Global SITREP B1-25: The War Expands

Hodeidah port, Yemen

UPDATED 11 June 2025: A joint IAF and INS (Israeli Navy) strike (image above) against persistent Houthi attacks set the Yemeni port of Hodeidah ablaze. The Israeli strike featured the firepower of Sa'ar-6 class missile frigates launching powerful precision missiles. If the above imagery is any indication the Houthis have lost their primary port facility in Yemen for years to come.

Firstly, who are the Houthis? They are a relatively recent group founded by Hussein al-Houthi which emerged in Yemen in the 1990s. Originally, they were known as the "Believing Youth" (BY), but officially they're known as Ansar Islam. They're also a branch of Shi'ism known as Zaydism. The Houthis assumed control of most of Yemen in 2015 after a decade long civil war, 2004-2014. Since then, the Houthis have been a well-armed proxy force under the Shi'a Twelvers of Iran.

From the perspective of Bible prophecy, the Houthi dominance under Iranian Twelver leadership will be fairly short-lived in these last days. A major event or series of events, unknown at this time, will occur to transform Houthi-controlled Yemen into the Ezekiel 38:13 Yemen we know as Sheba. That soon-to-be Yemen-Sheba is aligned with the Arab Dedan and a large Western alliance of nations (merchants of Tarshish and all their young lions) which opposes the Gog of Magog Confederation's assault upon the State of Israel. This is why the current events in the southern Arabian Peninsula are of critical importance these days and are due close attention going forward.

The strategy noted above is to neutralize the three primary proxies of Twelver Iran: HAMAS in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen. An important aspect at this point are the seemingly imminent strikes that will de-nuclearize the Iranian Twelvers and also eliminate their ballistic missile capabilities.

Generic Image (Israel radar)

UPDATE 13 June 2025: The first stage of the war prophesied in Jeremiah 49:34-39 commenced at approximately 03:00 13 June 2025 when IAF aircraft went "wheels up." This was the execution of what the IDF calls "OPERATION RISING LION".

It may have begun an hour earlier when a clandestine Israeli (Mossad) drone base in the heart of Iran launched waves of UAVs at select targets in the country. At least five waves of attacks on key Iranian military leadership, the majority of its nuclear scientists and technicians, a number of ballistic missile sites, dozens of remnant air defense sites and air defense radars, and nuclear sites, such as Natanz, were effectively destroyed. The Iranian capital Tehran was struck as well. This war will continue, at a minimum, until we near the end of this month and battle damage assessments (BDAs) indicate the overall mission objectives have been achieved. The initial Iranian retaliation in the form of a 100-strong drone swarm were eliminated well outside if Israeli territory. 

Major global media for the past two weeks at a minimum stressed how the Trump Administration was preventing Israeli strikes on Iran. Nothing was further from the truth as the US was informed all along, and in great detail since 7 June. In fact, there were key Trump Administration personnel who knew more than Israeli opposition leaders. Clearly the secrecy protocol that was followed in the planning and in the waves of airstrike execution was iron clad. Iran was taken in complete surprise. The dissident Iranian population was unharmed and now, even at this early stage, they can clearly see how weak the Twelver regime is.

Brothers and Sisters, we are watching Bible prophecy being fulfilled in real-time. 

The areas bordered in red to the upper above no longer exists. The large area in the center is receiving repeat strikes in drilling down at least three levels where the uranium enrichment cascades are located.

UPDATE 3PM 13 June 2025: New assessment Iran is reported to have launched just 100 missiles of at Israel; civilians ordered to shelters all across Israel. Israel has warned that attacks on its civilian population will result in the destruction of Iran's oil production and exporting facilities. This "red line" was crossed by Iran today.

Dozens of Iranian missiles have been intercepted; US assistance to defend Israel was expected and did occur. Two barrages of about 50 missiles in each was detected. The IAF is doubling down on striking Iranian missiles prior to launch.

According to the IDF, it is Twelver disinformation that Israel attacked the underground Fordo nuclear weapon assembly facilities. The IDF denies they have struck Fordo.

Aerial view of the Fordo nuclear weapons complex in Iran. Several entrances to the deep underground can be seen along the ring road.

To be continued...

Global SITREP C2-24: Rockets Red Glare

RS-26 Rubezh IRBM a/k/a RS-26 Oreshnik MRBM

UPDATED 22 November 2024: The Russian ballistic Missile attack on Dnipro, Ukraine yesterday morning appears to have been a new variant of a Russian Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile known as the RS-26 Rubezh. 

Russia's clandestine development of this weapon almost certainly was the reason President Trump and SECDEF Esper announced the US's unilateral withdrawal from the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (a/k/a INF Treaty) on August 2, 2019. The development of the RS-26 Rubezh was a one of a series of blatant violations of the INF Treaty signed in 1987 by U.S. President Ronald Regan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev.

Development continued and an MRBM variant of the Rubezh was rebranded as (RS-26) Oreshnik. It is difficult to distinguish between these two missiles which led to major confusion in expert media reporting yesterday on the identity of the missile. 

