What Can We Expect in 2021?

After all the commotion and disruption that 2020 brought about, we are all cautiously optimistic about the coming year 2021. Personally, I did not have any prophetic dreams or words specific for this year, but I do have some biblically educated guesses and the sense that the "shaking" will continue, though many things might get better.

We might see the pandemic at least begin to wind down as greater number of people gain immunity to  Coronavirus causing Covid-19 either through developing antibodies in the course of illness or through vaccinations if they are found safe and successful.

The good news is that from the beginning of the pandemic the death rate has not increased. It remains around 2% even in the countries with the greatest numbers of infections. Nearly one year into it the death toll is not nearly as big as that of the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, which killed more than 50 million people in 1- 2 years while the world population was much smaller than it is now. As of today, globally, out of more than 83 million people infected, only 1.8 million have died. In addition in many of these deaths, Covid-19 was only one factor that led to their deaths and not always its main cause.

This  by no means does lessen the loss of these lives, but it is important to put them into a larger perspective. Covid-19 could be dangerous to people with serious health issues and those with low immune systems and should be treated seriously. Our individual efforts to slow its spread are very important, but this crisis is not as big as many seem to paint it. We need to be responsible, but we should not live in fear. The lockdowns will have to end soon as there is not much evidence that they make that much difference. The country of Sweden was initially criticized for refusing to institute a full lockdown. Instead they asked their citizens to observe physical distancing and to avoid any large gatherings. The schools and businesses remained open, but their death rate and number of infections is not that much higher and in fact lower than in many other countries. Perhaps there is a lesson to be learned here.

On the political front, the division sharpened by the most recent elections in the United States will continue to cause upheaval in that country. The political bias of the media and tech giants must end if the public in the U.S. and around the world is to have any confidence in them and the fairness of political process. We must pray that this problem will continue to be confronted and that it will be dealt with one way or another. The Islamic Republic Regime in Iran is in crisis with its leader about to die, so it is desperate to start a new war in hopes of staying in power, we must pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters inside Iran, that God will deal justice on their behalf.

There are also rumors that Pope Francis is about to step down, which was in fact predicted by Tom Horn during the online Defender Conference in November. Tom Horn has correctly predicted the stepping down of Pope Benedict well before it happened and now he is saying that Pope Francis will either step down or "be removed" from office. Tom Horn speculates that whoever will replace him might be the last Pope. I guess we will see if he is correct or not sometime in 2021.

Whatever is in store in 2021, as believers in Jesus, we can be sure of one thing. He will be with us in it, both good and bad, and He will be working everything for our good, so we don't need to be anxious. Despite its challenges, I have many things to be thankful for this year and so are many of you. May we  all be blessed in 2021 and draw even nearer to our Lord and Savior in these tumultuous times.
 

Jerusalem 2018 Is Here: The Opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem And Clashes With Hamas

Today marks the 70th anniversary of Israel's rebirth and U.S. President Donald Trump chose this

symbolic day to open new embassy of that country in Jerusalem after recognizing it as the capital of Israel to the dismay of Palestinians, U.N. and the European Union.

Hamas staged wider than ever "protests" along the security fence separating Gaza from Israel. There are also demonstrations happening in the Palestinian controlled West Bank as well as in Jerusalem itself, and it could get very violent as Hamas is a terrorist organization that does not accept Israel's right to existence  as stated in their own charter: "There shall be no recognition of the legitimacy of the Zionist entity. Whatever has befallen the land of Palestine in terms of occupation, settlement building, Judaization or changes to its features or falsification of facts is illegitimate. Rights never lapse. Hamas believes that no part of the land of Palestine shall be compromised or conceded (that includes entire Israel, not just so called occupied territories), irrespective of the causes, the circumstances and the pressures and no matter how long the occupation lasts. Hamas rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea. However, without compromising its rejection of the Zionist entity and without relinquishing any Palestinian rights, Hamas considers the establishment of a fully sovereign and independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital along the lines of the 4th of June 1967, with the return of the refugees and the displaced to their homes from which they were expelled, to be a formula of national consensus."

