It is with great sadness that today we have seen what many have feared across Europe – the rise again of Anti- Semitism. Today we see the demonically inspired Iran nuclear deal… truly a historic agreement has been made in Vienna that will have disastrous consequences and provide the way forward for the introduction of the false prince of peace - the Anti-Christ to the world stage.
I find it incredibly ironic and yet interesting that this historic agreement has been made in Vienna given the fact that few European cities have a history as closely connected with Judaism and Jewish history as Vienna.
In 1938, some 170,000 Jews lived in the city, as well as approximately 80,000 persons of mixed Jewish-Christian background.
Vienna was an important centre of Jewish culture and education. The city was also a centre of Zionist thought and Theodor Herzl, the father of Zionism, had studied at the University of Vienna. Many Viennese Jews were well-integrated into urban society and culture. Jews made up significant percentages of the city's doctors and lawyers, businessmen and bankers, artists and journalists.
Already in the 1930s, religiously and politically motivated anti-Semitism in Vienna was compounded by racial anti-Semitism. The entry of Hitler's army into Austria in March 1938 triggered unprecedented suffering and hardship for Vienna's Jews. Grave acts of violence against the Jewish population began to proliferate. Jewish Citizens were quite openly brutalized and forced into the most humiliating chores. Hitler's racist mania found its first culmination in the Nuremberg Racial Laws, which robbed the Jewish population of practically all property and civil rights. Jews were forced to wear the yellow star and had to assume the first names "Sara" or "Israel". Many shops and assets were expropriated ("Aryanised"); those able to escape faced an uncertain future, deprived of their possessions and without a basis for their livelihood.
In November 1938, synagogues and prayer houses were burned down; Jewish shops were looted and vandalized. This "spontaneous eruption of public anger" ordered by Adolf Hitler was nothing but drastic: with the exception of the City Temple in Seitenstettengasse, all Jewish places of worship were razed to the ground. Jews were kicked and battered; numerous victims were killed. And again, many preferred to look away.
Who can remember all names, count all victims?
Mass deportations of Viennese Jews started in October 1941.
The formerly flourishing Jewish community of Vienna was all but obliterated by the National Socialists. By May 1939, roughly 130,000 persons considered Jews under the Nuremberg Racial Laws had left the country that once had been called "Austria", their homeland. One figure suffices to give an idea of this loss: in 1938, approximately 206,000 persons of Jewish extraction (181,000 of which were members of the Jewish Community of Vienna) had been living in the Austrian capital.
Over 65,000 Jews were murdered in concentration and extermination camps. They are part of the six million victims of a mass murder organized with mathematical precision. We owe these victims the solidarity and respect due to them and their suffering.
It is devilish that a decision which will have disastrous consequences for Israel has been reached in Vienna today (the historic center of Zionist thought and sadly Jewish persecution in Europe). Truly those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.
As a result of what is happening in the Arab world (Arab Spring) we are seeing the fulfillment of Bible Prophecy and the formation of the confederated nations that will come against Israel in these last days.
IRAN – In Biblical History and Prophecy
The nation of Iran was called Persia, its Biblical name, until 1935. Persia was one of the former great empires of the world, ruling from 539 B.C. to 331 B.C, until they were conquered by Alexander the Great. Kings such as Cyrus the Great, Darius, Ahasuerus (commonly known as Xerxes), and Artaxerxes ruled this once great empire. Persia was also the setting for the book in the Bible entitled Esther. Ironically, the book of Esther tells how a Jewish girl became the queen of Persia and how God used her to save her people from a plot to destroy them. The book also explains how a special festival, called Purim, was established to remember and celebrate the deliverance that the Jews had experienced. Purim is derived from the Persian word pur, meaning 'lot'. It recalls how Haman, the enemy of the Jews, cast lots to determine the best day to carry out his plan to exterminate them.
It would appear not much has changed in 2,500 years. A 'spirit of Haman' still influences the leaders of Iran in the present day. We know that Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said that Israel must be 'wiped off the map'...Referring to comments by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the Islamic revolution, Ahmadinejad said, 'As the imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map". Don't think it is just Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who believes this. He was only a puppet of the Ayatollahs who actually run the government. Amazingly, Psalm 83:2, 4, is prophetic for our day. It says, "For behold, your enemies make an uproar; those who hate you (God) have raised their heads. They say, 'Come, LET US WIPE THEM OUT AS A NATION; let the name of Israel be remembered no more". Iran's leaders, in their hatred of Israel, have become a self-fulfilling prophecy by quoting Psalm 83:4. One day soon, according to the prophet Ezekiel, Iran will experience a 7-fold judgment from God. Its end has been decreed.
Iran is an important player in the Bible's prophecies of the end of days. It was 2,600 years ago, prior to Persia even becoming a world empire that the prophet Ezekiel was given a vision of the future which speaks of the time period in which we are currently living. In Ezekiel 38, there is a list of nations that will come together at the end of days for the express purpose of destroying the nation of Israel - Iran has been singled out by its ancient name Persia (Ezekiel 38:5).
One of the most interesting end time’s events involves a Russian led coalition that tries to invade Israel in the last days. This prophecy is foretold in Ezekiel 38-39. The two chief nations that lead this attack as Russia (Magog) and Iran (Persia). As we have seen recently in the media these two nations are currently expanding ties and Russia is currently involved in helping to finish the Iranian nuclear program. This nuclear program is a threat not only to Israel but also to the world. This new found friendship between Russia and Iran is currently setting us on a collision course for the fulfilment of Bible prophecy.
Iran (Persia) has for a long time been a staunch enemy of Israel. Surprisingly, we are seeing the drastic rise of anti-Semitism in the world that is slowly but surely leading the world to the conflict foretold by the prophet Ezekiel in chapters 38-39. It is clear that Iran is marching head on to a showdown with the God of Israel. Iran will make a fatal mistake and head to the northern mountains of Israel and finally meet the God of Israel.
My prayer today is for Israel as well as the Jewish people – the cry of our hearts is that they will come to the knowledge of Yeshua their Messiah. Now more than ever before Israel needs us to be their friends, to stand in the gap and pray for Israel the peace of Jerusalem.
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