PTNews
February, 2020
Published monthly
All Bible references are from the KJV
Iran’s War with the God of Israel
“Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel, I will help thee,
saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.” Isaiah 41:14
By Mike Wingfield
The nations in the Persian Gulf area, especially Iran, have been a demonic stronghold since the beginning of time. Satan’s seat of authority has resided in the area of Iraq and Iran for millennia. This geographic area has played a major role in the kingdom of darkness in its plot to overthrow the God of Heaven and foil His eternal plan.
According to Isaiah 14:12-14, Satan has always wanted to dethrone God. God’s chief opponent wants to take His position as the ruler of heaven and earth. Satan’s plot has always focused upon God’s chosen place to display His sovereignty – the City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.
Satan’s efforts, along with His kingdom of darkness, have had the destruction of the Jewish people at the heart of their agenda of rebellion since God revealed His plans in His written revelation, the Word of God. This is displayed in symbolic form in Revelation 12. In this text, Satan is depicted as a great red dragon that seeks to devour, persecute, and make war with the Jewish people.
Iran is just one of many nations being used as pawns by Satan. These nations are praying and longing for the destruction of Israel. The records of the United Nations indicate that no other nation has received as much global condemnation as the modern state of Israel. Israel has been unfairly singled out for condemnation by the United Nations. According to a UN Watch organization, the UN Human Rights Council condemns Israel more than all of the other nations in the world. In the UN General Assembly, more than 86 per cent of all condemnations are aimed at Israel (https://unwatch.org/un-israel-key-statistics/). It is also a proven fact that anti-Semitism is on the increase around the world. All of this proves that the world really hates the nation of Israel in particular and the Jewish people in general. Israel is the nation they all love to hate!
The prophetic Scriptures indicate that when the end of this age comes, the nations will oppose the Messiah of Israel (Psalm 2:2) and God’s declaration that He will rule the nations from God’s “holy hill of Zion” (Psalm 2:6). Ultimately, they will join forces with the Antichrist and declare war against Israel, leading to the battle of Armageddon at the end of this age (Revelation 16:12-16; 19:19-21).
According to the prophetic Word of God, the central attack against Israel in the last days will come from the nations that surround the Jewish nation. Ezekiel 36:1-7 is a profound and detailed prophecy that is unfolding right before our eyes. In this text, God’s speaks to His land and “the mountains of Israel” (a geographical reference to the “West Bank,” which is Biblical Judea and Samaria). This geographical area is the heartland of what God promised to Abraham and his descendents in an eternal, unconditional covenant. While Abraham was standing on a mountain near Bethel, God said to him, “For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever” (Genesis 13:15).
According to Ezekiel 36, when the Jewish people return to their land in the last days, the nations surrounding Israel (see verses 4, 7) will oppose their occupation of the land. Today, all of the nations that surround Israel have one thing in common. They are all Islamic nations that give passionate allegiance to their god, Allah. A study of the Bible and secular history indicates that this region has always been at war with the Jewish people. These nations have always coveted the land that God promised to Israel as an everlasting possession. History demonstrates that this war against the Jewish people over their land has intensified since the birth of the religion of Islam in the seventh century, fourteen centuries ago.
Ezekiel 36 states that these nations will claim that the land belongs to them. God says they have “appointed my land into their own possession with the joy of all their heart”(verse 5). This text states that this passion for the land will come from an area called “Edom” (Hebrew word) or “Idumea” (Greek form of the same word). The mountains of Edom presently extend from southern Jordan into Saudi Arabia. In Biblical times, this became the home of Esau (Genesis 36:8-9, 19) and Ishmael (Genesis 25:18). Muslims claim that Ishmael is the father of their religion. Saudi Arabia was the geographical center of the beginning of the religion of Islam. Therefore, 3,600 years ago, God revealed through Ezekiel that when the Jews returned to their land in the last days, they would be in constant conflict with the Muslim nations surrounding them.