To the Palestinians all lands belonging to Israel right now are "Palestine"( not just the occupied territories) and need to be "liberated", it further states that armed struggle against Israel, which it calls a "Zionist Entity" is a duty of  not only every Palestinian, but every Muslim: "The liberation of Palestine is the duty of the Palestinian people in particular and the duty of the Arab and Islamic Ummah in general. ( Ummah is  a worldwide Islamic community)Resisting the occupation with all means and methods is a legitimate right guaranteed by divine laws and by international norms and laws. At the heart of these lies armed resistance, which is regarded as the strategic choice for protecting the principles and the rights of the Palestinian people.
 Hamas rejects any attempt to undermine the resistance and its arms. It also affirms the right of our people to develop the means and mechanisms of resistance. Managing resistance, in terms of escalation or de-escalation, or in terms of diversifying the means and methods, is an integral part of the process of managing the conflict and should not be at the expense of the principle of resistance."

The above statement means that Palestinians and all Muslims are encouraged to attack Israel with any means and methods they choose, including the attacks on civilian population as in the wave of knife attacks and bombings in the past, not just Israeli soldiers. Anyone  watching or discussing this conflict must be aware of these facts and see both Palestinian and Israeli actions in its context. Below is the link to Hamas' website where  you all can read it for yourselves.

http://hamas.ps/en/post/678/a-document-of-general-principles-and-policies

Could it be the very historic event  that we have been anticipating since May 2008 when I first published The Countdown to Jerusalem 2018? I very much think so. I think that what happened today sets in motion a chain of events leading to fulfillment of all prophecies regarding Israel and Jerusalem. In addition to rising violence from the Palestinians against Israel, we have rising tensions between Iran and Israel over Iran's involvement in Syria and its establishment of military bases there from which it can attack Israel.  Iranian Islamic regime is crumbling from within and it might want to provoke war with Israel in order to distract the Iranian people from their resistance. It might even use the pretext of wanting to defend Palestinians for their attack. We must watch and pray for all parties involved.

One thing is sure. The prophetic Biblical pattern of 70 holds.

Iran Protests: Powerful Symbolism of The White Scarf And Its Connection to Legendary Hero Kaveh

When the anti-government protests erupted in Iran in late December of 2017, one image really resonated with  Iranians at home and abroad. A woman standing tall and proud with her jet black hair flowing on her shoulders waving a white scarf on a long stick. 

The photo of her quickly made rounds around the Internet and became a symbol of what many are now calling the White Revolution, but many do not talk about why it resonated so much with Iranian people and why it became such a powerful symbol.

One reason  for it is the very courage of this woman who dared to remove from her head the symbol of the oppression, a scarf that Iranian women are being forced to wear since 1979 at the pain of harassment, imprisonment, and beatings from the religious police. One woman who was  taken to the police station and beaten for her husband's alleged anti-government comments told me that she saw a pregnant woman beaten as well because she wore "too much make-up." The women of Iran carry a disproportionate burden of oppression under the current Islamic Republic. Therefore it is the women of Iran who find the most courage to stand up for their rights.

But it wasn't only her courage that lent such deep meaning to her act. it was also because it evoked an image of a very well known Persian hero of pre-Islamic history named Kaveh. His story can be found in "Shahnameh" , the longest epic poem in the world describing the history of Persia, its Kings and heroes both historical and legendary.

Kaveh was a blacksmith who led a revolution against a foreign King who became a tyrant over Persia. He put his apron on a lance, which became a symbol of his revolution, of common people rising up against foreign oppression and marching together as one to the palace. The parallels are unmistakable. I don't know if this woman consciously evoked the imagery of Kaveh when she chose to visually represent the resistance of common people, especially the women, who are the most oppressed in Iran against Islamic rule, which is foreign, to the people of Iran most of whom hold on to their long 5000 years old Persian history and culture that predates Islam.

That is why the white scarf on a stick became such powerful symbol and will continue to be. The woman who created this symbol, a young mother, was found out by the government and arrested, but other women carry on that same symbol. Each Wednesday they pose  for a picture or video with a white scarf on a stick.

So, the White Revolution continues and will continue until the yoke of Islam is broken off the Iranians' shoulders. Let us continue to support the Iranian people, especially the women of Iran in their struggle for freedom and for a better future.

Iran Protests: Writing On the Wall for The Islamic Republic

It is a 4th day of wide spread anti-government protests in Iran, which main stream media is either

ignoring or like CNN, reluctantly covering because of being shamed into it by the social media and their own President, who issued a public statement of support for the people of Iran almost as soon as the protests broke out.

