Category: iraq

Posted in iraq, ISIS, jonah, mercy, muslim nineveh

God loves the Muslim terrorists of ISIS

Posted on by elizabethprata

I’ve written before of how many parallels there are between the ancient Ninevites and their brutality, and today’s ISIS members and their terrorism. From the same region as Nineveh, Assyria now comes ISIS, which one of their own leaders called/calls himself “Prince of Nineveh.” We know that the ancient Assyrians did not worship God but were pagan.

The ancient Ninevites were so held in terror and fear, and so firmly did the hapless cities which lay in their path know this, that oftentimes all the Assyrians had to do is march to a city and announce to the besieged residents a list all the other cities they had conquered, and capitulation would ensue almost immediately. (2 Chronicles 32:18)

As for their gleeful, maniacal brutality, the ancient Assyrians used to push meathooks into the jaws of captured prisoners of war and march them back to Nineveh. Others, they threw off ramparts as a warning, or skinned them alive and hung the skins over the walls to graphically illustrate the penalty for opposing them. Ancient Ninevites were brutal, bringing new meaning to the word.

ISIS is the same. From the exact region of ancient Nineveh, we see a re-emergence of that same demonic spirit. One of gleeful brutality, of worship of satanic gods, of horror and shock. We see swords flashing, heads rolling, blood-stained beaches, children fleeing, houses burning. We see exultation amid the black hooded ISIS men, and we pray for the people in their path, just as sister cities Lachish (which was conquered by the Assyrians, 2 Kings 18; 2 Chronicles 32, Micah 1:13) and Jerusalem (which wasn’t, 2 Chronicles 32:1-33, 2 Kings 19:35) endured.

Judean captives being led away into slavery by the Assyrians
after the siege of Lachish in 701 B.C.

But God loved the Ninevites.

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” (Jonah 1:1-2)

We know from the biblical account that Jonah did not do this. He fled in the other direction. Why, we’re never quite told. Perhaps Jonah was afraid. After all, no one likes having a meathook put in their jaw and being led across the desert sands as a captive. Perhaps Jonah had had family that was killed at Lachish or some other place. Perhaps Jonah was simply afraid. We do know that Jonah resented God’s version of justice. Salvation and repentance were not for the Ninevites, thought Jonah. “Why should they get it?” (Jonah 4:1)

The ancient Assyrian royal city of Kalhu, The archaeological site of Nimrud
was known in antiquity as Kalhu (biblical Calah). It is located just to the east
of the Tigris river, in what is nowadays northern Iraq, some 30 km (roughly 20 miles)
south of the the modern city of Mosul. Although Nimrud is now a peaceful archaeological
site in the countryside, in ancient times Kalhu was a huge and bustling city. It served
as the capital of the mighty Assyrian empire for nearly 200 years, from the early 9th to
the late 8th century BC, but was also inhabited for many centuries before and after.

Soon, Jonah needed to repent for his disobedience and hope in the LORD’s mercy be extended to himself. And it was. God delivered Jonah from the great fish and then said a second time to go preach judgment, repentance and salvation to the Ninevites.

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. (Jonah 3:1-3a)

The evil, brutal people heard the LORD in Jonah.

And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. (Jonah 3:5)

Starting with the King.

And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. (Jonah 3:7-10)

God loves the ISIS terrorists, the folks of modern day Nineveh (Mosul) and all pagan peoples. We know this because back in the day God did the best thing possible for them: He sent Jonah to preach judgment and righteousness to them so that they may know the LORD. Today He sends missionaries for the same reason.

And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” (Jonah 4:10-11)

The main lesson of the book. If Jonah so pities a plant which cost him no toil to rear, and which is so short lived and valueless, much more must Jehovah pity those hundreds of thousands of immortal men and women in great Nineveh whom He has made with such a display of creative power, especially when many of them repent, and seeing that, if all in it were destroyed, “more than six score thousand” of unoffending children, besides “much cattle,” would be involved in the common destruction: Compare the same argument drawn from God’s justice and mercy in Gen 18:23–33.

Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

but the persons in Nineveh whom God had compassion on were all the work of his own hands, whose being he was the author of, whose lives he was the preserver of, whom he planted and made to grow; he made them, and his they were, and therefore he had much more reason to have compassion on them, for he cannot despise the work of his own hands (Job 10:3). … That though God may suffer his people to fall into sin, yet he will not suffer them to lie still in it, but will take a course effectually to show them their error, and to bring them to themselves and to their right mind again…That God will justify himself in the methods of his grace towards repenting returning sinners as well as in the course his justice takes with those that persist in their rebellion

Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible.

