Category: iran

Posted in elam, end time, iran, joel c. rosenberg, last days, nuclear, prophecy, uranium

"Iran says finds unexpectedly high uranium reserve"

Posted on by elizabethprata

DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran has discovered an unexpectedly high reserve of uranium and will soon begin extracting the radioactive element at a new mine, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation said on Saturday. … After decades of efforts, Iran – which has consistently said its program is for peaceful purposes – has achieved a full nuclear fuel cycle, ranging from the extraction of uranium ore to enrichment and production of fuel rods for nuclear reactors. (source)

Immediately prior to this news, just days before in fact, Joel C. Rosenberg had published a bulleted list/factsheet regarding the danger the Iranian Government poses to the world. He lists the Iranian statement of beliefs and intents, especially with regard to wiping out Israel the the US. He lists past and very current statements that Iran intends at all costs to go forward with their dastardly and evil plan to rule the world and wipe out Christians and Jews.

Fact Sheet: The Iranian Leadership’s Apocalyptic Beliefs Joel C. Rosenberg Updated: September 4, 2015
What Iran’s Leaders & Allies Say They Will Do: Annihilate America

• “The slogans of the Iranian nation on Al-Qods Day show what its position is. The slogans ‘Death to Israel’ and ‘Death to America’ have resounded throughout the country, and are not limited to Tehran and the other large cities. The entire country is under the umbrella of this great movement [of ‘Death to Israel’ and ‘Death to America’].”—Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, July 18, 2015.

And now we discover that they had access to uranium all along.
And now we discover Iran has achieved a full nuclear fuel cycle.

We know from prophecy that Iran plays an important role in God’s plan of judgment. What does the bible say about Persia at the end of time?

The word of the LORD came to me: 2“Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him 3and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 4And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords. 5Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6Gomer and all his hordes; Beth-togarmah from the uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes—many peoples are with you. (Ezekiel 37:1-6)

It is interpreted that of course Persia is Iran. That one is easy because Persia held the name until 1935 when the Shah asked foreign dignitaries to use the name Iran, the name the people themselves used.

Map of Achaemenid Persian Empire at its Greatest Extent (490 BC.) Source

The ancient name for the Persians, which was a name used until the early 1935 before it was changed to Iran, was Elam. People in the tribe of Elam were Elamites.

Elam is first mentioned in Genesis 10:22 as a son of Shem. Shem was Noah’s son. Elam was a real person, Noah’s grandson. You remember the early sons went out and founded tribes. This is recorded as a Table of Nations in Genesis 10. Answers In Genesis has an article with the table, which is like a genealogical family tree but of nations and not individuals. Click to enlarge. You will notice the same names on the Table as are recorded as the nations that fight at the time of the end. Togarmah, Gomer, Tubal…those guys all there at the beginning and their founded nations are there at the end. God is very precise.

The following points regarding Elam/Persia/Iran are from Bible History Online

The Persian Empire was founded by Cyrus in 536 BC., after they succeeded the Babylonian Empire. The first king of the Persian Empire was Cyrus, who issued the famous decree for the Jews to return to their homeland to rebuild their Temple. 

Under Cyrus the Great and Darius the Great, the Persian Empire eventually became the largest and most powerful empire in human history up until that point. The Persian Empire represented the world’s first global superpower.

The capital of the Persian Empire was Shushan. The Empire lasted about 200 years, and came to an end in 330 BC.

From Negev, A. (1990). In The Archaeological encyclopedia of the Holy Land:

 ELAM a) The biblical name of a hilly country, ‘Elamtu’ in Accadian, east of the River Tigris (Hiddekel) bordered by Assyria (Mesopotamia) and Madai on the north, the Persian Gulf on the south and Persia on the east and southeast. Its capital was Susa (Shushan). Most of our knowledge of it derives from Sumerian, Babylonian and Assyrian sources.

There was a constant state of war between Elam and the kingdoms of Lagash and Assyria. By the end of the 2nd millennium BC the Elamites had succeeded in deposing the Sumerian Dynasty of Ur. According to Genesis (14) Chedorlaomer, King of Elam, ruled over all the countries which were formerly under the yoke of Babylon, and the countries on the Jordan were his tributaries.

Abram Rescues Lot
14 In the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, hat they made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). (Genesis 14:1-2).

From DD Lowery in his book Elam,

The fall of Elam was foretold by Jeremiah (49:34–9) and by Ezekiel (32:24–5). During the period of the Persian Empire Elam was one of the satrapies, with Susa as its capital. Elamites who had been settled in Samaria impeded the Jews who returned from the Babylonia exile (Ezra 4:8–9).

ELAM (עֵילַם, eilam). An ancient Near Eastern kingdom located in Iran. A rival to the Mesopotamian kingdoms for over 2,000 years. The Elamite Empire influenced many great empires that shaped the biblical world. Over its long history, Elam interacted with the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, and the Assyrians. Under the Persians, Susa—one of Elam’s great cities—makes several biblical appearances.

Biblical Mentions 

Kedorlaomer, king of Elam, appears in Gen 14 as the king whom Abram defeats to bring Lot and his family back home. The next occurrences in the Bible are not until the prophets and the exile. In the biblical text, Elam appears as a prophetic instrument of judgment (Isa 21:2; 22:6), as the object of judgment (Jer 49:34–38), and also as an object lesson for those yet to be judged (Ezek 32:24–25). Assyria deported many Israelites to Elam upon conquering it, which sets the stage for Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. According to Acts 2:9, a Jewish population still remained in Elam into the New Testament period. 

