Analysis: Why is the New Iranian Video About the Soon
Coming of the Messiah Significant?
Posted: April 4, 2011 by joelcrosenberg
Last night, I returned from a week in Europe where I had the
opportunity to brief several dozen Iranian, Arab, Israeli, European and
American pastors and Christian ministry leaders about the new
feature-length documentary film produced by the Iranian government and
its religious allies called, The Coming Is Near. As I will
explain in more detail below, I believe now is the time for pastors and
ministry leaders around the world to use the occasion of the release of
this film to accelerate and intensify their own teaching about the
Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and to answer the questions being
asked by millions of people throughout the Middle East and elsewhere
about who the Messiah is and when/how/why He will return.
The film, The Coming Is Near, was brought to the attention
of the West by Reza Khalili, a former Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps
member who became a double agent for the CIA working against Iran in the
1980s. It explains how the current wars and revolutions in Iraq, Egypt,
Libya, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and elsewhere throughout the Middle East and
North Africa are signs consistent with Shia Islamic End Times teaching
that the Twelfth Imam (or Mahdi) and Jesus will soon appear on earth to
usher in the destruction of Israel, the establishment of an Islamic
caliphate (kingdom), and the end of days. As I write about in
The Twelfth Imam and
Inside The Revolution, Shia Muslims are convinced that
Jesus will come as a deputy to the Mahdi and force all Jews and
Christians to either convert to Islam or die.
Why is this new film significant? I see several reasons:
- The film has attracted international attention through reports
by the Christian Broadcasting Network, the Drudge Report, and other
media outlets — this is good because it is further helping people
around the world to understand what the current Iranian regime
believes and why it is so dangerous.
- The film has been screened and approved at the highest levels of
Iranian government, providing further confirmation that the
Ayatollah Khamenei and President Ahmadinejad believe their
eschatology is being vindicated and thus emboldening them to
continue pursuing nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles.
- The film is being screened throughout Iran for military officers
and soldiers as well as for paramilitary units, suggesting
that Iran’s leaders are trying to prepare their forces for a rapidly
approaching genocidal war against Israel, the U.S. and the West and
to encourage them not to fear because Shia Muslims are on the
winning side of history.
- The film is being translated from Farsi (the language of Iran)
to Arabic, suggesting that it will soon be shown and distributed
throughout the broader Middle East and North Africa to prepare
other Muslims — Sunni and Shia – for a genocidal war with Israel and
the West.
- The film is full of false teaching (the Twelfth Imam is not the
true Messiah, cannot save mankind and will not set up a global
Islamic kingdom), delivered by false teachers (Iranian clerics), who
follow a false religion (Islam), but it is useful in that it is
further evidence that our Lord Jesus Christ was absolutely correct
when He warned His disciples in Matthew 24 and Luke 21 that “false
messiahs” and “false prophets” will come in the last days before
Christ’s own return. Indeed, while we can’t know for certain that a
false Islamic messiah known as the Twelfth Imam is actually coming
soon, we must recognize that this is possible, would be a
fulfillment of Bible prophecy, would create much deception in the
world, and would need to be countered with great courage and wisdom
by faithful followers of Jesus Christ.
- The film is full of evil, anti-Semitic, anti-Israel and
anti-Christian teaching, but it is serving one particularly good
function: it is beginning to accelerate and intensify an on-going
conversation among Muslims and Jews throughout the world who are
asking, “Who is the Messiah? When will He come? What signs will
precede His coming? How shall we recognize Him when He comes? And
how shall we live differently in light of His soon arrival?”
- The film, in my view, should immediately lead to Christian
ministries producing films and TV programs explaining what the Bible
says about the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how to
both prepare for His return and live lives of holiness, prayer,
evangelism, discipleship and church planting in view of Christ
Jesus’ coming. Followers of Jesus Christ should be ready and willing
to answer people’s questions from the Scriptures, and teach other
believers how to answer these questions from the Bible, as well. One
of the ministry leaders I spoke to who is responsible for
broadcasting and webcasting programs that are seen by hundreds of
thousands of Iranian and Arab Muslims and Christians throughout
North Africa and the Middle East has already committed to having his
staff make the Second Coming of Jesus Christ a new and important
theme of their programming in the weeks and months ahead.
Please pray that many Christian leaders around the world will see
this as an important moment to teach Bible truths in love and with great
courage, that Jesus of Nazareth is the only true Messiah and the Savior
of the world, and that He is coming back soon. As Jesus Himself said in
John 14:1-3 and 6, ”Do not let your heart be troubled;
believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many
dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to
prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will
come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be
also….I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the
Father but through Me.”
Also worth noting: Reza Khalili notes
that Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, President Ahmadinejad’s top adviser and
chief of staff was directly involved with this project.
Khalili quotes Mashaei as saying:
Therefore let us shout out loud
that The Coming is soon and that evil should be fearful. We live
with these thoughts every day and our lives are filled with The
Coming of the last imam. That human will reappear and fill the world
with justice and establish his promised governance on earth. The
very world has witnessed too much bloodshed of the innocent for
others to build their palaces. The very world is filled with shouts
for justice. The innocent and the oppressed are losing their lives
to world powers. It is in this very world where the oppressors rule
and this world that Allah will command the last imam to appear and
forever put an end to injustice. At that time the world will belong
to the righteous.
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