Iran - Israel Yo-Yo Past and Future

In Genesis 3:15, The Lord issued a veiled threat to ­satan that, by the ‘seed of a woman’ (not a man), his kingdom would be crushed. Devils were smart enough to know what ‘seed of a woman’ likely meant—via a miracle, a baby would be born without a sexual relationship between a man and a woman. That sobering threat may have sparked satan’s kingdom to begin a frantic, then sustained search across the Earth for any talk of such happening. The threat did not materialize during the 1st age of history. But before the global flood, satan’s kingdom sustained a mighty blow—the loss of a contingent of devils who had committed an extremely grievous infraction—transforming to human men, marrying women, and siring children whose DNA was distorted. As this corruption spread, The Lord finally declared ALL the Earth was corrupted. Thus, He determined to send a global flood to destroy all land dwellers, sparing only one family and a large sample of land animals cloistered in an ark. (Genesis 6)

Early in the 2nd age, as the human population rebounded and began to spread across the Earth, I imagine satan’s kingdom re-initiated its aggressive search for that promised ‘seed of a woman’. Several millennia later, Apostle Paul would inform us that satan’s kingdom includes powerful demons (‘principalities and powers’) assigned across Earth’s atmosphere. (Ephesians 3 & 6, Colossians 1 & 2) I imagine one of their tasks might have been to surveil humanity for any indications of …a miracle of a so-called ‘seed of a woman’. (For more on the likely structure of satan’s kingdom, see: Seat of Wickedness (Series))

A few generations into the 2nd age of history, The Lord personally fingered and materially and spiritually blessed one man—Abram. The Lord declared many incredible promises to him and to his seed across generations—including a massive swarth of land. I imagine this area might have been Eden, where The Lord’s threat to satan had been made. During an invasion of that land by 4 kings from eastern nations just beyond this ‘promised land’, Abram’s nephew fell among the hordes of people who had been captured to become slaves in Elam—the leading nation in that invasion. Current-day southern Iran was ancient Elam.

When Abram learned of this news, he armed 318 of his servants who had been born ‘in his house’, and they mounted a rescue mission against the armies of the 4, eastern nations. Abram and his servants split-up, attacked at night, and pursued, then utterly defeated these fleeing armies! Abram’s crew managed to retrieve ALL of the people and resources who/that had been captured. Upon his return home, Abram was met, and was blessed by Melchizedek, King of Salem, the priest of God Most High, Whom Melchizedek declared, had delivered the invaders into Abram’s hand. Confident in God’s blessing, Abram returned all the people, and nearly all of the booty to their prior owners across Canaan, lest they claim that booty, rather than God, would make him rich.

satan’s no dummy! I imagine his top demons witnessed how The Lord had TWICE richly blessed Abram, and the promises made to his seed for untold generations. Might this have been a sentinel moment in satan’s kingdom? As history unfolded and will continue to unfold, the world would/will witness:

A. Expanding fruits of animosity between Abram’s descendants through Jacob (whose name The Lord changed to Israel), and successive occupants of the lands of the 4 kings in this story, especially modern-day Iran, including:

--Haman, the Agagite, plotting genocide against Jews in the Persian Empire. (Book of Esther)

--Persian supporting Hellenistic empires resisting Jewish religious autonomy. (Maccabean period)

--Rise of Islamic theocracy, hostile to Israel (1979 Iranian Revolution)

--Weapons, funding, strategic planning for plots (Iran-Iraq-Syria-Lebanon-Gaza-Yemen alliances) 

--Iran’s nuclear ambitions and rhetoric against Israel (on-going!)

