Latest / truthunedited / IRAN VS ISRAEL – The Biblical Truth _ Past_ Present_ and Future

Transcript

IRAN VS ISRAEL – The Biblical Truth _ Past_ Present_ and Future · truthunedited

• 0:14
  Speaker 1: To Thy. Six hundred years ago, Ezekiel prophesied Gog of
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: the land of Magog, Persia, Kush and Put will be
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: with them Ezekiel thirty eight to two five. Persia is
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: modern day Iran. The prophet foresaw this exact war now
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: erupting in the Middle East. At this very moment, missiles
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: are streaking across the skies. Israel and Iran have been
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: in direct conflict for five days, over two hundred and
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: twenty four dead, nuclear facilities bombed, and six hundred foreign
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: nationals fleeing in panic. Daniel warned about the time of
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: the end, when there will be a time of distress
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: such as has never occurred Daniel twelve one, and Jesus said,
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: when you hear of wars, do not be alarmed. Such
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: things must happen Mark thirteen seven. Prophecies are being fulfilled
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: before our very eyes. Iran is just weeks away from
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: nuclear weapons, oil prices are surging, and nations are aligning
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: exactly as Ezekiel foretold. This isn't just another conflict, it's
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: the beginning of the final prophetic events. Before we can
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: understand the current war between Iran and Israel, we need
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: to go back to the very beginning. The Bible tells
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: us exactly how this ancient hatred started, and it all
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: begins with a single family after a great flood that
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: changed everything. When Noah stepped off the ark with his
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: three sons, he had no idea that his blessing and
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: curse would shape world history forever. As Genesis chapter nine
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: tells us, Noah blessed his sons Shem and Jafith, but
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: cursed Canaan, the son of Harm. Blessed be the Lord,
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: the God of Shem. May Canaan be the slave of Shem.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: May God not extend Jayfoth's territory. May Jayfoth live in
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: the tents of Shem, and may Canan be the slave
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: of Jayfath. These words would echo through thousands of years
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: of conflict. The Bible gives us a detailed picture of
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: how the nations spread across the earth. Genesis chapter ten
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: shows us that from Shem came the Semitic peoples. The
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: genealogy is clear. Shem was the father of all the
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: sons of Eber, the sons of Shem, Elam, Asher, Arfaxad, Lud,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: and Aram. From this line would come Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: and eventually the entire Jewish nation. But notice something important.
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: Elam is listed as one of Shem's sons. This region
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: would later become part of the Persian Empire in what
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: is now Iran. From Shem's son Alfaxad came a long
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: line of descendants. Genesis chapter eleven traces this carefully. When
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: Alfaxi Dad had lived thirty five years, he became the
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: father of Sheilah, and after he became the father of Sheilah,
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: Alfaxad lived four hundred three years and had other sons
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: and daughters. This line continues through Sheila, Eber, peleg Rue,
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: serug Nehor, and finally to Terra, who became the father
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: of Abraham. But Jayfith's descendants took a different path entirely.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: Genesis chapter ten tells us about Jayfath's sons, the sons
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: of Jayfith, Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshek, and Tiras.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: These names would become important later in prophecy. Madai became
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: the Medes who joined with the Persians to form the
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: Great Meido Persian Empire. Magog would appear again in Ezekiel's
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: prophecies about the end times. These people spread north and west,
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: becoming what historians call the Indo European peoples, including the
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: Answers of modern Iran. The real tension begins when God
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: calls Abraham. He was living in Er of the Chaldeans,
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: a great city in ancient Mesopotamia, very close to what
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: is now Iran. Genesis chapter twelve records one of the
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: most important moments in human history. The Lord had said
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: to Abram, go from your country, your people, and your
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: father's household to the land I will show you. I
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: will make you into a great nation, and I will
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: bless you. I will make your name great, and you
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you,
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: and whoever curses you, I will curse, and all peoples
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: on earth will be blessed through you. Abraham obeyed and
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: traveled to Canaan, but he didn't stay there. Famine forced
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: him to go to Egypt, where he made a mistake
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: that would have consequences for thousands of years. Genesis chapter
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: sixteen tells us the story. Now SARAHI, Abram's wife, had
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: borne him no children, but she had an Egyptian slave
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: named Hagar, so she said to Abram the Lord has
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: kept me from having children. Go sleep with my slave.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: Perhaps I can build a family through her. Abram agreed
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: to what SARAHI said. When Hagar became pregnant, tension filled
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: Abraham's household. Sarah became jealous, and Hagar ran away into
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: the desert. But God had a plan for this child too.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: In Genesis chapter sixteen, an angel found Hagar by a
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: spring and told her, you are now pregnant, and you
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael,
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: for the Lord has heard of your misery. He will
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: be a wild donkey of a man. His hand will
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: be against everyone, and every one's hand against him, and
