Fulfilled Prophecy : The Beginning Of Sorrows : Part 3

FULFILLED PROPHECY : THE BEGINNING OF SORROWS - 3

Copyright 1994 - 2008 Endtime Prophecy Net

Last Updated : July 23, 2006

Middle East Plastic Peace, Jerusalem A Burdensome Stone,
Israeli And Syrian Negotiations, Indonesia, East Timor And
The Wave Of Independence Seekers, Terrorist Bomb Attacks

Khobar Towers Saudia Arabia	World Trade Center, NYC
Kenya And Tanzania Embassies	Oklahoma City Bombing

Let me remind you again, as I do in various of my Endtime
articles, that as Christians who are knowledgeable of the
Biblical prophecies, we should not be deceived by these
plastic overtures of peace; because the Scriptures plainly
tell us that the current volatile situation will eventually
deteriorate into bloody full-scale military conflict, as the
Jews and the Arabs continue to fight over the ownership of
Jerusalem, Israel's right to exist, and the fate of the
Palestinian Arabs. Consider again the words of the Prophet
Daniel who clearly describes for us the deceit which fuels
Middle Eastern politics. Whether or not the following verse
applies directly to Barak and Arafat remains to be seen. My
current feelings are that it does not, but I could be wrong:

"And both these kings' hearts shall be to do mischief, and
they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not
prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed."
Daniel 11:27, KJV

For a more in-depth look at this topic, please refer to my
many Endtime articles such as 'O Israel, Why Will Ye Die?'.
One thing is quite apparent at this current time; the Jews
have no intention of giving up any part of Jerusalem, which
they claim as their undivided eternal capital; and the
Palestinians will likewise not be content until they have
secured at least half of the city to serve as the capital of
a Palestinian State. As proof of my statement, consider the
following report which was issued by Israel Wire on August
the 19th, 1999:

----- Begin Quote -----

The Palestinians are planning to claim 6,000 buildings in
western Jerusalem under the final-status arrangements. So
said the Jerusalem representative in the Palestinian
legislative council, Hattam Eid. Among the buildings is the
Ministry of Industry and Trade, headed by Ran Cohen of
Meretz. Eid said that the Palestinians are making great
efforts, including obtaining papers from Syria and Jordan,
to prove their ownership of the buildings.

----- End Of Quote -----

So as you can see, both sides involved in the Middle East
quagmire, are firmly entrenched in their positions, and are
leaving very little room for flexibility and compromise; and
this can only result in an eventual war of catastrophic
proportions, which will draw in other nations which have
strategic interests in the Middle East. As the Prophet
Isaiah wrote so long ago, Jerusalem is indeed becoming a
burdensome stone for the nations of the world:

"And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone
for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be
cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be
gathered together against it." Zechariah 12:3, KJV

Even as I write this, the Arab/Muslim nations of the Middle
East continue to prepare for this coming decisive war, even
though they continue to speak peace with their mouths, as is
exemplified by the resumption of the Syrian-Israeli peace
talks. All of the primary players, such as Iran, Iraq and
Syria, are currently engaged in a mad race to perfect their
weapons of mass destruction, for the day when they will make
Israel burn. Consider the following recent reports from the
Jerusalem Post and CNN. It is so clear that while they talk
of peace, they prepare for war. Peace based on military
strength and mistrust is doomed to eventual failure from the
start:

----- Begin Quotes -----

Barak Wins Knesset OK For Israeli-Syrian Talks

CNN -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak will travel to
Wednesday's peace talks with Syria, backed by support from
Israel's parliament, swayed by his call for "painful"
sacrifice. "If we miss this time," Barak told Israel's
Knesset on Monday, "this might lead to bloodshed, God
forbid. The condition is the Syrian delegation to the talks
will be equipped with the same degree of determination and
good will that we are taking with us. Peace is a joint
interest," he said.

. . .

Syria Says Accord With Israel May Be 'Few Months' Away

DAMASCUS, Syria (CNN) - A peace accord with Israel could be
reached within a few months, Syria's Foreign Minister Farouk
al-Sharaa said Sunday, an opinion expressed as well by
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

"I am so optimistic to say that a few months could be enough
to reach a peace agreement," al-Sharaa said in Damascus
after a meeting with Egypt's foreign minister ahead of peace
talks set to resume this week in Washington.

"I think this is a very important moment in the history of
the peace process," al-Sharaa said in Syria's first official
comment on the talks.

Soon after the talks with Syria were announced, Barak said
he thinks an accord could be reached. He also he expected
the talks with Syria would lead to new peace talks with
Lebanon as well.

"It's possible within a matter of months, to achieve peace
with both countries," Barak said.

. . .

Jerusalem Post -- Syria is sparing no expense in developing
a new longer-range, surface-to-surface missile that will put
all of Israel in range, Israeli sources said. The new
missile, a derivative of the Scud C, is expected to be ready
in six months to a year. The missile program tops Syria's
military priorities, and Damascus is receiving close aid
from Iran to develop the rockets. Once deployed, the
missiles could be tipped with non-conventional warheads and
would be able to strike at Israel from deep inside Syrian
territory.

----- End Of Quotes -----

As further proof that the Lord's words concerning 'wars and
rumours of wars' occurring in the Endtime are indeed coming
to pass before our very eyes, please note that in addition
to the previously-mentioned wars, conflicts and stiff verbal
confrontations, we often hear of military coups and civilian
uprisings occurring in such places as the volatile countries
of Central and South America, and of violent, and oft times
bloody, religious conflicts in such places as Indonesia and
Northern Ireland, and of deadly tribal wars in the nations
of Africa, in which thousands upon thousands of people are
brutally slain, and of bilateral border problems between
such nations and entities as Ethiopia and Eritrea, Israel
and Lebanon, India and Kashmir, China and Tibet, Indonesia
and East Timor, etc.

It seems that in our current time, the world is literally
filled with dangerous hotspots which may erupt into bloody
violence at any given moment. Consider some of the recent
reports regarding the civil unrest and violent bloodshed
which plagued East Timor, where on August 30th of this year,
the Timorese people voted for independence from Indonesia.
This violence, which was largely carried out by militias and
rogue government forces which are loyal to the government in
Jakarta, became so severe, and so brutal, that Indonesian
ex-president, B. J. Habibie, was finally forced to yield to
world pressure, and permitted the U.N., which is quickly
becoming the world's police force, to send in peacekeeping
troops in order to restore order, as well as to protect the
Timorese from further massacre by pro-government forces.
Since their arrival, these forces, which are comprised
primarily of Australian and British troops, have had some
encounters with the pro-Indonesian militias, which have
resulted in some casualties:

----- Begin Quotes -----

Peacekeepers from the international force in East Timor
killed three members of a pro-Indonesian militia in a new
skirmish Saturday along the border with
Indonesian-controlled West Timor. The peacekeepers. a patrol
made up of British and Australian troops, encountered the
militia about 15 kilometers (10 miles) west of the frontier.
It was the latest and most violent encounter along the
border between West and East Timor, which voted for
independence from Indonesia in an August 30 referendum.

. . .

Pro-Jakarta militiamen said they were ready to kill members
of a U.N. force heading for East Timor Friday as the top
bishop still in the territory warned of a new wave of
massacres...Despite a relative calm in Dili, Red Cross
officials said fresh blood on the streets showed that
attacks by pro-Jakarta forces had not stopped. Smoke still
hung over the city as the United Nations sent its first
airdrops of urgent aid. The violence, launched by the
militias and some elements of the military, was triggered by
last month's ballot favoring independence from Indonesia.
Thousands are thought to have been killed since the August
30 vote.

. . .

Indonesia faced world anger Friday over the massacres in
East Timor and reports from the territory gave harrowing
accounts of fresh suffering at the isolated U.N. compound in
the devastated town of Dili. East Timorese and independent
experts say thousands have probably died in the last few
days in violence blamed on the Indonesian military. The U.N.
compound in the East Timor capital Dili, a refuge for
terrified civilians, was under pressure from pro-Jakarta
militiamen who threatened to throw grenades over the wall
into the complex, a journalist in the town said. Marie
Colvin of London's Sunday Times reported from Dili that
militiamen were still terrorizing the population. . .

