All these things be fulfilled… Part I and Part II

21 September 2009: So said the Lord Jesus Christ in His Olivet Discourse as recorded in Matthew 24:34 (in the Greek language): “Amen lego hymin, houtos genea ou me parerchomai an heos pas tauta ginomai.” An English transliteration of what our Lord said was, “Truly I say to you, this generation shall not pass whatsoever until each and all [of] these things be fulfilled.”

This was the final qualification and timing element to all of the signs which Christ told His disciples when the signs would occur indicating His coming again at the full end of the age. The key phrases stand out in this sentence are this generation … each and all these things be fulfilled.

The absolute truth of this statement, aside from the fact that it was uttered by our Lord God incarnate, is reinforced in the prophetic truth of what our Lord had said just moments before to the Scribes and the Pharisees. In Matthew 23:1-35 Jesus lays out in detail how all of the offenses committed over many years and the innocent blood spilled from the murder of Abel to their murder of Zacharias will come upon them in the following explicit way: “Truly I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation.”

The generation of which Jesus spoke was living in the period from 66 to 136 AD when the Jews' three wars against the Roman Empire occurred, and with each war came more disaster, Diaspora and death upon the Jews, exactly as Jesus had foretold. The first Jewish-Roman war was also known as the Great Revolt which began in 66 AD, saw the siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of the city and the sanctuary at the hands of three Roman legions as prophesied by Daniel and culminated in the fall of Masada in 73 AD. The second Roman Jewish war was also known as the Kitos war and occurred throughout the Roman Empire between 115-117 AD. The third and final war is known as the Bar Kokhba Revolt from circa 132 to 136 AD. The sum total of years between 66 and 136 AD, consistent with Jesus declaration of “this generation,” was precisely 70 years in duration.

Psalm 90:10a defines for us the maximum duration of a generation:

“The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years…”

A generation is 70 years nominally, or 80 if there is strength.

Jesus also spoke in the Olivet Discourse about how one of the key signs would be the reemergence of the state of Israel, and for which He used the metaphor of a blossoming fig tree. In a recent poll by Lamb and Lion Ministries’ Christ in Prophecy Journal, the re-emergence of the State of Israel is the overwhelming factor (nearly 70% of respondents) identified as the “most important modern prophetic development.” Indeed, this is without question the truth of the matter.

In the Lord’s prophecy about the reemergence of Israel we have a sign and a starting date with which our Lord defined to the disciples the generation which would witness each and all of the signs He foretold would be fulfilled. The question I have prayerfully pondered and raised up to the Lord is whether our generation is one of 70 years, or if we have strength to last the maximum of 80 years. By sheer reckoning of the actual calendar and the prophetic timeline yet to be fulfilled, we may well be an 80-year generation. This number of years respective to our calendar is arrived at by adding eighty years to 1948 and summing to the year 2028. We now live in the nineteenth year prior to the expiration of this 80-year generation as will now be examined.

Now that Israel has begun the year 5770 and we conclude the year 2009 AD, a look back at the time since the rebirth of Israel is probably in order. There is no doubt that we are in the season of His return, the leaves of the fig tree are in full bloom.

The first twenty years of Israel’s rebirth began in late 1947 with the initial battles of Israel’s War of Independence. In May 1948, Israel was officially reborn into the modern community of the nations of the earth. The conclusion of those twenty years in 1967 saw Israel re-capture by military conquest the whole of Jerusalem. Israel controlled its holiest ground against all odds and the combined military might of many Arab countries for the first time in 1,897 years. So of the maximum possible eighty years, just sixty remained of this generation circa 1968 AD.

The next forty years were marked by a series of wars and rumors of wars, exactly as this year marks itself with the similar rumors of imminent if not existential war involving the State of Israel and its inner and outer ring of enemies. This forty-year period saw the nearly-nuclear Yom Kippur War of 1973, the Lebanon War of 1980, the Osirak Iraq preemptive nuclear strike of 1981, the continual state of Arab-Islamic terrorism, the Intifada of 2000, the Hezbollah War of 2006, and the incessant rocket and mortar attacks from HAMAS in 2008. Of the final sixty years of the eighty years just twenty remained as we entered 2009 AD.

