If you want to know if a war is coming, don't listen to what the politicians are saying.  Instead, keep an eye on where ships, troops and equipment are headed.  Right now, there are quite a few signs that intense military preparations are being made for war in the Middle East.  By April, there will be multiple aircraft carrier groups in the Persian Gulf.  Large numbers of U.S. troops are being massed within striking distance of Iran, and it is being reported that U.S. aircraft are heading to the Middle East in numbers not seen for years.  So does all of this mean that war is coming?  Not necessarily.  Perhaps the Obama administration is just trying to scare Iran into giving up its nuclear program.  Perhaps the Obama administration is just trying to convince Syrian President Bashar Assad that it is time to step down.  But the fact that such intense military preparations are being made right now is certainly very, very interesting.  Usually wars are planned long in advance.  The truth is that military planning does not begin when the politicians stop talking.  In just about every major military conflict in modern times, forces have been moved into position long ahead of time.

So will we see a war in the Middle East in 2012?

Only time will tell.

But things certainly are starting to heat up.

The following are 7 signs that intense military preparations are being made for war in the Middle East....

#1 France is sending a nuclear aircraft carrier into the Persian Gulf, and it is expected that the U.S. will have three aircraft carrier groups operating in the Persian Gulf by April.

#2 It is being reported that large numbers of U.S. troops are being positioned on two strategic islands within easy reach of Iran.  The following comes from a recent Debka article....

Debkafile's military sources report a steady flow of many thousands of US troops for some weeks to two strategic islands within reach of Iran, Oman's Masirah just south of the Strait of Hormuz and Socotra, between Yemen and the Horn of Africa.

#3 A major amphibious landing exercise known as "Bold Alligator" is currently being conducted along the Virginia and North Carolina coasts.  Eight other nations are also participating in this drill, and many analysts believe that this drill is in preparation for an Iranian operation.  The following comes from a recent Arutz Sheva article....

The Bold Alligator drill includes 20,000 U.S. forces, plus hundreds of British, Dutch and French troops – as well as liaison officers from Italy, Spain, New Zealand and Australia.

The drill includes a beach landing and air assault supported by 25 warships, and is intended to  “to revitalize, refine, and strengthen fundamental amphibious capabilities and reinforce the Navy and Marine Corps role as ‘fighters from the sea.’”

U.S. Marines have spent a decade out of their native element in the deserts of Iraq and mountains of Afghanistan, but with the Pentagon's restructuring and forward-focus on Asia, the Marines are returning to their roots.

Admiral John Harvey, head of U.S. Fleet Forces Command, described Bold Alligator as “the largest amphibious exercise conducted by the fleet in the last 10 years.”

#4 There have been reports of huge numbers of U.S. aircraft moving into position in the Persian Gulf region.  The following comes from a recent Debka report....

Debkafile's military sources report that flight after flight of US warplanes and transports were to be seen this week cutting eastward through the skies of Sinai on their way to Gulf destinations, presumably Saudi Arabia, at a frequency not seen in the Middle East for many years.

#5 A helicopter carrier (the USS Ponce) that was supposed to have been decommissioned after duty in Libya is now being upgraded and is scheduled to be able to be available for service in the Persian Gulf by June.

#6 The Saudis appear to be really preparing for something.  Just check out what Debka says has been going on in Saudi Arabia....

Our military sources report that the Saudis this week wound up their own intensive preparations for war. Large forces are now deployed around Saudi oil fields, pipelines and export facilities in the eastern provinces opposite the Persian Gulf, backed by anti-missile Patriot PAC-3 batteries. American, British and French fighter-bombers have been landing at Saudi air bases to safeguard the capital, Riyadh.

#7 Someone has been moving huge numbers of tanks around by train in California.  Just check out this video.

So what do you think?

Do you believe that these military preparations are a sign that we will see a war in the Middle East in 2012?

Feel free to leave a comment with your opinion below....

There will never be peace in the Middle East until Jesus comes back.  All of the politicians that are relentlessly pursuing peace plans in the Middle East are fighting a hopeless battle.  From the time that they are able to speak, children all over the Islamic world are taught to obsessively hate Jews and the nation of Israel.  They are taught that "Zionists" are their greatest enemies and that they are behind a lot of the major problems that we see in the world today.  Even when Hitler was at the height of his power, there was never the kind of relentless anti-Semitic indoctrination that we now see throughout the Islamic world.  Over the past decade, immense pressure has been put on the Palestinians and the Saudis to clean up their textbooks, and yet they still contain calls to kill the Jews.  In fact, you will probably find it hard to believe some of the quotes from Palestinian textbooks and Saudi Arabian textbooks that are posted below.  We live in very crazy times, and unfortunately the anti-Semitism in the Islamic world is likely to grow even worse as we get even deeper into the last days.

A couple of days ago, the Daily Mail published an article that contained some absolutely shocking details about what is currently in Saudi Arabian textbooks for 9th and 10th-graders.

According to the Daily Mail, one textbook for 9th graders actually contains the following statement....

"The hour (of judgment) will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them. There is a Jew behind me come and kill him."

Unfortunately, it is not just in school where children are being taught these things.

Islam is not just a religion in nations such as Saudi Arabia.  It is a way of life.

Today, millions upon millions of children are immersed in the ways of jihad from the moment that they are taken from the cradle.  It would be hard to overstate how much of a danger this is for the rest of the world.

Palestinian textbooks also contain a lot of really horrible things.  Several contenders for the Republican presidential nomination have even mentioned these Palestinian textbooks in recent debates.

Over the past decade, there has been a relentless campaign to clean Palestinian textbooks up.  Yet they still contain a lot of anti-Semitic language.

For example, one Palestinian textbook for 8th graders used in religious schools includes the following statement....

"Muslim fighters must get rid of the usurping Jews from the usurped lands in Palestine and in the Levant."

Jihad seems to be a constant and never ending theme in Palestinian textbooks.  Back in 2007, Palestinian Media Watch released a report entitled "From Nationalist Battle to Religious Conflict: New 12th Grade Palestinian Textbooks Present a World Without Israel" which discussed the radical anti-Semitism found in Palestinian textbooks for 12th grade students.  The following is an excerpt from that report....

The teachings repeatedly reject Israel's right to exist, present the conflict as a religious battle for Islam, teach Israel's founding as imperialism, and actively portray a picture of the Middle East, both verbally and visually, in which Israel does not exist at all. The following description of Israel's founding represents the dominant dogma about Israel in Palestinian schoolbooks: Defining Israel's founding as a "catastrophe unprecedented in history," "a theft perpetrated by "Zionist gangs," together with numerous other hateful descriptions of Israel as "colonial imperialist" and "racist", compounded by the presentation of the conflict as a religious war, leaves no latitude for students to have positive or even neutral attitudes towards Israel. This negative imagery and religious packaging are compounded by hateful presentations of Israeli policy. The young students are imbued with a Palestinian identity as "victims" just by virtue of Israel's existence. The well-meaning student is left with no logical justification or religious option to accept Israel as a neighbor or to seek coexistence. Given the total rejection of Israel's right to exist, on nationalistic and religious grounds, Palestinian terror against Israel since Israel's founding in 1948 is defined as: "resistance … acts of most glorious heroism." PA educators teach that fighting Israel is not merely a territorial conflict, but also a religious battle for Islam. The schoolbooks define the conflict with Israel as "Ribat for Allah" – "one of the actions related to Jihad for Allah, and it means: Being found in areas where there is a struggle between Muslims and their enemies".

The following are two quotes from Palestinian textbooks that were heavily featured in the report....

*"Palestine’s war ended with a catastrophe that is unprecedented in history, when the Zionist gangs stole Palestine and expelled its people from their cities, their villages, their lands and their houses, and established the State of Israel."

*"The Ribat for Allah is one of the actions related to Jihad for Allah, it means: Being found in areas where there is a struggle between Muslims and their enemies... the endurance of Palestine’s people on their land … is one of the greatest of the Ribat and they are worthy of a great reward from Allah."

When you relentlessly ram anti-Semitic propaganda down the throats of children for years and years, it is really hard to get them to accept the idea of peace with Israel later on when they become adults.

This was clearly demonstrated by the results of a recent poll by The Israel Project.  The poll asked Palestinians living in Judea, Samaria and Gaza a variety of questions about Israel and about the peace process.  The following are some of the results.....

*60 percent were in favor of direct negotiations with Israel that would result in a "two state" solution.

*Approximately two-thirds of the respondents agreed that "over time, Palestinians must work to get back all the land for a Palestinian state."

*Only 23 percent of the respondents believed that  "Israel has a permanent right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people."

*58 percent of those surveyed preferred "armed struggle" over "engagement with Israel."

*Just 12 percent of the respondents said that official maps, documents and school textbooks should show the name "Israel".

So if only 23 percent of Palestinians believe that Israel has a permanent right to exist, and if two-thirds believe that Palestinians must eventually capture all of the land, then how is lasting peace going to be possible?

No "Palestinian state" is going to bring lasting peace to the region.

But it is not just the Palestinians and the Saudis that are the problem.

A new U.S. government commission report says the following about school textbooks in Pakistan....

"Religious minorities are often portrayed as inferior or second-class citizens who have been granted limited rights and privileges by generous Pakistani Muslims, for which they should be grateful"

Those of us that live in the west simply have a hard time grasping how deep all of this indoctrination really goes.

Most Americans are used to thinking of "religion" as a very small part of life.

In Islamic countries, Islam is life.

Of course the most important book of all in Islamic countries is the Quran.  Children in Islamic countries may read a textbook one or two times, but the Quran will be part of their daily lives for as long as they live.

The following are quotes from the Quran about Jews....

"And thou wilt find them [the Jews] the greediest of mankind" [Surah 11, v. 96]

"They [the Jews] are the heirs of Hell.... They will spare no pains to corrupt you. They desire nothing but your ruin. Their hatred is clear from what they say ... When evil befalls you they rejoice." [Surah 111, v. 117-120]

"Allah hath cursed them [the Jews] for their disbelief." [Surah IV, v. 46]

"They [the Jews] will spare no pains to corrupt you. They desire nothing but your ruin. Their hatred is clear from what they say, but more violent is the hatred which their breasts conceal." [Surah III, v. 117-120]

"O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and Christians for friends." [Surah V, v. 51]

"Allah fighteth against them [the Jews]. How perverse they are!" [Surah IX, v. 30]

The following is found in the Hadith (a record of the deeds and sayings of Muhammad)....

"The Day of Resurrection will not arrive until the Moslems make war against the Jews and kill them, and until a Jew hiding behind a rock and tree, and the rock and tree will say: 'Oh Moslem, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him!"

Are you starting to understand?

Muslims commit violent acts against Christians and Jews because that is what they have been taught to do all of their lives.

All over the world we see radical Muslims doing some of the most horrible things imaginable to Christians and Jews.  The following two examples come from an article by frontpagemag.com.

This first example is from Ethiopia....

More than 500 Muslim students assisted by Muslim police burned down a church, while screaming “Allahu Akbar” (and thus clearly positing their attack in an Islamic framework); the church was built on land used by Christians for more than 60 years, but now a court has ruled that it was built “without a permit.”

This next example comes from Kenya....

A gang of Muslims stabbed and beat with iron rods a 25-year-old Somali refugee, breaking his teeth; he was then stripped naked, covered with dirt, and left unconscious near a church. Although he was raised Christian since age 7, he was attacked on the “assumption that as a Somali he was born into Islam and was therefore an apostate deserving of death.”

Wherever you find radical Islam, you will find violence.

For example, back in 2010 a Christian man in Pakistan's Punjab province was burned alive by radical Islamic leaders for refusing to convert to Islam while his wife was raped by police officers.

Another very shocking incident took place down in Egypt.  In broad daylight and in full view of witnesses, a group of 4 Islamic radicals in the southern Egyptian city of Attaleen fired 31 bullets into the head of a Coptic Christian before beheading him.  The dead body was then dragged through the streets accompanied by shouts of victory.  Later, an Egyptian court acquitted the four Muslim men accused of committing the crime.

Sadly, hundreds more very shocking examples could be included in this article.

There is a reason why so many people are so deeply concerned about the hateful things that Palestinian textbooks and Saudi Arabian textbooks say.

When children have it pounded into their heads over and over that a certain group of people is the enemy and should be killed, then that is what a lot of them will end up believing as adults.

Anti-Semitism continues to grow and has reached a fever pitch in the Middle East.

In such an environment, lasting peace is impossible.

It is just a matter of time before the next major war in the Middle East comes.

So what do all of you think?  Please feel free to leave a comment with your opinion below....

What in the world is happening over in Iran?  All of a sudden we are hearing of a lot of "mysterious explosions" at nuclear facilities and at important missile sites.  Also, in recent months quite a few Iranian nuclear scientists have been mysteriously killed.  Is someone conducting a covert campaign to take out Iran's nuclear program?  Without a doubt, open warfare with Iran would have very serious consequences and could even end up sparking World War III.  If war can be avoided, that would seem to be preferable.  So is someone secretly bombing key installations in Iran in attempt to delay or even derail their nuclear program?  Unfortunately we will not get answers to those questions any time soon, but it does appear that something really strange is going on.

One of the most recent incidents happened near the Iranian city of Malard.  A photo has been released that clearly shows that a key Iranian missile base near Malard has been essentially destroyed.

This was detailed in a recent article in the Washington Post....

Two weeks after a mysterious explosion at an Iranian missile base, a Washington-based research group has released a satellite image showing extensive damage to the site.

The image of the compound, near the city of Malard, doesn’t provide any clues as to what caused the Nov. 12 explosion, which Iranian authorities described as an “accident” involving the transport of ammunition. But it does make clear that the facility has been effectively destroyed.

Could an "ammunition accident" really cause the kind of extensive damage shown in the photo?

