Just yesterday we looked at Iran and their most recent terrorist plot.  We wondered out loud, “What was Iran thinking,” and looked at some of the ramifications of their actions – even looking into the longer term future at what could happen as a result.  Today, we are going to look at this again, yet from the angle of Iran’s worldview.  This is important for us to do because unless we grasp the worldview that Iran is working from, we will tend to misjudge not just their previous actions – but we will also be caught off guard again and again as to their future ones.  Unfortunately for us in the United States the current leadership, as well as the vast majority of thinkers from both sides of the aisle in Washington, are unwilling to wake up to just what this worldview is.  Their unwillingness to do this has led, and will continue to lead us in directions that will leave us totally unprepared for what is coming in the days and months ahead.

What was Iran thinking when they attempted to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States?  To those in Iran’s leadership, they were following a logical course of action spurred on by their worldview.  Some might want to restate this as their “religious” worldview but this does not recognize that they do not dichotomize their lives into the religious and the secular like we do in the West.  Their worldview is Muslim from every possible vantage point.  What is driving them is the logical conclusions of Islam and the teachings of the Koran as interpreted by their religious leaders.  This is what drives them religiously, politically, legally, and socially.  This is exactly what led them to every action they’ve taken from their political repression of opposition movements to their pursuit of nuclear weapons to their incendiary statements about wiping Israel off the map. 

Iran’s spiritual leadership as well as their current political leadership believe in the classic version of Islamic eschatology (end-times doctrine).  That doctrine centers around two basic things.  The first is the return of the 12th Imam who is called the “Mahdi.”  He is an apocalyptic figure who, according to their teachings, will come up out of a well in Iran – and will lead the Islamic world to reinstate the Caliphate.  The Caliphate is the term used for a one-world government/religious system based on Islam and worldwide Shar’ia law.  The Mahdi will be the supreme leader of this movement – Islam will be its religious basis – and Koranic Shar’ia law will be its political vehicle for ruling the world.  Our governmental leaders desperately need to grasp this worldview and how it motivates the actions and attitudes of the current Iranian leadership. 

The Mahdi will come in the midst of worldwide chaos and disruption.  Some might state that this is not a whole lot different than the view of the Bible.  The Bible does state that in the last days there will be wars and rumors of wars.  The major difference in worldview between these two though is that for the Biblical Christian – we are merely watching these things happen.  For the “Twelfth-er” Muslim, they sek to do all they can to encourage these disruptions and problems.  They want war, political problems, and worldwide chaos.  This is what will help bring the Mahdi back – it will aid in his return to set up the worldwide Islamic Caliphate.

Here is where we come to what the Iranians were thinking when they did what they did recently.  They were thinking that by causing disruption and even war – they will bring back the Mahdi.  This is why we need to wake up and realize what we are facing.  Too often our press and our political leaders tell us that Islam is a peaceful religion – that we can peacefully coexist with them in love and harmony.  But the fact is, that at least with Iran’s brand of Islam (and I would argue all sects eventually), they do not want peaceful coexistence and harmony.  They want Islamic domination and worldwide Shar’ia law.  They want the world to be ruled by the Mahdi – and for all nations to be under the Islamic Caliphate. 

What we are doing now in seeking a diplomatic solution is futile.  It is a repeat of the negotiations that England and France sought to have with Hitler.  There is no negotiating with those who seek worldwide domination and rule.  Chamberlain would have been better off to have met with Hitler’s Germany and let them know that if they continued to aggressively seek European domination – they would face stiff opposition and eventually war.  Hitler did not listen to appeasement.  He saw it as weakness – and sought to exploit it to his advantage.  The Iranians see our penchant for “sanctions” and our constant appeal to the U.N. for their wonderful intervention (please read this as sarcasm – actually more like rampant sarcasm) as weakness.  They exploit our useless efforts to rein them in – and see it as a gift of more time to plant additional operatives whose goal is the destruction of the “great Satan.”  One would think that the reality of that name alone would wake us up.  But our response is to retract in Freudian political horror – and blame ourselves for their actions, attitudes, and worldview.

What should we do?  How should we act in this situation?  Politically, we need to elect those to office who are not beholden to the view that Islam is a peaceful, cooperative worldview with our own.  Some would blame president Obama for the current state of affairs, but to do so would be to ignore at least 6 years of appeasement under the Bush administration.  We have a “State Department” problem.  Those who are responsible for our foreign policy think that we can win over the Islamic world by gradually abandoning our evil western ways – oh, and also by also gradually abandoning our support for our faithful ally Israel.  They are fools for thinking this.  This is not a PR problem – it is a worldview problem.  Therefore, IF we are to reverse the trends that currently make us weak and vulnerable to future attacks, we are going to have to accurately define and deal with Islamic designs for the world.  That will involve a much more aggressive stance toward Iran – and any other Islamic state that threatens our nation – and our way of life.  This is the political solution to our problem.  Now, having stated this, I have the unpleasant task of informing you that most likely this will not happen until the next couple of attacks have taken place.  The other unfortunate truth is that most likely the next major attack will make the Twin Towers attack look like child’s play.  In light of this I remind myself that the kingdom of God is not of this world.  Therefore as a patriot, I hate this development – but as a Christian, I realize that my faith is not based on what governmental system rules the country in which I live. 

There is a far greater responsibility that I have in light of all these things.  That responsibility is as a Christian.  My responsibility is to live for the glory of God by continuing to do the will of God.  That means that regardless of the threat to my country, I am to love my enemies and pray for them.  I am not to fear or hate Muslims, but love them and seek for every opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with them.  Therefore as the world continues to move toward the confrontation of the Islamic worldview and the view of the Western world – I am to preach Jesus no matter what the cost.  In the end, my concern is not ultimately what the Iranians are thinking as they act politically.  My concern is to affect their thinking and worldview by preaching that there is salvation in no other name except Jesus Christ.  My ultimate task does not change with the winds of political fortune.  The authority from which my task has been commanded will never be overthrown by the schemes and political actions of mankind.  God was seated upon His throne before mankind ever existed – and He will continue to be seated on his throne long after the last political schemes of mankind have ended.  Remember this and know that whatever Iran was thinking, it will not ultimately affect God’s will and purpose from being accomplished.  All things will be summed up in Jesus Christ.  Every knee WILL bow and every tongue WILL confess that JESUS IS LORD TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER!  May these two facts give you hope and confidence to live for Jesus in the midst of our chaotic world. 

Now this will be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth.  It will come about in that day that a great panic from the LORD will fall on them; and they will seize one another's hand, and the hand of one will be lifted against the hand of another.  Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered, gold and silver and garments in great abundance.  So also like this plague will be the plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, the donkey and all the cattle that will be in those camps. Zechariah 14:12-15

While reading through the Bible this year, I recently came upon this passage in Zechariah fourteen – a passage that brings to mind images that are horrific – but that also calls to mind a modern weapon that can actually cause the very thing that God speaks of in this passage.

The weapon of which we speak is called the “neutron bomb.”  Neutron bombs act on the part of an atom called the neutron.  A neutron is a basic component of every atom.  In general, for every atom to be a stable element it must have a proton (a positively charged particle) an electron (a negatively charged particle) and a neutron (a neutrally charged element – with no electrical charge whatsoever).  Neutrons are a critical building block of every material thing in our entire universe.  When these neutrons are clinging to protons in the nucleus of an atom, they are vital to the existence of matter itself.  When they are freed from this relationship with a proton, they cause a very deadly form of radiation – in fact it is lethal.

The first atomic bombs involved the splitting apart of “heavy atomic nuclei.”  When this happens there is a tremendous release of power – thus the massive mushroom-clouded type of explosion results.  This was the type of bomb released on Japan at the close of the second world war.  The second generation of nuclear bomb is called the “thermonuclear bomb.”  This involves a process where hydrogen isotopes are fused together to form even heavier atoms – which when split release almost unbelievable amounts of energy.  That is why we are very careful and loathe to release one of these bombs today.  The explosion and effect of a thermonuclear bomb makes the first generation of nuclear bombs look like a mere firecracker.  When we consider the massive destruction at Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a firecracker, we tremble at the destruction one of these second generation bombs could cause. 

The Neutron bomb is a third generation nuclear device.  This bomb is similar to the thermonuclear bomb except that a blanket of heavy U-238 isotopes is removed from it.  What this does to the bomb is make it release only a massive number of neutrons combined with gamma radiation at its detonation.  When this bomb blows the release of the neutrons are lethal to humans and any other animal life around it.  If you are within the radius of a neutron bomb you will be killed almost instantly.  If you are within the blast radius what will happen to you is eerily similar to what Zechariah describes in chapter 14 of his prophecy.  Any kind of flesh is destroyed by a kind of melting process as all the atoms are destroyed within it.  Thus Zechariah’s description of something that rots flesh, eyes, and the tongue are often compared to what happens at the detonation of a neutron bomb.

