Global SITREP C10-16: EZEKIEL 38/39 - PRIMARY INVASION ROUTES

A still image, taken from video footage and released by Russia's Defense Ministry on August 18, 2016, shows a Russian Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bomber based at Iran's Hamedan Air Base dropping bombs over the Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor. Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation/Handout via REUTERS TV

Final Update 23 August 2016: Russian braggadocio about its Syrian combat air operations launching from their Iranian hosts Hamedan (a/k/a Nojeh) Air Base caused all kinds of really embarrassing legal problems for the Ayatollah's regime. Turns out that the Iranian constitution forbids the basing of foreign troops on Iranian territory. So the Iranians had to inform their allies from the north to take everything they just brought down into Hamedan Air Base back up to Mozdok Air Base in Russia.

In order to save face, the Russians promptly made their own announcement that the unprecedented bombing missions were objectively mission complete and all Russian units were returning to their home base in Russia, but... they would return to Hamedan Air Base in the future "if circumstances warranted." 

Russian Major-General Igor Konashenkov, in his own words: "Further use of the Hamedan Air Base in the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Russian Aerospace Forces will be carried out on the basis of mutual agreements to fight terrorism and depending on the prevailing circumstances in Syria." 

Interesting. "Depending on the prevailing circumstances in Syria." I wonder, would the fulfillment of Isaiah 17, the destruction of Damascus and the destruction of the country, be the kind of circumstance this Russian major-general is referring to?  I imagine next time the Russians will keep their lips zipped and adhere to the tried and true military concept of OPSEC (OPerational SECurity).

While considering such a turn of events being possible in previous months and even years, I had not given express consideration in thought to the final fulfillment of Isaiah 17 serving a type of trip-wire or trigger for the start of Ezekiel 38/39 and the Battle of Gog/Magog. That was last night. 

Upon rising this morning I was suddenly made aware of the fact that we've discussed this exact concept on Eschatology Today many times previously, as in a flood of prophetic fulfillments occurring in a precise sequence, like dominoes toppling over other well-positioned dominoes. Yes, that's what I have long believed the Lord's prophetic word teaches. However, now we have a Russian major-general, although he does not realize it, hinting at the exact same thing. Interesting things we are watching in real-time on a day-to-day basis. 

"Therefore be you also ready: for in such an hour as you think not the Son of man comes." (Matthew 24:44)

Ezekiel 38/39 Primary Invasion Routes

19 August 2016: As mentioned previously on Eschatology Today, but this time with due emphasis, the running assessment is that when the primary military forces under the leadership of "Gog of Magog" detailed in Ezekiel 38/39 commence their attempted airborne invasion of Israel, they will utilize the air corridor that has been firmly established for Russian Federation Air Force missions into Syria since November 2015.

This air corridor was more firmly established this spring when the Russian military launched cruise missiles out of the Caspian Sea against rebel targets in Syria. The air corridor from the north entered Iranian airspace and turned to the west, crossing into Iraq before entering Syria. 

This same air corridor is now being used in air strikes by Russian TU-22M3 heavy bombers and SU-34 strike aircraft against targets in Syria. These strike aircraft which originate at Mozdok Air Base in Russia (see image below) use the Caspian corridor enroute to Hamedan Air Base in northwestern Iran. They then fly west across Iraq and into Syria. The primary OSINT sources I have used in compiling detailed data for this SITREP are The LongWar Journal and The Aviationist.

Russian air combat missions. Image:LongWar Journal

Source: The Aviationist/Babak Taghvaee

The utilization of this specific air corridor is due to the very real geo-political and military realities that are extant in the Middle East/Southwest Asia. They will likely remain as such, if not increase in the wake of future prophetic events as detailed by Isaiah 17 and Psalm 83, and not necessarily in that particular order. These maps speak volumes through the visual data they contain. A relatively short extension of this Russian air corridor into what will be at that time Israel's territory east of the Dead Sea is a very simple and non-strenuous mental exercise based upon the text of Ezekiel 39:11-16.

However, the most significant thing to notice at present is that the Russian air corridor absolutely avoids Turkish airspace by a very wide margin. Intellectual honesty requires one to concede that this fact is not due to overwhelming Turkish air power or anti-aircraft defensive capabilities, but is solely due to NATO airpower manifest in Turkey and the Middle East in general. Last week this NATO airpower was on full display when pairs of stealthy American F-22 Raptor appeared seemingly out of nowhere to confront Syrian SU-24 Fencers on at least two occasions, within Syrian air space, quickly causing the latter to flee rather than stand their "ground" over Syrian soil. Such is the overwhelming technological capability of sixth-generation fighter aircraft over older fifth-generation fighters.

This kind of overwhelming NATO airpower also vividly demonstrates the inherent weakness of forward-deployed Iranian air power. The most recent example of this occurred in March 2013, when obsolete IRGC fourth-generation F4E Phantom jets were scrambled with orders to intercept and shoot down an American MQ-1 Predator drone detected flying a reconnaissance mission in international airspace over the Persian Gulf. The Iranian air controllers and pilots of the intercepting Phantom jets were totally unaware of the presence of American F-22 Raptors escorting the MQ-1. So unaware were they that one Raptor pilot flew underneath the Iranian Phantoms, checked out his opponent weapons load, and only revealed his very close presence by suddenly popping up just off the left wingtip of the lead Iranian Phantom, and calling the stunned Iranian pilots with the now famous radio greeting, "you really ought to go home."

So, to home they went for a change of underwear and to live to fly another day. As we know from Bible prophecy they will be back, but at that time, and far too late to make any real difference, they'll just wish in the last seconds of their life on earth they'd just stayed home. 

Finally, after offering prayers to a false god this past Friday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani displayed atypical Persian arrogance and national pride in issuing this declaration: "Our missile power is at such a level that we are able to destroy all our targets at any operational range." 

Eschatology Today cordially invites President Rouhani to read the text of Jeremiah 49:35, within which the true, living God of all creation completely contradicts his declaration with His own irrevocable prophetic word:

"Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the foremost of their might.'"

The Prophetic Road to Revelation (Part IV):The War of Gog of Magog

Updated: 12 December 2014

There have been several updates applied within this part of the series. These updates are the result of ongoing study and research. The most profound of them is the view that the invading hordes of the Magog confederation's forces do not come to carry away the spoils of war, but rather they come to conquer the entire territory, the entire population and all of the wealth therein of the State of Israel as it will exist in the near-future of the post-Psalm 83, Isaiah 11:14 and Ezekiel 28:24-26 Middle East.

There are innumerable commentators who have discussed at length the identification of the nations comprising the Gog/Magog confederation which comes against Israel in the “latter days.” I will simply cite the Table of Nations found in Genesis 10 and provide the reader with this incredible map which graphically illustrates the distribution of the descendants of Noah. Those nations and their modern equivalents can be quickly located on this map.

In the concluding paragraph in Part 3 of this series, it was stated that another result of the War of Psalm 83 will be to precipitate the subsequent War of Gog/Magog so chillingly detailed in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 attended by destruction of Russia, Iran, Turkey, Libya, Sudan and a host of smaller Caucasian and Central Asian nations who will be drawn to their fates along with the enigmatic “Gog.” In consideration of the “who” and “when” aspects having been fairly well identified by so many commentators, this section will look at some other specific details concerning the “what,” “where” and “why” aspects of Ezekiel’s 2600-year old Divinely inspired prophecy.

What Did Ezekiel Say?

First let us examine some of Ezekiel’s descriptive vocabulary with the understanding that he was describing events and physical items of at least two and one half millennia into the future. To put ourselves in Ezekiel’s sandals, just imagine the difficulty of accurately describing full-scale warfare and identifying the specific combatants some 2,600 years into the future. Such hypothesizing would be a daunting task to be sure and quite likely unachievable in the absence of demonstrated God-given prophetic accuracy within the Holy Bible and to which we all surely testify to in these ‘last days. We will also look at the very specific reason of why Ezekiel was made to impart such specificity in his description of this coming war.

In Ezekiel 38:8 the prophet says that Israel has been qabats (gathered, assembled) against the har (mountains, hill country) of Israel. Har is the same word used in Exodus 15:17, denoting the place God has made and established for Israel to dwell in, which have always been waste. Since ancient times what we consider as Israel ‘proper,’ that sliver of land along the Mediterranean coast and west of the River Jordan between Lebanon and Egypt has not always been chorbah (waste), so what part of Israel does this har that has always been chorbah refer to? I believe it is that part of Israel which was encompassed in the ancient Kingdom of Israel ruled by David and Solomon and which included large swaths of territory east of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. This is the future Israel that will result from the literal, prophetic fulfillment of Psalm 83 as detailed in the portion of the map seen below.

I cite as further evidence of the not-so-distant future Israel expanding east of the Jordan River, and the specific location of the destruction of the Gog/Magog confederation armies, is identified in Ezekiel 39:11 where the prophecy states (emphasis added), “And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the [noses] of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call [it] the valley of Hamongog.”

The reader will note that the “valley of the Passengers” is firmly identified in this verse as being in Israel. It is within this specific valley where God long ago determined that Israel would someday bury the enemy hordes of the Gog/Magog confederation. At the present the valley of the passengers is located in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, but as a result of Psalm 83 will be located within the territorial boundaries of Israel. Ezekiel informs us that this valley of passengers is located “on the qidmah (east) of the yam (sea).” Since we’re in present day Jordan, then the sea referred to is the Dead Sea as seen on this next map.

“The valley of the Passengers” is bounded on the south by the 45-mile long Arnon River, strongly referenced in Numbers 21:14-15 and in Isaiah 16:2. The central town of this valley was known in ancient times as Dibon, or as the Israelite tribe of Gad called it Dibon-Gad. This town is currently known as Dhiban, and lies just north of ancient Aroer. (See Numbers 21:30, Numbers 32:34, and Numbers 33:45). In Joshua 13:17 this town was given to the tribe of Reuben. According to an entry at Biblos.com, "The form of the name, Dimon, in Isaiah 15 may have been given to make it resemble the Hebrew word dam, (blood) to support the play upon words in the verse." This is also consistent with the vivid description of the destruction God inflicts upon the Gog/Magog hordes. It does appear to this writer that modern Dhiban may well be officially renamed “Hamonah.” Indeed, if one executes a Google search today for “Hamonah” the first result will be a map identifying Dhiban, Jordan as Hamonah. Upon fulfillment of Ezekiel 38 and 39 the valley of the Passengers will then henceforth be known as the valley of Hamongog.

