Islamic End-Time Conflict is Predicted in the Bible - Part 2.

Article by Robert Aronson

The Coming Invasion of Israel

We have mentioned previously that the invasion of Israel spoken of in Ezekiel 38 and 39 has never yet occurred. Let's look at Ezekiel 38:1-9 to get an overview of this amazing prophecy.

"The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of a Meshech and Tubal; prophesy against him 3 and say: 16; This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of b Meshech and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army 12 ;your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. 5 Persia, Cush c and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, 6 also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops; the many nations with you.

7 Get ready; be prepared, you and all the hordes gathered about you, and take command of them. 8 After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety. 9 You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land."

It's a good thing the chapter continues with better news for Israel because it is a frightening prospect to think of this invading army advancing like a storm cloud covering the land. It's not difficult though to imagine that such a thing could happen in our day or indeed that there are countries and people groups out there that would even think of doing such a thing. Past and current rhetoric from Iran and many Palestinians should leave no doubt in anyone's mind that the extermination of Israel is the only desirable outcome for them.

Now lets take a closer look at just which countries are going to be involved in this coming invasion. These are the names listed in Ezekiel, they are all mentioned in the table of nations found in Genesis chapter 10:2-7

Rosh
Magog
Meshech
Tubal
Persia
Cush
Put
Gomer with all its troops
Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops

Gog is mentioned as well but Gog is the leader of Magog. Gog appears 11 times in these two chapters and he is addressed as a prince in 38:2 and 39:1, so Gog is not his name but rather a title for this leader just as Rome had its emperors, Egypt had its pharaohs and Russia had its czars.

The way to determine who these other names may refer to is to relate them back to the time when these places were mentioned in Ezekiel which dates back to the 6th Century B.C.. Lets start with Rosh, Magog, Meshech and Tubal. These people groups were located in the northern parts of Russia and the later three between the Black and Caspian Seas, part of what in modern times could be described as southern Russia, Iran and Turkey. Some suggest that Meshech and Tubal gave their names to what became the cities of Moscow and Tobolsk in Siberia.

Rosh

One name mentioned in some translations of the Bible is Rosh. Some Bibles identify Rosh as a common noun and thus a title, "chief prince". You will find this in the KJV, RSV, ESV, NAB and the NIV. Others however such as the JB, NEB, and NASB consider this to be a proper noun and thus a people group. Given that 9 of the names Ezekiel mentions are found as people groups in Genesis 10, it is not unreasonable to conclude that Rosh is there as well but in a different form in that it is derived from Tiras. There is strong evidence for the conclusion that we are talking about a people group and a number of Bible dictionaries take this view as well. We won't go into all the technicalities here but you may like to do some further research on this.

If we accept the fact that Rosh is a people group could it be that it is what we know as Russia today? That fact that the two names sound somewhat similar is not to be taken that they are the same. However, Gesenius, considered one of the greatest scholars of the Hebrew language clearly identifies Rosh with Russia. He mentions tenth century Byzantine scholars referring to a people group north of the Taurus, living on the river Rha (Vulga River) and known as Ros. There have been numerous other scholars as well that identify Rosh as a people group in the northern regions of what is Russia today. The name Rosh (or its equivalent in the respective languages) actually appears numerous times in other ancient writings such as the Septuagint (LXX), in Sargon's inscriptions, in Sennacherib's annals and in Ugaritic tablets.

Magog

The famous Jewish historian Josephus who lived in the first century stated that Magog according to the Greeks referred to the Scythians and they settled north of the Caucasus Mountains which today would be what was the southern part of the old Soviet Union, possibly encompassing the north eastern part of Turkey, and the northern parts of Afghanistan and Iran. These territories are today predominantly Muslim. Pliny, the Roman writer of the early Christian era also linked the Scythians with Magog. Most encyclopedias will corroborate this. Wikipedia states,

"in Classical Antiquity, the Scythians were a confederation of numerous Iranian tribes who inhabited the vaguely defined region of Scythia, centred on the Pontic-Caspian steppe in modern Ukraine, southern Russia, and northern Kazakhstan."

