WASHINGTON – The author of “Covenant: G-d’s Plan for Israel in the Last Days,” a book by Baruch Battlestein published in Italy, cites prophecies by Ezekiel and Moses that pinpoint with precision the date of Israel’s return to the land in May 1948.
“Was May 14, 1948, chosen by G-d as the exact day in time to resurrect the nation of Israel, or was it just some random date in human history?” Battlestein asks. “Could it be possible that this exact date was prophesied thousands of years before in Scripture?”
Battlestein cites three verses to reach his conclusion that the date of Israel’s return to the land after 1,900 years was indeed prophesied accurately.
The first is Ezekiel 37:21-22: “And say unto them, ‘Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.’”
This verse, Battlestein points out, shows “that it was the will of the Lord to bring them back to their own land and make them one nation in the land.”
The second citation of interest is Leviticus 26:23-24: “And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me; Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.”
“As a stand-alone verse this is very strange, and when applying it to the history of Israel it seems impossible to fully understand,” writes the author. “However, when we read the Book of Ezekiel we find another strange prophecy that leads us back to G-d’s prophecy in Leviticus. It is through these prophecies that we come to an understanding that May 14, 1948, was the exact date chosen by G-d for the resurrection of Israel thousands of years before it took place.”
That second Ezekiel citation is Ezekiel 4:4-6: “Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity. For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.”
“In this strange prophecy, Ezekiel is commanded to first lay on his left side for 390 days and then on his right side for 40 days, for a total of 430 days, as punishment for the iniquities of the house of Israel,” explains Battlestein. “We are told that this punishment represents one day for each year. Taken alone, the prophecies in Leviticus and Ezekiel do not take on any specific significance. However, when we combine them, the results are astonishing.”
He continues: “G-d decreed to Israel a total of 430 years of punishment for her sins against Him. That punishment consisted of physical removal from the land G-d had promised His people. Israel’s captivity in Babylon was exactly 70 years as prophesied by the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 25:11-12; 29:10). Therefore, the first 70 years of Israel’s punishment was completed when the Babylonian captivity ended. By the decree of King Cyrus, conquerer or Babylon, the Jews were set free from their captivity in the year 538 B.C.E. The year 538 B.C.E, therefore becomes the base year with which we begin our calculations: 430 years minus 70 year captivity equals 360 years of remaining punishment to come.”
That’s where the Leviticus prophecy kicks in, says Battlestein. The 360 years needed to be multiplied by seven, for a total of 2,520 years.
Using the 360-day Hebrew calendar, that totals 907,200 days. When converted to the 365-day calendar, the 2,520 years or 907,200 days becomes 2,485 years and five months or 2,485.5 years and months. If you subtract 538 years B.C.E, you get 1,947 years and five months.
Battlestein reminds that there was no year zero.
“Therefore, the year 1,947.5 we call the year 1948.5,” he explains. “So exactly 1,947.5 years after 538 B.C.E., we come to the year 1948.5,” he writes. “May is the fifth month of the modern calendar, and on May 14, 1948, Israel arose from the ashes of extinction to become a nation!”
