The Morning After

 

What last night was, was a revealing - a clarification. We now know things that we (I) didn’t see clearly enough before. Just like the disciples knew who Jesus was, yet they thought he was going to establish His kingdom on earth. They didn’t see it till later- till it was revealed.  Of course, we know better - that His blessed kingdom on earth won’t happen till he returns and all the kingdoms of this world become the Kingdom of our Lord and Christ - but in our hearts we hoped for America to be that godly nation -like they hoped it would be Israel then.  At least we held out the naïve notion that it could be, it might be, because maybe, just maybe still, a majority of our fellow citizens loved the constitution, feared God,  held to a biblical morality and weren’t blind to all the lies of the devil.  Sadly, today we know different.  Clearly, America has lost connection with her roots, she has cast aside God, His Word and His ways. Three more states legalized “gay marriage,” two states legalized recreational marijuana use, one state elected an openly gay senator, while another opened the door to tax-payer funded abortions. The national results show us ourselves. It is a mirror held up to our soul.  We just did not want to see the America we so love like that, but sadly America is "the world" in all its rebellious sinfulness.

But this new clarity can serve His kingdom…If we will let it. The difficulty ahead might actually accomplish His purpose!  It will purify us. Hopefully motivate us. Surely, we can no longer have one foot in His kingdom and one foot in the world, thinking that we can be non-offensive to both.  While I hate the result, it might turn more people to Christ than might have happened if it went the other way. If so, then Praise be!  In any case God reigns. Our job is still the same. Perhaps we see it clearer now. I know I do. I think darkness IS coming. What lies ahead looks dire. But did not the Lord tell us, “In this world we will have trouble.....”  The world hates me, it will hate you too?”  Has not this been the yoke that Christendom has born since its inception? Is this not the suffering that Christ calls us to?  I can’t pretend that I like to either say or hear that….  but…. That’s not the end of the story. Yes, in this world we WILL have trouble… but TAKE COURAGE Jesus has overcome the world! I know whom I have believed, and am fully persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed, (i.e. all that I am, all that I have and all that I love) unto Him until THAT DAY!  

 

Who Should I Vote For?

Who Should I vote for?

Well, I’m certainly not going to tell you! But I would like to suggest some things to think about before you make up your mind. First of all, God is sovereign and He determines the future of this nation and all nations. “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever! Wisdom and power belong to Him. He changes times and season; He sets up rulers and deposes them.” (Dan. 2:21) God has all authority. Earthly rulers, whether they are wicked or righteous, have authority only because God allows them to have it, in order that He might bring about His ultimate will. Jesus said to Pilate, (certainly not a God-honoring ruler!) “You would have no authority over me except that it was given to you from above.” (John 19:11) God put Pharaoh in a position of power so that he would refuse Moses’ requests for freedom and God could humble Egypt and deliver Israel. Later God brought judgment upon Judah through the wicked king Nebuchadnezzar whom God called “My servant.” (Jer. 27:6) Even though Nebuchadnezzar worshipped idols and false gods, God used him - and He will use our new leaders to fulfill His purposes on earth, whether those purposes are to bring judgment or to bring blessing.

So, am I telling you not to vote? Does God’s sovereignty over the election mean that we have no choice in the matter – that we are excluded from the process? NO! Just as God’s sovereignty in man’s salvation does not exclude us from evangelism, neither does God’s ultimate authority over rulers and leaders remove our need to participate in the electoral process. God desires to bring about His will through the obedience of His people. So get educated, ask God for direction and discernment, then vote…then pray some more! Here are some factors I will be considering and that I ask you to think through before you vote:

What will be the candidate’s attitudes and policies towards the nation of Israel? Why is this so important? Because God has made an everlasting covenant with the descendants of Jacob to give them the “Promised Land” of Israel. (That’s why it’s called the “promised” land - get it? God promised it to them!) Any nation or leader who supports Israel will be blessed and any nation or leader who opposes Israel will be cursed. (Gen. 12:3) God promises to prosper those who love Israel. (Ps. 122:6) So our government’s policies toward Israel have a direct impact on our national well-being. Does the candidate understand or underestimate the threat of radical Islam? Radical Islam poses the greatest threat to peace and security since Adolph Hitler and perhaps even greater, because now, not only are we facing an cruel enemy of ideology but one that is fueled by the spirit of anti-Christ. (1John 4:1-3) These next few years will be pivotal for American survival. If you think I’m overstating the matter, you aren’t paying attention! Great Britain is on the verge of falling from within because of the tremendous influx of Islamic influence there. Most of Europe no longer has the spiritual foundation to stand against it. America still has the spiritual strength and material wherewithal and backbone to resist it, but for how long? Our next President will face a nuclear-armed Iran headed by a radical Islamist leader. He must understand the threat.

Does the candidate want our laws to reflect God’s law? Will they therefore appoint judges who uphold the legal protection of human life, and the sanctity of marriage? One needs only to read through the books of 1st and 2nd Kings to see that when the national leader followed God’s standards the nation was blessed, but when the king turned away from God, the nation suffered. “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord!” (Ps. 33:12) Does the candidate’s personal integrity and moral character put them in a position to receive God’s blessing, guidance and direction; and do they even seek these things? Look at the reigns of King David and Solomon to see the effects of personal moral failure on a nation. God will not sustain a leader or a nation who disobeys Him.

What are the candidate’s core principles that drive their decisions? Are they trying to please men or God? Answer these questions and you’ll have an answer to the question at the top of the page.

Netanyahu’s Speech at Holocaust Remembrance Day

April 19, 2012

Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Speech at Holocaust Remembrance Day

Yesterday morning, I visited an old-age home for Holocaust survivors. There, I met Idit Yapo, an amazing woman of 104, clear and lucid. Idit fled Germany shortly after Hitler gained power, in 1934.

I met 89-year-old Esther Nadiv, one of Mendele’s twins. She was reading a book, Golda Meir’s biography, and she told me, with a glint in her eye, she said: “I am so proud, so very proud to be a part of the State of Israel which is in constant development.”

I met Hanoch Mandelbaum, an 89-year-old survivor of Bergen-Belsen. Shortly after he came to Israel, as a young carpenter, he helped construct the desk upon which Ben Gurion signed the Declaration of Independence. That is MiSho’a liTkuma – from holocaust to resurrection.

And I met Elisheva Lehman, an 88 year-old Holocaust survivor fromHolland, who was a music teacher.

I asked Elisheva if she would play something for us and she did. She enthusiastically played “Am Yisrael Chai” and we all sung together. It was quite emotional.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Am Yisrael Chai [The nation of Israel lives]

Our enemies tried to bury the Jewish future, but it was reborn in the land of our forefathers. Here, we built a foundation for a new beginning of freedom, hope, and creation. Year after year, decade after decade, we built the foundations of our country, and we will continue to yearly strengthen the pillars of our national life.

On this day, when our entire nation gathers together to remember the horrors of the Holocaust and the six million Jews who were murdered, we must fulfill our most sacred obligation.

