IRAN: Nuclear Showdown - By Bill Salus - http://www.prophecyinthenews.com/iran-nuclear-showdown
As world leaders hastily attempt to persuade Iran to stop enriching uranium and put the brakes on its nuclear program, the Russian bear has risen in the uttermost parts of the north from its post-Cold War slumber. Unlike the decade old jihad of the Palestinians to retake the 2,178 square miles encompassing the West Bank, Russia annexed nearly five times that much territory with scarcely a struggle when it conquered Crimea in March of 2014.
Russia's uncontested resurgence upon the world scene has some Bible prophecy pundits wondering if Vladimir Putin could be the infamous Gog of Magog described in Ezekiel 38.
Ezekiel declared that the most massive Mideast invasion in human history would occur in the latter years. These are the latter years, and Israel and Russia are clearly identified in the Hebrew prophet's ancient predictions.
According to the prophecy, this evil Gog character assembles together an almost unstoppable coalition that requires divine intervention from the God of the Jews, in order to prevent a Russian takeover of Israel. Ezekiel 38:13 declares that these Russian hordes invade Israel to carry away its booty and plunder, alluding to its national wealth.
In this future epic event, Russia is flanked by Turkey to its west and Iran to its east. Both countries currently have strained relations with Israel. Presently, Iran is Israel's greatest national security concern. Iran's seems to be actively pursuing a nuclear weapon, and desires the destruction of the Jewish state. Because of this threat, Israel is prepared to attack Iran in order to prevent this from occurring.
Iran's Double Trouble in the End Times
Here is where the prophetic plot thickens. Ezekiel was not the only Hebrew prophet to predict Iran's future. His contemporary, Jeremiah, also issued prophecies concerning Iran's final outcome, and Jeremiah's utterances clearly predate Ezekiel's. Jeremiah received his burden against Iran around 596 BC, whereas Ezekiel's prophetic ministry spanned between 595-573 BC.
Jeremiah addressed the fate of Elam, while Ezekiel explained the destiny of Persia. At the time that these prophecies were inscribed, Ancient Elam and Persia comprised today's modern-day Iran. A close survey of these prophecies seems to indicate that Iran has double trouble in store for its future, because Jeremiah and Ezekiel appear to be describing entirely different events. An entire chapter is devoted to identifying these clear-cut differences in my brand new book entitled, Nuclear Showdown in Iran, Revealing the Ancient Prophecy of Elam.
From this point forward, the majority of this article will address Jeremiah's prophecies concerning Iran, as written in Jeremiah 49:34- 39. It is imperative that these prophecies are revealed now for the following reasons:
- Jeremiah's prophecies concerning Iran appear to occur prior to Ezekiel's.
- Jeremiah's prophecies are now imminent.
- Jeremiah may have predicted the fate of Iran's nuclear program.
- Ezekiel 38 commentaries are abundant, but Jeremiah 49:34-39 commentaries are scarce.
- Jeremiah predicts a disaster in Iran that could adversely affect America and other nations.
- Jeremiah predicted today's spiritual showdown in Iran.
Before addressing these reasons one by one, it is important to read and explain Jeremiah 49:34-39. The verses are provided below and a prophetic overview is presented afterward.
Jeremiah 49:34-39 - The Burden Against Elam
"The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, The foremost of their might. Against Elam I will bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, And scatter them toward all those winds; There shall be no nations where the outcasts of Elam will not go. For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies And before those who seek their life. I will bring disaster upon them, My fierce anger,' says the LORD; 'And I will send the sword after them Until I have consumed them. I will set My throne in Elam, And will destroy from there the king and the princes,' says the LORD. 'But it shall come to pass in the latter days: I will bring back the captives of Elam,' says the LORD." (Jer. 49:34-39)
Overview of Jeremiah 49:34-39 "The Prophecy of Elam"
Jeremiah's prophecy concerning Elam is completely unpacked, explained and contrasted to Ezekiel's prophecy in my book titled, Nuclear Showdown in Iran, but encapsulated in a nutshell below, is what Jeremiah informs us about an important part of Iran's future.
