By Cris D. Putnam
In Vatican City, on October 10, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI opened the Synod of Bishops’ Special Assembly for the Middle East at St. Peter’s Basilica. The synod took place at the Vatican from Oct. 10–24 under the theme: “The Catholic Church in the Middle East: Communion and Witness.” Speaking as the alleged Vicar of Christ, the pontifex maximus said the Promised Land is “not of this world” and that Israel is not an earthly kingdom. His words are not surprising as the Roman Catholic Church has historically led the way in promoting supercessionism (replacement theology) by denying ethnic Israel’s place in God’s plan. According to the pope’s biblical eisegesis, “He reveals Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (cf. Ex 3:6), who wants to lead his people to the ‘land’ of freedom and peace. This ‘land’ is not of this world; the whole of the divine plan goes beyond history, but the Lord wants to build it with men, for men and in men, beginning with the coordinates of space and time in which they live and which He Himself gave them.”[1]
While it is true that God’s plan ultimately transcends time and space, it simply cannot be denied that the Lord meant a literal land in His promises to the patriarchs. However, the pope is not so naïve; rather, he is promoting an agenda by painting the Promised Land as a metaphysical abstraction. His political and theological overtones reflect the Vatican’s consistent position that “Jerusalem cannot belong to one state.”[2] Rome ostensibly pleads the case of Palestinians and Catholics who want to make pilgrimage but in truth, there is a wealth of evidence that the Vatican wants to possess Jerusalem as its own
Furthermore, the pope’s homily is harbinger of the coming tribulation or “time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30:7). Like Paul in Romans 11:25, Jesus also said that Jerusalem would be occupied by gentiles until the times of the gentiles are fulfilled, just prior to His Second Coming.
“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” (Lk 21:24).
Several important points can be derived from this statement by Jesus. First, it is a prophecy of the diaspora, which occurred in AD 70. The Romans spread the Jews all over the known world, selling many as slaves. Jesus’ prophecy could have been easily falsified but its fulfillment is verifiable. Second, the text uses the Greek term achri, rendered “until,” that clearly implies one day Jerusalem will be back in Jewish hands.[3] Thus, it is also an inferred prophecy about the reclamation of Jerusalem which began in 1967 and is still being contested by the Vatican. Jerusalem certainly was under Gentile control until 1967, and today it is the most fiercely contested piece of real estate on the planet. This should give skeptics pause because there are existing copies of Luke’s Gospel dated to the second century.[4] The fact that Jerusalem is ostensibly in Jewish hands speaks to the lateness of the hour in God’s prophetic plan. Recognizing the end-time markers “the fullness of the gentiles” (Ro 11:25) and “times of the Gentiles” (Lk 21:24) which were qualified by “until,” we now examine the current state of affairs to if they are lining up with the predicted arrival of Petrus Romanus.
One way to examine that “until” is in reference to Romans 11:25 and the spread of the Gospel and there are many competent sites like the The Joshua Project doing that.[5] One rather astonishing indicator is the success of the Gospel in China where it is reported that there are currently sixteen thousand, five hundred new converts per day![6] Africa reports similar numbers where sixteen thousand Muslims leave Islam per day for Christianity.[7] (While these numbers are exciting, there are still many unreached people-groups and languages with no Bible translation. To that end, we strongly encourage Christians to support missions.)
Still yet, another way to quantify that “until” might be to look at Israel and see if there is any movement in that sector. There were no more than a dozen or so Messianic believers in the Jewish homeland when they declared statehood in 1948 and only around 250 when they retook Jerusalem in 1967. Writing in the year 2000, Brent Kinman reported that, “Now there are in the neighborhood of six thousand believers in more than fifty congregations.”[8] Has this trend continued? As of May 26, 2011 The Baptist Press reported:
“Now there are an estimated 150 Jewish congregations around Israel meeting in different languages. The number of believers is estimated to be around 20,000, growing exponentially from 1948 when 12 Jews who believed in Jesus could be counted, to 1987 when there were 3,000 and 1997 where there were 5,000.”[9]
If you know anything about exponential growth then this strongly implies an event horizon when the line goes vertical, meaning that 
the time of national repentance and recognition is close-at-hand. The Old Testament contains a vivid prophecy of that eventuality, “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn” (Zec 12:10). The Hebrew term, dāqar, which is rendered “pierced,” is derivative of madqārâ which appears ten times in various forms and always denotes a puncture wound. The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament states, “The weapon associated with dāqar is usually the sword, though a spear is the instrument in Num 25:8.”[10] So according to the Hebrew prophet Zechariah, God was pierced and only Jesus Christ meets that characteristic. Tensions in the Middle East seem to forecast this prophesied national repentance sooner rather than later.