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: he will live in hostility toward all his brothers. Years later,
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: when Abraham was one hundred years old, Sarah finally had
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: the son God had promised. Genesis chapter twenty one records
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: Isaac's birth. Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: to Abraham in his old age, at the very time
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: God had promised him. But the presence of both boys
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: in the same household created problems. At Isaac's weaning celebration,
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: Sarah saw Ishmael mocking Isaac. She demanded that Abraham send
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: Hagar and Ishmael away. Abraham was troubled, but God told
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: him in Genesis chapter twenty one, do not be so
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: distressed about the boy and your slave. Woman. Listen to
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: of the slave into a nation. Also, because he is
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: your offspring, God made specific promises to both sons. To
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: Isaac came the covenant promises the land of Canaan, the
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: blessing of being father to the chosen people, and the
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: promise that through his descendants all nations would be blessed.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: But God also blessed Ishmael. Genesis chapter seventeen records God's promise.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: And as for Ishmael, I have heard you, I will
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: surely bless him. I will make him fruitful and will
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: Two sons, two promises, two peoples who would struggle for
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: thousands of years. This division would play out again and
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: again throughout history, including in the conflict we see to
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: day between Israel and the nations around them. The Persian
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: Empire enters our story much later, but when it does,
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: it changes everything for the Jewish people. After years of
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: rebellion against God, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and took the
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: Jews away as prisoners. It looked like God's promises had
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: completely failed. The temple was rubble, the city was empty,
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: and God's people were slaves in a foreign land. But
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: then something amazing happened. Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Babylon,
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: and instead of keeping the Jews as prisoners, he sent
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: them home. This wasn't just a political decision, it was
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: God moving in history. In Second Chronicles, chapter thirty six,
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: we read these incredible words. In the first year of Cyrus,
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: King of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: of Cyrus, King of Persia, to make a proclamation throughout
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: his realm, and also to put it in writing. This
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: is what Cyrus King of Persia says. The Lord, the
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: God of Heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: the earth, and he has appointed me to build a
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel,
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: the God who is in Jerusalem. And may their God
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: be with them. Can you imagine a Persian king who
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: worshiped different gods suddenly decides to rebuild the Jewish temple
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: and send God's people home. This wasn't Cyrus's idea, It
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: was God working through him. The prophet Isaiah had actually
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: predicted this would happen, and he used an amazing word
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: to describe Cyrus. In Isiah chapter forty five, God calls
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: Cyrus his anointed one, the same Hebrew word mashiac that
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: we translate as Messiah. Isiah chapter forty five records God's
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: words about Cyrus. This is what the Lord says to
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of,
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: to subdue nations before him, and to strip kings of
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: their armor, to open doors before him so that gates
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: will not be shut. I will go before you, and
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: I will level the mountains. I will break down gates
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: that you may know that I am the Lord, the
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: God of Israel, who summons you by name. Then God
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: says something even more amazing. I summon you by name
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: and bestow on you a title of honor, though you
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: do not acknowledge me. I am the Lord, and there
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: is no other apart from me, there is no God.
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: I will strengthen you though you have not acknowledged me,
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: so that from the rising of the sun to the
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: place of its setting people may know there is none
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: besides me. God was using a Persian king who didn't
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: even know him to fulfill his promises to Israel. This
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: shows us something important about how God works in history.
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: He can use anyone, even enemies of his people, to
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: accomplish his purposes. During this Persian period, a young Jewish
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: man named Daniel served in the royal court. Daniel had
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: been taken to Babylon as a teenager when Jerusalem fell,
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: and he lived through the rise of the Persian Empire.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: God gave Daniel visions that showed him exactly what would
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: happen to world empires in the future, and many of
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: these visions involved Persia directly. In Daniel Chapter two, Daniel
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: interpreted King nebucad Nezar's dream about a giant statue made
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: of different metals. The head was gold, representing Babylon, but
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: the chest and arms were silver, and Daniel explained, after you,
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: another kingdom will arise inferior to yours. This was the
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: meadow Persian empire that would conquer Babylon. Later, in Daniel
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: Chapter eight, God gave Daniel an even clearer vision about
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: Persia's future. In the third year of King Belshazzar's reign,
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: I Daniel had a vision after the one that had
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: already appeared to me. In my vision, I saw myself
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: in the citadel of Susa, in the province of Elam.