The final 20 years began with the Israel-HAMAS War also known as Operation Cast Lead. This war resolved nothing except to all but guarantee another larger war in the south of Israel. This year also began with an American administration coming into power which clearly does not have the interests or blessing of Israel existent within its agenda. This year began with the election of Israeli conservative Bibi Netanyahu as the Prime Minister, and the spectre of the necessity of a pre-emptive strike against the nuclear weapons ambitions of the theocratic dictatorship of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as the potential for another war against Hezbollah and Syria. The next wars will be wars that almost certainly include the previously unthinkable use of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction.

Part II:

The coming war which will resolve once and for all the Israel-Arab conflict of the past 60+ years is, as you no doubt have guessed by now, is described in part by the prophet Isaiah in the 17th chapter of the book which bears his name, and in the prophetic words of Asaph in Psalm 83. It is Psalm 83 that I've spent some time now digging into thanks to Bill Salus' book "Isralestine." Here are some things which I believe my Biblical data mining research may have brought to the surface. I lift this research up for your peer review.

Asaph begins his Pslam by noting that the identified enemies of Israel which comprise the modern-day "inner ring" Arab-Islamic countries which are arrayed in a new moon crescent from Lebanon to Egypt are populated by ancient tribes and peoples who are not only roaring enemies of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob/Israel, but hate Him. The word used by Asaph for "head" at the end of verse 2 is ro'sh. Rosh. This is the same ro'sh used by Ezekiel in chapters 38 and 39. Coincidence? I think not. Russia has been the principle ally and military supplier of these "inner ring" Arab-Islamic states for the past 60 years - and according to Ezekiel will be the leader of the "outer ring" nations who come against Israel after the Psalm 83 war. The word which precedes ro'sh in verse 2 is nasa' meaning to lift up, bear, carry, support or sustain. How appropriate to see this word right next to ro'sh in this prophetic Psalm.

In verse 3 these enemies are said to have consulted (ya'ats) against the Lord's hidden ones (tsaphan), from which the meaning can be taken that these "inner ring" enemies counsel, purpose, devise,or plan with one another with respect to the Lord's hidden treasures. Does anyone not think Israel's enemies plot against Israel and have the newly discovered and vast reserves of natural gas and other deeply hidden treasures eyed as a spoil with which to compensate themselves after a successful military campaign designed to wipe Israel off the map? Is this not also the stated intent of the Gog/Magog "outer ring" military confederation? Talk about a unity of purpose!

Then Asaph sets about the task of naming these enemies. This aspect has been well covered, there are the "inner ring" enemies noted elsewhere and above. I would only note here that the mention of Asshur appears to be in reference to its providing assistance to these "inner ring' enemies in the form of political or military support.

Immediately after this naming of the "inner ring' enemies we come to the "do unto" (`asah) meaning of something for the Lord to accomplish against these enemies. First among them is the historical reference to the Midianites (Midyan), the Arabians -the Arabs, who come against Israel as Sisera, meaning in battle array, and as Jabin at the brook of Kishon (Qiyshown), which is central Israel via the West Bank.

It is interesting to note here that this location was also the site where Elijah had his confrontation with the false god Baal. It would appear that Asaph is prophetically invoking what was recorded in 1 Kings 18:17-40 where judgment is visited against a false god ("allah") and a false prophet (Muhammed) in the manner of an irresistible force. It's as if All of Islam comes against Yisra'el and the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and is subsequently consumed in totality by the flaming pyre of an animal sacrifice. I cannot help but come away from these verses thinking that Asaph is prophetically telling us that history will once again repeat itself and that the defeat of the newest false god of the Arabs ("allah") will begin with the battle that erupts here. Yes, it appear to me that the defeat inflicted here upon the Arabs and their false god/false religion is as total as the destruction that was inflicted upon Israel's enemies at Endor; and they were left as nothing more than "dung for the ground."

Asaph then discusses the leadership of this Arab confederation. First among them is Oreb, which is synonymous with a rock east of the Jordan River, in what today is the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Zeeb appears to be a reference to Israel making prey of these enemies as wolves take prey in the evening hours. Zebah is a reference to a failed invasion of Israel where the invaders found themselves deprived of any defensive protection and were massacred like helpless animals. Zalumunna invokes the same prophetic image where the invaders of Israel find no place to hid or take refuge in the face of the Israeli counter-attack.