The reason the military would choose one of these bombs is because they are considered to be much “cleaner” than conventional nuclear bombs.  A neutron bomb blast will only kill living things.  This will leave all the weapons and buildings in the area pretty much intact.  If a nation were attacked by a huge army – as Israel will be attacked in the last days – the bomb will kill all the troops, but will leave all their armor and weaponry undamaged.  The other important difference is that a neutron bomb will leave no radioactive fallout behind after its detonation.  Unlike the first two generations of nuclear weapons, a person is safe walking in the area of the bomb blast immediately after the explosion.  Even soldiers who are dug in many feet below the earth will not escape the results of a neutron bomb blast. 

What is fascinating is that currently only the United States, Israel, and possibly China have this kind of weaponry.  That is interesting to the student of prophecy because if attacked by a huge army, Israel may choose to release such a weapon.  It would effectively destroy their enemies without causing a massive ecological event that would poison the region for decades. 

The question though for us is whether God is going to use something like this in the Gog-Magog invasion that is coming – or whether the deliverance in this scenario is simply going to be a plague that comes from the hand of God.  To be honest with you I do not have a clue which it will be, since God has worked in both ways in the past testimony of Scripture.  At times His judgment and wrath fall through an army that is divinely empowered for victory.  At other times He acts apart from any human involvement and brings His power to bear directly on those who oppose Him. 

What I get from all this is that it is foolish to stand against the apple of God’s eye – the nation of Israel.  Scripture very clearly indicates that the nation of Israel will be a major focus in the last days.  It also indicates that in the end, all nations will turn against Him and against His people.  Yet God will use even this to accomplish His ultimate purposes and plans.  Those plans have nothing to do with world domination – and everything to do with bringing salvation to the people of His own choosing.  They may have rejected their Messiah at His first coming – but eventually God is going to bring Israel to Himself with the events of these last days.  As I read Zechariah fourteen and realized that for the first time in history a human weapon has the capability of doing what is said here – I had another sense that we are indeed living in the last days.  May such a realization cause me – and saints, cause all of us to look up, for indeed our redemption is drawing near!

I’m on vacation presently – but as I’ve taken the time to keep up with the news I’ve had a sense of destiny in the things that I am reading.  Let me explain by making reference to the book of Revelation and the things we see happen in that amazing prophecy of last things. 

In the book of Revelation we see some astounding things happening in the world prior to the return of Jesus Christ.  Among them is a world leader who arises promising peace, but delivers something far different.  We see war on a scale possibly unknown to mankind.  We see horrific events involving famine and plague that seem almost out of the realm of possibility.  We see a world system of finance that no longer involves a currency or currencies of the nations of the world.  All these things seem so far fetched that many have written off Revelation as either a book that is to be interpreted non-literally – or as the rantings of a crazed prophet or worse.

Yet, as I read the news I cannot help but watch the stage being set for the return of Jesus Christ.  We are watching our own nation on the edge of a financial Armageddon – not because of the debt ceiling debacle in Congress, but because we have $14.2 trillion in debt and actually think that more borrowing is not a bad thing for us.  Because of our position in the world as the largest consumer nation, if we fall the world is coming with us.  There is such an inter-connectedness in economies in our world today that a failure in the United States will bring down the world with it. But the debt crisis is not just in the United States alone.  European countries who have embraced the lies of socialism are coming to their own day of reckoning as their ability to handle a debt explosion are coming upon them.  Not only is the U.S. economy going to implode, but Europe’s as well – and they may get there first. 

Consider the implications of all this.  Two of the world’s largest economies are going to implode.  With that we will see a collapse of the U. S. farming community as well – because without financial backing, the system we’ve maintained for our farming will fall apart as well.  That will bring a lack of food the likes of which the world has not seen in modern times.  With it will also come the looming specter of famine as one of the largest producers of food in the world suddenly will be struggling with feeding themselves as economics prevents the growing of food. 

