Traffic's Getting Heavier Around Israel and the Middle East These Days

DEBKAfile’s military sources (www.debka.com) are reporting massive deployments in the waters surrounding Iran: “Hundreds of US and allied war ships are gathering in the strategic seas of the Middle East and India in the last days of October 2006…A large-scale US-Indian sea exercise called Malabar 06 is in progress off the Indian coast of Goa, ending Nov. 5. The American vessels taking part are the USS Boxer carrier, the USS Bunker Hill guided missile battle cruiser, the guided missile destroyer USS Howard and the USS Benfold , as well as the Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine Providence and the Canadian guided missile frigate HMCS Ottawa.(Yes, even Canada is there). Indian maritime might is displayed with its warships like INS Beas , INS Mysore , INS Shakti , INS Ganga , tanking ship INS Gharia , submarine INS Shankush and Coast Guard ship CGS Samar. Malabar also involves the landing of large number of soldiers ashore, ahead of the Indian acquisition of the massive amphibious USS Trenton transport dock which can carry six helicopters and about a 1000 soldiers.”

This armada around Iran is in addition to the armada sailing off the shores of Lebanon (see my earlier Gathering the Nations post), where the U.S., Italy, and France each have an aircraft carrier and multiple support ships presumably “keeping the peace” between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Meanwhile Hezbollah is rearming itself via Syria and Iran, and Hamas is digging tunnels though the Egyptian border in order to rearm the Gaza Strip with anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, and is busily getting military personnel training from Iran. Not to be outdone, Assad in Syria is threatening Israel with war over the Golan Heights.

Things aren’t looking more peaceful around Jerusalem these days. Zechariah 12:2 is coming alive before our eyes: “: "I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling.”

Ahmadinejad continued his rhetoric yesterday, quoted as saying: "Anyone who takes action against us even on paper [i.e. sanctions], should be aware that the Iranian nation will give proper response to it. It is better for you to be a friend of the Iranian nation. You cannot obstruct Iran's authority and the nation is going to turn into an unrivaled power in the world in the near future."

Ahmadinejad has in the past threatened that any attack on Iran will be reciprocated with an immediate attack on Israel. To the average layperson this threat must seem an unusual response – Iran is threatened by the U.S., British, Indian, and French navy, and Ahmadinejad counters by saying he’ll retaliate against Israel - ?? This truly must be a spiritual war between Satan and God because retaliating against the apple of God’s eye, Israel, makes no sense from a humanistic perspective. But as I’ve said before, the bible says that Jerusalem will be the center of attention in the end, and it also states that Jerusalem will never again be moved. The Israelites have been gathered from the rest of the world and will never again be dispersed from their land (Jeremiah 31 verses 10, 11, 36 and 37). The God of Jacob is their shepherd!

Isn’t it “kinda” weird that those of us who are Christians can sit here, watch today’s events, and literally read the outcome based on prophesies written millennia ago? Praise God!

Ahmadinejad Warns of Israel's Collapse

[source: Breitbart.com]

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has predicted Israel will collapse and warned that its allies face the "boiling wrath" of the people if they continue to support the Jewish State.

The renewed assault on Israel by Ahmadinejad -- who has been castigated by world powers for his frequent anti-Israeli outbursts -- came as tens of thousands marched through Tehran in an annual pro-Palestinian protest. "This regime (Israel) will be gone, definitely," Ahmadinejad, who has previously called for Israel to be "wiped from the map" and described the Holocaust as a myth, told the protestors. "You (the Western powers) should know that any government that stands by the Zionist regime from now on will not see any result but the hatred of the people," he added. "The wrath of the region's people is boiling." "Efforts to stabilise this fraudulent regime have completely failed, thank God ... This regime has lost the rationale of its existence," the president said.

Ahmadinejad described his warning as an "ultimatum" for Western powers. "You should not complain that we did not give a warning. We are saying this explicitly now." "If a hurricane starts be rest assured that the dimensions of this hurricane will not be limited to the geographic borders of Palestine," he added. "This regime (Israel) will take its supporters to the bottom of the swamp." "The best solution is for you to take all the components of the regime and take it away," Ahmadinejad said.

Chanting "Death to Israel" and predicting the "Triumph of Palestine", tens of thousands of people had earlier converged on Tehran University, where Ahmadinejad gave his speech, to mark Iran's Quds (Jerusalem) Day. [more...]

