Meltdown in the Middle East/Program 4

By: Dr. Jimmy DeYoung; ©2007

Ezekiel 38 and Daniel 11 name a number of countries that will combine to attempt to destroy Israel during end time events. Many of those nations are in the news today.

Contents

Introduction

Today on the John Ankerberg Show, people look at events in the Middle East and say, it’s a real mess! But they don’t know the reasons why it’s a mess. To help you understand why a meltdown is taking place in the Middle East, today we will look at the internal conflicts are taking place in each country, those among the Palestinians, those in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Second, how these internal struggles are drawing people from other nations into joining these conflicts? And third, the underlying religious beliefs motivating government leaders to enter into armed conflict, even nuclear warfare, that could pull the entire world into war? My guest today, is news correspondent Dr. Jimmy DeYoung, who has lived in Jerusalem since 1993. He has interviewed many of the political leaders in the Middle East. Including every Israeli prime minister over the last 15 years, as well as Jordan’s King Abdullah, and the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Learn why a meltdown is occurring in the Middle East and the dangers this causes the world, on this special edition of the John Ankerberg Show.

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Ankerberg: Welcome to our program. We are talking about the meltdown that is taking place in the Middle East. What’s causing it and then where does the Bible say events are taking place? You might find this very fascinating: that the main countries that are in the news are also spoken about in Scripture. It names them exactly. Now, last week we took you through Daniel 11 and Ezekiel 38 and named some of the countries that you might be surprised are actually mentioned there, because they are so vocal in the affairs of the world right now. And, Jimmy, let’s rehearse for the folks what we said in terms of the biblical information before we tell them, where does Ezekiel 38 and Daniel 11 say events are actually going in the future? What’s going to happen with this coalition of nations that are named there? What’s going to happen when they come against Israel?

DeYoung: Well, again, rehearsing what we talked about last week, the nations mentioned in the book of Daniel, chapter 11, would be the King of the North, which defined earlier in the chapter would be modern day Syria; the King of the South, again defined by the text itself, would be modern day Egypt. And they are going to form a coalition.

By the way, during the Gulf crisis you mentioned that I have lived in Israel for a number of years, I was there for those 39 scud attacks; and during that time the Secretaries of State, the different ones, James Baker and then Lawrence Eagleburger, would come over and they would come in trying to keep Israel out of the fight against Iraq during that first Gulf crisis back in 1991. But every time the leader of Syria and the leader of Egypt, Mubarak and President Assad of Syria, would come together and discuss how they were going to deal with the United States. And they actually signed then, at the end of that Gulf crisis, the Damascus Declaration, whidh said they would form a coalition.

Now, over the years you have seen that happen, but at least Daniel chapter 11 refers to Syria and Egypt coming against the Jewish state. It alludes then to some of the others. It says, as the Antichrist turns around going back towards Jerusalem, which is going to be the focus of all of these nations going against Israel, that he will have at his heels Libya and Ethiopia; and he will hear murmurings out of the north and the south.

Well, that takes us then to Ezekiel chapter 38. When we come to Ezekiel 38 and verse 2, it talks about Magog. Now Gog is the person, Magog is the place, and that would be, as we have already explained on this telecast, that would be the modern day state of Russia, which was located north of the Caspian, Black Sea in biblical times.

And then in verse 2 it says Meshech and Tubal; verse 6, Gomer and Togarmah are added. On a recent trip to Turkey I picked up an ancient Turkish map – which I already had known because of the fact that I had studied biblical maps in some of the commentaries – but that would be the four different regions of biblical Turkey: that would be Meshech, Tubal, Gomar and Togarmah.

And then when you come to verse 5 it mentions Persia; and until 1936 Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran were known as Persia. You look at Ethiopia there in the text, or maybe it’s Cush in some of the translations; that would be Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan of today. Libya is Libya, maybe Put in your translation.

And also bringing in then two other states talked about in Psalm 83, that would be the Ishmaelites and Tyre. The Ishmaelites would be what we know as modern day Saudi Arabia, and Tyre would be modern day Lebanon. And so you have these nations that surround Israel that are in the news almost on a daily basis that are forming this coalition to come against the Jewish state.

Ankerberg: Alright, what does the Bible say is going to happen when this coalition forms and comes against Israel? Take us through the events.

DeYoung: Starting in Ezekiel 38 and verse 18 and following through the rest of that chapter, it talks about that the Lord is going to intercede to stop Israel from being totally annihilated. Now President Ahmadinejad of Iran, who will be one of those players in that coalition, has said that Israel must be removed from this world; that their name be forgotten forever – almost a quote verbatim out of Psalm 83:4. But they’ve endeavored to try to make that come about, that Israel could be wiped off the map; and with their nuclear potential today that could happen.

