Global SITREP D3-17: Ezekiel 38/39 In Living Color

Professionally equipped Russian soldiers parade for 'Zapad (West) 17'

27 September 2017: The Union State (Russia and Byelorus) just completed the large-scale Zapad (West) 17 exercise in the region of Byelorus (i.e. Belarus) which possesses strong nationalist tendencies. This region constitutes the entire northern half of Byelorus; it stretches from Grodno in the west to the capital Minsk in the center to Vitebsk (Viciebsk) in the east. 

The western sector of Grodno is also known as the Suwalki Gap. It is this gap through which Russian force would penetrate into northern Poland and all of Lithuania as well as southern Latvia so as to create a contiguous land corridor between mother Russia and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad (see clickable map below).

The size and scale of the Russian forces involved was not lost on the Byelorussian nationalist aspirants for whom the aggressive dismemberment of Ukraine remains an active memory. Nor was it lost on the NATO alliance, particularly NATO allies Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia who see this region and their lands as a potential near-term battleground. Zapad 17's importance was also paramount to Russian President Vladimir Putin who attended this exercise instead of going to the U.N. General Assembly last week. That's the gravitas of this situation among all concerned parties.

The Russian forces involved in Zapad 17 were formidable. The were commanded by and were filled with many of the same combat troops who've been battle tested in Ukraine and Syria between 2014 and the present. In fact, in my view, this force constitutes the type and size of an expeditionary invasion army that would be extremely likely to be participatory in the prophecy of Ezekiel 38. 

Looking at the soldiers (image at top) and the vehicles (images below), is to be looking at the force that will be drawn south onto the mountains of Israel when Gog of Magog finds the hooks placed in his jaws by the Lord to be an even more irresistible force than his army and his coalition allies armies combined.  

T-72B3M Main Battle Tank

BTR MDM Rakushka-M APC

BTR M3 Rakushka-M Tank

These armored vehicles were specifically designed in the last few years to accompany airborne troops into combat on a distant battlefield. The would literally "cover the land like a cloud." The Russian airborne insignia is clearly visible on the new BTR family of combat vehicles. The T-72B3M MBT at top is also decidedly lighter (aluminum vs. steel), cheaper to produce, yet just as lethal as the mainstay Russian T-90 MBT. 

This new type of Russian expeditionary force blends traditional airborne assault units (VDV) with conventional infantry for specialized operations which will also includes the airlift of artillery, tanks and entire motorized rifle brigades. This is an Indication and Warning (I&W) that both the type and the manner in which this force is turned around as prophesied by Ezekiel is no longer the stuff of imagination or conjecture. You are looking at it in living color on your computer screen.

This is the equipment that Israel will one day end up using as fuel; to despoil those who intended to take the land of Israel and its accumulated wealth as a spoil. Ezekiel 39:9 tells us that after this brief one-sided battle the people of Israel will leave their cities and set fire to all of this military equipment. These fires will burn for seven years. Ezekiel 39:10 says Israel "will not take wood from the field nor cut down any from the forests, because they will make fires with the weapons."

This last prophetic statement appears to date this event a time to prior to the 70th Week. It's also a curious statement at that. You see the trees that are in Israel today were all planted by human hands; the hands of the Jewish National Fund (JNF) to be precise. When this land was ruled by the Ottoman Empire it had been completely deforested; the timbers were used to build railroads all over the Ottoman Empire. To date the JNF has planted over 240 million trees in Israel.

So these are the tree Israel will not have to cut down. But then I realized there's a time crunch... right after Ezekiel 38/39 is fulfilled we have the start of 70th Week to consider. There's just 42 months in the first half, and Israel will have fled from the Antichrist in the final 42 months, so when would Israel have the time to burn the weapons for a total of seven years?

Could Israel possibly burn them for the first 42 months and the remainder during the Millennium Kingdom of Christ? Perhaps. But the world, and Israel in particular at the start of the Millennium, will not have the forests that are present today. 