This is the largest form of unrest in Iran since 2009 Green Revolution, but it is very different in many ways. This time, the people are not just opposing a single issue such as the economy or their displeasure with one politician, or one faction of their government, but with the entire current political system.

They are shouting: "Down with the Dictator," and "We don't want Islamic Republic." This time they are demanding the regime change altogether and they are literally risking their own lives by doing that. Reportedly more than 50 people were already arrested ( who will be tortured and killed in prison) and 2 were shot dead. The government is blocking cell phone communications with the Iran and limiting the Internet in hopes of keeping the reports of the protesters from getting outside the country, but they are failing.

It is Writing of the Wall for this Regime. The protests will continue to grow and even if the government manages to shut them down somehow, the people will regroup and come again with greater force.

The fall of this Islamic regime will be a blessing since it will cut off the funding to Islamic terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, and will stop fueling violence even in countries such as Yemen and Saudi Arabia, and that is the grievance that the people of Iran have with their government, that all the national wealth is going to funding of terrorism and the pockets of the clerics while the money for basic social services for Iranian people such as public schools and pensions are being shut down. Now even the generation that brought in this government in an Islamic Revolution of 1979 says that they regret doing this. They hoped for a more just society, but what they got is oppression, poverty, and corruption, so the old, young, men, and women are marching together in these protests and will not stop until this regime is gone.

We must pray that they will succeed and we must pressure our politicians to support them, and to put more pressure on the Iranian regime to resign and open the country to truly free elections and transition to a democratic system that the people of Iran want.

This coming year 2018 will mark 40 years since the beginnings of the Islamic Revolution, perhaps it will mark the end of the desert experience the people of Iran had under this government and will usher in the promises of God for them. The promises of freedom and return of those who have been exiled to all countries around the world.

'But it shall happen in the latter days, that I will bring back the captivity of Elam,' says the LORD." ( Jeremiah 49:39) Amen.

Rumours of Wars : Press Warns of The Looming War In the Middle East

Yesterday, I read a headline of a CBC news article that said:

Ominous signs that the next war in the Middle East is coming, and it won't be pretty

It's likely to directly or indirectly involve Israel, Lebanon, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria and even Russia        

                                                                    

 

So, six months before May 2018 ( the 70-th anniversary of its rebirth),  and as predicted the attention shifts back to the Middle East, Israel, her neighbours and other powers involved in their affairs. The list of nations mentioned in the article above is awfully close to the list provided us thousands of years ago by Hebrew prophet Ezekiel in his description of what is known as "Gog and Magog War."

 

Except he insinuates that it will be Israel starting it while the Scripture tells us that it will be attacked from the North by the alliance of these nations and that their true motive will be enriching themselves, and well Israel is now becoming a natural gas  exporter and behind the scenes working with Saudi Arabia whose oil is coveted by both Iran and Russia.

 

Perhaps all the signs in heavens  and on earth we have been seeing in recent few years all point to that very war.

 

It will be very interesting to see how it all will unfold. It will most likely also involve Turkey which will position itself on Iran and Russia's side of course. We must pray for God's protection over Israel and for wisdom for the leaders of our countries that they will not curse themselves by standing against His people as history is being made.

Road Side Bomb Explosion In Germany And What To Make of Donald Trump's Move Against Syria

A lot has been happening lately in world politics, but I am going to tackle two events today and what they mean in terms of biblical prophecy, and what can we expect moving forward.

The first is the roadside bomb that exploded yesterday in Germany clearly targeting one of the elite soccer teams in Germany, Borussia Dortmund. Thankfully no one was killed. We are used to seeing such attacks in Iraq or Afghanistan, but now we are seeing them in Germany. This  is coming at the heels of series of Islamist truck  and knife attacks. If it is discovered that indeed this attack too was conducted by an Islamist who gave his allegiance to ISIS or some other terror group, it will continue the heated discussion about Angela Merkel's open door policy for refugees from Islamic countries( and refugee policies of other countries) as ISIS also claimed the responsibility for a bomb attack against a Coptic church in Egypt, and after a chemical attack in Syria that Assad regime is accused of conducting based on the statements of witnesses.


But what it was the ISIS and not the Assad regime who was behind this attack? The Islamists'  openly proclaimed goal is to draw western military forces ( esp.American) into the battle with Islamic forces in Dabiq, located near the Syria-Turkey border.