B. Heaven-engineered historical ‘flips’ in this animosity script, including:

--King Cyrus, whom The Lord named before his birth, to liberate Judean captives from Babylon (Isaiah 45)

--Persian kings who funded and protected the rebuilding of Jerusalem and Judah (Ezra & Nehemiah) 

--Haman who was hanged; Jews prevailed; Persian support of Jews was secured. (Book of Esther)

--Eastern (likely Persian) magi who traveled to honor The King of the Jews (Birth of Jesus)

--Elamites who were among the first to hear the Gospel (Pentecost, Acts 2)

C. Heaven-engineered Millennial Reign reconciliation between these groups, including:

--The Lord will regather post-apocalypse Jews from Elam (Isaiah 11)

--Iran reps will yearly join post-apocalypse nations for annual Feasts of Tabernacles (Zech. 14)

--Egypt, Assyria, and Israel (former enemies) will share covenant blessings. (Isaiah 19)

Conclusion

Ever since The Lord blessed Abram, and gave him success against a coalition invasion of ancient Canaan by 4 eastern armies, Abram’s descendants through Jacob’s line, have been on satan’s target list! Through this people, The Lord became the predicted seed of the woman, and partially fulfilled His Genesis 3:15 threat. Revelation 20:7-15 picture its total fulfillment. Until then, the yo-yoing between descendants of Jacob and ancient Elam and its allies, will continue with predictable patterns, interspersed with shocking reversals, until The Millennial Reign age—the fifth age of history. I imagine Iran and its long-embraced allies will join the final, predicted, global attack on Jerusalem (the 2nd War of Gog and Magog) during the ‘little while’ 6^th age of history, setting the stage for our eternal, 7th age on the new Earth The Lord long-ago predicted.

Iran vs. America: A Sobering Perspective

Which military will be the ‘last one standing’?!

 

At first blush, that question may sound absurd! After all, America proudly boasts unmatched defense spending, global bases, and cutting-edge weaponry. Iran, by contrast, suffers under heavy and broad western sanctions, endures internal dissent, and, at this writing, faces the threat of increased U.S. involvement in an unprecedented war with Israel. 

 

Yet… Both history and Bible prophecy whisper something much deeper that is all too often missed, or is seriously discounted—something far more unsettling!

 

Iran has a military tradition that has lasted nearly 2,600 years, beginning with Cyrus the Great, the Persian king who conquered Babylon (See: Daniel 5). Since then, Persian and Iranian forces have endured through empires, conquests, collapses, revolutions, and sanctioned isolations. Through it all, its militaries have adapted, survived, and persisted.

 

By contrast, America’s military just celebrated its 250th birthday (June 14, 1775). That’s about a 10th of Iran’s military tradition. Its greatest victory is 80 years old, and its most recent one is a few decades old. The foundations of American strength—its economy, unity, moral clarity, and political stability—are increasingly fracturing. Moreover, the implications become spiritually staggering when America’s fracturing reality is held up against Biblical prophecy, particularly Ezekiel 38, which depicts what I call the 1st War of Gog and Magog. 

 

A Prophetic Flashpoint

 

The prophet Ezekiel foresaw a day when a massive Russia-led coalition will invade a future over-crowded, defenseless Israel. The likely second largest forces in that coalition might be modern-day Iran. (See: First Ukraine, Next Israel’s Terrain?!)

 

--Isaiah 11:11-14 and 26:20–21 appear to foresee the timing of this event, during the 42-month-long, globally-destabilizing apocalypse in the latter half of the 4th age of history. This event might be the trigger for Armageddon (Revelation 13:5, and 19:11-16)

--A regathered, Jewish people—at peace, defenseless, and overflowing into N. Jordan and Lebanon (Ezekiel 38:8-13, and Zechariah 10:10, See: Five Hasty Jewish Migrations (Part 1))

--Crucially, Ezekiel 38:13 predicts no allies will respond, militarily—only with questions: 

Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their ‘young lions’ [leaders] will say to you, ‘Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?’ (Ezekiel 38:13)

 

--Ezekiel 38:18-23 and Isaiah 2:17 foretell its …awesome, awful conclusion, as The Lord alone steps-up, and in to defend Israel, utterly destroying all invaders in a gruesome manner! (See: Dear Pre-Armageddon Soldier (Poem, Letter))

No ally warnings, threats, mercenaries or weapons?! What a chilling restraint! The indicated impotence (or unlikely unwillingness?) of Israel’s global allies, may well be much more than a passive response in her dire time of need. I perceive this will be a two-way, prophetic humiliation:

 

--A devastating rebuke of pride of Israel’s global allies, particularly for American Christians who, with ‘eyes wide shut’, presume our nation will ALWAYS be Israel’s defender, no matter what. Like a flashbang grenade, Ezekiel 38:13 shatters that presumption!