Ezekiel Identifies Many Nations!

It is interesting to note that Ezekiel also mentions other nations besides those of the Gog/Magog confederation. In chapter 38 verse 13 we are informed by Ezekiel that Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish with all the kefer (young lions) thereof appear to question the motives of the invading Gog/Magog horde.

Of these nations Sheba and Dedan clearly represent the Arabs of the peninsula, Saudi Arabia and Yemen respectively, who along with their western Arab Muslim al-ikhwan (brothers) have just recently had their Islamic world rocked an enfeebled as a direct result of the final battle of the Psalm 83 War. The Islamic “Allah” was proven to be a powerless, false moon god in head-to-head confrontation with YHWH, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel). Again, Psalm 83 reveals that the IDF will go to war against the combined armies of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and possibly a token military force from Iraq like a galgal (whirlwind) and sweep these Arab armies before them like so much qash (chaff) in the wind, so that these armies are bä’ar (consumed whole) as esh (fire) consumes an entire yahar (forest).

Thus it will be that the God of Israel will make Himself known to the Arab Muslims as the true God (Psalm 83:16-18). It is this realization of the one, true God of these formerly Muslim Arabs which has them inquire of Gog/Magog if their intent is solely the spoils of war, and intimating that any power in direct military confrontation with Almighty God will suffer the same totally consumed and burnt up fate as the combined Arab armies were previously.

The other nations are represented as ‘merchants of Tarshish’ and their kefer (young lions weaned and ravening of their own accord). These are clearly the commercial and maritime nations of the Western (Mediterranean) Sea and their former colonies across the Atlantic Ocean. Here we see what I would consider the best Biblical prophetic reference yet to the emergent world power of the European Union and their former colonies of the Western Hemisphere, from Canada to Chile.

Skipping forward to our final destination in The Revelation of Jesus Christ, note that it is the continental and economic base of Europe which is the primary power that is backed by the equally immense population and resources of the former colonies in the Western Hemisphere. This is the global militarily peerless power of approximately of 1.6 billion people that will emerge under the sudden emergence of an incredibly charismatic and immensely popular peacemaker. This global peacemaker, whom we know from Daniel 9:27, will gabar (confirm and give strength to) a bĕriyth (treaty, alliance or Global Constitution) among many nations for 7-years duration. This period is also known as Daniel’s 70^th Week (i.e. the Tribulation) destined to be disrupted at mid-point by the apparent assassination and seemingly miraculous recovery from a mortal head wound of the peacemaker. This man will be re-animated to life and totally indwelt by Satan himself. Enter the Antichrist.

When God Goes To War

Again, to set the stage we’re returning briefly to Ezekiel 38:8. In this verse not only are we informed through Ezekiel that this impending invasion form the tsaphown (the obscure, dark northern nations) will occur in the achariyth shaneh (latter years) but that Israel will be a eretz shuwb chereb which means a country, territory returned or restored through the sword, (warfare) and populated by the returning descendants of those Jews dispersed worldwide by the Roman wars of total conquest between 66-70 A.D. This is precisely, exactingly descriptive of how the modern Eretz Israel was re-born as described previously in Part I from the winter and spring of 1947-48 to the present, and yet still in the immediate future as a result of the imminent fulfillment of Psalm 83. It is into this land, a territorially expanded Israel that the multinational military hordes and nations of origin of the Gog/Magog alliance will be brought to their destruction through chach lechiy, hooks placed into the jaws of these enemies by God.

I am compelled to make a specific note at this point that there is not just one hook or one jaw, but plural "hooks" and "jaws." There are more than one hook and more than one jaw, or many hooks and many jaws. Secondly, the "hook" is not necessarily a "fish hook" as we might imagine. The Hebrew word is chach can mean a ring, like a nose ring as found Ezekiel Ch 29:4, or a bracelet, and both of which were run through the nose of wild animals in order to tame them. Often in Old Testament times a rope was attached to the ring or the bracelet to lead the animal to where the trainer wanted it to go. The next Hebrew word to note is lechiy which is a reference to the cheek of a man, or the jawbone of an animal.

Read and compare Ezekiel's use of this word with the text found in Isaiah 37:29. The purposes are literally identical, to "turn thee back". Therefore, the "hook" is a metaphor which represents the vehicle of the judgment that God has declared upon ALL of the nations of the Gog/Magog confederation. God Almighty has determined that His judgment is due to these nations which He considers to be no better than animals. It is God who nathan (gave, put or set) these devices of His choosing and by His sovereign will so that 5/6ths of these nations military forces will be drawn to their deaths in the Valley of the Passengers in what is today the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, but in that near-future time will have been conquered to become the land of Israel. God has from ancient times made the determination to nathan chach (set rings, hooks) into Gog/Magog and ALL of those nations to execute His Divine judgment of near total destruction (5/6ths) upon the entirety of that confederation of nations.