Then in verse 15 two words come up which have modern equivalents in the inventory of the Israel Defense Forces. These enemies are to be persectued (radaph), meaning put to flight, by a tempest (ca'ar) and terrified by a storm (cuwphah). The modern equivalents of these words are Sa'ar, the Israeli Navy's extremely capable corvette missile ship, and the Sufa, the Israeli Air Force's deadly F-16I extended-range strike aircraft. Either of the modern weapons platforms can reach anywhere and rain death upon the territories of the "inner ring" enemies and beyond. This is the sense I get in reading verses 13 and 14 where these enemies are rolled back as "stubble before the wind," and "as flame (lehabah) sets the hills on fire." I note here that the word lehabah not only means flame, but also the tip of a weapon, a point, or the head of a spear. Terminology like this can mean only one thing - an overwhelming military force brought to bear upon an enemy which cannot defend itself on the battlefield, has nowhere to run and hide, whose destruction is complete and total.

Some Additional Thoughts on "Debunking the European Antichrist" by Rodrigo Silva

Update 22 September 2009: For the obvious reasons Ray Gano at Prophezine.com has re-published Rodrigo Silva's "Debuking the Eurpoean Antichrist" article which first appeared back in January of this year. Not only did Rogrigo Silva's article utterly fail to refute Dr. David Reagan's (.pdf link) "Will the Antichrist be a Muslim?" article, but his erroneous ideas have also been thoroughly refuted by Nathan Jones, Bill Salus and Don Koenig. In the same vein, Jacob Prasch also exposed the similarly "shallow, wobbly and hollow foundation" of Joel Richarson's "The Islamic Antichrist." Within this blog and in addition to this rebuttal of Silva's article I have posted others which are similarly themed: Assyria Destroyed, Philistia Destroyed, Legion Ten Fretensis Fulfills Bible Prophecy, and "Debunking the Islamic Antichrist."

In reviewing once again the "tortuous logic" propagated by the likes of Shoebat, Richardson and Silva, an item which I had at first overlooked in Silva's article jumped out at me. This item is in the beginning of the article where Silva accuses Dr. Reagan of dogmatism, insufficiently examined premises, and arrogance. And what was the object of Silva's unwarranted scorn of his brother in Christ? I'll quote Dr. Reagan verbatim, the last sentence of which I hightlight as it is key and absolutely correct per the Gospel of Jesus Christ as recorded by Matthew:

"Shoebat and Richardson argue that the Roman legions that carried out the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD were composed primarily of Arabs, mainly Syrians and Turks. They therefore conclude that the Antichrist will arise from the Syrians or Turks and will be a Muslim. This is really grasping at straws in the wind! It doesn’t matter whether or not the legions were composed of Australian Aborigines, it was the Roman government that decided to destroy Jerusalem, it was the Roman government that gave the orders, and it was Roman generals who carried out the destruction. Rome was the rod of God’s judgment and it is from the Roman people that the Antichrist will arise."

Rodrigo, these are not arrogant words. On the contrary, Dr Reagan has restated what our Lord Jesus Christ stated in His condemnation of the Scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23. I noted this specific item in my latest article "All these things be fulfilled..." which I repeat for emphasis in support of Dr. Reagan and to reprove, refute and exhort Rodrigo Silva, et. al, regarding Rome and Daniel's identification of the Antichrist's origin in Chapter 9, verse 26:

The absolute truth of this statement, aside from the fact that it was uttered by our Lord God incarnate, is reinforced in the prophetic truth of what our Lord had said just moments before to the Scribes and the Pharisees. In Matthew 23:1-35 Jesus lays out in detail how all of the offenses committed over many years and the innocent blood spilled from the murder of Abel to their murder of Zacharias will come upon them [Israel] in the following explicit way: “Truly I say to you, all these things shall come upon [tautē genea] this generation.” (Matthew 23:36)

The generation of which Jesus spoke was living in the period from 66 to 136 AD when the Jews' three wars against the Roman Empire occurred, and with each war came more disaster, Diaspora and death upon the Jews, exactly as Jesus had foretold. The first Jewish-Roman war was also known as the Great Revolt which began in 66 AD, saw the siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of the city and the sanctuary at the hands of three Roman legions as prophesied by Daniel and culminated in the fall of Masada in 73 AD. The second Roman Jewish war was also known as the Kitos war and occurred throughout the Roman Empire between 115-117 AD. The third and final war is known as the Bar Kokhba Revolt from circa 132 to 136 AD. The sum total of years between 66 and 136 AD, consistent with Jesus declaration of “this generation,” was precisely 70 years in duration.

