Abundant Harvest Ministries
Messianic Evangelist Fred Shmidt
HARVEST
NEWS
January 2006
News of prophetic importance from Israel and the Middle-east,
with analysis from Messianic Jewish Evangelist FRED SHMIDT
P.O. Box 680 Powhatan, VA 23139. (804)598-1818.
Web: www.fredshmidt.org
“Reaching the lost—feeding the sheep since 1955”
TURKEY, IMF ACCORD
DESPITE REFORMS DELAY
Prophecy scholars have eyed three countries as
candidates for membership in the future ten kingdom federation prophesied by
Daniel. These countries are: Greece, Turkey and Egypt. New developments should
raise eyebrows.
While in Istanbul in October 26th, the Turkish Daily News paper and local
television covered developments of historic proportions regarding Turkey’s bid
for membership in the European Union. I covered the historic move by the EU to
include Turkey as a fellow-member in an earlier article. This, in itself, has
historic implications. Imagine, a Europe, its past steeped in Roman Catholic
influence, now reaching out to a non-European country for membership, a country
that is also non-Christian. Turkey is—Moslem! Here is the connection: Turkey was
also a part of the old Roman Empire.
On October 25, Turkey announced that an agreement had been reached between the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Ankara regarding the release of $1.6
billion under a $10 billion stand-by deal despite a delay in passing a key
reform bill on social security.
“We have agreed in principle on a draft letter of intent and on the policy steps
needed for the completion of reviews by the IMF Executive Board by
mid-December,” said the head of the IMF’s Turkey desk, Lorenzo Giorgianni in a
jointly held news conference with Turkish Economy Minister Ali Babacan. Markets
welcomed the accord.
The IMF froze the second installment of $800 million in July after Turkish
Parliament failed to adopt a law reforming the country’s troubled social
security system before the agreed deadline. Now, a banking law transcends the
vetoing power of the president, allowing greater supervision over the crisis-hit
sector. Turkey submitted a draft budget to Parliament last week reinforcing the
country’s commitment to tough economic policies under the IMF-backed program,
and submission to IMF requirements, including new income tax reform laws, and
infrastructure for a united pension and health program by 2007. “There’s no
going back. Turkey will start implementing policies fully in line with its
inflation targets from the start of the new year” said Babacan. Y
More Russian influence
Russia’s Alpha Group has secured approval from Turkish authorities to buy a 13.2% stake in top Turkish mobile phone firm Turkcell via a $3.3 billion convertible debt deal with a Turkcell shareholder, Cukerova. Alfa Group is backed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Russian influence will likely make it easier for them to monitor calls for intelligence purposes. Y
Erdogan Visits Kuwait, Yemen, Britain
Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan visited Kuwait this week to seek ways to attract Gulf capital to Turkey in the same way he did in Dubai. He will use the same strategy to attract business from Qatar and Bahrain, said Turkish commentator, Murat Yetkin.
Dependence on oil-rich Moslem countries gives them the power to blackmail the debtor country. One look at Europe’s dilemma should be convincing enough. Many are now being gradually taken over by Islamist extremism. Y
The Turkish Connection
A significant portion of eastern Turkey was under the iron hand of the ancient Assyrian Empire. The recognizable Biblical names for the Turks were Havillah to the north, and Minni to the south. Theyshared their Eastern border with Armenia. This same area was later possessed by the Babylonian Empire. Next, the Medo-Persian Empire possessed 2/3 of what is Turkey. This was followed by the Grecian Empire, which possessed all of Turkey. The Roman Empire which followed possessed the Western 2/3 of Turkey. Its popular name during the Grecian and Roman eras were Bythynia, Lydia, Cilycia and Cappadocia.
Ararat (Armenia), Minni (Turkey), Ashchenaz (northern Turkey, Armenia, Azerbyjan, and Chechnya) are mentioned along with the Medes (northern Iran), in Jeremiah 51 as the invaders who ganged up on Nebuchadnezzar II, and brought down his Babylonian kingdom.Y
The Greek Connection
Turkey’s most renown association, however, is her association with the Greeks, who conquered and controlled Turkey before the Romans did the same thing. They have friction to this day, most of it over ownership of the island of Cyprus. Which brings us to some late-breaking developments.
Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) urged the U.S. and the U.N. to take action towards a solution to the long-running division of the island that lies in the Mediterranean Sea off the S.E. coast of Turkey. A 2 hour meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice with KKTC President Mehmet Ali Talat in Washington on October 28th. Kofi Anan’s U.N. plan had failed in May 2004. Y
The Kurdish Connection
A Turkish official speaking on condition of anonymity said, that Turkey wants maximum electoral participation in Iraq’s parliamentary polls. Their hope is that this will encourage a balanced composition, allowing each Iraqi group to have a say in possible revisions on the text of the constitution.