We can be a part of the effort to urge mercy rather than judgment. God loves and pities His wayward people, even the brutal ones.

there is one Lord over all, that is rich in mercy to all that call upon him, and in every nation, in Nineveh as well as in Israel, he that fears God and works righteousness is accepted of him; he that repents, and turns from his evil way, shall find mercy with him

Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible.

Posted in babylon, chaldea, iraq, prophecy, time magazine

Time Magazine this week: "The End of Iraq"?

Posted on by elizabethprata
Time Magazine’s new cover features this photo, obviously their political opinion of what is happening in that troubled region of the world. They wrote, “The sudden military victories of a Sunni militant group threaten to touch off a maelstrom in the Middle East“

It is my opinion too, but not because it’s political, but because it’s prophetic.

The Atlantic published this today-

The New Map of the Middle East
Why should we fight the inevitable break-up of Iraq?

Almost seven years ago, I wrote a cover story for this magazine about the coming collapse of the post-World War I Middle East map. I conducted the reporting for the story, which we eventually called “After Iraq: What Will the Middle East Look Like,” in the fall of 2007—pre-Obama, pre-Arab Spring, pre-a lot of things—but even back then, it was fairly obvious that the age of Middle East stability (relatively speaking) was coming to an end.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the last of the last days (days immediately prior to the rapture) and in the Tribulation, borders are going to be redrawn. Borders will be fluid, change, and disappear. We know this because of prophecy. Here are two examples:

1. In Daniel it is written that in the time of the antichrist there will be ten kingdoms. After the Antichrist takes control, the globe will be divided into ten kingdoms with ten kings (Daniel 7:7, 20-24).

2. We also know that borders are going to be redrawn because during the Tribulation, Israel acquires their covenental land, so that when the Millennium Kingdom is installed and Jesus reigns on earth, God’s promise to His people regarding their lands will be restored to them in full and His promise completed. (Read more here).

Secondly, we know that borders are going to be redrawn because of history. Borders are always being redrawn. Nations’ names even change- not just in the distant past but even in current history. (Burma—> Myanmar; Sudan into North Sudan and South Sudan, into UN-recognized separate countries).

In January 1991 the Soviet Union had the world’s longest boundary, clocked at 37,000 miles! But when the Union split and the 15 countries within it went their way, the borders changed. By December 1991, the USSR was no more. During that heady time, it seemed that new countries were emerging every day. Maps became outdated every year. It was a dizzying time, and I remember it well.

Just a few months ago the Crimea split from Ukraine and is now occupied by Russia. Abyssinia was the name of Ethiopia until the early 20th century. Namibia was born from Southwest Africa as an independent nation in 1990. The original Yugoslavia had borders much different than it does now. It’s now divided up into Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, and Slovenia. This occurred in the early 1990s.

So you see, new nations come and go. In addition, wars usually change borders. Austria-Hungary was a long-lasting monarchy established in 1867. It included not just Austria and Hungary, but also parts of the Czech Republic, Poland, Italy, Romania, and the Balkans. World War I redrew all those borders.

WWII changed a lot of borders. Prussia ceased to exist and the current Germany came to being.

So when we see an alarming national magazine cover that poses the question, “The End of Iraq?” one isn’t perturbed because it is the way of things for nations to come and go, borders ebb and flow, and names change and change again.

Mot assuredly of all, we know prophecy is simply history written before the time. God is in control of all nations.

For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. (Psalm 22:28)

Iraq is the home to the ancient land of Babylon. After the Flood, the world’s first tyrant, Nimrod, built Babylon and Nineveh and many other cities. He subdued the peoples and united them. He also led the world’s first rebellion against God (Genesis 11, Tower of Babel). The Plains of Shinar, Mesopotamia, Chaldea…they were, are, and will be “Iraq”. Let’s move from south to north in looking at this most historical and ancient of lands, Iraq.