Following is a map of the region under discussion. (Click on the space if it does not appear automatically).

Meshech

Meshech was the sixth son of Japheth (Gen. 10:2) His descendents were probably the Moschi people inhabiting the regions between the Black and the Caspian Seas. It seems likely these people crossed the Caucasus range and mingled with the Scythians.

Tubal

Tubal was the fifth son of Japheth (Gen. 10:2). Both Meshech and Tubal are usually mentioned together and were northern military states. Tubal is identified as being the Tabborini tribes to the west of the ancient Moschi tribes in the Black Sea region of what would be modern north east Turkey today. The Greek historian Herodotus, identifies Tiberini as a people of the southern range of the Caucasus, on the east of the Black Sea.

Persia

This name or derivatives of it occur 35 times in the Bible and is identified as present day Iran

Cush

There are two locations that have been given the name of Cush. Cush was the first son of Ham. One of these locations is found in Genesis 2:13 and is found in Mesopotamia or along side of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the region of what would be today Syria and Iraq. Gesenius, the great Hebrew scholar referred to earlier mentions that the Cushites were black men. These people apparently migrated to Africa. Some Bibles therefore have translated Cush to Ethiopia which is consistent with other reference to Cush in the Bible. It is thought however that the tribal name of Cush used here may encompass a larger territory than that of modern day Ethiopia encompassing modern day Sudan.

Put

There is difference of opinion as to this location. Some consider this to be in the region of modern day Libya but again encompassing a larger territory than that of today to include Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. In other words Arabic North Africa. Others identify this as Somalia which is alongside Ethiopia and both being identified as part of Black Africa. The weight of the evidence seems to point to North Africa in the territories West of Egypt.

Gomer with all its troops

Gomer is a little easier to identify even though there are some differences of opinion. The consensus seems to point to Germany and this may be somewhat of a surprise to some if they consider modern day political alliances. It is important however to take the evidence as it comes and not try to interpret it on the basis of the present day political situation.

The Eldest son of Japheth was Gomer and his eldest son was Askenaz (Genesis 10:3). You may be familiar with the terminology 'Sephardic' and 'Ashkenazi' Jews. These describe the two regions which were largely populated by Jews of the Diaspora (dispersion). 'Sephardic' is derived from the Hebrew word for Spain. Sephardic Jews were located in Spain, Portugal, North Africa and the Middle East. The word 'Ashkenazic'is derived from the Hebrew word for Germany. Ashkenazic Jews were found in Germany, France, and Eastern Europe. Sephardic Jews are often subdivided into Sephardim (from Spain and Portugal) and Mizrachim (from the Northern Africa and the Middle East) The word 'Mizrachi'is derived from the Hebrew word for Eastern.

The Midrash, a compilation of Hebrew teachings, in the form of legal, exegetical or homiletical commentaries on the Tanakh (Jewish Bible), refers to Gomer as Germania and the Talmud, a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs and history, concurs with this.

Gesenius tells us that Gomer was the predecessor of the Cimmerians who in turn were the predecessors of the Germans. The Cimmerians populated the area north of the Black Sea and in the Rhine and Danube valleys. Some however suggest the Cimmerians occupied the territory of what is today Central Turkey.

Josephus the famous scholar previously mentioned, stated that Ashkenaz became known in the Roman Empire as the 'Reginians', who today would populate the regions of Poland, Czechoslovakia and East Germany.

It seems therefore that 'Gomer with all its troops' refers to Germany but not exclusively so and probably includes some of the Slavic countries.

Beth Togarmah

There is general agreement that 'Togormah' refers to Armenia. Even today the Armenians located to the north east of Turkey refer to themselves as the 'House of Togarmah'.

From the far north with all its troops

Probably referring to the nations as listed above. The Hebrew infers 'the uttermost parts of the North' and bearing in mind the location of these nations to Israel, this likely refers to Russia, the country that can be described as 'uppermost north' to Israel and which is the leader of this invasion force.

The following chart highlights the predominant religion of the countries or territories that have been identified. They are not all Islamic states however of those listed as Christian, virtually all have or have had close links to Russia and Russian influence is by no means a spent force.

