Meanwhile in the Mideast

It seems like everyone is distracted by the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant disaster in Japan. This is an event certainly worthy of distraction; we are right to be shaken-up by it. One of the messages we should see in this disaster is that our fallen world sorely needs Jesus Christ to come back and the increasing frequency of earthquakes is a sign that we don't have long to wait.

But another news story caught my attention that should shake us up even more... Iran claims to have put a spacecraft into orbit. If this is true, it means that they can build an intercontinental ballistic missile that could certainly hit Israel and even the United States with a nuclear weapon when they get one. And we all know they are working very hard to acquire nuclear weapons. This coupled with the hate of their leaders for both Israel and the United States along with their belief that instigating world conflict is necessary for the Islamic messiah, al Mahdi, to rise to power makes this a very threatening development.

I was pretty young at the time but understand that when the Soviets put Sputnik into orbit we went into such a panic that the U.S. space program finally got off the ground in a serious way. The amazing thing is that I have not even heard this Iranian claim reported in the mainstream press. Maybe it is just too amazing to be believed. It certainly is not politically correct in this day and age to consider that there is a nation out there doing their level best to bring an end to our way of life. It looks like we need to continue to read the Isreali press to stay up on the most important developments in the world.

Iran is ancient Persia and they play a key role in events during the Tribulation when they conspire with other Islamic nations in an attack against Israel. God delivers Israel which many believe is what gets Israel to collectively turn back to the true God of the Bible, Jesus Christ; see Ezekiel 38-39 for details. We can see the stage being set for this with all the posturing going on in the Mideast.

In light of all these developments, the best thing I can recommend is to keep listening for that Trumpet. Jesus is coming back and all indications are that we don't have long to wait.