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: In the vision, I was beside the Ulai canal. I
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: looked up, and there before me was a ram with
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: two horns standing beside the canal. The horns were long,
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: but one was longer than the other, and the longer
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: one came up last. I watched the ram as it
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: charged toward the west, and the north and the south.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: No animal could stand against it, and none could rescue
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: from its power. It did what it pleased and became great.
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: Then Daniel saw something else. As I was thinking about this,
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between its eyes
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: the ground. It came toward the two horned ram I
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: had seen standing beside the canal, and charged at it
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: in great rage. I saw it attack the ram furiously,
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: striking the ram and shattering its two horns. The ram
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: was powerless to stand against it. The knocked it to
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: the ground and trampled on it, and none could rescue
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: the ram from its power. Daniel was confused by this vision,
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: but the angel Gabriel explained it to him. The two
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: and Persia. The shaggy goat is the king of Greece,
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: and the large horn between its eyes is the first King.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: The broken horn and the four horns that replaced it
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: represent four kingdoms that will emerge from his nation, but
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: will not have the same power. Daniel was seeing the
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: future how Alexander the Great would destroy the Persian Empire
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: and how his kingdom would be divided after his death.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: But more importantly, he was seeing that Persia would always
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: be part of God's plan, even into the end times.
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: See most dramatic story of the Persian period involves a
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: young Jewish woman named Esther. The Persian king a Hasuerus
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: was looking for a new queen after banishing Queen Vashti
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: for disobedience. Esther was chosen, but she kept her Jewish
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: identity secret on the advice of her cousin Mordecai, who
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: had raised her. Meanwhile, a man named Hayman had risen
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: to power in the Persian court. He hated the Jews,
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: especially Mordecai, who refused to bow down to him. Hayman
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: decided to destroy not just Mordecai, but every Jew in
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: the entire Persian Empire. The Book of Esther, chapter three
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: tells us that Hayman cast lots to choose the day
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: for this genocide. In the twelfth year of King Xerxes,
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: in the first month, the month of Nissan. The purr
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: that is, the lot was cast in the presence of
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: Hayman to select a day and month, and the lot
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adah. Haemon
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: then went to the king with his plan. There is
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: are different from those of all other people, and they
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: do not obey the King's laws. It is not in
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: the King's best interest to tolerate them. If it pleases
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: the King, let a decree be issued to destroy them,
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: and I will give ten thousand talents of silver to
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: the King's administrators for the royal treasury. The king agreed,
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: and letters were sent throughout the empire ordering the destruction
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: of all Jews on a specific day. But God had
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: placed Esther in the palace for exactly this moment. When
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: Mordecai learned of the plot, he sent word to Esther,
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: challenging her with these famous words from Esther chapter four.
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: Do not think that because you are in the King's house,
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: you alone of all the Jews, will escape. For if
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: the Jews will arise from another place. But you and
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: your father's family will perish. And who knows but that
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: you have come to your royal position for such a
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: time as this. Esther risked her life to approach the
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: king without being summoned which could have meant death, but
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: God gave her favor and she invited the king and
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: Haman to a banquet. At the second banquet, she revealed
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: both her identity and Hayman's plot Esther Chapter seven records
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: her words, if I have found favor with you, your majesty,
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: and if it pleases you, grant me my life. This
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: is my petition, And spare my people. This is my
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: request for I and my people have been sold to
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: be destroyed, killed and annihilated. The king was furious when
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: he learned what Hayman had done. Hayman was executed on
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: the very gallows he had built for Mordecai. But the
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: law calling for the destruction of the Jews couldn't be changed.
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: Persian law was permanent, so the king issued another decree
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: giving the Jews permission to defend themselves. Ester Chapter nine
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: records what happened on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month,
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: the month of Adar. The edict commanded by the king
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: was to be carried out on this day. The enemies
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but now
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: hand over those who hated them. The Jews assembled in
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: their cities in all the provinces of King Xerxes to
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: attack those determined to destroy them. No one could stand
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: against them because the people of all the other nationalities
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: were afraid of them. This wasn't just a historical event.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: It established a pattern that continues to day. Throughout history,
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: enemies have tried to completely destroy the Jewish people, but
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: God has always intervened to save them. The Jews still
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: celebrate this victory every year in a festival called Purim,
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: reading the entire book of Esther and remembering how God
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: turned their sorrow into joy. But the prophets saw something
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: else coming. Ezekiel, writing during the Babylonian exile, had a
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: vision about the very end of time that specifically mentions Persia.
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel Chapter thirty eight, God showed him a great
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: war that would happen when Israel was back in their land.
