Global SITREP B1-17: Jeremiah 49:34-39 Meets OSINT Head-On

Iranian Static Rocket Display

UPDATE 7 March 2017: The Global SITREP B1-17 update comes to us directly from an article by Heshmat Alavi entitled "Iran in Crisis." Alavi's article was published on Sunday, 5 March 2017 by AmericanThinkerdotCom. Combined with the original post of 26 February it was impressed upon this author to change to change the subtitle to Jeremiah 49:34-39 Meets OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) Head-On. The details within these OSINT reports, which I first read with a sense of complete astonishment, mesh in near perfect harmony with how the Holy Spirit led in the interpretation of Jeremiah's prophecy on this blog seven years ago.

I'll read anything by Heshmat Alavi simply because he is a tier one expert on anything to do with the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Middle East. He is a prolific writer, with articles appearing in all of the major Open Source outlets, from Forbes, to GatestoneInstitutedotOrg to FrontPageMagazine to TheTowerdotOrg. His articles focus on any topic causing crises for the Shi'a Hojjatieh mullahs ruling Iran to the inner mechanisms of its armed forces. But what caught my eye in this article was that it contained spot-on open source confirmation of the Eschatology Today interpretation of the Jeremiah 49:34-39 prophecy. 

First off, this article discuses the city of Ahvaz in southwestern Iran. For those who don't know, Ahvaz lies in the heart of what used to be the ancient land of Elam, the core geographic fixture in Jeremiah's prophecy. Ancient Elam today is known politically as Khuzestan, and Khuzestan is overwhelmingly populated by ethnic Arabs instead of Persians. 

It seems that the mullahs in Tehran, the IRGC in particular, have for many decades been embarked on a program of desertification in this region. These desertification policies have resulted in an ever increasing catastrophic environmental disaster, one in which studied projections indicate will result in 80 percent of Iran becoming desert not unlike Saudi Arabia's famous and largely uninhabited desert. The Iranians, as did Iraq's Saddam Hussein before them, are draining the marshlands and natural underground aquifers northeast of the disputed Shatt-al-Arab and Arvand Rud basin at the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers.** 

Ahvaz, capital city of Khuzestan Province, ancient Elam

(NOTE**At a minimum, this activity might be considered as preparatory for the prophecies found in Revelation 9:14 (Sixth Trumpet-World War) and Revelation 16:12 (Sixth Bowl-Har Megiddo/Armageddon) in the drying out of the region for the passage of the armies of the kings of the East.)

So disastrous are these policies at present that the 14 to 15 million people currently living in the region of ancient Elam are being left to the mercies of monster dust and salt storms, several of which have occurred in recent months, and the people not happy about it at all. The result has been massive anti-government protests in the streets and calls for the people to rise up in revolt against the mullah's in Tehran. Short of that, the people currently living in ancient Elam will be forced to migrate to more habitable locales. Sound familiar?

Another familiar sounding crisis Alavi writes about in this article is the one where Iran finds itself with enemies coming at it from every direction as it did at the recent Munich Security Conference. To quote the author, "This resembles a vast international coalition against Tehran, inflicting yet another blow to the mullahs" ..."strategic interests."  An international coalition of nations which views Iran as the preeminent state sponsor of terrorism in the world, the Middle East and the unrelenting carnage in Syria in particular.

Iran also faces crises in its relationships with nations some see as her allies per the Ezekiel 38/39 prophetic scenario, namely Russia and Turkey. Turkey in particular is calling for Iran's "Persian nationalism" to be stopped in its tracks; that its sectarian (Shi'a) warfare against the Sunni Muslim Gulf States, and plan to turn Syria and Iraq into compliant Shi'a dominated states must be halted. And for Russia, its goals in Syria do not mesh at all with what Tehran has in as its agenda.

And then there are the national elections to be held this coming May. Ayatollah Khamenei is in ailing health and is seeking to secure the presidency for a loyalist by the name of Ibrahim Reisi instead of the current president Hassan Rouhani. A hand-picked Reisi being installed as president may cause upheavals not seen since the national riots of 2009.  In short all of these crises may come to a head with political instability as a cherry on top. They also present pretty clear indications that Jeremiah's God-breathed prophecy is, as all Bible prophecy is, right on target.

26 February 2017: Back in mid-September of 2010 Eschatology Today was the first Bible prophecy blog to commence publishing a fairly detailed exegesis on Jeremiah 49:34-39, entitled "Will a Coalition of Nations Move Against Iran (Yes, They Will!!)". The above link is for reference to the original post and its 2011 and 2012 updates. There is also the most recent in the series which was published in August 2016 as "Global SITREP C8-16: Iran Crossing The Rubicon." SITREP C8-16 also included four additional SITREPs in the same series: B5:14, B4:15, B5-15 and C8:15.

This SITREP has become necessary as the latest in the series due to new raw intelligence data which also relates directly to the following prophecies: Isaiah 17, Jeremiah 49:23-27, Psalm 83 and Joshua 13. The most noteworthy aspect from an intelligence perspective is the absolute omission of any of the various names for Iran in Bible prophecy, such as Paras or Elam, in these prophecies. Given current events in southwest Asia such an omission might appear as being in error. However, as with the rest of the Bible, Bible prophecy is inerrant; no mistake has been made nor given the source of Bible prophecy was an error ever possible. Some other unmentioned and internal centrifugal force is clearly at play. That's where the new intel may have revealed with some specificity what those forces are.

In a nutshell, it's the Iranian-led war in Syria acting as the causation for these centrifugal force issues, However, that's just a headline, a macro view which misses the essential details of the effect of the Iranian-led war within Syria, and Lebanon. That centrifugal effect is a fracturing within the Shi'a sect of Islam between Persian and Arab Shi'a, and even Pakistani Shi'a, brought in to fight for the Ayatollah and the Iranian commander, General Qassem Soleimani. 

The astounding thing about this intel is that it comes from within Lebanon, from Beirut, and it was published just this morning in the Lebanese media organization that resulted from the Hezbollah assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on 14 February 2005. That media is known as Ya Libnan  (Oh Lebanon)." The link is well worth reading for however long is remains an active URL on the internet, but I will provide an exsum of its content below, for the record.

Ya Libnan is the voice of the resistance against Iranian Shi'a domination which came with the establishment of Hezbollah by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Qods Force (QF) in 1982. Hezbollah was established as the most-forward deployed unit of the IRGC-QF in 1982. Ya Libnan is running a virtual gauntlet of Iranian retaliation with the publication of the article today as it speaks only on the periphery of the very serious issues that exist between the IRGC-QF and Hezbollah. 