RS-26 Oreshnik test launch

However, what is now known puts yesterday's strike in an entirely new perspective. First and foremost is that the Oreshnik strike is the first use of an IRBM or MRBM in the history of warfare. The proverbial genie is out of the bottle, and with this strike a clear signal was sent; the world has crossed into unknown territory. Secondly, analysis of imagery makes clear that the Oreshnik warhead contained six (6) warheads or MIRVs (Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicles). Three were either inert, kinetic or decoys and three had conventional high explosives. These MIRV warheads were also impervious to Ukrainian air defenses; they never even came close to being shot down due to their hypersonic speed and maneuverability. A third aspect, not widely reported, is that ALL of the missiles Russia has launched into Ukraine in more than 1,000 days of warfare were capable of carrying nuclear warheads of various yields.

So, with Russia having let the genie out of the bottle who's to say that Israel would not deploy a mix of its Jericho-2 MRBMs and Jericho-3 MIRVed IRBMs in a follow-up strike on Iran's now virtually defenseless nuclear and petroleum infrastructure. Maneuverable warheads can arrive on target from every direction on the compass.

UPDATE 28 November 2024: This past Tuesday morning as I lay in my hospital bed, I turned on the wall-mounted television not intending to watch a particular program, to channel surf. It was a big surprise to find that the channel was not set to the Monday Night Football station I had been watching but was now set to a CSPAN channel. The program CSPAN was airing was a live, in-progress UN Security Council session concerning the Middle East. 

Israel's Ambassador Danny Danon was on the receiving end an exceptionally nasty series of exchanges with both the PA representative and an Algerian representative. Despite repeated decorum warnings from the UNSC chair (held by the UK), the venom being spewed by Israel's enemies continued unabated. Credit to Ambassador Danon for remaining in his seat, but a rage of volcanic anger was plainly evident on his countenance.

Then a thought came to mind and the Ezekiel 38/39 "Battle of Gog of Magog" prophecy consumed my thoughts. A seed that had been planted recently suggesting a broadening of the actual identities of both "Kuwsh (Cush) and Put" was now a necessity. This continual enlightening strongly intimates that the closer we get to that prophetic day, the clearer the prophecy becomes. 

The people Ezekiel identified as "Put" is far more than just those inhabiting Libya but includes most of North Africa on the Mediterranean Sea's southern coastline to include Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Algeria. Together, these are the populations of Put. And of Kuwsh the same is true, they are not just Sudan and Ethiopia as many interpretations suggest. Kuwsh includes the peoples of the Horn of Africa as well as modern-day Yemen.

The Horn of Africa and Yemen

I prayed for the LORD to show me in Scriptures where this has already been revealed. Within a few minutes my gaze was directed to reading passages in Isaiah and Joel. There, in Isaiah 45:14-17, as if it were an adjunct to Ezekiel 38/39 are all these peoples listed together and who will be given into the hand of Israel by the God of Israel. Egypt, Kuwsh (Horn of Africa) and Sabeans (Yemen). We know the end of this because God has known of it from the beginning.

Thus says the Lord:

“The labor of Egypt and merchandise of Cush
And of the Sabeans, men of stature,
Shall come over to you, and they shall be yours;
They shall walk behind you,
They shall come over in chains;
And they shall bow down to you.
They will make supplication to you, saying, ‘Surely God is in you,
And there is no other;
There is no other God.’ ”

 Truly You are God, who hide Yourself,
O God of Israel, the Savior!
 They shall be ashamed
And also disgraced, all of them;
They shall go in confusion together,
Who are makers of idols.

But Israel shall be saved by the Lord
With an everlasting salvation;
You shall not be ashamed or disgraced
Forever and ever.

And then we can turn to Joel 3:4-8 where we find Tyre and Sidon (Lebanon) and all the coasts of Philistia (Gaza), as if they're all in the same basket of judgment, who have retaliation repaid upon their heads. The Sabeans (Yemenites) are seen in verse 8.

The current SITREP in the Middle East reads like a sidebar, a very short interlude, before the next and final act that sets the whole region in the conditions graphically illustrated in Ezekiel 38/39. 

Marana'tha!

Global SITREP B3-24: Please Stand By

29 July 2024: In the wake of Hezbollah's murderous massacre of 12 Druze children on a Majdal Shams soccer field on Saturday (Shabbat), Israel's security cabinet has authorized the launch of a major retaliation against Hezbollah in Lebanon. It is currently inconceivable that such an Israeli counter-strike would not spark a much larger war than is occurring at the present time. Hence, the title for SITREP B3-24. 

The Islamic Republic of Iran should also be on the receiving end of the Israeli response since they manufactured and delivered to their Hezbollah proxy the Falaq-1 rocket (110 lb. HE warhead) used in the attack. Shrapnel from the rocket proves beyond any doubt that it was a Falaq-1 of Iranian manufacture. The mere threat of a significant Israeli retaliation has not had any effect upon Hezbollah as four new rockets were fired this morning into the Gome Junction area of Kiryat Shmona this morning, with an additional report within the past hour of more rockets coming over the border into northern Israel. 

UPDATE 1 August 2024: Can't help but to make note that Tisha B'Av occurs eleven days from today. In light of Iranian threats for direct strikes on Israel, one might suppose some type of preemption might take place. Powerful US Navy task forces are on station off Lebanon and in the so-called Persian Gulf. Iran and its proxies had better think twice before launching an attack because these forces are more than likely to robustly defend Israel and then take the fight to all of them. The Iran-linked PMU forces of Babil Province in Iraq (south of Baghdad) got a taste of the power arranged against them this past Tuesday. And this was no preemptive strike but a direct, on-target punitive strike, which Hezbollah, the Houthis, the Iran-aligned Shi'a of Iraq and the Twelvers in Tehran never saw coming. 

