The Story Behind the Headlines: Iran's Dangerous Nuclear Game

Most Westerners are dangerously unaware of the crucial background behind Iran's ever-growing nuclear program. Such ignorance could prove not only perilous, but fatal.

Iran's Dangerous Nuclear GameIran's nuclear program is constantly in the news. Headlines I've seen recently include: "Iran Suspected of Planning More Nuclear Sites," "Iran, United States: No Hope of a Dialogue," "CIA: Iran Moving Closer to Nuclear Weapon" and "A Nuclear Iran: How Far Will the World Go?"

A big part of the problem is that UN Security Council members Russia and China, following the old Middle Eastern proverb "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," have long prevented meaningful economic sanctions that could slow or halt Iran's nuclear progress. China needs Iranian oil too much to risk alienating Iran, and Russia has a ready market in Iran for massive arms sales, so don't look for the situation to change soon.

Why is Iran playing such a high-stakes game? Why is a nation that sits atop a sea of oil—enough to meet its needs for at least several centuries—pursuing an enormously expensive nuclear program that virtually no one, including many Iranians themselves, believes the country needs? Is Iran's nuclear program strictly peaceful, as it has repeatedly stated, or is something more ominous at work?

Iran's threat to the region

Israel in particular is deeply concerned about Iranian intentions, and rightly so. In December 2001 Iran's former president Hashemi Rafsanjani stated that the Jewish state of Israel could be entirely wiped out by just one well-placed nuclear bomb, while an Israeli nuclear response would cause only relatively minor harm to the Islamic community of nations, not destroy them.

"Rafsanjani thus spelled out a macabre cost-benefit analysis," observed Matthias Kuntzel in The New Republic. "It might not be possible to destroy Israel without suffering retaliation. But, for Islam, the level of damage Israel could inflict is bearable—only 100,000 or so additional martyrs for Islam" ("A Child of the Revolution Takes Over: Ahmadinejad's Demons," April 24, 2006).

This was the thinking of a "moderate" Iranian president, who added that "it is not irrational to contemplate such an eventuality"!

Since assuming office in August 2005, current Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has made repeated threats to eliminate the Jewish state. Notice a few:

"Israel must be wiped off the map" (2005).

"The basic problem in the Islamic world is the existence of the Zionist regime [Israel], and the Islamic world and the region must mobilize to remove this problem" (2006).

"The United States and the Zionist regime of Israel will soon come to the end of their lives" (2007).

"The world powers established this filthy bacteria, the Zionist regime, which is lashing out at the nations in the region like a wild beast" (2008).

"This regime [Israel] will not last long ... This regime has no future. Its life has come to an end" (2009).

And finally, "Israel is the most hated regime in the world ... With Allah's grace, this regime will be annihilated, and Palestinians and other regional nations will be rid of its bad omen" (2010).

It took Adolf Hitler six years to kill 6 million Jews in Europe. If Ahmadinejad is successful in his quest for nuclear weapons, he could kill 6 million Jews in Israel in about six minutes.

Iran's threat to the Western world

Israel isn't the only country in the region endangered by Iran's nuclear program. The Arab states in the region, predominately oil-rich nations like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, are gravely concerned about Iranian intentions. They know that if Iran successfully acquires nuclear weapons, they will be subject to economic and military blackmail, with no one risking confrontation with a nuclear Iran to come to their aid.

Further, an Iran with nuclear arms—or even advanced conventional weapons—could quite easily choke off the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. About 40 percent of the world's oil flow (and 90 percent of Gulf oil exports) passes through this 21-mile-wide channel to feed the world's energy-dependent economies. Those economies would collapse if the flow of oil were to dry up due to an Iranian blockade (which Ahmadinejad has threatened).

Iran has also developed missiles with a range of more than 1,500 miles, capable of striking not only every U.S. military facility in the Middle East, but also putting much of Europe within range.

"Imagine a world without the United States"

Iranian religious leaders have regularly referred to Israel and Britain as "the little Satans" and America as "the great Satan." This is not simply empty rhetoric. They view these three states in particular as the primary obstacles to spreading the Iranian revolution that began in 1979 with the overthrow of the pro-Western shah.

In his first year in office, in an October 2006 speech in Tehran largely ignored by the West, President Ahmadinejad stated his objectives for Iran under his rule. Israel, he said, must be "wiped off the map," and he urged his hard-line Muslim audience to envision a world in which the United States no longer existed.

Mideast specialist Joel Rosenberg describes the speech and its background: "'Is it possible for us to witness a world without America and Zionism?' [Ahmadinejad] asked a gathering of leaders from Hamas and Islamic Jihad. 'You had best know that this slogan and this goal are attainable, and surely can be achieved.' He urged Muslims all over the world—Shias and Sunnis alike—to prepare for the day when 'our holy hatred expands' and 'strikes like a wave' ...

"It was not just talk. Ahmadinejad was simultaneously making a number of aggressive moves to build up Iran's military and accelerate its bid to go nuclear. That fall Iran purchased $1 billion worth of missiles from Russia, building on years of buying submarines and other advanced weapons systems from Moscow.

"Iran also received a dozen cruise missiles with a three-thousand-kilometer range, each of which was capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Iran's parliament voted to block international inspections of its nuclear facilities. And Ahmadinejad 'placed the military firmly in control [over] his nation's nuclear program, undercutting his government's claim that the program is intended for civilian use'" (Inside the Revolution, 2009, pp. 168-169, emphasis added throughout).

A friend of mine who has visited Iran reports seeing a multistory building in the Iranian capital covered with a massive mural showing nuclear explosions going off all over a large map of the United States. It's not far from the former U.S. embassy, which after its 1979 takeover was turned into an anti-American museum.

What the West doesn't know about Islamic theology

Few in the West understand the teachings of the Koran, Islam's holy book, and the Hadiths, the sayings and actions of Islam's founder Muhammad. This leads to a great deal of misunderstanding and incompre-hension of the intentions of Islamic fundamentalists toward the rest of the world.

In Islamic theology, the world is divided into two spheres—Dar al-Islam, meaning "the abode of Islam," and Dar al-Harb, meaning "the abode of war." The latter refers to all non-Muslim lands, as they must eventually be conquered and absorbed into Dar al-Islam, through peaceful conversion if possible but by force if necessary, so the world will be united under Islamic rule. Though some will deny this is what it says, the Koran lays this out quite plainly:

"Fight against them until idolatry is no more and God's religion reigns supreme" (2:193, Dawood translation). "Idolatry," as defined in Islam, is worship of any god other than Allah—and includes Christianity. According to the Koran, "God's religion," of course, is Islam and Islam alone.

"It is He [Allah] who has sent for His apostle [Muhammad] with guidance and the true faith, so that he may exalt it above all religions, much as the idolaters may dislike it" (61:9, Dawood translation). "Idolaters," again, are those who worship any god other than Allah—including Christians.

Many believe that Islam is a peaceful religion. And it is true that many Muslims do live peacefully and advocate peace. However, the many current wars and areas of unrest where Muslims are fighting for control or to topple moderate Muslim governments—including Algeria, Kenya, Nigeria, Russia (Chechnya and the Caucasus region), China, Thailand, the Philippines, Israel and India (Kashmir)—weigh heavily against Islam being a religion of peace.

Inside the dangerous mind of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is one of the millions of Muslims referred to as "Twelvers." The Twelvers, who constitute more than 90 percent of the population of Iran and 60 percent of the population of Iraq, are a dangerous outgrowth of Shia Islam. They are called such because they are followers of the 12th imam, or successor of Muhammad.

This 12th imam was born in A.D. 868 or 869 and disappeared a few years later, in 874. His followers believe that "he merely withdrew from public view when he was five and that he will sooner or later emerge ... to liberate the world from evil" (Kuntzel).

Many Muslims believe this "Hidden Imam" to be the prophesied Mahdi—"divinely guided one"—a sort of Islamic messiah who will reemerge to establish Islam in its rightful place as the dominant, and eventually the only, religion over the entire world.

"Shias believe the Mahdi will return at the end of history—during a time of chaos, carnage, and confusion—to establish righteousness, justice, and peace. When he comes, they say, the Mahdi will bring Jesus with him. Jesus will be a Muslim and will serve as his deputy, not as King of kings and Lord of lords as the Bible teaches, and he will force non-Muslims to choose between following the Mahdi or death" (Rosenberg, p. 175).

"But one thing that is fairly well agreed upon among devout 'Twelvers' is that the Mahdi will end apostasy and purify corruption within Islam. He is expected, therefore, to conquer the Arabian Peninsula, Jordan, Syria, and 'Palestine,' and then he and Jesus will kill between 60 and 80 percent of the world's population, specifically those who refuse to convert to Islam" (Rosenberg, p. 176).

These are the beliefs that drive Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Lest this sound so far-fetched as to be unbelievable, consider the opening words of his Sept. 29, 2009, address to the United Nations: "In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful, praise be to Allah, the Lord of the universe, and peace and blessings be upon our master and prophet, Muhammad ... O God, hasten the arrival of Imam Mahdi and grant him good health and victory and make us his followers and those who attest to his rightfulness."

Another tenet of Islam is that, before going to war against non-Muslims, one must first invite them to convert to Islam and so avoid war. In his speech, Ahmadinejad carried out this obligation, urging the gathered world leaders to convert to Islam:

"We emphasize that the only path to remain safe is to return to monotheism [Islam] and justice, and this is the greatest hope and opportunity in all ages and generations. Without belief in Allah and commitment to the cause of justice and fight against injustice and discrimination, the world structure cannot be put right."

President Ahmadinejad closed his speech by stating that "there will come a time when justice will prevail across the globe"—that time being "under the rule of the Perfect Man, the last Divine source on earth, the Great Mahdi." He then called on the world to be at work "paving the way and preparing the conditions for building that bright future."

This was not the first time he has made such statements; his previous UN addresses included the same themes and components.

Hastening the end of Western civilization

Mideast specialist Rosenberg gives more background on the Iranian leader's apocalyptic beliefs: "Ahmadinejad and his close aides and advisors are driven by the deeply rooted belief that the Islamic messiah will appear soon and that by launching a war to annihilate Judeo-Christian civilization, they can hasten that day ...

"Hasten is a key word here. Ahmadinejad and his team do not believe they are supposed to be sitting around, twiddling their thumbs, waiting for the Mahdi. They believe they have been given specific tasks to speed up his arrival, and they are determined to accomplish those tasks, whatever the cost to themselves or their country ...

"On August 29, [2007,] he said, 'The Iranian nation and the Islamic Revolution have a pivotal role in preparing the ground for the coming of the Hidden Imam ... We must rapidly develop Iran in order to create the [right] conditions for his coming ... in order to precipitate this great event ...

"'The responsibility that currently rests on Iran's [shoulders] is very heavy; it is the kind of mission [with which] the divine prophets [were entrusted]. It does not permit us to rest or slumber even for a moment'" (Rosenberg, pp. 181-182).

The respected Iranian-born journalist Amir Taheri states that President Ahmadinejad "boasts that the [Hidden] Imam gave him the presidency for a single task: provoking a 'clash of civilisations' in which the Muslim world, led by Iran, takes on the 'infidel' West, led by the United States, and defeats it" ("The Frightening Truth of Why Iran Wants a Bomb," The Telegraph [London], April 16, 2006).

Terror groups with nukes?

Iran has long been a supporter of terrorist movements. Among those it has funded and supported are Hezbollah in Lebanon; the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Syria; the Mahdi Army in Iraq; and Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in Gaza and the West Bank. Iran's own Revolutionary Guard is classified as a terror group by a number of Western governments.

Considering Iran's long support of terror groups, Western intelligence services are greatly concerned that Iranian nukes could find their way into terrorist hands.

Terror groups wouldn't need long-range missiles to strike against a Western power with a nuclear attack. Nuclear devices could be smuggled across a border in a vehicle or hidden in a shipping container to be detonated in a port like New York, Boston, Los Angeles or New Orleans to take out a major city.

Far more devastating could be one or more medium-range missiles fired from a freighter off America's Atlantic, Pacific or Gulf coasts to detonate a nuclear warhead in the upper atmosphere, creating an electromagnetic pulse that would destroy every electronic device within hundreds of miles. This would effectively send much of the nation back to the 19th century within seconds, with accompanying massive loss of life from widespread starvation, disease epidemics and social breakdown.

The apostle Paul warned that "in the last days perilous times will come" (2 Timothy 3:1). Jesus Christ Himself stated that the time leading up to His return would be "a time of great distress, such as there has never been before since the beginning of the world, and will never be again." He then added, "If that time of troubles were not cut short, no living thing could survive" (Matthew 24:21-22, Revised English Bible).

We indeed live in dangerous times. We'd better be sure to draw near to our Savior and Creator as never before, diligently guarding our spiritual condition and watching as Bible prophecy begins to unfold around us!

What's Behind Islamic Terror?

The world is horrified by regular bloody terrorist attacks in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Such attacks have also been carried out in Western nations such as the United States, Britain and Spain. What's behind this blood-soaked trend, and where is it leading?

What's Behind Islamic Terror?Nearly nine years after the Sept. 11 attacks, it's painfully obvious that the threat of Islamic terrorism isn't going away. Just this past year, there were 12 known terrorist incidents and plots in the United States.

In December 2009, 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted to blow up himself and everyone else on board a transatlantic airliner as it prepared to land in Detroit.

In November, U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan gunned down 33, killing 13, in his one-man attack on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood in Texas.

Before that, in September, Najibullah Zazi, a 24-year-old Afghan-born American and an al-Qaeda recruit, was arrested just days before he apparently planned to carry out a "martyrdom operation" to blow up New York City subway trains.

Last May, four Muslim Americans were caught planning to bomb two Bronx synagogues and shoot down airliners.

Increasing radicalization, increasing threat

These are just some of the plots to launch attacks on American soil in 2009. From December 2001 to December 2008, 20 other terror plots were uncovered in the United States. Except for the Fort Hood massacre, all of these were averted.

But despite the good record of apprehending terrorists, counterterrorism specialists are still very concerned. They see an accelerated radicalization among American Muslims, which they believe is leading to an increase in terrorist incidents in the United States. That's amid regular rumblings from al-Qaeda's leadership threatening to attack the American homeland, U.S. interests around the world and other Western nations.

"The terrorism threat eased up for a couple of years after 9/11, and then the last couple years it has gotten much worse," says Daniel Byman, a former intelligence officer and the director of the Center for Peace and Security Studies at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Like many terrorism experts, Byman is concerned about the growing number of American Muslims becoming involved in terrorist activity. Almost all of the domestic plots since December 2001 were carried out by people who were born or lived in the United States. Many of them were affiliated with al-Qaeda and trained at one of their terror camps in Pakistan or Yemen.

Byman also believes that, while most all of the planned attacks over the last nine years were foiled, al-Qaeda is proving to be "a very resilient, unwavering, persistent and determined enemy—rising to every challenge the West throws at them."

A case in point is Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the al-Qaeda operative who tried to blow up the plane to Detroit in December. He may have failed in the end, but he did manage to evade nearly every security hurdle the United States put in place after the 9/11 attacks—which shows al-Qaeda is always testing the aviation system to see what works and what doesn't.

While Osama bin Laden and other terrorist leaders hide out in the Pakistani tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, regional al-Qaeda groups have been forming, primarily in weak and failing states, which can be safe havens for terrorists.

Presently al-Qaeda has regional operations in Yemen, Somalia, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. Intelligence officials are concerned al-Qaeda-linked extremists are now migrating to the vast Saharan territories of Mali, Mauritania and Niger—remote areas without any real state control, which will allow them to build new havens where they can gather recruits and train.

"When the Taliban was in power and protecting Bin Laden in Afghanistan, things were pretty clear cut. The U.S. knew who to attack and where they were," observes Emilio Viano, a terrorism expert and a professor at American University in Washington, D.C. "Al-Qaeda is a much more serious threat today because they're not just in one central location anymore. They're on the loose, and they're very difficult to identify and find."

The changing face of terrorism

In one sense, terrorism—planned and organized violence against civilians to generate fear and panic in society—is not a new phenomenon. Throughout history, rebels, revolutionaries and rogue governments have used terror tactics to push political or societal change. However, the Islamic terrorism we're seeing now is considerably different from what was seen throughout history, or even compared to the Middle Eastern ter-rorism that emerged in the 1960s and '70s.

Middle Eastern terrorism got its start with movements like the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). These groups used small-scale bombings, assassinations, airline hijackings, hostage taking and embassy takeovers to call attention to their cause.

They had definite political goals (the establishment of an independent Palestinian state and the elimination of Israel), just like others did in modern history, such as the Irish rebels, Russian Socialist Revolutionaries, Basque separatists in northern Spain and the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka.

During the 1980s and '90s, Middle Eastern terrorism started changing. By the time of al-Qaeda's attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, it had morphed into something the world had never seen before.

"Militant Islam replaced secular Palestinian nationalists as the ideology of terror," explains political violence and terrorism expert Mark Ensalaco of the University of Dayton. "Jihad against apostates and infidels replaced the liberation of Palestine as the cause. Militant Islam was sworn to the destruction of the State of Israel, but now destruction of apostate Arab regimes and expulsion of Americans from Muslim lands became new strategic objectives of terror.

"Militant Islam proclaimed the murder of Americans, who had rarely been targeted by Palestinian terrorists, to be a religious duty. Terror became far more lethal with the advent of mass casualty suicide attacks" (Middle Eastern Terrorism: From Black September to September 11, 2008, p. 6).

"The terrorist groups we are now facing are much more interested in conducting mass casualty attacks than the groups in the 1970s," says terrorism expert Brian Nichi-poruk, a political scientist with the Rand Corporation, a nonprofit think tank based in Santa Monica, California. "In their attacks they obviously want to kill—and kill a lot more people, as opposed to just targeting specific people for assassinations, or holding a few key people hostage until their demands are met."

Suicide bombings were unheard of before the Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah introduced them in the early 1980s, he states.

Mass terror as a political tool

Adds Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, director of the Center for Terrorism Research at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington, D.C.: "The assumption through the 1970s, '80s and '90s was that terrorist groups would not carry out mass casualty attacks because terrorism was about fear. That is, these groups wanted to accomplish a fundamentally political objective, and part of what they needed to do was to win people over to the 'justness' of their cause.

"If they were to kill too many people, then they would end up losing the public. What happened on 9/11 and the evidence that al-Qaeda has searched out weapons of mass destruction puts that assumption to rest."

One other distinction worth clarifying is that "while the Palestinian terror groups back in the 1970s and '80s were primarily politically motivated and held left-wing ideologies such as Marxism and nationalism, some, like the PLO and PFLP, had a bit of religious ideology mixed in with their goals," Gartenstein-Ross notes.

Similarly, while the Islamic extremists today operate under a "religious" banner, there are still political aspects to their objectives. Their ultimate goal is to establish a worldwide caliphate (Islamic empire) and to unite all Muslims.

To do this, in al-Qaeda's view, they must drive Westerners and non-Muslims out of all Muslim nations, especially Saudi Arabia (as it is the birthplace of Islam and home to Islam's two holiest shrines), destroy Israel and overthrow governments it deems to be "non-Islamic" or democratic. Even Muslim governments must be destroyed, from al-Qaeda's perspective, if they have become "too Western."

The last objective, in particular, requires a lot of "political maneuvering" on the part of the Islamic extremists. Nichiporuk says what the radicals try to do is "create mass unrest and mayhem in the pro-Western Muslim countries that exist—places like Iraq, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Jordan—and see if they can create an uprising against the government where they can bring it down, gain control, and impose a fundamentalist Islamic regime."

Origins of modern Islamic terrorism

Exactly what happened during the last two decades of the 20th century to bring about the change from Palestinian nationalism to militant Islam? Several factors were at play. But all extremist movement threads ultimately lead back to the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

In Middle Eastern Terrorism: From Black September to September 11, Mark Ensalaco writes: "The Iranian revolution gave the struggle against oppression a religious intensity that surpassed anything secular Palestinian or pan-Arab nationalism could ever generate. Although Iranians are Persian not Arab, and Shi'a [Shiite] not Sunni, the potency of the Ayatollah's message was tremendous: Because Muslims had strayed from the one true path, Muslims chaffed under the yoke of Western imperialism.

"Muslim holy places in Jerusalem were desecrated by Zionism; Muslim states were mired in political corruption; only the revival of Islam could lead to the restoration of the Muslim land, including Palestine, to the Dar al-Islam, the abode of Islam. Islam demanded more than the liberation of Palestine, it demanded the establishment of Islamic governments faithful to the Qur'an [or Koran] and the Sharia, or Islamic law, throughout the Muslim world.

"And for this Muslims must be prepared to sacrifice themselves in jihad, holy war. Islamist thought was far more radical than the pan-Arab nationalism that competed with it for decades" (p. 123).

The Ayatollah Khomeini's oratory alone was enough to get many Muslims fired up—Shiite and Sunni alike. Adding fuel to the fire were America's early run-ins with Iran's new government and Hezbollah, the Lebanese-based terrorist organization Iran helped establish in 1982 and continues to support.

Three events in particular made the United States look weak in the eyes of the Islamic radicals: the United States' failed attempt at rescuing American hostages in Iran in 1979, U.S. withdrawal from Lebanon in 1983 after Hezbollah's devastating attack on Marine barracks, and the U.S. military pullout of Somalia in 1993-94 without completing the mission.

In his 2009 book Inside the Revolution, Middle East specialist Joel Rosenberg explained that these defeats "emboldened the extremists," gave them "fodder for their propaganda" and "allowed them credibility to bring more young Radicals into the cause" (p. 9).

The birth of al-Qaeda

One such radical was a wealthy Saudi national by the name of Osama bin Laden. Throughout the 10-year war in Afghanistan against Soviet occupation, Bin Laden recruited, trained and financed the thousands of foreign mujahadeen, or holy warriors.

Bin Laden wanted these fighters to continue the "holy war" beyond Afghanistan, so in September 1988 he formed al-Qaeda ("the Base"). By 1990, just a year after the Soviet Union withdrew its troops from Afghanistan, al-Qaeda had established cells, recruiters and fund-raising operations in 50 countries and by 1993 had trained more than 6,000 Arabs to export jihad throughout the world.

The Soviet withdrawal quickly accelerated al-Qaeda's growth: "In nine years, more than fifteen thousand Soviet soldiers and airmen were killed in Afghanistan, and another thirty thousand or so were injured. Hundreds of Soviet jets and helicopters were shot down. And all the while bin Laden passionately argued that the mujahadeen's victories against the Soviet infidels were proof that Allah was on their side" (Rosenberg, p. 112).

In the last decade, not only has the al-Qaeda franchise spread throughout the Middle East and around the world, but so has its jihadist ideology. That ideology, says Michael O'Hanlon, director of research and senior fellow in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, "is really what's driving this rise in violence. We haven't seen such a violent ideology mixed with religion in a long time."

And truly, it's a lot easier for violent ideology to spread these days. Today, Gartenstein-Ross observes, "the Internet is one of the main ways al-Qaeda is able to broadcast its ideology and remain so potent. A couple decades ago, that wasn't a factor, so it was more difficult for ideas to spread and networks to form."

Terrorist groups use e-mail, chat rooms, e-groups, Web sites, blogs, forums, virtual message boards and resources like Facebook, Twitter, Paltalk and YouTube to communicate with fellow jihadists, make contact with like-minded individuals and promote their jihadist ideology. Usually they do so with little risk of identification by authorities.

Finally, one other factor that has facilitated the growth of terrorism has been the changing structure of world power. "The U.S. is losing its preeminence in the world, economically and consequently also politically," declares Viano.

He continues: "The U.S. has increasingly less financial resources to be able to devote to fighting terrorism, and the extremist groups know that. And really, the U.S. is a lot less popular than it used to be, and there are fewer nations that will cooperate with it in fighting international terrorism. A lot of terrorist groups may even figure they'll actually gain some favor with the home audiences if they attack America, which wouldn't have been the case 30 years ago. It's all made the U.S. an easier target for terrorism."

What the West is really up against

Of the 50-plus terrorist organizations in the world today, the two that are the biggest threat to the West are al-Qaeda and Hezbollah. Many of the others are relatively small movements and are focused on political issues in their region. But both al-Qaeda and Hezbollah see themselves in a holy war against the United States, Israel and the entire Western world.

Ever since the 9/11 attacks, al-Qaeda has become synonymous with terror in the United States. "They're the ones who have demonstrated the willingness to use mass casualty attacks and stop at nothing to achieve their objectives," says Nichiporuk.

In 1998 Bin Laden made his organization's objectives very clear when he issued his infamous fatwa (religious ruling) urging fellow Muslims to "kill Americans and their allies, civilians and military." In the summer of 2002, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, a Kuwaiti-born spokesman for al-Qaeda, posted the following statement on the Internet: "Al Qaeda has the right to kill four million Americans ... and injure and cripple hundreds of thousands."

Experts break up the al-Qaeda threat into three distinct entities. The first is the core organization that carried out the 9/11 attacks, comprising Bin Laden and his small circle of close, trusted associates.

The second layer of the network is composed of al-Qaeda's affiliate groups across the globe—regional franchises that have recently formed or extremist groups that have taken on the "al-Qaeda" label. There are cells in at least 100 countries that operate in conjunction with the various regional organizations. Also included in this second layer are terror organizations that maintain their independence for various reasons, but still espouse al-Qaeda's jihadist ideology and cooperate with the core group.

The third layer of the network is what was mentioned in the introduction—the so-called "homegrown" terrorism. Gartenstein-Ross defines it as "terrorism that is carried out by people who are born, raised and/or radicalized within a Western milieu."

The threat of homegrown terrorism

Gartenstein-Ross says homegrown terrorists "are very valuable to al-Qaeda, since they are Westerners (from America or Europe), fit in with Western society better than Middle Easterners do, have the right travel documents, have the command of the English language or the relevant European language, and know how to not raise suspicions."

Typically, homegrown extremists are indoctrinated inside the United States (or another Western nation), with help from extremist Web sites or jihadist clerics. Then many, but not all, travel to an al-Qaeda training camp in the Middle East or Pakistan for terror training and logistical support. Some are then assigned to go on a suicide assignment. This is how Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab almost blew up the airliner bound for Detroit last December.

Counterterrorism officials believe the accelerated radicalization among American Muslims has been driven by a wave of English-language online propaganda and the spread of radical ideology in American mosques. There are a growing number of mosques in the United States, totaling 1,200 today, reported Joel Rosenberg in Inside the Revolution (p. 141). Between 50 and 80 percent are believed to be under control of extremists or dominated by their theology.

Rosenberg also quotes findings from a 2007 study by the Pew Research Center on the attitudes of Muslims in America. The study found that 5 percent of them had a "favorable" view of al-Qaeda. "Moreover, nearly three in 10 (27 percent) said they either didn't know or refused to answer the question about their view of al Qaeda. Out of 2,350,000 Muslims, this means there are at least 117,500 Muslims inside the U.S. who like what Osama bin Laden and his colleagues are doing and have a favorable view of their terrorist network."

Further, "if those who refused to answer the question were disguising their own support for al Qaeda, there could be another 600,000 or more Radical Muslims or Radical-leaning Muslims or sympathizers inside the country" (p. 144). Clearly, America has a large "pool" for potential homegrown terrorists.

Hezbollah, another major threat

That's the al-Qaeda side of the equation (extremist Sunnis). The Shiite side is Hezbollah. Founded in part in response to the Israeli occupation of Lebanon and supported by Iran, many counterterrorism officials, like Nichiporuk, believe Hezbollah is "primarily a problem for Israel" and would probably only attack American interests if the United States got into a conflict with Iran.

Still, he acknowledges that "Hezbollah is a very dangerous, very capable terrorist organization" with a worldwide network of cells throughout Europe, Africa, South America and North America.

Others, like Joel Rosenberg, believe Hezbollah is not only dangerous but all too ready to attack the U.S. homeland. In Inside the Revolution, he cites a long list of statements by Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, threatening to destroy America and Israel. He also lists Hezbollah's many attacks against U.S. interests in the 1980s and 1990s.

The fact that Iran is close to having a nuclear bomb and is directly tied to Hezbollah adds to the severity of the situation. "Yet, inexplicably," Rosenberg writes, "despite Hezbollah's history of killing Americans, Israelis, and Iraqis—and their clear plans to kill many more—the U.S. has done precious little to crush Hezbollah as it has sought to crush al Qaeda. Nor has it done much to bring Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah or his forces to justice. This has served to embolden Nasrallah, who is convinced that Allah is with him" (p. 95).

Some people speculate about whether Hezbollah and al-Qaeda might ever pull off a U.S. attack together. In spite of their theological differences and conflicting political strategies, both are intent on destroying the West, and there has been some cooperation between the two organizations in the past. For instance, in the early 1990s, Hezbollah trained al-Qaeda operatives in truck bombing techniques. Unquestionably, though, they are both highly formidable threats on their own.

The WMD threat

The ultimate concern, of course, is that extremists would obtain a weapon of mass destruction (WMD)—in particular, a nuclear bomb. In a December 2008 report titled World at Risk, the Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism concluded that "unless the world community acts decisively and with great urgency, it is more likely than not that a weapon of mass destruction will be used in a terrorist attack somewhere in the world by 2013."

Former CIA Director George Tenet stated in his 2007 book At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA that he is convinced al-Qaeda is trying to obtain nuclear capabilities: "They understand that bombings by cars, trucks, trains, and planes will get them some headlines, to be sure. But if they manage to set off a mushroom cloud, they will make history. Such an event would place al-Qa'ida on a par with the superpowers and make good bin Laden's threat to destroy our economy and bring death into every American household" (p. 279).

Al-Qaeda's nuclear intentions have been well documented. In 1998 Osama bin Laden said he felt a "religious duty" to acquire nuclear weapons. In 2003 al-Qaeda sought and received a fatwa from a radical Saudi cleric authorizing the use of nuclear weapons against American civilians. Since the early 1990s, al-Qaeda has been trying to buy or steal the nuclear material needed to assemble a bomb and to recruit nuclear scientists to help the group with its aims. It's becoming more doable all the time.

Just how doable? Harvard University's Matthew Bunn, an expert on nuclear theft and terrorism, explains: "At sites in dozens of countries around the world, the security measures in place for plutonium or highly enriched uranium (HEU)—the essential ingredients of nuclear weapons—are dangerously inadequate, amounting in some cases to no more than a night watchman and a chain-link fence...

"If a technically sophisticated terrorist group could get the HEU or plutonium they need, they might well be able to make at least a crude nuclear bomb. Making one does not take a Manhattan project: more than 90 percent of that 1940s-era effort was devoted to making the nuclear material, not making the bomb; and that was before the basic principles of nuclear bombs were widely known, as they are today" ("Reducing the Greatest Risks of Nuclear Theft and Terrorism," Daedalus, Oct. 1, 2009).

Sooner or later, terrorists may well succeed in their bomb-making efforts. Or they may simply acquire one already assembled.

National Review reported the consensus of some of the world's leading terrorism experts at a December 2009 Heritage Foundation meeting: "If Iran, the world's leading sponsor of terrorism, is not prevented from acquiring nukes, the result will be a nuclear proliferation 'cascade.' Before long, so many countries would have so many nuclear devices that the chances of terrorist groups getting their hands on at least a few would increase exponentially" (Clifford May, "Apocalypse When?" Nov. 26, 2009).

In January Gen. James Jones, White House national security adviser, told a USA Today reporter that his "biggest nightmare scenario" was "the acquisition of a weapon of mass destruction by a terrorist organization. The difference between a nation-state doing so and a rogue group of a terrorist organization is that nation-states can be controlled. They know if they're going to use one what's going to happen. But terrorist groups will have no such limitation" (What's the Next U.S. Terror Threat?" Jan. 25, 2009).

What's the answer?

If you are familiar with Bible prophecy, you may not be shocked by all this. The Bible foretells a time of unparalleled fear and terror in the days leading up to the return of Jesus Christ to the earth to establish the Kingdom of God.

Jesus Christ told His disciples that before His second coming "there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again" (Matthew 24:21, New International Version, emphasis added throughout). He spoke of "wars and rumors of wars" and peoples and nations rising up against each other (verses 6-7).

There's also a prophetic reference to terrorism in the Bible, specifically for America and other English-speaking peoples.

Regular readers of this magazine understand that the lineage of Americans and other English-speaking peoples can be traced back to the Old Testament nation of Israel. In Leviticus 26:16-17, God tells the Israelites that "sudden terror" and military defeat will be the result of their sin, with Americans and those of other Israelite nations "flee[ing] even when no one is pursuing you" (NIV).

That's not to say terrorism is an out-of-control problem at present. It isn't. The United States has spent billions on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, on intelligence and surveillance operations, and in beefing up airport and port security—all to combat terror threats. U.S. efforts have been successful. Al-Qaeda's core has had to go into hiding, hindering the group's operations. Dozens of attacks on the U.S. homeland since 9/11 have been prevented. But there is only so much human governments can do.

"Terrorism is a problem we can only manage. We can try to reduce both the frequency of it and the consequences of it, but we're not going to be able to eradicate it," O'Hanlon says. The threat of new and more serious attacks is always looming, he says, and realistically it's not possible to prevent 100 percent of the plots. Terrorism is bound to get worse before Jesus Christ returns.

The good news, though, is that when Jesus Christ does return, terrorism at last will become a thing of the past. God's new government will not only control it, but address the root causes and truly stop it.

Of that time we're told: "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid" (Micah 4:3-4). God speed that day!

The Middle East: Ground Zero of Bible Prophecy

Only a century ago the Middle East was a relatively peaceful and tranquil area. Today it's the most volatile region of the world, with the possibility of war breaking out at any minute. You need to understand why this change happened, where Bible prophecy indicates things are headed and what it means for you!

It's hard to believe, but a century ago the Middle East was, as historian and Middle East specialist David Fromkin described it in his best seller A Peace to End All Peace, "a relatively tranquil domain in which history, like everything else, moved slowly" (1989,p. 25).

At that time, few in the West "knew or cared what went on in the languid empires of the Ottoman Sultan or the Persian Shah...The passions that now drive troops and terrorists to kill and be killed—and that compel global attention—had not yet been aroused" (ibid.).

A look at the map helps you understand why. "The political landscape of the Middle East looked different from that of today. Israel, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia did not exist then" (ibid.). All these lands were ruled as a part of the Ottoman (or Turkish) Empire. Jerusalem itself had been a part of the empire since 1517.

But everything was about to change.

Turning point for the Middle East

The turning point was World War I. The events that followed the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand spiraled into the greatest conflict mankind had ever known. The British, French and Russians were allied against the Central European powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. The Ottoman Empire soon allied itself with the latter—and suffered their fate. All three empires collapsed in the aftermath of war.

For centuries the Ottomans had dominated the entire Middle East and North Africa. The empire had been in decline throughout the 19th century and had already seen vast areas of its territory become independent. But a far greater splintering was to come with the Paris peace conference of 1919-20.

It was this peace conference that created the modern Middle East—and led to virtually all the conflicts in the region over the last nine decades. Ultimately, it will lead to the final conflagration that precedes the return of the Messiah.

After World War I, often referred to as "the war to end all wars," the Paris peace conference was aptly referred to by Field Marshal Archibald Wavell, a British officer who served in Palestine, as "a peace to end peace." That's exactly what it achieved—transforming a languid and relatively tranquil domain into the most dangerous neighborhood in the world. The Middle East remains, by far, the greatest threat to world peace.

What is remarkable is that the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and its dismemberment was destined more than 24 centuries before it took place. It had to happen for specific Bible prophecies to be fulfilled, for Scripture shows that prior to Christ's second coming, an independent Jewish nation would exist once again in the Holy Land—one that would be a source of great consternation and contention to other nations.

No Jewish nation for 2,000 years

More than 2,500 years ago the Jewish prophet Daniel lived in Babylon, a powerful empire that had conquered the Jewish nation early in the sixth century B.C. The captivity of the Jews was to last 70 years. Daniel lived through the entire period of Babylonian rule and survived to see Babylon itself conquered by the empire of Persia in 539 B.C.

God revealed a great deal to Daniel. These revelations contained the prophetic plan for the gentile (non-Israelite) nations that would dominate the Middle East and also His prophetic plan for the Jewish people. The book of Daniel was even written in two languages—Aramaic, the language of Babylon's rulers (for the prophecies relating to the gentiles), and Hebrew, the language of the Jews.

The prophecies revealed that after the Babylonian Empire would come the Persian Empire, to be followed in turn by the Greco-Macedonian Empire more than two centuries later, which would in turn eventually be succeeded by the Roman Empire.

In Daniel 11 we find an amazingly accurate and detailed prophecy of the fate that was to befall the Jewish people in the aftermath of the death of Alexander the Great. His vast empire, acquired during a short life span, was divided up between four of his generals. Bible prophecy focuses on two of them and their successors.

Ptolemy took control of what is now Egypt, while Seleucus took possession of everything north and east of what is today Israel. These two monarchs and their descendants are referred to throughout the chapter as the "king of the South" and the "king of the North" respectively. A great deal of attention is given to them as their continuing conflict constantly affected the Jewish people who were literally caught in the middle.

The prophecy's details have a clear, step-by-step correspondence in history until verse 32, which was fulfilled in the middle of the second century B.C. In verse 40 we see references once again to the king of the South and the king of the North "at the time of the end."

Why such a long gap of some 2,000 years? It's easier to follow when we understand Jewish history. The second part of verse 32 through verse 39 contains a prophecy about the exploits of the early Church set against the backdrop of the Roman Empire. But then there's nothing until "the time of the end."

That's because there was no Jewish nation from A.D. 135 until 1948! This prophecy is about the Jews and how they were to be affected by their two powerful neighbors, the kings of the South and the North, geographic locations in relation to Jerusalem, the Jewish capital.

But in the end time, once again the Jewish people are to be affected by these two powers, one to the south of Jerusalem and one to the north. However, these are not the descendants of Ptolemy and Seleucus. Much changed in that 2,000-year gap. The Ptolemaic dynasty died out with the last Ptolemy, Cleopatra VII, who was replaced by a long period of Roman rule. The Seleucid kingdom had been swallowed up by Rome even earlier.

Prophecies of Jews and Jerusalem at the end time

Other prophecies also clearly show that a revived Jewish nation would exist at the time of the end.

The Old Testament prophet Zechariah prophesied of the time when Jesus Christ returns to earth, an event still clearly in the future. Notice his words:

"Behold, the day of the Lord is coming ... For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem ... Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east" (Zechariah 14:1-4). Again, this is a prophecy that has not yet been fulfilled.

In chapter 12 Zechariah makes more specific references to Judah and Jerusalem: "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem" (verse 2, emphasis added throughout).

Note the reference here to both Judah and Jerusalem. In Bible history and prophecy, Judah is usually the name applied to the people commonly known as the Jews. They get their name from—and are descended from—Judah, one of the 12 sons of the biblical patriarch Jacob.

The Jewish nation today calls itself Israel, but it does not comprise all the nations of Israel.

The Bible records that after the death of King Solomon, 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel rebelled against Solomon's successor and formed a separate nation, the kingdom of Israel. Two tribes, Judah and the much smaller tribe of Benjamin, remained loyal to the heirs of King David and formed the kingdom of Judah. Their descendants include the peoples who populate Israel today.

Interestingly, the first reference to "Jews" in the Bible (2 Kings 16:5-6, King James Version) describes Israel and the Jews being at war with each other!

Both kingdoms eventually fell, and their people were taken away into captivity. Israel was invaded and destroyed by the Assyrian Empire in the eighth century B.C. Its people were exiled and eventually lost to history, becoming known as "the lost 10 tribes" of Israel. (To learn more, read our free booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy.)

The kingdom of Judah fell to the Babylonians in the sixth century B.C., and although some of the Jewish people returned over the next century and a half to reestablish themselves in the Holy Land, most were scattered throughout the Middle East and, ultimately, much of the Western world. Of course, this return to the Holy Land had to take place for the prophecies specifying the time and location of the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, to be fulfilled.

Jesus also pointed to Jerusalem as the very center of Bible prophecy at the time of the end. "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near," He said in Luke 21:20, part of His longest recorded prophecy.

For a long time this seemed unlikely to many because Jerusalem was mostly at peace for its four centuries under the Ottoman Empire prior to World War I. It lies within an area dismissed only a century ago as "a relatively tranquil domain." Yet it is now the most volatile region of the world, with Jerusalem itself a city of global contention just as Zechariah said it would be:

"And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it" (Zechariah 12:3).

Clearly, this will be a time of divine intervention in human affairs: "It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem" (verse 9).

New Testament prophetic focus is the Middle East

Other New Testament passages also show Jerusalem and the Middle East at the center of Bible prophecy. We have already seen the reference to Jerusalem in Luke 21:20.

Many people have heard of Armageddon, which has entered our language as shorthand for the final colossal battle at Christ's return. Revelation 16:16 says, "And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon." This name is the Greek form of the Hebrew words har Megiddo, meaning "hill of Megiddo." Megiddo was a strategically crucial fortress city in northern Israel in ancient times.

But a closer reading of this passage shows that Megiddo is only the gathering place for great armies. Megiddo lies at the western end of a large plain, known as the Valley of Esdraelon (or of Jezreel), that stretches 20 miles eastward. It will likely serve as a staging area, with the actual battle, as Zechariah 14 shows, taking place 55 miles to the south outside Jerusalem.

When Jesus told His disciples to watch Jerusalem, He also said that "Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled" (Luke 21:24). Revelation 11:2 shows that the gentiles "will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months," the last 42 months of human misrule on the earth. Obviously something major must happen to end the current Israeli control over the city and turn it over to non-Jews.

During this period of time, the same chapter foretells that God's two witnesses will prophesy to the world from the city of Jerusalem (verses 3-10). Verse 9 shows that when they are killed, "those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half-days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves." The world will be aware of their message, a final prophetic announcement about the imminent return of the Messiah and the establishment of the Kingdom of God and of the need to repent.

The purpose and point of prophecy

The primary purpose of prophecy is to encourage people to repent—to warn them of the consequences of continuing to disobey and defy their Creator and to urge them to turn to Him.

This was a vital part of Jesus' mission: "Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel'" (Mark 1:14-15). The gospel is the good news of the coming Kingdom of God and how we may be a part of it.

Each year, most of the world focuses on an event that took place in the Middle East more than 2,000 years ago, celebrating but missing the point—the all-important deeper meaning. The event was the birth of Jesus Christ, the Messiah promised to mankind. While celebrating His birth (on the wrong day and in the wrong way), they ignore the message He brought and the incredible role He is destined to play.

Isaiah 9:6 opens with two famous prophetic clauses: "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given . . ." What's described here was, of course, fulfilled two millennia ago with the birth of Jesus. But notice the words that follow:

"And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this" (verses 6-7).

You don't have to look any farther than the Middle East to see why the Messiah must return. The most volatile area of the world will not know peace until Jesus Christ reveals Himself and puts an end to false religious teaching.

The plague of false religion

The disciples asked Christ: "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:3). In answer, the first thing He warned about was false religion. "Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many" (verses 4-5, King James Version).

In Revelation, a book about end-time events, we see in chapter 6 a vision of four horsemen representing major trends that will devastate humanity.

It begins with a rider on a white horse who goes out "conquering and to conquer" (verse 2), which corresponds in sequence to Jesus' warning about religious deception—and the correspondence continues through the other horsemen. False religion leads to war, which in turn leads to famine, followed by pestilence or disease epidemics (verses 1-8; compare Matthew 24:1-8).

False religion will not end until Jesus Christ returns and forcibly sets the record straight about the counterfeit ideologies and faiths that have deceived the human race for centuries. Behind these false religions and philosophies is an evil spirit being who is known as Satan or the devil, of whom the Bible says "the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (1 John 5:19).

Three major faiths have a common origin in the Middle East, all sharing an interest in the Holy Land, especially Jerusalem, which is at the heart of Bible prophecy. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all claim a common ancestor in Abraham. Yet there are significant differences between all three, which have led to centuries of conflict and unending bloodshed.

The sad reality is that all three world religions are wrong! None follow in the true faith of Abraham. True Christianity, the Christianity that Jesus preached and which the early disciples and apostles believed and followed, does—but it has only a small number of followers today.

Without knowing it, most professing Christians practice a false form of Christianity, a blend of pagan beliefs mingled with some biblical teachings. As Revelation 12:9 says, Satan "deceives the whole world"—not just a corner of it here and there, but all of it.

The apostle Paul adds that "Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light." He has his own false apostles and false ministers who in reality are "deceitful workers," likely unaware that they are, in fact, helping spread Satan's lies, fraudulent counterfeits of God's true religion (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).

These false religious systems have left a legacy of fear and hatred in the Middle East that will not easily go away.

Ancient family rivalry

Abraham is deeply revered in all three faiths. It was in the time of Abraham that the primary cause of the greatest conflict took place, when Abraham fathered Ishmael by his wife's handmaid, Hagar. Later, his wife conceived and bore Isaac. Ishmael's descendants include a large part of the Arab peoples, while Isaac through his son Jacob is the ancestor of the Israelites. The sibling rivalry of these two boys has continued down through the centuries in their descendants, exacerbated by religious differences.

A prophecy regarding Ishmael foretold: "He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility towards all his brothers" (Genesis 16:12, New International Version). This has certainly been fulfilled (and continues to be on a daily basis) in Ishmael's offspring.

A longer form of an old Egyptian Arab proverb states: "I against my brother. My brother and I against our cousin. My brother, my cousin and I against the neighbors. All of us against the stranger." The last clause is sometimes given as "my cousin and I against the world."

Events headed just where God said

It's amazing how much the Middle East has changed in the last century, since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire following World War I. But the pages of your Bible show that this was all prophesied thousands of years ago. Clearly we can see God's hand in these developments (Daniel 2:21).

Prophecy continually points us to our Creator and reminds us that ultimately everything is in His hands. It makes us realize God's constant presence in the affairs of this world. It also reminds us that events are on track for the return of Jesus Christ and the establishment of His Kingdom, which will be ruled from Jerusalem.

Seeing God's hand at work in history and as events play out before our eyes, we should need no further reminder of the need for our own personal relationship with Him through repentance, faith and submission to His divine will as revealed in His Word!

The Greatest Is Love

There are three things that remain—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 (TLB)

Love is the first commandment of Jesus Christ. He says, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment” (Matt. 22:37-38). Love is also the new commandment of Jesus Christ: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34). 1 Corinthians 13 gives us five very compelling reasons why we should love:

(1) Without love, all that I say is ineffective (13:1). Words without love are just noise. Love opens up our hearts to each other. It is not enough just to talk a lot without having love. We only listen and respond to loving words.

