Iran in Prophecy

So, as I said in the announcements, we're going to be talking about Iran today, and I hope you will follow up. To begin with, I want to read word-for-word statements from a sermon that I gave in Ruston, Louisiana in 2006. Nineteen years ago today, or close to today, remember this is nineteen years ago.

And you'll note how similar the words are to what we have just heard the past two or three weeks. The world is poised for more war, and more war is sure to come just as Jesus prophesied from the Mount of Olives just before he was crucified. This year, 2006, will be one of the most pivotal years in human history. At the present time, world leaders are wringing their hands over what to do with Iran's determination to go ahead with this nuclear program.

Other statements from that sermon in 2006 include the following. To even begin to remotely understand how Iran is governed today, we must understand that Iran is in effect a theocracy, though some call it an oligarchy. Theocratic government means that church and state are combined, and that the principal ruler is God's representative here on earth, just as the Catholics teach. An oligarchy powers vested in a small circle of the elite ruling class. They call that ruling class in Iran the moolahs, or the moolahs, thus the theocracy can also be an oligarchy.

In Iran, the oligarchy controls the real levers of power, sets policies, and imposes key decisions. At the center of the oligarchy stands the office of the leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Now, the first leader of Iran in that sense was Khomeini, K-H-O. He died in 1989, and then Khamenei, K-H-A instead of K-H-O, took his place. And so, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is the supreme guide ruler of Iran at the present time under the Comintus Constitution.

In the revolution of 1979, Iran drew up a new constitution which reflected the Shiite government of Iran. There are two main branches of Islam. There are several sub-branches, but there are two main branches, the Sunni branch and the Shiite branch. We received a lesson on this back in 1988. We were invited down into the Jordan Valley to have a dinner with the personal assistant to King Hussein of Jordan. Our students were there and carrying on various programs in Jordan in the city of Amman and the surrounding area.

His name was Abaodi. In fact, the students stayed at his house. And, of course, that's where we had Sabbath services and spoke that Sabbath. The Sunnis believed that the supreme leader, the head of the caliphate, should be chosen by the community of believers. On the other hand, the Shiites believed that the leader of the caliphate should be the one who was the closest kin to Muhammad.

And, Muhammad, of course, is a dead many hundreds of years. The opening articles of the Khomeini's Constitution—this is continuing from what I gave in Ruston—approved in 1979, makes it clear that the supreme guide is also the leader of all Muslims throughout the world, whether they like it or not.

Of course, most Muslims don't like Iran. And, in fact, a lot of them were rejoicing over the fact that we bombed the three main nuclear sites. Thus, theoretically, at least, the Khomeini's supreme guide can decide what Islam is and is not at any given time. Various media sources are now reporting that an American-Israel attack of Iran's nuclear facilities is imminent less than 10 weeks away, yet other news reports seem to indicate that the West really has no stomach for the fight, while Iran's powerful allies—Russia and China—repeatedly warned the West against military action.

That was spoken 19 years ago, services in Ruston. What has changed? Not a lot, except we did—the President Trump did order the dropping of the bombs. So, as you can readily discern, the rhetoric is about the same as it is today.

Let's return back to Iran today. The story of Iran shows God's redemptive hand in prophecy. In fact, I've titled this, Iran in Prophecy. We just scratched the surface today. There's so much there about Iran. It also shows that God is a God of judgment. So, God's redemptive quality in history and prophecy, and in God's hand in judgment and in prophecy. The story of Iran in prophecy shows that God uses whichever nation or person He chooses to fulfill His plan, His purpose, and His providence.

The prophecies about Elam, media, Persia, and Iran show the redemptive and judgmental character of God. Elam and media, as we shall see, were closely related to Persia, which is modern-day Iran. So, here goes a few facts about Iran. Iran is about twice the size of Texas, so it's a very large area. It has a population of 86 million. Texas has a population of 31.4 million, based on the latest census. In 1935, Persia was officially renamed Iran by Rizshah Pavlavi to promote a sense of national unity and to reconnect with the country's ancient heritage.

