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North of Palestine is still quite a way off from Russia. True, it mentions "far north", does it mean that further north the better? Notice that Beth Togarmah is also referred in Ezek 38:5 as from the far north, which most believe to be no further than Armenia. Ethiopia is Cush, and is a region in modern day Upper Egypt and Sudan region. I can't see S. Africa there. Gomer and Deutschland are too far apart linguistically.

No, I don't believe Russia is involved. I'll go thru the list first: 1. Magog - (Scythians) Turkey and the Central Asian republics. 2. Meshach - (Mushki) Central & WesternTurkey 3. Tubal - (Tabal) Eastern Turkey 4. Persia - Iran & Iraq 5. Cush - Upper Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, etc. 6. Put - Libya 7. Gomer - (Gimarrai or Cimmerians) Cappadocia in Turkey 8. Beth Togarmah - (known as Tilgarimmu in Assyrian) Anatolia in Turkey and Armenia. Feeble opposition: 1. Sheba and Dedan - Arabia 2. Tarshish - disputed. The names in bracket are the ancient names of those places, and bears a much closer linguistic connection than Moscow, Tobolsk, Rus, etc. For example, Gomer and Gimarrai have the same consonants (remember that Hebrew is not written with vowels), Tubal and Tabal, etc. Now about Rosh. The normal meaning of Rosh is chief or leader, and many felt that instead of reading "Rosh, Meshech and Tubal", should read "chief prince of Meshech and Tubal".

Certainly, it is very likely. Lebanon used to have a large Christian population, but that is shrinking. Instead, Hezbollah and the Shiites are growing. In 10-20 years, Lebanon will be very different. So, yes, Ezekiel's mentioning of Lebanon is interesting ... one more Muslim place added to the list.

Fatima, Peace be with you. Yes, we know that Muslims believe that al-Mahdi will come, and he will unite all the Muslims and then lead the Muslims in jihad against the rest of the world. Yes, we also know that Muslims believe that he will establish the Caliphate. And yes, we also know that he will be assisted by Isa, who will claim to be the Jesus of the Bible, and will claim that he is a man, a Muslim, was not crucified on the Cross, etc. He will also break the Cross, kill the pig and abolish the jizya tax. Do you know that the Bible also talked about al-Mahdi and Isa? And do you know who al-Mahdi and Isa are according to the Bible? Please read these articles carefully: http://al-mahdi.atspace.com/al-mahdi.html http://al-mahdi.atspace.com/isa.html http://al-mahdi.atspace.com/dajjal.html

The Qur'an, according Muslim historians, were revealed in Muhammad's 23 year career. By and large, it can divided into three different periods: 1. Meccan : when Muhammad started preaching, the small band of believers, persecution, etc. This is where the peaceful verses are given, eg. "there is no compulsion in religion" (Surah 2:256). 2. Early Medinan: when Muhammad escaped from Mecca to Medina in 622 A.D. (the event is called the Hijra, and all Muslim calenders date from this date). Here, rules for the nascent Muslim community were laid down. Also, the tone of the Qur'an changed to command Muslims to fight. 3. Late Medinan : The tone completely changed to offensive fighting. The last surah, Surah 9 is mostly about fighting and jihad. In Islam jurisprudence (fiqh), the later verses abrogates (i.e., replace, supersede) earlier ones.

yes.

Actually, this phenomenon happens all around the world.

The thing is, it isn't the view of Ahmadinejad only. Many Muslims are waiting for al-Mahdi and Isa to appear. Hizb ut-Tahrir for example, is an organization in many countries dedicated to restoring the caliphate. There are many more such organizations. Not only, Muslims are commanded by Muhammad that when al-Mahdi appears, they are to pledge allegiance to him and support him in his jihad. That's an army that will out-number any in the world.