This coming economic Armageddon will also affect the nation that has done more to promote world health than any other on the planet.  That work will come to a grinding halt as the companies that have pioneered much of the innovation and advance of medicine also implode.  Medicines that have been readily available will soon find shortages popping up all over the world. 

With this kind of financial meltdown will also come the inevitable showdowns between nations who are now facing dire choices as the shortages grow.  Historically this has led to war between nations – because contrary to biblical truth – wars are primarily not engaged in because of political differences.  James tells us that the reason for wars is because we want and we cannot have – so we argue and fight on a local level – but on a geo-political scale such arguments become wars.

Now add to this the growing problem of an Islamic radicalism that is wanting world domination and you have a recipe for a worldwide conflagration that is coming soon to a planet near you.  Some will read this and commence hand-wringing as they try to figure out how to stop it.  But the fact is that you will not be able to stop these kind of events when Christ’s return is imminent.  When I look at the things that are happening now – I see two things.  First I see that when a world sows to the wind, they will reap the whirlwind.  Our world has been in rebellion against God since Adam’s fall in the garden.  This rebellion seems to be reaching a critical mass in our day.  The godlessness in our world only knows one other context historically and biblically – and that is the days prior to Noah and the first destruction of the earth by water.  Just as the pre-flood world had to face the consequences for their sin and rebellion, so does ours – and that host of consequences seems to be knocking at our door.  The second thing I see is possibly an engineering of all this as God is sovereignly working in our world.  Please understand I do not see God as the author of such sin and wickedness.  He is not responsible for the sin and rebellion – yet He is still sovereignly working through it toward the ultimate end of His eternal purposes.  That eternal purpose has as its goal the summing up of all things in Christ Jesus – the ultimate punishment of the wicked – the ultimate reward of the righteous – and then the penultimate reign of His Son for all eternity. 

So where does that leave us – you know, the ones who are still on this planet as these things hurtle toward their horrific conclusion?  It leaves us where we have always been – redeemed ones of Jesus Christ who have a task before us.  That task is to continue making disciples of all the nations – preaching the gospel to the ends of the earth – and preparing our own hearts for the return of our glorious Lord and Savior.  The days and years will continue to be piled upon the past – until He comes and our salvation is completed as we are glorified in heaven.  But no matter whether this end comes in days or years – or decades – or centuries – our task is the same as our brethren right after the ascension of Christ and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  Preach Jesus – live Jesus – lead others to Jesus – disciple them for Jesus – and love Jesus until the end . . . whether it is an end as we die on this earth – or one where we greet Him in the clouds in a glorious reunion as He comes again!

I awoke this morning to the same news many of you did, that the enemy of our nation, Osama Bin Laden, has been killed by our armed forces.  Just like all of you this news made me proud of our armed forces and those in our Intelligence Community who worked so hard to find and dispose of this mass murderer.  I am grateful that this man is no longer out there plotting new and more horrific terrorist actions that seek to destroy innocent citizens.  Now he is facing the judgment of God—not in the presence of 72 virgins, but in hell where all those who do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ will face their eternal demise.  I do not delight in this end for him – for I wish that he had come to Christ and had been saved as a result of hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Now let me share something that may not paint so rosy a picture.  I share this only because I have a bad feeling that all this will blind us to what is really going on—and was the whole reason for Bin Laden’s rise to prominence as an adversary of the United States.  Many, in light of the recent events of Osama Bin Laden’s death, have viewed this as a tremendous victory for the United States.  I even heard one commentator call this a sign that the United States is not on the decline.  If that is how the majority of people in our nation see this, as a sign that we are now on the rise, they really don’t get why Bin Laden ever came on the scene in the first place.  To help you understand where I am coming from I will take you to a section of Scripture that will help illumine us to God’s purposes in all this. 

In First Kings chapter 11 we read of how Solomon’s heart turned from the Lord.  Solomon married many foreign women who in turn led his heart from following the Lord.  He began worshipping other gods because of the influence of these women (something God warned of in the book of Deuteronomy).  As a result of Solomon’s sin—we read the following in verse14. 

“Then the LORD raised up an adversary to Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the royal line in Edom.”

It is wise for us to see that due to the sin of God’s people—GOD raised up this adversary.  It was in fulfillment of God’s promise to discipline His people if they turned away from Him.  Before we leave this chapter of Scripture it would behoove us to also look at verses 23-25 as well,

“God also raised up another adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah.  He gathered men to himself and became leader of a marauding band, after David slew them of Zobah; and they went to Damascus and stayed there, and reigned in Damascus.  So he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, along with the evil that Hadad did; and he abhorred Israel and reigned over Aram.”