To be continued...

 

Global SITREP D4-23: A Greater MidEast War Part III

U.S. CENTCOM and IDF Commanders Meeting

UPDATE 17 December 2023: The commanders of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have met for the third time since the war erupted on October 7, 2023. No doubt one of the topics discussed at this meeting is the continued resupply of munitions from the American arsenal and the preparations underway for escalating warfare on Israel's northern front. 

Few are they who believe Hezbollah will accept, or that Iran will allow them to accept, the diplomatic initiative for their forces to withdraw (retreat) north of the Litani River in Lebanon, per UNSC 1701 of 2006. Such a refusal will make a full-scale war in the north inevitable. A second and equally important topic is the initiation of Operation Prosperity Guardian in the Red Sea and strait at Bab al-Mandab against the Iranian Houthi proxy in Yemen. 

As the operation's name implies, global prosperity hangs in the balance with the Houthi attacks on all commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea through the strait. The top four or five global shipping concerns have shut down their commercial vessels from moving through at this strategic choke point. As a result the USS Eisenhower CSG moved from the Persian Gulf into the Gulf of Aden in preparation for possible military action against Houthi military forces. Such action might well follow the heels of U.S. SECDEF Austin's in Israel today and the message he will shortly convey to all willing to listen.

11 December 2023: PM Netanyahu definitively let the proverbial cat out of the bag today:

"First of all we will win in the south and then we will deal with the north. As a first step, we will push Hezbollah beyond the Litani River and later we will also have to take care of the organization itself."

Therefore, Hezbollah is not on a count-down timer to initiate full-scale hostilities with Israel, Israel will initiate its Hezbollah solution in due course. Yet Hezbollah cannot be solved in a vacuum - the IRGC-QF Unit 340 proxies in Syria will also need to be decisively defeated by the IDF. 

Of course this is how the men in charge of Israel's war cabinet, and those in the U.S. government may envision how current events will evolve over time. However, neither of the two allies appear to be cognizant of Isaiah 11:14, a direct statement which is very clear.

With respect to the Gaza operation, the most current interactive graphic available is found on the ISW and Critical Threats webpage. Click on the link if you're so inclined and you can explore the entire Holy Land in exceptional detail, but zooming in and moving the image around with the controls and your mouse.

The above graphic will be used as Israel and the IDF have to "deal with the north" in a military campaign that is all but inevitable. Secular Israelis have some hope pinned on diplomacy by France and the United States who singularly and together still have some influence in Lebanon, albeit not with Hezbollah or the other Islamic terrorist groups in the country. It's extremely doubtful the can convince Hezbollah to move all of its forces north of the Litani River (just north of Tyre on the map). And even this fails to deal with the Hezbollah organization itself, much less the IRGC-QF forces to the immediate east of Galilee and the Golan.

Once again, we're out in front of the issue because a head start is far better than having to play catch up. 

Global SITREP D2-23: A Greater MidEast War

Iran Surrounded

UPDATE 18 November 2023: The big Ohio-class nuclear-powered submarine in the Middle East is sailing with the Eisenhower CSG somewhere in the Arabian Sea. The converted boomer boat is the USS Florida (SSGN-728) and she's carrying 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles for delivery to Iranian military targets should either Hezbollah or Iran join the war against Israel as they've threatened. 

There may be a significant indication that this US power-play is not enough to deter Iran (and its proxies) from entering the war. On Wednesday, 15 November, the Twelver regime's Houthi proxy in Yemen launched an armed drone strike against one of the Eisenhower CSG combatant vessels in the Arabian Sea. That ship was the Arleigh-Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) as it was transiting in international waters in the Red Sea. The Houthi drone was shot down at distance by the ships air defense systems. 

This attack by Iran's regional proxy forces is in addition to the current total of 61 attacks on US troops in their bases in Iraq and Syria as of yesterday, 17 November. The Biden Administration is between Iraq and a hard place in that it must put brute, kinetic military force on the table if deterrence of the Iranian Twelver's is to have any change of success. Thus far, and according the the Pentagon, 60 American troops have sustained minor injuries in the proxy attacks in Iraq and Syria, but all have since returned to duty. 

And can be seen in the above collage image, the Islamic Republic of Iran is surrounded by a most impressive array of American military power in every direction on the compass. The USS Ford CSG to the west, B-1 Bombers to the north, the USS Bataan ARG to the south, and the USS Eisenhower CSG to the east, not to mention dozens of the world's best strike aircraft based throughout the region. As Israel presses on to the south of Gaza in its hunt to exterminate HAMAS, PIJ and other terrorists, push will come to shove at some point as almost no one believes Iran will back down at this point.

