Are You a Continuationist or Are You a Cessationist?

29 December 2016: Mindful in the extreme of this sensitive subject matter, the intent is to wade gently through it so as to not cause any major ripples. At the same time there is a compulsion to put this before as many as will read it.

Have you ever wondered why the current church, the bride of Christ, does not exhibit the same incredible spiritual empowerment of the Holy Spirit  as manifest in the very beginning of our faith, such as those things recorded in the Book of Acts and other inspired works? Have you ever prayed on this? For myself, the answer is 'yes' to both questions.

Going back as far as I can recall, the teaching has always been that God hates sin. He loves the sinner, but hates sin. In no way can He abide with or by the defiling filth of sin; his absolute unblemished holiness is the perfection of perfection. It is sin that has always and will always separate the unredeemed human being from Him. It is the saving grace of the Blood of the Lamb which redeems us and provides the aspiration toward achieving a holiness like Him, to live re-born to be like Him, to be Christ-like and without sin.

And in our redemption through the Blood of the Lamb we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, because in that moment we are blameless, sinless. That is how and why the Holy Spirit, God, can be within us. Yet the Christian is able capable of sin; we have an inherent sinful nature as sons of Adam. So when the Christian inevitably does sin does the Holy Spirit, being an integral part of God, depart from indwelling the human being in that moment?

When a discussion of this crops us I will invariably bring up the difference between receiving the Holy Spirit upon salvation in Christ Jesus, and another experience which is a baptism in the Holy Spirit and the special gifts that come to the individual with that baptism. Trust me on this, I know many Christian brethren who will turn up their noses and deny such a thing exists; they will claim that such 'quackery' is the realm of Pentecostals and Charismatics and other assorted 'holy rollers' and snake handlers who get carried away in or with excessive worship, and so on and so on.  I happen to know different from direct experience, a baptism in the Holy Spirit is the ultimate in unique Christian experiences; there is nothing like it and nothing will alter the truth I adhere to about it following my experience.

But to get back to the central point, if a Christian sins, does the Holy Spirit depart because He can no longer indwell where sin is resident once again? Could this be the reason why the incredible spiritual empowerment that once was so prevalent in the Church in ancient times is now-a-days not so evident? If so, then how ill-equipped are Christians living in sin to fight against the dark forces spoken of by Paul in Ephesians 6:12? Very ill-equipped if biblical reason is applied.

Be mindful, no position is being stated or taken here, and I am as far from anything dogmatic on this as one can be. Yet it was at this point recently when I became aware of a debate within Christendom on this very subject, and the debate is encapsulated the title above. I came upon an entry in the GotQuestions.Org website dealing with this issue which reignited interest in the theological issues at the heart of it. I suggest a reading of the linked article if this subject holds any interest for you. Based upon my own experience with a baptism of the Holy Spirit I have to say that I am a little more than partial to the Continuationist view, but I am praying the Lord through His Spirit to guide to a doctrine to adhere to.

One thing I am absolutely sure of it that when the Lord pours out His Spirit upon all Israel it will be for them and those they encounter exactly as its was in the days of the Lord's Apostles. 

Marana'tha!

Breaking News Alert 05-16

🔺 29 December 2016: The anticipated uber arrogant and condescending speech of yesterday from SECSTATE Kerry was even worse than anticipated. It is absolutely illustrative of the fantasy world the global elite, the un-elected global oligarchy, and their mindless minions have created for themselves to live in. Moreover, these developments provide iron-clad, prima facie evidence that the strong delusion sent by the Lord (II Thessalonians 2:11) may already be in place.

That said, and with a big "hat tip" to SammiD, the proverbial "other shoe" has apparently also dropped. The other shoe is the subject of this breaking news alert, a must read report from The Jewish Press.com, headlined "Jimmy Carter to Obama: Grant Recognition to 'State of Palestine' at UN." 

Seems to me we're barreling along with a full head of steam into the final act of the Psalm 83 scenario. "These things must take place." Marana'tha!

