Bush: 8,200 more troops needed for wars
- The Iraq neighbors’ "peace" conference
U.S., Iran trade barbs in direct talks
Isaiah chapter 13 (emphasis mine)
1 An oracle concerning Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:
2 Raise a banner on a bare hilltop,
shout to them;
beckon to them
to enter the gates of the nobles.
3 I have commanded my holy ones;
I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath—
those who rejoice in my triumph.
4 Listen, a noise on the mountains,
like that of a great multitude!
Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,
like nations massing together!
The LORD Almighty is mustering
an army for war.
5 They come from faraway lands,
from the ends of the heavens—
the LORD and the weapons of his wrath—
to destroy the whole country.
6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
...
19 Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms,
the glory of the Babylonians' pride,
will be overthrown by God
like Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 She will never be inhabited
or lived in through all generations;
no Arab will pitch his tent there,
no shepherd will rest his flocks there.
or lived in through all generations;
no Arab will pitch his tent there,
no shepherd will rest his flocks there.
21 But desert creatures will lie there,
jackals will fill her houses;
there the owls will dwell,
and there the wild goats will leap about.
jackals will fill her houses;
there the owls will dwell,
and there the wild goats will leap about.
22 Hyenas will howl in her strongholds,
jackals in her luxurious palaces.
Her time is at hand,
and her days will not be prolonged
jackals in her luxurious palaces.
Her time is at hand,
and her days will not be prolonged
If you've read some of my past posts, you'll know about the first three Lion, Bear, and Leopard (LBL) beasts that are written of in Daniel 7, and then are re-introduced as a combined LBL beast in Revelation 13, verse 2. In Daniel 7, the Lion, Bear, and Leopard beasts are the kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Alexander the Great. In Revelation 13, this beast reappears in the nations that occupy ancient Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece under Alexander the Great. Namely Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, and former Soviet republics eastward to India (see the conquered territory of Alexander the Great). What is the one thing that "glues" this region together as represented in Revelation 13? The religion of Islam. We are witnessing the rising of the Revelation 13:2 beast, AND we are witnessing, I believe, the beginning of the desolation of Babylon, which today is the hellhole of Iraq.
What else does it say in Isaiah 13? It talks about the "Day of the Lord"! Verses 4 to 10 state:
4 Listen, a noise on the mountains,
like that of a great multitude!
Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,
like nations massing together!
The LORD Almighty is mustering
an army for war.
5 They come from faraway lands,
from the ends of the heavens—
the LORD and the weapons of his wrath—
to destroy the whole country.
6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
7 Because of this, all hands will go limp,
every man's heart will melt.
8 Terror will seize them,
pain and anguish will grip them;
they will writhe like a woman in labor.
They will look aghast at each other,
their faces aflame.
9 See, the day of the LORD is coming
—a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—
to make the land desolate
and destroy the sinners within it.
10 The stars of heaven and their constellations
will not show their light.
The rising sun will be darkened
and the moon will not give its light.
Verses 4 to 10 are obviously talking about The Day of the Lord (see Joel 3 for more on the Day of the Lord). It's both interesting and intriguing that the ultimate destruction of Babylon/Iraq is interspersed within verses that speak of the final Day of the Lord, and of nations massing together. What I found most intriguing and relevant to our day, is the fact that The Day of the Lord occurs when the Islamic LBL beast gathers kings of the world at Armageddon. It is the Islamic LBL beast that will gather nations to war at Armageddon. How did I make this leap? It's in Revelation 16.
Revelation 16 (comments in parenthesis)
12The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates (which runs through the center of Babylon/Iraq), and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. 13Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon (satan), out of the mouth of the beast (refers to the LBL beast introduced in Revelation 13) and out of the mouth of the false prophet (Mohammad). 14They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.
15"Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed."
16Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
I believe:
the final desolation of Iraq/Babylon, and the rising of the LBL Beast of radical Islam in the Middle East today, are events that will lead to the battle of Armageddon on the Day of the Lord. I believe that battle will be soon (i.e. notice the word "generation" in Matthew 24:34). Praise God that Jesus is coming back for his followers before Armageddon, as illustrated by the relative position of verse 15 before Revelation 16:16. Oh Lord, you are coming like a thief before that battle, may you draw more people to the realization of what you did at Calvary, before that awful and dreadful day of judgment (Amos 5:18-19).
Finally, I would like to post a chart out of Ellis Skolfield's free book The False Prophet. This chart helps clarify why I believe that the Day of the Lord is very near, most likely in our lifetime. It all hinges on the significance of the 6-Day War and the re-establishment of Israel's reign over Jerusalem (Luke 21:24). Some say, " nah, Jerusalem is still subject to Islamic Waqf administration of the Temple Mount - the gentiles are still trampling upon east Jerusalem." I used to think that too, until I read The False Prophet and realized how many prophesies point to the significance of the year 1967. I'm not kidding folks, Ellis Skolfield does a tremendous job of interpreting prophesy. Those prophesies are summarized in the chart below, which comes out of chapter 12 of The False Prophet. I could write a thousand pages on this, but thankfully it is already all neatly summarized in Skolfield's book. June, 1967 (and May 14, 1948) is eternally significant when you look at the following prophesies on the following chart and interpret the "prophetic Day as equal to one Year" as God told Ezekiel to do in Ezekiel 4:5-6. I know this sounds crazy, but seriously keep looking up, because your redemption draws near fellow Christians. (Luke 21:28)
(click on chart to enlarge)
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