In my bible reading this past week, I came across Micah 4:11-13:

Micah 4:11-13 (New Living Translation)

11 Now many nations have gathered against you.
“Let her be desecrated,” they say.
“Let us see the destruction of Jerusalem.^[a]”
12 But they do not know the Lord’s thoughts
or understand his plan.
These nations don’t know
that he is gathering them together
to be beaten and trampled
like sheaves of grain on a threshing floor.
13 “Rise up and crush the nations, O Jerusalem!”^[b]
says the Lord.
“For I will give you iron horns and bronze hooves,
so you can trample many nations to pieces.
You will present their stolen riches to the Lord,
their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.”

I thought: how accurate and descriptive these verses are of our day. Ahmadinejad speech commemorated Al Quds Day, which is accurately interpreted as Jerusalem Liberation Day. Western Muslims will earnestly defend Al Quds Day as a day of "general solidarity with all the world's oppressed" . But I don't buy that for a minute - the real purpose for Al Quds Day, as originally instituted in 1979 by Ayatollah Khomeini, is to focus on the destruction of everything Jewish. This is evident by the large number of anti-Israel, anti-Semitic demonstrations on that day, especially in Iran. Ahmadinejad is at least forthright with his intentions - he has publicly stated numerous times that he intends to liberate Jerusalem by blowing it, and every Jew, off the face of the earth..."soon". Ahmadinejad is literally quoting Micah 4:11: "Let us see the destruction of Israel".

But it will not happen! God has declared: "...never again will [Jerusalem] be destroyed. Jerusalem will be secure" [Zechariah 14:11]. My "money", so to speak, is on this God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I think two thirds of Israel will perish according to Zechariah 13:8 during God's refinement of Israel, but the remaining third will be saved.

Can anyone seriously doubt that we are in the last days? As I've stated in my past posts, the armies of many countries are gathered around Israel today. The gathering of many nations around Israel and specifically Jerusalem is described in many verses of the bible [Zechariah 12:3 ; Zechariah 14:2 ; Micah 4:11 ; Ezekiel 38:15 ; etc] as the beginning of the Day of the Lord. Do I know with certainty that we are entering directly into this final Day of the Lord - of course not. But I'm trying to present the possibility that it could occur because we are commanded by Jesus to be alert to his coming. That is the entire purpose of my blog. I suspect too many Christians are asleep and, I think, too intertwined with this world. Hopefully by writing this blog, true Christians will be motivated, not to listen to me necessary, but to dig deeper into the Bible and learn what it says. We need to dig deeper into God's word to ensure that our lives are built on solid rock, and not the shifting sands of popular opinion. I believe this foundation of our lives will soon be tested like never before, so it's important that we are built on the only solid rock - Jesus Christ [John 14:6].

More on the LBL Beast

Iran's supreme ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei clutching on to an AK-47 machine gun during "Friday prayers" this past Friday. This guy gives Ahmadinejad spiritual direction (guess what? It ain't a spirit of love and forgiveness)

Here's some more on the LBL beast from Ellis Skolfield. The LBL beast is what the western world is just starting to wake up to. I'm not sure of Mr. Skolfield's interpretation of the mark of the beast, but I do know that Islam considers 666 to be a number of perfection. Just do a search on Google for "Quran 666" and you'll get a whole lot of disconcerting information. I have no idea why Muslims would defend the number 666, when the bible clearly states that it is the mark of the beast - God's infinite wisdom appears to convincingly label Islam. We need to be alert, watch, and pray for 1.3 billion Muslims and all the lost of the world.

Ellis Skolfield's article:

This page is only a short explanation of the verses in the Bible that predict the fall of Islam during this generation. It is only intended as an overview. For a complete analysis of the subject, please go to www.ellisskolfield.com. Read our e-book, "The False Prophet" and the other letters and essays on that site. All are free downloads.