The first trumpet of Revelation 8:7 causes one-third of all trees upon the earth and all of the green grass to be burned up. Then there's war on an unimaginable scale, as well as more trumpet judgments and then the bowl judgments follow. What could possibly remain of the military weapons spoils taken from the Magog Confederation much less the the natural tree forests of Israel? If those days were not shortened by the Lord we know that no life on earth would have survived.

By this process of deduction we can learn, and it seems reasonably clear, that Ezekiel 39:10-11 has to find fulfillment prior to the 70th Week, because this is a time when Israel's forests are abundant and when the people are free of 70th Week persecution by the Beast to engage in a continuous 7 years of burning the weapons. This must take place to completely fulfill this prophecy as it is written. 

This brings to mind something I wrote down some time ago: God does not do His works in coincidences. The works of God, such as Ezekiel 38/39, are deliberate and at an appointed time as part of His all-encompassing plan.

Global SITREP D4-17: Mosab Hassan Yousef Ambushed the U.N. Security Council

28 September 2017: The above video was published yesterday (Hat Tip to Jen). The location is the UN Security Council chamber. The final speaker in this video is Mosab Hassan Yousef, a/k/a "Son of HAMAS" which is the name of the 2010 book that serves as Mosab's autobiography. Mosab's father is Sheikh Hassan Yousef, the 1986 founder of HAMAS. Mosab spent time in Israeli jails. He became a covert operative for Shin Bet. During one stint in an Israeli prison a Messianic Jew witnessed to him and Mosab accepted Christ as his savior.

In this video Mosab is the invited guest speaker for the Geneva, Switzerland-based UNWatch.Org. This is a video you will enjoy as much as the man wearing glasses seated directly in front of Mosab enjoyed it. 

Global SITREP D2-17: The Endgame Part II

23 September 2017: This evening as the sun sets the Revelation 12:1-2 sign is in the western sky. The sign has been fulfilled exactly as it was written. 

It remains my hope is that folks reading Eschatology Today took note of what was written in the first part of The Endgame and going all the way back to when this subject first appeared here three years ago. 

The note which should have been taken was that at no time did Eschatology Today identify 23 September as the date of the Harpazo. That is something other over zealous brethren had done elsewhere on the web. Therefore, no comments from any quarter to this or any previous Revelation 12:1-2 posts regarding September 23 as a Harpazo non-event will be approved to appear on this blog.

The emphasis here has always been on the sign detailed in the text of Revelation 12:1-2. The focus here has also has been, to repeat what was written here four days ago: 

"In all of this we can comfort and care for each other in the knowledge that during this endgame our blessed hope will occur in the twinkling of an eye.

So, this is where we are at the present time. There are other things that could be cited which are concurrent, moreover, in the next few days we could expect even more things to occur, and from September 24th going forward even more will occur.  The sign for Revelation 12:1-2 has been given, I believe, to wake up even the most deeply slumbering among us."

Eschatology Today will move forward with its decade-long focus on current events as seen through the clarifying lens of the LORD's inerrant prophetic word.

To those who do not yet know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, who have not yet established a personal Father-son, Father-daughter relationship with our Creator God through the blood of Jesus sacrifice on the cross... now would be a great time to make it right before the Harpazo occurs in the next twinkling of an eye.

LOOKING UP, ARMS RAISED IN EXPECTATION!!!

Even so, come Lord Jesus!

Global SITREP D1-17: The Endgame

19 September 2017: There is no better way to lead off this SITREP than with the video I've embedded above (hat tip: GG5). This video is from February 2016 and appears to be of a two-year old child prophesying Jesus' soon coming. Wow!

Next, as you might expect, the subject of the Revelation 12:1-2 sign has been foremost due to its literal fulfillment in about 45 hours from now. 

"Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth."

Well, that great sign will come into fulfillment at approximately 10:15 AM Saturday morning (from where I stand on this earth), when Jupiter the king planet is "born" from Virgo (the woman), clothed in the sun (at Virgo's left shoulder) with the moon under her feet. Above her head a garland of twelve stars; the nine associated since antiquity with the constellation Leo plus three "wandering stars" we know as Mercury, Mars and Venus. This is verse one.

But what about verse two? What about the woman's crying in labor and pain prior to the birth? This is not difficult to see clearly also. 

