Global SITREP A4-20: Miscellaneous Items

(6FEB20 UPDATE BELOW) 23 January 2020: This SITREP is to cover miscellaneous items, some new, some just for updating purposes.

Firstly, it's necessary acknowledge the passing of televangelist Dr. Jack Van Impe. He was truly amazing in his ability to call up chapter and verse of prophetic Scripture, and his passing is mentioned here simply because he was a brother in Christ. It is irrelevant if one agreed or disagreed with some of what he taught, but I do thank the Lord that Dr. Van Impe was true to his calling for several decades. He will be missed. There is an entire generation of us who grew up with prophecy teachers in Jack's class, and now we look forward to being with them again at the Lord's side.

Secondly, in recent studies the angel Gabriel's prophecy in Daniel 9:26b, "And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary," has been in the forefront. Almost exactly ten years ago at the very beginning of Eschatology Today several posts were made to identify specifically who the people of the prince to come were. The prince is the coming Antichrist; the people were the several legions of the Roman Empire that besieged, sacked and destroyed Jerusalem and the Second Temple, specifically and most prominent among them was Legio X Fretensis. 

The army of the Antichrist, as has been written about here in several posts, is back in the news. One post in particular was brought to mind recently because of this, "It Was Never About the EU, But All About NATO." It's three and a half years old now, but that post deserves a revisiting because there's lots of noise of late about an EU army being stood up, one building block at a time. Breitbart published an article on this today that is worth reading. And yet, the EU army will be wholly reliant on NATO and buttressed American military power that will enable it to take the field in future combat operations as seen in our discussions on Daniel 11:40-45 taking place during the 70th Week.

The thing here, and this is a lot to wrap any one's head around at one time, but I must also be recalling other Eschatology Today posts such as "Ten Toes" and "The Little Horn," which rest upon even more very specific Bible prophecy regarding ten kings or leaders of nations among whom an eleventh little horn rises and plucks three of the ten out by the roots (making them his own). This occurs while there's a war going on. This is the fourth beast of Daniel 7:7-8. So, while some might tend to think its quiet and not much is going on, oh but to the contrary!, this world has a great deal going on andis moving inexorably down the Prophetic Road to Revelation.

Thirdly, and as an adjunct to the above (rumor intelligence (RUMINT) has been rampant all week long in advance of the Davos economic summit and the VP Pence trip to Israel) it looks as if Trump will have both Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu and Israeli PM wanna-be Benny Gantz as his guests in the White House next week to be briefed on the so-called "Deal of the Century" peace initiative. 

Both Netanyahu and Gantz have pledged to annex the Jordan Valley to Israel, and Netanyahu acknowledging that since that is now the case, then Israel should move forward immediately an make the annexation happen. And guess who would like to blow that up in all of their faces? The Iranian Ayatollah. So little wonder that today rockets were launched again from Gaza.

Meanwhile, In Iraq, there are raging battles between anti-Iran protesters and pro-Iran forces in several cities this evening, and just about every evening this week, most involving life fire automatic weapons. In the Iraqi-Syria border town of al-Qaim unknown aircraft attacked the 45th Brigade of Kata'ib Hezbollah with reports that a commander was killed. This coincides to today with the United States warning the new IRGC-QF commander, MG Esmail Qa'Ani, that he faces that same fate of MG Qassem Soleimani if any US forces are harmed in Iraq.

Finally, the truth about the coronavirus that emerged in China and has spread around the world is finally being acknowledged. There are over 20 million people trapped in Chinese cities as that government attempts to get a handle on an epidemic in the making. Wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes in diverse places, plagues and pestilences... sounds like a Jack Van Impe telecast, but its real and its all happening today just as our Lord said it would in the Olivet Discourse.

UPDATE 06 FEB 20: Taiwan News recently leaked the actual numbers of 2019-nCoV in the PRC. Infected 154,023; Suspected infected 79,808; Deaths 24,589, Victims cured 269. These numbers dwarf the "official" numbers being reported. The 2019-nCoV Infected and Suspected Infected total is well over one-quater million people (circa 234,000). 

2019-nCoV Data
Left to Right: Confirmed cases, Suspected cases, Cured cases, Deaths.

Other data from Taiwan strongly suggests that 2019-nCoV may be an "unkillable" virus due to the many insertions of other viruses in the core. That may mean in 2021 it may resurface again with unknown consequences. Also, H5N1 Bird Flu has recently made a reappearance in the People's Republic just south of Wuhan.

UPDATE 25 January 2020: Another of the older posts, one from December 2018, is worth noting again. "Psalm 68: A Messianic Prophecy for a Snowy Israel." There are a couple of interesting passages in it, with a reference to a specific season of the year; when snow is present upon a certain mount. This has me recalling what Jesus said in the Olivet about the middle of the 70th Week as Matthew 24:20 recorded. More convinced than ever that nothing here is coincidental.

Marana'tha!

Global SITREP C8-17: Behold, Prophetic Fulfillment Abounds!

Jesus' Olivet Discourse

Updated 7 August 2017: Lots of folks would like to know what it is that sets the flood of prophetic fulfillment on its final rampage. The answer, I believe, has been staring everyone in the face for nearly a couple of millennia now. It's Jerusalem and its Temple Mount according to Scripture.

As noted in this SITREP, if we read Zechariah 12, the answer many of us have been seeking is right there in plain text. And you don't have to read much to see it as it's right there in verse number two where the prophet quotes the prophetic word that the Lord gave to him:

"Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem."

This may well get to the next level and beyond when one of the primary haters spoken of in Psalm 83 comes across the border today from Jordan into Israel - King Abdullah II of Jordan (Ammon, Moab and Edom). Today the demand of the Arab Islamists will escalate to the unthinkable; it will be for Israel to relinquish sovereignty over Judea, Jerusalem and Temple Mount. This is what I mean by saying going to the next level and beyond. King Abdullah already claims to be the protector of the Temple Mount and its structures and will demand they be returned. When Israel's response is a point blank "nuts" to that insane notion, then the prophetic war will happen.

28 July 2017: As it should painfully apparent by recent events, the fulfillment of ancient Biblical prophecy is not something that can ever be assumed based upon the heralding of newspaper headlines or articles irregardless of what language they are printed in. This erroneous and invalid practice has long been known as "newspaper exegesis."  We avoid and speak against it whenever and wherever it occurs. 

As a prime example and antidote to newspaper exegesis, if we study the Psalm 83 prophecy, written by the prophet Asaph just over 3,000 years ago, and read its verses literally it should be crystal clear that Israel's actions ARE NOT the casus belli which causes all of the named enemies to embark upon a war of annihilation against Israel. 

These enemies attack and lay siege to Israel because they consult together and determine the course of action to wipe Israel from the face of the earth and the mere mention of its name from existence. This has been the fact of the matter since 14 May 1948 and remains so to this day, just 10 short months from its 70th anniversary.

What we should see from recent events is that all of these enemies which hate the God of Israel - from Lebanon to Jordan to the Sinai - are embarked upon the course they have chosen; they are confederate in the tumult they create for the destruction of the State of Israel. The catastrophe they create for themselves draws nearer every hour.

A prime example of how to understand commercial news reports (media is a for-profit business) on current events in light of Bible prophecy would be to look at this very recent Israel National News report on the deliberations of the Arab League in its Cairo, Egypt summit and what the Word of God, through the Holy Spirit, has to say about Jerusalem and Judea in Psalm 83, Zechariah 12; also compare the details found in Zechariah 12:6-14 with Ezekiel 39:29.

22 July 2017: Does the above image look familiar?  It should, as it is a repeat from Global SITREP B1-15. And so is the message that SITREP contained. If need be, re-familiarize yourself with it.

It appears that many of us are always looking for fresh or brand new signs regarding the season we are in. Yet the signs are the exact same indications and warnings that they have always been, and this is because because Jesus spoke of them as they relate specifically to our time and this generation in particular. This is the time He spoke of; who can doubt that it is? 

