Jan 30
The Mad Man Running Iran
In recent months, Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly been
in the news over his efforts to advance his nation's nuclear program. He has
also been in the headlines for making some rather outrageous comments around
Israel. He called for the destruction of the Jewish state, denied the
Holocaust ever took place, and said that Israel should be relocated to
Europe.
I'm sure Washington and Israel are very concerned about what type of man is
now running Iran.
Ahmadinejad came to power through a grass roots effort. He reportedly spent
no money on his presidential campaign; He won by getting the backing of
powerful conservatives who used their network of mosques to mobilize support
for him. His presidential campaign focused on poverty, social justice and
the distribution of wealth inside Iran.
When Ahmadinejad was mayor of Tehran, he made reform his top priority. He
seemed to be a man immune to corruption. For several years, he has lived in a
very small house. Even as President, he remains dedicated to a life of
modesty.
Iran's President is no Mother Teresa. He has another dimension to his personality
that is dedicated to fulfilling a messianic mission. In November, a video
surfaced showing Mr. Ahmadinejad telling a cleric that he had felt the hand
of God entrancing world leaders as he delivered a speech to the UN General
Assembly last September. He claimed to have been bathed in a divine light as
he spoke at the UN.
When an aircraft crashed in Teheran last month, killing 108 people, Mr.
Ahmadinejad promised an investigation. But he also thanked the dead, saying:
"What is important is that they have shown the way to martyrdom which we
must follow."
Iran's president blamed Britain and the United States for two bombings that
killed at least nine people in the southwestern city of Ahvaz. "Traces of
the occupiers of Iraq are evident in the Ahvaz events. They should take
responsibility in this regard," said Ahmadinejad on State TV.
Ahmadinejad has surrounded himself with men who closely share his views. This
past week, the Iranian defense minister made a shocking comment about Israel
using Ariel Sharon's unfortunate health situation. "Zionists should know
that if they do anything evil against Iran, the response of Iran's armed
forces will be so firm that it will send them into eternal coma, like
Sharon," Gen. Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said.
The most disturbing aspect of Mr. Ahmadinejad's views is his devotion to a
divine savior, known as the Mahdi, who will appear in the last days. He and
his cabinet have signed a "contract," pledging to work for the return of the
Mahdi.
Ahmadinejad believes that Israel and America are somehow preventing the
appearance of the Mahdi. Their sneaking suspicion is that he actually
relishes a clash with the West in the conviction that it would rekindle the
spirit of the Islamic revolution and speed up the arrival of the Hidden
Imam.
I believe that Ahmadinejad is something of mad man - not the kind that sees a
pink elephant, but rather the kind that is so fixated on accomplishing a task that he
disregards rational thinking.
Once Israel or the US feels that Iran is near the point of gaining nuclear
weapons, I expect to see a precision attack on that nation's nuclear
facilities. If that strike takes place, a number of events could be set into motion. Some of the end-time related possibilities: Hezbollah could attack Israel; Syria may join the fray; or Russia may move
into the confrontation. In any case, it's wise to be watchful.
--Todd
God’s Prophecy Not Enough?
People have, over the years--following the completed Word of God, with its 66 books--made predictions based upon dreams and, less frequently, upon visions. Despite all of the twisting of logic and rewriting of historical record, both recent and of the past that is far removed from the present, the non-biblical dreams and visions have proved to be non-events.
Oh, people can find things supposedly fulfilled within the quatrains written by the French “seer” Nostradamus. His and others’ “prophesies” are declared by many as having come to pass, as demonstrated by the rise of Adolf Hitler and the advent of other “foretold” regimes and events.
I have heard stories of blazing fires in the major cities of the U.S., “prophesied” by both well-known and lesser-known preachers of various stripes. America was going to be judged and destroyed by God’s mighty hand in the 1960s, '70s, '80s and '90s. Now there are predictions –and I get them constantly through e-mail--of the most horrendous fate imaginable for the United States, based upon dreams of the most detailed variety. The dream date-setters missed January 23 on just such a prediction. A married couple saw all of the things we’ve been warned about –American cities aflame, getting exactly what she deserves. They saw the dreams that were almost identical, so the story goes. January 23 (Monday last) was to be America’s judgment day. Defenders of the couples missing the target are saying that their appeals for prayers that the Lord would spare the nation and give America another chance were likely the reason the dreams didn’t become reality.
Now, folks, may I say this as gently as possible? What sort of fodder does such dreamstuff –which is always claimed to emanate from the very throne of God—give Satan’s army in this fallen world that he so effectively rules already? Is it not time to stop disseminating these bad cases of nocturnal indigestion during somnolence –or whatever is prompting such utter nonsense? Do we never learn that these are not from the Lord our God, after every single one of the “prophecy--dreams” have failed to produce a single proof of their validity?
I get them every week. If every one I’ve been sent just since January 1 of this year came true within the time allotted, you wouldn’t be reading this. But, I wouldn’t be writing it, either! We would all be finished!
A bit of prayerful and well-studied speculation is within the realm of being good “watchmen,” as Jesus exhorted in Mark 13: 37 and Luke 21: 28. But dreams and visions that are extra-biblical are not right to either issue or receive. They are either bad spaghetti, absolute falsehoods, or “dreams and visions” that emanate from somewhere other than from the throne room of God.
God’s “dreams and visions,” you see, ALWAYS COME TRUE!
My apologies for screaming at you in this cybertext, but we’ve got to realize that dreams and visions that are not already in God’s Word–the Bible—are, well, not from His Son, Jesus Christ, the Living Word. His prophecy ALWAYS comes true –every time, without exception. And that prophecy is based upon the consistent principles laid out plainly in the Word He left us in the form of God’s great love letter, the Holy Bible.
“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction” (2 Pet. 1: 19-2: 1).
I know the cry that will be forthcoming. "That same Bible says: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams’” (Acts 2:17).
Agreed. Very strong proof text that these dreams will again be in effect, following the Bible’s completion, when the last prophet wrote the last prophecy.
But, to understand Acts 2:17, we must also understand that the following, in this New Testament passage, is taken from the Old Testament, which puts it in proper context.
“And it shall come to pass afterward, [that] I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams” (Joel 2:28).
This is what is meant by the above Scripture, “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.” Scripture must be interpreted by Scripture. Scripture must be looked at in total context; it cannot be dissected and used any way the user wishes.
So what does this earlier passage in Joel say, to give context to the latter in Acts? The key is given by the words: “And it shall come to pass afterward…” Specifically, the operative word is “afterward.”
The Word of God plainly teaches in the preceding 27 passages and before that the day of the Lord--the tribulation--must first have taken place. These wondrous “dreams and visions” for a time yet future are for the glorious days of the millennium!
Still, I realize I will get all kinds of arguments about this. So, let me just ask those who would do the rock throwing: “Where are your dreams and visions that have come 100 percent--or even 10 percent--true, by Bible standards, God’s standards?"
These exercises in hyperbole and sensationalism must stop, for the sake of the Gospel of Christ. Let us simply watch and try to determine the times and seasons we are in, so far as God’s prophetic timeline is concerned. But, let us do so through God’s microscope of Bible truth. Let’s not try to build personal reputations upon false prognostications –or bad pizza.
--Terry