(2) Without love, all that I know is incomplete (13:2). Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up (8:1). It is better to have a right heart than just to have a head start. People really don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

(3) Without love, all that I believe is insufficient (13:2). There is a misconception that being a Christian is just simply believing in certain doctrines. Guess what? Demons themselves believe that Jesus is the Son of God! But that doesn’t regenerate them.

(4) Without love, all that I give is insignificant (13:3). People often give for the wrong motives of prestige, power and obligation. Unless you mix your giving with genuine love, your giving really means nothing to the recipient.

(5) Without love, all I accomplish is inadequate (13:3). Relationships are more important than accomplishments in life. Success without love is empty. One day, God is going to do an audit on your life. He will not focus on your accomplishments or the size of your bank account. Instead, He will look at your relationships to see how you have lived. The apostle Paul says this over and over again: life minus love equals to zero.

There are three other powerful truths about love. Firstly, love is a choice. You can choose to love whether you feel like it or not. Secondly, love is a sacrifice. The first time in literary history when the word “love” was mentioned had to do with Abraham sacrificing his son, Isaac (Gen. 22:2). Thirdly, love is serving people. Whose needs are you meeting today? Whose hurts are you healing today? Whom are you serving and helping right now?

Zealous For Spiritual Gifts

Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. 1 Corinthians 14:1

The Bible wants us to pursue love and desire spiritual gifts-to have both the gifts and the fruit of the Holy Spirit. You need them both to live a healthy Christian life. Someone else once said that the spiritual gifts are like the nine feathers on one wing of a dove. The fruit of the Spirit is like the nine feathers on the other wing of the dove (Gal. 5:22-23). A dove needs both wings to fly.

There are so many anti-Charismatic Christians who make statements like: “Well, I got the fruit of the Spirit, I don’t need the spiritual gifts. I am going after love, I don’t need tongues!” That is absolutely illogical. That kind of “love” argument is just a whip to beat Charismatics up with. What are you going to do with all your “love” if you can’t supernaturally meet the needs of the people all around you? Imagine a mother sitting by a dying child saying, “Honey, I love you. But mommy is going to sit here and just quietly love you. I’m neither going to pray nor will I call a doctor for you. I’ll just quietly love you with all of my heart!” What kind of love is that? That is just superficial loving with words but not loving in deed. In order to show genuine love, you must have the means to make that love effective. And what are the means? The gifts of the Holy Spirit!

Divorce love from the gift, and the Bible says you are just a sounding brass and a clanging cymbal (1 Cor. 13:1). But if you only have love without the gift, then what are you left with? Abject frustration! Therefore, you need them both-the love of God and the gifts of the Holy Spirit! When the Church goes to meet the Bridegroom in the last days, it will be adorned with the gifts (1:7-8). And the Church that does not wear the gifts disqualifies herself to be the Bride. Say a young man loves a young lady and saves up everything he has to buy her a beautiful diamond ring. He wants to show how much he loves her and mark her out as the girl he wants to marry. But what if that girl refuses the ring. She will never marry that young man! You can’t refuse the love gift and still claim to have love. You can’t scoff at the gifts of the Holy Spirit and still claim to love the Spirit!

There is not a single shred of evidence that the supernatural gifts of God have already been withdrawn from the Church. It is a deception really. If you love the Lord, you will accept His gifts, which marks you out as a member of the Bride, adorned in anointed splendor.

Be Patient

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians 5:2

Be patient. What is patience with God? It means trusting God that He is in control, and being willing to wait with a good attitude for His resolution.

Abraham was a man of faith many years ago; God had promised that He would have a son. Abraham had to wait many years for God’s promise to be fulfilled.

How about you? Are there things in your life that you are praying for...that you want...that you are waiting for? You could complain, and be impatient and unhappy...or you could ask God to help you wait with a cheery attitude. Sometimes that is hard — and you may have to wait for a while to see God provide. But the Bible says “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” When God gives us faith, we are able to trust Him to bring to pass what is good in our lives — even if it takes longer than we would like.

While we are waiting on God, it is a great time to build our character. You can ask God to help you be kind to others; to love God; to have a smile on your face; to have a cheerful disposition, even while you are waiting. “Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him.”

So, this week, let us pray that

1. God will help us wait patiently for Him in what He is doing in our lives
2. God will protect and care for our staff at Global Media Outreach
3. God will enable us to present the gospel to everyone on planet earth

THANK YOU for your prayers. You and I are growing together. God wants us to be conformed to the image of His Son Jesus Christ. One of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is patience. Let us pray together that God will give us godly character and we will see the fruits of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

May God bless you.

What Does Bible Prophecy Say About Volcanoes?

My wife, Jan, and I had long planned a family visit to the United States, booking a flight from London Heathrow to Atlanta months in advance. But Mt. Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland apparently had other ideas. For several days just before our scheduled flight virtually no flights were allowed at Heathrow and most other British airports. Would we fly? Or perhaps be delayed for days by the presence of volcanic ash in the atmosphere, potentially very dangerous to airplanes?

Putting aside my family's personal situation (insignificant when compared with many marooned in foreign climes for days—often bereft of adequate financial resources), consider the larger effects of this volcanic disaster that severely stalled world travel of both passengers and high priority air freight. Each day of disruption cost the British nation alone many millions in pound sterling. Multiply that through much of Europe and you get a picture of the staggering financial loss.

Bible prophecy

Volcanoes are often triggered or accompanied by earthquakes, which are directly mentioned in Bible prophecy. Jesus Christ included earthquakes in His famous Olivet Prophecy. He prophesied of "famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places" (Matthew 24:7, emphasis added throughout).

Prophetic passages in the Old Testament warn mankind of phenomena described very similarly to what we call volcanoes today. "You will be punished by the Lord of hosts with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with storm and tempest and the flame of devouring fire" (Isaiah 29:6).

These biblical prophecies are often associated with catastrophic events leading up to Christ's second coming. "Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord is coming…a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness" (Joel 2:1-2).

The Song of Moses also speaks prophetically of similar divine punishments. "They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not God; they have moved Me to anger by their foolish idols… For a fire is kindled in My anger, and shall burn to the lowest hell; it shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains" (Deuteronomy 32:21-22).

The apostle John describes major events leading to the second coming in the final book of the Bible. "I looked when He [Christ] opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood… And every mountain and island was moved out of its place" (Revelation 6:12, 14).

Whether or not these prophecies specifically refer to volcanoes, they are all dire warnings of disasters brought on by humanity's sins and rejection of God.

Watch and pray

You can casually dismiss these biblical prophecies as mere metaphorical word pictures without real meaning for us today. Or you can take them as true representations of literal events yet to come. That's your choice!

Yet you should remember the sobering words of Jesus Christ in His Olivet Prophecy: "Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 21:36).

So, about our flight… Members of the United Church of God we know well in both Britain and America prayed that we would make our flight—and we did! God is in control of nature and can intervene at will in the world He created. This was a reminder that our only truly reliable safety, security and protection rest in His capable hands.