Determining how close the connection was between these earlier peoples and later Elamites remains difficult. Archaeology has shed light on many originally distinct groups during this period, most notably from Elam (Fars) and Susa, which come to be associated together later in history. 

End of Elam (Achaemenid Period, 539–331 BC): Elam Absorbed by Persia. Elam was geographically reduced to Susiana by the Assyrians, and the Medes and the Persians were firmly rooted in the Plateau. When Cyrus II (Cyrus the Great) conquered Babylonia (539) and established the great Persian Empire, Elam (Susiana) fell into Persian hands, becoming a valuable Persian province. The Persians inherited many characteristic traits from the Elamites, who continued to serve in various administrative roles under them. In fact, archives of Elamite clay tablets have been found in Persepolis—an important Persian center—from late in the reign of Darius to that of Artaxerxes (late fifth century). These shed considerable light on the political and cultural atmosphere of the time.
Under Darius, Susa became a prominent city in the empire. Here, set up as the winter citadel for the Persian Empire, that the biblical book of Nehemiah begins, and where Esther is also set. Recent archaeological discoveries in Susa have given clarification to the book of Esther. However, by this time, “Susa, in the province of Elam” (Dan 8:2) had ceased to be anything but the shell of Elam that it once was

Lowery, D. D. (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015). Elam. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

When we read of the Elamites being comprised of many different Mesopotamian peoples, it is so. At Pentecost, we’re told that “staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.” (Acts 2:5).

Including:

Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, (Acts 2:9).

Now in the latter days, a glorious thing will happen.

In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.

The LORD has a remnant of His people inside the lands that we read about in the news today. How glorious it will be when He restores them! Daniel had a vision of the end time/last days of the very last days, in which he saw the Elamites-

And I saw in the vision; and when I saw, I was in Susa the citadel, which is in the province of Elam. And I saw in the vision, and I was at the Ulai canal. (Daniel 8:2).

On September 7 I posted a prescient quote from 1967 by S. Lewis Johnson regarding his long-ago perspective of seeing the ascendancy of Biblical nations. The Iranian rise is nothing to be surprised at nor worried about in this day and age. God is incredible and His hand works all that He wills. The things which were prophesied for thousands of years are coming to pass, and will come to pass, because God decreed it.

More to the individual point, when we read of rabid hatred contained in speeches by Iranians declaring death to America and death to Israel, let us not hate them back. In those nations, though there are many Muslims and many false Christians such as Orthodox, a few remnant Christ people dwell. They are being prepared to receive the calling when He deems it the right moment. Some already have been called, and others will become … our brethren.

God deals in remnants. That is His way. And God does mighty things through remnants. 300 against Midian. Two against the Philistine army. 7,000 among the millions in Israel. 120 on Pentecost. A handful of Puritans coming to the shores of North America 400 years ago.

And in our time, faithful men and women in many parts of the world who have left apostate churches meet in tents, homes, schools, libraries, firehouses, storefronts, the buildings of liberal churches, and even less likely places. In countries like Zimbabwe in Africa, men and women who have left the bondage of false religions often meet under the shade of a tree in an otherwise forbidding landscape to worship the one true and living God and hear His Word preached.

Men and women around the world meet in unlikely places, sometimes coming incredible distances on foot just to be together. God’s remnant is truly an unlikely assembly. But His people come together because they understand that it is not numbers, or a building, or other trappings that are of true importance – but the truth as it is found only in Christ and His Word. They understand that it is “not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). source

God is mighty and wonderful. Praise His name!

Posted in apocalypse, dust storm, iran, rapture, tehran

Apocalyptic dust storm suddenly engulfs Tehran

Posted on by elizabethprata

I am always intrigued when people term an event ‘apocalyptic’. We are all wired to acknowledge God, we’re made in His image after all, and we’re living on His creation. We all understand that there are events, and there are disasters, and then there are disastrous events that defy normal comprehension. (Joplin MO F-5 tornado, Japan 9.0 quake, Indonesian tsunami…). And yet, for all that, the Tribulation will be so far beyond that, we can’t even really manage a comprehensible envisioning of that event, really.

And yet, when an unprecedented or unexpected or especially disastrous event happens, they say it is an apocalypse.

Tehran, Iran engulfed by massive dust storm
A massive dust storm engulfed Tehran late Monday afternoon, killing up to five people and creating an apocalyptic scene in the Iranian capital. “The skies over Tehran suddenly turned black as a wall of sand hit the city from the west, my wife called me to come home ‘now’,” tweeted Thomas Erdbrink, Tehran bureau chief for the New York Times. Fars News Agency, an independent news organization in Iran, called the event “unexpected and rather unprecedented.”

The Washington Post reported the reason that the storm freaked everyone out so much:

Tehran, Iran swallowed by massive dust storm, walloped by 70 mph winds
Weather observations in Tehran show a stunning transformation in conditions as the storm struck. A 5 p.m. local time, it was 91 degrees with a moderate breeze. At 5:30 p.m., the temperature dropped to 73 degrees with a raging sustained wind at 55 mph gusting to 69 mph in a reported thunderstorm with heavy rain. By 6 p.m., the temperature was down to 66 degrees, with a sustained wind of 35 mph.