Global SITREP E7-16: The Little Horn

The Little Horn

27 December 2017: Appropriately SITREP E7-16 will be the last one for the year 2016 AD. As can be seen by the image, this is about the prophecy found in Daniel 7:7-8. This is the fourth beast, different from the three beasts which had appeared before it in Daniel's night visions (dreams). At the initial and very first appearance of this fourth beast in Daniel's vision - it has 10 horns. The horns represent 10 nations. These ten nations are the heir nations of the ancient Roman Empire. 

The ancient Roman Empire had taken the place of the beast of the Macedonian-Greek Empire of Alexander the Great and his four Diadochi (generals), represented by a four-winged and four-headed leopard; which had taken the place of the beast of the Persian Empire, represented by a bear, raised up on one side with three ribs in its mouth; which had taken the place of the beast of the Babylonian Empire, represented by a lion with the wings of an eagle, which were torn off and it was made to stand like a man and given the heart of a man (Daniel 7:1-6).

The fourth beast that appears with the ten horns is the final world empire of the 'last days'. it will exist as such when the little horn, the Antichrist, rises among these ten nations. One of the very first things this little horn does as he rises is tear out three of the ten horns by their roots. The Antichrist takes these three horns, these nations, and makes them his own. The remaining seven horns follow after him and pledge themselves to him. This is the prophetic vision of the rising of the final world empire; this is the near future of the West, of Europe and the Western Hemisphere. 

This appears quite likely according to the common interpretation of Ezekiel 38:13 which speaks to a mixture, or alliance of nations of the Arabian Peninsula with the major Western mercantile trading nations of Europe and its former colonies (young lions thereof). NATO in other words. 

Never before in history have the Arabian nations been so intermingled with the merchants of Tarshish and their former colonies which are now independent nations. This has become the fact-of-the-matter due to the events and continuous flood of wars of the past twenty-five years, from the military coalition of the first Gulf War against the land of ancient Babylon (Iraq), through the second Gulf War, and to the current war in that ancient land and in Syria and the resultant mass exodus into the West. The populations of the lands of the ancient Roman Empire are being intermingled in these 'last days' as they've not been at any point in previous history. The inevitable conflict of these two civilizations is unavoidably attendant, and it will be resolved prior to the 70th Week. 

The current fact as we enter the year 2017 AD and 5777-78 on the Hebrew calendar, is this: the God-breathed Biblical prophecy of several major prophets are now bubbling in a virtual boil prior to a literal flood of sequential and or concurrent fulfillment's. And we stand on the threshold of the literal physical manifestation and fulfillment of Daniel 7:7-8 before our eyes.

And while we know not which three horns or nations Antichrist will up-root from the among the ten to take as his own, yet as assuredly as the sun rises tomorrow we can also watch for this to happen in the coming months, possibly as an adjunct or final resolution to the ongoing conflict between the Islamic and pseudo-Judeo-Christian West.

Marana'tha!

Breaking News Alert 04-16

🔺26 December 2016: Today India successfully test-launched for the fourth and final time the Agni-V (Agni-5), a nuclear-capable, road-mobile ICBM. The Agni-V is a three-stage, solid propellant nuclear weapon delivery system that has been indigenously developed by India's Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). 

Agni-V has a widely acknowledged range of over 5000km (3100mi), with Chinese officials claiming that this figure is under-reported; that a more accurate reporting of its range would be in excess of 8000km (4970mi). Agni-V boasts multiple independent re-entry vehicle (MIRV) warhead technology.

Breaking News Alert 03-16

🔺 23 December 2016:  One day after it appeared that the efforts of Israeli PM Netanyahu and U.S. President-elect Trump had forestalled a UN Security Council resolution in Israeli settlement construction, outgoing Islamist U.S. President Obama stabbed Israel in the back today by abstaining from the UNSC vote thereby allowing it to pass. Obama also made sure the U.S. did not cast a veto against the resolution. US SECSTATE  John Kerry also shares blame for this travesty.

Yesterday the measure, which had been brought before the UNSC by Egypt, had been indefinitely postponed due to strong last minute diplomatic efforts being conducted by Netanyahu and Trump. The measure ultimately was withdrawn by Egypt late yesterday, but was then re-introduced by a group of nations (New Zealand, Malaysia, Senegal and Venezuela). 

