Ayatollah Khamenei Claims America “Will Soon be Defeated”
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Iran’s “supreme leader” seems to be sounding the war drum:
“In light of the realization of the divine promise by almighty God, the Zionists and the Great Satan (America) will soon be defeated,” Ayatollah Khamenei, the Iranian supreme leader, is warning..Khamenei, speaking to hundreds of youths from more than 70 countries attending a world conference on the Arab Spring just days ago, told a cheering crowd in Tehran that “Allah’s promises will be delivered and Islam will be victorious.”…Khamenei advised the youths to…remain united in opposing the “evil hegemony of the Zionists and the Americans.”
Khamenei then claimed the current century as the century of Islam and promised that human history is on the verge of a great event and that soon the world will realize the power of Allah….Khamenei has been heard to say that the coming of the last Islamic Messiah, the Shiites’ 12th Imam Mahdi, is near and that specific actions need to be taken to protect the Islamic regime for upcoming events. Mahdi, according to Shiite belief, will reappear at the time of Armageddon. http://www.wnd.com/2012/02/iran-warns-world-of-coming-great-event/(CBS/AP)TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s Supreme Leader warned Friday that any attack on the Islamic Republic would have negative consequences for the United States.Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s rhetoric, which was forceful but familiar, came a day after U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta suggested Israel could strike Iran as soon as April if international sanctions remain insufficient impetus to coax Iran away from its clandestine nuclear work.“Threatening Iran and attacking Iran will harm America,” Ayatollah Khamenei told worshipers in Tehran after Friday prayers, according to the Reuters news agency. “Sanctions will not have any impact on our determination to continue our nuclear course.” http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57370978/khamenei-attack-on-iran-would-harm-u.s/?tag=cbsnewsSectionContent.2
Though a more significant Islamic power will rise up for a short while in the 21st century, this power will not last (Daniel 11:40-43)–so the 21st century will not really be the century of Islam–though it appears it will be Islams last century to exist. While relatively speaking America “will soon be defeated” (cf. Daniel 11:39; Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? ), Ayatollah Khamenei should consider more of what the Bible says as Iran is not the going to be the primary instrument to truly make that happen.
Perhaps I should mention that Iran made the news today for two other reasons:
Washington Post (blog) – 3 February 2012
Iran does not have enough military power to win an actual war with the USA if such a war were to happen (though it could damage the USA and also have its surrogates cause damage). It could, however, severely damage Israel, and since Israel knows that, it may decide it has to hit Iran quite hard if it does attack it or respond to an attack from it. (But if it was able to set off some type of EMP, electromagnetic pulse, bomb or nuclear device in the USA it could cause some real damage.)
Various Western analysts are convinced that if there is a war of some type between Iran and Israel that Iran will try to strike at what it perceives to be US targets/allies, both within the USA and outside of it. Specifically, perhaps in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, elsewhere, and/or within the USA itself through various “cells” (possibly also involving al Qaeda). This may well happen, but if so, Iran will likely find it has overestimated its power and underestimated what Israel and/or the USA may do in retaliation.
Also, notice:
Israel Warns US Jews: Iran Could Strike HereABC NewsIsraeli facilities in North America — and around the world — are on high alert, according to an internal security document obtained by ABC News that predicted the threat from Iran against Jewish targets will increase.“We predict that the threat on our sites around the world will increase … on both our guarded sites and ‘soft’ sites,” stated a letter circulated by the head of security for the Consul General for the Mid-Atlantic States. Guarded sites refers to government facilities like embassies and consulates, while ‘soft sites’ means Jewish synagogues, and schools, as well as community centers like the one hit by a terrorist bombing in Buenos Aires in 1994 that killed 85 people…http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/israel-warns-us-jews-iran-strike/story?id=15506257
The USA would not tend to react well to “Jewish targets” being hit, especially if they are in, or associated with, the USA.
But right now, Iran may not care too much about that.
Iran’s current president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has publicly stated that the purpose of the Iranian revolution was to prepare the way for an Islamic leader, the 12th Imam, also called the Imam Mahdi, to rise up (this was several years ago, but he still seems to believe it). This Imam Mahdi sounds a lot like the final King of the South that the Bible warns against (though the actual one that many Shi’ites expect from “suspended animation” is not likely to be that King, but a Mahdi belief will likely be a factor in getting the final King of the South). Last year, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed that it was the Imam Mahdi who was behind the revolutions in the various Arab lands as well as other events in the world (see Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: World Order About to Collapse, Mahdi Behind it). He also was part of a video last year that indicated that Iran intended to relatively soon invade and takeover Jerusalem so that the Imam Mahdi would rise up. The video hinted that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was somehow prophesied within Islam as a particular leader that would do that (see Iran’s Ahmadinejad to Conquer Jerusalem?).
Various prophecies of the Mahdi state that he would return in an even numbered year, like the end 2012 (the Islamic calendar runs differently than the Roman calendar, we are currently in Islamic year 1433). The Mahdi is supposed to be recognized in an even numbered year, and since Ahmadinejad’s term ends in 2013 (Islamic year 1434 runs from November 15, 2012 to November 3, 2013), and he indicated he wanted to cause the Mahdi to arrive before he leaves office, he and others in Iran may cause enough chaos to try to cause this to happen soon.
