We are continuing our Articles of Interest series which presents past and present news items from our archives in light of their Biblical relevance. In Isaiah 30:1-3 God prophesied through His prophet that in the last days the reborn nation of Israel would make a grievous error by trusting that the strength of Egypt would be of aid to them.

We quote, "Woe to the rebellious children," says the Lord, "who take counsel, but not of Me, and who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; "Who walk to go down to Egypt, and have not asked My advice, to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt. Therefore the strength of Pharaoh shall be your shame, and trust in the shadow of Egypt shall be your humiliation." The day of this prophesied errant trust in the Pharaoh of Egypt appears near as we read from a June 8, '04 New York Times article which headlined, "Israelis seek role for Egypt in Gaza."

We quote, "Despite strained relations in recent years, Israel and Egypt have stepped up high-level contacts and are trying to carve out a role for Egyptian security forces to help Israel with its proposed withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak [modern-day Pharaoh] met with Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom on Monday, their third meeting in the past six months. Both men expressed support for a plan to increase Egypt's security presence along its border with Gaza and to send the Egyptian police into Gaza itself to help train their Palestinian counterparts, according to Israeli officials.

In the past, the prospect of any Arab forces edging closer to Israel would have set off alarm bells in Israel's security establishment. But the conservative Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, has proposed the measures as a way to help stabilize Gaza as he proceeds with a plan to evacuate Israeli settlers, and most soldiers, from the volatile coastal territory.

Egypt and Israel have not reached any agreements yet and Sharon's withdrawal plan still faces many obstacles. Although he won Cabinet backing Sunday to begin preparing for a possible pullout, he faces more bruising battles with hardliners. The government will have to vote again, probably next year, to approve the actual evacuation of Jewish settlements. Still, Sharon's pursuit of Egyptian assistance in Gaza marks a new approach, and so far, the Egyptians appear receptive.

"I've said more than once during the last year that it looks like Egypt has taken a strategic decision to have better relations with Israel and play a key role in the region," Shalom said at a news conference in Cairo. Osama el-Baz, a senior adviser to Mubarak, did not disagree, but he added: "We've been playing a key role here for abut 6,000 years. The new factor is that we agreed on the need for us to play a key role in maintaining peace, stability and security."

God then declares in Isaiah 30:7 of this plan for Egyptian help in the time of Israel's distress, "For the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose. Therefore I have called her Rahab-Hem-Shebeth" (which translates to mean "Rahab sits idle).

Israel's hopes of an Egyptian alliance to control the Palestinians are but wishes built upon the wind. In the prophecy of Psalm 83 we are told in verses 1-3 of an end time alliance against Israel and the God of Israel formed out of what are generally referred to as Arab nations. It should be noted that the countries listed as coming against Israel in this yet future war are all Moslem and reject the God of Israel just as prophesied.

We quote, "Do not keep silent, O God! Do not hold Your peace, and do not be still, O God! For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; And those who hate You have lifted up their head. They have taken crafty counsel against Your people and consulted together against Your sheltered ones." Among the peoples listed in Psalm 83 who will try to defy God and destroy Israel (and in fact have joined in numerous attempts in the past to do so) are, according to verses 6-7 the Hagarites, which are the Egyptians and the people inhabiting the land of ancient Philistia, which are the Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip.

The strengthening reunification of the anti-Israeli peoples listed in Psalm 83 was highlighted in an October 15, '00 Denver Post article which headlined, "Arab nationalism of '60s re-emerges."

We quote, ",,,the re-emergence of Arab nationalist themes, are likely to complicate efforts to resolve the 50-year-old Arab-Israeli struggle peacefully.

Not since the outbreak of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war have Arab newspapers been so filled with the language of hate and denial that once characterized Arab political discourse toward Israel under the Egyptian leader Gamel Abdel Nasser, the champion of Arab nationalism.

"Egypt is returning to the 1960s," Mahmoud Said concluded in a front-page article last week in Al Sharq Al Awsat, a popular Arabic-language daily newspaper.

Articles in semiofficial Egyptian newspapers like Al Akhbar, for instance, have taken to calling Israel not "the Jewish state" or even "the Jews," but "the Zionist entity," the term once favored by Syria and other rejectionist Arab nations.

Slogans popularized by Nasser are reappearing on Egyptian television and in the press, among them "What was conquered by power can only be reclaimed by power "...Arab commentators have taken to calling the often violent rallies and demonstrations by Palestinians on the West Bank and Gaza the "Second Intifada" - an even more ferocious popular uprising that the first stone-throwing rebellion against Israel in the late 1980s.