--A divine stripping away of Israel’s proud, worldly strength, and misplaced trust, just as The Lord did in ancient times, and has promised to do in her future.

 

There are a myriad of reasons why America might not respond, including:

• Isolationist leadership or confusion
• Fiscal collapse and economic implosion 
• Military overstretched and/or demoralized
• Internal collapse and/or geographic fragmentation
• Moral disintegration, thus judged and removed from the prophetic stage
• Or possibly ALL of the above triggered by impacts of the apocalypse plagues

All Bible prophecies communicate some details, and many inferences. I perceive Heaven expects us to develop and use our knowledge and understanding of Biblical history, unfolding world events, and our Holy Spirit-ignited imaginations, to perceive plausible prophetic scenarios, until its prophecies become …historical facts. We do ourselves and others no favors when both sets of our physical and spiritual eyes remain ‘wide shut’ to what Ezekiel 38 infers. Perceiving should help to keep us alert and stay prepared. 

Conclusion

 

Writing this post, my first question was, ‘Which might be the last military standing—Iran’s or America’s? Reviewing the context of the 1st War of Gog and Magog, these points became clear:

 

   1. If America’s forces will have dissolved before this war, e.g., from the effects of the apocalyptic plagues, the inference is that Iran’s forces will outlast America’s forces.

  2. Iran’s and other nations’ forces engaging in this war will face no resistance from Israel’s allies, but they ALL will be horribly destroyed by Heaven’s torrents of natural forces.

3. All nations’ forces that will have dissolved before this war, and those engaging in this war, will be militarily absent at/in Armageddon.

 

Here's the answer to the picture caption question: 

 

Neither military will be left standing!

All military forces will either:

Dissolve institutionally during the apocalypse,

Be horrendously destroyed during the 1st War of Gog and Magog, or

Dissolve bodily at Armageddon, the end of the apocalypse!

NO military banner waving at the end of the 4th age!!!

Selah~

Missed Insights About Pride

Prideful glory, exchanged, forever...

(Galatians 3:28–29)

I suppose we Christians might think we have a fairly good understanding of pride—that it is sinful, hated by The Lord, and The Bible is full of clear examples and consequences of, and warnings against pride. That’s exactly what I was taught and learned. That is until I took some time to pray about, meditate and study pride.

 

What is Pride?

 It may be helpful to consider pride from several layered perspectives: its definition, basis, sources, motivations, expressions, and spiritual position.

• Definitionally, pride is an inward, elevated valuation or sense of worth.
• It is based on internal feelings, opinions, or thoughts about an intrinsic or extrinsic action, idea, person, quality, or object—the target or focus of pride, i.e., self, others, or abstract ideals.
• Pride may be internally motivated by:
• a perceived elevation in achievement or status,
• a desire for greater recognition or influence,
• fear of being diminished, or
• comparison, envy, or jealousy related to perceived qualities, possessions, or achievements outside oneself.
• It may be expressed inwardly or outwardly as thoughts, words, or actions that elevate the self or personal associations. Prideful expressions may include: acclaiming, applauding, appreciating, boasting, bragging, crediting, esteeming, exalting, glorying, glorifying, honoring, idolizing, lauding, magnifying, excessive defending, promoting, revering, and worshiping. Such expressions may be subtle or brash, perceived or misperceived, judged or misjudged.
• Spiritually, pride may be sinful or righteous, depending on its motives, targets, and manner of expression.

Very likely, the last point may have captured your attention because we typically understand Biblical perspectives on pride to be sinful. Right?? That may well be biases from the perspective of our collective and personal sinful natures.

 

Have you noticed that The Bible never defines pride? Rather it floods us with examples and consequences of, and admonitions against sinful pride. That generally anchors our emphasis and focus. But in doing this, The Lord intends to draw us back to His original intent for pride!

