As the news comes in from the Middle East, I continue to be fascinated by ironies.  On a more sobering side, I have to ask myself, “Does anyone really understand all this!?!”  You see, on the one hand is fascination, while on the other is the reality that nothing seems to make sense!

For example, it appears to me that, while Islamic forces seem to have the same goals (destruction of Israel, worldwide caliphate, etc), they spend an awful lot of time fighting one another.

As we know, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (Syria), or ISIS, has marched forcefully across a large section of Iraq and seems hell-bent on taking over Baghdad, toppling the Iraqi government, establishing a jihadist state under sharia law, and establishing a regional (then global) caliphate.  But who stands in the way of them overtaking Baghdad?  Iran!

ISIS and Iran seem to share the same goals, so why the opposition?  Well, it is much more complicated than I can explain, but a part of the issue is that ISIS is Sunni Muslim, while Iran is staunchly Shi’ite Muslim…and the two opposing sides of Islam have a long-standing hatred of one another, and consider one another infidels!  (I shared a bit about the differences between the two in this post.)

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has sent the Quds Force (their most elite unit) into Baghdad to defend it against ISIS.  Now the US is faced with an interesting dilemma: side with Iran in beating back the al Qaeda-linked ISIS forces, or lose face by losing stability in Iraq at the cost of billions of dollars and thousands of American lives spent there over the past decade.  Without American assistance, Iraq could become one massive base of operations for terrorist attacks against Israel and other US allies…and eventually the US itself.

When US troops were pulled out of Iraq, the Iraqis were left ill-equipped to handle their own intelligence-gathering and war planning, leaving them extremely vulnerable.  Thus, a power vacuum was created and Iran and ISIS have rushed in to fill the space.  Unfortunately, we could see the same thing happen in Afghanistan. As if threats from Shi’ite Iran and all its proxies are not enough, now al Qaeda’s elite ISIS group is leading the Sunni charge in the same region!

Our president has been steadfast in cozying up to Iran lately, and seems to be leaning in that direction now as well (see Obama Approved Iran’s Move into Iraq).  Genesis 12:3 tells us that those who bless Israel will be blessed, while those who curse Israel will be cursed.  To cozy up next to a regime that has clearly indicated their desire to “wipe Israel off the map” seems to put us on the wrong side of that equation!  Perhaps our best hope is that opposing Islamic forces will wear one another down in battle!

Now, let me share a final piece of intrigue!  There is another battle going on in the oil-rich northern part of Iraq.  Perhaps you recall Saddam Hussein’s annihilation of over 50,000 Kurdish citizens in military operations in 1988.  Kurds, who made up about 1/5 of Iraq prior to the genocide, fled to the northern regions of Iraq and today control the area around Kirkuk, where massive amounts of oil are exported around the world.

Interestingly, Kurds are primarily Sunni Muslim, but are not Arab.  In fact, there is often hatred among Kurds towards Arabs!  Thus, opposed to ISIS because they are Arab, and opposed to Iran because they are Shi’ite!  So, are there THREEE opposing factions of Islam at work in Iraq?

But just who are the Kurds?  They are likely the Medes, talked about in Bible prophecy!  Isaiah 13 and Jeremiah 51 both prophesy that the Medes will be raised up in the last days to be used of God to bring down Babylon!  Intrigued?  Me too!  For more information, see Kurds…seize oil-rich region of Iraq.

Friends, we are about to dive into the Biblical prophecy concerning Babylon, the center of evil during the Tribulation!  We’ve got an incredible week of study ahead, so I invite you to contemplate the thoughts I’ve shared today, then join us this week as we dig into God’s Word together!