Some say that Iran dates back, at least that area, to 4000 BC. The terms Iran means the land of the Aryans. That's important. The land of the Aryans. You look at Iran television today, I saw the ayatollah give a speech to the House of Parliament, plus all the governmental workers on YouTube this week. And to look out over the audience, you would think he's speaking to an American audience. So the land of the Aryans was chosen to replace Persia. So today it's called Iran, which was seen as a term favored by Westerners and associated with the historical Persian empire rather than the modern nation.

The name Aryan is derived from the Sanskrit Arah, a-r-y-a, meaning noble and educated. The Iranians are prideful people. They think they are better than you are. They think that they have developed, and this of course is leadership, and that ayatollah is the perfect form of government here on earth. In the Anglo-sphere, Anglo-Saxon, remember, in the Anglo-sphere, the name has negative connotations to many due to the Nazi racial theories about the superiority of the so-called Aryan race and modern usage of the term by white supremacist organizations. For example, the Aryan nations. From early on, one of the other terms for the Caucasian race was Aryan.

So the Iranians view themselves as of the white race. The term Aryan dates back to ancient history when people used to describe those who settled in northern India, the Middle East, and Europe. Modern-day peoples in those regions are descendants of these proto-Indo-Europeans. Another source states that the term Aryan refers to a group of people associated with the Caucasian race, which is often used to denote a superior racial identity. Historically, Aryan was a xenophobic term. Xenophobic means fear of the other race or people of a different color by the Indo-Iranian people suggesting superiority over other groups. In modern contexts, Aryans are often viewed as part of the broader Caucasian race with various branches identified.

And so on it goes. So Aryan is closely related to Caucasian in terms of racial classification and historical context. The leadership, especially to rendezvous themselves as superior to other peoples and nations, as I've already said. Some sources state that Elam began to organize a nation as early as 4000 BC. Along with Mesopotamia, it is viewed as one of the earliest civilizations on earth. If you take world history, I used to teach world history. You'll say, well, the cradle of civilization is Mesopotamia. That's where civilization began. Other sources date Elam's appearance in the area in the 3000 BC, 3200 BC. The Ayatollah stated yesterday that they would never surrender to America.

As I've already said, the Iranians are prideful and boastful. So what the Ayatollah said yesterday in a speech, and the Ayatollah said, we soundly defeated Israel and America, and we will never surrender. Trump was going to lift sanctions against Iran starting, I guess, next week or a week after. But based on the Ayatollah's speech, he said, nope, we're keeping the sanctions. So the Bible has a lot to say about Persia, and as we have noted, it is called Iran today. Persia has played a paradoxical role in the history of Israel. It seems one way, but it's another way. And sometimes it's another way, but it seems the other way.