Consider: The birthing process has been ongoing for the past ten days. If Revelation 12:1 is directly manifest by heavenly objects we can see with the naked eye verbatim with this verse of Scripture, then what is the observable manifestation that is directly relative to Revelation 12:2? 

Just look back at the events that have occurred in this same birthing period. Multiple hurricanes, roaring and tossing of the seas, major floods on land, major earthquakes in various places have caused tremendous damage; coronal mass ejections from the sun with more due to occur as the current major prominence rotates to face the earth in the next couple of days. 

There are wars, and rumors of war. Today, for the first time in my own memory, as American president stood before the assembled United Nations to say in completely unambiguous terms that an endgame was afoot; that an enemy nation (North Korea) would be totally destroyed by the United States, even if the United States had to act alone in defense against North Korean aggression. 

In Syria, another military endgame is afoot. This is an endgame which in certainty will result in the fulfillment of several 'last days' prophetic wars, and set the stage for the final pre-70th Week military event: Ezekiel 38/39. These are the birth pangs Jesus spoke of in His discourse on the Mount of Olives. No doubt they will increase in the days ahead.

As Jesus said, these things must take place, but the end is not yet; the end from the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38/39 still lies at least seven more years into the future. In all of this we can comfort and care for each other in the knowledge that during this endgame our blessed hope will occur in the twinkling of an eye.

So, this is where we are at the present time. There are other things that could be cited which are concurrent, moreover, in the next few days we could expect even more things to occur, and from September 24th going forward even more will occur.  The sign for Revelation 12:1-2 has been given, I believe, to wake up even the most deeply slumbering among us.

20 September 2017: Up to this point Eschatology Today has deliberately concentrated on Revelation 12:1-2. The reasoning is simple. The sign in these first two in-progress verses are separate from the second, or "another" sign which follows in verse three. They are set apart and distinct signs in both time and place. 

The first sign has been taking shape in the heavens over the past nine months and concludes this Saturday. This sign will not occur again in the future. Scripture tells us, as also already touched upon, that the heavens shall be shaken, heavenly bodies in space, planets and stars, will be moved from their places by the power of God. This appears to occur no later than the middle of the 70th Week. 

Therefore, a near future occurrence of this very unique astronomical alignment in Leo and Virgo would be preempted from ever occurring again in the future. With this shaking and moving of the heavenly bodies the constellations themselves will likely be completely altered. The constellations only exist as seen from the earth in the night sky and nowhere else. It seems obvious that at the time of their shaking and moving they will have completely fulfilled the Lord's anointed purpose as signs. A new heaven will exist in the future. Therefore, first sign of Revelation 12:1-2 is entirely exclusive to the present time, right here, right now.

The second sign, Revelation 12:3, as mentioned briefly in previous posts, is a picture of the Antichrist in the form of his completed earthly kingdom, the fourth beast kingdom consisting of seven heads and ten horns. The second sign of Revelation 12:3 then is clearly a picture of an earthly realm as is made crystal clear by reading in context the entirety of Daniel 7. 

In Daniel 7 we read that the fourth and final beast begins as ten, but is reduced to seven when Antichrist, the eleventh rising little horn among them, subdues three of the kings (horns) among the ten, rips their horns out by the roots to place them upon his own head. Therefore verse three is a literal event which occurs at the start of the 70th Week. Without question the Bride of Christ will have been taken from this earth prior to the occurrence of the sign of Revelation 12:3. As can be seen in Revelation 12:6 this period of time is without any doubt the second half of the 70th Week, the great Tribulation as some refer to it; the Megas Thlipsis as Jesus referred to it in His discourse on the Mount of Olives.

We may as well also now look at Revelation 12:7-17. These verses are a type of recap of the events described in the sum of the previous verses. Give great attention to verse seventeen as it describes the woman from verse one as also having other offspring. At this period of time during the Megas Thlipsis these other offspring of the woman can only be the innumerable Saints of the 70th Week - those who have received Salvation by the Blood of the Lamb through the testimony of the 144,000 Jewish priests who had the seal of the living God placed upon their foreheads in Revelation 7.