There is no question that the Roman Empire was indeed was "rod of God's judgment upon Israel." This rod of judgement was used by the Lord on three distinct occasions between 66 and 136 AD, the sum total of which amounted to 70 literal years, or according to Psalm 90:10, a generation without strength. It is with great dismay that I must note the error of my bretheren in being ignorant of these explicitly prophetic words of our Messiah.

"Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching." 2 Timothy 4:2 (NKJV)

UPDATED 11 February 2009: Bill Salus has a new entry directly related to this subject on his PROPHECY DEPOT blog. The entry is titled "IS THE EUROPEAN ANTICHRIST A SATANIC MYTH?" A comment I submitted to Bill's entry is also included in the comments below.

2 February 2009 (UPDATED with additional data 9 February): I was reading the above named article by Rodrigo Silva at raptureready.com and came away with some items on what I think are inadvertant admissions that count against the argument he is attempting to make, interpretive or historical errors, and one clear faux pas.

By no means is this an all-inclusive review of Silva's article, but just items I'm going to present as insights which may initiate further thought and analysis on this topic.

Silva wrote:

"Now, the fact that the Roman legions that destroyed the city and the Temple (mainly legion X Fretensis) comprised of Syrian soldiers lead us to identify the people of the Antichrist as Syrians, therefore the Antichrist must be a Syrian."

Rodrigo Silva has done those supporting the traditional Antichrist exegesis a superb favor by citing as "fact that the Roman legions destroyed the city and the Temple." This is a key admission. Silva confirms the longstanding view which indentified Legio X Fretensis (LXF hereater) as one of the primary Roman legions involved in the destruction of the city and the sanctuary, and supports a literal fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy concerning the origin of the future Antichrist in declaration of "the prince of the people who will come"

However, Rodrigo Silva's most blatant error is found in his description of the legionaires of LXF as "Syrians." This error is non-exegetical because there are no detailed Biblical texts to interpret regarding the Roman citizen-soldiers in LXF. Secular historical records and sources, such as that of the non-Biblical Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, are all that exist to research the subject.

The sum my research of these sources is as follows.

Gaius Octavius Thurinus was born in Rome, the Roman Republic, on 23 September 63 BC. In September 45 BC, Octavius was adopted by his great-uncle Julius Caesar and immediately took the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus. It was just six months later, in March of 44 BC, that Julius Caesar was assassinated by the Roman senatorial mob. It was during 41-40 BC between the age of 22 and 23-years old that Gaius Octavianus founded the LXF in the region of Calabria and Sicily, Italy. It is this region from which the name Fretensis, meaning 'of the sea straits' was derived according to the great German historian Theodor Mommsen (1817-1903). In 31 BC, after Gaius Octavianus defeated the forces of Marc Antony at the Battle of Actium, the final battle of a Roman civil war, he became Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar.

After Actium LXF was sent to Cremona in northern Italy where many of the Calabrian and Sicilian legionaire veterans were pensioned and discharged. Legio X was then re-staffed by nortern Italians from the colony in Venice. Legio X was then re-deployed into the Balkans and then to its new base at Cyrrhus in extreme northern part ofthe Roman province of Syria.

Cyrrhus had been founded as a Greek colony by Seleucus (Seleucus I Nicator) circa 300 BC, a couple of decades after having receiving his portion of Alexander the Great's empire, exactly as prophecied by Daniel in chapter 11, verses 2-4. Seleucus was one of Alexander's principal Macedonian generals and may have even been his cousin. Cyrrhus is a Macedonian name and had been populated by Macedonians, Greeks and eventually Romans for over 300 years by the time LXF arrived there in garrison.

Cyrrhus was selected as LXF's base of operations for this very reason - it was a distinctly Macedonian/Greek (i.e. European) colony as were many others in the area (i.e. Antioch, Seleucia, Laodicea and Apamea) which were almost exclusively populated by ethnic Greeks, Macedonians and Romans. LXF stayed encamped in Cyrrhus until it was redeployed to Judea which had been an administrative part of the Roman province of Syria since 6 AD. Thus was the core of LXF manned and commanded by European stock, the "people of the prince who is to come."

Silva wrote:

"In fact, the opposite is true. In his work, "The Wars of the Jews," book 6 chapter 4, Josephus who most likely was an eyewitness to these events says that the Roman government DID NOT want the Temple to be destroyed. The Roman soldiers did it out of disobedience to the Roman government simply because they hated the Jews."