We can expect strong counter-action by President Trump to commence on 21 January 2017. A declaration of Jerusalem as Israel's indivisible capital city and the moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem are likely among the principal early actions to be taken.

Breaking News Alert 02-16

🔺 UPDATE 14 March 2017: As of this date it appears that what had been a covert deployment of Russian special forces (i.e. Spetsnaz) has now been fully compromised. The Russian Spetznaz forces are reportedly operating from an Egyptian airfield an hour east of the Libyan border. The airfield and adjacent Egyptian air defense sites are located three miles south of the coastal Egyptian town of Sidi Barrani, itself sixty miles east of the Libyan border. The Spetsnaz unit is operating in support of General Khalifa Haftar's (noted below) Libyan National Army (LNA). The LNA has suffered a series of defeats over the couple of weeks, losing control of key oil terminals. Increased and long-term Russian military (land,sea, air) forces activity here is a virtual certainty according to Bible prophecy (Daniel 11:40-45).

22 December 2016: How appropriate that the content of this second in the series breaking news alerts is what it is. Russia president is not standing still. In concert with the trilateral meeting described in Breaking news Alert 01-16, Russia is also forging a military alliance with the newly emergent Libya, another of the nations identified in Ezekiel 38/39 as joining in the near-future attempted invasion of Israel.

Libyan Gen. Khalifa Haftar departing Russian Foreign Ministry, Moscow recently.

The current Libyan strongman is General Khalifa Haftar. Through his rapidly improving and ever more lethal military machine (Libyan National Army) General Haftar controls the vast majority of Libyan territory, far more than any other Libyan faction. Russia's Putin personally extended his hand to General Haftar six months ago, and since then Russian military hardware, expertise and funding have been steadily arriving at Haftar's primary bases in eastern Libya.

On the loosing end of the new Russian adventurism in the Mediterranean Sea region is the United Nations-supported government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj in Tripoli, Libya and its military forces formerly known as Libya Dawn and Government of National Accord. The U.S. (under Obama) and E.U. are also supporters of the al-Serraj government. 

Breaking News Alert 01-16

🔺 21 December 2016: A trilateral meeting of the Defense Ministers of Russia, Turkey and Iran is occurring today in Moscow. They are ostensibly discussing the military 'end game' for the civil war in Syria in which they have intervened. A secondary goal of Russia and Iran may be to facilitate Turkey's immediate withdrawal from the NATO alliance. Students of Bible prophecy recognize these three countries as being among the principle nations identified by Ezekiel 38/39 to launch in the near future a doomed attempt to invade and conquer the State of Israel for its wealth.

New Feature - Breaking News Alert

🔺21 December 2016: A new feature on the Eschatology Today blog as we move into 2017 will be Breaking News Alerts. It only makes sense given the rapidity and unpredictability of events that in addition to the standard Global SITREP that breaking news alerts are part of the mix here. Breaking news alerts will be heralded by the red triangle symbol. 

Global SITREP E6-16: Damascus and Syria

 "I love Damascus" sign in Damascus, Syria 31 OCT 16 (Nabih Bulos/Los Angeles Times)

18 December 2016: The above image was published in the Los Angeles Times on 31 October 2016 in an article reported directly from Damascus, Syria by Nabih Bulos on that date. The headline for Nabih Bulos' article: "In Syria's capital, the civil war suddenly seems far away." A second panoramic image from the same article appears just below.

Bustling thoroughfare near Damascus University 31 OCT 16 (Bulos/LA Times)

In the above image the view is to the north, facing Mount Qasioun in the background. Mount Qasioun has been the site of numerous strikes by the IAF during this and previous years. More importantly, and to reinforce what has been covered in previous SITREPs, these images taken just 49 days ago in central Damascus vividly illustrate that this city has not yet filled the prophetic words of Isaiah 17:1.

“Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city,

And it will be a ruinous heap."

Nor have the prophetic words of Jeremiah 49:25 come to fulfillment.

"Why is the city of praise not deserted, the city of My joy?" 

The point of this is to even more vividly illustrate that Damascus is precisely in the condition which immediately precedes its cessation from being a city; its becoming a ruinous heap, and Syria, contrary to ongoing media reports, is itself well within the process of fulfillment of the end of the dynastic Al-Assad kingdom which rules it.

