Disclaimer: The author intends these articles to assist the reader in understanding the End Times prophecies of the Holy Bible. There is no intention to provoke hatred towards any group, tribe, or nation. Even the family of the Antichrist deserves to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ! The book of Revelation states that there will be members of every tribe, nation, kingdom, and tongue, in Heaven! It is the hope of the author to provoke Christians to witness of the love and forgiveness of God toward all who will listen! It is his hope that we will share in the joy of seeing even family members of the Antichrist himself, in Heaven with Jesus!

Over the last few days, as details of the P5 +1 deal with Iran have been coming out, more and more thinking people are becoming outraged at this betrayal of western society, by our leaders.  It is clear that western leaders do have the intelligence that says the Iranians intend to build a nuclear bomb.  Iran’s continued cooperation with North Korea in the testing of an ICBM is proof that their nuclear program is not peaceful in nature.
Thinking people, of whom there are few left, are anticipationg, with dread, what comes next.

Iran has explicitly stated that they intend to destroy Israel, even as recently as the week before the deal.  It appears that Obama agrees with the Iranians, that Israel is the problem in the Middle East, and he is giving them the time they need to build their bomb.  John Kerry’s recent statements about the Israeli Palestinian peace process indicate that he too agrees that Israel is the problem.

As Caroline Glick points out in her article, Blind Watchmen,  shows that there are numerous people in the upper levels of Israel’s military, and government, who still want to give Obama, and Iran, the benefit of the doubt!

There is no shortage of opinions on the subject, but what most of the commentators ignore, is the Word of God.  Most people, even Christians, seem to think that we have to figure it out by ourselves.  The truth is that everything we really need, about the End Times, is actually there in the bible, but most of us dismiss it when we read it, because we are not listening to the Holy Spirit when He speaks to us.

As in the time of Moses, He still speaks in a still small voice, as you read His Word, and it is so easy to let the world drown Him out.

Take Psalm 83, for instance.  How many millions of people had read that psalm before one man realized that it has end-times implications?  Well, Bill Sallus found it, but because of his prior beliefs, he still tried to fit it into the Dispensational End Times scenario.  Specifically, he tried to place it within the Tribulation period, after the rapture of the Church, but it just won’t fit there.  There simply is not enough time in a seven year Tribulation period, for the Psalm 83 war, the Gog and Magog war, the rebuilding of the Temple, the abomination of desolation, and Armageddon.  And, this is not to mention all the other End Times events of both the Old Testament as well as Revelation.

Both the Psalm 83 war, and the Gog and Magog war, of Ezekiel 38-39, fit better as Church-age events.  In fact I believe Jesus was referring to these wars when He said “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” Matthew 24:6

You see, Jesus was always referring to the Old Testament Scriptures.  He never left us alone to guess what He meant!  As He said on another subject  “Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.” Matthew 22:29  The truth is, this statement applies to every subject touched by the Scriptures.

I have recently noticed that numerous prophecy scholars are pointing to the current Russian alliance with Iran, and Turkey’s friendliness with Iran, as a sign that the Gog and Magog war, of Ezekiel 38-39, is imminent.

Compared to the last 2,000 years, it is becoming imminent, but I still think there will be several years before that war commences.  The truth is that not all of the conditions of that war have been met.

For one thing, Israel is not a land living at peace, and cannot be said to be a “land brought back from the sword” (Eze. 38:8).  With the Security Barrier currently under construction, to keep out Palestinian terrorists, it cannot be said that Israel is “at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,” (Verse 11).

Before the Ezekiel 38-39 war ensues, Israel’s Security Barrier must come down.  This means that the Gog and Magog war is NOT IMMINENT.

As you read through the Ezekiel account, it becomes apparent that the Gog/Magog war is a surprise attack.  In other words, Israel will not have reason to suspect that an attack is imminent.  Given the current state of Iran’s nuclear program, and the recent statements by leading Iranian Mullahs that they intend to destroy Israel, and Iran is the worlds largest state sponsor of terrorism,) mostly aimed at Israel and Jews!

Last year Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Kamenei was reported to say “The great powers have dominated the destiny of the Islamic countries for years and… installed the Zionist cancerous tumour in the heart of the Islamic world,”

While I believe that Iran really does want to destroy Israel, I am certain the Israelis believe so also.  In order for Israel to let down their guard, Iran must embark on a long-lasting charm offensive.  It will take years before Israel would stand down and let down their guard.

Ezekiel indicates that Israel will let down their guard, and so we must conclude, once again, that the Gog/Magog war is still years away.

