(Isaiah 30:5a) “Like birds hovering overhead, so the LORD of Hosts will protect Jerusalem.”

According to an online Islamic news source two days ago it was reported that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi affirmed to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan the importance of strong relations between Iran and Turkey in laying the foundations for regional security, stability, and peace. According to the report it stated; “Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi stated that rescuing the Palestinian people from the tyranny of the Israeli occupation will always be on Iran and Turkey’s mutual agenda, assuring that the cooperation between the two countries brings about a lot of benefits to the Islamic world.

In a conversation over the phone with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Raisi stated that the relations between the two countries are more than just negotiations, stressing the importance of close cooperation between Iran and Turkey in laying the foundations for regional security, stability, and peace. The Iranian President also defined Iran-Turkey relations as friendly and brotherly, declaring that Iran stresses the importance of bilateral and international cooperation with Turkey.

Raisi also emphasized the importance of accelerating the seventh session of the Supreme Council for Cooperation between the two countries, scheduled to be held in Tehran, expressing his confidence that the cooperation between Iran and Turkey will achieve progress and prosperity for the two countries, security and peace for the whole region, and all the good and blessings for the Islamic nation. He also highlighted the Iranian and Turkish capabilities in the Islamic world, emphasizing that supporting the oppressed and downtrodden Palestinian people and saving them from the Zionist oppression would always stand as a shared goal.

In return, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan congratulated Raisi on his election as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, saying that he has no doubt that Raisi’s presidency would further enhance the two countries’ bilateral and regional cooperation in all sectors. Erdoğan also stated that the Supreme Cooperation Council plays an important role at the level of cooperation between Iran and Turkey, expressing his hope that by holding this meeting in Tehran in the nearest time possible, more efforts will be made to develop the bilateral cooperation, not to mention meeting the Iranian President in person and holding a round of talks with him. The Turkish President also expressed gratitude and appreciation to Iran for its humanitarian aid in putting out the recent fires in Turkey.

It is becoming increasingly clearer that the Islamic empire is being united as we see the relationship between Turkey and Iran solidifying. We know from the Book of Ezekiel Chapter 38 that Iran will join the Islamic invasion force led by Turkey when they invade Israel (Ezekiel 38:1-5). We also know from the Book of Daniel that before Israel has a confrontation with Turkey that it will have a war with Iran and during this war Michael, the angel who looks out for Israel, will go to bat for Israel during the coming war (Daniel 10:12-14, 20-21). Michael will also fight for Israel during the Time of Great Tribulation lasting three and a half years in duration at the end of this present age (Daniel 12:1,7b).

It is also clear that in his efforts to resurrect the Turkish Ottoman Empire with its caliphate that the Turkish President is gathering his supporters for the empire he is seeking to establish in the Middle-east. We have also seen him wanting to have dialogue with the Taliban militants active in Afghanistan more than likely to get them onside for the cause of the resurrected caliphate for the entire Muslim world. There is no doubt that Iran has its missile sights set on Israel and wants to see Israel destroyed. We also know that Iran supports Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon and is using these terrorist organizations to fight a proxy war against Israel. Already Iranian and Turkish forces are in Syria just across the border between Syria and Israel.

There is no doubt that the man from Turkey has much in common with the man from Iran and together they have an agenda to see Israel ‘liberated’ as it were, from Israeli control and occupation as they see it and come under the sovereignty of the Palestinian Authority and the displaced Arabs living in Israel. Of course the whole ‘Palestinian thing’ is a red-herring in that the Land of Israel has always been called Israel by God Himself. We see Israel named after the Messiah (in his pre-incarnate form) had wrestled with Jacob and changed his name to Israel (Genesis 32:28). The Bible in both Testaments calls the land Israel. If God Himself calls the land Israel then to call it by any other name is to insinuate that God is a liar and did not say what He did. Added to this God gave it to the descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, not to the descendents of Ishmael and Esau.

One of the startling things is that there is a growing number of so called Evangelical ‘Christians’ who actually call Israel Palestine and promote replacement theology and even advocate the so called cause’ of the Palestinians! It was the Romans that gave the land of Israel the name Palestine which they derived from the word Philistine. The Romans knew of the hostility that the Philistines had always had towards Israel in past history, and wanted to dismantle the name Israel to destroy their identity as a people if they could. What is quite inaccurate is that in the maps of Israel at the back of most Bibles are called Palestine.

