Global SITREP A4-23: Middle East Earthquakes

 

NEW UPDATE 08 February 2023: Jesus' Olivet Discourse was in response to His Apostles wanting to know the signs that would herald His return. Earthquakes in diverse places was one of key signs He gave. Yet how many are aware that the prophet Ezekiel was explicit in the seismic prophecy he passed on to us living in this day?

At the same time also when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, my wrath shall arise in mine anger. For in mine indignation, and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken it: surely at that time there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel, So that the fishes of the Sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all that move and creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the earth, shall tremble at my presence, and the mountains shall be overthrown, and the stairs shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. - Ezekiel 38:18-20 (Bold lettering mine for emphasis) 1599 Geneva Bible (GNV).

As most have noticed of late, all of the earth's tectonic plates as well as the major and minor faults around the entire globe have been extremely active. This activity will continue, progressively increasing in severity and frequency. The recent massive back-to-back earthquakes in Turkey and along the Syrian border momentarily caught global media and our attention. Even in Israel there is much news about just three earthquakes occurring from the Golan in the north to Eilat in the south in the past two days. Three earthquakes.

Three earthquakes in Israel is nothing when one looks at the details found on the Geological Survey of Israel webpage. Over the past two days there have been ten times that number of quakes throughout Israel. 30 earthquakes in just the past two days (7 and 8 February). Tomorrow's tally will certainly increase. But the important fact is that all of these quakes are preparatory or leading up to the really "big one" that will occur at the time when Gog comes against Israel. 

And folks, some still wonder having read this same passage in Ezekiel umpteen times, how it is that the muslim sites on the Temple Mount would come to their end so that the third Temple could be built? It seems to Eschatology Today that God has has had something else in mind in that regard, even in far more ancient times (Ezekiel 38:17). If you'll use the above geological survey link, you can clearly see the north-south axis or bearing of the Levant quakes from Israel and northward through Lebanon. That line of axis points directly at the Turkish-Syrian quakes of the past week. They're all related as the illustration below the latest update attests.

NEW UPDATE - 13 February 2023: The earthquakes and recent rains in Israel have caused new damage to Muslim structures on the Temple Mount. An article appeared this morning at https://www.israel365News.com/366818/more-damage-reported-at-the-muslim-structures-on-the-temple-mount/ which contains considerable historical detail in this regard. The bottom line is this: "Muslim structures standing on Judaism's holiest site have a long history of collapse due to the earthquakes that are common to the region." This gets to the point made in the last paragraph above. The article is worth your time to read from an educational standpoint.

However, it is the historical data that has the most relevant interest to add as an update to this SITREP: 

The Dome of the Rock was constructed in 692 A.D. 117 years later (808 AD) the structure was severely damaged by an earthquake. This was repeated by a second quake 38 years later (846 AD). 187 years later a third earthquake collapsed the Dome (1033 AD). In July 1927 a quake resulted in severe cracking of the walls and other parts of the structure to collapse. The Al-Aqsa mosque was built circa 700 AD but destroyed by an earthquake 46 years later. It was destroyed in the same 1033 AD quake that collapsed to Dome. An 1847 quake caused additional damage, and 90 years hence the July 1927 quake also caused severe damage to the mosque. More recently there was the 2004 quake which resulted in new cracks in the Dome of the Rock and the nearby Marwani mosque. The Waqf refused Israeli experts to repair the damage.

To sum up the seismic situation on the Temple Mount in early 2023, as noted by Israeli archeologist Eilat Mazar, "It is just a matter of time... It is pure stupidity to think if we do nothing that nothing will happen."  Eschatology Today's bottom line: Unquestionably, the Islamic structures on Temple Mount will be coming down. It is far less likely such destruction will occur due to human warfare than seismic forces mankind has no control over. This puts due emphasis on the quake described by Ezekiel and the timing factor entirely within an appointed time ordained by the LORD God.

09 February 2023: The time when Ezekiel 38/39 takes place is prior to Israel's 70th Week of Years. This has always been the position of Eschatology Today. Ezekiel in receipt of the prophecy from God in ancient times make no mention of either Jerusalem or Temple Mount or of a standing 3rd Temple on the Mount. These details speak to a time that is immediately prior to the 70th Week of years, as does the deliberate past tense of Ezekiel 39:29.

Another key aspect to this is found in the narrative given by God, to Jesus to John on Patmos that we read in The Apocalypse (Revelation) of Jesus Christ, Chapter 11. This chapter opens to a view of the Third Temple standing on the mount at the very beginning of the 70th Week of years. The measured Temple itself is where Israel worships God, performed daily sacrifices and oblations are occurring there, and the unmeasured outer court and the city itself is an international city (i.e. given to the gentiles) for the first 42 months or exactly 1,260 days of the Tribulation (Thlipsis).

And there we have the Two Witnesses of God performing their ministry and prophesying for that exact period of time in the first half of the Thlipsis. At the termination of their ministry they are overcome and killed by Antichrist who is indwelt by the beast from the pit (Abaddon/Apollyon). They lie dead on the street in Jerusalem for three and one-half days when the Spirit of God resurrects both of the Two Witnesses and they are harpazoed into heaven with the command "Come up hither" just as the bride of Christ was harpazoed approximately 42 months previously. 

And in that same hour, as the world beholds this harpazo with their own eyes, a great earthquake (megas seismos) occurs in Jerusalem destroying ten percent of the city and killing seven thousand residents. Witnesses to this incredible scene in Jerusalem, despite the destruction and death around them will give glory to God. 

These two prophetic earthquakes, the first in Ezekiel 38:18-20 virtually marking the start of the 70th Week of years, and the second of Revelation 11 marking the ascension of the Two Witnesses and the start of the Great Tribulation (Megas Thlipsis) are distinct signposts on the prophetic Road to the Revelation of Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of Lords and the establishment of the Kingdom on God on this earth. 

Marana'tha! 

Global SITREP A8-20: Situation Chaotic

Turkish Army advances in Idlib

12 February 2020: Once again we're back with an eye on Syria. The situation there continues to deteriorate. Aside from the IAF strikes in recent days against Iranian encroachment, which the Russians say could lead to all-out war between Syria and Israel with Russia supporting Syria, we also have the increasing likelihood of all-out war between Turkey and Syria. 

And where else would this erupt in full but in the same general locale as we've been looking at for some time now - northwest Syria, the province of Idlib. Remember how Jeremiah 49:23-27 specifically identified this region! And the Turkish leadership also threatens today to attack Syrian forces anywhere in Syria, including Damascus. Wars and rumors of war. 

And all the grotesque things (famine, pestilence) that come with war which are making northwestern Syria a humanitarian catastrophe. Since the Syrian, Iranian and Russian military offensive began in February 2019 over 1 million refugees have been pushed towards the Turkish border; those who refuse to be pushed out (ethnic cleansing) are massacred by indiscriminant airstrikes and shelling of civilian neighborhoods, hospitals and schools. No question about war crimes taking place. But these are still the beginning of sorrows.

