“What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us now. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age, made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will say, ‘This was their finest hour.’” - Prime Minister Winston Churchill, June 18, 1940
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I wonder how many of us are anywhere near ready - physically or spiritually - for the terrifying catastrophe that could so quickly engulf us all?
Our complaints get louder at the near-daily rise in the price of oil and the unstoppable slide of the American dollar. Life, we say, is suddenly a little tougher, a little leaner. We speculate about whether we are headed for a full recession.
Demands are growing for governments which yesterday were sleeping to immediately invest heavily and quickly into exploiting other sources of oil and developing alternative energies to sever our dependency on Arab and other undemocratic regimes.
Wild weather has been pulverizing large sections of the United States, breaking records, destroying whole towns, taking lives.
Things are definitely starting to shake. But do we have any idea - in Israel, in Europe, in the United States - just how close we are to having not only our daily lives but our very way of life pulled completely out from under us?
Like war with Hitler’s hordes who had chewed up most of Europe and were turning their attention to the British Isles, full-scale military conflict with an Iran armed with weapons of mass destruction and the inclination to unleash them - with as many as two-million men and women under arms, and with proxy armies strategically entrenched - yawns before us like that other, earlier “abyss of a new Dark Age” into which now, as then, the whole world, including the United States, could so suddenly sink.
Seething, resentful Germany rearmed, first secretly and then - once strengthened - openly, defying world leaders to stop it. Likewise Iran has been building up its war machine while taunting the West, and especially Israel and the United States, with threats of the destruction it intends to visit upon them.
Together with, I don’t know how many, millions of people around the world, I have intermittently over the years kept an eye on the ongoing, but for a long time slowly, unfolding drama between Iran and Israel, and between Iran and the rest of the western world.
I say slowly because it has been over a decade since I first heard historic Persia identified as posing the greatest existential threat to Israel. The Islamic Republic had to be dealt with - went the warning - before it got way, way out of control.
Yitzhak Rabin was prime minister of Israel and just weeks away from being gunned down in Tel Aviv when he sounded that alarm in my hearing on September 10, 1995.
It was at the opening night of an annual Christian Feast of Tabernacles event in Jerusalem, in front of 5000 people and before a bank of international news cameras at the capital’s main convention center.
While I no longer have a record of his words, I remember at the time thinking it odd - almost irrational - that instead of homing in on Iraqi madman Saddam Hussein, Syrian dictator Hafez el-Assad, or PLO terror chief Yasser Arafat, Rabin was appealing to the leaders of the free world to isolate and deal with the mullahs’ regime in Tehran.
According to Efraim Inbar, Director of Bar-Illan University’s Begin-Sadat (BESA) Center for Strategic Studies, in the early 1990s “the major enemy of Rabin’s government became Iran [which] sponsored Islamic terror and subversion, and was engaged in acquiring a nuclear bomb.”
A few months after Rabin’s assassination, the warning went out again, this time from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an address before a joint meeting of the United States’ Congress:
“The most dangerous of these regimes is Iran, that has wed a cruel despotism to a fanatic militancy. If this regime … were to acquire nuclear weapons, this could presage catastrophic consequences, not only for my country, and not only for the Middle East, but for all mankind. I believe the international community must reinvigorate its efforts to isolate these regimes, and prevent them from acquiring atomic power. The United States and Israel have been at the forefront of this effort, but we can and must do much more. Europe and the countries of Asia must be made to understand that it is folly, nothing short of folly, to pursue short-time material gain while creating a long-term existential danger for all of us. Only the United States can lead this vital international effort to stop the nuclearization of terrorist states. But the deadline for attaining this goal is getting extremely close.”
Then it was getting close. Now it is upon us. Despite early and repeated warnings and appeals, nothing effective has been done to prevent Iran from going nuclear.
The mullahs have nearly reached the point of no return, and things have accelerated in the past few weeks.
- Late May: The International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran’s suspected work on its nuclear program is “a matter of serious concern.”
- June 6: In an interview published in the largest-circulation Israel newspaper Yediot Ahronot, Deputy Prime Minister and former Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz warned that “If Iran continues with its program for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack.”
- June 20: The New York Times reports Israel carried out a major military exercise in the first week of June that was believed to be a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. More than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighters participated in the maneuvers, which were carried out over the eastern Mediterranean and over Greece.