That seems very, very far-fetched.

Just recently, another strange explosion happened somewhere around the Iranian city of Isfahan.  It turns out that a key Iranian nuclear facility is located in Isfahan.  The following description of this incident comes from an article in Haaretz....

An explosion rocked the western Iranian city of Isfahan on Monday, the semi-official Fars news agency reported, adding that the blast was heard in several parts of the city.

According to reports, frightened residents called the fire department after the blast, forcing the city authorities to admit there had been an explosion. Residents reported that their windows shook from the explosion's force.

Authorities in Iran are blaming that blast on a "military drill".

You never know, the authorities in Iran might be telling the truth.

But lately there has been a pattern developing in Iran that has become very hard to deny.

Over the past few years, quite a few Iranian nuclear scientists have been mysteriously killed.

The following comes from an ABC News article entitled "Who Is Killing Iran's Nuclear Scientists?"....

Regardless of who is killing Iran's nuclear scientists -- the Israelis, the Americans or the Iranians themselves -- there's no question that researchers and officials linked to Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program keep turning up dead.

Since 2007, four different scientists allegedly associated with the nation's nuclear weapons program have died via bomb, gunshot or poisoning, while a fifth barely survived a car bombing.

The most recent victim, 35-year-old Darioush Rezaeinejad, was shot in the neck outside his daughter's Tehran kindergarten on Saturday by two gunmen on a motorcycle. According to an unconfirmed report in an Israeli intelligence publication, Rezaeinejad was working on a nuclear detonator, and was seen daily at a nuclear lab in northern Tehran.

If you believe that all of the events detailed above are just "bizarre coincidences", then you are being quite naive.

Someone is taking aggressive action inside Iran, but it might not be enough to avert a war.

The truth is that tensions between Iran and western powers are rapidly escalating.  On Tuesday, Iranian students stormed two British Embassy compounds in Tehran.  The following description of this event comes from a Reuters article....

Iranian protesters stormed two British Embassy compounds in Tehran Tuesday, smashing windows, hurling petrol bombs and burning the British flag during a rally to protest against sanctions imposed by Britain, live Iranian television showed.

The attacks followed the rapid approval by Iran’s Guardian Council of a parliamentary bill compelling the government to expel the British ambassador in retaliation for the sanctions, and warnings from a lawmaker that angry Iranians could storm the British embassy as they did to the U.S. mission in 1979.

Does this remind you of anything?

The truth is that this is chillingly similar to what happened to the U.S. Embassy back in 1979.

A video news report about the storming of the British Embassy is posted below....

Needless to say, the British government is quite alarmed about all of this.  UK Foreign Secretary William Hague is promising that there will be "serious consequences" stemming from this incident.  The following is a short excerpt from a recent article in the Guardian....

Hundreds of protesters surged onto two compounds this afternoon, putting the safety of staff at risk and causing "extensive damage" to property, the foreign secretary said.

"Clearly there will be other, further, and serious consequences. I will make a statement updating parliament on this tomorrow [Wednesday]."

Hopefully cooler heads will prevail, but what seems very clear is that the region is closer to war than it has been in a long time.

On Sunday, Iranian Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi promised that Iran would launch 150,000 missiles at Israel if a military attack on Iran happens.

As tensions have risen over the past few years, Iran has armed itself to the teeth.

Any military conflict with Iran would not be pretty.

But peace will not last forever.  Israel simply will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear program and Iran is absolutely determined to proceed with developing one.

And as I have written about previously, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad actually believes that a war with Israel is necessary before the Mahdi will return.

We live in very unusual times.

As we get even deeper into the times that the Bible refers to as "the last days", it is inevitable that there will be more war in the Middle East.

In the years ahead, there will be some incredibly bloody conflicts and the loss of life will be staggering.

Let us pray for peace, and let us pray that as many people as possible can be exposed to the gospel while there is still time.

Giving the Palestinians a state is a really, really bad idea.  But the world seems obsessed with giving them one anyway.  The sad truth is that a Palestinian state is not going to bring peace to the region.  It is not going to bring an end to the conflict between the Jewish people and the Palestinians.  Rather, it is just going to embolden those that desire to see Israel wiped off the map.  As you will see below, poll after poll has demonstrated that the Palestinians overwhelmingly believe that a "two state solution" is only an intermediate step toward the eventual goal of taking all of the land away from Israel, and the vast majority of Palestinians still support committing terrorist acts against the Jewish people.  You cannot pacify radical jihadists that are obsessed with genocide by giving them land.  In addition, if global leaders do try to carve up the land of Israel, that is going to very much upset the Lord God Almighty.  But we live in the last days, and we know that these kinds of things are going to happen.

The Palestinians have now submitted their formal request for statehood to the United Nations.  The U.S. and the EU are blocking that bid at the moment and they are trying to encourage the Palestinians to renew negotiations with Israel, but that does not mean that they don't want to give the Palestinians a state.

In fact, the U.S. and the EU have both publicly stated that the Palestinians should be given a state based on pre-1967 borders.

It is just that the U.S. and the EU want a Palestinian state to come about through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

But what kind of negotiating position does that put Israel in?  The U.S. and the EU have already basically promised the Palestinians a state based on pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as the capital.

Unless Israel plans to give up East Jerusalem, negotiations are never going to work.  The Palestinians will just keep insisting on East Jerusalem until the rest of the world finally gives it to them.

Not that the Palestinians should ever be given one inch of land.  God gave all of that land to the people of Israel forever.

But unfortunately, most of the politicians around the world think that they know better than God does.

The following are 10 reasons why a Palestinian state is a really, really bad idea....

#1 The "Palestinian territories" are currently ruled by two separate governments.  One of them is a terrorist organization.  Right now, Hamas rules Gaza and Fatah rules the West Bank.  So how can Mahmoud Abbas speak for all of them?  And how will they suddenly become "one people" once they have been given a state?

#2 A large number of Palestinians do not agree with the statehood request that Abbas has submitted.  You would think that this fact would be reported by the mainstream media, but they have been largely silent about this.

The reality, however, is that a number of key Palestinian organizations are very much against what Abbas is doing.  For example, WorldNetDaily recently reported that Hamas has loudly denounced this statehood request....

Major Palestinian factions, including terrorist organizations, reject Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' United Nations statehood request, arguing Abbas does not represent the Palestinian people.

Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri said Abbas' U.N. petition "lacks any legitimacy."

#3 The vast majority of Palestinians do not believe that creating a Palestinian state will resolve the conflict with Israel.

So if that is the case, then what in the world is creating a Palestinian state actually going to accomplish?

According to one recent survey, only 34 percent of Palestinians consider the
"two state solution" to be the answer to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

But you don't hear numbers like that in the mainstream media, do you?

#4 Giving the Palestinians a state would create a brand new state sponsor of terror in the heart of the Middle East.

Right now, the Palestinians continually commit acts of terrorism against the Jewish people.  The Palestinian Authority is either unwilling or unable to stop this violence.

So why would giving the Palestinians a state change anything?

The truth is that the poll numbers reveal what is really going on....

*According to one recent poll, 58 percent of all Palestinians prefer “armed struggle” over “engagement with Israel”.

*According to another recent poll, 73 percent of all Palestinians agree with the hadith quoted in the Hamas Charter that talks about killing Jews.

*The same poll found that 62 percent of all Palestinians support kidnapping Israeli soldiers and holding them hostage.

Why in the world would the U.S. and the EU support the creation of another terrorist state?

#5 The Palestinians still refuse to recognize that Israel has the right to exist.

The Palestinians want the rest of the world to give them huge chunks of the land of Israel without the Palestinians having to give up anything in return.  In fact, they don't even plan to recognize that the nation of Israel has a right to exist.

So what kind of neighbor do you think they will be for Israel?

This refusal to recognize Israel is deeply rooted in the Palestinian psyche.  For example, one recent poll found that only 12 percent of all Palestinians agree that official maps, documents and school textbooks should show the name "Israel".

#6 The Palestinian people are still very much dedicated to the destruction of Israel.

According to one recent poll, two-thirds of all Palestinians believe that the eventual goal of the Palestinians must be "to get back all the land for a Palestinian state."

The primary goal of the Palestinians has never changed.  For example, Abu Mujaheed, a spokesperson for the Popular Resistance Committees, recently told WorldNetDaily the following....

"For Palestinians, the borders are based on 1948 (all of Israel) and this is not negotiable."

So how are you supposed to "negotiate" with someone like that?

If the world wants to give big chunks of land to the Palestinians for free, they will gladly take it.

But it will do nothing to dissuade them from their ultimate goal.

In fact, the Hamas charter still calls for the destruction of Israel.  That has not changed.

So why should the rest of the world reward such behavior?

#7 You cannot pacify people that are committed to genocide by giving them land.

It did not work with Hitler and it will not work with the Palestinians.

Hatred for the Jews is growing to a fever pitch all over the Middle East.  Just check out the following example from a recent article in The Blaze....

While perhaps not shocking, it is profoundly disturbing that in the purportedly more “moderate” Egypt of 2011, demonstrators took to the streets outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo with signs bearing swastikas and a message that read: “the gas chambers are ready.”

How in the world are you going to make "peace" with people who think like that?

#8 The pre-1967 borders would make Israel indefensible.

At the narrowest point, Israel would only be 8 miles wide if they were forced to go back to those borders.

The nation would basically become impossible to defend.

In fact, former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Abba Eban referred to them as “Auschwitz borders”.

#9 In the Bible, the Lord God Almighty warns against dividing the land of Israel.

The book of Joel is all about the return of Jesus Christ to this earth at the end of the Great Tribulation.  In Joel 3:2 it tells us that one of the things that Jesus will judge the nations for is dividing up the land of Israel....

"...There I will put them on trial for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel, because they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land."

In case you haven't noticed, whenever the United States gets involved in trying to divide up the land of Israel we seem to get hit by a major disaster of some sort.

In a previous article, I detailed some of the disasters that have happened when the U.S. government has tried to mess around with the land of Israel....

#1) On April 30, 2003, America was positioned to be the catalyst for the so-called "solution" to the Middle East crisis. As Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas was sworn in, the "Road Map" peace plan was set in motion.

The very next day began the worst month of tornadoes in United States history - more than 500 in a single month. Under normal conditions, 1,000 tornadoes hit the United States each year, but in just eight days that May, 375 twisters ripped across the heartland of America.

#2) May 9, 2003, President Bush addressed students at the University of South Carolina. Bush called on the Palestinians to embrace the roadmap to peace, and Bush expressed his desire to see the flag of Palestine raised over a free nation.

Hours later, tornadoes returned and Oklahoma City again became the target for deadly twisters, reducing many businesses and homes to splinters and bricks. The tornadoes of May devastated the Midwest with the third worst property damage in American history.

#3) On October 30, 1991, in a meeting scheduled by George H.W. Bush, Israelis and Palestinians discussed ways to achieve peace in the Middle East. Opening talks focused on trading parts of Israel for a peace agreement.

That same day, thousands of miles away, a powerful storm was brewing off of the coast of Nova Scotia. On October 31st, what would be known as "The Perfect Storm" smashed into New England, pummeling the President's Kennebunkport, Maine home with waves 30 feet high. It was a storm so rare that the weather patterns required to create it only happen about once every 100 years.

#4) On August 23rd, 1992, Middle East peace talks resumed in Washington, D.C. with hope that there would be a great breakthrough. These talks focused on surrendering the biblical lands of Judea and Samaria in exchange for peace. Hundreds of miles south of there at the same time, Florida was the target for one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history. Hurricane Andrew ripped through the state with an eye more than 30 miles wide and winds up to 178 miles per hour leaving behind a 32 billion dollar disaster.

#5) Between August 16th and 30th, 2005, Ariel Sharon expelled 9,480 Jewish settlers from 21 settlements in Gaza and four settlements in the northern West Bank.

On January 4th, 2006, Sharon had a stroke, and he fell into a coma and is now in a persistent vegetative state.

#6) The U.S. had strongly pressured Sharon to evacuate those settlers from Gaza.

On August 29th, 2005 the storm that would become Hurricane Katrina formed, and it devastated New Orleans and the surrounding areas to such an extent that they still have not recovered. That devastating storm caused at least 200 billion dollars in damage.

#7) In June of 2001, George W. Bush sent CIA director George Tenet to Israel in an attempt to implement the Mitchell Plan. The Mitchell plan called for, among other things, the cessation of new building in the Jewish settlements.

On the same day that Tenet met with Israeli and Palestinian officials, tropical storm Allison formed in the Gulf of Mexico and moved over Texas, the President's home state, and dropped over 28 inches of rain over the Houston area alone, causing over $4 billion dollars in damage. The storm then moved to Florida and up the east coast causing damage as far as Pennsylvania. The meteorologists called Allison the "worst tropical storm in history".

There are many more examples of this phenomenon right here.

Could many of the bizarre natural disasters that we have seen this year also be linked to what Obama has been trying to do to the land of Israel?

In the Scriptures, it tells us that God gave the land to the people of Israel.  We should not be trying to mess around with that.  Psalm 105:8-11 says the following....

He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance

#10 The Palestinians are going to insist on East Jerusalem as their capital, but that city belongs to the Lord.

In Zechariah 12:3, we are warned that the city of Jerusalem will one day become a huge stumbling stone for the nations....

"On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves."

Is that not what has happened?

Jerusalem seems to be the "problem" that has no answer.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to never, ever let Jerusalem become divided.

But the Palestinians have said that they will never accept a state that does not include East Jerusalem.

The Palestinian people are incredibly united on this issue.  One recent survey found that 92 percent of Palestinians believe that Jerusalem should be the capital of the future Palestinian state.

So will they get East Jerusalem?

Well, it certainly does not help when United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is running around saying stuff like this....