I am reminded of the bible’s warnings of the day when judgment shall come. Not that this particular storm is judgment, I don’t know that one way or another. But conditions were calm one moment, and half an hour later people thought the apocalypse was happening. When it actually happens, it will be just like that, rapid, sudden, unprecedented, and surprising.

“In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.” (Genesis 7:11)

Just like that, one day it had never rained, and the next, at a precise hour, all the fountains of the earth burst open.

“For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (Matthew 24:38-39)

The point is, are you ready? Jesus will render judgment one day. It will be sudden and surprising- to those who were eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage, that is. To those of us who pray, worship, and watch, it will not be surprising. We eagerly await the Groom, and we will be removed at a sudden second before the judgment comes again. Some who are left behind will see that sign and know that when the rapture occurs, the fountains of the deep are opening again metaphorically speaking, and they will repent. The penalty for not claiming Jesus as King during the Age of Grace is that they will live during a time of horrific judgment, and die during that period, or be martyred. Some will live to the end and populate the Millennial Kingdom, but oh, what sorrow they will endure.

Others will deny the rapture event as a sign and continue planting and building and buying and selling … but they will be destroyed.

“Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” (Luke 17:28-30).

Therefore friend, the question of this age, is Are You Ready?

——————————————-
From GotQuestions:

“How can I be ready to be caught up in the Rapture?”

It is much simpler than you may think. The short answer is that you must receive Jesus Christ as your Savior. Now for the long answer. When you ask this question, we assume that you have heard that not all Christians will be taken when the Rapture occurs. You probably have been told that only “super Christians” who are living a holy life will be raptured, and all the other Christians will have to suffer through the Tribulation. This is not true, and we will show you why this is not true from Scripture.

The first thing that you must understand is the purpose for the Tribulation. The Tribulation is a time of judgment on the earth and punishment for Israel. Please note that Israel and the Church are not the same group of people. The Church is a spiritual organism. People in the Church are related because of their spiritual birth (by being born again – John 3:3). The people of Israel (Jews) are related by blood. This is a race of people to whom God made special promises in the Old Testament. God declared a time of judgment upon Israel for their unfaithfulness. This time of judgment is clearly declared to be only for Israel (Daniel 9:24-27).

Gabriel brought a message from God to Daniel (9:20-21). Daniel 9:24 says, “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place.” In this message Gabriel specifies to Daniel that the time is “for your people.” Daniel’s people were Jews, the nation of Israel. God declared 70 weeks against the nation of Israel. This “70 weeks” is literally in the Hebrew “70 sevens.” In other words, 70 times 7 years, or 490 years. Of those years, 483 (69 times 7) of them were fulfilled from the end of the Israel’s captivity in Babylon to the cutting off of Messiah (the crucifixion of Christ). This leaves 7 years of judgment yet to be fulfilled. Those 7 years are the years of the Tribulation. The point is that this prophecy concerns Israel primarily, and the purpose of the judgment is “to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place.”

Now, we can also demonstrate from Scripture that Christians will not be in the Tribulation. A study of 1 Thessalonians 4:13 through 5:9 shows this. In this passage Paul writes about the Rapture and the Day of the Lord. First Thessalonians 5:9 gives Christians this promise: “God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Pay close attention to this verse. Paul says God has not destined us for wrath, specifically the wrath of the Day of the Lord (5:2).

Further evidence that Christians will not go through the Tribulation comes from 1 Corinthians. In that letter Paul sharply rebukes the believers for being carnal Christians. But in chapter 15, Paul writes of the Rapture, and he never indicates that any of the Corinthian believers, carnal though they were, would be left behind. True believers in Jesus Christ will not have to endure the Tribulation.

The only way you will be left behind in the Rapture is if you have not received Christ as your Savior.

————-end GotQuestions————

Jesus could call His bride home at any moment. I am looking forward to that. Words don’t do my anticipation justice. I hope to see you there.

Posted in gog magog, hitler, iran, Obama, peace, safety

Drudge evokes Chamberlain’s "Peace for our time"; Obama and precursor to holocaust?

Posted on by elizabethprata

Today’s Drudge web page has a brilliant evocation of the WWII historic moment by Neville Chamberlain.

Obama has returned from Geneva Switzerland claiming to have been a party to brokering a deal to a nuclear deal between Iran and six Western powers. Iran wants nukes, so they can obliterate Israel, and wipe them from the map. (Psalm 83:4). Israel doesn’t want Iran to have nukes because they don’t want to be obliterated. Israel lost and six Western powers signed a pact to allow Iran to effectively continue making nukes. The powers who signed it were the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council: U.S., UK, France, Russia and China, plus Germany — and of course Iran. That’s the nutshell.

[Israel leaders Denounce Geneva Accord; The US defends it]

Let’s take a look back through history so we can see the parallels and treacheries of appeasement, and perhaps why Drudge presented us with this picture. I believe we are wading in deep prophetic waters today. Drudge’s deliberate evocation of the dramatic moment of appeasing Hitler prior to the eruption of WWII may indeed be more prescient than he knows:

He named the photo ‘onc.jpg’ which I assume is short for ‘Obama Neville Chamberlain’. Here is the historic photo of Neville Chamberlain, left, which I put next to Drudge’s Obama photo manipulation.

So what does it mean?

