AMERICA�S WAR: THE BEGINNING OF THE END Below are excerpts from the latest book by Dr. Mike Evans, America�s War:
The Beginning of the End. Iraq has been designated as the highest priority in the American war on terror. It may be time to ask whether there is a deeper significance to this confrontation. Is it a coincidence that Iraq�s ancient forebear, Babylonia, was targeted with destruction by biblical prophecy? The Bible has much to say about the place known today as Iraq. It was there, near the Euphrates River, where the Garden of Eden was said to be located. It was also there that the poison of sin first entered the world. Iraq is also considered the location of the Tower of Babel that invoked the wrath of God because of the people�s disobedience. The Tower of Babel (Land of Shinar, Genesis 10:10; 11:1-9) gave its name to Babylon, the capital of the ancient kingdom. Scholars place it about 40 miles south of Baghdad. Babylonia was the first of four world-empires predicted in the Bible. The others were Persia (now Iran), Greece, and Rome. Scholars believe Ur of the Chaldeans was within the boundaries of modern-day Iraq. Abraham, the father of Isaac and Ishmael, was called from Ur by God (Genesis 11:28- 12:5) to go to the land of Canaan. When Abraham sought a bride for Isaac, he sent his servant back to relatives in Iraq. Isaac's son, Jacob, fled from his brother Esau to relatives in Iraq; where he lived for 21 years before returning to the Promised Land. Because of Abraham�s willingness to leave Iraq and go to the Promised Land, God gave one of the most amazing promises in the entire Bible. Now the Lord had said to Abraham: �Get out of your country, from your family and from your father�s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.� Genesis 12:1- 3. It was to Nineveh, the capital of Mesopotamia and later known as Iraq, that the prophet Jonah was sent by God to call the populace to repent. During the Persian Gulf War in 1991, I was preaching in Iraq when a Kurdish sheik repented, and accepted Christ. I preached on Jonah calling Nineveh and its king to repent. That sheik told me that he ruled over 16 provinces, and his capital was Nineveh. Babylon�s wicked King Nebuchadnezzar conquered Israel and Judea in 586 BCE. He destroyed the First Temple, and razed Jerusalem. He confiscated the treasures of the House of God, and took the captive Jewish people to Babylonia, where they were imprisoned for 70 years. Nebuchadnezzar made the prophet Daniel his prime minister, but then threw him into the lions� den for praying to God. �By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. �(Psalm 137:1-6) Because Babylon has always opposed the Jewish people, Saddam Hussein has threatened to do the same to the Jewish people in Israel today, if he could. He is training a 7 million-man army to �liberate Jerusalem.� Saddam has pledged a new house and cash for every Palestinian family who will sacrifice a child to blow up Jews. He has pledged over 50 million dollars toward the cause. Ezekiel's prophecies in Chapter 37 of the dry bones coming to life (which is the prophetic restoration of Israel) were also made in Babylonian Iraq, where he died a captive. The prophecies of the next chapter that predict Armageddon, Ezekiel 38, were also made in Babylonian Iraq. NEBUCHADNEZZAR REINCARNATE Saddam Hussein believes he is Nebuchadnezzar reincarnate, and that he is destined to rule over a newly resurrected Babylonian empire. He has been spending billions rebuilding the ancient city of Babylon, preparing to crown himself king and rule over an expanded Iraq. Saddam has also spent enormous sums of money restoring many historical sites, such as the Southern Palace of Nebuchadnezzar, the Processional Way, and the Ishtar Gate. He is said to want to restore Babylon as a symbol of his own greatness, and intends to move his capital there. Near the end of his life, Daniel began praying about returning to Jerusalem. He may well have remembered the prophecy of Jeremiah that had specified that the captivity of the Jews in Babylon would last seventy years. As that period of time came to an end, he began confession his own sins and the sins of his people, crying out to God for forgiveness. Does the New Testament predict the destruction of Iraq? While on the Isle of Patmos, God revealed the answer of this mystery to John the Revelator in Revelation Chapter 18. �Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the dwelling place of demons, and a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication [oil]SAnd I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and receive of her plagues. Her plagues shall come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire. COULD AMERICA FULFILL THIS PROPHECY? A great army supported by many ships will invade, overrun, and cause upheaval throughout the Middle East � precisely what is now being planned by the US and Britain. According to the Bible, Iraq, the land of ancient