Next week: The Vatican’s Designs on Jerusalem
[1] Robert Moynihan, “The Vatican Synod on the Middle East Begins,” Spero News, October 10, 2010, http://www.speroforum.com/a/41366/The-Vatican-Synod-on-the-Middle-East-begins.
[2] Chiara Santomiero, “Prelate: Jerusalem Can’t Belong to Just One State,” Zenit: The World Seen from Rome, October 12, 2012, http://www.zenit.org/article-30628?l=english.
[3] James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament), electronic ed. (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 948 ἄχρι.
[4] P4 is likely the earliest existing copy of Luke’s Gospel but his silence on the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 leads most to conclude it was written prior: see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papyrus_4.
[6] “Fastest-Growing Christian Population,” Worldmag, last accessed February 10, 2012, http://www.worldmag.com/articles/13748 .
[7] Ali Sina,“Islam in Fast Demise: In Africa Alone Everyday, 16,000 Muslims Leave Islam,” last accessed February 10, 2012, http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina31103.htm.
[8] Brent Kinman, History, Design, and the End of Time: God’s Plan for the World (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Pub, 2000), 71.
[9] Ava Thomas, “Among Israeli Jews, 20,000 Embrace Christ,” Baptist Press, May 26, 2011, http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/BPnews.asp?ID=35389 .
[10] Robert Laird Harris, Gleason Leonard Archer, and Bruce K. Waltke, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, electronic ed. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999, c1980), 195.
About Cris Putnam
@Rob- Israel’s existance in the land today isn’t fulfilled as so many ‘think’ it is. Where is the peace? Where is their King? Do they occupy ALL the land in which they were given? Why are there still ‘jews’ in other lands and not come back?
On the other side, Israel is a creation of the UN (1948), not of God. They are under the sign of Remphan…the Star of David, as it is mistakenly called, which is a symbol for the god Molech. It’s a 4,500 yr old symbol and isn’t jewish. The Menorrah, is a Jewish symbol. They do not occupy all the land, there is no peace, they have no King and not all of the ‘jews’ have returned to the Land.
Scripture just doesn’t support the claim modern Israel is a fulfillment of prophecy.
Stephen,
You wrote:
Are you aware that the Bible describes the regathering of the Jews in the end times as a two stage process? Yes the scripture speaks that they gathered in unbelief just prior to Messiah’s arrival. Here is a quote from Petrus Romanus:
Furthermore, can you cite one ANE scholar or any archeological evidence for your charge that the hexagram was a symbol for Molech worship? What is the evidential basis of that claim?
@Cris, Thanks for your response again. 🙂
I’ll have to agree to disagree with you. Romans 11 does refer to the ‘natural’ Jews, yes…but Paul also makes it very clear that the ‘natural’ Jew must come to the cross in order to achieve ‘grace’ and not works, which so many do today. The ‘messianics’ for example, are a group of people who have come to the cross in grace and found salvation, but many of them also adhere to ‘the law’ which again, I think we can agree is not in their best interests, as they will be judged according to the law and there is no salvation in it.
I don’t disagree that the ethnic/cultural/religious Jew still has a role to play…I’ve admitted to that because as with the prophecy of Ezekiel 37, the ‘two sticks’, the ‘nation’ & ‘spiritual nation’ will come together as the entire ‘House of Israel’.
The spirit of Romans 11 is about grace and the ‘natural’ Jew must still come to the cross first…there is no special priveledge given to them if they do not come to the cross…they’ll die in their sin just as anyone will w/o the Lord, Paul points to this thru the entire chapter.
vs 25, 26 “……that hardening in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so ALL Israel will be saved, as it is written…..” All Israel..the two sticks..nation and spiritual nation. The ‘fullness’ of the Gentiles has yet to happen…but it’s on it’s way when the ‘gentile world’ has all gone into religious captivity in the one world religion which is forming as we speak. You see the awful compromise of ‘ecumenicalism’ growing in leaps and bounds today, just as the leaven fills the whole loaf…so to will this ecumenicalism finish off with the global religion where all mankind rejects God…except those who come to the cross.
