Please don’t run away! We haven’t lost it and gone the way of kooks. Biblical prophesy is a tricky thing and I don’t give an ounce of credit to modern day "prophets." While biblical prophesy is indeed real, as evident from many historical events, it’s usually vague and imprecise that it’s only through hindsight can we put the pieces into place. For example, Jesus fulfilled several Messianic prophesies but only after such and such event was accomplished could we see the uniqueness of His ministry. Another example is the reestablishment of Israel as a nation. Again though, there was no date or definitive time. It was only implied that it would come to pass and when it did, biblical scholars could point to several passages that predicted the event.

Having said that, It’s not unlike Nostradamus quatrains, if one is inclined to believe in them.

So it’s in general interests that I am entertaining Donald Drake’s essay over at the Washington Post.

It is estimated that 25 percent of the Bible is predictive in nature. Some prophecies have been fulfilled and some appear to be future to their time and, perhaps, to our time as well. To interpret the prophecies in the Bible one must do so with fear and trembling. We live in completely different times, rapidly changing culture, and in a modern technological civilization. Are biblical prophecies intended to give clues to future events?Modern Iran is the biblical Persia. It played a fairly significant role in the history recorded in the Bible. Although the Persians are a very ancient people, Cyrus the Great (reigned 550-529BC) established the Persian Empire. Darius (521-486BC) built his royal palace in the capital of Shushan (Susa). Later Xerxes (486-465) also known as Ahasuerus, figured prominently in the biblical story of Esther (Esther 1:1). It was in the city of Shushan that the prophet Daniel had his vision of the ram, the goat, and the small horn (Daniel 8:2-14) and where Nehemiah lived in exile (Nehemiah 1:1).

Persia was one of the greatest empires of the ancient world. The Persians flourished and dominated the geo-political landscape from 539-331BC. The Bible records the fall of the Babylonian Empire to the Persians. This set the stage for the return of the Hebrew people to Jerusalem about 538-445BC following their seventy-year Babylonian captivity (606-536BC).

King Darius in his second year granted permission for the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem to be rebuilt following a 14 year delay (Ezra 4:24 and 6:1). He also helped finance the completion of the reconstruction of the Temple.

The biblical “end days” are usually equated with the battle of Armageddon and the return of Jesus Christ. Those who believe the accuracy of the Bible differ on interpretation of specific biblical prophecies. Some biblical prophecies were literally fulfilled; some appear to be future to their day.

While there is no evidence from Scripture that Iran will strike a nuclear blow to Israel or the US, Scripture implies that the end times conditions are present in the 21st century. Israel has been brought back into the “promised land” and is a sovereign state. Jerusalem remains the center of prophecy and modern controversy. An Iranian nuclear attack on Israel would set the world on a course closely related to biblical descriptions of the events of the end times.

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