Several times it was Persia, Iran, but came to the aid of Israel or Jews. But we shall see in the final account of Persia, they join in the attack by Gentile powers on Israel, and they are destroyed by God. The final destruction of Persia is at the hands of God, as we shall see. So let's briefly trace the history of Persia, Iran, and the Bible. Elam and Media were eventually absorbed by Persia. At one time, the empire was called the Medo-Persian Empire. At one time, the king of Persia ruled over 127 provinces, so it was a very large empire. The first mention of Elam and Media in the Bible is found in Genesis 10 in the table of nations. So our first scripture is in Genesis 10, and we'll read verses 1 and 2. Genesis 10 is we find the table of nations. Genesis 10, the table of nations. These are the generations of the sons of Noah. Verse 1, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And unto them were born after the flood the sons of Japheth, Gomer, and Magog. Look at that name, Magog, and Medea, and Javen, and Tubal, and Meshach, and Tyros. Now, so that's the sons we want to focus especially on. Medea was one of the sons of Japheth. It is said that the Japheth people, he's the father of the yellow race, the brownish skin race. Now we look at verse 20. These are the sons of Ham after their families, their tongues, and their countries, and in their nations. Listen above. Unto Shem also the father of all the children of Eber, of the Hebrews, the brother of Japheth, the elder. Even to him were born children. The children of Shem are Elam, Asher, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. So we want to focus on Elam. At one time, as we have noted, the Persian Empire was called a Medo-Persian Empire, and Elam was one of the principal provinces within the Persian Empire. So Medea and Elam were grandsons of Noah, and Japheth is viewed as a father of the yellow and brown-skinned people, and Shem, the father of the Caucasian or white people. Of course, all of the Caucasians are not white as we think of a lot of whites today. The Iranians today look much like Americans, as I've already noted, although the skin is oftentimes a little bit darker than a lot of Americans, especially in the southern U.S. Remember the name of Persia was changed to Iran in 1935 to reflect the broad ethnic groups of Persia. Once again, Iran means the land of the Aryans. One source states that the Elamites moved into the area, known as Iran today in 3200 BC, became one of the principal ethnic groups of the land. Remember Daniel was taken captive by the Babylonians at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, and Daniel was the one who interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dream in Daniel chapter 2. Daniel was the one who Belshazzar called to interpret the handwriting on the wall.

In Daniel chapter 5, Belshazzar was throwing a big party and celebrating and gloating over what they had done to Judah at that time, destroyed the temple and all of that, drinking out of the vessels that were taken to Babylon. After the party, or maybe it was during the party, he saw the handwriting on the wall, many, many tackle Epharasan, and no one could interpret what it was. So finally the queen mother says, well, there's a guy that your grandfather used to call on. His name is Daniel. Let's call on him. So he came, and he interpreted his dream. And the dream said, Belshazzar, you have been found wanting. You've been weighed in the scales and found wanting, and this very night your kingdom is going to pass from you. And that night Darius the Mede conquered Babylon and killed Belshazzar, and Darius became king of Media and Persia. So here we have the Persians delivering the Jews that were taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar. So that is one of the first times that Persia intervened on behalf of the Jews or Israel, and as a result, a little later on in the rulership of the Persians, Cyrus the great Amido Persian king issued a decree stating that the Jews could return to what we call the Holy Land. Remember that holy things are things that have God's active presence in it, and God was actively present in the first temple, Solomon's temple, though his active presence was not in the Restoration Temple. But anyhow, Cyrus issued a decree saying that a contingent of the Jews led by Zerubbabel and Joshua, Zerubbabel the governor, Joshua the high priest, could return to the Holy Land and build a temple. So let's go to Ezra chapter 3. Ezra chapter 3, I think Ezra is before Esther, and you know those very well.

Maybe it's before Nehemiah. It's somewhere in the Bible.

So Ezra is before Nehemiah, and Ezra chapter 1 and verse 1, now the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia.

Remember that Persians had conquered Babylon, Darius had done that, and coming on the heels of Darius is Cyrus the Great, who in essence unified the Medo and Persian empires, brought him under one. Eventually, Persia became the dominant one. Now the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, but the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled.

The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia. So Cyrus is a Gentile, unconverted as he can be, but he is issuing a decree to go build a temple for the Jews. So it's showing once again that God can choose anybody that he desires to. They don't necessarily have to be the most converted people, or they don't even have to be converted at all. Cyrus surely was not converted, but he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and put it also in writing saying—and you can read a fuller account of this, I guess you would say in Chronicles—thus says Cyrus, king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth—well, 127—and has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? His God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel. He is the God which is in Jerusalem. So the king of Persia issued a decree in circle 538 to allow the Jews to return to the land of Judah, build the second temple, sometimes called the Restoration Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. Now, at this point, we should introduce the Daniel and Elam. Elam played a big role in the history of Persia. So we go to Daniel chapter 8. Elam was one of the principal provinces in the Persian Empire, and in fact, Susa or Sushan, as some call it, or Sushan, is the capital of Elam. And we find in Daniel 8, we'll start in verse 1, in the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans, in the first year of the reign, I Daniel understood by the books the number of years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet. Jeremiah had prophesied that 70 years are determined upon the holy people that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem. Now go back to chapter 8.