Who in your opinion Cris…is the ‘elect Lady’? I’d be interested to hear your opinion on that. 🙂
With my understanding Cris, I have learned from the Lord that the entire Bible is prophetic, from Genesis to Revelation. “…for the tesitmony of Jesus IS the spirit of prophecy.” Rev 19:10. The Bible is His testimony…His story (history) and in it, all roads point to Jesus and even the ‘natural’ Jew must go through Him first before they can see the Kingdom of God. Do you agree that even the cultural/religious/ethnic Jew must come through Jesus first?
Thanks for you time Cris…and I am enjoying your article on Petrus Romanus…very good work there sir. 🙂
in His Service,
Stephen
Stephen,
I don’t understand why you think this is a point of contention. Nobody, I am aware of argues Jews are saved apart from the cross. Of course they have to accept the Gospel for justification but that does not change the fact that God made promises to the nation that he will make good for His name’s sake not because they deserve it. I made that point clear in the article above. You have acknowledged the context of Romans 11 is natural Jews, so your charge that I took passages out of context is completely unsupported. Again, please show me where I took something out of context in my article above.
@Chris…Hello Chris, I have become a big fan of yours and waiting almost impatiently for the book Petrus Romanus to come, my mom and I are on the list to get it. I have listened to several interviews you have done and I am impressed. I may not be able to speak as eloquently as you on this subject, but I understand everything you have said and I have read all the passages given as reference before this excitement of the last pope.
In 2009 I came across the prophecy of the popes in doing my research outside of reading the Bible. I tried to tell people about it then, but of course no one believed me thinking I was nuts. Sorry to say they still think I am nuts, but when the events start to unfold, they will come and start asking questions. I want you to know though, there are some of out here that are starting to listen to you, I have told several people about your website and they either have or going to visit it.
I am thrilled to see that you do read comments and will respond, it is so refreshing to have that done. You got my support, my mom’s support, and a few of my friend’s. On behalf of my little group thank you so much for your information and your very hard work on informing all those who seek. THANK YOU!!….Lezlie
Lezlie, Thank you very much. That is very encouraging to me!
@Cris- I’m not ‘accusing’ you of anything, have not laid any charge against you nor criticized anything you have said. I have stated that modern Israel is not the fulfillment of prophecy as the word doesn’t bear this out to be true. I don’t need a ‘biblical scholar’ to point this out, I’m a scholar of His word myself, without the man made attachments mankind finds credible, whereas the Lord does not, in order to understand the crossover from nation to spiritual nation that is patterned over and over again.
I’m not being argumentative with you either….I’m discussing some differences of opinion about His word that are being expressed. Forums like this however don’t express the tone of ones speech, so often times it can be misunderstood as being something it isn’t.
As for the Star of Remphan, here’s a link for you. The link I provide is a Bing search (I don’t use google for anything..don’t like them at all) and you will be able to check out the links at your leisure. http://www.bing.com/search?q=star+of+remphan+history&qs=AS&form=QBLH&pq=star+of+remphan&sc=2-15&sp=2&sk=AS1
I think the messianic scholar should stop depending on his man made credentials, and go to the Lord directly about the understanding inherent in His word. The 2 fold example he’s using is desperately trying to find legitimacy for a 2nd national Israel, but he misses the crossover blessing that makes His church ( the House of Israel) a spiritual one, and Israel, a spiritual entity, is made up of people all over the world, including ethnic/cultural/religious Jews. But as I said earlier, natural modern day Israel (whom I support because it’s the only free nation in the middle east today and occupies a small portion of the real estate that was once the Garden of Eden) has an end time role to play..it’s just not what y’all think it is.
We’ll know soon enough however…we are very close to the beginning of the Tribulation and yes, events surrounding this beginning will revolve around modern day Israel…so it’ll all be very interesting to see how it all unfolds.