Speaking of which, a plague of locusts in East Africa will most certainly increase the already rampant famine there and even further afield. The 2019-nCoV is now beyond all attempts to contain and control it, and it's not the only viral outbreak occurring. Then there are the quakes rumbling around the globle, Japan, Papua New Guinea and Iran being the most recent. All these things are occurring simultaneously around the globe, and people just go about their daily routines in other places. Just as we've been told it would be. Our focus is on Bible prophecy, as always.

Global SITREP E1-19: Conflict in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea

TOP Image: Greek and Internationally recognized East Med EEZs
Bottom Image: Turkish unilaterally imposed East Med EEZs

UPDATE 28 December 2019: As noted in the last paragraph of theoriginal 3 December posting, there are significant issues to be addressed and they grow more critical day by day. 

On the front lines in the outskirts of Tripoli there are Turkish soldiers (supporting the GNA) in urban combat against Russian mercenaries of the ChVK Wagner Group (supporting the LNA). The Russians are the spearhead of the LNA offensive. 

The fighting has escalated in Tripoli and Misrata with the news that new deployments of Turkish Army troops, Turkomen militia from northwestern Syria, and ships of the Turkish Navy are enroute to join the battle. There they will oppose the Haftar-led LNA that has been buttressed by more Russian mercenaries, counter-drone technology, Egyptian armor and UAE UCAV aircraft. The Turkish military deployments are in response to the slow but steady advance of LNA forces westward. 

20 December 2019: Egyptian Navy has conducted exercises in the Mediterranean Sea that include submarine-launched Harpoon cruise missiles. The exercises simulate naval warfare against the Turkish Navy.

Egypt has also deployed T-72 tanks to Haftar's LNA Army for their offensive to liberate Tripoli and Sirte from GNA militias. The LNA has given a 72-hour ultimatum for the militias to withdraw from both cities. 

8 December 2019: On the sidelines of the NATO Summit in London last week, direct talks between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek President Kyriakos Mitsotakis failed to find a resolution to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea exclusive economic zone (EEZ) crisis. No great surprise here, as the Greeks have noted to the international community, there isn't a neighboring country on any Turkish border that is not in a bilateral conflict with Turkey. 

By way of publication in the Turkish Government's Official Gazette and ratification by the Turkish Parliament, the Istanbul Accord, a maritime exclusive economic zone agreement between Turkey and Libya's internationally recognized GNA government in Tripoli, Libya went into effect yesterday to divide the Eastern Mediterranean Sea between them. Erdogan also announced yesterday that accord has been delivered to the United Nations by Turkey.

Greece, which views the Accord as a violation of its sovereign rights and having no legal standing in international law, expelled the Libyan GNA Ambassador Mohamed Menfi. Ambassador Menfi has until Monday to depart from Greece. 

For his part, Greek President Mitsotakis said the Turkish move in denying Greek sovereignty over its many islands has placed Turkey in "unprecedented diplomatic isolation." Greece has announced it will use military force to immediately halt any Turkish oil or gas drilling in the sea southeast of Crete. The application of a European Union sanctions regime against Turkey is also imminent.

3 December 2019: Last week Turkey and the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli, Libya signed a military pact that essentially divides the whole Eastern Mediterranean Sea between them. Eschatology Today will refer to this pact as the 'Istanbul Accord.' 

As if the Middle East didn't need another point of conflict that could spark a war between two supposed NATO allies (Greece and Turkey), the Turkish government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan with a single stroke of their pen annexed a massive swath of the Greek economic zone. For their part the Greeks describe the Istanbul Accord as being "ridiculous." 

The Turkish action is noted in the Eschatology Today map above (click to enlarge). It is in the stripped fluorescent yellow portion. This map is based upon initial reports of the Istanbul Accord as none has as yet been published by Turkey or the GNA. The Turks claim their maritime border now extends from southwestern Turkey all the way across the Eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Libyan coast line of Derna (Darnah) and Tobruk (i.e. all of the Libyan coast to the Egyptian border).

The Istanbul Accord pretends as if the Greek island of Crete and hundreds of other Greek islands going back into antiquity simply no longer exist. Greek citizens inhabit all of those sovereign Greek islands. Eschatology Today would liken Erdogan's Istanbul Accord to that of Adolf Hitler's 1938 military annexation (invasion) of the Czechoslovakian Sudetenland. 

The Istanbul Accord also involves Israel and Cyprus who are, as we've discussed here before, in a military alliance with Greece. The Turkish move directly threatens the proposed gas and oil pipelines between Israel and Cyprus to the Greek mainland and European Union Markets. This move also occurred just prior to the NATO Summit of this week, and alliance fallout is likely to be severe against Turkey, not to mention European Union anger at what the Turks have done. Current levels of EU sanctions against Turkey stand a very good change of becoming far more harsh. Turkey's status within NATO is also in peril. 

Additionally, the Istanbul Accord tosses a wrench into the Berlin peace talks scheduled for January 2020 between the two governments in the Libyan Civil War. Most international recognition is with the GNA Tripoli government led by Fayez Sarraj, while an assortment of other nations, including Russia, Egypt and the UAE are militarily supporting the eastern Libyan National Army (LNA) in Benghazi under Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar's leadership (whom we've also discussed previously). There are approximately 1,500 Russian Wagner Group mercenaries that have intervened in the war to fight alongside Haftar's LNA. Armed UAE drones also routinely bomb the Tripoli airport. The Istanbul Accord is likely to cost the GNA in Tripoli dearly in terms of international recognition.

The prophetic implications are obvious and numerous, touching on the fulfillment of Scripture from Daniel through Ezekiel. The issues between Turkey and Russia alone stand out profoundly so that clearly major changes will have to occur for the Magog Confederation to materialize as many interpret Ezekiel 38/39 indicating Turkey being part of that confederation (also discussed in-depth previously on Eschatology Today).

Global SITREP D2-18: The End-Game in Syria (Part II)

Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city,
and it shall be a ruinous heap.

24 September 2018: The end-game in Syria is no longer about rebels. Now it's all about a big powers (i.e. nuclear powers) face-off: Russia, Syria and Iran versus Israel, the U.S. and our allies.

We've already addressed the details found in Jeremiah 49:23-27 and Isaiah 17 many times over. I went over all of that material again in recent hours, and then it hit me like a brick.

Consider this question: Is Israel alone capable of causing the destruction of Syria as a nation? If you think so, think it over again. Re-read the prophecies, pray over them, ask our Father about them. 

Having done that, and to that end, here's some key info I'm sure needs our re-consideration.

The prophetic text of Isaiah tells us clearly that many nations rush into the war in Syria. They are there today. Russia, Iran, USA, UK, France... and the list goes on. They rushed in and will soon make extremly hasty exits. Damscus destroyed, a ruinous heap of rubble; Syria no longer a nation among the nations of the world.

As important in the coming catastrophe is that Israel will take significant damage. Isaiah says so. Believe it. Why does this happen? Most likely because Israel is still in unbelief; they've not yet returned to Covenant relations with the Lord; He's not yet poured out His Spirit upon them.

