Global SITREP A2-23: The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

 

Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

15 January 2023: The subject of a new political entity to the east of the State of Israel has been floating around in whispers since 2020. It potential reality has been noted in several comments on Eschatology Today during the interim. Now, it appears to be nearing the point of becoming a reality. This plan was originally crafted in Saudi Arabia, it has been published and is the subject of secret negotiations. According to a news brief published by Arutz Sheva today, the plan has been quietly revised by Jordan, the PLO and HAMAS. The revisions, amazingly, are not seen as being detrimental to the State of Israel, as the above linked Op-Ed by David Singer attests. 

Eschatology Today will explore this plan further, but the bottom line is that the plan makes very clear that Jordan is Palestine. As subset to this are the agreed-to bylines highlighting that (1) Israel will not be divided into a "two-state solution within its sovereign borders, (2) Jerusalem will be the undivided capital city of Israel; (3) Amman will be the capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine with Abdullah II as its reigning monarch, (4) Israel will control 90% of Judea and Samaria, and most importantly, provision will be made for the Temple Mount to be shared among the three "Abrahamic faiths."

Focusing on prophetic Scripture informs us that this plan has no chance of becoming a geo-political reality. Asaph's Psalm 83, Isaiah 11:14 and Ezekiel 28:24-26 all indicate a different intervening reality, the reality within the will of God and the coming Kingdom of the Lord on the Earth. Both the Isaiah and Ezekiel prophecies indicate the timing as well. Isaiah prophesied that this reality will occur after the Lord has brought Israel back from places around the world into the land for the second time. 

The full-scope of Prophetic Scripture

The first diaspora of Israel (607-586 BC) was returned to the land from the Babylonian captivity in 537 BC, and thus fulfilling the 70 years of captivity of Scripture. Ezra led the revival of Israel and the rebuilding of the Second Temple in its exact location on Temple Mount. The second diaspora occurred in the time of the Roman conquest during the 7 years from 67 to 73 AD, and continued for 1,875 years until 1948 AD fulfilling numerous prophecies in the process, most notably Ezekiel 36-37. 

Ezekiel 28 tells us the that prophecy will fulfill after the same second regathering of Israel as noted in Isaiah 11. Ezekiel adds that the restoration of Israel in the land will be to that which encompasses the permanent Abrahamic Land Covenant, expanded upon and passed to Isaac and Jacob (Israel). Deuteronomy 30:4-5 attests to this promise, and Joshua 1:4 provides the full scope of the land Israel will possess. If one believes in the inerrant Word of God, then one knows without any doubt that a Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine cannot exist on the same territory as Israel which God has returned His people to for the second and final time.

Marana'tha!

Does Revelation 12 Point to a Specific Day in the Near Future?

The sky on the morning of 23 September 2017

Clear artistic rendering of the top image

UPDATED 27 June 2017: A big hat-tip to Jeff for finding and bringing this update to our attention. The importance of this sign has been reinforced by a prophecy that Micah wrote about 150 years before the Babylonian conquest, or roughly 2,600 years ago. Micah's prophecy is a jaw dropper.

Let's get straightaway to the point. We all know by now the details of the text of Revelation 12, that this prophetic sign will occur in the heavens above us on 23 September of this year.  The prophecy of Micah 5:2-4 is our focus here, and verse 3 in particular: (bold lettering mine for emphasis)

"Therefore He shall give them up Until the time that she who is in labor has given birth; Then the remnant of His brethren Shall return to the children of Israel."

"Until the time that she who is in labor has given birth." In the Revelation 12 sign it is Virgo that is in labor, and she gives birth on 23 September 2017. The Revelation 12 sign specifically points to and specifies what we know prophetically about the sequence of events in these last days; and Micah tells us when! Micah says here point-blank that the change from the dispensation of the Age of Grace to the focus being returned to Israel per the 70th Week prophecy given by the angel Gabriel, as well as what Paul wrote in Romans 11, is about to occur!!