This obligation is not merely an obligation to remember the past. It is an obligation to learn its lessons, and, most importantly, to apply them to the present in order to secure the future of our people. We must remember the past and secure the future by applying the lessons of the past.

This is especially true for this generation – a generation that once again is faced with calls to annihilate the Jewish State.

One day, I hope that the State of Israel will enjoy peace with all the countries and all the peoples in our region. One day, I hope that we will read about these calls to destroy the Jews only in history books and not in daily newspapers.

But that day has not yet come.

Today, the regime in Iran openly calls and determinedly works for our destruction. And it is feverishly working to develop atomic weapons to achieve that goal.

I know that there are those who do not like when I speak such uncomfortable truths. They prefer that we not speak of a nuclear Iran as an existential threat. They say that such language, even if true, only sows fear and panic.

I ask, have these people lost all faith in the people of Israel?

Do they think that this nation, which has overcome every danger, lacks the strength to confront this new threat?

Did the State of Israel not triumph over existential threats when it was far less powerful than it is today? Did its leaders have any qualms about saying the truth?

David Ben Gurion told the people of Israel the truth about the existential dangers they faced in 1948 when five Arab armies tried to snuff Israel out in its cradle.

Levi Eshkol told the people of Israel the truth in 1967 when a noose was being placed around Israel’s neck and we stood alone to face our fate.

And when they heard these truths, did the people of Israel panic or did they unite to thwart the dangers? Were we paralyzed with fear or did we do what was necessary to protect ourselves

I believe in the people of Israel – and this belief is based on our experiences. I believe that the people of Israel can handle the truth. And I believe that they we have the capability to defeat those who seek to harm us.

Those who dismiss Iran’s threats as exaggerated or as mere idle posturing have learned nothing from the Holocaust. But we should not be surprised.

There have always been those among us who prefer to mock those who tell uncomfortable truths than squarely face the truth themselves.

That is how Zev Jabotinsky was received when he warned the Jews of Poland of the looming Holocaust.

This is what he said in 1938, in Warsaw:

“It is already THREE years that I am calling upon you, Polish Jewry, who are the crown of World Jewry. I continue to warn you incessantly that a catastrophe is coming closer. I became grey and old in these years, my heart bleeds, that you, dear brother and sisters, do not see the volcano which will soon begin to spit its all-consuming lava… I see that you are not seeing this because you are immersed and sunk in your daily worries… Listen to me in this twelfth hour: In the name of G-d! Let anyone of you save himself, as long as there is still time, and time there is very little.”

But the leading Jewish intellectuals of the day ridiculed Jabotinsky, and rather than heed his warning, they attacked him.

This is what Sholem Asch, one of our nation’s greatest writers, said about him:

“What Jaotinsky is saying in Poland is going too far. His statement is detrimental to Zionism and to the vital interests of our people… It is disgraceful that these are leaders of a nation.”

I know there are also those who believe that the unique evil of the Holocaust should never be invoked in discussing other threats facing the Jewish people.

To do so, they argue, is to belittle the Holocaust and to offend its victims.

I totally disagree. On the contrary. To cower from speaking the uncomfortable truth – that today like then, there are those who want to destroy millions of Jewish people – that is to belittle the Holocaust, that is to offend its victims and that is to ignore the lessons.

Not only does the Prime Minister of Israel have the right, when speaking of these existential dangers, to invoke the memory of a third of our nation which was annihilated. It is his duty.

There is a memorable scene in Claude Lanzmann’s documentary Shoahthat explains this obligation more than anything.

In the harsh existence in the Warsaw Ghetto, Leon Feiner of the Bund and Menachem Kirschenbaum of the General Zionists met with Jan Karski from the Polish World War II Resistance Movement.

Jan Karski was a decent, sensitive man, and they begged him to appeal to the conscience of the world against the Nazi crimes. They described what was happening, they showed him, but to no avail.

They said: “Help us. We have no country of our own, we have no government, and we even have no voice among the nations”

They were right.

Seventy years ago the Jewish people did not have the national capacity to summon the nations, nor the military might to defend itself.

But today things are different.

Today we have an army.

We have the ability, the duty and the determination to defend ourselves.

As Prime Minister of Israel, I will never shy from speaking the truth before the world, no matter how uncomfortable it may seem to some.

I speak the truth at the United Nations; I speak the truth in Washington, D.C., the capital of our great friend, the United States, and in other important capitals; And I speak the truth here in Jerusalem, on the grounds of Yad VaShem which are saturated with remembrance.

I will continue to speak the truth to the world, but first and foremost I must speak it to my own people. I know that my people are strong enough to hear the truth.

The truth is that a nuclear-armed Iran is an existential threat of the State of Israel.

The truth is that a nuclear-armed Iran is a political threat to other countries throughout the region and a grave threat to the world peace.

The truth is that Iran must be stopped from obtaining nuclear weapons.

It is the duty of the whole world, but above and beyond, it is OUR duty.

The memory of the Holocaust goes beyond holding memorial services; it is not merely a historical recollection.

The memory of the Holocaust obligates us to apply the lessons of the past to ensure the basis of our future.

We will never bury our heads in the sand.

Am Yisrael Chai, veNetzach Yisrael Lo Yeshaker.

[The Nation of Israel Lives, and the Eternal one of Israel does not Lie.]

The Prince of Persia

Given the mysterious title, most Americans might assume that this article is about: A.) a popular violent video game of the same name; or B.) A not-so popular action-adventure movie released a few years ago. It is neither. Both the game and the movie derive their name from a Biblical reference to a powerful shadowy presence. The real Prince of Persia is a demonic principality; an evil spiritual personage revealed to the prophet Daniel by God’s messenger angel Gabriel in Dan. Chapter10:12-14

“Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the prince of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.”

At that time, (and at this time!), the demon called “the Prince of Persia” was locked in battle with an two arch (chief) angels, Gabriel, the one who is speaking, and Michael, who is identified as the angel having protective authority and responsibility over Daniel and his people, Israel. When Daniel received this vision he was in Susa, the capital of the Persian Empire which had come rule over that part of the world after the fall of Babylon while Daniel and his countrymen were held captive there. This ancient land is now known by its modern name, Iran.



Note: What follows next is a brief (?!) thumb-nail history of Iran. You might be tempted to skip over this part so you can get to the “here-and-now” portion of the article, but humor me and read through it. Even if you just skim it, my guess is that you will be struck by one thing: just how intricately linked together the past, present, future, fortunes and destinies of Israel and Iran – Michael and the Prince of Persia- have been and continue to be.

The geographical region that we know today as the modern state of Iran has been dominated in history by many powers: Elamites, Babylonians, Assyrians, Medes, Persians, Greeks, Syrians, Parthians, Romans, Byzantines, and Islamic conquerors from Arabia. The first people group to dominate this region was the ancient Elamites, or the descendants of Elam. Elam was a son of Shem and a grandson of Noah. This ancient clan established the nation of Elam in what is now the southwestern portion of Iran.