No........but I hear it all the time that when end of the worlders want to "prove" that we're in the end times, they use that verse AND THEN tell me that we've got more wars going on then any other time in history. And if it's simply "wars and rumors of wars" constitute all of history. Wars and rumors of wars includes the same time frame in which Christ spoke the words, it includes time frame BEFORE He came to earth too. Wars and rumors of wars is part of all history. And it's not quiet in todays era either, it's just less noisy. I'm an "end of worlder," but I don't use this verse to prove it because it isn't what Jesus said. On the other hand, it is the verses in Rev. and other OT passages that set the background. Now, when I say quiet, I certainly don't mean there will be no more wars. That will only happen when Christ returns.... and even then, there is one big one at the end of the Millenium. When I say all bets are off, it is in relation the the syllogism of that verse. Since the antecedent is false, it doesn't matter what the conclusion is in that syllogism. Now, when Christ spoke those words, they are in the future tense. Whether or not it includes the past before Christ is debatable.

What was said was: You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. (Matt 24:6, also Mark 13:7) I didn't see that Jesus said that there will be an increase in the number of wars. Where did this idea originate from? Secondly, "when these things happen, the end is still to come," it tells me that there is some time left, though Jesus didn't say how far off. In fact, when it is quiet, then all bets are off!

That Muslims believe that at the end times, a horde of army will emerge from the northernest parts of the world, known as Gog and Magog (Juj wa Majuj), no relation to the Gog and Magog of Ezekiel. This army is currently held behind a wall, and sometime in the future, this army will break through and come and attack the Muslims, the greatest fitna (persecution, trial). Muslims are told to endure this and their salvation will come. Even all the way the End, Muslims are being deceived. Prior to that they will have al-Mahdi ( http://al-mahdi.atspace.com/al-mahdi.html ), Isa who is the Muslim version of Jesus (http://al-mahdi.atspace.com/isa.html ) who together will have set up the global caliphate. They will also kill ad-Dajjal who is the Muslim version of AC ( http://al-mahdi.atspace.com/dajjal.html ), which are all opposites of what the Bible prophesied about.

Yes, he does. More details about al-Mahdi here: http://al-mahdi.atspace.com/al-mahdi.html and comparison with a biblical figure.

I sincerely hope that record isn't accurate... Sorry to disappoint you, but the records are of the highest grade of authenticity. The records came down in the form of hadiths (records of sayings and deeds of Muhammad). All that I have written are from the sahih hadiths (i.e., sound hadiths), hadiths with the highest grade of authenticity. The two most important and trusted collections of hadiths are Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. read the hadiths regarding Aisha at: http://www.answering-islam.org/Index/A/aisha.html

Muhammad set the precedent when he asked for marriage of Ayesha, daughter of Abu Bakr, one of Muhammad's first followers. Ayesha was 6 years old when he married Muhammad. It was consummated when Ayesha was 9 years old and Muhammad a middle aged man. The hadiths (records of Muhammad's words and deeds) recorded that Ayesha was still playing with dolls at that time.

The rich M.E. countries don't give money to the poor infidel nations. They give a lot of money to build mosques, and universities to spread the message.

Oh, have you heard of divorce through SMS (text messaging) used in Muslim countries? All one needs is send the wife three "talaqs"

Did you all notice that: Anti-Jewish : 967, Anti_Catholic : 76, Anti-Protestant: 59, Anti-Islamic: 156, Anti-Other Religion: 124, Anti-Multi Religions: 73, Anti-Atheism: 7, etc. The Jews still are the prime target, sadly.

I like to try and understand the reasoning behind this, in view of the fact that the OT penalty for breaking the Sabbath is death. Thanks.

