Many in this country are heading for a cross road; a place where a decision will have to be made. On the one hand, there has been a stubborn if not self-destructive resistance to Biblical teaching and an almost zealous effort to expunge all written commentary, history and remnant of Biblical teaching from the national psyche. After all; academia has succeeded in convincing the majority of the population that the very phrase 'separation of church and state' exists in the writings of the US Constitution…It doesn't.
On the other hand, those of us who are looking, see an ever mounting pile of evidence to suggest that much of what was spoken of in the books of Ezekiel, Daniel, Mathew and Revelation may be closer to coming to fruition than at any point in human history.
My intention is not to proselytize but to simply draw attention to something that far too many people in this country have made a conscious decision to deny, ignore or shake off as fantasy. As we will read however, our enemy is not of that camp and even though he does not believe in the prophetic writings of the Bible, he does believe in the prophetic writings of his 'holy' book. And as we shall see, those writings are very close to the prophetic writings in the Bible albeit with a perverted twist. And he is preparing to act on his version of those prophecies.
I would like to begin to build a case for all of this by providing you with 4 links to stories that emerged in just the last few days. Individually, these may not suggest much to the average listener but to those who are becoming ever more keenly aware of the precipice we are speeding toward, they are daunting. Collectively they weave a pattern for a cataclysm we have not yet seen on the earth and a signal that time is indeed short.
Exhibit 'A' - Cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has returned to his native home; Iraq. For those of you who may not remember, he is the cleric who caused much trouble for our forces in Iraq not that many years ago. He is also a known 'extremist' whom we had in custody on several occasions and who, on at least one occasion we had an opportunity to kill along with many of his loyal followers who were all held up in a Mosque, firing at our troops. Even the local Iraqi's were telling us to blow up the Mosque but we made yet one more bone-headed decision; and let him go. Consider these points as well:
1. He is also someone who said he could not be part of any government that had Maliki as an active member.
2. He has been sitting under the tutelage of the Clerics in Iran for these past years…learning….one would have to say; submitting…preparing…but for what?
3. He was as 'radical' as any Islamist we had seen - before he spent time in Iran.
4. He has now made it clear he wants to work with Maliki… and Maliki has made it clear he now wants to work with him!?
While Iraq may not be a big player on the scene, it has in fact been touted as positive fruit of the strategy of COIN and is being seen as a 'win', of sorts. From our American perspective, that would have to mean something that is stable and at least no longer a threat to American security - even friendly to the United States and Americans. If this Iranian trained Cleric, who has been hostile to America and our efforts to neutralize 'extremists' is now set to become part of the Iraqi government, does anyone dare to guess how long it will be before we see another Theocracy in the mold of Iran? And if this happens; how does that translate into either an American COIN success or American security?
Exhibit 'B' - The Saudi Arabians have now 'acquired' two nuclear warheads from Pakistan. What has not been made crystal clear from the Saudi perspective, the Pakistani perspective or the media is the purpose of this piece of 'generosity'. Has the Pakistani government now come to terms with the possibility that their nuclear stockpile is in grave jeopardy? It has been no secret that the Pakistani Army and the ISI are both riddled with people with, shall we say, divided loyalties and this in addition to the many attempts by militant factions to breach the security of Islamabad.
So does this also mean that the Saudi's have decided to be an honest broker in Central Asia/Middle East by trying to help secure what could be the single most destructive force in the area; nukes in the hands of militants? If you believe that to be so, you will have to reconcile this statement by one of Saudi Arabia's 'officials'; from the story:
"Saudi officials close to their intelligence establishment have been going around security forums in the West and dropping word that the kingdom no longer needs to build its own nuclear arsenal because it has acquired a source of readymade arms to be available on demand."
Let's not forget that Saudi Arabia is an Islamist nation and by virtue of that has far more in common with Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Turkey et al, than they do with us. Their shared religious ideology, the doctrines and prophetic writings of Islam and their understanding of submission are far stronger and give them far more in common with these other nations than they will ever have with America - much less Israel.
So how does yet one more Islamist nuclear state not give us cause for further concern?
Exhibit 'C' - Reza Kahlili, a former member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and author of the book 'A Time to Betray', made some very revealing comments to Erick Stackelbeck December 21st 2010. This link will take you to the interview and it is in this interview that this former Revolutionary Guard member and former adherent and believer in Islam, reveals truths about Islam and what the Clerics in Iran truly believe about their place in history. It is worthy to note that these 'revelations' are not new. Those of us who have been following this have known these things and shared them with an unbelieving public. But there is nothing better than hearing something from 'the horse's mouth'.
