Branson Missouri provided the setting for the 2001 Branson Prophecy Summit this past August. The "Battle for Jerusalem", as it was called, was hosted by Sherlock Bally Ministries. People from all over the country, and various parts of the world were in attendance. Like most others there, we traveled to this important event, to hear the 'voices crying from the wilderness'.

We all live amongst a sea of scoffers who would have us to believe that the message of Bible prophecy is just "gloom and doom". These scoffers would have us to believe that Bible prophecy is irrelevant for our times. But participants in this Summit found that just the opposite is true. We came away uplifted, and well informed about the times in which we live.

Christians know the importance of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel in world events. Our Scriptures tell us that. History bears it out. After the horrific attacks of September llth, people everywhere have become painfully aware of this ongoing "Battle for Jerusalem" as it has reached their shores as well. No longer are those prophecies concerning Israel and the Middle East far off in the distant future. They are unfolding before our very eyes. The time of their fulfillment may Be at hand. Are we ready?

Sherlock Bally explained, that in his ministry, there was a sense of urgency about this Bible Prophecy Summit, from its very beginnings:

"November of the year 2000 was the month that we chose the theme for the Branson Missouri 2001 Prophecy Summit - The Battle For Jerusalem'. We believed that there would be an escalating war scenario that would involve the Middle East and this would emerge by August - October of the year 2001."

When this large group of Bible prophecy teachers gathered at this Summit, the theme of their messages was amazingly coherent, Yacov Rambsel spoke on Ros Ha Shannah and the possibility of a "catastrophe". Gary Kah spoke on the secret power of lawlessness and dangers to America. Hal Lindsey spoke on the dangers in Jerusalem and the possibility of eruptions worldwide. We all knew that some nations had entered a different level of ethnic hatred, violence, and potential war.

Our panel discussions, one of which was called, 'What's Next in Prophecy', was very pointed and spoke of the increase in the Arab-Israeli conflict. The issue of fundamentalist Islam was addressed because of the belief by many that it would be the primary cause of increased violence and instability.

We know that there are many people involved in the religion of Islam that are morally good and decent people, but there is an element espoused by these adherents to fundamentalist Islam that presents a clear and present danger.

The subjects of the new world religion, the new world order, the coming increase in ethnic conflicts and the emerging war scenario were the subjects that were dealt with in detail at this Summit and are now seen on the daily news because of the atrocity of September llth.

"I spoke on America in prophecy, the subject of my recently published book and spoke of a soon coming return to the fundamentals of our faith. It seems as though it is this faith that is going to give America its greatest hope in these days." said Sherlock Bally

Those that spoke and taught at the Summit were also impressed by a sense of the urgency of our times. Bill Cloud recently gave us his insights about the Summit, in light of recent events:

"It has become dramatically obvious why this conference focused on the Battle for Jerusalem. I am of the opinion that the reason we were attacked is because we support Israel. As long as the U.S. is strong and in support of Israel, those who would destroy her can't. Therefore, their military tactics have to include a neutralization of America before moving in to destroy Israel. I believe that this is alluded to by the fact that Ezekiel 38 and 39 mentions no one (save God) corning to the aid of Israel. In fact, we can conclude that in some way, America will be neutralized (notice I did not say 'destroyed'). I hope that in the future, there will be more conferences of this type to get the word out to people, a word that goes beyond the traditional views of eschatology."

Was America attacked because of its support of Israel? Many Islamic nations, while expressing genuine shock and horror at the carnage that has come to America, temper their condolences with a warning - 'Change your Middle East policy or these types of attacks will continue.' Many of these moderate Islamic nations have experienced the sting of these very terrorists in their own countries. But many also acknowledge a cause in the current Israeli - Palestinian conflict as well. A Saudi prince echoed those sentiments when he attempted to give New York's Mayor Rudolph Guiliani a ten million dollar gift for the relief effort. Guiliani did not accept the money, and stated that it was 'that kind of thinking' that was part of the problem. 'That kind of thinking' often presents itself even amongst people who claim no bias, whatsoever.

Reporter Dana Suyyagh, from the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera network admitted, when pressed by New York Times reporter Judith Miller and CNN's Larry King, that if people die blowing themselves and Israelis up in the West Bank and Gaza, they are martyrs, because they killed, and were killed, "for a cause". The people who hijacked the planes on September 11th killing thousands in America, were terrorists, she stated, because "they were causeless".'

The terrorists have declared that it is America's special relationship with Israel that has caused them to attack this country. Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar told Al-Jazeera network, that killing him or Osama bin Laden, will not keep Americans safe from further attacks of terrorism. He has said that the only way the United States could avoid further attacks was to 'withdraw its military presence from the Persian Gulf, keep out of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and leave the Islamic world and Muslims alone'. "If they choose otherwise, they are looking for an endless war that will burn America and America only".2

There is no doubt that we are seeing a new level of ethnic hatred at work in the world today. There is no doubt that we are seeing a new level of lawlessness at work in the world as well. Ethnic hatred and lawlessness are the main components of terrorism. Jesus forewarned us of the increase of these very things (Matthew 24).

