20 December 2015: The final SITREP of the current year will take a look at those eschatological things which are important to us as we continue to watch the signs pointing to our Lord's soon return in the clouds and a command with the voice of an archangel to "come up hither."
Firstly, there is no longer remains any issue with with the firm placement of Ezekiel 38/39 as a pre-70th Week prophetic fulfillment. In a direct response to prayer seeking clarity on the issue, the Lord has shown through the Scripture of Ezekiel 38/39, Romans 11 and The Revelation of Jesus Christ that there will be two kinds of Israel in the context of the 70th Week just as there are currently two kinds of Israel in the context of the present pre-70th Week context.
One is clearly remaining in disbelief; living in rejection of Jesus who came in His Father's name as the promised Messiah. This is the Israel that will fulfill our Lord's prophetic words (John 5:43) at the start of the 70th Week when they receive the false messiah who comes in his own name.
The other is the true Spiritual Israel; it is they who will know the "I Am" who is the Lord their God (Ezekiel 38/39); it is they, all Israel, who will receive Jesus as Messiah; who will have the Spirit of God poured out upon them (Ezekiel 39:29). Their number is 144,000 and they will come, 12,000 individuals each, sealed with the sign of God on their foreheads from every tribe of the children of Israel (Revelation 7). It is these Jewish evangelists who will preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ around the world during the 70th Week which will result in the innumerable saved souls seen in Revelation 7:9-17 who will "come out of the Great Tribulation" (the Megas Thlipsis) in robes washed white in the blood of the Lamb.
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Speaking of Ezekiel 38/39, one of the most common threads in the newspaper eisegesis coming from the Islamic Antichrist (IA) theorists of late is that Turkey is the land of Magog, the home of Gog, the man who is also one and the same as the world deceiving and conquering Antichrist. The entire IA theorem is the most easily debunked, rebuked and reproofed of all end-times interpretations via the plain text of Scripture alone and real-world historical fact. The thing here is, facts continue to occur in world history, and we're living in the most important pre-70th Week fact-making periods that will ever exist.
Speaking of established facts, apparently none of these purveyors of literary nonsense and their hoodwinked minions have ever bothered much to pay attention to established historical facts, both Biblical and real-world, so it should come as no great surprise that they pay even less attention to current events and the facts they are establishing in front of the eyes of the world.
One of the most glaring is that Turkey and Russia are literally at each others throats in military confrontation over Russia's intervention in Syria and the Turkish shoot-down of a Russian bomber in Turkish airspace for just 17 seconds. If anything these IA theorists are fond of propagating for cash were true, then the current situation in Western Asia should have suited itself very well towards a Turkish-Russian military alliance simultaneously opposing the wannabe Caliphate known as the Islamic State as well as the State of Israel. However, as can be seen by everyone, this is not the fact of the matter. Turkey, a now much militarily reinforced member of NATO, and Russia have been for a very few weeks a hairsbreadth from a shooting war, as are Turkey and the Shi'a Twelver theocracy ruling Iran and its Lebanese Hezbollah proxy. The greatest part of the Ezekiel 38/39 Magog confederation clearly lies to the north and northeast of the Caucasus Mountains.
Another fact is that after a five-year hiatus diplomatic relations between Turkey and Israel have turned one hundred eighty degrees from where they had been in the aftermath of the Mavi Marmara incident of 2010. Following intense and broadly-based negotiations between the two in Switzerland Turkey and Israel are in a position to resume their previously close alliance. The Russia-Turkey conflict near instantaneously shut off the bulk of Russian petroleum products flowing into Turkey. Stepping into this breach is an opportunistic Israel with its operational Tamar gas field, with the potential of billions of dollars worth of petroleum opportunities in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea being offered to the Turks. On this new threshold is a very lucrative partnership between Israel and Turkey that will based upon moving Israel's immense Leviathan natural gas field product into European markets through a Turkish pipeline. This relationship will revolve around the Delek Group of offshore developers and the Houston, Texas-based Noble Energy Corporation to fully develop the Leviathan and Tamar gas fields among a few others and get a good portion of the estimated total of 40 trillion cubic feet of natural gas product into Turkey via a direct pipeline.
So, are these resources the source of the many spoils of Israel referred to in Ezekiel's prophecy? Sure looks that way.
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As we enter the year 2016 there are a plethora of things which will continue to have powerful prophetic implications. From the war in Syria, to Iranian nukes, to the newly established Saudi anti-jihadist military coalition and a resurgent NATO and morphing of the Western alliance to include more and more nations, to the technological arena and new reports of breakthroughs or quantum leaps in artificial intelligence (image of the beast), all of these and more will be watched and posted to this blog.
In the meantime, and in between updates... Marana'tha!
So, are these resources the source of the many spoils of Israel referred to in Ezekiel's prophecy? Sure looks that way.
~~~
As we enter the year 2016 there are a plethora of things which will continue to have powerful prophetic implications. From the war in Syria, to Iranian nukes, to the newly established Saudi anti-jihadist military coalition and a resurgent NATO and morphing of the Western alliance to include more and more nations, to the technological arena and new reports of breakthroughs or quantum leaps in artificial intelligence (image of the beast), all of these and more will be watched and posted to this blog.
In the meantime, and in between updates... Marana'tha!