Richard Nixon: Corruption and Anti-Semitism

                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

NPR's "Marketplace" does an amazing job of making sense of today's economics
and business.  They are even able to make those complexities understandable
to someone, like me, totally ignorant of how "the market" works.

A recent question they dealt with was whether government economic statistics
can be manipulated by politicians, to their purposes.

One historical example they cited was Richard Nixon's successful "cleansing" of
Jews from the Bureau of Labor Statistics after BLS released monthly reports that
he felt made him look bad in the run-up to his 1972 re-election.

The Oval Office tapes he was forced to release during the Watergate investigation
included a July 1971 meeting where Nixon railed to his Chief-of-Staff H. R. Haldeman
against the "Jewish cabal" in BLS he believed was conspiring against him with Jewish
Federal Reserve Chairman Arthur Burns.

Nixon ordered Haldeman to "count how many Jews" were in the BLS, and the Bureau
was re-organized soon afterwards, with two of its top Jewish economists transferred
to other offices.

Fortunately, safeguards were put in place after Watergate to protect the integrity and
independence of BLS data-gathering and reporting.

But I find it interesting that the previously most-corrupt American President, who was
for political purposes a "friend of Israel;" was personally a ranting anti-Semite.

That could well be the character of  the end-time ruler whom we consider (and here
I emphasize "we consider") is anti-Christ.  One of scripture's signal prophecies about
that ruler is that he will make a 7-year covenant with Israel, and break it after three-
and-a-half years (Daniel 9:27).

https://www.marketplace.org/2019/07/03/possible-manipulate-government-statistics/


                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

Jerusalem II

                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

Today is the 70th anniversary of the modern state of Israel's coming into existence, an event of immense significance in our understanding of God's rule in the end-times.

Today, after 70 years, the Trump Administration moved the American embassy to Jerusalem.

There is predictable protest and rioting by Palestinians, with scores of deaths.  There is predictable rejoicing by Israeli nationalists, and by American "Evangelicals" who interpret Jesus' teachings as supporting Israeli nationalism.

The dedication speech of the American ambassador to Israel stressed that today's great event was brought about entirely by President Donald J. Trump.

The Trump administration also brought in two of their strongest "evangelical" supporters to give a "Christian" blessing to the great event.  The preacher who gave the invocation (pastor of the largest Baptist church in Dallas), thanked God for bringing about the great event by giving America Donald J. Trump as president.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also gave Trump personal credit, thanks, and praise, on Israel's behalf.

I wrote about this matter last December (which is why I've entitled this post "Jerusalem II"), when Trump first announced that the embassy would move to Jerusalem:

"...I'm greatly put on guard when a world-leader who's established himself as a "man of lawlessness" (II Thessalonians 2:3) postures, for his own self-glorification, about the status of Jerusalem, the city of the Great King."  (https://cross-purposes.blogspot.com/2017_12_06_archive.html)

That concern is confirmed by the excessive glorification of Trump in today's ceremonies.

And that concern has been heightened in the interim.  Trump has, of course, continuingly shown himself a man of satan's character, lies and murder, as Jesus said in John 8:44 (the latter of which Jesus defines as bad-mouthing and hating others, Matthew 5:21-22).  But I've also been thinking, as recently as last week, about Trump's character as a covenant-breaker.

I'm always surprised that American "evangelicals," especially those who blindly support "God's chosen people," don't understand that the Jews' standing with God is based on His covenant with Abraham.  Or that God takes covenant so seriously He decrees judgement on covenant-breakers: even those who do it to get out of what they perceive as "a really horrible deal for America."

Listening to the effusive praise today at the great event in Jerusalem, it was clear that Israel's ruling faction and their American "evangelical" allies consider Trump "God's Man" for Israel, and the Jews' greatest friend.  Thinking of Trump's character,  I had to think of Daniel 9.

That chapter is usually considered prophecy of end-time events and the restoration of Israel.  It prophesies a man who is a key figure of ungodliness in the end-times,, "one who makes desolate," who will enter into "a firm covenant" with the Jews for seven years, but break it after three-and-a-half years (v. 27).

Jesus twice referenced Daniel's "one who makes desolate" (Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14: Luke  21:20's warning of Jerusalem's "desolation" may also allude to Daniel 9:27)  He seems to want us to pay special heed to Daniel's prophecy.  Christians who have usually consider that "the one who makes desolate" is probably the end-time personage we call "antiChrist:" about whom, of course, Christians have come up with thousands of theories.


I have to wonder if the time for theories is past, and we should look at the reality before us.  Not that God's given me new light (or even a new theory) about anti-Christ, in today's events in Jerusalem.  Rather that we should know what scripture has always said: that he will be a man who embodies the spirit of satan, as Jesus embodied the Spirit of God.

So we have always known (or should have known) that he will be especially distinguished by the spirit of lies and murderous hatred, as Jesus says satan is.  That anti-Christ will be a man of overweening pride, satan's own original sin: and a completely self-willed man, in rebellion against any authority over him, as satan is.

I don't have any special light from God about who antiChrist is; or even whether he's currently alive and operative on the world's stage.  But if Daniel 9:27 indeed speaks of antiChrist, one of his signal prophetic acts will be making a covenant of friendship with Israel, and subsequently breaking that covenant.

My thought on this significant day is simply that we should closely watch any world-leader who manifests satan's character, and vaunts himself on his professed friendship for Israel.  That we should closely, spiritually, watch and discern current world-leaders and events  Amen !