The front page headline of the Sept. 8, '02 Colorado springs Gazette read, "Iraq trying to get parts for nukes, U.S. says...Saddam spent 14 months in quest for atomic bomb."

As the U.S. and Britain send out ever stronger warnings in 2002 that all-out war on Iraq is inevitable we felt led to review our 1998 Rapture Watch Message #115.

We quote - An intriguing development transpired at the city of Babylon, Iraq according to a Mar. 29, 1998 Denver Post article which headlined, "Iraqi thieves rob cradle of civilization."

Quoting from this article we read, "They came around noon, as the guards were changing shifts. They smashed the doors of the museum and glass display case, absconding with cuneiform tablets and cylinders from the 6th century B.C. If there is any doubt that Iraq is skidding into a long downward spiral, the proof can be found here in Babylon, one of the oldest cities known to mankind. Quite literally, they are robbing from the cradle of civilization. Babylon today is a forlorn tourist site near the banks of the Euphrates River, 50 miles southwest of Baghdad. Although President Saddam Hussein ordered the palace restored a decade ago, few tourists come anymore, for there is little to see. The museum is closed-a security measure ordered in the aftermath of the April 1996 robbery. Its contents have been moved to Baghdad for safekeeping. "There's nothing to see in there. Just the walls," a guide, Rabha Ameedi, said as he shuffled past the padlocked doors of the Babylon Museum."

Understand that Babylon, Iraq is not just some little way stop consisting of a museum and some walls, but is a sprawling complex consisting of such things as the rebuilt southern palace of King Nebuchadnezzar, large fenced in areas, temples and buildings, including a reconstructed Greek theater which seats four thousand people (The Rise of Babylon by Charles Dyer).

Now Babylon, Iraq is experiencing increased security while any artifacts which might initiate the curious to visit Babylon have been reportedly either stolen or moved elsewhere. A convenient arrangement for discouraging any interest in this former tourist destination.
We submit that what the U.N. arms inspectors are looking for will be found at Babylon, Iraq. This is what we have stated in the past by our understanding of the Scriptures and this is what we continue to unwaveringly maintain.

Consider the lifetime risk involved to an Iraqi for stealing these items from Saddam Hussein. Why would anyone steal these non-negotiable treasures? Could this all be part of an elaborate ruse to keep the curious from discovering something else which might be concealed at this restored city?

Referring back to our 1992 Raging Wind Message #315, we can surmise some of the items that are likely hidden under Babylon, Iraq: "Without reservation this outreach has maintained that according to the Bible prophecies found in Jeremiah 50 & 51, Babylon will, in the near future, be destroyed completely.

Jeremiah 51:61-62 clearly teach that this prophesied desolation is for the literal, geographical city of Babylon, which is in modern-day Iraq. "And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, "When you arrive in Babylon and see it, and read all these words, "then you shall say, 'O LORD, You have spoken against this place to cut it off, so that none shall remain in it, neither, man nor beast, but it shall be desolate forever.'"

A break in the hostilities with an offer of healing is prophesied to fail according to Jer. 51:8-9. "Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed. Wail for her! Take balm for her pain; perhaps she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. Forsake her, and let us go everyone to his own country; for her judgment reaches to heaven and is lifted up to the skies."

People have consistently voiced their doubt concerning the literal future fulfillment of the prophecies of Jer. 50 & 51. They truly believed all of the early reports after the first stage of the war that Iraq was a defeated foe left in a state of devastation that would take a decade or two of time to restore itself to a shadow of its former strength.

As we quote from several articles, the fact that this is far from the truth and that a second stage to this war is inevitable will be demonstrated very clearly.

