Re-Post: "Cartoon Chaos" from Rapture Alert

Cartoon Chaos
by Michael G. Mickey
(2-7-06)

Who would've thought - even imagined - that a few cartoon depictions of Islam's Prophet Mohammed could fuel the hatred of so many, bringing the world closer to the battle of Armageddon in fulfillment of Bible prophecy? Let me explain.
Currently, there is a row between Islam and the West which started when a Danish newspaper featured 12 cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed recently. Since then, the Islamic world has reacted violently and threateningly toward Denmark, the cartoons having first appeared there and in newspapers in many Western countries since then, raising tensions even higher.
Things have now gotten so violent and out-of-hand the European Union, as seen in an EUBusiness.com article, is presently calling on Muslim countries to protect EU nationals from attack by protesters. As the EUBusiness.com article documents, demonstrators in Tehran pelted and smashed several windows of the Austrian embassy within the last few days. Danish and Norwegian diplomatic missions in Damascus and a Danish consulate in Beirut have also been targeted.
As violently as the Muslim world has reacted, what is presently taking place diplomatically between Denmark, where the cartoons originated, and nuclear weapon-seeking Iran is even more noteworthy! The BBC is reporting Iran, directly as a result of the cartoons, has cut all trade ties with Denmark, in spite of the fact it wasn't the Danish government that printed these cartoons, but a Danish newspaper! In Tehran, oddly, the favorite chant of its radical element is now "Death to Denmark" as opposed to "Death to America", at least temporarily. Surely, the EU is concerned about that, especially when we consider that Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is convinced the apocalypse is going to happen in his lifetime and wholeheartedly believes he is in a position to "hasten the awaited return of the 12th Imam, known as the Mahdi." The Mahdi, in case you haven't heard, is Islam's messiah.
The Mahdi, it is believed, as documented in a Washington Times article highlighting the Iranian president's beliefs, will be Muhammad ibn Hasan, the righteous descendant of the Prophet Muhammad said to have gone into "occlusion" in the 9th century, at the age of 5. Ahmadinejad, according to the Washington Times article, believes the Mahdi's arrival is only two short years away.
When we look at the following excerpt from the article, it becomes clear that the times leading up to the Mahdi's arrival are very reminiscent of Bible prophecy:
His return will be preceded by cosmic chaos, war, bloodshed and pestilence. After this cataclysmic confrontation between the forces of good and evil, the Mahdi will lead the world to an era of universal peace.
The time leading up to the Mahdi's return sounds eerily like the Tribulation Period prophesied in the Word of God, doesn't it? It is important to note, however, that what Islamic believers think will take place in the end and what Christian believers are told will take place is quite different.
Islam is looking for someone who was born after Christ's death on the cross and His subsequent resurrection to arrive at the end of a time of conflict between good and evil to lead the world into an era of universal peace. The Christian, in contrast, is looking for the return of Jesus Christ to take place at the end of a seven-year period of time during which God will judge the world for its sinfulness. The end result of this seven-year Tribulation Period will see a culminative confrontation between the forces of good and evil take place at the battle of Armageddon when the armies of Antichrist and the armies of Heaven led by Christ Himself will stare one another down, leading to the defeat of evil and the establishment of Christ's kingdom on the earth, during which Christ will sit on the throne of King David (Isaiah 9:7, Luke 1:32) in Jerusalem for a period of 1,000 years (Revelation 20:4-5), prior to the saints entering into eternity with the Lord.
While the current cartoon chaos may seem of little consequence to many, what we've learned in this commentary is that Iran's president - the one pressing his nation to get a nuclear weapon assembled as quickly as possible, defying the international community's call for his nation to cease seeking a nuclear weapons, inciting the Islamic world's hatred of the West and Israel, and taking a war-like stance against Denmark over the publication of some cartoons - believes he is in a position to "hasten the awaited return of the 12th Imam, known as the Mahdi." How does Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hope to hasten the Mahdi's return? By bringing about the apocalypse, of course! Could it be made any more clear than it is? Ahmadinejad thinks the Mahdi could show up as early as within the next two years. Is that because Ahmadinejad knows Iran, if things go as planned, is going to have a nuclear weapon by then - one he is crazy enough to use in an attempt to bring the apocalypse about?
Could the Western world, sensing that it absolutely must resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in advance of Iran getting a nuclear weapon in order to defuse tensions between Islam and the West, intensify its efforts to do so, leading the world closer to the advent of the Antichrist, an event which will be preceded by the Rapture of the Church? Quite possibly, in my opinion.
The title of the Washington Times article I referred to several times in this commentary is entitled "Later than we think." A world that has forgotten its God is racing toward the Rapture of the Church, the Tribulation Period, and Armageddon yet mankind is largely oblivious to it all.
Truly, it's later than we think.