UPDATE 21 September 2017 - 1 Tishrei 5778: And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation." Leviticus 23:23-24 

This is the day the Lord proclaimed to Moses. According to Leviticus 23:2 today is one of the days the appointed to be proclaimed as "sacred assemblies." It begins at sundown today and concludes sundown tomorrow. The purpose is to anticipate and prepare for the coming of our Messiah.

This is the only feast which begins with a new moon. Tonight when the first sliver of the new moon is seen the Shofar will sound. In fact there will likely be heard the trumps of thousands of shofar as the new moon is seen around the world. This will commence the events leading to the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. His coming will not catch us as "a thief in the night" because we are keenly alert; we have been fervently watching very closely all of the signs in the season of His coming. We are the 5 virgins, lamps oiled, who go out to meet Him as His procession is seen coming.

Numbers 10:10 says, "Also in the day of your gladness, in your appointed feasts, and at Rosh-Hodesh (head of the month), you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be a memorial for you before your God: I am the Lord your God.”

Also, Number 29:1 says, "And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work. For you it is a day of blowing the trumpets."

Another term for this in the Hebrew tradition is Yom Teruah. It means a day for a sharp blast of war, a blast of alert or a blast of joy. Literally, Yom Teruah is a "Day of Blasting or Shouting."  The last of these blasts or shouts is directly associated with the coming of the Lord for His bride.

With the Revelation 12:1-2 sign ongoing in the heaven above, and in concert with the Feast of Trumpets/Rosh-Hodesh and Yom Teruah we stand looking up for the coming of our Lord. Amen.

Even so... come Lord Jesus!

Global SITREP C10-17: Back to Syria

IDF Northern Command Exercise "Light of Dagan"

UPDATE 15 September 2017: Some may have taken notice, but some may not, that the warfighting occurring in eastern Syria at this time is defining the border that will exist in the future between Israel and the land Bible prophecy refers to as 'Assyria' ('Ashshuwr). (Isaiah 19:23-25)  That border will be the Euphrates River in Syria. In fact, there is something more that very few Christians in the West are aware of: a great many of the soldiers currently spearheading the CJTF-OIR offensive discussed below in the Khabur River valley and Euphrates River valley are ethnic Assyrians. Ethnic Assyrians are overwhemlingly Christian.

12 September 2017: There are major changes occurring on the Syrian battlefield, from the Golan to the Jordanian border to the Iraq border. Most alarming are reports that Hezbollah forces have taken positions on the Jordanian border along with elements of a Syrian armored division. We do not have to guess that this development, if confirmed, seriously crosses one of Israel's red lines.

Israel has an ongoing all-forces warfighting exercise to simulate a Hezbollah incursion from Lebanon; halting that incursion and then going on offense to eradicate the Iranian proxy once and for all. As for Syria and the threats its Deputy Foreign Minister recently made against Israel, Israel Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman responded with a blunt statement of his own, saying, "I strongly suggest to our neighbors from the north not to try us or send threats, because we take all threats seriously. And I do not suggest that they test us, and I do not advise them to enter into a confrontation with the State of Israel. Because for them it will end badly, very badly."

To the east, there appears to be some cooperation (deconfliction) between US-backed forces (CJTF-OIR allied Syrian Democratic Forces or SDF) moving southwards along the east bank of the Euphrates River and the Khabur River valley towards the Iraqi border, and Syrian/Hezbollah/Iranian proxies moving in the same direction along the west bank of the Euphrates River. Both forces are squeezing what's left of Islamic State forces in eastern Syria. Some reports hold that there's only 10 miles separating these two forces in the vicinity of Deir Ezzor, Syria.

The map above depicts the military situation in Syria on 5 September 2017. To this map, and based upon recent OSINT, I have illustrated with red arrows the CJTF-OIR offensive and objective moving southeasterly along the east bank of the Euphrates River and south through the Khabur River valley from Syrian Kurdistan (yellow area). These forces will push through the rapidly diminishing Islamic State controlled territory (gray area) towards Deir Ezzor and Al-Mayadin, Syria and ultimately to the final objective corridor from Abu Hamam, and Al-Bukamal to Al Qaim on the Syrian-Iraqi border. 

