Obama’s Trip to Israel: Imitation of the Triumphal Entry

Interesting… that bit in bold. (e.g., See Matthew 7:12-14 , John 10, and Revelation 5:5).

I don’t believe he needs to go there to fulfill prophecy though, and here’s why.  In Matthew 24, Jesus famously warns:  15 So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.  

Jesus’ words had an obvious physical-literal fulfillment in 70 AD when Roman forces sacked Jerusalem and burned the Temple. None of those who had placed their trust in Messiah Y’Shua (Jesus Christ) were harmed however, for they had had a desert-like thirty-eight years to consider, understand, recognize and heed the warning when it came to pass. They took God’s Word seriously. They took time to let its meaning soak in with the help of the light of the Holy Spirit. They were wise virgins who did not need to seek Spirit-oil to light their spiritual lamps at the last minute when it was too late. They already had it inside of them.

As literal residents of literal Judea, they fled to the literal, geographic mountains for refuge, as instructed. Yet in doing so in obedience to His Word, they were also fleeing to the refuge of the mountain of YHWH — the mount on which His Christ reigns (see Psalm 2, at top). The obedience (to Christ) is the main thing. We ought not get too caught up on the physical fleeing itself, a particular instruction by Christ to a particular people at a particular time.

Does that mean that this part of Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew 24 (and Mark 13 and Luke 21) can be safely packed away and ignored? I don’t think so. Our God and His Word are unparalleled in their ability to put the same things to use in multiple ways, over vast spans of history, and all to the same end: sinful man reconciled to his God by the cross; Christ with His Bride, wedded eternal in the New Jerusalem.

In the past, I’ve conjectured various other ways in which the phrases “standing in” and “holy place” could be interpreted in idiomatic or symbolic terms, e.g., this and this. (Virtually all of scripture has this dual literal-symbolic aspect to it.) As such, I will not insist on the following interpretation. You’ll either see it or you won’t — and I could well be wrong. Be an Acts 17:11 skeptic. Consider everything carefully yourself in light of the Word of God.

Very simply, I have come to believe that “standing in the holy place” means imitating and usurping the role (i.e., the rightful image, office and authority) of the Holy One, YHWH’s Christ: Jesus. Such an interpretation would be consistent with the definition John gives for antichrist (both plural and singular) in his first epistle, 2:18-27. (Just think about the common usage of the term ‘stand-in’, e.g., an understudy in a play, a back-up quarterback, a temporary corporate executive, an Olympic team alternate, a substitute teacher, a babysitter, etc. Only incidentally does the idea refer to the ground on which one’s feet happen to be placed. Primarily, it refers to performing the functions of a person who normally and properly performs them when all is in its right order.)

We’re so used to political parody that we forget: imitating a perfectly holy God entails mockery, i.e., blasphemy. It is in an important sense the same profound sin Satan committed. Submission and obedience to Christ are the believer’s route to supernatural (‘born again’) transformation, the ultimate, God-driven and proper form of imitation (being re-created, by his grace and Holy Spirit, into his image, over time and through testing and trial). Direct imitation without those elements, for one’s own purposes, amounts to usurpation and opposition. It is rebellion.

Because Jesus’ ministry was based in Israel, centered ultimately on Jerusalem and the Temple, geography is an essential part of of the abomi-nation’s “standing” — but only a part. It is but one aspect of a much larger ‘frame’.

Just as the gospel began in Jerusalem and went out to all the earth, so does the New Jerusalem. So does the temple of Jesus’ body, the church. So do the imitators, usurpers and rebels who would ascend to be like the Most High. And so does the ultimate man of sin, antichrist. His usurping role, office and self-aggrandizing ambitions are what define him. Geography is simply a base he needs to tag to round that out. I strongly suspect that is what Obama’s trip is all about.

For those steeped in a reading of prophetic scripture which requires the re-building of a physical-literal-geographic stone temple and Holy Place with human hands before the man-of-sin can stand in it, this may be hard. It’s been quite the trip for me also. Yet scripture must be our guide. As such, I urge you to consider the foundations of that assumption carefully (pun intentional) as you weigh this larger idea which could well incorporate it, but doesn’t have to.)

In our day, I believe, “those in Judea” refer to those in Christ.

See Revelation 2:9 and 3:9 about the fakes. See also:

Romans 2:29 — “…a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.”

Galatians 3:28 — “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” and Colossians 3:11 — “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.”

In our day, I believe, “flee[ing] to the mountains,” refers to our fleeing to YHWH, e.g., see Psalm 11. We are to “come out of her [Babylon]” (a city built on a plain – Shinar, in Iraq) and flee ‘up’ to the New Jerusalem. We are to flee to the refuge of Christ’s body, the fellowship of his Word and Spirit, embodied in his true (invisible) church, sheltered under his out-stretched, nail-scarred ‘wings’ — the ones he would have used to protect the original Jerusalem as a hen gathers her chicks (Matt 23)… but they would not.   In the same vein, speaking of one whose “heart shall be set against the holy covenant” (v28) the prophet Daniel is told to write (in chapter 11):  31 … And they shall set up the abomi-nation that makes desolate. 32 He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.  i.e., by telling people what they want to hear, the abomi-nation (perhaps a male person, see v32) will talk unbelieversinto a grand lie. (The exact same idea is reflected in 2nd Thessalonians 2:9-12, (“strong delusion so that they may believe what is false”), echoing Romans 1:18+ (“God gave them up”) and Isaiah 6:9-10. (“do not understand… do not perceive”). (This is the main reason I’ve lost all interest in politics. What we have witnessed the last several years in that arena is symptomatic of Divine judgment already working. As such, it is a fools errand to attempt to overturn or reverse it with anything other than sincere repentance, and obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ.)