The focus of the article is about how the Arab Shi'a militia (from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Pakistan) see themselves as merely "cannon fodder" for the Ayatollah and IRGC-QF commander Soleimani. This mindset is due to something I myself have experienced directly, and it is summed up with two words: Persian arrogance. Persian arrogance is by its very nature extreme and unrelentiing. It is quintessential political micromanagement, and by definition it is the kind of political micromanagement that loses wars instead of winning them. It's as if the Ayatollah were Cyrus the Great re-born. This arrogance is causing friction to the point of open resentment within the Iranian-led forces engaged in the current war. 

Left to its own devices, this kind of centrifugal force could lead to an unprecedented schism within Shi'a sect of Islam, the center of which is in Iran. It could, and likely will lead to an Iranian defeat in Syria and Lebanon. That would leave Hezbollah alone to face Israel on the northern front as both Joshua 13 and Psalm 83 indicate. It could lead to the destruction of the Syrian state as Isaiah 17 indicates, and it could lead to Iran facing an international coalition of nations by itself and stripped of the strategic depth afforded to it by Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. It could well be the reason Iran appears as a second-rate power in the prophecy of Ezekiel 38-39.

Another, aspect is that from its inception as the most forward deployed Iranian military force Hezbollah had been designed for confrontation against Israel. Yet the war in Syria is literally consuming Hezbollah like some flesh-eating bacteria. This has left Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to issue insane attempts at face-saving such as rocket strikes against Haifa's ammonia chemical plant and the Dimona nuclear complex in southern Israel. Truth is, the Arab Shi'a know as well as the rest of the world that Nasrallah is just another of the Ayatollah's sock puppets. Iran would risk everything to cut Nasrallah and Hezbollah loose on Israel. I've not yet found a direct reference to this in any of the Bible's prophetic passages; Isaiah 17 maybe, but, again, there's no mention of Iran in that at all relative to the literal text.

Known ranges of Iranian ballistic missiles

The above image relates directly to Jeremiah 49:34-39. Eschatology Today was also the first Bible prophecy blog to reference the fact that the crown jewel of the Iranian nuclear program lies within the territory of ancient Elam. Yet, in looking at the prophecy deeper there's only the widely publicized subjective assumption that it has anything to do with Iranian rockets fitted with nuclear warheads. It is a fact that none of Iran's strategic rocket forces have tested and proven such a capability. Neither has its partner in nuclear crime, North Korea, for that matter. It is mostly the presumption of long range missiles delivering nuclear warheads that drives the Bible prophecy blogosphere and conference circuit narrative that Jeremiah 49:34-39 is about such a potential.

However, what the prophecy does say is not that the nuclear program will be destroyed, but that God will break the bow, which is the foremost of Iran's might. The bow is a metaphor for the technology to launch a projectile - be it a low-tech arrow or a high-tech modern-day missile or rocket. Simple question: What good is even one nuclear weapon if you cannot deliver to the intended target? Simple answer: The nuclear weapon is worthless and actually poses a greater threat to the territory and the population of Iran than to any of its enemies. Who knows what safety mechanisms Iran may or may not have included on a clandestinely manufactured nuclear weapon? Or its nuclear fissile production facilities? A Stuxnet-like attack can do as much or more to move people like refugees from radioactive fallout zone than a conventional military attack. Cases in point: Chernobyl and Fukushima, and neither of them were caused by a cyber attack..

So, Jeremiah is telling us point blank that from the Lord's perspective it is the bow that is the foremost of Iran's might, not their potential for nuclear warheads. The Lord is certainly aware of the potential illustrated by the image above and what it would mean to Israel's longevity. In simple words: Not gonna happen. The bow that Iran possesses will be destroyed. No bows, now arrows get launched.

And then there's the metaphor phrase "I will bring the four winds from the four corners of heaven" to scatter the people of this country to all of the other countries of the earth. What does this metaphor mean? Jeremiah's contemporaries Ezekiel and Daniel also used this phrase, as did Jesus in His Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24:31) and John on Patmos in Revelation 7. 

The metaphorical meaning is generally with respect to the whole earth, and also with respect to an extraordinary or devastating event. Ezekiel used it with great effect concerning the valley of dry bones and the restoration of modern Israel after the Holocaust of WWII. Daniel used it with respect to the stirring up of the Mediterranean Sea region in which the world empires of his vision would hold ultimate power until the next one overtook it, all the way to Rome, and the present day.  And finally, Revelation 7 uses the same metaphor with respect to the angel who holds back four other angels from harming the earth during the 70th Week until the 144,000 of Israel have been given the seal of the living God on their foreheads. In this context the metaphor has everything to do with Divine judgment on a global scale, not unlike the Flood of Noah's day. 

Given what Iran has done and wants to do, it is Divine judgment that Jeremiah's use of this metaphor is most likely intended. That judgment scatters Iranian people to nations all over the planet; that judgment looks and sounds a lot like a military regime change is coming to Tehran, probably just before the 70th Week if not during it.

Global SITREP C8-16: Iran Crossing the Rubicon

A Nuclear Armed Iran Must Be Preempted

Update 9 August 2016: This SITREP has been updated at the bottom with the addition of directly related reference material. This material consists of four linked SITREPs and the original Jeremiah 49:34-39 eschatological article of 15 September 2010, and its 2011 and 2012 updates. In sum, this material covers the past seven years of study on this subject.

6 August 2016: As most of us have learned from Trish Regan's interview of newly released Iranian hostage Pastor Saeed Abedini live by the Fox Business Network two days ago, President Obama was caught red-handed in a bald-faced lie about a $400 million ransom payment to the Ayatollah's terrorist regime. The simple fact of the matter is that this ransom payment was hidden from the U.S. Congress, made in cold hard currency and occurred in the dead of night. Therefore, Obama's same day statement that "we do not pay ransom" is without doubt not only a bald-faced lie, but yet another act of completely lawlessness by a sitting American president. 

Therefore, who can accept at face value anything this president or his administration's spokespersons have said past or present regarding the Iran nuclear deal? Or the completely corrupt woman who seeks to be his heir apparent?  No one with at least a single pair of functioning brain cells would accept anything coming from this utterly corrupt administration and its wanna-be follow-on. Not only is everything about the Iran nuclear deal completely bogus, but the fact remains that the government of the Islamic Republic never officially ratified the agreement, which means that Iran has never been obligated to adhere to any of its provisions. That fact should be setting off alarm bells in DC, but all that is heard from within The Beltway is the usual nonsensical and illusionary drivel.

Additionally, many are the number of websites and media reports claiming that Iran is "cheating" on the JCPOA nuclear agreement. Pardon my naivete, but exactly how does a nation cheat on something it never has agreed to? Few are the number of websites and media reports which are reporting on the truth of the matter. One of those truth tellers is the Gatestone Institute in its report of 4 August. 

In addition to the fact that the JCPOA nuclear agreement was never ratified by the Iranian government, Gatestone also reported that German intelligence operations have uncovered the Iranian "clandestine path" to obtaining nuclear weapons related technology from German companies. Gatestone also cites the Associated Press' acquisition from an unidentified diplomat of a "secret agreement" between Obama and the Iranian government that permits Iran to enrich nuclear stock material at a much higher rate, thereby reducing the time necessary for a breakout to indigenous nuclear weapons capability long before the JCPOA agreement's announced terms would be fulfilled. 

How long before, you might ask? The "secret agreement" between the Obama Administration and the Ayatollah would permit Iran's terrorist regime to produce a nuclear weapon within six months. Since the JCPOA is a year old Iran could have secretly produced two nuclear weapons, all the while conducting terrorist operations around the world, taking US Navy sailors and the craft prisoner on the high seas. In days gone by these kinds of actions were known as acts of war. Those who facilitate acts of war against the U.S. were also known as traitors. Don't look now, but Iran is crossing the Rubicon, the point of no return. 

Lost in this fray is the fact that nuclear weapons are the key ingredient in the Shi'a Hojjatieh Twelvers eschatological recipe regarding hastening the reappearance of some log-since-deceased imam. Iranian nuclear weapons are to create the global chaos necessary for the hastening. 

So, it is in the secular world, but according to Bible prophecy, specifically Jeremiah 49:34-39 and Ezekiel 38 and 39, show us a different reality that will come to fulfillment in the near future. Knowing these things should convince one and all that the fictions of the secular world and the true world of the near future as illuminated by God-breathed prophecy are on a collision course. 

So, which occurs first, the sound of breaking "bows" or "a shout, with the voice of an archangel, with the trump of God"? Are you ready?

Reference material:

1.)  Global SITREP B5-15: More on Jeremiah 49:34-39

2.)  Global SITREP B5-14: The Lord's Fierce Anger Upon Iran
3.)  Global SITREP C8-15: Mid-2015 Situation Report
4.)  Global SITREP B4-15: An Open Invitation to Kick In Iran's Nuclear Doors 
5.)  Jeremiah 49: Will a Coalition of Nations Move Against Iran? (Yes, They Will!!) 

Global SITREP B6-23: A Disaster in the Making

 

UPDATED 25 May 2023: As posted here recently, the legion of Indications and Warnings (I&W) for a major event occurring in Iran continue apace. 

The civilian insurrection against the Twelver regime has ramped up despite, and in fact due to the numerous death sentences carried out against captured protestors. Voices within Israel say direct support to the civilian protestors is the best course of action. Were it not for the apocalyptic Twelver's nearly realized nuclear weapons ambition, this would be an excellent course of action, and in truth, is likely in-progress. However, it's not enough to cork the nuclear genie in a bottle. 

The prophecy of Jeremiah 49:34-39 indicates both a civil uprising and external swords being brought against the Twelver regime. This is a relatively long-term process of the Lord's declared judgment being meted out; to be sure it is a near-term yet drawn-out catastrophe for Iran. As as Jeremiah's prophetic Scripture makes clear, the ancient province of Elam is ground zero for the unfolding judgment. For their part, the Twelver's recently reiterated that any military attack upon their nuclear facilities and defense installations will result in all-out war. The regime is woefully ignorant of the Lord's hand holding against the "foremost of their might." A rude awakening and ultimate cause dismay among the regime's clerics.

UPDATE 27 May 2023: Eschatology Today noted quite some time ago that the prophecies regarding present day Iran found in Jeremiah 49:34-39 (as Elam) and Ezekiel 38:5 (as Paras/Persia) are distinct prophecies. It is time to make the prophetic distinction clearer than it has been until now.

In Jeremiah the prophecy is very specific in naming that part of modern Iran which was ancient Elam. Ancient Elam occupied a large portion of southwestern Iran. It is where Iran's nuclear crown jewel is located at Bushehr, and several other of Iran's clandestine nuclear sites are also located. When Israel's leadership decides to strike and neutralize the Iranian nuclear threat, as was done in Iraq (1981 at Osirak south of Baghdad) and Syria (Al Kibar, Deir Ez-Zor province) previously, the region of ancient Elam will be the focus. This region in total encompasses the provinces of Bushehr, Fars, Isfahan, Khuzestan, Lorestan and Ilam. 

As Jeremiah's prophecy makes clear, this is where Iran's judgment through military action (the sword) begins. This is where the foremost of their military might is located. Much of the rest of Iran's external military power as controlled by the IRGC Qods Force (QF) is itemized in the below graphic.

The strikes upon Iran will undoubtedly bring proxy responses against Israel from Syria (Isaiah 17 and Jeremiah 49:23-27), Lebanon, Gaza and the fifth column proxies in Judea and Samaria (Psalm 83, Isaiah 11:12-14 and Ezekiel 28:24-26). Jordan will also join in with this group of enemies. They all lose this war badly, some cease to exist as nations, others become vassal states. The overall sum of these prophetic fulfillments results in the prophetic narrative concerning Israel found in Ezekiel 38/39. 

That sum boils down to Israel, immediately prior to the 70th Week of Years, dwelling safe and secure, without walls, bars or gates and not even considering the losses endured by Russia in its long-term military investments in Syria. Ezekiel 38/39 is a very brief war of retribution and as an attempt to conquer and plunder Israel. Ezekiel 38:5 is where we find Iran (as Paras) a militarily reduced Iran at that, with Libya (Puwt) and Sudan (Kûwsh), and which may include Horn of Africa nations as well. Iran at this time is not a major power and is lumped in with other minor powers like Puwt and Kûwsh in support of the the primary force, a coalition of what remains of the Russian military and its Caucasian and Central Asian allies.

In Jeremiah 49, there does not appear to be a nuclear war element, although the radiation released from strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities will cause a mass exodus to locations around the globe. In Ezekiel 38/39 there's no question about it - nuclear exchanges are certainly a part of that brief war against the participants in it. 

Marana'tha!

Global SITREP B4-15: An Open Invitation to Kick In Iran's Nuclear Doors

Updated 4 March 2015: If the approaching 31 March 2015 deadline for the Interim Nuclear Agreement with Iran hasn't become big news yet, it soon shall become big news. Either the Interim Nuclear Agreement's collapse or its implementation will make big news. 

More importantly, as can be clearly discerned from PM Netanyahu's (embedded above) speech to Congress yesterday, either of those potential news items will be the foundation for an even bigger news item in the near future that I have inferred as the title of this SITREP: An Open Invitation to Kick In Iran's Nuclear Doors, otherwise known to students of Bible prophecy as Jeremiah 49:34-39.

President Obama's evil agenda in this regard was fully exposed before the entire world yesterday when he wasted no time at all in characterizing PM Netanyahu's speech, which he claimed he did not have the time to watch, as containing "no viable alternative" to a nuclear armed Iran.  PM Netanyahu's call for "a better deal" in which he specified the specific elements that would make it a better deal that Israel would not like, but could live with, also fully exposed the bankrupt nature of Obama's agenda.