Assyria and Babylonia, will be the chief target. Could this be a fulfilment of the amazing prophecy of Daniel 11:40? Are we about to have a dress rehearsal for Armageddon? Yet another prophet, Jeremiah, sees Babylon invaded by great nations from the North (50:9), the land of ancient and modern superpowers. It is important to note that the ancient nation of Israel would once again be the likely target of any retaliation by Saddam Hussein. In the 1991 Gulf War, Saddam hit Israel with dozens of Scud missiles, fortunately armed with only conventional warheads that did not cause significant casualties. But if Saddam were to feel he had nothing to lose in a future conflict and used biological and chemical weapons in an attempt to kill as many Israelis as he could, Israel might be forced to retaliate with its own awesome weapons � and he and his country might cease to exist. "If Iraq strikes at Israel with non-conventional warheads, causing massive casualties among the civilian population, Israel could respond with a nuclear retaliation that would eradicate Iraq as a country," wrote Israel's most respected military affairs commentator, Ze'ev Schiff. THE BROOM OF DESTRUCTION On Dec 23 rd 2002, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said on Israeli TV that, �There is a strong possibility that Saddam Hussein has smuggled chemical and biological weapons to Syria in order to hide them from United Nations inspectors.� It is believed that these weapons of mass destruction may be in the hands of Hezbollah. Iraq has been shipping rockets with a range of 100-150 kilometres through Syria into Lebanon for the use of the terrorist organization Hezbollah. Yet another prophet, Jeremiah, sees Babylon invaded by great nations from the North (50:9), the land of ancient and modern superpowers. The precursor of this war, according to Daniel, is when the spiritual king of the South � in our days, the Islamic radicalism that rules the Muslim nations � attacks the king of the North. The hideous assault on the World Trade Centre by 19 Islamic suicide terrorists � 15 were Saudi Arabians � fits the description of the prophecy. It does not, however, rule out that even worse attacks may be yet to come. There is, indeed, reason to believe that America�s war could lead to fulfilment of biblical prophecy. Yet thou [the king of Babylon] shalt be brought down to the netherworld, to the uttermost parts of the pit.� (14:1-2, 15) Isaiah relays the final outcome for the man who would be a modern Nebuchadnezzar and threaten all of creation with his terrible weapons: "For I will rise up against them," says the Lord of hosts, "and cut off from Babylon its name and remnant, and offspring and posterity, says the LordSI will sweep it with the broom of destructionS.� (14:22-23) �THE WEALTH OF THE WICKED IS LAID UP FOR THE JUSTS� Proverbs 13:22 If praying Saints rise up, America�s war in Babylon may strike a blow to the heart of world terrorism. Iraq holds more than 112 billion barrels of oilSthe world�s second largest reserve behind Saudi Arabia. It also holds more than 110 trillion feet of gas (according to the U. S. Energy Information Administration). U. S. control of this oil could break the oil cartel, and drop the price of oil from $30/barrel to $10/barrel. In time, this would bring oil-rich, pro-terrorist Arab countries to their knees. This could also ignite an economic boom such as the world has never seen. Oil-rich, Arab countries (dictatorships) that are harboring or supporting terrorists will have two choices: cooperate with the war on terrorism, or go bankrupt. Both the USSR and Eastern Europe fell as a stealthy economic lever was pulled and the �Evil Empire� collapsed like a house of cards. There will be, however, a major attempt to pressure the President to pull out of Iraq. He will be advised to offer up Israel to the New World Order (another Madrid land-for-peace deal), giving the PLO their �fair� share of the Bible land and its crown jewel Jerusalem. If this happens, America will have lost the war on terrorism, and history will record the outcome of President Bush�s second campaign for office. Should he reject God�s Word, God would reject him. Consider the fate of his father. After the Persian Gulf War in 1991, his father froze $10 billion dollars in loan guarantees, which was desperately needed to build homes for Russian Jewish immigrants, and forced Israel to the Madrid Peace Conference for a �land-give-away� to appease hostile Arab countries. I was there and strongly spoke up against this betrayal. Michael Paul Johnson Servant of Jesus Christ [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://eBible.org/mpj/ _______ "Do to others as you would have them do to you." -- Luke 6:31 (NIV) List host: http://eBible.org/mpj/ List info: http://RangerNet.org/faq.htm To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe rangernet" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit http://rangernet.org/subscribe.htm