In the third year of the reign of King Beal, Shazra, a vision appeared unto me, even unto Daniel, after that which he appeared unto me at the first. And I saw a vision, and it came to pass when I saw, and I was in Shushan, in the palace, and Shushan, or Susa, is the capital of Elam, which is in the province of Elam. And I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Yalai. So Daniel spent much of his time in the capital city of Persia, or Elam. Elam was one of the provinces of modern-day Iran. Now we go to Daniel chapter 10. So at this point, we should introduce the demonic ruler of Persia, the prince of Persia, as he's called in Scripture, he being the demon, in Daniel chapter 10 and verse 10. What we're going to find from Daniel is one of the most gripping things that we can come to understand, that Satan has an organizational structure. I first gave a sermon on this back in, I guess we call it the big sandy gym or auditorium, way back in the 70s, in which we talked about this organizational structure of Satan the devil. So we're in Daniel 10.10, and behold, a hand touched me, which sent me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. So he's on all fours, as we say.

And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved. Daniel was, you remember the Scripture, says though Job, Daniel, be in it, they should save Noah, Daniel, and Job be in it, they would save only their own lives. So Daniel was highly favored by God. He was one of the most highly spoken up people in the entire Scripture. And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto you and stand upright, for unto you am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. Then he said unto me, Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand. So Daniel had started a 21-day fast. Of course, it wasn't. He obviously drank some water during that time, but no pleasant food entered his mouth. From the first time you sought to understand and to chasten yourself, he was fasting before God. Your words were heard, and I have come for your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia, the prince of the kingdom of Persia, withstood me 21 days. The prince of Persia. Each one of the nations have a prince, a demonic spirit over them. I think we tend to forget that the devil, years ago, there was a person that wrote a book, Satan is Alive and Well on Great Planet Earth. He is alive and well, and he goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he made devour.

The prince of Persia withstood me 21 days, and lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, who oftentimes say there seem to be three archangels, Michael Gabriel, who is a messenger angel.

So, evidently, this is Gabriel, but Michael came to help him to defeat this prince of Persia temporarily, came to help me, and I remain there with the kings of Persia. Now I am come to make you understand what shall be fall your people in the latter days, for yet the vision is for many days. Then we go down to 21, but I will show you that which is noted in the scripture of truth, and there is none that holds with me in these things but Michael your prince. Now look at verse 20. Then said he know you, whereof I come unto you, and now I will return to fight with the prince of Persia. So he had temporarily gotten away from the prince of Persia, came to reveal this to Daniel, says, I got to go back and finish the job. And the prince of Grisha, lo is going to come, and lo the prince of Grisha shall come. So Alexander the Great was the one who defeated the Medo-Persian Empire, and so we see that Satan has an organizational structure, and over that organizational structure there is a prince, a powerful demon, and we all remember 2 Corinthians 4-4, which says that Satan is the god of this present evil age. So we know that Satan is alive and well, and he has his minions over the nations. And what Paul said, and sometimes we tend to forget it. Let's notice what he said in Ephesians 6, lest we forget it, and sometimes I think we do forget it, that there is a great spiritual warfare taking place all the time. That we're involved in a spiritual warfare, not just a physical warfare. All you hear about on the news is this physical warfare. There's a physical warfare being waged, no doubt, about that, and Persia is alive and well, or Iran, and they're going to fight another day. Who knows when or how, as we'll see as we go along. So in Ephesians 6, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood. We tend to forget this, that a spiritual warfare is being waged, and we're involved in it, and Satan seeks to devour each one of us.

