In my conference message at the Fall 2014 “Understanding the Times”, I looked at many Presidents of the United States and their blessing or cursing of Israel. I am a strong believer in the Genesis 12:3 blessing and cursing. God does bless the nation, denomination, church, ministry, business, etc., that blesses Israel. He likewise curses those who hammer her or betray her.

The daily reports about the carnage of ISIS in the Middle East are disheartening. The terrorists actually call themselves the Islamic State or IS. The media calls them ISIS. Barack Obama calls them ISIL. What’s behind this?

The “L” stands for The Levant. This is a geographic region that today includes Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, parts of Saudi Arabia, parts of Turkey, a part of Egypt and all of Israel. The Levant is a crossroads of Western Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean, and northeast Africa.

Understand that ISIL, ISIS, or IS, has made it clear that Jerusalem is the final destination for the formation and declaration of global domination. The goal line is Israel; the goal posts are Jerusalem.

The Islamic State wants much greater domination by 2020 but the heart of the Caliphate is to be Jerusalem…God’s holy city. The city to which Jesus will return some day. The heart of the Caliphate is the entire Levant but they are marching towards Israel.

So why does Barack Obama insist on calling the Islamic State ISIL? Some suggest he is sending a signal to the terrorists that he is okay with this idea. We don’t know that for sure but when one looks at his overall policies against Israel, it makes sense.

We don’t know if the Islamic State senses they have the U.S. President in their back pocket. It seems obvious. In his speech to the U.S. back on September 10, he said “ISIL is not Islamic.” To defend blatant, ruthless terrorists indicates some sentiment for them and their cause. Of course they’re Islamic. They call themselves Islamic.

Obama has come under fire for underestimating the threat of this “jayvee team” wreaking havoc across the Middle East and threatening the western way of life, and yet he continuously refers to them as ISIL. A “jayvee team” doesn’t go after an entire region — in fact, have ambitions of a global Caliphate. And he and his State Department know their ambitions are The Levant.

We have a weak, ineffective air campaign in that region. A lot of air strikes are at night which limit some terrorist casualties. Are some of our highest leaders on the wrong side of this battle? Or are some just forced into silence?

Israel knows what is going on and she is further reminded that her long-time ally has seemingly switched sides. She senses the betrayal. But this is playing into the predicted biblical scenario that must play out, since according to Zechariah 12, all nations will turn on Israel. If you look at things through the lens of Bible prophecy, you will lessen your despair as the world deteriorates. Admittedly, church pulpits won’t help you do this.

Is it any wonder that America is more problem laden than at almost any other time in her short history? There are consequences for coming against God’s covenant land which He declares as His in Leviticus 25.

“I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you, I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Genesis 12:3).

Take it seriously. Look at history. Have you ever seen a Hittite or a Jebusite? Civilizations who come against Israel are no more.

America is engaged in risky behavior. The behavior has consequences.

Is Islam in prophecy? There are 1.6 billion Muslims in the world — 23% of the world’s population. There are about 3,500,000 Muslims in America and 43,000,000 in Europe. Experts suggest there are over 100,000,000 radical Muslims and that number is likely low. There are at least 250,000 radical Muslims in America. I live among some of them in Minnesota. They are continually being caught in terrorist activity in the U.S. and abroad. And they are joining ISIS on a daily basis.

But how do they fit into God’s end-time plan?

On our current radio program with Dr. Ed Hindson, he addresses some of those issues. He is also one of our speakers at “Understanding the Times Fall 2014” along with Pastor Jack Hibbs, Pastor Steven Khoury from Jerusalem, and yours truly.
Most of us know that Islam will meet a serious partial defeat on the mountains of Israel as outlined in Ezekiel 38-39. However, that war will not likely destroy over one billion Muslims. Will some just be so shattered at the defeat that they will leave the faith? Hard to say when they are doing nothing but gaining strength and power when you include all their off-shoots such as Boko Haram in Nigeria, Al Shabab in Ethiopia and another two-dozen splinter groups.

They are actually mutating and multiplying, not diminishing. And they are the number one news maker of our day.

Some, such as Joel Richardson and Walid Shoebat, see the head of the Caliphate as the Antichrist. But would Jews, who play such a prominent role in the last days, turn their allegiance to an Islamic leader? I highly doubt it.

Richardson’s study suggests that the Antichrist will emerge from Turkey, Syria or Iraq. If so, Islam plays a major role in Bible prophecy. I still do not accept this theory knowing Jews as I do and having been raised with them.
Dr. Ed Hindson is quick to admit that the idea of a Caliphate is predominate in the Arab world. In other words, it’s not just some small splinter groups that hold to it. He also reminds us that their “terrorizing” is a part of end-time “lawlessness” predicted in the Bible.

He reminds us that those seeking a Caliphate will not cooperate with global government or a global religion unless they ARE the global government or religion. That is intriguing and raises more questions!

Dr. David Reagan of Lamb Lion Ministry writes, “The Bible tells us that the Arabs will come against Israel in the end times and try to take its land. God will respond by rendering the Arab lands desolate (Ezekiel 35:6-7, 15), probably through the military campaigns of the Antichrist.

“But the future of the Arabs is not all bleak. Like the Jews, a remnant of the Arabs will emerge from the Tribulation with their hearts turned to the one and only true God, Yahweh (Jeremiah 12:14-17). The most remarkable prophecy concerning the future salvation of an Arab remnant is contained in Isaiah 19:16-25. Isaiah says that when the Lord strikes Egypt and Assyria, they will turn to Him and He will have compassion on them and ‘heal them.’ Isaiah then presents an incredible picture of Egypt, Assyria, and Israel living together in peace, worshiping the same God!”

Reagan goes on to say, “Some prophecy teachers are now asserting the belief that Islam will serve as the end-time world religion of the Antichrist. This assumption is based, in part, on the fact that some Muslims are looking forward to the appearance of a Messiah called the Mahdi, and because of this expectation, some theorize that the Muslim world will rally to the Antichrist when he appears, thinking that he is the Mahdi.”

David Reagan concludes, “I don’t believe this expectation is valid. First of all, the concept of a Mahdi is held by less than ten percent of all Muslims. It is an aspect of Shi’ite eschatology, not the vast majority of Muslims who are Sunnis.

“Second, the Bible teaches that the Antichrist will be of Roman descent and will rise to power in Europe. I can’t imagine the Muslim world rushing to endorse any European leader. Africa, Asia, and Latin America have spent the past 200 years divesting themselves from European colonial rule. They are not going to willingly submit themselves to such a rule again, regardless of how dynamic, charismatic, and wise the Antichrist may prove to be.”

Sadly, we now have a U.S. administration that is enabling Islam directly and indirectly. The support was launched in June of 2009 when Barack Obama addressed a large crowd at the Cairo University. Did you know the invited special guests were the Muslim Brotherhood, possibly the root of all evil in the Mideast? Uninvited was Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarek.

Obama’s kind words to the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist outfit were that it was a new day in America; that our support for Israel would wane and our support for Islam would increase. I watched that day and cringed and could picture some coming chaos but never the “Arab Spring” which that speech launched later in 2011. As a result, the barbaric Sharia Law was implemented in several Islamic countries thanks to this shift in policy and Christians have been on the run ever since.

As Dr. Hindson says on air, that speech was addressed to a religion (Islam), not a people (Arabs). Obama aligned himself with Islam that day in a very public way.

Barack Obama has gone on to betray old allies and side with many terrorist outfits in the Mideast including the Muslim Brotherhood, the Palestinian Authority, and even Hamas.

Keep in mind Barack Obama released the ISIS leader — Abu Bakr al Baghdadi — from an Iraqi jail in 2009. When he left Camp Bucca, having been sprung by the U.S. President, he stated to his American jailers that he would “see you in New York.” He formed ISIS one year later.
God is not against the Arab world though I believe they will be unspeakably judged for the harm they have done, or tried to do, to His covenant people and land. He could have wiped out Ishmael on a couple of occasions but chose not to.

He did promise that they would be “great nation” (Genesis 12:2) but that Ishmael’s hand will be against everyone’s hand (Genesis 16:12). That verse also says Ishmael and his descendants would be as a “wild donkey.”

Not too flattering but brutally true! And the hand that is against every man’s hand is one of the most brutal in history.

How ironic that this U.S. President now vows to defeat what he helped to create.

If you cannot see this through the lens of the last days, you would think you had fallen down the hole into Alice’s Wonderland. Today’s world is too bizarre and upside down to imagine. The WWII “greatest generation” could not have conceived of it. We are in the final generation whether your church preaches about this or whether anyone you know gets excited about it! The Bible talks about a time when there will be a rise in evil (2 Timothy 3:13).

Come, Lord Jesus, and deliver us from this madness.

And He will! Perhaps sooner than you think.