Tipping Point Quick Hits (9.15.20)

Bahrain peace deal, a Satanist GOP nominee, and Messiah claims in Israel

Bahrain normalizes relations with Israel

In mid-August, when the Trump administration announced a surprise peace deal normalizing relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, President Trump teased that other deals might also be in the works. It turns out this wasn’t an empty statement. He announced last Friday—the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States—that the Persian Gulf island kingdom of Bahrain would also be agreeing to a peace deal. That makes it the second Arab country to make peace with Israel in the past month.

Jared Kushner, senior advisor to the president, described the agreement as yet another historic breakthrough in the Middle East on the heels of the UAE agreement:

“We were not sure what the reaction would be, but it’s been overwhelmingly positive. And more and more countries are rushing to try to figure out how they can do good things for their citizens and create a paradigm for a much more peaceful and prosperous future.”

As I wrote earlier, peace in the Middle East is always welcome but temporary. It’s likely that any peace deal will inflame Israel’s tensions with Iran, just like the UAE deal did. It appears that Bahrain could now join UAE as a “friendly” nation that may come alongside Israel in the future Gog-Magog War (see Ezekiel 38:13).

Rumors continue to swirl that other nations, like Saudi Arabia, could be next to make peace deals with Israel. We will wait and see.

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Republicans accidentally nominate “transsexual Satanist”

In Cheshire County, New Hampshire, a candidate who describes himself as a “transsexual Satanist anarchist” won the county’s Republican nomination for sheriff. A libertarian activist, Aria DiMezzo seems to have run a protest campaign designed to show that voters would elect someone they knew nothing about simply because the candidate identified as a Republican.

She said this to a reporter from Fox News:

“Between 75 and 80 percent of the primary voters—the ones alleged to be more politically aware than the average voter—were completely and totally ignorant of who they were voting for!”

According to the election results, he won with more than 4,000 votes and easily beat a traditional candidate who only received a few hundred votes. Aria DiMezzo claims to be “High Priestess of the Reformed Satanic Church.”

Before the election, DiMezzo was invited to GOP meetings and events but never showed up. Voters chose DiMezzo anyway. In November, he will be facing a popular incumbent Democrat who is seeking his fifth term.

I expect my readers are already thoughtful, educated voters, but I’ll provide this warning anyway: Vote for candidates who share your values. Vote for candidates you trust. Don’t simply vote because they claim to align with the party you favor.

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In a radio interview over the weekend, a prominent Israeli rabbi claimed that another rabbi, Chaim Kanievsky, has been in direct contact with the Jews’ long-awaited Messiah. Orthodox Jews consider Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky one of the leading voices of their community in Israel.

The rabbi giving the radio interview, Yaakov Zisholtz, gave this warning:

“…the process of redemption is about to start happening very quickly and at a fast pace. It is important that people remain calm and steady to act properly in the right time. There is a potential Messiah in every generation and there are righteous men who know precisely who it is. This is, of course, true in this generation. Getting the word out now that the Messiah is closer than ever is a matter of life and death. Haven’t you heard of Gog and Magog? That is what is going to happen very soon. Right now, the situation is explosive more than you can possibly imagine. Everyone needs to know whether they are on the inside or if they are going to be left out.”

He pointed to several signs that he believes show evidence of a coming Messiah, including the rising water levels of the Sea of Galilee and Israel’s inability to elect a government. In the past, several prominent rabbis predicted that Benjamin Netanyahu would be Israel’s final prime minister before the arrival of the Messiah.

Of course, most Jews never recognized Jesus as the Messiah, and have been waiting since then for the “true Messiah” to be revealed.

While Jews and Christians differ in that belief, we are on the same page in our recognition that the we are closer to the end of the age than to its beginning.