Additionally, in Ezekiel 38:10 we are introduced by the prophet to ra machashabah which transliterates in English as “an evil thought or evil plan.” That ra machashabah is the shalal, the spoil of war and source of the resultant coveting by the Gog/Magog alliance of Israel's expanded new territories, the sum of which contain newly acquired sources of wealth which are the net result of the final fulfillment of Psalm 83, Isaiah 11:14 and Ezekiel 28:24-26 and/or other additional or as yet possibly undiscovered vaults of oil, gas, precious stones, gold, silver or mineral wealth within the land of Israel’s expanded boundaries. The sum of all these things also result in the establishment of a new military reality and regional paradigm, first and foremost of which is that Israel will live in total security and fear no nation on this earth.

Moreover, the text of Ezekiel 38:12 is completely unambiguous about the fact that the Gog-led horde of enemy invaders intention is the complete and total conquest of Israel... meaning a conquest of all the land, all of its people and all of of the wealth they possess in that land. The entirety of the shalal (spoils) is everything that God has given to Israel in its rebirth to possess all the land under the Abrahamic Covenant. This is what the hordes led by Gog of Magog will come to take possession of. And make no mistake about this, they come to take what belongs to God. Ezekiel 38 verse 12 begins with a repetition of two Hebrew words: "Shalal shalal."  "Shalal shalal" transliterates to "a spoil a spoil," or more correctly in English as, "a spoil of a spoil."  This confirms that the Israel Gog's hordes come to take as their possession is one which Israel has already totally taken as their possession in total fulfillment of the three prophecies linked directly above.

And So They Will Come Against Israel

At the appointed time when this northern horde is mobilized and moves against a physically larger and prosperous Israel, the very face of the Lord will display the chemah, a burning rage which is manifest in his sending ‘esh ebrah, a supernatural excess of consuming fire against them. Simultaneous with this is sent a great gadowl ra’ash, an earthquake of intense shaking and magnitude with the epicenter in Israel will radiate outwards across the entire planet. These things are prophetic and unmistakeable signs which all people and living creatures of the Earth will both feel or experience with their senses directly; there will be no question among the people of Israel, or of the world, or among the wild animals that YHWH is the source. The Lord will get the entire world’s attention in the most unambiguous fashion.

When God Goes To War.

The voice of God will call out to His chosen weapons of war and the hordes of Gog/Magog will begin to slay one another. He will cause them to turn loose their weapons of deber (pestilence, plague, WMD) in the manner of shataph geshem (an overflowing raining down) of the ‘elgabyish ‘esh gopiryth (fiery pearls and breath of God) against themselves. The prophetic picture painted by Ezekiel is one of truly Divine “Shock and Awe.”

The Aftermath

The death, destruction and carnage will be truly horrific, so much so that when it is finished all the people who are gainfully employed full-time to cleanse the land will find are bones and shards of bones. Gog/Magog’s weapons of war will be used for fuel for the subsequent seven years. All Israel then returns to their covenant of faith with and in the Lord, for we see in Ezekiel 39:29
“Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.”

It is at this point I would suggest the reader turn to Romans 11:25-32 where we read:

“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written,

“There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.”

'As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the father's sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: Even so have these also now not believed that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.'

In comparing the text of Ezekiel 39:29 and that of Paul in Romans 11:25-32 does it appear to you, as it does to me, that at some point during this sequence of events the time of the Gentiles comes to its completion, and therefore the Church age, and thus the Harpazo and “catching up” of the Bride of Christ? Ezekiel 39:29 refers to the Lord pouring out His Spirit upon all Israel not in the past tense, but as something already accomplished. While no man can know for sure, surely the conclusion of this season, as these Spirit-filled writers attest, is surely at hand, even at the door.

Originally version posted on May 17, 2009.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Part III

Part II

Part I

Clues to the Timing of Ezekiel 38/39 and other Insights

1 February 2012: I was immersed in serious Ezekiel 38/39 study into the wee hours this morning when new insights began to emerge that I'd not noticed previously.

Firstly, Ezekiel is the only prophet recorded in the Holy Bible to which God directly revealed the details about "Gog, of the land of Magog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy concerning him."

None of the other prophets - Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel or Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi wrote so much as a single prophetic word about Gog of Magog. Zippo, Nada, None. The fact that the angel Gabriel said nothing to Daniel about Gog of Magog speaks volumes in my opinion. I would say the purpose of God the Father is inherent in this blatant omission. More on that in just a moment.

Secondly, when the angel Gabriel told Daniel (Ch. 11) about the kings of the south and north, that particular prophecy was fulfilled in the several wars between the Hellenic empires of Ptolemaic Egypt (south of Israel) and the Seleucid Empire of southwest Asia (north of Israel). These wars were fought over a period of 106 years (274-167 BC) and which culminated in the fulfilled prophecies about the precursor antichrist Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

There is no mention of the Antichrist or of Jerusalem or any existing Temple in Ezekiel 38/39. I believe these are indicators that the attempted invasion by Gog's confederation occurs during a period of time when Israel is dwelling securely (after Psalm 83, Isaiah 17 for example) but has not yet rebuilt the Temple. Like a time between right now and the start of Daniel's 70th Week and the revealing of the Antichrist with his 7-year "covenant among many."

Finally, getting back to the Lord's purpose in His prophetic word to Ezekiel. This is a really crucial point for us to consider. This coming great slaughter upon the mountains of Israel in Ezekiel 38/39 is not just to bring Israel back into faithfulness to God, but also, as the Lord declares in verse 16: (NKJV - emphasis added) "And thou hast come up against My people Israel, As a cloud to cover the land, In the latter end of the days it is, And I have brought thee in against My land, IN ORDER THAT THE NATIONS MAY KNOW ME, IN MY BEING SANCTIFIED IN THEE BEFORE THEIR EYES, O Gog."