Bible Study: Chaldea

Where you see “Babylon” on the map, just 50 miles to the north is Baghdad. Where you see “Nineveh” on the map, is Mosul now, just across the river.

~~~~~~~~~Chaldea~~~~~~~~~

Easton’s bible dictionary defines Chaldea

The southern portion of Babylonia, Lower Mesopotamia, lying chiefly on the right bank of the Euphrates, but commonly used of the whole of the Mesopotamian plain. The Hebrew name is Kasdim, which is usually rendered “Chaldeans” (Jeremiah 50:10; 51:24, 35).

Somewhere between 593 and 565 B.C. during the Babylonian captivity Ezekiel wrote the following:

“You also multiplied your harlotry with the land of merchants, Chaldea, yet even with this you were not satisfied.“‘ (Ezekiel 16:29, NAS)

So, even in the beginning the region was called ‘the land of merchants’ and at the end of time it will be called so again. The last empire of man will be focused at Babylon, and it will be a religious empire and a commercial empire. In Revelation 18:11-13 we read that ‘all the world’s merchants’ mourn the loss of the great city because of its stupendous commerce.

~~~~~~~~~Mesopotamia~~~~~~~~~

Moving north from Chaldea a bit, we haveMesopotamia. Easton’s Bible Dictionary describes Mesopotamia:

The country between the two rivers (Hebrews Aram-naharaim; i.e., “Syria of the two rivers”), the name given by the Greeks and Romans to the region between the Euphrates and the Tigris (Genesis 24:10; Deuteronomy 23:4; Judges 3:8, 10). In the Old Testament it is mentioned also under the name “Padan-aram;” i.e., the plain of Aram, or Syria (Genesis 25:20). The northern portion of this fertile plateau was the original home of the ancestors of the Hebrews (Genesis 11; Acts 7:2). From this region Isaac obtained his wife Rebecca (Genesis 24:10, 15), and here also Jacob sojourned (28:2-7) and obtained his wives, and here most of his sons were born (35:26; 46:15). The petty, independent tribes of this region, each under its own prince, were warlike, and used chariots in battle. They maintained their independence till after the time of David, when they fell under the dominion of Assyria, and were absorbed into the empire (2 Kings 19:13).

~~~~~~~~~Babylon~~~~~~~~~

Moving north still, here is Easton’s again, describing the Kingdom of Babylon. Remember, we’re going through this history of changing names because today’s Iraq IS this ancient land.

Called “the land of the Chaldeans” (Jeremiah 24:5; Ezek, 12:13), was an extensive province in Central Asia along the valley of the Tigris from the Persian Gulf northward for some 300 miles. It was famed for its fertility and its riches. Its capital was the city of Babylon, a great commercial centre (Ezek. 17:4; Isaiah 43:14). Babylonia was divided into the two districts of Accad in the north, and Summer (probably the Shinar of the Old Testament) in the south. Among its chief cities may be mentioned Ur (now Mugheir or Mugayyar), on the western bank of the Euphrates; Uruk, or Erech (Genesis 10:10) (now Warka), between Ur and Babylon; Larsa (now Senkereh), the Ellasar of Genesis 14:1, a little to the east of Erech; Nipur (now Niffer), south-east of Babylon; Sepharvaim (2 Kings 17:24), “the two Sipparas” (now Abu-Habba), considerably to the north of Babylon; and Eridu, “the good city” (now Abu-Shahrein), which lay originally on the shore of the Persian Gulf, but is now, owing to the silting up of the sand, about 100 miles distant from it. Another city was Kulunu, or Calneh (Genesis 10:10).

In addition to being labeled the land of merchants, it is also called the land of Nimrod. (Micah 5:6, more here about Nimrod.) As you read the above description by Easton, note the cities of Babylon. Most were founded by Nimrod. (Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh in Shinar (Genesis 10:8-10). That’s why I put them in bold.

Later Nimrod extended his Babylonian Kingdom and “went into Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city.” (Genesis 10:11-12).

~~~~~~~~~Assyria~~~~~~~~~

In the north, Assyria began as a Babylonian colony. It eventually shook off its colonizers and became one of the largest (and most brutally vicious) kingdoms in history.

