The 1991 and 2003
Gulf Wars

    History has shown that Biblical prophecy is often bifurcated in time. A good example of this is Daniel's "70 weeks" prophecy, which was fulfilled in the Day of our Lord, and which has been subsequently fulfilled in many additional ways. Can Saddam Hussein's actions in the Gulf Wars of 1991 and 2003 be explained by a bifurcated prophecy?

    Daniel 11 foretold the coming of Antiochus Epiphanes, son of Syrian King Antiochus the Great, some 2000 years ago. Yet, many of the elements of this prophecy seem to apply to another who will come in the latter days.

    Consider (Amplified) verse21: "(Then) shall arise a contemptuous and contemptible person to whom royal majesty and the honor of the kingdom have not been given." This could easily describe Saddam Hussein and the manner in which he came to power in a 1968 coup. Verse 23: "...and he shall...become strong with a small people." Though Iraq had a population of only about 20 million, by 1991 its army had become the 4th-largest in the world. Verse 29: "At the time appointed (by God) he shall return and come into the south; but it shall not be successful as were the former invasions of Egypt." Clearly Iraq's invasion of Kuwait was not successful and the reference to Egypt could be allegorical. (See Rev. 11:8) Then read in verse 30: "For the ships of Kittim shall come against him; ...(and) he shall be grieved and discouraged and turn back (to Palestine) and carry out his rage...against...God's people." In 1991 coalition forces launched aircraft, cruise missiles and artillery against Saddam Hussein's forces from "ships" in order to dislodge him from Kuwait. In retaliation, he vented his rage by launching missiles into civilian population centers in Israel.

    Reading further into Daniel 11, we find that, in the last days, this country will ally itself with Libya (Put) and Cush (Sudan/Ethiopia) to invade Palestine. Based on this association, Ezekiel 38:5 identifies this nation as Persia. During the time the Book of Daniel was written (ca 605-533 bc) the Persian Empire included Iraq !

    Historically there has also been a duality in the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. For example, the world was destroyed once by water (Gen. 6&7), and will soon be destroyed again by fire (Luke 12:49, Mal. 4:1, et al). The coming Day of Wrath is prophecied to bring "clouds and thick darkness" (Joel 2:2, Zeph.1:15, Mark 13:24). During the 1991 Gulf War hundreds of oil wells in Kuwait were set ablaze by Saddam Hussein causing the sun to be obscured for months. Was this the first part of a prophetic duality?

    The 1991 Gulf War also ended on Purim. The Book of Esther recounts how Purim was the day that was found by the casting of lots to be the best day to destroy the Jews. George Bush's decision to prematurely halt the war on Purim 1991 when the Iraqi army could have been annihilated, may portend the eventual destruction of the Jewish nation by the hand of some of these same forces. Coincidentally, his son George W. Bush demanded Saddam Hussein leave Iraq on Purim in 2003.

    There is also evidence of Iraq's significance in end-time scenarios in key passages of the apocalyptic book of Revelation. "God kept in mind mighty Babylon, to make her drain the cup of His furious wrath and indignation." - Rev. 16:19 According to biographers and news reports, Saddam Hussein fancies himself a modern Nebuchadnezzar, the 6th-century B.C. Babylonian king who conquered and enslaved the Israelites. Further, in Chapter 9, Verse 11 John says the leader of an army of locusts released to fight humankind is named Abaddon in Hebrew, Apollyon in Greek. Both words mean Destroyer, one of several meanings for the name "Saddam."

    Chapter 16, which includes the only mention of Armageddon in the Bible, also carries a direct reference to the Euphrates River, which runs through modern-day Iraq. "The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East." [Both Iraq and Syria are east of Palestine.] Turkey's huge Ataturk Dam could indeed stop the flow of the Euphrates and dry it up. But, would Turkey do this? Turkey is still at war with the Kurds who occupy northern Iraq. So, the situation must be watched closely.

(WashPost, CNN, et al)

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