We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Spiritual wickedness. What is happening with the minds of people who will do some of the atrocities that we hear of, of beheading people and all the things that go with it, is absolutely unbelievable. It has to be demonic. So we see very clearly from Scripture.

So once again, this angel comes and helps Daniel understand about what is happening, and they are delivered from this powerful prince of Persia. But Alexander the Great waging physical warfare, and of course there was a spiritual demon as we see there in verse 20 of Daniel chapter 10 that was going to come along.

A Persian king, Ahasuerus, saved the Jews during the days of Esther. Now we go to Esther.

Sometimes Esther is hard to find. She's hiding in here somewhere. So we'll go to Esther, and we'll start in chapter 1 of Esther. I think Esther is before Job.

So Esther chapter 1 in verse 1.

And it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, that is, Ahasuerus, which reigned from India even unto Ethiopia. That is a tremendous slice of territory. Over 127 provinces. And in those days when the king, Ahasuerus, Ahasuerus, sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushen, the palace. Remember Shushen is the capital of what? Elam. Elam was one of the sons of Shem.

And it was from really the sons of Shem that the name was changed to Iran to reflect the land of the Aryans. In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all the princes and his servants, the power of Persia and media, the nobles and princes of the provinces being before him. When he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honor of his excellent majesty many days, a hundred and forty, and a four score, that's eighty, a hundred and eighty days. So they had a feast for a hundred and eighty days. Now, in 1971, there was a feast given by the Shah of Iran celebrating the 25th, the 2500 year celebration of the Persian Empire.

2500 year celebration of the Persian Empire, officially known as the 2500 year celebration of the empire of Iran or Persia. It was held in October of 1971.

The event aimed at highlighting ancient history, ancient Iranian history, and also showcasing the country's contemporary advances under Palavi the Shah, who had been reigning as the Shah of Iran since 1941. So in 1935, the name was changed, then that Shah died, and then his son took over. His son, Palavi, westernized Iran, and he held a great celebration similar to this one that a hasharias celebrated, though it wasn't for 180 days. Now, in the sources that I read, it is stated that the celebration cost anywhere from 120 million to 600 million dollars. Now, Bezos just had a big wedding in Venice, and it said that that wedding, Bezos is the head of Amazon. You know, he's a big friend of Donald Trump. Bezos just wed a girl, I don't know how much younger she is, a lot. She's probably in her 20s, and it cost him 55 million.

They had everybody from Oprah Winfrey and all the greats and near-greats of the world. In this celebration, that a hasharias in this celebration of the 2500 year celebration that the Shaw put on, he invited Queen Elizabeth. Queen Elizabeth didn't attend because of security reasons, and she sent Princess Anne. President Nixon was invited. He didn't attend. He sent Spiro Agnew, the vice president. You know, Spiro wasn't the vice president very long. He ran into some problems and was no longer vice president. But anyhow, they say that this celebration lasted about three days. 600 guests dined on plates decorated with gold and turquoise. And as I said, the estimated cost was anywhere from $120 to $600 million.

Inflation is indeed a real thing.

Now in 1979, a revolution took place in which the Shaw was overthrown. Before the throw of the nation, as the Shaw was being overthrown and was eventually overthrown, the Iranians took 56 hostages from the American Embassy, and Jimmy Carter tried to rescue those called the Eagle Claw Mission. But the mission failed. They even had military to back them up. And then, thanks to the intervention of the nation of Algeria, which is in Northern Africa, eventually they reached a settlement after Reagan was elected president and the hostages were released. So there was this great celebration celebrating the 2500 years of the Persian Empire.

The reason that the Iranians took the the hostages was because the Shaw was given refuge, to some degree, in America and also being treated for a disease. So they took the 56 hostages because the U.S. had given refuge to the Shaw.

So we continue here with a Hashereas in his celebration. So a similar celebration was held by the Shaw. At that time when the Shaw held his celebration, it was said that Iran was the ninth richest country in the world. The ninth richest country in the world. So they were in verse 6 in Sushan, verse 5, the palace.

