Posted by Elana Janson on July 19, 2008 at 16:17:21:
In Reply to: Re: How near armageddon? posted by Ben Curran on July 12, 2008 at 02:39:10:
The main reason for my concern at the present time is the way any move by Israel or possible attack on Tel Aviv prompts an anticipated immediate reaction by the United States.
Israel and Iran
About a month ago Israel conducted a military drill in the eastern Mediterranean involving dozens of warplanes and aerial tanks.
On 9 July 2008 the forces of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had test-fired a Shahab-3 missile and several others during war games in the Persian Gulf. The Shahab-3 has a range of about 2,000 km, putting all of Israel, Turkey, Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula within striking distance. From Iran the missile's reach extends from southern Russia to the Horn of Africa, from south-eastern Europe to Nepal.
The Iranian news agency Fars said that the launches, near the Persian Gulf the following day, were a continuation of Wednesday's manoeuvres and that the missiles hit their targets successfully.
USA
The test came only hours after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States is determined to prevent Iran from threatening its interests or those of its allies.
"We take very strongly our obligation to help our allies defend themselves and no one should be confused about that," Rice said. She said a missile defense shield the United States hopes to create in Eastern Europe would be a way to head off any threat from Iran. This American defense shield is in turn cautioned by Moscow.
The book Daniel
This scenario at the present time concurs with what is predicted in both Daniel and Revelation. The prophecy of Daniel predicts conflict with nations to the north and south of Israel. Revelation predicts a clash of the nations of the earth to the east and west of “the beloved city” (Rev 20:9) which is Jerusalem.
The prophecy of Daniel for Israel and the end time
The history of the Middle East that would unfold according to the prophecy of Daniel is related in many books. It is the time of Alexander the Great and his empire that would be divided into four parts after his death (323 BC). Two parts, Egypt and Syria, were under the rule of the Ptolemy’s and Seleucids, respectively. Israel was governed from Egypt by the Ptolemaic dynasty from 323-198 BC and by the Seleucids of Syria from 198-142 BC. The many conflicts between the Seleucids of the north and the Ptolemaic kings of the south are prophesied in Chapter 11. Daniel concludes his predictions with Antiogus IV Epiphanies (175-164 BC) in Daniel 11:35.
Four winds
My understanding of Revelation has brought me to believe that the words of Revelation have to be taken to Scripture and through the understanding of the symbolism of Revelation the words of Revelation are given a greater meaning through the same words used elsewhere in Scripture. This is the case with the words “four winds” that appear in Revelation and in Daniel.
It is of the greatest significance that in Daniel, chapter 11 it is prophesied that the territories of Alexander the Great were divided into four sections. I say this for the words “four winds” are used in Daniel that also appear in Revelation: Dan 11:4 “And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven “: Rev 7:1 “four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth”. What this means is that the prophecy of Daniel, chapter 11, has also a symbolic meaning relating to the end time. There is an apocalyptic meaning to be found in the fact that the territories of Alexander the Great were divided into four parts and that the four parts are referred to as the four cardinal points of the earth. The prophecy of Daniel then continues to relate the history in respect of the ruling of the nations in the Old Testament on the “north” and the “south”.
Daniel however also incorporates the end time and refers in the end time to the “king of the south” and “the king of the north”. Revelation specifically mentions that the Gog and the Magog “went up on the breadth of the earth”, that would be the west and the east. In Daniel I believe that Israel will be involved in conflict from the North and the South and in Revelation it is revealed that in the end time the conflict will be between the West and the East. The entire earth to the East and to the West will be involved in the final battle of enemies of the holy people.
Dan 11:41 and 43: In the end time besides having authority from the four directions of the earth the anti-Christ will have commercial strength (“powers over the treasures of gold and silver”) and domination (“many countries will be overthrown”).
The apocalyptic message of Daniel covers the Middle East at the end time as well as bearing a message for the entire globe.
Shall go forth
Daniel 11:44 “But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him therefore shall he go forth with great fury to destroy.”
Gog and Magog
Note the repetition of the words “shall go forth”: “the Gog and the Magog went up on the breadth of the earth and encompassed the camp of the saints” and “he (the anti-Christ or the forces of evil as explained in Revelation) shall go forth …
The “breadth of the earth” implies the West and the East. Because Revelation deals with the entire earth in the end time, the great nations of the West and the East will be involved.
Four winds
Again the repetition of words and specifically the words “four winds” reveal meaning. This clash of nations will come at the time that the four angels no longer hold back the winds in the four corners of the earth. In other words it will be the time of global warming when we see more and greater storms around the world driven by high and stronger winds.
The Euphrates
The Euphrates River (that is the position of the Euphrates River and the symbolic significance of the river being the original eastern boundary of the land given to Abram (Gen 15:18) remains significant in the preparation to the final battle (Rev 9:14 and 15).