As this group of nations come against Israel though, God is going to intercede. He will reign hellfire and brimstone out of the heavenlies. Interesting phrase in Ezekiel 38, it says, “Brother will take up sword against brother.” Since we have been living in Israel, moving there in 1991, 1.3 million Russian Jews have come to live in the land. And if Russia is leading this coalition of nations, brother will take up sword against brother. Very interesting comments made there.

In addition to that, the Lord is going to intercede and wipe out – Ezekiel 39:2 in the King James translation says that 5 out of every 6 of those nations and their peoples, back home their peoples, they are going to be wiped off the face of the earth. Now, if your translation is not the King James, then read ahead. In the next couple of verses it talks about how the LORD is going to lay them on the hills of Israel and the birds are going to come to eat their bodies.

And so, whether you take the King James translation or not, these nations coming against Israel, and that, according to what the text seems to indicate, will be in the first six months of the tribulation period – that seven year period of time of judgment upon the earth and upon the Jewish people, and trying to bring to an end the Gentile world powers – that first six months is going to see all of this unfold and the Islamic world, hear what I said, the Islamic world is going to be basically destroyed at that point at time.

Every one of the nations that we talked about just a few moments ago, their lowest common denominator: they are of the Islamic religion. That’s what’s motivating them to come to Jerusalem to destroy this Jewish state. Even Russia, I think on the last telecast I mentioned the fact that [Islam] is the fastest growing people group in all of Russia, and in particular in their military would be the Islamic people, as is the case in Europe, and basically across the world.

Ankerberg: Yeah, let’s just stop right there for a minute, because you take a breath and, the thing is, its interesting to see that the countries that are mentioned, whether it is the Egyptian Brotherhood that you have talked about already; whether it’s Ahmadinejad threats from his Shiite perspective of the future Imam, the Muslim messiah, that is going to come. And if he can create enough apocalyptic events, such as nuclear war, turmoil in the Middle East he will force the Mahdi to come, that’s his belief. And he believes that he can do that. You’ve got Nasrallah in Hezbollah and Lebanon. You have got all of these countries that are making public statements. And what is fascinating is, the fact is, they are making public statements in our papers today, but the prophets are saying these are the countries that are going to come.

DeYoung: Yes.

Ankerberg: Alright. Now one of the things that people say, “But, you know, I thought that Vladimir Putin and Russia, they were part of the quartet. And George Bush and Putin are buddies.” But the fact is, the events that have taken place in the last 60 days, in terms of Russia, are fascinating. Tell the people what Putin has been doing in the Middle East.

DeYoung: Well, first of all he went into Berlin and just denounced America. America has decided they are going to put up a missile shield apparatus, probably be located in Poland and the Czech Republic, for stopping any incoming missiles of any type; and basically aimed at Iran, because of the nuclear threat they pose, not only to the Middle East, not only to Israel, but to the European continent as well; and, in fact, to the United States. And so that is the reason for the missile shield that is going to be erected there in the eastern European area.

But that has really irritated Vladimir Putin, and so he goes into Berlin, it’s an international conference. He speaks and some of those good old boy days down on the ranch in Texas seem to have gone by the wayside as far as Vladimir Putin is concerned. He goes into Saudi Arabia and he puts a deal together, a nuclear deal together worth, I think, about a billion dollars or more down in Saudi Arabia. He says we are going to give you the nuclear capability to have the energy you need.

Hello!! The number one producer of oil in the world needs a nuclear capability to produce energy? That doesn’t work in anybody’s thinking at all. The fact is, he is giving them the capability to have a nuclear weapon available at their use, because they are much concerned. Saudi Arabia is of the Shiite sect of the Muslim world. Iran is of the … Excuse me Saudi Arabia is of the Sunni sect, Iran is of the Shiite sect. And Saudi Arabia does not want Ahmadinejad to be the leader of the Islamic world. They want to be the leader; they want to control everything that is going on, so they need a nuclear capability as well.

And now here Vladimir Putin is going to supply that for them. He goes into Jordan, he calls for an international peace conference; says he can bring all the players to the table. He can guarantee peace and security in the Middle East. So he’s pulling all of this together with the thrust of continually supplying all the needs of these Arab Islamic countries.