And there were white, green, and blue hangings fastened with cords, fine linen, purple to silver, rings and pillars of marble, beds of gold and silver upon a pavement of red and blue, and white and black and marble. And they gave them drink and vessels of gold, the vessels being different one from another, royal wine in abundance and according to the state of the king. And the drinking was according to the law, none did force them to drink, for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house that they should do according to every man's pleasure. So they drank all they wanted to. And then, fast tie, the queen made a feast for the women. Verse 9, I guess this is women's enrichment. And fast tie, the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to the king of Hashereas. On the seventh day when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded, no need to read all those names, seven chamberlains that served in the presence of Hashereas the king, to bring fast tie, the queen before the king, with the crown royal to show the people and the princes her beauty, for she was fair to look on. But guess what? Fast tie refused. She wouldn't come. And then as time passed, the advisors to the king said, hey, if you let her get away with this, we'll have trouble in the kingdom. Women will rise up against her husbands, and they won't know what to do. So let's let her make a decree that she'll never come before the king. So they did. I'm just going to paraphrase several verses here. So they made a decree that she would never come before the king. So then a Hashereas said, let's search out the kingdom and find a replacement for fast tie. And so Mordecai, Esther's uncle, Mordecai, Esther's uncle, had adopted her because her parents were dead. And so eventually Esther was chosen by the king to be the queen. And you know the story of how Haman introduced this evil plot to kill all the Jews, and Queen Esther intervened, went before the king of Hashereas made him aware of the plot, and Haman wound up being killed and the Jews saved. So once again, at the hands of the Persians, the Jews were rescued, this time by a woman, a Persian woman, or a Jewish woman, not a Persian woman, by a Jewish woman.

So some of the Jews had returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile, as we read about the decree from Cyrus. But many Jews remained in Persia, including Esther and Mordecai, and they resided in Susa. And so the story of Esther unfolds, as we have just mentioned. Once again, it was in the capital Susa. So we see Elam woven into the fabric of the Persian Empire. Some believe that Elam can refer to Iran based on Jeremiah 49 and verse 34. So let's go to Jeremiah 49 and 34. One of the documentaries that I saw is more like a sermon there was a documentary. There's all kind of stuff out there seeking to confuse and destroy, as Satan will do in a time such as this. It's a time to know and know that you know the Scripture. In Jeremiah 49 and verse 34, in this chapter, a lot of nations are brought to judgment. One of the one thing about it, just about every nation that is prophesied against, you'll find this almost in every case of where the prophet is prophesying against the nation that God also promises restoration. So in verse 34, the Word of the Lord became to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, King of Judah. Now Zedekiah was the last king of Judah. His eyes were put out and he died ignominious death at the hands of the Babylonians. Thus says the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will break the bow. Bow is symbolic of the military power and strength of a nation. The bow of Elam, the chief of their might. And upon Elam will I bring the four winds and four corners of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds. And there shall be no nation either the out case of Elam shall not come. So everyone is going to come against Elam, for I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies and before them that seek their life. And I will bring evil upon them, and even my fierce anger says the Lord. And I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them. I will set my throne in Elam. Now when it says I will set my throne, it doesn't mean that he was literally going to dwell there, but he would establish a headquarters there for judgment for the time of judging Elam. I will set my throne in Elam, or my judgment seat, and I will destroy from there the king and the princes says the Lord. But, but, and it's a big but like the one in Genesis 6, but Noah found grace in the side of the Lord.

But it shall come to pass in the latter days that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the Lord. It's the last verse of chapter 49. And Elam was one of the principal provinces, as we have seen, as we have seen of Iran. Now let's talk about the wise men that came to see the newborn babe. So we will turn to Matthew chapter 2 and verse 1. Matthew chapter 2 and verse 1. Remember, we said that there was a contingent of Jews that stayed in the province of Elam after even those that Cyrus had said could go back and build the restoration temple. And Esir had a hand in saving the Jews at that time. In Matthew chapter 2 and verse 1. Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem. Now we don't know for sure what nation they came from.