First, quoting from the Denver Post of Jan. 15, 1992 from an article which headlined, "Iraq admits it bought nuke parts," we read the following: "Inspectors had flown to Baghdad Saturday after learning that German companies had sold Saddam some of the parts needed to build up to 10,000 uranium gas centrifuge enrichment plants. The U.N. team drew a blank when they raided the suspected site just north of Baghdad area on Sunday, officials say. But Iraqi nuclear officials later admitted under questioning they had bought enough special magnets and housings from German companies before the Persian Gulf War to build up to 10,000 centrifuges, although they said these were all destroyed immediately after the cease-fire [sure they were!] ... inspectors also recently have found a centrifuge production plant in Iraq capable of turning out more than 1,000 machines a year...It confirms once again Iraq's determination to conceal as much as possible of its nuclear program...and suggests it was following a multifaceted approach..."

Next we will quote from an article headlined, "Iraq admits existence of program to enrich uranium for bomb." "Iraq has acknowledged for the first time the existence of a sophisticated system to enrich uranium for nuclear bombs, a U.N. inspector said Tuesday..."We don't have evidence they operated the machines, but we're not saying that they did not," said Gallucci in Bahrain after returning from Iraq...In Washington on Tuesday, President [George] Bush said that Iraq has "large numbers of undeclared ballistic missiles" and may still be trying to produce copies of the Scud missile."
Then from the Gazette Telegraph article of Jan. 16, 1992 which headlined, "Saddam still seen as threat - CIA director sounds alarm" we read, "Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has hundreds of Scud missiles hidden away"...CIA Director Robert Gates told Congress on Wednesday [and] that "Iraq has many potential sources of weapon technology to rebuild its arsenal."

Then lastly, from William Safire, a columnist for the New York Times, we have this item which was printed in the Jan. 15, 1992 G.T. which headlined, "Bush may plan an April surprise for Saddam." "We now have on-site proof that Iraqi scientists were well on their way to bomb production. Riyadh, Tel Aviv and Cairo would be under nuclear blackmail today, with Paris and New York vulnerable to Baghdad's nuclear-tipped missiles next year...Iraqi nuclear production was set back. But not destroyed...Bush knows that he will have to return to Saddam Hussein.'" As of September 25, 2002 British and U.S. intelligence has confirmed that Iraq has far superior missile and tracking technology then what is permissible under the UN cease fire agreement.

We then shared this dramatic update from the April, 1998 Southwest Radio Church article titled, "Babylon - its coming destruction!" "A news report from Jerusalem titled "Saddam Hiding Bio-Weapons Under Babylon?" dated Mar. 9, 1998, is interestingly related to our subject: German newspapers this week published new disclosure on Iraq's military capabilities. The Daily Bild [a highly respected European Publication] reported that Saddam Hussein has hidden a large supply of nerve gas and biological weapons beneath the ruins of ancient Babylon, on the assumption that the United States would not dare to bomb the archaeological and historical site."

Keep in mind that intelligence agencies such as the Mossad of Israel and the CIA monitor news reports such as this on a daily basis and evaluate their merit.

The foremost thought to keep in one's mind is that God's Word never fails. When God says that Babylon, Iraq will be uninhabitable, it will be uninhabitable (see Jer. 51:61-62).

When God says that there will be a fire burning in Babylon that the nations will not be able to extinguish, then we had better believe that such a fire will ravage the land. "Thus says the LORD of hosts: "The broad walls of Babylon shall be burned with fire; the people will labor in vain, and the nations, because of the fire; and they shall be weary" (Jer. 51:58).

And when God says that anyone who does not turn to His Son Jesus Christ for forgiveness will perish in a place of eternal torment, then we are well to become wise to the fact that such a judgment in such a place truly exists (Luke 13: 27-28).

Just as assuredly, heaven awaits those whose lives are hidden in Christ.

"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. "In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. "And 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. " (John 14:1-3).

Today is the day to come to the Lord Jesus Christ to receive forgiveness.

Jesus shed His blood on the cross in payment for the sins of the world so that all who believe in His name for salvation will be given eternal life. Don't put it off.

The Rapture of the Church to Heaven is near at hand and God's judgment upon this Christ-rejecting world is soon to follow.

"Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words" (I Thess. 4:17-18).