JEWS TAKE JERUSALEM!
Plain Truth Magazine
June 1967
Volume: Vol XXXII, No.6
Issue:
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JEWS TAKE JERUSALEM!

Personal from Herbert W Armstrong

London
   WHAT is the real significance? The Israelis won a flash war — a blitzkrieg, Israeli style! The news reporters do not know WHAT IT MEANS!
   The editors, broadcasters and commentators do not understand its real significance. The Israelis themselves do not know what it MEANS!
   But YOU CAN KNOW!
   For this is one of the major fulfillments of Biblical prophecy!
   When One quoted as God foretells, 2500 years in advance, what is going to happen to every nation on earth of that time, and every principal city — and through the years and the centuries IT HAPPENS! — can you laugh that off with contempt? Can you ignore that with disdain?
   The news of the world has just recorded such a fulfillment — yet almost nobody UNDERSTANDS!
   But I will tell you WHAT IT MEANS!
   On April 16th I flew to Amman and Jerusalem, Jordan. Returning, I stopped off at our Ambassador College campus in England. I spoke before an assembly of students, faculty, and others. What I said to the few hundred assembled there was tape-recorded.
   From that recording, this is what I said, May 1st, 1967 — just one month and five days before what I predicted actually happened! —
   "I HAVE just come from Jerusalem — the old city — in Jordan. And now I want to bring you up-to-date on where we stand, at the moment, in the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. For 33 years I have been telling the radio audience, and the readers of The PLAIN TRUTH, that the final world disturbances and military battles — of this age will center on the Middle East, and on Jerusalem in particular. We are entering the very climax at the close of this age — this civilization — right now! I want you to realize just HOW SHORT time is!
   "Any day, now, you may expect the Israelis of the country that calls itself 'Israel' to flood over with a military invasion into the Jordanian half of the divided city of Jerusalem. The Jordan sector is the 'old city' — the only part of Jerusalem that was built in the time of Christ. There are the two divided cities — both trouble spots of world importance — Jerusalem and Berlin — and some of you, the entire senior class, are starting tonight on an educational tour to Berlin.
   "There will be a Jewish Temple built in Jerusalem, with animal sacrifices once again being offered, probably within about four-and-one-half years. It is going to take some time to build such a Temple. And I don't see how they have another month to spare — in taking over the 'old city' now in Arab hands — if they are going to have the Temple built by the time indicated by prophecy.
   [Remember, I said this before several hundred people five weeks before it actually happened.]
   "Once the Israelis do take over the Jordan sector of Jerusalem, instantly the United Nations and the major individual powers, the United States, USSR, Britain, France, probably will stop further occupation of Arab countries by the Jews. I think they will get only as far as the main center within the walls of old Jerusalem, in Jordan before the UN intervenes. But the Jews will undoubtedly be allowed to hold the old city of Jerusalem, Jordan.
   "For a long time the Jewish people have had in mind the rebuilding of the Temple, though they keep it pretty secret. And it must be built on the exact site of Solomon's Temple. The wealthiest Jews in the world, in the United States, Britain, France and other parts of the world, are going to pour money into that.
   "Now notice some very significant prophecies [this is continuing my talk of May 1, 1967].
   "Turn to Matthew 24, and notice verse 14: 'And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.'
   "His disciples had asked Jesus privately what would be the sign of His coming, and the end of the world — this age. He spoke of a definite, specific gospel — the very gospel He brought from God, and taught His disciples. But THAT gospel was not preached TO THE WORLD after 69 A.D. But Jesus' prophecy of that time — the gospel being preached to the whole world — is being fulfilled by The WORLD TOMORROW broadcast and The PLAIN TRUTH magazine.
   "Now notice the next verse immediately following — what is the next thing to happen, in time order?
   "'When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the Holy Place...' — this 'Holy Place' has to be IN THE TEMPLE! And IN JERUSALEM! In the OLD CITY, now occupied by the Arabs of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan!
   "Continue Jesus' prophecy: '... (whoso readeth, let him understand) then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains...' That prophecy has a dual application. Its typical fulfillment was in 66-70 A.D., but its main and antitypical fulfillment is to happen JUST BEFORE the second coming of Christ — for this FOLLOWS the very SIGN of His coming.
   [Again the reader is reminded — all this I said on May 1.]
   "Next to happen, verses 21 and 22, is the soon-coming Great Tribulation! But I want you to UNDERSTAND what is meant by 'the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet.'
   "In Daniel 11:21, referring in original, typical fulfillment to Antiochus Epiphanes, there 'shall stand up a vile person...' that was in 168 B.C. Now, notice verse 31 — still speaking of Antiochus Epiphanes, 'And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength' — speaking of the Temple at Jerusalem, '... and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.'
