The Persecution of American Christians as a Mechanism of American Law

Obama Administration: We Can and Will Force Christians to Act Against Their Faith

David and Barbara Green of Hobby Lobby

 31 December 2012: The following is an article from CNSNews.Com by Terence P. Jeffrey published on 29 December 2012.  It is posted to Eschatology Today as a public service warning on how the Obama Administration's judges and lawyers are currently engaged in the persecution of Christians via legal means in order to circumvent and usurp matters of our faith. What you do with this information is up to you. Any one or more of us could be next in line for similar persecution. In the opinion of this blog this is how a tyrannical government operates.

 

(CNSNews.com) - In a legal argument formally presented in federal court in the case of Hobby Lobby v. Kathleen Sebelius, the Obama administration is claiming that the First Amendment—which expressly denies the government the authority to prohibit the “free exercise” of religion—nonetheless allows it to force Christians to directly violate their religious beliefs even on a matter that involves the life and death of innocent human beings.

Because federal judges—including Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor—have refused to grant an injunction protecting the owners of Hobby Lobby from being forced to act against their Christian faith, those owners will be subject to federal fines of up to $1.3 million per day starting Tuesday for refusing to include abortion-inducing drugs in their employee health plan.

The Obama administration is making a two-fold argument for why it can force Christians to act against their faith in complying with the regulation it has issued under the Obamacare law that requires virtually all health care plans to cover, without co-pay, sterilizations, contraceptives, and abortion-inducing drugs.

The first argument the administration makes against the owners of Hobby Lobby is that Americans lose their First Amendment right to freely exercise their religion when they form a corporation and engage in commerce. A person’s Christianity, the administration argues, cannot be carried out through activities he engages in through an incorporated business.

“Hobby Lobby is a for-profit, secular employer, and a secular entity by definition does not exercise religion,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Stuart Delery in a filing submitted in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.

“Because Hobby Lobby is a secular employer, it is not entitled to the protections of the Free Exercise Clause or RFRA [the Religious Freedom Restoration Act],” Delery told the court on behalf of the administration. “This is because, although the First Amendment freedoms of speech and association are ‘right[s] enjoyed by religious and secular groups alike,’ the Free Exercise Clause ‘gives special solicitude to the rights of religious organizations.’”

In keeping with Delery’s argument, the Washington Post, as a corporation, can use its First Amendment-protected freedom of speech to write editorials in support of the Obama administration imposing its contraception mandate on businesses like Hobby Lobby. But the members of the family that created and owns Hobby Lobby, because they formed Hobby Lobby as a corporation, have no First Amendment freedom of religion that protects them from being forced by the government to act against their religious beliefs in providing abortion-inducing drugs.

The second argument the administration makes to justify forcing Christians to act against their faith is more sweeping. Here the administration argues it can force a person to act against his religion so long as the coercion is done under the authority of a law that is neutral and generally applicable—in other words, as long as the law was not written specifically to persecute Christians as Christians, the government can use that law to persecute Christians.

Hobby Lobby is a family business. David Green created it in his garage in Oklahoma City in 1972. He and his wife, Barbara, and their three children—Steve, Mart and Darsee Green Lett-- have grown the business to where it now operates 500 stores in 41 states. David Green is Hobby Lobby’s CEO; Steve Green is its president; Mart Green is vice CEO; and Darsee Lett is vice president. Mart Green is also CEO of the privately owned Mardel chain of Christian bookstores, which operates 35 stores in 7 states. Through Hobby Lobby, the Greens have created more than 13,000 jobs. Mardel has created 372 jobs.

The Greens, who are Evangelical Christians, do not suspend their religious beliefs while running their businesses. Instead, they strive to run them fully in accordance with their Christian beliefs. They are unanimous in stating that they have always “sought to run Hobby Lobby in harmony with God’s laws and in a manner which brings glory to God.” They do not have two sets of morals—one for when they are at church or at home and another for when they are working on their businesses. They have only one set of morals—that they strive to follow at work or any other activity. For example, they close their business on Sundays, so their employees can spend that day with their families, and they pay their full-time workers a minimum hourly wage of $13, which is far exceeds the federal minimum wage.

They also provide their employees with a generous self-insured health care plan, and they even operate an on-site, cost-free health clinic at their corporate headquarters. But, guided by their Christian faith, the Greens believe that human life begins at conception and that aborting on unborn life is wrong. In keeping with this, they do not cover in their employee health plan abortions, abortion-inducing drugs or IUDs that prevent implantation of an embryo.

Unlike Catholics, the Greens do not believe that contraception and sterilization are morally wrong.

In September, the Greens, Hobby Lobby and Mardel bookstores sued Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and the departments of Health Human Service, Labor and Treasury. Their complaint said that the Obamacare contraception mandate violates their First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion because supporting abortion or counseling for abortion is contrary to their religious faith.

As the mandate now stands, the Greens must begin complying with it on Jan. 1. On Nov. 11, U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton refused to grant a preliminary injunction to stop the mandate from being enforced on the Greens while the court decided their case on its merits. In his ruling on the injunction, Judge Heaton determined that the Greens were not likely to establish they had a right to “free exercise” of religion while operating Hobby Lobby.

‘[T]he court concludes plaintiffs have not established a likelihood of success as to their constitutional claims,” said Judge Heaton. “The corporations lack free exercise rights subject to being violated and, as the challenged statutes/regulations are neutral and of general applicability as contemplated by the constitutional standard, plaintiffs are unlikely to successfully establish a constitutional violation in any event.”

The Greens appealed their request for an injunction to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. A panel of two appeals court judges refused their plea. They then appealed to Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who sits over that circuit, and she declined to reverse the lower courts and issue an injunction.

When Sotomayor ruled against a preliminary injunction on Thursday, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing the Greens, issued a statement indicating that the Greens would not start complying with the mandate on Tuesday and that they would continue to pursue their case in federal court.

“Hobby Lobby will continue their appeal before the Tenth Circuit,” said Becket Fund General Counsel Kyle Duncan. “The Supreme Court merely decided not to get involved in the case at this time. It left open the possibility of review after their appeal is completed in the Tenth Circuit. The company will continue to provide health insurance to all qualified employees. To remain true to their faith, it is not their intention, as a company, to pay for abortion-inducing drugs.”

As the nation approaches the much publicized fiscal cliff, it also approaches a moral cliff: Will the Obama administration compel Christians to act against their faith? As of now, the answer seems plain: Starting Tuesday, it will.

Syria Crisis: Threat of WMD War Remains Very Real

ALERT 23 December 12: According the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, both the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China would be unsuccessful in persuading Syrian Ba'athist dictator Bashar al-Assad to relinquish his control of the country in favor of a transitional government.  Lavrov made this real-world fact perfectly clear by saying "Assad is not going anywhere, no matter what anyone says, be it China or Russia." And contrary to an erroneous DEBKAfile report that Russian military forces had taken control of the Syrian WMD arsenal, al-Assad's army retains full control of the weapons, according to Lavrov, within the perimeters of one or two locations in Syria. These locations are known to Russia and the NATO allies. One of these WMD depots appears to be an underground complex just south of al-Safira in the Aleppo region that has come under rebel assault in recent days. If al-Assad decides to use his WMD against rebel troop concentrations it may well occur in the potential open terrain killing fields on the northern, western or southern approaches to al-Safira.

