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| IDF Armor and combat soldiers prepare for battle |
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| Pantsyr-S1 (SA-22 Greyhound) Air Defense System |
6 March 2016: There are reports circulating in the Middle East (Kuwait's al-Jarida and Israel Hayom) today that Russia has suspended its decision to deliver the highly-regarded S-300 SAM system system to Iran. The suspension was apparently based upon iron-clad Israeli photo reconnaissance and signals intelligence provided to Russia that Iran has successfully transferred a number of the Pantsyr-S1 Air Defense Systems (NATO: SA-22 'Greyhound'). The Israeli intelligence was reinforced by detection of the Pantsyr-S1 operating in Lebanon by the Russian Air Force unit deployed to Bassel al-Assad Air Base.
The Pantsyr-S1 ADS vehicles were paid for by Iran and intended for delivery to Syria, but were clandestinely re-routed instead to Hezbollah in Lebanon. This legerdemain transfer is a blatant crossing of Israel's 'red lines' as well as a breach of an Israeli-Russian agreement regrading Iran-Russia weapons systems deliveries. The Israeli intelligence coup apparently forced Vladimir Putin to publicly order the suspension of S-300 SAM systems to Iran. Russia has made it clear to both Tehran and Damascus that while they are on the same side in support of Bashar al-Assad's Syrian regime, Russia's objective interests in Syria are dissimilar and even contradictory to Iran's interests in Syria.
Thus far Russia has not deployed, as it has promised, any ground forces into combat operations in Syria. Russian marines are in Syria to defend the Bassel al-Assad Air Base. To date Russia has suffered a total of three KIA in Syria, two of whom Russia blames on Turkey's (NATO) military forces.
4 March 2013: The death of Lebanon. One of the key eschatological points of coming prophetic fulfillment maintained by this Eschatology Today blog from its very beginnings in 2009 (see Are Isaiah 17 and Psalm 83 Imminent?), and repeated every so often just to keep the prophetic issue in the minds of our readers (such as Global SITREP E7-14: Advancing Our Situational Awareness of 'Lest Days' Wars), and which was even given a dedicated post of its very own titled Joshua 13:1-7 which describes the death of Lebanon as an inheritance to Israel, as well as the crisis in Syria born of missiles and the transfer of advanced weaponry to Hezbollah which has always been a military red line for the state of Israel, the impetus for numerous airstrikes by the IAF along the Lebanese-Syrian border, the current situational flare-up caused by the recent comments of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah should be seen as just another Indication and Warning (I&W) on the hair-trigger holding back the imminent flood of prophetic fulfillment erupting on the occasion of the next sunrise or sunset. It's that close brothers and sisters.
From a stage in southern Beirut two weeks ago Hassan Nasrallah and Hezbollah broadcast a 90-minute speech, dubbed "The Ammonia Speech" by Israel's military and intelligence officials. This speech was given on the occasion of the one-year anniversary commemoration of the deaths of Jihad Mughniyeh, an Iranian general and senior Hezbollah commanders who were assassinated in an Israel Air Force strike as they approached the Syrian Golan in a small convoy of vehicles.
In Nasrallah's "Ammonia Speech," the text obviously approved by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei of Iran, the Hezbollah leader deliberately revealed a primary strategic target of the guided missiles provided to his terrorist organization by Iran and delivered via Syria is the ammonia storage facility in the Haifa Bay industrial complex. Nasrallah correctly noted that just shy of a million of Israel's population live in this immediate area and when struck by his missiles "tens of thousands of Israelis" would die, and that according to an unidentified Israeli expert the destructive scope of such an attack would be the equivalent of a nuclear strike.
While this vulnerability might have been joyful news to the Shi'a faithful listening to Nasrallah's speech, it was by no stretch of the imagination news to Israel's authorities in any sector of the government, but has been an acknowledged concern for the past eight years. In fact, the entire industrial complex in the Haifa Bay region has been well publicized in Israeli media debates which have themselves used the metaphor of an enemy missile strike here being like that to expect from a nuclear bomb. The result is that Iran and Hezbollah view the threat of such a strike as holding Israel's immense military capabilities in a sort of check-mate.