Jeremiah 49:26-27 continues where verse 25 left off:

"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.

'I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus,
And it shall consume the palaces of Ben-Hadad.'"

These verses point backwards from verse 25 to the events occurring this year in northwestern Syria, in the very locations specified in Jeremiah 49:23, the region from Hamath (modern Hama) to 'Arpad (located adjacent and north of what is left of modern Aleppo). Therefore, contrary to the teaching going around that Damascus has already attained "ruinous heap" status, we stand at this time of being in a position to witness the literal fulfillment of Isaiah 17 and Jeremiah 49:23-27 in real-time should the LORD God tarry further in sending His Son to collect His betrothed.

Global SITREP E5-16: "Behold, I will break the bow of Elam"

14 December 2016: Ten days ago the above video appeared online, and like a couple of others which date to 2012 and 2015 respectively, it clearly records in graphic detail another in a series of epic failures of the vaunted Russian S-300P surface-to-air (SAM) missile system to launch. The failure is that of the 5V55KD missile itself to ignite following its 'cold launch' from the tube. The missile (the arrow) then falls back onto the launcher (the bow) destroying both.

Upon seeing this video an instantaneous reminder came to mind of the God-breathed words of the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah 49:35 to be exact:

“Thus says the Lord of hosts:

‘Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,

The foremost of their might.'"

Behold indeed! It has been with much media fanfare and all-around hand-wringing dread that the Russian S-300P air defense system was recently deployed to Iran after years of political delays.  As discussed previously, the land of ancient Elam is where the crown jewel of Iran's nuclear program is located, and it is here that Iran would seek to defend with the foremost of their military might that crown jewel. Undefended jewels are exposed and vulnerable, as is the country in which they reside.

UPDATE 18 December 2016: According to a report published yesterday afternoon by the Middle East Monitor (MEMO), the Islamic Republic of Iran through the mouthpiece of its IRGC commander, General Hossein Salami, has threatened the Gulf States with "Islamic conquest" as has just occurred in Aleppo, Syria. 

Quoting IRGC General Hossein Salami's comments to Iranian media: “It is now time for the Islamic conquests. After the liberation of Aleppo, Bahrain’s hopes will be realized and Yemen will be happy with the defeat of the enemies of Islam.”

NOTE: In the above linked MEMO report are a pair of embedded videos showing that as the remaining civilian refugees begin to evacuate eastern Aleppo city, mostly on foot but also in cars and buses, the Shi'a militia proxies of Iran open fire with small arms and heavy machine guns, further terrorizing those fleeing through checkpoints set up by the Russian military forces. These videos lend themselves to corroborating other reports of the massacre of fleeing civilians in eastern Aleppo in the past week.

General Salami's statement indicates that Ayatollah Khamenei and his clerical support have authorized these wars of "Islamic conquest" which are without any doubt the creation of chaos in the furtherance of the Shi'a Hojjatieh agenda of hastening the appearance of their awaited al-Mahdi figure. It is noteworthy to also say that neither Bahrain or Yemen could be conquered by Iran without also launching full-scale war against the Sunni's of Iraq, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and several other nations as well, including the Western alliance led by the United States, and Israel. 

Clearly within this Iranian threat is an overt threat of a greater war in the heart of the Middle East. A 'rumor of war' in the words as prophesied by our Lord Jesus Christ in the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24-25. Virtually all of us can now see clearly the inter-linking of several very specific Bible prophecies concerning the final wars of the pre-70th Week world as we know it. Time is short.

Global SITREP E4-16: F-35I 'Adir' Arrives in Israel

IAF F-35I  'Adir' at its unveiling in Texas

12 December 2016: Ar 0700 EST/1400 IST today Israel will receive its first first two of the fifty  F-35I 'Adir' ('Mighty') stealth fighter aircraft purchased from the United States of America. As I write the initial paragraph for this SITREP these aircraft are approximately 45 minutes from being 'wheels down' at Nevatim Air Base in southern Israel. Israel the first country outside of the U.S. to bring these truly awesome 5th Generation aircraft into operational service. Count this as a definitive blessing. Watch the F-35I video here.