At last August's Summit, Elyakim HaEtzni, a former member of the Israeli Knesset, discussed the nature of the war in Israel. His words now hit home to us in America, today:

"This is a very, very peculiar war. It is something  which is for the first time, and I'm sure that even in Israel, where we are living and somehow also, alas, dying in this war. We don't yet understand the nature of what is happening to us and through us, to the whole world. Why do I say this last sentence? Because there is something which I cannot explain. It begins with the Jews, and then comes the rest of humanity. It was the Jews who were the first to experience genocide, mass extermination. But it threatens now the whole world. The first plane which was hijacked was an Israeli plane, E1-A1, and then other planes were hijacked. And now we have this peculiar war I want to speak about. It is a war of terror.

We have a phenomenon. And we see it on the roads in Judea and Samaria, that you see army jeeps traveling, bullet-proof. The soldiers in the army jeep have ceramic vests - bulletproof. And the civilians are traveling in their private cars and being killed all the time, murdered on the roads. They are the target. The people themselves are the target."

Not all attacks against the nation of Israel take place on the battlefields, or in the rhetoric of their 'adversaries'. Within the 'Christian' community today, we find a dangerous belief system at work known as "replacement theology". Its adherents believe that the church has taken the place of Israel, and Israel is no longer important within the scope of God's plan. This should be no surprise to us as believers. We know from Bible prophecy that false teachers and false doctrines would invade Christianity in the last days, and we are in the last days.

The words of the Apostle John warn us even today,

"Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now there are many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time."

(1 John 2:18)

At the Summit, Hal Lindsey spoke of the last days prophecy contained in 2 Peter , chapter three:

"This was written by Peter just before he was executed. He knew he was about to be executed, and he wrote the most important things that he thought he could leave behind. And he says in verse three, 'Know this first of all, that in the last days, mockers will come with their mocking following after their own lusts, saying where's the promise of His coming. For ever since the fathers fell asleep all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”

Now, first of all, we have to notice, this is referring not to people outside the church, but to people inside the church.

Because people outside the church, what do they know about the sign of His coming. This is a prophecy about the last days where there would be people within the church that would mock the Second Coming teaching, and say 'Where is the sign of His coming? Ever since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were. None of these prophetic signs you're talking about are Important. We heard all of that before."

"Or even worse, the Preterist or the Kingdom Now movement that's spreading like cancer through so many denominations today that says that all prophecy basically already has been fulfilled, and that the Church is going to conquer the world and bring in the Kingdom of God and then Jesus will come back. And the worse thing they teach, is that God has no more purpose, for the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as a people or a nation. Basically they say God's a liar because He made unconditional promises to them and said that He is definitely going to fulfill the promises He made to their fathers. And so the prophetic ministry today has come up against real opposition. Believe me."

We asked Zola Levitt about his views on this "replacement theology" and its followers:

"This whole gang is a bunch of unbelievers that have been around for a long time. You can't read the Bible and replace Israel, it's craziness. It's mentioned on every page. All the writers are Jewish, cover to cover. There's no point to that, other than anti-Semitism. It started way back with St. Augustine, who had good intentions. He saw that Israel was dispersed. He couldn't think how could God do this. He didn't have the vision to see that He's going to bring them and restore them to the land, and he didn't read the Scriptures evidently, but he started this system that its the church that's replaced Israel. It's crazy."

Some within the "Christian" community also believe that Bible prophecy is not important. We asked Zola about the importance of Bible prophecy to Christians:

"There's nothing more important. I can't say in one sense that Christians aren't interested in prophecy. It's like saying Jews aren't interested in the high holidays. Christianity is the promise of the Lord's coming and the kingdom to come. A person not interested in prophecy is probably not a real Christian, if they go to some denominational church, and they do 'nice guy worship practice' if you know what I mean... dress up on Sunday. That doesn't make them a Christian."

As Christians, we should be interested in the prophetic scriptures. Yacov Rambsel gave us his insights on the relevance of Bible prophecy for believers:

"There are several reasons. The first reason is that when it is fulfilled it proves that the word of God is sure, and that God can see all things, past, present and future. The second reason, prophecy is to give us a warning. Sometimes it's a good prophecy, with positive effects, sometimes a negative effect. He warns those it will negatively affect. So prophecy is so important. But I think the most important reason for prophecy... that God gave us prophecy, to prove that He is sovereign, and that he knows the beginning from the end. And He wants that information to be instilled in us because the Bible says, in Revelation 19, that He, Jesus, is the Spirit of Prophecy. And so if we have Jesus in us, we have the Spirit of Prophecy in us. So therefore, prophecy should be one of the priorities since the Spirit of Prophecy is actually the Lord Himself."

As we see the unfolding events foretold in Scripture, can each of us say we are ready for the soon return of the Lord?

"He which testifieth these things saith. Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus."

Revelation 22:20

1. Larry King Live, CNN - Oct. 15th, 2001.

2. "CNN.com/WORLD - 9/24/01