Aug 6
America: The Arms Merchant of Armageddon
One of the most common questions in prophecy has been, "What is America's role in the end-time scenario?" As the only remaining superpower, common sense would seem to dictate that we should be somewhere in the pages of prophecy.
Perhaps it would be wise for us to not think so highly of ourselves. In recent years, America's influence has been reduced by a good measure. Our image on the world stage has been reduced by the Iraq conflict, and we have the EU and China rapidly coming upon us. China is our biggest economic rival. It has been growing at double-digit rates, while the U.S. has averaged a growth rate in the single digits.
Being the biggest economic power on earth doesn't automatically mean that you have a role to play in the last days. The Bible
is mostly about the evil deeds of nations. If America minded its own business, it could escape most man-made calamities of
prophecy.
The Bible does tell us that God's wrath will be poured out over the whole earth, and the Antichrist will have a global
economic influence over all nations. There is no way for America to sit out the tribulation.
I think the U.S. has a strong connection to the end times. The reason there is so much debate about our role is that people keep thinking in terms of political influence. Prophecy watchers have a future vision of President Bush or maybe President Hillary Clinton signing some peace pact between Israel and the Arabs. Our actual role might be more logistical than anything else.
This past week, Washington announced the largest arms deal in the history of the Middle East. The deal would provide our allies in the region with advanced American weapons systems worth about $40 billion. As one report put it, "The main objective is to create a strategic-military balance vis-à-vis the rise of Iran and curb the erosion in Washington’s regional standing – an erosion that may grow stronger following the withdrawal from Iraq in two or three years' time and that could even threaten the West’s oil supply."
The weaponry would go to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. It should be noted that we've already supplied billions in arms to these nations.
Another reason for the sale is to block Russia and China from getting a greater military foothold in the Middle East. These nations who buy weapons from America are locked into a long-term commitment. If Saudi Arabia wanted to switch to Russia as its main arms dealer, it could take a decade or more to accomplish such a move.
Of course, the big question is how the deals will affect the State of Israel’s security. The selling of sophisticated weapons to Arab armies will certainly erode Israel’s technological-military supremacy and boost the potential threat against it.
The answer is rather simple. We're going to provide even more sophisticated arms to Israel.
The US intends to boost the annual military aid granted to Israel by 25 percent. At this time, this aid amounts to $2.4
billion a year. Starting in 2009, Israel will receive an additional $900 million per year on average for 10 years, to total $9 billion.
I don't want to sound like a peacenik, but the Word of God says that is a flawed strategy. Anyone with an understanding of Bible prophecy would know that there is no last deterrence here - we are arming both sides of a guaranteed future conflict.
America is not the only western arms dealer who is willing to sell advanced military know-how. All of Europe has been very eager to provide arms to the Middle East. France and Libya have just signed two contracts worth $405 million that call for French companies to provide it missiles and communications equipment. The first contract, worth $230 million, is for Milan missiles, and the second, totaling $175 million, is for advanced Tetra communications and surveillance equipment for the Libyan police.
The Middle East still prefers to come to us because it knows Uncle Sam has the best weapons. When the soldiers gather on the battlefield of Armageddon, we can all be proud to know that much of the armament they carry will be stamped with the words "Made in America."
“And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs” (Rev. 14:18:20).
-- Todd
Gog, Not Santa Claus
Those who view the Bible as literature, as history from a skewed religious perspective or as interesting fable, reckon Bible prophecy to be, if anything worth significant consideration, no more than as history already accomplished, or as symbolism or allegory that must be spiritualized away as meaningless in our present time. We who hold to the Bible as God’s inerrant Word –as the Almighty’s love letter to His creature called man, see prophecy as history already fulfilled, and that is yet to be fulfilled. Bible prophecy is the Lord of all creation letting us in on things to come . . . before they happen. And, God is accurate in his foretellings, 100 percent of the time.
