Upon writing the blog entry from last week regarding the month of September, I received several emails from readers. People wanted to know: "What's going to happen?" "Can I still put my house on the market?" "Do you know for sure that something is up?" "What do I need to do?" "Should I cancel my trip?"

Relax! If you're a Christian, there is no need whatsoever to panic or worry. If God is pressing upon you the need to sell your house and move, then by all means continue to do it. If you were planning on starting school or going on a trip, then don't alter those plans. Brothers and sisters, there is nothing to fear.

I was just stating that I suspect September will be a month of many birth pains. Remember my posts regarding signs that we are in the End Times? When those different signs occur together, they indicate that the events of the End Times prophecy are near. Some, like Israel becoming a nation, have already happened and can only happen once. But others, like earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, wars (and rumors of wars), significant economic and political events, signs in the sky, etc. will happen more and more frequently and with more intensity as we get nearer and nearer -- just like birth pains. (If you haven't read those posts, you can find some of them in the list to the right.)

For example... one of the biggest events that occurs in the very End of Times (the age of the Anti-Christ, just before Jesus returns) is the Gog/Magog war. Some of you probably have heard about it, but don't know anything about it. Or perhaps some tried to read about it and couldn't understand it. Many, many studies have been done on this war. The prophecy comes from Ezekiel 38. I won't break it down into distinct detail and explanation -- there are others who are much better at it than I. But in a nutshell, the prophecy says that one day the Gog/Magog will invade God's people in Israel. "Magog" is a land, and "Gog" is the chief prince (or leader) of that land. Back in Biblical times, they had different names for countries and regions than we do today. The specific wording in the Bible is: "Gog of the land of Magog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal..." Over time, the two words have been meshed together in reference to this war. Why? Well, because the Bible states that this leader will gather his nation and other surrounding nations for the invasion. The Magog area refers to the land far north of Israel, which is Russia: "Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: In that day, when my people Israel are living in safety, will you not take notice of it? You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you..." (Ezekiel 38:14-15) (Look at a map -- Moscow is almost due north of Israel.) In this Biblical prophecy of war, Persia (Iran), Turkey and other nations are mentioned to be in alliance with the Magog.

So, this is the bottom line: More than 2500 years ago, a prophet of God named Ezekiel had a vision from The LORD that described a war in the End Times. The premise of this war is easy to understand... the land of Muslim countries, along with Russia, will go to war with Israel. Let me break it down even more for you: In Biblical prophecy, it states that a major war will occur against Israel. Israel's major enemies in this war will be a coalition of countries in the Magog area along with Iran and Turkey. And the "Gog" -- most likely a leader from Russia -- will be the visible "chief" of this war. I also suspect that "Gog" might end up being a two-part alliance between a leader in Russia and a leader in Iran. A "dual chieftain," if you will.

Let's look at the verse in its entirety: The word of the Lord came to me; Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; prophesy against him and say: 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army - your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. Persia, Cush and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops - the many nations with you.' (Ezekiel 38:1-6)

Definitions:

Magog -- Russia

Meshech -- Moscow

Tubal -- Caucasus Iberians, or the tribes of Georgia

Persia -- Iran

Cush -- Arabian countries of Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, etc.

Put -- Lybia

Gomer -- Turkey (and possibly Syria)

Beth Togarmah -- The area of a region of Muslim peoples formerly called "Armenia," which now consists of countries in the Caucasus and surrounding areas, specifically southern Russia and Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Abkhazia, Chechnya, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh as well as much of eastern Turkey and northern Iran.

What happens when the chief leader, Gog, brings his army from Magog and other countries to attack Israel? The Bible is very, very clear about this:

This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign LORD. In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground. I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign LORD. Every man's sword will be against his brother. I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.' (Ezekiel 38:17-23)

God is not happy with this situation and these Muslim/Russian people. These Islamic countries feel that Israel is their land and they want it back. Russia will side with them for whatever reason, but the bottom line is that Muslims want to push out the Christians (believers of Christ) and the Jews (God's people). And The LORD will basically say, "enough is enough." He will not tolerate these unbelievers and haters pushing His children out of their land and their freedoms. He will pour out judgment in this war. This passage in Ezekiel says "Sovereign LORD" -- which emphasizes the true power and leader of this region (and the entire world). The true power and leader of the land is not Iran, it is not Russia, it is not the Islamic nation. It is The LORD, father of Jesus Christ.

On top of the Islamic countries wanting to push out the people of Israel, the Jews are also still "waiting" for their messiah. They have denied Christ for the past 2,000 years and refused to see that in fact he WAS their messiah. To this day, most Jews deny Christ as the son of God. These events are to allow one last opportunity for people of that region (and the rest of the world) to recognize God and to believe in Christ as their savior. In my humble opinion, this will be the the people of the earth's last major opportunity to see Scripture fulfilled before the Rapture, so that a big wave of new believers will be saved. Some eschatologists (those that study the End Times) believe that the Rapture will occur before this Gog/Magog war. We don't really know for sure... but one thing we DO know is that time is running out.