 

Hold on! Hear me out…

The Original Intent for Pride

 

In the beginning, The Lord created everything, and then declared it to be GOOD. Moreover, His intention was for everything in creation, animate and inanimate alike, to know Him, and to function/perform in accordance with His DESIGN and GOOD intentions. He created humans (as a little lower than The Godhead), and angels (to serve both The Godhead and humans), to receive and enjoy His eternal Gracious, Loving Goodness, and in turn, to reflect their Appreciation, Devotion, Honor, Joy, Love, Praise and Worship back to Him, Their Creator. 

 

In this, do you perceive His intent for

reciprocating, righteous pride??

 

Pause for a moment… 

 

Does that concept startle you? It should. We're all so conditioned to associate pride only with sin, that the idea of eternal, righteous, reciprocating pride almost sounds heretical. And yet, that is exactly what The Lord created, and plans to redeem—not pride rooted in human or angelic self-exaltation, but in mutual exultation between The Creator and ALL of His creation—forever! 

 

The Lord created both humans and angels with free-will—the personal choice and opportunity to obey or disobey His intentions—the opportunity for rebellion. We all know …‘the rest of the story’. Lucifer was likely the first in The Lord’s creation to ‘cash in’ on/activate this opportunity, and thus he became the first fruit of sin. And just like a third of The Lord’s angels joined in his rebellion, so have we all followed suit. But thankfully, a few of us have opened our ‘wide shut’ spiritual eyes, to perceive and believe His plan of eternal redemption, to draw us back to His original …’reciprocating pride plan’! 

 

The Bible predicts He, Who created pride, will also be THE ULTIMATE source of all pride, throughout eternity, on a new, eternal Earth!

 

In this, can you perceive the full circle 

of His intent will be completed??

  

Meanwhile, pending that predicted 7th age of human history, in addition to examples and consequences of, and admonitions against sinful pride, The Bible iteratively informs us of what to be proud in, about and for. We might typically miss the full meaning of the following verses because of limited understanding of ‘glory’. Today, we don’t generally use ‘glory’ to signify the noun, pride, or the verb, to be proud. 

 

Please read, study and meditate on these verses. In doing so, I trust you will see that all pride is not sinful, and is not shunned across The Bible. The concept of righteous pride isn’t generally heard today. As a result, Christians might not be skilled in discerning what it is when they encounter it, especially when it isn’t shrouded in …religious rhetoric. 

Recall, the Pharisees claimed Jesus was sinfully prideful.

Righteous pride:

It’s a theological reversal that feels almost scandalous—

until it starts ringing true …in Scripture!

Show, Then Fell: Judah and America (Part 2)

 

See the series here

See the Ponder This... series here

Part 1 puts the spotlight on Hezekiah, a king of ancient Judah—the two southern Jewish tribes that remained in Palestine after the 10 northern tribes were invaded by Assyria, and their remnant populations were carted off to serve as slaves in Nineveh. Some time after The Lord healed him from a deadly illness, he was visited by a royal delegation from Babylon. He decided to showcase to his visitors, ALL of Judah’s great wealth, and its armory as well. (See: Isaiah 39) That was an echo of how King Solomon (King David’s son and successor), had once showcased Jerusalem’s splendor to the Queen of Sheba. But unlike Solomon, who honored The Lord in his explanations, Hezekiah’s prideful display lacked spiritual discernment—failing to realize that not every guest should be shown the nation’s treasure and means of defense. That moment, like many in history, may have become a divine tipping point. About 125 years later, Babylon did to Judah, what Assyria had done to ‘the 10 lost tribes’ of Israel.’

In light of America’s large military parade (celebrating the president’s birthday that coincided with the 250th anniversary of its army), and Judah’s experience, I began to wonder: what spiritual and strategic parallels might exist between ancient Judah, and modern-day America?