In September 1938, Neville Chamberlain was Britain’s Prime Minister. Here is the historical background to the September 1938 Munich Agreement in which Chamberlain famously returned from brokering an agreement with Hitler and said “We have peace for our time.” The following is from War History Online:

——————-begin War History Online——————-

The nation of Czechoslovakia, created in 1919, had amongst its diverse ethnic groups 3.5 million Germans living on the Czech-German border, the Sudetenland. When the Czechoslovakian president, Eduard Benes, visited Hitler in Germany he was subjected to one of Hitler’s harangues about oppression and the Sudeten German’s right to self-determination. Hitler wanted to use the Sudetenland as a pretext to invade Czechoslovakia despite his generals cautioning him against the idea.

From left to right: Chamberlain, Daladier, Hitler, Mussolini, and Ciano,
before signing the Munich Agreement, which gave the Sudetenland
to Germany. Wikipedia pic

Czechoslovakia: the “last major problem”

 On September 15, 1938, Neville Chamberlain (pictured), Britain’s Prime Minister since May 1937, visited Hitler at his home in Berchtesgaden and listened as Hitler proclaimed that Czechoslovakia was the “last major problem to be solved”. Despite his generals’ advice and nervousness, Hitler threatened war unless the Czech and British governments accepted his demands that the Sudetenland be peacefully incorporated into the Reich.

 Chamberlain was not unsympathetic. Like many British politicians before him, he felt that the post-WWI treaty signed at Versailles had been unnecessarily unjust against Germany and the French’s determination to impose the Treaty to the letter overly harsh. Furthermore, a strong Germany, the British felt, would act as a useful buffer against the Soviet Union. Therefore, Chamberlain listened to Hitler and purposefully pursued a policy of appeasement.

 When Chamberlain relayed Hitler’s demands to Benes, the Czechoslovakian president knew he had no choice. Neither Britain nor France would come to his rescue, despite their alliances, and his country could not face going to war single-handedly against the might of Germany. Reluctantly, Benes agreed to Hitler’s demands.

 Chamberlain returned to Hitler, satisfied that, through his diplomacy, he had averted a war. But Hitler was now demanding more, namely the right to the immediate occupation of the Sudetenland.

 Chamberlain was again prepared to accept these new demands but his government was not. A stalemate had been reached. Europe seemed on the brink of war until the unlikely figure of Benito Mussolini, the Italian dictator, stepped in as mediator and suggested a meeting between himself, Hitler, Chamberlain and the French Prime Minister, Edouard Daladier. The Czechoslovakian government was not invited.

——————-end War History Online——————-

The Zionist leadership in the British Mandate of Palestine wrote in February 1938 that according to “a very reliable private source—one which can be traced back to the highest echelons of the SS leadership,” there was “an intention to carry out a genuine and dramatic pogrom in Germany on a large scale in the near future.” source
Wikipedia notes of Chamberlain’s premature statement,

“It is primarily remembered for its ironic value: less than a year after the agreement, following continued aggression from Germany and its invasion of Poland, Europe was plunged into World War II.“

The Holocaust Encyclopedia recounts the dramatic days prior to the eruption of war in Europe and Hitler’s abandonment of one agreement and pact after another:

“Britain and France essentially acquiesced to Germany’s rearmament (1935-1937), remilitarization of the Rhineland (1936), and annexation of Austria (March 1938). In September 1938, after signing away the Czech border regions, known as the Sudetenland, to Germany at the Munich conference, British and French leaders pressured France’s ally, Czechoslovakia, to yield to Germany’s demand for the incorporation of those regions. Despite Anglo-French guarantees of the integrity of rump Czechoslovakia, the Germans dismembered the Czechoslovak state in March 1939 in violation of the Munich agreement. Britain and France responded by guaranteeing the integrity of the Polish state. Hitler responded by negotiating a nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union in the summer of 1939. The German-Soviet Pact of August 1939, which stated that Poland was to be partitioned between the two powers, enabled Germany to attack Poland without the fear of Soviet intervention. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland.”

British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
cheerfully greeted by Adolf Hitler
at the beginning of a meeting on 24 Sept 1938,
where Hitler demanded annexation of Czech
border areas without delay

WWII had begun. Appeasing Hitler did not work. The entire world was thrown into one of the worst wars in history and the near genocide of the Jewish population in Germany.

Just as the bible shows us pictures and types of Christs (Jonah, Mt 12:39-40, or Adam, Rom 5:14) the bible also shows us pictures and types of antichrists (Antiochus, for example). If Hitler was also a picture of the antichrist, and the Holocaust was a picture of the genocide to come in the Tribulation, then what parallels do we see today with what is happening between the US, France, Germany, Britain and Iran, Russia and Saudi Arabia?

Many.

Let’s start with what we know and work backward. The bible is truth and we know what we know from it because it is the word of God. Iran and Russia et al will attack Israel. (Ezekiel 38:4-6, 8). We know that there will be a final antichrist who will embody sin fully and completely. (2 Thessalonians 2:3). We know he will go after the Jews and Israel in the worst genocide there shall ever be, or will be again. He will also go after the Christians. (Revelation 12:13-17). We know sometime in the future, people will be clamoring for peace but while they are saying it, sudden destruction will come upon them. (1 Thessalonians 5:3). Kind of like Chamberlain saying we have peace for our time and then sudden destruction came anyway.

