Global SITREP D10-14: Get Ready... Get Set... Big Changes Are Coming!

30 October 2014: On the calendar that we use the last two months of the year 2014 and the start of the year 2015 have taken on the appearance of being quite critical in the prophetic scheme of things. The Lord has many appointed times as one reads through the many 'last days' prophecies, and as has been discussed here over the past few years these prophetic appointments are stacked up and ordered in such a way that our world will become more and more unrecognizable from what we have known in the past few decades as each event comes to pass.

I have gotten the sense that the proverbial can has been kicked in complete darkness just about as far down the road as is possible. And it is now its hard to see where it will be kicked next because, as the image above so brilliantly illustrates, the sun has risen and is directly in our eyes. Just as the sun is low in the sky this time of year, it's glare making it that more difficult to see where one is going on foot or in a vehicle, that is the sense I am getting that what is about to occur around the world, but especially in the Middle East, will change all manner of things in ways that no one has anticipated with any accuracy.

That said, I am going to repeat what I have posted here before, and have recently reiterated privately to one of the readers here who had some significant questions about the sudden quietness that has come about in September and October after a very tumultuous spring and summer (Crimea, Ukraine and Gaza). I reminded this reader of the over-arching prophetic scenario that is occurring and we are eyewitnesses of; that we must constantly remind and reassure ourselves that these last days events are like the female's birth pangs exactly as Jesus foretold to us they would be in the Olivet Discourse.

There are finite spaces of time between each pang, but they are always increasing in severity and the space of time between the pangs gets narrower as we move forward. Then, just as in real childbirth, the amniotic sac bursts and a flood of water occurs as the travails of labor give way to the actual birth. This is precisely how the angel Gabriel described the coming event in Daniel 9:26c, and I quote, "The end of it shall be with a flood." I think we all understand the use of these "birth pangs" and "flood" metaphors very well indeed.

Here comes the kicker, and I have also stated this before as well, but probably not as clearly as I am going to say it this time. And for heaven's sake, this is not date setting, it is rather the stating of the understanding I have and am convicted of regarding the season were are in, and I'm using the inspired prophetic words of the Bible to do so as unambiguously as possible. 

Three Times I Say "I Believe"

I believe that the start of this generation commenced in 1948 with Israel's rebirth in a single day, as stated in the magnificent and critically important prophecy of Isaiah 66:8. 

I believe we are living in the last generation, and this last generation is a generation of strength, the precise number of which is 80 literal years as stated in Psalm 90:10. 

I believe the Harpazo will occur in a completely unknown microsecond prior to the start of the 70th Week as promised by our Lord Jesus Messiah in Revelation 3:10 to the faithful church.

Therefore, based upon these Scripture-specific beliefs, the 'last days' number crunching is a very basic matter in order to determine what portion remains of the season that Jesus told us to be watching for at all times. What I am talking about is the number of years left during which the sudden catching away of the Bride of Christ will occur. 

According to the ancient Jewish betrothal custom, which is our template and our teaching tool for a greater understanding of the Harpazo of the Bride of Christ, did the bride know the very moment when her groom was coming for her? Even though it was a surprise for the Jewish bride, she and her bridal party were always - always - at the ready in anticipation of the shout of the messenger whose task it was to loudly announce the coming of the groom. Then the groom arrived and away the all went!

The math that the Lord's word has provided:

1948 + 80 years of strength = 2028
2028 - the 7 years of the 70th Week = 2021
2021 - 2015 = 6 years

So, unless I really don't know His word as well as I think He has taught me... I believe the time to be listening for the shout of the voice of the archangel is between right now this instant and at some unknown and still surprising point during the next 6 years.

Now there will undoubtedly be some who will say this is all just some numerical mumbo jumbo which has no context with anything in particular, or that it's just a straw man for (insert your straw man purpose ____here____.) How can we be sure this is the season? By paying even closer attention to the signs that point to this being the season of which Bible prophecy is speaking, that's how. Here's where a couple of very specific events become signposts if not billboards along the road to The Revelation of Jesus Christ.

