FINAL UPDATE 13 October 2015: It has been about a full month since Russian troops and aircraft were inserted into Syria and commenced combat operations against all enemies of the Al-Assad regime. Following this final update any new developments will be reported in a new SITREP.
Russian naval infantry (marines) are firmly ensconced in the Syrian city of Hama. As noted in the 15 September entry below, this city is specifically mentioned, as is the eastern Mediterranean Sea, in the prophecy of Jeremiah 49:23. Russian officers and troops have taken over the former Syrian 4th Division HQ located in the Equestrian Club of southeast Hama. The Russian tri-color flag flies from atop the building. The Al-Nawair Hotel in Hama is now also barracks for Russian marines, approximately 1,050 of them.
The Russian troops can now look forward to IEDs, VBIEDs and suicide bombers hitting them where they live and the routes they drive on with their supplies for forward operating bases inland. Al Qaeda has promised this will happen. No Russian soldier can tell a Syrian ally from an Al Qaeda enemy anymore than an American soldier could tell an Iraqi from an Al Qaeda enemy. They will operate in the midst of Russian soldiers. They will likely pose as Syrian soldiers with Syrian soldier ID cards. Then boom. Russia has entered a quagmire from which the Putin government will have no option but withdraw its troops, or what's left of them.
Sunni Muslims throughout Russia, of which there are many millions, now have a new enemy. Russia's 9/11, or worse, is probably nothing more than a matter of time. Could it be that the Russia/Magog which leads the Ezekiel 38/39 attempt to invade and conquer Israel will do so after its current secular government has been overthrown by an Islamic jihadist insurrection? Putin has no idea what his actions in an Islamic country will bring in due time to Russia; its certainly more than he has bargained for with his Syrian and Iranian allies.
15 September 2015: I believe it would serve us well to look closely at the passage below from Jeremiah 49. Verse 23 is referring directly to that swath of territory in northwestern Syria adjacent to the Eastern Mediterranean seacoast, from the Turkish border to the Lebanese border, and which is currently known as the Governorates of Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, Latakia and Tartus. Hamath is the modern-day the city of Hama, and Arpad is located in the present day city of Tell Rifaat in Aleppo.
Russian naval infantry (marines) are firmly ensconced in the Syrian city of Hama. As noted in the 15 September entry below, this city is specifically mentioned, as is the eastern Mediterranean Sea, in the prophecy of Jeremiah 49:23. Russian officers and troops have taken over the former Syrian 4th Division HQ located in the Equestrian Club of southeast Hama. The Russian tri-color flag flies from atop the building. The Al-Nawair Hotel in Hama is now also barracks for Russian marines, approximately 1,050 of them.
The Russian troops can now look forward to IEDs, VBIEDs and suicide bombers hitting them where they live and the routes they drive on with their supplies for forward operating bases inland. Al Qaeda has promised this will happen. No Russian soldier can tell a Syrian ally from an Al Qaeda enemy anymore than an American soldier could tell an Iraqi from an Al Qaeda enemy. They will operate in the midst of Russian soldiers. They will likely pose as Syrian soldiers with Syrian soldier ID cards. Then boom. Russia has entered a quagmire from which the Putin government will have no option but withdraw its troops, or what's left of them.
Sunni Muslims throughout Russia, of which there are many millions, now have a new enemy. Russia's 9/11, or worse, is probably nothing more than a matter of time. Could it be that the Russia/Magog which leads the Ezekiel 38/39 attempt to invade and conquer Israel will do so after its current secular government has been overthrown by an Islamic jihadist insurrection? Putin has no idea what his actions in an Islamic country will bring in due time to Russia; its certainly more than he has bargained for with his Syrian and Iranian allies.