"For the first time in long, long time," wrote Marwan Asmar, a staff writer in The Star, a Jordanian English-language weekly, "people are expressing their true selves, reaching for a pan-Arab idea that until now has been blocked by the creation of states, statism, geography and boundaries." The outpouring of emotion and support were a "reminder of the Arab world of the 1950s and 1960s, when the flag of nationalism was flying," he added. "While that era was long gone and buried," Asmar lamented, "the tide could be turning for the first time."

A May 9, '04 Colorado Springs Gazette article which headlined, "Arabs seek unity under veil of secrecy" brings to mind verses 3-5 of Psalm 83 which prophesies, "They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, And consulted together against Your sheltered ones. They have said, "Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation. That the name of Israel may be remembered no more. For they have consulted together with one consent; they form a confederacy against you."

Quoting from the Gazette we read, "Under extraordinary secrecy - even paper was banned to avoid leaks - Arab foreign ministers hoping to revive a summit of their leaders tried Saturday in Cairo, Egypt, to find common ground on Israel, Iraq and U.S.-proposed reforms.

Jordan's foreign minister went public, however, holding a news conference...He told his colleagues not to wait for Israeli concessions before drafting some of their own.

The 22-member Arab League summit, scheduled to be held in Tunisia in March, was postponed at the last minute because of disagreements among ministers on Israel..."

In verse 6 of Psalm 83 we also have Edom and the Ishmaelites mentioned. Edom was located in what is now southern Jordan and Arabia. Unger's Bible Dictionary states that the Ishmaelites headquarters was in western Arabia. It is not uncommon for Saudi Arabia's deep hatred of Israel to be overlooked by her attempts to placate the United states with a lowered anti-Israeli profile, but in a Apr. 4, '02 Denver Post article which headlined "Hussein increases suicide-blast bounty," Saudi Arabia's intentions towards Israel surfaced.

The article focused on how Saddam Hussein had increased the reward to families of suicide bombers from $10,000 to $25,000. The article went on to report that Saddam Hussein was not the only one giving money to Palestinian fighters and suicide bombers. Nation sponsored charities from Saudi Arabia and Qatar - both U.S. allies - were also cited. Saudi Arabia reportedly was paying $5,000 to suicide bombers at the time.

Saudi Arabia should look to the Arabian Sea, which connects to the Indian Ocean, when it decides to join in the Psalm 83 attempt to annihilate Israel.

The June 21, '02 Jerusalem Post article which headlined, "Short notice, long arms" reported that, "Israel's nuclear capacity has just been significantly upgraded as its hitherto land-based arsenal was partly shifted to the sea, according to the Washington Post.

The paper cited former US military and State Department officials as saying that Israel is arming three submarines with cruise missiles that can carry nuclear warheads. Naval warheads would allow Israel to strike back at strategic targets even after it is attacked by unconventional weapons. Israel consistently refuses to divulge whether it has nuclear weapons but American analysts claim it has a small atomic arsenal.

According to Pentagon officials, Israel tested these new cruise missiles in 2000 in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka, the paper reported. These tests were monitored by the US Navy, the sources told the Washington Post. The report follows the publication of a book by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace stipulating Israel had made attempts to arm its diesel submarines with nuclear missiles. According to the book, Israel had tested the sea-launched, 1,400-kilometer range cruise missiles in May 200, the paper reported.

The paper quoted Joseph Ciricione, co-author of the book and an endowment official, as saying: "Probably the most important nuclear-related development in Israel is the formation of its sea-based nuclear arm." Two years ago, on June 19, 2000, the Sunday Times of London claimed that the Israeli Navy had secretly test-fired cruise missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons off the coast of Sri Lanka.

The Israeli army spokesman denied the report." It should be noted that all of the peoples mentioned in Psalm 83 are accessible by the sea except for Jordan (identified by the names of Ammon, Moab, Edom and the children of Lot), but even Jordan can be easily reached by a missile launched from the Mediterranean Sea.

It is also worthy to note that in verse 8 of Psalm 83 Assyria is mentioned. This is the ancient empire which would include the combined nations of modern-day Iraq and Syria.

In Jeremiah 49:23-27 we read a detailed prophecy of Syria's final defeat that will end her days as a powerful nation of war. Here she is identified by the names of Damascus, Hamath and Arpad.

In that day, when we are told, "fear will seize her," "her young men shall fall in her streets" and God "will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus," it is specifically revealed in verse 23 that they will hear bad news and will become fainthearted because, "there is trouble on the sea; [and] it cannot be quiet."

We are living at the very close of the age. The terrible war of Psalm 83 will cause the nations of the world to tremble as it shakes the Middle East from Iraq to Egypt. It could come this year or perhaps the next, but come it will.