I would say that any one individual who doubts this is ignoring the Holy Spirit, and that individual, the one who is not looking up; the one who is not watching intently, will almost certainly be taken by surprise when the Harpazo of the bride of Christ occurs imminently. 

As mentioned in the comment I made this morning in the previous SITREP, who can deny that the prophecy of Zechariah 12 is not in a process of imminent fulfillment? The fact is there are quite literally dozens upon dozens of God-breathed prophecies in the process of a literal, imminent fulfillment at the present. This fact constitutes the greatest indication and warning of all. Again, who can deny it?

Are we not witnesses to the imminent occurrence of Israel's 70th year since the literal fulfillment of Isaiah 66:8 in May of 1948? Read the entire chapter. Who among us would fail to respond to the question the LORD God asked through Isaiah in verse 9: 

"Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery? Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb?"

Is there anyone living in the United States of America reading this who is unaware of the birth of which the LORD God is speaking? 

A month from now, on 21 August, there will be a total solar eclipse. Even the secular media is making a big deal about this astronomical event when the 70-mile wide path of totality (image above) will cross and evenly bisect 12 of the the lower 48 states of our Union from the west coast to the east coast in the middle of the day. They say that within the path of totality observers on the ground will see the stars come out during what normally would be broad daylight (10:15 AM in Oregon to 2:50 PM in South Carolina). The lucky folks in this path of totality will have an opportunity to see Virgo and the positions of the key elements of the Revelation 12 sign which will come to its own completion one month later in September as Jupiter exits from the "womb" of Virgo the virgin. 

If you ask me, I will tell you there is not one whit nor one iota of coincidence in any of this. All of it was purposed by the LORD God from before time began, and we're the generation lucky enough to bear witness to these events, these utterly rampant signs and indications of the coming of His Kingdom. Marana'tha! 

Addendum: The above statement is neither new or unique, as it was stated in greater detail on Eschatology Today three and one-half years ago in an article entitled "All These Things Fulfilled - Part III - The End."  If it gets quiet here from time to time, that's because pretty much everything that needs to be said has been said and remains as active URL content on Eschatology Today.

Global SITREP B8-16: The 12-year Run Up to the Seventh Bowl

Earthquakes since 1899 by magnitude

29 April 2016:  If you would like to follow global and even local seismic events in near real-time, simply click on, then add this linked web page URL into your browser's favorites list.  For example, I have this page URL saved in my favorites folder named "MT24 Signs." Here's the webpage: Seismic Monitor.  

17 April 2016: In His discourse on the Mount of Olives, the Lord Jesus Christ spoke of five primary signs for us to watch for as indications of His soon coming and the end of the current age of mankind. Jesus warned against the man-made deception ("let no man deceive you") of false messiahs; wars and rumors of wars, famines, biological plagues and earthquakes all occurring in various places. All of these signs (occurring together or concurrently), He said, are the beginning of [Greek: ōdin thanatos] dire calamities, the beginning of sorrows, which occur as the travail of a woman in the throes of childbirth. This specific Greek phrase ōdin thanatos is repeated with what I believe is a little more clarity in Acts 2:24 where it is translated as "the pains of death."

In this SITREP the focus will be on the fifth of the signs, earthquakes, because the greatest earthquake in the history of this planet is not that far away.

This very morning an earthquake magnitude 7.8 struck the nation of Ecuador in South America. A day earlier a quake magnitude 7.0 struck southern Japan in the same province where a day earlier a magnitude 6.7 quake occurred. In all, there have been a series of 9 earthquakes in this same province this week.  In total around the world there have been 16 quakes of magnitude 6.5 to 7.9 since January 3, 2016. A significant fact is that 8 of these 16 quakes have occurred in the first two weeks of April 2016. Another significant item to highlight is that the calculated seismic risk for earthquakes to occur in these particular regions had been rated as low to very low (18% to 4% chance). 

The vast majority of these quakes are occurring all along the Pacific Rim. Individual quakes are highlighted by minuscule electric green dots in the image above illustrating global geologic activity over the past 115 years. 115 years of Jesus' prophecy coming to fulfillment in one snap-shot illustration. The vast major of those dots have been added to the map within the past 65 years.

