On August 2, 1990, Iraqi Pres. Saddam Hussein’s military invaded the tiny oil-rich kingdom of Kuwait. His troops seized control and he annexed Kuwait to Iraq. The international community was irate, hastily condemning the invasion. The U.N. quickly approved economic sanctions, and President George H. W. Bush told Saddam Hussein to remove his troops or they would be evicted.

Saddam ignored President Bush so Mr. Bush assembled a coalition of nations and launched an aerial attack on Iraq on January 17, 1991. He followed that up with a ground attack on February 24, 1991. Coalition troops immediately overran the Iraqi positions and just one-hundred hours later they were moving toward Baghdad at great speed. A dispute arose over the conditions of a cease fire and the coalition troops suddenly stopped.

This war caught the attention of prophecy teachers. Many believed the coalition invasion of Iraq is prophesied in the Bible (Isa. 13:1-5; Jer. 50:9). They believed the coalition of nations was ordained by God to overthrow the nation of Babylon (Iraq).

I believed this war met some of the conditions, but it seemed clear to me that it didn’t meet all of the conditions. Iraq’s leaders were not captured (Isa. 13:2), the entire land of Iraq was not destroyed (Isa. 13:5); the Medes (Kurds) were not involved (Isa. 13:17), and the ancient city of Babylon wasn’t overthrown like Sodom and Gomorrah (Isa. 13:19; Jer. 50:38-40), and more.

In 1992, I started writing my first book , On the Brink, (1995). On pages 123-124, I wrote about Babylon’s Future: “Babylon (Iraq) will go through several wars before it reaches the end of the road. The nation will have to fight the Medes (probably the Kurds), an assembly of great nations from the north country (probably the United Nations or Antichrist) and God’s battle ax (Israel).”

“At some point, before the city’s ultimate destruction, foreigners will take over and turn it into a center for religion and trade. It is unrealistic to believe they will worship or invest much money there under the present conditions so they are likely to use war to clear out the Iraqis and secure the area before they move in…When that happens, Babylon will no longer be a tourist attraction. The Antichrist will make it his seat of power.”

It seems to me that God was saying He will cause the Medes (Kurds) to play a major role in the destruction of Iraq and the ancient city of Babylon. He clearly said, “I will stir up the Medes against them” (Isa. 13:17). He will use the Medes (Kurds) to put end-of-the-age events into action in Iraq and use them again to destroy the rebuilt city of Babylon.

In the 1970s, there was a large population of Kurds in and around the city of Kirkuk, Iraq and God began to stir them up. This was part of their ancient tribal homeland and they wanted control over it. But Saddam Hussein wouldn’t allow it. In the late 70s and early 80s, he drove many of them out of the area. In the late 80s, he was accused of killing 3,000-5,000 and injuring 7,000-10,000 Kurds with poison gas. They have never forgotten the Iraqis did.

When the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, the Kurds helped the U.S. and even fought alongside the American troops. When the time came to form a government we allowed the Shiite government of Nouri al-Maliki to take power. The Kurds believed he discriminated against them; he lied about them, he falsely arrested and oppressed them, he was too close to Iran and more. The animosity grew to the point that gunfire broke out between Iraqi troops and Kurdish troops in December 2012 and the Kurds were threatening to start a civil war.

More was stirring when the Kurds built an oil pipeline from Kirkuk to Turkey so they could sell their own oil without going through the Iraqi government. Nouri al-Maliki opposed their pipeline and threatened the oil companies that were seeking to drill the Kurdish wells. He warned them not to drill wells for the Kurds or they would not be allowed to drill wells in any other oil field in Iraq. He tied up money that was supposed to go to the Kurds and his government now has several billion dollars that belongs to them.

The KRG (Kurdish Regional Government) may have the most powerful military in Iraq (the peshmerga fighters). But when Nouri al-Maliki asked them to help fight those who are trying to take over Iraq today (ISIS) the Kurds refused. Their refusal fits perfectly into God’s plan to use them to change the situation in Iraq.

In June 2014, ISIS forces (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) attacked Mosul, and the Iraqi army abandoned their weapons, turned tail and ran. Even though no one attacked the Iraqi army in Kirkuk and the surrounding area the Iraqi troops turned tail and ran from there too. The Kurdish peshmerga (militias) quickly moved in and took over.

This expanded their oil-rich Kurdish controlled area of Iraq by about 40 percent. It is almost certain that Iraq will demand it back and it is also a good bet that the Kurds will say no. Keeping all of that land and oil will definitely incite more animosity between Iraq and the Kurds.

So I am not looking for a Muslim Antichrist, Muslim world government or a Muslim world religion. I am looking for the strife in Iraq to intensify and spread. I believe it is needed to clear the way for the rebuilding of Babylon as a global economic and religious center. Rebuilt Babylon will eventually be destroyed by fire in one hour and God’s stirred up Kurds will definitely play a major role in the fulfillment of that.

Prophecy Plus Ministries
Daymond & Rachel Duck

Following his famous sermon on Pentecost, the church “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42). And it wasn’t long until Peter preached another famous sermon (Acts 3:12-26). He addressed the men of Israel and eventually said:

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:19-21).

These are tough words, but I believe Peter told these Jews that God will send a time of refreshing to Israel, then God will send Jesus back, and then Jesus will begin the time of restoration (restore Israel’s position among the nations; restore morality, peace, justice, righteousness, etc. on earth). It intrigues me that God in His foreknowledge knows when the times of refreshing and time of restitution are.

But consider that God gave all of the Promised Land to Abraham and His descendents (the Jews); that God told Abraham that His descendants would live in another land and serve them (live in Egypt and be slaves there) for 400 years; and the reason why they couldn’t have the Promised Land right away was because the iniquity of the Amorites who lived in the Promised Land was not yet full (Gen. 15:12-16).

God loves everyone, including the Amorites, so He would not allow the Jews to occupy the Promised Land for another 400 years because the sin of the Amorites was not yet great enough for them to be destroyed. But when the 400 years came and went and the Amorites had reached God’s limit on defiling the land, He would cast them out (Lev. 18:24-28; I Kings 21:25-26).

And consider that God told Judah that He had called upon the people to repent many times, but they did not listen, so He was going to use Babylon to destroy Judah, capture many Jews in the northern part of the country and make them serve Babylon for 70 years (Jer. 25:1-11). Then, He added that because of Babylon’s sin, He would destroy Babylon 70 years later (Jer. 25:12).

Before it happened God revealed Judah’s fall and the time of Babylon’s fall (70 years after Judah’s fall). But it did not stop there. God identified several other nations that would drink the “wine cup of this fury” (be destroyed) at that time (Jer. 25:15-26).

Among other things, a cup is a unit of measurement. David’s cup was filled with joy (Psa. 23:5). The believer’s cup is filled with salvation (Psa. 116:13; Jn. 7:37-39). Jesus’ cup was filled with the wrath of God toward the sins of the world (Matt. 26:39). The coming one-world religion’s cup will be filled with abominations and filthiness (Rev. 17:4).

The “wine cup of this fury” contained the wrath of God toward the sins of those nations. Instead of pouring His wrath upon these nations as they sinned, God poured His wrath into a cup. As time passed, the level of His wrath in the cup slowly rose until the “wine cup of this fury” was full. God didn’t punish them every time they sinned, but He was aware of their sins. And their sins caused His wrath to build until His cup was full and He destroyed them.

This process is ongoing, but it can be interrupted and God’s wrath can even be removed from the “cup” by humility, prayer and turning to Him (2 Chron. 7:14). Absent that, and I don’t believe it is going to happen in the United States, the cup that contains America’s sins will continue to fill until there is no more room. Then, the Bible teaches that God will remove a leader (Dan. 2:21), or He will destroy a nation (Dan. 5:25-28), or He will give a nation the basest of men (a terrible leader) to rule over it (Dan. 4:17).

God does not change (Heb. 13:8) and it seems that the United States now has the basest of men for a leader (lying, spying, breaking the law, abortion, homosexuality, etc.). This is a clear indication that the cup of God’s wrath is full. It explains why our president’s lying staff, our cover-it-up Senate, our really angry (but never do anything about it) House and the predominantly silent main stream media are allowing the destruction of America’s biblical foundations. Goodbye Lady Liberty. Your “cup” is full and it grieves some of us to ponder your future.

“If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?  The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. The Lord tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates. Upon the wicked He will rain coals; fire and brimstone and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the Lord isrighteous, He loves righteousness; His countenance beholds the upright” (Psalm 11:3-7).

Drink from the cup of salvation before it is too late.

Prophecy Plus Ministries
Daymond & Rachel Duck