It is critically important to note that the success of this mission will preempt the Iranian objective of establishing a "land bridge" from Iran to the Mediterranean Coast. This is where a direct military clash between the US-led CJTF-OIR forces and Iranian, Syrian and Hezbollah forces is most likely to occur in late September or early October. The final rub will come when CJTF-OIR and SDF forces have defeated Islamic States forces and move to turn over the territory they've cleared to local civilian representative councils (anti-Assad), as has already been done in central Syria. The local populace councils (Sunni Muslim) will then manage security and the governance of the region with CJTF-OIR coalition support.

16 August 2017: Israel has discovered through its EROS-B satellite reconnaissance imagery, operated by the Israeli firm ImageSat, that Iranian construction of a major ballistic missile production and storage facility in a wide valley known as Wadi Jan'em. This massive facility lies five miles west of the coastal town of Baniyas, and is rapidly nearing completion, possibly if not probably before the end of this year. This facility is located well within the Russian air defense umbrella located less than six miles to the northwest at Hmeimim Air Base. PM Netanyahu has stated that Israel will do whatever is necessary in the protection of its national security interest.

The Google Earth image above shows the full scope of the construction area. The major southwest to northeast and northwest to southeast axis of the construction zone measure one mile by two miles, respectively, in length each. They contain at least 20 large buildings along each axis. Some images in the media of this construction only show a small portion of the area in the upper right-hand part of the above image. The above image shows the full scope of the construction zone.

Most western media report this massive facility to be a "Scud" missile factory. However, that identification for this site is quite inaccurate. It would be better to state that this is one very massive and advanced long-range missile production complex that is capable of producing every part of a ballistic missile, from engine and fuel, to the fuselage, to the explosive in the warhead.  As if the Middle East needed yet another potential flash-point for a greater conflict, this one is begging to be struck by Israeli air power sooner rather than later, and not unlike the IAF mission of nearly ten years ago against a nuclear reactor at Al Kibar, and which we remember in vivid detail as 'Operation Orchard' (September 2007). 

Global SITREP D3-17: Who Has Understanding?

UPDATE 11 September 2017: This is worth noting, and is of some importance. I noticed yesterday that other folks are asking: what about the second sign, the sign of Revelation 12:3-4? 

If you are looking for this part of the prophecy, as was mentioned earlier this year (in 2 March 2017 update) those verses are played out in the constellation Draco (the Dragon). Draco is located to the North of Leo and Virgo who are on the ecliptic. This morning, between 0500-05:45 I was able to see Venus, Mercury, Mars and Leo rise on the eastern horizon. I spun to my left, now facing due North and there was Draco the Dragon (beneath the Little Dipper and to the left of the Big Dipper) hovering over the Virgin now in the process of labor but just below the eastern horizon. So, the correct answer is, yes, all of the prophetic elements to be seen in the great sign of  Revelation 12:1-2 and the second sign of Revelation 12:3-4 are present in the heavens overhead right now. 

7 September 2017: Previously I thought I'd seen all there was to see when it comes to division among brethren-in-Christ over the interpretation of Scripture. I'm not talking about interpretations of essential doctrinal issues, but non-essential, non-doctrinal interpretive issues. One side have their particular view of prophetic verses and present themselves as set-in-stone dogmatic about their view. Opposition to a given non-crucial interpretive view is fine, but the ridicule, scoffing, condescension or joking about a differing interpretive view devoid of a constructive exchange of views is not something any Christian brethren should take part in. Consideration of Scripture and its interpretation should be dealt with and in all Berean sincerity. Unfortunately and to this point it has been a nothing doing kind of situation when it comes to Revelation 12:1-2. 

Questions are asked and short, terse one word or incomplete, abbreviated sentences are received in response. Still others deliberately instigate or manufacture confrontations between brethren as if they were some type of self-appointed prosecuting grand inquisitor. This is not how discussions between brethren to resolve differences of interpretation on passages of Scripture should ever be conducted. We have the same Holy Spirit guiding our view as they have guiding theirs, no? What makes their understanding so superior and unassailable?

