Appeasement with Iran
By Dr. Ron Wexler

On November 2, 1917 , nothing short of a miracle took place. A letter written by Lord Balfour, on behalf of the British government was given to Lord Rothschild, head of the British Zionist movement. “Dear Lord Rothschild, I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of his majesties government, the following declaration of sympathy with the Jewish Zionist aspirations, which had been submitted to and approved by the cabinet; his majesties government views with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object”. Two and a half millennia before, following 70 years in Babylonian captivity, King Cyrus of Persia (Iran), was moved to issue an edict stating that Jews can return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and city. Ezra 1:1 Now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia That the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, King of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing saying…”Thus says, Cyrus, king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem , which is in Judah Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, which is in Jerusalem. And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem”

What moved the king to issue the decree? Perhaps the Bible supplies the answer. Daniel 2:21 says the God changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; Daniel 4:17 says He wants the living to know…that THE MOST HIGH RULES in the kingdom of men, He gives it to whomever He will.

Using the Bible as a history book, or a book of record, specially the period of the “minor” prophets, see Esther 10:2 “And all his acts of power and might, together with a full account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king had raised him, are they not written in the book of annals of the kings of Media and Persia?” In the context of the above, let’s try and evaluate the occurrences following the enemies of Judah ’s opposition to the rebuilding of Jerusalem .Ezra 4:6-16 Artaxerxes, King of Persia , received accusations against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem . Ezra 4:17- 24 The kings response (vs 21) Now give the command to make these men cease, that this city may not be built until the command is given by me.(vs23) …and by force of arms made them cease. The rebuilding of Jerusalem was discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius, the successor of Artaxerxes, King of Persia. King Darius then issued an order and they searched in the archives stored in the treasury of Babylon . A scroll was found in the citadel of Echatana in the province of Media , on which was written. “Let the temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices, and let its foundations be laid. It is to be 90 ft. high and 90 ft. wide, with three courses of large stone and one of timber. The costs are to be paid by the royal treasury. Also, the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, are to be returned to their places in the Temple of Jerusalem; they are to be deposited in the house of God. Read Ezra 6:1-12 The decree of Darius (Vs 12) Furthermore, I decree that if anyone changes this addict, a beam is to be pulled from the house of the Lord May the God who causes His name to dwell there destroy any king or people who put their hand to alter it, or to destroy this house of God which is in Jerusalem ? I, Darius issue a decree; let it be done diligently! Not only Darius reaffirms the decree of King Cyrus, and sanctioned the rebuilding of the temple – he financed it too! There is no doubt that King Cyrus set something in place that came for the fulfillment of God’s promised plan regarding the Jewish people and ultimately all peoples and nations of the world.

Both Western humanism, which denies divine covenant over the Holy land, and Islamic fundamentalism, which claims the land belongs to the followers of Muhammad, are not only in defiance of the Word of God whom they deny anyhow, but also with the historical secular decrees, those of the kings of Persia and the Balfour declaration issued by Great Britain . The war we are in is a spiritual war, not a political war. It is the clash of two kingdoms.The issue at stake is To whom does the city of Jerusalem belong? “The Lord has chosen Zion ! He has desired it for His dwelling place, This is My resting place forever”. (Psalm 132:13-14) The battle for Jerusalem is heating up….somebody needs to let them know that is has already been decided! Joes 3:2 I will bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem and I will gather ALL nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehosophat . And I will enter into judgment with them there on account of my people. The wisest of all men, King Solomon wrote in Proverbs 1:5, “let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance”, He also wrote in Ecclesiastes 1:9.,“what has been will be again, what has bee done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun” King Solomon’ father, David describes 70 years earlier, in Psalms 83 perfectly today’s Middle East crisis, its politics and spiritual warfare. “See how your enemies are astir, how your foes rear their heads, with conning they conspire against people; they plot against doors you cherish. Come, they say, let us destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more. With one mind the plot together, they form an alliance against you. The tents of Edom , the Ishmaelite of Moab , the Hagites, Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; even Assyria has joined them to land strengthen to the descendants of lot of Lot ” The tents of Edom , the Ishmaelite of Moab, the Hagites, Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek. All these ancient nations represent the foes of Israel in the Middle East today, they are the Moslem nations plotting against Israel , led by Persia of the past, Iran of today. David in Psalm 83 also brings a conclusion to the situation, he wrote “do to them as you did to Midian, as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the River Kishon, who perished at Endor and became like refuse on the ground May they perish in disgrace, let them know, whose name is the Lord and you alone are the Most High over all the earth”. There is nothing new under the sun Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinajad, president / ruler of Iran ( Persia ) has repeatedly stated that Israel must be “removed” from the face of the earth, formally inaugurated a heavy-water nuclear reactor outside of Tehran . That is last ingredient needed for the production of plutonium nuclear warheads. Can somebody tell Mr.Ahmadinajad, that God has determined to make Jerusalem the decisive issue by which He will deal with the nations of the world! God has staked His reputation on this very fact. This will be the demise of the President of Iran just as we have seen with Haman, Herod, Hitler and Hussein. God has staked His own reputation on the survival and security of the Jewish people in the land. And the world at large took notice!

On the Passover Seder meal, Jews recite the following passage: “In every generation there is an adversary that comes against us to destroy us, but our God the almighty delivers us from their hand”. Ahmadinajad is just another name listed on the long list of Israel ’ enemies together with Haman, Hitler and Hussein. The world took note of the fact that the enemy of the Jew is the enemy of Israel . There is no separation between the land of Israel and the Jewish people. In 1960, the Israel secret service (Mosad) brought Adolph Eichmann, Hitler’s henchman, to trial in Israel . The question is: what gave Israel the right to try Adolph Eichmann for crimes that had not been committed against Israelis, and had not been committed on Israel ’s soil? Furthermore, crimes that were committed before a country called Israel even existed.

Needless to say, the Eichmann trial brought into focus the meaning of the state of Israel and its relationship to the Jewish people and the land. It is quite astonishing that not even one group around the world raised the question of the validity of the Israeli courts trying Eichmann, a man who committed crime against Jews. His trial in Jerusalem was accepted by all people and nations, recognizing that the nation of Israel, unlike any country on earth, represents far more than just its citizens, it represents the Jewish people, past, present, and future. Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther were all connected with Persia the seed of Amalek, past present and future. At the time of Esther, a letter inspired by Haman was sent by the king as a death sentence for the Jewish people. Unless another written decree went forth, reversing the former decree, the Jews would perish. Esther was given full authority to write that decree of deliverance for the Jewish people.

Now, it is our time! Let us stand with Israel and the Jewish people, and make a decree of deliverance! Western civilization along with Israel is in a time of restoration and expansion. Let there be no political appeasement. That is not the way to restoration; political appeasement is the way to destruction.