For example, all of his technicians and technology, as it relates to nuclear development, has gone into Iran. He has refurbished all the aircraft for the Syrian Air Force. He has given them the capability of producing a chemical plant that can develop chemical weapons of mass destruction. He has done the same thing for Egypt. He is now doing it for Saudi Arabia. He is very close now with King Abdullah of Jordan. He is really playing to the Islamic world. He has had some problems himself up there in Chechnya. But he is now trying to regroup as he goes to these Islamic leaders and pulls all this whole coalition together.

And again, that’s the bottom line; that’s the lowest common denominator: Islam. And when the Lord intercedes to destroy this, He is basically wiping out the Islamic world. You know, on 9/11 Pandora’s box was opened up there in New York City, John. And this wicked Islamic terroristic philosophy hit the world. We have been suffering through it. Many have had members of their family who have been killed or have been touched by this thing. It is going to continue. It is going to continue until the first six months of the tribulation period. And then 5/6ths of the Islamic world will be wiped out. Only the Palestinian people and the Iraqi people will be left. And God has a very special judgment for those particular people, as talked about in God’s prophetic word, as well.

Ankerberg: We are going to take a break. And when we come back, you know, we are going to talk a little bit about, Ted Koppel just did an hour special where he talked about, even if the United States pulls out of Iraq, the battle with radical Islam is not over. And the fight that we are fighting now, our children and their children will still be fighting it. We are going to talk a little bit about that. But we also want to talk about the European Union. And the Chancellor of Germany, Merkel, right now is also president of the European Union. And we’ve got the 50^th birthday of the European Union coming up. And some very fascinating statements are being made by Merkel about the European Union. And we want to talk about how all this fits with the coalition of nations, European Union, radical Islamists taking the world. We will talk about that all when we come right back. Stick with us.

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Ankerberg: Alright we are back, and it’s a privilege that we can have Dr. Jimmy DeYoung with us. And he has been in Israel, living there, since 1991. And we have the unique opportunity to hear a man who has actually interviewed every Prime Minister in Israel since 1991; King Abdullah of Jordan; the former Premier Yasser Arafat in Jordan; all of these people. He brings the experience; he knows them personally.

And, Jimmy, in talking about world events and then what the Bible says is going to happen about world events, let’s continue on. Ezekiel 38, 39 and Daniel 11 say certain events are going to take place. But the Bible is not done with just this coalition of nations. But before we get to what happens next – we will talk about the European Union – I want you to touch a little bit more on Russia.

While we have been preparing this week for the taping, the fact is, the 14^th journalist covering Putin and what he is doing in terms of arms sales across the world, he too committed suicide. So you have had 14 guys that have died. You talk about freedom of speech, it’s disappearing in Russia. What was the 14^th guy covering? He was covering the arms sale between Russia, that Putin had lined up, to have missiles and rockets supplied to Syria. And the guy that was covering this, he is the guy that had the scoop on this thing, he was ready to deliver that scoop – he did part of it – he fell out of a window and supposedly committed suicide. The 14^th guy in just a few months of time where this has happened. Now, what else is happening in terms of Putin, and then we will jump to the European Union.

DeYoung: Well, as he’s taken over the media, that is positioning himself to be this czar or this dictator of Russia, whatever you want to call him. He says he is not going to run again for President, but indeed he has positioned himself, if not to be that leader out front, he will be the one who pulls the strings behind the scenes. Talking about weapons going into Syria, during the summer of 2006, the battle between the Israeli Defense Force and Hezbollah, there were reports that weapons out of Russia were being used by Hezbollah as well, fired at the Israelis. And so, indeed, it is not only the case with Russia and Syria, but it is the case all across the Middle East.

Ankerberg: Now, you were just in Europe, and so you have just come from there. And what I find interesting is that there have been surveys taken recently in Russia of the people there, and they said that they, you know, like 51%, wanted to go back to the old regimes under like Khrushchev and so on; they wanted that stability. About 41-42% of the population also said that they didn’t want the strict regime, but they wanted something a little closer to that, because this freedom thing was just messing up their lives. Freedom of speech; going toward a dictatorship; Putin pulling the strings together to take that. What else did you learn while you were in Europe?

DeYoung: Well, Eastern Bloc countries like Hungary and Serbia, where I visited this last time into Europe, are doing the exact same thing with the freedom they gained from the fall of the Soviet Union, and their inclusion then into, at least the protective umbrella of the European Union. They saw all kind of freedoms, but they could not handle it. You have to have been brought up, educated in understanding, for example, how capitalism works. I mean that’s a dangerous type of economics if you don’t have a Christian biblical background for treating your brother as you would have him treat you as well.

