In the vision of March 26, 1986 I was carried in the spirit to Saudi Arabia where I saw the "bear" being guarded. The angel said to "watch the month of Ramadan," because that was when the bear had to be released.

Ramadan that year was the month that began on May 9. From May 25-28, 1986 some American government officials of the Reagan administration flew to Iran to discuss a deal to provide armaments to Iran in exchange for funds to be given to the Contra guerrillas in Nicaragua. This later became known as the "Iran-Contra scandal."

This was made public knowledge the following November. It appears, then, that this released of the bear in the month of Ramadan and ultimately led to the first Gulf War. Because those talks with Iranian leaders were kept secret, I do not know how they caused the beast to be released at that time. I can only report what I saw and heard.

Two years later, in 1988, we were led to hold a prayer campaign called "These Stones" on Aug. 2 and 3 to take this "bear" captive again. We knew at the time that this would only delay world events, but we did not know at the time how long we could delay this coming war.

Then, one year later, on Aug. 2-3, 1989, because of other legal factors, we were forced to release the "bear." One year after his release, Aug. 2-3, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, sparking Gulf War I.

That is part of the spiritual history of Gulf War I. The first bear was released, and he did his job. America sent a half million troops to the region. Tens of thousands of American troops died from Gulf War Syndrome—far more than the number who died in actual combat. But because this went largely unreported, the American public never really understood the severity of judgment that came upon us.

The angel in the 1986 vision also spoke of a second "bear" that was like the first. Though I never actually saw this second bear in the vision, the angel clearly spoke of it. After we saw how Gulf War I manifested, and after seeing how the U.S. Central Command had been located in "the dungeon" in Saudi Arabia, led by General Norman "the Bear" Schwarzkopf of the Golden Tooth, we wondered how and when the second bear would manifest.

There was no doubt in our minds that a second Gulf War was coming--if, for no other reason, Gulf War I was widely viewed as an unfinished war, because Saddam Hussein yet remained in power.

The angel said that the first bear was sent to Saudi Arabia "by the Church in their hatred for the Arabs." It is unfortunate that so many Christians are blinded by Zionism and think they are doing God a service by praying that God would destroy Arab people. I myself am not one of those. I am called to help set them free, and I pray toward that end.

On the other hand, the angel said that the second bear was "in Jerusalem, sent by those who hate the Jews." I am NOT among these who hate the Jews. It is my desire that all men see Jesus for who He really is, for to know Him is to love Him.

Even so, I have written much about the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the Israeli state—not out of hatred, but because they need to be warned so that they can repent and avoid the disaster that is to come.

In Jeremiah 19, the prophet was told to take some of the elders in Jerusalem to the valley of the son of Hinnom. There he was to smash an old earthen jar in front of them and prophesy that the city of Jerusalem and its people would be broken in the same way. Jer. 19:10 and 11 says,

¹⁰ Then you are to break the jar in the sight of the men who accompany you ¹¹ and say to them, Thus says the Lord of hosts, Just so shall I break this people and this city, even as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot again be repaired.

This prophecy was partially fulfilled in Jeremiah’s time, when the Babylonian armies came and destroyed the city and many of the people. However, the city was later repaired and rebuilt and its wall completed in the days of Nehemiah (Neh. 6:15). Thus, the prophecy either failed, or else it yet has a future fulfillment.

In order for Jeremiah’s prophecy to be fulfilled, the city must be destroyed in such a way that it is impossible for it to be repaired. I believe that it can only happen if destroyed by a nuclear strike. This seems to be what Isaiah describes in Isaiah 29:

¹ Woe, O Ariel, Ariel the city where David once camped! Add year to year, observe your feasts on schedule. ² And I will bring distress to Ariel, and she shall be a city of lamenting and mourning; and she shall be like an Ariel to me.

One cannot understand this unless one realizes that Ariel is a poetic name for Jerusalem, and that Ariel has a double meaning in the Hebrew language. It means “the lion of God,” reflecting its positive side as the city of David, the “lion of the tribe of Judah.”

But Ariel also means “the hearth of God,” that is, a fireplace. This is the sense in which verse 2 is prophesying. The city would become like a fireplace to God. How? The prophet says that God Himself will fight against the city—that is, He will raise up people to fight against the city.