Daniel continues (ch. 11):  33 And the wise among the people shall make many understand, though for some days they shall stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder. 34 When they stumble, they shall receive a little help. And many shall join themselves to them with flattery, 35 and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time.  36 And the king shall do as he wills. He shall exalt himselfand magnify himselfabove every god, and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods.

Recall Isaiah 14, above. Contrast this also with Joshua 3 & 4, also cited above, wherein YHWH is the one doing the exalting (of Joshua and, later, Jesus) as a result of their obedience to Him.

Recall also, in contrast, Obama’s statement at the 2009 White House Correspondent’s dinner — a statement profoundly ‘astonishing’ to anyone who knows their Bible and fears YHWH –

“My next 100 days will be so successful, I will complete them in 72 days. And on the 73rd day, I will rest.”

Not only was Obama’s statement a blatant blasphemy against YHWH (which, tellingly, garnered laughter from most of the audience) but it also served as a direct and potent reference to Islam — one almost no one in the West has fully understood, even now.

Correspondent ‘DT’ clued me in in an e-mail (see text about halfway down this post): 72 is the number of virgins which Islamic martyrs are promised in ‘paradise’ for acts of murder-suicide which take out infidels; i.e., anyone who does not bow the knee to ‘allah’; 73 is the Islamic number of perfection. Now, go re-read Obama’s statement with that understanding (72=virgins in payment for murder-suicide; 73 and perfection in the false demon-god ‘allah’). If you are not shocked to the core by what he was really saying, you were not paying attention.

Daniel continues (ch. 11):  36 He shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished; for what is decreed shall be done.;  i.e., the man of sin will remain in power, contrary to all earthly reason, e.g., men’s political calculations. (Paradoxically, this fact should reassure all believers. The Most High God, YHWH is in thoroughly and permanently in charge of everything. Satan is a created being, restrained according to YHWH’s good, wise, sovereign, omnipresent and omnipotent control. We must not fear him who can only kill the body.)  37 He shall pay no attention to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women. He shall not pay attention to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all.

I’ve read this passage dozens of times. I think it’s much simpler than many make out.

Consider: Anyone who seeks to unite the world’s faiths, either in their own mind on a small scale, or in Jerusalem on a grand scale (as Obama has said he’d like to do) is by definition staking out higher ground than any of them. (This realization should set us in awe regarding the patience and long-suffering of the One True God, YHWH, and His Christ, Jesus who does not delight in the death of the wicked and would wish all to come to saving faith.)

We’re so used to this kind of relativistic, little-o-this, little-o-that, tolerant-of-outright-falsehood thinking in our day that when someone rises to power who embodies it, we scarcely notice.

It’s the same common philosophy that holds that truth is relative to each person, and that all religions have a part of the truth and do not really conflict with one another in their essentials (a rather silly and willful obfuscation of the plainest and most basic tenets of each).

It’s the same philosophy that leads many to “roll their own” nowadays, selecting aspects of different religious philosophies to suit their tastes, making themselves little gods while denying each one, including the Real One. (I recently learned the term ‘Bu-Jew’ which some ethnic Jews following fashionable Buddhist teaching apply to themselves while denying the authority of Old Testament.)

38 He shall honor the god of fortresses [Babylon and physical force] instead of these. A god whom his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. [Hanuman?] 39 He shall deal with the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. Those who acknowledge him he shall load with honor. He shall make them rulers over many and shall divide the land for a price.

That last line is the key thing to watch.

Will Obama’s trip result in a deal to divide Israel?

We shall soon see…

 Addenda:

I don’t claim to understand this bit yet, but it seems notable that the Vicar of (literally, the stand-in or substitute for) Christ, i.e., Pope Benedict XVI, should resign suddenly just six days after Obama announced his trip to Israel.

The latest date rumored for the conclave to choose the next (and allegedly last) Pope to succeed him is… March 20th… the Vernal Equinox… the day Obama is set to arrive in Israel.

To put it another way, the Pope’s exit process is framed by Obama’s trip. In such a context, Revelation 13 seems of increasing interest, i.e., regarding the co-temporal interplay between the two beasts (antichrist world systems stretching across time, the powers of which are concentrated in certain men). (Recall the material Mark Fairley puts forward regarding the Satanic interplay of light and darkness.)

Given the timing of Obama’s trip, I’ve been looking with new eyes at Jesus’ words to his disciples in Matthew 24:20 regarding the start of the unprecedented Great Tribulation, a.k.a., Time of Jacob’s Trouble:  Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath.

Winter ends in the Northern Hemisphere on March 20th, at 11:02 GMT, an hour after Obama’s plane is scheduled to land in Israel. I.e., his flight into Israel will be in Winter.

Any ‘flights’ others may take as a result of what he says or does there (whether those ‘flights’ be physical or spiritual) will notbe in Winter.

In other words, if his trip marks the start of the Great Tribulation (and I’m still keeping this one in the ‘if’ category), those praying as Jesus told us to will have their prayers answered. They will nothave to ‘flee’ it in Winter but in Spring, Summer or Fall.

Further, Obama is scheduled to depart five hours before the start of that week’s Sabbath — Shabbat HaGadol, the Shabbat right before Passover. In no other year since 1899 would such a connection of those two things be possible on a three-day trip.