There are several countries around the world who will eventually be flying the F-35A variant, but in all the world there is only one F-35I and Israel has it. Israel will be the first country in the world outside of the U.S. to have an operational F-35I 'Adir' squadron, and that will occur sometime late next year when the next nine aircraft are delivered to Israel. 

This bad bird guarantees Israel Air Force's domination of Mid-East skies 

13 December 2016: The uniqueness of the F-35I is mostly found in its avionics package and other technological goodies built by Israel's Elbit Systems and IAI.  And that uniqueness will expand well beyond anything the Adir's designers imagined. The Israeli pilots who will fly this incredible aircraft will in the coming months develop operational procedures that other countries can only dream about. This aircraft will ensure that Israel will not only dominate the skies of the Middle East for the foreseeable future, but will enable it to take on combat missions it has thus far not been fully capable of executing as would be desirable with the F-16I Sufa and F-15I Ra'am. The F-35I 'Adir' will execute these missions at less cost and with less support which can be allocated to other fronts needing attention.

To quote the IAF Chief-of-Staff Brigadier General Tal Kalman, "The future is here." Yes sir, it is, and then some.

As we all know, Israel's F-35I Adir's landed last evening at nevatim Air Base in the Negev. They were flown in by American pilots. This morning Israeli pilots took to the skies over Israel in these aircraft. As stated in the comments section of this SITREP, Israel's pilots who will form the IAFs F-35I combat squadrons have been training on cutting-edge flight simulators for some time now. Today they simply hopped into the cockpit and flew victory laps in the skies over Israel. Watch the video above, courtesy of the IDF Spokesperson Office.

Global SITREP E3-16: IDF Publishes AOOB for Lebanese Hezbollah in Southeast Lebanon

IDF Air Order Of Battle for Lebanese Hezbollah

07 December 2016: Yesterday the IDF Spokesperson's Office posted to its Twitter account what amounts to an approved, declassified public release of the IAF's color-coded Air Order of Battle (AOOB) for Hezbollah and IRGC targets in southeastern Lebanon.  The IDF is on record for months now saying that its next war with Hezbollah will be the last war with Hezbollah. This image would tend to confirm that battle plan.

The color-coding within the above image lends itself to understanding how the IDF has prioritized its targeting data and how this war will be prosecuted against Hezbollah from Day One to Day X.  I would surmise the prioritization is Green Dots (Communications, Command and Control - i.e. C3 targets) and Blue Dots (fixed offensive weapons positions) and Black Dots for the obvious reasons. Pink, Orange and Purple dots are subsequent targets during the landwarfare phase of the coming war.

08 December 2016: The coming war? Didn't President-elect Donald Trump yesterday near the home of the 82nd Airborne Division and US Army Special Operation Command (USASOC) say that America would "stop toppling foreign regimes that we know nothing about, that we shouldn't be involved with." Yes, indeed he said that loud and clear. 

However, he also said loudly and clearly so that his words could be heard at the same volume in Tehran, Iran. He said, "Instead, our focus must be on defeating terrorism and destroying ISIS, and we will."  The emphasis here is on the phrase "defeating terrorism," because the Islamic Republic of Iran is the world's number one terrorist state and has been in a state of war against the United States of America for the past 35 years. 

President-elect Trump has also said he will completely enforce the compliance of Iran on the ridiculous nuclear agreement his predecessor and his EU allies made with Iran. This is an agreement that the government of Iran has thus far never officially accepted nor ratified nor abides by in full compliance. So how does one completely enforce a nuclear agreement that Iran, the world's number one terrorist state, has not accepted or ratified nor abides by? By force of arms, that's how.

So, did you see or feel the tectonic shift which just occurred within this SITREP? We went from Israel vs. Hezbollah and Iran in Lebanon to the US vs. Iran in Iran. Has this blog not given a sort of 'heads up' warning for months now of a literal flood of prophetic fulfillments in these final months and years prior to the start of the 70th Week. Yes, indeed these warnings have been given. And a flood of prophetic fulfillments literally links them all together, like a series of cascading prophetic dominoes. One tips over the next. I think you're getting the picture now.