Tribal Name	Possible Present day Territory or Country	Dominant religion
Rosh	Russia	Christian
Magog	Turkey	Islam
	Afghanistan	Islam
	Iran	Islam
	Ukraine	Christian
	Kazakhstan	Islam
Meshech	Georgia	Christian
Tubal	Eastern and Southern Georgia	Christian
Persia	Iran	Islam
Cush	Ethiopia	Islam
	Sudan	Islam
Put	Libya	Islam
	Algeria	Islam
	Tunisia	Islam
	Morocco	Islam
	Somalia?	Islam
Gomer with all its troops	Germany	Christian
	Poland	Christian
	Czechoslovakia	Christian
	East Germany?	Christian
	Azerbaijan?	Islam
Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops	Armenia	Christian

In the next part of our study I will discuss the timing of this invasion. We can readily see by a comparison of history and the above chart that such an event has never yet occurred. The events of the world and the political alliances will show us that this battle could happen sometime soon.

Islamic End-Time Conflict is Predicted in the Bible - Part 1

The prophets Ezekiel, Jeremiah and Zechariah, were all trained as priests and they all prophesied during the exilic or postexilic periods of Israel's history. Ezekiel began his twenty years or so of his ministry in about 593BC. He was a captive in Babylon when Nebuchadnezzar ruled Judah, the southern part of the divided kingdom.

Judah, like the northern part of the kingdom before her, was under God's judgment because of her constant rebellion against God. Ezekiel was used by God as a prophet to convey warnings of further impending judgment on Judah and Jerusalem because of her sinfulness; this is the focus of the book from chapters 1 to 24. In chapters 25 to 32 Ezekiel deals with the surrounding nations. Once the city had completely fallen the focus of God's message through Ezekiel as seen in chapters 33 to 48 changed to one of a future restoration of Israel as they would not be under His judgment forever.

As a part of this process of restoration we have in Ezekiel chapter 38 and 39 an incredible prophecy concerning a future invasion of Israel that is predicted to occur in the "last days". We will speak more specifically on the timing of this later but such an invasion has never yet occurred in Israel's history. It is true that modern Israel has been attacked numbers of times since its re-founding in 1948. However, the events that are prophesied to occur at the time of this invasion have never yet happened, so clearly it is still a future event.

The events of these two chapters are often referred to as the battle of Gog and Magog. This invasion in the "last days" will be by a confederation of nations attacking Israel from all sides. From the north in the region of the Black and Caspian Seas, from the east which incorporates modern day Iran, from the west which could be Libya and from the Sudan in the south.

Of course it has only been in Modern history that such an event would be possible because until 1948 Israel as a nation had not existed in the land for several thousand years. In Ezekiel 37 we have the well known chapter of the valley of dry bones. We have all heard the song "them bones" and typically in Christian circles this chapter has been interpreted as a spiritual revival amongst God's people in the last days, usually meaning Christian people. Such an application may have some merit in that we have seen plenty of life restored to the church with the advent of the Pentecostal movement, the Charismatic movement and the third wave movement. However, the chapter is talking about the restoration and spiritual life of Israel, not the Christian church.

Significantly, the picture Ezekiel portrays in Chapter 37 shows a restoration back to the land by a people who are in unbelief. It is interesting to note that presently the majority of Israeli's are secular with no particular religious interest. But returned they have and this process has been going on more or less now since 1871. Wikipedia states,

"Israel, the Jewish nation-state, is the only country in which Jews make up a majority of the citizens. It was established as an independent democratic state on May 14, 1948. Of the 120 members in its parliament, the Knesset, 9 members are Israeli Arabs and 2 are Israeli Druze. At the time of its independence, approximately 600,000 Jews lived in Israel. Since then, the country's Jewish population has increased by about one million over each decade as more immigrants arrived and more Israelis were born, resulting in one of the most significant global Jewish population shifts in over 2,000 years." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jew#Ethnic_divisions 18 October 2006)

Out of a total worldwide Jewish population of about 15,871,000 currently, the highest number of Jews live in the United State which has an estimated 5,671,000 Jews whereas there are an estimated 5,466,800 Jews now living in Israel. It is estimated that sometime in 2006 for the first time in modern history, Israel will become the nation where most Jews live.