   "What Antiochus placed there, to defile the 'Holy of Holies' in God's Temple, was the statue of Jupiter Olympus. The Mercy Seat of the Holy of Holies was the earthly representation of the very Throne of GOD in heaven.
   "So once again before the second coming of Christ, a vile leader will stop the daily sacrifices being offered in the Temple (yet to be built) in Jerusalem, and will profane the Holy Place with an idol. But that is not all. This same prophecy spoken by Jesus is also reported by Luke in his Gospel. Notice Luke 21:20-24: 'And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains...'
   "The typical fulfillment of this occurred in 66-70 A.D. The Roman army under General Cestius was marching, late October, 66 A.D., toward Jerusalem. They became established in sight of the gates of the city. But for some reason unknown Cestius' army was pulled back.
   "The Christians who heeded Jesus' warning fled to the hills of Judea, and then northward east of the Jordan — almost a century of 19-year time cycles ago. It was the Roman army under Titus, in 70 A.D., which actually invaded and destroyed Jerusalem.
   "So now, putting the two accounts of Jesus' Olivet prophecy together, Matthew 24 and Luke 21, TWO THINGS are to occur, just before the Great Tribulation. 1) There will very soon be a Temple in Jerusalem, with daily sacrifices once again being offered. But the ruler of the soon-coming resurrected 'Holy Roman Empire,' a political-military union of ten European nations — will stop the daily sacrifices and profane the Holy Place in the Temple; and 2) Jerusalem will be surrounded and captured (Zechariah 14:1-2) by the Fascist-Nazi armies of the European Empire, already starting to rise now out of the Common Market. They will invade Jerusalem, and take charge of the Temple.
   [Don't forget — you are reading my speech delivered just five weeks to the day before the Arab-Israeli war.]
   "Now continue on farther in the prophecy of Daniel 11.
   "What I read before was describing literally the actions of Antiochus Epiphanes, about 168 B.C. — although it was also a type, foreshadowing events to come in the very next few years. But the direct and the literal prophecy, in its initial fulfillment, carries on in timed sequence to our time, and events still very shortly to occur.
   "So pick it up with verse 40:
   "'And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him...' — that is, at the king of the north. The modern remnant of the 'king of the south' of this prophecy is Ethiopia. Anciently, Egypt was the country of the king of the south. But few Egyptians remain in Egypt today. Arabs, of a different original stock, have generally replaced the real Egyptians. The people descended from those who were of ancient Egypt, in its southern portions, are the Ethiopians. And the Italians were the remnant and successors, of the people of the king of the north.
   "This prophecy was fulfilled February-March, 1896, when King Menelik II of Ethiopia 'pushed at' the Italians, defeating Italy at Aduwa.
   "Italians thirsted for revenge. Finally, their opportunity came, in 1935, under the military machine developed by Mussolini. Continue the prophecy, verse 40:
   "'... and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind [in the air], with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships: and he shall enter into the countries and shall overflow and pass over.'
   "Notice, a whirlwind comes IN THE AIR. So did Mussolini's air forces. He sent down many ships, much cavalry, and tanks [modern 'chariots']. And his forces, in planes, 'passed OVER.' Previously, victorious armies were described as 'passing THROUGH' — not OVER (verse 10). Continue:
   "VERSE 41: 'He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown...'
   "There is a time-lapse between verse 40 and verse 41. After Mussolini captured Ethiopia he added it to Libya, Eritrea, and Italian Somaliland. Mussolini had signed a concordat with the Vatican, and publicly announced the rebirth of the ROMAN EMPIRE, with King Victor Emmanuel Emperor, and himself the Duce or Premier. But Mussolini's bubble of a Roman Empire was short-lived. Most people never actually noticed he had proclaimed its resurrected existence.
   "It is described in another prophecy — Revelation 17 — as the insignificant sixth 'head' of the mysterious symbolic 'beast,' that was, and is not, and yet is.
   "But the final seventh head is soon to rise. It is in the preliminary stages of coming into existence now, in the six-nation Common Market. Soon there will be ten European nations in a political-military union, that will shock and dumbfound the world. Verse 41 refers to THAT succession of the Roman power which became the 'king of the north' in the prophecy of Daniel 11. So notice what this coming 'United States of Europe' will do:
   "VERSE 44: 'But tidings out of the east and out of the north [Russia] shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious. holy mountain [Palestine]; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.'
   "So this now-forming European Fascist-Nazi power will invade Palestine, and move its headquarters there!