In Luke 21:25 Jesus tells us "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring..."  I know this is an oft cited sign, but lately the sun, our solar system's massive ball of blistering hot ionized gases held together by an immense magnetic field, has been displaying signs that mankind has never before seen. Signs such as massive voids, holes, linear tears and other very weird activity which astrophysicists have no reference point in order to explain these phenomena. For example, at the present time there is a massive sunspot of super intense magnetic energy which is producing lots of really, really big solar flares, as is normal, but not a single coronal mass ejection (CME), which is absolutely not normal. Normally, when a solar flare erupts and reaches its maximum height above the surface it then snaps back into the sun due to the overwhelming magnetic forces pulling on it and that's the event which creates a full-blown coronal mass ejection. This is, by definition, is what a sign is, something very much out of the ordinary. And these type of out of the ordinary events of our sun are happening a whole lot these days in the explicit context of what this post is about, Bible prophecy. Here below is a NASA image of a flare that occurred this morning. Click on it; look at it closely. Have you ever seen anything like this image of our sun. i know I haven't and I am a passionate observer of this kind of technological imagery. This is truly the real deal.

Here's another prophetic sign straight out of the Book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel 38:7 prophesies, "Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered about you; and be a guard for them."  Have we been paying attention to the way Russia is a primary cog in the wheel that is the long-running Iranian nuclear weapons program? Are we not fully aware of how Russia has been running active interference for Iran at the U.N. and as a participant member state in the E3/EU+3 nuclear talks with Iran? Without question the Russian Federation is actively guarding the foremost of the Islamic Republic of Iran's nascent nuclear weapons program, precisely as the Lord spoke it to the prophet Ezekiel thousands of years ago. And here the Bride of Christ are witnesses to this very specific fulfillment of a very specific verse within the Ezekiel prophecy; it is occurring right before our eyes - if we take note of it and not allow it to pass us by unnoticed. Russian Federation expertise built the primary Iranian reactor as Bushehr and provided the enriched uranium hexafloride fuel to power its nuclear core. Last December, the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin (a/k/a to myself as 'Gog of Magog') told the world that the Iranian nuclear program was going to be dismantled through the terms of the agreement being negotiated at the E3/EU+3 talks. Lest December he said this. Gog of Magog also said there would therefore be no need for a Western missile defense system to shield us from Iranian nuclear-armed missiles.

Gog of Magog would try to sell ice cubes to Eskimos. So, how many more specific signs do we really need to know what season it is and how through the literal fulfillment of Bible prophecy the world that will exist in the very near future will have only a passing resemblance to the one we see right now. And if you are one who has not yet decided that Jesus is the Son of God, the one and only Lamb of God whose shed blood covers and removes from the sight of God all sins and trespasses and guarantees you eternal life, then the time for a decision for Him is right now. Tomorrow may be too late, for who knows the future but Him who provides us with prophecies such as these being fulfilled before our eyes?

Marana'tha!

Addendum: One final historical and forward-looking observation regarding these United States of America. I also believe there are sweeping political changes that are coming to this country of the course of the next six years. The obvious preponderance of political power wielded by the radically leftist Obama Administration has all but run its course. From the mid-term election day of this coming Tuesday through to the November 2016 general election I believe we will witness a massive return to grass-roots Conservatism sweep into power at nearly every level of civil governance (federal, state, local) across this nation. The changes this political power shift will bring about are nothing short of massive in virtually any category imaginable. These changes will not occur without significant opposition from the Left which may not yet be ready to surrender their gains, real or perceived, of the previous 7 years.

As an aside, some Christian brethren are fond of saying that the election of Barack Hussein Obama II in November 2008 and again in 2012 was God’s way of bringing judgment upon this nation for its sins. Well, bringing national leaders to prominence is definitely within the Lord’s control, and Obama's time in power was to serve some purpose which may not yet be fully apparent to us all. However, I am all but convinced that political commentary maven Rush Limbaugh has gotten the basic reason for the political changes that have occurred between 2008 and the present spot-on correct. 

Simply put, the seven years of the “Obamination of America” was the direct result of both conservative Republican and Independent voters wanting to put to bed to the most pressing and divisive political issue this country has ever faced – race relations and everything that comes with that entire political "race card" paradigm. This bloc of America's enfranchised voted for Obama twice with the very best of intentions. The conservative and independent electorate cast their ballots along with a solid base of Democrat voters in believing that the election of the first 'black man' (actually, Obama is of mixed race parentage) to the highest office would bring the divisiveness of race relations in this constitutional republic to an abrupt end.

The unforeseen problem was that this electorate cast their ballots without one iota of consideration of the political and ideological baggage that Obama and his ilk would bring with them and then bring about through overwhelming political power. Perhaps they believed that America's strength lie in its ability to absorb or shrug off any detrimental effects brought to fruition through his leftist ideology? Whatever the case may be, Republicans, Independents and Democrats alike were aghast when they realized that Obama and his appointed administration's leadership was as anti-Israel as were his closest pre-election Chicago associates (i.e. the Palestinian terrorists Edward Said and Rashid Khalidi). 