Iran fiercely angers the Lord. As a result of the Lord's burning anger, a disaster occurs in Iran, not Israel. It is important to make this geographical distinction because Ezekiel 38:8, 16, 18 and Ezekiel 39:2, 4, 9, 11 and 17 puts the primary location of the impending Gog of Magog invasion inside of Israel. The differing locations between these prophecies provide a distinguishing detail, which enables us to conclude that they are describing dissimilar events.
The disaster is of the nature that it necessitates a wide-scale expulsion of Iranians out of the affected area. This worldwide dispersion may have the makings of the magnitude of a humanitarian crisis because the prophecy predicts that there will be "no nations where the outcasts of Elam will not go." Perhaps, this alludes to a dispersion that is necessitated by radioactive fallout coming from the Bushehr nuclear plant located in the area of ancient Elam. Studies have been conducted that indicate a disaster at this nuclear facility could create an epic catastrophe. The news headline below adequately depicts this serious concern.
"Attack against Bushehr nuclear reactor could kill hundreds of thousands" - Examiner 9/6/12
Moreover, there appears to be a shift in sovereignty over the subject territory that coincides with the destruction of the presiding leadership at the time that the prophecy finds fulfillment. Additionally, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) suffers a devastating blow as they are struck at the "foremost of their might." At the time of the catastrophe, Iran has enemies that witness the calamity. In addition to the Lord, Iran has no shortage of enemies today, and for a variety of differing reasons. Below is a basic list of three notable adversaries of Iran:
- Israelis are concerned that Iran wants to wipe Israel off the face of the map and transform their country into another Iranian proxy state called Palestine. This is why Israel keeps the threat of military action against Iran on the table.
- The GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council of Arab states), which includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UnitedArab Emirates (UAE) and Oman, are deeply concerned about Iran's rogue regime, unchecked nuclear program, and attempts to spread its hegemony throughout the entire Middle East. This is one of the primary reasons the GCC is forming its own combat coalition and formed a committee to study the potential dangers of the Bushehr nuclear plant. The Al Arabiya headline and accompanying paragraph below illustrate this genuine GCC concern.
"Iranian Radiation a Threat to GCC Water Security?" Al Arabiya 7/24/13
"The risk of radiation from Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, if there is an accident, is extremely high to the GCC states. Studies and analyses suggest that any leak from the plant will affect the GCC's water supplies especially desalinization plant operation. In the event of a radiation leak, clouds of radioactive material will drift to the GCC states in just 15 hours. While the radiation would affect only about 10 percent of the Iranian population, in the GCC states, 40 to 100 percent of the population would be affected."
- The international community might be considered a third enemy of Iran. Many world leaders are concerned about Iran's nuclear program, state sponsorship of global terrorism, and threats to choke off Middle East oil supplies by closing off the narrow Strait of Hormuz. Iran's international ring of terror is acknowledged in the headline below.
"Iran Terror Network Prolific, US Report Says" Jerusalem Post 5/1/14
"State Department annual report focuses on Iran's expansive efforts to fund and funnel arms to Islamist organizations, including Hamas and Hezbollah."
These are the three primary enemies of Iran today, and any or all of them could be used as instruments of the Lord to execute His judgment upon Elam. Although their motives all differ, preventing Iran from developing or acquiring nuclear weapons unites them in a common cause.
Lastly, Jeremiah concludes with good news for the Iranians. He proclaims that the Lord will set His throne in Elam, and surviving Iranian refugees will be restored to their homeland in the latter days. On an interesting side note, Jerusalem in Jeremiah 3:16-17, and Iran in Jeremiah 49:38 are the only two earthly locations identified in the Bible for the whereabouts of the Lord's throne.
Jeremiah's Prophecies Concerning Iran Appear to Occur Prior to Ezekiel's
One of the reasons Jeremiah's prophecy concerning Elam probably precedes Ezekiel 38, is because of the Lord's promise in Jeremiah 49:39 to "bring back the captives of Elam." This verse precludes that the refugees of Jeremiah 49:36 survive the Ezekiel 38 prophecy by being exiled in other countries, and out of harm's way from Iran's defeat. If Jeremiah 49:34-38 did not occur before Ezekiel 38, then there might not be many exiles from Elam to regather. This is because all Iranian males of military service age, even those dwelling in the territory of ancient Elam, would be drafted to fight in Ezekiel 38. Presently, Iran has a mandatory military service law in place.