Nothing could be further from the truth as clearly illustrated by the numerous IAF airstrikes since 2008 in the Qalamoun Mountain range just west of Damascus on the Lebanese-Syria border. Israel has the capability to conduct defensive air strikes at will anywhere within Syria and/or Lebanon where intelligence data shows a red line is in jeopardy of being crossed. Israel has the electromagnetic warfare capabilities to turn off the Lebanese and Syrian electrical grid at the time and place of its choosing. What occurred last night in this regard is within Israel's capability and just might have been a reminder of sorts to its belligerent northern neighbors.
Nasrallah's ammonia threat appeared more to assuage Lebanese fears concerning Hezbollah over-extending its military forces in Syria and Yemen where its combat fatalities increase by the day. Nasrallah's detractors constantly argue as to how is Hezbollah's oft-stated commitment to defend Lebanon by allowing its soldiers to die as Iranian proxies in Syria and Yemen. Thus, Hassan Nasrallah is exposed as nothing more than a tool of the Iranian Twelvers seeking to hasten the revealing of a non-existent Shi'a apocalypse messiah figure known as the al-Mahdi.
Despite all, what we are left with is the imminent near-term reality of prophetic fulfillment regarding Damascus, the entire country of Syria and the whole of Lebanon. The removal of the safety holding the prophetic events of Isaiah 17, Jeremiah 40:23-27, Joshua 13 and Psalm 83 as a future literal fulfillments is, as stated above, as possible as the occasion of next sunrise or sunset. No one knows what will cause the trigger to get pulled or the button pushed to cause this expected flood of prophetic fulfillment, but it will certainly happen in the relative near-term. When the death of Lebanon occurs, it will be Hezbollah and its apocalyptic Shi'a Islamic ideology that will have caused it.
As it was in the days of Noah... Marana'tha!
Question sir, is psalm 83, Jeremiah 49 and Isaiah 17 are on the verge of being fulfilled, as I believe it is, are there practical steps that us in the west, christians in particular, should be taking in preparation for these coming wars, or will it mostly just affect the nations involved?
ReplyDeletehartdawg,
ReplyDelete1) Witness, witness and witness like tomorrow was the Harpazo - because it could be.
2) A major war such as these will be could easily disrupt normal life and routines all around the world. Prepare your home with essential necessities as if a storm were on the way. While gasoline is cheap store away a couple of 5 gallon containers with fuel stabilizer.
At my home I have 3 5-gal containers for a 'just in case' situation.
Related to SITREP A10-16: The Death of Lebanon posted this morning.
ReplyDeleteReport: Hezbollah prepares for 'biggest war ever' with Israel
"Sources tell Foreign Policy that the group (Hezbollah) has developed a new level of military organization, the ability to capture and hold Israeli towns, accurate guided missiles, and equipment that could target Israel's air force and navy."
Details are at the linked YNet URL. The sourced ForeignPolicy.com article requires registration to view.
However, for brevity sake, the gist of it is that Hezbollah (read: IRGC Qods Force General Solemani) now believes itself capable of invading and holding territory in northern Israel due to the combat experience it has gained in Syrian warfare.
It is quite evident to me that this battlefield strategy is predicated upon creating a virtual WMD no-man's land across northern Israel, from Haifa to Lake Tiberias, by missile fire targeting industrial areas and thereby limiting the IDFs ability to reinforce/repel invaders from northern Israel and the Golan.
It is my opinion that executing this strategy is probably the last thing Hezbollah and the IRGC in Lebanon/Syria will do, and they will kill Lebanon in the process.
The last days are frightening. Is it better to be alive or dead as these events unfold.? What about the pretrib postulations? The rapture to escape these sorrows. As we say among believers in Nigeria, God is in control.
ReplyDeleteSam,
ReplyDeleteGod is in total control.
And I believe it is a blessing to be alive for the prophetic fulfillments the Lord has blessed this generation to bear witness to up to the advent of the 70th Week.
What about the pre-Harpazo postulations? They have been discussed at length on this blog since 18 January 2009. The belief here is that between today and May 2018 we will bear witness to major prophetic events coming to their fulfillment as Israel, still in disbelief, approaches its 70th year and 10th Shemittah in the land. We will witness events that God will use to bring Israel back into belief and in the service of Yeshua Mashiach.
Dear Sean, after going through the pre-Harpazo treatise I got illumined and at the same time excited. I can exclaim with the John the revelator, " Even so come quickly Lord Jesus ". We are indeed the blessed generation that are seeing these things come to pass. Israel remains the barometer of HaShem inerrant words. This is really going to be the ultimate end of history. Maranatha.