Arising from the ashes of its dreadful aftermath, I believe the Anti-Christ will establish his 7 year peace plan for the Middle East as he makes his plans to deify himself before the world. From then on he will seek to destroy everyone and everything connected to the true God of Heaven and His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Before the final 7 year countdown can begin for Israel and the world, the Church of Jesus Christ must be removed from off of the earth at the moment of catching up to heaven as is prophesied of in I Thessalonians 4:15-18. There are no further signs needed to be seen before this glorious, everlasting event takes place. The church may or may not be here to see any of the Psalm 83 war, but according to God's prophecies concerning the final 7 years for Israel, the Church must be removed before then.

The question which matters the most to every soul should be, "If I should die today will I be living an eternal live with God or will I eternally exist in the darkness and fire of Gehenna?

Just as God has foretold in His Word all the current events we have been sharing, the same one and only Savior has told of what awaits each and everyone of us beyond this fleshly shroud. It is by His divine will that the forgiveness of every sin and everlasting life be available to anyone who puts their faith in His only begotten Son the Risen Lord Jesus Christ. All who reject this only way to come to the Father have only one other place they can go.

There is a part of us that can never cease to exist, where it will reside for time without end is each person's choice. Choose carefully and wisely this day.

Back on May 2 of 2002 the Washington Post had a fascinating article which headlined, "Scientists use electrodes to make 'roborat'." The Post reported that, "Scientists for the first time have managed to remotely direct the movements of rats by using implanted electrodes to control their behavior - in effect transforming a living animal into a robot.

The technique has potentially important implications for activities ranging from land-mine detection to earthquake recovery to spying to the emerging field of "neural prostheses" - using electronics to bridge nervous system gaps caused by spinal injury, stroke or other physical infirmities.

"It's really just conditioning behavior," said physiologist John Chapin, of the State University of new York's Downstate Medical Center, noting that training animals to do human bidding is as old as teaching dogs to fetch. "But it's different in that you can do it all with remote control," he added. "In theory, you could guide the animal anywhere."

In fact, after implanting electrodes and training a "roborat" for eight to 10 days in a figure-eight-shaped maze, the Chapin-led team can steer it through any three-dimensional route. It can induce the animal to climb ladders, descend ramps, walk a pipe or navigate uneven terrain. The rat will even climb trees or wander a brightly lit room - alien behaviors for the untrained...The Chapin team implanted three electrodes in the rats' brains. One was placed in a "generic" pleasure center that records satisfaction whenever needs - food, water or warmth - are satisfied. The others were implanted to stimulate the whisker bundles on either side of the rat's nose.

By triggering one of the whisker implants and then stimulating the reward center, the researchers were able to make the rat turn in one direction or the other and move forward - much as a sled driver can order his dogs to "gee" or "haw."

After up to 10 days of training, the rat can navigate practically any landscape, wearing a receiver and a power pack on its back and being steered by a technician issuing commands from a laptop up to 550 yards away, Chapin said.

The rat thus becomes a living robot, controlled remotely by a human handler but able to go anywhere a rat can go. And its supple anatomy gives it a huge and - at least for now - insurmountable advantage over any mechanical robot., which can be confounded by a pair of shoes lying on a carpet.

"This trumps that problem," Chapin said. "The rat is much more adept than a robot at getting around difficult terrain - and it has a nose." The military and public-service potential of the project has won funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the army's research arm. Camera-equipped rats may have a future as land-mine detectors, or as couriers or scouts searching for human victims trapped in collapsed buildings or mine shafts, Chapin said."

In 2004, as we look back on this fascinating development to solicit a conditioned response from a living creature, we can consider an intriguing comparison of the days ahead when mankind will receive the "mark" of the beastly Anti-Christ.

In Revelation 13:15-17 we can read of the fast approaching day when all upon the earth will be offered the choice of taking a "mark" upon their bodies in order to be able to purchase the things they need to live, or else reject the "mark" and die.

In Rev. 13:16-17 we read, "And he [the false prophet] causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast [that is the Anti-Christ], or the number of his name."

Of course some might say that the allegory has been carried too far by comparing men with implant- controlled rats.

With that thought left hanging in the air we will just quote from a short July 13, '04 Denver Post article titled, "Microchips implanted in some prosecutors," - "Mexico has required some prosecutors to have tiny computer chips implanted in their skin as a security measure for access to the Attorney General's Office National Information Center.

The chip - which is not removable but can be deactivated - primarily serves as an identity device that will ensure only authorized prosecutors enter the information center."

Interestingly, the reward for receiving the permanent implant is that the prosecutors get to keep their jobs...so they can buy the things they need to live.