No, the opposite is not true by any means. Firstly, there's no 'most likely' about it, Flavius Josephus was present at the siege, taking and destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. In one instance in the run-up to the taking of Jerusalem, Josephus was a direct participant in beseeching his fellow Jews to stand down in their rebellion against Rome. Josephus wasn't able to witness the entirety of that epic struggle with the same battlespace awareness of our modern warfighting observation capabilites within electronic command and control. However, he was able to view specific events at specific locations, and as any good historian was able to seamlessly blend his experiences with the eyewitness accounts of others in different parts of the city over the entire duration of the siege, capture and destruction. I would argue that Flavius Josephus makes this abundantly clear in his narrative.

Secondly, the Roman soldiers hated the Jewish defenders for a couple of reasons. One reason, as Josephus reported, was that the rebellious Jews had routed a small garrisoning contengent of LXF in Jerusalem. This is the same LXF contingent which just 30 years earlier had been in direct contact with the Lord Jesus Christ, had been the enforcers of what little taxation they could extract from Judea and the basis for the Lord's comment to "render unto Caesar (Tiberius) what is Caesar's, and unto God what is His," had whipped and ridiculed a captive Jesus with a crown of thorns, crucified him, and finally, gambled for His garment. All of this was done by the Roman soldiers of the LXF. During all of this activity there is not one mention in God's Word that these Roman soldiers were "Syrians" or "Arabs". They were Roman soldiers, period.

According to Flavius Josephus, the Jewish revolt against Rome began in 66 AD in Caesarea and quickly spread to Jerusalem. The son of the Temple Kohen Ha-Gadol (i.e. the high priest), a man named Eleazar ben Simon, led the rebellious Jewish troops in their driving of the LXF Jerusalem garrison out of the city. This eviction of Roman power from Jerusalem continued in a northward progression and led to the complete annihilation of the newly arrived Roman 12th Legion Fulminata (LXIIF) under the command of Gaius Cestus Gallus by the same Jewish force under Eleazar ben Simon's command at the Battle of Beth Horon. The defeat of LXF, and the annihilation of LXIIF, was a tremendous blow to the pride and prestige of the Roman Empire, and resonated badly all the way to Rome itself, even into Caesar Nero's private chambers. The Romans were uniformly determined to make a strong, violent example of the Jews in their upcoming retribuition campaign; the retaking of Judea would be an example for all other restless provinces to seriously consider prior to embarking on similar acts of folly - particularly those in Egypt who would have been Rome's target had not the Jews rebelled first, humiliated the LXF, destoyed LXIIF and had re-taken not only Jerusalem but virtually all of Judea.

LXF was permitted the 'honor' when it came time after the siege to storm the city. It's position of encampment on the Mount of Olives laid the Temple before them as a shining strategic target they were determined to achieve. Once the fortress of Antonia was breeched and the city taken there was an ensuing rampage of the LXF and individual Roman soldiers identified by name in Josephus' account. The Temple was razed exactly as Jesus had predicted it would be 30 years earlier, and all arguments related to this not being the desire of General Titus are rendered moot.

Silva wrote

"Then did Caesar, both by calling to the soldiers that were fighting, with a loud voice, and by giving a signal to them with his right hand, order them to quench the fire... And now, since Caesar was no way able to restrain the enthusiastic fury of the soldiers...And thus was the holy house burnt down, without Caesar's approbation... It is pretty clear that Titus and Caesar as the rulers of the Roman government did not want to Temple to be destroyed and actually gave the order to stop the fire so the Temple would not be destroyed."

Rodrigo Silva has made here a silly faux pas in that he has promoted General Titus Flavuius Vespasianus to Caesar, a postition held his father, Titus Flavius Caesar Vespasianus Augustus, who was in Rome at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and the 2nd Temple. Titus would not become Emperor of Rome until 79 AD upon the death of his father. What Rodrigo Silva does not realize in his reading of Josephus is that Josephus was actually quoting General Titus, who would become Caesar at a point some 9 full years into the future, in 79 AD, and upon the death of his father Caesar Vespasian Augustus. The obvious conclusion is that Josephus, or others unknown, wrote or edited this account of the Jerusalem siege and Temple destruction at a point no earlier than 79 AD when General Titus Flavius Vespasianus succeeded to the Roman throne after the death of his father and became Caesar himself. Thus the references to words spoken by "Caesar" in Josephus account were actually words spoken by Titus, but attributed to him with the honorific titile of "Caesar."