Ur, (Abraham’s original home) was brought to an end about 2000 BC by the Elamites, who destroyed the city and took its king prisoner, thus enlarging Elam to the north. During its entire history, Shushan (Susa) served as the capital city of Elam, (and later Medio-Persia); a city that stood for 3000 years until it was totally sacked and raised to the ground by the Mongols in the 13th century AD.

In Genesis, the Bible records that an ancient Elamite King named Kedorlaomer led a group of eastern kings on military raids against several cities on the Jordan River plain, including Sodom. Abraham and his allies, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, with their personal armies, finally defeated Kedorlaomer and his fellow kings and rescued Lot, regaining the wealth the easterners had captured. (Gen.14)

From about 2000 to 1800BC, the Elamites expanded their kingdom at the expense of various Mesopotamian city-states, until Hammurabi (about 1728-1686BC) finally put an end to Elamite expansion. Elam became province of Babylon, and for the next few hundred years, was subjugated by various Babylonian, and alternately, Assyrian kings.

The Medes emerged as rulers over this land when they defeated the Assyrians in 610BC by destroying the Biblical city of Nineveh made famous by Jonah. By this time the Persians had already taken the southern part of Elam called Anshan. Both the Medes and the Persians had migrated southward into the area from the Caucasus region of what is now southern Russia. After the Assyrian Empire was destroyed, the Medes annexed almost all the rest of Elam. Then in 550BC the Persians led by Cyrus captured the Median capitol. Cyrus made peace with the Medes and consolidated the two kingdoms into what became known as the Medo-Persian Empire. Following the fall of Babylon, the entire empire was divided into administrative districts, or satraps, which established regional governors under the authority of the King. Daniel chapter six tells us that after Persia and Media, were combined, the King administered 120 satraps, over them were three ruling presidents, with Daniel being chief among them.

When Cyrus the Great (550-529BC) established the Medo-Persian Empire, he made Shushan its capital. Darius the Great (521-486BC) also built a magnificent royal palace in Shushan. This palace, later occupied by Artaxerxes II (404-359BC), was the scene of the dramatic events depicted in the biblical story of Esther where the wicked Haman plotted to annihilate the Jews. The prophet Daniel had his vision of the ram and the goat here, and Shushaa is also where Nehemiah lived in exile before returning to Jerusalem. According to tradition, the present-day village of Shush (ancient Shushan) is the site of the tomb of the Old Testament prophet Daniel.

It was the Persian king Cyrus who issued the decree restoring the Jews to their homeland, following their long period of captivity by the Babylonians, (II Chronicles 36:22-23; and Ezra 1:1-4) just as had been prophesized by Isaiah hundreds of years earlier, mentioning Cyrus by name! (Is.44:28-45:2) Cambyses II (530-522BC), the son of Cyrus, reigned after his father, and during his reign, Egypt was added to the list of nations conquered by Persia, followed by Darius I who, in his second year, ordered the Jewish Temple at Jerusalem to be rebuilt after work on it had been discontinued for 14 years. (Ezra 4:24; and 6:1) Darius also gave a generous subsidy that made it possible to complete the Temple construction. The extent of the Persian Empire under Darius is reflected in the book of Esther as stretching from India to Ethiopia. (Esther 1:1; and 10:1) This vast territory was nearly 3,000 miles long and 1,500 miles wide, approximately the size of the United States!

Xerxes ruled Persia from 486 to 465BC. Xerxes, also known as Ahasuerus, is the Persian king ruling in the Book of Esther. Esther did not become queen until the seventh year of his reign, which would have been about 478BC. This was two years after Xerxes devastating defeat at Salamis (480BC) which ended Persia's last hope for conquering Greece, and laid the foundation for the rise of Alexander the Great.

The next Persian king, Artaxerxes Longimanus I (464-424BC), illustrates one of the ironies of history. This minor Persian king was of major importance because of his connection with the Hebrew people. Apparently two of the three returns of the Jewish people from captivity in Babylon occurred during his reign. The second return was apparently under Ezra. This was made possible because of the generosity of Artaxerxes. The third return occurred in 445BC and is recorded in Nehemiah, and this date is a landmark of Bible prophecy, especially as it relates to the birth of Jesus. (Daniel 9: 24-27) The specific purpose of this return to Jerusalem allowed by Artaxerxes was to rebuild the city walls, and it also laid the foundation for the circumstances surrounding the geo-political events in Jesus’ lifetime.

Darius III, the last Persian king was defeated in a series of battles starting at 333BC at Issus by Alexander the Great, who died shortly afterwards in 323BC. According to the provisions of the four-way partition of the Greek Empire, (prophesized in advance by Daniel 7:6 and 8:8) the Seleucids of Syria then took control of the Persian territory for about 100 years. At around 220BC the Parthian leader Arsaces declared Parthia's independence from Syria. Parthia included the area to the southwest of the Caspian Sea.

The Parthians ruled over the Persian plateau the next 400 years. They were militarily formidable and even challenged the Romans on numerous occasions for the control of the Near-East. Finally, a Persian prince from Fars (southern Iran from where their language Farsi gets its name) named Ardeshir I challenged and defeated the Parthian king Artabanus V in 224AD beginning a new dynasty in Iran known as the "Sassanian Dynasty" The Sassanians considered themselves the heirs of the Persian throne The Sassanian king Khosrow II came close to achieving the Sassanian dream of restoring the old Persian boundaries when Jerusalem fell to him and the Byzantine capitol of Constantinople was under his siege. Khosrow II, or Khosrow Parviz as he was better known, over-extended his army and over-taxed the people to the point that when the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (610-41AD) in a tactical move abandoned his besieged capital and sailed up the Black Sea to attack Iran from the rear, there was no resistance. Heraclius’s Byzantine army then marched through Mesopotamia and western Iran sacking the capitol and taking the palace. The Sassanians never recovered.

Internal dissension and a long brutal conflict with the Byzantines left Sassanian Persia prey for the Arabs. In 636AD the Arab Muslims swept into the Euphrates basin, and in a three day battle at Al-Qadissiyeh in present day Iraq, they defeated the last king of the Sassanians and soon the entire Iraq-Iran region fell to the Muslims. Since 636AD, the Mesopotamian near-east has been the strict domain of the Muslims. While various leaders have come and gone, the one thing that has been constant in Iran-Iraq has been the religious subjugation of the people to either the Shia or Sunni sect of Islam.

In 1501,. Shah Ismail Safavid established civil order in old Persia and together with the Shiite sect of Islam, which became the state religion, made Iran into a prosperous state, reaching its height of glory during the reign (1587–1629) of Shah Abbas (Abbas the Great). Abbas drove out the Portuguese colonialists who had established colonies on the Persian Gulf early in the 16th century. Shah Abbas also utilized trade relations with Great Britain to make Iran an economic success. However, the Safavid dynasty battled in continuous wars with neighboring Afghans which lasted until the advent of Aga Muhammad Khan.