Easton’s on Assyria-

The name derived from the city Asshur on the Tigris, the original capital of the country, was originally a colony from Babylonia, and was ruled by viceroys from that kingdom. It was a mountainous region lying to the north of Babylonia, extending along the Tigris as far as to the high mountain range of Armenia, the Gordiaean or Carduchian mountains. It was founded in B.C. 1700 under Bel-kap-kapu, and became an independent and a conquering power, and shook off the yoke of its Babylonian masters. It subdued the whole of Northern Asia

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So when the secular media pronounces a death knell on Iraq, is it true? Yes and no. Perhaps we’re seeing the name Iraq pass into history, as Chaldea, Babylon, and Mesopotamia have. Perhaps we are seeing the borders of the Iraq as we’ve known it pass into history, once again. Kingdoms rise, live for a time, and die.

He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; (Daniel 2:21)

What we are seeing is the hand of God in His providential working out of His plan for the Gentile nations, and His people Israel. These lands, Assyria especially, are so evil, the LORD will strike them and judge them. (Isaiah 66:15-16)

Yet, He is merciful! He will restore them! He blesses His lands and His people!

In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance. (Isaiah 19:24-25)

Posted in gay pride, homosexuality, iraq, ISIS, israel, jesus, judgment

Tel Aviv, Sodom’s new headquarters; part 2 ISIS and prophecy

Posted on by elizabethprata

In both the introduction, Do the events of today in Iraq have prophetic import? and in Part 1, “Has the Assyrian Empire just revived? ISIS, Baghdad, and the Middle East in prophecy part 1,” I discussed the terrible unfolding events of the near-collapse of Iraq as the terror militant group ISIS drives forward to capture huge swathes of Iraq, Syria and part of Turkey. I’d said that though we don’t know for certain if these are directly prophetic events, but that such sudden moves in bible lands are always worth watching and worth praying over.

Over 800,000 Iraqis are fleeing the incoming army of rabidly ferocious ISIS soldiers. The refugee situation in the area is horrific, with millions of displaced Syrians already in ever-growing refugee camps in Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan, and even Italy. Where are these Iraqi refugees going to go?

They are fleeing because the ISIS group is known for violence, bloodshed, and brutality. The UK newspapers are reporting streets lined with heads, as beheading of even surrendering opposition takes place. Targeting of civilians is common. God, being holy and just, is not pleased with such sin.

I made the comment that the lands the ISIS insurgent group has re-taken are lands that match the heart of the old nation of Assyria, the once most feared empire on earth. Things don’t change, I’d written, because the enmity between them and God was put there in the Garden after the Fall (Genesis 3:15). It will remain until Jesus returns.

In the bible it is equally clear that He uses nations to render judgment for sin. In the past He especially used Assyria as ‘His rod’ to punish Israel for their sins.

He used Isaiah and Micah and Hosea to warn, and “Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer” (2 Kings 17:13). Israel did not repent and the invasion came to pass.

Isaiah gave one of the warnings:

“Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hand is My indignation. I will send him against an ungodly nation, And against the people of My wrath I will give him charge, To seize the spoil, to take the prey, And to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Yet he does not mean so, Nor does his heart think so; But it is in his heart to destroy, And cut off not a few nations.” (Isaiah 10:5-7)

Here is the result: Israel did NOT repent,

Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land and went up to Samaria and besieged it three years. 6In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. (2 Kings 17:5-6)

Wikipedia gives an overview: “The Northern Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian monarchs, Tiglath-Pileser III (Pul) and Shalmaneser V. The later Assyrian rulers Sargon II and his son and successor, Sennacherib, were responsible for finishing the twenty-year demise of Israel’s northern ten-tribe kingdom, although they did not overtake the Southern Kingdom.”

In that case God used Assyria as His rod to punish Israel for their disobedience and preserved a remnant for Himself (the Southern Kingdom).

What was Israel doing that ignited God’s ire so much? 2 Kings 17 records one warning:

“they had feared other gods, and had walked in the statutes of the nations whom the LORD had cast out from before the children of Israel, …

And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God,  …

So they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, made for themselves a molded image and two calves, made a wooden image and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. …

And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger. …

the LORD removed Israel out of His sight, as He had said by all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria, as it is to this day.“

God doesn’t change, His expectations for His people do not change. He expects His people Israel and His Bride the Church to be holy, to seek after Him and Him alone. Does one believe that God will overlook this, going on in Tel Aviv, Israel this very day?

Gay Pride flag flies in US embassy in Tel Aviv Israel
Welcome to Sodom’s New Headquarters
“The U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, has hoisted the gay pride flag over the embassy building in Tel Aviv. Todd Starnes grabbed the pic from the embassy’s Facebook page.”