06 December 2012: Once again this report contains critical information as Syria is now literally standing on the red line of what might be the world's first full-scale Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) War.  All open media sources are reporting since last night that Syria has deployed its land, air and rocket forces with Sarin nerve agent. One drop of Sarin is lethal to a human being.

01 October 2012: This is a follow-up report to what I posted originally on 14 May 2010 and was written entirely by the Washington Free Beacon Senior Editor Bill Gertz. This is the most accurate and current information available from open source intelligence.

A Tour of Syria’s Chemical Weapons

Syrian chemical weapons sites revealed as defector adds new details on regime’s plans to use nerve gas

BY: Bill Gertz
September 28, 2012 5:00 am

Rebels in Syria have disclosed new details on the Damascus regime’s chemical weapons storage sites, as a military defector last week outlined plans by Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad to use the deadly arms.

U.S. intelligence agencies recently reported on several chemical arms sites in Syria that were revealed in five YouTube videos uploaded to the Internet in July, according to officials familiar with the recordings.

The posting of the videos coincided with the defection in July of Maj. Gen. Adnan Sillu, head of Syria’s chemical arms forces, who told Britain’s Times of London newspaper that Assad will use the arms to stay in power and that his regime has discussed handing over some of the weapons to the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah.

The five rebel videos use Google Earth maps software to show chemical arms storage and production plants—some hidden in underground bunkers—and Scud missiles armed with chemical warheads, according to U.S. officials who have analyzed the videos.

They are likely to be used by U.S. or Israeli military planners in any future attacks designed to eliminate Syria’s chemical arms stockpiles.

Israel’s military said in June that it would be forced to act against Syria to prevent advanced rockets and chemical arms from falling into the hands of terrorists like Hezbollah.

The 10-minute-long videos were judged to be accurate by U.S. officials in describing suspected hidden Syrian chemical facilities.

One video reveals a major chemical weapons facility in the downtown area of the Syrian capital of Damascus located a short distance by underground tunnel from al-Mazzeh military airfield in southwestern Damascus.

The tunnel can accommodate tractor trailer-sized trucks and exits several buildings on the base. An Arabic-speaking narrator on the video shows the path of the tunnel leading to an underground storage area north and east of the airfield.

The narrator said the roof of the bunker includes 45 feet of reinforced concrete designed to withstand a strike from U.S. Tomahawk missiles. The facility is said to contain a variety of chemical weapons, from hand grenades filled with the blistering agent mustard to chemical weapons rockets of differing sizes.

The video shows an aircraft runway near the facility, which is called Zone 86, and housing used by senior Syrian military officers and members of the paramilitary Shabiha.

The video also states that a building near Saraya traffic circle is a residence for foreign technicians from Iran and North Korea.

The Sanid News Network, a pro-rebel news outlet, posted the videos online.

A second video reveals what is believed to be the largest storage facility for Syria’s biological and chemical weapons, located in a residential area north of Damascus between Al-Tal and Aysh Wurur.

Roads are identified in the video that lead to tunnels built into mountains that stretch 1,500 feet inside the mountain and are hardened against attack.

The narrator of this video, identified as Abu Saqr, stated that he has been inside one of the tunnels that had separate storage rooms sealed with heavy metal doors.

Among the chemical agents stored in the bunker are mustard agent and cyanide and nerve agents Sarin, Tabun, and the ultra-lethal VX nerve agent.

The reported biological weapons at the facility include weaponized “bacteria and viruses” that can be transmitted to populations through food, water, and soil.

The video narrator also asserted that Iran is storing enriched uranium in the underground facility.

A third video around eight minutes long purports to show a Syrian chemical weapons factory located near al-Dumayr.

The factory is located east of al-Dumayr on the north side of a highway underneath an earthen berm 30 to 45 feet high. Roads are shown exiting the berms, and camouflaged tanks are nearby.

The plant has a high wall around its perimeter and, according to the video narrator, is operated by Iranians and North Koreans.

An underground storage facility is located nearby the plant.

Another of the rebel videos includes images of Syrian short-range Scud missiles at a base southwest of al-Qutayfah that the narrator asserts are armed with chemical weapons warheads. The missiles are shown loaded on trailers with a nearby underground storage facility for the chemical arms.

The last video uses Google Earth to identify what it claims to be an underground chemical weapons factory near the military airbase at al-Nasiriyah. It was described as an underground chemical weapons production facility and research center.

The Syrian defector, Maj. Gen. Sillu, stated in the interview published Sept. 19 that he took part in leadership discussions about using chemical weapons against civilians.

“We were in a serious discussion about the use of chemical weapons, including how we would use them and in what areas,” Sillu said. “We discussed this as a last resort—such as if the regime lost control of an important area such as Aleppo.”

Sillu said the meeting held at a Syrian chemical arms center five miles south of Damascus prompted him to defect because he opposed the use of the deadly arms against the population.

Sillu, now residing in Turkey, also said the Syrian regime considered handing over chemical weapons to Hezbollah.

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“They wanted to place warheads with the chemical weapons on missiles—to transfer them this way to Hezbollah. It was for use against Israel, of course,” he said.

The Damascus government in the past had opposed supplying chemical arms to Hezbollah over concerns about the fallout from arming the terrorist group, he said.

“Now, if they have nothing to lose why not share these weapons? If a war starts between Hezbollah and Israel it will be only good for Syria,” Sillu said.

Sillu said members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps took part in meetings on chemical weapons.

“They were always coming to visit and to advise. They were always sending us scientists and bringing our scientists to them,” he said. “They were also involved on the political side of how to use the chemical weapons.”

The CIA in the past has said that reports of Syrian development of chemical and biological arms were exaggerated.

In 2003 the agency blocked congressional testimony by then-Undersecretary of State John Bolton that was to express new concerns about Syrian chemical and biological weapons.

Since that time, the Syrian program has continued to grow.

Israel also attacked a nuclear plant in Syria at al-Kibar that was being built with North Korean assistance.

Ezekiel!

2 December 2012: In the 6th Century before Jesus Christ the LORD God raised up by the Holy Spirit a priest to become a great prophet and a watchman for the whole house of Israel. We know him as Ezekiel. Just prior to Israel's captivity and exile to Babylon this priest-prophet Ezekiel became the literal voice of God to Israel, reminding Israel of why they were sent into captivity and promising their restoration to the land in the future. The key point to remember when reading this prophetic work is that when Ezekiel spoke he spoke as the LORD God who put the words in his mouth. Where Ezekiel wrote 'Thus says the Lord God," it is literally the Lord God speaking, and Ezekiel is charged by the LORD God to speak these words irregardless of whether Israel will listen and heed them or whether Israel will ignore them.