Some more facts. In the past ten years alone there have been 408 earthquakes of magnitude 6.5 to 9.0 to occur. In 2015 there were 61 quakes within this magnitude range; 49 in 2014; 57 in 2013; 42 in 2012 and 52 in 2011. 2011 is the year which saw a rather dramatic increase in earthquakes and which as you can see by these numbers has remained constant, plus or minus 10 quakes per year in the 6.5 to 9.0 range. 2016 is thus far on a pace to eclipse the 61 quakes of 2015.

All of this data is what has seismologists on high alert for major earthquakes to strike in Chile, Ecuador, Indonesia and Japan in the next 48 hours. The seismologists algorithm-based alert into the future falls exquisitely in line with Jesus' Olivet prophecy and the passage in Revelation 16:20 regarding the disappearance of entire islands (the Pacific Ocean especially!) and mountain ranges all over planet earth being flattened. I believe planet earth is in the 12-year run-up (or countdown if you prefer) to the literal fulfillment of Revelation 16:17-21.

99% of the seismologists algorithms forecast such tectonic devastation from 2016 through 2019, and in slightly longer range to 2028. However, the phrase "slightly longer range" is in reality from this moment only 12 years away, and anything can and most likely will happen between now and then. Put another way, 2028 is closer to the present world's future than 2003 is to its recent past.

There is no surer or explicit validation of Bible prophecy than its precise literal fulfillment before our eyes in this final generation.  Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place." (Matthew 24:34)  Got Jesus in your heart?

All These Things Be Fulfilled - Part III - The End

The Third (70th Week) Temple standing upon 

Mount Moriah, Jerusalem in the very near future.

28 January 2014: It won't be long until a real-world fact very close to as what the image above depicts comes into existence. How the 3rd Temple comes to exist is the subject of the many pre-70th Week prophecies you can read about in these Eschatology Today pages as well as in the many linked websites and blogs found along the right margin of this blog's main page. However, the focus of this article is the third and final installment of the original 2009 "All these thing fulfilled... Part I and Part II." 

In Part III we will recapture the some key points from Parts I & II in concert with key items of Jesus' prophetic discourse to His disciples on the Mount of Olives circa the year 33 AD (Matthew 24). As a statement of eschatological belief, I convicted by the Spirit that from this point in time, January 2014, and going forward through the next 17 months or so the world literally will witness several of these major prophetic events coming to pass before our eyes and this disbelieving world will find itself landed squarely on the doorstep of the angel Gabriel's prophetic 70th Week, specifically, Daniel 9:27, as given us through the full "70 Weeks Prophecy" of Daniel 9:24-27.

The first point I would like to bring attention to in Jesus' Olivet Discourse is His prophecy in verse 2 regarding the destruction of the 2nd Temple. Let's consider that this prophecy stands like a proverbial book end on the left side of the prophecy. Our Lord then works his way through the several pre-70th Week signs:

1) Deception of many men falsely claiming to be anointed ones (false messiahs).

2) Wars and rumors of other wars that must take place (i.e. the prophetic wars of Isaiah 17, Jeremiah 49, Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38/39 that must take place), but the end is not yet .

3) Wars on a global scale followed by global famines, infectious plagues and earthquakes around the globe.

Our Lord then wraps this up neatly for us by referring to these signs as "All these are the beginning of sorrows" in verse 8. These the pre-70th Week "birthpangs" are heralding the coming of His Kingdom, and we are very familiar with them because we are currently living in them.  

Then a instantaneous transition occurs. I believe this transition has two sides or parts to it and occurs in instant of the Harpazo when the Father will have sent His Son to collect all of us, the Bride of Christ. In the Harpazo the bride will be physically caught up, snatched away from this earth and instantaneously changed into new spiritual bodies and met by the Lord Jesus Christ in the air to remain with Him ever more. This is the side of the transition that you want to be on because the other side of this transition is from the present world to the advent of the 70th Week. The Tribulation has arrived.

In this side of the transition that just occurred, back on the earth, terrible things now occur with respect to those who were left behind, who were Christian in name only; those of "Churchianity who were not truly redeemed and were not indwelt by the Holy Spirit. They suffer the consequences of their lack of decision to be covered by the redemptive Blood of the Lamb. At Matthew 24:9 Jesus tells us these people will be hated in all nations, persecuted and killed for "My name's sake."  

Facing an onslaught of universal hatred some will completely lose whatever basis of faith they had. Hatred of and betrayal of those who do repent (as seen in verse 13) in the aftermath of the Harpazo will become rampant. So, the time for a decision for Jesus Christ if you have not already done so is right here, right now, because in one instant, no one knows exactly when except for God the Father, this transition will occur without any further warning. 

Again, the 70th Week, the tribulation has arrived and is just getting started, as in verse 14 Jesus makes a crystal clear reference to the 144,000 Jewish evangelists will be going around the globe preaching "this Gospel of the Kingdom." The Bride of Christ has been Harpazoed into the the many mansions of His Father; the places He has prepared for the past nearly 2000 years for His Bride. On earth the fulfillment on Ezekiel 39:29 has occurred after the battle of Gog/Magog, and the redemption of Israel has begun wit the Lord pouring out His Spirit and the fulfillment of Paul's prophecy in Romans 11:22-27 has taken place.

Then, in verse 15, Jesus gives us the right side book end of this prophecy. He jumps forward 42 months into the 70th Week and to the point where the Abomination of Desolation, the man-made image of the Antichrist, the beast, the son of perdition, is standing within the Holy Place inside the 3rd Temple. These proverbial book ends capture a sequence of events that date back to their prophetic beginning. 

The sequence was of the destruction of the 2nd Temple, the destruction of Jewish Jerusalem and the end of Israel with a global dispersion. This process, as noted in Part I of this article, took precisely 70 years, a Biblical generation (Psalms 90:10) to complete.  On our calendar these events began in 66 AD with the first Jewish revolt against the Roman Empire and came to a final conclusion in 136 AD with the end of the third and final Jewish revolt against the Roman Empire.

In the initial Jewish revolt against the Roman Empire, also known as the "Great Revolt" and the one in which Jesus appears to have prophesied expressly in the Olivet Discourse, extended from late 66 AD to early 74 AD. This war was literally begun and ended at the fortress redoubt of Masada over a period of period of precisely 7 years. And those 7 years had a hiatus, definable first and second halves which had been brought about by first civil war among the Jews in Jerusalem, and, secondly, by a Roman civil war for control of the Empire. The result is well known world history, which can be read about here, and here, for those history buffs (like myself) who are so inclined.

As a related aside concerning the fulfilled prophecy of Daniel 9:26b "the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary," these links will prove beyond any doubt that two of the four key Roman Army legions (V Macedonica; XV Apollinaris and X Fretensis; XII Fulminata) which besieged and sacked Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD arrived direct from Europe via seaports on the Mediterranean coast of Roman Phoenicia (modern-day Lebanon) and Samaria (modern-day Israel). The latter two had been garrisoned in Greco-Roman Aram-Damascus under Procurator Agrippa II and the 10-city Greco-Roman Decapolis.

So, the duration of these events, the revolts of 7 and 70 years respectively,  appear to be significant numbers of years when it comes to Bible prophecy, enough to make the Preterists hold to their eschatological position as they do. But all is not quite that tidy and neat, as we shall see. There are other critical factors which must be accounted for.

Now, moving on to the modern era beginning in 1948, the process has reversed with the restoration of Israel (per Ezekiel 37) in 1948 and the recapture of Jerusalem in 1967. These events have maintained through the  battles or mini wars of the ongoing Psalm 83 war (1973 and 2006) with the final battles yet to be joined, but entirely and glaringly imminent. The Psalm 83 war begun in late 1947/early 1948 is now in its 66th or 67th year. So what remains in the reversal of this prophetic process are the conditions permitting the building of the 3rd Jewish Temple... the 70th Week Temple... the tribulation Temple... the Abomination of Desolation Temple.

If the first, deconstructive part of this prophetic sequence occurred over a period of a literal 70 years, a single generation (as Jesus also noted), then why not consider that the restorative part of the prophetic sequence will also occur in precisely 70 literal years, or from 1948 AD to 2018 AD?  This seems logical, even possible given a quick glance considering where things are to day. However, that would be akin to engaging in what is known in these modern times as 'newspaper exegesis.'  There are other key factor involved which allow for more time for all of the pre-70th Week prophecies to achieve independent fulfillment.

No pun intended, but chief among those key factors is the prophecy of Ezekiel 38/39 in conjunction with the literalness of Psalm 90:10 which provides two definitions in terms of years or durations of a single generation: 70 as normal, or 80 of strength.

We must be cognizant that the prophetic Word which came to Ezekiel contains two timelines of prophetic significance. 7 years of burning, and 7 months of burying. In the text it appears as though the burning begins first and then the burying commences. The 7 years of burning the Magog Confederation's weaponry as a form of reciprocal plundering and pillaging is the critical eschatological factor to be considered as the text states this burning occurs over a literal and Biblical (360 days each year) 7-year period of time per Ezekiel 39:9.

Let me be perfectly clear about this conclusion: nothing is 100% certain or dogmatic or date-setting about the time-line interpretation I am presenting here, excepting only that "Eretz-Israel" was declared into its modern existence in a single day just as prophesied by Isaiah 66:8 and Psalm 90:10 defines the number of years in a generation. The Word of God is Supreme. And these two points must be addressed.

The first point is the date which starts the Lord's prophetic time-line with respect to Israel and the last days prophecies. That date was May 14, 1948 AD.  In the declaration of "Eretz Israel" David Ben-Gurion made no mention of borders of "the land," and no mention of the Lord God and His Abrahamic Covenant in their right to re-establish "Eretz-Israel" was made either. The declaration of "Eretz-Israel" was based upon a declared "natural and historic" right based on "the strength of the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly" upon which Ben-Gurion and those gathered with him in assembly in Tel Aviv simply declared the existence of the "State of Israel." They signed the very secular Proclamation and placed their "trust in the Almighty" on the 5th day of Iyar, 5708 - 14th May, 1948. Nevertheless, the prophecy of Isaiah 66:8 was precisely fulfilled at that moment, and the prophetic process of the redemption of Israel began.

The second point is that a normal generation per Psalm 90:10 was given a duration of 70 years. If one were to count forward 70 years in time the count would end in mid-2018 AD. However, if we are in a generation of strength, or 80 years per the same Psalm 90:10, that would count forward to 2028 AD.

Getting back to Ezekiel 38:9, I agree with all of my fellow students of the Lord's Word who say that Israel will have to complete this burning of the Magog Confederation's weapons prior to the middle of the 70th Week. Accordingly, IF the 70th Week should commence circa mid-2018, then the middle of the 70th Week would be circa mid-2021 AD plus and additional 6 months (to account for the full 42 months of the first halve of the 70th Week, thereby placing the time further forward to almost 2022 AD.  2022 minus 7 years is 2015, and for me that is just cutting everything a little too close. In fact, it does not work at all.

Therefore, consistent with my belief that this final generation is a Psalm 90:10 generation of strength of 80 years duration, my conclusion is that we must in sound hermeneutic exegesis push these times forward by most if not all of those additional 10 years. I realize folks are most urgently desiring the Lord's return, and pray daily for the Harpazo to occur without delay. However, in so doing in consideration of those additional ten years we allow for the literal fulfillment of Ezekiel 38/39 and the burning of the weaponry for a full 7 years as well as all of the other preceding prophetic wars (Jeremiah 49:34-39, Isaiah 17, Psalm 83 and associated prophecies) to transpire, each in their own time, and from which Ezekiel also declares that Israel will have recovered from, and be living in peace, safety and fearing no enemy when the Gog/Magog launches its attack. And, most importantly, we do nothing with respect to the timing of the Harpazo of the Bride of Christ. The Father will send His Son at a time we do not expect, Even so, Marana'tha!