A National Moment of Remembrance

30 May 2016: Today marks the 148th annual observance in the United States of America of what has come to be known as Memorial Day. This day was borne out of the American Civil War in order (posted below) to honor our war dead. General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic issued General Order Number 11 on 5 May 1868 establishing this day of remembrance as Decoration Day.  

On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield gave a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, and 5,000 participants decorated the graves of the 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers who are buried there. 

Today you may notice veterans of the VFW and civic organizations around the country collecting funds for veterans causes. With each donation they will hand to the donor a Red Memorial Poppy in return. These donations benefit war orphans, widows and servicemen and women in need. This American tradition was born in 1915 when an American woman named Moina Michael penned a poem in response to "In Flanders Fields."  

We cherish too, the Poppy red

That grows on fields where valor led,

It seems to signal to the skies

That blood of heroes never dies.

More recently the Congress of the United States passed the National Moment of Remembrance resolution is December 2000. The purpose of the resolution has been to request all Americans "informally and voluntarily in their own way to pause from whatever they are doing at 3 PM local time observe a silent Moment of remembrance and respect and, or in listening to the playing of Taps. 

Today we honor all of our war dead knowing that while all servicemen and women have given some, there are more than 1.8 million who have given all since 1775 in the sacrifice of their lives defending the Republic, its values as enshrined in the Constitution of the United States of America.

HEADQUARTERS GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC

General Orders No.11, WASHINGTON, D.C., May 5, 1868

1. The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet church-yard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.

We are organized, comrades, as our regulations tell us, for the purpose among other things, “of preserving and strengthening those kind and fraternal feelings which have bound together the soldiers, sailors, and marines who united to suppress the late rebellion.” What can aid more to assure this result than cherishing tenderly the memory of our heroic dead, who made their breasts a barricade between our country and its foes? Their soldier lives were the reveille of freedom to a race in chains, and their deaths the tattoo of rebellious tyranny in arms. We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the nation can add to their adornment and security is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders. Let no wanton foot tread rudely on such hallowed grounds. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.

If other eyes grow dull, other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain to us.

Let us, then, at the time appointed gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with the choicest flowers of spring-time; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from his honor; let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us a sacred charge upon a nation’s gratitude, the soldier’s and sailor’s widow and orphan.

2. It is the purpose of the Commander-in-Chief to inaugurate this observance with the hope that it will be kept up from year to year, while a survivor of the war remains to honor the memory of his departed comrades. He earnestly desires the public press to lend its friendly aid in bringing to the notice of comrades in all parts of the country in time for simultaneous compliance therewith.

3. Department commanders will use efforts to make this order effective.

By order of

JOHN A. LOGAN,

Commander-in-Chief

N.P. CHIPMAN,

Adjutant General

Official:

WM. T. COLLINS, A.A.G.

Global SITREP C2-16: Israel Takes a Big Step Towards the "Covenant Among Many"

18 May 2016: This is too important of a subject to be just an update added to the bottom of the previous SITREP. This subject is of an importance which is ultimately prophetic to an incredible degree as the passage of time will surely make very clear.  

Upon the approval of the North Atlantic Council, on Wednesday, 4 May 2016 NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg extended an offer to the State of Israel to establish an Israel Mission Office at NATO Headquarters in Brussels. Israeli Prime Minister accepted the offer yesterday during a phone call to Stoltenberg and then invited him to come visit Israel. Ambassador David Walzer, Israel's current Ambassador to the European Union (established June 2000), will now become the Israeli Chief of Mission to NATO.

Also, joining Israel in establishing Mission Offices in the NATO Headquarters are a quintuplet of Sunni Arab nations: Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain. (Sheba and Dedan, anyone?)  The invitation to Israel was extended by the unanimous consent of the NATO ministers, and which included the NATO minister from Turkey. This is a major step forward towards bringing Israel into the NATO military alliance which will also, eventually, include the four Arab nations seen in close alliance with the "merchants of Tarshish and all the young lions thereof" spoken by the prophet Ezekiel. The past is prologue to the future.

