Nigeria had been expected to support the statehood bid. With the replacements to take effect at the start of the new year, the Palestinian Authority would have more success if it pushes for a vote on membership in November when the Security Council is scheduled to meet to discuss the bid, the report suggested.
The committee on the admission of new members to the UN will report back to the Security Council on that date, at which point the Security Council will consider the committee report, but there is “still no clarity” on when a vote would take place, UN sources said (Jpost.com).
The latest prisoner exchange of Gilad Shalit for over 1000 Hamas prisoners has hurt negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. It is evident that the PA is now in the drivers seat and is also asking for Fatah prisoners to be released.
I have to believe, come November, they will receive the votes necessary to move to the next level toward an official UN state recognition. The US will likely be the only obstacle they will face along the way. I am beginning to wonder if that will remain the case as we proceed further into this process, especially as the US begins to pull out of the region.
Frankly, I believe both the US and Israel see the day coming when the West Bank will have to be turned over to the Palestinians for a state. Right now, the PA is already an unofficial state within Israel. Just a few days ago, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad called for the right for the Palestinian people to vote in Israeli elections if peace and statehood was not going to materialize. "All we Palestinians are looking for is viable sovereign state on 22% of the land," Fayyad said. "That's what we want. All we want is freedom from Israel, not freedom to vote in Israel. That's what we really want. If it doesn't happen who can prevent it from becoming a struggle for equal voting rights [for Palestinians in Israel] (haaretz.com)?"
Palestinian voter privileges is the last thing Israel wants and would ultimately mean their end. US interest in the Middle East is also taking a major hit. Their involvement in the Arab Spring revolts and their threatened veto of Palestine's UN recognition bid has left the Islamic world looking elsewhere. As far as they are concerned, they no longer trust the US as a fair and impartial mediator. Shortly, we could be seeing the European Union taking the lead role as a Middle East peace negotiator with the US in the background as was the case with the Libya overthrow. And if Syria is next on NATO's list, the Islamic world and the UN will likely call for military action against Israel when they refuse to adhere to a UN recognition of a Palestinian state. Some believe Israel's refusal will ignite a yet unfulfilled Middle East war described in Psalm 83.
In other news, economic experts are predicting the European Union only has about two weeks to fix the eurozone. A Greek default is of grave concern with France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Ireland headed for a credit downgrade. EU leaders are in a deadlock as to what steps to take to stabilize the union.
"Confidence surveys have fallen off a cliff over past three months," said Marchel Alexandrovich from Jefferies Fixed Income. "The lagged effects of fiscal and monetary tightening are still working their way through the system so it looks highly likely that we are in recession now (The Telegraph)."
About a week ago, I said the global economy would likely continue to worsen on into the tribulation period. My belief was built upon the premise that the struggling world economy would bring about the rise of the Antichrist. Of course, this is a belief prophecy scholars have raised for decades (Daniel 8:25, 11:21-36). But there is also Biblical evidence the world economy will return to a point normalcy. Case in point, Revelation chapter 18 describes a tribulation period city/state/nation known as Mystery Babylon whose defining characteristic is that she made the merchants of the earth rich (v. 3). Matthew 24:36-39 speaks of the time just before the rapture of the church that is described as the "days of Noe," where they were "eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage". That is to say they were carrying on with what is considered a normal way of life.
What am I trying to say? Even though the Antichrist will likely be an economic genius, that's not to say he will inherit a depression like global economy. Yes, I do believe economic hard times are ahead, but according to Scripture, it won't get to the point where normal life is interrupted. In fact, there is nothing in Scripture that would lead us to believe the days of Noah or Lot were plagued with economic turmoil. There may be economic downturns ahead, but according to Scripture, they will not last...up until the day of sudden destruction (I Thessalonians 5:3).
I hope this clears up any misunderstanding I may have created in my previous video.
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Terry Malone
Calvary Prophecy Report
http://www.calvaryprophecy.com/
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