Some of the believers in China faced close to that. They sleep in the fields, walked from village to village to share the good news, shoes all broken. They eat whatever they can find. They have to run whenever the Public Security Bureau people comes. Sometimes they end up in jail. For those of you who have not watched it, you should get the DVD "The Cross - Jesus in China". http://www.chinasoul.org/e/e-va.htm. I just found out that you can watch it online, but it is a DVD definitely worth having. ---------- Anyway, my first twenty years was in a village. To go to school, I have to walk 45 mins to share a ride with about ten other kids in a beetle bug w/o ac (and temps were in the 30+C). We have no flushing toilet, only a hut about 50 yards outside (just a bucket that gets emptied every day or two ... the contents sold to a vegetable farm nearby). Just hope the wind doesn't blow in the wrong direction. We have electricity for only 3-4 hours at night (we pay a guy with a turbine machine nearby to give us two incandescent lights for a few hours). Other than that, we used candle light (and to go to toilet). We cooked with wood, charcoal or kerosene. Our iron (for clothes) used charcoal (it was terrible if the ashes fall on the white clothes). Fortunately, there was tap water, but we have to carry it in from the landlady's bathroom (which was outside). The house was made of single layer wood, and there were gaps between the planks. Insects and rain got in. The roof was made of dried leaves. We needed pails to catch the water when it rains. Clothes were hand-washed (my mother still insists on washing it by hand). Even then, it was still better than the home my father grew up in. It was in a plantation. The kitchen floor was a mud floor. Once, I was there and it rained (it rained a lot there), the torrent of rain water rushed through the kitchen like milk tea. The roof leaked terribly and the food on the table were mixed with plenty of rain. We stooped on stools in order to eat during the rain. Ah. Those were the days. ----------------- Anyway, after I became a Christian, I am thankful and I tell my children what life was like then so that they also learn to be thankful. The point isn't whether you have all these or not, although it helps sometimes. My experience growing up did help me a lot when I was in the army, or when I go on missions trip. All these are external, and we need to learn not to cling to them. Even when I am more well-off, I learn to let go of all these things. Therefore, I don't wear designer stuffs, don't drive expensive cars, nor have a big house. It's not wrong to have nice things, but I live as if I don't have them. God is who we should be clinging to.

Please remember to differentiate between orthodox Islam and Nation of Islam. The NOI is not orthodox at all. Orthodox Muslims do not make that kind of claims as above (although the hadiths are correct). Nevertheless, it is true that African-Americans who become Muslims is really no better off.

Er... there will be twenty million less illegals here? All one needs to do is look at Europe and see the changing demographics. That's what lax immigration and amnesty brings.

"Honor your father and your mother". Whether she is a Christian or not, and whether we like it or not, as a Christian, we need to honor and love them. If we have problems or difficulties with that, then we need to ask the Lord to help us honor and love them. When I first became a Christian, my parents were extremely angry, I got kicked out of home (for a very short while only), but I got other threats and hurting words from entire family. But I continued to pray for patience, love and obedience. Many years have passed since, and they have turned around because they know that they did not lose a son when I became a Christian. Instead, they have a better son. I let them know that Christianity taught me to honor and love them. My father is no longer around, but I regularly send money to my mother (I'm from a poor family background). My mother goes to church with me when she comes to visit me. She still hasn't believe, yet she commented that church is good. And I learn to say "I love you" and "thank you" to my parents (which was very difficult in my culture). Each time, I can see my mom's eyes go teary when I say it. Many people have problems with in-laws, but my wife and I make it a point that honoring our parents is a very important commandment. My mother's relationship with my wife is sometimes better than with my sisters. When I go visit her, she even takes my wife for shopping, and cooks special food that my wife likes. Don't give up. "Let you light so shine...".

We all guess, whether we admit it or not, especially when we talk about the End Times. Some better guessing (intelligent guessing rather than random) than others, but in almost everyone's case, we all have to make a jump here or there. There is nothing wrong with making a good guess. We do that in every day life as well. We guess (predict) where the next car is going to be in the next few seconds in order that we don't bang into it. As for Islam and Antichrist connection, there is strong anti-parallelism between the End Times figures: Al-Mahdi compared to AC: http://al-mahdi.atspace.com/al-mahdi.html Isa (Muslim version of Jesus) compared to False Prophet: http://al-mahdi.atspace.com/isa.html ad-Dajjal (Muslim version of Antichrist) compared to Two Witnesses: http://al-mahdi.atspace.com/dajjal.html

Some Muslims believe that al-Mahdi will merge from Khorasan (or the East), and believe that he will be a Pashtun from Afghanistan or Pakistan. Looks like Pakistan might fold and be a breeding ground for al-Mahdi's army to emerge (the army of Black Flags from the East).

Literally, the Hebrew word "al" means on, upon, above. "FOR" in the translation above is not quite there. The Hebrew text also does not have "He shall make it desolate". Instead, it simply says. "shall make desolate", neither the subject nor object is mentioned. There is no "it" in that phrase, so making it mean "earth" is improper. All it says in the text, as I read it, is "and on a wing of abomination shall make desolate".