"...a way must be found for Jerusalem to emerge as a capital of two States, Israel and Palestine, with arrangements for holy sites acceptable for all."

Not only that, but Barack Obama and many top EU leaders have already essentially promised East Jerusalem to the Palestinians.

So what we have is a huge mess.

Eventually we are probably going to see a Palestinian state.

And then after that we are probably going to see a major war.

A Palestinian state is not going to bring peace.

Instead, it is just going to make war much more likely.

These are the last days, and Bible prophecy is going to be fulfilled.

Let us pray for the peace of Israel and let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Today we have an excellent guest post from Alisha Venetis.  Alisha Venetis is co-founder of www.thePrepRoom.net; an online store specializing in emergency preparedness supplies.  She writes for Smart Girl Nation, as well as other conservative blogs, where she reports on world politics, domestic and global economics and the potentially negative ramifications they may have on America.

The Birth of a Nation

On May 14, 1948, the nation of Israel was born out of the ashes of the Holocaust. A day later, they were attacked by Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. Having had very little time, weaponry and man-power, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) quickly trained their civilian men and women for combat, something still done today.   Miraculously, Israel managed to survive with some last minute aid by the U.S. This was the first time Israel was attacked as a Nation but certainly not their last.

I mean really, what’s the appeal for these other Middle Eastern countries? Israel is the size of Rhode Island compared to the whole United States. It is the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world's population and  80% of Israel’s land is desert. Golda Meir, the former Israeli prime minister, used to joke that Israel was the only place in the Middle East without oil.  So what could this country possibly bring to the table?

Why Size Doesn’t Matter

What this small country has accomplished in sixty-four short years is nothing short of a miracle. This tiny county, which has been called a technological power house by Bill Gates, leads the rest of the globe in many areas.  Consider the following;

Technology

• Motorola developed the first cell phone in Israel.

• A coding for a chip that allows laptop computers to function, voicemail and technology for AOL Instant Messenger was developed in Israel.

• Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies in the world, apart from Silicon Valley in California.

• Israel has designed the airlines industry’s most impressive flight security system. Their security is so strict the US consults with Israel often on how to handle its security threats. Israel has been linked to the “ground breaking” cyber attack on Iran’s nuclear reactor. This cyber attack is believed to set back Iran’s nuclear capabilities by about three years.

• Israel has one if the best trained and powerful military’s in the world.

• It is rumored that U.S. military experts don’t even study Israel’s wars because Israel’s winning outcomes are too improbable. Let’s keep in mind they are also spending more per capita on her protection than any other country on earth.

• When Golda Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1969; she became the world's second elected female leader in modern times (even as Israel is surrounded by some countries who consider women lower than animals).

• Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship, and the highest rate among people over 55 and among women. Israelis invented a hydrogen car that uses just a tank of water.

• Israel is one of the largest exporters of fresh produce and flowers in the world, despite the fact that about 80% of Israel’s land is desert.  Israel has defied agricultural odds.

• The USA would not be as medically advanced if it were not for Israeli advancements.  Israeli scientists developed the first non-radiation computerized test for breast cancer.

• An Israeli company developed a computerized system for ensuring proper administration of medications, thus removing human error from the dipension of medicine and potentially saving thousands of lives per year.

• An Israeli company developed the first ingestible video camera. This camera is so small it fits inside a pill and helps doctors diagnose cancer and other digestive disorders.

• Israeli stem-cell technology is being used in the U.S. to regenerate heart tissue.

• Teva is one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies and a major producer of generic drugs.

• When the U. S. Embassy in Kenya was bombed in 1998, Israeli rescue teams were on the scene within a day to help save some of the victims. Israel was the first nation in the world to adopt the Kimberly process, an international standard that certifies diamonds as "conflict free."

• Hebrew (the official language of Israel) is the only dead language that has been revived after 2,000 years.

Alisha Venetis is co-founder of www.thePrepRoom.net; an online store specializing in emergency preparedness supplies.  She writes for Smart Girl Nation, as well as other conservative blogs, where she reports on world politics, domestic and global economics and the potentially negative ramifications they may have on America.

Are the Palestinians going to unilaterally declare independence and ask the UN to formally recognize an independent Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders this September?  That is what many in the Israeli government now fear.  At this point the Palestinians have pretty much given up on negotiations with Israel and they have initiated an all-out effort to get the international community behind their effort to achieve statehood in 2011.  The Scriptures warn over and over again about dividing the land of Israel, and many believe that those warnings were put into the Bible for the last days.  So could we actually see the UN establish a formal Palestinian state without the approval of Israel by the end of 2011?  Unfortunately, a whole lot of signs are pointing in that direction.

A recent article in The New York Times noted the intense pressure that Israel is under right now.  Basically the global community is telling them to give away the farm to the Palestinians or else the UN is just going to go ahead and do it anyway....

With revolutionary fervor sweeping the Middle East, Israel is under mounting pressure to make a far-reaching offer to the Palestinians or face a United Nations vote welcoming the State of Palestine as a member whose territory includes all of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

So where is the incentive for the Palestinians to negotiate in all of this?  If the Israelis don't give them a Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as the capital they will just wait for the UN to hand it to them.

Yes, it could really happen.

The following are 10 alarming signs that momentum is building for the UN to formally recognize an independent Palestinian state in 2011....

#1 The World Bank has publicly endorsed the formation of an independent Palestinian state.

#2 The IMF is formally backing the establishment of a Palestinian state in the near future.

#3 A recent United Nations report made the following statement about the Palestinian Authority: "In six areas where the UN is most engaged, governmental functions are now sufficient for a functioning government of a state."

#4 The Ad-hoc Liaison Committee on Palestine, composed of the EU, the United States, Canada, Norway, Russia, four Arab countries, the UN, the World Bank and the IMF, has endorsed the UN report and says that the Palestinians are ready for an independent state.

#5 U.S. and EU officials are warning that if Israel does not agree to a Palestinian state within the next few months, "the Quartet may be compelled to recognize a Palestinian State in the 1967 borders, with east Jerusalem as its capital".

#6 It is being reported in the international media that the following 4 points form the core of Obama's strategy for bringing about a Palestinian state: "Israel's acceptance of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders; Palestinian acceptance that there would be no right to return to Israeli land; Jerusalem as the capital of both states; and the protection of Israel's security needs."

#7 Earlier this year, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the following statement about the situation in Israel: "The status quo between Palestinians and Israelis is no more sustainable than the political systems that have crumbled in recent months."

#8 New Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi is now asking the United States to formally recognize a Palestinian state.

#9 The Palestinian Authority has set September 2011 as the deadline to be ready for statehood.

#10 Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas sounds convinced that Barack Obama is going to make good on his promise to deliver an independent state into the hands of the Palestinians by the end of the year: "We are counting on the words of U.S. President Barack Obama who said his vision is to see a Palestinian state this coming September according to a deadline set by the Quartet."

Sadly, an independent Palestinian state would probably only make war more likely.

The following is how author Joel C. Rosenberg recently explained it....

If the Palestinians make a unilateral declaration of what they want, what will stop Israel from unilaterally declaring what they want? What if the Palestinians try to forcibly evict the Jews living in the West Bank? Those Jews would certainly fight back. Would the Israeli military move to defend the Jewish settlers? Would Palestinian security forces then fire upon the Israeli forces? Would the U.N. move into to condemn and isolate Israel, and even impose draconian economic sanctions on the Jewish state? Events could spiral out of control. Indeed, the likelihood is that far more violence — not peace — would result by such a Palestinian declaration of statehood outside the context of negotiations with Israel.

Unfortunately, even if the Palestinians get a state, there is going to be a massive war in the Middle East.

In Lebanon, Hezbollah is arming to the teeth and they are absolutely obsessed with driving Israel into the sea.

Syria had been getting ready for war for decades, and it is almost certainly just a matter of time before Israel and Syria go head to head.

Iran continues to develop their nuclear program and it is seemingly inevitable that at some point the Israelis will strike them in order to stop that.

Egypt has just taken a hard turn towards radical Islam and a recent poll found that the majority of the Egyptian people are in favor of ending the peace treaty with Israel.

So, no, the Middle East is not getting closer to peace.

In fact, it is getting much closer to war.

We live in very unstable times.  Please pray for peace in the Middle East.

Many Christians have believed for a long time that Egypt would take a hard turn towards radical Islam in the last days.  Well, it looks like that might be starting to happen.  This week tens of thousands of radical Islamic protesters have been violently clashing with police and security forces in some of Egypt's biggest cities.  So far, at least 4 people have died and dozens have been injured during the Egypt protests.  The level of violence that we are witnessing during these protests is absolutely stunning.  One of America's biggest allies in the Middle East is rapidly becoming destabilized.

There are reports that police have been forced to use water cannons and tear gas on the protesters.  But this has just seemed to make the Islamic radicals even more determined.

So what are they protesting about?

Well, supposedly this is all about "economic conditions" and the rising cost of living, but the protesters are also demanding the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Mubarak has been in power for three decades, and hardline Muslims in Egypt see him as way too friendly with Israel and the United States.

So while most mainstream media news reports will continue to characterize these as "economic protests", let there be no mistake - the vast majority of these protesters desire to see radical Islam take power in Egypt.

If that happens, it will be extremely bad news for the United States and Israel.

Organizers are promising that even bigger protests are planned.  It does not look like things are going to cool down in Egypt any time soon.

So could this be the beginning of an Islamic revolution in Egypt?

Let's pray that it is not.

The following is incredibly shocking raw video from the recent protest in Egypt.  As you can see, things are rapidly becoming very, very serious....

There has been a major discovery of natural gas just off the coast of Israel.  At this point it has now been officially confirmed that one gigantic offshore gas field alone contains 16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.  That is the largest deepwater natural gas find in a decade, and it is being projected that it could supply Israel's gas needs for 100 years.

Wow!

God provides, eh?

The following is an excerpt from a recent Wall Street Journal article about this amazing discovery....

On Wednesday, the frenzy got fresh fuel: Noble confirmed its earlier estimates that the field contains 16 trillion cubic feet of gas—making it the world's biggest deepwater gas find in a decade, with enough reserves to supply Israel's gas needs for 100 years.

Getting all of that natural gas out of the ground is not going to be easy, but there is already talk that Israel could actually become a net exporter of energy.

Wouldn't that be something?

But the truth is that we all knew that Israel would be abundantly blessed in the last days, didn't we?

The other nations in the region are already expressing envy.  Lebanon has announced that it wants to start looking for gas off its own shores, and the Palestinians are less than pleased that Israel has found all this gas and they are not going to get any of it.

But it isn't just natural gas that has been found by Israel.

As I have written about previously, one Israeli oil prospecting and production firm has formally announced the discovery of a "commercially sized" oil field in central Israel.

A recent article in Haaretz provided some intriguing details on this new discovery....

Givot Olam Oil Ltd notified the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange of the find in its "Megev Five" drill near the town of Rosh Ha’ayin, saying it can produce 470 barrels of oil a day.

Isn't all of this exciting?

God is doing something amazing in the land of Israel.

For years, there have been some Bible teachers that have pointed to scriptures such as Deuteronomy 33:24 as evidence that Israel would someday be blessed with oil....

"And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil."

Well, we have witnessed some incredible oil and natural gas discoveries in Israel this year and many believe that there will be even larger discoveries of oil in Israel over the next several years.

But as Israel keep making these discoveries the Palestinians are going to get jealous and it is going to change the political equation in the Middle East.

Even as you read this, Hamas, Hezbollah and Syria are feverishly preparing for war.  The next war in the Middle East could break out at any time.

So all of this oil and natural gas is not going to provide Israel with any kind of lasting peace and security.  In fact, Israel will not truly experience lasting peace and security until Yahshua the Messiah returns.

The politicians that are working so hard toward a "two state solution" are completely and totally deluded if they actually believe that it will bring lasting peace to the region.  The truth is that according to Islamic law, any lands that have once belonged to Muslims belong to them forever.  Radical Muslims will never recognize the right of the Jews to live on even one inch of the land of Israel.  It simply is not going to happen.  Any "peace agreement" that gives the Palestinians control over more land is only going to be viewed as an "intermediate step" toward the eventual goal of completely eliminating the nation of Israel.  Anyone who doubts this should check out the results of a recent poll by The Israel Project.

The poll asked Palestinians living in Judea, Samaria and Gaza a variety of questions about Israel and about the peace process.  The following are some of the results.....

*60 percent were in favor of direct negotiations with Israel that would result in a "two state" solution.

*Approximately two-thirds of the respondents agreed that "over time, Palestinians must work to get back all the land for a Palestinian state."

*Only 23 percent of the respondents believed that  "Israel has a permanent right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people."

*58 percent of those surveyed preferred "armed struggle" over "engagement with Israel."

*Just 12 percent of the respondents said that official maps, documents and school textbooks should show the name "Israel".

Are you starting to get the message?

In Islam, it is taught that you can negotiate with an enemy, lie to an enemy and even make peace agreements with an enemy if it will put you in a better position to achieve eventual victory.

That is what the Palestinians are doing.  They have no intention of living peacefully alongside Israel forever.  Instead, they are just going to grab land however they can grab it.

If Israel will give them some of the land now peacefully, then so be it.  Later on they will take the rest by force if necessary.

Any attempt at a "two state solution" is absolutely foolish and just puts Israel in even more danger.

Radical Islam does not compromise.  Radical Islam does not forget what the eventual goal is.  Radical Islam will not honor any peace treaty for long.

For years, the top Palestinian leaders have said "peace, peace" to the rest of the world and then have turned right around and have told their constituents that of course they would never give up the eternal struggle to take back "the land of Palestine" for the Palestinians.

But world politicians have been totally fooled.  They keep wanting to believe that if the Palestinians are given more land and more control that they will eventually be satisfied.