These events all signal the final days of this church age. There is nothing to fear and there is no cause for worry. It is simply the end of this era. Soon the Rapture and Tribulation will occur, which will bring about Christ's glorious return. When believers see all of this, we will all know that the return of our Messiah is imminent. From this we can rejoice and look forward to his reign of justice, love and peace. Rather than waiting in terror and feeling apprehensive about these events, we should be confident in the Scriptures and know that the return of Jesus to his people will mean justice, righteousness and restoration to all of us children of God.

Now, it's quite possible that the judgment could be natural fire, hailstones and sulfur. But most likely this is describing a horrific war. There were no such things as bombs, missiles, etc. back in those ancient Biblical days. So these descriptions of "earthquakes" and "hailstorms" and "burning sulfur" could very well mean the results of modern weaponry in an all-out war.

So how does this tie into the stuff I'm talking about in September? Do I think this war will happen then?

I'm not sure. No one knows for sure. But it's sure possible. You'd have to be completely oblivious to the news to deny that all the pieces are in place for this war to begin. Ten years ago, if someone looked at this prophecy and declared that Russia was going to side with Iran and the Islamic countries to fight a war with Israel, we all would've told them they were crazy. The Cold War was over. Russia was friendly then. There was "peace" (so to speak) in the Middle East. Jews were moving back to Israel in record numbers, building it up and making it flourish. This scenario was as about as unlikely as a black, Islamic-born democrat running for president of the United States.

Wait a minute...

;o)

I'm not saying that the Gog/Magog war is going to happen next month. But it's possible. Things are already lining up. Can you believe that Russia went to war with Georgia this week? How bizarre is that??? I wouldn't be surprised if a big portion of Russia's motive to invade Georgia was to have control of that very strategic geographic area (and its people) to better align themselves with Iran.

Also in the news today: Israel asked the United States for help with hardware and weaponry as they prepare for war with Iran. Sadly, the U.S. turned them down. (Nice ally, eh? I'm hoping it's all a rouse to surprise Iran by stepping in last minute.)

Just look at some of the things in the news, like Russia's relationship with Iran regarding weapons. Or Iran's nuclear capabilities. Etc., etc., etc. One could spend all day reading articles that fit the pieces of the puzzle that would bring this Gog/Magog prophecy to fruition.

But my thoughts on September are not just about this war. They are about other "birth pains" as well. I suspect that we might see another bank collapse. Probably another earthquake. Perhaps some other significant event with our economy. Possibly some strange weather phenomena. There are hundreds of possibilities -- none of which should seem scary or be frightening to Christians. These are all simply fulfillments of prophecy. I think that several of these could occur in the next month or two. And I especially believe that they will be of such significance that everyone will notice that "something" is up. Unfortunately, many still will fail to see it as Biblical prophecy.

Bigger than any of those events will be this (I suspect): The dividing line between believers and non-believers will grow stronger. People will begin choosing sides, if they haven't done so already. Are you with God, or against Him? I already see this with U.S. politics. It used to be that there were people of all kinds of political belief systems. Many were indifferent or independent. There were conservative lefts and liberal lefts. There were conservative rights and liberal rights. There were strong, clear presidential candidates for each party. Now it just seems that people are either far liberal left or far conservative right. People either love Obama or they hate him. McCain is barely even in the picture. I think we conservative Republicans are so disappointed in our candidate (who has basically ignored most of our conservative Republican beliefs and convictions) that we're just left on the sidelines, with our mouths gaping open.

Thankfully, most of my friends/co-workers are strongly opposed to Obama and dislike pretty much everything about him. Yet there are many, many people (and cities) that are highly liberal and who embrace the things he stands for: free and open homosexuality... the right to choose abortion... multi-culturalism and a melting pot of Americans that includes illegal aliens... fuzzy lines regarding religion and patriotism... the belief that lying, cheating, manipulating and covering up are normal and accepted practices of our country... It's awful and very, very sad. Integrity and faith have lost their meaning in this country. Rules, laws, ethics and God's words are no longer acceptable or PC. Islam and Arab ownership of American properties/entities seem to be spreading far and fast in our nation. In fact, it's spreading far and fast in our world. Christians are no longer accepted, and conservative Christianity is no longer welcomed. No wonder our LORD is outraged. I can completely understand why.

Therefore, my friends, keep doing what you're doing. Choose your side (hopefully it's siding with The LORD and with Jesus Christ) and sit tightly in your faith. Keep watch, and know that when you see the signs of all these prophecies of the Scripture, do not be afraid. Rejoice, and be happy. For it just means that we are nearer than ever to Christ's return.

Amen!