Bush Expects Peace Treaty by January 2009

Arutz Sheva of IsraelNationalNews.com reported today that President Bush expects a peace treaty by January 29, 2009 between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

He said, “I believe it’s possible – not only possible, I believe it’s going to happen – that there will be a signed peace treaty by the time I leave office. That’s what I believe.”


What Does The Bible Say?

The Bible tells us that this will not be a lasting peace. Let’s do a little Bible study by starting with a prophecy that was given in 443 BC in Daniel chapter 9.

Verse 24 starts off by telling us that 70 weeks are determined for Daniel’s people, the Jews. For the purposes of this study, 1 week = 7 years. Additionally, a Jewish prophetic year contains 360 days.

Verses 25 and 26 continue, “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself:

Seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks = 7 weeks + 62 weeks for a total of 69 weeks. According to our formula, this translates to 49 years + 434 years = 483 years.

In Matthew 21:8, Jesus the Messiah made His triumphant entry into the City of Jerusalem. This was on April 6, 32 AD, exactly 483 years after King Artaxerxes gave the command to rebuild Jerusalem on March 14, 445 BC. Considering a 360 day calendar including leap years, this period of time covered 173,880 days, or exactly 483 years as prophesied in Daniel.

One week after His entry into Jerusalem, Jesus the Messiah was “cut off” or crucified just as prophesied in Daniel 9:26.

Daniel 9:26b-27 describes what happens next:

“and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”

Israel will enter into a covenant of peace that will not last and the false prince of peace will offer a scrifec on the altar of God which the Bible calls the abomination of desolation. I believe that Isaiah 28 refers to this promised peace as the “Covenant with Death.” But God promises that this covenant will be disannulled.


Isaiah 28:15-18

“Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:

“Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

“Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

“And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.”



The 70th Week of Daniel – What Jesus Said.

When His disciples inquired regarding the timing of the end of the age, making a direct reference to Daniel 9:27, Jesus replied to them in Matthew 24:15-21:

“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation , spoken of by Daniel the prophet , stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

“Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

“Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:

“Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

“And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

“But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”


In Summary

There will be no lasting peace in Israel until, Messiah, the Prince of Peace, returns and sets up His kingdom. We as a nation should not be taking part in dividing Jerusalem. We are touching the apple of God’s eye, and according to the covenant He made with Abraham, He will bless those that bless Israel, and will curse those that curse her.

Now is the time to pray for the people of Israel as Jesus commanded in Matthew 24. Israel will soon enter into a covenant of death with her enemies according to Isaiah 28. Her leaders will do this believing the lie that their compromise with the Palestinians will someday bring a lasting peace to the region. Israel will suffer through this and tribulation shall come.

But the King of kings, the Prince of peace, shall return to His people to deliver them and disannul this covenant of death. He will be their God and they will be His people. And according to Zechariah 12:10, they will look upon Messiah,” whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him.” Zechariah 13:9 says, “And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.”

God bless, and remember to pray for God’s chosen people and the days ahead.