Do you see that? God declares to Ezekiel - and to all of us living right now - that He will supernaturally reveal Himself to the gentile nations of the world through the overwhelming slaughter of Gog's entire confederated military forces and the fire He sends on the land of Magog.

First question: What purpose would there be to this for all of the gentile nations if it were not prior to the Harpazo?

And what does Ezekiel say occurs after the burial of Gog's confederate armies?

Israel builds the Temple.

Arguments Against a Muslim Antichrist

by Bill Salus

Troublesome times, filled with stage setting prophetic signs, have many concerned they live in the last generation. As such, many eschatologists field questions about the Antichrist whose reign of terror dominates the final generation.

Topping the list is the curiosity over his origin. Will he be a Jew, Gentile, Muslim, or perhaps a Supernatural being like the Nepilim in the ancient Days of Noah?

According to the majority consensus of several experts interviewed by Dr. David Reagan of Lamb and Lion Ministries, there doesn’t seem to be a Jewish bone in Antichrist’s body. Their views can be watched here or read in my blog article called “Is the Antichrist, a Jew, Gentile, or Supernatural.”

Additionally, those pondering the supernatural origins of the Antichrist comprise a minority thus far. In fact, the first time I had heard about it was in a radio interview I hosted with end time’s expert and co-founder of Rapture Ready, Terry James. During the Prophecy Update radio program Terry made a compelling argument for a supernatural Antichrist. This fascinating interview took place on November of 2010 and can be heard here.

However, through a process of deductive reasoning, it appears most scholars believe the Antichrist is either a non-Muslim Gentile or a Muslim Gentile. Traditional teaching points to a non-Muslim Gentile Antichrist rising out of the Revived Roman Empire. Advocates of this view point to Daniel 9:26, which says this crazed individual will be a Roman. The prophecy declares the Antichrist will come out of the people who destroyed Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple, an event fulfilled in 70 A.D. by the Roman Empire.

In January 2009 I wrote an article called “Does Daniel Debunk the Assyrian Antichrist.” This article hit a sensitive nerve among those interested in the origin of the Antichrist and prompted 143 blogs, including many from author Joel Richardson of the bestselling book “The Islamic Antichrist.”

Recently, I was asked by Dr. David Reagan to pen my position on several questions related to the Antichrist. One of them was regarded with the potential for a Muslim Antichrist. Some of the best teaching on this controversial subject is written in a transcript entitled, “The Muslim Antichrist Theory and Evaluation” by Dr. David Reagan.

Dr. Reagan's excellent article points out that Islamic eschatology also has an Antichrist called the Dajjal and that similarities between the Islamic Dajjal and biblical Antichrist exist. Muslim Antichrist advocates often use these similarities to argue their point. However, any similarities between the two are inadmissible due to the fact that Islamic scribes had several thousand years of previously recorded biblical prophecy available to them, which enabled them to fabricate the features of the Dajjal.

Summarized below are a few of the reasons I don’t believe the Antichrist will be a Muslim.

To hypothesize the Antichrist could be a Muslim, which is a relatively new paradigm shift in thinking, ignores the prophetic ramifications of Psalm 83, Ezekiel 38, and the first four seal judgments of Revelation 6:1-7. Prophetic insights written in Isralestine, The Ancient Blueprints of the Future Middle East, suggest Psalm 83, and possibly Ezekiel 38, appears to occur before the Antichrist rides in on the world stage as the "white horseman" of the apocalypse in Rev. 6:1.

As pointed out in the Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38 arguments below, the fulfillment of both prophecies will negatively impact the religion of Islam. Therefore, by the time the Antichrist emerges, Islam should be undergoing a deepening crisis in faith thereby hindering any Muslim's bid for world worship.

The Psalm 83 Argument

Psalm 83 is a confederation of ten predominately Muslim populations that will invade Israel to reclaim Palestine for the Palestinians. They will be decisively defeated by the Israeli Defense Forces as per Ezekiel 25:14, Obadiah 1:18, and elsewhere. This defeat will serve as a severe “punch to the gut” of the Islamic faith. Muslims worldwide will be shocked to witness today’s tiny Israel militarily overpower their present surrounding Arab foes.

The Ezekiel 38 Argument

In the aftermath of the I.D.F. victory of Psalm 83, the predominately Muslim nine-member coalition of invaders of Ezekiel 38:1-6 will make their bid to invade Israel to capture Israeli plunder and booty. We are informed in Ezekiel 38:18 - 39:6 that the invaders will meet their doom via the divine doings of the Lord rather than the I.D.F. The defeat of the Ezekiel invaders will be nothing less than a powerful “uppercut to the jawbone” of Islam.

In the aftermath of these two victories the downward slide of Allah will be observable as Muslims worldwide will become increasingly disenchanted with their Islamic faith. This is already occurring. Fueled by the Internet and social networks, many Mideast Muslim youths are looking beyond the confines of seventh-century Islam and state censored media for a brighter democratic future. Allah’s downward slide partially fulfills the prophecy in Zephaniah 2:11, which foretells the fall of all false gods.

These two Pre-Tribulation prophetic events, Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38, should assure that Islam is both crippled and compromised by the time the predicted wars of Revelation 6 occur. These apocalyptic wars predict indiscriminate death and destruction worldwide putting Islam well within its sites. As a result, Islam should be “knocked out for the final ten – count” before the midpoint of the seven – year tribulation arrives.

In addition to the objections identified above, 2 Thessalonians 2:4 declares the Antichrist will someday have the audacity to declare himself as god. Such a declaration flies in the face of Islam’s primary tenet that “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet or messenger.” According to the prophecy the Antichrist opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

Once the Antichrist fulfills the 2 Thess. 2:4 prophecy a fatwa would certainly be issued to assassinate him if he was a Muslim. When this fact is pointed out to Muslim Antichrist advocates they often point out that Revelation 13:3-4 and Rev. 17:7-11 suggests the Antichrist will die. But, they argue these passages also suggest he will subsequently resurrect to rule the world.

The logical question then arises, "Wouldn't that prompt the issuance of another fatwa against his life?" In order to avoid an unending vicious cycle of fatwa, death, and resurrection they speculate that fatwa’s calling for the Antichrist’s death ultimately cease to be issued. Such a conclusion is difficult to support scripturally. Thus, the 2 Thessalonians argument also opposes the Muslim Antichrist theory.

Furthermore, attempts to identify a Muslim Antichrist often require historical revisionism and sensational newspaper exegesis. Historical revisionism occurs when Muslim Antichrist advocates discount Roman responsibility over the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple. They teach Arab conscripts, even though they were subservient under Roman rule, did the dirty work. This argument is highly suspect and easily refuted. (Refer to the blogs here).

Newspaper exegesis occurs by focusing on Islam’s adversarial role in current Mideast events rather than appropriately ordering the Israeli war prophecies described in Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38. Muslim Antichrist advocates attempt to give Islam longevity by conveniently incorporating these prophecies into the campaign of Armageddon.

It is commonly taught that the final Armageddon battle, whereby the Antichrist and his armies are defeated, occurs during the latter part of the seven-year Tribulation period. Many, including myself, believe the Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38 prophecies occur independently from, and in advance of, the final Armageddon battle. Therefore as stated above, before Armageddon comes Islam will be “knocked out for the ten – count”

It appears humanity is about to witness the fulfillment of Psalm 83 followed by Ezekiel 38. These two powerful prophetic events should render Islamic eschatology, which has no Godly inspiration apart from that clumsily plagiarized out of the bible, useless. There will be a biblical Antichrist and he may be alive today. But, it is highly doubtful that he will be a Muslim.

A "Palestinian" state in 2011? Don't count on it.

01 January 2011: So, here we are on the first day of 2011, and the odds makers and the secular power elite are banking on the unilateral declaration of statehood for "Palestine" in just a few short months.

I'm thinking such a "Palestinian" state will never come into existence.

Why?

Because of Ezekiel 38/39.

Let's say, just for giggles and grins sake, that a "Palestinian" state did exist and was located within the borders of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank). What the heck, thow in the whole of Gaza as well. That's the new "Palestine."

So riddle me this...

If Israel was nothing more than the tiny geographical size of the State of New Jersey (less than 9,000 square miles in area)...

what would be the necessity for the overwhelmingly massive military forces of 9 much larger nations as described by Ezekiel to come against her?

At that tiny area; it's like comparing the size of an apple with a grape.

Such a scenario makes zero military tactical, practical or logical sense at whatsoever. Zippo, nada, none.

Such a scenario as described by Ezekiel only makes sense if "Palestine" does not exist and Israel's geographical size at that time is at least 20 times larger than the above map indicates. Ezekiel 38/39 makes sense if Israel were at that time to encompass the land area of a nation the size of Iraq.

An Israel that's approximately this large...

Now that's an invasion force versus size comparison which is apples to apples.

When Will The Third Temple Be Built?

04 December 2009: The Third Temple is coming to Jerusalem. However I have my doubts whether its construction will have anything to do with the reports being circulated regarding a long deceased rabbi by the name of Vilna Gaon or the alleged imminent destruction of the newly reconstrcuted Hurva (Ruins) Synagogue in Jerusalem.

We all know that the Third Temple will be where the Jews reinstate the daily worship and daily sacrifice which the Antichrist will put a stop to. It will be within the Temple, in that part known as the Holy Place, where an image that will be made to speak will be stood up.

These things have occured in the past as a template for the future, during the reign of the prototype antichrist, Seleucid King Antiochus IV Epiphanes. This event is the Abomination of Desolation.

Our Lord and Savior told us so:

“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place...”

Matthew 24:15a

The precise location inside the Temple that Jesus is referencing from Daniel can be seen in the image below. (From Chuck Missler's KHouse website)

I also believe that God's Word tells us when the Third Temple will be built during these last days. This is yet another specific template of a future prophetic event found in the Old Testament.The timing reference is related to the timing and conditions that were required for the building of Solomon's Temple on the Lord's specific instructions:

1 Kings 5:1-5, verses 3 and 4 especially.

1 Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, because he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram had always loved David.

2 Then Solomon sent to Hiram, saying:

3 You know how my father David could not build a house for the name of the LORD his God because of the wars which were fought against him on every side, until the LORD put his foes under the soles of his feet.

4 But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor evil occurrence.

5 And behold, I propose to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spoke to my father David, saying, “Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, he shall build the house for My name.”

After the enemies are defeated and wars on Israel's every side are won, then we'll see the condition set for the rebuilding of this prophetically important structure. After Isaiah 17, Psalm 83 are fulfilled I do expect the Temple to be constructed very quickly thereafter.

It will be through the reinstatement of Hebrew Temple worship in the Temple in Jerusalem that God will pour out His Spirit on all Israel in fulfillment of Romans 11 and a host of other Bible prophecies. And the scales will be removed from their eyes and they will look upon Him whom they pierced.

And the Bride is in Heaven with Messiah.

Turkey Has Left the West and Joined the Magog Axis

18 October 2009: This week bore witness to what Bible eschatologists and Christian watchmen have been warning about for years : the inevitable and unequivocal defection of Turkey from the NATO military alliance in favor of the military alliance identified by the ancient national names of Ezekiel 38-39 and best known as the Gog-Magog Alliance. With ever increasing rapidity Bible prophecy is being fulfilled. The Bride of Christ has taken full notice while the secular institutions which surround all of us in the West and in Israel officially remain blissfully ignorant if not wilfully unconscious.

Turkey not only unceremoniously bounced Israel out of a longstanding annual airborne 'Anatolian Eagle" military exercises, but it cemented a new military alliance with Israel's arch-enemy and continuing state-of-war belligerent in Syria. This new military alliance enjoins the Turks and Syrians to another new military alliance between Turkey and Iran against the Kurds of northern Iraq and along Turkey and Iran's common border south of Armenia. Last February the new Turkish and Iranian strategic alliance was highlighted in the MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 2248. Again, none of this is news to the Bride of Christ. We've been warning about it for years.

Armenian-Turkish Accord is a Major Signal of the Gog Military Alliance Fulfillment

Ancient Armenia

11 October 2009: In the news this weekend is the historical geo-poltical and prophetically significant accord establishing the required protocols for full diplomatic relations between the ancient Armenian and Turkish peoples. The significance of this accord underlies the eschatological position of Eschatology Today that Armenia is without question one of the nations identified as belonging to the Gog military confederation to become existent in the 'last days" per the Spirit-inspired prophecy of Ezekiel 38-39.

Armenia (see map above) is one of the nations named by Ezekiel which many eschatologists have thus far erroneously applied in an interpretation of Ezekiel 38:6 as being modern eastern Turkey. Armenia is, in Biblical fact, a nation descended from and identified as both Gomer and Togarmah!

"Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops—many people are with you."

In historical point-of-fact, the Armenian nation predates by a few thousand years the establishment of a Turkish state in Asia Minor. It is in ancient Armenia, historically centered around Lake Van, that Noah's ark came to rest on Mt. Ararat after The Flood. The Armenian's have for millennia held the belief that they are the direct descendants of Noah's son Japheth through his son Gomer through one of his descendants known by the name of Haik. Haik (pronounced "high,") is name the Armenians use to identify their own nationality). Haik was the son of a man named Togarmah. Also in ancient times Armenia was known as Urartu (Arartu) by the peoples of this northern Middle Eastern regions, and as the Kingdom of Ararat in the Old Testament. The Kingdom of Ararat was named in Jeremiah 51:27 along with the ancient nations of Minniy (a part of Armenia) and Ashkenaz (a nation in the same region also descended from Japheth).

The Armenia of the 21st century is a country overwhelmingly populated (98.7% according to the CIA World Factbook) by "Christians" (Armenian Apostolic and other Christian denominations) and is a full member of the Russian-led military alliance known as the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) discussed in the Eschatology Today entry of one week ago. Ratification of the normalization of relations treaty, pending Armenian withdrawal of its troops from the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in overwhelmingly Muslim Azerbaijan; the status of roughly 600,000 Armenian and Azerbaijani refugees, as well as the issue of Ottoman Turkish responsibility for the genocide of over 1 million Armenians at the end of WWI will be the final step in this very prophetic development prefacing the literal fulfillment of Ezekiel's war of Gog/Magog and the ultimately full restoration of Israel to the land given it in the unconditional Abrahamic Covenant of the Lord, as described in Genesis 12:1-3 and Genesis 15:18-21.

We are truly a blessed generation to be witnessing the literal fulfillment of Bible Prophecy. We are the generation of whom our Messiah spoke in Matthew 24. Despite all the seemingly apparent odds against and the seemingly impossible conditions to be overcome - as our Lord said, "these things must take place."

The Prophetic Road to Revelation (Part 1)

Updated: 01 December 2013


"Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth; this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.” Matt. 24:32-34 (NIV)

27 March 2009: The planet earth and all of the approximately 6 billion souls currently living upon it are travelling around the sun at 66,600 miles per hour. Indeed, ever since “yom echad” (day one), orbit by orbit around the sun, the earth has been inexorably moving forward in time. Eons of human history have come and gone. There is no going back. There is only the forward momentum to the future.

The Lord tells us that history does indeed repeat itself. He inspired King Solomon to write for all posterity that “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). What Solomon says here is that as a mortal man he recognizes that throughout history mankind has never learned from its mistakes; that history will repeat itself because from one generation to the next, that whatever lessons were learned are quickly forgotten, that subsequent generations will repeat the actions and the errors of their forebears. Such is the nature of man. No wonder many pundits today are remarking how similar the current world situation in 2009 is to what occurred just 70 years ago in 1939.

The Fig Tree

Nearly 2,000 years ago, as seen in the opening quote above, Jesus foretold of a time when Israel would once again live, figuratively describing it as the fig tree. He directed us to “now learn now the lesson” inherent in its rebirth. In the aftermath of the events which occurred in the world war begun in 1939, including yet another in a thousands of years long series of attempts to exterminate the Jews, the fig tree once again was planted back in the land given in Divine Covenant to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel).

On May 14, 1948 Israel was re-born, against all odds, and speaking the tongue of the ancient Hebrews. This rebirth occurred because it was ordained by God to occur at an appointed time. In continuing fulfillment of the above prophecy by the twigs are tender and the leaves have emerged – summer is near, indeed at the door. All of the additionally given prophetic signs are tangible indicators that the unique generation of which Jesus spoke are alive today.

The sixty-first anniversary of May 14, 1948 will occur eight weeks from now. More important than the number of years which have passed since Israel’s re-birth is the reality that both current and future world events are now themselves in orbit around the “fig tree,” that is, around the “Epicenter” as it is referred to by author Joel Rosenberg, exactly as the ancient Hebrew prophets foretold regarding Israel and Jerusalem, the “burdensome stone.”

What this signifies is that we are well travelled down the road to that era known in the Bible as the “Last Days” prior to the physical return of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the establishment of the Kingdom of God upon this earth. Indeed we have travelled quite some distance down the prophetic road toward the events described by the Father, to the Son to John of Patmos and known to us as The Revelation of Jesus Christ. The final 7 years of this age are detailed in terms of days in the Book of Daniel, and which he prophesied as the final 70th Week (of Years) until fulfillment of the larger prophecy concerning Israel and the end of the Tribulation.

Signs of the End of the Age

The second of the signs Jesus gave signaling the end of this age of mankind was of wars and rumors of wars. There are two, possibly three wars of immense, unfulfilled prophetic significance with respect to Israel, which sound exegesis indicates must occur prior to the onset of Daniel’s 70th week. These wars are large-scale military actions as described in Isaiah 17, Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38-39. Isaiah 17 and Psalm 83 may actually come to fulfillment concurrently or in sequence to one another. We will only know for sure when these events actually transpire, yet sound exegesis cannot mutually exclude either prophecy from the other as they are certainly inter-related events. It is my exegetical position, in concurrence with eschatological experts, that the massive military assault described in Ezekiel is a subsequent event to those described by Isaiah and the Psalmist Asaph. I believe there are significant real-world events occurring at present which serve as strong indications that the military actions described by Asaph and Isaiah will come to complete fulfillment in the near-term.

It is my belief that the finest and most comprehensive exegetical work to date on these coming wars, and in particular the Psalm 83 war, is the book “ISRALESTINE: The Ancient Blueprints of the Future Middle East” by my friend and brother in Christ, Bill Salus. Since Bill has already completed all of the heavy exegetical lifting with his book, I would suggest that all readers of this article read Isralestine for the Spirit-led specifics and details contained within his book.

One of the items that has come to my attention in recent times is that Arabs and Muslims all over the world, but particularly in the Middle East, are literally being set-up by their religious leaders for what can most adequately be described as a cataclysmic, religion-shattering defeat at the hands of the Israeli Defense Forces, supported once again by YHWH, the God of their fathers, the One true God of Israel.

Seeing how the Arabs today consider the results of the war with Israel between 1947 and 1949 to have been a “nabka” (catastrophe) and since supplemented by crushing Israeli military victories in 1967 and 1973, the defeat that is coming is almost indescribable. Let the reader consider the Islamic religious rhetoric which passed though the lips of Sunni Islamic scholar Sheikh Yousef al-Qaradhawi during a fiery sermon broadcast by Qatari state television on 20 February 2009. Sheikh al-Qaradhawi boldly announced to the entire Islamic world, “The Prophet Muhammad wanted peace that is based on strength. He does not want the peace of the weak, the peace of those who disappoint, the peace of those who surrender – like the peace Israel wants to impose on us and the Palestinians. That is not peace. That is what Allah meant when he said: 'And do not falter and cry for peace when you have the upper hand, for Allah is with you, and will not refrain from [rewarding] you for your actions.”

In the aftermath of the absolute defeat of the combined modern-day, mechanized land armies, air forces, missile forces with their WMD arsenals of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, as well as a global array of terrorist proxy forces, what does one imagine will be the result among the Muslim faithful to the victory Israel’s YHWH will impose upon “Allah” and those in submission to this false god? Might that not be a faith shattering series of events not unlike what occurred to the worshipers of Ba'al in ancient times? As went Ba'al, so too will go "Allah."

Coming Next in Part II: The Ongoing Arab-Israeli War

"A Ruinous Heap"

31 January 2009: The embedded link below will allow you to download and listen to Part 1 MP3 file of Bill Salus' discussed the political and prophetic ramifications very likely to result from the current Israel-Hamas conflict with Frank Pastore on KKLA 99 FM.

The Geo-Political & Geo-Prophetical

Ramifications of the Israel-Hamas War