Ahmadinejad and the 12th Imam

Jerry Tyson

It was President Franklin Roosevelt who said, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” He never met Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the current leader of Iran. As believers in Jesus Christ as Savior and soon coming Lord, we need fear nothing on this earth, knowing that Christ's words in John 10:28-30 are true: “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.” A believer can rest in the assurance of God's promises. This world, however, should at least consider the Madman from Iran and be aware.

DOCUMENTATION: NEWSMAX.COM, September 29, 2008

“Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was feted on Thursday night [September 25] by left-wing U.S. religious leaders and self-styled pacifists at a gala reception at New York's Hyatt hotel. Ahmadinejad began his address with an invocation of the 12th imam, according to a source who attended the event. He made a similar invocation of the 12th imam at the start of his speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, adding that he hoped his actions 'would hasten the imam's return.' He went on to blast Israel and the United States in that speech. The Mahdivist cult of Shia Islam, to which Ahmadinejad subscribes, holds that the 12th imam will 'return' to earth after a period of worldwide conflagration, mass destruction, famine, and starvation. By calling on his own actions to 'hasten' the imam's return, many scholars of Islam believe that Ahmadinejad is revealing his intention to provoke a world war. Ahmadinejad has referred to Israel as 'a dried, rotten tree that will collapse with a single storm,' and has called on the Muslim world to 'prepare for the great war, so as to completely wipe out the Zionist regime and remove this cancerous growth.'”

In Islamic eschatology, the 12th Mahdi is counterfeit Christ, imitating Christ return to rule and reign on earth for 1,000 years. We know that when Christ returns, he will bind Satan and his minions for the millennium and rule the earth in a kingdom of peace. Until then, we must wait to see how the world's stage is set for the coming of the one who will defy the God of Heaven as Satan's man on earth. Certainly, Ahmadinejad and his Mahdi are positioning themselves to be in league with Satan, working to that end. While his threats to Israel and the U.S. should not be taken lightly, Israel has the unbreakable promise of God's Word for its continuing existence (Rom. 13.11-12).

18-- October 2008 Bible in the News