These Americans were aghast when they realized the full-scope of the socialist agenda being brought to bear on healthcare, defense (OEF/OIF, Benghazi and the severe degradation of US military capabilities), foreign policy (pro-Islamist revolution designed to destroy Israel), and a plethora of Constitutional (Fast and Furious), states’ rights and economic (Keystone Pipeline) issues. The grassroots, non-partisan counter-revolution that began almost immediately in 2009 gave birth to the non-politically affiliated Tea Party which has been the tip of the spear in the changes that have been manifest in the last mid-term election and in the one we’re about to have. The American electorate has now seen seen and felt the pain associated with the costs of electing a president whose ideology and utter rejection of our checks and balances political system began to effect changes like a wrecking ball on the edifice of a basically sound structure.

Now, Obama is a liability to his political party like no political party has faced since Nixon and Watergate, and which pales in comparison to what Obama has wrought. In the coming several months after this mid-term election Obama’s penchant for ignoring the rule of Constitutional law could very well land him in the midst of an impeachment during his final year of office. Obama’s final months are likely to re-define what an American “lame duck” president is. A pendulum swing back to the right is already in progress, yet there are also indications that the violence-loving reactionary core of Obama’s Marxist-Socialist-Islamist base is still a threat to civil law and order, especially in places such as Ferguson, Missouri. This encapsulates my view that the struggle to control the world's preeminent power is just beginning against enemies both foreign and domestic and spiritual. For us there is much work to do and much more to endure for America and for Israel until He comes to take us home.

Global SITREP D9-14: Going ... Going ... (soon to be)Gone!

 Dome of the Rock, Temple Mount, Jerusalem

FINAL UPDATE 21 October 2014: Brothers and Sisters in Christ, it seems as though the point of all this may have been missed. We're not getting it, so to speak. Many of us complain that their pastors do not teach prophecy. Okay, so they're not fully teaching the word of God. So why are they still your pastor?

Under the title of this 'Eschatology Today' blog are the words "Current world events seen through the clarifying lens of the Lord's inerrant prophetic word." The Lord's inerrant prophetic word. I teach Bible prophecy on this blog, through current events especially because so very much of the imminent fulfillment of Bible prophecy is about military conflict and the weapons of modern warfare. These are the finer details of the bigger picture that has already been given to us by God.

Allow me illustrate my conclusion that "we're not getting it" by asking a question. Is there a more perfect word than what God has already given us in the Holy Bible? Or would it be better if I were to quote directly from the English Standard Version of The Second Epistle of Peter ? "And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts."

What of these future things have the prophetic words of the Lord failed to inform us about? Do we really need more books and DVDs on the subject of Bible prophecy, or do we really need just to read and study what the Lord has already put directly in front of our eyes in virtually every language of mankind? 

Yet many of us say, "we will not be here to see these things, we cannot know how they will come to pass."  Not true! We have already seen them occur through the fully confirmed prophetic word of God! 

In the prophetic Book of Daniel we are instructed point blank about the person and ethnic origin of the man who will be the Antichrist. There is no mystery about that man. This was absolutely confirmed in 168-67 BC via the exploits of the Macedonian-Greek king of the Seleucid Empire, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the ultra-specific forerunner of Antichrist. And of the coming 70th Week, what part of that yet future event was not precisely foretold to us via the historical events of the 7-year long war from 66 to 73 AD that was neatly divided into two distinct halves between the Roman Empire and Israel? We won't be here to witness the European Antichrist or the 70th Week of Israel? Not true, we already are witness to these events because God has told us about them in great detail and has shown us through the historical record how they will happen in the future.

And the 3rd Jewish Temple, is that construction on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem going to be some kind of exception to the already established prophetic word of God?  Of course not.  Are you still not sure about what is going to happen in the near future fulfillment of Bible prophecy? Are you still not "getting it?" Then read about it in the historical record, and be mindful of the Apostle Peter's unambiguous instruction which I shall once more repeat in a slightly altered paraphrase: The fully confirmed prophetic word of God which you do well to pay attention to as a lamp in a dark place until the Harpazo takes place.

17 October 2014: We know from Bible prophecy, such as the verse from Jesus' Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24:15 and the angel Gabriel's earlier prophecy of Daniel 9:27, that the structure occupying the physical site of the first and second Temples on Mount Moriah continues to exist on time borrowed from God the Father, just as the Bride of Christ's continued presence on this earth is based upon His Supreme Authority alone. 

