As expected, reactions to the lifting of international sanctions against Iran are vastly different.  Per the Iranian Nuclear Deal struck in July 2015, the IAEA has declared on Saturday that Iran has fulfilled all requirements (removing nuclear materials, disassembling some of their centrifuges, and dismantling a heavy-water nuclear reactor in Arak, for example). Thus, sanctions will now be lifted on Iran, freeing up over $100 billion in frozen assets, likely to be funneled to terrorist networks.  In addition, Iran will soon be free to begin flooding the international market with oil, which will likely drive oil prices even lower.  (Not good news for American oil companies in the midst of huge layoffs.)

All this, after Iran blatantly ignored UN sanctions by test-firing ballistic missiles at least twice in October and November 2015.

Here are reactions from leaders in key countries:

“Even after signing the nuclear deal, Iran has not relinquished its ambition to obtain nuclear weapons, and continues to act to destabilise the Middle East and spread terror throughout the world while violating its international commitments” – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

“I thank God for this blessing and bow to the greatness of the patient nation of Iran” – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Twitter

“Today, as a result of the actions taken since last July, the United States, our friends and allies in the Middle East, in the entire world are safer because the threat of a nuclear weapon has been reduced” – US Secretary of State John Kerry

“Today, the Obama administration will begin lifting economic sanctions on the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism” – US Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan in a statement

Meanwhile, the Jerusalem Post reports that another mammoth gas field off the Israeli Mediterranean Coast has been found.  Exploratory drilling will begin soon to determine whether or not the gas will be extracted.

The discovery of natural gas in the Mediterranean and oil on the Golan Heights is incredibly interesting in light of current events and Bible prophecy.  There is an underlying greed for resources in the Middle East, which fuels the feuds we see happening there today.  Oil is a huge financial resource for ISIS, and it is no secret that Russia yearns for a (large!) piece of the oil revenue.

Ezekiel 38 references a “hook in the jaw” that will draw the northern coalition (led by Russia and Iran) into Israel to attack with the intent to destroy.  (We know how it ends…God will stand up in defense of His chosen land and His chosen people!)  It is certainly interesting to see current events line up with Bible prophecy, and it lends evidence that we are indeed living in the last days!

We are spending the next 11 weeks studying these very prophecies in Looking for the Blessed Hope (the Bible study) at Calvary Community Church’s Northwest Campus.  If you are in the Phoenix area, please join us at 9:00am on Sunday mornings.  (Directions and more information.)

Have a blessed week!