Furthermore, Ezekiel was told that the center of this conflict over the land would be the high places of worship. Ezekiel 36:2 states, “Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession.” At the center of Israel’s war with Islam is the city of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount (the central place of worship for Israel), and Hebron (where the patriarchs of Israel are buried in the cave of Machpelah- Genesis 25:9-10).
According to Ezekiel 36, these nations who oppose the return of the Jewish people to their land, and especially their occupation of Jerusalem and Hebron, are at war with the God of Israel. The Bible says, “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea [central area of Islam today], which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all of their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey” (Ezekiel 36:5).
History demonstrates that during the period of the Ottoman Turkish rule of the Holy Land (1517-1917) that the Muslim occupants did not care for the land of Palestine and allowed it to become a desolate wasteland. Notice that Ezekiel 36:3 states that God’s enemies made the land “desolate”
during their occupation. It is a given fact that the intense interest of Islam over the land of Israel did not begin until the return of the Jewish people to the land in the first few decades of the 20th century. The driving force behind the opposition of Israel’s occupation of the land is spite, or feelings of hostility. God says it was due to their “despiteful minds” (Ezekiel 36:5). This means that the enemies of God did not really care about the land, they just spitefully did not want the Jews to have it.
As we watch current events unfold in the Middle East, it is critically important for us to observe that one nation, Iran, is seemingly fueling the Middle East’s hatred toward Israel. While Iran is not an Arab nation [Iranians are Persians], it is the leader of the Shiite sect of Islam.
Since 1979, Iran has been passionately driving itself toward the creation of a global Islamic empire. Iran wants to be at the center of the Islamic world. This has created a bitter rivalry between the two major Islamic sects – Shitte and Sunni. While this is not the major focus of this article, this brewing Islamic division is setting the stage for the coming kingdom of the Antichrist.
From Iran’s perspective, there are two nations that stand in the way of its global aspirations – the United States and Israel. At the beginning of the Islamic revolution in Iran, the radical Islamic leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, referred to the U.S. as “the Great Satan.” He also coined the idea that Israel should be called “the little Satan.” Anyone who has followed the foreign policies of Iran since 1979 would know that Iran has a deep hatred for the U.S. and Israel.
In recent decades, Iran has continually fomented its hatred of Israel. According to Aljazeera news [an international Islamic news media outlet funded by the Persian Gulf states], Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called Israel a “cancerous tumor established by Western countries to advance their interests in the Middle East” (www.aljazeera.com). Since the founding of the Islamic revolution, many political and military leaders in Iran have openly called for the destruction of Israel. They have repeatedly stated that they are praying and preparing for the day when the Jewish nation will be removed from the face of the earth.
Iran’s goal of global supremacy is driven by a radical Islamic belief concerning the end of this age. These goals are clearly spelled out in a 2011 book, called Palestine, written by the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In this 416-page book, Khamenei calls for the destruction of the U.S. (who he openly calls “the Great Satan”) and the removal of all of the Jews from Israel. He does not call for a military war with Israel because he knows they could not win such a confrontation. … He believes that Iran has been called to bring about global chaos and destruction that will invite their Islamic messiah, known as the mahdi, to come. They believe their messiah will return along with Issa (Jesus) and destroy all religions and make Islam the only religion of the world.
Most world leaders, including the liberal politicians in the U.S., do not comprehend the danger that Iran poses to world peace. Iran is the world leader in promoting and funding global terrorism, all in the name of their god Allah. For more than 41years, Iran has been plotting the destruction of the United Sates and the demise of the Jewish state of Israel. They fund terrorists groups in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza that are firing missiles into Israel. Their goal is to make Israelis so fearful that they will leave the land of Israel and abandon their Zionist dream of the establishment of the Jewish nation of Israel on the soil of what was once a part of the greater Islamic territory of the Middle East. This is clearly delineated in Khamenei’s book.
Instead of taking Iran’s evil plot seriously, six leading nations – the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China – signed a nuclear deal with Iran under the leadership of President Barak Obama. This deal proved how blind world leaders are to the real threat of radical Islam. Common sense tells us that you cannot trust an evil regime with nuclear capabilities.