First of all, we need to learn what some of the figurative words in Revelation, like "beast," actually mean. The definition for "beast" can be found in an Old Testament book of the prophet Daniel. In Daniel 7, the figurative word "beast" was defined as world empires that existed during and after Daniel's time.
1. The first beast in Daniel 7 was a Lion. History shows this Lion beast to be a figurative picture of the Babylonian empire. (Babylon controlled the Holy Land from 606 to 536 B.C.)
2. The next beast in his vision was a Bear. History shows this Bear to be a figurative picture of the Medo-Persian empire. (Medo-Persia controlled the Holy Land from 536 B.C. to 332 B.C.)
3. The third beast was a Leopard. History shows this Leopard to be a figurative picture of the Greek empire (Grecian rulers controlled the Holy Land from 332 B.C. to 65 B.C. when Rome took control).
So unless God changes the definition of "beast" later in Scripture, visionary beasts should always be understood as empires. Babylon the Lion, Medo-Persia the Bear and Greece the Leopard. Each of these empires controlled the whole known world, from India to Greece, the Holy Land, and even into North Africa. In other words, the whole Middle East.
Now lets pan forward to 95 A.D., when John, a New Testament prophet, foretells the future of the Middle East during the Christian Era. In his visions, guess what John sees? Three more beasts: the Leopard-Bear-Lion "beast," a Two Horned "beast" and a Scarlet "beast". These three "beasts" are not real beasts because we now know that "beast" means something other than a wild animal:

Revelation 13:2 "And the beast which I saw was like unto a Leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a Bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a Lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority."
Beasts = Empires, but this beastly empire in Revelation is a composite Leopard-Bear-Lion so it isn't just one of Daniel's three empires. It's all three empires rolled into one. In other words, this new empire is composed of the descendants of those earlier empires, in the same geographic location. Looking back at the history of the Middle East, we can now identify this new empire as the various Islamic powers that have controlled the Holy Land, and particularly Jerusalem since the 1st Jihad (which began in 639 A.D.)
Some might claim that the Islamic states in the Middle East do not constitute a real "empire" because they are not united under one central government, but the God of the Bible is far more concerned with the spiritual realities in a land than He is with how many earthly governments it may have. The reality is this: All Middle Eastern states are united under one religion, Islam, and all Moslems have one central goal: world conquest for their religion. So how should Revelation 13 be understood? Quoted below is part of the chapter, with a few of my words inserted (in parenthesis) to explain the figures . . .

Revelation 13:1-5 "And I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast (an empire) rise up out of the sea (of people Rev 17:15), having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns (various Islamic rulers in the Middle East who controlled the Holy Land), and upon his heads the name of blasphemy (this empire stands against the God of the Bible). And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion (Leopard-Bear-Lion gives the reader a positive ID; it's the Middle East): and the dragon (Satan) gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads (governments) as it were wounded to death (the first Jihad
was defeated at the battle of Tours and the battle of Vienna); and his deadly wound was healed (the rise
of Islam today and the new Jihad): and all the world wondered after the beast (this Islamic empire). And they (the people of the Middle East) worshipped the dragon (Satan) which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast (the Islamic empire), saying, Who is like unto the beast, who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue (controlling Jerusalem) forty and two months."

Those 42 months is how the above interpretation can be proven. 42 months is 1278.34 days. Construction of the Islamic Dome of the Rock began in Jerusalem in 688 A.D.. Jerusalem was freed of Islamic control in 1967 A.D.. Applying the prophetic days of Ezekiel 4:5-6 . . .

1967A.D. - 1278.34 years = 688.66 A. D. An exact historic fit; so the interpretation is correct. But to continue on . . .

Revelation 13:6-9 "And he (the Leopard-Bear-Lion) opened his mouth in blasphemy against God (by
saying "God forbid that He should have a Son"), to blaspheme his name (by trying to change the name of the true God from I AM, to that of a local Arab deity), and his tabernacle (God's temple mount in Jerusalem), and them that dwell in heaven (Believers are presently seated in heaven with Christ, Eph 2:6). And it was given unto him (the Islamic empire) to make war with the saints (the Christians and Jews),
and to overcome them (during the 1st Jihad): and power was given him over all kindreds,
and tongues, and nations (of the Middle East). And all that dwell upon the earth (the known world at the time of John) shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb (Jesus, the Son of God) slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear."

