Jan 4, 20206 min read

The Death of Soleimani: Where is America in Bible Prophecy?

Updated: Jun 16, 2022

After the US embassy was attacked in Baghdad, Iraq (mainly by Iranian forces), President Trump quickly returned fire by killing one of Iran's highest ranking generals, Qassem Soleimani. This has caused some to worry the attack will provoke a military response from Iran on US troops in the region. While an attack from Iran is possible, I'm personally more concerned about Iran's new allies, Turkey and Russia. We know that these nations are the "big 3" responsible for the massive attack in Ezekiel's war. It could be that these three also team up to remove opposition to that war as well, and the United States is Israel's biggest supporter. According to Amir Tsarfati of Behold Israel, Iran knows that any significant attack against Israel, one that will devastate the Jewish nation or wipe it off the face of the earth, cannot be done while the United States stands in the way. In fact, between Israel and the US, their hatred for the US is greater. Radical groups call the US "big Satan," while they refer to Israel as "little Satan." They chant "Death to the US, Death to Israel," at public demonstrations. It's said that the order in which the two nations are condemned is not a mistake, but very intentional. What's more, Iran was hard at work developing intercontinental nuclear missiles up until April 2018, when Israel recovered classified documents exposing the deadly project. Those intercontinental missiles were not designed to hit Israel, only 1000 miles away. They were designed to travel overseas. They were designed to hit the United States. Thankfully, Iran's path to a bomb has been greatly slowed down by America pulling out of the Iran Nuclear Deal, but their hatred for this country has only grown stronger. And a humiliated Iran is a dangerous Iran, especially with the company Iran now keeps. I need to be careful because I'm getting into speculation here (please bear with me), but the recent death of Soleimani does bring up a question I hear all the time: is America in Bible prophecy? The one thing we know for sure from Ezekiel 38 & 39 is that no one comes to Israel's defense when the invasion begins, and that includes America. We can only speculate on the reason why America doesn't intervene. I see three options: 1. America is unwilling to intervene. • We may have a President who refuses to engage Gog's army for political reasons (hesitancy to get involved in another Mid East conflict before elections, maybe). • We may see resistance as a suicide mission, not worth the cost of human life. • We might have a President that doesn't regard Israel as an ally at all. 2. America is unable to intervene. • We may be under a foreign threat of attack should we interfere. • We may have most our troops deployed to another place at that time via some kind of diversion. • Coordinating a counter attack may not be possible. Cyber warfare? • America could be facing immediate domestic threats that can't be ignored. 3. America is no longer a global superpower. • America could suffer a catastrophic attack beyond recovery. • Economic collapse could cripple the nation. • The rapture of the church might remove key governmental figures and much of the population (I think it's naively optimistic to expect this, but it's also the situation I genuinely wish would happen). If America's role during the Magog war catches your interest, here's an article that found to be informative and helpful. It references the following scripture:

Sheba and Dedan (Saudi Arabia) and the merchants of Tarshish and all its leaders (America?) will say to you, 'Have you come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your hosts to carry off plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to seize great spoil?' ~Ezekiel 38:13

As you'll see, it argues for America being among the leaders (elsewhere translated 'young lions' and 'villages') of Tarshish. Prophecy Depot Ministries: Is America in Ezekiel 38? http://www.prophecydepotministries.net/2019/is-america-in-ezekiel-38/ At the end of the day, even if America IS connected to Tarshish, that really doesn't tell us a whole lot. All it means is that America exists during the Magog war, but in what state? God only knows. In my opinion we are connected to Tarshish, but won't be living in America as we currently know it during Gog-Magog. I say that because, for some reason, we're going to lose our national sovereignty to make room for the coming global government of the Antichrist empire. That's a pretty scary thought for many of us. What can be more troubling is that we have no idea how that will come about, whether through force or, yes, by the consent of our government. Why did I bring up all those possible scenarios? I brought them up because while the Bible commands Christians to watch for Christ's coming, it's not always clear exactly how certain events (like the emergence of a one world government) is going to unfold, simply because the Bible is silent on those subjects. As someone who aims to chronicle prophecy becoming history in real time, I'm very aware that the animosity festering between Iran and the US is only one of several avenues that can lead to what the Bible clearly says will happen at the time of the end. The actual reason for America yielding to a global leader could come down as quick as lightning, or it may slowly build over time like water boiling over in a pot (as we see in the case of Soleimani's death). In the meantime, stories like these are something to go on. It's just a hunch, folks. We'll see what happens. *shrugs*

'\_( ",)_/'

A Word of Caution

This process of watching and matching prophecy to world events is supposed to bring the reality of eternity closer to mind. For the Christian, it should bring heaven, our final destination, into sharp focus - to the point where this life and this world doesn't seem nearly as important to us as it did before. It should keep us humble and sober minded, ready to come face to face with God Himself, however and whenever we meet Him. And yet, because of our sinful hearts, we all have a tendency to put the Day of the Lord and final judgement far off in our minds. That's the subtle danger: we can put that Day far off even through watching for the Lord! The danger comes when our heart's intention is to watch for the Lord, not so that we can anticipate our departure and live set apart lives for Him, but to see how much time we have to live for this world before getting ready, just when He's about to arrive. We really shouldn't do that. Not only is that relationship toward the Lord dangerously lukewarm, but we also need to remember that the Day of the Lord will come suddenly.

While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. ~1 Thessalonians 5:3

When God begins to judge the world for sin, people will be thinking that they're in for smooth sailing ahead. "We got this! No sweat! The future is bright and things seem alright." That's when destruction comes: when the majority of people are comfortable and unsuspecting. We're walking into a trap if we think that we can watch for the Lord in order to "max out" our time on earth, living for this life as long as there's a few more seconds left on that prophetic timer. We really can't hear things like "Iran's path to a bomb has been greatly slowed," or "Putin is angrier today than he was yesterday" and think that we can check out for a few months while that bomb gets made or Putin stubs his toe 20 more times before we take God's rescue and wrath seriously again. In short, please don't use these posts to put off the Day of the Lord. It's a mistake! Maybe Iran's anger toward America will go somewhere and maybe not, but either way Jesus Christ is coming for His bride! Let God and His promises be true and every man a liar (Romans 3:4).

January 2, 2020