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: The word of the Lord came to me, son of Man,
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: set your face against God of the land of Magog,
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: the chief prince of Meshek and Tubal prophesy against him
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: and say this is what the sovereign Lord says. I
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: am against you, God, Chief prince of Meshek and Tubal,
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws,
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: and bring you out with your whole army, your horses,
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. Then
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: God lists the nations that will join this final attack. Persia,
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: push and put will be with them, all with shields
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: and helmets. Also Goma with all its troops, and Bethtogama
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: from the far north with all its troops. The many
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: nations with you. Notice that word Persia, the Hebrew word
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: is paras, the exact same word used throughout the Old
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: Testament for the Persian Empire. Ezekiel was seeing that in
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: the last days, the land we now call Iran would
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: be part of a massive coalition trying to destroy Israel.
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: This prophecy becomes even more significant when we realize that
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel wrote it while Israel was scattered among the nations,
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: with no homeland and no hope of return. Ezekiel Chapter
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: thirty eight continues, this is what the sovereign Lord says.
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: In that day, thoughts will come into your mind, and
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: you will div deyes an evil scheme you will say,
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: I will invade a land of unwalled villages. I will
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people, all of them living
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: without walls and without gates and bars. I will plunder
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: and the people gathered from the nations, rich in live
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: stock and goods, living at the center of the land.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: This describes Israel exactly as it is today, a nation
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: that has been regathered from among the nations, living in
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: relative peace and prosperity, at the center of world attention.
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: The prophecy says this attack will come from the far north,
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: which from Israel's perspective, points directly to Russia and Iran.
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: Daniel also saw the end times, but his visions focused
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: on something else, the exact timing of when the Messiah
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: would come and what would happen to Jerusalem. In Daniel
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: Chapter nine, while Daniel was prey playing and confessing the
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: sins of his people, the angel Gabriel appeared to him
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: with one of the most precise prophecies in the entire Bible.
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: Gabriel told Daniel, seventy sevens are decreed for your people
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: anoint the most holy place. Know and understand this. From
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: the time the Word goes out to restore and rebuild
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the Ruler comes. There will
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: be seven sevens and sixty two sevens. It will be
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: rebuilt with streets and a trench. But in times of trouble.
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: This prophecy was incredibly specific about Jerusalem and its future.
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: But then Daniel received a troubling addition. After the sixty
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: two sevens, the Anointed One will be put to death
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: and will have nothing. The people of the Ruler who
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: end will come like a flood. War will continue until
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: the end and desolations have been decreed. Daniel was seeing
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: that Jerusalem would be destroyed again after the Messiah came,
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: and that wars would continue until the very end of time.
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: The focus of world attention and conflict would always come
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: back to this one city. When the Jews finally returned
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: from Persia to rebuild Jerusalem. These ancient tensions came alive again. Naemiah,
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: who had served as cup bearer to the Persian king,
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: got permission to return and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: But from the moment he arrived, he faced opposition from
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: the surrounding peoples. Naemiah Chapter two tells us that when
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: san Balat the Horonite, Tobia the Ammonite, and Gesham the
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: Arab heard about Nehemiah's plans, they were very much disturbed
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: that someone had come to promote the welfare of the Israelites.
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: These weren't just political disputes. They were the continuation of
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: ancient hatred against God's people. As the work progressed, the
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: opposition grew stronger. Nehemiah Chapter four records but when Sanbalat, Tobiah,
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people of Ashdod heard
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: that the repairs to Jerusalem's walls had gone ahead and
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: and stir up trouble against it. The same peoples who
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: oppose Israel today were causing problems then. But Naemiah didn't
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: give up. He organized the workers for both building and defense.
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: From that day on, half of my men did the work,
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: and armour. The officers posted themselves behind all the people
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: of Judah who were building the wall. Those who carried
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: materials did their work with one hand and held a
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: his sword at his side as he worked. This picture
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: of Jews building with tools in one hand and weapons
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: in the other could describe Israel today, a nation trying
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: to build and develop while constantly defending against enemies who
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: want to destroy them. Ezra worked alongside near Maiah too
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: restore not just the physical city, but the spiritual life
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: of the people. He brought the Law of Moses back
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: to the center of Jewish life and worked to purify
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: the people from foreign influences. But even this spiritual renewal
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: faced opposition from the surrounding nations, who preferred to see
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: Israel weak and scattered. Finally, the prophet Jeremiah spoke directly
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: about the region we now call Iran in Jerem Samiah
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: chapter forty nine. He prophesied specifically against Elam, which was
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: in the heart of ancient Persia. This is what the
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: Lord Almighty says. See. I will break the bow of Elam,
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: the mainstay of their might. I will bring against Islam
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: the four winds from the four quarters of Heaven. I
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: will scatter them to the four winds, and there will
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: not be a nation where Elam's exiles do not go.
