Hi friends!  As we finish the second week of Looking for the Blessed Hope (the Bible study), let’s break before week #3 to take a look at recent news regarding terrorist leaders.  In separate reports over the past several days, news has broken that two terrorist kingpins, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s (AQAP) Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi, were both apparently targeted and hit in US military attacks.

al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed caliph (a false messiah) is said to be critically wounded in an airstrike carried out in mid-March. Soon after, ISIS scrambled to name a new leader, as it did not appear that al-Baghdadi would survive. Abu Alaa Afri, a learned man (once a physics teacher), is said to be “more important, and smarter, and with better relationships” than Baghdadi.  Based in Mosul Iraq, Afri is situated in the midst of ISIS territory and poised to lead the radical Islamic jihad.

al-Ansi, meanwhile, is reported to have been killed in a drone strike in Yemen.  His latest “claim to fame” was announcing AQAP’s responsibility in the Charlie Hedbo attack in Paris.  He had appeared in several of the group’s videos, touting brutal savagery of AQAP,  and was involved in leading the chaotic terrorist activities in Yemen.

These two leaders are two in a growing list of terrorist leaders targeted and hit by American and allied air and drone strikes.  However, regardless of our position on the practice of taking out terrorists, be wary of reports of this sort.  Until absolutely confirmed by reliable sources, we are susceptible to being sucked in to what may be a new ploy by terrorists: the staging of leaders’ deaths in order to allow them to function and lead while believed to be dead!

Need evidence?  (Me too!) Well, recently, Hamas chief of staff, Mohammed Deif, was confirmed alive, though thought to be killed in Operation Protective Edge in Gaza in 2014.  Though used in different context, Matthew 10:16 gives us a healthy piece of advice:

Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.

Indeed, we should be shrewd in these last days.  In Matthew 24 (and elsewhere) Scripture warns against the coming of false teachers, prophets and messiahs.  They may lie low for a while, but their ambition is to lead many astray.  One thing we know about many radical Islamic groups (particularly ISIS), is that they are masters of social media.  Thus, these false teachers have others acting on their behalf, sending out messages, yet safely operating while enemies believe them to be dead.

Be aware…and be alert!  These are signs of the end times and we are wise to see them through the lens of Scripture!

Shabbat shalom chavarim!