[Side bar: It won't be like this for Israel during Ezekiel 38/39. That's when God will intervene directly to save Israel from physical destruction, pour out His Spirit upon them and the Covenant relationship is then rapidly restored. Let me cut this short before getting too far ahead.]

Remember, the Lord knows what is about to happen, and He makes use of this for His sovereign purposes - foremost among them is to bring Israel back into the Covenant relationship, and that leads Israel into eternal salvation in Christ Jesus.

[Another side bar: We just considered recently when the Lord will shake the heavens, thereby moving the earth and stars out of their places. We saw through that study of prophecy that this occurs in the beginning of the latter half of the 70th Week. The Temple is defiled via the Abomination of Desolation; Israel flees into the wilderness for safekeeping. So, there's no one counting the days, no Sanhedrin during those last 42 months sighting the new moon, quite simply because it won't be where it's supposed to be. Nothing will be in the heavens above, as we know them today, where they are supposed to be. There will no longer be any purpose for the sun, moon and stars as the Lord intended in Genesis 1:14 and as Jesus proclaimed in Matthew 24:29. Again, cutting this short.]

It is my belief that the pre-70th Week prophetic flood begins with the disaster in Syria foretold by Isaiah 17 and Jeremiah 49:23-27. We know it's all downhill from there, but an unbelieving world continues on marrying and giving in marriage. It is not far off, but very, very close at hand. I believe this because very serious ultimatums and threats - even as you read this - are being issued by both sides of this conflict. These are not easily walked back. Very suddenly all pretense of deconfliction of military forces in this arena will evaporate like dew in the morning sun.

Russia, in the aftermath of the IL-22M Coot-A shotdown, and for which it bears sole responsibility, has made blunder upon blunder. A cascade of blunders. Russia seeks to woo Turkey away from NATO as a strategic Russian ally. The Idlib invasion was called off for this reason; Trukey fighting Russia, Syria and Iran in Iblib was a non-starter in Russia's strategicm long-game view. Why would Russia need warm water ports and airfields in Syria when many more of the same might be found on Turkey's southern coastline on the Mediterranean Sea? It's a no-brainer. If it comes down to it Russia would jettison Syria like a bad habit if it could secure a strategic alliance with the Turks.

Push will eventually come to shove, possibly unintentionally, as the fiasco of the IL-22M shootdown has demonstrated. When this happens everything, and that means the billions upon billions of rubles that Russia has invested in Syria will literally go up in smoke and ash. Russia will then seek recompense against Israel in earnest. This will occur shortly after the Psalm 83, Isaiah 11, Ezekiel 28 conflict resolves into its ultimate fulfillment, and the enigmatic Gog has risen to power in Russia. This we know all so well according to the prophet Ezekiel. Consider also, as we have many times previously, there is no Syria in the Psalm 83, Isaiah 11 or Ezekiel 28 prophetic narratives. There's only Lebanon, Jordan, the Sinai, Gaza plus Judea and Samaria (including Jerusalem) involved.

Global SITREP C5-18: Idlib and Jermiah 49:23-27

IDLIB Governorate of Syria

3 August 2018: Above is an outline map of Syria. The IDLIB Governorate is highlighted in bright green. To the north of Iblib is the Turkish border and Hatay province. Idlib has been under Sunni rebel control since the start of the civil war and it has always enjoyed Turkish support, and Turkish military forces occupy observation posts throughout this region.

Idlib is the Syrian governorate to which the Assad regime has been allowing free passage to for rebel forces who have not surrendered in other battles all across Syria. There now are an estimated 100,000+ rebel troops awaiting a Syria-Iranian-Russian forces onslaught now that the southern Syria offensive appears to be winding down. The Iblib rebels have placed all of their various factions under a single command known as the National Front for Liberation, or Jabhat al-Tahrir al-Watanya (JTW).

Notice where Idlib is located within Syria. It is right in the middle of the two locations identified in Jeremiah 49:23. Eschatology Today has been consistent over many months in linking northwestern Syria as key to the literal fulfillment of Jeremiah's ancient prophecy (49:23-27) and Isaiah 17. 

The countryside to the immediate west of Hama is also still in the hands of rebel forces, as is the region west of Aleppo. In preparation for the final assault on Idlib this entire region is being pounded by Syrian and Iranian artillery; an ongoing rocket and artillery duel is ongoing as you read this. Again, those who say the Syrian war is over are incredibly premature with such pronouncements.

16 August 2018: The battle for Idlib (Idleb) has not been forgotten.  It's a final warzone in northwestern Syria pitting the Syrian regime and its Iranian allies (Shi'a) against Sunni jihadists (AQ and company) plus other Turkomen factions supported by Turkey. Because of the Turks the Russians trod lightly here. 

One Iranian general let slip recently that after Idlib is conquered Syria (and Iran) would move to recover all of the Golan from Israel. Problematic to that is the US-led CJTF-OIR coalition (mostly the SDF/SDC militias and US Special Forces are in a position to cut off the Iranians from their homeland base of support via Iraq. The Coalition still has military control over 30 percent of Syria east of the Euphrates River and several hundred square miles around Al-Tanf at the Syrian-Iraq-Jordan border region. Iran is on notice that US forces will remain in Syria until all Iranian forces have permanently departed the country. The SDF believes the US forces will go into battle against Iran in Syria shortly.

But watch Idlib, it's where everything could unravel for Syria.

25 August 2018: The predictive sentence directly above is looking more likely with each passing day.  Turkey is begging the Russians to prevent  Iran and Syria from launching the full-scale Idlib battle. But Russia is sending even more ground combat power and shipborne Kalibr cruise missiles into the war zone.  

U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton has expressly warned Syria against using chemical weapons (WMD) against the Idlib redoubt, promise a powerful US-UK-French response against the regime of Bashar al-Assad if they those weapons are deployed.  

The Russian media is issuing beau coup propaganda trying to cover the the regime, saying that the rebels are the side actually preparing to use chemical weapons. They've even gone so far to accuse British Special Forces of assisting the terrorists in Iblib governorate in launching a false flag chemical strike and the promised US-UK-French retaliatory counter-strike.

Again, notice where Idlib is located within Syria. It is right in the middle of the two locations identified in Jeremiah 49:23. Eschatology Today has been consistent over many months now in linking northwestern Syria as key to the literal fulfillment of Jeremiah's ancient prophecy (49:23-27) and Isaiah 17. 

The approaching Battle of Idlib will (according to the Isaiah and Jeremiah prophecies) be utterly catastropic for Syria, the foreign nations involved will flee from the catastrophe that occurs, and also result in great damage and loss of life occurring in northern Israel. Forewarned is fore-armed.

29 August 2018: The buildup of foreign military forces hardware into and along the periphery of Syria continues. Such buildups take time to complete. The daily intelligence collection/analysis is out in front of the deployed hardware. This is all part of an effort to forestall error or miscalculation, yet the bristling and sabre rattling are an intentional effort to cause the other side to blink (i.e. stand down). 

