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We as Christians know that the apocalyptic Islamic Mahdi is a scam but I have a feeling that the deranged Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will use this fictitious character to insight a worldwide Islamic uprising.  Whether it will work or not is debatable but I'm sure it will stir up the pot a little bit.

Actually, I do foresee him conjuring up some religious figure and parading him before the world.  It will probably be some young child or teenager and it wouldn't surprise me if there were reports of miracles and signs from the locals in Iran.  How far this will be taken is yet to be seen.

I wrote this article back on November 5, 2005.  Not much has changed since then and I still see this scenario playing out.

A former IDF Army chief believes that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is hiding behind weakness so that terrorist groups can continue their terrorist activities against Israelis.  Although a stupid plan, it’s probably correct. 

Maybe I’m not smart enough to figure this thing out, but if I were a terrorist leader I would stop the terror, get a Palestinian state established as soon as possible, and move forward with the next phase of my evil plan…to destroy Israel.  I can’t imagine that happening at this pace.  But the Bible does prophesy in Ezekiel 38:11 that in the last days Israel will be at peace…so (temporary) peace is coming someday and maybe sooner than we think.

I was sent an email a number of months ago from a sincere reader of mine who was all excited about the Gaza pullout.  Based on this happening this person just knew that the rapture was coming within in the next few months.  And indeed it could! 

But my point is, I don’t think we are going to see much if any progress toward a Palestinian state (or peace for that matter) until after the rapture takes place.  Suddenly, when Christians are gone, the Bible says that the man of sin will be revealed (II Thessalonians 2:3).  This is speaking of the antichrist who will come on the scene in the last days and change the world as we know it.  He will come quickly, restart the peace talks, and solve them in a very short amount of time.  Day one of the tribulation period is generally believed to be the day the peace accord with Israel is signed and not when the antichrist is revealed, although, they could be one and the same day.

One thing many overlook regarding this time is after the rapture occurs the antichrist will come on the scene but may not be revealed until the peace accord is signed or maybe as far into the tribulation period as the abomination of desolation (mid-trib).  It could be years into the tribulation period before anyone realizes his real identity.

He probably will come out of obscurity to eventually lead the European Union, but I don’t believe anyone before the rapture will have much knowledge of this man. By the time he comes on the scene the E.U. constitution may already be ratified.  In fact, he may be their first president.  He may also rise before the constitution is in place and ratify it with only ten countries.  I favor this scenario since the Bible says there will be ten (Daniel 7:7-8, 24) nations in the kingdom of the antichrist.

He will rise to an unprecedented level of world power and eventually solve the unattainable world puzzle known as Middle East peace.  This peace plan is said to involve many countries in which Israel will be one of them (Daniel 9:27).  Look for the Arab world to be the main participants of this peace plan.  He will bring peace and stability to the region and Israel will be accepted worldwide.  Six months to a year later the Arab armies led by Russia will invade Israel only to be soundly defeated by God.  They will die on the mountains of Israel in shocking fashion that will simply be unexplainable outside of divine intervention.

Of course, the order of events is all speculation on my part, but the end result is Biblical.  This will all happen someday and it could be sooner than you think.

Are you ready to meet the Lord?  If not, your time is running out!

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Pastor Malone