Ezekiel 37 teaches us that it is some time after the people are back in the land that they eventually turn back to God. However, in Ezekiel 39:21-29 we see that it is as a result of this coming battle and defeat of Gog that Israel will turn back to God in repentance.

"I will display my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the punishment I inflict and the hand I lay upon them. 22 From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God. 23 And the nations will know that the people of Israel went into exile for their sin, because they were unfaithful to me. So I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. 24 I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their offenses, and I hid my face from them.

25 "Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will now bring Jacob back from captivity j and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name. 26 They will forget their shame and all the unfaithfulness they showed toward me when they lived in safety in their land with no one to make them afraid. 27 When I have brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will show myself holy through them in the sight of many nations. 28 Then they will know that I am the LORD their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind. 29 I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD."

We will see in more detail later that this predicted invasion is doomed to failure but clearly it will happen, it will happen in the "last days" and it will happen after the Jews are back in their land but before they turn back to God. Next week I will detail which nations are involved in this ill-fated invasion.

If you are praying for the peace of Jerusalem, keep praying!

Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's new Kadima party election win provides no assurance of peace for Israel. The party continues with Ariel Sharon's policy of unilateral withdrawal with the withdrawal of parts of the West Bank firmly on the agenda.

The election win was no surprise although Olmert is unhappy about his small majority. What the election has shown up is the lack of support for former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is not in favor of relinquishing these territories. However, the people have voted and those who look for possession of the Promised Land as defined in biblical terms are dismayed at what they see as a further erosion of their dreams and aspirations.

One might think that Kadimas's planned withdrawal would please the Palestinians but this is not necessarily the case. Certainly there is rejoicing that the Likud Party did so poorly. The Jerusalem Post quotes a top official n Ramallah as saying, "We're happy to see that [Binyamin] Netanyahu has suffered a humiliating defeat," änd adds, "We hope that Kadima and Labor will join forces to advance the peace process and end the conflict." (Khaled Abu Toameh, JPost.com Middle East, (Mar. 29, 2006 0:06 | Updated Mar. 29, 2006 14:06).

However, other Palestinian leaders such as Palestinian Prime Minister designate, Ismail Haniyeh and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas are warning that unilateral withdrawal will only complicate things and according to the above report, "...Abbas criticized Olmert's plan as "very dangerous" and warned that it could lead to chaos in the region. "This unilateral plan will only escalate the conflict and will never bring peace,"

It all sounds a bit 'Catch22','you are damned if you do and you are damned if you don't" Abbas may sound a bit more conciliatory, but Hamas have made their intentions clear enough.

The prospects for peace therefore are bleak and one might wonder why we are enjoined to "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem" (Psalm 122:6)? It's a noble aspiration but a reasonably literal understanding of prophetic Scripture would seem to indicate there are anything peaceful prospects ahead for Jerusalem?

Jimmy de Young, says "Global civilization is on the verge of World War III(WWIII), a massive conflict in which the Islamic world will attempt to impose its ideology on Western nations, that is according to Meir Amit, a former director of Israel's Mossad Intelligence Agency" (http://jimmydeyoung.gospelcom.net/pp/news/2006/03/former-director-of-israels-mossad.html).

Should we then work, strive and pray for peace? Of course we should. Is it realistic to expect peace? Probably not! Does such an attitude become self-fulfilling prophecy? No, it's realistically assessing the facts and circumstances and what the Scriptures teach us in places such as Ezekiel and Joel. Noble aspirations do not demand naivety or blindness. We must strive for good will, decency and peace, that is our responsibility, but we also understand that the only true and lasting peace can come through the prince of peace, Jesus Christ. We do not know the exact timing of His return but we sense it is near and when He comes, He will establish peace on the earth.

Who really pulls the political strings in Israel?

There is no doubt about it, America is a great friend of Israel and arguably, the only real friend that consistently works alongside this troubled nation as a true ally.