Some speculate of various nations. It seems logical that it might have been Elam or Iran. Because of the contingent staying there after those were allowed to go back and rebuild the temple that went with Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest.

Say, where is he that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him. And when Herod the king heard this thing, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him in Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet. And then it quotes from Micah, verse 7, been Herod when he had privately called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, go and search out diligently and then come and report back to me. They went to Bethlehem. They saw the newborn in the house, and they didn't go back to Herod. They went back to their homeland. And so the speculation is that these wise men were from the province of Elam where Esther was because they would have learned of the prophecies that had been given. But that is speculation. We don't know for sure, but there is a possibility of that. Another thing with regard to Iran-Persian is on the day of Pentecost, it would turn to Acts, chapter 2. And guess who was there on the day of Pentecost?

We'll begin in verse 37, Acts 2, 37.

I want earlier in the chapter to illustrate this in Acts 2 and verse 7, not 37. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, and are not all these which speak Galileans. We see here the miracle was in the hearing.

And here we every man in our own tongue, here we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born. Parthians, Medes, and Elemites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, in Judea, Cappadocia, and Pontus in Asia. Now, go back to that appearing of the wise men. The wise men brought gifts. They bought gold, which is symbolic of a king. Of course, Jesus Christ is king of kings. They brought frankincense, which is an oil that you can put on, which the priest used. Jesus Christ is our high priest. And myrrh, gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and myrrh, what you put on dead bodies oftentimes, in the process of preparing them for burial. So in that, you had, in one sense, the gospel preached, and gold, king of kings, and frankincense, he's our high priest, and myrrh, he died for the sins of the world. Just an interesting parallel, you might want to call it, about what the gifts of the wise men. And here we see that when the Holy Spirit was sent, the Elamites were there.

So you had representatives from three different continents, from Africa, from Europe, and from Asia. The paradoxical story of Persia-Iran is quite sad. Paradoxical in the sense of Persian kings were often instrumental in freeing, delivering the Jews. Yet in the end, they are destroyed by God, because they joined the group of nations that tried to destroy Israel. So let's go to Ezekiel chapter 1, chapter 38, and verse 1. Ezekiel 38 and verse 1.

What a paradox! That over the years, centuries, in fact, the Persian Empire served to help free God's people, but in the end, they seek to destroy them.

In Ezekiel 38 and verse 1, the word of the Lord came into me saying, Son of man, set your face against the land of Magog. You remember Magog was one of the sons of Japeth, and chief prince of Meshach and Tubal, and prophesied against him, and say, Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshach, and I will turn back and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you forth in all your army horses and horsemen, with all of them clothed with all sorts of armor, and a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. It's unlike the description of the instruments that you find in Revelation 9, especially. Where the people are tormented, seek death, and can't find it. It's a different kind of instruments of warfare. Notice First Nation, Persia, Ethiopia, Libya, with them, all of them, with shield and helmet, Gomer and all his bands, the House of Tugarmah of the North Quarters, and all his bands, and many people with you. Be you prepared and prepare yourself, you and all your company, that are assembled unto you, and be you on guard unto them. After many days, you shall be visited in the latter years. You shall come into the land that is brought back from the sword and is gathered out of many people against the mountains of Israel, which have always been waste, but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they dwell safely all of them. I ask you, is Israel restored before the return of Christ? Now, some preachers preach that this battle takes place before the return of Christ. I ask you, is Israel restored before the return of Christ? I submit no.

