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.