The Showdown with the Prince of Persia

"Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One. 'Let us break their chains," they say, 'and throw off their fetters.'

"The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, 'I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.'" (Ps 2:1-6)

It might come as a shock to some, but powerful forces working towards a new world order and a one world government are today controlling international politics in such a way that, rather than trying to prevent another Middle East conflict, they are actually actively planning and promoting one. The strategy they are following is "order out of chaos" and the plan is that only one more world war will be needed to fulfill their goal to build their tower of Babel and rule the world. WW I gave rise to the League of Nations, WW II to the United Nations. They believe that WW III will result in their desired one world government.

In accordance with the prophetic word in the Scriptures, the political leaders in Israel are also more and more falling into the trap of this anti-messianic agenda. It is truly grieving to behold. But we must have tears of compassion for this tragedy.

The good news, however, is that the Mighty One of Israel, the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah is still in control. "The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them." WW I not only resulted in the League of Nations, but also in the Balfour Declaration, WW II not only in the United Nations, but also in the State of Israel. WW III will not only result in a shaky one world government of "iron mixed with clay," but also in the salvation of Israel, the defeat of the final Beast Empire and the return of the Messiah to establish the kingdom of God from Jerusalem. "It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it." (Jer 30:7)

The first intercession conference that we ever attended was in Sweden in 1977. It was a conference with Intercessors for Sweden founded and led by the late international apostolic intercessor Kjell Sjöberg. In the first service during the worship, the Spirit of God spoke to Lars and said, "Read Daniel chapter two!" He immediately responded and read the entire chapter about the amazing dream of King Nebuchadnezzar about future world history interpreted by the prophet Daniel. In the end Daniel told the king,

"In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands - a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces." (Dan 2:44-45)

The Spirit said, "The intercessory movement that I am raising up today around the world, will bring about the end of the kingdoms of man and establish the kingdom of God upon the earth." Friends, the focus of our prayers is to be nothing short of what our Master taught us, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." (Mt 6:9-10) One day those prayers will be answered through the return of Yeshua to Jerusalem.

We must realize that this kingdom will only come as a result of prayer. The entire Bible ends with the short powerful prayer, "Amen. Come, Lord Yeshua." (Rev 22:20) We can be sure that the Messiah will not return uninvited. Our personal call to the ministry of intercession had come just a couple of months before the conference in 1977, with a powerful word from heaven saying, "Surely, the Sovereign Lord does nothing, except through prayer!"


The Next Military Conflict in the Middle East

We believe that the next military conflict in the Middle East will not be the final war of Armageddon or Gog and Magog. The Angel told Daniel, "I must return to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I have gone forth, indeed the prince of Greece will come." (Dan 10:20 NKJV) Greece is the only one of the world powers mentioned in Nebuchadnezzar's dream where it is explicitly mentioned that it will cover the whole earth. "Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth." (Dan 2:39) Greece will come after Persia.

Despite the present unbelief of Israel and its leaders, we believe that the next war will be won by Israel and that we are to pray accordingly. Zechariah 12 with an Israeli military victory, leading to the outpouring of the Spirit of grace and supplication upon Jerusalem and the revival pictured in chapter 13, will be fulfilled before the end time attack on Jerusalem pictured in Zechariah 14, where half of the city will be taken.

Right now there is a spiritual and military showdown taking place between little tiny Israel and Iran. It is the Prince of Persia rallying the worldwide forces of radical Islam against God's chosen nation. We must stand in the gap against this threat in intercession before the King of kings, just as Queen Esther in the Bible.

In 1981, Israel single-handedly wiped out the nuclear threat of Saddam Hussein by bombing his nuclear reactors in a very daring air raid, without asking for anybody's permission to do so. To express it mildly the international powers, including the United States of America, were not happy at all about this independent Israeli decision to defend themselves.

The present Israeli leadership has shown a lot more willingness to cooperate with the international community in handling the crisis with Iran. Iran's clear declarations to wipe out the state of Israel have from the beginning been met with an Israeli response that Iran is not primarily a problem for Israel but an international problem. We believe that this is a very dangerous approach.

Recently we have, however, begun to see a new course of action by the Government of Israel. The foreign ministry department has now declared that dealing with the Iranian threat is the top item on its agenda for 2007. One idea, which first originated with former Prime Minister Netanyahu and which they are presently exploring, is to prosecute the Iranian leader Ahmedinejad for planning genocide in a clear breach of the UN charter.

A recent article in Sunday Times also claims that Israel has advanced plans to bomb the nuclear plants in Iran with low-yield tactical nukes, commonly known as "bunker busters." Israel denied the report, while Iran responded that "anyone who attacks will regret their actions very quickly."

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