IDF in Northern Israel

13 November 2023: The prospect for a much greater war across the MidEast looms today as the deterrent warnings from both Israel and the United States appear to have fallen upon deaf Islamist ears. From Lebanon, through Syria and Iraq to the heartland of the Islamic Republic of Iran the rhetorical flames of a great war increase by the hour. IDF commanders in the north want to take the war of attrition with Hezbollah deep into Lebanon but are, for the moment at least, being held back by political decisions and international pressure. This pressure will likely evaporate should the IRGC-QF proxies invite a large U.S. retaliation. At that time the IDF will initially seek to drive to the Litani River in Lebanon, but DM Gallant is not bluffing when he recently stated that Beirut could become Gaza.

In Israel the prospect of full-scale war with Hezbollah in Lebanon is being discussed in terms of not if it will escalate, but when. At this time the when this war will escalate is regarded as imminent. Hence the need for this new SITREP. Israeli civilians living in eight villages, moshavim and kibbutzim located along Israel's northern border, just inside the so-called 2000 U.N. Blue Line and within the Ma'ale Yosef Regional Council and the Upper Galilee Regional Council, have been instructed by the Northern Command to enter protective spaces.

Within prophetic Scripture this larger war can be seen within the texts of Jeremiah 49:23-27, Isaiah 17 and Joshua 13:1-7 which have never previously found fulfillment. The death toll will be great.

Global SITREP E5-16: "Behold, I will break the bow of Elam"

14 December 2016: Ten days ago the above video appeared online, and like a couple of others which date to 2012 and 2015 respectively, it clearly records in graphic detail another in a series of epic failures of the vaunted Russian S-300P surface-to-air (SAM) missile system to launch. The failure is that of the 5V55KD missile itself to ignite following its 'cold launch' from the tube. The missile (the arrow) then falls back onto the launcher (the bow) destroying both.

Upon seeing this video an instantaneous reminder came to mind of the God-breathed words of the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah 49:35 to be exact:

“Thus says the Lord of hosts:

‘Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,

The foremost of their might.'"

Behold indeed! It has been with much media fanfare and all-around hand-wringing dread that the Russian S-300P air defense system was recently deployed to Iran after years of political delays.  As discussed previously, the land of ancient Elam is where the crown jewel of Iran's nuclear program is located, and it is here that Iran would seek to defend with the foremost of their military might that crown jewel. Undefended jewels are exposed and vulnerable, as is the country in which they reside.

UPDATE 18 December 2016: According to a report published yesterday afternoon by the Middle East Monitor (MEMO), the Islamic Republic of Iran through the mouthpiece of its IRGC commander, General Hossein Salami, has threatened the Gulf States with "Islamic conquest" as has just occurred in Aleppo, Syria. 

Quoting IRGC General Hossein Salami's comments to Iranian media: “It is now time for the Islamic conquests. After the liberation of Aleppo, Bahrain’s hopes will be realized and Yemen will be happy with the defeat of the enemies of Islam.”

NOTE: In the above linked MEMO report are a pair of embedded videos showing that as the remaining civilian refugees begin to evacuate eastern Aleppo city, mostly on foot but also in cars and buses, the Shi'a militia proxies of Iran open fire with small arms and heavy machine guns, further terrorizing those fleeing through checkpoints set up by the Russian military forces. These videos lend themselves to corroborating other reports of the massacre of fleeing civilians in eastern Aleppo in the past week.

General Salami's statement indicates that Ayatollah Khamenei and his clerical support have authorized these wars of "Islamic conquest" which are without any doubt the creation of chaos in the furtherance of the Shi'a Hojjatieh agenda of hastening the appearance of their awaited al-Mahdi figure. It is noteworthy to also say that neither Bahrain or Yemen could be conquered by Iran without also launching full-scale war against the Sunni's of Iraq, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and several other nations as well, including the Western alliance led by the United States, and Israel. 

Clearly within this Iranian threat is an overt threat of a greater war in the heart of the Middle East. A 'rumor of war' in the words as prophesied by our Lord Jesus Christ in the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24-25. Virtually all of us can now see clearly the inter-linking of several very specific Bible prophecies concerning the final wars of the pre-70th Week world as we know it. Time is short.

Global SITREP D6-16: US Engages Iranian Forces in Yemen

Vertical Missile Launch from the USS Mason

UPDATED (see below) 13 October 2016: This has been seen coming from a long way off... US Naval forces engaging Iranian missile sites in combat operations in the Middle East.

Last evening, following a second Iranian (IRGC) attempt in three days to strike a small US flotilla with Kosar (AShM (anti-ship) missiles the US struck back at the sites which fired the missiles in Yemen, just north of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. All Iranian targets were destroyed.

Background: All summer long Iranian naval forces have been exhibiting increasingly bellicose and unprofessional behavior towards US naval forces operating from the Bab al-Mandeb Strait to the Strait of Hormuz. Those incidents passed without the exchange of fire.

However, that all changed a week ago. In late August the Iranians delivered a massive shipment of AShM weapons and radar equipment to sites in Yemen under Houthi rebel control just north of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. Those missile systems and their electronic targeting command and control systems went operational one week ago when a former US ship, the UAE-operated HSV-2 Swift, was attacked by one and possibly two Iranian Kosar AShMs; the attack nearly destroyed the Swift.  