Aga Muhammad Khan and his descendants ruled Iran from 1794 until 1925. This long period under the Khan dynasty saw Iran steadily lose territory to neighboring countries and falter under the increasing political pressure of European nations, in particular Czarist Russia. The discovery of oil in Iran in the early 1900s intensified the rivalry between Great Britain and Russia for control over the Iranian plateau region, and helped to make Iran a major factor in the world geo-political scheme. The British-Russian rivalry continued right through to World War I and resulted in an Anglo-Russian agreement that divided Iran into spheres of influence. In 1919, Iran made a trade agreement with Great Britain in which Britain formally affirmed Iran's independence. After Iranian recognition of the USSR in a treaty of 1921, the Soviet Union renounced Czarist imperialistic policies toward Iran, canceling all debts and concessions, and withdrawing its occupation forces from Iranian territory.

In 1921, Reza Khan, an Iranian army officer, effected a coup and established a military dictatorship. Reza Khan was subsequently elected hereditary Shah, thus founding the new Pahlevi dynasty of Iran, and establishing the Shah as Prime Minister of Persia. He implemented policies to create a westernized parliament in Iran, and finally in 1935, the government of Persia officially changed its name to Iran.

After the 1941 German invasion of the USSR, Iran quickly allied itself with the Allied forces, even welcoming British and American troops into Iran to handle the delivery of war supplies to the USSR to wage war against the German army. At the Tehran Conference of 1943, the United States, Great Britain, and the USSR, guaranteed the independence and territorial integrity of Iran. However, the USSR, dissatisfied with the refusal of the Iranian government to grant it oil concessions, fomented a revolt in the north which led to the 1945 establishment of the People's Republic of Azerbaijan and the Kurdish People's Republic, headed by Soviet-controlled leaders. When Soviet troops remained in Iran following WWII, Iran appealed to America and Great Britain for protection. The Soviets finally withdrew in 1946 and in 1947 Iran and the United States began a cooperation and development program to help Iran build its oil industry. Thus began the relationship between America and Iran.

In 1954, Iran allowed an international consortium of British, American, French, and Dutch oil companies to operate its oil facilities, with profits shared equally between Iran and the consortium. Iran established closer relations with the West and began receiving large amounts of military and economic aid from the United States until the late 1960s.

Starting in the 1960s and continuing into the 1970s, the Shah undertook a broad program designed to improve economic and social conditions. Land reform was a major priority. Although the voters of Iran overwhelmingly approved the Shah's extensive plan, it met grave resistance form the Muslim clergy. Although the Shah held close reins on the government as absolute monarch and moved toward some democratic reforms, a feud developed between the Shah and the Islamic Shiite clerics within Iran. Iran's pro-Western policies continued into the 1970s; however, opposition to such growing Westernization and secularization was strongly denounced by the Islamic clergy, headed by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who had been exiled from Iran in 1964 . for instigating religious and political uprisings against the Shah. In 1979, he returned to Iran and led religious revolutionaries to the final overthrow of the Shah's government on Feb. 11, 1979. In March a nationwide referendum resulted in a massive vote in favor of the establishment of an Islamic Republic in Iran. Ayatollah Khomeini proclaimed the next day, April 1, 1979, as the "first day of Allah's government" and assumed the title of "Imam" (highest religious rank in Shia Islam). The Ayatollah banned all western influences in the Iranian culture and mandated that a new Constitution be written to conform Iran into a Shiite Islamic Republic.

On November 4, 1979, Iranian militants under the Ayatollah’s direction seized the US Embassy in Tehran, taking 52 American hostages. Khomeini refused all appeals, and instigated an environment of hostility and agitation towards the United States, calling America “The Great Satan” The Carter Administration responded with an economic boycott and broke off all diplomatic relations with Iran, The hostage crisis lasted 444 days and was finally resolved on January 20, 1981. Nearly all the Khomeini conditions were met, including the unfreezing of nearly $8 billion in Iranian assets.

On September 22, 1980 Iraq invaded Iran commencing an eight-year war primarily fought over the disputed Shatt al Arab waterway that empties into the Persian Gulf. The Iraq-Iran war rapidly escalated producing an estimated 500,000 to one million casualties. Weapons of mass destruction (chemical and biological) were used by both countries. Khomeini rejected diplomatic initiatives and called for the overthrow of Iraq's President, Saddam Hussein. US government officials secretly visited Iran in 1986 to trade arms with the Iranians in the hopes of securing the release of American hostages being held in Lebanon. At that time, Iran was heavily involved in supporting, training and equipping the Shiite terrorists engaged against Israel in Lebanon. In fact, Hezbollah was the first terrorist cell to utilize the concept of suicide bombers, and with assistance from Iran, they plotted the murder of 283 American marines in a Beirut terrorist-suicide attack.

Iran, as the base of the Islamic Revolution, not only survived Khomeini's death in 1989 and the war with Iraq, but it has emerged to galvanize the Muslim world into forming its own block to both the eastern and western spheres of world dominance –a political block which now includes both Cuba and Venezuala. In 1997, Mohammed Khatami, a moderate liberal Muslim cleric, was elected President of Iran, which was widely seen as a reaction against the country's repressive religious and social policies and its lack of economic progress. Several European Union countries began renewing economic ties with Iran in the late 1990s. Tensions between Iran and the United States dramatically increased due to the rise to power in Iran of current president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the current chief Muslim Imam, the Ayatollah Khamenei; men who bear much more resemblance to Hamaan than to Cyrus the great!

Born Mahmoud Saborjhian into a poor family in 1956, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the fourth of seven children. The family name Saborjhian means thread painter, which is a poor man's job, so the name was changed by his father to “Ahmadinejad,” which means “race of Muhammad.” Although often portrayed as “crazy” in the media, Ahmadinejad is highly intelligent, placing 130th out of 400,000 students when taking his university exams. He became politically active against the Shah in the 1970’s and may have actually been part of the American embassy overthrow in 1979. In 1986, Ahmadinejad became a senior member of Iran's elite Special Brigade of Revolutionary Guards after volunteering to fight in the war against Iraq. Seven years later, Ahmadinejad became the Adviser on Cultural Affairs to the Minister of Culture and Higher Education and was also named later that year, the Governor General of Ardabil Province where he remained as Governor until 1997 when he became the Mayor of Tehran, Iran’s capitol city. Ahmadinejad decided to run for president in 2005 against President Hashemi Rafsanjani. Using his youth and experience in the Iraq-Iran War to win over the newer Iranian generation, and he promised in his campaign to provide a monthly stipend to citizens. It was thought that the race was going to be a close one, but Ahmadinejad won with more than 61 percent of the vote. His popularity among the people increased even more when he began to take the expensive furniture out of the presidential palace to try to promote an image that he was one of the people. Soon, he began to put his conservative Islamic views into law by opposing free speech and arresting people for not dressing properly. Women who were not fully veiled were detained by police, and many men were arrested and executed without trial for both political and religious “crimes.” Soon internal opposition began against him. With the failing economy and on-going obvious human rights violations, the election in 2009 produced a record turnout and many predicted the end of his control. But Ahmadinejad was announced as the winner with 62 percent of the vote, a decision which sparked major protests. The protests eventually stopped after supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei supported the outcome and said the margin of victory was too large for it to be voter fraud. Since his re-election, Ahmadinejad has been bent on a quest to obtain nuclear weapons, a policy which has sparked international criticism as well as his many noted speeches which have called for the destruction of Israel, (although he never actually utters the word “Israel,” preferring rather to refer to the Jewish state as “the zionist entity” or “zionist regime.”