The Apostle Peter wrote, under Holy Spirit inspiration, about those who would at the end time simply think Bible prophecy is –well, nonsense: “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2 Pet, 3: 3-4).
Certainly we constantly get this sort of mocking and scoffing from those who claim no relationship to Jesus Christ. The world at large might be expected to harbor such mildly veiled hostility to God’s foretelling things to come. But, it is the others –the ones who will tell you they are “Christians”--that are more troubling. These are even more virulent in their scathing rebuke of those who hold to a belief in God’s Word as literal. Belief in the pre-trib rapture is a target that is most generally fired upon from these self-proclaimed believers who hold to all Bible prophecy as symbolism or allegory.
But, increasingly, the attacks are launched at all prophecies yet future. The top stories reported by news media present overwhelming evidence that there might be something to all of this Bible prophecy stuff. But, the evidence just seems to get in the way of the scoffers’ reasoning. Rather than examine that compelling evidence, the mockers choose to lump those who believe in the rapture, and the warning God’s Word gives about the coming tribulation and Armageddon, with the likes of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the fundamentalist Islamics who want to help apocalyptic events along by bringing death and war upon their enemies–Israel and America. Somehow, they say we are the same as those types, even though their god tells them to send their people out to murder and maim people with suicide bombs while our God sends us out to love people and give them the good news gospel message so they won’t have to spend eternity in hell.
These who concoct and hold such falsehoods are as guilty of creating fables as they accuse us of being, who teach about the rapture and other prophecies that will come to pass according to God’s Word. However, we don’t believe in, teach, or preach fairytales. For example, a clearly emerging geopolitical situation is developing that almost certainly has prophetic implications. And it is no fairytale.
Things are happening at the North Pole, and it involves an entity that we view as a major end-time player, according to the prophet Ezekiel. And, we are not talking about Santa Claus!
An excerpt from a news item explains:
“Russian explorers have planted their country's flag on the seabed 4,200m (14,000ft) below the North Pole to further Moscow's claims to the Arctic.
The rust-proof titanium metal flag was brought by explorers traveling in two mini-submarines, in what is believed to be the first expedition of its kind…
President Vladimir Putin has already described the urgent need for Russia to secure its "strategic, economic, scientific and defence interests" in the Arctic…("Russia plants flag under N Pole," BBC News, 8/2/07).
Ezekiel said a leader to the far north of Israel (all direction in Bible geographical parlance originates from Jerusalem) will one day lead a coalition to take “great spoil” from the region of the Middle East:
“Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it? And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes” (Ezek. 38:14-16).
To see just how accurate is God’s Word in prophecy, hold a string on a globe directly upon Jerusalem. Then run the string straight up the globe (due north). You will find that the string runs upward along the same longitude and directly across Moscow in Russia. No doubt about it. Russia is the major power due north of Israel!
Just how far north Russia seeks to exert its power is seen in the preceding news excerpt. They reach as far north as possible –to the North Pole. That’s no fairy tale. We aren’t talking about Santa. It’s Vladimir Putin who currently occupies the top leadership position of the people many of us who have studied the future Gog-Magog war think will be at the forefront of the attack on Israel.
Russia’s flexing its muscles at this time seems more than mere coincidence. That nation is shrinking population-wise, and influence-wise. It has fallen far from its exalted dictatorial position as the center of the U.S.S.R. Putin is showing himself to be a man who is determined to use his experience, learned from his KGB years, to restore some of the power and prestige of the old Soviet Empire.
His bellicose deportment of late fits within the end-time scheme of things. Israel is threatened by its hate-filled enemies; the EU looks to be the reviving Roman Empire out of which Antichrist will arise; China is the exponentially growing dragon which looks like it could be the king of the kings of the east found in Revelation, chapters 9 and 16.
These geographical elements are facts of life in these troubled times. We believe the prophetic elements well might also be a part of the geopolitical mix that are harbingers of end of days things, perhaps soon to come.
--Terry
