The silence is deafening. The world continues on the way it wants to go.
The church—especially in the west—continues to be asleep to the events in the world, not believing a bunch of primitive Shia Islamic zealots could cause any real harm, and certainly wouldn’t get in the way of the Rapture which should be any moment now.
The world has been living with a zealous and fundamental Twelver Shia regime in the ancient land of Media and Persia. A government that is unique to all other governments that shouldn’t even exist by the standards of modern society has been allowed to continue in the world’s midst, for the last few decades.
Year after year the IRGC gained military, economic and political power to become the other half of the theocracy first created in1979. The second horn grew longer, later.
We watched as it built its ranks of ideologues, and tested its missiles and bombs, and watched as the IRGC and Basij gained an iron grip on the nation of Iran. We saw the 2009 rebellion by everyday Iranian citizens get crushed.
We saw the Obama administration come to a nuclear agreement with Iran which guaranteed it would get the bomb, since no Americans or Brits were allowed to be the inspectors, and any notice given Iran to inspect a facility allowed 27 days before inspection. The 27 days and the Russians and Chinese being allowed to be inspectors never came up in news stories.
“There,” it was thought, “Iran won’t get a nuclear weapon for at least ten years.” As if ten years was forever.
The world was allowed to relax and continue along the way it wanted to go.
The Ram is Ready
More recently, starting this past April, something changed. All of a sudden the Iranian regime became bolder. As if it was ready to do what Daniel 7 and 8 said it would do. The world witnessed a step up in the IRGC’s daring.
Single pipelines in Saudi Arabia were blown up. Oil tankers and other merchant ships were seized by Iranian or Iranian-allied forces.
Still, and amazingly, the world’s slumber continued. Like the frog in the pot in which the water is only slowly turned up to a boil, the world wasn’t jumping out.
Nations like Japan, France, South Korea, Germany, Taiwan, Italy, and Australia, and many others, didn’t seem to express any worry. Though all, or a major chunk of, their oil comes from the Middle East it was believed there was still no reason to worry.
The US dollar was still the reserve currency, oil prices were still tame at $50 per barrel or so, and the oil continued to flow.
And then the Iranian regime shot down an American drone. The US military almost responded and in the end did not. What could have been Iran’s excuse to lash out and make the world go in a way it doesn’t want to go, was stayed.
And still the world slumbered. The silence continued.
Now, just a week ago or so, a coordinated drone and cruise missile attack was perpetrated on the largest oil processing facility on earth, cutting world oil production by almost 6 percent.
The oil market responded, with oil prices shooting up 20% or so for a few hours. Unlike 1973 and 1979, which also witnessed 6% cuts in oil with an accompanying doubling of oil price, there was extra production margins, and an ongoing oil glut.
The markets settled down and the world continued to be silent and rest easy after being convinced by world leaders everything is ok.
Never mind that Iran now has the capability to attack the entire Mideast oil infrastructure using a technology that didn’t exist 15 years ago, and that the regime, in its pursuit of ways to carry out “asymmetric” warfare, had successfully proven it could be done.
One week later, now, the silence continues.
The US has announced it is moving a few hundred soldiers with antiaircraft guns to the UAE and Saudi Arabia, but they are likely to be used to protect US assets, not oil infrastructure.
Conclusion
The world is not putting two and two together. Instead they were demonstrating in every large city this past week against man-made climate change. That red herring keeps much of the world busy these days.
The church is not connecting the dots either. Daniel 8 is for the end time. The Persian ram is in position, with its second horn longer than the first. Daniel 7 lays out the major action with Daniel 8: nations in three directions from Susa are going to be treated like a person being mauled.
Year by year, week by week, we have witnessed Iran’s military become more and more capable of carrying out the Second Signpost. I believe only those who have studied Scripture and believe the Second Signpost is coming have connected the dots.
The Persian ram is about to charge and butt and shock. The ram showed it can do so with the drone attack. The next time, we may see all the oil in the Middle East—20% to 25%—of world production taken out.
The church is still sleeping.
The world and the church are in for a shock.
Categories: Signpost #2: Iran, The Signpost Perspective
THE FOUR SIGNPOSTS 
It’s almost like we are seeing the ram charging toward the west and the north and the south….. He did as he pleased and became great.
Glenn
Glenn,
Almost. There is still much the regime wants to do that it hasn’t yet done.
“…Rapture which should be any moment now.” Sooo…has the great apostasy or the great falling away, and the revealing of the anti-Christ occurred already? Did you forget that scripture?
I must be sleeping. Sooo…who is the anti-Christ if “that day” which is “the day of the Lord” should be upon us any moment now?
Nope, the rapture occurs before God pours out His Wrath on an unrepentant world.
We are not appointed to GOD’S Wrath, not the wrath of man or the wrath of satan, please read it again. We experience those every day. Yes, we do, murder war, famine, pestilence, etc.
You will not escape until Jesus returns. There is only “One” second coming. Please really think about this, another second coming when His feet do not touch the ground would make it a “Third, Second coming”. Stop fooling yourselves.
Dude, you do realize, that you contradict, even yourself!
Quote “…the Rapture which should be any moment now….”.
Quote “…The next great event in Bible prophecy is not the Rapture or Tribulation. It is the Second of the Four Signposts…”
Any moment now? What about the great falling away, and the revealing of the anti-Christ and what about your signpost’s 2, 3, and 4 which you have concocted?
That means that you are saying that yes, there are things that must happen before “The day of the Lord”. Amazing.
Sunday isn’t even the Sabbath, No, It isn’t! I’m am so sick of all of the blind leading the blind lies, we all think that we have it all figured out, but we do not still. That includes you my brother.
There is no such thing, as a second, second coming.
Yeah, climate change and impeachment. Oh boy. 😦 I’m hoping in the Kingdom Jesus won’t allow the tech we have now and we go back to an agricultural society. Nice low tech, if you know what I mean. 🙂
IMO, the church will sleep until we are into the 70th week… Just a rough calculation we all can do puts us 10-13 years from the 2000 year of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. A lot can happen in 10 years for God get all the players on the field.
On January 10, 2017, ten days before Donald Trump’s inauguration as President, an article by Trump-hating Jennifer Rubin appeared in the Trump-hating Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2017/01/10/one-final-iran-blunder-by-obama/
Although it outwardly criticized the Obama Administration, it had a message for the incoming President: Iran will already have enough uranium to make ten nuclear bombs before you can do anything to stop it. Part of Revelation 6:2 may have already been fulfilled: “To him [Iran] was GIVEN a large sword” (NIV).
Mark,
I have reflected over the past few days on several past news sources and ministers that have commented on Iran and the Middle East. Here is an article I read two days ago:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.christianpost.com/amp/fastest-growing-church-has-no-buildings-no-central-leadership-and-is-mostly-led-by-women.html
The underground church is growing quite a bit in Iran. Now this presents an interesting dilemma. It increases the pressure not to war against Iran. It also could be used as leverage by Iran’s leaders in a couple of ways. Sanctions usually are always transferred onto the citizens so inadvertently sanctions are hurting the church in Iran. They can point that out to the West. It also causes the West to be cautious and careful in engaging Iran.
The other thing I got to rethinking about was in hearing a source say that Iranian leaders are quoted in saying that they intend to hurt the world’s (not only Saudis) oil supply if they can’t deliver their oil. This should put ALL refineries in the world on high alert for possible attacks of any kind. It may not be drones there could be other strategies involved as well.
As a result, Iran have several points of leverage that they could use. They could indeed do almost anything they want to, Lord willing. There is a lot to think about and pray about concerning Iran and the Christians in Iran as well.
Shaw,
There is no contradiction. Do you realize that “the Rapture which should be any moment now” was on my part, speaking for the wider church, what many people think, not what I think. One of the reasons the church is sleeping is the anticipation of the Rapture any moment now. Read the post again, and see if you don’t sense the sarcasm in my writing on that point. If not, its a datum telling me I need to keep improving my writing.
Thanks.
Shaw,
Im not sure you’re understanding Mark correctly. Could you please calm down the tone. thanks 😉
September 2019 photo of Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, and Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of the IRGC (not wearing his Major General uniform):
Notice that Khamenei and Nasrallah, who both normally wear black turbans, are shown wearing blue turbans.
Blue turbans were mentioned by the French prophet Nostradamus. Quatrain 2:2 started with these words:
“La teste blue fera la teste blanche,
Autant de mal que France a faict leur bien …”
Richard Sieburth’s 2012 translation:
“Blue turban on white turban shall inflict
As much harm as France has done them good …”
Nostradamus expert Peter Lemesurier wrote, “‘blue-turbans’ and ‘white-turbans’ are specifically identified by Nostradamus in his 1556 Almanach as feuding Muslim sects of the time (namely the Shi’ites of Persia and the Sunni of Turkey).” An image search on “Ottoman Empire white turbans” displays them. The Persian Shi’ites at the time were the Safavids, who did not wear blue turbans. But in Nostradamus’s French, “Perse” meant both “Persia” and “blue.”
The last line of quatrain 5:86 reads: “Par teste Perse Bisance fort pressée.”
Edgar Leoni’s 1961 translation: “Byzantium hard pressed by the head of Persia.”
Richard Sieburth’s 2012 translation: “By blue-turbaned Byzantium much harried.”
Byzantium was an old name for Constantinople, in 1930 renamed Istanbul. At no time did the Safavids (1501-1736) attack Constantinople.
When the ram of Daniel 8:4 pushes west and north, if it went as far as Istanbul, that could really get Turkey’s goat (Daniel 8:7).
MBS Himself is warning the world openly and officially against the second signpost now…
“Saudi Arabia’s crown prince has warned that oil prices could rise steeply if the world does not act to deter Iran. Mohammed bin Salman said failure to act could embolden Iran and lead to war, which he said would ruin the global economy, following an attack on oil facilities which he blames on Tehran.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-49874807
The world is in a peace and safety mode,that is believers and non believers alike have peace and safety that will extend until 2 Thessalonians 2 3-5 takes place then it will only be unbelivers who will have peace and safety, while believers suffer and die world wide, What starts this ball rolling on these events is the ram butting out. This will come into play as world economy declines and of course the Lord wills…
Mike,
I believe what you say is true. And the Second Signpost will set the conditions for the world to not have peace of mind, setting it up for the coming mark of the beast.
My thought on the peace and safety statement is it depends on what end time scenario we hold to? This in turn will influence what we understand when the day of the Lord starts and what it is.
There is no doubt the world is sleeping now and this along with the church-besides us watchers. 🙂 And I thank God for Mark, for him writing “Daniel Revisited”, and showing us plainly that the Goat and Ram must run in the end times to set up the end time scenario. But Jesus made it clear that wars and rumors of wars will take place, but the end is not yet. This is where we are at now, IMO. But we cannot be in the time of peace and safety that Paul is speaking about. Here is why:
Paul makes it clear that it is tied to the day of the lord starting: For you yourselves know full well that the day of the lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying peace and safety then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains [ travail] upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.
This hard labor pangs immediately bring up passages Jeremiah 30, and the day of the lord in pretty well all the minor prophets.
The book of Joel also makes it clear the day of the Lord will not start until signs in the sun moon and stars, saying, the day of the Lord will be “near” then- and the day of the Lord is “destruction from the Almighty”.
The signs in the sun moon and stars are the key to understanding when the day of the Lord will start. Jesus teaches us these three linked signs are to precede His “parousia”, in the Olivete Discourse. This is His presence/arrival, and He is pointing us back to read Joel. He later teaches us in Revelation 6:12-17; by using these same three linked signs and showing His “presence” is only occurring at this time, that the day of the Lord is getting ready to take place. This is why the unbeliever is hiding from Him and they are completely surprised.
If we tie the other key phrase about the unbelieving world [ earth dwellers] being at “peace and safety”, we only find it after the death of the two witnesses in Revelation 11:10. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because of the two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
So in my mind, the unbelieving world will attribute the famines and plagues of the third and fourth seal on the working of the two witnesses-and God will allow them power over such. That will make anyone associated with them targets and hated-Christians and Jews. On the other hand, the true believers will see the two witnesses along with the sign of the man of sin in the Temple, and understand what is going on knowing the “times and seasons”, Paul told them/us about. This will be a great encouragement to those who know the truth. Not so much to those who hold to an end times scenario that takes them out of this time period. 😦 The strong delusion will come upon all those who did not believe the truth so they will believe what is false. That is a pretty sobering statement for all of us to test everything we hold dear about the end times.
Just my 2 cents worth.
Steve,
Quite a thesis. I enjoy how this site attracts students of the Bible.
You are right, I believe. We are in the time now of the war (Second Signpost) about to start but the end is not yet. I write about this additionally in Chronicles.
Many people talk about how the AC will come to power peacefully using those verses, 1 Thess. 5:2-3. However, the correct answer is given us in the words; it says, “You know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”
Note that the thief in the night is said again in Rev. 16:15 regarding the sixth bowl (where the seventh bowl is the return of Christ) showing the “thief” wording to signify we are close to the end. The “peace and safety,” therefore, speaks of the times and the kingdom of AC during the last 42 weeks. It will be calamitous war that gets the AC his realm (see chapter 56 of Chronicles), but after declaring himself “God” all those under him live in peace and safety as long as they have the mark. But destruction will come soon and completely with the bowls and the return of Christ.
Your last para. regarding the delusion is correct. And God is giving us a preview: we see delusional people making up half of Americans believing both that socialism is a good thing, and that we people can have any affect on the global weather.
Mark,
Yeah, the preview of lawlessness in regards to the media and members of our congressmen doing all they can do to overturn a valid and legal election and supreme court justice. The preview of the “ethnic”, or nation rising against nation, in everyone who believes in border security or that trust cops and the rule of law, are either a white supremist or racist.
We see this starting in videos like this from Minn, where most news channels say this was NOT a hate crime or racist! This only because it was black on white violence, which is ok nowadays. Just like violence on Trump supporters is ok and not covered by the media, and if it is it is somehow twisted in a way that makes it ok or not that bad, even needed.
https://usareally.com/4215-minnesota-gang-of-black-teens-ruthlessly-beats-one-white
It’s sad, but the rabid hatred of Trump and anyone who voted for him- really anyone who don’t agree with what they deem as how we should think, act, and vote, is a small preview of what is to come for all Christians and Jews.
Good thoughts,could it be that the delusion you speak of will be the beginning of the apostasy of the church,or will the apostasy be started by the requirement of believers giving their pitch to antichrist,and the receiving of the Mark?Also I am sensing that world wide conflict will hinge on when the ram charges out.Maybe this event happening will cause world wide skirmishes to erupt.(never let a tragedy go to waste)as of now the world is quite apathetic (church as well) to what is transpiring,especially in the West, the youth in particular have a disconnect.Just a few thoughts that probably have been said before lol..
Mark, I love your insight and discernment and have shared your work with many of my friends. As a pre-wrath believer, I seem to have surrounded myself with pre-tribbers. I did hesitate to tweet this blog though, because I think many may misinterpret your comments on the rapture. It took me a couple of reads to get the ‘jest’ of it. Thanks again for your work. Working my way through Chronicles of the End Times and loving it!
D Richard Arlen,
Nice job in sharing with the pre-tribbers! 🙂 As a former pre-trib believer, that went post-trib, and then finally pre-wrath- after I read Rosenthal’s book way back in the day, it usually takes awhile for someone that is serious in examining the Scriptures to work through the process and see things in a different light. You are swimming upstream for sure with about 90% of Evangelical type churches being pre-trib.
I think my journey is fairly common, but more people seem to be going pre-wrath without going post now because there is more info out on the position.
Most died in the wool old school pre-tribbers will never re-examine their viewpoints, but you find an occasional layperson with an open spirit, and you can make a big difference. I believe more pre-tribbers will come on board as we get closer to the Day, even the “big fish” that would lose their jobs because of a different stance on the second coming. Truly every virgin with oil in their lamps will. 🙂 Keep up the good fight!