However, and I must repeat myself here, PM Netanyahu made perfectly crystal clear that Israel CANNOT LIVE with the agreement that Obama is attempting to shove down Israel's throat. This forces us to stand with PM Netanyahu against a sitting American president in a time of war. And its not like everything I have ever written about Obama was not a prescient forecast that a day like this was going to arrive one day. By all appearances that day will arrive in the current month of March 2015.

What did Jeremiah prophecy?

The next question is... who will be kicking in those doors? I have touched on this subject before, here and here. It is a sure bet that Bible prophecy sites all over will be touting Jeremiah 49:34-39 as being what Israel will do to Iran now. But is that what Jeremiah prophesied? Did he say God will send Israel and Israel alone to execute His judgment? Or did Jeremiah say that God would send the four winds from the four quarters of heaven to execute this judgment? Bible prophecy comes to fulfillment precisely as it is written; God inspired His prophets to say what He wanted them to say, so we must pay close attention to what Jeremiah 49:34-39 says precisely less we fall into the trap known as 'newspaper exegesis.'

For Israel to not go it alone there are a couple of potentials that could bring about a coalition of nations striking to remove Iran's ability to enrich uranium to the weapons grade level, and to "break the bow of Elam, the foremost of their might." One might be a circumstance could be an IAEA revelation proving beyond a doubt to the P5+1 negotiating side that Iran did indeed have a secreted, undeclared parallel nuclear weapons program just as has now been alleged with Lavizan-3. Another circumstance that could suddenly arise is a North Korean nuke test. Immediately after the text U.S. high altitude radioactive isotope sampling and nuclear forensic analysis could reveal a unique signature isotope that could only have been produced in Iran.  Again, for the P5+1 negotiators it would be game over for Iran.

The next few weeks might will really be something, for I fully expect Iran to go all out in a mad dash to make negotiations over its nuclear program a moot point.

 Noon 3 March 2015: As PM Netanyahu was speaking before the US Congress, word came from Geneva that Iran has flatly rejected the so-called "sunset clause" that would mandate a complete halt to all Iranian nuclear work for ten years. Yes, the Ayatollah has thrown his black turban on the floor and flat-out rejected Obama's non-starter 10-year nuclear hiatus for Iran.

The single most important thing Bibi Netanyahu said today, and he was absolutely correct in saying what he said, was that no matter if Iran accepts Obama's "deal" or rejects it, either option before them leads to a nuclear weapon capability.  

So where does this truth leave the world-at large; what option remains available to stop the Iranian drive down either path to nuclear weapons capability?  This is not rocket science my brethren.  The only option left is the one which removes Iran's capability to enrich uranium to a weapons grade level, and that means destroying all of its enrichment facilities.**

**When I wrote the above underlined sentence I had not yet been afforded the opportunity to watch or even hear PM Netanyahu's speech, yet that sentence is virtually identical to what the Prime Minister said as he began his closing remarks. And he meant every word of it. Hopefully both Obama and the Ayatollah were listening intently.

Lavizan-3 Revealing by NCRI-US on 24FEB15

3 March 2015: The day of Israeli PM Netanyahu's much anticipated speech to a joint session of the U.S. Congress is also the one-week anniversary of the NCRI-US revelation to the world of yet another previously unknown underground Iranian nuclear weapons site known as Lavizan-3. (Reference: Global SITREP E8-14: Another in a Series of Imminent Nuclear Crises with Iran Beckons) 

Consider this: WHY was it necessary for the Republican Speaker of the United States House of Representatives to invite the Prime Minister of the State of Israel to speak before the a joint session of Congress today?

A) Because he's basically a really nice guy and it was polite of him to issue the invitation?

-or-

B) Because if Barack Hussein Obama had been the U.S. President on December 7, 1941 America would have lost Word War II?

This anniversary comes complete with the fact that if the world's most prolific terrorist and Shi'a Twelver apocalyptic regime had nothing to hide underground at the Lavizan-3 site, then a near immediate invitation to the IAEA offering complete and unfettered access would have preceded by days the Israeli Prime Minister's much heralded arrival in New York City. Instead of addressing the NCRI-US revelations head-on in a forthcoming manner consistent with honest negotiations with the P5+1 partners what has arrived from Tehran via its usual toadies and lackeys is nothing more substantial than rampant obfuscation, derision and other assorted irrelevant non-technical debris. Garbage in other words.

It is most instructive to note that as the NCRI-US press conference was revealing the existence of Lavizan-3 a week ago, U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice was concurrently describing the arrival of Israeli PM Netanyahu in the United States as "destructive." Speaking of something being "destructive," it has apparently never dawned upon Ms. Rice that the Lavizan-3 nuclear site was under construction when Iran had allegedly halted all nuclear-related activities according to the 2007 National Defense Intelligence Estimate. How is it that a National Security Advisor to the President of the United States could be so ill-informed, so totally out of touch with documents this government has produced? Has President Obama been deliberately kept out of the loop on such important matters of state?

It is a near certainty that when PM Netanyahu addresses today's joint session of Congress he will present a very comprehensive and highly vetted briefing to our elected Senators and Representatives of what President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, in all of their oft claimed transparency, have been hiding from them over the course of several months now. It is the abject fear of the Obama Administration over what PM Netanyahu will reveal today that forced Obama to reveal at the last minute that the framework agreement being negotiated with Iran includes a minimum ten-year sunset clause. 

What also remains unacknowledged is that the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has the ability to unilaterally abrogate the framework agreement at the drop of his black turban. That alone is reason for Bibi Netanyahu to 'kick the tires and light the fires' of the Israeli Air Force's most capable strike aircraft. They do not require an Iranian invitation to kick in the doors of all of Iran's secret nuclear facilities.

Global SITREP B5-15: More on Jeremiah 49:34-39

Final Update 30 March 2015: At least I hope this will be the final update to this SITREP. However, it may be the most important. It has been my assessment for many years that Iran has at least one, possibly more, working nuclear weapons. I also have always maintained that North Korean nuclear tests have been de facto Iranian nuclear tests.

Now comes information posted today from a respected military intelligence report which suggests exactly that, but with a twist. De facto Iranian nuclear tests have occurred in North Korea, and so is their assembly and storage site located in North Korea. According to the mil intel report two and a half years ago (October 2012) Iran began stationing IRGC troops and technicians at a base in North Korea and very near the Chinese border. Their dual purpose is to work on missiles and nuclear weapons assembly. This deployment followed by one month the signing of a technical cooperation pact between the DPRK and Iran.

With the reported key detail of the framework agreement (scheduled to be announced tomorrow) between the P5+1 and Iran holding that there is the "safeguard" of a one-year warning to a breakaway effort by Iran to produce a nuclear weapon by IAEA monitoring of Iran's centrifuges in Iran, what good does that do if Iran's military nuclear effort is based in North Korea, and in nuclear terms, a "stone's throw" from the Chinese border?

