Monday, January 16, 2012
Is Iran bringing on the end of the world--what do the prophecies say?

The headlines in the Middle East are very active. Iran is a the center of them. Israel and the United States both are finally saying that they will not allow Iran to have nuclear weapons. More sanctions are on the horizon. Sanctions, quite frankly, have never worked as Iran's nuclear program has progressed steadily for nearly a decade. But there is something different about this round--everybody is on edge. Saudi Arabia has said it will increase output of oil to offset any possible Western oil embargo against Iran. Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz where oil is shipped. The US says it will keep the Strait open. There is tremendous prophetic significance to these events.

Many Christian prophetic sites and end time watchmen are pointing to these events and predicting that the end of the world is near. They are getting ahead of themselves. There is a lot that must happen before the end time battle, known as "The Day of the LORD" prophesied in some way in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Matthew, Luke, Acts, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Timothy, 2 Peter, and Revelation (and I may have missed a few). On the timeline of the end times, The Day of the LORD is at the end of the Great Tribulation, not at the beginning.

These current events are prophetically significant because most of the nations that come against Israel in that colossal end times battle are very active in the news today. Keep in mind that the antichrist figure mentioned in the vast majority of the Day of the LORD prophecies is called "the Assyrian." Assyria then is where modern Turkey is today. In fact, reliable sources, meaning those without a political axe to grind against Russia or the Roman Catholic Church, place Magog, Meshech and Tubal in Turkey, not in Russia/Moscow nor in the former Roman Empire. These locations were, however, part of the Ottoman Empire that reigned over the region from 1299 to 1923.

The primary nations embroiled in the current controversy against Israel include Iran, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, and Libya. Saudi Arabia, the home of Mecca and Islam, is playing the entire world, plying it with oil and becoming richer and more influential. These are days where the end times are fast coming into focus. Jesus said in Matthew 24:4, "Take heed that no man deceive you." 1 John 2:22 says, "Who is a liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denies the Father and the Son." The most powerful existing force on earth today that denies the Christ is Islam. All the named nations coming against Israel in the Biblical end times are Islamic. Keep your faith intact. Read the Bible with understanding that false teachers may not deceive you.

Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson