The entire world now knows the policy of President Bush as it relates to Saddam Hussein of Iraq. He has announced that it is his intention to topple Saddam’s regime and all options to accomplish that task are on the table. The turmoil and violence in Israel is directly related to that policy. Saddam is trying, through his Palestinian friends, the suicide bombers, to put off or cancel the American invasion of his country and his showdown with Mr. Bush. His plan will not succeed. So then, will Saddam back down and bow the knee to Mr. Bush in repentance, or is he so delusional that he really thinks he can defeat Israel and America, even with the help of his terrorist friends and some Islamic nations? Are these events leading up to the end of this age and the return of the Lord Jesus Christ?

I was motivated to write this article when I read a news report that the son of Saddam was quoted as saying that, “Israel knows that its destruction comes from Babylon.” I was stunned when I read that, but then I remembered that Saddam himself has the insane belief that he will be the new King of Babylon, in the likeness of Nebuchadnezzar, the Old Testament king who defeated Israel. What is more startling is that these men are obviously aware of and reading the prophets of Israel.

If we are now entering the days leading to the return of Jesus Christ, and the current conflict in the Middle East is not just a dress rehearsal, then it won’t be surprising if we hear that the President is also reading the Bible and being advised by the prophets in America. These prophecy teachers will advise the President that Saddam and Sons are mistaken in their view of who is the King of Babylon. Most of these prophets claim that the leader of the European Union is the final form of the King of Babylon or Rome. Those who teach that Iraq could be the New Testament fulfillment of Babylon the Great of Revelation 18, would advise the president to make war against Saddam and if he is defeated, then God has given the world a reprieve from the rise of the Antichrist. Others might even suggest that a victory would authenticate their belief that America is God’s chosen nation and is fulfilling its manifest destiny. Some might even dare proposing that a victory is the fulfillment of Revelation 19:19, which describes the Lord’s victory over the Antichrist at Armageddon.

If America defeats Iraq, and it surely will, and then coerces the other Islamic nations to make peace with Israel; and at the same time prevents the European Union from inserting itself into the leadership role of peacemaker for Israel, the false prophets will also be able to ensure the President that the Antichrist forces in Europe have been set back. In effect, both places that these prophets say the Antichrist could come out of have been silenced and set back. They will interpret this as a sign from God that the Church and America are sanctioned by God to bring peace to the world for the spreading of their lukewarm militant gospel. Ironically, while they boast of having defeated terrorism and the rise of the Antichrist, they may actually usher him in and fulfill the prophecies themselves.

Israel’s leaders will fall in line and agree to the American peace plan. If this plan includes the rebuilding the Temple, the day that the treaty is signed will begin the 2520 day countdown of Daniel’s 70th week, Daniel 9:27. False prophets will arise declaring that the President has defeated the spirit of Babylon and he is the long awaited Messiah.

When the battle in old Babylon is over, and Saddam is dethroned, the American President will now be the King of Babylon. It’s astonishing and amazing that our Lord Jesus Christ has brought the land of Old Testament Babylon and America, the New Testament Babylon, to this final climactic showdown. Even if Saddam bows the knee and abandons his insanity to avoid the invasion, the Americans control the land of Iraq. Western civilization will declare victory over the forces of evil.

I want everyone to know that I understand the difficulty of thinking that America is Babylon the Great of Revelation 18, and the President who brings political peace and the Temple to Israel, is the enemy of God. I spent five years in the army and was born and raised to be a Christian patriot. But, I was not born again, which Jesus said we must experience in order to understand the coming Kingdom of God. When that happened to me, Jesus showed me from the scriptures that all nations, with their political and religious systems, are under the manipulative control of Satan, until Jesus returns in power and glory to put him in Hell. Today’s western civilization, led by America, is the seat of Satan’s world wide kingdom. It is the final manifestation of the Roman and Babylonian kingdoms.

Think of Satan’s political and religious systems as a mutated two-headed snake. One head represents the dictators, who like Hitler and Hussein are hateful horrible men of brutality. The other head is represented by democracies, with political liberty and the pursuit of riches and happiness. Satan, who created and controls them both, now has them battling against each other. Why? To deceive the born again believer into thinking that one head is from God and the other head is from Hell. He also wants to kill as many people as he can, for he hates all people, especially the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. He wants to fill Hell with the lost souls he’s deceived. Do we really want to join in this horrible carnage, or do we, as citizens and ambassadors from Heaven, expose Satan and his lies, and call people to the bloody cross of Jesus for forgiveness and eternal life? Jesus said…..pick up your cross and follow me!

When I think of America, or any nation for that matter, I try to distinguish America the land, rivers, mountains and America the people, from America the political and religious system; the land and people I love and want God to bless. America the system I can not embrace, for it is designed to deceive and lure people away from the true Jesus, to follow another. Jesus could come any day, so please be ready. Don’t resist his love and forgiveness.