- July 23: Former US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton reportedly says he believes Israel could attack Iran after the US elections this November.
- June 28: A former Israeli Air Force general tells Der Spiegel Israel is capable of carrying out a successful attack against Iran’s nuclear program. “We could do it today,” said Isaac Ben-Israel.
- June 28: The Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari warns Israel against launching any attack, reminding the Jewish state that it “is completely within the range of the Islamic republic’s missiles.” Jafari warns that if attacked, Iran will barrage Israel with missiles and choke off the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a narrow outlet for oil tankers leaving the Persian Gulf.
- June 29: The Sunday Times reports that Iran has repositioned a number of its ballistic missiles to hit specific Israeli targets including Israel’s nuclear plant at Dimona in the south of the country.
- June 29:Â Iranian commander Gen. Mir-Faisal Bagherzadeh says his country is preparing 320,000 graves to accommodate its slain enemies in the event of an attack on the country.
- July 2: Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of America’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, warns that an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities would be a high-risk move that could destabilize the Middle East.
- July 3: The Jerusalem Post reports that the US fears Israel is preparing to launch an attack on Iran.
- July 4: Ha’aretz cites another US admiral who warns that Iran is likely to attack Israel.
In “The Winds of War” - the title of a “Talking Points” segment on the July 2 edition of his daily Fox News television show - a worried-looking Bill O’Reilly spoke to the issue:
According to CBS News, Israel is telling President Bush that if he doesn’t do something to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons capability, Israel will attack the Iranians. CBS News analyst Michael Oren says Israel doesn’t want to wait for a new American president to be elected before action is taken. Unstated but certainly implied is that Israel believes Barack Obama might win and that he night not be as aggressive toward Iran as the Bush administration is.
Now, this presents a number of problems for America and for the world. First the USA cannot attack Iran without alienating much of the planet including millions of Americans. There is simply no will in this world and in much of this country for an armed confrontation with Iran, no matter what the stakes are.
It is important for all of us to realize how fearful many people are these days. If President Bush were to attack Iran without Congressional Approval, which he wouldn’t get, he would be vilified and impeached. So America will not use its military to stop Iran’s military aspirations. At least not right now.
That leaves Israel. Now if that country attacks Iran, a full fledged war will break out in the Middle East. Hizb’allah, Hamas, possibly Syria, will join together with Iran in striking Israel back. And few countries will help the Israelis. Such a scenario would send world oil prices well above $200 a barrel, causing the whole economy in the world to collapse.
Now that’s exactly what the Islamic fascists want: Worldwide chaos and the condemnation of Israel and the USA. So the danger is incredible. We’re far ahead of this story, ladies and gentlemen. And few world leaders have the guts to confront the situation. The solution is a total economic boycott of Iran. Now that would cause the country to collapse and the mullahs to be overthrown. But the world is not cooperating.
…
Talking Points believes that many, perhaps most Americans don’t understand the danger the Iranian situation poses now. We urge Israel to be patient. And we urge China and Russia to join NATO in punishing Iran economically. It is not farfetched to say that Iran’s craziness could cause another world war, with oil right in the middle of it.
Is anybody listening? Are we ready for what tomorrow might bring?
Or will we, like the British who clung to ”peace in our time,” and the Americans before Pearl Harbor, be taken terribly by surprise as we are suddenly tipped over the edge?
I do not fear or worry about Iran for Israel’s sake ,but rather the One who has raised them up for this hour.
I know without a doubt that Russia and China will not sit this one out like they did with Afghanistan and Iraq and that America is set to fall into a snare ,a trap and.that is why Amadinejad keep taunting the cowboy.
Our own pride has deceived us and led Israel to look away from God.
For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.Luke 21:35
The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom; We have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.
Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised.
The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD……….
All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in him.
Obadiah 1
It’s always better to see things thru God’s perspective rather than ours.
It was God who raised up Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon to judge His people Israel as He now judges America.
It is God who is setting the stage we see before us and for the reason of making sure everyone knows how wrong
Mr. Netanyahu’s statement was.
Only the United States can lead this vital international effort to stop the nuclearization of terrorist states
Benjamin Netanyahu
The most proud will stumble and fall and Israel will learn her faith and trust in a nation which turned her back on God was greatly misplaced.