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: I will shatter Elam before their foes, before those who
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: want to kill them. I will bring disaster on them,
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: even my fierce anger, declares the Lord. I will pursue
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: them with the sword until I have made an end
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: of them. This was a prophecy of complete judgment against Islam,
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: but then Jeremiah adds something that points to the future. Yet,
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: I will restore the fortunes of Elam in days to come,
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: declares the Lord. This prophecy has two parts, judgment followed
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: by restoration. Some of this happened in ancient times when
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: various empires conquered Ilam and scattered its people, but the
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: phrase days to come or latter days in Hebrew suggests
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: something still future, something connected to the end times. What
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: makes this prophecy especially interesting is that Elam was known
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: for its archers. The bow of Elam was famous throughout
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: the ancient world. To day, Iran is known for its missiles,
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: which are basically modern arrows shot from modern bows. Could
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: Jeremiah have been seeing Iran's modern military capabilities being broken
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: in the Last Days. Everything we see happening between Iran
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: and Israel to day has roots that go back thousands
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: of years, from the division of Noah's sons after the
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: flood to the promises made to Abraham's children, From Daniel's
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: visions in the Persian court to Ezekiel's prophecies about the
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: Last days. The Bible has been telling us this story
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: all along. The ancient hatred between the descendants of Isaac
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: and the Persian peoples isn't just politics or competition for resources.
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: It's the continuation of a spiritual battle that started in
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: the very beginning and will only end when God himself
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: intervenes in human history. Now that we've seen how this
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: conflict began thousands of years ago in the pages of Scripture,
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: we need to look at what's been happening in recent times.
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: The ancient prophecies we just studied didn't stay locked in
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: the past. They started coming alive in the modern world
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: in ways that would shock even the prophets who wrote them.
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: Everything changed. On May fourteenth, nineteen forty eight, after nearly
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: two thousand years of being scattered across the world, the
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: Jewish people did something that seemed impossible. They came back
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: to their ancient homeland and declared the rebirth of Israel.
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: This wasn't just a political event. This was the literal
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: fulfillment of one of the most dramatic prophecies in the
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: entire Bible. The prophet Ezekiel had seen this day coming.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel Chapter thirty seven, God showed him a vision
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: that seemed crazy at the time. The hand of the
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: Lord was on me, and he brought me out by
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: the spirit of the Lord and set me in the
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: middle of a valley. It was full of bones. He
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: led me back and forth among them, and I saw
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: a great many bones on the floor of the valley,
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: bones that were very dry. He asked me, son of Man,
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: can these bones live? Mai, said, Sovereign Lord, you alone know.
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: Then God told Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones. Then
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: he said to me, prophesy to these bones, and say
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: to them, dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: This is what the sovereign Lord says, to these bones,
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: I will make breath enter you, and you will come
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: to life. I will attach tendons to you and make
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: flesh come on you and cover you with skin. I
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: will put breath in you, and you will come to life.
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: Then you will know that I am the Lord. As
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel watched, something amazing happened. So I prophesied as I
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise,
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone.
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them, and
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: God wasn't finished. He told Ezekiel to prophesy again. Then
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: he said to me, prophesy to the breath prophecy, son
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: of man, and say to it, this is what the
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: sovereign Lord says. Come breath from the four winds and
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: breathe into these slain that they may live. So I
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: prophesied as he commanded me, and and breath entered them.
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: They came to life and stood up on their feet
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: a vast army. Then God explained what this vision meant.
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: Then he said to me, son of Man, these bones
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: are the people of Israel. They say, our bones are
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: dried up and our hope is gone. We are cut off.
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: Therefore prophesy and say to them, this is what the
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: e sovereign Lord says, my people, I am going to
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: open your graves and bring you up from them. I
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: will bring you back to the land of Israel. For centuries,
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: this prophecy seemed impossible. The Jewish people were scattered across
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: the world, persecuted, often forbidden from even entering their ancient homeland.
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: But in nineteen forty eight, after the horror of the Holocaust,
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: the world watched as these dry bones came back to life.
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: Jews from every nation on Earth began returning to Israel,
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: speaking Hebrew again, building cities again, making the desert bloom again.
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: When Israel declared independence, the reaction was immediate and violent.
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: Every Arab nation around Israel attacked at once, determined to
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: destroy the new country before it could even get started.