Not only is the alleged P5+1-Iran agreement worse than anyone, including Bibi Netanyahu, believed just 4 weeks ago, but it's essentially a mega-farce in continuing parade of mega-farces. Warm and fuzzies for everyone!


21 March 2015:  Are there any indications within Bible prophecy of a nuclear-armed Iran?  If you find one please let me know immediately.  Until that time, and excepting only Ezekiel 38/39, the only 'last days' prophecy there is regarding Iran is the subject of this and numerous other posts to Eschatology Today: Jeremiah 49:34-39.  The prophecy is about a very violent preemptive military neutering of Iran, and a conflict in which Iran's enemies end up subduing the regime to its complete destruction. And it all begins in that part of modern-day Iran where its nuclear infrastructure in concentrated. Historically, biblical Elam had ceased to exist as a nation over five hundred years prior to Jeremiah receiving this prophecy from God circa 600 BC. This leave no doubt that Jeremiah's prophecy is one whose fulfillment was appointed for these 'last days.'

It should therefore come as no surprise to any student of Bible prophecy that the much heralded P5+1 (EU/E3+3) nuclear negotiations with Iran are on the verge of collapse just days prior to the March 31 deadline. The collapse is due as much to the Iranian regime's rejection of the conditions being imposed by the P5+1 as it is due to the European partners rejection of major aspects of the "deal" negotiated by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.  The long and the short of these negotiations are that the Iranian regime has played both Obama and Kerry as fools, and which is something the European partners want no part of such absurdity as they know all too well the end result of baseless negotiations with a totalitarian dictatorship bent on imposing their ideology upon the rest of the world.

So, what we're left with is our faith in the prophetic word of God and knowing that its fulfillment is near. Very near indeed.


11 March 2015: Did anyone notice how Iran responded by PM Netanyahu's speech to the U.S. Congress? I am absolutely certain some of you did notice. For those that did not, and for those who don't fully grasp the significance of the Iranian response, this update is for you!

Exactly one week after PM Netanyahu's speech the Iranian Assembly of Experts elected the notorious Hojjatieh Twelver Ayatollah Mohammed-Taqi Mesbah Yazdi. Ayatollah Yazdi is the Iranian cleric who brought Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power in Iran. Ayatollah Mesbah-Yazdi managed to fall off, or was deliberately and politically knocked off of the top echelon of the clerical elite in Iran during 2013. A ruse during nuclear negotiations, no doubt. He was then summarily dismissed by most intelligence agencies as having little or no influence in any future decision to replace Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

Here is an example of that type of intelligence dismissal of Ayatollah Yazdi that was published by Israel's Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center on July 8, 2013:

"The erosion of Mesbah Yazdi’s status may be temporary and it is quite implausible that he will lose all of his political and religious influence. It may, however, undermine his ability to play a central, influential role in future political struggles, particularly the succession struggle that will likely emerge after the death of the current Supreme Leader."

The Israeli's could not possibly have forecast a more erroneous intelligence assessment, as he was down but by no means out of the picture. Particularly the big picture which will remain in flux until early 2016.

A re-assessment on exactly what is going on within Iran's powerful 86-member Assembly of Experts is in progress. At present it appears as if Ayatollah Mohammed Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi (80), and Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati have jointly managed to get a majority of votes to elect the similarly named Ayatollah Mohammed Yazdi (83) to the leadership position and send the body as a whole on a lurch to the stridently fundamentalist side of Iranian politics. It remains to be seen who may yet become the next Supreme leader of Iran.

6 March 2005: As even the main stream media in the Middle East is now acknowledging, the specific content and context of PM Netanyahu's speech to the U.S. Congress has received open and unambiguous approval and support from the Saudi Arabian government, proving what I wrote recently of the military cooperation between them in the ongoing planning for a strike against Iranian nuclear targets is nothing less than a cold hard fact.

So incensed are the Saudi's with Obama's Iranian agenda that one Saudi newspaper columnist said Obama was the worst US President in history; another citing Netanyahu's axiom that when it comes to Iran and the Islamic State, "the enemy of your enemy is your enemy" had particular resonance in the government halls of Riyadh. The Saudi's are keenly aware of Iranian encirclement of their kingdom - from across the waters of the gulf to Yemen in the south where Shi'a Houthi rebels have taken control of the county with Iranian direct support.

5 March 2015: With real-world events having once again fixed our gaze and our diligent study upon the prophecy of Jeremiah (Yirme'Yahu) 49:34-39. Through continuing study the Lord has continued to reveal new insights that I feel I would be remiss as a watchman to omit from mentioning.

Many are fearful to the point of hand-wringing angst that should additional sanctions be applied or Iranian nuclear sites be attacked by outside forces one of the first things Iran would do in response would be to militarily shut down the Strait of Hormuz to the flow of global commerce, especially crude oil.

Here's where reading Jeremiah 49:34-39 causes one to look critically at what the Lord has foretold.  Specifically, how could the Islamic Republic follow through on its often repeated threat to close down the Strait of Hormuz given what our Omnipotent God has declared through His prophet? 

How does Iran shut down this critical waterway when God has destroyed the crown jewel of Iranian military power? How does the uber braggadocian Iranian regime  make good on its threats when God has caused them to be chathath (to be shattered, dismayed, broken) before their enemies? Notice carefully that there is more than one enemy in the context here. Through Jeremiah the Lord has promised "I will send the sword after them, til I have consumed them."  

The world which has no regard for and no interest in the prophetic declarations of the God of Israel spends its time worrying, and fretting, and fearing that which ought not be. That kind of activity has no place here. Unlike others who worry needlessly and express fear over things they have no control over, Christians empowered by the Holy Spirit are in an automatic "In God We Trust" mode day in and day out.

Global SITREP D9-17: Paradigm Shattering Changes Reshaping the Middle East - Part I

IDF Merkava MkIV MBT on the Golan border with Syria

UPDATE 28 November 2017: This SITREP has turned out to be one of the more "panoramic" when it comes to hitting the key notes of the imminent flood of fulfillment. And, without question, this is the most popular SITREP to date averaging over 600 pageviews per day. So, you can probably guess what this means - Global SITREP D9-17 will be continued with SITREP D10-17 serving as Part II. SITREP D10 will begin where the final comment made this morning left off. Thanks for reading!

26 November 2017: While American's were giving thanks to the Lord for our blessings, in the Middle East our enemies were not only cursing us, but declaring their intention of attacking the U.S. and Israel. 

The below mentioned Iraqi brigades fighting in Syria made a pair of declarations this weekend. The first was the swearing of an oath to liberate the Golan and all of "Palestine" from Zionist occupation. The second was to declare all American forces "direct enemies" whether they be in Syria or Iraq, and their intention to attack them. 