This is a look at Ezekiel in a manner that is slightly different than has been traditional and will treat chapters 20 through 28 as a cohesive unit of prophecy. In these chapters, which many overlook because of the perceived all-importance of the Battle of Gog-Magog in chapters 38 and 39, there is much to learn from as I believe they set the prophetic stage for events which immediately precede that final and critical pre-70th Week event. In these chapters Israel has been partially restored to the land and as the LORD God continues to set the conditions by which He ultimately will turn His full attention to Israel; when He will have ceased to hide His face from them and will have poured out His Spirit on the house of Israel.

65 years ago Israel's restoration to the covenant land began as Israel was still in rebellion and, for the most part, Israel remains in that rebellious condition to this day. However, this rebellion is irrelevant to the Lord in going about His purposes prior to the coming of His Kingdom on this earth and fulfilling the promises of His covenant with Israel. So the same conditions exist today, as they did 65 years ago, as they existed when Moses informed Israel of the additional covenant of Moab (Deuteronomy 29: see verse 4). This is the focus of the Lord's word to Israel through Ezekiel in chapter 20; the LORD God is telling the Israel we know today that they are currently no different than when He brought them out of Egypt. Nothing has changed, and will not change until the LORD God pours out His Spirit upon Israel - Israel will remain hard of heart, spiritually blind and deaf even though they no longer wander in the wilderness of the nations of this world (Ezekiel 20:23-24).

Yet the promise of the Lord for Israel's restoration to the land began and remains in progress, for it is in the land of Israel that the LORD God shall accept them as a sweet aroma and pour out His Spirit upon them for His name's sake.

Beginning in Ezekiel 25 and continuing through Ezekiel 28 we find prophetic proclamations against the same groups - Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia and Lebanon - that are found in Asaph's Psalm 83. The concluding verses of Ezekiel 28:24-26 provide both the time frame and the result of the prophetic proclamations against the peoples: prior to the prophetic events described in Ezekiel 38 and 39!

“And there shall no longer be a pricking brier or a painful thorn for the house of Israel from among all who are around them, who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord God.‘Thus says the Lord God: “When I have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and am hallowed in them in the sight of the Gentiles, then they will dwell in their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob. And they will dwell safely there, build houses, and plant vineyards; yes, they will dwell securely, when I execute judgments on all those around them who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God.”

 We are witnessing each day the threshold of these prophecies fulfillment, a process of fulfillment which began 65 years ago with the first Arab vs. Israel battles of November 1947.

America's Role in the Fulfillment of Bible Prophecy

27 November 2012: What I am now absolutely convinced of is that even though America is not specifically or literally mentioned in Bible prophecy that can be discerned at this point in history, America is playing a key role in events which will result in the fulfillment of a plethora of specific and literal Bible prophecies.

Operation Amud Anan: So Now We Know...

14:30 EST 21 November 2012: IDF Armor and ground forces will hold their pre-invasion positions... for now. It's just a matter of time until Islamic treachery causes a renewal of hostilities.

19:30 EST: Cease fire, what cease fire!?!? 20 additional Gaza terror missiles have hit at least 6 civilian communities in Israel since the alleged cease fire went into effect; an 11-year old Israeli child is the first victim of the continuing terror assault. 

Earlier this evening the English-language IDF website announced "IDF completes objectives for Operation Pillar of Defense."   HAMAS remains alive and continues to attack Israel. Operation Amud Anan is mission incomplete! And the IDF spokesperson says that HAMAS is in distress? No, the civilian population of Israel is in distress because it remains a target for the terrorists. Politicians know nothing about warfighting, only combatant commanders know how to achieve victory.

 HAMAS celebrates its victory over Israel

UPDATE AND ANALYSIS 0600 22 November 2012:  In post-election and post-hurricane America we're waking up on our traditional Thanksgiving Day holiday where Americans will soon attend local high school football games while a feast is prepared in our homes. This feast is the cornerstone of our giving thanks to the many blessings bestowed by the Almighty God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob upon us in the past year and the year yet to come. I don't know about other American households, but in mine we will give these thanks in the name of HaMashiach Yeshua.

In Israel and in Islamist-controlled Gaza, Judea and Samaria they have awoken to a different paradigm. The promise of a decisive Amud Anan IDF victory over Islamist terrorists in Gaza has evaporated overnight much in the same way that a decisive IDF victory over Hezbollah in Lebanon evaporated during a summer now 6 years removed. A fearful Israeli government has capitulated the sovereign Israeli necessities of life, liberty and the pursuit of security to the whims of a Leftist American regime, its Islamist al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun allies in Cairo and the terrorists in Gaza and Tehran whom they coddle. 

From the jaws of victory defeat has been achieved, and the celebrating terrorists in the rubble-strewn streets of Gaza know it as well the disheartened Israeli citizens in Ashdod, Askelon, Be'er Sheva, Sderot and dozens of other towns across the breadth of southern Israel know it. The people of Gaza read the IDFs leaflets, and they know this morning that the IDF did not cross the border. Among the people of southern Israel their current Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and his Cabinet Officers have lost all pretenses of credibility. They follow not the will of YHWH, but the will of worldly men who despise Him. Their political futures aren't worth a single Israeli Sheqel Hadash for they have guaranteed the citizens of all Israel an immensely more destructive war which many will not survive according to the prophet Isaiah. Iron Dome was good, but it wasn't that good. Iron Dome can be overwhelmed by sheer numbers and it will be in the next war.

Also gone is any chance for a political settlement between the Palestinian Authority (PA) under Mahmoud Abbas/Abu Mazen and Israel. HAMAS has proven itself vastly superior to the PLO/Fatah. HAMAS has won the hearts and minds of the Palestinian street. In his final act of abject desperation Mahmoud Abbas/Abu Mazen will present his dead-on-arrival PA statehood bid to the UN General Assembly in a few days time (next week). What he remains blissfully unaware of is that the so called two-state solution is dead on arrival because HAMAS has now thoroughly convinced the Palestinian street that their version of a one-state solution is achievable through direct action and conflict, through kinetic jihad against Israel. Mahmoud Abbas/Abu Mazen will now be rejected and suffer the same fate as Ibn Ali of Tunisia, Mubarak of Egypt, Qadhaffi of Libya, Saleh of Yemen and (soon) al-Assad of Syria and Abdullah of Jordan. The Palestinians have been won over to total jihad and their battle cry will be "Give Us Palestine or Give Us Paradise (Death)."  The stage has now been reset for the final act of Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 24 through 28.

In the image above, which has gone viral today via social media and was web published by The Israel Times, IDF infantry soldiers use their bodies to spell out the words "Bibi Loser" in Hebrew. Two words that summarize thousands more spoken in the aftermath of Operation Amud Anan.