Did appeasing Hitler work? No. Will appeasing Iran work? No, the bible shows that Iran is a satanic regime hell-bent on world domination on behalf of their Allah, who is satan. Their hatred of Jews and of the nation Israel (and thus their hatred of God) knows no bounds and will not be stopped. The bible shows this. The LORD will use Iran as a judgment on His people Israel and so that the nations will know that God is alive in the world and holy, and is defending His people (Ezekiel 38:16).

The parallels of the Iran appeasement and the Germany appeasement have many similarities. One difference is that the Gog-Magog war will not break out until Israel believes itself secure. (Ezekiel 38:8). However, the convergence of so many prophetic indicators from a variety of prophetic spheres can’t be denied. [Falklands quake largest ever recorded]

Whether this is the moment, or that will be the moment we don’t know. (Matthew 25:13). But the similarities between history’s appeasing one antichrist type who hated Jews and started a holocaust, and today’s appeasing another antichrist type who hates Jews and will start a holocaust, are seen in the dramatic photo that Drudge, either knowingly or unknowingly, presented us today. Read this Wikipedia overview of Hitler’s Third Reich and think of the similarities to the coming Antichrist regime:

“Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are common names for Germany during the period from 1933 to 1945, when its government was controlled by Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist German Workers’ Party, commonly known as the Nazi Party. Under Hitler’s rule, Germany was transformed into a totalitarian state where nearly all aspects of life were controlled by the state. Nazi Germany ceased to exist after the Allied Forces defeated the Wehrmacht in May 1945, thus ending World War II in Europe.“

“After Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by the President of the Weimar Republic Paul von Hindenburg on 30 January 1933, the Nazi Party began to eliminate all political opposition and consolidate their power. Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934, and Hitler became dictator of Germany when the powers and offices of the Chancellery and Presidency were merged. A national referendum held 19 August 1934 confirmed Hitler as sole Führer (leader) of Germany. All power was centralised in Hitler’s hands, and his word was above all laws.“

Keep praying, the Lord our God will propel His events forward until His will is accomplished. But at all moments, He works good on behalf of all those who love Him, no matter the world’s circumstances and events.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28.

It is exciting to watch His prophetic word come alive and to think we may be seeing the beginnings of his final prophecies come to pass. It is just as exciting to see His providential outworking in our lives day to day. Either way, and both ways, it’s all good. The Lord our God is Holy, His son is Faithful and His Spirit is ministering to us right now. As Christians we are extremely blessed, because we have the great treasure of Jesus, and we have the opportunity for wisdom in knowing the bible through the Spirit’s illumination. This means we can pray for the people and events that are shaping our world today. And who knows, tomorrow our world may be in heaven.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For further reading

Israeli author: “I think this deal makes an Israeli strike inevitable.”

The Futile Search for a Secular Savior

Understanding Gog and Magog

The Coming Man of Sin, part 1

Posted in earthquakes, iran, israel, strange fire

Strange Fire defense; Indian seer sees gold; Israel quakes; Nomadic pursuits of beautiful earth; Bad real estate photos. More

Posted on by elizabethprata

Here are a few links for you to enjoy on various topics:

A measured and reasonable response to Strange Fire, a conference organized to reject the claims of Charismatics that prophecy, healing and tongues are a legitimate part of the church today. And truthful. It starts like this

In Defense of John MacArthur, Strange Fire Conference and the Challenge to the Charismatic Mov’t
“A lot of people seem to be angry with John MacArthur; it would be more comforting to me, and a greater testimony to American sensibility, if Christians were more concerned about Pat Robertson. That the former can openly state his opposition to what he believes the falsified expression of spiritual power, is far less offensive than a man who has openly and repeatedly claimed to be speaking the words of God, but whose failed prophesies have proven him heretical. Yet the former man is almost universally condemned as hateful and divisive, while the latter maintains his audience for what? Not one, but multiple generations, despite a televised broadcast in which he said that Jesus told him President Obama would lose the last election.”

I’m very conflicted about Halloween. Our church does a large and popular outreach. Yet it is the devil’s night. This essay settled some things for me.
Halloween: Trick, Treat or Missional? – Jo Saxton

Monumentally bad real estate photos that will make you laugh The captions make it.
Like this one:

Presumably the idea being conveyed here is that if you don’t buy the house, the agent can arrange for you come to significant harm when you least expect it. Submitted by Jaques LeHommes, for which merci.

Joel C Rosenberg posted the following about Israel:

Netanyahu makes case for a preemptive strike during major speech on the 40th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered a thinly veiled defense of a possible Israeli preemptive strike on Iran during a Knesset commemoration Tuesday of the 40th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War,” reports the Times of Israel.”

Speaking of Israel, there were several earthquakes there this week.

Two earthquakes in one day shake northern Israel
“Head of Geophysical Institute: Still no explanation for temblors; no reports of injuries or damage. While no injuries or significant damages afflicted surrounding areas, a string of minor earthquakes have rattled Israel’s North over the past few days – including two on Sunday alone.”

Jiro dreamed of sushi but this India seer dreams of gold- and everyone started digging
“NEW DELHI: Archaeologists began excavating an abandoned palace in Daudiakala village, Uttar Pradesh on Friday after a popular Hindu holy man said he dreamt 1,000 tonnes of gold were buried underneath. The dig at the fort of Raja Rao Ram Bux Singh in Daudiakala village, Uttar Pradesh, started after Swami Shobhan Sarkar relayed his vision of the treasure to a federal government minister three months ago.”