However, it's been some time since I have seen jihadist muslims exhibiting a palpable fear of the inevitable demise of the Dome of the Rock. This notice came in the form of two articles this week at YNETNews.com.

The first was Wednesday, 15 October's "Powder Keg on Temple Mount" by Assaf Kamar, and the second is yesterday's follow up published by Reuters News Service, "HAMAS leader urges Muslims to defend Temple Mount mosque from 'Israeli takeover'." 

The physical disappearance of the Dome of the Rock from Mount Moriah, only to be replaced by the third and final Temple to be constructed by human hands, is essentially the LORD God declaring His eternal sovereignty over Jerusalem and the Mount for His sovereign people, the whole House of Israel. This inevitability is expressed in modern parlance in the title of this SITREP, as "Going... Going... (soon to be)Gone!"

Then what? Then the conditions will be right for the 3rd Temple, the 70th Week Temple, the temple of the final Abomination of Desolation, to be constructed. Israel will have secured national sovereignty over the Mount to construct "the temple of God," or "naos Theos" in the original Greek written by John of Patmos in The Revelation of Jesus Christ, chapter 11, verse 1. The Greek word Naos refers only to that part of the physical, measurable temple structure on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem which contains both the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place. The Greek word Theos, refers specifically to the Godhead Trinity, that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The LORD God.

Jewish men will construct this 3rd Temple in absolute accordance with the positive commandment given to them in ancient times by God on Mount Sinai the day after Yom Kippur. According to the Temple Mount Institute, the Lord's commandment to rebuild the temple is "one of the 613 mitzvot, the commandments that Israel is perpetually obligated to fulfill." It has been a binding obligation to rebuild the Holy Temple upon every successive generation of Jews since the destruction of the last temple in 70 AD. And as it is written in 1st Chronicles 28:19 per David's instructions to Solomon in building the 1st Temple, “All this,” said David, “the Lord made me understand in writing, by His hand upon me, all the works of these plans.” And follow these plans they did and will do so yet again in our time!

All of the vessels of the Holy Temple are an integral part of its full construction, and its physical design is detailed within the Tractate Middot of the Talmud Bavli (Babylonian Talmud) and conforms to the dimensions, characteristics and attributes of the Second Temple begun by Zerubabbel in 538 BC, precisely 70 years after the destruction of the Solomon's Temple by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 587 BC, and completed in 515 BC. This completion is fully celebrated in Ezra 3:10, and so pleased God that He prompted the prophet Haggai (Haggai 2:23) to present Zerubabbel with a special blessing: "On that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the LORD, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the LORD of hosts."

Notice something in the above two paragraphs. There is nothing here from the Christian perspective. Not a single word in any interpretation of prophecy, nor is there any distinctly Christian perspective. There is just the written commandment of God carried out by His people. There is no Christian interference in something uniquely Jewish! And so shall it be with the rebuilding of the coming Holy Temple, by Jewish hands and in strict conformity with Divine instructions. 

It is most interesting to make an important note of fact here that none of the Holy Temple instructions in the Book of Ezekiel are 100% relevant to what the Jews will soon be rebuilding on Mount Moriah. Most of the 2nd Temple's construction was after the 1st Temple that Solomon built, with only certain aspects of Ezekiel's Temple (Chapters 40-43) included in the overall design as it represented a far future Temple. That fact would make the full application of Ezekiel's prophetic instructions specifically relevant to the future post-70th Week Temple, the Holy Temple of Jesus' Millennial Kingdom, and the time when very specific geographic and topographical considerations as described will become totally fulfilled in the very act of the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Marana'tha!

Global SITREP D8-14: General Observations

Islamic State on the move in Syria and Iraq

UPDATED 15 October 2014: Here are some rather significant things I have been keeping an eye on lately.

Egyptian forces have located and destroyed a large rocket production facility in the Sinai that had been operated by the jihadist group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis ("Supporters of the Holy House"). This group of approximately 2,000 jihadists rise to prominence occurred rapidly after the overthrow of Mohammed Morsi by the Egyptian Army. Ansar Beit al-Maqdis' funding comes largely from the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun) in Egypt; it is allied with the jihadist groups in Gaza, and has declared is loyalty to the Islamic State.

In Syria and Iraq there is very strong evidence that Islamic State forces have used chemical weapons against Kurdish forces in their unrelenting assault on the Kurdish border town known as Kobani (a/k/a Ayn al-Arab) and against Iraqi Shi'a forces in ongoing battles in Anbar Province since this past July.  Within the past couple of days photographic evidence has emerged pointing to the use of mustard blister agent against the defenders in these battles. Where did Islamic State get this kind of chemical weapon? From the depot that formerly belonged to Saddam Hussein at the Muthanna CW bunk complex and that the Obama Administration has said would be of no use to the Islamic State. US forces controlled Muthanna prior to the unilateral Obama withdrawal from Iraq three years ago. Islamic State captured the Muthanna CW bunker complex in June 2014. Islamic State fighters are reported to be within 1 mile of Baghdad. Most Iraqi soldiers are not professionals, they are soldiers merely because they need money. At the first sight of IS soldiers inside Baghdad they will remove their uniforms and flee.

Also in the Middle East the headquarters of the 1st Infantry Division has deployed to Iraq for the fight there against Islamic State. Without much fanfare the US DoD has tasked the Marine Corps with deploying a Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) unit to Kuwait as part of a regional Quick Reaction Force (QRF). The 14,500 Marines and sailors of the MEB will augment the 13,500 US troops already deployed to Kuwait, bringing the full complement of this force to 27,800 troops.The name of the less than successful thus far US-led anti-Islamic State military venture was announced by the Pentagon today: Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR).

I am most curious to learn the answer to these questions:

1) Upon what warfighting doctrine will OIR be based?
2) What is the identified ideology of the enemy?

The Russian-instigated war in Ukraine continues irregardless of a supposed ceasefire being in place. The Ukrainian government claimed today that more Russian troops have been crossing into the eastern oblasts instead of withdrawing deeper into Russian territory. According to the Ukrainian military public affairs office reported today their forces in southeastern Ukraine have come under attack thirty times in the past 24 hours by Russian-led rebel forces.

Despite most appearances on the surface, the newly installed 13th Secretary General of NATO, Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg (he replaced Anders Fogh Rasmussen on October 1st) is good news for Russia's Vladimir Putin. Jens Stoltenberg has a life-long history of being far more flexible than Barack Obama has been toward Russian military ambition, so much so that in years past Stoltenberg was actively recruited by the Russian KGB to become one of their Western agents in the latter years of the so-called Cold War. In days past Stoltenberg was one of Europe's best known anti-war activists. Watch what he does more than what he says in the days to come.

Ebola, the deadly virus officially known as EBOV, continues to spread in pandemic fashion. The UN World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland reports 70% fatalities among all known human infections and predicts upwards of 10,000 new human infections per week being a distinct possibility in the near-term. There is also WHO data which strongly indicates that the incubation period of EBOV is not the widely reported 21 days, but a significantly longer period of 42 days. This makes the current quarantine regimen wholly inadequate in preventing the spread of EBOV. Also, two tests a minimum of 48 hours apart are necessary to determine if an individual is not infected within the 42-day incubation period. This is a catastrophe of Biblical proportions in the making. The US is deploying 3,000 to 4,000 hastily trained combat troops from the 101st Air Assault Division as our contribution in the global effort to contain EBOV in western Africa.

In strategic Yemen, on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, Iranian-backed Houthi tribesmen (i.e. Shi'a muslims) seized the country's main seaport and airport at Hodeidah (a/k/a al-Hudaydah) located on the center of Yemen's Red Sea coast. Hodeidah is Yemen's fourth largest city with a population of 400,000.

Global SITREP D7:14: PM Netanyahu's U.N. General Assembly Speech

 
UPDATE 09 October 2014: As referenced in the comments section of this SITREP, comparative satellite reconnaissance imagery (seen above) has been released by ISRAELDEFENSE.com (Damage at the Military Research Complex at Parchin) which puts the lie to statements made by the Islamic Republic of Iran talking heads who immediately denied that an explosion occurred at the Parchin nuclear weapons complex.  IsraelDefense imagery analyst Ronen Solomon characterized the satellite imagery as indicative of "damage consistent with an attack against bunkers in a central locality within the military research complex at the Parchin military compound."  

 

Exploding Bridge Wire (EBW) nuclear weapon initiator of the type Iran has been developing at the Parchin nuclear complex.

The right side of the image shows part of the Parchin complex on August 12, 2014. Everything intact. The left side of the image shows the same part of the Parchin complex on October 7, 2014. Look at these side-by-side images through a hand-held magnifying glass. Notice the direction of the building and tree shadows. Both images were acquired at nearly the same time of day nearly two months apart. Notice the red circled areas on the left side. In two distinct places, at most a hundred yards or so distant from each other, hundreds of trees and several buildings have been evaporated leaving nothing but scorched earth. Not even stumps of the trees that had been here remain. Other buildings have burned roofs and other trees have been completely defoliated.  There are six or seven responding vehicles in the center of the primary area of complete destruction, which is inclusive of nearly six entire blocks of what had been buildings and trees. Something very powerful, like a conventional initiator for a nuclear device, detonated unexpectedly and wiped this part of the Parchin complex slick. These pictures don't lie, and there's a couple thousand more words waiting to be discovered in the above image.

 

 02 October 2014: The strongest indicator (and possibly another warning) that Bibi Netanyahu's speech at the UNGA last week was more than mere rhetoric can be seen in the fact that the State Department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, has made it very clear that both the White House and the State Department flat-out rejected the entire content of PM Bibi Netanyahu's speech. Let me repeat that: both the White House and the U.S. Department of State flat-out rejected and do not hold any common ground with what Israel's Prime Minister had to say before the UN General Assembly last week.

At this point all intellectually honest folks who have not yet read the linked transcript of Netanyahu's speech might want to do so in order to come up to speed with the schism that exists between Israel and the United States regarding the truly existential threats that exist in the Middle East and how each is willing, or not willing, to address those threats.. One might want to recalibrate and reconsider how this situation is to be assessed in full.

And one doesn't have to take my word for any of this because if one regularly monitors Israel's normally US-oriented liberal media, such as The Jerusalem Post for example, then what I am saying in this update should be at least two-day old news. What could very well occur next without any warning will not come as a shock or a surprise.

The plain fact is that Obama has thrown both Netanyahu and Israel under the proverbial bus in the face of the existential threat posed by a nuclear armed Iran. If one happens to think that Israel will do nothing, one might want to reconsider the thought process in which that particular assessment was arrived at. One might just discover the acute difference between the level of threat posed by HAMAS to Israel, and the existential level threat posed by a nuclear-armed Iran.

29 September 2014: I have been very critical of Israeli PM Netanyahu since this summer's IDF Operation Protective Edge because of the political calculus and maneuverings he used during the ground combat phase of the operation and how he unilaterally concluded it - guaranteeing great bloodshed and destruction in the near future. However, that aside, in his absolutely masterful address today to the United Nations General Assembly I would have to say that PM Netanyahu very adroitly placed all the world's nations on notice that an Iranian indigenous production of nuclear weapons cannot and will not be allowed to occur.

I have keyed upon and have here excerpted several sentences from the transcript as spoken by PM Netanyahu approximately midway through his address:

"Imagine how much more dangerous the Islamic State, ISIS, would be if it possessed chemical weapons. Now imagine how much more dangerous the Islamic state of Iran would be if it possessed nuclear weapons.

Ladies and gentlemen, would you let ISIS enrich uranium? Would you let ISIS build a heavy water reactor? Would you let ISIS develop intercontinental ballistic missiles? Of course you wouldn’t. Then you mustn’t let the Islamic state of Iran do those things either, because here’s what will happen. Once Iran produces atomic bombs, all the charms and all the smiles will suddenly disappear. They’ll just vanish. And it’s then that the ayatollahs will show their true face and unleash their aggressive fanaticism on the entire world.

There’s only one responsible course of action to address this threat. Iran’s nuclear military capabilities must be fully dismantled. (Applause.) Make no mistake: ISIS must be defeated. But to defeat ISIS and leave Iran as a threshold nuclear power is to win the battle and lose the war. (Applause.) To defeat ISIS and leave Iran as a threshold nuclear power is to win the battle and lose the war."

I believe these words may well constitute a final act of diplomatic preparation of the battlefield to come, as well as the distinct possibility that they have been spoken just prior to a military preemption of an indigenous Iranian nuclear weapon -- by Israel alone if necessary.  I say this even though I have believed for the past four years that the prophecy of Jeremiah 49:34-39 speaks to a coalition of nations being used as a sword by the Lord to bring judgment upon Iran. I still believe based upon the words of Jeremiah's prophecy that Iran will be struck from all directions of the compass in the removal of the foremost aspect of its growing military capabilities: nuclear weapons and the missiles intended to deliver them.

Global SITREP D8-14: Is Hezbollah (Iran) Spoiling For War With Israel?

 Map of the "Blue Line" border between Israel and Lebanon

07 October 2014: If past events are any indicator of current events, then, yes, Hezbollah appears to be spoiling to start a war with Israel, possibly in conjunction with HAMAS' insistence that its summer war with Israel isn't really over, it's just a limited hudna (halt to hostilities) while it re-arms and re-gains military strength.

In three incidents in the Mt. Dov region (Shebaa Farms) of Israel's Golan Heights in recent days Hezbollah has probed, infiltrate Israel's sovereign territory and now attacked IDF troops with remotely triggered IEDs. Israel's response to the IED attack was a 40-round barrage of very precise artillery on two Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon. 

It appears as if Hezbollah was attempting to secure the abduction of two IDF soldiers as Prisoners Of War, the exact same tactic which resulted in the murder of two IDF soldiers in 2006 and resulted in the fierce war of that same summer against an unprepared IDF. I make the obvious assessment that Hezbollah feels emboldened by the less-than-mission-complete results of this summer 2014's Operation Protective Edge by the IDF against HAMAS.

Watching closely for further developments.

Left Behind: The End Begins - A Review of Hollywood's Lastest Reboot of an End Times Classic

4 October 2014: Later today I will be posting a review of the just released and rebooted Left Behind: The End Begins. This movie is a big-budget ($18 million total outlay) Stoney Lake Entertainment and Cloud Ten co-production about the Harpazo and its incomprehensible aftermath based upon the highly acclaimed and best-selling 12-novel series of books authored by Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye. The original Left Behind series of book was published in 32 languages totaling 62 million copies. In a departure from the original movie screenplay the role of Nicolae Carpathia (the Antichrist) has been dropped from this initial reboot. However, this omission is an instant bell-ringer that a sequel will be forthcoming. In a little further digging it has been confirmed that according to Paul LaLonde two additional Left Behind reboot sequels are currently planned with the second approved for production prior to last evening's opening screening in 1,700 theaters across the USA.

In the past couple of weeks or so I began to notice via increasing numbers of Email submissions and not-fit-to-publish comments to this Eschatology Today blog that the secular, un-saved natives as well as the hard-core Harpazo-denying allegedly Christian elements and other assorted Pre-70th Week Rapture scoffers within this society were becoming increasingly restless and irritable. Why the sudden and virulent anti-Harpazo sentiment, so I wondered. Then I stumbled upon the fact that Google and other search-engine queries were keying on keywords related to specific Christian themes such as rapture, harpazo, end times, tribulation, et cetera.  That's when I discovered through the web that this rebooted Left Behind movie was to be released on the eve of Yom Kippur 2014. So all of the nay-saying and anti-Harpazo rubbish that has appeared in my inbox of late is certainly due to the increasingly frayed nerves of those who are so intent on denying what the Lord has promised to His faithful Bride-to-be (John 14:3; Matthew 24:30-31). This movie is apparently the primary cause for the irrelevant yet preemptive angst being manifested by the deniers and the un-saved critics.

Review

Now that I have seen Left Behind: The End Begins I have to say right off the bat that the overall production quality was fairly good, even though the sets were limited to the same commercial aircraft sound stage set that was used in the TV series Lost and some on-location filming in the New York City metropolitan region. One shortcoming I found was the lack of any truly significant depiction of the global nature of the Harpazo. The global aspect is mentioned a couple of times very briefly, but perhaps that's a theme for most robust treatment in the obviously planned sequels. This movie deals almost exclusively with about 7 hours of time on the unknown day and hour when the Harpazo occurs: one hour prior, and six hours of the immediate aftermath.

This screenplay version of Left Behind is first and foremost a Christian family movie. Family is without question the central theme with the central characters of the Steele family clearly Spiritually divided between the born-again mother (Irene Steele/Lea Thompson) and the unsaved father (Rayford Steele/Nichols Cage) and daughter (Chloe Steele/Cassi Thomson). A young son (Raymie Steele/Major Dodson) is clearly under the age of accountability and is caught up in the Harpazo as are all other children on the face of the Earth. The instantaneous disappearance of millions of children plays as hard as the Steele family on the verge of break-up due to the dynamic between the saved Bride of Christ wife and unsaved, philandering husband.

The movie delivers big time on the inevitability of the Harpazo occurring, but leaves the necessity of one's salvation in Jesus Christ as the irreplaceable ticket for admittance not fully explored. A pair of tickets for father and daughter to an event missed are symbolically presented in the film - most, particularly the unsaved, will likely miss this visual simile altogether. However, the point is made when "John 3:16" is found inscribed on the face of the missing co-pilots wristwatch, or Irene Steele's personal Bible and the list of those loved ones whose salvation she prays for is found tucked inside. One very poignant moment also occurs when the pastor (Pastor Barnes/Lance Nichols) of the Steele family's church is found grief stricken with remorse in a church sanctuary pew. While Pastor Barnes knew the Bible's Divine and inerrant words forwards and backwards and preached them from the pulpit every week, he did not truly believe them in his heart, and accordingly he had never received Jesus or the Holy Spirit; he suddenly found himself left behind.

The focus with this first reboot installment of the Left Behind series is the imperative of getting your family one with God before this inevitable day and hour arrives. Everything else will be dealt with in the aftermath as the sequels will ultimately have to deal with them as the 70th Week progresses. This movie is not about the end of the world as we know it, but the beginning of the end of the world as we knew it from the Lord's prophetic word.

Take one or more of your loved ones to see Left Behind as soon as possible!

I conclude this post with Pastor John Hagee's timely sermon.

HaShemittah - Israel's Sabbath Year - A Harbinger of Judgment?

02 October 2014: Much is being made of late concerning HaShemittah, also spelled Shemitah, which is the Sabbath year (a seventh year) covenanted by God upon Israel in ancient times though Moses.  The Torah Scripture references are: Exodus 25:1-7; Leviticus 25:20-22; Deuteronomy 15:1-6 and Deuteronomy 31:10-13, as well as the prophets: Jeremiah 34:13-14; Nehemiah 10:31; 2 Chronicles 36:20-21 and 2 Kings 19:20-30 where the prophet Isaiah is speaking to King Hezekiah. 

Essentially HaShemittah is another of the Lord's perpetual covenants with Israel that came into existence after the Exodus from Egypt. It was clearly based upon the six days of Creation and the Lord's resting on the seventh day, and stipulated that if Israel tended the land for six years it must then allow the land rest in the seventh year, which equates to no work on the Sabbath day and the Sabbath year when it comes to agricultural pursuits. 

The Lord commanded Israel in this covenant to obey him in faith, and if they were faithfully observant to it then blessings of abundance would flow; that Israel would not want for sustenance in the year when the fields, vineyards and orchards lay fallow. It was also a Mosaic commandment for when all Israel gathered at Sukkot before the Lord God that this Torah law be read to them so that all Israel in generation after generation would know the Lord's commandments and keep them.

Now contrary to the claims being made of late I have found nothing in Scripture which states that if the HaShemittah covenant was broken or not faithfully kept then a time of judgment or a harbinger of disaster would come upon Israel, much less any Gentile nation, at any point in world history, and with whom the Lord God has not established a covenant. That these claims are being made of late I find to be quite troubling because they simply have zero basis in Scripture, especially for any Gentile nation.

However, I did find Scripture which does indicate that covenant HaShemittah observance for Israel did not expire permanently after the disastrous years of 66 through 73 AD which resulted in the prophetic destruction of the 2nd Temple, the city of Jerusalem and the conquest of Judah by the legions of the Roman Empire.

Let's look at one of the above referenced Scriptures, with added emphasis applied:

"And Moses commanded them, saying: “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully observe all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess.”" -Deuteronomy 31:10-13

Israel was exiled from the land following the prophetic fulfillment of the Roman destruction (Gabriel in Daniel 9:24-27), and therefore was not living in the land so that observance of HaShemittah could be faithfully observed. But, again, with the critical prophetic fulfillment of Israel being restored as promised to the land in 1947-48 (Isaiah 66 and Ezekiel 37, for example) there is no reason for the Lord not to once again honor His covenant with Israel if Israel will honor the HaShemittah covenant and commandment in full faithfulness. I do in fact believe that Israel's restoration - ",,,as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess..." - has placed Israel in a position for a continuation of counting the HaShemittah 7-year sequences.

Counting six years from 1947-48 would bring the first HaShemittah year to occur in 1954-55. The second occurred in 1961-62, the third 1968-69, fourth 1975-76, fifth 1982-83, sixth 1989-90, seventh 1996-97, eighth 2003-04, and the most recent, the ninth 2010-11. The next or 10th HaShemittah year in this manner of counting them will occur in the year of 2017-18, which is also, not-so-coincidentally I think, the 70th anniversary year of Israel's rebirth into existence. 

Here's my bottom line in expressing this Biblical research and these insights to you. I would argue this method of counting HaShemittah years since Israel's 1947-48 return to be living in the land is entirely consistent with Psalm 90:10 regarding a generation being 70 years, and the seven subsequent years of 2018 through 2026 comprising the greater part of a generation of strength, as well as constituting a very strong potential for the commencement of Israel's "70th Week" of years per Gabriel's prophecy in Daniel 9, as well as this being entirely consistent with Jesus' Olivet Discourse prophecy about that final generation not passing away until all of His signs had  come to pass. 

I find far more prophetic continuity and potential related prophetic fulfillment in counting the HaShemittah years in this manner than anything else I have seen from Messianic or Orthodox Jewish expositors.