   "But verse 41 adds [omitted above]: '... but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.' The Turkish people today are 'Edom,' and the people of Jordan are the present-day descendants of Moab and Ammon — descended from Lot, Abraham's nephew. They will still be in that land. That is the reason I say that the Israelis will not take over very much of the land of the Jordanians.
   "This European power, resurrecting for a VERY short while the Roman Empire, will take over the city of Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:2.) They will take the Temple, and plant the palace of their headquarters there. With this coming military leader, pictured in Revelation 17 as the symbolic 'beast,' will be a supreme religious leader, called 'the False Prophet,' [Rev. 16:13; 19:20; 20:10] and the 'man of sin.' So will you turn next to II Thessalonians 2:3-4:
   "'Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day' — the Day of the Lord, verse 2 — 'shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and THAT MAN OF SIN be revealed, the SON OF PERDITION; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.'
   "So there will have to be the Temple there! Probably in about four-and-one-half years. And they will put there the 'abomination' of which the statue of Jupiter Olympus, placed by Antiochus Epiphanes was the type. [You are continuing in what I said on May 1.] I know of a statue in a great cathedral which some think IS the very same statue of Jupiter that Antiochus placed in the Holy Place. It could be that same statue. Others think this particular statue is the one Simon Magus had made of himself in the First Century. But this man of sin, this son of perdition, this supreme false prophet, calling himself 'MOST Holy Father,' professing to actually BE God, would certainly be an ABOMINATION in that Holy Place!
   "Next notice a prophecy picturing the religious system headed by this false prophet — this man of sin. It is pictured in the 17th chapter of Revelation as a great prostitute. In prophecy a woman is a symbol of a church, or religious system. Civil governments are pictured in the male gender.
   "This religious system is pictured as sitting upon — in religious authority over — several nations speaking different languages (verse 15). She also sits astride a symbolic 'beast.' This 'beast,' in turn, is a uniting together of ten nations with ten kings giving their military power to a top Fuhrer.
   "Demon spirits impel this religious-political-military system to world war, ending in the battle of Armageddon (Revelation 16:13-16). They and their armies will fight against Christ at His coming in power and glory, when He comes to set up WORLD GOVERNMENT (Rev. 17:14). The nature of the religious system is described in verse 5 of Revelation 17 — where it is called MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS. In other words, the Babylonian mystery religion grown great.
   "This 'beast' remains intact only a VERY short time; it comes to its END at Christ's coming. So it appears JUST before His coming.
   "Now compare with the eleventh chapter of Revelation.
   "VERSE 1: The Temple in Jerusalem is being measured.
   "VERSE 2. There are Gentiles — Arabs and soldiers of this 'beast' — still there, for the outer court is given to them to 'tread under foot' for three-and-one-half years.
   "VERSE 3: God will empower His two 'witnesses' to proclaim God's truth for this three-and-one-half years, from the same city of Jerusalem. These two have the same powers that God had given to Moses and Elijah. That is why this Fuhrer and his armies cannot stop them. So they will be two men coming 'in the power and spirit' of Moses and Elijah — just as John the Baptist came in the 'power and spirit' of Elijah, though he was NOT Elijah.
   "VERSE 7: At the end of the three-and-one-half years, the 'beast' (compare with Revelation 17:8) will kill them.
   "VERSE 8: Their dead bodies lie, unburied, in the street of Jerusalem.
   "Now notice particularly verses 9 and 10: Evidently they shall not be merely speaking to a few people on a street corner — but BROADCASTING WORLDWIDE! For 'the people and kindreds and tongues and nations SHALL SEE their dead bodies three days and a half;' and 'they that DWELL UPON THE EARTH' rejoice and shout for joy at their death — because the TRUTH of GOD which they shall proclaim will embarrass, torment, condemn, Godless and sinning people around the earth.
   "How could so many people and nations of many languages all around the world 'SEE their dead bodies' lying in a street in Jerusalem? This could never have happened BEFORE TELSTAR TELEVISION!!! But it CAN HAPPEN NOW.
   "This certainly indicates their preaching will be WORLDWIDE — by radio, television, or both. The whole Fascist army will not be able to prevent it. See verses 5 and 6 of Revelation 11. They will have supernatural power. In any event, this shall be the doing of GOD — and if He wants to provide worldwide radio or television facilities for His two witnesses, He will do it — and probably in a manner we cannot now foresee.
   "At the end of this three-and-one-half days, these witnesses will be resurrected, and caught up into the air. This is to meet Christ in the clouds in the air, at the precise moment of His coming — along with all of the dead in Christ who will then be resurrected.