Jim Nix at Nomadic Pursuits has a slew of gorgeous HDR photos to feast your eyes on, like this one

“This is one beautiful cathedral, and I am very happy to have found it on my recent trip to Brussels. I passed through Brussels last year and despite shooting quite a bit of the town, I never actually saw this cathedral (or knew about it, honestly). I’m not sure how I missed it, but am glad that I corrected it when I was there a couple of weeks back.”

Posted in charismatic, iran, israel, peace talks

Iran: Armageddon at hand, prepare for war; plus other interesting links

Posted on by elizabethprata

Some interesting links for you.

False Conversions: The Suicide of the Church, A Conference Message by Mark Dever. Mark Dever diagnoses the problem of false conversions in the church and prescribes biblical solutions in his message from Together for the Gospel 2012.This link leads to an audio message.

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Reaction is growing to John MacArthur’s upcoming Strange Fire conference. The conference’s purpose is stated as follows:

“The Lord calls His people to honor Him, to treat Him as holy. Leviticus 10 pictures the consequences of not doing so—of offering to Him strange fire. For the last hundred years, the charismatic movement has been offering a strange fire of sorts to the third Person of the Godhead—the Holy Spirit. And evangelical churches have chosen to be silent or indifferent on the matter. This hasn’t served the church or the Spirit of the church with honor. So what should be our response? Strange Fire is a conference that will set forth what the Bible really says about the Holy Spirit, and how that squares with the charismatic movement. We’re going to address in a biblical, straightforward manner what many today see as a peripheral issue. On the contrary, your view of the Holy Spirit influences your relationship with God, your personal holiness, and your commitment to the church and evangelism.”

The Charismatics do not like this. Dr Michael Brown wrote two articles published in Charisma Magazine responding to the conference’s purpose, here, and calling MacArthur out.

“John MacArthur, Strange Fire and Blasphemy of the Spirit”

and here

An Appeal to John MacArthur to Embrace God’s True Fire

Fred Butler wrote this on behalf of Dr MacArthur:

A Mess in the Maternity Ward?

Annnnd … Dr Brown responded. Again.

Time to Talk, Not Fight: A Response to John MacArthur’s Ministry

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Proclaiming the Gospel has a great blog essay titled-

Christians are Exhorted to Judge
“Many Christians are unaware of their responsibility to judge and test all things. Paul exhorted: “I pray that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ” (Phil. 1:9-10). Christians need to take judgment seriously in this life because of the great responsibility that awaits us in the future.”

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Iran: Armageddon at hand, prepare for war
“Iran is again asserting that Armageddon is at hand and that the Islamic regime’s followers, indeed all of Islam, must prepare for a monumental change in the world. Officials of the Islamic regime last month held their annual conference on the Mahdism Doctrine to prepare for the coming of the last Islamic messiah, the Shiites’ 12th Imam, Mahdi. … Ali Larijani, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, said at the conference that, “I hope (Iran’s) Islamic Revolution is that of the righteous government before the coming,” according to Fars News Agency, the regime’s media outlet run by the Revolutionary Guards. “Righteous government” is a key to Mahdi’s return, the Shiites believe.”

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Mideast peace talks to begin this week. But why did Israel approve release of 104 terrorists?
“But why are they beginning with the Israelis agreeing to release 104 convicted Palestinian terrorists? Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas refused to agree to the talks unless Israel made a big concession. Abbas pressed hard for the release of convicted terrorists as one of those concessions. But why? Do you convince your interlocutors — or the rest of the world — that you really want peace by insisting on the release of Arabs who have murdered Israelis? Hardly. That said, it’s bad enough that Abbas insisted on such a thing, but why exactly did the Israeli government say yes?”

Posted in gog magog, iran, israel, military strategy, psalm 83 war

Was Israel’s Latest ‘Air’ Attack on Syria from a Submarine? This would be a game changer

Posted on by elizabethprata

Was Israel’s Latest ‘Air’ Attack on Syria from a Submarine?
“An attack two weeks ago that destroyed an advanced Russian missile shipment delivered to Syria’s Assad regime should also serve as a warning to Iran – and to those complacent Western diplomats who have (dangerously in my view) reconciled themselves to the idea of allowing Iran to go nuclear and then trying to contain it. For it seems that the July 5 attack on an arms depot near the Syrian naval base of Latakia, which has been attributed to Israel, came not from the air (as CNN and the New York Times reported last weekend) but from under the water.”

“Many Western officials who have apparently concluded that Israel could only destroy Iran’s nuclear program from the air – and that Israel does not have the capability to carry out such long-range air strikes in a decisive way – should take note. In recent years, Israel has greatly advanced its sea-based capabilities, and the geographical range of operations that Israel can mount from the sea, I am reliably told, now spans the entire globe. Israeli submarines are no longer confining themselves to the Mediterranean.”

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Hmmm. If that is true, then look at this.

Iran’s nuclear program has several locations as seen on the map below. I added Qom to the map below. Since the map below was formulated in 2009, it has been discovered that an underground secret facility exists in Qom. Bushehr is a main facility. Look where it is. Easily reachable by sea, if Israel can get a sub around the Strait of Hormuz. Bushehr is ON the sea.

Source

 You see how Bushehr is right ON the water. Click to enlarge.