0800 23 November 2012: A Few End Notes

I can only pray to the LORD that the constant retreat and capitulation of just the past 20 years (1992-2012) by every Israeli government since PM Yitzhak Shamir (Likud - 2nd Term '86-'92) decided to talk to Israel's "inner ring" enemies will finally come to a conclusion in the near future. Such retreat and capitulation has been been a consistent theme in the 7 successive Israeli governments of Yitzhak Rabin (Labor), Shimon Peres (Labor), Netanyahu (Likud 1st Term '96-'99,), Ehud Barak (Labor), Ariel Sharon (Likud-Kadima) and Ehud Olmert (Likud-Kadima) to the present 2nd Term of  Bibi Netanyahu. In the face of resurgent Islamofascism such retreat and capitulation is as inherently deadly for Israel as it is for every non-Islamic nation on earth. But there's a reason for this and it has nothing to do with the God of Israel's fathers. Quite the opposite, and, in fact, it gets worse.

This brings me to my second note. Following the ceasefire and in his official address to the citizens of Israel on November 21st, Prime Minister Netanyahu did not once invoke the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob(Israel). That's right, not even lip service was paid to the God of Israel's fathers. As if this Divine omission requires some additional evidence, I submit to you dear reader that Bibi Netanyahu made it abundantly clear in his address that Israel and Israel alone embarked upon Operation Amud Anan, and it did so with the support of utterly godless international allies. Who did Bibi Netanyahu thank for the Operation Amud Anan defeat before all Israel and the nations of the earth? He thanked the American president Barack Hussein Obama, the American secretary of state Hillary Clinton and "the Egyptians." 

And now my final note. The above describes the crux of the exigent condition of the modern state of Israel. Can it possibly be any more unambiguous? On 21 November 2012 the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob(Israel), the Almighty YHWH, was (and remains) absent and completely unacknowledged by the leader of Israel's government. This is an Israel which remains in disbelief; an Israel without a Temple of God. This is an Israel far removed from the Israel we know will come to exist in the future as foretold by the Lord's prophets, when the fulness of the Gentiles will have been brought in.

I am reminded by the Lord of His prophetic word to us at this time.

Romans 11:25-27

For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; 

 For this is My covenant with them,When I take away their sins.”

Acts 15:13-17

"And after they had become silent, James answered, saying, “Men and brethren, listen to me:  Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:

 ‘After this I will return
And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down;
I will rebuild its ruins,
And I will set it up; So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name,Says the Lord who does all these things.’^"

^Maranatha!

Operation Amud Anan: We Who Bear Witness!

Israel's Iron Dome defense system in Ashdod intercepting missiles from Gaza on 15 November 2012

The IAF Strike that killed HAMAS military commander Ahmed al-Jaabari (a/k/a Ra'ad Ater) and his son. Notice the tell-tale flashes of  the airborne laser designator targeting al-Jaabari's Kia automobile on the center of the roof.

0600 EST 16 November 2012: This "Operation Amud Anan" Eschatology Today blog entry will pick up where the "Regional MidEast War Appears Imminent" blog entry left off.  It is unknown as this point if the warfighting of the Amud Anan operation against Gaza's Islamic terrorists will morph into the prophetic full-scale final action of the ongoing Psalm 83 War, but as with every military action since November 30, 1947 this action is most certainly a part of Asaph's prophecy being fulfilled before our eyes.

For those of us  in the United States, please bear in mind that from the east coast Israel Standard Time (IST) is 7 hours ahead of us and this differential increases by one or more hours for every time zone westward to Alaska and Hawai'i. 

Israeli armor, infantry and paratrooper soldiers received their final commander's briefings 90 minutes ago. The landwarfare phase of Operation Amud Anan will likely execute within moments if it has not already begun.

UPDATE 0830 EST 17 November 2012: With HAMAS terror rockets hitting Israel's capital city (Jerusalem) and largest metropolitan region (Tel Aviv) like intermittent Nazi V-1 buzz bombs hitting England during WWII, the expected ground war has yet to materialize. Something is in abeyance, but what that something actually is remains unknown after 72 hours of missile vs. airstrike warfare. Some media are intimating that something constitutes back-channel negotiations between the U.S., apocalyptic-minded Iran-Hezbollah, Israel, HAMAS-PA-Egypt.

These are parties who do not directly or normally converse with one another even when shots are not being fired, so I remain skeptical that this explanation is accurate. I think Israel is building its land forces for an overwhelming invasion of Gaza, but has yet to actually make the political decision to: (A) take full control of the territory in the aftermath or (B) the likelihood of engaging Egyptian forces as the result of a full-scale invasion. Whatever the case, PM Bibi Netanyahu had better be extremely cautious and trust Barack Hussein Obama only as far as he can spit. Muslims rarely backstab their brethren, especially in the midst of total Islamic jihad. This is a situation that the apocalyptic Iranian Shi'a have been fervently praying to a false god to bring to fruition while their program to acquire nuclear weaponry remains at a full gallop and a very, very short ride to completion. One might expect Ayatollah Khamenei to issue such an order under the present circumstances. I am sure PM Netanyahu has this probability at the top of his considerations.

As we all know, it is the Almighty God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who is in control of these and future events for the sovereign purposes of establishing His Kingdom on this earth. Pray that His Will is done.

UPDATE 0800 EST 18 November 2012:  Overnight developments - True to their Islamic nature the terrorists of HAMAS have taken to detaining innocent, non-muslim foreign nationals all over Gaza to serve their purposes as hostages/human shields and a hedge against punishing IDF actions. This tactic is a certifiably productive method to turn normally supportive European and Asian public opinion against HAMAS' cause, but nobody ever accused HAMAS of being overtly intelligent. These foreign civilians were in Gaza for a reason.

PM Netanyahu spoke to Israel at noontime today and made very clear that the land warfare escalation ("a significant expansion") is very close to occurring. Leaflets urging Gaza civilians to stay clear of HAMAS and other terrorist facilities have been dropped yet again. The IAF today also launched strikes intended to destroy HAMAS primary real-time radio frequency and SATCOM centers. IDF boots on the ground in Gaza cannot be far behind. With multiple terrorist suicide squads anticipating the IDFs arrival a 'kill anything that moves' directive might be in play from the outset - the civilian population has been warned. Increased vigilance in Judea and Samaria is the standing order.

More recently a salvo of 15 Grad artillery rockets hit the city of Ashdod at about 2 PM IST today.  It is now evident that HAMAS is coming to the realization that its unrestrained and inaccurate onesy and twosy missile fire is not having the desired terroristic effect upon the Israeli population. Had HAMAS read the history of Londoners during WWII they'd have known to expect a negative result from this tactic. Nevertheless, they have apparently deployed their version of a Russian-made BM-21 grad rocket launcher from its underground bunker and fired a salvo against Ashdod. The salvo apparently impacted Ashdod in two distinct locations. No reports of injuries as yet.

UPDATE 19 November 2012: The Potential Prophetic Implications of Operation Amud Anan

Four days ago I began looking into any potential prophetic significance apart from the obvious significance found in Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 28:24-26. The first prophetic note to be made is that Ezekiel 28:24-26 clearly illustrates the safety and security Israel will live in just prior to the Gog of Magog invasion will have been won in the existential Psalm 83 war that has been fought against the Muslim Arabs for the past 65 years come Friday, 30 November 2012.

“And there shall no longer be a pricking brier or a painful thorn for the house of Israel from among all who are around them, who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord God.”‘Thus says the Lord God: “When I have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and am hallowed in them in the sight of the Gentiles, then they will dwell in their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob. And they will dwell safely there, build houses, and plant vineyards; yes, they will dwell securely, when I execute judgments on all those around them who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God.”’”

The second prophetic note is that the Israel Defense Forces selection of the name for the current operation comes straight from the text of Exodus 13:17-22, verse 21 specifically (NKJV):

"Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.”  So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt. And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.” So they took their journey from Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud (Ed. "Amud Anan") to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.  He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people."

God did not lead all of Israel by Amud Anan directly into His promised land. The Suez Canal did not exist, nor was there any natural barrier between Egypt and the promised land to impede the progress of Israel to it. There was only the land of the Philistines and the war with them that would ensue which God said might cause Israel to preferentially turn back and return to the slavery they had known for hundreds of years in Egypt. So God led Israel by 'Amud Anan,' 'Pillar of Cloud,' southwards along the wilderness of the eastern bank of the Sinai Peninsula all the way to the present day location of Sharm el-Sheikh.

The details of the crossing are found in Exodus 14, and the specific identified locations in the text explain that Israel crossed from the bottom tip of Sinai across the Strait of Tiran, the maritime boundary between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, and into what is today the western most portion of Saudi Arabia, and what had been in those days the ancient land of Midian. It was here that Israel crossed the Strait of Tiran between walls of water, and following close behind them was the cream of Pharaoh's entire army - his chariot corps, his horsemen and foot soldiers. And it was here that God also had led them,  as as we are told in Exodus 14, for the purpose of their annihilation.

Are there prophetic implications for "Operation Amud Anan?" Is this the battle which will culminate in a repeating of history in the annihilation of the cream of the Egyptian Army in the Sinai? It may well be, but we will have to wait and see what transpires. We who bear witness that is!

UPDATE 12:29 AM EST 21 November 2012: Operation Amud Anan continues as it has for the past several days with strikes and counter-strikes. The reported ceasefire negotiation has produced nothing and the much anticipated ground invasion remains on hold. What is evident is that Israel has been systematically destroying HAMAS ability to govern Gaza. What remains to be seen is if Israel will carry forward and destroy HAMAS itself and what Egypt and other Arab governments will do in response. Meanwhile, back in Iran, the nuclear weapons program continues.

Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu to US SECSTATE Clinton: “If there is a possibility of achieving a long-term solution to this problem with diplomatic means, we prefer that, but if not, I’m sure you understand that Israel will have to take whatever action is necessary to defend its people.” This statement came after the terrorists in Gaza rejected Israel's offer of a 90-day ceasefire during which his government would assess the "goodwill" of its enemies toward a long-term solution.

What HAMAS, Islamic Jihad, other Islamic terrorist groups and their Iranian and Egyptian and Arab benefactors have thus far failed to comprehend is that the ceasefire which halted the IDFs Operation Cast Lead in January 2009 was predicated upon the condition that rocket attacks originating in Gaza had to stop completely. That condition was breached just days after the ceasefire and when IDF troops had withdrawn from Gaza. Since then well over 1,000 rockets and mortars have been fired into Israel. There is no way that the Israeli government can return to the status quo of the Operation Cast Lead ceasefire and the past 3 years and 10 months. Operation Amud Anan must proceed to mission complete status. IDF troops are likely to enter Gaza and begin hunting down the terrorists at any moment.

UPDATE 1 PM EST 21 November: There is currently a rush by media to report a ceasefire, but there are various interpretations of when this ceasefire is to take effect. Hillary and the Egyptian FM Mohammed Amr announced it in Cairo.  Best information is that the ceasefire will commence at 2100 (9 PM) Israel Standard Time which is 1400 (2 PM) US Eastern Standard Time (one half hour from now).

Egypt is to assume responsibility for Gaza under the terms of this ceasefire. This ceasefire was agreed to in a phone call between Obama and Netanyahu with Obama saying that Bibi must give the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood-led government "a chance."

Netanyahu is absolutely crazy to place any trust in either President Obama or Egypt's MB government. His chances of re-election or leading Likud will diminish accordingly.

Regional MidEast War Appears Imminent

09 October 2012 (also UPDATED): It now seems obvious that due to the deteriorating military situation in Syria the Iranian mullahs, string-pullers for the puppet government of Bashar al-Assad, have decided to engage Israel in war through their HAMAS proxy in the Gaza Strip. This grossly ill-advised military action may have consequences far beyond anything the Ayatollah or his equally apocalyptic sock puppet have envisioned and without the mythical al-Mahdi to come riding to their eschatological rescue.

A cross-border artillery war between NATO ally Turkey and Syria is nearly a week old and a seventh day of rest looking highly unlikely and having the potential to lead to a ground war in northern Syria, the Iranians and their forward-deployed allies of Hezbollah this week upped the ante and launched a drone aircraft on a photographic reconnaissance mission over the Negev whose apparent strategic target was the nuclear facility at Dimona.  The Israeli Air Force tracked the drone for the better part of a half-hour before directing F-16 fighters to shoot it down in the area of the Yatir Forest on the southern slopes of Mount. Hebron.

The failure of the Iranian reconnaissance mission resulted in orders to HAMAS and Islamic Jihad in Gaza to launch a massive rocket barrage into Israel in the midst of the Simchat Torah holiday (7-9 October 2012). Israel's response according to multiple Israeli news reports is that a large scale invasion of Gaza by the IDF is imminent. The Iranian drone utilized for this mission was the recently unveiled Shahed-129, itself a close copy of the Israeli-made Elbit Hermes-450 UAV. The speed with which Iran transferred the Shahed-129 into an operational role out of Lebanon is remarkable. It's only a matter of time before another new and more lethal Iranian drone targets Israel. That vehicle is the Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) known as the Karrar ("Striker") which is powered by a subsonic turbojet engine. This vehicle bears an uncanny resemblance to the Nazi V-1 "buzz bomb" of WWII. The resemblance does not end there as its mission appears to be identical. A fully armed Karrar UCAV launched from a point north of the Litani River in Lebanon has the speed and range to strike Dimona approximately 45 minutes later. Israel will have no choice but to destroy the Karrar UCAV in mid-flight over populated areas.

The failed Iranian reconnaissance of Dimona also appears, via breaking news this morning, to have been an element in fast-tracking a joint US-Israeli series of strategic strikes on Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities. While these strikes might last from just hours to a couple of days, there is no media mention at this point of the inevitable retaliation which could certainly range from Iranian missile strikes against US bases throughout the region to Syrian or Hezbollah missiles and their WMD warheads falling on Israel. The new deployment in the past day or so of Patriot PAC-3 air defense batteries in northern Israel are not intended to shoot down little UAVs coming out of Lebanon. These systems are to defend Israel against missiles from Hezbollah and/or Syria.

UPDATE 10 October 2012: What remains uncertain at this point is whether a US-Israeli precision joint strike on an Iranian nuclear target is related to the Obama re-election campaign or an effort to buy-off a unilateral Israeli strike prior to November 6th.  Nevertheless, Israeli media continue to report on the possibility of a US-led "surgical strike" prior to November 6th citing sources close to the Pentagon and the White House. Two such articles appear in YnetNews.com today here and here.  The assessment regarding the second window of low observability for a unilateral Israeli strike put forward here in late August remains plausible. If the US leads the strike any day between October 15th and 30th would also be plausible. In fact, a long-postponed "exercise" named "Austere Challenge" (AC12) will commence on October 21st with large numbers of US troops arriving in Israel beginning this Sunday, October 14th.

UPDATE 17 October 2012: An accurate count of the number of terrorist rockets and missiles being fired into southern Israel from Gaza in just the past week is difficult to know, but a good estimate would be between 75 and 100. At least seven were fired in a barrage aimed at Sderot in the past 12 hours. IDF soldiers returned fire with reports from inside Gaza revealing that their fire was accurate. The IAF was also in action with attack helicopters targeting missile launch sites in northern Gaza.

Multiple reports indicate that American  air power is prepping a strike for somewhere in the Middle East; the exact point of attack is unknown but could occur anywhere from Libya to Iran.

In Syria, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) has captured (and killed) members of Hezbollah from the region of Baalbek. According the Lebanese media the FSA has issued an ultimatum that they will expand the war into Hezbollah strong holds in Lebanon, including southern Beirut, unless Hezbollah's forces immediately withdraw from Syrian territory. The FSA ultimatum to Hezbollah includes a direct threat of assassination to Hassan Nasrallah.

UPDATE 22 October 2012: The assassination of Lebanese Brigadier General Wissam al-Hasan, a Sunni intelligence and security chief, by the apocalyptic Shi'a of Hezbollah on Friday, 19 October further pushes Lebanon to the precipice of renewed civil war that has been raging in Syria for months. A Sunni retaliation, possibly against Hassan Nasrallah (as noted above) or one of his key lieutenants is a virtual certainty.

That this assassination occurred just as a large US-Israeli exercise was beginning was probably no accident. At the minimum it provides the exercise with a real-time, real-world vignette to include among the nodes of the exercise's preplanned aspects, along with the active low-intensity conflict occurring in southern Israel, Gaza and along the Sinai frontier with Egypt. At the maximum current events are a boon to Israeli war planners on what the tactical map of a multi-front war will look like and how Israel can shape that map to its strategic benefit.

UPDATE 23 October 2012: Two weeks after the first OSINT mention of  "a joint US-Israeli series of strategic strikes on Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities" mentioned in the fourth paragraph above, it is still the hot scuttlebutt among US military forces in the Middle East and elsewhere. Something, no one is really sure what, is in progress towards an execute order. This observation is based upon various service members in the region, and who are not necessarily involved in the executable, are seeing indications and warnings (I&W) of its existence.

UPDATE 25 October 2012: As the update directly above was being posted to Eschatology Today the Yarmouk weapons factory just south of Khartoum, Sudan (see Eschatology Today reference: Kuwsh) was in flames and spewing exploding live ordnance over a nearby residential area. The weapons factory had just been struck, most probably by stealthy Israeli F-16I Sufa aircraft. Eyewitnesses to the attack have perfectly described F-16I strike aircraft in a ground attack role as they were maneuvering in the sky overhead; I recognized these descriptions because I am an eyewitness to similar F-16 maneuverings just about every weekend in the sky over the Warren Grove ground attack test range in the Pine Barrens of southern New Jersey. What is important about this is that it proves that Israel is more than capable of striking any similar factory or bunker complex located in Iran, sites like like Fordow, Esfahan, Arak, Natanz. How can I be so sure of this? Simply because the distance in air miles between Tel Aviv and Khartoum is 1,148 miles and the distance between Tel Aviv and Tehran is 987 miles. All of the probable target sites in Iran are closer to Israel than 987 miles. Intellectually honest military planners have probably taken notice of this now established fact as well.

UPDATE 04 November 2012: Do not overlook the fact that this long-range strategic strike by Israel into  Sudan (Kuwsh) occurred with thousands of American troops deployed in the Holy Land in preparation for the official start of "Austere Challenge 2012," or "AC12," the largest joint exercise ever between the two nations. The original start date and the deployment of American troops into Israel was postponed indefinitely from last spring due to the fever pitch of rhetoric coming from the Netanyahu government regarding a unilateral Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities and the Obama Administration's opposition against a strike at that time along with official statements that the U.S. would not support Israel if it initiated a war with Iran over its nuclear weapons program.

Exercise "AC12" is classified 'TOP SECRET' and only the slimmest margin of details on the type of scenario being exercised will be made public. However, I personally have no doubt that the scenario being exercised regards the defense of Israel and American bases in the kind of regional Middle Eastern war that this nearly month-long blog topic is about. Make a special note of this: the American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (C-JCS), General Martin Dempsey, arrived in Tel Aviv this morning along with the top American general for the European Command, Admiral James Stavridis, to officially launch this top secret, $38 million dollar exercise just 48 hours before presidential election day in these United States. The presence of an American C-JCS at any exercise is extremely unusual. The message to Iran found in the Yarmouk strike in Sudan and the launch of the AC12 exercise is unmistakable as are the blatant political calculations of Barack Hussein Obama (see the update above for October 10). Concurrently with the start of AC12 the Islamic Republic of Iran announced this morning that it has suspended its uranium enrichment program at the 20% level, just a short step from achieving nuclear weapons grade enrichment. Coincidence? I think not.

UPDATE 11 November 2012: The full-scale, no-holds barred IDF engagement I've been forecasting for almost a full month against the terrorists in Gaza is getting harder for Bibi Netanyahu to not execute as the order of the day. The longer he waits the more Israel voters in this region will turn against him. Netanyahu's credibility is on the line with a promised "escalation" of his own against the terrorists. Israeli's don't want an   escalation of violence, they want a thoroughly vanquished enemy and they want it now.

This morning Gaza terrorists escalated their attacks with barrages of Katyusha rockets and 120mm mortars against civilian targets. These are likely the heaviest weapons in the enemy arsenal and may well be the continuing response coming out of Gaza for the destruction for the Yarmouk weapons factory in the Sudan. The good news is that no more supplies of these weapons will be forthcoming from the Sudan.

The question we are all waiting for an answer to is whether Bibi Netanyahu's bite is more than his bark; whether he will cease being the Jewish politician in order to become the Israeli Commander-In-Chief.

UPDATE 14 November 2012: Today we see the answer to the question posed above just three days previously with the full-scale execution of the IDF's Operation Amud Anan (English: Operation Pillar of Cloud) against the terrorists in control of Gaza. The stated objective of the Israeli Defense Forces operation against Gaza terrorist organizations is to completely cripple them. Israeli special forces are already inside Gaza's borders and IDF armored and infantry units are poised to invade. The full statement by IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich was as follows:

“The foremost goal of this operation is to protect Israeli civilians, who have been living under fire for past 11 years. Only this year, the citizens of southern Israel have suffered over 760 rocket attacks. The second goal is to cripple the terrorists’ capabilities. As you heard, our first target was a vehicle in central part of Gaza. Inside the vehicle was Ahmed Jabari, born in 1960, the head of the Hamas military wing who was involved in numerous terror attacks on Israelis, as well as Gilad Shalit’s kidnapping. This is a man who has a lot of Israeli blood on his hands. 

The second phase of the operation was an aerial attack which targeted 20 different targets, all underground, which served as launching pads for various kinds of rockets. Among these rockets were Fajr-5 rockets, Iranian-made weapons which can reach a lot further than the ordinary Grad missile. This was the second phase. 

IDF General Staff is currently assessing the progress of the operation and according to its findings, will decide how to continue. All options are on the table, including a ground operation.”

We shall see what transpires tomorrow, 15 November 2012, 1 Kislev 5773.

The potential for a rapidly escalating regional war throughout the Middle East continues to evolve and intensify more than has ever been seen in this region in history. The prophetic implications are simply staggering to contemplate. Expect a plethora of updates to continue.

Heads Up: Watch Greece

26 September 2012: Given Greece's important role in the prophecies Gabriel imparted to Daniel regarding the rise of both the precursor and ultimate last days Antichrist, watch Greece in the coming days/weeks for the enigmatic rise from obscurity of a pseudo-miracle working leader who will solve that government's (and then Europe's) abysmal financial crisis and imminent bankruptcy. 

 

The Greek crisis has the recently created coalition government completely stumped and has all but paralyzed the economy. Nationwide the transportation and public service sectors are basket cases. There is not a single major Greek city that is unaffected by the ongoing general strike. Given the season and the depth of the current crisis it would seem that conditions are quite favorable for an epic hero to arise.

Yom Kippur 1973, 2012 and Beyond

19 September 2012: There is much talk in the media as well as in Christian circles that America is abandoning or has abandoned Israel. Is this a fact? As I see it, no, it is not an established, manifest fact.

I am of the opinion that many of our current political leadership including our elected president have abandoned Israel or have made plans to do so.  However, the real-world fact-of-the-matter is that the resident Bride of Christ and very significant portion of the American people have not abandoned Israel and demand that this nation continue to honor and support the only true ally we have in the Middle East. Yes,  I believe that it is because of the resident Bride of Christ in America indwelt by the Holy Spirit that Israel has not been abandoned and American military equipment and personnel remain stationed inside Israel in her defense. However, I also believe that this Spiritually-empowered dynamic will change when the Harpazo occurs. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5.

I also believe that we and our nation are a part of the manifest will of God. America, due to our founding as a believing Judeo-Christian nation was born and bred, so to speak, to be here for Israel at this point in history. We were blessed from our founding through revolution against tyranny to become a great nation for this very purpose. It seems to me that God allotted an approximate 170-year span of time for us to become a  superpower, just in time for Israel to rise in a single day per Isaiah's prophecy on 14 May 1948. This occurred for both America and Israel between the utter chaos and destruction of World War II and the Korean War and the wars that have occurred ever since then. It has been about American military support for an unbelieving Israel as she has been involved in the ongoing fulfillment of Asaph's Psalm 83 - a war which since Israel's creation has been about one thing and one thing only, the destruction of the State of Israel by the Arab Muslim countries around her.

There is also some relatively recent history some may be unaware of.  Just 39 years ago, during Yom Kippur 1973, something very much like the prophetic Battle of Gog of Magog of Ezekiel 38/39 might well have occurred were it not for a superpower America holding off by conventional and nuclear means a military invasion of Israel by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and her allies. 

For all of the year 1972 there was the threat of renewed full-scale war by Israel's Arab neighbors, a renewal of the so-called 'Six Day War' of 5-10 June 1967 which was halted only by Israel's miraculous battlefield victories and the decision not to press on less a world war develop through the threatened intervention of the Soviet Union. Those decisive Israeli victories had resulted in Cairo, Damascus and Amman being virtually defenseless before Israel's American-supplied war machine. 

Russia could not abide with the conquering of her Arab allies and a ceasefire was quickly arranged and agreed upon by all parties. But it was only a ceasefire and renewed warfare appeared to be inevitable throughout 1971-72. Egypt's President Anwar Sadat said he was ready to sacrifice one million Egyptian soldiers in renewed war with Israel.  Iraq's President Abdur Rahman Aref and Jordan's King Hussein were allied with Egypt's Sadat and Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, father of the current Syrian president facing Islamist rebellion, who were both committed allies of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was a confederacy of communist-ruled nations led by Russia (Magog) that was created and held together only by the massive force of arms.  Yet despite all of this Israel's intelligence analysts believed that the Arab would not risk another war and overwhelming defeat as had occurred just 6 years previously. They would be proven very wrong in that assessment.

Urged on by their Russian allies the military forces of 9 Arab nations supported by 4 non-Arab nations attacked Israel on Yom Kippur, 6 October 1973. Israel's enemies had at their disposal a military force that, on paper, rivaled that of the NATO alliance in Europe. For example, one the first day of the war in the Golan just 180 Israeli tanks held off 1,400 Syrian tanks, a force more than 7 times as powerful as Israel's defenders, and in the Sinai just 436 Israeli soldiers were overwhelmed by 80,000 Egyptian soldiers, or more than 183 Egyptian soldiers for each Israeli soldier to defend against. Israel was in renewed war with its Arab neighbors as well as substantial military forces from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, and Lebanon. There were even 4 thousand Cuban troops deployed to Syria in the fight against Israel as well as North Korean pilots. All of these forces were supplied and re-supplied via air and sea by the Soviet Union. Yet Israel recovered, and re-supplied by America by the order of President Richard Nixon in the largest military airlift in history, all of its early battlefield losses of the first two days were quickly reversed in such a miraculous way that once again by the third week of October the Arab capital cities of Cairo, Damascus and Amman were left virtually undefended. Anwar Sadat's well-founded fears prompted him to call Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev for Soviet military intervention.

To this day the world does not believe that God had a hand in Israel's victory. Some Israeli's do not truly believe this or have forgotten about it. Yet one day soon they will see His hand in their defense, Bible prophecy assures us of that future reality.

It was during the evening of 24-25 October 1973, during ongoing UN mediation efforts and in the midst of the Watergate Scandal, that Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev informed President Nixon in an ultimatum that he was about intervene militarily on the Arab side if the US did not force Israel to unilaterally halt their overwhelmingly successful combat operations. President Nixon was totally indisposed and unable to respond at that time, so Nixon's national Security Advisor "Henry" Kissinger and the White House Chief of Staff, retired general Alexander Haig, took the lead from the indisposed CInC. They responded in Nixon's name to Brezhnev in a conciliatory manner yet raised the American DEFCON to Level 3 (one step from readiness for thermonuclear warfare) and communicated to Sadat that if the Soviets intervened for the Arab side America would intervene on Israel's side.  The Soviets became aware of this American posture and immediately placed 7 airborne divisions on pre-deployment alert and sent 40,00 Soviet marines into the Mediterranean Sea. By morning on 25 October the Soviets realized the American commitment to go to war in defense of Israel as did Anwar Sadat who promptly cancelled his request for Soviet intervention. World War III in the midst of the Cold War was avoided; Brezhnev turned out not to be Gog of Magog and the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38/39 has been left to an irrevocable appointment in the near future.

Yom Kippur occurs this year on 25-26 September, next week as of this writing, the 39th anniversary of what nearly occurred in the last great Arab-Israeli war. This is the date on which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has very recently set as the "red line" before which Western military action against the Iranian nuclear program must occur or Israel will be forced to act unilaterally against the same. We shall see in very short order what transpires in the wake of this very deliberate and timely ultimatum.

Given what our current leadership and president hold up as their anti-Israel agenda only time and the enfranchised will of the American electorate are to determine when this nation will pull its protective umbrella away from Israel. In the meantime, the prophetic Psalm 83 War continues along with American beneficence towards the State of Israel. It should also go without saying that the Harpazo could occur at any moment according to the will of God the Father and the current Spiritually-empowered dynamic in this world would change in the twinkling of an eye.

Marana'tha!

An American's Civic Duty: See This Film

15 September 2012: I have just returned from watching the motion picture documentary "2016: Obama's America" in my local theater. With just 51 days to go until the November 6th American Presidential Election, I come away from this film fully convinced that it is every American citizen's civic duty to also pay the price of admission (I paid $11.00) in order to receive the essential education that this film will provide to you. I believe viewing this film could be the most important thing an American citizen could do in the next 51 days, and the sooner the better. Not withstanding world events that might come to pass between right now and November 6th, this film will make your choice on election day a very simple decision to make, a no-brainer in fact, in order to save this nation from those whose intent it is to destroy it.

Ezekiel's Confirmation of Psalm 83

14 September 2012:  There is a passage in Ezekiel 38:10-12 that defines the real-world situation that will exist for a disbelieving Israel just prior to the attempt by "Gog of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal" to invade and conquer the land God has given to the descendants of Jacob. In fact, it is this very situation which is the catalyst for Gog's evil plans.

‘Thus says the Lord God: “On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan: You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’— to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land."

Many words have been written by Bible eschatologists in identifying the events which will create that situation for Israel. We know those many words as sound exegesis on the Psalm 83 war. But how many of us are aware that the prophet Ezekiel was also given a prophecy by God which confirms the singing prophet Asaph's Divinely inspired psalm? Yes, the Lord told Ezekiel that judgments would come against all those nations who despise the regathered house of Israel living in the land of Israel. Clearly, this judgment against Israel's neighboring adversaries occurs prior to the pre-70th Week prophetic events described in Ezekiel 38/39.

Ezekiel 28:24-26 has the prophetic confirmation of the coming Psalm 83 war.

“And there shall no longer be a pricking brier or a painful thorn for the house of Israel from among all who are around them, who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord God.” ‘Thus says the Lord God: “When I have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and am hallowed in them in the sight of the Gentiles, then they will dwell in their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob. And they will dwell safely there, build houses, and plant vineyards; yes, they will dwell securely, when I execute judgments on all those around them who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God.”

Israel's Technological Breakthrough: Nanofiltration + Solar Energy = Abundant Water

Posting this report exactly as I received it today via Email. I am absolutely not surprised that there's zero media coverage of this breakthrough simply because good news from Israel is the last thing the global corporate media will publish. Great news from Israel as this information imparts has to be suppressed as much as possible less the agenda of de-legitimizing of the State of Israel in some manner be harmed.

Nevertheless, God's will is being done and His prophetic word is coming to pass.

Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a release on August 9, 2012, "Freshwater from the sun," detailing a new development in nanotechnology paired with the use of solar energy that could help solve water shortages in under-developed and under-resourced regions including Africa. The research was undertaken at the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research at Ben Gurion University of the Negev and central Arava R&D.

Ynet News covered the subject as did The Algemeiner, writing:

The new innovation uses solar energy panels to power the pumps of a desalination unit that generates clean water for crops. More importantly, the technology utilizes unique nanofiltration membranes that enable farmers to decide which minerals should be retained from the water to feed various types of crops, a method which requires much less energy.

According to experts, water is going to be an increasingly scarce resource. Bloomberg quotes Dow Chemical Chief Executive Officer Andrew Liveris saying "Water right now is a strain on this planet more than carbon. We mismanage water terribly. It's going to be a big issue."

Even so, few in the media have seen fit to report on Israel's breakthrough technology. A Google News search for "Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research" turned up only five mentions -- and none of them in a mainstream media outlet.

Though criticism of Israel is ubiquitous in the media, including on the front pages of America's leading newspapers, when it comes to good news about Israel… Where's the coverage?

This report immediately brought to mind the following prophetic chapter from Isaiah. Some folks are fond of saying "It doesn't get any better than this!" On the contrary, it does get better than this for God has said so.

Isaiah 35 (NKJV)

The Future Glory of Zion

The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them,
And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose;
It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice,
Even with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
The excellence of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
The excellency of our God.

Strengthen the weak hands,
And make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who are fearful-hearted,
“Be strong, do not fear!
Behold, your God will come with vengeance,
With the recompense of God;
He will come and save you.”

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Then the lame shall leap like a deer,
And the tongue of the dumb sing.
For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness,
And streams in the desert.
The parched ground shall become a pool,
And the thirsty land springs of water;
In the habitation of jackals, where each lay,
There shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

A highway shall be there, and a road,
And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness.
The unclean shall not pass over it,
But it shall be for others.
Whoever walks the road, although a fool,
Shall not go astray.
No lion shall be there,
Nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it;
It shall not be found there.
But the redeemed shall walk there,
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
And come to Zion with singing,
With everlasting joy on their heads.
They shall obtain joy and gladness,
And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Timing of Iran Strike

22 August 2012:  I would assess that a decision by Israeli PM Netanyahu to launch a preemptive strike against the Iranian nuclear weapons program before the US election on November 6, 2012 will boil down to the final two 7-day optimum windows of low observability: 13-19 September and 11-18 October 2012.