Ahmadinejad’s hatred of Israel and the US is no secret. Here it is on full display in his own words…

October 26, 2005 "Israel must be wiped off the map … The establishment of a Zionist regime was a move by the world oppressor against the Islamic world . . . The skirmishes in the occupied land are part of the war of destiny. The outcome of hundreds of years of war will be defined in Palestinian land." (In an address to 4,000 students at a program titled, 'The World Without Zionists)



December 12, 2006 "Thanks to people's wishes and God's will the trend for the existence of the Zionist regime is downwards and this is what God has promised and what all nations want…Just as the Soviet Union was wiped out and today does not exist, so will the Zionist regime soon be wiped out" (Comments to Iran's Holocaust Conference)



November 13, 2006 "Israel is destined for destruction and will soon disappear"

Israel is "a contradiction to nature, we foresee its rapid disappearance and destruction."



October 19, 2006 "The Zionist regime is counterfeit and illegitimate and cannot survive"

(as quoted by Iranian state television)



August 6, 2006 "They (Israel) kill women and children, young and old. And, behind closed doors, they make plans for the advancement of their evil goals."

(as quoted by Khorasan Provincial TV)



August 4, 2006 "A new Middle East will prevail without the existence of Israel.

August 2, 2006 "Although the main solution is for the elimination of the Zionist regime, at this stage an immediate cease-fire must be implemented."

(as quoted by Iranian TV)



"Are they human beings?... They (Zionists) are a group of blood-thirsty savages putting all other criminals to shame."

(as quoted by Iranian TV)



July 16, 2006 “The Zionists think that they are victims of Hitler, but they act like Hitler and behave worse than Genghis Khan."

(as quoted by the Iranian News Agency)



July 13, 2006 "The Zionists and their protectors are the most detested people in all of humanity, and the hatred is increasing every day."

"The worse their crimes, the quicker they will fall."

"[Israel] has blackened the pages of history".

(as quoted by Iranian state television)

May 11, 2006 Israel is "a regime based on evil that cannot continue and one day will vanish."

(to a student rally in Jakarta, Indonesia)



April 24, 2006 ''We say that this fake regime (Israel) cannot not logically continue to live. Open the doors (of Europe) and let the Jews go back to their own countries."

(In a news conference held on April 24, 2006)

April 14, 2006 "The Zionist regime is an injustice and by its very nature a permanent threat. Whether you like it or not, the Zionist regime is heading toward annihilation. The Zionist regime is a rotten, dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm."



February 23, 2006 “These heinous acts are committed by a group of Zionists and occupiers that have failed. They have failed in the face of Islam's logic and justice . . . They invade the shrine and bomb there because they oppose God and justice . . . But be sure, you will not be saved from the wrath and power of the justice-seeking nations by resorting to such acts."

(In a speech broadcast on state television, where Ahmadinejad suggested that the bombing of a major Shiite shrine in Iraq by Sunni insurgents was plotted by Israel and the U.S. to divide Muslims.)

November 27, 2007 "It is impossible that the Zionist regime will survive. Collapse is in the nature of this regime because it has been created on aggression, lying, oppression and crime."

(As quoted by IRNA)

October 5, 2007 On Zionist control of the West:

"I would now like to ask Western governments to explain which one is right. Are they held captive [by the Zionists] or are they the puppet masters of the Zionists?"



"In both cases, they are accomplice to the crimes of the Zionist regime and they should know that they should be accountable for what they have done."



"They should know that if they are held captive by the Zionists and they do not dissociate themselves from them, they would soon be tried and punished in courts of justice by the powerful hands of nations."



On the Holocaust:

"After the Second World War, they created a scenario called 'pogrom against Jews.' All over Europe and the countries under Western rule, an anti-Jewish movement has been concocted. The climate of propaganda and psychological warfare on the one hand and on the other hand using the issue of ovens burning human beings, they have concocted a myth of deprivation and innocence for the Jews of Europe. They use this pretext of the innocence of Jews and the suffering of some Jews during the Second World War. Riding on the crest of a wave of anti-Jewish sentiments, they have laid the foundations for the Zionist regime.”



August 28, 2007 "Zionists are people without any religion. They are lying about being Jewish because religion means brotherhood, friendship and respecting other divine religions…

They are an organized minority who have infiltrated the world. They are not even a 10,000-strong organization."

(At a news conference in Tehran)

August 18, 2007 "The Zionist regime is the flag bearer of violation and occupation and this regime is the flag of Satan. …It is not unlikely that this regime be on the path to dissolution and deterioration when the philosophy behind its creation and survival is invalid." (Address to an international religious conference in Tehran)



June 3, 2007 "With God's help, the countdown button for the destruction of the Zionist regime has been pushed by the hands of the children of Lebanon and Palestine . . . By God's will, we will witness the destruction of this regime in the near future."

(Speech, as quoted by the Fars News Agency)



March 21, 2007 "It is quite clear that a bunch of Zionist racists are the problem the modern world is facing today. They have access to global power and media centers and seek to use this access to keep the world in a state of hardship, poverty and grudge and strengthen their rule. The great nation of Iran is opposed to this inhuman trend. Of course, the Iranian nation will stick to its rightful stance. The Zionists and their supporters do not know that they are using failed approaches to take on human values, human civilization, nations and the great nation of Iran. Admitting the right of the dear Iranian nation and submitting to justice and the rule of law are the best way to salvation and the best way out of the deadlocks they have created for themselves."

(from a recorded New Year's message aired on Iranian television)



February 28, 2007 "The Zionists are the true manifestation of Satan . . . Many Western governments that claim to be pioneers of democracy and standard bearers of human rights close their eyes over crimes committed by the Zionists and by remaining silent support the Zionists due to their hedonistic and materialistic tendencies."

(to a meeting of Sudanese Islamic scholars in Khartoum)

September 23, 2008 "The dignity, integrity and rights of the American and European people are being played with by a small but deceitful number of people called Zionists. Although they are a miniscule minority, they have been dominating an important portion of the financial and monetary centers as well as the political decision making centers of some European countries and the US in a deceitful, complex and furtive manner. It is deeply disastrous to witness that some presidential or premiere nominees in some big countries have to visit these people, take part in their gathers, swear their allegiance and commitment to their interests in order to attain financial or media support"

"Today, the Zionist regime is on a definite slope to collapse and there is no way for it to out of the cesspool created by itself and its supporters….American empire in the world is reaching the end of its road, and its next rulers must limit their interference to their own borders. Today, the thought of hegemony quickly becomes a demerit." (Address to the United Nations General Assembly)

September 18, 2008 "I have heard some say the idea of Greater Israel has expired….I say that the idea of lesser Israel has expired, too."