It is important to note that Ezekiel 38 and 39 make no promises to restore the fortunes of Persia. In fact, nowhere in the Bible are restored fortunes promised to Persia. This should be extremely troubling to Iranians because Persia is decisively defeated during the Ezekiel 38 invasion. If the Jeremiah 49:37 disaster in Elam does not occur before the Ezekiel 38 invasion, then many Iranians residing in the ancient territory of Elam will be forced to fight to their death in Ezekiel 38.
Thus, in theory it makes more sense that Jeremiah's prophecy about Elam occurs before Iran invades Israel in the Ezekiel 38 prophecy. Ancient Elam could experience a geographically isolated disaster without preventing Persia from being involved in Ezekiel 38. Ancient Elam comprises about one-sixth of modern-day Iran, and is physically separated from greater Iran by the Zagros Mountain range.
Jeremiah's Prophecies Are Now Imminent
Jeremiah's prophecies concerning Elam only identifies a few pre-conditions that must be in place before Elam's disaster can occur. These conditions are;
- Iran must fiercely anger the Lord,
- Iran must have enemies,
- Iran should have a military scenario in place, that if attacked, could create a disaster with the potential for creating a humanitarian crisis,
- It has to occur in the "latter days."
All of the above pre-conditions appear to be fulfilled, making Jeremiah 49:34-39 an imminent prophetic event. These are the "latter days," Iran has enemies, and a strike upon the Bushehr nuclear facility could result in a disaster of epic biblical proportion. Moreover, Iran has fiercely angered the Lord for the possible reasons that will be given at the conclusion of this article.
Jeremiah May Have Predicted the Fate of Iran's Nuclear Program
From the onset it may sound like a classic case of newspaper exegesis, but Jeremiah 49:35 plainly predicts an attack that breaks Iran's "bow" at the "foremost" place of its "might." If this prophecy is imminent, then the mainstay of Iran's military prowess might be its developing nuclear program. If Iran continues to spin its estimated 19,000 centrifuges at their current pace, experts say they could produce a nuclear weapon in as little time as six weeks. Perhaps, even more startling is the June 9, 2014, headline below from The Washington Free Beacon.
Israeli Official: Iran to Have 50-100 Nuclear Warheads by 2024
Additionally, Iran is manufacturing ICBMs (Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles), which can deliver a nuclear payload abroad into places such as Israel, Saudi Arabia, Europe and beyond. An attack upon Iran's Bushehr nuclear facility in Elam could be the cause of the disaster of Jeremiah 49:37 that leads to the worldwide dispersion predicted in Jeremiah 49:36. Ezekiel 38 commentaries are abundant, but Jeremiah 49:34-39 commentaries are scarce. The fifty-two verses contained in Ezekiel 38 and 39 provide us with an enormous amount of prophetic detail. You don't have to be a biblical scholar to generally understand what Ezekiel's predictions are about. I believe the Lord intended this to be the case, because we are informed in Ezekiel 39:7 that it is the marquis event in the end times that He uses to uphold His holy name. Because Ezekiel's prophecy is extremely important, filled with details, and generally basic to understand, many expositors have already written articles and books about the epic event.
Jeremiah Predicts a Disaster in Iran That Could Affect America and Other Nations
The Iranian Islamic regime believes that America is the "Great Satan," and Israel is the "Little Satan." On numerous occasions, these rogue repressive leaders have issued serious threats to both countries. These threats serve as warnings to Israel and America that in the event either of them attack Iran's nuclear program, fierce Iranian retaliation will follow. Below are a couple of headlines that evidence this fact.