³ And I [God] will camp against you [Jerusalem] encircling you, and I will set siegeworks against you, and I will raise up battle towers against you. ⁴ Then you shall be brought low. . . ⁵ But the multitude of your enemies [i.e., Jeusalem’s enemies] shall become like fine dust, and the multitude of the ruthless ones like the chaff which blows away; and it shall happen instantly, suddenly.

Most modern prophecy teachers interpret this mean that God will save the Jews in Jerusalem and will destroy the nations coming against Jerusalem. However, keep in mind that God is the one who is fighting Jerusalem (vs. 2 and 3). God is the One leading the forces against Jerusalem. Verse 6 continues,

⁶ From the Lord of hosts you [Jerusalem] will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, with whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.

Verses 5 and 6 clearly describe a nuclear explosion. For this reason, the angel’s statement about the second bear takes on great significance. The second bear has been empowered to destroy the city of Jerusalem by nuclear war.

The motive of these nations fighting Jerusalem is quite obvious to those who watch the news. Jerusalem is the third holiest city in Islam, and the Islamic people want it. The Israelis also want it. Neither is willing to give it up or to divide it between them. So it is of interest to continue reading in Isaiah 29, for it provides us with the final outcome.

⁷ And the multitude of all the nations who wage war against Ariel, even all who wage war against her and her stronghold, and who distress her, shall be like a dream, a vision of the night. ⁸ And it will be as when a hungry man dreams—and behold, he is eating; but when he awakens, his hunger is not satisfied, or as when a thirsty man dreams—and behold, he is drinking, but when he awakens, behold, he is faint, and his thirst is not quenched. Thus the multitude of all the nations shall be, who wage war against Mount Zion.

Most people do not understand this, so let me paraphrase its meaning. Those who fight against Jerusalem are doing so because they want that city as an Islamic holy city. But when the nuclear strike occurs, they will find that NO ONE WILL GET IT.

Their warfare of “liberation” will be like a dream. Their dream is to eat or drink, but when then they will wake up and find that they are still hungry and thirsty. In other words, at the end of the day, they will come up empty handed. This fits perfectly with the prophecy of Jeremiah, who says that the city will be destroyed in such a way that it cannot be repaired again.

That is the calling of this second bear. It was released on Sept. 11, 2001. The time for prayer to stop it ended on that day. It is now released and will not rest until its mission of judgment is complete.

Does this mean that we should stop praying for the people involved in that conflict? Of course not. Though Jerusalem will certainly be destroyed, we can still pray that more people will be spared when that destruction hits. This is a secondary line of defense for the intercessors.

I do not know if the time of destruction can be delayed further. I do not think so, because of the lateness of the date. However, if enough people were to believe this message and intercede, it would be possible to evacuate most of the people from the city before its destruction. Like the story of the destruction of Sodom, God could evacuate people even as He brought Lot and his family out of the city just before it was destroyed by fire.

Prayer can cause more individuals to see the error of Zionism and to repent. To know what to repent of, see my book, The Struggle for the Birthright, for that is the underlying purpose of the book. Repentance is not merely a matter of accepting Jesus Christ as Messiah. That is a good start, but even Christians will die if they do not leave the city and the area by the time the bombs hit.

One must repent of the whole idea of Zionism—which is the idea that God is going to establish the old Jerusalem (“Hagar”) as His wife (capital city) and choose Hagar’s children (“Ishmael”) to rule the earth as His chosen people. If you read Galatians 4:25 carefully, you will see that Hagar is Jerusalem, and the adherents of Judaism are her children. They are spiritual Ishmaelites and as such are not inheritors of the Kingdom.

God now has a New Jerusalem, which corresponds to “Sarah.” Paul identifies Christians as the children of Sarah in Gal. 4:28-31. The whole book of Hebrews was written to shake people loose from their dependence upon the old city with its physical temple, Levitical priests, and the old covenant. God has something “better” for us, and He never intends to go back to that which is worse.

This is one of the key issues in true repentance. By repentance from dependency upon the old Jerusalem and its old covenant system, the effects of the coming judgment could be lessened, because there would be fewer people in harm’s way.

The vision of the two bears in 1986 was a defining moment in my calling and ministry. Whether or not anyone else takes it seriously, I certainly do. And that is why I have written so much about the history of the Middle East and how current events are now moving rapidly toward disintegration. This is not something that will affect the Middle East alone; it will affect all of us. We all have a vested interest in what goes on there, and we cannot afford to be blinded by hatred or ignorance of these things.