There is no way that a "false flag" chemical attack by Islamic jihadists against  the civilian population in Idlib governorate can succeed. By the same token and the same real-time intelligence collection being employed by the Western allies in Syria, there is no way a Syrian chemical attack against Idlib could succeed either - even if it is conducted as a mimic of a jihadist chemical attack. No amount of Iranian or Russian propaganda making the rounds in global media can obfuscate what will occur when WMD by either side occurs.

Nevertheless, the military situation continues to deteriorate and appears to be taking on the attributes of a runaway freight train, especially in Russian and Iranian words and deeds. The Western allies (US, UK and france) have warned via unambiguous language in the UN Security Council that they will execute an appropriate response to a Syrian chemical attack against Idlib governorate. 

The Pentagon, U.S. State Department, and Executive Office (i.e. NSA John Bolton) also issued similar warnings directly to the Russian and Syrian government officials within the past 24 hours. The U.S. appears to have taken the position that if Syria uses chemical weapons it is because the Russians did nothing to prevent it, and they will be held as culpable in the resultant WMD atrocity. Backing up the US, UK and French warnings, NATO as a whole also has given stern warning to the Russians of potential consequences should they fail to prevent Syrian use of WMD.

There are an estimated 2.1 million civilians in Idlib living in areas under the control of Islamist and jihadist forces. The humanitarian situation there is dire and a catastrophe in the making even before the expected large-scale Russian, Syrian and Iranian military operation commences. 

Global SITREP A4-18: SYRIA - Part II

Updated 28 January 2018: The truth about prophetic fulfillment is as cold as it is brutal. Those who have looked closely Jesus' prophecy regarding the siege and sacking of Jerusalem and the historical accounts of it over the seven years of 67 to 73 AD by five Roman Legions truly understand the reality of the level of coldness and brutality that occurred. It is and will be no different in the modern era, even worse in fact. When the God-breathed prophesies Jeremiah 49:25-26 and Isaiah 17:12-13 were given spoken of the near future in Syria, saying...

"Why is the city of praise not deserted, the city of My joy?
26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets,And all the men of war shall be cut off in that day,” says the Lord of hosts."

"Woe to the multitude of many people
Who make a noise like the roar of the seas,
And to the rushing of nations
That make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters;
But God will rebuke them and they will flee far away,
And be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind,Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind."

we can more fully understand that these living words are not antiseptic and as clean or tidy as the Holy Word pages upon which we read them.

This past Thursday (25 JAN 18) at the UN Security Council Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon revealed classified data collected and corroborated by Israeli intelligence that was approved for the world to know by Israel's Security Cabinet. The formerly classified data revealed Ambassador Danon amounts to something, at best, only guessed at, and more probably never even considered by the global corporate media who are supposed to report truthfully on this war.

We now know that Iran is spending an estimated $35 Billion dollars per year to train, support and arm an 82,000-man military force in Syria. By the numbers, this force constitutes 60,000 males of military age who are almost certainly Syrian Alawites; 10,000 Afghan, Iraqi and Pakistani Shi'a militiamen; 9,000 Hezbollah from Lebanon, and who are all led by a 3,000 member Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps officers. 

Is there any doubt that the IDF will soon have to deal swiftly and effectively in the annihilation of this force as the prophetic words above tell us? Is there any doubt that weaponry of immense power will be required to achieve the objective? Again, Isaiah 17:3 informs us that not only will Damascus become a heap of ruins (which the city certainly is not at this moment in time) but so also will the remainder of Syria. 

Eschatology Today assesses that Ambassador Danon was authorized by the Israeli government to reveal this information in part for the world to understand the level of force Israel will be required to bring down upon these enemies in self defense in the face of Iranian aggression. These prophesies we have been given are completely literal, will come to pass, and as Jesus said, they must take place, but we are not to fear, for the end is not yet. 

Syria - Part III will follow in the days to come.

27 January 2018: Turkey has been warned in no uncertain terms by the US-led CJTF-OIR Coalition to re-think its declared intent to assault the Syrian city of Manbij. If the Turks fail to heed the warning then they'll find themselves being decimated F-22 Raptors and other Coalition aircraft as well as ground forces. CJTF-OIR spokesman (a/k/a the OIRSpox) Colonel Ryan Dillon told the Washington Free Beacon, "Our forces there (Manbij) are well prepared to defend themselves. We have air coverage over all our troops so we're always prepared to defend ourselves, whether it's from ISIS or any other threat." 

It has also come to light via DefenseOne that the 30,000 man "border security force" is not a phrase that originated with the US CENTCOM commander (GEN Joseph Votel). In a December interview with the Associated Press Gen. Votel described the training of local Kurdish and Arabs in northern Syria to defend against a "resurgence of ISIS" in their regions. The AP reporter incorrectly used the phrase "border security force" and Turkey seized upon that as a pretext to launch its invasion of the Aleppo Governorate. Clearly the Turkish operation had been planned over an extended period of time. So here we have a case where the media, the AP in particular, have blood on their hands in giving the Turks a pretext to invade Syria and which may eventually lead to combat between Turkey and NATO and the CJTF-OIR allies in Syria. Anyone taking the AP to task over this? All we hear are crickets.

25 January 2018: The potential for a direct military engagement between NATO allies US and Turkey west of the Euphrates River in the Manbij region of northern Syria was the subject of a warning President Trump gave to President Erdogan yesterday during a phone call between them. According to the White House readout of that conversation, Trump "urged Turkey to exercise caution and to avoid any action that might risk conflict between Turkish and American forces." 

The Eschatology Today assessment is that (as a starting point of negotiation) an agreement should be made between the NATO allies which is similar to that of Israel on its Golan border with Syria regarding Hezbollah/Iranian encroachment. Along the Turkish border west of the Euphrates River a minimum 5-mile wide security zone be established where no armed militias would be permitted to operate. This would include all armed militias, but especially the Turkey-supported FSA and the US-supported YPG militias. The zone and border crossings could be secured by joint NATO security forces, such as is the case of the UNDOF forces on the Golan.

Whether or not something like this is achieved remains to be seen. Erdogan may need a way to save face in the wake of his bellicose statements of late and such an agreement might facilitate this objective. What is also clear is that Turkey could not execute its offensive operations in the Aleppo Governorate without Russian forces in Syria standing down and permitting the execution of Operation Olive Branch. What is certain is that the Davos World Economic Forum will be the scene of intense diplomatic efforts in a final attempt to preclude a catastrophe in Syria. Obviously, those efforts are not likely to succeed according to the prophetic texts of Jeremiah and Isaiah.

24 January 2018: The Turks have actually run into fierce resistance from the Afrin Kurds YPG militia. (NOTE: Standing with the Kurds against the Turkish invasion are volunteers from the US, UK, Germany, France, Spain and several other NATO countries and well as some Asian nations. They are standing with the Kurds because the Kurds stood with the US-led Coalition fighting Islamic State.) A couple of days into the operation and the Turks have barely advanced a little more than a few miles into Syrian territory. There's apparently more bark in Erdogan's rhetoric than real bite, at least thus far. Obviously both Arabs and Kurds still have exposed raw nerves due to the oppression they suffered at the hands of their former Ottoman Turk overlords of a century ago. Old wounds reopened.