In this interview he reveals how the Clerics believe they have been divinely placed in history to bring about the cataclysmic events foretold in Islamic doctrine. Curiously, similar events are spoken of in the books of Ezekiel, Daniel and Revelation. Of course, the doctrine of abrogation forces all Islamists to discount any and all writings in the Bible. Their understanding and actions are based solely on Islamic text.
The differences in the revealing of end time events in the two diametrically opposed documents is subtle. In the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, these events are said to be future (from the perspective of the audiences contemporary to the writings) and believers/readers are warned in Mathew 24 and again in Mark 13; "However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows." On the other hand Luke 21 tells believers that when you see the signs spoken of in the passage, to be prepared for the time is at hand. Interesting; we can't tell when this great cataclysm will take place, but we are warned to be watchful.
The Iranian Clerics, however, believe it is their personal destiny to bring the events of the final days to pass; to force the issue and here is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak.
There are those who even after this writing and reading the imbedded pieces provided, will still refuse to accept that those ancient writings in the Bible are in fact trustworthy. This point, for them, however is irrelevant because the enemy believes a perverted version of it and believes it is his destiny to bring them to pass. So one way or the other they are likely within view. We as a nation have become like the three monkeys. If we block our eyes, ears and mouths, it will all go away. Of course, the enemy is counting on that.
So while it may not be comfortable for some to have to revisit some of those Sunday school classes of old, ignoring current events and the spoken intentions of this enemy is not wise.
It is also imperative to understand that this enemy - your enemy, the sworn enemy of America, the West, all who have refused to take a knee to Islam; he who is the bitter enemy of Israel, is not so confused about the doctrines of his youth. He believes and is prepared to act in an even more brutal way than he has over these last 14 centuries. He believes, he is preparing and he is acting.
The Nuclear aspirations of Iran are not about bringing Iranian power en par with the Western powers, it is about providing a very specific weapon and bringing it to bear against a very specific enemy to bring about what they believe to be the final acts that drive the world to submission to Allah.
Heed these eerily parallel verses from the Book of Ezekiel 38: 4-9;
(4) I will turn you around and put hooks in your jaws to lead you out with your whole army your horses and charioteers in full armor and a great horde armed with shields and swords.
(5) Persia (present day Iran), Ethiopia, and Libya will join you, too, with all their weapons.
(6) Gomer (likely present day SE Asia of Islamic root) and all its armies will also join you, along with the armies of Beth-togarmah from the distant north, and many others.
(7) "Get ready; be prepared! Keep all the armies around you mobilized, and take command of them.
(8) A long time from now you will be called into action. In the distant future you will swoop down on the land of Israel, which will be enjoying peace after recovering from war and after its people have returned from many lands to the mountains of Israel.
(9) You and all your allies—a vast and awesome army—will roll down on them like a storm and cover the land like a cloud.
Exhibit 'D' - We made a decision way back in 1979 to declare Islam a religion of peace and every President since, has continued to perpetuate that view. Our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan under the nonsensical policy of COIN rose out of this faulty understanding of this religious ideology. After 9 years of fighting and especially given the troubling inclusion of Al Sadr in the government of Iraq and all that it portends, this latest appraisal of the COIN effort in Afghanistan should give all pause. Remembering that our primary purpose for being there was to locate, close with and destroy those who committed mass murder in New York - not 'build nations', it has always been an act of insanity to approach this ideologically monolithic nation as though there were friends there - anywhere with a heart to 'help' us; the infidel.
Knowing that all of these nations are of the same basic ideology and carry the same basic hopes, hatreds and loyalties it is impossible to understand how an entire government as complex as the US government could so completely fail to understand this and the implications of this simple truth for us. While academia can be blamed for planting the initial seeds, it is the individual who ultimately bears responsibility because we have the ability for self education, critical thought, and the free will to choose right from wrong, truth from fantasy.
Keep this in mind; in the same way that trying to impress on the Islamist who you wish for him to be is foolishness, choosing to ignore current events because they might align themselves with an ancient Biblical prophecy that you may have chosen to disregard is equally foolish.
In light of this evidence; the Iranian view of future events, the Islamist state of Saudi Arabia's newest acquisition, the testimony of a former Revolutionary Guard, the current actions of Islamists worldwide, the precarious physical position of the state of Israel, the uniform hatred of Israel by all Islamist states and especially those in such close proximity to Israel and the apparent blinding of our sitting Representatives, Senators and the White House, can we, as a supposedly well educated society continue to ignore what is patently obvious? If we do, is it not at our peril?
In a recent round table discussion we had on the radio show 'East Coast, West Coast', the host, made the single most damning comment of the evening; It may be that in our zeal to remove the Bible from our national psyche, we have inadvertently removed what will prove to have been the greatest weapon we had to defend ourselves.
Semper Fidelis;
John Bernard
