Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert paid tribute to his predecessor Ariel Sharon today, marking two years since the time the former Prime Minister slipped into a coma. On the 18th of December, 2005, Ariel Sharon was rushed to hospital by his son after he complained of feeling unwell. The hospital reported that the 77 year old had suffered a minor stroke. They announced that the Prime Minister needed to undergo surgery to repair a hole in his heart, but despite this he was in a stable condition. He was later released from hospital after making a slight recovery, only to be rushed back in a few weeks later suffering from a massive brain hemorrhage. Some reports suggested that the hospital had given Sharon the wrong type of medication, and this may have caused the situation to grow worse. Sharon was rushed back into hospital 24 hours later after it was discovered the previous operation had failed to stem the bleeding. This time the hospital report stated that Sharon had suffered extensive damage to the right side of his brain, and that his left side may be paralyzed and his speech may be slurred. Doctors were unable to awaken Sharon from his medically induced coma, which was meant to prevent more serious damage being done to his brain. The Israeli government later declared Ariel Sharon permanently incapacitated, paving the way for his Vice Premier Ehud Olmert to take the reigns of power. In August of 2005, Sharon's condition worsened, and doctors announced he had contracted double pneumonia. The condition of his brain had regressed again, and an infection was discovered in his blood. He later recuperated, and remains under supervision at the Tel Aviv rehabilitation centre.

Quote: ""I am nostalgic for the long hours that we passed together, for the sound of his voice, for his humour," Olmert wrote in the tribute published in the mass-selling Yediot Aharonot newspaper. "I hope with all my heart that a day will come when he will open his eyes again and return to be among us." In a separate statement published by the tabloid Maariv, Olmert wrote: "I am sure that he would tell me if he could from the place where he is today: follow your path with faith and lead the people of Israel."

Sharon's stroke occurred just a few months after Israel's disengagement from the Gaza Strip, which was portrayed by Sharon as a unilateral move aimed at improving Israel's security situation. Sharon's stroke was widely perceived by both Christians and Jews to be a judgement from God for dividing His land (Joel 3:2). US broadcaster Pat Robertson was criticized for voicing his opinion on the matter, and was later forced to apologize for his remarks. That contrasted with US President Bill Clinton, who said, "it's almost as if God were testing them one more time to rise again, to keep on [striving for peace]". But you won't find that view supported by Scripture. Those who study their Bibles know that this coming peace will herald the arrival of the Antichrist, who will divide the land of Israel for his own gain (Daniel 11:39). Sharon's present condition seems to have prophetic significance, especially in relation to the disengagement from Gaza.

Isaiah 29:1-4, 9-10, 16
Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices. Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel. And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee. And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust... Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered... Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding? 

Yitzchak Kaduri was a Kabbalist Rabbi who had some sort of revelation of the Jewish Messiah. In 1990 Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson met Kaduri and told him that he would live to see the coming of the Messiah. Kaduri died in January 2006, but he claimed that in November 2003, he had personally met Mashiach. He wrote His name on a piece of paper and put it inside an envelope, with the express instructions that it not be opened until one year after his death. On the note was written, "Concerning the letter abbreviation of the Messiah's name, He will lift the people and prove that his word and law are valid. This I have signed in the month of mercy". The phrase in Hebrew has only six words, and abbreviated, the words spell out the name of Yeshua. Yitzchak Kaduri also made several predictions during his lifetime. He once urged that all Jews return to the land of Israel so as to escape the judgements that were coming on the nations. He also claimed that the Messiah would not come until Sharon died. This Arutz 7 article about Kaduri also mentions how the Messiah will come to Israel...

Quote: "Rabbi Eliyahu emphasized that G-d has complete control of nature, and that the Jewish People live "amidst great faith, despite questions that remain open. No question mark can break our strength of great and perfect faith in G-d... This does not prevent us from asking and searching for answers and [logical] explanations, but it all takes place on the solid ground of great faith in G-d... The Bible (Zechariah 14) mentions that in the future, when the Messiah comes, the Mt. of Olives will be split in two... The Messiah can come at any minute, even as you read these lines..."

Thus the New Testament confirms that Yeshua is the true Messiah, for as the disciples watched His ascension into heaven from the Mount of Olives, the angels that stood by said, "this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven", Acts 1:11. At the end of the tribulation period, as the nations of the world gather together to do battle against Jerusalem, the Jewish nation will finally recognize Yeshua as their Messiah when He descends upon Mount Olivet. The question is, is He your Messiah? Isaiah 53 also mentions the Messiah's atoning death on the cross at Calvary. He bled and died to take away your sins. Trust in Him for salvation today.

Source AFP, Arutz 7, Free Republic, WorldNetDaily, Arutz 7