Following the attack the US Navy deployed the USS Ponce, USS Mason and USS Nitze to patrol the coastline opposite the Iranian missile bases on the Yemeni coast. On Sunday, the American ships came under attack by three Iranian Kosar missiles fired from those bases. The USS Mason fired a salvo of SM-2 missiles in defense of the flotilla, as well as a brand new defensive system known as the Nulka Decoy System. All Iranian missiles harmlessly impacted the Red Sea.

Then, yesterday evening the Iranian fired their Kosar missiles in a second attack on the American flotilla. This time the result was the same, and different. It was the same in that the Nulka system on the USS Mason again splashed the Iranian missiles harmlessly into the Red Sea, and it was different in that the USS Nitze fired at least 6 Tomahawk missiles at the Iranian missile/radar bases destroying them completely as well as the IRGC troops who manned those bases. Battle damage assessment has yet to determine if there were any survivors.

Here's a video to illustrate how the new Australian/American designed Nulka Decoy System works.

This is just the first of what likely will become a series of engagements between US and/or Coalition naval forces and Iranian naval forces. It is reasonable to expect this action to continue in the near future at the Strait of Hormuz and within the confines of the Persian Gulf.

What remains of one IRGC radar/missile base struck by US Tomahawk

Another View of  the destruction of IRGC radar/missile base in Yemen.

14 October 2016: These two images above appeared on the web late yesterday. They are AP photos taken from an AP video made at the site of one of the US Tomahawk strikes. It appears by the number of destroyed vehicles present that the IRGC deployed mobile anti-ship systems at two locations in southern Yemen overlooking the Bab al-Mandeb Strait choke point.  Also, Iran's navy has deployed a small frigate and a replenishment ship into the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in the wake of these US retaliatory strikes. The last time Iranian naval forces challenged US Navy warships (April 1988) they lost badly, with a total of eight vessels being sunk or damaged severely. Lesson learned?

It is the view of Eschatology Today that this kind of skirmishing could ultimately lead to a fulfillment of Jeremiah 49:34-39 in the coming months.

16 October 2016: Perhaps not all of Iran's 'eggs' (anti-ship missiles and radars) in Yemen were in the same basket. Yesterday afternoon another salvo of anti-ship cruise missiles were fired at the USS Ponce (AFSB(I)-15), USS Mason (DDG-87) and USS Nitze (DDG-94) patrolling the northern approach to the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. This attack was confirmed by Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral John Richardson. 

USS Mason DDG-87

It would appear that once again the Nulka Anti-Missile Decoy system fitted onboard the USS Mason effectively defeated yesterday's 1500 (3 PM) local time Iranian attack on our ships. This repeated attack following the destruction of the first three systems by US Tomahawks on 13 October provides some indication that the IRGC had tunnels constructed and camouflaged in this same general area of Yemen's coastline.  No doubt a detailed active search for the surviving Iranian missile systems is ongoing, and they will in all certainty be struck upon discovery with penetrating ordnance, or "as appropriate." 

Watching for further developments.

Global SITREP C8-15: Mid-2015 Situation Report

9 June 2015: Everything is under our LORD's complete control and subject to His appointments and times. In this SITREP, over the new day or so, I will touch upon the events which are occurring in various places around the planet that are relative to our expectations in interpretation of His prophetic Word.

The number one issue in this regard remains the Shi'a Twelver-run Islamic Republic of Iran, also known as Elam in Jeremiah 49:34-39 and Parac (Persia) in Ezekiel 38-39. The flash points at this time are its expansionist war in the Republic of Yemen, its nuclear weapons program, the civil wars in Syria and Iraq, and Lebanese Hezbollah. Iran is the primary focus of the military forces of the Sunni Arab nations at this time. It is a focus that has led Israel and Saudi Arabia to conduct secret discussions on what will be done to address the threat Iran poses to their common interests - namely, survival. Any one of these current issues has the potential to ignite preemptive strikes by Israel and/or the Sunni Arab military coalition against Iran. The upping of the ante in this regard occurred this weekend when Iran's proxy force in Yemen launched a SCUD missile attack on the King Khalid Air Base in southernmost Saudi Arabia. The Saudis shot the SCUD down with an American Patriot missile battery.

I would also tie the fate of Damascus to these developments, but we already have a current and up-datable SITREP C4-15 tracing the prophetic impending demise of the ancient Syrian-Aramean capital city. There is something else going on in Syria which caught my eye: Iranian IRGC/Qods Force officers have begun summarily executing Sunni Muslim officers in Bashar al-Assad's remaining army on the front-line battleground around the city of Idlib. These officers found themselves and their troops to be in defensible positions at the nearby checkpoints at Mahmbel and Bsanqoul and conducted a tactical retreat towards better positions closer to Idlib. The Iranian's declared this action to be a "betrayal of the homeland" and executed the Syrian officers. This kind of treachery guarantees defeat for Assad's forces, mass defections to the rebels, and retribution against the Iranian officers now running the war in Syria.

These issues, in fact the entire state of the world in general, have caused something unprecedented to occur within U.S. military and civilian intelligence circles. In the decade of years previous to 2015, a highly respected, widely but privately distributed and obviously widely read (US/EU and Israel) Open Source intelligence report (based in the Washington DC/Northern Virginia area) which previously would never have published so much as a single word regarding Bible prophecy about these 'last days' nor acknowledge any validity whatsoever regarding Bible prophecy of near-future events, has suddenly reversed its editorial and content position and begun including Bible prophecy articles and advertisements heralding prophecy conferences all over the world!