We know from Ezekiel 38 that Iran /Persia come’s against against Israel with many other nations, the U.S. not having stopped Iran.
Someone is about to pluck the eagles fathers.
The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.
Daniel 7:4
It’s not hard to see that God has set a trap for the one who divides His land and pollutes the earth with their new marriage agenda and I think it was comes as a surprise to all who are in a state of slumber and great deception.
It won’t be the first or last time God has set a trap .
He has it in for all the nation’s,except Israel, and we ,America are on the top of His list.
To whom much is given ,much is required.
I read about a dream from a fellow named Jeff in July of 2005 about a US Naval blockade that led to WWIII and it stuck with me.
Joel talks about dreams and visions ,young men and old men.
An innocuous Naval blockade against Iran goes horribly wrong with the U.S. Naval Fleet in the Perisan Gulf sunk by nuclear tipped supersonic Yakhonts and Sunburn missiles,and our cities targeted simultaneously.
These missiles make our carriers obsolete and sitting ducks,not even the Aegis system can stop them.
The emperor truly has no clothes.
Putin is the real threat.
Another Pearl Harbor but this time Russia,China,Venezuela,IranCuba,N.Korea,and others all in on God’s plan laid out in Obadiah.
When the U.S. is destroyed in 1 hour ,Israel will with one heart finally seek the Holy One of Israel for their salvation.
Sadly this is what it will take for Israel to end her adulterous relationship with her false hope,false messiah,false peace maker,false friend. and treacherous betrayer.
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and 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:
Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee
Ezekile 38
Are we ready and looking in the right direction for our salvation and hope ?
If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?
Stan, my answer would be: I don’t think very many are listening. But even among those of us who are listening, I too wonder how many of us are anywhere near ready – physically or spiritually - for what tomorrow might bring. I say this because of a very personal experience that happened to me just 2 ½ weeks ago, an experience that brought me face to face with just how unready I am for what is to come. Upon reading your words in FACING THE ABYSS, I felt the Lord asking me to share this experience, because ever since June 18th I have had the sense that the words of the Lord to me that morning were not only meant for me personally, but that they were also meant in a broader way for the body of Yeshua, as together we look ahead to what will soon come upon this earth.
To give a little background….My husband and I are farmers. The area in which we live has been, and continues to be, very, very dry this spring. We need rain and we need it badly. There are a number of other factors that have taken place in our life over the past 9 months that make the income this rain would bring, of even greater importance than usual. Earlier in spring, each time I prayed for rain, the words of Habakkuk 3:17&18 would begin to play through my mind:
“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.â€
Very noble words – triumphant really! Yet each time they played through my mind I found it a little more disconcerting. I didn’t really like the picture these words painted for me. So…I stopped asking the Lord for rain, because I didn’t want to be confronted with Habakkuk 3:17&18 anymore! Instead I began to tell the Lord that my hope was in Him. That He alone is my hope! Then along came the morning of June 18th. I will share it with you as it happened that morning….
In the first moments after waking up and being disappointed once again that no rain had fallen over night, I looked to the Lord in prayer for the rain we so desperately need for our canola crop. Right now there is no crop. There will be no crop unless the Lord intervenes. I began to pray the prayer I had been praying over the past days: “Our hope is in You Lordâ€, when I was interrupted in a manner that completely startled me! I heard the Lord say so clearly, “Your hope is in Me?? Or is it in that canola crop that you so desperately want to see Me make grow for you??†His words pierced my heart! Those words, so filled with rebuke! In that moment I realized that my hope was not in Him – not really. It was as He said. My hope was in that lush crop of canola we had pictured in our minds, and the income it would bring. My hope was in what we wanted Him to do for us - not in Him, and in Him alone!
Sitting there, trying to comprehend what had just happened, I thought, “If I don’t even understand what true hope in the Lord is all about – if I “think†my hope is in the Lord, when it is only in what He can do for me - how will I ever be able to stand in the face of what is to come?†And then I heard Him say something that left me feeling so completely shaken, that it is difficult for me to even repeat. I heard Him say this: “You keep asking Me to prepare you for what is to come….Then let Me prepare you!!!â€
And there I sat, trying to take in all that had just happened, trying to come to grips with all that the Lord’s words implied. They were words of rebuke, but they were also words of loving invitation. They were words that left me feeling undone and more than just a little frightened! Words that opened up a whole new understanding of what it means to put our hope in the Lord and in Him alone.