ReplyDeleteSam Davis Omekara
Hi Sean, I watched a video by Pastor Hagee this past Sunday where he postulated that the Gog/Magog war may occur at the midpoint of the 7th week. I have also heard Hal Lindsey postulate that it's part of the final war of Armageddon that will be occurring when Messiah returns. One of the arguments that I've heard from various scholars for it occurring before the Harpazo is that Israel will be burning weapons for 7 years. However, I don't see why that activity could not continue during the first few years of the Kingdom under Messiah's direction, as part of tikkun olam (restoring our world). When Yeshua returns the earth will obviously be a complete mess, because scripture states that if He did not return exactly when planned there would be nothing and no one left alive. It also states that he will spoil those who are spoiling the earth. I am unaware of any scripture that goes into how much time will be involved in restoring our world. I have always found this part of eschatology a bit confusing. Do you have a position on this? Apologize if it's already been stated elsewhere on the blog.
ReplyDeleteMiriam,
ReplyDeleteRegarding Ezekiel 39 and the burning of weapons for seven years... look at the detail found in Ezekiel 39:10. A LOT of scholars miss this exquisite detail when assigning in their exegesis the period of time when this prophecy will be fulfilled
"... So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests..."
In consideration of the inerrant accuracy of God-breathed prophecy, this sentence informs us that there will be no shortage of trees fallen in the (grassy) fields or to be cut down in the forests when Ezekiel 38/39 is fulfilled.
This calls for the question to be asked: What wood is there in the (Hebrew: sadeh = grassy plain) field or (Hebrew: ya'ar) forests during the 70th Week?
Revelation 7:3 says the trees shall not be hurt until after the 144,000 of Israel have had the seal of God placed on their foreheads. This is early in the 70th Week. And then in the very next chapter (8), following the silence after Jesus has opened the seventh seal, in verse 7 one-third of all trees and all of the grass on the earth are burnt up as the first angel sounds his trumpet.
As most scholars would agree, the Bible interprets the Bible, and these verses powerfully indicate Ezekiel 38/39 has a pre-70th Week fulfillment.
This is an interesting topic in that any tree one might see in Israel today was planted by someone working for the Jewish National Fund (JNF). The JNF planted every one of the 240 million trees now growing in Israel since early in the 20th Century. Prior to 1901 the Ottoman Turks had completely deforested Israel in order to build railroad lines throughout their empire. Israel's forests will be intact when Ezekiel 38/39 comes to pass.
Miriam,
ReplyDeleteI forgot to answer your question:
" I am unaware of any scripture that goes into how much time will be involved in restoring our world. I have always found this part of eschatology a bit confusing. Do you have a position on this?"
My position on this is to repeat what is stated in John 1:1-3.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made."
So what does Genesis 1 tells us about how God made all things? He literally spoke them into existence.
When Jesus restores the earth and the rest of Creation during the Millennium I believe He will literally speak the restoration into existence.
These thousand years are the final (7th) dispensation prior to eternity and the New Heaven/New Earth.
A little note from an article in the Jpost - Psalm 83 anyone?
ReplyDelete"A Senior IDF officer told a Saudi newspaper on Monday that "the IDF could put Lebanon back 300 years and in parallel conquer the Gaza Strip and destroy all of its infrastructure." The officer told journalist Majdi Halbi of the Elaph news site that despite the IDF capability, the army is subject to the political echelon that in the officer's estimation will not order such action.
Regarding Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's threat to target the ammonia plant in Haifa, the officer said Israel was prepared for such an attack and was aware that its strategic infrastructure could be cut off during a confrontation with the militant Shi'ite organization.
"The organization [Hezbollah] and its leader know very well what Israel's reaction will be, so it will not set out on such an adventure," he said."
Ken B
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe IDF officer's comments are powerfully illustrative of the gross errant disconnect between secular Israel and what the Bible says prophetically (Isaiah 17; Jeremiah 49:23-27; Joshua 13:1-7, plus Psalm 83 with Isaiah 11 and Ezekiel 28 in parallel).
ReplyDeleteFrom the Saudi regime's perspective, they would like nothing better than for Israel to wipe out their Shi'a enemies Hezbollah in Lebanon and the existential long-term threat posed HAMAS/MB in Gaza.
However, in an Israeli all-out war against Sunni 'Palestinians' in Judea and Samaria the Saudi regime (Ishmaelites) will side with their brethren - which is Psalm 83 per se.