"Iran: 'Thousands of missiles' to rain on Israel" - World Net Daily 8/28/13
"Iran's leader threatens to level cities if Israel attacks, criticizes US nuclear talks" - Fox News 3/21/13
"Iranian commander: We have targets within America" - The Daily Caller 2/1/14
Jeremiah Predicted Today's Spiritual Showdown in Iran
A promise was made earlier in this article to provide the possible reasons as to why the Lord might be fiercely angry with Iran today. This concluding section identifies these probable causes. Additionally, their problematic connection to the burgeoning Christian harvest underway inside Iran will be explained. Presently, there is a supernatural spiritual showdown taking place in Iran between Christianity and Islam. The old baseball adage seems to apply here; three strikes and you're out.
Strike One against Iran
: Certainly the multiple threats made by Iranian leaders to destroy Israel doesn't bode well with the Lord, because He has promised in Isaiah 45:17 and elsewhere, that Israel will become saved and exist forever. The annihilation of Israel would make the Lord out to be a liar.
Strike Two against Iran
: Another detestable act of the Iranian regime, which bothers the Lord, is their insistent worship of their nation of the false pagan god called Allah. Not only is Jehovah God, the one and only true God according to Isaiah 46:9-10 and elsewhere, but He is also a jealous God according to Nahum 1:2 and several other Scriptures.
The Lord is jealous for all the right reasons. Since the God of the Bible is the only God, all others, including Allah, who claim godhead, are treacherous imposters. The Lord must preserve His holy name in order to protect His believers from harm and deception; Iran is no exception. Moreover, Iran currently hosts the fastest growing evangelical population in the world, which makes the spiritual stakes even higher today.
Strike Three against Iran
: The rogue Muslim leaders of Iran forcefully impose their religious Islamic dogmas upon their countrymen. So much so, that they have instituted a national campaign of extreme persecution toward Iranian Christians. This oppression of God's people must be extremely upsetting to the Lord! It has to be the third strike against Iran! Strike One; Israel, Strike Two; Allah, and Strike Three; Christian persecution.
The third strike is utterly intolerable when you consider the fact that Iran is presently being transformed into a Christian nation. At least that is the mission statement of Iran Alive Ministries, founded by Hormoz Shariat. Shariat, who the bestselling Christian author, Joel Rosenberg, calls the "Billy Graham of Iran," utilizes satellite television as a highly effective means to transmit the gospel of Christ into Iran.
Hormoz Shariat informed me that approximately two years ago the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, decreed that all Christian home churches were to be shut down, and all pastors imprisoned. This edict has led to the wide spread persecution of Iranian Christians. This religious national diktat was issued because Christianity was spreading exponentially within Iran.
The Christian growth phenomenon in Iran is the result of a miraculous work of the Holy Spirit, in correlation with Joel 2:29. Joel 2:29-31 predicted an outpouring of the Spirit in the last days, which would be characterized by people becoming believers through miracles, dreams and visions. A similar outpouring occurred at the time of Pentecost, according to Acts 2:1-21. This is the unsung back story going on amidst the nuclear showdown between Iran and its prospective enemies of today.
In light of the spiritual showdown underway in Iran, the world may be watching a preview of Jeremiah 49:38, which predicts the establishment of the Lord's throne in Elam. This ancient territory, whose history dates back before the time of Abraham, may soon become the focal point of a Nuclear Showdown In Iran, after which, a worldwide flood of Iranian exiles will flow. Are you ready to receive them into your homes and neighborhoods?
Iran's path to the bomb - Charles Bybelezer - http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/Irans-path-to-the-bomb-362191
As nuclear negotiations resume this week between Iran and world powers, it is becoming increasingly clear that any deal signed will be considered ill-conceived by Israel. According to most estimations, the focus of the talks has shifted from dismantling Iran's nuclear infrastructure, as demanded by Jerusalem, to creating a verification network that would, ideally, grant inspectors unfettered access to Iranian sites to ensure the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear operations.
In "Inspections: The Weak Link in a Nuclear Agreement with Iran," Dore Gold, a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations and currently an adviser to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, questions "the advisability of erecting a comprehensive agreement with Iran that is so highly dependent upon the efficacy of its inspection system and the willingness of Iran to agree to what some analysts call unprecedented levels of transparency."