Not many can hear, but it is now apparent that 1.3 billion people are being terribly deceived by Satan.
The God of the Bible and the god of Islam are not the same being because the God of the Bible said, "they worship the dragon" (Satan). What's more, the God of the Bible and the god of Islam are totally different
in nature; they have different values and teach people to behave differently . . .
The Quran states: "O ye who believe! fight the unbelievers ... " (Sura 9:123).
The God of the Bible says: "Love your enemies."
The Quran states: "But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them and lie in wait (ambush) for them in every stratagem (of war)" (Sura 9:5).
The God of the Bible says: "Bless them that curse you."
The Quran states: "Fight those who believe not in God [Allah] and his apostle [Muhammad], nor acknowledge the religion of truth [even if they are] of the people of the book [i.e. Jews and Christians], until they pay jizya [humiliating tax] with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued [enslaved]" (Sura 9:29).
The God of the Bible says: "Do good to them that hate you."
The Quran states: "Therefore when ye meet the unbelievers [in fight] smite at their necks; at length,
when ye have thoroughly subdued them, bind a bond firmly [on them]" (Sura 47:4).
The God of the Bible says: "Pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you."
So you see, the Bible and the Quran teach different thoughts and a different morality. In 1984, Ayatollah Khomeini declared to the entire world: "In order to achieve the victory of Islam in the world, we need to provoke repeated crises, restored value to the idea of death and martyrdom. The important thing is to engulf the world in crises."
The God of the Bible goes on to say:
Be ye kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."

The point being, the God of the Bible and Allah are not the same being because One teaches man to do good and the other teaches man to do evil. One teaches love and peace, the other teaches war and
hatred. One is really the Creator of the Universe and one is not.
So which is a god worthy of worship? The One who teaches man to do good or the one who teaches man
to do evil?
The Quran states: "God forbid that he should have a son." Jesus declared He is the Son of God and in saying, "Before Abraham was, I AM" declared Himself to be God.
Jesus also said: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."

We should pray for Moslems, not hate them. If they do not turn to Jesus, their eventual fate could be the greatest tragedy in all human history.

Revelation 13:16 "And he (the Leopard-Bear-Lion) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the (Islamic) beast, or the number of his name."

Like the rest of the church, I used to teach that above verse was a worldwide prophecy, but that doesn't
fit context. The Leopard-Bear-Lion prophecy is about the Middle East and the Islamic control of the Holy Land and nowhere else. Contextually, the mark of the beast is given by the Leopard-Bear-Lion, the Islamic empire. There are 1.3 billion Muslims in the world now, but do you see that mark on a forehead of any of the servants of the Leopard-Bear-Lion? No? Then that mark must be an invisible Satanic mark, on the forehead of Moslems, seen only in the spiritual world. That "no man might buy or sell" is not about China, Europe or the Americas, it's about conditions that have existed for Christians and Jews in Islamic
countries ever since the 1st Jihad. One only needs to watch the nightly news or read about the latest beheading to see how accurate that prophecy is.
Revelation 14:9-11 ". . . If any man worship the (Islamic) beast and his image (some eschatologists believe that image to be the Kaaba stone in Mecca), and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand (man thinks evil thoughts in his mind and with his hands he does them), the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb (Jesus): And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the (Leopard-Bear-Lion) beast and his image (the Kaaba stone?), and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name."
So will Islam fall? The God of the Bible says so. As written earlier, it will be a spiritual tragedy of unimaginable proportions, and it will happen because the followers of the Leopard-Bear-Lion have been deceived into rejecting the Son of God who sacrificed Himself for all mankind on the Cross of Calvary. Scripture goes on to say:

Revelation 13:18 "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the (Leopard-Bear-Lion) beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six," i.e., 666.

Many books have been written about that number, all speculative, but about 20 years ago a former Muslim who could read Arabic told me that 666 was the number of the Koran. I believed him, sort of, and promptly forgot about it. Then about three months ago, another friend told me there were many Islamic sites on
the Internet claiming 666 to be the number of the Koran, though Moslems keep changing the addresses which makes those sites harder for us infidels to find. But that did it; by knowing the true identity of 666, the last piece of the Leopard-Bear-Lion puzzle fell into place. We can now see the verse in a new light:

666 The number of a man! So what man has led a billion and a half people away from the Savior of the world? What man said, "God forbid that he should have a son." Is that not Muhammad, the prophet of the Leopard-Bear-Lion? Of course, and according to the Bible, the end for him and his followers will be grim indeed:

Revelation 19:20 "And the (Leopard-Bear-Lion) beast was taken, and with him the false prophet (Muhammad) that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image (the Kaaba stone?). These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone."

May our beloved God, who sacrificed His only begotten Son for all mankind, take the blindness from their eyes while there is still time.