Regards,
Stephen
Stephen,
It seems to me that you are being inconsistent. I’m not interested in your unsupported personal opinions rather the meaning of the biblical text. You need to use scripture as your guide rather than appeals to secret spiritual knowledge that only you seem to have received. That’s mysticism not Bible study. Your first post stated:
You said I took multiple verses out of context. Now you are telling me you have not criticized anything I have said…
What is the above if not a criticism? This is a very serious charge as I take the word of God seriously and dedicate most of time to its study and proper interpretation. If I am truly wrong I would like to know. Again I ask you to please show me exactly what verses you mean by your remark that “verses are taken out of context” and provide the correct context.
Peter Turkson of Ghana maybe the next Pope
Cris,
When I made my intial post, I wasn’t speaking specifically to you and what you wrote, but a generalization that the ‘christians’ keep making over and over again about modern Israel being some kind of fulfillment of modern prophecy, when in fact it is not. Therefore…I wasn’t making an accusation to you specifically.
I find what you wrote very interesting in the point you are making, especially the intrigue with the catholics in relation to Petrus Romanus, but the point being that Jerusalem, as written in scripture, isn’t always pointing to the ‘natural’ city, but prophetically to the New Jerusalem that comes down from heaven, which is the seat of God’s gov’t.
Today, ostensibly or not, Jerusalem is an ‘occupied’ city, fighting with other man made religions for control. Israel, holds a large part of the city, but they do not hold east Jerusalem and they certainly have no control over the Temple Mount, which thusly, continues to dispute the acceptance by the christian religion, that Israel today, is a biblical fulfillment of prophecy. Judaism was not endorsed by Jesus, in fact, He came against it. Mind you, He uses religion for His purposes, as He did with christianity, but like Judaism, Christianity is also turning their back on Him, as the nation Israel did, as the spiritual nation of Israel is doing today.
My problem with the verses is that it needs to be understood in the ‘bigger’ picture. To say Jerusalem is in the hands of Israel is actually a misnomer, since Israel today, itself, does not occupy the ‘promised land’ it was initially given by the Lord to fulfill His natural promise to Abraham. But His promise to Abraham points to, & other succeeding prophecies regarding the re-occupation by the Jews (spiritual..not religious), points to encompass ALL the land they once were given, and that can only be done after the Lord returns, WITH the Bride (the ‘inheriters of the Kingdom) for the 1,000 yr reign.
Again, that doesn’t negate the ‘natural’ events that will surround the disputed geography, and your own writing on this subject demonstrates what it is that is fighing over it. Religion! Religion is of the ‘east’..where in fact Judaism was born (in Babylon during captivity), and oddly enough, the Lord cut off the ‘east gate’ of the Garden to protect it’s purity FROM religion; which is of satan. God never created religion and because of this, we see the conflict of Jerusalem today which is a result of religion, which is the work of Satan. It makes sense then that this is why anti-christ would want to occupy Jerusalem himself to declare himself god, because it is the center of religious hatred, and it goes into his plan of removing mankind away from God by using religion to lie to them, to confuse them and to create a barrier of separation. Satan uses religion for his advantage. (Truth, His word, is not religious..it’s plainly, the truth. Anything else is religion if it’s outside of the Lord).
If you will, let me broach your first comment to me in your last post…it begs for a reply.
“It seems to me that you are being inconsistent. I’m not interested in your unsupported personal opinions rather the meaning of the biblical text. You need to use scripture as your guide rather than appeals to secret spiritual knowledge that only you seem to have received. That’s mysticism not Bible study.”
All of my understanding of His word are not ‘personal opinions’ but biblically grounded and backed up. It isn’t ‘secret spiritual knowledge’ as you put it, but rather gaining understanding by ‘revelation’, which is how the Holy Spirit opens up His word to us IF we seek it. I hear this kind of thing from the christians all the time (I’m not a christian) and I understand why they say it, because they are taught by a paid priesthood who’s training came from men, and not from the Lord. Paul, is a super example of one who was trained by the Lord and not men. How is it Paul knew the gospel of Jesus so intimately if he wasn’t present to hear it as the other 11 disciples were? Paul was taught by revelation and from this, his understanding was used by the Lord to witness to the truth, and not religion. We see the results of this in the NT.