This follows a publication by the IRGC's daily newspaper Javan last week of their intention of using force to achieve an American military departure from Syria and Iraq. This announcement therefore is a thinly disguised declaration of war against the Coalition Joint Task Forces - Operation Inherent Resolve which includes the Kurdish and Syrian Arab forces of the SDF in northeastern Syria.

On the other side of the coin, Israel has made clear that it will attack and destroy without further notice any and all Iranian facilities or bases within 25 miles (40 km) of the Golan border. 

Standing by...

24 November 2017: In reviewing the post history of the past five years I ran headlong into one from July 2012 titled "Psalm 83 Verse 8: Assur - Syria or Iraq." In that post the Assur that existed in 925 BC was firmly identified as Iraq for the reasons detailed. Also, in the last paragraph of that post Eschatology Today concluded with this statement that links directly to this current SITREP:

"It would seem that something also needs to occur respective to the cohesion of the present Iraqi nation. Perhaps that something is related to Jeremiah 49:34-39, or perhaps to the Sunni-Shi'a civil war that is ongoing in Aram-Syria at this time, or both. In any event, the Lord specifically identified Assur in verse 8 and the expected paradigm-shifting events are likely more widespread that we currently are able to envision."

In following the Eschatology Today coverage of the war occurring in Iraq and Syria, and now linked directly to Lebanon, the "paradigm-shifting events" being "likely more widespread" than we were able to envision five years ago are now, and have been, staring us square in the face in a truly consolidated form. One of the formerly unforeseen occurrences is the presence in Syria, on the Jordanian border, as well as being within very a short drive of Israel's border, several brigades of Iraqi militia fighters. Take careful note that the prophetic Scripture of Psalm 83 makes no distinction between nor does it even mention any sect of Islam, only ethnic identities. 

This therefore begs a question: Could these Iraqi brigades be the Assur of Psalm 83:8? They are in the right place at the right time, just as they were in 1948 and again in 1973, so it is very difficult as this point to not fully acknowledge this fact. Once again there is nothing coincidental or incidental to the fulfillment of Bible prophecy.

22 November 2017: Once again Eschatology Today is going ahead of the curve. If you're following the comments section of this SITREP then you were given some info yesterday on the overwhelming conventional military capability of "Sheba and Dedan" (the Saudi-led GCC) over the Islamic Republic of Iran. But what of their proxies such as Hezbollah and Iraqi Shi'a militia? Well, this is what allies are for. Strategic allies like the U.S. and regional allies like Israel. (Yes, Israel, the key to ALL end times events.) There's also a nuclear umbrella which is provided to Sheba and Dedan by "Tarshish and its young lions," but also by their Pakistani ally. The Saudi's paid for Pakistan's nukes; they are obligated. Keep this in mind in the future, it'll come in handy in understanding events as they unfold.

Do not think, however, that 'Sheba and Dedan" will tackle the Iranian threat by going solo. The  Lord is bringing the "four winds" against Elam, which is modern-day Khuzestan province, an Iranian crown jewel; foremost of the Ayatollah's military might. (Jeremiah 49:34)  This is where the U.S.-led coalition (mostly NATO) will pick up any slack, irregardless of the strategic Iran has in Magogland to the north. There's also unfinished business in Afghanistan and 2018 will be a decisive year in the OEF (Operation Enduring Freedom) war now in its 16th going on 17th year. You remember the troop "surges" of years past? There's one more (big one) coming. 

Long story short, the view in the periscope says that securing Afghanistan secures Iran's eastern border or flank. The Gulfs (both Persian and Arabian) are Iran's soft underbelly and contain a pair of choke points which can be closed by allied naval forces thereby stranding and surrounding the Shi'a Houthi's in Yemen. Then there's Iraq where domination by Tehran over the government in Baghdad should be described as temporary. Prophetically, Iraq was part of the ancient Roman Empire and it will be part of the fourth and final Beast Empire again. Current and near future events will see to that. The Iranian western border or flank would thus be secured. This is also known as a "containment" strategy.

And then there's Syria and Lebanon. We've covered the prophetic angle in Syria per Jeremiah 49:23-27 and Isaiah 17 fairly extensively, and Lebanon per Joshua 13. This theater of war will be sudden, extremely violent and and almost certainly involve weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, biological. chemical). The prophecies all speak of great suffering and whole regions of sudden mass depopulation. This speaks directly to the use of WMD. 

We know the end-game from a plethora of prophetic Scripture, and now this blog seeing and has just spoken about very probable pathways to that state of affairs in the near future which leads directly to the pre-70th Week culmination of Ezekiel 38/39. 

How much of this we get to witness as residents of this planet is unknown, but we can certainly discern with acceptable clarity because we saw the Great Sign of Revelation 12:1-2 occur just two months ago. Surely the blessed hope of our Lord coming to catch us up in the clouds to be with Him forevermore is palpably near. Marana'tha!

20 November 2017: In most recent memory when the Sunni Arab League convened an emergency meeting of foreign ministers in Cairo, Egypt it would have been to condemn Israel for one perceived offense or another. This was not the case in yesterday's emergency session. At the insistence of Sheba and Dedan (Saudi Arabia and the Sunni Arab Gulf States) this session was called to order and focused upon the threat posed by the Shi'ite Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxy Lebanese Hezbollah to the whole of the Arab League.

Within the Arab League, two nations which were founding members, Lebanon and Iraq, held their membership because when the Arab League was founded both were ruled by Sunni Muslim governments. Today this is not the case as both are completely under the domination of Shi'a governments controlled by the Iranian (Persian) Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 

No surprise, but these are the two Arab League member nations which prevented a unanimous vote condemning the Islamic Republic of Iran and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations which pose a direct threat and are guilty of interfering in the internal affairs to all of the other sovereign member nations of the Arab League. It would be impossible for the Sunni-majority nations of the Arab League to condemn Hezbollah as being a terrorist organization and not also condemn its parent, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps Qods Force, as a terrorist organization. They are twins raised together by the Shi'a Hojjatieh regime that took control of Tehran and founded the Islamic Republic in the 1978 revolution that overthrew the late Shah Reza Pahlavi.

Unanimous or not, this declaration of the Arab League is what's necessary for the action which logically should follow -- a formal declaration of war between the members of the Sunni Arab League and the Islamic Republic of Iran and its Lebanese Hezbollah, Yemeni Houthi and Iraqi Shi'a militia proxy forces. This battle has been joined for quite some time now, but the difference in the aftermath of this emergency Arab League meeting it that its become a formalized war with legal status.

While secular Jewish and other western media have not cited the Shi'a apocalyptic eschatological ideology driving the actions of Iran and its proxies, this critical fact is not lost on the Sunni Arab states who are actively in the midst of destroying the extremist Wahhabi and Salafi ideologies in their own midst. 