Together with Habakkuk we need to be able to say unflinchingly, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.â€
And again with Job, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in himâ€! (Job 13:15)
When there is nothing else left to put our hope in, we had better find that our hope has not been misplaced, but that it truly rests in Him and in Him alone. This is what we need to learn now, if we are going to be able to stand when “facing the abyssâ€.
“Or will we…be taken terribly by surprise as we are suddenly tipped over the edge?”
I wonder if we will. These words are like a dream I dreamed and cannot forget.
In this dream, I was bushwalking coastally somewhere, stepping out from under the tree line to cross wide flat rocks in the sun, standing at the cliff’s edge to gaze out across the ocean. I was aware of the turn of the tide, the change in the sets of waves rolling in, their increasing size, their growing speed. ‘Time to step back from the edge’, I decided calmly. ‘Time to go back under the trees.’
I turned but an inch to the right and something made me glance high up over my right shoulder. And, oh, the indescribable, heart stopping moment of terror to be greeted with the shocking sight of a massive, solid wall of moving water seconds away from thundering down on me where before had been warm flat open rock. My fear was huge and immediate and absolute; so was my utter disbelief at having had no idea at all of the danger from behind.
In fractions of seconds I felt certain that I was going to die, a rush of anguish at the unfairness of the way of it and then utterly resolute that the monster wave would not have me, that if this was death the wave would not say how. So I jumped.
The height of the cliff suddenly stretched hugely; it was an awfully long way to fall, down onto rocks that gleamed sharply in smashing surf. I braced myself to hit.
I’m so relieved to report that I didn’t land impaled on rock. Instead I floated. Gently down through a complete change of scene, cradled like a baby in unseen hands. Such softness and peace. It was a tree I floated down by, not a cliff face, such a big, beautiful, strong tree, its trunk wide and solid and safe, its leafy branches reaching out either side, holding life, literally, because as I floated past I could see people living along them, a family sitting at a table sharing a meal, and it felt how it should be.
This may seem like such an odd post but when I recall this dream (with its symbolism and its themes of terrifying ’suddenness’ of attack and wonderful rescue) it’s Israel I feel called to watch and pray for, that she’ll be fully covered, be defended in mighty ways by God. And while, in my dream, there was determination not to be engulfed by the terrible wall of water, in my waking hours I pray fervent prayers for Lord Jesus to pour Himself out upon all who are His, Jew and Gentile, great outpourings of love and grace, of mercy and forgiveness, gathering all of us to Him in the face of things to come, claiming us for Himself.
Jan, thankyou for sharing that experience. It’s a loud wake-up call to all who will hear it.
God bless you
If I was wildly successful, how would that bring glory to God ? Job glorified God by surviving a contest he didn’t even know he was in. He suffered for a reason he didn’t learn until later. In the end it was God who brought Job back to his former glory just as he will do with the Israel of Solomon’s day. Watch and see.
And to all you who believe I would ask that God would open H-s hand to each and everyone of you. Who knows what you will find there, might not look anything like you expected, nor have anything at all to do with what you’ve done.
I have already confronted the abyss. Jesus came and took me by the hand .
One more thing I meant to add here. We have all talked about where the world has been headed for years. This isn’t exactly surprising territory now is it?
We have to remember our first love and confidence in H-m. In the midst of all this bad news, we must somehow hold ourselves above the loss of hope, not be affected leading to a broken heart. The world is watching we who say we have gained all. We have traded our rights, dreams, goals, for a life with the almight
G-d. We really have died to the world with H-m and watch, learn, and speak, only that others might come to know H-m and the future as He has revealed it to us. I am not looking to avoid my future, I am asking H-m to help me embrace it. Hey, I became eternal the same day I said ” come on in here”.
I was deeply touched by your article and every comment made. It is a sure fact that we serve the God of the universe and that nothing is to difficult for Him, we are safe in Him. I am also reminded of the very unfulfilled promise of the book of Hebrews:
Heb 12:25-29 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape, those who refused Him that spoke on earth, much more we shall not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from Heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will not only shake the earth, but also the heavens.” And this word, “Yet once more,” signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, so that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for also, “Our God is a consuming fire.”