15 September 2015: I believe it would serve us well to look closely at the passage below from Jeremiah 49. Verse 23 is referring directly to that swath of territory in northwestern Syria adjacent to the Eastern Mediterranean seacoast, from the Turkish border to the Lebanese border, and which is currently known as the Governorates of Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, Latakia and Tartus. Hamath is the modern-day the city of Hama, and Arpad is located in the present day city of Tell Rifaat in Aleppo.
Against Damascus.
“Hamath and Arpad are shamed,
For they have heard bad news.
They are fainthearted;
There is trouble on the sea;
It cannot be quiet.
24 Damascus has grown feeble;
She turns to flee,
And fear has seized her.
Anguish and sorrows have taken her like a woman in labor.
25 Why is the city of praise not deserted, the city of My joy?
26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets,
And all the men of war shall be cut off in that day,” says the Lord of hosts.
27 “I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus,
And it shall consume the palaces of Ben-Hadad.”
For they have heard bad news.
They are fainthearted;
There is trouble on the sea;
It cannot be quiet.
24 Damascus has grown feeble;
She turns to flee,
And fear has seized her.
Anguish and sorrows have taken her like a woman in labor.
25 Why is the city of praise not deserted, the city of My joy?
26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets,
And all the men of war shall be cut off in that day,” says the Lord of hosts.
27 “I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus,
And it shall consume the palaces of Ben-Hadad.”
Also, Amos 1:1-5 may have relevance to these same events that will culminate with Jeremiah 49:26-27, which as can be clearly discerned, has a direct relationship with the prophecy of Isaiah 17.
14 September 2015: Numerous sources are confirming that Russia's ongoing deployment of its military forces into Syria has now taken on a very offensive combat profile. A squad of seven T-90 main battle tanks have rolled off Russian amphibious landing ships along with about a battalion of naval infantry (i.e. Russian marines) to take up positions to defend the Basel al-Assad Air Base adjacent to the coastal town of Jableh, south of Latakia. Additionally, Russia has deployed three dozen BTR-82A armored infantry fighting vehicles, self-propelled and towed artillery and a battery of Pantsyr S1 (NATO: SA-22 'Greyhound' 4x33mm guns and 57E6 surface-to-air missiles) short-range air defense system vehicles.
It now appears this urgent Russian military deployment is a combat rescue mission in order to save the bacon of the Al-Assad government as jihadist rebel forces are within mortar range of the air base, and were nearing a position of separating the two coastal governorates of Latakia and Tartus from each other and thereby splitting the Alawite homeland in half. Russia's military has taken full control of the Basel Al-Assad Air Base and placed it off limits to all others except for Russian combat forces. A major battle looms between Russian naval infantry forces and the anti-Assad jihadists.
9 September 2015: Students of Bible prophecy are either entertaining a question about, or outright prematurely declaring that the Russian intervention in Syria's civil war is the lead-in to the Ezekiel 38/39 prophecy coming to fulfillment. The fact of the matter is that Russia will say publicly that its troops are in the country to deliver weapons and provide assistance to an ally. But that just pure propaganda.
We must not make an eschatological error mistake here. The only reason Russia is moving military forces into Syria is for a two-fold reason. A) To preempt a pro-Western government from taking hold when the regime of Bashar al-Assad falls, and B) to preempt the formation of a pro-Israel client state arising in southern Syria.
Russian combat boots on the ground in Syria will ensure that Russia has a role to play in what follows the inevitable Ba'athist regime's collapse. One need to look back at history no further than the Russian seizure of Sakhalin Island from Japan at the end of World War II to understand why Russian troops are only now putting their footprint deep into Syrian soil, both on the Mediterranean coastline and in the Damascus region. They have come to claim as much of the of the spoils of this war as they can. What the Russians fail to understand is that the Lord has different plans for this land.
7 September 2015: The are now very solid indications that limited military assistance is being provided by Russia to the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad. These indications confirm that a limited Russian military deployment into Syria of between 700 and 1,000 military personnel. These Russian troops are in an active if not augmentative supporting role with Bashar al-Assad's beleaguered army just as contingents under IRGC-QF command also in Syria are supporting the al-Assad regime against the Islamic State.