Now, that they are losing ground in Iraq they might want to provoke the Americans and the rest of the Western world to a military campaign there that would unleash a long Iraq style conflict, which they could later claim as the fulfillment of the Islamic "Dabiq Prophecy."


The American President, Donald Trump, might have wanted to send a strong message to anyone using chemical weapons that he is going to respond in order to deter such attacks, but he might be unwittingly be pulled into the type of military campaign he never wanted to participate in, as well  as create a greater conflict with Russia, Iran, and possibly Turkey over it.


We must pray it will not happen, but if it does happen it might bring the fulfillment of the biblical prophecy about the destruction of Damascus , which also spells out trouble for Israel, but also a supernatural deliverance.


These are no matter how we look at it, a very prophetic times in which we are living.

God's Ancient Promise For Iran And The Ezekiel War

As I mentioned in my previous post : "Iranians Are Persians, Not Arabs," Persia  has ancient historic

ties to the Jewish people and their God. And even though few people may realize it, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob specifically mentioned the people of modern day Iran and proclaimed both future judgement and restoration for the Iranian people.


One of the ancient regions that the Persian empire arose from, now in modern day Iran, is Elam. God proclaimed through the prophet Jeremiah that because of some treacherous dealings this land will be judged one day, the monarchy will cease, and the Iranian people will be scattered around the world, very much like it happened to the Jewish people, but that eventually they will be restored to their country and that God will establish His throne there.


Now this could be confusing even to the most seasoned Bible student, because as we all know God said many times that He will be ruling  one day out of Jerusalem, so how will He establish His throne in Iran out of all places?


This seems like a contradiction until we  read it in the context of the entire Scripture. We will find out from Psalm 22: 3 that God establishes His throne upon the praises of His people, so if Iranians as a country turn to God, His throne will be established there upon their praises.


Now let us look at the prophetic Scripture passage that I mentioned above : "That which came as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:
      “Thus says the LORD of hosts,
            ‘Behold, I am going to break the bow of Elam,
            The finest of their might.      ‘I will bring upon Elam the four winds
            From the four ends of heaven,
            And will scatter them to all these winds;
            And there will be no nation
            To which the outcasts of Elam will not go.      ‘So I will shatter Elam before their enemies
            And before those who seek their lives;
            And I will bring calamity upon them,
            Even My fierce anger,’ declares the LORD,
            ‘And I will send out the sword after them
            Until I have consumed them.      ‘Then I will set My throne in Elam
            And destroy out of it king and princes,’
            Declares the LORD.     ‘But it will come about in the last days
            That I will restore the fortunes of Elam,’”
            Declares the LORD. ( Jeremiah 49: 36-39)


Judgement has come upon Elam who later became Persia, then Iran because its rulers became hostile to the Jewish people, especially during the Second World War when the Iranian Shah sided for a time with Nazi Germany and renamed Persia, Iran, "The Land of Aryans." His descendants became proud and arrogant, so the Islamic Revolution became its judgement. The monarchy was destroyed as prophesied and many Iranians for the first time in their history were scattered among the nations of the world, but it also drew many Iranians to God. Thousands of them every year both in Iran and abroad became accepting Jesus as their Messiah even at the risk of death. So, it follows that God will fulfill the promise contained in the last verse of this prophecy and restore them.


My Biblically educated guess is that it will happen during the War of Gog and Magog described in the book of Ezekiel chapters 38-39. It is said there that Persia will be one of the nations that will be part of the alliance along with other Islamic nations such as Turkey and possibly even Russia, and join the attack against Israel where their armies will be destroyed.


The destruction of their army will allow the people of Iran to take back their country and to overthrow  the Islamic Republic themselves without any foreign intervention, so the fanatic zeal and hatred of this government against Israel will bring its ultimate destruction. It is just like God to do something like that.

Most Iranians Are Persians, Not Arabs

It is a Persian New Year right now, an ancient celebration of Spring and new life that is celebrated until this day in countries that used to belong to the ancient Persian Empire and are still influenced by its culture, that is well and alive today in Iran.

Most westerners make the mistake of thinking about Iran as an Arab country, especially since the Islamist minority had taken over the power in Iran in 1978-1979 Islamic Revolution, but the culture, art, and language of Iran are distinctly Persian, predating Islam by thousands of years.

As a matter of fact, Persia under king Cyrus the Great produced the first human rights code in history.

This empire was very different from all the others in that it was multicultural and multifaith empire. Persian kings did not destroy the cultural and religious heritage of the people they conquered, but allowed them to flourish. For example, they paid for the rebuilding of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem after it was destroyed, robbed, and desecrated by the Babylonians. For that, Persia, and especially King Cyrus has a venerated place in the Hebrew history.

And what is even more amazing is that King Cyrus was mentioned by name by the Hebrew prophet Isaiah a 100 years before he( King Cyrus) was even born! ( Isaiah 45: 1-6)
I think that this alone blew his mind away and favourably disposed him towards the Hebrews and their God who had called him in those prophetic Scriptures His "anointed shepherd."

Anyway, this tolerant and multicultural mindset is still present among the people of Iran and because of its history, besides the dominant Persian majority, there are many other ethnic minorities that live in Iran and still maintain their ethnic identity and languages, though after the Islamist takeover of Iran they have much less freedom than they had for ages before.

It is a very harsh reality for the people who are modern and cosmopolitan in nature to have to live under Shariah law, which is very foreign to them. For that reason over 6 million Iranians left Iran following the Revolution even though they still dearly love their country.

But the majority of them have to suffer in silence back in Iran because they cannot  or do not want to leave. The good news though is that most Iranians ( 70 %) are under the age of 35 and do not agree with the system they were forced to live under since their birth, so once the older generation that brought it in dies, the Islamic Revolution will die with them. It is just a matter of time.

To all those interested in knowing more about what is really happening in Iran, I recommend  reading of the book written by an Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Shirin Ebadi, "Until We Are Free." In it, she describes the story of her fight for human rights in Iran under the current regime and the persecution she and others like her faced  and are still facing as a result, especially those who are unknown and have no one to stand up for them.

Despite of all this oppression, Iran is experiencing the greatest spiritual awakening in its history with thousands of people coming to know Jesus as their King of Kings, the righteous King they always longed for, which in itself is a fulfillment of another ancient prophecy, but I will write about that next time...

Author's Note: This is a new version of an article titled "Persians, Not Arabs," that I first published on Triond back in 2006, but because the site has been taken down recently, I decided to republish it again since it generated so much interest garnishing more than 20, 000 views. I hope that this one will be equally successful. Feel free to share it with others and to comment.

The Call To 30 Days of Prayer Coinciding with Purim 2017 Celebrations

There are a lot of things happening in both the physical and spiritual realms right now. During a prophetic prayer meeting last Thursday a friend shared with me that she feels that The Lord is calling her and other believers who have desire to seek the Lord to more intensified time of prayer beginning today and ending on March 11, which coincides with the time Purim begins this year ( The Feast of Esther) thought it is not a coincidence at all.

She said that she senses that The Lord wants all of us to prepare spiritually for what is coming in the near future. That The Lord desires to empower His Church and pour out His glory, but He can do that only with those who are ready. She feels that it will begin around March 11th.

And being a type of person always hungry for everything that The Lord has for me and not wanting to miss out on anything, I accepted the call and decided to share it with all of you as well. As I began to pray today and to repent on my own behalf and that of my nations, I also asked  for more understanding about the times in which I am living as well as the signs of the times.

As I prayed, I began thinking about what is special about Purim and why The Lord called us to pray and intercede before Him at this time. Well, as most of you know from the biblical Book of Esther, Queen Esther after whom the name of the book was called, was faced with conspiracy created by then Prime Minister of Persia (modern day Iran) to destroy al Jews in one day. Sounds familiar?

Today's Islamic Republic of Iran's Government repeatedly made promises to do just that one day, to "wipe Israel of the map." Perhaps he Lord is calling us to prayer to intercede before Him on behalf of His people both Israel and the Church who are going to come under attack. Now, Esther's intercession did not reverse the edict calling for genocide of the Jews, but it gave the right and power to defend themselves.

One of Purim's traditions is to hold a fast three days before the beginning of the feast in memory of Queen Esther's fast, which falls on March 9th. I plan to do so as well and invite al of those who can to join in as well.

I believe that as we pray, repent, fast and intercede before our King if Kings Yeshua ( Jesus), He is going to spiritually empower us to face our enemy, so that we will gain victory, and so will Israel. We are all Esther called to the kingdom of God for such a time as this. In following pots, I will share my growing understanding of how the coming conflict between Iran and Israel will tie in with the sign of the Virgin that will appear in September of this year, and the coming War of Gog and Magog.