Iranian Threat to Israel

The Persian Empire once occupied the area we know it today is Iran and Pakistan. The Elamite Empire occupied variation before became known as the Persian Empire under King Cyrus the great in the 6TH century BC. Cyrus is followed by King Darius, who defeated the Babylonian Empire and later attacked Greece. He also released the Jews from their captivity in 538 BC, allowing them to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. The Persian army was defeated in the Battle of Marathon, and Greece. Alexander the great unified the Grecian armies which conquered the last Persian King Xerxes, and controlled the entire Middle East, including North Africa. The Persian Empire was first introduced in the Bible in the book of Esther. In the book of Daniel, the Persian Empire is the second Empire mentioned in Nebuchadnezzar's dream. Daniel's visions give it to description, one as a kingdom of silver, second has a great bear. The people Persia were known as Persians, Scythians, and Medes.

The people in the region of Persia became unified as a Shia Islamic state in the 15th century. The people in the region have identified themselves as Persians until the 1990s. It is called the Islamic Republic of Iran. He began as a monarchy under the Shah, closely allied with Western countries. As an in 1979 Islamic revolution forced the Shah to flee the country. An Islamic revolutionary named Ruhollah Khomeini said of the Islamic theocracy that rules Iran today. The Shia sect of Islam is dominant in Iran and far more radicalized then the Sunni sect, which dominates Saudi Arabia.

The Iranian/Saudi Arabian Conflict

It's interesting to see that Saudi Arabia has numerous peace accords with Israel and has actually honored them. Israel now trades goods with Saudi Arabia as well as conducts military exercises with them. They both view Iran as a greater threat and have allied themselves accordingly.

Two major wars loom on the horizon. I believe the first is described in Psalms chapter 83, the Confederacy against Israel. This war describes the Confederation of nations bordering Israel that would attack Israel, and be utterly destroyed by the IDF, Israeli defense force. The war subsequent to the Psalms 83 this war is the Gog and Magog war in Ezekiel chapter 38 and 39. Russia and Iran are the primary two nations named along with other allies. We can see this coming together today. The events we see happening on the news regarding Iran in his hostilities in the Middle East are predictable because the Bible is laid out intentions and actions in advance. The United States is seeking to limit Iran's ability to cause havoc in the region and wage war against Israel by limiting its resources. Iran’s primary export is oil. Without oil and the massive amount of revenues it produces, they could not maintain their very large army or afford the very expensive process of developing uranium. The sanctions imposed on Iran are intended to allow an international body of nations to monitor Iran's uranium activities and arms exports to terrorist groups in the region. Unfortunately, enemies of the United States like China and Russia are aiding Iran in developing nuclear weapons. They're also helping Iran sell its oil the black market. Iran is a cash cow to nations who compete against the United States militarily and economically. This leaves huge questions as to why the previous administration sought to lift economic sanctions on Iran and send them over billion dollars in cash.

This missile says “Israel must be destroyed” in Hebrew.

Now that the United States has begun the process of leveling trade imbalances with China and Europe, the EU and China are resistant to sanctioning Iran. They're seeking any loopholes and bypasses around the effort to isolate Iran and its terrorist efforts. This should open the eyes of everyone that were on the path towards the war of Gog and Magog. Germany and France are leading the charge to continue trade with Iran for their own gain despite the threats of Iran to destroy Israel. The EU, Russia, and China could care less about the threat to Israel as long as they can continue to profit from the oil and trade of Iran. I believe sanctions on Iran will eventually be viewed as hostility towards Russia and the EU and lead toward military action. Iran does not have the ability to wage a conventional war against Israel. Despite Iran's exceedingly greater population and land mass over Israel, Israel's military defeat Iran quickly and easily. Even if Iran had the ability to in a conventional war against Israel, Israel has enough nuclear weapons to destroy Iran 20 times over, at least. This is why we see a lot of verbal posturing by Iran, but no direct action. He seeks a long campaign against Israel to create as many allies as possible to stand with them. This effort has not been working out because Israel has actually increased its number of allies in the region. Because of Israel's improve relations Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia's allies have also become the allies of Israel, even Egypt. Israel will not tolerate any Iranian military forces to operate close to Israel. Israel has aggressively launched missile strikes against Iranian attempts to establish a foothold by making outposts or bases in Syria and Lebanon. Isaiah 17 describes the utter destruction of Damascus, Syria in the future. The devastation that causes the destruction of Damascus appears to be that of a nuclear weapon. It is probable that a provocation could cause Israel to destroy Damascus thus leading to the war of Gog and Magog. We can’t be sure but today’s events certainly seem to be lining up to fulfill the prophetic scriptures in Ezekiel. The war of Psalms 83, “The Confederacy against Israel”, will follow the destruction of Damascus but precede the war of Ezekiel 38. I believe the war of Gog and Magog will follow immediately after the rapture but will precede the Tribulation Period since we know the rapture doesn’t trigger the Tribulation Period. It’s truly amazing to have the privilege of watching a major prophetic event unfolding in real-time. Watching Biblical prophecy being fulfilled should increase our faith and sense of urgency to witness. The state of the nation of Israel is the true time marker for the eminence of Jesus’ return.

I encourage everyone to continue to monitor the events happening in the Middle East that involve Israel. It will be necessary to seek his many reliable sources of information as possible to see and understand what's really happening. Israel has to chosen nation of God and also the time clock leading to the end. As we see the war of Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 38), drawing near. We can be assured that the rapture and the second return of Jesus are not far behind.