Solomon and Israel had a problem on their hands.  It seems that two people, Hadad and Rezon, were causing serious problems for Israel.  When I read of Rezon’s actions, I see an eerie parallel to what we are experiencing today.  Rezon had a “marauding band” of men who did evil in Israel similar to the evil that Hadad was doing.  One might even see them as an ancient counterpart to the terrorists that are causing so much trouble today.  Yet the part of this passage that causes me the most discomfort is the statement that God was the One Who raised up these two, might we go as far to say, terrorists.  His reasons for doing so were that Solomon and Israel had turned from Him and turned to other Gods.  They had turned to Ashtoreth and her sexually immoral worship.  They had turned to Baal and the sexual immorality that attended his rituals.  They had turned to Molech who required his followers to offer up their infant children as part of their worship.  Because of these things God began to discipline Solomon and Israel.  They did not listen – but continued in their ways – and the result was Israel’s demise. 

If, during that time, either Hadad or Rezon had been caught and killed, Israel would have rejoiced.  They may have even broken into spontaneous choruses of “God bless Israel” on their streets and in the subways.  Yet in spite of their adversary being brought to justice, they would have missed the whole point of God’s purpose in raising up such an adversary in the first place.  God did not raise up these men to help Israel become more patriotic – he raised them up to wake up Israel and bring her to repentance.  He wanted Israel to notice that they were no longer protected by God.  This was because Israel had lost favor with God – DUE TO HER SIN.  If these “terrorists” were killed – God would only raise up new ones because His purpose in all this was to bring Israel to repentance.  No repentance and return to God – no end to the adversaries that would be raised up to get her attention.  Now, let me take what has been said to this point and apply it to our current situation.

What I am about to say will upset many.  Let me state here that I am a patriot – and that I bleed red, white, and blue.  But we need to face facts today – biblical facts.  Our greatest enemy is not – nor has it ever been Osama Bin Laden.  What is destroying the United States is not a terrorist or any group of terrorists.  What is destroying our nation is the sin which we have embraced.  We have turned from the Lord and turned to our own set of false gods.  We have worshipped materialism, power, money, and sex in America.  Since we have called ourselves a “Christian nation” (which I believe is accurate due to how our forefathers founded this country), we need to realize that all Bin Laden was to us was a manifestation of God’s discipline and call for us to repent and return to Him.  Yes, Bin Laden is dead – but God can raise up a thousand more just like him to continue our discipline.  The truth is that there are already thousands of other Radical Islamic terrorists who want nothing more than to destroy our nation and our way of life.  But our problem is not Radical Islam either.  It is our sin – it is our immorality – it is the murder of the innocents that we call abortion on demand – it is our embrace of homosexuality – it is the lack of God’s power, prayer, and passion for the gospel in His church. 

I am going to be bold enough to say that God did not allow Osama Bin Laden’s discovery and subsequent destruction so that we could sing patriotic songs and think that we’re back on the rise as a nation.  My guess is that this will become clear in the next 6-12 months.  During that time I fear that terrorism will rise and new attacks will happen on American soil.  I fear that our financial system will continue to deteriorate if not collapse altogether.  I fear that things like famine and plague may strike our nation in ways that we’ve never seen before.  If we think that this has happened so that we can rejoice and celebrate without repentance and brokenness, without tearful confession of sin, without calls to prayer for revival in the church and awakening among the lost, we are doomed.  This has happened to show brief mercy in the midst of God’s discipline.  That discipline will continue if God’s desired purpose of repentance and return are not embraced in the church and in our nation.

I will end this article by asking a question.  With this event have we seen repentance among God’s people today?  With this event have we experienced a greater conviction that our nation is on the wrong track morally and spiritually?  With this event have we watched a turn from worshipping the gods of our culture, sexual immorality, homosexuality, and abortion to name a few, and a turn instead to the God of the Bible and the Gospel of Jesus Christ as His message to the whole world?  If we are not watching these things happen, I would strongly suggest that what we will watch is God, raising up an even more formidable adversary to continue His discipline until we do repent?

May God bless America . . . with a repentant, broken, praying church who has returned to Him with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength.