Global SITREP D6-23: The Great MidEast War

UPDATE 31 December 2023: This final update for 2023 is straight up and succinct. 

A new World War is coming. Russia wants ALL of Ukraine, Putin has zero interest in anything less. NATO, led by the U.S. will not allow that to happen. A NATO vs Russian Federation war in Europe from Finland to to Ukraine become more likely each month. China wants Taiwan, meaning the world war includes the Pacific "ring of fire." North Korea threatens South Korea, Japan and the US with nuclear war. Japan and the US will defend Taiwan. All ambiguity is out the window. 

Bible prophecy (Book of Daniel) hints strongly at this. The "beast" empire is here, albeit without the "Beast" at its head. 

Israel's war will continue for several months into 2024, to include Lebanon and Syria, and also Jordan. No reason to celebrate a New Year, it will prove to be less than happy for the world-at-large.

We pray for many more souls to find Salvation in Christ Jesus and partake in the blessed Harpazo of the Bride of Christ.

Marana'tha!

27 December 2023: Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced yesterday that Israel is a nation fighting a war on seven fronts. We've known this fact for quite some time, but it is good that all parties hear it from him.

To recap, there was a pitched battle fought in the skies over the Red Sea yesterday with the US Navy shooting at least three Iranian ballistic missiles fired from Yemen at Israel. Of note, this was the first time a US Navy anti-ship ballistic missile engaged and destroyed an incoming Iranian ballistic missile. Both Israeli and American combat aviation scored shoot downs of multiple Iranian drones also launched from Yemen. This war needs to be taken directly to the Ayatollah's doorstep.

In the north, Hezbollah expanded its tactical targets list by attacking a Greek-Orthodox church in the northern Israel town of Iqrit, injuring two Israeli Christians. A second Hezbollah missile was first injuring nine IDF troops who were first responders to the attack. Time to take the gloves of with Hezbollah.

 

The Magoi and the Birth of Jesus Messiah

The Eschatology Today tradition continues to bring this post forward.

27 December 2023 (Original Posting date 6 January 2010): The above image is an artistic rendering of the three Magoi (Magi). In fact, there had to have been quite an entourage who accompanied the Magoi, primarily because of the basic fact that no one makes a 1,000+ mile round trip journey across the desert east of the Jordan River, that between the Parthian Empire and Roman-occupied Israel west of the Jordan River without the supplies of a life-sustaining caravan and significant numbers of mounted cavalry for protection. The actual number of gentile visitors from the east was probably closer to 300 than just 3. It's also a minor miracle that the illegitimate Roman puppet King Herod did not think the appearance of this caravan from the east wasn't the advance guard of a Parthian invasion.

The importance of the whole story about the Magoi (Matthew 2:1-12) is quite likely unknown by most Christians. That's because we've not spent much time learning about it, even though it is Scripture, Old Testament (Numbers 24:14-25; Micah 5:2-5; Isaiah 60:2-6) and very specific prophetic Scripture at that.

Oh, we all know and have visualized one way or another the "We Three Kings" Christmas carol, and have seen Nativity scene imagery like the above for the sum of our lives, but that's not the half of it. There's more... so much more to the story.

The more I think about it, the more I am astounded by the fact that the gentile Magoi who came out of the Parthian (Persian) Empire and made this tremendous journey did so after fervently holding to the prophet Daniel's detailed prophecy (given by the angel Gabriel in Daniel 9:24-26) concerning the coming of the Messiah for over 600 years, and waited generation after generation for a very specific sign in the skies, and all the while knowing the precise number of days until the Messiah's birth because of the details given in the prophecy. They knew how to count Hebrew years, and exactly how many days each year had. They knew precisely when to look for the star.

And then once that sign appeared and the number of days had elapsed they rounded up the multiple parts of a large caravan and the water and provisions for the entire group's survival, plus the gifts for the object of their 500+ year devotion for what had to be a round trip of something well in excess of 1,900 miles across barren desert, mountains, marshes, rivers and wadis.... I stand here approximately two millennia and two decades later in complete awe just thinking about it.

The caravan was quite probably a round trip from Seleucia to Jerusalem and back, on foot and by beast of burden, of GENTILE believers coming from the Magoi's descendants of Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian Empire, the Persian Empire, Alexander the Great's Empire, the Seleucid Empire to the Parthian Empire of the Roman Era.

That these GENTILES, these Magoi, had clung to and fervently believed in the exquisitely detailed God-breathed prophecy of Daniel concerning the coming birth of the Messiah for hundreds and hundreds of years, through all of the events, wars, and tumults that had occurred in this crossroads region of the known world, is without question the greatest account of the prophetic Word of God causing belief in the God of Israel among gentiles in history prior to the crucifixion, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Having been in those same Middle Eastern deserts, such a specifically purposeful journey undertaken 2,000 years ago is mind-boggling to this author. These gentiles from the regions and lands of Israel's captivity knew the details of, believed in, and all the while eagerly awaited the birth of the Messiah. And the Jews, for the most part, due to their disobedience and the spiritual blindness and deafness placed upon them by the Covenant of Moab, besides the Covenant of Horeb, (Deuteronomy 29) knew nothing of His coming; that He would literally be the God of their fathers born in the flesh of a man.

And here we are, knowing in detail that the days of time which are left until the advent of Daniel's 70th Week are all but palpable... just stand in awe and in praise of God. My brothers and sisters, just stand in awe and praise to be a living part of all this.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

26 December 2023; Eschatological Statement

ESCHATOLOGICAL STATEMENT

Believe as you wish, but this is the overlook above the valley of the shadow of death where I stand watch, and whether by Divine vision, instruction or visitation, it matters not for it has been given.