"We have no problems with these people (Israelis) but they should leave the occupied territories, leave them to their genuine owners and get back to their countries and homes where they originally came from."

"The Holocaust is a lie and the real Holocaust is happening to the Palestinians."

"The Zionist regime (Israel) is going towards its final collapse after 60 years of aggression. The final solution would be a referendum on Palestine's future fate with the participation of all Palestinians, regardless of whether Muslims, Jews or Christians."

"Our nation has no problem with other nations, but as far the Zionist regime is concerned, we do not believe in an Israeli government or an Israeli nation."(Selected remarks at a press conference in Tehran, as quoted by news services)

August 23, 2008 "We will witness the dismantling of the corrupt regime (Israel) in the very near future." (Speech marking "World Mosque Week in Tehran, as quoted by the official IRNA news agency)

May 13, 2008 "This terrorist and criminal state (Israel) is backed by foreign powers, but this regime would soon be swept away by the Palestinians." (Remarks at press conference in Tehran, as quoted by dpa)

May 8, 2008 "Those who think they can revive the stinking corpse of the usurping and fake Israeli regime by throwing a birthday party are seriously mistaken."

"Today the reason for the Zionist regime's existence is questioned, and this regime is on its way to annihilation.… (Israel) has reached the end like a dead rat after being slapped by the Lebanese." (Remarks on Israel's Independence Day, as quoted by Iran's official IRNA news agency)



March 10, 2008 "Resistance is the only way to defeat the Zionists and their masters." (as quoted by Iran's official IRNA news agency)

February 20, 2008 "The world powers established this filthy bacteria, the Zionist regime, which is lashing out at the nations in the region like a wild beast. … "[Israel] won support [from the other nations] which created it as a scarecrow, so as to keep the people of this area under control."

January 30, 2008 "I warn you to abandon the filthy Zionist entity, which has reached the end of the line. It has lost its reason to be and will sooner or later fall. The ones who still support the criminal Zionists should know that the occupiers' days are numbered. … Accept that the life of Zionists will sooner or later come to an end."

October 10, 2009 "The Zionist regime wants to establish its base upon the ruins of the civilizations of the region...The uniform shout of the Iranian nation is forever 'Death to Israel.'..." (As quoted by Fars News Agency)

September 18, 2009 "They (the Western powers) launched the myth of the Holocaust. They lied, they put on a show and then they support the Jews…. If as you claim the Holocaust is true, why can a study not be allowed? ... The pretext for establishing the Zionist regime is a lie... a lie which relies on an unreliable claim, a mythical claim, and the occupation of Palestine has nothing to do with the Holocaust…This claim is corrupt and the pretext is corrupt. This (the Israeli) regime's days are numbered and it is on its way to collapse. This regime is dying." (at the annual Al Quds Day rally in Tehran)



April 22, 2009 "Don't be afraid of those Zionists. They are on the verge of death. Their time has passed. Do not surrender your people to them…

"Don't you know the nature of the Zionists? Don't you know who the Zionists are? They came in order to take over our region in its entirety. At first, they said that they wanted [a country] from the Nile to the Euphrates. Once they got settled, they said that there had been a mistake, and that they wanted all the Islamic lands…

"Unless they are put in their place at the very beginning of their conspiracy and fitna, they will jeopardize the security of the whole world, they will jeopardize the security of the whole region… They want the entire world. At their very first step, you must crush their step, crush their leg, so that they do not dare to invade the Islamic lands" (Speech, carried by Iranian News Channel, IRINN. Source: MEMRI)

April 20, 2009 "After the Second World War, by exploiting the holocaust and under the pretext of protecting the Jews they [the West] made a nation homeless with military expeditions and invasion…they established the most aggressive, racist country in another territory, i.e. Palestine.

"The global Zionism is the complete symbol of racism, which with unreal reliance on religion has tried to misuse the religious beliefs of some unaware people and hide its ugly face… we should try to put an end to the misuse of international means by the Zionists and their supporters." (Remarks to the United Nations Durban Review Conference, Geneva, Switzerland, April 20, 2009).

January 28, 2009 "A brief review of the events after World War II shows that the Holocaust issue - with the dimensions they define for it - is an excuse to continue dominance and expansion of influence of the victors, especially America and Britain in the international arena."

"The illegal Zionist regime… has demanded blood money of some victims...and have used some of this money to establish a Zionist regime in the land of Palestine, and have used this excuse to attack Palestine and by killing and displacing the people from their motherland they have occupied their mother land and established a Zionist regime, which is tasked with the job of denying an Islamic power emerging to counter the West.

"The Holocaust is knitted together with liberal democracy. It is the claimants of liberal democracy who support the Holocaust logic and have sanctified it to the degree that no one dares questioning its sanctity.

"Today the Zionists command many centers of power, wealth and the world media and unfortunately they have enthralled many politicians and political parties….

"Also, do not forget that the Zionist network which has created the Holocaust discourse must be made known to the nations..." (Excerpts from a speech titled, "Holocaust, the Holy Lie of the West" at Sharif University in Tehran)

September 23, 2010 "This regime (Israel) which enjoys the absolute support of some western countries regularly threatens the countries in the region and continues publicly announced assassination of Palestinian figures and others, while Palestinian defenders and those opposing this regime are pressured, labeled as terrorists and anti Semites. All values, even the freedom of expression, in Europe and in the United States are being sacrificed at the altar of Zionism."

(Address to United Nations General Assembly) September 2, 2010 "The Zionists are groups of hypocrite racists who have been operating under the pretext of following Jewish religion principles." (Address at a rally marking International Quds Day).

August 7, 2010 No "Zionists" were killed in the World Trade Center, because "one day earlier they were told not to go to their workplace."

"They announced that 3,000 people were killed in this incident, but there were no reports that reveal their names. Maybe you saw that, but I did not."

"What was the story of September 11? During five to six days, and with the aid of the media, they created and prepared public opinion so that everyone considered an attack on Afghanistan and Iraq as (their) right." (At a televised conference in Tehran)

March 11, 2011 "See what has become of Israel. They [the West] gathered the most criminal people in the world and stationed them in our region with lies and fabricated scenarios. They waged wars, committed massive aggression… and made millions of people homeless…Today, it is clear that Israel is the most hated regime in the world… It is not useful for its masters [the West] anymore. They are in doubt now. They wonder whether to continue spending money on this regime or not…But whether they want it or not, with God's grace, this regime will be annihilated and Palestinians and other regional nations will be rid of its bad omen."

February 25, 2010 "If the Zionist regime wants to repeat its past mistakes, this will constitute its demise and annihilation…With Allah's help the new Middle East will be a Middle East without Zionists and Imperialists." (At a news conference in Damascus with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.)