The UK Independent reports backlash!
“The US embassy in Tel Aviv faced a backlash of criticism after it raised the rainbow flag next to the American flag above its office for the first time in history earlier this week. On Tuesday, Daniel Shapiro, the US ambassador to Israel, made the announcement that the rainbow flag had been raised during Tel Aviv’s Pride Week, which runs until 14 June. “For the first time in history,” Mr Shapiro wrote on the embassy’s Facebook page, “the US Embassy in Tel Aviv has raised the Pride flag together with our American flag. We are proud to join with the municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo and its residents in celebrating LGBT Pride Week.” … But Mr Shapiro’s announcement was met with a barrage of angry comments from users claiming it did not represent the views held by American citizens, with many demanding the flag be taken down immediately.“

The Jerusalem Post reports that as Tel Aviv “celebrates” Gay Pride week, Tel Aviv is the world’s “best gay city.”
People of all ages, races, nationalities and sexual identities, many scantily clad and adorned in rainbow flags, crammed into the vibrant park-space in central Tel Aviv to listen to local musical performances, visit stalls of organizers and activists, hear an introduction from Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai, and show off the best of LGBTQ culture. It is no surprise that this event was so heavily attended; the only state in the Middle East that does not outlaw homosexuality, Israel, and specifically Tel Aviv, is host to a large and vibrant LGBTQ activist community. … The parade ended in a massive beach party at Charles Clore Park, after which attendees dispersed to explore the best that “the world’s best gay city” had to offer. “

Source

Twitter comment regarding the above photo: “100,000+ #LGBT people have gathered in #Israel for gay pride parade. Imagine that anywhere else in the Middle East.“

I submit to you the point of this essay: that the beheading violence from the ISIS soldiers in Mosul Iraq is just as violent and abhorrent to God as the kissing queers on the Israeli beach. Does one think that our Holy God who was outraged at the sodomy at Sodom and Gomorrah would not also be angry at the sodomy at the new Sodom, Tel Aviv? He is.

He will bring judgment to Israel, and punish them severely. This is coming. It is prophesied.

Revelation 11:8 makes reference to Jerusalem being metaphorical Sodom!

and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.

He will punish.

“I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem.” (Zechariah 12:2)

“For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city.” (Zechariah 14:2)

“but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.” (Revelation 11:2)

Does America, that bastion of homosexual ‘equality’, think it will escape the judgment of Holy God? Our sins are so many. Sodom didn’t escape. Gomorrah didn’t escape. Admah didn’t. Zeboiim didn’t. Jerusalem won’t. This news from earlier today

When Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi walked away from a U.S. detention camp in 2009, the future leader of ISIS issued some chilling final words to reservists from Long Island. “See you in New York.”

 Army Col. Kenneth King, then the commanding officer of Camp Bucca, didn’t take these words from Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as a threat. Al-Baghdadi knew that many of his captors were from New York, reservists with the 306 Military Police Battalion, a unit based on Long Island that includes numerous numerous members of the NYPD and the FDNY. King had not imagined that in less that five years he would be seeing news reports that al-Baghdadi was the leader of ISIS, the ultra-extremist army that was sweeping through Iraq toward Baghdad. … King says “He was a bad dude, but he wasn’t the worst of the worst.” That is the face that King was so surprised to see this week as the man who had become the absolute worst of the worst, so bad that even al Qaeda had disowned him. The whole world was stunned as al-Baghdadi now told his enemies “I’ll see you in Baghdad.”

Israel’s judgment will be severe, as it will be for all those on earth enduring the punishment of wrath from a Holy God. Sin must be dealt with. One can wait and have the angry God deal with you regarding your sin, or you can deal with it now, during the Age of Grace.

and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)

What IS The Gospel? From Bible.org,
In a day of depressing headlines and uncertainty all around us, good news is very welcome. What better news could there be than as the old hymn says: “The vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives?” When Christians refer to the “Gospel” they are referring to the “good news” that Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for our sin so that we might become the children of God through faith alone in Christ alone. In short, “the Gospel” is the sum total of the saving truth as God has communicated it to lost humanity as it is revealed in the person of His Son and in the Holy Scriptures, the Bible. If you aren’t sure whether or not you are God’s child, you might want to read God’s Plan of Salvation.

Be saved today! Be saved from his wrath and the coming judgment. Meet Jesus as friend, father, Groom.

Saved, Saved: