Sound The Midnight Cry

“Middle East Fractions”

I know that there will be those that read the title and ask, “Doesn’t he mean Middle East Factions?” As much as it is true about different factions [conflict or dissension within a group] at work in the Middle East, I did mean fractions so let me explain.

When I was a kid in school, I had difficulty in grasping the concept of adding and subtracting fractions. For example, I was told that you cannot add 1/4 and 1/3 because the sections were not the same size. I think the old saying “you can’t add apples and bananas” just clouded the issue for me [that and having to write 500 times, “I will not talk out loud in class unless called on” for telling my teacher I liked banapple sauce]. Anyway, a week passed and I could not get the handle on it until one day the light came on. I suddenly understood that if one followed a simple formula one would find the LCD [no, not a TV screen]. The formula simply meant that until I could find what the two or more fractions had in common at the lowest level [Least Common Denominator], I wasn’t going to be successful in solving the math problem.

What has surprised so many people in the arena of world politics is the rash of Arab and Islamic activity in the Middle East since the terrorist group Hamas took over Gaza. Different Islamic groups: Fatah, Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood and others have surfaced in a power struggle for position to advance their specific views. It has become so bad that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has now called a peace summit with Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli leaders to give the appearance that Egypt is interested in brokering peace in the area.

But despite the seemingly different parties staking out their territory and the rhetoric of peace, a well-known fact is often overlooked in the lexicon of Middle East diplomacy: All of the Arab, Persian and Islamic states may violently disagree about theology, but they agree on one thing — that Israel must be destroyed. And even though they may kill one another from time to time, they always can quit fighting long enough to plan to destroy Israel. And that my friend is the LCD of this developing global problem and the reason why it will never be solved.

Never lose sight of this fact: Israel is the key and the coming federation of nations spoken of in Ezekiel 38 will emerge with one purpose: to destroy the nation that God says is His! When it happens, God will reveal His passion for His people and come to their defense. Until that time, pray for Israel and never cease telling others about the soon return of Jesus Christ to planet earth.

“Not if, But When”

The world is now in its “last days,” reports an official Web site of the Iranian government. It claims that the Islamic messiah known as the “Twelfth Imam” or the “Mahdi” may come to earth in 2007 and be revealed to the world.

According to Shiite teaching, the Mahdi will conquer all of Arabia, Syria, Iraq, destroy Israel and then set up a “global government” based in Iraq, says the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.

Such Islamic end times theology is driving the Iranian regime and helps explain why Iran has no interest in helping the United States and European Union create peace in Iraq or the region, much less in ending its bid for nuclear weapons.

Anticipation of the imminent arrival of the Islamic messiah has been steadily intensifying inside Iran since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad emerged as president of the country in June of 2005. An Iranian television series called “The World Towards Illumination” has been running since last November to help answer the many questions Iranians have about the end of the world as we know it.

The Iranian TV series is important in that it offers some intriguing clues as to how Iranian Shiites believe their prophecies will play out. The series explains the signs of the last days and what to expect when the Islamic messiah arrives. The program also says that Jesus is coming back to earth soon as a Shiite Muslim leader, and it denounces “born-again Christians” for supporting “the illegal Zionist state of Israel.”

An Israeli news site was the first to pick up the story and its significance to Israeli national security, noting that the Mahdi will soon “form an army to defeat Islam’s enemies in a series of apocalyptic battles” and “will overcome his arch villain in Jerusalem.” Some intelligence analysts are growing concerned that a messianic war to annihilate Israel could come as early summer.

The irony of this is that in the U.S. a recent study showed that there are approximately 100 million American church members who have very little to no understanding of Bible prophecy. They do not understand the importance of Israel to God or His redemptive plan for Israel and the nations. They also have no understanding of the biblical significance of what is happening today in Israel, Russia, China, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Turkey, and in other Middle East nations. They are oblivious of the significance of the formation of the E.U. and new ID technologies.

I guess it shouldn't surprise me that so many church folks are ignorant of the importance of these events. Matthew 24 tells us “For in the days before the flood…they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came…That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.” This in light of the fact that Noah was telling them everyday what was coming. However, like the citizens of that day, people today ignore the everyday signs pointing to the coming events.

It’s time to let your neighbor know what the people of Iran understand…the end is near and Jesus is coming soon. However, the Mahdi is not the messiah but the antichrist and Jesus Christ is not coming back as the Mahdi’s lieutenant but as King of kings and Lord of Lords!

“A Slippery Slope”

The Associated Press reported this past week that “UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen raised an alarm about the situation in the Middle East, warning that the region faces the possibilities of full-scale war…The picture which emerges is very dark, and apparently getting darker” he told reporters on Monday, adding there are reasons for real concerns in the international community.

Roed-Larsen, who for many years was the top UN Mideast envoy, said “the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East has changed fundamentally over a few years.”

“A few years ago, as it had been over many, many decades, the centre of gravity for all the conflicts were the Israeli-Arab conflicts,” he said.

However, in just a few years, he pointed out that the dynamics have changed each with their own unique issues. Now, there seems to be four “epicenters” of conflict in the region: the Iraqi issues, the Iranian issues, the Syrian-Lebanese issues, and of course the traditional conflict of the Palestinian-Israeli issue.