Along with the usual updates on events on the  Syrian civil war, Islamic State, Iran, Russia, China, EU the US and the plethora of other issues that keep current and former intelligence professionals well-primed via its daily ListServe emails, there is now a steady stream of reports and articles about the same kind of prophetic issues you are reading here and at other Bible prophecy websites and blogs. In fact, on Monday, the entire chapter of Matthew 24 was published with an active link to the Biblegateway.com NIV webpage. God is at work brethren!

Contrary to the beliefs of many, and directly related to the Ezekiel 38/39 prophecy, the Russian Federation is not as militarily powerful as is currently being claimed. Yes, they have nuclear weapons, and, yes, they have several divisions of modern, upgraded armor, aircraft and naval ships and newly uniformed soldiers, sailors and airmen, but to use a metaphor, that is just the shell of an egg of the Russian army. Inside that egg is a gelatinous mass that is anything but threatening and certainly not capable of sustained warfare far from the Russian homeland. 

Consider what Ezekiel 38/39 actually says and view this prophecy in the context of the prophesies which have come to fulfillment just ahead of it. Essentially the Lord is telling us that when Russia and its pathetic military allies come against and suddenly fall dead upon the mountains of Israel - this is a "one and done" type of military operation!! Look closer at the text. There is no second wave, there is no retaliatory strike, there is no long-range missile war of attrition. There is nothing but death and destruction for the invaders. 

Also, consider the words of "Sheba, Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all their young lions" in this major 'last days' prophecy. Are these the words of a weak military alliance, or are they actually the long misinterpreted words of incredulity from a strong alliance regarding a Russian-led attempt to invade and conquer modern-day Israel and Jordan? "Have you came to take a spoil" could be interpreted in modern parlance as "What? Are you kidding me?!" These same Arab/Western allies are very likely to be the same military forces which had reduced Iranian military capabilities as prophesied in Jeremiah 49:34-39. 

What is likely to occur is that upon Russia's total defeat in Ezekiel 38/39 fulfillment the forces of the West will expand to secure whatever advances Russia has recently made, or will yet make in the near future, in Ukraine and the Crimea. Geo-political power vacuums are always filled by the dominant military power at that time. As it was in the days of ancient Rome, Western power is likely to be returning to the regions around the Black Sea as the very basic map below illustrates. Is this illustration not what Bible prophecy predicts to be the geo-political reality for the 70th Week?

 

Global SITREP C6-15: Iran Threatens War Against US, Saudi Arabia and Egypt Over Yemen

UPDATE 22 May 2015: It took over a week to resolve this situation. In the interim since the last update a lot of hand-wringing and angst were to be found in numerous media reports... both those on the political right and the left.

In the end, in case none of those websites have informed you, it was the al-Mahdi-hastening terrorist Iranian regime which not only blinked, but shut both eyes and caved in completely to the non-negotiable demand of the Saudi-Egyptian and Western (US, UK and France) coalition of tier-one naval forces enforcing the blockade of Yemeni ports.

As of this morning the Iranian's heeded the demands of the Saudi-Egyptian-Western coalition and ordered their pawn, a/k/a the Merchant Vessel Iran Shahed, to sail into port Djibouti were all of the other nations merchant vessels bringing aid to the Yemeni people are making their port calls. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy (IRGCN) also stood down as instructed and thus lived to sail these waters for another day.

The bottom line is that Iran (as usual) was engaged in the highest order of bluffing and in the end put its tail between its legs, whimpered and did exactly as it was told by the emergent and dominant military alliance of the Arabs and the West. Not many will make mention about this, but what occurred this morning was one military victory over Iranian aggression that occurred without a single shot being fired. Gunboat diplomacy still works.

Hopefully PM Netanyahu was paying close attention on how to press a military advantage and make a jihadist enemy sit down, do as it is told and shut up in the face of overwhelming military power. Same goes for IS.

14 May 2015: This is an update I received from the Lord early this morning when He suddenly put the fully formed thought into my mind. Perhaps He has given the same realization to you, which is as follows: The military coalition currently fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and the military coalition fighting to stop Iran in Yemen BOTH constitute allied Arab and Western military forces operating together, and are virtually identical the what the Lord prophesied to Ezekiel as "Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions..."  Prophecy teachers! Are you teaching this?

In the Persian Gulf one or more Iranian naval vessels are reported to have fired upon a Singapore-flagged merchant vessel which escaped into UAE territorial waters this morning.

On the Saudi-Yemeni border heavy artillery barrages, both rockets and conventional shelling, are reported between Houthi and Saudi forces with damage being done to towns on both sides of the border. Saudi tanks and mechanized infantry forces have been observed in recent hours moving south towards the Yemeni border. 

13 May 2015: The cargo ship Iran Shahed (image above) is currently enroute to Yemen, ostensibly to deliver humanitarian supplies. Current GPS location data places the Iran Shahed in the northern part of the Gulf of Oman sailing southwards at 8 knots and under escort by Iranian warships. Iran has threatened unrelenting war against any nation which interferes with the Iran Shahed's mission to deliver its cargo to the Yemen's Red Sea port at Al-Hudaydah.