The projected number of Russian military personnel potentially to be deployed is based upon reports of pre-fabricated housing units having been airlifted by An-124 Ruslan (NATO: Condor - image below) into the strategically located Mezze Air Base and to the Bassel al-Assad Air Base south of Latakia within the past two days. This could indicate Russian airborne brigade with its headquarters and mobile air traffic control center might have orders to execute a near-term split deployment into these two locations within Syria. The Latakia force to defend al-Assad's ancestral home turf, and the other to defend Damascus against the forces of the Islamic State.
Today the highly respected FortunasCorner.com website republished an article from Saturday with the headline "Exposing Russia’s Secret Army in Syria" which is chock full of the best kind of intelligence data there is - HUMINT (HUman INTelligence). Some of this human intelligence is coming from well-to-do Syrian refugees who have fled the country by aircraft into Turkey. They report seeing Russian military officers out of uniform in Damascus, as well as Russian troops in uniform jointly manning Syrian checkpoints with Syrian troops. They report these Russian military officers are regularly seen with Iranian and Syrian officers in Damascus. According to this report it does appear that the Russian troop deployment is limited to within the thin slice of Syria that remains under government and Iranian/Hezbollah control along the coast and south along the Lebanese border to Damascus.
It now appears this urgent Russian military deployment is a combat rescue mission in order to save the bacon of the Al-Assad government as jihadist rebel forces are within mortar range of the air base, and were nearing a position of separating the two coastal governorates of Latakia and Tartus from each other and thereby splitting the Alawite homeland in half. Russia's military has taken full control of the Basel Al-Assad Air Base and placed it off limits to all others except for Russian combat forces. A major battle looms between Russian naval infantry forces and the anti-Assad jihadists.
9 September 2015: Students of Bible prophecy are either entertaining a question about, or outright prematurely declaring that the Russian intervention in Syria's civil war is the lead-in to the Ezekiel 38/39 prophecy coming to fulfillment. The fact of the matter is that Russia will say publicly that its troops are in the country to deliver weapons and provide assistance to an ally. But that just pure propaganda.
We must not make an eschatological error mistake here. The only reason Russia is moving military forces into Syria is for a two-fold reason. A) To preempt a pro-Western government from taking hold when the regime of Bashar al-Assad falls, and B) to preempt the formation of a pro-Israel client state arising in southern Syria.
Russian combat boots on the ground in Syria will ensure that Russia has a role to play in what follows the inevitable Ba'athist regime's collapse. One need to look back at history no further than the Russian seizure of Sakhalin Island from Japan at the end of World War II to understand why Russian troops are only now putting their footprint deep into Syrian soil, both on the Mediterranean coastline and in the Damascus region. They have come to claim as much of the of the spoils of this war as they can. What the Russians fail to understand is that the Lord has different plans for this land.
7 September 2015: The are now very solid indications that limited military assistance is being provided by Russia to the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad. These indications confirm that a limited Russian military deployment into Syria of between 700 and 1,000 military personnel. These Russian troops are in an active if not augmentative supporting role with Bashar al-Assad's beleaguered army just as contingents under IRGC-QF command also in Syria are supporting the al-Assad regime against the Islamic State.
The projected number of Russian military personnel potentially to be deployed is based upon reports of pre-fabricated housing units having been airlifted by An-124 Ruslan (NATO: Condor - image below) into the strategically located Mezze Air Base and to the Bassel al-Assad Air Base south of Latakia within the past two days. This could indicate Russian airborne brigade with its headquarters and mobile air traffic control center might have orders to execute a near-term split deployment into these two locations within Syria. The Latakia force to defend al-Assad's ancestral home turf, and the other to defend Damascus against the forces of the Islamic State.
