Global SITREP A5-25: Iran, Syria and the Mā'ar Sallôn

The Mā'ar Sallôn (Pricking Brier)

UPDATED 26 February 2025: The current situation was foretold to Israel in the beginning, in the fourth of the five books of the Torah circa 1,400 and 1,440 years Before Christ, or at least 3,450 years ago. 

In Numbers (Bemidbar) 33:50-56 we read where YHWH is speaking to Moses in Moab by the River Jordan, telling him to speak to all Israel about what they must do when they will cross the river into the land YHWH has given them to possess. The salient point here is in verse 55:

"But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell."

How utterly prophetic. I mean literally God-breathed, and the conclusion or ultimate fulfillment we find in Ezekiel 28:25

“And there shall no longer be a pricking brier or a painful thorn for the house of Israel from among all who are around them, who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.”

In our immediate future, assuming the Bride of Christ has not been taken up hither in the Harpazo, but certainly for all those unfortunates who find themselves left behind because they did not trust in Jesus to redeem them beforehand, the imminent prophecies concerning Iran, Syria and the Mā'ar Sallôn (Pricking Brier) will come to pass. 

We have seen with our own eyes in the past 17 months how Iran, Syria and the Mā'ar Sallôn (Pricking Brier) have tasted war with Israel; most especially Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iran and now Judea and Samaria (again, how utterly prophetic has the Word of God been concerning "those whom you let remain"!) are on the elimination block, so to speak.

The initial actions of these last days prophecies place them all in the process of complete fulfillment, but exactly how they will arrive at the end state lies within the sovereignty of God and His appointed times. And to be sure, Israel, still largely in disbelief, has suffered much overwhelming tragedy, but the birth pangs have not yet run their course. Isaiah 17 makes this potently and abundantly clear.

Current ISW/CT map of Jihadist Syria

The earthly human intelligence voices that Israel's leadership should be and hopefully are listening to are saying several things loudly these days. The Iranian nuclear program has never been more vulnerable. It is incredibly poor judgment to think that the Islamic jihadists now in control of Syria will not act against Israel. There are very good reasons why Israel has been striking targets in and around Damascus constantly in the past several hours. The same goes for all of the terrorist monsters in Gaza, Lebanon, Judea, Samaria and even in southern Jordan. 

1 March 2025: Top of the list for this update is the crash 'n' burn performance of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in front of President Trump, and VP Vance and American national TV audience. The utter embarassment drove Ukraine's ambassador to holding her bowed head in her hands.

As noted here two weeks ago, watchmen are now closely monitoring Europe where the situation is rapidly ripening for the rise of a strong leader. Perhaps the 14-day series of EU emergency summits will conclude today in London, UK where a select group of 10 to 12 key nations are assembled? We'll see, as Scripture assures the "little horn" rises as a peacemaker and a warrior. 

The prospect of a nuclear world war is literally on the lips of all concerned! In 2014 when the Russia-Ukraine war really began with Russia's invasion of Crimea and the Donbas, Eschatology Today was first in warning of the 'last days' prophetic implications of the war, in particular the "hooks" of Ezekiel 38. There's solid prophetic proof in Ezekiel 38/39 of nuclear fire and other lethal nastiness raining down which is concurrent with the Harpazo and then the LORD God pouring out His Spirit upon all Israel. Witnessing Christ Jesus to the unsaved is an imperative Brothers and Sisters! 

Jaramana

The map above locates the majority Druze and Christian community of Jaramana (just 3km from Damascus center) where firefights between the residents and the HTS-led government army have been taking place recently.

It comes as a real eye-opener this afternoon to see that PM Netanyahu and DM Katz have tasked the IDF to prepare to defend Jaramana from the new jihadist Syrian army.

Final UPDATE 14 March 2025: As if to confirm that "transitioning Syria is governed as an Islamist State from Damascus, it comes as no surprise that the so-called "interim leader" chose to wear a western-style suit and tie in the color of Islam. The imagery is meant to convey that the transition in government from Ba'athist dictatorship to constitutional Jihadist totalitarianism is complete in the opinion of Ahmad al-Shara'a. No doubt he and his jihadist cohorts have never read the God-breathed Scripture of Isaiah, Jeremiah or Ezekiel.

Eschatology Today published Global SITREP D9-18: The Prophecy of Ezekiel six and one-half years ago. That SITREP can serve as a primer for this follow-up, as everyone wants to know what the future holds, and Ezekiel, as much as any of the futurist prophets, provides us with tremendous information on what's next, save for the Book of Daniel and John on Patmos' The Apocalypse of Jesus Christ. 

The first three chapters of the Book of Ezekiel establish the Authority of the Scripture. 

In The first chapter the prophet vividly relates his vision of the throne of the LORD God. Ezekiel finds himself in a face-plant position on the ground near the River Chebar in present-day Iraq upon hearing the voice of One who is speaking to him. The second and very brief chapter opens with the Spirit of God, Ruach HaKodesh (The Holy Spirit), indwelling of Ezekiel and standing him upright so that the LORD God can properly speak to him. Ezekiel is given a lecture on rebellious and impudent Israel and a litany of their transgressions, as well as precisely how Ezekiel is to address them: "Thus says the LORD God." 

God's description of Israel here invokes that part of the Israeli population today as seen and heard in their media even prior to the October 7 massacre - rebellious, insolent, impudent and at times exceedingly vile and vindictive, ignoring all that which was charged to them in the God-breathed Covenants delivered to them by Moses. And they have paid the same price of disobedience ever since, but not for all time as we shall soon see. 

God then instructs Ezekiel that he is not to fear the rebellious Israel or their words to him, but Ezekiel is to straightforwardly speak the word of God to them - no matter whether they accept the words or reject them. So God gives Ezekiel the scroll of a book filled with the Word of God that he is to speak to Israel in Babylonian captivity. 

At this point the prophecy transitions seamlessly to chapter three. And God then feeds the scroll of a book to Ezekiel. It is interesting to note that this scroll of a book which was filled with lamentations, mourning and woe is described by Ezekiel as being in his mouth like honey in sweetness. I would summarize this description of the scroll of a book as a transition for all Israel from rebellion to redemption as seen towards the end in Ezekiel 39:29. Chapter three closes much as chapter one did with God appearing to Ezekiel again, the Holy Spirit entering him, falling down prone and God stand him up again and speaking instruction for Ezekiel to keep his mouth shut and speak to rebellious Israel only when God gives him the words to speak: "Thus says the LORD God, he who hears let him hear, and he who refuses let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house."

I find that these first three chapters provide a baseline for what God tells Ezekiel to prophesy in chapters 35, 36 and 37, and that these chapters are precisely where we, the Bride of Christ, find ourselves at this time. This is where we are today. 

Chapter 35 finds Ezekiel speaking prophetic judgment of the LORD God upon present day, and so-called "Palestinians." They are not "Palestinians." In truth they are Egyptians, Syrians, Hashemites and other various tribes of Arabs, and whom the Lord refers to in sum as "Mount Seir."  Ezekiel 35:5 precisely invokes what Asaph was inspired to say in Psalm 83. They are to be subdued and slain in war, their cities to be destroyed and not rebuilt. Desolation is their future as a direct result of the current war.

Chapter 36 reads like the land of Israel during and immediately after World War II as the diaspora of the children of Israel began their return to Eretz Israel in vast numbers from all over the world wherever they had gone in the previous circa 1900 years or circa 70 to 1945 AD. This chapter is about to ongoing renewal of Israel, the fig tree shooting forth branches and leaves and the bearing of fruit. 

The dichotomy of Ezekiel chapters 1, 2 and 3 with what is found in chapters 35 and 36 is astounding, but hey, our God excels is doing astounding things! This is all about the renewal of Israel, particularly in Ezekiel 36:16-20 where God is speaking explicitly once again about why Israel was sent out into the nations and then comes a bombshell at verses 21-22: "But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went. Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the LORD God, "I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went."

The prophecy within Ezekiel 36:23-36 is extremely important. It is, as the prophetic text implicitly states, about the redemption of Israel! Now, do NOT accuse me of invoking any nonsense such as 'dual covenant theology." What I cite here is the word of God, period. I leave to the reader to read the above embedded Scripture for themselves. It says exactly what it says. It says what the LORD God said to Ezekiel!

Marana'tha!

Global SITREP C8-23: War Phase III

 

UPDATED 15 October 2023: The State of Israel is on the cusp of a major multi-front war. This part of the war on Eschatology Today will be referred to as Phase III. The enemies in this war are the modern day nations and peoples cited in Psalm 83 by Asaph, Isaiah 11:14, Isaiah 17, Ezekiel 28:20-26 and the whole of Jeremiah 49. 

In support of Israel in this war are the military forces of the USA, UK as well as most of the governments of the NATO allies. The LORD God has throughout history expressed His sovereign will by blessing Israel with solid allies and in these last days we can expect the same. Who is it who can say our sovereign God can or cannot do as He pleases? Scripture advises us clearly and unquestionably on this issue. In this vein as the war progresses and in comments to this SITREP questions about this will not be addressed. We will cover key events and allow the will of God to follow His chosen course because we know and have been told in Scripture the end from the beginning.

Al-Ahli Baptist (Arab) Hospital Parking Lot, Gaza

The above image is of the Al-Ahli Baptist (Arab) Hospital parking lot in Gaza City. Obvious to everyone (but Islamists and their allies) is that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (Holy War) rocket that misfired did not hit the hospital and kill 200 to 300 people. The rocket impacted on the hospital parking lit and ignited the fuel tanks of several vehicles. Any and all human casualties from this misfire is the responsibility of Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Period. 

It only took the HAMAS-run Palestinian Health Ministry minutes to disseminate globally blatant lies and INFOWAR disinformation (INFOrmation WARfare) which was rapidly picked up and redistributed globally by the New York Times and CNN without any due diligence in assessing the truthfulness of the terrorist media report. 

Just as rapidly the PA, the governments of Egypt, Jordan and Turkey, as well as the World Health Organization (WHO) made grossly distorted statements blaming Israel. There were zero IDF or IAF activity over Gaza City at the time of the PIJ rocket barrage which resulted in this tragedy and carnage upon the hapless Gazans who had taken refuge at this hospital. This HAMAS INFOWAR gambit also led to the immediate cancellation of a war summit meeting between POTUS the terrorist PA, King Abdullah II of Jordan and other dignitaries scheduled for later today. One does not need to guess what this terrorist outrage will bring in the coming hours to the inflamed Middle East and around the world.

The anticipated and prophetic multi-front war seems assured at this point.

Global SITREP F1-21: The Next War Will Be The Psalm 83 Finale War

24 November 2021: For nearly a full twelve years Eschatology Today has been keyed to the the Psalm 83 war scenario as a paradigm shifting event. The major domino to fall in a series of rapid events on the proverbial Road to the Revelation of Jesus Christ, a/k/a the '70th Week of Years.'

The sum of this prophetic scenario is the combination of Psalm 83 and its parallel prophecies by Isaiah (11:12-14) and Ezekiel (28:24-26) as well as Isaiah 17 and Joshua 13:1-7. To these we also add Jeremiah 49:23-27 and Jeremiah 49:34-39. All of these should be read as being part of a whole prophetic narrative to be fulfilled prior to the '70th Week of Years' which we also know as the Thlipsis and Megas Thlipsis (Tribulation and Great Tribulation). These prophecies are kinetic warfare enabled by the technology of the 21st century. These are lightning-quick missile warfare.

There is a member of the Israeli Knesset from the Likud by the name of Nir Barkat. He spoke today at a conference held at Reichman University in Herzliya, Israel. Eschatology Today views statements he made there as being a very precise summation of the prophetic scenario about to be fulfilled in the near-term as has been discussed on this blog over the course of the past twelve years.

"In the next attack, with missiles coming from Lebanon, this will not be the Third Lebanon War, this will be the First Iran War. I think we are not properly assessing the threat coming from Iran that plans to act against us in six arenas: The Lebanese, the Gazan, the long-range missiles, the attempt to establish itself in Syria, Judea and Samaria and there is also a new threat from home - some residents of the State of Israel." 

MK Nir Barkat continued with, 

"The Iranian conventional threat requires us to rethink how we not only harm Lebanon when we are attacked by the Iranian proxy sitting in Lebanon, but how we harm Tehran. So that when the Iranians in Tehran want to order Hezbollah to open fire against Israel, their voice will tremble because they will know that they themselves would be harmed in Tehran - and they are no longer protected."

That's quite a summation from the former mayor of Jerusalem of ten years (2008-2018). In the view of Eschatology Today the above quotes are prescient and descriptive in an almost peculiar prophetic yet secular sense. That may be the net result of Barkat's in-depth knowledge of modern military tactics due to his six years of service as a former elite IDF paratrooper. Major Nir Barkat was wounded during combat operations in Lebanon, and knows of what he speaks. He may also be aware of the above Old Testament prophecies as well. Whatever the case, his words have a profound resonance.

As has been stated before, any one of Israel's strikes at Iranian or Hezbollah targets in Syria could be the one which begins the toppling of the precisely arranged prophetic dominoes. There was another IAF strike in Homs, Syria mere hours ago as this SITREP began being composed. There were casualties in the strike. Eyes on continued developments, updates as they occur.

Global SITREP D9-21: Mecanigma

 15 February 2021: A mecanigma (which I think is a compound word for meaning a mechanical enigma) is a type of puzzle box. It's a miscellany of various moving parts, articulated gearing in a 4-dimensional box. Tying to figure it out is like trying to correctly envision Ezekiel's wheel. It's dizzying, perplexing and to my mind exactly how the Bible described the pre-Thlipsis world we live in today. A mecanigma is a technological device that embodies the text of Luke 21:25 where the Greek word aporia, translated as perplexity, appears for the first and only time in the entire Bible. That's a significant singularity.

It is understood that Luke 21:25 is about the coming of the Son of Man, our Lord Jesus Christ, at the conclusion of Israel's 70th week of years, but over-arching reference within this verse is actually a summary of various events that occur in space and on earth, distress among the nations (with aporia) and roaring global ocean environment. Everybody knows that the ocean environment dictates the weather over the earth's land masses. And we're in it now, prior to the 70th week of years, so its only going to get worse, much, much worse, as discussed here previously concerning the prophecy of Isaiah 13:13 (Global SITREP C6-18). 

There's a lot going on, as always, and we're still in a man-made global pandemic. So the question has come up about whether or not to take one of the various SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. Not here to tell anyone else what they should do, but this Christian will steadfastly refuse any vaccine forevermore. Here's why. 

Vaccines, as with many if not all processing of vaccines for human beings, use human cells from various part of the body. These cells are known as "immortalized cells" because they have been kept alive and have dividing for many decades, countless generations of cellular divisions, from living organ tissue taken from aborted children; children made in the image of God. 

Wait, there's more. Some of the children these tissues were taken from were aborted as far back as 60 plus years ago. Talk about the wrath of God as we relate it simply concerning the millions upon millions of abortions, but as you now can see the wrath to come must be beyond our ability to comprehend it. 

Praise God for our blessed hope of the Harpazo!

Changing lanes swiftly now. 

KRRRAAAKKK!

16 February 2021: Eschatology Today just became aware of something which has definitive prophetic fulfillment implications. It's called "Israel Victory" (IV for short). The objective of IV is to militarily defeat the Palestinians and all of Israel's remaining enemies and force them to accept the reality of the State of Israel. The success of IV as a new warfighting concept among politicians, the Knesset and especially the IDF thus far has been overtly manifested in IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi's recent turn in January 2021 towards absolute bluntness (ref. Global SITREP D8-21) when speaking about the wholesale reorientation of IDF's mission. The IDF's mission now is to militarily defeat Israel's enemies, to crush them, to achieve unconditional victory, and to do so alone if necessary. 

Those history buffs among us will recognize this objective as the American military objective against the Empire of Japan in World War II: unconditional surrender; total military victory. This is a complete paradigm shift in Israeli military thinking. From 1948 to 2020 the IDF's top military objective was simply to ensure the survival of the State of Israel. Detailed information on Israel Victory is available by searching for the December 2020 half-hour YouTube video entitled "Progress with Israel Victory with Nave Dromi." 

The pre-70th Week prophetic implications of Israel Victory are absolutely crystal clear in the text of Ezekiel 28:24-26 as well as Ezekiel 38:11, both of which describe Israel as it will be just prior to the Gog of Magog invasion of Ezekiel 38/39. Becoming fully aware of Israel Victory has had the effect of being like a thunderbolt out of a clear blue sky, and it serves a validation of the dispensational prophetic interpretations put forward on Eschatology Today since its origination in 2009. A watershed moment by definition.

Marana'tha!

Global SITREP C9-19: Crisis Point to War

Hassan Nasrallah speaks to Hezbollah from a hidden location

UPDATES BELOW 27 August 2019: From crisis point to war. Israel has been acting in its own self-desfense for the past 45 days in an attempt to ward off a concerted effort by Iran and its proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Gaza and even in Judea and Samaria to attack the Jewish state with suicide drones and artillery rockets. In recent days government officials to militia commanders have made declarations of war against Israel from all of these places.

Eschatology Today notes that these enemies are those named in prophecies given through Asaph (Psalm 83), Isaiah (Isaiah 11 and 17), Jeremiah (49:23-27 and 34-39), and Ezekiel (28:24-26). These prophecies are nothing new to readers here; they have been discussed in-depth for the past ten years on this blog. This SITREP will carry forward as the current situation develops further.

28 August 2019: The situation remains the same in the north and south of Israel, with just one possible exception. A Gaza terrorist posted a video of what was ostensibly a pair of chemcial agent balloon bombs that floated out over Israel. No word yet on what the 'toxic death' liquid mixture may have been.

Here's something noticed earlier today which had not been noticed previously. Isaiah 17 is focused on Syria; and Joshua 13 is focused on Lebanon. Psalm 83 covers the enemies of Israel all around, north to south, and Ezekiel 28:24-26 parallels the neutralization of these all around Israel enemies, as does Jeremiah 49 names them, plus Iran. What I noticed is that Isaiah 11:14 deals specifically with Gaza and Jordan. No mention of Syria, Lebaon or Iran. 

In all its modern wars, from 1948 to 1973, Israel has fought its enemies in a type of piecemeal fashion, The IDF went after northen enemies like Syria and Iraq, then wheeled around and went after the southern enemy in Egypt, then wheeled around again against the Jordanians in the east. 

My question is: Are the previous wars Israel fought in the 20th century a kind of "Past as Prologue" for the coming wars of the 21st century? Will Israel take on each of these enemies one at a time, as Isaiah 11:14 has caused to be considered? It's an intriguing set of questions, but also appears to be partof the current IDF planning for war on multiple fronts fought in series as the previous wars were. We'll see - maybe. 

Screen capture of the initial Hezbollah ATGM attack
on IDF convoy in Avivim, Israel, 1 September 2019.

1 September 2019: Here we go. Nearly two hours ago (4:15 PM Israel Time) Hezbollah attacked an IDF convoy of APCs in the area of Avivim, northern Israel on the border with Lebanon, with Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM). Israel initiated artillery counter-fires on the ATGM firing location. IAF aircraft of many types took to the skies and have been striking Hezbollah targets in souther Lebanon. The UNFIL began pleading for calm and for both sides to stand down.

PM Netanyahu held an emergency conference call with IDF CoS LTG Aviv Kochavi, the Shin Bet cief and his security cabinet regarding the fighting on the northern border. Israel overnight had directed preemptive artillery fire and illumination flares at Hezbollah forces attempting to invade Israel through a wooded area. The area caught fire as a result of the shelling.

At present the IAF is pressing air operations in southern Lebanon. Palestinians in Judea and Samaria are celebrating the Hezbollah attack on the IDF and rumors of IDF casualties. At least two IDF troopers were medevaced to hospital from the initial attack in Avivim. There may be no official Israeli government public discussion until midnight Israel time (about 6 hours from now).

We watch to see if this develops further...

9 September 2019: And develop it has. No one should be surprised at how this has developed. Israel is now militarily engaged, albeit low intensity at the moment, against all of the enemies identified by the prophet Asaph in Psalm 83. In my last comment of yesterday, the final enemy - the one from Asshur - which Eschatology Today years ago identified as Iraq, in the region known today as the "Sunni Triangle" north of Baghdad, was engaged by Israel in Syria! This has been confirmed today by Israel's Arutz Sheva 7.

None of the Biblical prophets make any distinctions about the sects of Islam, be they Sunni, Shi'a or Alawi. Those prophets of old noted the geographic region these enemies would come from. And for Asaph's reference to Asshur, this is exactly correct. The Sunni Arabs have been militarily subdued since 2015 and today are under military occupation by the Shi'a militias (Popular Mobilization Units or PMU) loyal to the Iranian Ayatollah. The PMU and IRGC-QF are the enemies Israel attacked a handful of times in that same region beginning in July. 

On Sunday Israel attacked their forward most developing base in Al-Bukamal, Syria, and near the Iraqi border town Al-Qaim. Al Qaim was also the location of another strike on PMU and IRGC-QF forces as they were moving Iranian Zelzal-2 rockets into Syria for deployment in Al-Bukamal. In response the enemy from Asshur, the PMU, attempted to strike Israel with rockets fired from the region around Damascus, but those rockets impacted well short of their targets in Israel. (We know very well why those rockets fell short!) And, once again as has occurred before, Israel responded to that attempted attack by warning Syria (Isaiah 17, Jeremiah 49:23-27) that the government in Damascus would be held responsible for any attacks against Israel originating from its territory.

And then there's Gaza. Egyptian Intelligence officers passed along specific warning to HAMAS that Israel would postpone an election and all its political parties would unite in order to prosecute a ground war against all Islamist factions in Gaza. As for the government of Lebanon, it has received the same warning as Syria, but with respect to the Iranian-proxy Hezbollah that controls the country as well as the Lebanese Army. As stated before, Israel will strike a jointly operated IRGC-QF/Hezbollah precision missile factory in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley very soon. IAF strike aircraft have been flying sorties up and down the Beqaa as late as yesterday thereby keeping the enemy guessing and testing its defenses.

Global SITREP C10-19 is coming next. We already know its content, don't we?

Global SITREP D2-17: One Word - One Prophecy

The Holy Bible

25 August 2017: The the past week a lot of prompting by the Holy Spirit has led to a kind of reassessment on how the ongoing pre-70th Week prophetic fulfillment may actually, or is actually going to come to pass. For example, it has been strongly impressed upon yours truly that there is no need to dissect the prophetic verses of 49th chapter of Jeremiah as has been done for quite some time now.  

Given the real-world events in Syria, and the ever present rumors of a wider war involving Iran, why should the dissection Jeremiah 49's prophetic passages occur at all? That is, why assign verses 23 through 27 (subtitled as "Judgment on Damascus" in the NKJV) as separate and distinct  from verses 34 through 39 (Judgment on Elam)? 

For that matter, why dissect Jeremiah 49's verses 1 through 6 (Judgment on Ammon) and verses 7 through 22 (Judgment on Edom) and verses 28 through 33 (Judgment on Kedar and Hazor) from the two more well known prophecies concerning Syria and Iran in this same prophetic chapter? Long story short, it shouldn't be done, so I'll certainly not do it any longer. It is one literal Word of prophecy, always has been, and that's how it will come to pass - as it is written.

More importantly, there is very real and definitive linkage here between these pre-70th Week prophecies and several others, such as Psalm 83 as a prime example, which should never be dissected or treated a separate from one another. They are all parts of the bigger prophetic picture; the whole flood of prophetic events leading up to the 70th Week.

In the past much attention has been given to the fact that neither Syria or Iran are present in Psalm 83; that the fate of Damascus and Syria (Isaiah 17 and Jeremiah 23-27) must occur prior to Psalm 83. Or that Iran is not mentioned in Psalm 83, but its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah is strongly implied as a participant in Psalm 83. The bigger picture is that all of these prophecies are concurrent in fulfillment, in a sequence for sure, yet concurrent in a way that dissecting them from one another is an incorrect way in which to interpret them as a whole.

In sum, we can no longer dissect these prophecies from one another any more than Psalm 83 can be dissected from Ezekiel 28:24-26 and Isaiah 11:12-14. They are all parts of the same prophecy.

Global SITREP C5-17: Making Sense of Current Events

President Donald J. Trump

4 June 2017: We, as the body of Christ on this earth, either believe God is in complete and total control, that His will is being done through the various birth pangs heralding the establishment of Christ's Millennial Kingdom - or we don't. There is no half-measure here, no room to be lukewarm, and no excuse to misunderstand current events when it all lies before us in the Lord's inerrant prophetic word.

Some of us are upset because President Trump did not announce his promised move of the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Israel when they expected it during his recent trip to the Middle East. One of us even stated that Trump is "chicken" to effect the embassy move; that Trump covered it up by using Globalist media via his announced withdrawal of the United States from Obama's Paris Global Climate Accord. 

Unfortunately, and to be very frank about such opinions, this view is not only well shortsighted of the mark, but it also evidences a very critical and crucial misunderstanding of current events in light of Bible prophecy. Bible prophecy does not comport with what we human beings want to see happen, it comports with the omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent will of Almighty God. Period.

To make sense of these recent events one needs to understand President Trump and the Order Of Battle (OOB) his Administration is following in its continuing war against the Globalist machine. The Globalist machine is the precursor of the coming Beast Empire of the Antichrist. Refresh your memory with a review of July 2016's Global SITREP B10-16. 

Now, being refreshed and mindful of the fact that the November election was just an electoral victory, a single battle won, over the Globalist candidate (Hillary Clinton) look closer at the ongoing big picture. That big picture reveals that a real war against the Globalist machine has been engaged ever since the election was decided. This war, as all earthly wars do, has both secular and Spiritual attributes, and the great battles on both planes of existence still lie directly ahead in the passage of time as we understand and experience it. 

The LORD God prophetically declared there will be war in Heaven, when the archangel Michael and his angels will prevail over Satan and his fallen host and throw them down to the earth. This is an event which I believe will occur around the mid-point of the 70th Week. Eschatology Today readers are well versed in this due to the continuing discourse on the Great Sign of Revelation 12. If you've only read as far as Revelation 12:1-6, then continue on and read Revelation 12:7-12.

So too the ongoing war against the Globalists will turn south around a corner in the future. But that's a future the bride of Christ will not be here to witness, and what we need to understand here and now is the Trump Administration's Order Of Battle against the Globalists. 

What is the Trump Administration's OOB? Well, he's told the world repeatedly what they are and has, as of this date, already initiated several of them. In order they are: saying goodbye to the TTP, win the war against Islamism, move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, Keystone XL, Judicial Appointments, replace Obamacare, end IRS and VA malfeasance, Tax Reform, rebuild America's infrastructure, and pull America out of the Global Warming charade. All of these specific orders of battle are against what the Globalists want to achieve. Each is a battle in its own right, many are inter-related or inter-dependent.

Look at the list above again. See what follows winning the fight against Islamism (both Sunni and Shi'a variants of jihad)? Yes, the fight to defeat Islamism has a priority position, and President Trump so stated this before the Sunni Muslim leaders in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This means creating the coalition I have recently begun referring to as The Ezekiel Summit. Refresh your memory here also if necessary. 

This specific, and second most important Order Of Battle requires two objectives be achieved: the defeat of the Islamic State and the reduction of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its agenda for a pan-Shi'a crescent of power from Tehran to Beirut. In order to achieve both of these a (where have you heard this before?) "Coalition of Nations" both Sunni Muslim and Western allies (think: "Ten Toes") is an indispensable necessity. Iron and miry clay, they work as allies, but do not cleave to one another. 

Those "Ten Toes" of Daniel 2 are, as some of you understand, "The Ezekiel Summit" manifest in the real-world we live in. These two objectives will result in the literal fulfillment of Isaiah 17 as well as Jeremiah 49:23-27 and 34-39. These fulfillment's are stage-setting for the final fulfillment of Psalm 83, Isaiah 11:12-14 and Ezekiel 28:24-26, and, ultimately, Ezekiel 38-39. These are the 'flood of prophetic fulfillment' I have discussed time and again which shall set the conditions that will exist in the very near future arrival and final fulfillment of the angel Gabriel's 70th Week prophecy to Daniel (Daniel 9:24-27).

Moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem will occur upon its Divinely appointed time. That is the time God decides, not any American President or his administration. In the future, as we surely all must be aware of by now, all nations shall move their national representation to Jerusalem.

Global SITREP D7-15: About the Psalm 83 Prophecy

UPDATE 6 October 2015:  SITREP D7-15 has been about the external aspects of the Psalm 83 and directly related prophecies being driven by events related to violence around Jerusalem's Temple Mount and Jewish desires for sovereignty and full access, plus the overall sequence of prophetic events and how they are coming upon the world "as a flood." Now we see the internal aspects of Psalm 83 being driven by the rampant and ancient hatred of Arab Muslims against the very existence of Israel. This will be the subject of the following SITREP D8-15.

25 September 2015: As was reported yesterday by Israeli media, the 1994 peace treaty between Israel and Jordan is at risk of collapse because of the strife occurring on Mount Moriah, site of Islam's Dome of the Rock and future home of Israel's 3rd Temple, which this blog refers to as the 70th Week Temple. 

The strife which has been occurring for some time can legitimately be referred to as kinetic Islamic jihad against the presence of infidels. The jihadists have taken to arming themselves with more than rocks to hurl as projectiles at non-Muslim infidels on the mount, but explosives and firebombs are being utilized and stored within the Al Aqsa Mosque for the waging of jihad. This is obviously known and condoned by the Islamic authority, the Waqf, which is under the jurisdiction of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

The Israeli government's (PM Netanyahu and Security Cabinet) response to this escalating jihad on the mount has been to authorize a .22 caliber 'open fire' order for Israeli security forces to immediately halt any threat to human life by the jihadists actions. 

The high-end result of Israel's new rules of engagement for its security forces on Mount Moriah has been a total freeze in the 24-year long peace treaty status quo between Jordan and Israel as ordered by the Jordanian monarch, Abdullah II, who has openly declared the Temple Mount to be a "Muslim's Only" religious site. All lines of communication between Abdullah II and PM Netanyahu have now ceased, and a direct threat of Jordanian abrogation of the 1994 Peace treaty suddenly exists as Jordan is threatening to break diplomatic relations by expelling the Israeli Ambassador.

The clearly spoken threat made by Abdullah II is that "grave consequences for the entire region" will result from what it says are Israel's attempts at "Judaizing" the Temple Mount. These are unambiguous words threatening war, the war we know from Bible prophecy as the Psalm 83 War.  Our watchful eyes are wide open.

21 September 2015 (Edited to include New Information): Eschatology Today has noticed of late the emergent travail within the bride of Christ regarding the fulfillment of the prophecy of Psalm 83. My intent has been to stay clear of the fracas, but that is no longer a viable position to maintain.

In a nutshell, and because I do not wish to belabor the issue here, Bill Salus sent out a report yesterday which clearly illustrates the travail. Bill is at a point of brotherly loggerheads on this issue with Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum whose opinion, according to Salus, holds the view that Psalm 83 was fulfilled in 1948. The Salus counter-point is that the primary instigator are the modern-day Edomites whose tents (i.e. war refugee status) did not come into existence until after the combat of 1948-49 was concluded with the armistice of 1950. 

In the past week I have researched this issue and have found nothing to indicate Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum holds the view that's been assigned to him. To the contrary I have found that Fruchtenbaum has long held to the same interpretation as I do; that Psalm 83 has been a prophecy in the process of fulfillment since 1948, and it primarily involves two front line Arab Muslim nations: Lebanon and Jordan. His work "The Arab States in Prophecy, Part 2" clearly makes this point of view.  So, now I am at a complete loss to understand why there is any disagreement between Salus and Fruchtenbaum, they are on the same page and much of Salus' work in his 2008 book Isralestine came from reading what Fruchtenbaum had penned previously.

To re-cap the Psalm 83 War from 1948 to the Present and the expected outcome in the near future:

As readers of Eschatology Today will probably recall, I have addressed the Psalm 83 fulfillment issue since 2009 within the context of the "Prophetic Dominoes" paradigm, which itself is 100% based upon the study of the sequence of warfare of prophecy within the word of God. More importantly still  than this Bible-based paradigm is the fact, as also readily understood by Eschatology Today readers, that the word of God tells us directly and precisely when Asaph's Psalm 83 prophecy will have come to its fulfillment:  Isaiah 11:12-14 and Ezekiel 28:24-26. 

For the past 67 years Psalm 83 has remained and continues to be a Holy Spirit-inspired prophecy in the process of fulfillment!

As prophetically declared by Isaiah: Does Israel have sovereignty over Gaza and are those terrorists vanquished? Are the ancient lands of Edom and Moab in modern-day Jordan now the sovereign territory of Israel; do the people of Amman obey the government of Israel in Jerusalem? 

As prophetically declared by Ezekiel: Does there still exist today a "pricking brier" of despising enemies all around Israel; does Israel dwell safely and securely and build houses at their leisure wherever they choose to build them? 

When these prophetic specifics have become reality as the aftermath of full-scale warfare between Israel and the enemies which currently surround her, then and only then can it be stated with absolute certitude that Psalm 83 has come to its ultimate fulfillment. Until then several dominoes must fall in their sequence; this is what we are witnessing in the run-up to Isaiah 17, and ultimately after Psalm 83 the specific conditions which will exist for the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38/39 to occur.

Global SITREP E6-14: Isaiah and Ezekiel Confirm Israel's Total Victory Over Psalm 83 Enemies

18 November 2014: It was a rough day in Israel today. A very bloody day. Muslim savages launched a terror attack in a Jerusalem synagogue that was nothing less than wholesale butchery of Jew's who were worshiping YHWH. And the PA government leaders and the Muslim people all around the region celebrated this wanton act of barbarism. A week ago I briefly reiterated the warning circulating that something like this was being urgently warned about in Israel by the IDF. Today would have borne witness to even larger terrorist atrocity, but the Muslim terrorist at the HaHagana Tel Aviv train station with a Carl Gustav sub-machine gun in his possession was interdicted by Israeli law enforcement almost certainly just in the nick of time. The HaHagana train station is where an IDF soldier was butchered by an illegal alien Muslim savage just a week ago.

As ghastly as this attack was I noted early on that ALL American media totally botched accurate reporting of what had occurred in the synagogue. No doubt we're all aware of the CNN reporting that the butchery occurred in a Jerusalem mosque. CBS, ABC and the NBC family of networks also had their moments of journalistic (I use this word loosely) infamy today as well. Even FoxNews got into the act this morning when Steve Doocy laid a goose egg when he informed viewers it was likely that Westerners were the targets of the terrorist attack in Jerusalem. No, Steve, Islamic savages did not go to a synagogue because they thought they might find Westerners inside, they deliberately chose a synagogue because they were absolutely certain they'd find unarmed and defenseless Jews in that house of worship. Duh! To be fair, Doocy got it half right without even saying so, because the fact is that more American civilians have been slaughtered by so-called 'Palestinian' Muslim savages this year than by Islamic State Muslim savages -- not that there is any real difference between the two groups of Muslim savages. And across the pond in jolly ol' Londonistan a BBC interviewer had the unmitigated gall to tell Naftali Bennett that he could not display an image of the three American and one British Jewish victims. No doubt you all understand by now that it would be an understatement for me to say that I utterly detest the corporate media. I have no use for any of them.

While the likelihood is high that there will occur more of this kind of atrocity in the immediate future, and the fact that it occurred can be directly linked to PM Netanyahu's failure to get the job done in Gaza this past summer, I believe we can look to Bible prophecy to find assurance that there is coming a day very soon when this sort of thing will be nothing but a sad memory in Israel. The great sea of Muslim savages have an appointment that they are not aware of. It has been appointed unto them to become as domen (dung) for the earth (Psalm 83:9-10) in the near future. The prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel have also both related to us the God-breathed prophecies about the time in the very near future when Israel will no longer be subject to such barbarism as this. 

In Isaiah 11:14 we have the prophecy of a united Israel destroying these enemies once and for all time:

"But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them."

In Ezekiel 28:24 we have the exact same prophetic word given: 

"And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord God."

We are coming to a point where an Israeli leader will decide that enough is enough, that too much innocent blood has been shed; that never again will Israel submit to genocide means that Israel will never again submit to genocide. And when this happens the Psalm 83 prophecy we are so aware of an expect to occur will have come to its fulfillment well prior to the 70th Week. This victory will set the stage for the Israel, still in unbelief for the most part, that will then find itself living in the peace and security that Jeremiah 30:10 and Ezekiel 38:11 have promised will occur before the 70th Week arrives.

Marana'tha!

Global SITREP C17-14: Exposing a False god on the Altar of Gaza

12 July 2014 Operation Protective Edge - Day Five (OPE-5): Before we begin this next SITREP, It has been impressed upon yours truly that just as Elijah forcefully exposed the ancient false good Ba'al to his adherents (1 Kings 18), so too a process of finality has begun to expose Baal's modern counterpart Allah as the false god that he is.  With respect to Israel's modern Islamist enemies encircling all around her, the prophets of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God of Israel's fathers who told Moses to say "I AM THAT I AM has sent me" (Exodus 3), the one true God is now about the business of exposing yet another false god. 

These enemies of the God of Israel (Psalm 83:2) are very fond of saying "if Allah wills" and who cry out how great he is every time they send a rocket to bring fire upon the children of Israel. How is it that this false god truly wills upon them good tidings when even Egypt has shut them out and closed its door to them? What beneficent act has this Allah bestowed upon the jihadists of Gaza when they have been so thoroughly boxed in against the Mediterranean Sea on one side, and by razor wire on all other sides, and beyond which, and above which, lies the existential threat posed to them all by army of Israel? From this altar that is Gaza, the false god of total submission will now save those who wage jihad against the children of Israel; who dare rage against the God who has gathered them once again into Eretz Israel from the four corners of the Earth?

Psalm 83:13-18; Isaiah 11:11-16, Ezekiel 28:24-26 and the whole of Ezekiel 35 are just three of the prophetically instructive passages for us to be mindful of as these days progress in to the weeks and months ahead; they foretell the plight and fate of those who wage war against the God of Israel and His people! How much clearer can our Lord say it than, "they will dwell securely, when I execute judgments on all those around them who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God,"  and "Because you have had an ancient hatred, and have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, when their iniquity came to an end, therefore, as I live, I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you; since you have not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue you." It doesn't get any clearer than this. On the altar that is Gaza will these prophetic words now begin to be made manifest before our own witnessing eyes. "Then you shall know that I am the Lord." Amen.

Pour water on Gaza. Let it Rain!

12 July 2014 OPE Day Five - Recapping Today's Events: After a brief lull, which is only relative to the pace of hostilities of previous days, OPE-5 brought the heaviest rocket fire and IAF air strike yet.  For the first time the IAF engaged in carpet bombing, with even heavier combat operations poised to commence in just hours. A final warning to evacuate urban areas was issued by the IDF to Gaza civilians. With Israeli Special Forces already surgically operating inside Gaza and then withdrawing (make no mistake, these are SpecOps - not a ground invasion) the handwriting is on the wall that the IDFs heavy armored and mechanized invasion force will not be far behind. This is a massive armored force to be sure. Additionally, with more three rockets coming into Israel from Lebanon, the entire dynamic of this war could change rather dramatically without out much additional forewarning. First indication of unease within the Arab League surfaces with the Kuwait delegation (the current Arab League chair is held by Kuwait) calling for an urgent meeting to be convened. This is another dynamic which could change very dramatically.

13 July OPE Day Six - IDF Warning Order: Indeed, the IDFs warning order for northern Gaza residents to hastily move to southern areas had a suspense of 12 Noon, local time, for completion. That suspense is now a full  +2 hours passed into history.  Based upon the IDF ultimatum (image below) to Gaza's population, I would speculate that in reality all of northern Gaza has been partitioned off on the IDF military planners maps on a line roughly from the Karni Crossing to the Mediterranean Sea and from there to northern Gaza border just south of Netiv Haasara and the Erez Crossing (the area boxed in red in the image above). If I am not mistaken, the sheer volume of rocket fire from this area has led to a determination by Israel's political leaders to seize it whole, quarantine it with IDF armor and then systematically raze it and sterilize it by brute force. This region of the Gaza Strip may more likely resemble the surface of the moon when this operation has become mission complete.

 

Final Update OPE Day 6: After the sun had set this evening in Israel mortar fire from inside Syria impacted near a Druse village called Mas'ade on the Golan Heights. The IDF returned fire with artillery directed at a total of nine Syrian army positions scoring several direct hits. That would tend to indicate that the first Syrian military casualties are likely to have occurred during Operation Protective Edge as Day 6 came to a close. There is no question the Syrian army deliberately attacked the Israeli side of the Golan and Israel responded with overwhelming force - as expected. 

14 July 2014 OPE Day 7 Roundup: The war continued apace today; it arrived and departed without an execute order for the ground forces to move on northern Gaza. The Gaza rocket fire and IAF counter-sorties continued without much change from the previous six days; it's as if this type of warfare has become routine fare... the air war goes on. This is so true that most media took to tallying up the number of rockets versus the number of IAF strikes that have occurred over the past seven days. In Judea and Samaria the situation remains as violent as ever; one Arab was shot and killed by IDF troops after he attacked their security patrol, and dozens of others were arrested. IDF units continue to train up for urban warfare. Another Syrian attack against the Golan occurred late today, but this time it was not mortar fire but a pair of missiles that were fired and impacted in the Golan.

Operation Amud Anan: We Who Bear Witness!

Israel's Iron Dome defense system in Ashdod intercepting missiles from Gaza on 15 November 2012

The IAF Strike that killed HAMAS military commander Ahmed al-Jaabari (a/k/a Ra'ad Ater) and his son. Notice the tell-tale flashes of  the airborne laser designator targeting al-Jaabari's Kia automobile on the center of the roof.

0600 EST 16 November 2012: This "Operation Amud Anan" Eschatology Today blog entry will pick up where the "Regional MidEast War Appears Imminent" blog entry left off.  It is unknown as this point if the warfighting of the Amud Anan operation against Gaza's Islamic terrorists will morph into the prophetic full-scale final action of the ongoing Psalm 83 War, but as with every military action since November 30, 1947 this action is most certainly a part of Asaph's prophecy being fulfilled before our eyes.

For those of us  in the United States, please bear in mind that from the east coast Israel Standard Time (IST) is 7 hours ahead of us and this differential increases by one or more hours for every time zone westward to Alaska and Hawai'i. 

Israeli armor, infantry and paratrooper soldiers received their final commander's briefings 90 minutes ago. The landwarfare phase of Operation Amud Anan will likely execute within moments if it has not already begun.

UPDATE 0830 EST 17 November 2012: With HAMAS terror rockets hitting Israel's capital city (Jerusalem) and largest metropolitan region (Tel Aviv) like intermittent Nazi V-1 buzz bombs hitting England during WWII, the expected ground war has yet to materialize. Something is in abeyance, but what that something actually is remains unknown after 72 hours of missile vs. airstrike warfare. Some media are intimating that something constitutes back-channel negotiations between the U.S., apocalyptic-minded Iran-Hezbollah, Israel, HAMAS-PA-Egypt.

These are parties who do not directly or normally converse with one another even when shots are not being fired, so I remain skeptical that this explanation is accurate. I think Israel is building its land forces for an overwhelming invasion of Gaza, but has yet to actually make the political decision to: (A) take full control of the territory in the aftermath or (B) the likelihood of engaging Egyptian forces as the result of a full-scale invasion. Whatever the case, PM Bibi Netanyahu had better be extremely cautious and trust Barack Hussein Obama only as far as he can spit. Muslims rarely backstab their brethren, especially in the midst of total Islamic jihad. This is a situation that the apocalyptic Iranian Shi'a have been fervently praying to a false god to bring to fruition while their program to acquire nuclear weaponry remains at a full gallop and a very, very short ride to completion. One might expect Ayatollah Khamenei to issue such an order under the present circumstances. I am sure PM Netanyahu has this probability at the top of his considerations.

As we all know, it is the Almighty God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who is in control of these and future events for the sovereign purposes of establishing His Kingdom on this earth. Pray that His Will is done.

UPDATE 0800 EST 18 November 2012:  Overnight developments - True to their Islamic nature the terrorists of HAMAS have taken to detaining innocent, non-muslim foreign nationals all over Gaza to serve their purposes as hostages/human shields and a hedge against punishing IDF actions. This tactic is a certifiably productive method to turn normally supportive European and Asian public opinion against HAMAS' cause, but nobody ever accused HAMAS of being overtly intelligent. These foreign civilians were in Gaza for a reason.

PM Netanyahu spoke to Israel at noontime today and made very clear that the land warfare escalation ("a significant expansion") is very close to occurring. Leaflets urging Gaza civilians to stay clear of HAMAS and other terrorist facilities have been dropped yet again. The IAF today also launched strikes intended to destroy HAMAS primary real-time radio frequency and SATCOM centers. IDF boots on the ground in Gaza cannot be far behind. With multiple terrorist suicide squads anticipating the IDFs arrival a 'kill anything that moves' directive might be in play from the outset - the civilian population has been warned. Increased vigilance in Judea and Samaria is the standing order.

More recently a salvo of 15 Grad artillery rockets hit the city of Ashdod at about 2 PM IST today.  It is now evident that HAMAS is coming to the realization that its unrestrained and inaccurate onesy and twosy missile fire is not having the desired terroristic effect upon the Israeli population. Had HAMAS read the history of Londoners during WWII they'd have known to expect a negative result from this tactic. Nevertheless, they have apparently deployed their version of a Russian-made BM-21 grad rocket launcher from its underground bunker and fired a salvo against Ashdod. The salvo apparently impacted Ashdod in two distinct locations. No reports of injuries as yet.

UPDATE 19 November 2012: The Potential Prophetic Implications of Operation Amud Anan

Four days ago I began looking into any potential prophetic significance apart from the obvious significance found in Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 28:24-26. The first prophetic note to be made is that Ezekiel 28:24-26 clearly illustrates the safety and security Israel will live in just prior to the Gog of Magog invasion will have been won in the existential Psalm 83 war that has been fought against the Muslim Arabs for the past 65 years come Friday, 30 November 2012.

“And there shall no longer be a pricking brier or a painful thorn for the house of Israel from among all who are around them, who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord God.”‘Thus says the Lord God: “When I have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and am hallowed in them in the sight of the Gentiles, then they will dwell in their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob. And they will dwell safely there, build houses, and plant vineyards; yes, they will dwell securely, when I execute judgments on all those around them who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God.”’”

The second prophetic note is that the Israel Defense Forces selection of the name for the current operation comes straight from the text of Exodus 13:17-22, verse 21 specifically (NKJV):

"Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.”  So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt. And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.” So they took their journey from Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud (Ed. "Amud Anan") to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.  He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people."

God did not lead all of Israel by Amud Anan directly into His promised land. The Suez Canal did not exist, nor was there any natural barrier between Egypt and the promised land to impede the progress of Israel to it. There was only the land of the Philistines and the war with them that would ensue which God said might cause Israel to preferentially turn back and return to the slavery they had known for hundreds of years in Egypt. So God led Israel by 'Amud Anan,' 'Pillar of Cloud,' southwards along the wilderness of the eastern bank of the Sinai Peninsula all the way to the present day location of Sharm el-Sheikh.

The details of the crossing are found in Exodus 14, and the specific identified locations in the text explain that Israel crossed from the bottom tip of Sinai across the Strait of Tiran, the maritime boundary between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, and into what is today the western most portion of Saudi Arabia, and what had been in those days the ancient land of Midian. It was here that Israel crossed the Strait of Tiran between walls of water, and following close behind them was the cream of Pharaoh's entire army - his chariot corps, his horsemen and foot soldiers. And it was here that God also had led them,  as as we are told in Exodus 14, for the purpose of their annihilation.

Are there prophetic implications for "Operation Amud Anan?" Is this the battle which will culminate in a repeating of history in the annihilation of the cream of the Egyptian Army in the Sinai? It may well be, but we will have to wait and see what transpires. We who bear witness that is!

UPDATE 12:29 AM EST 21 November 2012: Operation Amud Anan continues as it has for the past several days with strikes and counter-strikes. The reported ceasefire negotiation has produced nothing and the much anticipated ground invasion remains on hold. What is evident is that Israel has been systematically destroying HAMAS ability to govern Gaza. What remains to be seen is if Israel will carry forward and destroy HAMAS itself and what Egypt and other Arab governments will do in response. Meanwhile, back in Iran, the nuclear weapons program continues.

Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu to US SECSTATE Clinton: “If there is a possibility of achieving a long-term solution to this problem with diplomatic means, we prefer that, but if not, I’m sure you understand that Israel will have to take whatever action is necessary to defend its people.” This statement came after the terrorists in Gaza rejected Israel's offer of a 90-day ceasefire during which his government would assess the "goodwill" of its enemies toward a long-term solution.

What HAMAS, Islamic Jihad, other Islamic terrorist groups and their Iranian and Egyptian and Arab benefactors have thus far failed to comprehend is that the ceasefire which halted the IDFs Operation Cast Lead in January 2009 was predicated upon the condition that rocket attacks originating in Gaza had to stop completely. That condition was breached just days after the ceasefire and when IDF troops had withdrawn from Gaza. Since then well over 1,000 rockets and mortars have been fired into Israel. There is no way that the Israeli government can return to the status quo of the Operation Cast Lead ceasefire and the past 3 years and 10 months. Operation Amud Anan must proceed to mission complete status. IDF troops are likely to enter Gaza and begin hunting down the terrorists at any moment.

UPDATE 1 PM EST 21 November: There is currently a rush by media to report a ceasefire, but there are various interpretations of when this ceasefire is to take effect. Hillary and the Egyptian FM Mohammed Amr announced it in Cairo.  Best information is that the ceasefire will commence at 2100 (9 PM) Israel Standard Time which is 1400 (2 PM) US Eastern Standard Time (one half hour from now).

Egypt is to assume responsibility for Gaza under the terms of this ceasefire. This ceasefire was agreed to in a phone call between Obama and Netanyahu with Obama saying that Bibi must give the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood-led government "a chance."

Netanyahu is absolutely crazy to place any trust in either President Obama or Egypt's MB government. His chances of re-election or leading Likud will diminish accordingly.