Israel's process of inclusion into the NATO alliance began in 1994 when the North Atlantic Council created the Mediterranean Dialogue which is composed of six non-NATO countries of the Mediterranean region: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia, plus Mauritania in the heart of West Africa. The purpose of the Dialogue is for stability and security. More recently the nations of NATO and the Dialogue have been referred to as NATO+7. Military cooperation and coordination constitute 85% of the activity engaged in, making the NATO+7 essentially a military precursor to full integration into the NATO alliance. Opening a Mission in NATO's Brussels HQ is, again, a major step in that direction.

I cannot think of a single 'last days' prophecy from this point forward where there is not some significant aspect involved either prior to or during the 70th Week. Most important of the significant prophetic aspects, I believe, is the "confirming of the covenant among many" which initiates the 70th Week. This is truly a goose bumps breaking news story, with some serious 'past is prologue' implications as well. 

Global SITREP C1-16: The Past As Prologue

Antiochus IV Epiphanes

(Update Below) 12 May 2016: The past is prologue to the future. Prologue is defined as "a preliminary discourse; a preface or introductory part of a discourse, poem, or novel." To this definition I will add God-breathed prophecy for the simple reason that prophetic prologue in Scripture was extant thousands of years before Shakespeare was born. 

The various texts of the Bible, but especially the prophetic texts, are replete with this theme many times over. In Genesis the narrative of Noah and the Ark serves as a rather detailed account of those ancient times as well as a prophetic prologue for the Harpazo of the Bride of Christ by Jesus in the near future. So too in Daniel 11:20-45, the angel Gabriel provides in great detail the account of Antiochus IV Epiphanes which we know in hindsight as completely fulfilled historical events, and also as prologue for future events during the 70th Week to be fulfilled by the Antichrist.

With Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Greek-Macedonian self-proclaimed demigod of the Seleucid Empire in a long, unbroken line of Macedonian-Greek Seleucid kings, we have a very specific prologue into the coming of the man who will become the Antichrist as provided by Gabriel in Daniel 11. The prologue does not even skip a beat in the exploits of this man circa 168-67 BC to those of the real future Antichrist; the text is a virtual time warp of from the events of 168-67 BC to those of what I believe will be circa the year 2021 AD. And in this fact alone the future will be fulfilled. As many have pointed out previously, this is about a bloodline, and about a certain demonic entity which possessed Antiochus IV Epiphanes during his brief rule and will possess the coming Antichrist in the final 42 months of the Megas Thlipsis (a/k/a the 'Great Tribulation').

This is were history comes into play and it is instructive on how events may well come to pass in the future. In ancient times globalism was accomplished through the vehicle of Empire. In Scripture, the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream by the prophet Daniel established this paradigm of human empires for the sum of human-led rule on this earth until the 'end of days.'  

With an eye to historical events, did Antiochus IV Epiphanes inherit his very powerful and militarily dominant empire, or did he conquer and establish it as Alexander the Great had done 157 years earlier? The historical fact is that Antiochus IV Epiphanes inherited his empire; it was literally handed to him when when his predecessor, Seleucus was assassinated by a general named Heliodorus upon returning to the capital Seleucia from Jerusalem in 175 BC. Antiochus, the second son of Seleucus then seized the throne through royal scheming and the subterfuge of some close associates. Daniel 11:21 was thus literally fulfilled by Antiochus in 175 BC (see the comments section on precisely how this fulfillment came to pass). I believe we can expect to see similar subterfuge and conspiracy as the future Antichrist comes to power.

The end of Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the transition or overlap to the future Antichrist occurs within the text of Daniel 11:29-39. These ten verses apply to both Antiochus IV Epiphanes and to the future Antichrist. Then at Daniel 11:40, where the prophecy states "At the time of the end..." the overlap has been completed and the time-line has definitively jumped forward by about 1,850 years into the 70th Week. None of the text of Daniel 11:40-45 was fulfilled in the past; all of it is set for a future fulfillment during the 70th Week. 