UK hit by record rainfall: This April to June was the wettest on record as a major clean-up operation takes place in northern Britain following freak storms. Homes well away from rivers and streams were flooded and cars were submerged after Thursday’s heavy rainfall. Northern England, the Midlands, Scotland and Northern Ireland were worst hit by storms that brought lightning, giant hail stones and reports of damage from squalls and tornadoes. In stark contrast, southern parts of Britain enjoyed dry weather and temperatures as high as 28C. Sky’s weather presenter Isobel Lang said: “Rainfall figures still have to be confirmed, but this June could end up being the wettest on record beating that of 2007 when there was also widespread and severe flooding. “It’s also been downright dull and much cooler than average – a miserable start to summer that’s for sure. Worryingly, this is off the back of the wettest April on record and the Environment Agency has said that according to their statistics it has been the wettest April to June ever. Will the weather improve during July? Some sunnier spells are likely between the rainy days, but the general theme is still for rather changeable and showery weather for the next couple of weeks. The end of the month looks drier and sunnier which at least brings some 
pringfield, Va. Besides the 90-year-old woman, who authorities didn’t identify pending notification of kin, a man driving his car was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities identified him as Khiet Nguyen, 27, of Burke, Va. In addition, a park police officer was injured by an uprooted tree in the northern Virginia county, and an 18-year-old man was struck by a power line, Jennings said. He was in stable condition after receiving CPR, she said. “Our officers and firefighters are out there with power saws, trying to clear the streets,” Jennings said. West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency after more than 500,000 customers in 27 counties were left without electricity. At least four utility poles fell on a road in Columbus, Ohio, making it too dangerous for people in four cars to get out, police said. One person was taken to a hospital. As of 1 a.m. Saturday, Pepco was reporting 406,000 outages in the District of Columbia and Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, Md. -POL
Hamas leader assassinated: The Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas says one of its members has been assassinated in Damascus. Kamal Ghanaja was reportedly shot dead by gunmen who burst into his home in the Syrian capital’s northern suburb of Qudsaya earlier this week. Hamas has not formally blamed anyone for the killing but one official told the AFP news agency that the Israeli secret service, Mossad, was behind it. Israel’s defense minister described the accusation as not “necessarily true. He was not really personally familiar [to me],” Ehud Barak told Israeli Army Radio on Thursday. “According to all the background published, he was no saint and I don’t want to add anything or comment about this incident.” In a separate statement, the Hamas leadership in Gaza stopped short of directly blaming Mossad, but said it was opening an investigation to identify the party behind the deplorable crime.” But one unnamed Hamas source told AFP: “According to our information, Mossad was behind the assassination.” Hamas leaders said Kamal Ghanaja’s blood would not be wasted.-BBC
Israel fortifies Syrian border: The IDF is preparing for the possibility of terror attacks from the Syrian border, a senior IDF officer told journalists on Thursday. Brig. Gen. Tamir Hyman said on Thursday that, “the events unfolding beyond the border increase the likelihood of terror attacks. That, in turn, necessitates preparations as far as infrastructure, training and deployment.” Hyman added that the division’s working assumption is that a terror attack can take place from the Syrian border without the IDF having prior intelligence. “Terror organizations may seek to exploit a situation of instability and lack of governability that may develop on the Syrian side of the border. Now it’s quiet, but we’re preparing for the worst-case scenario.” Hyman briefed journalists during a tour of the Golan Heights. According to Defense Ministry officials, extremist Islamic terror organizations are flooding to Syria from Iraq and other countries. Toppling the regime of President Bashar Assad is, in fact, their main objective, but there are fears they might use the opportunity to launch attacks against Israeli citizens in the Golan Heights. Following events in recent weeks, ministry officials believe that Assad’s position is more stable than previously assumed. The president is still in relative control of the army, and his treatment of the population is apparently ruthless. Still, Israeli officials believe that the army’s daily functioning and morale have already been damaged. At least 12,000 soldiers have been killed, and recent drafts have seen an unprecedented low percentage of conscripts. –Haaretz 
Syria amass tanks on Turkish border: A general in the rebel Free Syria Army said on Friday that Syrian government forces had amassed around 170 tanks north of the city Aleppo, near the Turkish border, but there was no independent confirmation of the report. General Mustafa al-Sheikh, head of the Higher Military Council, an association of senior officers who defected from Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces, said the tanks had assembled at the Infantry School near the village of Musalmieh northeast of the city of Aleppo, 30 kms (19 miles) from the Turkish border. “The tanks are now at the Infantry School. They’re either preparing to move to the border to counter the Turkish deployment or attack the rebellious (Syrian) towns and villages in and around the border zone north of Aleppo,” Sheikh told Reuters by telephone from the border. He said the tanks were mostly from the 17th Mechanized Division. –Jerusalem Post
n Bayou Corne,” said Assumption Parish Homeland Security Director John Boudreaux. Since then though, pipeline officials have not ruled that out just yet, but said it’s unlikely. So now, investigators are going through the process of elimination. By coincidence, since the bubbling began, many in Assumption Parish are worried. “Our houses are shifting and there are cracks in our sheet rock and our foundation,” said Jason Hugh. “My home moved, and my home shook. My home moved, and I’m on cement,” said Debra Charlet. Officials don’t know yet whether the two are related. Boudreaux has taken samples of the bubbles and sent them off for testing. Those samples are expected back in the next couple of weeks. Officials are monitoring the bubbles twice a day. As for now, no evacuations have been issued and the waterways remain open. -WAFB