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: But something strange happened. Israel not only survived, they won
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: Against all odds. This tiny nation defeated much larger armies.
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: But Iran's reaction was completely different. At that time, Iran
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: was ruled by Shah Mohammadreza Pahlavi, and he actually recognized
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: Israel and established diplomatic relations. Iran and Israel became allies.
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: They shared intelligence, Iran sold oil to Israel, and Israeli
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: experts helped Iran with agriculture and technology. For nearly thirty years,
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: these two nations worked together. This friendship made sense from
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: a strategic perspective. Both Israel and Iran were surrounded by
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: Arab nations that often opposed them. Iran wasn't Arab. They
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: were Persian with their own language, culture, and interests. The
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: Shah saw Israel as a potential partner against their common
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: Arab rivals. Iranian officers trained in Israel and Israeli advisers
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: worked in Iran. Trade between the two countries flourished. Many
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: Iranian Jews moved to Israel, but others stayed in Iran
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: and lived peacefully. The Shah's government protected Jewish communities and
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: maintained good relations with Israel's leaders. But this partnership was
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: built on politics, not prophecy. The Bible had already told
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: us that Persia would eventually turn against Israel in the
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: last Days, and in nineteen seventy nine everything changed in
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: a way that shocked the entire world. The Iranian Revolution
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: of nineteen seventy nine was like an earthquake that changed
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: the entire Middle East. The Shah, America's close ally, was
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: overthrown by Islamic revolutionaries led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Komani. Almost overnight,
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: Iran went from being Israel's friend to being its most
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: dangerous enemy. Komane brought a completely different worldview to power.
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: Where the Shah had been secular and focused on modernizing Iran,
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: Komani was a religious extremist who wanted to spread Islamic
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: revolution across the world, and at the center of his
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: ideology was a burning hatred for Israel. Komani declared that
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: Israel had no right to exist. He called it a
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: cancerous tumor that had to be removed from the Middle East.
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: He said that Jerusalem belonged to Muslims and that every
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: Muslim had a duty to fight to destroy Israel. This
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: wasn't just political opposition, this was religious warfare. The new
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: Iranian government and to immediately cut all ties with Israel,
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: they kicked out Israeli diplomats, canceled all agreements and began
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: funding Israel's enemies. Instead, Iranian leaders started calling for Israel's
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: complete destruction, and they meant it literally. Kamani's followers believed
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: they were fighting a holy war that would prepare the
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: world for the return of the Hidden Imam, a messianic
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: figure in Shia Islam. They saw the destruction of Israel
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: as a necessary step in this divine plan. This religious
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: motivation made Iran much more dangerous than other enemies Israel
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: had faced. Instead of attacking Israel directly, Iran developed a
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: clever but deadly strategy. They would build a network of
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: terrorist groups to fight Israel for them. This way, Iran
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: could attack Israel while avoiding direct retaliation. They called this
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: the Axis of Resistance, and it would become Israel's worst nightmare.
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: The first, first and most dangerous group Iran created was
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: Hesbelah in Lebanon. In nineteen eighty five. Hesbelah officially announced
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: their existence with a manifesto that read like something from
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: a horror movie. We are the sons of the Uma
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: Muslim community, the Party of God hisb Allah, whose vanguard
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: God made victorious in Iran. Our struggle will end only
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: when this entity Israel is obliterated. Iran poured money, weapons
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: and training into Hesbulah. They gave them rockets, missiles, explosives,
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: and military advisers. Iranian Revolutionary Guards established bases in Lebanon's
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: Bakar Valley to train Hesbelah fighters. Within a few years,
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: Hesbulah became one of the most powerful terrorist organizations in
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: the world. Hesbelah wasn't just another militia. They were essentially
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: an Iranian army stationed on Israel's northern border. They built
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: a vast network of tunnels, bunkers, and weapons depots throughout
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: southern Lebanon. Iran gave them increasingly sophisticated weapons, including rockets
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: that could reach deep into Israel. But Hesblah wasn't Iran's
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: only proxy. They also began supporting Palestinian terrorist groups, especially
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: Hamas in Gaza. Hamas had been founded during the first
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: Palestinian uprising in nineteen eighty seven, but Iran saw an
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: opportunity to turn them into another weapon against Israel. Hamas
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: leaders traveled to Iran for training and funding. Iran taught
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: them how to build better weapons, plan more effective attacks,
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: and organize their military wing. Iranian money flowed to Hamas
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: through a complex network of banks, charities, and front organizations.
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: Iran also supported other Palestinian groups like Islamic Jihad, the
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and various smaller factions.