. . .

The United Nations evacuated its besieged compound in the
East Timorese provincial capital on Friday, as thousands of
East Timorese refugees, forced into West Timor by
pro-Indonesian militias, described widespread massacres and
arson attacks in their smoldering homeland. Hundreds of U.N.
staff, including mission head Ian Martin, boarded a plane
for Australia on Friday morning, leaving behind a skeleton
crew to continue working to help East Timor's transition to
independence.

. . .

East Timor's embattled capital Dili continued to burn
Wednesday in the latest wave of militia violence, as
emergency talks got under way in Jakarta with U.N.
representatives. Up to a third of the East Timor population
has been forced out of the territory in an attempt by the
militias to wreck last week's referendum, which
overwhelmingly favored independence from Indonesia.

. . .

Indonesia's military chief held crisis talks on Sunday as
pro-Indonesia militiamen rampaged unchallenged and East
Timor descended into chaos. General Wiranto flew in as part
of a hastily organized crisis team of ministers. As they
landed in Dili, the East Timorese capital, dozens of
terrified and crying Indonesians were running the other way
to get on military flights and escape the violence unleashed
after East Timor rejected Jakarta's rule.

----- End Of Quotes -----

With the independence of East Timor now assured due to the
presence of U.N. troops on the island, as well as to the
fact that the government of ex-president BJ Habibie finally
ratified the same, this development has provided impetus for
the people of other provinces who also desire independence
from Jakarta's rule. As a result of a highly-publicized
banking scandal, and his poor handling of the East Timor
situation, Habibie was ousted from office by a presidential
election on October 20, 1999. Assuming his role as president
is a fifty-nine year old, half-blind Muslic cleric by the
name of Abdurrahman Wahid. Assisting the president is vice
president Megawati Sukarnoputri, who is the daughter of
Indonesia's first president and dictator, Sukarno.

No sooner had Mr. Wahid, (affectionately known as Gus Dur),
assumed office, that the people of the far province of Aceh,
which is located on the northerm extreme of the island of
Sumatra, went to the streets to publicly manifest their own
demands for independence from Jakarta; however, neither the
new president, nor the powerful military, are about to lose
another province, as occurred with East Timor. Following are
several recent reports from CNN news:

----- Begin Quotes -----

Indonesian President Says Aceh Will Not Be Allowed To Secede

President Abdurrahman Wahid says his government will never
allow restive Aceh province, where separatist sentiment has
grown in recent weeks, to split from Indonesia. "Any attempt
to separate Aceh from Indonesia is an act that cannot be
tolerated," Wahid told a panel of senior legislators who
summoned him on Wednesday to explain his policies.

. . .

Thousands Flee Aceh, Fearing Violence Before Proposed
Referendum

Thousands of people fearing potential anti-Jakarta violence
ahead of the proposed referendum for Aceh are fleeing the
restive province, as guerrillas prepare to fight for
independence. Some people have withdrawn their savings from
banks and transportation out of Aceh is booked solid for two
weeks, residents and local newspapers reported on Tuesday.

. . .

Indonesia Military To Head Off Aceh Independence Vote

Warning against the potential disintegration of the world's
fourth most-populous nation, Indonesia's politically
powerful military plans to head off an independence vote in
Aceh. "A referendum on autonomy is fine," chief armed forces
spokesman Maj.Gen. Sudrajat said on Tuesday. "But a
referendum on independence -- no, because it will lead to a
Balkanization process."

. . .

Rebel Chief Demands Independence From Indonesia

A separatist rebel chief on Tuesday dismissed President
Abdurraham Wahid's enticements to keep Aceh province a part
of Indonesia, vowing to continue an armed struggle until the
oil-rich province attains full independence. Despite
criticism from members of his government and the military,
Wahid on Tuesday again voiced support for a referendum in
Aceh. He sweetened the pot to keep Aceh part of the
archipelago nation by offering it autonomy and 75 percent of
the province's revenues.

. . .