While the Turkish and Iranian leaders speak about their relationship being “friendly and brotherly” Raisi also stated; “that supporting the oppressed and downtrodden Palestinian people and saving them from the Zionist oppression would always stand as a shared goal.” Of course we know that the man from Turkey agrees with this policy towards Israel and on more than one occasion has also publically declared his support for the so called ‘Palestinians’ and that Jerusalem and the sight of the Temple Mount be completely placed into the hands of the Palestinian Authority with Israelis out of the picture completely.

While we see an increasing number of the moderate Arab nations seeking to have friendly relations with Israel, the real reason for this is that they are scared of Iran and more so as they see the nations of the European union and the United States of America seeking to re-negotiate the Iranian nuclear deal. While the EU and the USA ‘sabre rattle’ over Iran’s militancy towards Israel, the Israeli leadership clearly knows that the Iranian nuclear development programme needs to be dismantled. Last week Benny Gantz, the Minister for Defence in the Israeli government, stated that Iran is ten weeks away from acquiring enough enriched uranium to build a nuclear bomb. He told ambassadors from countries on the United Nations Security Council during a briefing at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem that, “Iran has violated all of the guidelines set in the JCPOA and is only around 10 weeks away from acquiring weapons-grade materials necessary for a nuclear weapon.”

No doubt that if the threat from Iran intensifies Israel will have no choice but to confront Iran and if necessary make the first strike to take out Iran’s main nuclear facility the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant. Whether Naftali Bennet the new Israeli Prime Minister really has the clout to stand up to Iran’s militancy remains to be seen. It was reported in the news media that His response to the 19 missiles that were launched against Israel by Hezbollah was rather a weak response. It is clear from the ‘budding’ relationship between the Turkish and Iranian Presidents that the main common goal they share is the destruction of Israel and the globalization of Islam. It is clear that these two “birds of a feather that flock together” know that America is weak, that Europe is divided and that the democracy of the free word is being eroded at an ever increasing pace by a form of socialism. Clearly the sun is setting on the western democracies and rising on the formation of an Islamic empire of global proportions.

At present Islam is not united but when the man of sin is revealed he will undoubtedly, with the power of Satan raise an army, the likes of which has never been seen in past history. We will see a 200 million strong army come across the dried up Euphrates River. The prophet Joel describes this army as locusts that cover the land of Israel like a blanket and that sees the nations of the world plunged into the worst nightmare possible that will see a third of mankind wiped out by nuclear exchanges (Joel 1:1-12) (Revelation 9:13-19). This conflagration will be centred in Israel. When it looks like Israel will be destroyed as a nation and the world annihilated, God will intervene for the sake of His elect people Israel and the New Covenant believers, and for the very survival of the planet (Matthew 24:21-22).

As for this army led by the Turkish King of the North also called the man of sin, God says to His faltering people Israel, “The northern army I will drive away from you, banishing it to a barren and desolate land, its front ranks into the Eastern Sea, and its rear guard into the Western Sea. And its stench will rise; its foul odour will ascend” (Joel 2:20). The birds of prey will descend upon the dead bodies for a banquet set up by God Himself (Ezekiel 39:17-20) (Revelation 19:17-18). Did not the Lord Jesus Himself say; “Wherever there is a carcass, their the vultures will gather” (Matthew 24:28)

Let these leaders of Turkey and Iran plot their course to destroy Israel but they are in for a shocking surprise, a rude awakening, because through the prophet Isaiah the Lord has said concerning Israel and their survival as a nation; “For this is what the LORD has said to me: “Like a lion roaring or a young lion over its prey—and though a band of shepherds is called out against it, it is not terrified by their shouting or subdued by their clamour—so the LORD of Hosts will come down to do battle on Mount Zion and its heights. Like birds hovering overhead, so the LORD of Hosts will protect Jerusalem. He will shield it and deliver it; He will pass over it and preserve it” (Isaiah 31:4-5).