This leads us to a key and very forward-looking point mentioned on this blog from time to time regarding a critical religious aspect of the 70th Week. One of the primary goals of the Globalists has been to establish a unified religious world order. This order will be built upon a merging of the major "Abrahamic religions," (i.e. Christianity, Judaism, Islam). 

Sunni Arab states which divest themselves of the extremist elements within Islam would fold nicely into what we'll call a "Covenant Among Many Abrahamic Faiths." Add to this all that is prophesied by the angel Gabriel to the prophet Daniel in chapters seven through nine of his book, as well the prophetic word revealed in Revelation 13. This amounts to the bigger interpretive picture of the 70th Week as long proposed by Eschatology Today. We are well down this prophetic road, with the key dominoes falling all along the way. 

All of this only serves to reinforce what is written below and in the original 2010 Eschatology Today interpretation of Jeremiah 49:34-39 and its leading edge position of prophecies requiring at least partial fulfillment prior to the prophetic events of the 70th Week. Following Jeremiah 49:34-39 modern-day Persia is not specifically mentioned in any other pre-70th Week prophecy save for the secondary or reduced military role it plays in the events of Ezekiel 38/39. 

17 November 2017: For a couple of weeks now there have been significant I&W (Indications & Warnings) of one or more conflicts erupting around the planet. It's as if the earth was a pressure cooker and occasional whiffs of escaping steam gave notice that boiling was occurring within. I&W are duly noted, but finding corroborations of what they might mean as a potential imminent fact are extremely hard to nail down with any specificity. We dealt with this to some extent in SITREP D7-17 and in the integral comments section, but nothing concrete emerged, except for what is expected per Bible prophecy. And that's where the proverbial rubber meets the 'Prophetic Road to Revelation.'

As is always true, the Bible interprets the Bible. It was this fact coupled with what can only be described as a "how could this have been missed" moment of insight that occurred just one day ago. That moment has convinced yours truly that preconceived notions about exactly how the final act of Psalm 83's  'unfinished business' scenario will manifest required an immediate jettisoning in favor of a new and likely corrected interpretive view. 

For a specific example let's look at the sequencing of these prophecies. Does the ultimate prophetic fulfillment of Psalm 83 precede or follow that of Ezekiel 38/39? 

Stop! Before you answer that question consider the lightning bolt the Lord hit me with just yesterday. Ezekiel 38:13, which begins with "Sheba and Dedan," has long been considered a critical part of Ezekiel's post-Psalm 83 prophecy. And a critical part it is, but do you see the problem it creates in a sequential interpretation of these prophecies if the descendants of Ishmael are to be completely vanquished as a result of Psalm 83? 

How are "Sheba and Dedan" - the entire Arabian Peninsula - to remain such a prominent force politically and militarily along with the "merchants of Tarshish and all their young lions" as the Magog military confederation appears descending upon a peaceful and secure Israel in a post-Psalm 83 world?

The best clue we have to this riddle is what is occurring at the present within Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE and Oman (i.e. the GCC). And what is occurring at present is nothing short of paradigm shattering changes. Without these paradigm shattering changes even thinking of a war fought against the Islamic Republic of Iran and its terrorist proxies by a military coalition that includes the Saudi-led GCC and Israel would have been, well, way out on a limb.

And that is precisely where Eschatology Today went a little over seven years ago (September 2010) in the interpretive theory looking at Jeremiah 49:34-39. Eschatology Today presented the fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy as one of a grand coalition going to war against the Islamic Republic. 

Remember this paragraph?

"In the next verse we read that the judgment comes in the form of "the four winds" (i.e. all points on the compass and intimating many nations) as being the "sword" the Lord sends after them. Also looking at the map of Iran, it does appear that Arab nations, the principle of which is Saudi Arabia, would be among those coming against Elam from the southern "wind" along with many other nations constituting the other three directions. This includes Israel and many other nations such as the NATO alliance, and clearly invokes the modern day notion of a warfighting coalition of nations such as we saw in the early 1990s Operation Desert Storm against Iraq and the present day Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan."

So, here we are in the latter weeks of 2017, and Saudi Arabia and the GCC are changing before our very eyes in ways that had we been prescient enough to elucidate it seven years ago would have resulted in copious amounts of laughter if not outright ridicule. 

Nevertheless, there were in several mostly European and Middle Eastern newspapers, published yesterday morning reports of Saudi Arabia and the GCC being allied with Israel for direct military action against the Islamic Republic of Iran and it's Hezbollah proxy in Lebanon and Syria. This joint Arab-Israeli military action is identified as one of the nascent Saudi Arabian king Mohammed bin Salman's highest priority objectives upon his ascension to the throne next week. This follows the unprecedented publication in Saudi Arabia just yesterday of an interview with Israel's military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, the subject of which was Iran being the biggest common threat in the Middle East to Sunni Arab nations and Israel. 

Global SITREP B5-14: The Lord's Fierce Anger Upon Iran

22 January 2014 (Prologue): The prophecy of Jeremiah 49:34-39 has been discussed on this blog on numerous occasions over the past couple of years. This time however a closer look at the text might be a beneficial exercise. Even though there are only six verses to this prophecy, it also contains a substantially larger amount information for the reader to absorb than the text by itself reveals. The both the plain text and the imagery within this prophecy are astounding in my view. As always, I believe this is a prophecy that is about to commence in its fulfillment in three distinct phases: an imminent start, a middle phase during the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38/39, and the final verse during the Millennial Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Verse 34: "The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah..."

This leading verse simply informs the reader that Jeremiah is the presenter to us of: 

a) the prophetic word that has been given to him by "the Lord of hosts" 

b) the subject of the prophecy, and 

c) when this prophecy was given to Jeremiah. 

The remaining 5 verses contain all of the prophetic data, and within these five verses I discern a distinct sequence of events.

Verse 35: "Behold, I will break the bow (qesheth) of Elam, the foremost of their might."

This verse informs that Elam's (Iran's) foremost military might, it's offensive military might, is suddenly and inexplicably broken. This event is singular unto itself. The plain text metaphor qesheth (battle bow or archer) given here informs us that the choice part or best of the military might of Iran that God will break is an offensive weapon system that launches projectiles at the enemy.

Even without nuclear warheads, Iran possesses an incredible number of rocket and missile platforms that as with all modern military forces provide coverage from short to long ranges and in multiple types for engaging land, sea and airborne targets. These rocket and missile systems are the qesheth that Jeremiah speaks of. There is no reason given for the breaking of these weapons systems, it's just that the Lord of hosts has declared it will happen.

As in ancient times when Persian/Median armies launched massive barrages of arrows at their enemies, so too the Iranian military of today relies very heavily on their modern day equivalent. Iranian warfighting doctrine dictates mass barrage-style launches. Iran can be seen exercising this capability every couple of months or so, and in some instances photoshopping the images to convey ridiculous numbers of rockets being launched.

