Ezekiel 38 Update

Many of the people of Calvary Chapel Oxnard keep a close eye on developments in the Middle East, especially Iran and that nation’s nuclear ambitions. We see it as prime trigger for the unfolding on what the prophet Ezekiel describes in ch. 38 and 39 of the Book in the Bible named after him. Those chapters describe an aborted invasion of Israel in the end times of an Iranian-Russian led coalition of Middle East and North Africa nations; geographic regions which today are predominantly Islamist. We’ve long speculated that an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities could precipitate an Iranian counter-attack that would fulfill Ezekiel prophecy.

It has been with intense interest we’ve watched the news of sanctions and rhetoric alternately calling for more stringent action against Iran or more times for sanctions to effect a regime change. While Israeli prime minister Netanyahu has announced a “red line” beyond which the Israelis feel they cannot let Iran go in developing a nuclear capacity without taking military action, the US administration has taken a far more restrained approach, preferring sanctions with a seeming reticence to even speak of a military action.

As a distant observer of all this, I’ve wondered for some time now why there has not been real progress in dealing with Iran and a more visible preparation for a military intervention on the part of BOTH the US & Israel. At the same time, reports have leaked out of Iran that several of her nuclear facilities have suffered “set-backs.” This looks to be the work of sabotage. It makes sense  if the US and Israel were trusting to such sabotage to curtail Iran’s nuclear progress, they would not be compelled to urge or pursue the military option.

But last week, that changed . . .

New reports out of Iran suggest Iran has at least two, until now, highly secret facilities that have progressed much further than was known and Iran may be closer to a bomb than was assumed. Iran’s close affiliation with North Korea is also troubling since they recently performed a nuclear test at which prominent Iranian officials and scientists were in attendance.

It’s this report that may jog the Israelis into taking the military action they’ve long warned of. Moves in Israel over the last week seem to be positioning the nation for such an attack. And the latest rumbling from our politicians and military leaders are also getting more heated.

Take a look at Joel Rosenberg’s link for more specific details – Article: Significant change in tone: U.S. officials concede war with Iran may be unavoidable. Countdown to Israeli action?