Daniel 12 demonstrates to us Cris, that the understanding Daniel was given, was to be sealed up until the time of the end. We see John the Revelator, seeing these scrolls being opened, the timing being the time of the end, but we don’t know what was in them do we? Or do we? Who do you think the Lord would open these scrolls of understanding up to? Would it be religious scholars? Clergy? Heads of religious organizations or denominations? Or do you think that possibly, the Lord would open it up to many across the world who are seeking Him and not religion? Phrases like, ‘seek and you shall find’ and ‘many are called, few are chosen’ are apt analogies for that point.
I don’t place myself above anyone…I only witness to His truth and not religion. I have no religious affiliation, connection or chords that keep me trapped in a man made religion or understanding, but am led as with many others, to go where the Spirit leads us, to understand His word and cling closely only to Him.
Hope this clarifies some issues.
Thanks again for your time Cris.
Stephen, I think you are being disingenuous. You obviously did criticize but you cannot defend your own position, so now you are just back pedaling. It is dishonest. You are also very disrespectful and frankly extremely arrogant. You claim your private revelations carry more weight than Hebrew Bible scholar, like Dr Furchtenbaum, who has done his PhD thesis on Israel and how applies to systematic theology. You are invoking “the Spirit” to cover your ignorance. That does not honor God and brings shame on yourself. I doubt you even know the Hebrew alphabet let alone study the Hebrew prophets yet you say he is misinformed according to your private opinion? Please…
Sounds like Cris, you put your faith in man and not God. So be it.
I’ll see you at the end of the race…I hope.
No, Stephen my faith is in God, I am just accusing you of being dishonest because anyone that reads your comments can see that you are. Think about it.
Dishonest? Not even close Cris. What do I have to gain from being dishonest about His word? Nothing…not a single thing, but I would have much to lose; so that accusation doesn’t make any sense as applied to what I’ve posted.
If people read my posts and believe them to be dishonest, I sincerely suggest they take it up with the Lord personally, check out the facts in His word and seek understanding from the Lord. Understanding comes via ‘revelation’ by the Holy Spirit, not by the men educated by other men carrying the credentials of men, or by those trapped in religious captivity. When Jesus chose His disciples, none of them had any ‘credentials’ man would find acceptable. It’s the same with those he’s chose as prophets, the woman to bear His Son and interestingly…those He’s chosen and training to witness to His truth during the 1st half of the Trib. 🙂
We’ll see soon enough though…once the Tribulation begins….the true separation of the wheat and tares will be done in earnest.
Nothing I’ve posted contradicts Gods word..only mans understanding of His word.
Stephen, you really are only bringing shame on yourself. You are now evasively changing the subject. My main concern and rebuke has nothing to do with your view about God’s word (although I think it is also wrong) but everything to do with your behavior. It’s your behavior not your view. You made an initial post which was very critical of the article you were responding too. You blatantly accused me of taking verses out of context. I do not mind being challenged at all, but I will respond to the challenge. It’s right there at the top for all to see and I have already quoted it back to you once. When I challenged you to show me exactly what verses were out of context and to provide a coherent argument for their correct context, you were evasive and then denied that you were ever critical. You first wrote:
Then when I challenged you, you wrote:
But obviously you did accuse me of using verses out of context by stating: “the problem with some of the verses quote above regarding ‘Jerusalem’, is that the verses are taken out of context”
Stephen you even wrote “quote above”
Above what Stephen?
Please! Of course you meant my initial article because it was the only thing above as yours was the VERY FIRST comment. But no you will not admit it, and again you are evasive:
Your excuse that it was a general criticism does not wash because you were the very first commenter to my article – you even wrote “verses above” – the only thing above was my article so it is completely dishonest for you to say it was not my article you were referring to. Of course it was. But it also clearly shows that your initial criticism was completely vacuous and indefensible. You would not need to lie and be evasive if your views were biblical and your character was aligned with Christ. Obviously there is a problem in both areas. Your evasive argumentation reveals an obvious character flaw, I suppose it is a form of pride. Consider it a rebuke and move along, your continued defensiveness just makes you seem incorrigible.
I have to thank you for the efforts you have put
in penning this site. I am hoping to see the same high-grade
blog posts from you later on as well. In fact, your creative writing abilities has encouraged me to get my very own site now 😉
Thanks for finally talking about >Petrus Romanus The Jerusalem Connection Part 1 — Logos Apologia <Loved it!