Bushehr to Qom is 700 miles, reachable by sub missile. Every Submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) has intercontinental range. The Russian Navy patrols the Black sea by sub and surface ships but I suppose if Israel wanted to they may be able to get a sub in the Black Sea and attack Iran from the North. The Black Sea is the body of water yo see on the above map north of Tehran.

Either way, it was a big AHA! moment when the news reported that the Syrian attack on the Russian missile cache was performed by sea. Stay tuned…

Posted in iran, pakistan

Earthquake at Iran/Pakistan border, prelim 8.0-7.8

Posted on by elizabethprata

The quake just occurred so details are coming in now. The initial magnitude was placed at 8.0 but rated as 7.8 after that by US Geological Survey (USGS). The quake was felt over the entire Middle East region. News from Breaking News BNO now-

–Iran’s seismological agency says quake struck only 18 kms deep, though some other agencies say it appears more deep. USGS: 7.8-magnitude quake struck 53 miles of Khash, Iran at depth of just 9 miles

(the shallower the quake the more damage and the wider it is felt).

–Iran’s seismological agency says 7.5 quake struck 81 kms from Saravan in Sistan and Baluchestan Province

RadioPakistan reports, The quake was also felt in Islamabad, Peshawar, Multan and other cities and in Gulf states

Large earthquake felt in India’s capital New Delhi; quake also felt in Pakistan, across Gulf states – according to AlArabiya English, Reuters

Haggai 2:6 “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.

Posted in iran, north korea, tribulation, war

North Korea and Iran’s war drums are beating so loud the US responds

Posted on by elizabethprata

“Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle with You.”

OK, I took a liberty, changing the intent of the Stealers Wheel’s lyrics to add the capital Y to indicate God in the lyric.

I am concerned in watching the militaristic beating of the war drums to our “left” – North Korea, and to our “right” – Israel and Iran. Yet God is in control, He is in the middle of us. (Matthew 18:20).

Let’s take a look at the situation of North Korea first. Drudge put this up yesterday:

Always crazy, always unpredictable, North Korea is the one nation in the world which may indeed use nuclear weapons as a matter of curse or just for no reason. You never know what they may do, and that is because they are a closed nation. We are cut off from indicators, diplomatic channels, hints or feints. We are shadow boxing with a mirage when it comes to North Korea. They are closed to journalism, economic exchange, and communications. China is their only ally, and even they are getting exasperated with North Korea.

When you close a people off from the world they have no basis or benchmark to determine what reality is. The North Koreans believe that the US is poised to lob a nuke at them and that NK is right to defend themselves by lobbing one first.

The NK leaders, formerly Kim Jong Il and today’s Kim Jong Un, often make inflammatory statements that have no basis in reality. But no matter, they seem intent on striking the US with a nuclear weapon and they just might indeed do it.

Max Fisher at the Washington Post wrote a few days ago, “Here is a partial list of some of North Korea’s terrifying threats and provocations since the United Nations Security Council imposed new sanctions late last week: nullify the 60-year armistice that had ended the Korean War, sever the emergency communication line with South Korea, order frontline troops to prepare to “cut the windpipes” of their enemies, threaten to “wipe out” a South Korean island and pledge “all-out war.” ” Fisher said that NK loves to threaten WWIII (but probably won’t follow through“. Notice the ‘probably.’ I think they will. But I’m just a schmoe blogging in my pajamas. What do I know?

However, more seriously and ominously, the US apparently isn’t taking any chances. This time NK’s threats caused the US to make a response in action. They deployed missiles.

U.S. to bolster missile defenses to counter North Korea threat: Hagel
“(Reuters) – Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced plans on Friday to bolster U.S. missile defenses in response to a growing nuclear threat from North Korea, adding 14 interceptors to a missile defense site in Alaska by 2017 and deploying a radar tracking system in Japan. The decision to add 14 new anti-missile interceptors at Fort Greely in Alaska amounts to a reversal of an Obama administration decision in 2010 to stop expansion of the missile field there at 30 interceptors. The Bush administration had planned to deploy 44 total interceptors. Hagel said the decision to deploy all 44 interceptors came as a result of the growing threats from Iran and particularly North Korea, which tested a third nuclear device last month and launched a rocket that put a satellite in orbit in December.”

A government doesn’t move war materiel for nothing. When you start deploying missiles, it is serious.

Now as to the jokers to the right, Iran is also doing its crazy thing. The nation got daring this week. “An Iranian fighter jet approached a U.S. surveillance drone over the Persian Gulf but broke off its pursuit after the pilot of a U.S. escort plane radioed a verbal warning, the Pentagon said Thursday,” reports HuffPo.

More concerning is the wrangling between Israel and the US. The US says that the nuclear red line for Iran is more than a year away. Israel says it is a matter of weeks (this spring to summer).

Who is right? The mistake is not recoverable. I wrote in February of this year that the bible indicates  more than once that a nuclear war in the Tribulation is likely.

In another war drum beat, The Times of Israel reports that the Intelligence Chief says Syria is ready to use chemical weapons.

I don’t know when war will come. I don’t know from whence it will start. But it will. The bible tells us that in the Tribulation, peace will be taken from the earth. (Revelation 6:3-4; Matthew 24:6). However, I do not know how many wars or battles will take place prior to the removal of the saints in the rapture before the Tribulation begins. We must be prepared.

But that preparation will only last so long. We will be called home soon and whenever that event occurs, blessedly, we will study war no more.