Tensions In Aceh Prompt Wahid To Cut Short Asian Tour

Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid will cut short his
tour of Southeast Asia and return to Jakarta on Tuesday, in
part because of a separatist movement in the province of
Aceh. Hundreds of thousands of marchers have demanded an
immediate vote on independence for Aceh, a region rich in
oil and mineral resources. "One of the reasons is the events
developing in Aceh," a presidential source said Tuesday.

----- End Of Quotes -----

With independence now securely gained by the East Timorese,
and the citizens of Aceh now aiming to achieve the same
goal, it isn't surprising to see that people of the eastern
province of Irian Jaya have also been affected by the spirit
of freedom which is currently sweeping across Indonesia.
Truly, it appears that this vast island-chain nation may be
in the process of being broken up. During the first week of
December, 1999, CNN reported the following:

----- Begin Quote -----

Separatists Raise Flag In Indonesia's Irian Jaya

Tens of thousands of people participated in the raising of a
separatist flag and demanded independence from Indonesia
during a peaceful demonstration on Wednesday in the capital
of Irian Jaya province.

----- End Of Quote ----

Besides these major wars and bloody confrontations between
the various nations of the world, and these oft times
violent protests for independence, during the past several
decades, terrorist bomb strikes have also reared their ugly
head in just about every major region of the Earth. As an
example, sixteen years ago, on October the 23rd, 1983, a
tanker truck filled with deadly explosives, and driven by a
suicidal terrorist, crashed into the U.S. Marine barracks
located in Beirut, Lebanon. As a result of that attack, two
hundred and forty-one marines lost their lives, and another
eighty were also wounded. On the very same day, another
terrorist attack was launched against the French military
quarters as well; and fifty-six lives were claimed in that
terrible incident.

A little more than five years later, on the fateful evening
of December 21, 1988, Pan Am flight number 103, bound for
New York City from London's Heathrow Airport, became the
next major terrorist target. About an hour after takeoff,
while flying over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, the plane
exploded in mid-air. It was later determined that the deadly
explosion resulted from a bomb which had been concealed in a
passenger's transistor radio. That attack claimed a total of
two hundred seventy victims from some twenty-two different
nations. Two hundred and fifty-nine of the victims were in
the plane itself, while eleven more died on the ground when
part of the plane's fuselage plowed into a housing project
in Lockerbie. Just recently, Libya finally released to the
West, the persons who are claimed to have been responsible
for the deadly attack; and reparations are still being
sought for, for the families of the victims.

It was just under five years later, that the world again
witnessed the dangerous reality of terrorism. On the 26th
day of February, 1993, a 1,200-pound bomb exploded in the
subterranean garage of the 110-story towers of the World
Trade Center in New York City. That attack resulted in the
death of six American citizens, and in over one thousand
persons being wounded. Mohammed A. Salameh, 30, Nidal Ayyad,
30, Mahmoud Abouhalima, 37, and Ahmad Mohammad Ajaj, 31,
were convicted in 1994, and each received a life sentence
plus 240 years. In January 1998, the alleged mastermind of
the plot, 25-year-old Ramzi Yousef, who had been captured in
Pakistan in 1995, also received a 240-year sentence. Three
months later, in April of 1998, 26-year-old Eyad Ismoil, who
was captured in Jordan in 1995, and who is accused of having
driven the van which carried the bomb, also received the
same sentence.

Two years later, on November 13, 1995, terrorists struck
once again when a car-bomb exploded in a U.S. military
headquarters building in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia. That attack
resulted in the death of six civilians of American and Saudi
Arabian nationality, as well as in dozens of other persons
being injured. Following is a CNN newsclip from that time
period:

----- Begin Quote -----

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An apparent car-bomb explosion outside a
U.S. training facility in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Monday killed
six people, including five Americans, and injured about 60
others. Thirty-four of the wounded were Americans; one of
the Americans killed was an enlisted U.S. soldier. The other
four were civilians.

The explosions -- two, about five minutes apart -- ripped
the front facade off a building where nearly 400 Americans
train the Saudi National Guard to use weapons bought from
the U.S.

Authorities believe a bomb was concealed in a van parked
near a ground-floor snack bar where both Americans and
Saudis were having lunch.

----- End Of Quote -----

Not even a year later, on June 25, 1996, Saudi Arabia once
again became the scene for yet another deadly terrorist
attack against American military forces. On that fateful
day, a fuel tanker truck laden with as much as 5,000 pounds
of explosives, exploded outside of the perimeter fence of
the al-Khobar Towers; a foreign housing project located on
the King Abdul Aziz Air Base in Dhahran. The explosion all
but destroyed one building and blasted a crater thirty-five
feet deep and eighty-five feet across. That attack resulted
in the death of nineteen Americans, and over three hundred
other persons being injured according to the Saudi
government.

Tragically, the Saudi Arabian attacks would not be the last.
On August 7, 1998, the world was once again shocked when two
simultaneous terrorist attacks were launched against the
American embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar-es-Salaam,
Tanzania. It has been reported that a total of two hundred
and thirty-four lives were lost due to these pre-meditated
attacks, and nearly five thousand people were injured,
making them the third most deadly attacks since the attack
in Lebanon fifteen years earlier, and the Lockerbie attack
ten years before. Following are several excerpts from the
Associated Press, released several days after the attacks:

----- Begin Quotes -----

Death Toll At 234; More Arrests Made

NAIROBI, Kenya - Investigators began piecing together
evidence from two bomb-shattered U.S. embassies Tuesday as
rescuers pulled bodies from the rubble in Nairobi, pushing
the death count in the twin attacks to 234. Police made more
arrests in Tanzania. No one has been pulled alive from the
wreckage since Saturday, the day after the blasts. The
stench of rotting flesh seeped from the heaped concrete and
steel in Nairobi Tuesday.

The nearly simultaneous bombings in Kenya and Tanzania
claimed at least 234 lives - including 12 Americans - and
injured nearly 5,000. Kenya's National Disaster Operation
Center said Tuesday 220 people were confirmed killed in
Nairobi. Ten Africans died in the bombing in Tanzania.

----- End of Quotes -----

Returning to more recent events, the explosions scattered
throughout Russia are not the only terrorist bombing attacks
which have been carried out during recent months. America's
Cable News Network, (CNN), also reported the following
attacks as well in Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen,
Israel and in the so-called 'recently-liberated' Kosovo:

----- Begin Quotes -----

Sri Lankan President Calls For Calm After Assassination
Attempt

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNN) -- President Chandrika
Kumaratunga has survived an assassination attempt and is
appealing for calm in Sri Lanka after two suicide bombings
left 21 people dead and 150 people -- including herself --
wounded.

The first bomb exploded near Colombo's town hall just as
Kumaratunga had finished addressing a People's Alliance
campaign rally supporting her re-election.

Shortly after the blast, a second suicide bomber struck at a
gathering of the main opposition party, the United National
Party in Ja-Ela, a Colombo suburb.

The bombing is similar to a 1994 attack against a Sri Lankan
presidential candidate of the UNP. The candidate and 51
others were killed in a bomb blast at an election rally.

A year earlier, Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa
was killed in an explosion during a May Day rally. Both
attacks were blamed on LTTE.

. . .

Bombs Kill 7 In Pakistan

Militant supporters of deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif
claimed responsibility Sunday for a bomb explosion that
killed seven people in Lahore, the capital of Pakistan's
eastern Punjab province. Two children were among the dead.
Another 17 people were hospitalized, police said. In a
statement faxed to Pakistani newspapers, an organization
calling itself the Al-Nawaz group said it had triggered the
bomb to protest the military coup that ousted Sharif.

. . .

Powerful Truck Bomb Shatters Taliban Headquarters

A powerful truck bomb exploded near the home of the leader
of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban movement, killing seven
people, Taliban officials said Wednesday. The explosion,
shortly after 10 p.m. local time Tuesday in southern
Kandahar, shattered windows and doors and sent frightened
residents scurrying for cover. The truck was parked three
houses away from Mullah Mohammed Omar's home, said Taliban
spokesman Abdul Hai Muttmain, who was contacted on satellite
telephone in Kandahar.

. . .

