*Close to Armageddon*
October 18, 2007
The world is only inches away from tipping into World War III and a
nuclear holocaust, but there is something that occurs after Armageddon.
By Gerald Flurry
Most journalists agree that Israeli F-151 jets made a surgical strike on
a military installation inside Syria. The date was September 6.
The Syrians are not talking because they have been humiliated. Other top
government officials who know about the attack are not talking either.
In fact, they have never been so abnormally secretive about anything!
Israel has had close to total censorship, which is almost unheard of.
Why are they all so secretive?
The Spectator quoted “a very senior British ministerial source” as
saying this: “If people had known how close we came to World War iii
that day, there’d have been mass panic. … [Prime Minister Gordon] Brown
really would have been dealing with the bloody Book of Revelation and
Armageddon” (October 3).
This is a reputable newsmagazine quoting “a very senior British
ministerial source” who said that to reveal news of this attack would
have caused “mass panic”!
Why? Because people would then have known how close we came to World War
iii! According to this source, the prime minister of Britain (not of
Israel) “would have been dealing with the bloody Book of Revelation and
Armageddon.” This seems to be about the worst description he could give us.
So if leaders are thinking that way in Britain, what does this mean? It
means that other nations believe the whole world will be pulled into any
military whirlwind in the Middle East, especially if it’s nuclear.
Here is another statement from the Spectator (emphasis mine throughout):
According to American sources, Israeli intelligence tracked a North
Korean vessel carrying a cargo of nuclear material labeled “cement” as
it traveled halfway across the world. On September 3 the ship docked at
the Syrian port of Tartous, and the Israelis continued following the
cargo as it was transported to the small town of Dayr as Zawr, near the
Turkish border in northeastern Syria.
The destination was not a complete surprise. It had already been the
subject of intense surveillance by an Israeli Ofek spy satellite, and
within hours a band of elite Israeli commandos had secretly crossed into
Syria and headed for the town. Soil samples and other material they
collected there were returned to Israel. Sure enough, they indicated
that the cargo was nuclear.
Three days after the North Korean consignment arrived, the final phase
of Operation Orchard was launched. With prior approval from Washington,
Israeli F-151 jets were scrambled and, minutes later, the installation
and its newly arrived contents were destroyed.
So secret were the operational details of the mission that even the
pilots who were assigned to provide air cover for the strike jets had
not been briefed on it until they were airborne.
The world knows that Israel has nuclear bombs and submarines with
nuclear cruise missile capability.
Syria already has one of the world’s deadliest stockpiles of chemical
and biological weapons. They wanted the nuclear material to complete
their weapons of mass destruction arsenal. This is one of the supreme
goals of any terrorist-sponsoring nation. Such a program is the most
efficient way to kill large numbers of human beings, including women and
children.
Apparently Syria was about to construct a nuclear facility. The Jews
believe they cannot allow this to happen, since Syria is one of their
nearest neighbors. Also, Syria is second only to Iran in state-sponsored
terrorism! It isn’t hard to imagine Damascus giving nuclear devices to
terrorists.
Do we really know how insanely dangerous this world is?
One of the Trumpet’s contacts in Israel said he wondered why Israel was
calling up its national guard before September 6. After he learned some
sketchy details of the attack, he knew why. Israel was preparing for
war—possibly a war involving wmds. And we can’t rule out the use of
nuclear weapons, even from the Arab side.
There seems to be clear evidence that the Russians had some nuclear
weapons stolen. Who got them? Syria? Iran? Many journalists think it was
Iran.
This problem goes much deeper than Syria and Israel. Syria is a
surrogate of Iran. The king of the Muslim world is Iran.
Charles Krauthammer wrote this in his September 21 Washington Post column:
Iran’s assets in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq are poised and ready.
Ahmadinejad’s message is this: If anyone dares attack our nuclear
facilities, we will fully activate our proxies, unleashing unrestrained
destruction on Israel, moderate Arabs, Iraq and U.S. interests—in
addition to the usual, such as mining the Strait of Hormuz and causing
an acute oil crisis and worldwide recession.
This is an extremely high-stakes game. The time window is narrow. In
probably less than two years, Ahmadinejad will have the bomb.
The world is not quite ready to acquiesce. The new president of France
has declared a nuclear Iran “unacceptable.” The French foreign minister
warned that “it is necessary to prepare for the worst”—and “the worst,
it’s war, sir.”
France is a member of the European Union. You can see that the EU is
being drawn into the Middle East vortex.
Europe is going to clash with Iran and radical Islam soon. The EU is
going to win, according to Bible prophecy.
Iran is going to “push” until it provokes a war, which will trigger
World War iii.
Europeans are just waiting on a strong man to lead their superpower.
They won’t have long to wait.
Government officials may continue to keep the Israeli strike shrouded in
mystery, but the problem won’t go away. The Middle East is rapidly
getting worse and everybody knows it. We are getting frighteningly close
to World War iii.
Today we have nuclear megabombs—thousands of times more powerful than
the atom bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan. Those tiny
bombs (by comparison to our nukes today) caused Japan to surrender
quickly in World War ii.
So what is the solution? Is there any hope that mankind can survive?
If we only look to men and women, there is no hope!
Here is the giant paradox. Journalists and politicians keep referring to
the Book of Revelation and to Armageddon to show us how serious the
danger is, but they never seem to discuss the conclusion of Armageddon.
The hope and the solution are embedded in the Armageddon statement. Read
Revelation 16. Armageddon is in the context of God’s wrath because of
our sins. We will only escape that wrath if we conquer our sins.
It is God who gathers those armies to Armageddon! (Revelation 16:15-16).
And He commands you: “Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his
garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” It is our
shameful spiritual nakedness that fills God with wrath! If we remove
that shame, we don’t have to fear nuclear war!
If people are going to continually invoke the word Armageddon, they
ought to understand the conclusion of that bloody scene! Armageddon is
concluded by the coming of the Messiah! Even if we don’t remove our
shame, He is still coming. That is what Armageddon is all about. Those
armies in Armageddon are going to be brought to Jerusalem to fight the
Messiah.
This is a biblical prophecy that should cause us to stop and ponder.
Before it’s over, the Valley of Jehoshaphat—which runs between the Old
City of Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives—will flow with blood up to the
horses’ bridles! That valley is where most of the soldiers of Armageddon
will die.
This is how people must learn lessons if they won’t heed the Bible’s
message today. But human nature is rebellious and extremely self-willed.
People usually have to learn the hard way.
Thankfully, all of this devastation will end with the greatest news this
world and even the universe has ever experienced! And it all follows on
the heels of Armageddon. •