   "So there will be a Temple built on the spot of the old Temple in Jerusalem. The Jews will again be offering the daily sacrifices. This is shown not only by the fact that the type of Antiochus Epiphanes stopping the sacrifices in 168 B.C. indicates it — but also the prophecy of Daniel 12:11 which is a direct and specific prophecy of stopping the daily sacrifices 1290 days before Christ's coming, and the resurrection of the dead in Christ [and again, you are continuing my May 1 speech].
   "Notice the 12th chapter of Daniel a moment.
   "It continues without interruption from the 11th chapter. The last verse of the 11th chapter shows this European 'beast' planting his headquarters and palace in Jerusalem, and the sudden END of this Nazi Fascist 'Fuhrer.'
   "This is the time when the archangel Michael will stand up FOR our American and British peoples — and the Jewish people. You will see whom he stands AGAINST in Revelation 12:7-9. He stands up AGAINST an angry Satan who, at that time, will know he has but a short time left before Christ's coming, when he shall be taken away from humans, and put into the symbolic 'bottomless pit' (Rev. 20:1-3).
   "It is Satan, in his wrath, who stirs up the coming 'Great Tribulation' — at that time, as Jesus foretold, (Mat. 24:21-22), more terrible than any world trouble before or after — so great that, unless GOD steps in to STOP IT by supernatural power, 'no flesh should be saved' alive.
   "Daniel (12:1) describes this same time of trouble, 'such as never was since there was a nation,' and it is cut short and ENDED by the coming of Christ and the resurrection of the just (verse 2).
   "So the TIME is immediately prior to, and up to, this resurrection. And in Daniel 12:11 the taking away of the daily sacrifice will be just 1290 days BEFORE this resurrection.
   "Then, Revelation 11 shows THERE WILL BE A TEMPLE in Jerusalem, AT THE TIME of the two witnesses, who preach for three-and-one-half years, ending at Christ's coming. Also the prophecy of II Thessalonians 2 shows there will be a Temple.
   "So putting all these prophecies together, it is plain the Israelis must soon flood over the 'no-man's land' of the divided city of Jerusalem, and take at least the territory where the ancient Temple stood, and then start to build a Temple."
   (And here I end quoting from my tape-recorded speech in England, exactly five weeks before the six-day war began.)
   I have again returned to our English campus. This is written on Monday, June 12. Last Monday morning, June 5, I was being driven to London Airport, with an airplane ticket to Amman, Jordan, from where I was to go to Jerusalem for the first broadcast of the WORLD TOMORROW from Jerusalem Radio, scheduled for 8:05 p.m., Wednesday night, June 7. En route to the London Airport, by car radio, we received the news that WAR had started. I did not take that plane.
   Today, one week later, it appears the war is over, after one of the swiftest military victories in all history. Today, the Israelis ARE IN JERUSALEM — the original "OLD CITY," which was in Jordan's hands. Jerusalem Radio, over which I have a contract with the Jordanian government, was not destroyed. It is still intact, but in Israeli hands. At the moment I do not know what will be decided about it. It is possible Jewish authorities may return it to King Hussein's government, and our contract will be carried out. Of course, we hope so.
   I have an indirect and unofficial Jewish opinion that, if the Israeli government retains the radio station, they will be willing to honor our contract. Also that their attitude toward non-Jewish religions is sufficiently liberal that we shall be allowed to proclaim Christ's own Gospel over it. If, indeed, the Living Christ wants His message to go, NOW from Jerusalem, as certain prophecies surely seem to indicate, then NO MAN CAN PREVENT IT! He will give us favor in the eyes of whoever controls that powerful station. If God does not so will, then we surely don't want to broadcast over it.
   But be sure time is shorter than you supposed! Momentous prophecies are due for fulfillment, very rapidly, from now on!
   There are many other prophecies directly tied to these events prophecies dynamically affecting the United States and Britain. These will be gone into and explained in the forthcoming new book, a greatly enlarged edition of "The United States and British Commonwealth in Prophecy". It will be offered, free, to all subscribers of The PLAIN TRUTH.
   I will just say, now, that from those prophecies, it is possible that the taking away of the daily sacrifice in the Temple — the placing of the "abomination" there also — could take place early in 1972. This is indicated by Revelation 12:14 (another three-and-one-half-year period), by Rev. 3:10; and other facts of history and prophecy connected with Matthew 24:14 — as well as other prophecies in Daniel.
   However if you are interested in that, I'll let you read it in the new book — in new, additional chapters, that do not appear in the condensed and highly abbreviated booklet we have been publishing the past thirty years or more.

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Plain Truth MagazineJune 1967Vol XXXII, No.6