The events of the past week have shown that I could not have been more ill-informed that such division among brethren was possible over this issue. This caused disillusionment of an exceptional kind, and at the end of it all yesterday I locked myself in a closet to have a conversation with the LORD about it. It was a very short conversation.

The direct response He gave me was to read Job 37:14-24 through all of Job 38. And I did so in the 1599 Geneva Bible. Job 37:24 and 38:2 hit like five-pound hammers. They read: "Let men therefore fear Him; He will not regard any that are wise in their own conceit," and "Who is this that darkeneth the counsel by words without knowledge?" And therein lies the title of this SITREP: Who has understanding?" The answer: No One But God! 

So let the naysayers naysay, and let the LORD who has made and keeps for His purposes all things which He has set in motion fulfill His purposes. The times appointed for the salvation of Gentiles is finite; they are by all indications coming to a rapid conclusion. And concurrent with the expiration of these times in this generation Our Lord has literally commanded us to "Look up!" and with that command also prophesied "there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, and upon the earth trouble among the nations, with perplexity: the sea and the waters shall roar." 

As has been said here many times before, nothing that is occurring these days on or above the earth is coincidental, especially when as with the great sign of Revelation 12:1-2, all of it is in exact detail and can be seen coming together with the naked eye in the sky overhead! Who possesses such an understanding given of God and the Holy Spirit to deny this? 

Moreover, the great sign of Revelation 12:1-2 is not occurring in a dearth or a vacuum of ongoing prophetic fulfillment; there isn't a prophecy teacher worth his salt who cannot rattle off a dozen or more prophecies in a matter of seconds in an active process of fulfillment at this time. All of these are preparatory for the 70th Week. Many also still use the phrase stage-setting to describe a plethora of current prophetic goings on. Even truth is actively denied these days, and all manner of other things just as II Timothy 3:1-2 has prophesied it to be. The sad thing is, none of us have really seen anything yet with respect to how much worse things will soon become. 

Healthy men are not yet falling over dead of coronary attacks due to fear over what is coming upon the earth. NASA and other space agencies are actively looking for incoming asteroid or meteoric impactors. Why? Could it be because some in government take the parts of Revelation regarding strange occurrences in or from space seriously? I think the answer is very much in the affirmative, even among the secular or scientific elite. 

For example, look at Revelation 6:12-14. Jesus opens the 6th Seal. This opening follows previously opened seals which have ravaged the planet through global war and its attendant consequences, and without warning a truly cosmic cataclysm occurs. Moving on to Revelation 8, this chapter begins with Jesus' opening of the 7th Seal which brings upon the earth and mankind the first three trumpet judgments. These three judgments all are in regard to different space-borne objects falling to earth with even more catastrophic global consequences. The fourth trumpet also causes havoc on the earth because of what happens to one-third of the sun, one-third of the moon and one-third of all stars in the heavens. Stop right there! 

Read Revelation 8:12 again.  

How can the great sign of Revelation 12:1-2 occur in the chapter/verse sequence presented if the catastrophe in the cosmos of Revelation 8:12 occurs prior to it? The obvious conclusion should be that Revelation 12:1-2 is a parenthetical flash backwards in time during the prophetic sequence John on Patmos was being shown by our Lord. Revelation 12:1-2 would have to be the appearing of a great sign in the heavens which took place previously and in conjunction with other last days events. Like on 23 September 2017. 

Who has understanding? God does, and that is why when He was on the earth He told us the future in advance and completed His prophetic discourse with a command to do something and when we should do it. 

"Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” (Luke 21:28 NKJV)(Emphasis added)

Part II: Naysayers Regarding Revelation 12:1-2 and the Fact of the Matter

The Sign of Revelation 12:1-2 that will occur on 23 September

2 September 2017: As promised, this post is a short-term work-in-progress rebuttal to the fulfillment of Revelation 12:1-2 naysayers arguments, as well as a follow-on to the first part found HERE. This presentation is done in accordance with I Corinthians 16:14 and II Corinthians 10:5. 