Blasts Rock 3 Yemen Cities

A car bomb exploded in the Yemeni capital of San'a Saturday,
killing several people and injured many others, officials
said. A number of embassies and diplomatic residences were
damaged in the early morning blast outside a supermarket in
the Hadda area. However, no diplomatic personnel were
injured in the explosion, which came hours after two bombs
went off in southern Yemen. No injuries were reported there.

. . .

Israel: Explosions Won't Derail Renewed Peace Process

The government of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak signaled
Sunday that peace efforts with the Palestinians would go
forward despite suspected car bomb blasts in two northern
Israeli towns that killed at least three people. Police
suspect terrorism was the motive for nearly simultaneous
blasts in the Sea of Galilee town of Tiberias and the port
city of Haifa Sunday. The explosions came just hours after
Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat signed a revamped
land-for-security accord.

. . .

Explosions Rock American Sector Of Kosovo

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia -- Several explosions ripped through
the American sector of eastern Kosovo, killing two people
and injuring four, including one critically, NATO said on
Wednesday.

Eight to 10 blasts occurred late Tuesday near Donja Budriga
village, three miles south of Gnjilane, according to Pfc.
William Patterson of the U.S. military press office at Camp
Bondsteel. He did not say whether the victims were Serbs or
ethnic Albanians.

The explosions occurred one day after Russian soldiers
patrolling in the American sector shot and killed three
Serbs after they disregarded orders to stop beating two
wounded Albanians and instead opened fire on the
peacekeepers.

Those incidents have raised tensions in Kosovo before the
scheduled September 19 demilitarization of the Kosovo
Liberation Army, whose attacks against Serbs triggered the
18-month crackdown that led to the 78-day NATO bombing
campaign.

. . .

Kosovo Blast Damages Monument To Ethnic Harmony

A bomb rocked Kosovo's capital early Saturday and damaged a
monument symbolizing former Yugoslav leader Josip Broz
Tito's ideal of ethnic harmony among his people, NATO-led
KFOR peacekeepers said. The explosion, which occurred at
3:22 a.m. (0122 GMT) in central Pristina, rattled windows
and woke people across the city. It badly damaged the base
of the reinforced concrete monument, which local residents
said was erected in 1961. There was no immediate indication
who was responsible.

----- End Of Quotes -----

As we have now seen through some of the previous reports,
civilian uprisings by Islamic militants who seek liberation
from their oppressive governments is a worldwide scourge at
this present time. Thousands upon thousands have died as a
result of these violent clashes between government forces
and the Islamic fundamentalists. Consider the following
alarming excerpts from a report released by the Associated
Press in January of 1998:

----- Begin Quotes -----

Algerian Authorities Provide First Death Toll In Six Years:
26,536

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) -- Algeria's prime minister provided
the first official death toll in six years of violence
today, saying 26,536 people have been killed -- a figure
about three times lower than most media estimates.

Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, addressing lawmakers in a
session that lasted until 4 a.m., also said 21,000 people
have been injured since the start of an Islamic insurgency
in 1992. Acts of violence have left 5,000 people
handicapped, he said.

The death toll provided by the chief of government, running
from 1992 through 1997, includes security forces but does
not include those killed since the start of the Muslim holy
month of Ramadan Dec. 30. The media estimates some 2,000
people have died since then -- far more than government
estimates.

Algerian authorities have maintained a policy of silence
over casualties since the start of the insurgency. They only
occasionally acknowledge attacks and consistently provide
figures far lower than those cited in the nation's
newspapers or by hospital sources.

The Associated Press uses a death toll estimate of about
75,000. Some put the figure as high as 120,000.

----- End Of Quotes -----

As we continue this series in part four, we will turn our
attention to some of the evils which have plagued American
society in recent years; in particular, the violent acts
being committed by outraged American citizens, plus the
shootings which have occurred in the Public School System.
In addition to this, we will discuss the topics of families
divided by Christ, the dangers of anger rage and wrath,
defining nations and kingdoms, the exactness of the Lord's
prophecy, no peace for the roaring waves of the wicked, the
causes of wars and personal conflicts, the possible true
meaning of Jesus' prophecy, and finally, earthquakes in the
Old Testament. Once again, I trust that you will join me. We
still have a lot of ground to cover.

Go To Part Four . . .