The bigger update, however, centers on the conflict brewing between Russia and the U.S. over Syria's renewed use of chemical weapons against rebel forces. US SECSTATE Rex Tillerson placed "ultimate responsibility" for the renewed chemical warfare upon Russia, accusing the Russian government of "shielding" the Al-Assad regime from full exposure of its war crimes and crimes against humanity from 2013 to the present. Strong words. This is the kind of thing - in northwestern Syria no less - that could lead to the kind of catastrophe foretold by Jeremiah. The potential for such a catastrophe expands exponentially with each passing hour.

21 January 2018: Turkish artillery and jets bombing the Afrin district of Aleppo Governorate as part of their proclaimed "Operation Olive Branch" have been met by stiff resistance from the Kurds of the YPG militia. This morning the Kurds stuck back at the town of Reyhanli in Turkey's Hatay Province to the west and the town of Kilis to the north with rocket fire. With the Turkish bombardment killing Kurdish civilians, the Kurds decided to return fire in an eye-for-eye fashion upon Turkey itself. Turkish hatred of the Kurdish people is reminiscent of the Turkish hatred of the Armenian people and the resultant genocide of the early 20th Century. Is history repeating itself?

There is also a key distinction to be made in this part of Syria for the benefit of our readers in their understanding of the war. The Free Syrian Army (FSA) here is more correctly identified as the Turkish Free Syrian Army (TFSA), and is not to be confused with the Free Syrian Army operating in other battlefields of the Syrian Civil War. The TFSA was re-branded the Syrian National Army (SNA) by Turkey in May of 2017 during its Operation Euphrates Shield (OES), the purpose of which was to prevent the Kurds of northern Syria from establishing contiguous territory under their control along the length of the Turkish border. Members of the TFSA/SNA are primary Turkomen and Arabs and are without question a proxy force under Turkish government control. They fight against the SDF/YPG within the U.S.-led CJTF-OIR. This would appear to make the life expectancy of Turkish membership within NATO one of very limited duration should things go from bad to worse.

It must be noted that since the start of the Syrian Civil War, this region of Syria has not seen major warfare erupt until yesterday. The relative peace enjoyed by hundreds of thousand of civilian populations on both side of the border came to an abrupt end when Turkey's Islamist warlord Erdogan launched his grossly misnamed 'Operation Olive Branch' at 5 PM local time yesterday. The objective of this Turkish aggression is genocide of the indigenous Kurdish population and the destruction of the US-allied YPG. In sum, Turkey has unilaterally widened the war in Syria. 

The U.S. is "very concerned" with Turkey's military invasion and is pressing the Turks hard to limit the scope of Operation Olive Branch, recognizing that it unnecessarily and severely hampers the central goal in the war against the Islamic State. (U.S. State Department press release).

20 January 2018: Northwestern Syria slowly turned into quite the expected conflagration this week thanks to the Islamist warmonger of Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The U.S. practically begged Erdogan to stand down on his threats to the Kurds (YPG militia) in Afrin. 

The Syrians said any Turkish military incursions into the Aleppo Governorate (within which the 710 square mile Afrin is a district) would be considered acts of aggression, and promised to shoot down Turkish jets, assuming the Russians would allow a NATO country to conduct combat operations over their heads. The Russians had some de-escalation zone troops stationed in Afrin and over the past 48 hours began pulling them out into other places in Aleppo Governorate. 

Kurdish YPG forces from the east near Manbij are reportedly moving enmasse to support their kin in Afrin. It's all a real hot mess with columns of Turkish heavy armor massed just across the border and nearly 200,000 civilians and refugees from elsewhere in Syria caught in the crossfire. The Kurds say there are 1 million people in northern Syria along the Turkish border.

The Kurdish YPG are allied with the Syrian Democratic Forces (Kurds and Arabs of the SDF) who are a part of the U.S.-led CJTF OIR Coalition fighting the remaining forces of the Islamic State in Syria. These are the same militias that the U.S. is hoping to transform into a border security force of about three brigades strong for northern and eastern Syria. Oh, and did we report here recently that "It's on" in Syria? You better believe it's on. Almost a free-for-all gunfight is looming.

This morning Turkish jets began bombing Kurdish targets in the Afrin District, and Erdogan said the offensive would shortly expand in scope to the town of Manbij. U.S. troops supporting the YPG militia have been in in Manbij for about a year now. They were attacked by Turkish-backed rebel back in March of last year. Those Turkish supported rebels attempted to conquer Manbij but the U.S.-led defenders stopped them cold.

A full-scale Turkish Army offensive would a something of an entirely different nature. The weekend is still young. Eyes open. As a reminder, the Eschatology Today view is that anything going on in Syria today is directly related to the fulfillment of Jeremiah 49:23-27 and ultimately to Isaiah 17.

Breaking News Alert 01-16

🔺 21 December 2016: A trilateral meeting of the Defense Ministers of Russia, Turkey and Iran is occurring today in Moscow. They are ostensibly discussing the military 'end game' for the civil war in Syria in which they have intervened. A secondary goal of Russia and Iran may be to facilitate Turkey's immediate withdrawal from the NATO alliance. Students of Bible prophecy recognize these three countries as being among the principle nations identified by Ezekiel 38/39 to launch in the near future a doomed attempt to invade and conquer the State of Israel for its wealth.

Global SITREP D1-16: Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs (Emergence of the Magog Confederation)

3 September 2016: Signs. I remember the early 70's hit song and AM radio staple by the Five Man Electrical Band. This tune's time on the airwaves was concurrent with when the Holy Spirit was moving very powerfully across this country; so-called "Jesus Freaks" were suddenly appearing everywhere, and eschatological books like Salem Kirban's '666' and Hal Lindsey's 'The Late, Great Planet Earth' were introducing Bible prophecy to millions upon millions of Americans. And the refrain of that song, "Sign, sign, everywhere a sign" took on a new, and more accurate, meaning for that time and those which followed to this very day.

Fast forward forty-six years to the present. The signs continue, and then as now, they're all pointing, like the image above, in the exact same direction. They're all pointing to Daniel's 70th Week, or as I like to call it, The Prophetic Road to The Revelation of Jesus Christ. And in this time, as never before, expectations of the call that will precede the Harpazo are more profound than they have ever been. This is because at least half of the wise bride of Christ, like the five of the ten virgins Jesus spoke of in the Matthew 25 parable, have their lamps oiled and trimmed and awaiting the midnight call, "Behold, the Bridegroom comes; go out to meet Him!" 

That's the ultimate sign, to be sure, but the other signs are everywhere if we're looking for them as well; if we're watching as instructed by our Lord. "So you also, when you see all these things know that He is near...at the doors!" 