Silva wrote:

"How could Paul having been born in Tarsus in Asia Minor be a Roman? The answer is simple. When the Roman Empire conquered a region, it established Roman law and required that from that time on, some privileged ones and those who served for a number of years be considered Roman citizens."

Incorrect. Saul of Tarsus (later Paul the Apostle) was born to his father, an Israelite of the tribe of Benjamin, a Pharisee, in the city of Tarsus, Roman province of Cilicia. Paul the Apostle did not directly make the claim of Roman citizenship, but it is recorded that he made this citizenship claim by the author of Acts 21 and 22. In this the Acts author states that the Roman Tribune informed Paul that he had paid a great sum to obtain his Roman citzenship (*), to which Paul replied that he was a natural born Roman citizen. This very strongly implies that Paul's citizenship was (a) due to his father's having purchased it, or (b) that the family has previously rendered outstanding service to Rome and were awarded their citizenship, or (c) the family was actually a part of the Herodian family descended from Antipater (Herod the Great's father).

(*) This is also important. Only Roman citizens served in the Legions of Rome. The Auxilia formations were not Roman citizens. This detail goes a long way in refuting the claims of those who maintain a nationality of "Syrian" or "Arab" for the soldiers of the LXF. Had any "Syrians" or "Arabs" been members of the LXF they would also of necessity had to have purchased their Roman citizenships as did the Tribune who questioned Paul. Therefore they would be, by definition, Romans.

SOURCES:

http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Gaius+Octavius+Thurinus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus http://www.vroma.org/~riley/augustus/portrait_stemma.gif http://knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Gaius_Octavius_Thurinus/

http://www.livius.org/le-lh/legio/x_fretensis.html http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/intro/legion.htm http://www.romanarmy.com/cms/content/view/32/114/ http://www.romanarmy.com/cms/content/view/32/114/1/1/ http://www.romanarmy.com/cms/content/view/32/114/1/2/

http://www.livius.org/aa-ac/actium/actium.html

http://www.livius.org/cn-cs/colonia/colonia.html

NOTE: Cyrrhus' ruins lie 14 km northwest near modern-day Kilis, Turkey which is on the present-day Syrian border.

http://www.livius.org/ct-cz/cyrrhus/cyrrhus.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrrhus,_Syria http://www.syriagate.com/Syria/about/cities/Aleppo/cyrrhus.htm http://rambambashi.wordpress.com/2008/11/30/cyrrhus/

http://www.biographybase.com/biography/Paul_of_Tarsus.html http://www.novumtestamentum.com/acts/paul-and-roman-citizenship-in-acts.php

Collecting and Connecting the Nuclear Dots

09 September 2009: Israel Nation News (IsraelNN.com) reports today "The United States has confirmed long-time Israeli intelligence reports that Iran is close to achieving the ability to produce a nuclear bomb. Less than a year ago, American intelligence officials dismissed Israeli claims as inaccurate."

While most of us do not believe this to be new news, the report constitutes a significant and curious admission coming from the socialist Obama administration. However, what I find to be a more significant revelation in this report is the tacit admission that the Obama administration's policy of engagement with the Islamic Republic of Iran over its nuclear weapons program is an abject failure. Again, not new news for most of us, but interesting nonetheless.

And to those who've paid attention to the Northeast Intelligence Network's investigation of the faux Russian rescue of the covert cargo smuggling MV Arctic Sea, there is another tidbit of interest to note within this INN report:

"In what may be a related matter, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reportedly flew to Russia on Tuesday on a secret mission, apparently over Russian arms deals with Iran and Syria."

Hmmm. Interesting, no? I certainly think it is when one considers that PM Netanyahu and his security cabinet were briefed during an afternoon visit to Mossad HQ by Meir Dagan and his intelligence officers on Monday. Bottom line: within hours of the Mossad briefing Netanyahu is on a plane to Moscow for a secret meeting with Vladimir Putin. Add to this the fact that one month ago, in early August, PM Netanyahu visited the Dimona nuclear research facility along with Dan Meridor, the cabinet minister in charge of overseeing intelligence and nuclear research issues.

And what is the nexus of all these things? The nuclear weapons program of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Russia's supporting role. What might happen within the next 30 days or sooner should not be "news" to anyone, especially if you're collecting and connecting the continuing series of dots like these.

