Will Iraqi cities burn September 30th?

270 days passed from the day of the U.S. air strike on the Presidential Palace in Baghdad on March 19, 2003 -- the start of the U.S.-led coalition invasion of Iraq -- to the day Saddam Hussein was captured while hiding in a rat hole on December 13, 2003.

1,113 days passed following that date to the day he was executed by being dropped through a trap door to his death by hanging.

These three events, the invasion, the capture and the execution, are the first three judgments of the prophecy of doom upon the land of the Chaldeans -- Babylon -- and their king, as pronounced 2,600 years ago by the prophet Jeremiah in chapters 50 through 51 of the hebrew bible.

Six judgments remain: burning of the cities, abandonment by the occupiers, war with the Medes, plundering, flood and drought, leading to complete and perpetual desolation.

The numbers of the days that have passed between judgments may be significant, since numbers in the bible suggest certain meaning.

For instance, the number one represents God himself, as exemplified by the primal exhortation to the sons of Jacob -- "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!" (Deut 6:4). The number two represents being cut off or separated, as the second day of creation recounts: "'Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.' And God... separated the waters... And (it was the) second day," (Gen 1:6-8). Three suggests the works of God, in that he performs his work over the course of three major events, such as the gathering of Israel out of captivity: 1st from Egypt, 2nd from Babylon, then 3rd, from "the remote parts of the earth," (Jer 31:8). Seven represents something complete, such as the creation itself: "And by the seventh day God completed his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day..." (Gen 2:2). Zero can signify an empty desolation, such as what existed on earth prior to the first day of creation: "And the earth was formless and void..." (Gen 1:2).

The numbers 270, the number of days from judgment 1 to judgment 2, take on this meaning: "Separated (or cut off) * (to) complete * desolation." Numbers 1113, the number of days from judgment 2 to judgment 3, say this: "I the LORD, God, the Almighty, (this is my) work."

Read together: "Cutting off to complete desolation, I the LORD, God, the Almighty, this is my work."

The prophecy itself declares just this very message over three separate verses: "(Chaldea) will be completely desolate... For it is a work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans... 'Thou, O LORD, hast promised concerning this place to cut it off..., but it will be a perpetual desolation," (Jer 50:13,25, 51:62).

If the fourth judgment were to occur on September 30th, 2010, then 1,370 days will have passed since the third judgment, and the message would be this: "God * my work * complete * desolation." In other words, "The LORD's work of complete desolation."

Read together with the others: "Cutting off to complete desolation, I the LORD, God, the Almighty, this is my work! The LORD's work of complete desolation." Just as the prophecy itself states: "Chaldea will be completely desolate, for it is a work of the Lord God of hosts. Thou, O LORD, have promised to cut it off to perpetual desolation."

Will the fourth judgment occur on September 30th? Will the message of the numbers of the days be completed? We will find out in seven days.