The US, Saudi Arabia and Egypt all have warships maintaining a blockade to ensure no war materiel is delivered to the Houthi rebels in Yemen. The situation in Yemen continues to deteriorate, with the most recent reported military action being a Houthi invasion of the southern Saudi Arabia's southern Jizan Province on Saturday. The Houthi rebels moved several miles and through several towns before defeating local Saudi defenders and seizing control of the city Ahad al-Masarihah. More than 60 Saudi soldiers were reportedly  taken as prisoners of war by the Houthi rebels. An escalation of the fighting appears to be inevitable.

Global SITREP B8-15: Saudi-Iran War Moving Into Yemen; Rise of the 'king of the South"

UPDATE 29 March 2015: It has taken American and western mainstream corporate media three days to begin reporting on this overt military confrontation between a coalition of 10 Sunni Arab nations and Iran on the Yemeni battlefield. 

Better late than never, but be alert for disinformation nestled in alongside facts. The corporate MSM are suddenly reporting this coalition came to be on this date, mostly likely to cover their backsides in giving it little attention under direction of the Obama Administration media handlers because it did not fit neatly with the narrative of Yemen being an Obama Administration pro-Iran success story and achievement in the Arab world. 

The fact of the matter is this military coalition commenced offensive operations on its own tactical volition at midnight in Yemen 72 hours ago, and only today did the Arab League place its official stamp of approval on the creation of a joint military force to oppose Iran in Yemen, and, also the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, as well as operations against enemies in Libya. Within the next 30 days the Arab League will approve a budget, the location and staffing of the military headquarters as well as the specific command and control (C2) mechanisms for the joint military force. 

There is every indication at this point that this Sunni Arab joint force will become a permanent internal structure of the Arab League, with participation of member states being voluntary depending on the location of the circumstance requiring a military solution. Also of interest to us is the fact that among the several executive actions taken at this Arab League summit there was only a one-year budget approved for supporting the Palestinian Authority.

With respect to Bible prophecy, I believe we are watching the fulfillment of the prophecy given to us in the 11th chapter of Daniel (Daniel 11:40-43) by the angel Gabriel regarding the last days "king of the South." The Arab League summit which created this institution was held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

Also, take a special note of the participation of Sudan in this coalition. The country has long been an ally of the Islamic Republic of Iran even though it is overwhelmingly a Sunni Muslim country. 

Additionally, the government of Turkey, not a member of the Arab League, has taken sides with the Sunni military coalition against Iran. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said he has grown tired of Iran's efforts to dominate the Middle East. Erdogan is supposed to have a scheduled  state visit to Tehran within the next couple of days. Erdogan is expected to press the Iranian government to "withdraw its support and whatever forces it has in Yemen, Syria and Iraq and to respect their territorial integrity."

On the battlefield itself, Saudi Arabian air and ground forces have reportedly annihilated a Houthi column of light armor and troops that was approaching the Saudi border. Just as with the battle against the Islamic State, the inclusion of boots fighting on the ground in Yemen will be essential.  A high-priority target for the coalition air forces will be the destruction of Scud-B and North Korean-made No Dong ballistic missiles and  MiG-29 aircraft delivered by Russia which are capable of striking Mecca.

Special Note: 
Brothers and Sisters, I would ask you to look long and hard at how blazingly fast these 10 Sunni nations - from Morocco to Pakistan - came together with their military forces to directly challenge the Iran-backed Houthi Shi'a militia in Yemen.

And Israel they leave alone?!?!  

In fact, it appears as if they are counting on Israel to take the fight directly into Iran.  I am now seriously wondering: Will this be the "coalition of nations" I wrote about beginning in September 2010 that could fulfill the prophecy of Jeremiah 49:34-39?

To that notion I am adding the links below to previous Eschatology Today posts in order to tie all of this together in one neat package for future reference should this coalition of nations turn its attention and arrayed swords towards the preemption of Iranian nuclear hegemony.

Global SITREP B5-15: More on Jeremiah 49:34-39

Jeremiah 49: Will a Coalition of Nations Move Against Iran? (Yes, They Will!!) 

 

27 March 2015: The direct Saudi-GCC-Egyptian military intervention in Yemen has a name: Operation Decisive Storm. A total of 10 Sunni Arab nations have committed their military assets to restoring the rightful government of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power in Sana'a. This military coalition includes Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Morocco, Sudan, Egypt and Pakistan, and the military objective is to destroy the Iranian-supplied Houthi rebels and their allies.

Over 185 fighter aircraft took part in the first large strike against enemy forces at a range of targets across Yemen yesterday. Saudi, Egyptian, Sudanese and Pakistani troops are being mobilized for land combat operations in Yemen. Russia and Iran are consulting and coordinating their response to the Sunni military coalition's intervention. Saudi Arabia and it's allied air forces have declared a "no fly zone" around the whole of Yemen.


25 March 2015:  The Sunni Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is well on its way to a full-scale military intervention against the Iranian-supplied proxy army of Houthis (Za'idi Shi'a) before it can reach what may be the last redoubt of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in the coastal capital of Aden. President Hadi had become a close American ally in the war against AQAP terrorists until his sudden and unexplained abandonment by the Obama Administration.