America and Judah both…

• Declared, but largely feigned faith in the same Judeo-Christian God, both having long benefitted from His Grace-blessings;
• Had long-standing exposure to The Lord’s Word, though with its declining effectiveness in national affairs.
• Were entrusted by The Lord to be, and reflect His Light to onlooking nations, and to judge internal affairs according to His righteousness.
• Had religious rituals, but lifestyles were hollow of devotion as both nations served various idols—Judah its multitude of carved images, and America its ‘in God we trust’ money, economic, military and cultural might. In both nations, public piety masked deep, national idolatry.
• Became increasingly corrupt, with self-serving, self-preserving leaders. Judah’s kings ignored The Lord’s Word, forged sinful alliances with neighbors; and America’s leaders politicize truth, enrich themselves, deflect spiritual accountability, and promote political survival, rather than Biblical righteousness.
• Allowed moral decay to become normalized and monetized, Judah with gross child sacrifice, sexual corruption, and priestly greed; and America with its sins tolerated and institutionalized, including wide-spread abortion, gender confusion, sexual exploitation, and an expansive prosperity gospel culture—sinfulness, tolerated, then institutionalized.
• Rejected, then silenced prophetic voices, Judah having slaughtered many prophets, and America’s Truth-tellers labeled as divisive and fanatical, and some were outright canceled in favor of those who preach acceptable soothing, social gospel and lies, in lieu of Truth.
• Had enemies who were preparing, while internal divisions grew, Judah, which became fractured, politically divided, and was unprepared for Babylon’s rise, and eventual invasion; and America which is staunchly, politically polarized and internally destabilized, while enemy nations strategically align against it, its ‘less-mighty’ currency, and its dissolving national unity, just as external threats solidify.
• Had ‘kick-the-can down the road’ leaders, with both Judah’s and America’s leaders living for glitzy, glory moments, rather than leading for Godly movements, in matters of morality, justice, righteousness, fiscal management, and foreign affairs, prioritizing personal legacy over generational responsibility.
• Suffered from irrational beliefs in special immunity from collapse, with Judah’s insistence that ‘The Lord would never let Jerusalem fall!’; and America’s ‘We’re the greatest nation in history—too big to fall’ rhetoric. In both cases, beliefs in national exceptionalism became a national, spiritual blindfold.
• Were blessed with the presence of a righteous remnant, with Judah’s faithful saints whose lives The Lord spared, some of whom became exalted exiles (e.g., Esther as Queen of Persia, and Daniel as the #3 ranked in the Babylonian Empire); and America’s Truth-loving prayer warrior remnant who discern well-deserved, approaching national judgments, and who cry out to The Lord for grace and mercy to lead us to national repentance, spiritual revival, and moral clarity. 

When asked if he was concerned about a day of reckoning for America’s national debt, Donald Trump replied:

‘Yeah, but I won’t be here.’

Globally well-known for his great pride, I perceive this president effectively shouts to the world that America’s trust and confidence belies what’s printed on its money, but are squarely in its:

Military might

Political personalities

Economic dominance

National exceptionalism

Technology and surveillance

Debt-fueled illusion of prosperity

Dollar as the global reserve currency

After parading Judah’s wealth to high-level strangers from Babylon, Hezekiah had a curiously odd reply to a message The Lord sent to him via the prophet, Isaiah, about the future Babylonian invasion of Judah, because of her gross sinfulness.

‘The word of The Lord which you have spoken is good!

At least there will be peace and Truth in my days.’

(Isaiah 39:8)

 

In this odd reply, do you hear echoes of Donald Trump’s above-noted reply? In the manner that King Hezekiah’s ‘static’ parade seems to have confirmed Judah’s future fall, the military parade and many other prideful things President Trump has ordered, may not spark America’s pending fall, but I perceive they will very likely help to justify and confirm it.

Like Judah…

America’s ‘Show and Tell’,

Might become her ‘Show, Then Fell’.

Here’s why:

Judgment does not always fall in fire and fury.

Sometimes, it walks calmly, behind a parade of pride.

~~~

Ezekiel 38:13 predicts the fall of every military ally of modern Israel.

Daniel 2:44-45 predicts the fall of every post-Roman Empire nation.