Rumors of War...

It's no wonder that Jesus included "rumors of war" in His end-times discussions. Its a perfect description of the world we are living in, in these last days. Particularly in the Middle East:

"Ex-CIAers to Obama: Israel Might Attack Iran This Month"

“We write to alert you to the likelihood that Israel will attack Iran as early as this month,” the open letter to Obama begins. “This would likely lead to a wider war.”

The letter, issued on Tuesday by the anti-Iraqi-war VIPS (Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity), continues:
“Israel’s leaders would calculate that once the battle is joined, it will be politically untenable for you to give anything less than unstinting support to Israel, no matter how the war started, and that U.S. troops and weaponry would flow freely. Wider war could eventually result in the destruction of the state of Israel.

The letter is distinctly anti-Israel. Its writers - W. Patrick Lang, Larry Johnson, and Ray McGovern, among others – mock Obama for having expressed confidence that Netanyahu would not try to surprise the United States.

The letter notes that Congress has implied support of Israel in case of an Israeli attack, but that “a strong public statement by you [Obama], personally warning Israel not to attack Iran would most probably head off such an Israeli move.”

And we see more rumors of war below. Here, the rumors involve Israel's declaration to retaliate against the last round of attacks from Hamas:

"Israel blames Hamas for rocket attacks, says retaliation is imminent"

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said that Hamas was responsible for the rocket attacks last Monday and that the Jewish nation will retaliate.

"Don't test our determination to protect our citizens. Israel will retaliate for every assault. Whoever shoots at Israeli citizens, and it doesn't matter from where, we will find them and hit them hard," Netanyahu said during his televised speech.

Earlier, Egyptian officials revealed that the attack that the Red Sea ports of Eilat, Israel and Aqaba, Jordan were fired by Hamas militants from Egyptian territory. The rocket attack killed one Jordanian taxi driver and caused structural damages.

According to the Egyptian report, Hamas operatives snuck from Gaza into the Sinai Peninsula to fire the rockets in an effort to conceal their responsibility and appear as if the attacks were perpetrated by an Egyptian terror group.

"Over recent days we've witnessed three attacks against Israel. I want to make very clear to Hamas and to the Lebanese government that we view them as responsible for the violent provocation against us," the Israel Prime Minister added.

And predictably, in response to Israeli rhetoric, we see Hezbollah weighing in on the situation - with more rumors of war:


"Hezbollah says it will strike heart of Israel if Lebanon hit"

Hezbollah is ready to strike the heart of Israel in the event of new aggression on Lebanon, the party's deputy chief said on Wednesday, a day after deadly clashes between Lebanese and Israeli troops.

"Israel must understand that any aggression on Lebanon, no matter how small, gives us the complete right to retaliate when and how we find appropriate and in line with Lebanon's political interests," Sheikh Naim Qassem told AFP in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.
"Hezbollah chooses when to be patient and when to retaliate," he added.

Qassem's comments came a day after the worst clashes along the border since the 2006 war. The fighting, in which four people were killed, also marked the first serious confrontation between Lebanese and Israeli soldiers in decades.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has previously said that his group, which is backed by Syria and Iran, has the military prowess to reach Tel Aviv airport and other strategic targets inside Israel.

Hezbollah is the only group that refused to disarm after Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war, arguing that its weapons are necessary to fight Israel, which occupied mainly Shiite southern Lebanon for 22 years until 2000.

The militant group fired close to 4,000 rockets in the 2006 war, and Israel estimates that Hezbollah has since stockpiled more than 40,000 rockets, some of which could reach major population centres.

More rumors of war. We are beginning to see these threats almost daily now. In fact, it almost seems like the lid which is being tenuously kept on the Middle East is somehow "supernatural" - almost as if God Himself is keeping a huge outbreak of violence from breaking out - as the region has been just on the edge now for some time. Perhaps that is the case. We know that these last remaining prophetic "steps" will only occur under God's hand - and He is waiting for His perfect timing to allow the last remaining events to take place.

Meanwhile we'll continue to see these ongoing threats and we'll also see the continual build-up to war, both from Iran and the usual terrorist groups (Hamas and Hezbollah). But war will erupt at some point - we know that from biblical prophecy - the only question is "when?".

We'll have to wait and see - as we watch God's plans unfold. He doesn't have too long however - because we know His plan will be completed before this generation ends, and we are rapidly approaching the end of this generation.

Maranatha! We know what awaits the Bride of Christ - and that too will happen before the end of this generation.