While President Hadi's pleas for military assistance fell upon deaf ears in the Iranian-born, Valerie Jarrett-dominated Oval Office in Washington, D.C., this was not the case in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. King Salman bin Abdulaziz has ordered the heaviest of the kingdom's artillery and mechanized infantry brigades to pre-invasion assembly points along the Saudi-Yemeni border which lies adjacent to the traditional Houthis homelands in northern Yemen.

It appears to this observer that the de facto retreat of American forces, including our elite Special Forces, from Yemen constitutes prima facie evidence of the Obama Administration's capitulation to Iranian demands within the larger framework of their ongoing nuclear capitulations, thereby advancing and enhancing Iran's regional hegemony over Saudi Arabia and the other Sunni kingdoms and emirates of the Arabian Peninsula. 

Valerie Jarrett and Barack Obama have also apparently erased any White House memory of what occurred to the U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer USS Cole (DDG-67) on 12 October 2000 at anchor off port Aden, Yemen in what was the first overt strike against U.S. military forces and the American people by the terrorists of Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda, and the government of Sudan, which killed 17 sailors and wounded another 39.

Global SITREP D8-14: General Observations

Islamic State on the move in Syria and Iraq

UPDATED 15 October 2014: Here are some rather significant things I have been keeping an eye on lately.

Egyptian forces have located and destroyed a large rocket production facility in the Sinai that had been operated by the jihadist group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis ("Supporters of the Holy House"). This group of approximately 2,000 jihadists rise to prominence occurred rapidly after the overthrow of Mohammed Morsi by the Egyptian Army. Ansar Beit al-Maqdis' funding comes largely from the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun) in Egypt; it is allied with the jihadist groups in Gaza, and has declared is loyalty to the Islamic State.

In Syria and Iraq there is very strong evidence that Islamic State forces have used chemical weapons against Kurdish forces in their unrelenting assault on the Kurdish border town known as Kobani (a/k/a Ayn al-Arab) and against Iraqi Shi'a forces in ongoing battles in Anbar Province since this past July.  Within the past couple of days photographic evidence has emerged pointing to the use of mustard blister agent against the defenders in these battles. Where did Islamic State get this kind of chemical weapon? From the depot that formerly belonged to Saddam Hussein at the Muthanna CW bunk complex and that the Obama Administration has said would be of no use to the Islamic State. US forces controlled Muthanna prior to the unilateral Obama withdrawal from Iraq three years ago. Islamic State captured the Muthanna CW bunker complex in June 2014. Islamic State fighters are reported to be within 1 mile of Baghdad. Most Iraqi soldiers are not professionals, they are soldiers merely because they need money. At the first sight of IS soldiers inside Baghdad they will remove their uniforms and flee.

Also in the Middle East the headquarters of the 1st Infantry Division has deployed to Iraq for the fight there against Islamic State. Without much fanfare the US DoD has tasked the Marine Corps with deploying a Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) unit to Kuwait as part of a regional Quick Reaction Force (QRF). The 14,500 Marines and sailors of the MEB will augment the 13,500 US troops already deployed to Kuwait, bringing the full complement of this force to 27,800 troops.The name of the less than successful thus far US-led anti-Islamic State military venture was announced by the Pentagon today: Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR).

I am most curious to learn the answer to these questions:

1) Upon what warfighting doctrine will OIR be based?
2) What is the identified ideology of the enemy?

The Russian-instigated war in Ukraine continues irregardless of a supposed ceasefire being in place. The Ukrainian government claimed today that more Russian troops have been crossing into the eastern oblasts instead of withdrawing deeper into Russian territory. According to the Ukrainian military public affairs office reported today their forces in southeastern Ukraine have come under attack thirty times in the past 24 hours by Russian-led rebel forces.

Despite most appearances on the surface, the newly installed 13th Secretary General of NATO, Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg (he replaced Anders Fogh Rasmussen on October 1st) is good news for Russia's Vladimir Putin. Jens Stoltenberg has a life-long history of being far more flexible than Barack Obama has been toward Russian military ambition, so much so that in years past Stoltenberg was actively recruited by the Russian KGB to become one of their Western agents in the latter years of the so-called Cold War. In days past Stoltenberg was one of Europe's best known anti-war activists. Watch what he does more than what he says in the days to come.

Ebola, the deadly virus officially known as EBOV, continues to spread in pandemic fashion. The UN World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland reports 70% fatalities among all known human infections and predicts upwards of 10,000 new human infections per week being a distinct possibility in the near-term. There is also WHO data which strongly indicates that the incubation period of EBOV is not the widely reported 21 days, but a significantly longer period of 42 days. This makes the current quarantine regimen wholly inadequate in preventing the spread of EBOV. Also, two tests a minimum of 48 hours apart are necessary to determine if an individual is not infected within the 42-day incubation period. This is a catastrophe of Biblical proportions in the making. The US is deploying 3,000 to 4,000 hastily trained combat troops from the 101st Air Assault Division as our contribution in the global effort to contain EBOV in western Africa.

In strategic Yemen, on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, Iranian-backed Houthi tribesmen (i.e. Shi'a muslims) seized the country's main seaport and airport at Hodeidah (a/k/a al-Hudaydah) located on the center of Yemen's Red Sea coast. Hodeidah is Yemen's fourth largest city with a population of 400,000.