Writing an editorial about prophetic interpretation without pages of explanation to qualify my interpretations can get me into hot water. Get 10 prophecy scholars to define a specific prophecy and you will probably get at least 15 different interpretations. Nonetheless, I believe that things are happening so fast, I must at least try to put things into Biblical perspective.

The Camp David peace talks will probably go down as the most significant of all Mideast peace talks in the past 30 years. All previous talks were focused on terms of settlement following Arab wars on Israel, or on Arab demands of Israel. While the demands were certainly present, what has made these talks significant is their international flavor, the focus on Israel's security and the future of Jerusalem that fulfills Biblical prophecy. To put that into context, a basic understanding of Israel's history is necessary.

The Palestinians and the Arab Nations have historically hated the Jews since the days of Ishmael and Esau. Edom, the descendants of Esau, especially plotted for centuries to destroy Israel. Ezekiel revealed some of the most astonishing prophecies of the Bible in chapters 36-39. When writing these prophecies Ezekiel was in exile during the Babylon captivity. In chapters 36 and 37 he foretold of Edom's eventual destruction as a nation and a coming dispersal of the Israelites among all the nations because of their unfaithfulness. Then because God's Holy name and the fact that He cannot lie, God brought them back from the dispersal:

"¹⁹ And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. ²⁰ And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land. ²¹ But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went. ²² Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. ²³ And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. ²⁴ For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land." (Ezekiel 36:19-24)

Many claim that this dispersal was the Babylonian Captivity. But, while there are parallels, the Babylonian Captivity does not fit the prophecy. The exile after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in AD 70 fits it perfectly. God restored Israel against incredible odds, just as He promised. Not because the Jews deserved it, but because God had promised Abraham and Joshua that He would never leave or forsake His chosen people. 

The Jews don't deserve what God has given them any more than we as Christians deserve salvation because of what Christ has done for us. Yet, God restored Israel as a nation because of His own honor. Three times the Arab nations have gathered their forces to drive Israel into the sea when Israel was outgunned and out numbered. There was no way they could win. And, in purely human terms they couldn't. But God said that Israel will have their homeland and no nation would ever take it away again. The Arabs efforts were in vain because they were fighting what God had promised.

Incredibly, it has always been the Arab's position that Israel must cede the West Bank to the Palestinians and that East Jerusalem be totally under Palestinian sovereignty, since that is what existed before Israel took Jerusalem in the Six Day War. It was in 1967 that Egypt, Jordan and Syria mobilized their army for war and said they were going to drive Israel into the sea. With three fully mobilized armies pointing their tanks down Israel's throat and Israel vastly outgunned and out manned, Israel launched a surprise attack against the Arab nations on June 5, 1967. In six days Israel not only took the Golan heights away from Syria (the very high land from which Syria was constantly bombarding most of northern Israel with heavy artillery), but also took all the Sinai Peninsula. Israel even crossed the Suez Canal into Egypt. But most important, they took all of the West Bank of what was then Jordan and all of Jerusalem. In doing so Israel literally fulfilled Luke 21:24b, "²⁴ And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." The first part of verse 24 occurred in AD 70 when Jerusalem was conquered by the Roman General Titus, and the last part of verse 24 was fulfilled on June 6, 1967.

Many Biblical scholars attempt to lump Luke 21:12-14 into the same prophetic timeline as Matthew 24:9-28 and Mark 13: 9-23. Notice the transition between verses 8 and 9 in Matthew 24 and Mark 13. The description starting in verse 9 is a continuation of verse 8. In Luke 21, however, verse 12 starts with "But before all these..." What Jesus is saying before all these things that happen at the end, these things are going to happen. And, then he proceeds to tell the disciples about their coming persecution, the fall of Jerusalem, the horrid times the Jews would face before the Roman army and the great dispersal of all the Jews into all the nations, just as happened in the time before, during and after the Roman General Titus crushed Jerusalem and Israel. A close verse by verse comparison shows that Luke 21:12-14 predicts similar, but quite different events than Matthew 24:9-28. 

As Jesus said, Jerusalem would remain under the control of the gentiles (non-Jews) until just before Jesus Christ returns. When the times of the Gentiles is complete, Paul tell us in Romans 11:25-27 that "²⁵ For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. ²⁶ And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer [Jesus], and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: ²⁷ For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins." This mystery is the salvation of the Jews as described in Revelation 10:7, Jeremiah 31:31-34, Zechariah 12:1-11.

Unless Luke 21:24 is being misinterpreted, Jesus will return soon. Whether the tribulation will start next week, next year or in many years from now, still remains to be seen. Jesus said we will know the "season", "³² Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: ³³ So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors." However, we will not know the day nor the hour, "³⁶ But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." (Matthew 24:32-33, 36). In Luke 21:32 Jesus claims that "³² Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled." There are many ways that the word generation can be interpreted, but if Jesus was referring to a literal 40 year generation, then the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple occurred within 40 years of the time Jesus prophesied it happening, and 40 years from 1967 is 2007. Again, however, there are numerous ways that the word "generation" can be interpreted, and this may not have been what Jesus was saying.

But what about Jerusalem? What does the Bible say about whether Jerusalem will come back under Arab authority? In Ezekiel 36:12 God says "I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them of men." In Jeremiah 31, God promises to bring Israel back from the dispersal amongst the nations and that they will finally recognize God as their Lord (through Jesus Christ). In Jeremiah 31:40, God claims that Jerusalem "shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever." God promised that once He brought the Jews back to Israel, they would never be conquered again, except for a brief moment just before Jesus destroys the armies of the world and Satan at Armageddon (see Zechariah 14:2). 

The Bible strongly suggests Jerusalem will remain under the sovereignty of Israel. During that same time period God says, "² Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. ³ 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 12:2-3) This, of course, is exactly what we are seeing today. Jerusalem is becoming a burdensome stone that is beginning to threaten the security of not only the Mideast, but the entire world. It won't be long now before the world intervenes to provide the solution to peace in Jerusalem and Israel, by force if necessary. 

A peace solution will happen when a world figure within the emerging world government makes a peace covenant with Israel to protect her from her enemies, the Arabs, as explained in Daniel 9:27. There are sharp differences between scholars over Daniel 9:26-27, especially verse 27. In these two verses, Daniel says "²⁶ And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: 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. ²⁷ 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...."

Some scholars believe that the "he" in verse 27 is the "Messiah" (Anointed One) of verse 26 and the covenant is the covenant that Christ made with His Church. However, most scholars believe that the original grammar of the verses demand that 1) the "he" in verse 27 refers to the "prince that shall come" and not the "Messiah" in verse 26, and 2) the context of verses 26 and 27 strongly suggest that the 70th week of Daniel (i.e. the last 7 years of the 490 years prophesied by Daniel) is yet future. This seven year period is known as the tribulation by most Christians. The Hebrew word for covenant in 9:27 is "bèeriyth" which means treaty or alliance. The word is most often used in the Old Testament to describe the covenant made by God to Abraham and His decedents. However, when used in the context of Daniel 9:27 it almost always means a peace treaty, or an alliance made to confront a stronger enemy. Hence, most scholars believe it is a peace treaty.