Catastrophic Blunder
The Bible contains many vivid descriptions of something that did not exist until the middle of the 20th century — thermonuclear war. Led by the United States, the world just took a huge step toward that predicted nuclear apocalypse, the days of Antichrist, and “the time of Jacob’s trouble.” The deal with Iran is that bad.
When I began to study Bible prophecy over 60 years ago, I saw signs even then that we were approaching the end of the age. I knew that I might very well live to see days like this one — days when my own beloved country would help usher in and facilitate unthinkable evil. But knowing in advance doesn’t mitigate the pain of seeing it before my own eyes.
Many of those who believe the P5+1 deal with Iran is a mistake, take solace in the fact that in the United States, the deal must pass Congress. To keep the U.S. sanctions intact will require a supermajority voting to keep them. Opponents of the deal have a chance to get enough votes to keep America’s sanctions in place. But in the big picture, it probably matters very little. Sanctions only work if they are done in concert with other nations, and I think this deal effectively ends Iranian sanctions for most nations.
Iran has a long history of simply disregarding parts of agreements that it doesn’t want to follow. And the P5+1 nations have a history of ignoring such violations. I don’t expect Iran to follow the agreement, but they’re getting an amazingly good deal. It will allow them to have nuclear weapons whether they cheat or not. If they follow the agreement, they can prepare for nuclear weapons production now, and start actually building their nuclear arsenal in just ten years. And we must keep in mind that it is an arsenal we’re talking about, not just a single bomb.
President Barrack Obama today said, “We have stopped the spread of nuclear weapons in this region.”
I’m sure he hopes that’s true, and that his will be a legacy of peace. But this agreement would only stop the spread of nuclear weapons in the region if it stops Iran, and if the other nations in that region believe that it will stop Iran. But there’s nothing in this agreement to make them think that. Their interpretation will be that, sometime in the near future, their aggressively antagonistic neighbor will become a nuclear power. What are they going to do? What can they do?
Even ten years is a blink of history’s eye. The other nations of the region will see ten years as the outermost deadline for building their own nuclear arsenals. Because they knew this was coming, several have already been at work on the project. But the existence of an actual agreement will spur them on.
Sunni nations like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, the UAE, and Qatar feel threatened by Iran. And it’s not just paranoia. Iran has been exporting their Shia Muslim revolution for decades now, and it’s beginning to really take hold. With Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and now Yemen largely under Iran’s control, Saudi Arabia is almost surrounded.
With President Bashar al-Assad now in Iran’s pocket, and Hezbollah dependant on them, Iran is already at Israel’s door. In May, Haaretz reported, “As-Safir, known for its pro-Hezbollah stance, revealed that the terrorist group has large amounts of forces stationed near the Israel-Lebanon border, as well as numerous tunnels, bunkers and surveillance equipment, in addition to tens of thousands of rockets.”
Who built those tens of thousands of rockets, and gave them to Hezbollah? IRAN.
Iran already partially controls the world’s two most vulnerable oil choke points — the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Aden. When Iranian oil is suddenly dumped into the world marketplace, we can expect oil prices to drop dramatically. But they already have the ability to choke off a huge part of the world’s oil supply of they choose. In a few months, you may be driving with $2-a-gallon gas. But in a few years, you may be taking out a second mortgage just to get a fill-up.
We need to see that the Iranian threat is not just to Israel, but to civilization itself across the globe.
The thermonuclear threat now looms large over the Middle East. But we shouldn’t be surprised. The Bible warned us. Zechariah 14:12 gives one of the more memorable prophecies. How would a person in the 6th century BC describe a nuclear blast’s effect on a human body? Like this. “Now this will be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth.”
The Great Tribulation is obviously close. Christians can count on the LORD taking us out before the extreme trouble comes. Since in the Bible’s timetable, the Rapture comes before that, we should be looking up with renewed expectancy. We should be praying fervently, and witnessing with urgency. We need to be busy doing those things that matter most. We don’t have much time left. Thank God that before nuclear weapons destroy Israel, the LORD will miraculously save Israel from destruction.
That is promised by the LORD in these verses; Zechariah 12:7-15 and 13:8-9. GOD KEEPS HIS WORD!
