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.

2018 : The Year of Hope And Anticipation

At the end of each year, we usually have a foretaste of what the New Year will bring. Last year, I felt

that the year will be filled with many changes and challenges. It was so, both in my personal life and in the world affairs.

What I sense for this New Year 2018 is hope and anticipation of what the Lord will bring about. It looks like the new wave of protests taking place in Iran right now will eventually finally bring down the oppressive regime that is holding Iranian people hostage for nearly four decades now, which will also bring an end to many terrorist activities around the world that this regime is funding, including Hamas.

I look forward to see if the biblical pattern of 70s for Israel will hold and what type of restoration will take place there as well. In the Church also there is a sense of renewed energy and joyful expectation as the movement of prayer and cooperation between different churches continues, there will be pouring out of God's blessings upon His people worldwide.

Last year, we saw how the materialist and postmodern philosophy that pushed people towards increased ungodliness began to crumble and an interest in the Bible began to grow in unexpected places. It does not cease to amaze me how a secular liberal Canadian psychologist, Jordan Peterson, is able to draw hundreds of thousands into listening of his series of lectures on the Bible stories and they cannot get enough of it. The spiritual hunger among the people, especially the young people is growing. There are therefore many reasons to hope.

It is often easy to focus on all the bad that is happening in the world, but we have to remember that God is always on the move and way ahead of the enemy and that where the darkness gets deeper, His light can shine the brighter. So, determine to notice all those good things and understand what The Lord is doing, and be encouraged by it. God bless everyone and have a blessed New Year 2018!

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.

The Question of Jerusalem

"Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem will also be against Judah. On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will gather against it."( Zechariah 12:2-3)       

As President Trump announces today that the United States officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Jerusalem is being brought once gain into the center of the international attention.

For those who might not know there is a long running contention between Palestinians and Israelis about who Jerusalem should belong to. The Palestinians claim that Jewish people have no historical roots there and that because of the Al-Aksa Masque the Temple Mount and the Eastern Jerusalem should be their capital. They also claim against the historical evidence that the Jewish Temples never stood there and forbid any archeological work there in fear that they would be proved wrong, which shows that they really know the truth, but choose to deny it.

The move by the White House today clearly favours the Israeli claim, so we could soon expect a new wave of violence against both Israeli and American targets from Islamic terrorists in the Palestinian territories and around the world. This could even lead to a new Arab-Israeli war, which clearly would fit with the prophetic scenario I quoted above and with historic events that my husband and I were predicting would happen around the time of 70-th anniversary of Israel's rebirth. This time is coming in May of 2018, hence the name of this blog "Jerusalem 2018."

In addition this announcement comes a few days after the 70-th anniversary of UN recognizing Israel as a state, how sad that now they will not even recognize the historical capital of Israel, Jerusalem, as their present day capital.

From the point of view of the Bible though, Jerusalem is the only city in the world that God claimed for Himself, so it does not belong to Palestinians or any other people except Israel to whom He decided to give it to.

"Proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion. But I am very angry with the nations who are at ease; for while I was only a little angry, they furthered the disaster.” Therefore thus says the LORD, “I will return to Jerusalem with compassion; My house will be built in it,” declares the LORD of hosts, “and a measuring line will be stretched over Jerusalem.”’ “Again, proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.”( Zechariah 1: 13-17)

The God of Israel promised multiple times through His prophets that in the last days he will restore Israel and Jerusalem to be once again the possession of His people and He is not very pleased with the nations or organizations that want to stop that from happening, but there is a blessing promised to all those who line up with God's own plans and act accordingly like United States under Donald Trump just did, and pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

We will see what will actually happen, but it looks like the pattern that we noticed in Scripture back in 2008 will actually hold.  and if the war happens, the enemies of Israel will once against lose it and the nations who act to stop God's work of restoring Jerusalem will face the same things that Israel id facing in the form of even more Islamic terrorism.We are living in truly prophetic times.

"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May they prosper who love you." ( Psalm 122:6)

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.

How Reformation Affected Your Life

It doesn't matter if you are Christian, atheist, or agnostic. Reformation affected your life. It is 500

years to the day since Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany, a modern equivalent of a Facebook post ( yes you can thank Martin Luther for Facebook), which began the Reformation.

And though Roman Catholic Church still mourns this historic event as a  tragedy that brought division to their Church, and a wave of violence to Europe, it also brought the Western world civil liberties, freedom of conscience, science, modern democratic values, and a sharp increase in both knowledge and the standards of living among ordinary people. All the things you enjoy everyday and take for granted.

In standing up to the papacy in matters of faith and conscience and encouraging people to know God and the Bible for themselves by translating the sacred texts into German, Luther began a spiritual and literary revolution in Germany, and the rest of Europe. People wanted to learn to read, so they could read the Bible and the writings of Luther, as well as other reformers. Soon political leaders also began to stand up to the papacy since people stopped believing in their ability to condemn them to hell for any act  of disobedience which eventually led to separation of church and state, which we so value today. The Catholic Church could not control people like they used to since the priests were no longer the only ones who could read and interpret the Scriptures, so they began to enjoy not only freedom of faith, but also became free to discover the world around them and how it worked as their expression of faith thus beginning the scientific revolution, which makes it quite ironic today for some atheist scientists to accuse Christians of being anti-science when it was them who laid the foundations for it.

There was also initially a big wave of violence against the Church and state, but it was not as much a result of Reformation ( Luther never incited anyone to violence) as the result of  spiritual, economic, and political oppression the common people endured under the Roman Catholic Church and Aristocracy controlled by it. Many people sought revenge. It was like taking the lid off od the pressure cooker, but once it ebbed away Europe was on a path to much more prosperity and advancements in every area of life.

You might even say that Luther began the first social media revolution comparable to invention of the Internet. His writing written in common German circulated all over Germany  thus unifying German language, and the same happened in other countries and their languages. Puritans took the ideals of Reformation to America, which made it into  the most powerful and prosperous country in the world. I dare say that America would never become what it is today if Reformation never happened, so whether you knew it or not Reformation affected your very life in countless ways. What changes did one man bring into the world! It is amazing when you think about it. One lowly unknown priest in a little unknown university town changed the world.

But then, so did Jesus. He also came into this world as a lowly carpenter  from very little esteemed Jewish village of Nazareth. Didn't He say that whoever believes and follows Him will do great things? Do likewise. Be the light to this world. Your words and actions have more impact on the world around you than you know.

Author's Note: Photo of the Martin Luther statue by John Rallison

State Mandated Values For Canadian Professionals?

Does it sound like something the government of North Korea would do or what? But the problem is

that it is happening and it is not happening in North Korea, but in Canada, a country that prides itself on the human rights and freedoms.

Millions of people have left their countries of origin in search for freedom from their homelands' oppressive actions, only to now wake up under oppression of different kind in Canada, a place that was supposed to be safe from such oppression.

So what happened? The lawyers in Ontario received a note that government of Ontario mandated on their profession's regulatory body basically asking them to prepare a statement of their personal values in order to continue practicing law. Their personal values now have to be in keeping with the government's vaguely defined values of diversity, openness, and inclusiveness.

it was a measure taken after reportedly a " systemic racism" was found in entire legal profession. The problem is that these findings have no credible basis in the first place, and accuse all lawyers of being racists by default. Now Ontario lawyers find themselves in a place where they have to "prove" that they are not racist just because they are lawyers. To say that it is unfair and even offensive id an understatement, and more worrying than that is where this could lead if this is not challenged and becomes a precedent.

Not too long ago an Ontario Law Society declared that they are not going to allow  the graduate of a British Columbia law school to practice because the school unlawfully mandated their students a certain code of conduct while studying there, but now the same body mandates certain values on all their lawyers and this seems to be O.K. to them.

Where this could lead if it allows to stand is in fact a secular form of inquisition where certain individuals who do not profess and do not wish to promote state mandated values cannot work in their professions despite the fact that they have professional credential and have spent  thousands of dollars for their schooling, and years out of their lives to get these credentials. This means that certain groups of people like Christians, for example, who do not wish to promote homosexuality or transgenderism would be banned from most professions thus being forced into lower classes of society.

This is  a direct violation of Canada's  Charter of Rights and freedoms, but the problem is that the judges these days are not required to simply make sure that the law is enforced, but they are free to interpret those laws as they see fit. It means that if anyone is accused of racism, or homophobia, the lawyers are required to automatically rule in favour of the offended party to "protect" their rights.

Dr. Jordan Peterson recently interviewed those in law society who decided to speak out against it and discussed the issue in more detail. I will provide the link to that discussion below. Please make other Canadians aware of this problem because if we don't stand against it now, we might not be able to recognize our own country in couple of decades...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGC3y1BPzwA