Turkey remains concerned about the referendum, fearful that it may fail to provide enough guarantees for the protection of the territorial integrity of the country.
Iraq’s Electoral Commission revealed that 79% of voters backed the constitution against 21% opposed. Opponents failed to muster the 2/3 majority in 3 of Iraq’s 18 provinces to block ratification.
Turkish concerns focus particularly on demands by Iraqi Kurds for greater autonomy. Fear is that this could spark similar demands from other Iraqi groups such as the Shiites.
Another worry is the fate of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. Ankara has warned the U.S. that control of the ethnically mixed city by Kurds would lead to tension and would fuel Kurdish desire for independence.
Iraqi Kurdish leader, Massoud Barzani met with U.S. President George W. Bush at the White House on October 25. President Bush was expected to talk about the important of territorial integrity.
This issue, and Turkey’s almost certain entry into the European Union have turned the spotlight on this region.
Greece is symbolized as the body of the Beast in Revelation 13:1-2. Increased exposure to these countries should be expected at this time of prophetic fulfillment. Y
The Israel Connection
In 1995, Turkey was threatened with total annihilation by Syria, Iraq and Iran for allowing Kurds to find safe harbor from Saddam Hussein’s campaign of slaughter against them. These neighboring countries demanded that Turkey annihilate all Kurds within her borders. Kurds make us 20% of Turkey’s population. Turkey’s refusal brought on the threat.
Out of fear from her Moslem neighbors, Turkey made a peace pact with Israel which included many mutual side benefits. The then Prime Minister invited other area nations into the alliance, suggesting that 10 nations would be an ideal number. This is the first known effort to bring together a 10 kingdom federation that could fulfill Daniel 7:7-8, 24. Y
Israel Forces Train with NATO for First Time
Israeli soldiers participated in a recent NATO exercise in Ukraine. It was the first time Israeli field troops have ever trained with NATO.
The drill dealt mainly with anti-terrorism combat and low-density conflict. Two platoon commanders and 11 other commanders from the IDF’s NCO officer’s school based in the Negev participated.
“We are trying to pass on to them our knowledge and experiences,” said Col. Alon Friedman, commander of the NCO base. “NATO also has experience in terrorism in light of their efforts to promote peace, and we also learned from them,” he told the Jerusalem Post.
The exercise took place at a large military base in Ukraine and lasted for 2 1/2 weeks.
“This is the first time that soldiers on a tactical level have participated in any NATO military exercise,” he said. “There have been senior commanders who have gone to NATO events as well as consultants, but never combatants like this.”
Friedman said the soldier came away with a number of tips and examples in waging urban conflict from the other forces. The Israelis were impressed that the other armies tackled urban conflict in populated areas with how much more force the NATO forces use than that used by the IDF in Israel.
“The (Israeli) soldiers reported that they (NATO) were more aggressive than in our experience, which is ironic, since the IDF has an image around the world of an aggressive army,” Friedman said.
NATO was formed as a power to oppose the expanding Soviet Union, which no longer exists. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is alive and well, and remains vigilant against the growing threat of Moslem extremism. Y
Two More Scrolls Found Near Dead Sea
Kansas Star, 7/16/05 p. A9
The first finding of ancient scrolls in decades has given rise to the hope that the Judean Desert may yield even more treasures, said Chanan Eshel of Tel Aviv’s Bar Ilan University.
The two small pieces of brown animal skin, inscribed in Hebrew with verses from the book of Leviticus, are from “refugee” caves in Nachal Arugot, a canyon near the Dead Sea, where Jew hid from the Romans in the 2nd Century. The scrolls are being tested by Israel’s Antiquities Authority.
Recently, several relics bearing inscriptions, including a burial bone-box purported to belong to Jesus’ brother James, were revealed as modern forgeries.
Eshel said he was first shown the fragments last year at a meeting in an abandoned police station near the Dead Sea. A Bedouin said he had been offered $20,000 for the fragments on the black market and wanted an evaluation.
It is highly possible that the entire New Testament was originally written in Hebrew, the language of Yeshua and of the Jewish people. Though occupied by the Romans, the Jews continued to speak their ancient language when among their own.
At the time of Paul’s arrest, Acts 21:40 and 22:2 says: “when there was made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue. And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue, they kept the more silence” It is clear from these texts that Hebrew was the language spoken by the Jews during Jesus’ time, and that it was not lost through the Roman domination. Y
God’s Hand Seen in Settlement Links
There is a false idea floating among the Arabs and those who do not understand events taking place in Israel. It is that Israel’s plan to link Jerusalem and the community of Ma’aleh Adumim is meant to sabotage the peace process. NOT TRUE!
Arial view of Ma’aleh Adumim. A Jewish community of 32,000 just 10 minutes from Jerusalem. (Jim Hollander/EPA/www.newscom.com).