An-124 Ruslan (NATO: Condor) strategic airlifter
Today the highly respected FortunasCorner.com website republished an article from Saturday with the headline "Exposing Russia’s Secret Army in Syria" which is chock full of the best kind of intelligence data there is - HUMINT (HUman INTelligence). Some of this human intelligence is coming from well-to-do Syrian refugees who have fled the country by aircraft into Turkey. They report seeing Russian military officers out of uniform in Damascus, as well as Russian troops in uniform jointly manning Syrian checkpoints with Syrian troops. They report these Russian military officers are regularly seen with Iranian and Syrian officers in Damascus. According to this report it does appear that the Russian troop deployment is limited to within the thin slice of Syria that remains under government and Iranian/Hezbollah control along the coast and south along the Lebanese border to Damascus.
MiG-31 Foxhound
2 September 2015: In mid-August there was the reported arrival of six (6) Russian MiG-31 (NATO Name: Foxhound) interceptor aircraft at Mezze Air Base (Damascus International Airport). The most reliable open source for this is a Janes.com report of 16 August 2015 authored by Garrett Jennings. These are six or a total of 8 aircraft that were to be delivered to the Syrian Air Force under a 2007 contract between the Syrian and Russian governments. Russian pilots for these aircraft were never a part of the contract sale, so it is highly doubtful that Russian pilots have been deployed to Damascus to fly these aircraft.
The MiG-31, with its Zaslon-A (NATO Name 'Flash Dance') fire control radar slaved to R-33 'Amos' or R-37 'Arrow' missiles, is a true air-to-air interceptor platform and could pose a potential long-range threat to US or other NATO allied aircraft imposing a no-fly zone over a portion of Syrian sovereign airspace. However, the 1980's era MiG-31 aircraft would be of little utility in a ground attack role against Islamic State or other anti-regime Islamist rebel forces, none of whom have any combat aircraft with which to threaten Syria's Ba'athist regime. Therefore, the only conceivable role for the six MiG-31s would be as an interceptor of US/NATO or Israel Air Force aircraft in Syrian airspace.
The most important question that remains to be answered: Will the recently deployed Russian interceptor aircraft will go 'wheels up' to provide combat air cover for overland Iranian arms convoy shipments for Hezbollah in Lebanon which have routinely come under attack by the Israel Air Force in the past couple of years? Will Russia and Israel have a military clash in the skies over Damascus?
The most important question that remains to be answered: Will the recently deployed Russian interceptor aircraft will go 'wheels up' to provide combat air cover for overland Iranian arms convoy shipments for Hezbollah in Lebanon which have routinely come under attack by the Israel Air Force in the past couple of years? Will Russia and Israel have a military clash in the skies over Damascus?
Sean,
ReplyDeleteIt seems that the "fairly unreliable" Congress, as you called it in July, has now shown itself to be completely unreliable.
Looks like we are entering the final countdown to war now. I don't see any other options left for Israel.
Obviously, the only true option open to Israel is to turn to the God of their fathers.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, our Lord has informed them and us (see John 5:43) that a truly repentant turn to Him will only occur after Israel has made the most egregious error since they turned Him over to be crucified by the Romans.
Sean,
ReplyDeleteYour reference to John 5:43 is the passage of scripture that has been worrying me for a long time now. Here is another example of just how fast and wild this current Time and Season has become. I have a very close friend who has always been a steady prayer warrior for everyone else but not so much herself. She almost lost her life this past November when she suffered a collapse at church and was rushed to a local hospital. They discovered she had two blood clots located in her right leg, behind the knee and then another large one in her lungs. She was rushed to an area hospital that is highly rated in this sort of situation and progressed off and on. This past Tuesday she began suffering again from some of the same symptoms but was in a situation where she couldn't get to medical assistance.
I have been telling her to place her hands on the area where the distress was coming from and pray for the healing by the Stripes of Jesus Christ and to stand on God's Word for all times. She kinda snuffed it off but this time, she had no recourse and so she did exactly that. Immediately the attack stopped, she began to feel someone or something (as she said) wonderful happening to her. It was Immediate and she was able to carry on even in a courtroom full of much activity. She called her primary care physician and they checked her out but found nothing left there to warrant any attack. Her blood chemistry came back with the best results she has had since last November. The doctors are shocked but she is still shouting praises to our ABBA.
I said all of this to point out, we are in a special dispensation, so to speak when God is moving very swiftly and how do I know this? Because HIS WORD tells us it will be and Jesus is AT THE DOOR like he said he would be when ALL of the prophecies are happening at once.
Take heart my brothers and sisters, this show is going to increase and there is a very strong likelihood that we will not be able to keep up with all of it. In fact, that just might be the case right now.
Shalom,
GG5/shalom again
Excellent witness, but I'm trying to figure out how John 5:43 relates.
ReplyDeleteJohn 5:43 is Jesus speaking to the Jews concerning the coming antichrist:
"I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive."
I view this single verse as Scripture doctrine that the antichrist will not be a Muslim. No Orthodox Rabbi's of the Sanhedrin will ever accept, even mistakenly, a Muslim as the Jewish Messiah.
Sean,
ReplyDeleteYour last sentence is what I was concerned about. Ever since going to Israel when I was still able to travel, I was totally amazed at the lack of faith exhibited there by the Jews.
What I realized after the last trip was how easy it would be for a charismatic man to wiggle his way into their confidence and it just really made me angry. I never gave a moments notice to the idea that someone like BHO would be able to deceive the American citizens but he did. Suddenly the other day, it became very clear that Jesus saw truthfully the future of Israel. I had many friends in Israel that I kept in touch with over the years but not any of them have contacted me for a long time and they are not Messianic.
We really are seeing the very last days of the Church Age and yet the church isn't even aware of it, by and large. Even so,
Maranantha
GG5/Shalom
Sean,
ReplyDeleteNot feeling real great today and kinda hard to say what I am struggling with. My struggle is the fact that those precious friends in Israel are all probably no longer living and I know none of them called upon Jesus Christ before they drew their last breath. It brings great grief to me even to think of it being true.
I think I will leave all of that alone until I feel better. Just very hot here and as soon as our cool and beautiful fall weather gets here, I know I will regain my energy and strength.
GG5/Shalom
GG5, do not despair about your friends. I obviously don't know them and for all I know your impression may be right. But you do not know what was going on in their minds and what the Holy Spirit was doing. Looking back on my own life, Jesus revealed Himself to me when I was relatively young. However, when one of my grandfathers was on his death bed in the hospital in the early 1980s, he sent my mother out of the room, and grabbed my mother in law, who was not Jewish, and started asking her questions about the Son of David. My dear mother in law was not the most biblically knowledgeable person and I don't know that she was able to answer all of his questions - he was a bit of a scholar. I will not know whether or not my grandfather met Yeshua during the last few days of his life until we are with the Lord. But remember that God has ways of reaching each of us and He has compassion for our lack of understanding. You may find when we are at the Lord's marriage supper that your friendship and prayers played an important part in their coming to know their messiah after all. I guess at the end of the day there is nothing you can do but trust God either way. But remind yourself that nothing is impossible with God. I hope you feel better soon - this heat is really getting to me too.
ReplyDeleteMiriam,
ReplyDeleteThank you so very much for your great encouraging message. My friends were all Jewish guides for the travel agency that we booked our trips with and they knew all of the traditions, history and their grasp of God's word in the New Testament were beyond my imagination. I just knew for sure the first few days of our visit that these men were indeed believers in Jesus Christ but when I asked them in a private conversation, I was assured that it was not so. But am taking your advise and knowing how passionate our Heavenly Father is about His chosen people, I have to believe that they were saved.
The story about your grandfather is a beautiful one and just his wanting to know answers to the things that he needed to know, that says he was searching. I keep all of the members of the guides families in my prayers and I know that God will make a way even in the worst of circumstances.
