Rise and Fall of Iran in the Last Days...Part 2 [Ezekiel 38]

The Jewish prophet Ezekiel predicted 2600 years ago that an unlikely coalition of Nations that would rise in a last days and push to control the Middle East and attempt to destroy the regathered Nation of Israel. The second nation in this coalition of the willing is Iran (Persia).

Ezekiel 38:4...I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: 5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: 6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee. [...] 8..in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations

For the last 1500 years, Iran (formerly Persia, Elam, and Parthia) has existed as a has-been of history. A shadow of its former great self. Ruled by a series of Islamic Caliphates, Khanates, and corrupt Monarchies, Iran became closely aligned with western powers after the two world wars and a 1953 attempted coup de'eta.

Iran's Pavlavi dynasty became a dependent ally with the United States with Mohammad Reza Shah at the helm. To protect its Iranian ally in the middle east from Communist takeover, the United States of America provided advanced weaponry, intelligence, support, and even US troops in country. My best friend in the US Army who was stationed there in the early 70s, lamented to me in the 80s that it was the best US Army assignment in the world. The Persian people were friendly, the culture was advanced, and the weather and geography were delightful.

As the 70s progressed, pressures from Islamists and nationalists caused the Shah to exercise greater dictatorial powers at the expense of his political opponents (primarily his Islamic opponents). Rather than secure his Dynasty, it only increased discontentment. By the late 1970s, internal resentment against the Shah’s political and economic policies reached a boiling point. With Mohammad Reza Pahlavi suffering from terminal cancer, US President Jimmy Carter facilitated the return of Ayatollah Khomeini to launch an open revolution against the Pavlavi Monarchy in 1978–1979. Like his Democratic Party successor, Barack Hussein Obama, Carter felt he could work with this dangerous Islamist and overlook the fierce antipathy towards the United States. As the future would show, Jimmy Carter never met a brutal dictator he couldn't work with.

As expected, Khomeini immediately seized power, formed a theocratic Islamic State, and became the new inveterate foe of the United States (and Israel). The new Iran began purchasing arms from Soviet Russia to create the world's largest terror sponsoring organization with apocalyptic designs on world conquest and destruction. The ultimate goal of this regime is to resurrect the 12th Imam who they believe is the Mahdi, the final Imam who will emerge with Isa (Islamic Jesus Christ) to conquer the world for Allah and Islam. It is interesting to note that Shias believe that the Mahdi's spirit has been living down in a well in Qom, Iran since 941AD and speaks with Iranian Mullahs (scary thought).

Why would Iran want to destroy Israel? Iran wants to lead the Islamic World in a worldwide conquest. Iran being the Shia minority Islamic sect behind the Saudi Arabian and Egyptian led Sunni world, Iran wants to win over the Sunni world and unite Islam. Or Iran wishes to conquer the Sunni world which explains why Saudi Arabia has entered into Military Agreements with Israel recently. To paraphrase Osama Bin Laden, "Islam is like two horses, whichever horse wins, people will follow". This is why Osama Bin Laden had no qualms receiving support from Shias or Sunnis. Iran wants to be the "strong horse", Muslims will follow. But before they can conquer the world for Allah and the Mahdi living in the hole, they must get by a tiny little country in the middle east called Israel. If they cannot even dislodge a small state the size of New Jersey, conquering the world is obviously out of the question.

Iran knows it is not powerful enough to "wipe Israel off the map" like it boasts. Israel has the most powerful army in the Middle East and is a Nuclear power. As a result, Iran relies primarily on its terror proxies such as Al-Queda, Hezbollah, Hamas, and an assortment of other Palestinian groups. Most often, Iranian terror is enacted by these proxies (e.g. 1983 Beruit Marine Barracks Bombing). However Iran has been getting bolder lately with direct involvement like the 1998 United States embassy bombings, USS Cole bombing, and the attacks on US Troops in Iraq.

Iran even understands that its terror proxies are not powerful enough either. Which is why Iran needs Russia and Turkey, two other powerhouse countries that have a vested interest in the destruction of Israel. Russia needs control of Israeli Natural Gas. Iran needs Russian weapons and military support. Turkey wants to reestablish the Ottoman empire (which I discuss in the next article). Prior to the Iranian revolution, Turkey and Iran were closely tied and dependent upon each other because of their western military ties and geographical proximity, linguistic and ethnic relations. The Islamic Revolution of 1979 led to a temporary halt in relations, however Turkey's Islamic pivot has brought it back in close alignment with Iran politically, economically, and militarily.

What will happen to Iran, Russia, and Turkey? The Bible foretells the following...

Ezekiel 39:2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel: 3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. 4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. 5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.

1. Show the world that He is God (Ezekiel 39:6)
2. Show Israel that He is the God of Israel (Ezekiel 39:7)
3. To pour out His spirit upon them (Jews) so they will look upon Him whom they have pierced (Jesus Christ) and mourn for Him, and say "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord". (Ezekiel 39:29, Zechariah 12:10, Matthew 23:39)

I follow Amir Tsarfati. He is my “go to” source for what is happening in the ME. You get the real story rather than what our media puts out. He then shows how it fits into Ezekiel 38. Things are heating up, no doubt.

I have been following him for almost 2 years now... Him talking about Ezekiel’s war and Ezekiel 38 prompted me to read Ezekiel... Since then, over the last year I read the bible through and am half way through it again... He is spot on and really does a good job with nearly every update showing exactly how it fits into prophecy!

For anybody that is not familiar with Amir...
His last update from Jan 8 was short for him, only 10 minutes and provided some new pieces to the current Iraq situation - https://youtu.be/GBUDf_SDPI4
He did a great Q/A session that was nearly an hour, after on a variety of biblical subjects - https://youtu.be/plv6A-nvFLQ

Agreed. I teach Precept upon Precept and use them for my private Bible Study as well. The cross-references and word studies make it stick better than anything else I’ve experienced. Getting ready to take a PUP course on Revelation. I have studied all the prophecy books - major and minor and deliberately put off Revelation until I did so. Everyone these days is so eager to study Revelation, but unless you’ve done Isaiah and Ezekiel and Daniel it will just be more challenging, I would think.

I couldn’t wait for Amir to do the last ME update! I knew we were not getting the story - and wouldn’t - from our news organizations and really wanted to know the inside info. (I was pretty sure the Israelis had provided some up to date intel on the guy’s location. They have people inside just about every organization over there. Have to.)

I disagree with him on election and the doctrines of grace, but on the ME and Biblical prophecy I doubt there’s anyone better to fit it all together in real time.

Dr. Arnold Fructenbaum from Ariel Ministries is arguably the world’s greatest living eschatological scholar. His book, “Footsteps of the Messiah”, is the seminal work in this area.

I’ll keep the book in mind...for AFTER I study Scripture in depth first. I never read commentaries or opinion before studying Scripture inductively. Once the study of Revelation is completed, I’ll check it out since I’ve also studied the major and minor prophets in depth.

Thanks for the rec.!

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