The drawbacks should be evident, especially when considering Iran's ongoing refusal to grant the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) access to its Parchin facility, where the UN nuclear watchdog believes Tehran has conducted research into the development of atomic weapons. That the underground Fordow nuclear plant remained unknown to the West for years casts further doubt on both the Islamic Republic's trustworthiness and the ability of monitors to keep tabs on the whole of its nuclear activities. The fact that US Secretary of State John Kerry recently revealed that Iran's breakout capacity stands at a mere two months should alone obviate any such deal, as this window is surely too short for comfort.
Nonetheless, it appears as though the prospects of reversing the Islamic Republic's nuclear progress by significantly reducing the number of its centrifuges is off the table.
In the prescient words of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif, the "talks are not about nuclear capability...they are about Iranian integrity and dignity."
But the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism is undeserving of respect.
Iran continues to fuel the horror in Syria, and now has boots on the ground in Iraq with the aim there, in conjunction with local Shi'ite fighters, almost certainly being to carve out an Iranian protectorate.
Moreover, the widely held belief that Iran opposes the Sunni terror group Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS) is tenuous at best, with recent reports suggesting the organization may well have been spawned by Tehran. As the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs' Pinhas Inbari recently pointed out, "The more time passes, the more this notion of a link between ISIS, Syrian and Iranian intelligence has become fixed in the minds of leading Arab analysts."
To support this claim, Inbari highlights a February 2012 US Treasury Department document, which states that ISIS's precursor, "al-Qaida in Iraq," was provided with money and arms by Iran. He also raises the intriguing possibility that Iran facilitated ISIS's advances in Iraq in order to force the US to deepen its coordination with Tehran.
As journalist Melanie Phillips recently noted in these pages, "The Iranian leadership [has] suggested the price of its 'help' in 'stabilizing' Iraq would be a deal over its nuclear program."
And this is the key point: The road to an Iranian bomb is paved with instability.
Iran's carefully crafted plan is two-tiered: foment widespread regional unrest, thereby removing the focus on its illicit nuclear work, while concurrently convincing the West, which shuns chaos in favor of stability, that the only solution is to engage, rather than defeat, Iran.
And it has worked.
The West has misunderstood, or otherwise turned a blind eye to, Iran's strategy, devised to buy time while Tehran becomes a nuclear power, which in turn will allow it to pursue its ultimate ambition of spreading its Islamic "revolution" throughout the world.
The ramifications of an expansionist, nuclear-armed Iran are devastating.
Even without the bomb, in the near future Iran will effectively control territory spanning from eastern Iraq to southern Lebanon. The so-called Shi'ite crescent warned of years ago by Jordan's King Abdullah is, for all intents and purposes, a fait accompli.
An Iran with atomic bombs can be expected to also set its sights on Sunni Gulf states, including Kuwait and Bahrain, where its meddling during the Arab Spring prompted Saudi Arabia to deploy troops to the country. In fact, Tehran appears to be on a collision course with Riyadh (which, parenthetically, is alleged to have pre-paid atomic weapons waiting for it in Pakistan).
Were tensions to explode between the mullahs and the House of Saud, the entire region could be drawn into a bloody conflict not unlike the Sunni-Shi'ite proxy war currently being waged in Syria, although the effects of a direct clash between the leading purveyors of these competing forms of Islam would almost certainly be much worse.
Like it or not, such a prospect would force the hand of the United States, which could not sit idly by as its allies, as well as the global oil economy, became endangered.
It is possible that an emboldened Russia would likewise become involved, at the very least as an arms supplier, and perhaps even ascendant China, if only to protect its growing interests in the region.
Israel, undoubtedly, would be targeted by its enemies and thus dragged into the fighting.
This is but a snapshot of the bleak picture facing the Middle East if Iran goes nuclear, and the Obama administration in particular is seemingly oblivious.
While the US president reiterated last week - this time to his outgoing Israeli counterpart - that he remains committed to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, Obama's words can no longer be trusted given his willingness (eagerness?) to treat a rogue regime, ideologically committed to the West's destruction, as a friend.