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: Each this group received weapons, training, and money based on
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: their willingness to attack Israel. Iran was essentially building an
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: army of proxies that surrounded Israel on multiple borders. This
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: proxy strategy was brilliant from Iran's perspective. When these groups
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: attacked Israel, Iran could deny direct responsibility. When Israel retaliated
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: against the proxies, Iran could claim to be defending oppressed Muslims.
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: And when the proxies were destroyed, Iran could simply rebuild
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: them or create new ones. But Iran's most dangerous project
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: was something that terrified not just Israel, but the entire world.
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: Their nuclear program. Iran claimed they only wanted nuclear power
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: for electricity, but their actions told a different story. Iran
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: began enriching uranium far beyond what was needed for power plants.
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: They built secret nuclear facilities in mountains and underground bunkers.
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: They refused to cooperate fully with international inspectors, and their
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: leaders kept making threats about wiping Israel off the map.
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinijad shocked the world in two thousand
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: and five when he said Israel should be wiped off
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: the map. He called the Holocaust a myth and said
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: Israel would soon disappear. These weren't empty words. Iran was
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: actively working to make this happen. Israel watched Iran's nuclear
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: program with growing alarm. Israeli leaders knew their history. They
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: had seen what happened when the world ignored threats against
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: the Jewish people. They weren't going to wait for Iran
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: to finish building nuclear weapons before taking action. The international
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: community imposed harsh sanctions on Iran, trying to force them
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: to abandon their nuclear program, but Iran kept advancing, getting
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: closer and closer to being able to build nuclear weapons.
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: Various agreements were made, and Iran would promise to limit
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: their program, then secretly continue working on it. For Israel,
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: this wasn't just a political issue, it was an existential threat.
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: Iran's leaders had repeatedly promised to destroy Israel, and now
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: they were building the weapons to do it. Israeli military
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: planners began preparing for the possibility of attacking Iran's nuclear
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: facilities before it was too late. The proxy war between
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: Iran and Israel exploded into open conflict multiple times. In
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: two thousand and six, Hesbelah launched a massive attack against Israel,
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: kidnapping Israeli soldiers and firing rockets into Israeli cities. Israel
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: responded with a full scale war in Lebanon, trying to
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: destroy Hesbela's military capabilities. The war lasted thirty four days
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: and showed how much Hesbela had grown under Iranian space.
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: They had thousands of rockets and missiles, sophisticated anti tank weapons,
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: and well trained fighters. They had turned southern Lebanon into
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: a fortress designed to fight Israel. Although Israel inflicted heavy
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: damage on Hesbelah, they couldn't completely destroy the organization. Iran
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: immediately began rebuilding Hesbela's arsenal, giving them even more advanced
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: weapons than before. The two thousand and six war was
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: just a preview of what Iran was preparing for the future. Meanwhile,
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: in Gaza, Hamas was building its own military capabilities with
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: Iranian help. They dug tunnels into Israel, smuggled in weapons,
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: and learned how to build rockets that could reach Israeli cities.
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: Every few years, tension would explode into war as Hamas
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: launched rocket attacks and Israel responded with military operations. Iran's
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: fingerprints were on every mad attack against Israel. When Hamas
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: fired rockets, they were often Iranian designed weapons. When Hesbulah
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: launched anti tank missiles, they came from Iran. When terrorist
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: attacks happened in Israel or against Jewish targets around the world,
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: Iranian intelligence was often involved. But Iran wasn't content to
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: fight Israel only through proxies. They began establishing their own
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: military presence throughout the region, especially in Syria. The Syrian
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: Civil War that began in twenty eleven gave Iran the
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: perfect opportunity to move their forces closer to Israel's border.
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: Iran sent thousands of Revolutionary Guard troops to Syria officially
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: to help the Asad government fight rebels, but they also
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: began building permanent military bases, weapons factories, and missile storage facilities.
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: Their real goal was to create a land bridge from
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: Iran through Iraq and Syria to Lebanon, allowing them to
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: move weapons and fighters directly to Israel's border. Israel couldn't
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: allow this to happen. They began launching air strikes against
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: Iranian positions in Syria, trying to prevent Iran from establishing
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: a permanent military presence there. These attacks happened regularly, sometimes
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: multiple times per week. Russia's involvement in Syria complicated everything.
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: Russia was supporting the Asad government and didn't want Israel's
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: attacks to interfere with their operations. But Russia also had
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: good relations with Israel and didn't want to see the
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: conflict spiral out of control. They tried to mediate between
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: Israel and Iran while pursuing their own interests in Syria.