 Nevertheless, the question is, how will God break such a qesheth as this? I would speculate, aside from a supernatural act by God, this will occur by the same electronic warfare means as Israel has thus far kept all enemy missile systems from firing at their F15-I Ra'am and F-16I Sufa strike aircraft for the past seven years over Lebanon, Syria and the Sudan. Israel not only can put an enemy into an electronic black hole, but the evidence is that the IDF can actually take control of an enemy's weapons systems. Israel's airborne Suter electronic warfare system, or whatever the more mature version might have as its nomenclature today,  the system really is so advanced, that I suspect it is even beyond the very real capability of the rumored non-nuclear EMP capability.

Verse 36: "Against Elam (Iran) I will bring the four winds, from the four quarters of heaven, and scatter them toward all those winds; there shall be no nations where the outcasts of Elam will not go."

Four winds from every direction of the globe scatter outcasts from Elam to every nation of the globe. These are Iranian refugees escaping the tyranny of the regime and the Basij thugs who enforce that tyranny. God provides them this escape so that they may return in the future to this ancient* people to this ancient* land as He promises in verse 39. (those 'latter days' are almost certainly during the Millennium Kingdom of Christ.) So, to recap, the major offensive weapons capability of Iran is suddenly broken or non-functional in the previous verse.

This clearly, as we shall see in the subsequent verse, causes dismay, confusion and a window of opportunity is created whereby those who desperately want to escape (such as Christians and anti-regime Iranians) do so, and the depart the country in every direction of the compass. To my tactical way of thinking, it appears as though not only are Iran's primary weapons down for the count, but is regime's ability to control its population and its borders. Few people are aware that in Iran the rapidly expanding Born Again segment of the population are fervently and devoutly praying for the Jeremiah 49:34-39 prophecy to come to a soon fulfillment irregardless of the consequences for Iran stated in those prophecies. The biggest reason they pray for this prophecy to come to fulfillment is that the scattering of many Iranian people will free them to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ elsewhere in the world!

NOTE* The very word Elam has a dual meaning. It can mean a long time, as an eternity, or it can refer to an ancient region of political power northeast, east and southeast of the lower Tigris River. This is where the ancient country and eventual empire of Elam began.  It is no accident that this region is the location of the nearly operational Arak heavy water plutonium reactor, also known as IR40 (Iran 40MegaWatt reactor), and the under-construction 360MW Darkhovin heavy water plutonium reactor, and the operational 1000MW Bushehr nuclear power plant.

Verse 37: "For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies and before those who seek their life. I will bring disaster upon them, My fierce anger," says the Lord; "And I will send the sword after them until I have consumed them."

The sudden and sequential over-taking events continue with verse 37. In this verse it appears as though the regime itself is being subdued by a sword, an opposing armed force, perhaps even an insurrection, which brings disaster upon them. How fitting for a Jewish holocaust denying regime to itself be subjected to a Divinely ordained holocaust from which there is no escape unless it is into the saving embrace of the Lamb of God. 

In any event, the consuming of this important region of modern-day Iran by the ravages of war would create far reaching effects, not the least of which would be the downgrading of Iranian military capability and the loss of Iran's primary industrial and oil and natural gas producing sector, the overwhelming majority of which lie within the heart of ancient Elam.

Iranian industry, oil, natgas production and reserves (top) 

in the region of ancient Elam(bottom).

Verse 38:  "I will set My throne in Elam, and will destroy from there the king and the princes,’ says the Lord."

Verse 38 completes the previous causation of this prophetic destruction by the sword of war.  But here there is a very important distinction in the sequence of events of this prophecy. This is the last of the sequence of events. To recap again, the foremost of Iran's military might was destroyed first, this was followed by a mass exodus of many Iranians to all points on the globe, which was followed by the continued dismay of the regime and war being thrust upon them. Then, after all of this does God set His throne in Elam. 

I was awoken this morning with the thought that the meaning of this verse is much more than meets the eye at first glance. The throne of God on the Earth, in Elam? Surely the Lord Jesus Christ will sit upon His throne in the Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, and God the Father sits upon His throne in Heaven, so the meaning of this is clearly well beyond the plain text of the verse. It must be figurative.

How does the Bible describe the throne of God? The Bible has many descriptions, yet the most poignant is that as Paul noted the description of which are as "inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." The throne of God in Heaven is where perpetual and eternal worship of the Almighty takes place. Nevertheless, we might need look no further than the narrative of Ezekiel 1:4- 28 or of John of Patmos in Revelation 4:1-11 where John was taken in the Spirit to that most Holy of all places. John's visual descriptions are of brilliant emerald, jasper and carnelian, lightning flashes and peals of thunder. Ezekiel's much earlier vision was of a great cloud of fire engulfing itself, brightness and radiance the color of amber, the throne having the appearance of a sapphire. 

I am left with the very strong conviction that verse 38 is completely figurative in nature. It is illustrative of something that has the appearance of the Lord's throne, something that destroys the Iranian ayatollah and his regime of false clerics. That, I believe, is a nuclear holocaust which they had intended upon bring to the rest of the world in the pursuit of hastening their non-existent al-mahdi figure. I would include this verse as being fulfilled with the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38:18-22 when God will destroy the nations which came against Israel. This includes Iran according to Ezekiel 38:22, "And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone."

Verse 39: "‘But it shall come to pass in the latter days: I will bring back the captives of Elam,’ says the Lord.”

The prophecy is completed with this verse, and I believe the fulfillment for this verse occurs during the Millennial Kingdom of Christ on the Earth.

Addendum: To those who would erroneously interpret that Jeremiah's prophecy was fulfilled thousands of years ago, I would recommend that they seriously reconsider some key points before blurting out their ignorance on this topic. 

1. Jeremiah lived and prophesied during a critical period of Judah's history. As noted above in Jeremiah 49:34 this prophecy was given in the beginning of the reign of Judah's king Zedekiah. Zedekiah's reign began in 597 BC. No earthly events of the type and in the place prophesied by Jeremiah have ever occurred since 597 BC and forward to the present. Therefore, and without question, Jeremiah 49:34-39 constitutes an unfulfilled prophecy regarding the modern, latter-days country of Iran.

2. In Isaiah's own latter-days prophecy (see: Isaiah 11:11-12) which mirrors the prophecy of Ezekiel 37 concerning the re-assembling of "the outcasts of Israel" gathered together with the "dispersed of Judah," the prophet Isaiah names several nations from which the Jewish people of the Roman exile of circa 66-73 AD would return to the land of Israel:

"From Assyria and Egypt,
From Pathros and Cush,
From Elam and Shinar,
From Hamath and the islands of the sea"

Clearly, the use of Elam and the other national names of antiquity for latter days prophetic fulfillments is a common theme for many of the inspired prophets of God, and should not constitute a problem in any exegesis, including this one.