It is also important to note that the Seleucid bloodline which followed Antiochus IV Epiphanes (his son Antiochus V Eupator; his grandson Demetrius I Soter; his great-grandson Demetrius II Nicator who was overthrown by another great grandson supported by Rome and the Seleucid Empire became fully a vassal state of the Roman Empire, Alexander I Balas; his great-great grandson Antiochus VIII Grypus; his great-great-great grandson Seleucus VI Epiphanes Nicator. This line continues all the way to the last Seleucid vassal king named Philip II Philoromaeus (which means 'friend of the Romans'), and then to Antiochus XIII who ruled for a year in 65-64 BC when Rome turned what remained of the Seleucid kingdom into a full-fledged province of Rome controlled by Roman General Pompey. This kingdom was then stripped of its Macedonian-Greek name Seleucia and renamed Syria by Roman decree. At this time Antiochus X Eusebes Philopater became a figurehead ruler of Syria, but he was quickly replaced in 58 BC by the Roman general and supporter of Pompey, Aulus Gabinius. Antiochus XIII ultimate fate and progeny thereafter are unknown to this day. A descendant could literally be anywhere, yet what is certain is that he will emerge and fulfill everything that has been prophesied. 

The keen-eyed will likely have already made note that this same lineage lent its name to a major city of ancient times, the Biblical city of Antioch, which is today known by its Turkish name, Antakya. This city was founded in the 4th century BC by the first of the Seleucid kings, Alexander the Great's close aide, Seleucus I Nicator. Acts 11:26 teaches that this city is where believers of Jesus Christ first became known as Christians.

Just as Gabriel's prophetic narrative scaled time in a single bound, so now shall this SITREP.  In the year 2016 AD, according to the Julian calendar we use, the world situation is similar to that of the fourth decade of the 20th Century AD (1931-1940). 

In a nutshell, the events which preceded World War II ensured its occurrence. These were chaotic events which gave rise to the emergence of strongmen on both the left and right of the political spectrum. Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Stalin, Tojo, Chamberlain, Churchill, Roosevelt. Each of major nations of the world found the necessity of a strong leader to rule absolutely essential; such is the call and dictate of national survival. The League of Nations, the first modern attempt at globalism, was weak and therefore ineffective and ultimately incapable of fulfilling is purpose. Right by might became the rule with some nations taking territory that belonged to others, and other nations doing nothing to stop it. A world war was the inevitable result.

Midway through the second decade of the 21st Century AD chaotic events are once again occurring. In many countries strong leadership is once again seen as an essential necessity. Nations are seizing the territory of others; corruption is rampant in almost every facet of society. A blood-thirsty religious cult centered on a 7th Century AD madman's demonic-inspired conquests is running rampant through both legal and illegal means all over the globe. Before everyone's eyes the global semblance of order that was established following World War II through the establishment of the United Nations has been fully corrupted and continues as a virtual functioning debacle. 

The difference this time is that the means to destroy all life on the planet is in the possession of a handful of nations who are more or less aligned in opposing blocs known as East and West. Strong men and dictators currently rule in the Eastern Bloc. And smack dab in the middle of this is the Middle East. No longer is the threat of war in the Middle East the issue, the issue now is that there is ongoing warfare of one type of another occurring in even its remotest corners, with the major nuclear-armed powers directly involved from Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean Levant. These are wars which will ignite larger ones, eventually dragging the nuclear-armed powers into a flood of direct conflict. The absence of a strong-man in the Western Bloc cannot last much longer; and the opposing sides in the trifecta of the Middle East's wars are all clamoring for the emergence of their expected messianic figure. 

As we all know from prophetic Scripture, the fast approaching appointed time of this demonically-controlled man's emergence and revealing is imminent. So is the blessed hope of the Harpazo. "Ready" and "Get Set" have already been announced, all that remains is for our Father in Heaven to say "Go!"