And the signs are like birth pangs, ever increasing in frequency and intensity. Wars and rumors of wars are documented on this blog in abundance. The scarcity of food to feed the world's 6 billion people increases with each passing day. Disease is rampant around the world; Zika and other viruses are known and feared by virtually every living soul on the planet. Seismic activity is also at unprecedented levels across the globe. Floods, from India to Louisiana, are as catastrophic as ever; as are the roaring and tossing of the world's oceans. And these signs will only increase going forward through the time remaining.

And other signs are more subtle. These are the ones you really have to look at closely to see, but they also are in very great abundance. For example, with regards to the eschatological interpretation, Eschatology Today views Ezekiel 38/39 in terms of Russia and Iran. Yet few are aware that these two nations have never been military allies as they are today. A little over a century ago the Russian Czar was completing his military conquest of the Central Asian territories, like Turkmenistan, which the Shah of Persia considered to be within his own realm. Today we see the emergent Russian Federation-Shi'ite Iran Axis, or the Ezekiel 38/39 Magog military confederation in other words. 

The Emergent Magog Confederation In-Depth

The Russia-Iran Axis is largely the result of a very influential 54-year old Russian ultra-nationalist Bolshevik political scientist by the name of Alexandr Gelyevich Dugin. Alexandr Dugin's influence reaches deep inside the Kremlin and Russian military. He espouses Eurasianism, a key cornerstone in Vladimir Putin's vision for his nascent Eurasian Union, again, a/k/a the Magog confederation of eastern European Russia combined with former-Soviet Central Asian countries and Iran. Alexander Dugin is in tune with the Hojjatieh Shi'a imams in Iran in that he also calls of all-out war to "hasten the end times." If you look carefully you can see Alexandr Dugin's influence as the strategic underpinning for every one of Vladimir Putin's military moves of the past eight years. Moves such as the Russian military reconquest of the southern Caucasus (Georgia), the invasion and conquest of Ukrainian Crimea, and of Eastern, Russian-speaking Ukraine itself. As we know from Ezekiel, Russia will not be stopping with the military reclamation of its former empire; it and its allies have an appointment with God on the mountains of Israel.

This Russia-Iran alliance is not quite one-year old, but it has progressed with an extreme rapidity. In late September 2015 an agreement was reached between Russia, Iran and Syria within the strategic alliance of the Syrian Civil War and the war against the Islamic State. The war in Syria is understood within Eschatology Today as the process of near-term fulfillment for Isaiah 17 and Jeremiah 49:23-27.  In the past year the Russia-Syria-Iran Axis expanded to include the Shi'ite-led government of Iraq and Iran's Lebanese proxy Hezbollah.

The effects of the coup d'etat in Turkey which occurred only weeks ago and its fallout continue to have reverberations in the Middle East and beyond, particularly within the currently leaderless NATO. This is all a very critical real-time sign that not all seismic events are terrestrial, they are also political and they cause real changes we can only speculate about until they fully play themselves out. However, what can be seen as the driving force within Russia right now and into the foreseeable future contains powerful hints that the Lord's prophetic hooks will be readily accepted by a nation with an overwhelming warlike intent. Ezekiel 38/39 will not be a long, drawn-out war as some interpret. I believe it will be a blitzkrieg of unrestrained warfare, including nuclear weapons, which is quickly and miraculously concluded. On the other side of it waits the 70th Week and the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Global SITREP C11-16: The Levant Status Report

The Levant

26 August 2016: There's no beating around the bush on this one. The situation in the Levant, as well as in Mesopotamia (Iraq) is not good. In fact it is more than just not good, it is critical to the point of a major military conflagration as we have been expecting for some time now. 

In Iraq, both the jihadists of Islamic State and Al-Qaeda are literally screaming to their adherents to prepare for intense all-out war. War has been raging in Iraq incessantly since Obama's ill-advised withdrawal of US boots 5 years ago. Now US boots and US Special Forces are back in the thick of it in Iraq, just as the awaited Battle for Mosul is gearing up. Islamic State-controlled territory in Iraq is heavy around Mosul, but has been atrophied to nothing more than thin ribbons of land along major highways to the Syrian border.

In next door Syria, Islamic State is essentially telling its fellow jihadists in Iraq the equivalent of "you're on your own." Also and of major importance, the Turkish army launched an impromptu (planned and organized within a week) armored invasion of Syrian territory just east of the Euphrates River. This invasion's sole purpose, as Erdogan claims, is to keep Kurdish forces from establishing a line of contiguous territories along Turkey's southern border. The thing is, that's just a straw-man. Turkey's armored forces (tanks and APCs) invaded Syria near the town of Jarabulus in order to stake its own claim with its own favorite Turkoman jihadist militia employed as a proxy force. The Kurds had moved the the overwhelming bulk of their forces back to the east side of the Euphrates River a week ago. This Turkish action has absolutely nothing to do with NATO or the US-led Operation Inherent Resolve against the Islamic State.

On the coastline there is every indication that a third Lebanon War could erupt with little or no warning.  Israel's greatest threat, as revealed in the IDF's publicly revealed strategy whitepaper 12 months ago (August 2015), is not focused on the threat posed by Iranian nuclear weapons or the ballistic missiles designed to carry them to Tel Aviv. Israel's military focus is on Hezbollah in Lebanon. This fact was recently reinforced by IDF Chief of Staff (Lt. Gen.) Gadi Eizenkot who declared Hezbollah to be "the most serious threat to Israel." This is without having to state the obvious that Hezbollah is fully under the control of the IRGC's Quds Force which takes its orders directly from the Iranian Ayatollah.

If you're a long-time or a newly arrived reader of Eschatology Today, then you implicitly understand all of the many prophetic implications of these real-world realities. Which of these is the first prophetic domino is an easy question to answer, it's where the war is already in progress, and that's pretty much from the coastlines of Israel and Lebanon all the way to the Persian Gulf. Just as Bible prophecy has foretold.

Global SITREP C5-16: Failed Military Coup d'Etat in Turkey

Turkish Armed Forces Take to the Streets

FINAL UPDATE 23 July 2016: This will be the final update for SITREP C5:16, and its is literally laced thick with linked Open Source INTelligence (OSINT) to buttress its content. 

Why the Coup d'Etat in Turkey Failed

New information has come to light which has been confirmed by Turkish officials and senior military officers. This information details how Hakan Fidan, the director of Turkey's National Intelligence Organization, officially the Millî İstihbarat Teşkilatı (a/k/a MIT) received a 'heads up' about a possible coup d'etat on the afternoon prior to the planned coup commencement (Thursday, 14 July). 

Immediately after sunset on the 14th the MIT deployed it's Russian-made DShK 12.7mm anti-aircraft weaponry to the roof of the MIT headquarters building. No one outside of the MIT was aware that it possessed this kind of combat capability. When coup commando's made their attempt at a helicopter assault on the building they were stopped cold and the assault failed completely.