Things are moving towards very difficult times, but we should fear God more and set our lives right with Him so that we will be able to stand before Him. We have the promise that , I’m sure by grace alone, we will follow Him where ever He leads and that we will overcome by His blood and the word of our testimony and that we will not love our lives even unto death. (Rev 12:11)
May we all have the grace to be prepared and may the apple of His eye return to their long waiting husband!
Stan, this is a great piece. I fear that the people in America, especialy the church, is clueless to the coming storm. I read in Zechariah 12:3, that ALL the nations will gather against Jerusalem. This can mean only one thing for America. We are a non factor in the defense of Israel, There has been more than a few dreams or visions concerning America. The two most notable would be George Washington, America’s 1st president. He saw the east coast in flames. The 2nd would be the vision of A.A. Allen. He saw a horrific black cloud that started in the middle of America and spread throughout the whole nation. I pray that we would wake up and prepare our hearts for what is coming upon not only America, but the WHOLE WORLD. 2 Chronicles 7:14 is needed by the church today.
Liezel….that is the scripture that the Lord layed on my heart in the early hours of this morning.
http://www.apostasywatch.com …….if you click on to “what’s new” there is a teaching on the 7 letters to the 7 churches…. it certainly witnessed to my spirit……… I don’t know who this man is but his testimony made me weep….I really think the teaching is for such a time as this …… a watchman ……..”for the church”…….. Another was “prophetic Timeline Overview”…..very balanced……….God speaks to us in a “still small voice”……… With repentant hearts before Him we watch His word being fullfilled before our very eyes.
Jesus tells us in John 14:27…”Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: NOT AS THE WORLD GIVETH, give I unto you, Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid”
Christians, be ready for the Bema seat of Christ. When believers who walk with God are raptured in the Parousia, they will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to answer for the way we have all lived our lives as servants of our LORD. Yes we will escape God’s judgment on all the earth, but we will have to answer for how we have lived our lives as servants of Christ. Be ready. Those who have hidden their talents will be excluded from the glory reserved for those who have run their race with all their might. May God be praised at all times and in all places.
As intimated and expressed, those times are indeed upon us, and if precedence of repetitious themes found in Scripture are any true indication, maybe we could look at Tisha B’av and say, when is the time of Thy coming….Matthew 24:3.
God has His way in the storm. We are His body on this troubled planet. He is not man that He should lie and He has promised to with us always; even to the end of the world. What wonderful promises! No matter the trial, the disasters, the quaking and shaking, He is our Father! Satan is not bringing things to an end, OUR FATHER IS! Lift up your heads, rejoice, our redemption draws nigh!
John R. Peacher, I love when you say: “Satan is not bringing things to an end, OUR FATHER IS!” We know this, yet how we need to be reminded of this again and again. To read your words has lifted my heart this morning and put a smile on my face. Thank you! And Hallelujah to our coming King! Indeed, as you say, “Lift up your heads, rejoice, our redemption draws nigh!”
That war is coming. The Iranian leadership is determined to punch Israel and the United States in the nose until one of the two punches back. As followers of Yeshua, we need to be ready to help all people in need. This is especially poinient if our society is turned back to the 18th century. One EMP from one nuke over North Amercia and we will need to trot out the horses, cause ain’t nothin’ gonna work. We need to love to the very end. There is a chance that the great tribulation is about to end, not begin. The Kingdom is here now, we should live it out today. Our King wil come.
Prior to reading this article I listened to the World News reporting on Iran’s Nuke program. My husband saw it on another TV and came in to my office and said, “Iran is getting brave, aren’t they?” I said yes, they are taunting Israel and the US to start a war with them. Iran has become as proud as Nebudchanezzar. God may use them as a discplining tool in His hands, but their pride will destroy them in the end. As for dreams, I have dreamt of a menacing tornado, pitch black and evil, heading toward me to destroy me, but as it came near me it became white as snow and gentle as a breeze. Whenever I go through a hard trial I remember that dream, i.e., that God’s grace upholds me. Many trials have nearly overturned my unbelieving husband but, though I may be in wonder about its outcome, I know that God will sustain me. And all the trials are as water under the bridge and I have not gone under. As many tortured martyrs have said, “God’s grace is sufficient!” Let us remember John 17:1 that we may be counted worthy to stand in His presence and hear, “Well done, my good and faithful servant!”