Having said that, make no mistake, America has an agenda of its own and imposes huge pressure upon the Israel's leadership to force it to conform to desired (US) outcomes.

If it wasn't already obvious, former US President Jimmy Carter removed all doubt when he addressed a March 2, 2006 meeting of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in New York.

In his speech Carter related how the US had strong-armed Israel into the whole land-for-peace process in 1991.

"After a major breakthrough in the peace process occurred under President George H.W. Bush and Secretary James Baker at Madrid, the president reemphasized U.S. opposition to Israeli settlements, and even threatened to withhold American financial aid to Prime Minister Shamir as a deterrent. Jim Baker announced at the time, 'I don't think there is any greater obstacle to peace than settlement activity.'"

In a question and answer session after the meeting, Carter in an answer to a question referring to the recent Palestinian elections said:

"[T]his election ... was supported by the United States and forced on Israel by the United States. Israel did not want to have the election, but it was forced on them."

You can read more about this in an article by Stan Goodenough,

Jerusalem Newswire, March 21st, 2006

The question becomes all the more important when considering other events going on in the Middle East right now. Iran for instance is determined to continue to build its nuclear facilities, with the help of Russia and China of course. But can Israel really risk its survival by allowing this project to continue? No one really believes Iran's objectives are only for peaceful purposes. Furthermore, does anyone really doubt that Iran is serious when it states that it wants to exterminate Israel?

So Israel will no doubt contain itself as long as necessary and resist a pre-emptive strike against Iran until America gives the go ahead. But unless there is a major change of heart on the part of the Iranian's, a strike to take out these facilities is inevitable, sooner rather than later. The big question will be, how will the international community react?

Despite the fact that Iran refuses to co-operate with the world nuclear watchdog, there will be a huge out-cry, not only from Russia, China, Syria and other Arab nations but also from Germany and France and other European nations.

Inevitably, there will be retaliation and perhaps even an outbreak of another war. From Israel's perspective it has little to lose. It takes Iran's threats seriously so in their minds it is war or extermination.

So far in this article we have talked of human responses, but what does God have to say about this? There may be politicians pulling strings, but ultimately nothing will happen in Israel of major consequence that is outside of God's plan for the nation of Israel and the world. It is for this reason that Israel was not annihilated in previous wars, despite overwhelming odds. But having said that, it is not too far fetched to think that the invasion of Israel predicted in Ezekiel 38 and 39 could be precipitated by a pre-emptive attack on Iran? Time will tell, but it is comforting to know that at the end of the day, God is pulling strings of His own!

Scientists find second strain of Bird Flu virus

The Sydney Morning Herald reported today that the bird flu spreading across the world has now mutated into a second strain. Jim Loney writes,

"THE H5N1 bird flu in humans has evolved into two separate strains, a development that will complicate the search for a vaccine and the prevention of a pandemic, US researchers say." He adds, "The genetic diversification of the pool of H5N1 avian influenza viruses with the potential to cause a human influenza pandemic heightens the need for careful surveillance, researchers said on Monday at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta.

"Back in 2003 we only had one genetically distinct population of H5N1 with the potential to cause a human pandemic. Now we have two," said Rebecca Garten of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, who helped conduct the study."

The H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed 100 people since 2003. Scientist fear it could kill millions if it mutates into a virus transmittable from human to human.

Read the article for more information.

Sydney Morning Herald 22 March 2006

Will the story of Haman and Esther be Repeated?

14 March 2006

Jews all over the world are currently celebrating the festival called Purim which is a reminder of their deliverance from annihilation at the hand of Haman.

You will no doubt remember the story of queen Esther, who at great risk to her own life, dared to approach the king on behalf of her Jewish people.

It all started when King Xerxes honored Haman, promoting him and giving him a seat of honor above his peers. All the royal officials at the king's gate were ordered by the king to kneel down and pay honour to Haman. But Mordecai refused to kneel down. When Haman heard of this he was enraged and he looked for a way to destroy all of Mordecai's people, the Jews, throughout the whole medo-Persian kingdom of Xerxes.