Again, considering that Israel has nuclear weapons, yet the Ezekiel account does not speak of such warfare, it is likely that Israel will disarm their nuclear arsenal before the Gog/Magog attack.  But, why would Israel disarm their nuclear program?  The best answer is that they will disarm their nuclear program after having already used some of them during the Psalm 83 war!

The bible speaks of the destruction by fire of Damascus, Lebanon and parts of Egypt. (Isaiah 17:1, 19:17, and Zechariah 11:1).  I believe the evidence is that these prophecies are the result of the attack in   Psalm 83.  Israel will wait until they are almost being pushed into the sea, and then they will unleash their nuclear arsenal against their attackers, and I support them in this.  The land belongs to the Jewish people, and any Arab who lives there needs to acknowledge this, and all others who live there are guests.

Because of the horrors of the Psalm 83 war, the Arabs will sue for peace.  They will relinquish all claims against Jerusalem, and Israel will finally control most of the land God has promissed them… all the way from the Euphrates to the Nile!  As a result of this peace, both Israel and the Arabs will become prosperous!

Because of the horrors of the Psalm 83 war, someone from Europe will broker a peace treaty between Israel and the Arabs, and a part of that treaty will be that Israel must relinquish her nuclear weapons, and the Arabs also, will disarm.  They will be able to do this, for another reason also;  Europe will guarantee their security.  This is why I say that the European leader at this time, will be a decoy-Antichrist, and the pope will likely be a stand-in for the false prophet.

As the Arabs suffer such a massive loss of face, with such a serious military disaster, many of them will abandon Islam.  The Muslims with a Jewish background, (their ancestors were forced to convert to Islam or die), will return to the God of their fathers.  Others will turn to Christianity, or the New Age.  Those who remain Muslim will be nominal Muslims only.  The result in Iran will be different.  Iran will blame the Arabs, because Islam fosters racism, even against other Muslims.

Still, Iran and Russia will not attack right away.  First, they will need to ascertain that the Israeli nukes are gone, and then they really won’t want to attack a land infected with nuclear fallout and devastated cities.  No, they will not attack until they see the prosperity of Israel in the wake of the Psalm 83 war, several years later.

Europe will be another problem for the Gog/Magog coalition.

In light of Europe’s deal to provide security for the region, the Russian/Iranian coalition will have another problem to deal with.

As I said before, when Europe has guaranteed to provide security for Israel, then the Russo/Iranian coalition will have to neutralize Europe as they advance on the Middle East.  This is where I see the destruction of Rome.  Rome will be neutralized by another nuclear holocaust, and the pope and European leader with her.  Being leaderless, and having their own tragedy to deal with, they will not impede the attack on Israel.

I believe many Christians will look at this attack as being the destruction of the Harlot of Revelation 18.  It isn’t.  It is one of Satan’s meticulously created decoys.

Before this occurs, look for the European Union to shrink in size down to about ten nations.  I expect the productive nations of Eastern Europe will likely form another union, which may not be a part of this war.  If it is, it might surprise many which side it is on.

The ten nation European confederacy will NOT be the ten nations of Revelation 17, but Satan will do his best to make it look like it is.  He knows a thing or two about prophecy.  After all, he has had more time to study it than any of us!

So, does what I am describing look like the biblical Tribulation period?  It should.  Satan will work very hard to create the illusion of the Tribulation.  Once again this is why Jesus said;

6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.  8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. Mat. 24:6-8

Why would Jesus’ followers be troubled at just any war?  Christians have been through hundreds of wars throughout history, but this time it is different.  This time it looks like it is the Tribulation.  Something like the Tribulation will occur while the Church is still on the earth, but it isn’t the Tribulation because we are not objects of wrath!  He won’t forget about His own!

This is one of the major errors of Dispensationalism; the idea that there can be no fulfilments of prophecy while the Church is still on the earth.  There can be, have been, and there will be more, and yet the Rapture of the Church is still a Pre-Tribulation event!  Having said this, I must say that Dispensationalism, on the subject of the pre-trib rapture and the seven year Tribulation period, is still closer to the truth than Amillennialism, Post-millennialism and Preterism.  These latter three are actually attacks on the character of God!  Dispensationalists, in spite of their errors were at least sincerely searching Scripture, and they did indeed find valuable teachings (treasures) that most had missed.

There are actually several other predictions I would make, regarding current events in the Middle East, based on my understanding of the bible’s End Times prophecies, but I will save them for my next post.

In the mean time,

Shalom, and God Bless,

Dan