Trouble in the Middle East:

What are the prophetic signs?

Pastor Joe Fuiten, July 16, 2006

 

Scripture Reading:  Ezekiel 38:1-6 “The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; prophesy against him 3 and say: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army-your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. 5 Persia[1], Cush[2] and Put[3] will be with them, all with shields and helmets, 6 also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops-the many nations with you.”

 

Isa 17:1 An oracle concerning Damascus:  "See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins.” 

 

Isa 17:12-14 “Oh, the raging of many nations — they rage like the raging sea!  Oh, the uproar of the peoples — they roar like the roaring of great waters! 13 Although the peoples roar like the roar of surging waters, when he rebukes them they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweed before a gale. 14 In the evening, sudden terror! Before the morning, they are gone! This is the portion of those who loot us, the lot of those who plunder us.”  

 

            These passages give us important information about the future of the Middle East.  For whatever reason, God has an interest in showing us the future.  Fully one fourth of the bible was prophetic when written.  Much of that prophecy already came to pass in the events surrounding the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  Even so, there is still a considerable body of prophecy in the bible that will help us to know the times in which we live.

            If we look at the news from just the last couple of days, we can see the shadows of the future unfolding.  I am not predicting the end of the world although yesterday Newt Gingrich said that we are already in World War Three.  Further, he said we should connect the dots.  What happened in Bali and Britian, the twin towers and India, and a host of other places are part of one event, not isolated events.

            With the attacks upon Haifa, missiles were exploding in the very place where the battle of Armageddon will begin.  That in itself should give us pause.  Haifa or Acre was the last place from which the crusaders were expelled from the land of Israel in the Middle Ages.  100,000 Christians died in that last battle there.

            Israeli intelligence revealed last night that Iran was involved in the firing of sophisticated missles which struck their ship off Lebanon.  It was not a explosive laden drone as previously reported. 

When North Korea test fired its missles recently, Iranian engineers and members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attended and participated in the preparation of the Taepodong-2 launch.

Iran's Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani recently revealed that Iran’s new Shahab-3 missile, based on the North Korean Nodong-1 and modified with Russian technology, has a range of 810 miles, which would allow it to strike anywhere in Israel.

          London-based Arabic language newspaper Al-Hayat says Israel on Saturday gave Syria 72 hours to stop Hizbullah’s activity and bring about release of kidnapped IDF troops. ‘Israel will not end military activity until a new situation has been created that will prevent Syria, Iran from using terror organizations to threaten its security.’  Israel supposedly threatened to launch an offensive with disastrous consequences.

            Israel has purchased $319 million dollars worth of weapons from the United States including 2,500 one-ton bombs, 1,000 half-ton bombs, 500 quarter-ton bombs and 500 one-ton "bunker buster" bombs. These 2,000-pound bombs can penetrate walls more than six feet thick. Mounted on satellite-guided bombs, the BLU-109s or "bunker busters" can be fired from F-15 or F-16 jets. In 2004 Israel received the first of a fleet of 102 long-range F-16s from the United States.

A couple of years ago, Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has urged his country's weapons developers to step up its work on making a nuclear bomb. Khamenei told his weapons scientists that Iran must have two bombs ready to go in January 2005 or they are not true Muslims. Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani said that, "given that an effective deterrent policy (against the US) does not halt at a certain point, the Islamic Republic of Iran must continue upgrading its defensive capability."

The Times of Oman reported that on Saturday July 8, 2006 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejed called on Islamic countries Saturday to mobilise against Israel and "remove" the "Zionist regime".  "The basic problem in the Islamic world is the existence of the Zionist regime, and the Islamic world and the region must mobilise to remove this problem," the president said in a speech to regional officials. He was speaking at the opening of a two-day conference in Tehran on security in Iraq.  "Today there is a strong will... to remove the Zionist regime and implement a legal Palestinian regime all over Palestine. The continued survival of this regime (Israel) means nothing but suffering for the region," Ahmadinejad said.   "The biggest threat today for the region is the existence of the fake Zionist regime," he added.

Russia, for its part, has an $800 million nuclear power plant deal to build the plant in southern Iran.

Russian President Putin said in May that modernization of Russia's huge but inefficient armed forces was vital to global stability and that the country must be "solid". "Key responsibility for standing up against threats, for guaranteeing global stability, will lie with the world's leading powers possessing nuclear weapons and powerful military-political influence. That's why modernizing the Russian army is extremely important now," he said. The mostly conscript army must fill two-thirds of its ranks with professionals by 2008, he said.
            A MSNBC news report from the G8 conference in Russia tells you how the lineup will go in the end time.  It read “Bush held Israel blameless for its punishing attacks in Lebanon and said it was up to the militant group Hezbollah to lay down its arms. Putin was critical of Israel’s use of force and said the violence “should stop as soon as possible.”

While their will be other names, keep your eye on the Russian-Iranian alliance.  It will be in full swing seven years after the rapture.

 

When I see these things happening it makes me want to get back to the essentials.  First, Jesus is God, the only begotten of the Father.  The Spirit of God affirms it but the Spirit of the anti-Christ denies who he is.  You will know which side is which by seeing what they do with Jesus. 

Second, your relationship with Jesus is what will get you to heaven.  If you are a Moslem, you believe that Jesus was a prophet.  But you must also believe what he said about himself.  Jesus said in John 14:6-7 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."  A prophet does not lie.  In fact, Jesus claimed to be much more than a prophet.

Third, we may not have a long time to make our decisions.  Parents need to make sure their children are ready to meet Jesus.  Children need to make sure that parents know the way. 

Fourth, we need to pray that God rains down his Spirit upon us like Katushas on Northern Israel so that we can be equal to our times.