Blood Sacrifices and Nuclear Threats

In Israel and around the world, a couple of under-reported news stories with prophetic implications unfolded in recent days.

On Monday, April 14th, Jerusalem police arrested five ultra-orthodox Jewish Israelis who were attempting to sacrifice a goat at the Temple Mount to mark the Pesach (Passover) holiday.

In the modern era, rabbinical authorities from virtually all streams of Judaism have been in agreement that blood sacrifices such as the one attempted are inappropriate and forbidden. But that wall of uniformity was cracked two weeks ago when a prominent rabbi named Shmuel Eliyahu, a member of Israel’s Chief Rabbinate Council, publically called on the Jewish People to perform the Pesach sacrifice.

It goes without saying that any proposal to resume Jewish sacrifices on the Temple Mount has explosive religious, cultural, and geopolitical implications.

Nuclear Iran Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry issued some remarks that sent a chill through Israel’s leaders and alarmed supporters of Israel everywhere. On Monday, Kerry suggested that the U.S. would be open to negotiating a nuclear deal with Iran that would keep Iran only six to 12 months away from bomb-making capability. In the past, the U.S. posture was that Iran must be kept years, not months, away from producing a nuclear weapon.

Commentary magazine’s Jonathan Tobin described the announcement as part of “Obama’s Slow-Motion Betrayal on Iran:”

The consequences of the “success” of diplomatic track are incalculable both for the future of the Middle East as well as the security of the West. There should be no doubt about the fact that if the West agrees to a situation whereby Iran’s nuclear infrastructure including its refinement of uranium, plutonium nuclear plant, nuclear military research, and ballistic missile programs are left in place, it is only a matter of time before Tehran will have its weapon.

We will continue to monitor these and other developments and interpret them in the light of prophetic Scripture. Indeed, one of the key roles of Jewish Voice is to keep you apprised of events and developments frequently ignored by the traditional media sources.

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