To bring enough Arab nations together, I have felt that some type of “strongman” needed to rise up. One who Arabs would tend to respect–who might use the title Imam Mahdi and/or Caliph. This is also consistent with the historical positions of various Church of God writers in the past. Notice a few examples:
The prophecy of Daniel 11 details events…But who is the “king of the south”?…Just as there is yet to be a final “king of the north”–called in the Bible symbolism “the beast”–who will arise as superdictator over an end-time European confederation, there may very well emerge in the same manner a final “king of the south”–an overall leader of an Arab-Moslem confederation, possibly bearing the very title Mahdi. And these two individuals will eventually find themselves in a head-to-head confrontation–possibly over oil–which will ultimately lead to devastating war in the Middle East!…
The supreme office of caliph, originally elective, became hereditary…Eventually…caliphs became figurehead or “puppet” leaders…Many Arabs…seek to re-create the political and theological unity of the early Islamic caliphate (Stump K. The Arab World in Prophecy. Plain Truth, December 1979, pp. 9-10).
Al Qaeda named its Internet newscast, which debuted in September, ‘The Voice of the Caliphate.’…Kerem Acar, a tailor in central Istanbul {said} ‘…one day maybe my children’s children will see someone declare himself the caliph, like the pope, and have an impact’” (January 14, 2006). Indeed, a coming “Mahdi” whose arrival Muslims are expecting—in Bible prophecy known as the “King of the South” (Daniel 11:40–45)—will soon arise and have a dramatic impact on world events. This powerful Muslim religious leader will unite many of the more than one billion Muslims. He will pose a genuine threat to the coming European Empire, which will have to crush that threat in order to continue exploiting Middle Eastern oil to further its military ambitions. (Meredith RC. Prophecy Fulfilled: God’s Hand in World Affairs. LCG Booklet, 2007, pp. 16-17)
Opinion polls show that significant majorities in many Arab countries favor the establishment of Sharia law, derived from the Qur’an and centuries of Muslim jurisprudence. Several nations, such as Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen already have Sharia law in some form. Others, such as Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Pakistan, Syria, Qatar and United Arab Emirates, mix Sharia with other systems. To the great surprise of many Western analysts, University of Maryland researchers polled Arab nations and found that substantial majorities in Pakistan, Egypt and Morocco favored the establishment of the Caliphate—which would mean autocratic Islamist rule!…(Daniel 11:40–45…This “king of the South” will be a great leader, likely the head of a Muslim coalition, who will attack or challenge a great northern power in Europe. Europeans are well aware of the threat of Islam. (Wakefield D. Nine-Eleven Plus Ten. Tomorrow’s World magazine, September-October 2011, p. 24).
As the above shows, we in the Church of God have long taught that a pan-Islamic leader will rise up in the Middle East and become the final King of the South in Bible prophecy (Daniel 11:40). Iran wants to make this happen–but will not succeed as it currently seems to hope. Yet, Iran’s inflammatory rhetoric may get it and/or its close allies leveled (cf. Isaiah 17:1) to the point that the rest of the Arab Islamic world will decide it to needs to unite against the USA and Israel. Notice what the Bible teaches:
They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” For they have consulted together with one consent; They form a confederacy against You: The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites; Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also has joined with them; They have helped the children of Lot. (Psalm 83:4-8).
So, an Islamic confederation apparently consisting of Arabs and Turks (Edom) will decide to eliminate “Israel” and will receive European support (Assyria) which may also be related, at least indirectly, to a lying deal between the final King of the North and the King of the South.
Iran’s “supreme leader’s” latest warnings are apparently intended to fan the flames of pro-Islamic and anti-Western sentiment in the Arab lands and to encourage them to install even less secular governments than they have had. And ultimately, the Arabs will do more of that, though currently they oppose Iran itself and few are likely to support Iran at this time.
In the meantime, however, I would not be surprised if Iran, Hezbollah, and Syria get together to cause trouble (including possible war) with Israel as a means of hoping to provoke the rise of the Imam Mahdi, as well as to hope to get the Arab states to support the Iranian version of Shi’ite Islam (most of the Arab nations are mainly Sunni Islam). And while that latter item won’t happen as Iran seems to envision, it certainly may get the Arab states in more of a mood to cooperate closer (which, with the “Arab Spring” and the rise of groups like the Muslim Brotherhood is already beginning to happen–and a regional war might accelerate the process).
Watch (Mark 13:37).
Some articles of related interest may include:
Is There A Future King of the South? Some no longer believe there needs to be. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? Might this King be called the Mahdi? What does the Bible say?
The Arab and Islamic World In the Bible, History, and Prophecy The Bible discusses the origins of the Arab world and discusses the Middle East in prophecy. What is ahead for the Middle East and those who follow Islam? What about the Imam Mahdi? What lies ahead for Turkey, Iran, and the other non-Arabic Muslims?
Is There an Islamic Antichrist? Is Joel Richardson correct that the final Antichrist will be Islamic and not European? Find out.
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies for the Great Monarch point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States?
Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, British-English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first?
Will the Anglo-Nations be Divided? Will the lands of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand be divided? What about Jerusalem? What does Bible prophecy teach? Are there non-biblical prophecies that support this idea? Who will divide those lands? Who will end up with the lands and the people?
Barack Obama in Islamic Prophecy? There is actually a 17th century Shiite prophecy that some believe that Barack Obama will fulfill that will lead to a rising up of Islam.
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2012, 2013, or 2014? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000?
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