By Joel C. Rosenberg

Events are moving so quickly in the epicenter it can be difficult to keep track of, much less understand the big picture. So here it is in a sentence: An apocalyptic storm is forming over the Middle East.

Consider the data points:

1. Iran has just been caught secretly building a 2nd uranium enrichment facility on a military base in the religious capital of Iran, a city known as Qom;
2. A growing number of Western military analysts say the design of this new facility - and its secrecy, and location - clearly indicates it was being built by Iran for the purpose of creating nuclear weapons;
3. Iran has thus been caught in its third lie since 2002 with regards to building secret nuclear development facilities in Natanz, Arak, and now Qom;
4. Ahmadinejad refused four times during his NBC News interview last week to rule out the building of nuclear weapons;
5. A.Q. Khan - the father of Pakistan's nuclear weapons development program – has just admitted selling advanced nuclear weapons blueprints years ago to Iran for millions of dollars;
6. The latest IAEA report indicates Iran has enough low-enriched uranium (LEU) to produce enough high-enriched uranium (HEU) by 2010 to produce two nuclear weapons;
7. Iran has just spent the weekend testing "its most advanced missiles" capable of reaching Israel;
8. Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad began his speech to the U.N. by praying for Allah to hasten the coming of the Islamic Messiah, which according to his theology requires the destruction of Judeo-Christian civilization as we know it;
9. Ahmadinejad spoke more openly about his End of the World theology during his U.N. speech than ever before;
10. Ahmadinejad was asked for the first time by an American reporter to describe his relationship with the "Twelfth Imam" and admitted on camera that he is communicating with this mystical Shia messiah.

Humanly speaking, war is coming. The West does not seem determined enough to stop Iran from getting the Bomb. So unless the Lord intervenes, Israel might soon feel compelled to launch a preemptive strike against Iran. It won't be easy, and the entire region could go up in flames.

The stakes couldn't be higher. So on this day of Yom Kippur, let us commit ourselves to prayer and fasting for the peace of Jerusalem and the physical and spiritual salvation of all of Israel and all of Iran.