Israel announced intention to build 3,500 homes on a strip of territory that has been declared state land located between Ma’aleh Adumim and Jerusalem (see Jerusalem Post March 20, 2005).
The Palestinians immediately caused an uproar, claiming it was “a kind of terror against the peace process and against the Palestinian people,” and that Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said it was at odds with U.S. policy (JP 3/28/05).
Here are the facts: Ma’aleh Adumim is a suburb of Jerusalem, barely 3 miles outside the city limits. It is a 23 year-old neighborhood, popular because it is clean, safe and close to work and shopping. It is the largest Jewish settlement, with a population of 32,000.
Because of these facts, it is understood by both sides that it will not be dismantled or evacuated; it will be a part of Israel after a peace agreement is reached. If it were not linked with Jerusalem, Ma’aleh Adumim would become an island bombarded by Moslem attacks.
The approximately 3,250 acre corridor between this neighborhood and the city is uninhabited. No Palestinians will be displaced. The completion of the E-1 building project will not prevent the creation of a contiguous Palestinian state. A glance at an area map will prove this.
In his April 14, 2004 letter to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, President Bush acknowledged that Israel would incorporate some settlements inside its borders.
In light of the innumerable changes in population growth, including existing major Israeli population centers, it is unthinkable and unrealistic to force the Israelis to return everything back to the 1949 armistice lines as demanded by the Palestine Liberation Organization now operating under its new name of the Palestinian Authority. Y
Link-up Has Prophetic Importance
Isaiah’s prophecy in chapter 10:20-34 is as stunning as it is revealing. The massive invasion described in verses 28-32 reveals the route the future Antichrist and his Moslem hordes will use to invade and defeat Israel in the middle of the 70th Week of Daniel’s prophecy.
Pay particular attention to the words in verse 32. Antichrist will position his equipment for the great slaughter of the Jews, who will have fled from northern Israel south to the hopeful safe-haven of the Holy city of Jerusalem. There, they will be packed in, like sardines in a can, trapped and waiting for Antichrist’s ominous signal for his combined forces to bombard the city to bring about “the final solution” that Hitler failed to achieve.
“As yet shall he remain at Nob that day:” The reason Antichrist will remain at Nob, a village less than 4 miles north of Jerusalem, is twofold: 1. To allow the rest of his invasion forces to catch up with him and surround the city, 2. to give time for his armies to set up their missile systems for the bombardment of Jerusalem to annihilate the Jews.
The forced, desperate flight of the Jewish population ahead of the Moslem hordes that flood into Israel’s borders from the North, is easily visualized in the scene portrayed in Matthew 24:16-22. The Jews run south to Jerusalem, where a fateful decision must be made before Antichrist, his many armies now surrounding the city, gives the order for his forces to obliterate Jerusalem and the Jews contained with it.
Revelation chapter 12 describes the flight of the Israelis in the form of the Sun-Clothed Woman. The only direction remaining that the desperate Jewish population can escape is Eastward to the kingdom of Jordan, where Moabite ladies will escort the fleeing Jews further southward to Petra! Ma’aheh Adumim provides a temporary buffer zone to absorb the Jews fleeing from northern Israel. Once there, they can flee undetected to the eastern edge of the city. There, they will likely escape toward the Dead Sea by way of the Kidron Valley. They would then take Route 90 along the western shore, southward to the great land-bridge, which was caused by the drought over the last decade. Here, they will cross to the Jordan side. Traveling northward to the Arnon River gorge, the Moabie women will escort them upstream through the gorge to the eastern side of the Moabite Mountain range. Once there, they will be led south to Petra on the road the Moabites call “the King’s Highway,” which is Jordan’s Route 35! This perfectly correlates with the prophecy found in Isaiah 35:8-10: “And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: THE WAYFARING MEN, though fools, shall not err therein.”
Amazing! And there they shall be nourished by the Moabites and Edomites until they see Yeshua return from Heaven, ending the Tribulation (see verse 10)! Y
Abundant Harvest Ministries Contact Information:
- Postal address:
- PO Box
680
Powhatan, VA 23139 -
- Electronic mail:
- General Information Email: Fred Shmidt
Back To Top
Living Faith Television Contact Information:
- Postal address:
- 8594 Hidden Valley Rd.
Abingdon, VA 24210 -
Telephone: - 276-676-3806
- Fax:
- 276-676-3572
Stations:
- WLFG-TV 68 - DTV 49 "Grundy - Abingdon - Tri-Cities"
WAGV-TV 44 - DTV 51 "Harlan - Knoxville - Lexington"- WLFB-TV 40 - DTV 14 "Bluefield - Beckley - Oak Hill"
-
Back To Top
Fred Shmidt WebMail