This post is short-term due to the fact that the great sign of Revelation 12:1-2 is in progress. The sun, moon and the planets in the coming astronomical alignment God Himself has prophesied to occur are moving according to the His plan and with His hand. As stated before, on 9 September, the king planet Jupiter, representative of Christ (and quite possibly the bride of Christ), exits from the "womb" of Virgo and begins a two-week transit down the "birth canal" for the sign concluding event on 23 September.

The focus has been on Revelation 12's first and second verses, and during this series of posts on Revelation 12, little has been said about the subsequent verses because I believe they are fulfilled prior to the 70th Week (as possibly in the verse 5 Harpazo), and obviously, thereafter and clearly during the 70th Week. The whole of Revelation 12 is therefore a prophecy, as are many others (Psalm 83, Isaiah 17, Jeremiah 49, etc.) at this time, in an active process of fulfillment. 

A brother who goes by the name Brad is the site administrator of the Revelation 12 Daily blog website.  If there is some aspect you want to dig into deeper with respect to Revelation 12, there's a high likelihood you'll probably find it here. You'll also find a Who's Who of Revelation 12 debunking personalities and/or ministries and responses to them. The debate is lively, but in no way should it be allowed to degenerate into a schism between brothers and sisters in Christ.

I believe Revelation 12:1-2 is literal, in the heavens above and still a couple of weeks into the future. The naysayers are playing defense, trying to protect without fully understanding the points we are making; without fully exploring what it is we are saying, and, unfortunately in some cases, without reading what we have written on this subject in full. What are they defending against? I know this first-hand via an Email I received that they are defending against what they see as date-setting, and date setting is the biggest eschatological no-no there is. The problem here is that WE have not set this date, God has! He controls all of the heavenly bodies, the sun, moon, the stars and the wandering stars, or planets which is this case are Jupiter, Mercury Mars and Venus. They are in precise alignments and precise locations which make the Revelation 12:1-2 sign occurring on 23 September possible. And not just possible, but a fact just 21 days from today. Note again, nothing in Revelation 12:1-2 says word one about the Harpazo of the bride of Christ, but that is what most of the naysayers are defending against. They're lumping those who are making such claims in with those of us who are not making such claims.

There are a great many thousands of words that have come off our keyboards and I suspect that less than a third of them have actually been read by our naysaying brethren. Again, they don't want to read what "date-setters" have to say, it's all bunkum, so they think; not worthy of their time to look at objectively. In sum, what the naysayers are doing is a form of peer review in which these peers of ours are not doing due diligence in their reviews.

However, that all said, and I cannot stress this enough, over and over again what we are ALL saying with specificity is that Revelation 12:1-2 will come to fulfillment on 23 September, not the entire prophecy. And the Harpazo will occur when God directs by His will that it is to happen, and He will send His Son for us. Remember, a sign is an indication, a warning of things to come. And the Revelation 12:1-2 sign is extremely significant at this point of the history of mankind on this earth. I pray that many come to Christ as a direct result of our teaching about it!

Some of you will recall what I've written about The Magoi and the Birth of Jesus Christ. I put this post to the front page of Eschatology Today every Christmas since I composed it seven years ago. The key element of it was the asking of a question: How did the Parthian (Persian) Magoi know what the specific sign would be and when it would occur. The Jews had departed from the Babylonian-Persian captivity hundreds of years earlier (also according to a specific date prophecy) to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. 

So the sign the Magoi waited on for more than a half-millennium was passed down from generation to generation, ultimately to a specific generation which would make a great caravan to trek over 1000-plus miles round trip through horrific desert - because they saw an astronomical sign? A star? No, not a star, rather His star. The Magoi waited for and finally saw His star, and they followed it. Even the pagan Herod inquired with great precision of the Magoi in his presence about what time they saw the king star appear. The Gospels tell us this is a fact; it happened. The Magoi informed Herod this was all based upon information given them by a prophet? What prophet? The prophet who was foremost in the transition of Jewish captivity from Babylonian to Medo-Persian sovereignty -- the prophet Daniel.