This new trend has all these conflicts completely intertwined so that it is very difficult, maybe impossible, to find a solution to one of them without finding a solution to all of them. He said that the “current situation is alarming” but the most likely outcomes even more disturbing.

Three outcomes are seen: One is that they continue on the path of violence albeit mild—similar to what we are seeing presently in Lebanon but also in Gaza, West Bank, Iraq and elsewhere in the region but becoming more widespread. The second alternative is one that leads to a full confrontation, and worst case to a regional confrontation with arms. The third alternative is “energetic diplomacy by the international community to address the underlying problems.” Roed-Larsen noted that this is extremely difficult today because the four conflicts in the Mideast are separate, but have become entwined.

All of this is part of the setting for the person the Bible calls the antichrist. He will come on the scene at most difficult time in human history and appear to bring peace to that region of the world. This will last until he declares himself god and breaks his treaty with Israel setting the stage for the Battle of Armageddon.

The news media serves as a daily reminder to followers of Jesus Christ that the Day of the Lord will come when the world is crying for peace. As the cry for peace gets louder, the “slippery slope” to the end of the age is getting polished more each day. It’s time to get ready because Jesus is coming soon!

“The Players of Ezekiel 38”

Last Sunday, we looked at the prophetic message of Ezekiel 38 and current events. I thought I would share with you an update of events that transpired this past week.

After service last Sunday, I came home to find this headline in an email: “Iran president sees ‘countdown’ to Israel's end.” President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said "With God's help, the countdown button for the destruction of the Zionist regime has been pushed by the hands of the children of Lebanon and Palestine. By God's will, we will witness the destruction of this regime in the near future," he said. He did not elaborate but only stated that Iran was not a threat.

The next email headline: “Putin threatens to target Europe with missiles.” Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an interview at his country residence outside Moscow, said he considers U.S. plans to build an eastern European anti-missile site to shoot down Iranian missiles a provocation aimed at Russia. When asked what Russia’s plan was he responded, "What kind of steps are we going to take in response? Of course, we are going to get new targets in Europe." He suggested that this could include powerful nuclear-capable weapons.

Wednesday, June 6 - DEBKAfile’s military sources reported that a Turkish force of 90,000 troops had begun crossing into Northern Iraq. The official Turkish news agency Cihan reports the force, backed by armored vehicles and combat aircraft, is targeting rebel strongholds in 11 provinces in southeastern Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan. This incursion took place despite a warning by U.S. defense secretary Robert Gates to stay out of Iraq. We see Turkey beginning to flex its military muscle for the world to see.

Thursday, June 7 - A Syrian politician said that he expects his country to go to war with Israel at some point this summer, according to a report in the London Telegraph. Syria, aided by Iran, has deployed a strengthened army along Israel's northern border and is prepared to launch a surprise war against the Jewish state, according to senior Israeli security officials.

All of this comes during the week that Israel celebrated its 40th anniversary of the miracle Six-Day War and Israel recapturing Jerusalem and the Temple Mount after being in Gentile hands for 1,870 years (since AD 70). Is it just a coincidence? I think not! All of it is a prelude to the fulfillment of bible prophecy. And it all points to the signs that tell us Jesus Christ is coming again!

“Be Careful Little Eyes What You See”

I remember when my children were growing up a song they were taught in Sunday School. "Oh, be careful little eyes, what you see. Oh, be careful little eyes, what you see. There's a Father up above, looking down in tender love, so be careful little eyes, what you see." Well, that should probably be the theme song for people this fall as the networks roll out their new line up of TV shows.

Jerry Seinfeld recently walked onto a Radio City Music Hall stage during NBC's yearly sales presentation to advertisers and made the comment, “Sometimes I feel like the whole industry just picked up and joined the circus.” What was his reasoning for making that statement? Glad you asked.

This fall on network primetime television you'll be able to watch a man who can bring back the dead with one touch, a time-traveling reporter, a modern-day vampire, a bounty hunter for the devil, a 400-year-old immortal man, a family of cavemen and a bionic woman. There are cruel twists, too; the immortal man becomes mortal if he falls in love; the man who can raise the dead kills them again permanently with another touch, a complicating factor when his late childhood sweetheart is involved. “Kid Nation,” CBS' unscripted series about a group of youngsters taking over a ghost town and running it without adult supervision, is a potential hit.

The annual week of fall-schedule announcements was unusual to say the least according to those that have covered it in the past. Uncertainty and modest expectations were visible as viewership is down this spring. One reporter noted that “…the whole notion of watching television is changing before our eyes. NBC, CBS and Fox cut the time of their usually elaborate sales presentations nearly in half.”

Television commercials point out the need for monitoring and blocking certain programs from our children. Cable providers are quick to remind parents that they have the technology for limiting the types of programming our children can watch, to which I say, “yes!” But, do we take our own advice? As adults we are past the danger of childish influence, right? Wrong! What we know is good for our kids, is good for us too.

Luke 18:8 asks the question “…when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

As we anticipate the return of Jesus Christ, let us not forget that we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us. He sees what we see, He hears what we hear, and He goes where we go. Maranatha!