Mordecai who had been instrumental in his cousin Esther's rise to become queen sought her intervention. His exhortation to Esther has been immortalised in this wonderful account, he said, "For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this? (NIV. Es 4:14).

Esther's brave response was "Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish."(NIV. Es 4:16).

The outcome was nothing short of miraculous and Mordecai was correct to say that God would bring deliverance to the Jewish people, with or without Esther's help. The reason of course is that God was committed to preserve the Jewish race just as He continues to do today, despite many attempts throughout history to destroy the Jewish People.

It is perhaps noteworthy that it is the descendents of part of this Medo-Persian empire (Iran) that has been in the news lately threatening to exterminate the Jews. Prophetically, this could line up with Ezekiel 38-39 which outlines a future conflict which sees Iran as one of the nations involved in what will be a failed attempt to destroy Israel. As in the story of Esther, God will see to it that Israel is delivered.

"Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will now bring Jacob back from captivity; and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name. They will forget their shame and all the unfaithfulness they showed toward me when they lived in safety in their land with no one to make them afraid. When I have brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will show myself holy through them in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind. I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD." (NIV. Eze 39:25).

The preliminaries for the the fulfilment of this prophecy is something we see being fulfilled in our day. Israel is back in her land, more and more Jews are returning. This return is unprecedented in history and it is only a question of time before this prophecy will be completely fulfilled. It is more than realistic to consider this may happen in the not too distant future.

Islam plans to dominate world in the "near future"

Irans President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared on Thursday in Malaysia that "The near future will be in the hands of Islam".

Ahmadinejad cited the victory of Hamas in the recent Palestinian elections as a sign of the rise of Islam. He believes in the "imminent return" of the Shiite messiah, the Mahdi who according to Ali Basrawi, an Iraqi Shiite political analyst living in London, is predicted to come only when the world in crises.

According to Ahmadinejad, Muslims bear the responsibility to introduce Islam to others around the world. He stated that history shows the intent is peacful once the world is under Muslim control. However, it is this same person who has publicly called for the extermination of Israel.

The Bible tells us there is only one Messiah who is going to return and he indeed will ultimately bring peace, His name is Jesus Christ.

Christians must remember that Jesus gave them a mission to fulfill until His return. He said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Matthew 28:18-20

Bird Flu Pandemic

Dr. Margaret Chan, of the World Health Organization (WHO) warns the outbreak of Avian Flu in poultry is historically unprecedented and bird flu poses a greater threat to the world than any previous emerging infectious disease. Dr. Chan said, "it is a very serious disease affecting multiple organs in the body".

An estimated 40 to 50 million people died as a result of the Spanish Flu at the end of the Great War in 1918. Any Flu pandemic to strike the world in our age would with the advent of fast international travel be a lot worse.

According to WHO, the World Health Organization, the potential for a world-wide infectious disease pandemic is very high and they are calling for world leaders to prepare for what would be an unprecedented flu pandemic.

Dr. Margaret Chan, warns this flu will soon be able to spread to humans.

In Matthew 24:7, Jesus said pestilence (death from disease) was a sign leading up to the last days.

Cheney: US won't be party to terror state

US Vice President Dick Cheney has said Washington will not be party to the birth of a terrorist state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.

Cheney made his comments to a gathering of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). His comments were made because of Hamas, the terrorist organization which won the elections in January. This has generated controversy because many would maintain that Washington made aliances with and funded terrorist organizations many years ago when it started working with Yasser Arafat of the PLO.

The US has long supported the idea of a seperate state for the Palestinians and has worked hard to bring the UN resolutions to pass. The plan is for Israel to hand back territory to the pre 1967 war boundaries which include Gaza and the West bank, as well as East Jerusalem.

Time will tell whether they will work with Hamas or continue to provide funding which Hamas needs. However, it should be remembered that part of the agreement for withdrawal from these territories was for a cessation of terrorism wheras Hamas continues to be openly commmited to the destruction of Israel.

As is evident from current events in the Middle East, Jerusalem continues to be 'a cup of trembling' (Zechariah 12:1)

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