And our naysaying brethren won't follow that same star, and the sun, moon and several other stars plus a trio of wandering stars in the prophesied precise alignment foretold by God Himself to Jesus who gave it to John on Patmos - because we are date-setters? They won't inquire with the same kind of great precision those of us who study this in detail on what we have learned?

There's another key item from the post Daniel's 70th Week and the Harpazo that has been an ongoing part of many posts to this blog since July 2011, and that is the timing of the Harpazo, the Harpazo of Enoch, the Flood of Noah and the template of Noah and his family being kept from the wrath of God in that Flood. I refer to this type of thing as "Past as Prologue for the Future." Then, strangely enough, on 23 September 2013 - which I now see is four years prior to the great sign of Revelation 12:1-2 - that ongoing study led directly to Genesis 7:4. That is the point where we see God directly warning Noah (after probably 80 years of constructing the Ark with his three sons) that in exactly seven more days the flood would come. And there was a specificity in that the date (God consistently gives us dates in this format: Year, Month, Day), that it was Noah's 600th year, 2nd month and 17th day. Wow! Why the specifics here? 

Noah's ark is very much seen as a template for the Harpazo of the bride of Christ; how we will be taken to places prepared for us by Christ, just as Noah and sons prepared the Ark. So, the Holy Spirit impressed upon me at that time that the Jewish wedding tradition was also a directly related template. This led to Matthew 25 and the parable Jesus told about the ten wise and foolish virgins. I realized then that this parable is directly related to the Harpazo of the virgin bride of Christ. Those ten virgins were then warned of the approach  of their Groom and his entourage at midnight, when it was dark. The virgins would see the lights of the entourage as it approached. 

Messianic Rabbi Daniel Thomson in 2016 did an excellent presentation on video about this. It was on GodTube and YouTube, but it has since become unavailable. (?) This video was the lead item in January 2016's Global SITREP A2-16: The Groom is Coming for His Bride. The video will be recovered if that is possible, but the text of this post and all related comments serve as a summary of what Rabbi Thomson spoke about. 

So, we've been diligently watching over the past couple of years for some kind of foretelling of the coming of our Groom, as Noah was foretold; some kind of torch-lit procession in the night sky heralding His approach for His bride. Lo and behold, is the great sign of Revelation 12:1-2 the very  forewarning and great sign of His approach we have sought after? I say, Yes, it is.

One more thing, I had been busy collecting and collating a whole slew of the arguments the naysayers have put forward for some time now. I was even deep into a point-for-point of dissection and rebuttal Dr. Danny Faulkner's naysaying which I largely glossed over in part one of this post. Then I found this page at Revelation 12 Daily: Debunking the Debunkers. Now this is a true compendium for Revelation 12 naysayers being naysaid to very great effect. Far better than what I would have been able to put together in the available time this holiday weekend. Seriously, you name it - it's here; Debunking the Debunkers has it all.

I was especially fond of how my take on the nine naked-eye visible stars of the constellation Leo matched what is stated in this section; our views on this are essentially identical. I'm going to add a clickable graphic from the constellation guide dot com website as a visual aide. Please do click on the image below.

I previously mentioned how with modern technology billions (the googolplexian number) of stellar objects can be seen within the spatial grid occupied by Leo. But that again is not the point. In the above graphic there are nine stars connected like dots with the heavy green lines. Since early Mesopotamian times (that is pre-Babylonian times) this is how Leo has been seen; it is absolutely they way that the apostle John would have seen it as he gazed up into a clear night sky on the Island of Patmos. That's the point. NINE stars plus THREE planets lined up like ducks in a row along the ecliptic to the left of the bright star Regulus on 23 September are the crown of TWELVE stars upon the Virgin's head. 

Is this or is this not a type of procession on the ecliptic plane of the solar system in plain sight of every living soul of planet earth? I say, Yes, it is! How much more front and center could a Divinely foretold sign be than on the ecliptic of the solar system? Is, say, such a sign could NOT be more front and center and therefore attention grabbing than it will be.

Finally, I have a strong impression or burden that between 9 and 23 September something else will happen to bring all of our gazes skyward, naysayers and proponent of the great sign alike.

Look Up! Marana'tha!