But they will never, ever be satisfied.  Not until the entire state of Israel has been wiped off the map.

There will never be lasting peace in the Middle East until Yeshua the Messiah (the Lord Jesus Christ) returns to this earth.  Unfortunately, our politicians are never going to understand that.

Has the Israeli government already decided that they will be giving away East Jerusalem to the Palestinians in peace talks? Unfortunately, there is every indication that is exactly what is going to happen and that Israel plans to give up control over the holy sites in Jerusalem as well.

In an absolutely shocking interview with Israel's Haaretz newspaper on the eve of the peace talks in Washington, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak made the following statement....

"West Jerusalem and 12 Jewish neighborhoods that are home to 200,000 residents will be ours. The Arab neighborhoods in which close to a quarter million Palestinians live will be theirs. There will be a special regime in place along with agreed upon arrangements in the Old City, the Mount of Olives and the City of David."

It is important to note that this is not some minor official in the Israeli government talking here.  This is Ehud Barak - the Israeli Defense Minister.

He seems to have a very clear understanding that the Israeli government is fully prepared to give up East Jerusalem.

And the truth is that the Palestinians will absolutely not accept a "peace agreement" that does not include East Jerusalem, and both the EU and the United States both assume that a peace agreement will include handing over East Jerusalem to the Palestinians.

Not only that, but Barak said that he believes that the holy sites in Jerusalem will be administered by a "special regime" after a peace agreement is reached.

Now what in the world does that mean?  There have been rumors for quite some time that the holy sites would be turned over to international control of some sort or another, and it now seems that the Israeli government is more than willing to give them away.

And for what?

A promise of peace by the Palestinians?

When have they ever kept their promises before?

The stunning concessions that Barak believes the Israeli government is prepared to agree to are absolutely mind blowing.  The following is a brief excerpt from the interview with Barak in Haaretz....

What are the principles of a peace deal that you believe can be agreed upon by the conclusion of the talks?

"Two states for two nations; an end to the conflict and the end of all future demands; the demarcation of a border that will run inside the Land of Israel, and within that border will lie a solid Jewish majority for generations and on the other side will be a demilitarized Palestinian state but one that will be viable politically, economically, and territorially; keeping the settlement blocs in our hands; retrieving and relocating the isolated settlements into the settlement blocs or within Israel; a solution to the refugee problem [whereby refugees return to] the Palestinian state or are rehabilitated by international aid; comprehensive security arrangements and a solution to the Jerusalem problem."

So that's it?

The Palestinians get a Palestinian state?

The Palestinians get East Jerusalem?

Israel gives up control of the holy sites?

And Israel gets a promise of peace that is not worth the paper it is written on?

Already it seems as though progress is being made in the negotiations that are taking place in Washington.  The Israelis and Palestinians have agreed to work towards a "framework agreement" over the next few months as a "first step" to a full peace treaty.

According to U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell, the purpose of the framework is to establish the compromises which will be made by both sides....

"The purpose of a framework agreement will be to establish the fundamental compromises necessary to enable them to flesh out and complete a comprehensive treaty that will end the conflict and establish a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians."

Or in other words, the "framework agreement" will set forth the very deep concessions that Israel is making and only require the Palestinians to offer a vague promise of peace.

At this point, Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas have agreed to hold another round of meetings on September 14th and 15th.  It is believed that these meetings will be held in Egypt.

Isn't that fitting?

Israel always seems to want to go back to Egypt.

Israel always seems to want to give away parts of the promised land.

The upcoming September talks are also going to include U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell.  The United States is playing a central role in this "peace process" and that is a very bad thing.

For example, has anyone noticed that Hurricane Earl has been raging just off the east coast of the United States as these negotiations have been taking place?

Oh, you think that this is just a coincidence?

Well, the reality is that whenever the U.S. government has been involved in negotiations to carve up the land of Israel bad things have happened.  If you doubt this, just please see all of the other examples of this phenomenon that we detailed in a previous article entitled "Did The Oil Spill In The Gulf Of Mexico Happen Because Barack Obama Is Trying To Divide The Land Of Israel?"

The truth is that God gave the land of Israel to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob forever.

No man has the right to ever give it away.

Anyone who tries to give it away is coming directly against God.

Psalm 105:8-11 says the following....

He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance

The land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel.

Any effort to give it away is foolish and will only bring the wrath of God.

In the end, the people of Israel will have all of the land that God has promised.

But in the meanwhile, Jerusalem will continue to be a "burdensome stone" and the land of Israel will continue to be carved up by world leaders.

Please pray for the land of Israel and for the peace of Jerusalem in these last days.

An event has just occurred that the rest of the world has not taken much notice of yet, but it is one that will soon have Bible prophecy students buzzing with anticipation.  There has been a major discovery of oil in Israel.  An Israeli oil prospecting and production firm has formally announced the discovery of a "commercially sized" oil field in central Israel.  Ever since it became a nation again in 1948, Israel has been importing all of the oil that it needs, so needless to say this is potentially an incredibly exciting development.  For years, many Bible prophecy teachers have believed that oil would be discovered in Israel in the last days, but up until now there hasn't been much to report.

Now there is. 

A recent article in Haaretz provided some more details on this new discovery.... 

Givot Olam Oil Ltd notified the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange of the find in its "Megev Five" drill near the town of Rosh Ha’ayin, saying it can produce 470 barrels of oil a day.

But this has not been the only major discovery in Israel in recent years.  In January 2009, Nobel Drilling announced that they had found a massive natural gas field approximately 60 to 90 miles offshore from Israel.  The firm says that the field contains enough natural gas to supply everything that Israel needs for the next 10 or 20 years.

Things are changing.

So will these new discoveries fundamentally change the politics of the Middle East?

Are we seeing Bible prophecy being fulfilled right before our eyes?

For years, there have been some Bible teachers that have pointed to scriptures such as Deuteronomy 33:24 as evidence that Israel would someday be blessed with oil....

"And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil."

The truth is that there is a lot of debate about the "oil" passages throughout the Bible, but these new discoveries are certainly strengthening the case of those who strongly believe there is a lot of oil in Israel.

So could the discovery of oil in Israel end up being one of the things that sparks the next war in the Middle East?

Only time will tell.

But one thing is for sure - we certainly do live in extraordinary times.

The Scriptures tell us that in the last days there will be wars and rumors of wars, and that is certainly true of the times that we are living in today.  Iran's nuclear program continues to advance, and world leaders around the globe are becoming increasingly alarmed.  In fact, even Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is now warning that Iran is close to having the potential to build a nuclear weapon.  For years, Russia has been one of Iran's most vigorous defenders on the world scene, but now even the Russian government is expressing reservations about what is going on in that country.  That should set off alarm bells for all of us.

Not only that, but now even Arab nations are expressing concern about Iran's nuclear program.  For example, the United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United States recently said that it would be extremely difficult for his nation to coexist with a nuclear Iran and that it would support any actions the U.S. took to prevent such a possibility.

The UAE would support a U.S. military strike on Iran?

Yes, you read that correctly.

It is even being reported that both Egypt and Jordan are growing increasingly concerned with Iran's nuclear program.

It looks like Iran is running out of friends.

But Iran continues to recklessly push forward with their nuclear ambitions.

Just this past week, Iran announced that the Bushehr nuclear power plant would be ready for operation in just two months.

But does being able to produce nuclear power mean that Iran is also planning to develop nuclear weapons?

The truth is that we all know the answer to that question.

In fact, a former of Iran's Revolutionary Guard who relayed its secret operations to the CIA for 10 years says that Iran will commit the "most horrendous suicide bombing in human history" if it is not stopped from developing nuclear weapons.

So who is going to stop them?

The United States?

That seems quite likely as long as Barack Obama is running things.

Israel?

Perhaps.

For now, Israel has been trying to talk peace with the Palestinians, but they are also preparing for war.

The world has certainly been trying to push Israel and the Palestinians to the negotiating table, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed interest in sitting down with them.  Netanyahu says that he believes that direct talks with the Palestinians will begin very soon and he recently predicted that they will be "very, very tough".

But on another occasion recently, Netanyahu said that he does not envision actually reaching a negotiated Middle East peace settlement within the next two years, despite his Palestinian counterpart's declared intentions to set up infrastructure for a state by 2011.

So it looks like Netanyahu expects peace talks with the Palestinians to begin soon, but he is not anticipating that they will bear any fruit in the foreseeable future.

Not that any of the other "peace agreements" with the Palestinians have ever worked out.

In the end, war always ends up breaking out again.

And war tensions are certainly on the rise in the region once again.

Debka is reporting that 20,000 Hezbollah troops have advanced and are dug into 160 new positions in South Lebanon.  Israel is believed to be "preparing something" for Lebanon and Hezbollah is on high alert to prevent it, unnamed sources in the group were quoted by London-based newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat as saying recently.

In addition, according to the Palestinian Authority daily newspaper Al-Hayat al-Jadida, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas recently told Arab leaders that the PA is ready to wage war on Israel if the rest of the Arab world does.  The following is what Abbas reportedly told them....

"If you want war, and if all of you will fight Israel, we are in favor.  But the Palestinians will not fight alone because they don't have the ability to do it."

To the world media, Abbas talks about peace, peace, peace, but to his fellow Arab leaders he says that the Palestinian Authority is ready for war with Israel.

What a hypocrite.

The truth is that even if a "peace agreement" is reached, and even if a "Palestinian state" is created, more wars in the Middle East are inevitable.

These are the last days, and wars are going to continue until the end.  The only time that there is going to be true peace is after the King of Kings, the Messiah, returns to this earth and sets up His kingdom in Jerusalem.

Right away it is important to warn you that the premise of this article is highly controversial.  Throughout history, God has always dealt very harshly with anyone who has turned their backs on Israel.  In fact, as we will document below, God has dealt very harshly with the United States on a number of occasions when the U.S. has been involved in the dividing of the land of Israel.  God gave the promised land to the people of Israel forever, and nobody has the right to give one inch of that land away.  But the Scriptures tell us that in the last days that is exactly what is going to happen.  The truth is that world leaders never learn.  They are still messing with the land of Israel just like they always have throughout history.  However, those nations who do mess with Israel have often found themselves cursed.  So is the Gulf of Mexico oil spill a curse that has been brought upon us because Barack Obama is trying to divide the land of Israel?

The truth is that we don't have a definitive answer for that question.  Only God can tell us exactly why something happens.  But below we will detail the evidence for why these two things may be connected.

Barack Obama And The Division Of The Land Of Israel

Barack Obama has rapidly become the most anti-Israel president in U.S. history.  In fact, it was reported in the international media on April 30th that Barack Obama had already decided that if Israel and the Palestinians have not agreed to a peace agreement by the end of the year, the Middle East peace process will be handed over to the international community and a final solution will be imposed on both parties.

In fact, Haaretz reported on April 30th that Barack Obama had already conferred with "several European leaders" at that point and that it had been decided that the "international peace conference" would be run by the Quartet of Middle East peacemakers - the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia - and the goal would be to forge a united global front for creating a Palestinian state.

So if this was being reported on April 30th, and Barack Obama had already spent a good amount of time talking with European leaders about this plan prior to that date, then it seems quite likely that Obama had started implementing this new Middle East strategy at least a week or two earlier.

Coincidentally, BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded on April 20th, 2010.

Before you convince yourself that the two events are unrelated, keep reading the rest of the article.

The truth is that God does not like it when anyone tries to take the land of Israel and give to to someone else.

And that is exactly what Barack Obama's plan would do.

If Obama's plan is implemented, the international community will almost certainly come up with the "final solution" that the UN, the EU and Barack Obama have been seeking all along - a Palestinian state along pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

So now the Palestinians have absolutely no incentive to negotiate with Israel at all.

The reality is that the Palestinians can just sit back, allow the negotiations to fail, and still get a Palestinian state with a capital in East Jerusalem just like they always wanted anyway.

The truth is that Obama's grand scheme undermines the entire peace process as one Israeli official recently explained....

"If you enforce a time limit and then introduce an imposed solution if they don't succeed after a period, then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy: you're going to guarantee the talks won't succeed."

Not that Israel should be considering giving away one single inch of the promised land anyway.

But now the Palestinians will just sit back and wait for the international community to give them the state that they have been promised along with a capital in East Jerusalem.

The sad truth is that Barack Obama has been promising them a Palestinian state for a long time. According to WorldNetDaily, Barack Obama told the Palestinian leadership all the way back in 2008 that he supports a Palestinian state with a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem.

So why in the world would the Palestinians be willing to accept anything less from Israel?

Meanwhile, Barack Obama and his administration are bringing a curse on to the United States of America.

Examples Of Horrific Disasters That Have Occurred At Times The U.S. Has Been Involved In Dividing Up The Land Of Israel

In a previous article, we detailed what has happened before when the U.S. government has tried to divide the land of Israel....

----

In the Scriptures, we are warned that the city of Jerusalem would one day become a huge stumbling stone for the nations in Zechariah 12:3.....

"On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves."

Is that not what has happened?

The truth is that God gave that land to Israel long ago, and now that He has started to bring His people back to the land, anyone who tries to give it away is going to be under a curse.

So is there any evidence of a curse on those who try to divide the land of Israel today?

Yes.

Consider these examples.....

#1) On April 30, 2003, America was positioned to be the catalyst for the so-called "solution" to the Middle East crisis. As Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas was sworn in, the "Road Map" peace plan was set in motion.

The very next day began the worst month of tornadoes in United States history - more than 500 in a single month. Under normal conditions, 1,000 tornadoes hit the United States each year, but in just eight days that May, 375 twisters ripped across the heartland of America.

#2) May 9, 2003, President Bush addressed students at the University of South Carolina. Bush called on the Palestinians to embrace the roadmap to peace, and Bush expressed his desire to see the flag of Palestine raised over a free nation.

Hours later, tornadoes returned and Oklahoma City again became the target for deadly twisters, reducing many businesses and homes to splinters and bricks. The tornadoes of May devastated the Midwest with the third worst property damage in American history.

#3) On October 30, 1991, in a meeting scheduled by George H.W. Bush, Israelis and Palestinians discussed ways to achieve peace in the Middle East. Opening talks focused on trading parts of Israel for a peace agreement.

That same day, thousands of miles away, a powerful storm was brewing off of the coast of Nova Scotia. On October 31st, what would be known as "The Perfect Storm" smashed into New England, pummeling the President's Kennebunkport, Maine home with waves 30 feet high. It was a storm so rare that the weather patterns required to create it only happen about once every 100 years.

#4) On August 23rd, 1992, Middle East peace talks resumed in Washington, D.C. with hope that there would be a great breakthrough. These talks focused on surrendering the biblical lands of Judea and Samaria in exchange for peace. Hundreds of miles south of there at the same time, Florida was the target for one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history. Hurricane Andrew ripped through the state with an eye more than 30 miles wide and winds up to 178 miles per hour leaving behind a 32 billion dollar disaster.

#5) Between August 16th and 30th, 2005, Ariel Sharon expelled 9,480 Jewish settlers from 21 settlements in Gaza and four settlements in the northern West Bank.

On January 4th, 2006, Sharon had a stroke, and he fell into a coma and is now in a persistent vegetative state.

#6) The U.S. had strongly pressured Sharon to evacuate those settlers from Gaza.

On August 29th, 2005 the storm that would become Hurricane Katrina formed, and it devastated New Orleans and the surrounding areas to such an extent that they still have not recovered. That devastating storm caused at least 200 billion dollars in damage.

#7) In June of 2001, George W. Bush sent CIA director George Tenet to Israel in an attempt to implement the Mitchell Plan. The Mitchell plan called for, among other things, the cessation of new building in the Jewish settlements.

On the same day that Tenet met with Israeli and Palestinian officials, tropical storm Allison formed in the Gulf of Mexico and moved over Texas, the President's home state, and dropped over 28 inches of rain over the Houston area alone, causing over $4 billion dollars in damage. The storm then moved to Florida and up the east coast causing damage as far as Pennsylvania. The meteorologists called Allison the "worst tropical storm in history".

There are many more examples of this phenomenon here:

http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/1055/1055_01.asp?wpc=1055_01.asp&wpp=b

----

In the book of Joel, God warns specifically against dividing the land of Israel.

Joel 3:1-2 states, "...I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of my people and my inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; and they have divided up my land."

You just cannot go against the Word of God and win.

So is the Gulf of Mexico oil spill a curse on the United States for trying to divide up the land of Israel?

Or could it just be a coincidence?

Could all of the examples cited above just be a string of coincidences?

You make the call.

****UPDATE****

A YouTube video has been posted by Carl Gallups of Hickory Hammock Baptist Church in Milton, Florida that examines this same idea.  A copy of the video is posted below.  In the video, Gallups points to April 19th as being the key date, which is very interesting.  

"April the 19th, Israel celebrates its independence in 2010," Gallups explains in the video. "On April the 19th, Fox News reports that the U.S. will no longer automatically support Israel in the United Nations. The next day, on April the 20th, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explodes. Coincidence? Or the hand and judgment of God?"

So is this even more evidence that our treatment of Israel is linked to the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico?  Watch the video for yourself and decide....

At a time when the U.S. economy is dying and the U.S. national debt is exploding at an unprecedented rate, Barack Obama has announced a brand new 400 million dollar "aid package" for the Palestinians.  Considering the fact that some cities American cities such as Detroit are such an economic mess that they literally look like war zones, and considering the fact that the U.S. government is literally drowning in debt, it seems inconceivable that Barack Obama would even consider sending 400 million U.S. taxpayer dollars to terrorists that have sworn to destroy Israel.  But that is exactly what Barack Obama plans to do.   

A White House statement said that the new 400 million dollar gift is "a down payment on the United States' commitment to Palestinians in Gaza, who deserve a better life and expanded opportunities, and the chance to take part in building a viable, independent state of Palestine, together with those who live in the West Bank".

And do you know who runs Gaza?

Hamas.

The same Hamas that is obsessively committed to wiping Israel off the face of the earth.

That is who we are sending 400 million dollars to.

It is utter insanity, but God warned us that things were going to get really strange in the last days.

But the reality is that the U.S. should not be sending 400 million dollars to anyone.

The truth is that the United States is flat broke.

According to the U.S. Treasury Department, on June 1st the U.S. National Debt was $13,050,826,460,886.97.

In case you aren't used to reading such large numbers, that is over 13 trillion dollars.

In fact, according to a recent U.S. Treasury Department report to Congress, the U.S. national debt will top $13.6 trillion this year and climb to an estimated $19.6 trillion by 2015.

19 trillion dollars in debt by 2015?

Do you have any idea how much money that is?

If you were alive 2000 years ago and you started spending one million dollars every single day when Jesus was born, you still would not have spent one trillion dollars by now.

And yet somehow the U.S. government has gotten all of us 13 trillion dollars in debt.

As bad as the debt already is, it is rapidly getting even worse.

Based on data from the International Monetary Fund, it is now being projected that the national debt will exceed the gross domestic product of the United States in 2012.

We have piled up the biggest mountain of debt in the history of the world, and yet the U.S. government continues to spend our money as if there is an endless supply of it.

But it is not just U.S. government debt that is the problem.

In fact, the total of all government, corporate and consumer debt in the United States is now equal to 360 percent of GDP.  That is a far greater level than the U.S. ever approached during the Great Depression.

Are you starting to get the picture?

The United States is a complete and total economic disaster.  A financial collapse is only a matter of time.

But you can help out.

Okay, try not to laugh.

The U.S. government is now actually taking online donations that will go towards paying off the national debt.

So are you feeling generous today?

Perhaps the U.S. government will send your donation to the Palestinians as well.

The truth is that any nation that comes against Israel is not going to be blessed.  Hamas has never renounced their goal of wiping Israel off the map, and yet the United States is giving them hundreds of millions of dollars.  We are cursing ourselves by giving them this money.

What we should be doing is taking care of our own.  Already, 40 million Americans are on food stamps.  1 in 5 U.S. children now live in poverty.  The U.S. economy is coming apart at the seams.

But Barack Obama feels it is much more important to send hundreds of millions of dollars to the sworn enemies of Israel. 

We all knew that things like this were going to happen in the last days, but to see what the United States is becoming is incredibly sad.

It is becoming increasingly obvious that the world community will accept no peace plan for Israel that does not include a Palestinian state.  In fact, at this point the creation of a Palestinian state is a foregone conclusion in most diplomatic circles.  The only question seems to be what the exact dimensions of that state are going to be.  The Scriptures have long foretold the division of the land of Israel in the last days, but to see it play out in front of our eyes is absolutely stunning.  Virtually the entire world is united behind the idea that a Palestinian state is a great idea, and the pressure for Israel to accept one will continue to grow in the coming days.   

Robert Serry, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, was recently asked if there is an alternative to a Palestinian state during an appearance at the Hebrew University's Truman Institute. 

His response? 

"No." 

In fact, he made it clear that the UN is not even considering any other alternatives when he made this statement....

"I don't know of any alternatives."

So that is what Israel is faced with.

Accept a Palestinian state or nothing.

In essence, a Palestinian state is Plan A and there is no Plan B.

Meanwhile, it is being reported that the Obama administration's plan for Israel includes stationing international troops along Israel's border with a future Palestinian state.

Apparently the idea is that by deploying international soldiers along the Palestinian side of a future border with Israel, there would be a "buffer" that would keep peace between the two sides.

Of course we have all seen how well UN troops "keep the peace" in other areas of the world.

So what is the main obstacle to a Palestinian state at this point?

Well, it is the fact that the Palestinians want East Jerusalem for their capital.

Benjamin Netanyahu and the current Israeli government are not about to accept that.

But we were warned in Zechariah 12:3 that the city of Jerusalem would one day become a huge stumbling block for the nations.....

"On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves."

So how will all of this play out?

We will just have to wait and see.

Meanwhile, the entire region continues to prepare for war.

*The president of Syria is openly accusing Israel of trying to start a war.

*According to one new report, Syria has approximately 1,000 ballistic missiles zeroed in on Israeli targets.

*Egyptian military forces recently concluded maneuvers in the Sinai Peninsula that simulated an invasion of southern Israel.

*The National News Agency reported this week that the Lebanese Armed Forces fired anti-aircraft artillery from the town of Shebaa in South Lebanon at Israeli warplanes flying over Lebanese territory around 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

*A top IDF Home Front Command officer said on Tuesday that Israel is not sufficiently prepared for a chemical missile attack.

*Israel recently kicked off a five-day nationwide defense drill with the goal of preparing civilians for rocket attacks.

*It is being widely reported that teams of American special forces have been authorized to conduct spying missions intended to pave the way for a military strike on Iran in case Barack Obama orders one.

The truth is that tensions continue to rise in the Middle East and war could break out at any time.

So will a Palestinian state come before or after the next war?

There is quite a bit of debate about that among Bible prophecy scholars.

The truth is that we will just have to wait and see.

But let us pray that the division of Israel and of Jerusalem does not happen, because if the U.S. has a hand in that, God will not be pleased at all.

Barack Obama has reportedly decided that if Israel and the Palestinians have not agreed to a peace agreement in the next few months, the Middle East peace process will be handed over to the international community for a resolution.  So what would be the result of handing over the peace process to the international community?  Well, the international community would almost certainly come up with the solution that the UN, the EU and Barack Obama have been seeking all along - a Palestinian state along pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. 

According to Haaretz, Obama has agreed with leading European allies on a secret plan to convene an "international peace conference" by the end of the year if Israel and the Palestinians are not able to work out an agreement.

This "international peace conference" would be convened under the auspices of the Quartet for Middle East peace.  The membership of the "Quartet" currently includes the United States, the EU, the UN and Russia.

So if Israel does not act quickly they could very well soon find the rest of the world imposing a Palestinian state on them.

What in the world is Barack Obama thinking?

Well, apparently he wants to be the "great Middle East peacemaker" and he is willing to throw his weight around in order to get it done.

But the truth is that this could end up being one gigantic mess. 

The Telegraph recently quoted Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli diplomat close to the Obama administration, regarding his opinion on what an "international peace conference" would mean....

"An international conference involving the EU, China and Russia is more of a recipe for chaos than a practical political blueprint," he said. "But anything is better than the status quo."

No, anything is not better than the status quo.

The truth is that the Palestinians now have no incentive to negotiate with Israel.  They can just sit back, allow the negotiations to fail, and still get a Palestinian state with a capital in East Jerusalem just like they always wanted anyway.

The reality is that this whole plan by Obama undermines the entire peace process as one Israeli official recently explained....

"If you enforce a time limit and then introduce an imposed solution if they don't succeed after a period, then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy: you're going to guarantee the talks won't succeed."

Not that Israel should be considering giving away one single inch of the Promised Land anyway.

But now the Palestinians will just sit back and wait for the international community to give them the state that they have been promised along with a capital in East Jerusalem.

The reality is that Barack Obama has been promising them a Palestinian state for a long time.  According to WorldNetDaily, Barack Obama told the Palestinian leadership all the way back in 2008 that he supports a Palestinian state and a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem.

So why in the world would the Palestinians be willing to accept anything less from Israel?

By doing his best to divide the land of Israel, Barack Obama is directly coming against the Word of God.

In a previous article, we explained why this is a very, very bad idea for any U.S. administration to do....

----

In Genesis 12:3, God warns that those who curse Israel will be cursed when he promised this to Abraham:

"I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

In the book of Joel, God warns specifically against dividing the land of Israel.

Joel 3:1-2 states, "...I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of my people and my inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; and they have divided up my land."

Bill Koenig, the author of "Israel: The Blessing or the Curse", has said this:

"We know for a fact that God gave this land, through the Abrahamic covenant, He gave the land of Israel to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants, and this land is God's land."

In the Scriptures, we are warned that the city of Jerusalem would one day become a huge stumbling stone for the nations in Zechariah 12:3.....

"On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves."

Is that not what has happened?

The truth is that God gave that land to Israel long ago, and now that He has started to bring His people back to the land, anyone who tries to give it away is going to be under a curse.

So is there any evidence of a curse on those who try to divide the land of Israel today?

Yes.

Consider these examples.....

#1) On April 30, 2003, America was positioned to be the catalyst for the so-called "solution" to the Middle East crisis. As Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas was sworn in, the "Road Map" peace plan was set in motion.

The very next day began the worst month of tornadoes in United States history - more than 500 in a single month. Under normal conditions, 1,000 tornadoes hit the United States each year, but in just eight days that May, 375 twisters ripped across the heartland of America.

#2) May 9, 2003, President Bush addressed students at the University of South Carolina. Bush called on the Palestinians to embrace the roadmap to peace, and Bush expressed his desire to see the flag of Palestine raised over a free nation.

Hours later, tornadoes returned and Oklahoma City again became the target for deadly twisters, reducing many businesses and homes to splinters and bricks. The tornadoes of  May devastated the Midwest with the third worst property damage in American history.

#3) On October 30, 1991, in a meeting scheduled by George H.W. Bush, Israelis and Palestinians discussed ways to achieve peace in the Middle East. Opening talks focused on trading parts of Israel for a peace agreement.

That same day, thousands of miles away, a powerful storm was brewing off of the coast of Nova Scotia. On October 31st, what would be known as "The Perfect Storm" smashed into New England, pummeling the President's Kennebunkport, Maine home with waves 30 feet high. It was a storm so rare that the weather patterns required to create it only happen about once every 100 years.

#4) On August 23rd, 1992, Middle East peace talks resumed in Washington, D.C. with hope that there would be a great breakthrough.  These talks focused on surrendering the biblical lands of Judea and Samaria in exchange for peace. Hundreds of miles south of there at the same time, Florida was the target for one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history. Hurricane Andrew ripped through the state with an eye more than 30 miles wide and winds up to 178 miles per hour leaving behind a 32 billion dollar disaster.

#5) Between August 16th and 30th, 2005, Ariel Sharon expelled 9,480 Jewish settlers from 21 settlements in Gaza and four settlements in the northern West Bank.

On January 4th, 2006, Sharon had a stroke, and he fell into a coma and is now in a persistent vegetative state.

#6) The U.S. had strongly pressured Sharon to evacuate those settlers from Gaza.

On August 29th, 2005 the storm that would become Hurricane Katrina formed, and it devastated New Orleans and the surrounding areas to such an extent that they still have not recovered. That devastating storm caused at least 200 billion dollars in damage.

#7) In June of 2001, George W. Bush sent CIA director George Tenet to Israel in an attempt to implement the Mitchell Plan.  The Mitchell plan called for, among other things, the cessation of new building in the Jewish settlements.

On the same day that Tenet met with Israeli and Palestinian officials, tropical storm Allison formed in the Gulf of Mexico and moved over Texas, the President's home state, and dropped over 28 inches of rain over the Houston area alone, causing over $4 billion dollars in damage. The storm then moved to Florida and up the east coast causing damage as far as Pennsylvania. The meteorologists called Allison the "worst tropical storm in history".

There are many more examples of this phenomenon here:

http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/1055/1055_01.asp?wpc=1055_01.asp&wpp=b

----

But America never seems to learn, eh?

Barack Obama is absolutely determined to divide up the land of Israel.

Let's just hope that it does not happen.

Israel is making it very clear that the next war with Hezbollah will also be a war against Syria.  For years it has been an open secret that Syria was funneling arms and sophistical weapons systems to Hezbollah in Lebanon, but now Israel is on the record as saying that they consider Hezbollah to be a division of the Syrian army.  So what does this mean?  It means that war between Israel and Syria is now closer than it has been in decades.  Just recently, Israel delivered a secret warning to Syrian President Bashar Assad that it will respond to missile attacks from Hezbollah by launching immediate retaliation against Syria itself.

No longer will Syria be able to use Hezbollah to fight proxy wars against Israel.  If a repeat of the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah happens, this time Israel says that it will directly strike Damascus. 

In fact, a major U.K. newspaper recently published the following "off-the-record" comment from an Israeli minister....

"We’ll return Syria to the Stone Age by crippling its power stations, ports, fuel storage and every bit of strategic infrastructure if Hezbollah dare to launch ballistic missiles against us."

What is raising tensions even further in the region are reports that Syria has been arming Hezbollah to the teeth in preparation for the coming war.

Just consider the following description by Debka of the kinds of advanced weaponry that Syria has been supplying to the terrorist organization....

"Surface-to-surface missiles able to reach as far as the Dimona reactor in southern Israel: They include Fajr-5, which has a range of 33 km, and the M-600, developed by Syria from the Fateh-110, whose range is 250 km. Both are precise, propelled by solid fuel and carry 500-kilo warheads of conventional explosives, as well as being able to deliver chemical, biological and radioactive materials.  This dangerous new arsenal which tops up the 40,000 rockets Hizballah was allowed to pile up since the 2006 Lebanon war."

The reality is that Syria and Hezbollah between them now have the capability of striking every single inch of Israeli territory with missiles.

No target is out of range anymore.

With all sides on edge in the region, even King Abdullah of Jordan is warning that the next war in the Middle East could break out as soon as this summer.

Meanwhile, there are increasing calls from world leaders for Israel to join the NPT and quit producing nuclear weapons.  In fact, Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid Al-Muallem is calling on all NPT member countries to sever their diplomatic relations with Israel unless it joins the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Of course Syria would love not to have to worry about Israel's nukes during the coming war, but that is not going to happen.

But even Barack Obama is pushing Israel on this issue.  Last week Barack Obama publicly declared that he is calling upon all the nations of the world to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, including Israel.

But what Barack Obama should be really concerned about is trying to figure out what to do about Iran.

It is being reported that Robert Gates, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, warned President Barack Obama in a secret "wake-up call" memo that the White House has no effective policy for dealing with a nuclear Iran.

But at the same time, the Pentagon itself does not seem to have a sense of urgency when it comes to Iran's nuclear program.  Top U.S. military officials told Congress last week that it would take Iran at least a year to produce enough highly enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb.  Not only that, but Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently said that that a U.S. strike against Iran would go "a long way" to delaying its nuclear program but that he considered doing so his "last option" right now.

Meanwhile, top Iranian officials are running around making declarations about how advanced Iran's nuclear program is.

Needless to say, Israel is not going to let Iran go down this path indefinitely.

But even before things with Iran come to a crisis point, war could break out between Israel and Syria.

Is the time soon coming when "Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins" (Isaiah 17:1)?

We will just have to wait and see.  Certainly all sides are preparing for a devastating regional war.  So let us pray for the peace of Israel and let us trust that God knows what He is doing.

More than ever, the word "nuclear" is on the lips of world leaders around the globe.  It seems like everyone is either "going nuclear" or is talking about nuclear weapons.  The truth is that the world has been extremely fortunate that nuclear weapons have not been used to destroy an entire city since the end of World War 2.  But with tensions escalating dangerously in the Middle East and around the world, how much longer will it be before nuclear weapons are used by someone to wipe out large numbers of people? 

In fact, for many terrorist organizations around the globe, the thought of going nuclear is the ultimate dream.  A handful of terrorists really can't do that much damage on their own, but one terrorist with a nuke can take out an entire major city in the blink of an eye.

Many jihadists speak openly of nuclear weapons as being the means by which they will take down the United States and Israel.  There are many jihadists who would set off a nuke in a major city today if they were able to.

And with nuclear weapons technology spreading to places such as North Korea, Iran and Syria, how much longer do you think it will be before a terrorist organization is able to get their hands on a nuclear weapon?

The truth is that nuclear weapons will almost certainly be used in the last days.  Entire cities will probably be destroyed.  Whether it is terrorists or governments who use them, the reality is that when they are used it will change the world forever. 

Leaders around the globe know how dangerous these weapons are.  Many of them understand that once Iran gets their hands on nukes it will be extremely hard to ever put the "nuclear genie" back in the bottle.  If radical Islamic terrorists are able to acquire nuclear weapons through Iran (or by any other source), all of our lives are going to change permanently.   

The threat of rogue nations and terrorist organizations going nuclear has made a lot of headlines just this past week.  Just check out some of them....

*Barack Obama said that the possibility of terrorists getting a nuclear device is the "single biggest threat" to U.S. security as he opened the international nuclear summit that included 46 world leaders from around the globe.

*Hillary Clinton said that she fears al-Qaeda is gathering material for nuclear weapons.

*According to a top Iranian nuclear official, Iran will join the "nuclear club" within a month.

*Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled a new generation of domestically made nucelar centrifuges in a ceremony in Tehran marking national nuclear day.

*It is being reported by international news sources that Iran's bomb-making plutonium facilities are close to completion.

*French President Nicolas Sarkozy is warning global leaders that if the world doesn't act to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear arms, it could be responsible for a war between Israel and the Islamic republic.

*An Iranian who once worked as a spy for the CIA is saying that the only way to avoid a nuclear war with Iran is to attack them now.

*Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is warning Israel against a military strike on Iran, saying that it might lead to a global nuclear war.

*The Turkish Prime Minister is urging other world leaders to start criticizing the Israeli nuclear arsenal.

*Hillary Clinton claims that North Korea now has as many as six nuclear weapons.

We live in very dangerous times.  We all take the peace and safety we are enjoying right now for granted.  But a time is coming when that will fundamentally change.

Nations that absolutely hate the United States and Israel are arming to the teeth and are developing nuclear weapons.  Just one suitcase nuke could decimate an entire city.  We often forget about how blessed and how protected we have been, but someday that could all change in the blink of an eye.

Let us pray for peace and hope that somehow nuclear weapons can be kept out of the hands of radicals and lunatics.

When it comes to geopolitics, it is much more important to watch what the various players do rather than listen to what they say.  This is especially true in the Middle East.  While many leaders in the region are saying all the "right" things, the reality is that there are indications that all sides are preparing for war.  In fact, there are signs that war in the Middle East may be imminent.  The reality is that Israel is simply not going to let Iran continue with their nuclear program forever, and Iran is showing no indications that they plan to discontinue it.  So a showdown is inevitable at this point.  Tensions are rising and preparations are ramping up. 

The following are ten recent signs that war in the Middle East is getting closer than ever.... 

#1) On Tuesday, Israel began distributing millions of protection kits against biochemical warfare.

#2) The Tel Aviv municipality has unveiled a massive new public bomb shelter built directly under the new Habima Theater.

#3) According to a senior PA negotiator and sources in the Israeli government, the U.S. has actually been conducting negotiations with Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.  Since when did the U.S. government become the representative of the Palestinians?  Things have gotten really weird since Barack Obama got in the White House.

#4) In recent weeks the Obama administration has stepped up its monitoring of Jewish construction projects in eastern Jerusalem.  In fact, if anyone picks up a hammer in east Jerusalem these days the Obama administration flies into a tizzy.

#5) The Obama administration is now rejecting all visa requests from all Israeli nuclear scientists who work on Israel’s nuclear reactor in Dimona and is now imposing severe restrictions on Israel with regard to the purchase of nuclear-related products.  Wait a second - isn't Israel supposed to be our friend?

#6) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cancelled a planned trip to Washington next week for Barack Obama's 47 country nuclear security conference.  So why did he cancel his trip?  Perhaps #5 was a big reason.

#7) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is claiming that Israel plans to start a war this upcoming Spring or Summer, and that this will be a chance for the surrounding nations to "finish" Israel.

#8) A senior cleric within Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard has reiterated warnings that Tehran would strike Tel Aviv immediately if Israel and its Western allies attacked Iran.

#9) Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi says that "no trace of Israel will remain" if Iran is attacked.

#10) Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is promising that the Palestinian people will celebrate the Holy Fire vigil next year in the "true Palestinian capital" of Jerusalem.

If you listen to the major Islamic leaders in the region, it sounds like they are very much looking forward to war.  That may seem strange to those of us with a western mindset, but you have to realize that these Islamic leaders have had the "glory of jihad" pounded into their heads since they were knee-high to a grasshopper (as they say in the South).

The radical Muslims in the region are thirsting for a war with Israel, and Israel cannot allow Iran to continue developing a nuclear program indefinitely. 

Trouble is on the horizon.

The Obama administration is totally inept and seems to be becoming increasingly anti-Israel.

Now is the time to be praying for Israel and for the peace of Jerusalem.

In a recent article, we postulated that Iran actually wants a war with Israel in order to prepare the way for the Mahdi to return.  Well now it looks like Iran is doing more than ever to tempt Israel into starting a war.  In fact, even Haaretz is publishing articles about how Iran is "goading" Israel into striking its nuclear program.  So what is causing so many people to come to the conclusion that Iran wants Israel to start a war?  Well, Iran recently moved almost its entire stockpile of low-enriched nuclear fuel to above-ground plants.  This makes the stockpile much, much easier to strike.

Many analysts have been absolutely puzzled by this move.

They are amazed that Iran would make it far easier for Israel to strike their stockpiles of enriched uranium.

Haaretz described the recent events in Iran this way.... 

According to the New York Times, which quotes the latest International Atomic Energy Agency report, on Feb. 14 nuclear inspectors watched as Iran transferred about 4,300 pounds of low-enriched uranium from deep underground storage to the small plant Iran has declared it will use to re-enrich the fuel to 20 percent purity. It takes 80- to 90-percent enrichment to make a nuclear weapon.

This seems to be a fundamental shift in policy for Iran.  Just last September, Iran was caught constructing a major underground enrichment facility at a military base near the Iranian city of Qom.  At the time Iran explained that the risk of attack by the U.S. or Israel forced them to build underground facilities. 

So why the change?

Well, some analysts claim that Iran is "inviting" an attack because it would unite the Iranian people against a common foe.

But the truth goes much, much deeper than that.

Iran does not just want to unite their own populace.

Iran wants to unite the entire Islamic world for a war that they hope will wipe Israel off the map.

After all, it seems like Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks of the ultimate destruction of the nation of Israel at almost every public appearance now.

He is obsessed with it.

But if Iran strikes Israel first, he knows that Iran will be regarded as the enemy.

However, if Israel hits Iran first, world opinion will dramatically swing in Iran's favor, and Iran could potentially unite all of the Islamic nations in the region for a war against Israel.

In fact, as we described in our last article, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad believes that such a cataclysm is necessary in order to prepare the way for the return of the Mahdi.

Considering the fact that Ahmadinejad believes that his life purpose is to usher in the return of the Mahdi, many believe that Ahmadinejad is actually looking forward to the coming war with Israel.

But he doesn't want to start the war.

He wants Israel to start it.

So what does Israel do?

Take the bait and start a cataclysmic war that could unite all of the Islamic nations in the Middle East against them?

Or continue to watch Iran get closer and closer to developing nuclear weapons which they would certainly end up passing along to terrorists and to other enemies of the Jewish state?

Israel is truly between a rock and a hard place - just where Ahmadinejad wants them.

"Today, we should define our economic, cultural and political policies based on the policy of Imam Mahdi's return."
-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Does the government of Iran actually want war with Israel so that the Mahdi can return?  As insane as that sounds, the truth is that the vast majority of people in the United States and Europe simply do not understand how absolutely obsessed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and others in the Iranian government are with their form of radical Islam and with the return of the Mahdi.  It surprises many to learn that Iran's official state websites are filled with information about the Mahdi.  In fact, Ahmadinejad actually believes that he was born to be "the great jihadist" that would prepare the way for the twelfth Imam.  But in order for the Mahdi to return, the belief is that there must first be a great cataclysmic event.  So is Iran's nuclear weapons program designed to facilitate this cataclysmic event and hasten the return of the Mahdi?

That seems to be the most rational explanation for Iran's current behavior.  The government of Iran knows that Israel and the United States will never let them develop nuclear weapons and will go to war if necessary to prevent Iran from getting them. 

But they seem bound and determined to get nuclear weapons anyway.

In fact, Iran just announced that it plans to start constructing two new uranium enrichment facilities next month in the heart of the Iranian mountains.

But doesn't the Iranian leadership fear a war with the United States and Israel?

Perhaps the Iranian government should, but they understand that if the United States and/or Israel strike first, they will be viewed as the aggressors by the rest of the globe.  World opinion would swing dramatically in favor of Iran.

But that is only part of the equation.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and others among the Iranian leadership also believe that they are setting up the great cataclysm which will bring about the return of the Mahdi.  Many of them seem perfectly willing to die in order to fulfill this purpose.

During a speech in Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly stated that his primary purpose in life is to "pave the path for the glorious reappearance of Imam Mahdi, may Allah hasten his reappearance."

So just who is this "Mahdi" supposed to be?

According to Wikipedia, Shi'ite Muslims "believe that the Mahdi is the Twelfth Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, the Twelfth and last Imam, who was born in 868 AD and was hidden by God at the age of five."  It is believed that the Mahdi will one day return during a very cataclysmic time in human history and will establish the rule of Islam around the world in the last days.

So now, many of those in the Islamic world who believe in the Mahdi are looking for that cataclysmic event to occur.

For example, AwaitedMahdi.com states that the "Last Hour" will not come "unless the Muslims fight against the Jews".

Ariel Sharon understood these radical Islamic beliefs very well.  Sharon is quoted as saying the following about Iran's obsession with the Mahdi....

"How will they bring him? Through an apocalypse. He (the Mahdi) needs a war. He cannot come into this world without an Armageddon. He wants an Armageddon. The earlier we understand this the better. Ahmadinejad wants nuclear weapons for this!"

So was Sharon just exaggerating when he said this?

Not at all.

In fact, check out the following quote from Ahmadinejad about how he believes that the United States is actively trying to prevent the return of the Mahdi....

"They have devised all these plans to prevent the coming of the Hidden Imam because they know that the Iranian nation is the one that will prepare the grounds for his coming and will be the supporters of his rule".

Most Americans and Europeans simply cannot conceive of a government that makes all major decisions based on an obsession with religion, but that is exactly what is going on in Iran.  The government of Iran believes that the Mahdi is really going to return and that they are the ones who are going to pave the way for it to happen.

Meanwhile, Israel continues to prepare for war.  Israel's air force has introduced a fleet of huge pilotless planes that can remain in the air for a full day and could fly as far as the Persian Gulf.  In fact, each one of these "super drones" is reportedly as wide as a Boeing 737. 

Israel's government understands what is happening in Iran and they know that a showdown is on the horizon.

Iran continues to recklessly pursue a nuclear program as Israel continues to prepare to neutralize it.  It appears as though it is more likely than ever that war between Israel and Iran is inevitable.  Let us pray that war can be averted if possible, and if not, that God's will be done.

"We must prepare ourselves to rule the world and the only way to do that is to put forth views on the basis of the Expectation of the Return."
-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is at it again.  This time he is publicly claiming that Israel plans to start a war this upcoming Spring or Summer, and that this will be a chance for the surrounding nations to "finish" Israel.  And yet there is very little outrage concerning these remarks outside of Israel and the United States. 

It should be quite obvious to everyone by now that Ahmadinejad is not interested in peace.  In fact, he very much sounds like someone who is almost lusting for war.  He has made these same kind of remarks over and over, and it is very clear that he believes that there will be an inevitable clash between Iran and Israel.

Just consider the following quotes from Ahmadinejad's most recent remarks as they were reported in The Jerusalem Post....

"According to information we have they (Israel) are seeking to start a war next spring or summer, although their decision is not final yet."

"But the resistance and regional states will finish them if this fake regime does anything again."

"If the Zionist regime repeats its mistakes and initiate a military operation, then it must be resisted with full force to put an end to it once and for all."

Are those the words of a sane individual?

Of course not.

These newest remarks come several days after Ahmadinejad reportedly told Syrian President Bashar Assad that Israel "must be resisted" and "finished off once and for all" if it launches a military operation anywhere in the Middle East.

Finished off once and for all?

Those are bone-chilling words.

The rest of the world doesn't seem to be getting the message, but the reality is that Ahmadinejad is very serious about wiping the state of Israel off the map.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration is mulling over "tougher sanctions" and Hillary Clinton is warning that Iran is moving towards a "military dictatorship".

In response, Ahmadinejad issued his own warning to nations that would imposed tougher sanctions on his nation....

"We prefer that they move in the spirit of cooperation. It won't put us in trouble. They themselves will get into trouble."

And this psycho may soon have his hands on nukes?

The truth is that the United States and Israel simply cannot allow Ahmadinejad to threaten the world with nuclear weapons.

But a war with Iran would be incredibly destructive not only to the Middle East, but also to the world economy.

So what should be done?

Hope that Ahmadinejad wakes up someday and changes his mind?

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is insisting that any effort to rid the Middle East of nuclear weapons must include Israel.

That puts Israel in a tough spot.  The reality is that they have had nukes since the 1970s, and the presence of those nukes has caused potential invaders to think twice.

There is no way that Israel should ever give up their nukes, but insisting that everyone else but them in the region be nuke-free is a tough argument for the surrounding nations to swallow.

So what is going to happen?

We'll all just have to wait and find out - that is part of the fun of living in the last days.

But all signs are pointing to a massive conflict between Israel and Iran at some point. 

Let us pray for the peace of Israel and for the peace of Jerusalem.

Is war on the horizon in the Middle East?  Iran is certainly arming for one.  In fact, what we are witnessing now could potentially be considered the greatest military buildup in the history of the Middle East.  Basically what Iran has done is they have pushed all of their chips to the middle of the table and have decided that they are going to develop nuclear weapons no matter what.  Now they are arming themselves to the teeth for the confrontation with Israel and/or the United States that they know is coming at some point.  We all know that there will be wars in the last days, but when war erupts in the Middle East, things are not going to be pleasant - especially if nuclear, chemical and biological weapons are used.

Iran and Israel are caught in a bizarre game of chicken, and Iran is showing no signs of blinking.  In fact, Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has ordered his country's nuclear agency to begin the production of higher enriched uranium.  Iran seems to have no fear of sanctions or of anything else.  Perhaps they realize that Obama has absolutely no interest in a war with Iran.  Or perhaps they are just crazy.  In any event, Iran's leaders have set their course and they seem to have no intention of altering it.

In fact, they are arming themselves as if a coming war with Israel is inevitable....

*An Iranian air force commander said on Monday that Iran will soon unveil a domestically-made air defense system with at least the same capability as Russia's very powerful S-300 anti-aircraft hardware.  If this is true, it will be a major change in the balance of power.

*Iran has begun producing very advanced unmanned drones capable of carrying out devastating assaults "with high precision".   

*Iran has also announced that they officially started production of two new kinds of conventional missiles on Saturday.

*There are even persistent rumors that Iran is developing intercontinental ballistic missiles that could potentially carry nuclear warheads.  If that ever comes to fruition, the United States would be in much greater danger.

So what does all of this mean?

It means that Iran is desperately trying to develop strategic weapons that will enable it to close the gap somewhat between itself and Israel and the United States.

There is no way that Iran can achieve strategic parity with the United States military right now, but if they can put enough of a hurt on the U.S. and Israel they know that the politicians in those two nations will think twice before striking.

And that could buy time for Iran to make nukes.

After all, the destruction of Israel is one of the stated goals of the Iranian government.

In fact, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday that he believes that the obliteration of Israel "is certain".

That is dangerous talk.

Tensions are rising all over the Middle East.  It is being reported that one Syrian government official recently said that Syria is ready for either peace or war.

And war seems more likely by the day.

According to one new report, Egyptian maritime sources say that the Israeli navy has deployed two missile ships to the Persian Gulf.

Not that there is anything too unusual about that, but it is yet another move that is raising tensions in the region.

As noted above, we all know that war is inevitable in the last days.  But we are also instructed in the Scriptures to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.  So let us pray for peace even as things move ever closer to war.

Even as Israel hands even more land over to the Palestinians, there are persistent rumors that Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria and Lebanon are preparing for war against Israel.  According to one disturbing new report by DEBKA, U.S. intelligence has discovered 5,000 Hezbollah terrorists that have been trained to take over and seize towns in Galilee during a future invasion of Israel.  Apparently the invasion plans that have been drawn up involve sending five Hezbollah brigades sweeping across the Israeli border to seize key towns in the region of Galilee.  Hamas would open a second front in the West Bank and Gaza, and Syria would then step into the conflict at that point.

Think that it can't happen?

The truth is that Hezbollah has been arming to the teeth since the last war.  Hezbollah has acquired chemical and biological warheads since then, and there have been reports that they have stockpiled over 40,000 rockets near the border of Israel.

Just in the past few weeks, Hezbollah has deployed advanced Syrian-made surface-to-surface M-600 missiles which have the range to cover the entire nation of Israel.

Hezbollah militants regularly receive training in Syria and Iran and the terrorist organization is essentially in control of large areas of Lebanon at this point.  They are a highly organized and increasingly dangerous military threat.

The United States government is even beginning to take notice.  U.S. State Department official Jeff Feltman said in remarks published on Sunday that the U.S. is concerned that the continued flow of arms to Hezbollah could prompt a war between Israel and Lebanon.

For years, Syria and Iran have used Hezbollah to wage a proxy war against the state of Israel, and Israeli officials are starting to get sick and tired of it.

In fact, one top Israeli official recently made it perfectly clear that in the event that a war between Israel and Lebanon does break out, Israel would hold Syria just as responsible.

The truth is that someday a conflict between Israel and Hezbollah will involve Syria and it will be an incredibly destructive war.  Let us just hope that it does not happen any time soon.

Meanwhile, Israel just keeps giving away their land to the Palestinians.

Under what is being called "intense" American pressure, Israel has silently agreed to allow the Palestinian Authority to open official institutions in eastern sections of Jerusalem.  This is an intermediate step towards officially giving the Palestinians East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

In addition, Palestinians sources said Sunday morning that Israel has agreed to hand over additional West Bank areas to the Palestinians as a trust-building measure.  Apparently the intent is to coax the Palestinians back to the negotiating table.

But don't these politicians understand that they are cursing themselves when they giving away the land of Israel?

Israel should not be giving away one square inch of the land that God gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

But they are going to continue to do it.

In fact, a Palestinian state is almost certainly on the way.

But it won't stop the war that is coming.

Israel will not ever achieve peace at the negotiating table.  It is impossible.

The only time that Israel will experience lasting peace is after Yahshua (Jesus) the Messiah returns.

What do you all think about these recent developments?  Feel free to leave a comment with your opinion....

Prior to World War 2, Adolf Hitler made all kinds of inflammatory statements, but most world leaders dismissed them.  They simply refused to believe that the madman was actually serious about what he was saying.  We can look back now and see what a big mistake that was, but the truth is that current world leaders have not learned from the mistakes of the past.  Today Iranian leaders continue to publicly state over and over that they look forward to wiping Israel off the map, but over and over world leaders do not seem to be taking these statements seriously.

For example, the official website of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is reporting that he just told Mauritanian President Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz that one day the Islamic nations of the world will witness the absolute destruction of the state of Israel.

Considering the fact that Khamenei is the most powerful person in Iran, you would think that someone would be alarmed by that statement.

The following is an English translation of an excerpt from Khamenei's statement....

"Surely, the day will come when the nations of the region will witness the destruction of the Zionist regime... when the destruction happens will depend on how the Islamic nations approach the issue."

It is this kind of talk that is bringing the world ever closer to World War 3, and yet most of the world yawns when they hear statements such as this apparently because they don't believe that we should take people like Khamenei seriously.

But this is a nation that has one of the most powerful militaries on the planet and that is on the verge of getting nuclear weapons.

For religious madmen who openly sponsor and support terror groups to possess nuclear weapons is a combination that will endanger the entire world.

And they are religious madmen. 

For example, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is claiming that the United States is purposely attempting to block the return of the Mahdi.

Most politicians in the West simply cannot identify with this kind of thinking and so they just dismiss it and don't take it seriously.

But things are about to get a whole lot more serious.  Iran recently announced a plan for 10 new industrial scale uranium enrichment facilities and has earmarked approximately 20 million dollars for terrorist groups fighting the West.  Iran has also successfully test long-range missiles and there were recently reports that Tehran was close to reaching a deal to clandestinely import 1,350 tons of purified uranium ore from Kazakhstan.

These boys are quite serious about getting nukes.

Meanwhile, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that Israel will retain some parts of the West Bank forever.  That will surely not sit well in Tehran.

A confrontation between Israel and Iran is coming.  Iran is obsessed with getting nukes and with wiping Israel off the map.  Israel is absolutely determined to prevent that from happening.  Anyone who thinks that the current state of affairs can continue indefinitely is in a complete state of denial.

For more on why Israel must do something about Iran's nuclear program, please see the following article....

Why Israel Simply Cannot Allow Iran To Have A Nuclear Weapon

Aziz Dwaik (remember that name), the most senior representative for Hamas in the West Bank said on Wednesday that Hamas is ready to accept Israel's right to exist.  Dwaik also said that Hamas would also potentially be prepared to nullify its decades-old charter which states that the organization would never recognize that the state of Israel has a right to exist.  Meanwhile, a newly released Vatican document blames the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the "occupying" of lands for fomenting most of the conflicts in the Middle East.

Both of these stunning developments come at a time when the worldwide pressure for Israel to agree to a Palestinian state has grown to a fever pitch.

In fact, many are viewing this recent posturing by Hamas as nothing more than a shrewd public relations ploy.  

You see, there are essentially two organizations running the Palestinians - the Palestinian authority in the West Bank, and Hamas in the Gaza strip. 

The Israeli government has been willing to negotiate off and on with the Palestinian authority, but they have had major problems with Hamas.  The absolute extermination of the nation of Israel has always been the stated policy of Hamas, but now things are apparently changing (at least for public consumption).  

In fact, Aziz Dwaik sounds almost dismissive when talking about the cherished charter of his organization.  Just consider the following quotes by Dwaik in the Jerusalem Post.... 

"The [Hamas] charter was drafted more than 20 years ago," Dwaik noted, adding that his movement would even be prepared to "nullify" the document.

"No one wants to throw anyone into the sea," he said.

Many believe that Dwaik will be the next president of the Palestinian Authority, so his words carry with them a great deal of weight. 

In fact, Dwaik's remarks are being viewed by many as an attempt to win official recognition from the international community.

But of course the main goal is to get a Palestinian state.

Intense pressure is being placed on Israel from all over the globe to give the Palestinians a state based on pre-1967 borders.

So what is Israel supposed to get in return?

A promise of peace that won't even be worth the paper it is written on.

Some deal, huh?

Meanwhile, an internal document to be used as a guide for an upcoming meeting of Mideast Catholic bishops blames the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the "occupying" of lands as the root cause for most of the conflicts in the Middle East.

So just who is "occupying" lands according to the bishops?

Well, apparently that would be the United States and Israel.

Particularly Israel.

The reality is that the Vatican has endorsed the Mideast Road Map which calls for an independent Palestinian state and a freeze on all Israeli settlement activity.

Apparently the Vatican has not spent a lot of time reading what God has to say about dividing the land of Israel - or else they are just willfully ignoring it.

In any event, another key element in this equation is the Vatican's not-so-secret agenda for the city of Jerusalem.  Not only has the Vatican publicly expressed a desire to have sovereignty over the Christian holy sites in Jerusalem transferred to it, the truth is that the Vatican would ultimately love to be the governing authority over the entire city of Jerusalem.

Think of it as a "second Vatican" if you will.

Now that is not likely to ever come to pass, but if the Vatican could get control over Jerusalem somehow they would grab it in a second.

More than ever, the land of Israel, and in particular the city of Jerusalem, has become a "burdensome stone" in these last days.  The world is going to keep whining and complaining and putting pressure on Israel until they get a Palestinian state. 

But ultimately the world will see that a Palestinian state will not solve anything.  The nation of Israel is not going to experience true and lasting peace until Yahshua (Jesus) the Messiah returns to this earth.

We live at a time when Jerusalem has truly become the "burdensome stone" of the last days prophesied in the Scriptures.  The Palestinians consider East Jerusalem to be their capital and they appear to be unwilling to accept a Palestinian state that does not include it.  The European Union has made it very clear that their position is that East Jerusalem is going to be the capital of a future Palestinian state.  Even the United States has made it the official policy of the U.S. government that East Jerusalem is part of "the West Bank" and the Obama administration has been pressuring Israel very hard to stop all construction in East Jerusalem.  But now Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that Israel will never give up control over any part of Jerusalem.   

That is certainly not going to sit well with the Palestinians.

According to Haaretz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Tuesday that Israel would never give up control of united Jerusalem and it would never fully retreat to the pre-1967 borders.

But those are exactly the things that the Palestinians and the rest of the world are demanding that Israel must do.

In fact, many leaders around the world were expressing a belief that Israel was now willing to negotiate the surrender of East Jerusalem.  Egypt's foreign minister said just last week that Netanyahu was ready to discuss making "Arab Jerusalem" the capital of a Palestinian state.

Thankfully, Netanyahu has cleared that up.

But the pressure will only become more intense.  Israel's greatest ally, the United States, has made it official government policy that East Jerusalem and the West Bank are one and the same.  The U.S. spent all of 2009 demanding that Israel immediately stop construction in East Jerusalem, as the U.S. State Department and the Obama administration consider East Jerusalem to be "occupied" territory.

So Israel says that they will never give up East Jerusalem and the rest of the world says that they must.

It look like Israel is between a rock and a "burdensome stone". 

In Zechariah 12:3, the Scriptures tell us that Jerusalem would become a burdensome stone in the last days....

And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

At this point East Jerusalem appears to be the number one stumbling block standing in the way of a Palestinian state. 

So how will all of this be resolved?

We will have to wait and see.

But one thing is for sure - if Jerusalem does end up getting divided, anyone involved in that division will be setting themselves against the God of the universe. 

Iran is reportedly close to reaching a deal to clandestinely import 1,350 tons of purified uranium ore from Kazakhstan.  This deal would be in direct defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions.  Reports also indicate that Iran is willing to pay approximately 450 million dollars for the shipment.  The price for the shipment was apparently so high because of the need to keep the deal secret and because of the risk that the world community would find out about it.  But now the world community has found out about it.  

So why is Iran willing to defy United Nations sanctions to get their hands on more uranium?

Well, the truth is that Iran is probably running out of it and needs more uranium in order to continue their nuclear program at the same pace.

This comes at a time when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has dismissed a year end deadline set by the Obama administration and the West for Iran to accept a UN-drafted deal to swap enriched uranium for nuclear fuel.

The United States and the other permanent members of the United Nations Security Council have threatened Iran with new sanctions if it did not accept a compromise deal by the end of this year.

According to the plan brokered in October by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran is supposed to export low-enriched uranium to Russia and France which would conduct further enrichment for them.

But Iran has publicly announced that they intend to do the additional enrichment themselves.

Meanwhile, a maverick Iraqi politician is warning that Iran could "go nuclear" within weeks.

In an interview earlier this month, Iraqi parliamentarian Mithal al-Alusi made the following statements....

"We are receiving information which says Iran is so close to producing an atom bomb."

"All the international community, they don't realize how close [the Iranians] are to the goal... The Iranians will surprise us one day [soon] and say, 'We have it.'"

Those are sobering statements.

Especially when you consider the implications.

The truth is that Israel simply cannot allow Iran to have nuclear weapons.

The Israeli government is keeping a close eye on the situation in Iran and realizes that they cannot allow Iran to proceed with their nuclear ambitions forever.

In fact, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon said recently that the year 2010 will be a decisive year for Iran and its nuclear plan.

A decisive year?

Could that mean war in 2010 or 2011?

What would happen if Israel did strike Iran's nuclear program?

Well, according to one new report, Iran would launch a counterattack on Israel and on all U.S. bases in the Gulf region if Israel does strike Iran's nuclear facilities.

If Iran did that, it could spark a massive war that could engulf the entire Middle East.  The consequences of such a war would be mind boggling.

But before resorting to a military strike, it is likely that the governments of the West will continue to try to promote an internal revolution in Iran.  Changing the regime in that manner would be a lot "easier" for Western nations than a full scale war.  However, the prospects for a successful internal revolution in Iran at this point seem dim at best.

What does seem clear at this point is that Bible prophecy will continue to be fulfilled in 2010.  We are truly living in the last days, and there are times when it will be absolutely terrifying, but who wouldn't want to live during one of the most exciting times in all of human history?

As Barack Obama and the United Nations twiddle their thumbs, Iran is aggressively moving towards the development of a strategic nuclear arsenal.  Not only has Iran successfully tested a long range missile that can hit targets well over a thousand miles away, but new intelligence documents show that Iran is actively working on some of the key components necessary for a nuclear bomb.  The truth is that Iran knows that once they have an arsenal of hundreds of nuclear warheads, nations such as the United States and Israel will be much, much more hesitant to attack them and they will be able to do pretty much whatever they please on the world scene.   

The fact that Iran greatly desires to become a strategic military power was underlined just the other day when Iran successfully test fired a long range missile that can reportedly hit targets 1,250 miles away.  This will now give Iran the capability to easily hit Israel, U.S. bases in the Gulf, and most of southeast Europe.

The Pentagon is so concerned about these developments in Iran that they will actually test its core missile defenses for the first time in January against a simulated long-range Iranian attack.

The reality is that it is now only a matter of time until Iran develops even longer range weapons that will be able to directly target the United States.

In "Surat al-Fil" ("The Elephant"), one of the Qur’an’s shortest chapters, Allah sends a flock of birds to destroy the followers of Sultan Abraha.  In the story these followers of Sultan Abraha were to be destroyed because they were plotting to destroy the Kaaba.  So, according to the story, Allah equips these birds with baked clay stones, which they end up hurling at the elephants of Sultan Abraha, supposedly stopping his advance toward the city.

Imagine having the continued existence of your family each day depend on an Ayatollah over in Iran deciding not to press a button.

And the truth is that Iran is much closer to being able to produce a nuclear bomb than ever before.

On Tuesday, Israeli Military Intelligence Chief Amos Yadlin said that Iran has now accumulated enough materials to create a nuclear bomb.

So will they?

Well, confidential intelligence documents obtained by one U.K. newspaper clearly show that Iran is working on testing a key final component for a nuclear bomb. 

In particular, the documents reveal plans by Iran to test a neutron initiator, the component of a nuclear bomb that triggers an explosion.

Uh oh.

Why haven't we heard more about this on the news?

David Albright, a physicist and president of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington is quoted in The Times as saying the following about this trigger....

“Although Iran might claim that this work is for civil purposes, there is no civil application.”

The mention of UD3 in the documents is of particular concern to intelligence analysts.  UD3 is commonly used as a neutron source - the trigger to the chain reaction for a nuclear explosion.

But of course Iran continues to insist that they are developing nuclear technology for peaceful purposes only.

If you believe that, we have a bridge to sell you.

While there are some politicians around the globe who seem to be buying into Iran's nonsense, fortunately the government of Israel seems to be acutely aware of what is going on.

In fact, Israeli experts are now saying that "the point of no return" for Iran's nuclear program may be only six months away.

Only six months away?

Could there be a war in 2010?

Let's hope not.

Or let us hope that it is delayed as long as possible.

But the truth is that Israel cannot let Iran have nukes. 

If you do not understand this yet, please read this article: "Why Israel Simply Cannot Allow Iran To Have A Nuclear Weapon".

So if Iran does not change course, they will be attacked.

But one key question is this....

If Israel attacks Iran, will Syria attack Israel?

If Syria does attack Israel that could spark a war that engulfs the entire Middle East. 

In fact, there are rumors that Iran and Hezbollah could be preparing for a pre-emptive war.

So what are Barack Obama and the U.S. government doing about all of this?

Not much.

In a move that was supposedly designed to deter Iran from pursuing its nuclear program, the U.S. House of Representatives has approved legislation to impose sanctions on foreign companies that help supply gasoline to Iran.

Do you think that the Iranian leadership is shaking in their boots over that?

The truth is that this is one of the most bizarre games of "chicken" in the history of the Middle East.  Whoever shoots first is going to be at a great disadvantage in terms of world opinion, but the truth is that Israel simply cannot wait forever.

These developments represent just another indication that we are really living in the last days before the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In an absolutely stunning development, the European Union is considering adopting a resolution which would unilaterally recognize a Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital.  Sweden, the current holder of the rotating European Union presidency, has created a draft resolution which they will reportedly propose at a monthly meeting of EU ministers next week in Brussels.  Apparently there is quite a bit of support among EU ministers for the draft document that is being circulated.

Fortunately, the Israeli daily Haaretz published a copy of the draft resolution on Tuesday, so now the entire world can see what EU ministers will be considering....

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1131988.html

The most important language in the document is contained in the first point of the draft document.  It calls for "a two-state solution with an independent, democratic, contiguous and viable state of Palestine, comprising the West Bank and Gaza and with East Jerusalem as its capital."

This meeting of EU ministers will be one of the very first acts of the EU under the Lisbon Treaty that took effect for the first time on Tuesday after its ratification by all 27 of the member states.

It is thought that this proposed resolution is an attempt to give the EU a greater role on the world stage.  In essence, this is a way for the "new EU" to flex its foreign policy muscles.

Needless to say, the government of Israel is less than thrilled about this draft resolution.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry released a statement on Tuesday in which it indicated that if the EU adopts such language, it will seriously hurt their chances of being involved in future negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians....

"The process being led by Sweden harms the European Union’s ability to take part as a significant mediator in the political process between Israel and the Palestinians."

Some Israeli lawmakers are using even stronger language.  Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin was quoted in the Jerusalem Post as saying the following in response to the proposed EU document.... 

"Dividing the capital would create a volcanic eruption that would not be easy to stop. Splitting sovereignty would bring about complete chaos."

For the EU to even consider adopting a resolution that unilaterally declares that Israel must give the Palestinians everything that they could ever hope to negotiate for before negotiations even resume shows just how anti-Israel the EU has become.

In Zechariah 12:3, the Scriptures say this....

"In that day I will make Jerusalem a stumbling block for all people"

That is in fact what has happened.  Israel's government has no intention of giving East Jerusalem to the Palestinians.  The Palestinians and most of the rest of the world are insisting that East Jerusalem be given to the Palestinians as their capital. 

Jerusalem has truly become a stumbling block in the last days.

The truth is that all of Jerusalem, along with all of the land of Israel, belongs to the people that God gave it to - and that is not the Palestinians.

Anyone who gives it away or anyone who tries to force Israel to give it away will only find themselves contending with God.