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The recently elected president of Iran has been very vocal concerning Israel and his desire to see Israel destroyed. He openly declared that Israel should be wiped off the map. He, somewhat inconsistently denies, on the one hand, the Holocaust and, on the other hand, declares that because of the
Holocaust the Jewish people should be settled in Europe not in Islamic territory of the Middle East. In early January of this year, Iran defied the IAEA by breaking their previous agreement, and continued in the Uranium
enrichment process necessary to produce nuclear weapons. The obvious target is Israel. Israel is very aware of the Iranian threat and must, at a minimum, be considering an attempt to neutralize this threat as they did in 1981 with the Iraqi reactor.
...the existence of Israel cannot be tolerated. This is the reason why there is such uniform and intense hatred of Israel throughout the Moslem world, not only among "extremists" but among so-called "moderate" Moslems as well.
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Iran as the Principle Sponsor of Terrorism
Since the Iranian revolution in the 70’s, Iran has been the leader in sponsoring Islamic terrorism. Iran is predominantly Shiite and is led by its religious leaders. Iran, like much of the Moslem controlled Middle East,
has enormous financial resources due to its sale of oil. These resources are used to sponsor terrorist activities. In addition, through the threat of shutting down the abundant flow of oil to the West, Iran can strongly
influence the position of much of the industrialized world. One primary goal of Islam is the destruction of Israel. It is for this reason that the "so-called" peace process is a scam. To the Moslem, the world is divided into two areas: (1) Dar al-Islam and (2) Dar al-Harb, meaning the territory controlled by Islam and the territory of war. The fundamental vision of Islam is world domination; thus, Jihad is pursued. Jihad means simply the pursuit of war, by whatever means available, in Dar al-Harb until Islam dominates the whole world.
The Land of Israel was one of the first areas conquered by Islamic forces outside the Arabian peninsula. When the Jewish state came into existence in 1948, it was seen as a great insult to Islam. A non-Islamic state had been carved out of the heart of Dar al Islam. This was a double insult because it was a Jewish state and Islam embraces a theology of replacement of Israel in
much the same way as the Constantinian Church does. So, the existence of Israel cannot be tolerated. This is the reason why there is such uniform and
intense hatred of Israel throughout the Moslem world, not only among "extremists" but among so-called "moderate" Moslems as well. No
negotiated peace deal is possible. If faced with overwhelming force, Moslems
may agree to a temporary cease-fire but they will never agree to a compromised settlement to the Israeli-Moslem problem. Now, Iran is on the verge of
developing nuclear weaponry. There seems to be little question that the President of Iran will launch an attack on Israel if he obtains the resources to do so.
There seems to be little question that the President of Iran will launch an attack on Israel if he obtains the resources to do so.
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Israel’s Likely Response to This Situation
Recently an article appeared in the Washington Times by Kenneth Timmerman concerning a likely shift in Israeli strategy since the incapacitating stroke suffered by Prime Minister Sharon. According to Mr. Timmerman, Mr. Sharon had worked out an agreement with Mr. Bush concerning an Israeli response to the Iranian threat. This agreement precluded a pre-emptive strike by Israel
against Iran’s nuclear research facilities. Israeli military leaders took a strong position in favor of a pre-emptive strike but were held in check by the forceful and very convincing arguments set forth by Mr. Sharon. Now, Mr. Sharon is out of the picture for the foreseeable future. Mr. Timmerman believes that military leaders will now dominate the argument; and, will at some point gain approval to launch an air-strike against Iran. Israel has recently been sold 500 "bunker buster" bombs by the U.S. These will most likely be the weapons used against potential nuclear targets. Can you imagine what kind of cry will erupt from the Moslem world if Israel attempts to knock out the Iranian Nuclear facilities? We believe that such a strike could easily spark World War III as millions of Moslem arise from across the world to march on Israel. In the book of the Revelation, the Apostle John records a vision in which he sees an army arising from the East of 200,000,000 men then crossing
the Euphrates and marching toward Israel (Revelation 9:13-16). In the past, Bible prophecy writers have interpreted this to be an army from China since China was seen as the only nation that could field such an army. However, the Moslem population spreading from Africa to the Far East numbers something of the order of 1.5 billion. A unified army from all these provinces could easily number 200,000,000. In addition, the nature of the warfare sounds like a nuclear exchange (Revelation 9:18). Later John describes this same army
approaching Har Megiddo (Armageddon) in North Central Israel. Recently during the Haj, the chief Moslem cleric of Saudi Arabia pleaded for Moslem unity in
the struggle against Israel and the West. A pre-emptive strike by Israel could provide the motivation for such unity.
... the Moslem population spreading from Africa to the Far East numbers something of the order of 1.5 billion. A unified army from all these provinces could easily number 200,000,000.
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International Response
What would the international response be to a general Moslem assault on the State of Israel? We believe that Europe has been neutralized due to anti-Semitism, in general, and the growing influence of the Islamic nations in Europe. The recent book by Bat Ye’or, Eurabia, documents the growing alliance between Europe and the Arab / Moslem block of nations. China would not likely intervene on behalf of Israel. Only the disposition of the United States remains in the balance. Would the leaders of the U.S. face down the threat of an oil embargo in order to stand for a righteous cause in Israel, or would this nation stand by, do little to help while issuing meaningless statements expressing its disapproval of the Moslem effort to literally "wipe Israel off the map"? Both the prophet Joel and Zechariah declared that, in this end-time conflict, all nations would be drawn together in opposition to Israel (Joel 3, Zechariah 12). We may be witnessing the "build-up" to this final conflict. I know many Christians believe that none of this can happen before the
"rapture". I take the opposite position, believing that we will remain as active witnesses of these events all the way to the sounding of the "last trumpet". We believe that this will be the sign accompanying the coming of the Lord as He intervenes to save Israel from such an international assault.
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