2 March 2017: In my last comment prior to this update, I mentioned I was focused on the specifics of this God-given prophecy; that because of the fact that it is The Apocalypse of Jesus Christ nothing can be added to or taken away from it.  That was several hours ago at this point.  I now understand the 'big picture' of what the prophecy of Revelation 12 is about. As you will see in the embedded links of this update, Eschatology Today has already touched upon most of the aspects of this 'big picture' view.

I believe the signs of Revelation 12 are literally two-fold. Notice the gap of time between verses 5 and 6 of Revelation 12 are separated by about two thousand years of literal time as we know it. So while this chapter of The Revelation of Jesus Christ is parenthetical to the book as a whole, but this chapter itself is presented in a sequential order.  

First-fold: this prophetic sign (many scholars agree) appeared on 11 September 3 BC.  It literally foretold by three or so years in advance the earthly virgin birth of our Lord. It was the sign that the Persian Magoi had been waiting on and were actively looking for according to what Daniel had taught them hundreds of years previous to that time. It was the sign they followed westwards into Roman-occupied Judea. When the Magoi saw the sign they immediately set out having the requisite amount time necessary to make that long journey from Persia, arriving in Judea in time to inadvertently alert the Roman puppet governor to the birth of the newborn 'King of the Jews,' and then to locate and arrive at the manger of our Messiah King to present their gifts. Satan was there also, as we know, because the Roman-puppet governor, being duly informed, ordered the slaying of all newly born male children in his realm. We know all of this from the Gospels.

Second-fold: The signs of Revelation 12 will appear again on 23 September 2017. It now foretells of what is to occur during the very near future of the 70th Week. It is a sign, among all of the other signs which our Lord has given us (Olivet Discourse), which alerts all watchmen to the season we are in. In this second-fold part of the prophecy, the woman is not Mary mother of Christ, but rather it is Israel, the bride of God, the remnant thereof, that God will supernaturally hide from the Beast (Antichrist, Satan-incarnate) in a location to the east of the River Jordan during the final 1,260 days (42 months) of the 70th Week. The twelve stars around her head signify the twelve tribes of remnant Israel, and which we also know will constitute the 144,000 Jewish evangelists who will preach the Gospel in saving the souls of millions of the Saints of the 70th Week. So this sign, this year, announces the fast approach of the 70th Week and the pre-70th Week Harpazo of the bride of Christ who will be found worthy to escape the horrific events of those final seven years. 

Notice that the appearance of Satan in both aspects of this prophecy are how he appears ultimately as the Beast, the Antichrist, the little horn who rises up among ten horns who are the modern-day heir of ancient Rome. Satan, who will indwell Antichrist the man, or Satan-incarnate, is pictured in this prophecy in his final Beast form of having seven heads and 10 horns. This must occur in very close proximity to the Harpazo. Virtually all expositors of prophecy that I will pay attention to agree that the bride of Christ is caught up into Heaven in the blink of an eye with Christ, as Satan and his fallen angels cast out of Heaven permanently as the war in Heaven against the Archangel Michael and his faithful angels is lost. Would our Lord remove us from this earth to take us into a Heaven that is experiencing a final war between good and evil? No, I think we arrive there as heaven is rejoicing in verse 12.

We do not know they day or hour, but we know that the coming of the Groom for His bride is close; really, really close!


25 February 2017: It has been just over three years since this item was posted here. I have brought this discussion forward from December 2013 because at this point during these last days the astronomical events described in Revelation 12:1-2 will occur in just over 6 months time. I am reminded at this time of the sermon that Peter gave to the crowd on the Day of Pentecost. Peter's sermon leaned heavily on the God-breathed words of the prophet Joel  as recorded for us in Acts 2:14-39. As commanded by our Lord, we watch therefore for all of the signs which He has foretold to us.

Revelation 12:1-2 (NKJV)

"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."

The video down below provides an excellent introduction to this topic.  The referenced celestial event in these two verses appears to correlate to this event coming to literal fulfillment beginning on the morning of Saturday, 23 September 2017.  That said, I must make one thing absolutely crystal clear. This has nothing whatsoever to do with "astrology." Period. This is a study of Revelation 12:1-2 and the purposes of the heavenly bodies which the Lord Himself has assigned to them, specifically per Genesis 1:14, which says:

"Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years..."

I have just begun to study all of the elements involved in this celestial occurrence, having previous looked at just portions of this subject, yet I do believe it is something that occurs at an appointed time as the text of Revelation 12:1-2 clearly tells us. That this particular celestial alignment occurs in conjunction with the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) on 21-22 September 2017 is special to say the least. 

The year 2017 has long figured prominently in my eschatological studies, it is the year that will mark the 70th anniversary of the rebirth of Israel. It is less than four years into the future from today.  It fits perfectly within the number of years discussed in Psalm 90:10, and leads me to conclude that this final generation is indeed one of "strength."  I am of the belief that this celestial event marks the start of a flood of prophetic fulfillment (2017-2020) which leads directly to the commencement of the 70th Week and not it's midpoint as discussed in the video presentation. In no manner whatsoever does this date set the Harpazo, but it does inform one and all just how truly imminent the Harpazo is.

On Saturday, 23 September 2017 the moon rises above the horizon at 9:17 AM. It will be broad daylight if it is not a cloudy day, yet to an earthbound observer the moon will appear as seen in the image above on the third day following the New Moon of 20 September. Therefore, the woman referenced in Revelation 12:1 would appear to be standing on top of the approximately 12% of the moon illuminated on that particular day, the first day of the week following the Sabbath Day. As the angel Gabriel informed Daniel, knowledge in these 'last days' has increased to the point that we can see this celestial event in advance through the technology that has been developed. .

Enjoy the video presentation

Global SITREP C7-16: Is Iran About To Cross the Rubicon?

Iranian General Mohammed-Reza Naghdi in Quneitra, Syrian Golan
Credit Screenshot: Fars News Agency/Ha'aretz

Update: See Global SITREP C8-16:Iran Crossing the Rubicon

31 July 2016: This morning, five days after-the-fact, Iran is denying anti-Iran Arab media reports that the commander of the Iranian Basij (Iranian paramilitary militia of the IRGC general command) Brigadier General Mohammed-Reza Naghdi was either killed or wounded in Israeli and rebel forces assassination attempts in the Syrian Golan last Tuesday (26 July).  

The Syrian side of the Golan around Quneitra has been the scene of heavy fighting between regime and rebel forces, with the regime and its allies using Highway 7 from Damascus as the Main Supply Route (MSR) into this very active battlefield. Cross-border fire has occurred heavier than usual in the past couple of weeks, with a much-publicized failed attempt by the IDF to shoot-down a Syrian/Iranian drone occurring on Sunday, 17 July. The drone was about 2.5 miles inside Israel airspace at its deepest penetration.

There is no doubt doubt that BG Naghdi was in the Golan region near Israel's border. The Sunni Arab media created a circus-like fuss concerning his presence in southern Syria last week which was confirmed via a video and screenshots from the video published by Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency and the official Basij media itself, along with accompanying text which confirmed his "powerful presence" in Quneitra governorate; a screenshot of the video is seen above. I would assess the image above was taken very near to al-Hmidaiah (al-Hamediyya) village which is about one mile north of Quneitra and approximately 2000 feet from UNDOF Line Alpha separating that no-mans-land from Israel's Golan territory. This is one of the hottest front-lines in Quneitra governorate.

Those images were published on Wednesday, approximately 24 hours after the reported decapitation strike attempt was made. BG Naghdi's presence on the Golan would not have gone unnoticed by Israeli military intelligence, and an order to launch an opportune decapitation strike would have been received by the IDF directly from PM Netanyahu's war cabinet. As we all know, such a decapitation strike by Israel against IRGC and Hezbollah leadership on the Golan, most notably the strike which killed IRGC BG Mohammed Ali Allahdadi and Hezbollah commander Jihad Mughniyeh, son of the also deceased Hezbollah terrorist Imad Fayed Mughniyeh, on 19 January 2015. The reported IDF attempt was also probably not lost on anti-regime rebels who very likely followed it with their own mortar artillery barrage on a target easily identified by pillars of smoke. 

So, the question Eschatology Today would like to have answered in the affirmative is: Did an Israeli missile strike occur occur in Quneitra on 26 July? Simply stated, Israel has never and will never discuss reports of IDF military action made by foreign media. However, it is very much in evidence that some kind of offensive action did take place, and that action validates the fourth bullet and two concluding sentences of the original 22 July portion of this SITREP regarding the IRGC's intent, and Israel's certain response to it.

I would make note of the illustrated fact that whatever line-of-sight view into Israeli positions BG Naghdi was observing through his binoculars would be just as observable by an Israeli ground or airborne targeting system in guiding a pair of IDF Nimrod missiles to their target in the Golan. History is on the side of an IDF strike occurring last Tuesday against a high-priority enemy target. The next SITREP could well be about renewed warfare on the Golan and in Lebanon.

Iran's Ethnic Diversity (U.S. Institute of Peace)

Update 28 July 2016: An article written by Lea Speyer was posted yesterday on The Algemeiner (Mideast Analyst: Iran in Throes of Domestic Battle as Ethnic Groups Carry Out Attacks Against Regime Targets) immediately brought to mind some near-term prophetic themes for these 'last days' that are found in Jesus' Olivet Discourse according to Matthew 24:7 and the prophecy of Jeremiah concerning the fate of Iran found in chapter 49, verse 37 (respectively), 

"For nation (ethnos) shall rise against nation (ethnos), and kingdom against kingdom..."

"For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, saith the Lord; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them."

The analyst of the cited report that was originally published on 24 July by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) is IDF Lt. Col. (retired) Michael Segall. The image at the head of the JCPA report is seen above. The analysis by LTC Segall, as all who go to the linked report can see, contains the following bullets:

• Since June 2016, Iran has been enduring terror attacks and assassinations by ethnic-opposition elements operating within its territory and adjacent to it.
• Attacks on Iranian petroleum infrastructure in Ahvaz are a reaction to Iran’s ongoing repressive policy against the Arab minority in Ahvaz, including the ongoing arrests, trials, executions, and expulsions of young people in that area.
• There are currently six to seven million Kurds living in Iran. Although they are part of the Iranian state, they may be distinguished from the Shiite minority by language and religion (most Kurds are Sunnis).
• The Arab Sunni fighters’ targeting of the oil facilities, if it gains momentum, could pose a problem for Iran just as it is trying to renew oil exports after the lifting of sanctions. Attacks on energy infrastructure for gas and oil could foster an unsafe, unstable environment for international energy companies.
• Iran’s security forces have been cracking down on the Arabs, augmenting this population’s discontent along with its separatist aspirations.
• The Iranian regime, which so far has been spared the regional repercussions of the Arab Spring – or Islamic Awakening as the regime calls it – is now starting to feel the effects.

As seen in the report's accompanying images, these attacks by ethnic Arab Sunni jihadists against the ethnic Persian Shi'a mullah-led government's internal infrastructure are by no means mere pinpricks, but are indeed major attacks that will take months if not years to repair or rebuild completely, if that is possible in the face of the promised continuation of these attacks against the "Iranian interior." A photo of the aftermath of the early June 2016 attack in Bandar-E Mahshahr, Khuzestan province, Iran on the Bou-Ali-Sina petrochemical complex is seen below.

The sabotaged Bou-Ali-Sina Petrochemical Complex in Bandar-E Mahshahr, Khuzestan

This and other attacks against Iran's oil and gas industry, most recently occurring on 11 and 17 July, has caused a "state of emergency" to be declared by the Ayatollah's regime. Moreover, the ethnic Sunni Arab insurrection going on inside Iran is not being lost on their brethren Sunni Arabs living in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. They are taking keen note of it as evidenced in their social media websites. 

As has been noted previously in several articles here on Eschatology Today,  the bulk of the Iranian nuclear infrastructure is located on the territory of ancient Elam, and not surprisingly so to is the emergent "sword" of the insurrection against the regime based on ancient Elamite soil, known today as Ahvaz and Khuzestan. If you believe Bible prophecy, if you believe in the literal word of God, then this fact is of no great surprise to you. If you do not believe the prophetic word of God is literal, then this fact must grab your attention and cause you to reconsider your views about Bible prophecy. If this prophetic content is literal and true, then so is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and your need to cover your sin with the Blood of the Lamb of God.

So, have we seen anything in American media of this ethnic insurrection and ongoing civil warfare occurring within Iran? No, we have not, and the reason why we have not seen it is because that kinds of reporting would be diametrically opposed to the entirely bogus narrative on Iran that the Obama Administration has been deceiving the American people with for years now, or, at the minimum, those Americans who will blindly voting pro-Obama to elect the Democrat ticket in the November presidential election. 

And, not surprisingly, the Iranian government-controlled media are largely failing to report on the Arab insurrection in the country's southwestern region, and also other attacks by Kurdish militia in the northwest and other Sunni militias in the easternmost provinces of Khorasan, Kerman and Sistan-va-Balochestan on the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The stated goal of the Sunni insurrection in Iran is the total liberation of every last inch of soil upon which they live from the Shi'a regime in Tehran. 

Are they the "sword" the LORD has brought after the Ayatollah's regime? I believe they are, in part, because our God is Sovereign and does as He pleases to bring about His will. In the near future another larger military "sword" will be brought against this evil Shi'a regime.

Also noted is the doubtfulness that numerous foreign oil and gas corporations will invest their fortune, time, materials and civilian workers in Iran regardless of the sanctions having been lifted as a result of the equally bogus Iran nuclear deal.

All of this relates to literal fulfillment of God-breathed prophecy regarding Iran and its near term future. However, it will not keep Iran from participating in the event described by Ezekiel 38/39, but an active, large-scale insurrection on your home soil would keep any regime from committing its full military resources in an adventure against Israel (where they will be utterly destroyed). The forces Iran keeps at home will have their fate decided in the full, consuming context of Jeremiah 49:34-39. 

Iranian troops on parade

22 July 2016: Asking if Iran is about to cross the Rubicon is the same as asking if Iran is about to reach the point of no return, per the prophecy of Jeremiah 49:34-39.

Iranian boastfulness is nothing new; their military leaders and clerics have long gained infamous notoriety for making such bellicose commentaries from time to time since the advent of the Islamic Republic. 

However, this time things are different I think given the year since the insane Obama nuclear deal infused the Islamic Republic with cold, hard cash and put the theocratic dictatorship on a fast track to nuclear weapons capability. 

This is likely the backdrop and basis for the content of a speech made yesterday, 21 July 2016, by the Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Major General Mohammed Ali Jafari.

An accurate, paraphrased executive summary of MG Jafari's speech goes something like this.

• Iran is now fully prepared and capable of seizing any and all ships of its choosing which "trespass" into the Persian Gulf.
• Iran is now fully prepared and capable of "sending US warships to the depths of the Persian Gulf."
• Certain countries in the region, like the Saudi's, have joined the group of Iran's clear enemies. 
• The IRGC's traditional role has been an armed group that defends the Revolution, and only deals with defense and war, and behaves like like other armed forces in the world. Now, the IRGC can no longer limit its duty to armed protection of the Revolution; the very nature of the IRGC requires its direct supervision over the Revolution.

It's just an early assessment, but this sounds like a military commander about to embark on an offensive warfighting campaign in regions and against the armed forces other than those in the Eastern Mediterranean Littoral (Syria, Lebanon, Israel), or wage war by proxy armies in Iraq and Yemen.  

The Iranian Shi'a Hojjatieh revolution has always been about spreading its theology to the rest of the world. To earnestly begin that process requires a direct confrontation against the armed forces of the United States and its allies, and Saudi Arabia and its allies. MG Jafari appears to have just instructed his subordinate commanders that the time for great conflict has arrived.

Global SITREP B1-13: Reliving Daniel 11 in Preparation for Daniel 12

29 September 2013: We have all just lived through a series of events during August and September 2013 that almost defy description. If my analysis of these events is correct, then we will have all been eyewitnesses to international travesty and conspiracy of Biblical prophetic proportions whether we all realize it or not. It is, in some sense, as if we are reliving the prophetic text of Daniel 11which prepare the way for the prophetic text of Daniel 12 which is without question about the 70th Week. 

Once verse which immediately came to mind in the midst of the recent G20 Summit reflects the text of Daniel 11:27 as far as what transpired between the President of the United States Barack Obama and the Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin:

"Both these kings’ hearts shall be bent on evil, and they shall speak lies at the same table; but it shall not prosper, for the end will still be at the appointed time."

On the surface the text Daniel 11 is clearly about prophecies the series wars that occur between the two great empires of the Middle East, the Macedonian-Greek Seleucid Empire and the Macedonian Greek Ptolemaic Empire. However, the subtext, the foreshadowing text is about the conditions and events that precede the arrival of the future Antichrist of the 70th Week. This is clearly evident because it is within this text that the forerunner Antichrist, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, is introduced to us along with all of the international intrigue and conflict which preceded his arrival. 

It was during the classical historical period of the late 4th Century BC to the early 1st century BC that world events developed which fulfilled the bulk of the prophecies found in the Book of Daniel, many of them directly from the mouth of the angel Gabriel. When it comes to authority, Gabriel is an angel who stands in the presence of God when he is in Heaven. He literally transmits the word and will of God to human beings. It is during this so-called classical period of human history that the Babylonian Empire was overtaken by the Medo-Persian Empire, which in turn was overtaken by the Macedonian-Greek Empire, which was divided into four parts and was then absorbed piece by piece by the final world empire of Rome explicitly as prophesied in Daniel, and completed by the prophesies in The Revelation of Jesus Christ. 

It is during the final century of this period that geo-political events, particularly rampant wars and the absorption of entire nations into a known-world empire, occurred at a rapid pace, so much so that the map of the Mediterranean and Middle East of 1 AD greatly resembles the current map and military dynamic of the same region of the Eastern Hemisphere. There is much to be learned by just looking at the maps of the Eastern Hemisphere between the 4th Century and 1st Century BC.

Given that we are now living in the last days prior to the advent of the 70th Week, I think we can look to Daniel 11 as the foreshadowing of the time in which we are currently living; it is the time immediately preceding the arrival of the Antichrist, and the events between this day are preparing the way for his arrival. My view is that this is not prophetic stage-setting per se, this actually is the fulfillment of already existent prophetic templates found in Daniel.

A brief re-cap of current events shows us that in early August President Obama went from a very public snubbing of President Putin by refusing to meet with him at a Moscow Summit (see: SITREP A18-13) to the face-to-face meeting that I forecast would occur during the G20 Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia. This meeting happened at St. Petersburg Konstantin Palace and it had all of the overtly evidence marks of a grand performance, a charade, where the visitor pretended power and the host knew he was flexible in such a manner that he would cave-in climactic fashion within mere days later. 

After all the naval drama on the high seas of the Eastern Mediterranean and the bellicose threats of unilaterally and without Congressional approval in an exercise of not-quite-so-crushing military power upon Vladimir Putin's Syrian ally and his in-country Persian and Lebanese Shi'a allies, Obama did indeed fold like a cheap camera in the face of pure evil, all the while still embracing the equally and purely evil desires of Sunni jihadism in Syria. This, my brothers and sisters, is the kind of "flexibility" that President Obama told former Russian President Dimitry Medvedev in March 2012 that he would have after the November 2012 election. This "flexibility" took us from the apparent brink of a regional war over WMD in Syria a couple of weeks ago to acceptance of Syrian WMD as well as a nuclear-armed Iran. 

All of this has left Israel holding the proverbial bag. A week or so ago I might have needed someone to tell me this was not President Obama's intent all along; that this kind of crisis-to-resolution-to-crisis behavior has not occurred repeatedly during his tenure irregardless if the crisis is between himself and President Putin, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu, Egyptian President Hosni Murbarak or even the U.S. Congress. 

In seeking the Lord's Word on what is going on these days it's been made very clear that these things must take place, that we are not to fear them, and "the end' is not yet. We're living in the modern part of the Daniel 11 foreshadowing and the imminent fulfillment of existent prophetic templates on the road to the 70th Week. Stay tuned... the concluding prophetic paragraphs are something to behold, and this is why I believe we are still here as witnesses of them.