There are significant indications (The Wall Street Journal, July 20,2016) that the 'heads up' came from the U.S. CIA whose current director, John Brennan, covertly converted to the Wahhabist sect within Sunni Islam while he was CIA chief of station in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The delayed response by the Obama Administration was likely to due a desire to remain as distant as possible from the event - many US servicemen are stationed on two Turkish military installations (Izmir and Incirlik) where the commanding officers were among the senior coup leadership.

Actions taken by Hakan Fidan resulted in the Turkish coup leadership being forced to advance the extremely well-planned execution of the coup by a full six hours. This advancement of the timeline doomed the coup even before it began. The principle problem was that key elements of the coup did not have the necessary C2 (Command and Control) communication capabilities to receive the FRAGO (FRAGmentary Order) notifying the various elements of the virtual last-minute change to the execution of the coup in its various phases.

Many are those who saw initial reports of the coup in progress and noted how it appeared to be run by an incompetent leadership. No, the leadership was not incompetent; a critical mass of the various elements of the coup were executing their assigned phases of the operation based upon the timing meticulously detailed in the original coup d'etat plan. 

Also, one of the most senior officers of the coup leadership, Brigadier General Semih Terzi, was assassinated by a junior officer as he personally led the attempt to assume command of Turkish Special Forces Headquarters. This opening salvo of the coup, which occurred at the new advanced  schedule, quickly demoralized other elements of the coup and dealt an additional fatal blow to the coup's C2. As with many military operations throughout history, meticulous planning rarely survives first contact with the enemy.

The coup plotters did not plan to kill Erdogan while he was vacationing at the resort town of Marmaris. Two of the most elite groups of Turkish Air Force commandos were assigned to take Erdogan captive at his hotel. However, when they arrived at his hotel at 0300 in the morning Erdogan, having been forewarned of the coup, was nowhere to be found. It is also known that these elite commandos were not taken captive as the coup failed, but remain at-large giving rise to fears within the Erdogan regime of forthcoming targeted assassinations.

Most of the loyal government and media offices were also alerted to the coup. One of those was Turksat, a satellite communications and internet provider. The failure to take control of Turksat and shut it down enabled Erdogan to issue his alert via the FaceTime app and to appear on television to order his his loyalists out onto the streets of Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara. The rest is now history.

One final item. How is it that no one, and I mean no one, has asked the most important question begging for an answer. How is it that Turkey's senior office corps seeking a return to a democratic secular government for the country would align themselves with an Islamist cleric (Fethullah Gulen)?  The answer is they didn't and the claim by the Erdogan regime that they did so is as bogus as the day is long.

15 July 2016: Events are occurring swiftly, and it is nearly impossible to keep pace with them. The key fact is that the very nature of an in-progress military coup d'etat is such that making a valid assessment on the situation in Turkey is virtually impossible as of 8 PM EST this evening.

What is being received are conflicting reports about the coup and its alleged successes in locations around the country, primarily the metropolitan areas of Istanbul and Ankara, and many counter-reports denying those successes. What is for certain is that one or more elements of the Turkish armed forces has launched a coup against the Islamist government led president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

There are at this time continuing engagements between the coup forces and civilians and those military forces which remain loyal to Erdogan's government. 

Update 16 July 2016: While the coup appears to have not succeeded, it remains to early to tell fact from fiction. There are reliable reports that approximately 1500 troops taking part in the coup have surrendered to government forces. Among them are the coup's apparent military leadership which includes a handful of generals and a few dozen colonels.

In a surprising twist a legal spokesperson for the Turkish government is saying that an imam living in exile in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania is the overall spiritual leader of the coup forces. The 74-year old Islamic cleric, Fethullah Gulen, is the namesake of the Gulen Movement and the "Gulenists" within it, and the Turkish daily Zaman is closely linked to his movement. 

The Erdogan government seized control of Zaman and the also associated Herkul.org website in March of this year. Both the Zaman daily and Herkul.org served as media outlets for the Gulen Movement. It's not a far stretch to assess that this kind of government repression of opposition voices in Turkey might have been a catalyst for the military-led coup d'etat.

The surprising twist comes in a very recent (13JUL16) pre-coup d'etat news report by The Daily Caller that Hillary and Bill Clinton are also closely associated with Fathullah Gulen and his movement. A trove of discovery documents filed with the U.S. Congress detail the ties between the Clinton Foundation and Fethullah Gulen.  The Gulen organization and many of its adherents have also donated heavily to the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign.

As if Hillary didn't have enough troubles these days. Then again, wherever there is smoke coming from within the Clinton Foundation there's a small fire producing that smoke.

Update 17 July 2016: The title for this SITREP has been changed to reflect the reality of the situation, the Turkish military coup d'etat against the Erdogan government has failed. However, significant fallout will continue for an indefinite period of time.

By the numbers being reported 265 Turks lost their lives. Just over 100 of that number were rebelling Turkish soldiers. One of those soldiers was summarily beheaded by a mob of pro-Erdogan Islamist civilians on the Bosporus Bridge. To this add in 1,440 injured on both sides of the coup.  The number of rebel soldiers arrested by the government was 2,840 at last count; there will be more and all of them likely face a penalty of death by execution. Many of the captured rebel soldiers have expressed their belief that they were taking part in a nation-wide exercise. Eight Turkish soldiers escaped to Greece in a helicopter and have requested asylum there.

In what may be the most significant fallout, and one so far unrelated to the military's coup attempt, the totalitarian nature of the Erdogan Islamist regime has been placed in full view. Prior to the coup being crushed an AKP (the ruling Justice and Development Party) legal organ of the regime issued arrest warrants for 188 members of the country's independent supreme court system, plus 2,750 lower bench judges from across the country. 

This action paves the way for the introduction of a fully Sharia-compliant court system in Turkey as the independent secular court system has now been decimated. The literal Islamist meaning of "Justice and Development" has been revealed. Remember, Turkey is a member of NATO and this kind of authoritarianism is not compatible with the system of values within the alliance. 

As mentioned above, the presence in the U.S. of exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen has led Erdogan to blame the U.S. directly for the failed attempt to overthrow his regime. The entire Gulen global organization is being referred to by the regime as a "parallel structure." Gulen's immediate extradition from the U.S. is now Erdogan's number one "must" demand upon the Obama Administration, and it has placed the U.S.-Turkish strategic partnership in a condition of high risk.

Given the totalitarian nature of the Erdogan regime now on full display is there any wonder that elements within the Turkish armed forces, who have always been dedicated to the preservation of Turkey as the secular republic envisioned and founded by Kemal Ataturk, have once more rebelled?  

I  believe the current assessment needs to be that Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamist AKP allies bear full responsibility for the  acute political destabilization that has now befallen the Turkish republic and polarized its society. The fallout in Turkey will continue for the foreseeable future with further upheaval an inevitability.

UPDATE 20 July 2016: The seriousness of the fallout at this point has eclipsed all expectations. Erdogan's totalitarianism has thus far resulted in the arrests and detentions of over 50,000 Turkish civilians plus approximately 20,000 military and police officers. On top of this Erdogan ordered the cut-off of all electrical power and the secure sealing of the Incirlik Air Base. This action essentially takes approximately 1,500 American pilots and support troops as prisoners along with approximately 50 American tactical nuclear weapons. 