I am feeling somewhat better but still fuzzy headed. Heat is lovely in the winter time. Tired of it now though.
GG5/Shalom
For all its show of brutality, ISIS forces are incompetent zeros on the battlefield and flee like rabbits when confronted by the northern Iraqi Kurdish forces of the peshmerga. So wrote a French journalist in an opinion column one day last week (maybe Wednesday or Thursday) in the Wall Street Journal. He believed the Kurds will rout ISIS and finish them off. Any thoughts, Sean?
ReplyDelete- Brian
GG5,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your message, it blessed me as well. What you said about searching stayed with me and the Holy Spirit brought to my mind Jeremiah 29:13. I am going to stand on that promise and believe that my grandfather found the Lord. It will be really interesting to spend time with him in heaven, because so much of his thought process and personality will be completely transformed. That is really something exciting to look forward to.
I would appreciate prayer, I am suddenly having symptoms of a lot of pain down one arm that are consistent with a herniated disc. I've already dealt with one of those in my lower back, and both of my siblings have them, so I'm very familiar. My youngest son has also had 3 of these, they seem to run in the family. Please pray that a doctor will be able to relieve the discomfort quickly - right now advil is just taking the edge off.
Bob in Texas
ReplyDeleteRef: Anonymous comment of 9/7
Sean, The Kurdish involvement seems confusing to me.
Obama appears to be blocking resources going to the Kurds to appease Iran while Israel purchases Kurdish oil to help them out.
Can you help clarify what is going on?
Thanks
The Kurds are making do in defending their homeland, and lost Mosul to IS because of that city's heavily Sunni Islamist presence dating back to the war against Saddam.
ReplyDeleteThe Kurd's are akin to the unwanted step-child of the Middle East; the are the ancient people referred to in the Bible as the Medes. They are not Arab, nor Turkish, nor Persian/Iranian. They are a fiercely independent people also descended from the Japhethites. They will likely be the dominant ethnic group in the country that will be known as the future Assyria according to the prophecy of Isaiah 19:23-25
The current plight of the Kurds is a complete mess due to international politics and internal political divisions with the Kurds themselves. The Turks, a NATO ally, do not want the Kurds to become a fully sovereign nation because of the heavy Kurdish presence in southeastern Turkey. Iraq wants to maintain Iraqi Kurdistan within its own sovereign territory, and the Persians/Iranians have the same territorial fears as the Turks. The Kurds themselves are divided between the Communist PKK faction and other non-Communist factions.
So, as the prophecy of Isaiah tells us, when this war is over there will be just three countries, Egypt, Israel and Assyria, from south to north, living side by side in the Middle East fulling the roles declared by Isaiah 19:25.
Sean,
ReplyDeleteSo now we are told that 42 Democratic Senators are going to follow their leader off the cliff.
Do you have a feeling on whether Iran's parliament will accept the JCPOA or not?
Hard to believe that is the only question left of this insane farce.
Mark,
ReplyDeleteDon't believe what the media tells you - they lie for expedience and political purposes.
As for Iran's parliament, I don't care what they decide to do or not do. I only trust in what God has said will happen to them through the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
Bro. Sean, in your blog research, have you found any connection to the refugees streaming by the thousands into Europe and European leaders' efforts to divide the land or pressure Israel to make peace with her enemies? Maybe I'm reading too much into current events and it really is just a simple humanitarian crisis. But in these last days, I wonder if there might be something more going on that, perhaps, isn't being widely reported in the mainstream news here in the U.S. Thanks for your answer, and may God continue to bless you and your ministry.
ReplyDeleteBrian
Brian,
ReplyDeleteWhat I have found is that this is a war, and war always causes humanitarian crises.
Israel has nothing to do with the civil war in Syria.
This war is a direct result of the Obama Administration's creation of the so-called "Arab Spring" which commenced with his 2009 speech in Cairo, and his unilateral disengagement of American military forces from Iraq in 2010-2011.