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: The situation became a three way chess game. Iran tried
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: to build up their forces in Syria, Israel tried to
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: stop them with air strikes. Russia tried to balance between
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: their Iranian allies and their need to avoid confrontation with Israel. Sometimes,
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: these competing interests led to dangerous incidents that could have
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: triggered a much larger war. As Iran built their axis
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: of resistance, Israel worked to build relationships with Arab countries
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: that were also worried about Iranian expansion. This led to
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: one of the most surprising diplomatic developments in Middle Eastern history,
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: the Abraham Accords. In twenty twenty, Israel signed peace agreements
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: with the United Arab Emirates in Bahrain, followed by Morocco
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: and Sudan. These agreements normalized relations between Israel and these
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: Arab countries for the first time. The driving force behind
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: these deals was shared concern about Iran's growing power and
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: aggressive behavior. Saudi Arabia, though not officially part of the
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: Abraham Accords, began secretly cooperating with Israel against Iran. Other
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: Arab countries started viewing Israel as a potential partner rather
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: than an enemy. Iran's aggressive policies had actually pushed Arab
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: nations toward Israel instead of away from it. Iran responded
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: to these developments with fury. They had spent decades trying
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: to unite the Muslim world against Israel, and now they
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: were seeing Arab countries making peace with Israel instead. Iranian
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: leaders called these agreements a betrayal of the Palestinian cause
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: and threatened retaliation against any country that normalized relations with Israel.
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: The Abraham Accords represented a fundamental shift in Middle Eastern politics. Instead,
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: of the old Arab Israeli conflict. The region was now
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: divided between countries that wanted peace and prosperity versus those
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: that wanted conflict and destruction. Iran found itself increasingly isolated
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: as more countries chose the path of peace, but Iran
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: doubled down on their aggressive strategy. They increased support for
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: their proxy groups, advanced their nuclear programme faster, and began
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: launching more direct attacks against Israel and its allies. The
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: proxy war was gradually becoming a real war. As we
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: look at all these developments, we can see biblical prophecy
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: unfolding before our eyes. The prophet Ezekiel's vision in chapter
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: thirty eight described exactly what we're seeing today, Persia leading
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: a coalition of nations in the last days to attack
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: Israel when they had returned to their land. The nations
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel mentioned are aligning exactly as he predicted. Russia, Maygog
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: is working with Iran, Persia, Turkey, Togarma is moving away
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: from its NATO allies and closer to Russia and Iran.
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: The stage is being set for the final confrontation that
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel saw over two thousand, five hundred years ago. Israel
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: has become the center of world attention, just as the
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: Bible predicted. Every major power has an opinion about Israel.
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: Every conflict in the Middle East somehow involves Israel. The
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: world's media focuses on this tiny country more than any
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: other nation on Earth. The regathering of the Jewish people
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: to their ancient homeland is nearly complete. Israel has become
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: a technological powerhouse, making the desert bloom, exactly as Isaiah prophesied.
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: Jerusalem has become a cup of trembling for all nations,
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: just as Zechariah predicted in Chapter twelve, I am going
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: people's reeling. The alignment of nations we see today matches
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: biblical prophecy with stunning accuracy. Iran is leading an alliance
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: of Israel's enemies while simultaneously advancing toward nuclear weapons capability.
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: Russia is involved in Middle Eastern affairs in ways not
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: seen since the Cold War. Arab nations are choosing sides
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: based on their view of Iran's threat. Even more significant
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: is the spiritual dimension of this conflict. This isn't just
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: about politics or territory. It's about competing world views and
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: religious beliefs. Iran's leaders openly talk about preparing the world
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: for their version of the Messiah by destroying Israel. They
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: see this as a holy war that will bring about
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: the end times. Israel, meanwhile, has returned to their ancient
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: homeland after nearly two thousand years of exile, just as
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: the prophets said they would. They are surrounded by enemies
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: who want to destroy them, just as the Bible predicted,
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: and they are looking for their Messiah to come and
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: save them from their enemies. The stage is set for
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: the final fulfillment of biblical prophecy. The ancient hatred between
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael has evolved into a
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: modern conflict between Iran and Israel that threatens to engulf
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: the entire world. The weapons are more powerful, the stakes
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: are higher, but the spiritual battle remains the same. We
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: are living in the generation that may see the final
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: chapters of human history unfold. The conflict between Iran and
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: Israel isn't just about Middle Eastern politics. It's about the
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: fulfillment of God's plan for the ages. The ancient prophecies
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: are coming to life before our eyes, and the world
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: is about to discover that the Bible has been telling
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: us the truth all along.