December 13, 2011 "[The US administration is under control of] Zionists whose survivals are tied to war and bloodshed and plundering the wealth of other nations. Foreigners are trying to promote their dominance over the region and save the Zionist regime. They intend to break down the resistance frontiers of the nations of the region against the Zionist regime. Therefore, through foreign pressure and increasing conflicts, they try not to let the Syrian government and Syrian nation cooperate in solving their problems … Those who accuse Iran of producing an atomic bomb are the same people who ruled the United States in the dark days of colonialism, and they exploited the indigenous Americans and are currently systematically plundering the wealth of other nations … The US and its allies do not believe in democracy and prefer their own benefit to human rights. The dominant powers want to block Iran's oil flow or take control of it, but they will never achieve this." (Interview with Venezuelan TV)

September 22, 2011 "Who used the mysterious September 11 incident as a pretext to attack Afghanistan and Iraq, killing, injuring, and displacing millions in two countries with the ultimate goal of bringing into its domination the Middle East and its oil resources? ... If some European countries still use the Holocaust, after six decades, as the excuse to pay fine or ransom to the Zionists, should it not be an obligation upon the slave masters or colonial powers to pay reparations to the affected nations? ... By using their imperialistic media network which is under the influence of colonialism they threaten anyone who questions the Holocaust and the September 11 event with sanctions and military action … Last year, when the need to form a fact-finding team to undertake a thorough investigation concerning the hidden elements involved in September 11 incident was brought up; an idea also endorsed by all independent governments and nations as well as by the majority in the United States, my country and myself came under pressure and threat by the government of the United States. Instead of assigning a fact-finding team, they killed the main perpetrator and threw his body into the sea. Would it not have been reasonable to bring to justice and openly bring to trial the main perpetrator of the incident in order to identify the elements behind the safe space provided for the invading aircraft to attack the twin world trade towers? Why should it not have been allowed to bring him to trial to help recognize those who launched terrorist groups and brought wars and other miseries into the region? ... They view Zionism as a sacred notion and ideology. Any question concerning its very foundation and history is condemned by them as an unforgivable sin. However they endorse and allow sacrileges and insult against beliefs of other divine religions." (Address to U.N. General Assembly)

August 26, 2011 "The Zionist regime's establishment was based on numerous deceptions and lies and one of the biggest lies was the Holocaust. "On the one hand we have the Zionist regime as the global axis of thieves and murderers, and on the other hand we have the Quds Day which is the axis of those seeking freedom, justice and end of suppression." (Address at Tehran University on Quds Day)

April 20, 2011 "They say they want to create a new and greater Middle East under the U.S. and the Zionist regime's (Israel) dominance. I am telling you that a new and greater Middle East will be established without the existence of the U.S. and the Zionist regime…. In recent years, regional nations have realized that the United States and the Zionist regime are their main enemies…. Arrogant powers try to deceive nations. They have put the Iranian nation under pressure to oblige it to retreat but the resistance of Iranians and their steadfastness has led to their (the West's) defeat...." (Address to a large crowd in the Iranian city of Sanandaj)

January 3, 2012 "Zionists, who have no faith in religion or even God, now claim piety and intend to take away the Islamic identity of the Holy Quds. This ridiculous move is in fact the continuation of the colonialist polices of oppressors, which will not save the Zionist regime, but take the regime closer to the endpoint of its existence."

(Speech to a delegation from the Turkish-Palestinian Parliamentary Friendship Group)





This is the man who now controls Iran. He is clearly under the control of the “Prince of Persia!” There are those who say, “Why not let Iran obtain nuclear weapons?” The above statements answer that question with startling clarity! What you don’t know is this looooong list above constitutes only about half of the published statements in which Ahmadinejad openly tells us what is on his heart. Those who remember their history know that when a genocidal dictator tells us what he is going to do, the world should take it very seriously. Unfortunately Americans tend to forget their history. Israel, on the other hand, does not. (Just a little trivia: the word “Iran” literally means “the land of the Aryans” or “the Aryan nation”) Ahmadinejad sees himself as the leader of the “master race” and pious adherent the master religion that will “dominate and destroy all other religions though Jihad.” (Islamic prophecy) He see Jews through the lens of Islamic written traditions (the recorded words, sayings and actions of Mohammed and his descendants) which de-humanize Jews to the extent that they are portrayed literally “the cursed offspring of apes and pigs” who need to be destroyed. As Jesus said in John 16:2, “Atime is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God!”



So, what will Iran, and Israel do next?



Recently I read a report written just last month by retired US Army four-star General Barry McCaffrey in his present role as military analyst for NBC detailing Iran’s current capabilities and speculating on their next moves. You can read it here:



http://www.michaelyon-online.com/images/pdf/mccaffrey-nbc-iran-nukes-and-oil-january-122012.pdf



In this report Gen. McCaffrey states his belief that Iran will very soon have nuclear capability and that nothing will deter them from moving forward to that end. He also states that the Iranian military has the capability today to attack and sink a US carrier in the gulf and shut down the strait of Hormuz, effectively bottling up 17% of the worlds oil, and (interestingly) the majority of that 17% flows to China who buys fully half of its oil from Iran. He believes Israel will have to strike Iran soon (next 3months) to keep Ahmadinejad from getting and using atomic weapons against them. I encourage you to read this report in its entirety.



Finally, (did you think I was never going to wrap up!!) let me return to where I began… the Prince of Persia. In Rev. 12, the commander over this prince, Satan himself, reveals his intentions: enraged, he “spews out water from his mouth” to take her (Israel) away with the torrent, thwarted, he goes off “to make war against her.” (Rev. 12:13-17) The “Prince” (the demonic spiritual principality) and the president (Ahmadinejad) are reading from the same sheet of music and the devil is the conductor! When Ahmadinejad says that god (allah) has given him a divine calling to destroy Israel, he is not deranged, or schizophrenic, he is being truthful! The god of Islam, (i.e. Satan, the “dragon” of Rev. 12), really has called for that very action, through the Koran, and the Hadiths, which Ahmadinejad considers to be the holy words of his god.



Therefore when Gen. McCaffery says that “nothing will deter Iran from pursuing and using nuclear weapons” he means nothing! In the old days of the cold-war when the US and the USSR possessed thousands of nuclear warheads, what kept both sides from using them was a policy called “mutually assured destruction”. That is to say, if one side used their nukes they could be assured that the other side would respond in kind and both sides would be destroyed. This was a powerful and effective deterrent, and still is…. to anyone who wants to live! But it holds no power whatsoever over those who are willing, and even prefer, to die - like the 9-11 high-jackers and all other jihadist suicide bombers. For them, “destruction” is martyrdom – the fast track to glory and paradise! Ahmadinejad is one such bomber, he is only waiting to make a bigger bang. And if death and destruction won’t deter you, so-called “sanctions” certainly won’t!



Let me be clear, Iran wants war with Israel. They do not have the ground force capability to invade, nor to launch an aerial or sea-borne conventional attack which could achieve their stated goal of “wiping Israel off the map.” Even though Israel has an estimated 100-400 tactical nuclear weapons, (a fact which has never been officially acknowledged, but is widely known in intelligence circles), Iran knows that, due to Israel’s small geographic size, two or three strategically placed initial atomic explosions would accomplish their goal: killing the vast majority of Jews and destroying Israel. Even if Israel responds with nukes and kills millions of Iranian citizens, the current Iranian leadership views this as an acceptable price to pay. In the famous words of Golda Maier, “There will be no peace in the Middle east until our enemies love their children more than they hate the Jews.” And that is not the case. As Osama bin Laden put it when asked to describe the differences between the two sides in the war, “They love life, we love death!” These words also reveal the controlling spirits behind the scenes!



Of course we know from the Bible that Israel is still there at the end, so this plan of Iran’s will fail…but how?



Here’s my list of possible senarios:

(First let me say emphatically that I DON”T KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN!) But having said that, here’s what I think might happen, listed in my order of probability)



1. Israel takes military action against Iran to cripple its nuclear capability. What results is a devastating regional war in the middle-east having tremendous word-wide economic impact, at the least. At the worst, the war draws in may others and becomes a global conflict. Either way, it will end when the Anti-Christ arises and forms the “covenant with many” spoken of by Daniel.



2. The current leadership (Ahmadinejad and Khameni) in Iran are deposed through internal division or opposition which could be ginned-up from foreign sources - either western or Saudi. This will delay things – but we know that in the end, Persia will be there to join the Anti-Christ in the Ez. 38 coalition of nations that come against Israel.



2b. Interestingly, Syria is not mentioned in the Ezekiel 38 group. Isaiah 17:1 predicts the end of Syria and the destruction of Damascus, leaving it an uninhabitable ruin in one day!. Since Damascus has never yet been destroyed and is said to be the oldest continuously inhabited city on earth, that prophecy is yet to be fulfilled. So what will happen to Syria / Damascus? Current events in Syria may render them a non-player in the future. And, perhaps (wild-guess?) an errant Iranian nuke falls on Syria en-route to Israel?



3. Russia, China and other non-western world players intervene to pressure Iran to back off their nuclear ambitions. This could only happen if Ahmadinejad and Khameni are not in the picture.



4. Some supernatural / natural event destroys Iran’s nuclear capability. Most likely: a massive earthquake.



5. Iran attacks Israel with nukes but they fail to hit their targets, fail to explode, or otherwise fail to destroy Israel.



6. Other unforeseen events that are game changers.



So there you have it! Congratulations to anyone who managed to read all the way through!

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

OCCUPY…. God-street

A few months ago, I preached through a sermon series entitled “Why Israel Matters… to You!” in which we looked at the scriptural basis for “Christian zionism” and the everlasting covenants made by God with His chosen people, topics which are very important in our understanding of not only current events, but also for gaining insight into and understanding of our own blood-covenant relationship with God through Jesus. From time to time, most Christians (including me) wrestle with some deep theological question about their salvation and their covenant standing with God. Some of these questions are doubts raised by the “accuser of the brethren” like: “Am I really saved?” while other questions arise from faith-filled study of scripture as we desire to plumb the depth of grace and gain the peace an assurance that comes from His Spirit witnessing with our spirit that we are truly His child! Perhaps most troubling are the questions that arise from our experiences and observations of other people we know and love that we once identified as being members of God’s family but who no longer serve Him. When we see people who seemed to be very sincere in their faith and very secure in their salvation fall away from God into continuing sinful lifestyles or false teachings, we are forced to ask hard questions like “Were they really saved?” or “Can a truly saved person lose their salvation?” Throughout the ages, people have formulated doctrines to answer these serious questions, and many are very satisfied with their “positions” regarding them. I will not try and debate any of them here today. What I do want to do is perhaps add some insight gained from the “Israel” study that helped me with my individual theological wrestling match.



While studying a book on Israel, I came across this line ..."The ownership of the land is unconditional, but the occupancy of the land is conditional." In other words, ever since the day God gave His word to Abraham (Gen 12:7) the land has been, and will always be, "owned" by the Jews, Abraham’s descendants through Isaac and Jacob (Israel). They didn’t do anything to get it! Their “ownership” is totally a result of God's unconditional promise to them as heirs of the covenant. However, their occupancy was conditional: they had to obey God and stay in faith, not worshipping false gods, etc. When they failed to “keep the faith” they were "put out" for a while, sometimes centuries! But God always brings them back since the land is really theirs. (Of course, the individual people who were “put out” often died in exile, and it was only their descendants who actually returned to claim the promise.)



I began to think about how that principle applies to our salvation, inheritance as saints, our identity - our “son-ship” as heirs of the new covenant. We didn’t (and can’t) do anything to get it or earn it or keep it. Our son-ship is unconditional based God’s grace expressed in the new covenant and received by faith. But the occupancy of our son-ship is up to us. Think about the prodigal son - he never stopped being a son, but he did choose to be out of his fathers' blessing, protection, and benefits; in effect he was not occupying his "son-ship." Instead of using his position in positive pursuits he squandered his inheritance on activities that brought disgrace to his father’s house and eventually almost destroyed him. Finally, he comes to his senses and returns home with a plan to be a servant, only to be royally welcomed and completely restored as a son! This may be why Paul writes that an unrepentant Christian in the church should "handed over to Satan for a time," (i.e. lose occupancy) so that perhaps he might gain the same revelation that the prodigal son got while in the pig-pen and return to his rightful position in God’s household.



Now the "hypothetical" question that everyone wants to ask is: What would happen to that fellow if during the time he was unrepentant, living in sin and "handed over to Satan" - if during that time of “non-occupancy”- he died? What would be his eternal outcome? I can not answer that question with surety. (Although people from both sides of this doctrinal debate will say without hesitation that they absolutely know the right answer!) What I do know is this: the Judge of the whole earth will judge righteously! Can I say this? It might not be important for me to know the answer to that question. Instead, what is important for me (us?) to know is this. God is faithful. He is faithful to His covenants. In Christ I am an heir. Through Him, I own all the benefits of son-ship. As a human being created in God’s image, I have been given freewill. I exercised that will when I chose to agree with God about my sinfulness and my need for salvation. Long before I made that choice, in His sovereignty, God chose me and paid for my sins on the cross and then drew me to Himself by grace and enabled me to hear and receive the gospel. I then chose to believe in Jesus’ sacrificial death and victorious resurrection and rely solely on His grace to save me. In that moment I became a son. Since becoming a son, I have not lost my freewill. I, like the prodigal son and the Israelites of old, can choose to reject God’s ways and spurn the occupancy of the covenant promise and thus live outside of it even though it is mine. I do not know the full eternal ramifications of what that choice would bring, but I do know I do not want to live outside my son-ship… permanently or temporarily. I want to both own and occupy my position as a son continually! So I choose to live by faith and walk by faith, which is expressed and revealed by trust in, and obedience to, God.



Perhaps thinking through this with me will help someone. On the other hand, maybe I just muddied up the waters for you. I hope not. I hope you, like me, have decided that what is important is not a doctrinal “side” but a positional reality; not a hypothetical discussion but a real relationship. So whatever background you came from, or wherever you find yourself today, anchor into the unchanging faithfulness of God. If you are son at home… stay home and enjoy your son-ship! If you are a son starving in a far-country pig pen… come home! If you have never been a son, all you need to do to become one is believe and receive!



Occupy ….what you own!