Sean,
ReplyDeleteMy speculation with this has been...
Perhaps the Russian assets will get "collected" in the final fury of a Psalm 83 conflict and with the ego of Vlad there is no way he will put up with that... Hook in Jaw?
Ken B
Ken B,
ReplyDeleteEzekiel 39:9-10 literally tells us:
"Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and bucklers, the bows and arrows, the javelins and spears; and they will make fires with them for seven years. So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord GOD."
This occurs within Israel proper. At that future time Israel will be a "greater Israel" geographically-speaking than exists at the present time. The hooks (plural, meaning at least two and from which Gog of Magog cannot escape) are a figurative and spiritual device the LORD will use to draw Gog and his confederates to their destruction in Israel.
Sean,
ReplyDeleteI was watching a bit of C-SPAN today as these votes were taking place and almost all the callers (even those on the Democrats line) were not only against the deal, but totally outraged by it. Some were even calling out Obama for treason!
It just strikes me that there is such a disconnect now between the left wing politicians and media and the average citizen. I don't think the gulf has ever been wider.
Brian wrote:
ReplyDelete"Thanks for the reply, Sean. I think I was looking for a deeper insight, though, than what we're seeing on the surface. Another blogger, John McTernan, wrote this about the swarm of Muslims who are invading Europe. Do you agree with his assessment?"
Brian,
Here is some deeper insight.
Everybody is entitled to their opinion. But where does John McTernan clearly and concisely illustrate through Bible prophecy that his view of "Europe Under Judgment" is a manifestation of prophetic fulfillment at the present time? Has the 70th Week begun and nobody but him has noticed? Has the Harpazo of the bride of Christ occurred?
John McTernan needs to read 2 Thessalonians 2 immediately!
Is there anything within Bible prophecy (the express and literal Word of God) which indicates that the Europe of the Roman Antichrist will be Islamic?
Is there anything within Bible prophecy (the express and literal Word of God) which indicates that the Antichrist will be Islamic?
No and No.
Europe today is populated by tens of thousands if not millions of individuals who are the bride of Christ. Are they subject to this alleged "judgment" of God which John McTernan has unilaterally declared is ongoing for them?
I do not believe and will not allow the teaching here that God enters into judgment upon any nation possessing a true believing Christian population of even one individual.
What John McTernan has declared of late is akin to saying that God has begun to pass judgment upon the bride of Christ in Europe before he passes judgment upon the savages of the Islamic State, jihadism and worshipers of the false god of Islamism. I reject such "insights" as false. They are not insights into prophetic Scripture in my opinion. John McTernan is behaving and teaching as if he is some sort of anointed prophet. I do not believe this is the case.
Judgment of the nations will not begin until the commencement of the 70th Week, which occurs after the Harpazo of the bride of Christ, and after the LORD Jesus Christ has begun to open the Seven Seals of Judgment.
Thanks for the comments, Sean. You make some good and very valid observations. I wonder, though, if you both might be correct and I'll use the U.S. to explain why.
ReplyDeleteAlthough there are perhaps tens of millions of followers of Jesus Christ in the U.S., this has not stopped our nation from receiving at least remedial judgment from our Lord for our actions and behavior as a nation. In the book of Daniel, God tells us He raises leaders and deposes them. Our current leadership then, wicked as it may be, is judgment on our nation.
We as a people are deserving of this lousy leadership because we ourselves (as a nation) love what God loathes and by our behavior and our actions refuse to repent and turn to Him.
What makes it even worse, the Church in the U.S. has -- with few exceptions -- not been the salt or light He has called us to be. We've gone with the current as our culture has decayed and rotted within, instead of taking a clear, moral stand against the rot and filth. We watch Hollywood's violent, sex-filled movies as much as our fellow pagans do. We buy the music, video games and TV programs that the lost do. And, when we're given the opportunity to stand beside or for moral candidates in elections, many of us stay home. It's been widely reported, for example, that millions of Republicans -- Christians among them -- stayed home during the last presidential election than vote for Mitt Romney.
You're right. God's Word says He is withholding His wrath until after the rapture of His bride, the Church, is taken out of this world. Yet, the Word never says God will withhold His discipline from all of us.
- Brian
Sean, I also want to thank you for the comment as well. I started reading john mcternuns blog regularly everyday and slowly, very slowly I started to fear what was coming but it just didn't sit right with me. I then started to realize that if a ministry generates fear among believers something ain't right. I don't know how familiar you are with John mcternun but I think he's a bit of an alarmist
ReplyDeleteBrian,
ReplyDeleteSince the time of Adam and Eve all human choices have consequences attached to them.
When individuals choose to perform or execute an action they automatically have chosen to endure the immediate, middle and ultimate results of that action.
God allows the exercise of free will of all mankind and He also allows the entire scope of the resultant consequences.
However, this is not the same thing as deliberate and intentional judgment from God as many are suggesting.
Remedial judgment from God upon an entire nation is dependent upon how a particular nation interacts with Israel. Genesis 12:3 is most assuredly a fact as proven, for example, by the Spanish inquisition of the Jews, Hitler's Holocaust of the Jews and the British betrayal of the Jews.
America is definitely at risk of being on the wrong side of Genesis 12:3, and it is up the the bride of Christ within this country to ensure we stay in within the Lord's blessing by opposing the evil intent of the current administration.
Our actions as individuals can and will have a "blessing" as a result of what we allow our government to do. If we fail in this responsibility, then the resultant cursing is one we have chosen to accept.
Thanks for what you wrote, Sean. It's well stated and I very much agree with it.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Hartdawg's comments about John McTernan, I agree with them, too. Although I think John McTernan is sincere in his beliefs and is not intentionally trying to lead his readers astray, he often posts comments matter of factly as if what he states is sure to happen. For example, he has repeatedly stated that there will be a global third world war that will give rise to the antichrist. But I don't see clear evidence from Scripture that the lawless one will rise from the ashes of a great conflict.
Although I have read his book, "As America Has Done To Israel," and found it well worth the time, like many visitors to his web site, I found some of his conclusions a bit wacky (He's wrapped up into the notion that only the King James Version of the Bible is a valid English language translation.) or wrong. But so are some of the articles (the ones that set dates for the return of Jesus or the rapture) Jack Kelley has posted on his otherwise excellent Grace Thru Faith site.
Because we all see through a glass darkly, as Scripture puts it, none of us knows exactly when the sequence of events outlined in Bible prophecy will take place. That in no way, however, discounts the good information posted on the two sites I mentioned.
Even this site, which is a daily visit for me, gets it wrong sometimes. (Like, for example, the importance of Alexis Tsipras, the prime minister of Greece, to Bible prophecy.) But I don't hold prophecy web sites to the same standard as God's Word, and neither should any reader here. I very much appreciate the work that bloggers like Sean put into their sites. For me, they're excellent food for thought. So please keep up the work, Sean. I remain a dedicated reader. God bless you.
- Brian
Hi Sean,
ReplyDeleteIs the city of Hamath the one referenced in
Eze 39:16?
“The name of the city will also be Hamonah. Thus they shall cleanse the land.” ’
I always thought it would be east of the sea of galilee or the dead sea.
Jmoll106,
ReplyDeleteNo, Hamath (meaning "fortress") in Syria (same as present-day Hama, Syria) and the future city of Hamonah (meaning "multitudes") in the Valley of Hamongog (present-day vicinity of Dhiban, Jordan) are not the same.
Hamonah, Israel will be located approximately 275 miles south of where Hama is located in Syria.
Thanks, I wasn't able to find any reference to Hamongog in any commentaries other than it was a name God gave to the valley for gog's burial.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the response.