9 December 2016: At the beginning of His sermon on the Mount of Olives, our Lord Jesus said that at the end of the current age and of the things there were to come there would be wars (akouō polemos: literally meaning the Jewish people would hear with their own ears both single battles and series of battles) and rumors of wars (akoē polemos: literally meaning the learning from multiple reports of battles occurring elsewhere), and "take heed, do not be frightened by these, they must take place, but notwithstanding these battles and wars, the end is not yet." 

He immediately followed that prophetic statement saying literally "For multitudes of foreign heathen (not worshipers of the true God) shall rise against multitudes of foreign heathen (also not worshipers of the true God), and kingdom against kingdom..."  

I hope we are all aware that this is precisely and exactly what has been occurring close to the borders of Israel - close enough so that some of these battles between heathen armies can be heard by Israeli ears, and others are conveyed in news reports coming from the neighboring lands. Non-state foreign heathen warriors are at war with other non-state foreign heathen warriors; non-state foreign heathen warriors are at war with foreign heathen nation states, and nation states are at war with nation states. Jesus in these two prophetic sentences perfectly described the current situation in Syria, just across and within hearing distance of the Israeli Golan, and just as is seen in the map above. The rest comes in media reports, again, exactly as He said it would happen. Indeed, we know there is more to come.

"Take heed, do not be frightened by these, they must take place, but notwithstanding these battles and wars, the end is not yet."

Global SITREP E2-16: Red Lines Are Red Lines

Russian S-400 Triumf (NATO Name SA-21 Growler)  at Khmeimim Air Base, Syria

1 December 2016: Early yesterday morning Israel time a pair of IAF strikes occurred on both a Syrian military target near Damascus, and on the Damascus-Beirut Highway against a Hezbollah-bound weapons convoy. Most reports indicate these strikes were launched while the IAF's F-15I 'Ra'am' strike aircraft were in Lebanese air space. This is likely due to an existing and very explicit understanding between Russia and Israel; had the IAF aircraft launched the strikes while in Syrian airspace the Russian S-400 air defense system at Khmeimim Air Base would have been obliged to fire upon the Israeli aircraft. The long and short of it is that Israel's red-line on the transfer of advanced weaponry to Hezbollah in Lebanon from Syria remains intact, as does the Russian commitment to defend Bashar al-Assad's military forces from airstrikes launched in Syrian airspace.

IAF F-15I Ra'am strike aircraft

My only technical analysis note is that the image at the top clearly illustrates a pair of radar emitters (Kasta 2E radar on the left and PRV-13 altimeter on the right) seen between the vertically deployed missile TELARs are not normally known to be associated with a foreign deployed S-400 system. They indicate a possible reduced capability to detect targets between 20 and 65 miles distant at altitudes between 328 and 3,280 feet in altitude. These two systems may be only for point defense of the Khmeimim Air Base against low flying fixed or rotary wing aircraft and/or cruise missiles.

Details on these pre-dawn strikes strongly indicate that the main arsenal for the elite Syrian 4th Division in As-Saboura was struck simultaneously with the Hezbollah weapons convoy. One could very reasonably assume that the 4th Division arsenal was the source of the weapons transfer and the convoy the enroute weapons themselves.  As is normal the Israel Ministry of Defense will neither confirm or deny the strikes took place. Nevertheless, the Israeli-Russian understanding contains no illusions as to what Israel's very real red-lines are or the fact that direct military action will be immediate when those lines are crossed. Wednesday morning's IAF action proves this beyond question. 

It is also apparent to Eschatology Today that the lessons Israel gave the Syrian dictator in early 2013 have been ignored by his regime and Iranian/Hezbollah allies, who, not coincidentally, have been actually running things in Syria for quite some time now. This type of military action guarantees the greater conflagration Israel's ancient prophets tell us is soon to arrive (Isaiah 17, Jeremiah 49:23-27). These are appointments of the Lord's prophetic calendar. Of particular note right now are the very similar circumstances in Wednesday's strikes and those that occurred a mile or two away in Damascus' suburb Qudssaya in late January 2013 which came to mind immediately once As Saboura was located on the map. For reference details see the contents found in: The "Morton Salt Scenario" (When It Rains, It Pours) and Global SITREP A11-13: No 'Game Changer' for Hezbollah/IRGC .