AS THE USA MURDERS ONE OF IRAN'S TOP MILITARY CHIEFS, WE ASK WHO WAS QUASSEM SOLEMANNI AND WHAT IS THE AL-QUDS FORCE?

WHO WAS QASSEM SOLEMANNI? WHAT IS THE AL-QUDS FORCE? Ezekiel 39:7-8 (NIV) “I will make known my holy name among my people Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the Lord am the Holy One in Israel.  It is coming!  It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign Lord. This is the day I have spoken of.” Qassem Soleimani Qassem Soleimani directed wars in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, and he became the face of Iran’s efforts to build a regional bloc of Shiite power.  His goal was to march towards Jerusalem and liberate the city. Qassem Soleimani was seen as a force behind an Iranian campaign of international terrorism. He and other Iranian officials were designated as terrorists by the United States and Israel in 2011, accused of a plot to kill the ambassador of Saudi Arabia, one of Iran’s chief enemies in the region, in Washington. This year, in April, the entire al-Quds Force was listed as a foreign terrorism group by the Trump administration. But in Iran, many saw him as a larger-than-life hero, particularly within security circles. He maintained an image of a warrior and philosopher who became the backbone of Shia Islam’s defense against a host of enemies. QASSEM SOLEIMANI WAS KILLED AT THE BAGHDAD AIRPORT THE AL-QUDS ("JERUSALEM") FORCES The al-Quds Force (the “Jerusalem Holy Forces”) is a unit in Iran's Islamic Army directed to carry out unconventional warfare and intelligence activities.  Responsible for extraterritorial operations, the Quds Force supports Islamic groups in many countries, including Lebanese Hezbollah, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Yemeni Houthis, Taliban, and Shia militias in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. The al-Quds forces have been responsible for hundreds, if not thousands, of American soldier deaths across the Middle East. Al-Quds reports directly to the Supreme Leader of Iran.    The al-Quds force is organized into eight different directorates based on geographic location: Iraq Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India Israel Lebanon, and Jordan Turkey North Africa Arabian peninsula Former Soviet Union Islamic Countries A CROWD HOLDS SOLEIMANI’S PICTURE IN A RALLY; IRAN SUPREME LEADER KHAMENEI PLEDGES TO LIBERATE JERUSALEM FROM ISRAEL WHY IS JERUSALEM SO IMPORTANT TO ISLAM? There are four main reasons why Jerusalem is important to Islam. 1. Mohammad had a night journey from Mecca to the Temple Mount and back again in one night by a spirit calling itself the "Angel Gabriel."  The Dome of the Rock marks the place where Mohammad landed. The spirit was not the Angel Gabriel.  This fulfills Revelation 6:1-2. MOHAMMAD'S NIGHT JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM.  HE WEARS A CROWN AND RIDES A WHITE HORSE (REVELATION 6:1-2) 2. The first Islamic prayer was to Jerusalem.  Then in 624, Allah directed Mohammad to change prayer direction to the Kaaba in Mecca.  Baal the beast dwells in the Kabba, the image of the beast.  This was when Satan gave his throne to the beast and fulfills Revelation 13:2. Revelation 13:2b (NIV) The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. 3. The Al-Aqsa Mosque is on the wing (the abomination) of the Temple Mount.  This was set up by Umar, one of the four horsemen in Revelation chapter 6. Umar was the rider on the black horse (Revelation 6:5-6).   THE AL-AQSA MOSQUE ON THE WING SET UP BY UMAR Daniel 9:27b (NASB) “and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.” 4. The battle for Jerusalem is one of the goals of Gog, in Ezekiel's prophetic war (Ezekiel 38-39) Ezekiel 38: 5-9 (NIV) Persia, Cush and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops—the many nations with you. Get ready; be prepared, you and all the hordes gathered about you, and take command of them.  After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety.  You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land.