But you can read about the restoration of Israel in chapter 37. Continuing in 39, verse 39, verse 39, Therefore, you son of man, 39, 1, prophesy against God, and say thus, as the Lord God, Behold, I am against you. O God, the chief prince of Meshach and Tubal, and I will turn you back and leave one-sixth of you and cause you to come from the north parts and will bring you upon the mountains of Israel, and I will smite your bow out of your left hand and will cause your arrows to fall out of your right hand. You shall fall in the mountains of Israel, you and all your bands and all the people that is with you, and I will give you unto the ravenous birds of every sword and to the beast of the field, and you shall be devoured. That shall you fall upon the open field, for I have spoken it, says the Lord, and I will send a fire upon Magog and them that dwell carelessly in the isles, and they shall know that I am the Eternal, and I will make my holy name known in the midst of my people. So everybody that is with Magog is destroyed supernaturally at the hands of God. Verse 8 and 9, let's read 9, and they that dwell in the cities of the Israel shall go forth and shall set on fire and burn the weapons both the shields, the bucklers, the bows, and arrows, and the handstaves and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years.

Are you going to burn the instruments of modern-day warfare for seven years? Now, you'll find in Revelation 20 that Gog appears once again in Revelation 20. So the great question with regard to the War of Gog and Magog is when does it happen? Does it happen before the millennium? Does it happen shortly after the millennium? How can you gather an army described like the one described in Ezekiel 30 shortly after the millennium when you've just fought the great battle, the great day of God Almighty? In Revelation 20, you see that verse 2, and he laid hold upon the dragon that old serpent, which is devil and saith, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him that he should deceive the nations. No more till the thousand years should be fulfilled, and after that he must be loosed a little season. Then after the thousand years, verse 7, and when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go forth out to deceive the nations, which are in the four corners, or quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, together them together to battle the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went upon the breath of the earth, and accomplished the camp of the saints about in the beloved city Jerusalem. And fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast in the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beasts and the false prophets are, and shall be tormented day and night, for never. So after the millennium, Satan is released for a season, and deceives the nations. So is this the time for Gog and Magog? I don't know for sure, but it's either before the millennium, which Israel is not restored before the millennium. Shortly after the millennium, you have the battle of the great day of God Almighty, and then this time, the third choice is this time in Revelation 20. I would say that Revelation 38, before the millennium, is surely out. And that was brought out in a recent worldview by Mr. Shaby that it was after Israel is restored. So I asked you the question earlier. Is Israel restored before Christ comes, or after he comes? Revelation and Ezekiel 37 will give you the answer.

What is the downfall of Iran or Persia? It is pride. Pride is the downfall of the nations. Pride is our downfall if we're not careful.

If you turn back to Job 41, we see here in Job 41, Job just before Psalms. In Job 41, you have a description of Leviathan, which is a type of Satan the devil. Verse 15, it says, "...his scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal." You see, when Satan rebelled, he rebelled because of pride and beauty.

When Satan rebelled and tried to take over the throne of God described in Isaiah 14, it was because of pride and beauty he tried to take over.

The identity of Leviathan is given in the last two verses of Job. So, he makes a path to shine after him. One would think the deep to be hoary. Upon earth there is none like him who is made without fear. He belongs. He beholds all high things. He is the king over all the children of pride. So, Satan the devil is the king over all the children of pride.

Iran, Persia, will fall because of their pride. We're warned against pride ourselves. We turn to Proverbs just after Psalms. In Proverbs chapter 8 and verse 13, God says that he hates the children of pride. In Proverbs 8 and verse 13, I've already quoted it. I don't know why I'm turning to it.

Proverbs 8 and verse 13, the fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride and arrogance, and the evil way, and the pro to mouth do I hate. In Proverbs 16 and verse 18. 16 and verse 18.

Pride goes before destruction and a hottest spirit before they fall.

In Proverbs 29 and verse 23. Proverbs 29 and verse 23.

And these are not nearly all the scriptures in Proverbs 29 and 23. A man's pride shall bring him low, but honor shall be upon the humble in spirit.

Iran, Persia's ultimate downfall, is pride. Our ultimate downfall or destruction can be pride as well. So let us guard against pride and let us understand the history of Persia. We haven't nearly heard the last about Persia or Iran.