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Ancient Rome had in place a law similar to America's posse comitatus law that prohibits U.S. military forces from being used inside U.S. borders. To prevent the Roman republic from the threat posed by its own military, Roman legions were prohibited from crossing into Roman territory past the boundary line marked by the Rubicon River.
In 49 B.C., when Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon on his way to Rome, his action made armed conflict inevitable. Crossing the Rubicon became a idiom for passing a point of no return. Once one has crossed the Rubicon, there is no turning back.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran has now amassed 630 kg of low-enriched uranium, enough, says the New York Times, to produce a single atom bomb. The debate in the media began almost immediately: "Oh yeah? How much is enough?" or "That's not enough for a big bomb," or the inevitable "They're still one (two, five, you choose) years away," etc. Lost in the media din is the fact all the headlines contain estimates of how far Iran is away from having an atomic bomb.
They are not about how far Iran is from having cheap, abundant nuclear power for all Iran's citizens.
The dance is all around the subject, but stopping the music for a second, the subject is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in possession of sufficient nuclear material for a nuclear weapon. Iran has crossed the Rubicon with Israel.
The head of the IDF's air force was quoted in the German magazine Der Speigel saying that whether or not to strike Iran's nuclear sites is a political question, rather than one of military capabilities.
In Israel, opinion polls that had Olmert's Kadima Party in a dead heat with Benjamin Netanyahu's hawkish Likud now show Likud ahead by six seats and gaining strength. But there is reason to fear that February may be too late.
There is broad speculation Israel will strike at Iran sometime prior to the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20 to avoid having to defy a U.S. order to stand down.
John Bolton, former American ambassador to the United Nations, predicted in June that Israel will attack before Inauguration Day if Obama won. "An Obama victory would rule out military action by the Israelis because they would fear the consequences given the approach Obama has taken to foreign policy," according to Bolton.
I've been preaching and teaching and warning that the events prophesied by the ancient Hebrew prophets for the last days began to see fulfillment with the restoration of Israel to her ancient homeland after two millennia in exile. Over the decades, I've been analyzing current events in light of Bible prophecy in an effort to keep abreast of where this world is on God's timeline for the last days before the onset of the Great Tribulation.
The Bible prophesied a world balanced on the precipice of destruction over the issue of Israel and the question of who owns Jerusalem. When I was born, there was no such place as Israel. Today, all roads to world peace lead directly through Jerusalem. Until there is peace in Jerusalem, world peace is impossible.
For decades, I've preached of the coming alliance between Russia and Persia, together with an alliance of Muslim states, dedicated to Israel's destruction.
Today, we're discussing whether or not Russia has supplied Iran with sufficient nuclear material to destroy Israel as casually as if we were discussing an international trade agreement.
I've expected, as the Lord said in Luke 21:28, to see these things begin to come to pass. I've written them and preached them and warned of them.
Still, it is an awesome thing indeed to be an eyewitness to their fulfillment. The Lord is coming. The signs say He is coming soon. We may well have already crossed the Rubicon. If you haven't made peace with Him, now is the acceptable day of salvation.
Tomorrow may be too late.