It is not obvious to all searching God's Word, as Berean's would do at this late hour, there will be no distinct, book by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse fulfillments of the several prophetic narratives. There will not be 9 prophetic wars, or 6 wars or even 3.

There is but ONE prior to the 70th Week of Years (which has its own unique God-breathed time-lime of appointments which are painstakingly detailed in The Apocalypse of Jesus Christ) and its fulfillment is completely dynamic, sequential, concurrent and unitary of purpose, like a flood, in preparing all Israel for redemption.

Israel today is in tremendous upheaval! Israel is at war on seven fronts!

There are no "gaps" of time, no here, now or next cases of occurrence, that's all worthless publishers boiler plate for the next book offering.

This is the reason why so very few do not see what is standing before us all - they cannot see past the learned construct they have convinced themselves is real. The "Dispensation of Grace" will end, as in "poof" it's gone, and with the trump and shout of an Archangel the Bride is translated into the Heavenly realm. 

Global SITREP D5-23: A Greater MidEast War Part IV

Bab al-Mandab Chokepoint

22 December 2023: It is no accident that three of the world's most important maritime choke points are in the Middle East: the Suez Canal, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Bab al-Mandab. And just as obviously this has never been lost in the mindset of the Shi'a Twelver Regime in Tehran. Close one and global economic disruption is guaranteed, close two, as the Twelver's regularly exercise, and war is assured to reopen them. 

With the effective shutdown of the Bab al-Mandab, there's little maritime traffic transiting the Suez. Effectively the Houthi's of Yemen have shut down two of these three critical chokepoints making military action by the West assured to reopen the Bab al-Mandab by force. At least 20 nations have signed on, with others on-standby or in supporting roles. And everyone knows who has pulled the strings to make this situation a reality - it is straight from the Twelver's apocalypse playbook, so do not expect the Islamic Republic to dodge out of this unscathed. Oh, and by the way, they're still working on installing working nuclear weapons into their missile force arsenal.

IDF Ready to roll in the North

This evening in northern Israel 19-year old Sergeant Amit Zod Hiv was killed during activity following rocket launches by Hezbollah, and another IDF soldier was seriously injured. Two other Israelis were hospitalized in in yesterdays rocket barrages. It is not believed that the IDF will hold its iron horses back much longer, all though the IAF and IDF artillery have met the increased Hezbollah rocket fire with intensive counter fires. Again, it is Iran's Twelvers and their vision of an apocalyptic conflagration that is the common denominator in all of this, always has been.

Global SITREP D4-23: A Greater MidEast War Part III

U.S. CENTCOM and IDF Commanders Meeting

UPDATE 17 December 2023: The commanders of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have met for the third time since the war erupted on October 7, 2023. No doubt one of the topics discussed at this meeting is the continued resupply of munitions from the American arsenal and the preparations underway for escalating warfare on Israel's northern front. 

Few are they who believe Hezbollah will accept, or that Iran will allow them to accept, the diplomatic initiative for their forces to withdraw (retreat) north of the Litani River in Lebanon, per UNSC 1701 of 2006. Such a refusal will make a full-scale war in the north inevitable. A second and equally important topic is the initiation of Operation Prosperity Guardian in the Red Sea and strait at Bab al-Mandab against the Iranian Houthi proxy in Yemen. 

As the operation's name implies, global prosperity hangs in the balance with the Houthi attacks on all commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea through the strait. The top four or five global shipping concerns have shut down their commercial vessels from moving through at this strategic choke point. As a result the USS Eisenhower CSG moved from the Persian Gulf into the Gulf of Aden in preparation for possible military action against Houthi military forces. Such action might well follow the heels of U.S. SECDEF Austin's in Israel today and the message he will shortly convey to all willing to listen.

11 December 2023: PM Netanyahu definitively let the proverbial cat out of the bag today:

"First of all we will win in the south and then we will deal with the north. As a first step, we will push Hezbollah beyond the Litani River and later we will also have to take care of the organization itself."

Therefore, Hezbollah is not on a count-down timer to initiate full-scale hostilities with Israel, Israel will initiate its Hezbollah solution in due course. Yet Hezbollah cannot be solved in a vacuum - the IRGC-QF Unit 340 proxies in Syria will also need to be decisively defeated by the IDF. 

Of course this is how the men in charge of Israel's war cabinet, and those in the U.S. government may envision how current events will evolve over time. However, neither of the two allies appear to be cognizant of Isaiah 11:14, a direct statement which is very clear.

With respect to the Gaza operation, the most current interactive graphic available is found on the ISW and Critical Threats webpage. Click on the link if you're so inclined and you can explore the entire Holy Land in exceptional detail, but zooming in and moving the image around with the controls and your mouse.

The above graphic will be used as Israel and the IDF have to "deal with the north" in a military campaign that is all but inevitable. Secular Israelis have some hope pinned on diplomacy by France and the United States who singularly and together still have some influence in Lebanon, albeit not with Hezbollah or the other Islamic terrorist groups in the country. It's extremely doubtful the can convince Hezbollah to move all of its forces north of the Litani River (just north of Tyre on the map). And even this fails to deal with the Hezbollah organization itself, much less the IRGC-QF forces to the immediate east of Galilee and the Golan.

Once again, we're out in front of the issue because a head start is far better than having to play catch up.