From a Biblical viewpoint, we can be glad that President Donald Trump is not blinded by Iran’s evil schemes. From the beginning of his campaign to become the president of the U.S., President Trump called the Iran nuclear deal a “disaster.” Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously called the Iran nuclear deal a “recipe for disaster.” In May, 2018, President Trump wisely removed the U.S. from the Iranian nuclear deal. From a Biblical vantage point, President Trump is standing with God on this issue as he opposes a country that continues to threaten God’s chosen people in God’s Promised Land.
On January 3, 2020, President Trump shocked the world when ordered the assassination of Iran’s Quds Force, Major General Qasem Soleimani. Soleimani was the chief architect of Iran’s plot to control the Middle East and the world. He was the director of terrorism, answering directly to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei. Most people do not know that in Arabic, the city of Jerusalem is known as al Quds, which means “holy sanctuary.” So, the Quds force in Iran was a special elite military force dedicated to the liberation of all Muslim lands from the infidels (all non-Muslims). Its real focus was the liberation of Jerusalem from the hands of the Israelis. Once again, President Trump’s decision and action stand with God and His eternal plans to establish Jerusalem as the place from which Jesus will rule over the nations of the world.
Most people in the world do not understand how passionate Iran is about conquering Jerusalem and liberating it from Israeli control. In August 2015 an Iranian Revolutionary Guard website released a video highlighting Islam’s war over Jerusalem. A computer generated animation depicted Islamic armies attacking Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. This is the dream of Iran and all the Islamic hordes that will follow the Antichrist in the future.
These dreams, however, will turn into nightmares for Iran and others who oppose the God of Israel. In Isaiah 29, God refers to Jerusalem as “Ariel.” This word in Hebrew means, “lion of God.” In this chapter, God’s prophet wrote about the nations that dream about fighting against Zion. God said, “And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition [stronghold- a reference to the Old City and Temple Mount] and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision. It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion” (Isaiah 29:7-8).
More than 4,000 years ago, God spoke to Abraham and told him to leave Ur, now located in Iraq. He spoke to him and said, “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3).
A careful study of the history of the nations will reveal that God has kept His word to the Jewish people. All nations have been blessed or cursed on the basis of how they treat the Jewish people in general and the nation of Israel in particular. God is sovereign. He rules over all of His creation. God has declared, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).
The word “curse” means: “to vilify, despise, dishonor, show great displeasure, hate, treat with contempt, desire evil to fall upon them …” Iran is leading the charge among nations today that are cursing Israel and the God of Israel. As I have noted, Iran has a deep-seeded hatred of Israel and they are openly planning and boasting of their dream of destroying Israel and liberating Palestine and Jerusalem from Jewish occupation.
In recent months, several earthquakes have rocked Iran. The latest was a 5.2 earthquake on January 22. God is reminding Iran and the nations that He is in control. However, is anyone listening?
In the near future, Iran will join Russia and Turkey and an Islamic collation of nations in an invasion of Israel. The details of this invasion of Israel are found in Ezekiel 38. In this text, God states that He is against these invading nations. Just at the precise moment they begin their invasion, God will send a massive earthquake that will trigger the volcanic eruptions of several ancient dormant volcanoes on the Golan Heights. This geological upheaval will destroy these invading forces. Ezekiel wrote that all of this is done so that “the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel” (Ezekiel 39:7).
Using the ancient name of Iran, Elam, the Bible declares that something will develop in Iran that will cause its inhabitants to be internationally dispersed to the nations of the world (Jeremiah 49:36-37). We cannot begin to know what will bring about this dispersion. Could it be nuclear radiation fallout that comes as a result of the destruction of Iran’s nuclear facilities due to God’s divine judgment? What will cause this destruction?
It is amazing to me that the Bible has almost nothing to say about most of the nations in the world, including the United States of America. When the end comes, the center of power of the world and of the Antichrist will be in the Middle East. A handful of nations are named in the prophetic Scriptures. One of them is Iran. However, Iran will fall during the Gog and Magog confrontation with God (Ezekiel 38-39). Then, the remaining nations will ultimately join forces with the Antichrist for man’s final attempt to defeat God during the last seven years of this age.
