FromNowUntilForeverBook8.5x5.5 REV.indd

minor prophet writes, “Near is the great day of the Lord… A day of wrath is that day,A day of distress and desolation” (Zephaniah 1:14- 15). Although the stage was set for this end-time disaster when Israel was recognized as a state in 1948, the clock will actually begin ticking on this seven year period when the An- tichrist orchestrates a covenant of peace between Israel and its Arab enemies. As the Word states, “He will make a firm covenant with the many for one week (seven years) ” (Daniel 9:27). Not sur- prisingly, he breaks this covenant after 3 ½ years, triggering the great tribulation -as we’ll see in the next chapter. There have been numerous such attempts at peace since the Middle East war of June 1967. The most notable ones in- clude:The UN Security Council Resolution in 1967; Camp Da- vid Accords featuring President Jimmy Carter, Egyptian Presi- dent Anwar Sadat, and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Began in 1978; and the Oslo Agreement with President Bill Clinton, PLO leaderYasser Arafat, and Israeli Prime MinisterYitzhak Rabin in 1993. Since 2000, we’ve had Camp David 2000, Arab Peace Initiative 2002, Roadmap 2003, Geneva Accord 2003, Annapolis 2007, andWashington 2010. 27 No doubt, these efforts will continue until the end of time, which leads me to two comments: 1) While such sum- mits may have noble intentions, true peace will not come until Jesus Christ returns to reign on the earth. 2) These attempts will all pale in comparison to the one coming at the outset of the tribulation. And when that does take place, the Antichrist “takes the side of the Jews in claiming that the land of Palestine belongs to the nation of Israel.” 28 If that sounds unthinkable, remember that the Antichrist will become hugely popular during those early years of the tribulation. One could see easily how that could happen, especially in this shallow, media crazed

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