And so they have said they don’t want this; and they are now voting for those leaders to come back in their countries who have a connection back to the old times, back to what Vladimir Putin is moving in. You have got to be paying close attention to Vladimir Putin and this Kosovo situation, as far as Serbia is concerned. Kosovo is to Serbia like Plymouth Rock or Jamestown or St. Augustine is the United States. Those are major founding cities in our nation. Well, that is what Kosovo is to Serbia. And now the European Union, trying to give Kosovo, under the Albanian leadership, independence. Well, here it is. Mr. Valdimir Putin rushes to the aid of the Serbians, “Hold it, don’t do that!” So he is really basically putting this coalition together. And the people want to go back under that way, as the Soviet people are indicating in the polls.

Ankerberg: Alright, quickly let’s jump to, this is going to be the fiftieth anniversary of the European Union that’s coming up. And the current President of the European Union is the Chancellor of Germany, Merkel. And she has made some statements about what she sees in the future of the European Union. Take us through the significance of this birthday that is coming up, the fiftieth birthday of the European Union, and her statements.

DeYoung: Basically, the entire year of 2007 is going to be the birthday celebration. The actual day of the birth, of the treaty at Rome and the European Common Market, or what we know today as the European Union, was March 27, 1957; so this is the fiftieth celebration.

There has been some great controversy as to how they are going to celebrate this fiftieth anniversary. Merkel, who is as you say the temporary president of the European Union, is wanting to restart the ratification process for the constitution for the European Union, the ratification of it; and she is doing everything possible. She is trying to prepare the ground for the 2009 elections, which are key as far as the European Union are concerned; and having this ratification process back in place and on progress like they would like to have it so that it can be ratified, would make it very fine as far as she is concerned. She has the first six months, and than the nations following her are going to fall in line as well.

What this European Union constitution does calls for a strong leader. A president will not be elected by the body politic of the member states of the European Union, but will be a position that will be appointed by the European Commission, a small group of European leaders who have great power. This is all facade out there, the European Union membership and them controlling everything. Merkel wants to have this constitution to establish this very strong leader. And by the way, she said that this constitution must recognize how religion has played a key role in putting all of this together.

Now, in light of what I just said, let’s go back a little bit. We talked about Ezekiel chapter 39, verse 2 and following, destroying the Islamic world basically, with the exception of Iraq and the Palestinians. When you wipe out the Palestinian world then, according to the scenario found in biblical prophecy, Revelation 17, this one world religion will come into operation. And the European Union – excuse me, a Freudian slip – the Revived Roman Empire will play a key role in bringing the Antichrist to power over this false religion. Islam must be removed from the scene. They’re an exclusive religiosity; they will not join any type of coalition with any other religion. So this false religion talked about in Bible prophecy for 2000 years, cannot come into existence with Islam. It has to be taken out.

The scenario we have discussed on this program takes out the Islamic world. And the European Union, with the ratification of their treaty, brings a strong leader, i.e., the Antichrist, to power. He establishes this false religion in the city of Rome where the treaty of Rome was signed to bring about the European Union, who is at least the infrastructure for the revived Roman Empire.

Ankerberg: Yeah, we are going so fast, I want people to recognize where we have already traveled here in terms of the fact that you have this coalition of nations. We’ve named the nations that are in the news right now. You have got Vladimir Putin as the head of Russia and he is part of the coalition, in fact, heads the coalition that is going to come against Israel. It might not be Putin, but the fact is that nation is rolling that direction.

Then you have got the European Union. And we have to tell the people where we get this revived Roman Empire from, and why that coincides with the European Union, and what they are saying: we need this strong leader.

But even more impressive, I think about in terms of end times events, is that from the Old Testament prophets to Jesus and to the Apostle Paul, they are all talking about something happening in Jerusalem, that has got to take place before we get into those end days: and that is we, have got to have a temple on the Temple Mount. Big problem? We have got the Dome of the Rock. We’ve got the Mosque of Omar sitting there, which is sacred to the Muslim world. And that could cause a world war all by itself, if something happened to that.

Now, there are preparations in Israel for that temple. The Sanhedrin has been formed, we are going to talk about who that is. And they have also been buying sheep and actually have purchased sheep to resume the sacrificial system. In fact, they are hoping that this Passover coming up they can sacrifice like they did in older days right there on the Temple Mount, if they would be permitted to do so. What does all this have to do? We are going to talk about all of it next week its fascinating. I hope you will join us then.

 

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