There is now no doubt that Erdogan and his fellow AKP Islamists hold the United States culpable as supporters of the coup d'etat, with a leading government newspaper editor claiming that the U.S. planned the coup and attempted to assassinate Erdogan. A review of American news organizations and their headlines and reports from yesterday afternoon through 0600 this morning resulted no mention whatsoever of these critical developments. Silent are FoxNews, the DrudgeReport,  ABC News, NBC News, CBS News and several others. It would seem that the Obama Administration's control over mainstream US media is as absolute as Erdogan's control over Turkey, but you already knew that.

Global SITREP C6-16: "In the Latter Time of Their Kingdom"

The Roman Empire c. 117 AD Greatest Extent

21 July 2016: The great overflowing of instability that has come upon the modern Republic of Turkey is no accident. One of the prime views of the Eschatology Today blog is that nothing which occurs in the world these days, at this late hour of the pre-70th Week era (a/k/a "the Church Age"), is unrelated to coming prophetic fulfillment. One hyphenated word which accurately has conveyed what these events represent in the context of near-future prophetic fulfillment is "stage-setting" and which is precisely what is occurring in Turkey today.

Interpreting and assessing what is occurring in Turkey from the Biblical prophetic perspective simply has to begin with the prophetic words of the angel Gabriel to the prophet Daniel. These words are within the interpretation Gabriel provided to Daniel regarding his Divine vision of the Ram and a Goat, and which move temporally into our present time, are found in Daniel 8:23. They describe the time immediately preceding the rise of the Antichrist, also identified as the beast from the sea in Revelation 13.

“And in the latter time of their kingdom,

When the transgressors have reached their fullness..."

Gabriel said, "And in the latter time of their kingdom." Whose kingdom?  

Obviously, their's is the kingdom that would give rise to the kingdom of the Antichrist in the last days! Their's is the kingdom in the specific context of Gabriel's interpretation of the vision Daniel was given by God. 

It is the kingdom symbolically represented by the male goat which came from the west (Daniel 8:5) and unambiguously identified by Gabriel as Greece. It was also represented symbolically by the notable or conspicuous horn that was Alexander the Great, and the four little horns which was the division of Alexander's empire into four less powerful empires, and which in its final form achieved within the generation immediately preceding the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, was conquered and absorbed into the Roman Empire.

And the Roman Empire is the western empire which Gabriel also unambiguously identified by the angel Gabriel in Daniel 9:26b in time (Messiah Jesus) and by its specific military action in the siege and destruction of Jerusalem and the 2nd Temple.

"And after the sixty-two weeks

Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;

And the people of the prince who is to come

Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary."

This now brings us to the purpose of the map at the head of this SITREP. Take a good, long look at this map. Study its details as they are very instructive also. You know where modern Turkey is located on this map of the Roman Empire at its greatest extent. You also know that Turkey is an integral part of NATO and has seen itself as a potential member of the European Union, particularly since negotiations to this end commenced 11 years ago.

This brings us to a couple of questions. The prophetic symbolism seen in the vision of Daniel and the very concise interpretation provided by the angel Gabriel are inviolable Scripture. Have we seen anything here that even remotely could be construed as representative of Turkey's symbols of a crescent moon and star? Is their anything in Scripture that specifically references Turkey? No, there is not. Zip, nada, nothing that singles out modern-day Turkey in any manner. 

Turkey, if we are to go by prophetic Scripture, has always been within something larger than itself. This should be speaking volumes to us about the stage setting that is yet to occur in the very near future. And remember, the final beast empire is represented by ten horns, three of which Antichrist will subdue and take for himself.

Turkey and Ezekiel 38/39 - Briefly

Then we have the nations identified by the prophet Ezekiel in the 38th and 39th chapters of the prophetic book which bears his name. The names of those nations are all sons of Noah's son Japheth, except for Togarmah who was the third-born son of Japheth's first-born son Gomer. All of these sons of Japheth and the son of Gomer are identified by Ezekiel to denote peoples, or nations of people who descended from them, and not the land which they at one time in the distant past occupied. The lone exception to this is the leader of the military confederation, Gog, who is clearly identified as coming from the land of Magog. Magog means in Hebrew, 'from Gog.'

All of these sons are variously identified by ancient sources in connection with the Cimmerians, Sarmatians, Scythians, Caucasian Iberians, Georgians and Armenians. And Magog itself is located by the ancient sources as being either in the Caucasus region west of the Caspian Sea, or even in some ancient maps as north of China in what we know today to be Mongolia and Russian Siberia. Also of note are correlations of Tubal with the city of Tobolsk in the Russian Federation, and Meshech which is directly related to the Russian language name for the city of Moscow - Moskva. 

The bottom line in this exegesis is that Turkey is peripheral to the nations which will be a part of the prophetic event described in Ezekiel 38/39; it is not a participant in the invasion, but will be on the opposing western side of the war which results as seen in Ezekiel 38:21-22 and 39:3-6. Most who read Eschatology Today regularly are well aware of this exegesis because it has been dealt with previously in some detail. 

What Next?

It doesn't take a crystal ball to see the potential for Erdogan and his AKP reaching too far for absolute power. A few steps too far into totalitarian dictatorship in post-coup d'etat Turkey and it could all backfire badly upon them pretty quickly. 

The current status is that Erdogan has become a virtual dictator and has taken upwards of 100,000 Turks as domestic prisoners of war. Human rights in Turkey are presently nonexistent. American service personnel and family members at Incirlik Air Base as well as the 50-some odd nuclear weapons stored there are virtual hostages - pawns in all actuality - in the political chess match Erdogan and his AKP party are playing with the US Obama Administration and NATO. One wrong move and it could well be an unforeseen 'checkmate.'

Bottom line: the situation in Turkey is utterly inconsistent with the principles that bind together the nations of NATO and EU member states. Without a rapid reversal of the situation in Turkey, let's just say 'regime change' might well be a viable option to save Turkey from the extremist ravages of the AKP and returned to a kinder, gentler version of Islam, an "Abrahamic religion' kind of Islam that NATO and the EU as well as the Ezekiel 38:13 political and religious global elite have since the end of World War II been very comfortable being in a very close alliance with, and will be in the future.

Three months is about all the time i would assess that Erdogan and the AKP have remaining in pressing their luck in this gambit and without going too far with it. And then there's the fairly strong possibility of a Trump Administration coming to power in six months time and turning Washington, the District of Corruption upon its head, and what that will mean for NATO, the EU, Israel and the rest of the world, not to mention Turkey. 

Law and Order, leading from the front will again be the norm. NATO, as has been discussed here, is already on its way towards massive financial investments in defense industries and rearmament. In particular note here is the nation of Greece whose new defense spending per GDP is among the highest in NATO. They've all read the writing on the wall of a coming Trump Administration. These new paradigms will have a profound across the board effect. Americans are not the only people on this planet who like and want to be associated with winners and winning; Europeans like it and so do a lot of other countries, including Turks.