Hence the recent dispatch to Washington of Israeli National Security Adviser Yossi Cohen and Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz, to spell out Jerusalem's positions perhaps for the last time.
Speaking to Israel Radio prior to his departure, Steinitz made clear that a good deal "will not allow the Iranians to remain a nuclear threshold state."
"Our position is that an agreement needs to be based not only on supervision and verification, but on dismantling infrastructure," he affirmed.
Prime Minister Netanyahu likewise weighed in on Sunday, granting interviews to major television networks in each of the P5+1 countries.
"Inspectors can be deceived," he warned, before advocating for an agreement along the lines of the Syrian one, which "remove[s] what's not destroyed."
But given Obama's ongoing rapprochement with Iran, Israel's expectations are surely being tempered. In fact, it would be surprising if Jerusalem was not already intensifying covert preparations for "plan B." What this entails could be revealed as early as July 21, the day after the deadline for a nuclear agreement is set to expire. Only then will it become known if Netanyahu is serious about preventing an Iranian bomb - and the lengths to which he is willing to go in order to do so.
Iran Calling For Mass Causalities in Israel War - Aaron Klein - http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/sources-iran-calling-for-mass-casualties/
Iran is attempting to use jihadist surrogates in the Gaza Strip to cause a mass casualty event in Israel that would provoke an Israeli ground operation, according to informed Middle Eastern security officials.
The officials explained Hamas fears the damage a ground operation will cause to its terrorist apparatus and has been careful for now not to escalate the conflict with a game-changing attack that would leave Israel with no choice but to mount a ground offensive.
As of now, diplomatic sources inside Israel say that despite the activation of a reported 40,000 reserve troops, the Israeli government is hopeful a ground operation won't be necessary. A successful missile attack with mass casualties in central Israel would likely change that assumption.
Hamas generally has only fired one or two missiles at a time at central Israeli population zones like Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, working under the assumption that all rockets in those areas will be shot down by Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system.
While the terrorist organization has launched missiles further north than it did during the Gaza-Israel conflict of November 2012, it has so far mostly been sticking to the same "rules" that it utilized during that campaign.
On Thursday, there were four missiles in a short time span, but there was no word immediately on damages from those.
In 2012, Israel launched an eight-day aerial campaign against Hamas in Gaza in response to repeated missile attacks targeting nearby Israeli civilian population zones. No ground offensive was mounted despite periodic Hamas rocket fire into the vicinity of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Nearly all rockets fired into central Israel during that conflict were either shot down or landed in open areas. The Iron Dome system usually doesn't deflect missiles it determines will land in open areas, such as the sea.
The 2012 conflict ended with a cease-fire that, for a period at least, saw the Gaza borders reopen and the scaling back of Hamas' international isolation.
The Islamist terror group is attempting to achieve similar results from this campaign, say the Middle Eastern security officials. Hamas, which has been increasingly isolated lately, hopes to win concessions from Israel in a truce agreement following a period of sustained rocket attacks inside Israel and Israeli aerial bombardments targeting Hamas's Gaza infrastructure.
However, according to the officials, Iran has been attempting to pressure the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad and other Gaza-based organizations to carry out an event that would draw Israel into a ground war, such as with successful missile attacks on Tel Aviv.
Iran has been trying to convince Islamic Jihad to defy Hamas' command-and-control and launch an overwhelming number of missiles at once into central Israel. While Iron Dome's missile defense capabilities are classified, it is widely assumed the missile batteries are not capable of downing a large salvo, such as a dozen incoming missiles aimed at the same area.
An Israeli ground operation in Gaza could serve Iran's purposes on several fronts. Iran would enhance its stature as a player in the Israeli-Palestinian arena if its jihadist operatives were able to defy Hamas and provoke a larger war. Also a Gaza conflict could help deflect attention from the enhanced insurgency.
On Thursday, Islamic Jihad Spokesman Abu Ahmed said, "The Palestinian resistance is ready for IDF's ground battle in Gaza and the possibility of expanding the circle of war."
"The option of adding more Israeli cities to the rocket fire of the Palestinian resistance is taken into consideration," he stated.
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