Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Ruler of Iran, has issued a fatwa--a binding legal opinion under Islamic law--that genocide against the Jewish people is justified. Khamenei said that the destruction of every man, woman and child in Israel is legitimate because of the threat posed to Iran by Israel. He said that Israel must be removed because it is the "cause of all our troubles."
There’s a great temptation to see the possibility of Israel attacking Iran as a fulfillment of prophecy, specifically the Battle of Ezekiel 38. The problem is the circumstances are not right. In Ezekiel 38:1-11 Persia (Iran) is said to be leading a surprise attack against an unsuspecting Israel. But current events may be leading up to an Israeli attack against Iran that, if it happens, won’t surprise anyone. Since Iran has promised to unleash Syria, Hezbollah, and Hamas against Israel in the event of an attack, any fulfillment of prophecy would likely be related to Psalm 83 and/or Isaiah 17, not Ezekiel 38.
In Israel the new unity government put in place by Prime Minister Netanyahu has many purposes, but there is no doubt that the primary focus of the coalition is dealing with the threat of Iran's nuclear program. The new government is strong and deeply experienced in defense and military issues. Three of the members of the cabinet have served as Defense Minister, and the 94-seat coalition (out of 120 members of Knesset) is unshakable. In 1967, such a unity government was formed just before the outbreak of war.
For two thousand years, the Jewish people were dispersed and exiled all over the world, but they are now returning back to Israel. Modern-day Israel won her independence in 1948. This was a miracle! There is no other nation in the world whose people have been away from their homeland for 2,000 years and then returned back to the same geographical place, to speak the same language and share the same religion as when they left. Only the Jews! This is the fulfilment of God’s promise to them (Ezekiel 36:24-28, Jeremiah 16:14-15, 23:7-8). In His word, God also clearly promises that He will bring back “all the families of Israel” (Jeremiah 31:1). One of those “families” is the Bnei Menashe tribe in India!
Over recent decades, some 1,700 Bnei Menashe (Menashe means sons of Manasseh) from north-east India have made aliyah and integrated into Israeli society. Another 7,200 are still eagerly waiting to come home as soon as the Israeli government approves their entry, which has been blocked since 2007. The first 50 families (over 250 people) are hoping to fly to Israel by August. Please join me in praying for final government approval and for all the preparations to be made in order to bring the Bnei Menashe to Israel.
God says in Isaiah 60:1 says, "Arise, and shine for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. Darkness shall cover the deep and gross darkness the people, but the Lord shall arise upon thee" This is a prophecy that the Jews will recognize their Messiah eventually.
In Lebanon there was a CIA intelligence fiasco in Nov. Hezbollah dealt a heavy blow to CIA operations in Lebanon, forcing the intelligence agency to curtail its espionage activities in Lebanon. According to current and former US officials, CIA operations in Lebanon have been badly damaged after Hezbollah identified and captured 12 US spies. CIA officials have been scrambling in recent months to protect their remaining spies, foreign assets and agents before Hezbollah finds them. U.S. operatives and their agents collect crucial intelligence on Syria, terrorist groups and other targets. Friends our critical "CIA Beirut station is simply out of business."
God says in Psalm 2:1-8 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
The Syrian chemical arsenal reportedly comprises hundreds of tons of sarin, mustard gas, and deadly VX nerve agent. Blister and nerve agents have been fitted on chemical warheads on Syria’s long-range Scud-B and Scud-C ballistic missiles. In fact, the Syrian government recently armed its medium-range Scud missiles with 600 one-ton chemical warheads. In addition to its ballistic missile component, the Syrian government reportedly also has tons of sarin agent and mustard gas stockpiled in conventional artillery shells, rockets and bombs.
God says in Isa 29:15 Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
There are currently 200,000 missiles and rockets aimed at Israel from just across its borders. No location in Israel is out of reach, and no other country has ever faced such a threat to its existence. Israeli leaders have said they cannot tolerate this and will have to take action. They’ve also promised that the next time they go up against Hizbollah they won’t stop until the threat Hezbollah poses no longer exists.
Friends this is beginning to look like the geopolitical version of a perfect storm. It’s hard to see how the world can avoid some kind of regional war. As one commentator put it, with all the military forces arrayed in such a confined space starting a war by accident becomes a real possibility. In over 35 years of study I’ve never seen conditions quite so ideal for the fulfillment of prophecy as they are now.
Students of prophecy are well aware that if this is not God’s timing, some way will be found to temporarily defuse the situation in a way that leaves things unresolved as has been the case several times in the past. But if it is God’s timing the world will soon suffer through a brief but intense regional war in the Middle East.
And after it ends, while they’re saying “Peace and Safety” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape (1 Thes. 5:3). (Remember, it takes a war to get people talking about peace.) The sudden destruction to which Paul referred will signal the beginning of the rise of the anti-christ. I believe it will start with the Psalm 83/Isaiah 17 war to be followed by the Battle of Ezekiel 38-39 followed by Daniel’s 70th Week which is the Great Tribulation.
In 1 Thes. 5:4-11 Paul said this chain of events should not take the Church by surprise. When he called us children of the light, he meant we’ve been given the knowledge to understand what’s coming. We should rely on our faith in the Lord’s love for us like a soldier relies on his body armor. We should focus our minds on the hope of salvation we’ve been promised. The Lord’s armor will protect us like a soldier’s helmet protects his head, and remember that God did not appoint us to wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The symbolism here is remarkable. A soldier’s body armor protects his heart, which we symbolically see as the seat of our faith and the repository of the Lord’s love. His helmet protects his head, symbolizing the storehouse of knowledge in our mind. The Lord doesn’t expect blind obedience or baseless faith. He’s gone to great extremes to make us aware of His intentions. In Amos 3:7 He said, Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.
His plan is to rescue the Church from His coming wrath In 1 Thes. 1:10 the Greek word translated “from” in this verse means from the time, the place, and any relation to the event, which is the time of God’s wrath.
When the Council of Jerusalem met to discuss whether Gentiles had to convert to Judaism before they could become Christians (Acts 15:13-18) 483 years of a 490 year plan for Israel had been fulfilled. Seven years have been missing. James told them that Israel was being set aside for a time because the Lord was taking the Gentiles, His Church, as a people for Himself. The Greek phrase translated “taking from” means to carry away, out of the time and place of His subsequent action. In the context of the passage His subsequent action is the remaining 7 years of His plan for Israel the time of God’s Wrath, the Great Tribulation.
Later Paul,who was there, wrote that Israel has been hardened in part until the full number of Gentiles has come in (Romans 11:25). He was talking about the Church being taken to its final destination, which is Heaven, before God turns His attention to Israel again for the final seven years of His plan.
Paul encourages us to build each other up when we see these things taking place (1 Thes. 5: 11). We can do this because they tell us our redemption is drawing near (Luke 21:28). You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah. 02-04-12
God says in Daniel 2:21-22 says, "He (the anti-christ) changes times and seasons; He, God deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him."
No comments:
Post a Comment