As we watch Iran and its allies shake their fists at God and call for the removal of the Jewish people from Israel and the liberation of Jerusalem, we know that we are near the end of this age. While the Bible does not give us all of the details, we know enough to understand that the increasing tensions of war between Iran, Israel, and the United States will ultimately help to shape the Middle East for the Gog and Magog invasion of Israel.
The latest Israeli intelligence indicates that Iran will have enriched enough uranium to make one nuclear bomb by sometime this spring. However, the same intelligence indicates that it will take Iran another two years to weap onize it “sufficiently to be placed in a warhead” (www.unitedwithisrael.org, January 15, 2020).
It is my opinion, on the basis of all of the clues given to us in the Bible, that the Rapture of the church will most likely occur before the Gog and Magog invasion of Israel. If I am right, then we need to be getting ready for the shout that will take us out!
Israel Develops Laser Defense Systems
The World Israel News Staff recently gave the following report: “Israel’s Ministry of Defense revealed on [January 8] that it has made a breakthrough in the development of high-energy lasers for the interception of long-range threats. … The ministry called it a strategic change in the defense capabilities of the State of Israel. .. We are entering a new age of energy warfare in the air, land and sea. The research and development investments made by the [Defense Ministry] in recent years have placed the State of Israel among the leading countries in the field of high-energy laser systems” (www.worldisraelnews.com, January 9, 2020).
This system will provide Israel with a complete defense system against all of the hundreds of thousands of missiles that their enemies have created to threaten the Jewish state.
Global Increase in Volcanic Eruptions
One of the chief characteristics of God’s last days judgments will be the increase in catastrophic activity of natural disasters. Earthquakes and volcanoes will increase with frequency and intensity (Luke 21:11).
In an article by Adam Berkowitz for Israel Breaking News, he states that volcanic activity is dramatically increasing as we begin the 21st century. He said, “There is no doubt that volcanic activity is on the rise. There were about 25 significant volcano eruptions globally in the first 18 years of this century compared with approximately 65 in the entire 20th century” (www.breakingisraelnews.com, January 13, 2020).
In an amazing chapter on the approaching global earthquakes and volcanoes, the prophet Isaiah wrote, “Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. … the inhabitants of earth are burned, and few men left” (Isaiah 24:1, 6).
NASA to Deploy Telescopes to Detect Large Threatening Asteroids
An article in Raw American Truth states, “When a recent poll was taken about what NASA should do, detecting killer asteroids and defending the planet against their colliding with the Earth won the support of 68 percent of respondents, more than establishing a base on the moon, sending astronauts to Mars, or standing up the Space Force.
“While the United States is still embarked on those and other missions, NASA has announced that it will deploy a space telescope designed to detect Earth approaching asteroids that might prove to be a danger. …
“The chances of an asteroid hitting the Earth are small, but not nonexistent. In 1908, an asteroid hit an area in Siberia that caused an explosion that was the equivalent of a 20 to 30 megaton atomic bomb. More recently, a rock exploded over the Urals mountain town of Chelyabinsk Oblast at a height of almost 30 kilometers with the power of a 400 to 500 kiloton nuclear bomb. The explosion caused widespread damage to buildings and numerous injuries” (www.rawamericantruth.com, November 17, 2019).
According to Revelation 8:10-11, an asteroid will implode in Earth’s upper atmosphere during the Tribulation Period. The substance from this fragmented asteroid will rain down a poisonous substance upon one-third of the surface water of earth. The Greek word for star is “astar,” from which we get the word asteroid. This word can refer to any heavenly body.
Jewish Exodus to Israel
According to the Bible, one of the major signs of the last days will be a mass exodus of Jews from the nations back to Israel. Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress and Chair of the World Holocaust Forum’s Organizing Committee has said, “It is a possibility that in 30 years there will be no Jews in Europe” (worldisraelnews.com, January 22, 2020).
The March newsletter will examine the recently announced U.S. peace plan in the light of the prophetic Scriptures. I plan to publish it as soon as possible.