Source

Above, Lesleigh Coyer, 25, of Saginaw, Michigan, lies down in front of the grave of her brother, Ryan Coyer, who served with the U.S. Army in both Iraq and Afghanistan, at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia March 11, 2013. Coyer died of complications from an injury sustained in Afghanistan. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

War is an outward indicator of the state of man’s heart. Man’s heart is wicked and deceitful, who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9). Man’s thoughts and intents are only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5). Unregenerated man is at a state of war with God, all the time. War on earth is the manifestation of all that.

But when Jesus comes, “He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” (Isaiah 2:4)

Cling to that. Man and Savior reconciled, man and nation at peace with themselves and with their Holy God. Hallelujah! (Colossians 1:20).

Posted in damascus, iran, israel, north korea, tribulation

Syria conflict: Many dead in huge Damascus bombing

Posted on by elizabethprata

BBC News reported yesterday,
“A huge car bomb in the Syrian capital Damascus has sent smoke billowing across the capital’s skyline.

“Syrian media and pan-Arab satellite station al-Jazeera have spoken of deaths and injuries resulting from the blast, which state media have blamed on “terrorists”. Ambulances rushed to the scene near headquarters of the ruling Baath party. The violence comes as Russia and the Arab League say they want to broker direct government-opposition talks. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described the violence as “a road to nowhere”.

“The opposition Syrian National Coalition is holding a two-day meeting in Egypt to discuss a framework for a possible solution to the Syrian war. Some 70,000 people have died since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011, the UN says.”

Other estimates have the casualties over the two-year civil war period as high as 90,000.

This photo from Syrian State Media Sana of the bombing shows a tragic story.

When Jesus said in Matthew 24:6 that as a sign of the end there would “be wars and rumors of wars,” that was a statement meant for the Tribulation. The discourse Jesus gave in Matthew 24 was regarding the 7-year Tribulation AKA Time of Jacob’s Trouble. The Tribulation as prophesied in Revelation 6-20 has not begun.

However, it is interesting to note the severity of the current situation both in the Middle East and in the Asian spheres (North Korea vs. South Korea, & China vs. Japan). It is even more interesting to note this in light of the fact that those two regions are specifically mentioned as being participants in the global end time Tribulation wars. (Isaiah 17, Isaiah 19, Psalm 83, Ezekiel 38-39, Rev 16:12, etc)

In Israel, war has taken on a heightened priority. Iran is nearing the red line in which there would be no turning back if they get close enough to developing a nuclear bomb. The red line refers to the moment of no return that Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel would not let Iran cross, when he spoke to the UN in September 2012. He said at that time that Iran would be close to finishing a bomb in the spring.

Israel-watcher Joel C. Rosenberg has more.

Netanyahu warns: IAEA centrifuge report shows Iran nearing nuclear “red line.”
“Iran has begun installing advanced centrifuges at its main uranium enrichment plant, a UN nuclear report said on Thursday,” according to Reuters and the Jerusalem Post. “In response, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that Iran is closer today than ever before to obtaining the necessary enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb. … Netanyahu termed the report “very grave,” and said it proved that Iran is moving swiftly toward the red line he set out at the UN in September. He said during that address that Iran must be stopped before it crosses that line, something he said at the time could happen as early as the spring.”

Several weeks ago, North Korea released a video that seemed to show an American city, likely New York, in flames due to a NK nuke. They have released another video, this time, depicting Obama on fire from flames in a nuclear blast. It is a crude response to the world condemnation for North Korea’s latest nuclear test. It does, however, remind us that our most potent enemy perhaps is North Korea.

Two weeks ago, I wrote about Iran’s boast that claimed they were already nuclear. In that piece I said that in my opinion nuclear exchanges will take place during the Tribulation, and showed how several verses from the bible seemed to show us either death from a nuclear war and cleanup from a nuclear war. In the same piece I’d linked to above, Joel Rosenberg write about Iran, NK, Israel, US and nukes, stating,

“This is particularly troublesome in the light of the fact North Korea recently conducted another nuclear warhead test. Guess who was present at the test? The head of Iran’s nuclear program. Did Pyongyang just help Iran test an A-bomb? As I’ve written on my blog, there is growing evidence that Iran and North Korea are working hand in glove in developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. Netanyahu warns that the North Korea nuclear bomb test proves that economic sanctions are not enough to stop Iran. …”

As I drove to work today, the car ahead of me was decorated at the back bumper with stickers. One said, “If you’ve seen one nuclear war, you’ve seen them all.”

That sentiment, as darkly humorous as it is, will soon be all too true.

Posted in google earth, iran, israel, star of david

Google earth reveals Star of David emblazoned on Iran airport roof, Iranians outraged

Posted on by elizabethprata

Outrage After Google Image Reveals Star of David on Roof of Iran Airport
“Iranian officials reportedly are outraged after learning that a Google Earth satellite image revealed a star of David emblazoned atop the roof of the Tehran airport. According to Arabic language news outlet Al Arabiya, national leaders called for the immediate removal of the Zionist symbol after it was discovered on top of the main building of Iran Air. Although Israel and Iran broke ties more than 30 years ago, Al Arabiya reported that the Iran Air building was built by Israeli engineers before the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Citing local reports, it also said that not only did the Iranian government hire Israeli engineers to build the airliner’s headquarters, it also scheduled regular flights between the two countries.”

O, the horra.

I think it’s funnier that it took the Iranians 30 years to notice…