Iran rising

Persia figures prominently in the last days. This segment below is from Joel C Rosenberg's Q&A about the Gog Magog war (Ezekiel 38-39), in which Iran, Russia and Turkey with others attack Israel, and no one comes to her defense...except God Himself.

Will the War of Gog and Magog happen before or after the Rapture?
"The truth is we simply do not know the answer for certain, because Ezekiel does not say. Many of the theologians I have cited in this book believe the war will occur after the Rapture. In the novel Left Behind, Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins describe the War of Gog and Magog as having already happened before the Rapture takes place. In The Ezekiel Option, I also chose to portray the war occurring before the Rapture."

"In Matthew 24:14, Jesus says, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come” (NASB). We also know from Ezekiel that God will use the War of Gog and Magog to display his glory to all nations and to pour out his Holy Spirit, particularly on the nation of Israel. As a result of the entire world seeing God defend Israel from the onslaught of the Russian-Iranian coalition, a dramatic spiritual awakening will occur around the globe. It would certainly be consistent with God’s heart for humanity that he would cause this cataclysmic moment to occur before the Rapture in order to shake people out of their spiritual apathy and/or rebellion and give them at least one more chance to receive Christ as their Savior before the terrible events of the Tribulation occur."

"But let me be clear: I believe that the Rapture could occur at any moment, and I would certainly not be surprised in any way if it occurred before the events of Ezekiel 38 and 39 come to pass. Christian theologians speak of the “doctrine of imminence.” This means that according to the Bible there is no prophetic event that has to happen before Jesus snatches his church from the earth. That is, the Bible teaches us that we should be ready for Jesus to come for us at any moment. I fully believe that. But it should be noted with regard to this doctrine that while no major prophetic event has to happen before the Rapture, that doesn’t mean no such event will happen first. Perhaps the clearest evidence of this truth is the rebirth of Israel. This major prophetic event was foretold in Ezekiel 36–37, yet its fulfillment happened before the Rapture. Thus, it is certainly possible that other events—such as the events of Ezekiel 38–39—could happen before the Rapture as well."

Persia (Iran) has always been opposed to God's people. The angel that came to Daniel was hindered by the prince of Persia (Daniel 10:4-21). Places in the world have fallen angels behind the leadership to spread evil amongst the people and to rule in oppression and fear, and in the invisible realms they hinder God's angels and try to oppose God's work. Iran has always been a place in the real earth and in the celestial realms that has been a stronghold of opposition against God's people.

Report: Iran planned to bomb Israeli ship in Suez Canal
"Iran had planned to bomb an Israeli ship while it crossed the Suez Canal, the prosecution in Egypt's state security court said, the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram reported on Saturday.According to the report, two Egyptians were recently arrested and investigated for allegedly planning an attack on an Israeli ship in the Suez Canal."

Iranian weapons half Syria's Assad put down unrest
"Iran is providing a broad array of assistance to Syrian President Bashar Assad to help him suppress anti-government protests, from high-tech surveillance technology to guns and ammunition, U.S. and European security officials say.Tehran's technical assistance to Assad's security forces includes electronic surveillance systems, technology designed to disrupt efforts by protesters to communicate via social media, and Iranian-made drone aircraft for overhead surveillance, the officials said. They discussed intelligence matters on condition of anonymity. "Over the past year, Iran has provided security assistance to Damascus to help shore up Assad. Tehran during the last couple of months has been aiding the Syrian regime with lethal assistance - including rifles, ammunition, and other military equipment -- to help it put down the opposition," a U.S. official said."

Despite Iran's continual prayers that Islam prevail, despite the fact that Iran as repeatedly said that they want to wipe Israel from the map, despite the fact that Iran is inches away from obtaining a nuclear bomb and has said they have no hesitation to use it, despite myriad foiled plots against Israel AND the United States, some 1000 Israelis marched against the thought of striking Iran's nuclear bomb-making facilities--

Hundreds of Israelis march in Tel Aviv to protest war with Iran
"Hundreds of Israelis marched in Tel Aviv on Saturday to protest against a possible Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. The protest came amid a recent Facebook campaign linking Israeli and Iranian citizens in their opposition to war between the two nations. Campaign leaders, however, made it clear on their Facebook page that they had nothing to do with the Tel Aviv protest march."

Iran is in the news just about as much as Israel. Just as the bible said the world would be focused on these matters in the last days, we are.