The Perplexities Involving Iran and Israel in These Last Days

6 September 2009: "... and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity..." Here we have one of the most often overlooked descriptives provided by Jesus in his authoritative discourse on what will happen or be existent in these last days. In these few words tucked into the middle of Luke 21:25 the Lord provides us with a geopolitical and military snap shot depicting that the nations in existence in the period of time immediately preceeding His return will be in a state of synochē and aporia, which translate as being in distress or anguish and not knowing what to do or in doubt about what to do. I believe the Lord then, in His following two words, told us exactly where on planet earth the epicenter of this distress, anguish and perplexity of the nations would be extant. Jesus said "thalassa" meaning "the sea" or more precisely the Mediterranean, Red, Dead, Galilee and other seas of the Middle East, including the Persian Gulf. Does this not precisely describe the geopolitical and military situation in the Middle East today, from Libya to Iran and from Turkey to the Horn of Africa? Embedded smack dab in the middle of this international maelstrom is the State of Israel.

And on top all of this, I cannot help but to apply the prophecy of Isaiah 22, and particularly to verses 5 and 6 wherein the prophet speaks directly to the nations of Elam and Judah, or as we know them today, to the Islamic Republic of Iran, the State of Israel, the last days and the coming of the Lord. Certainly to the secular world at large, but also to the Jews and the Islamists, these are days of trouble. Israel is surrounded by enemies whose conspiratorial desire is to destroy her as a nation so that the name Israel be remembered no more. These "inner ring" enemies of Israel are clearly listed in Psalm 83, yet among them we find no mention or reference to Iran.

The issue of why Iran is omitted from Asaph's Psalm 83 prophecy has many Christians perplexed to the point that it has become a key issue many are continually asking eschatologists to address these days. We have discussed this issue previously within various entries on Eschatology Today, as have many others on their websites. Yet, the issue remains. Once again it is my distrinct pleasure to direct your attention to Israelestine author Bill Salus blog, Prophecy Depot, to read his latest article entitled "When Israel Dwells Securely Iran Intends to Invade" as it relates to Israel and Iran and the timing involved in the coming last days conflict between them.

The Resumption of the Hezbollah-Israel War and Psalm 83

28 August 2009: The image above was taken at a funeral held for Hezbollah fighters killed in action during the summer 2006 Hezbollah-Israel war. I harbor little if any doubt that there will be a lot more of these images taken in the very near future.

In the same vein as we have been discussing in the August 14 Eschatology Today entry, and in detail within Parts I and II of my four-part "The Prophetic Road to Revelation" series, concerning the inevitability of a resumption of that war without further warning, the only relative question about this coming war will be whether or not it morphs into the final Arab-Israeli 'war of extermination' which the prophetic psalmist Asaph vividly describes in Psalm 83. Also as discussed in other entries here, there is no better work on the subject of Psalm 83 than that found in author Bill Salus' peerless Bible prophecy book, Isralestine: The Ancient Blueprints of the Future Middle East.

Bill has a new must-read article up on his Prophecy Depot blog entitled "Could the coming Israel-Hezbollah conflict catalyze Psalm 83?" Here is an excerpted lead-in to the article:

Many eschatologists, those who study end time events, are warning that three world changing Israeli war prophecies are about to occur. Isaiah 17:1, Psalm 83, and Ezekiel 38-39, usually listed in that order, describe prophetic events that could dramatically shift the balance of Mideast wealth and power into Israel’s favor.

Current unprecedented security threats facing Israel’s national existence not only support the eschatologist's beliefs, but have also forced many world leaders to push peace in the Middle East to the top of their agenda. They want Iran to refrain from developing a nuclear weapon, Israel to freeze settlement expansion in Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank, and the Arab League to normalize relations with Israel and finally recognize its right to exist.

The international community continues to prescribe “Land for Peace” as the way to resolve the age old Arab-Israeli conflict; however the Bible predicts peace will come through military means rather than politically brokered real estate efforts.

Presuming the eschatologists are right, how soon might the world see the final fulfillment of these Middle East centered bible prophecies? Could it be that the present military preparations being made for another war between Israel and the Hezbollah could escalate and subsequently become the catalyst for the fulfillment of Isaiah 17:1 and ultimately Psalm 83?

Please go pay Bill's blog a visit and read his article in full.

Panels Institute Survey: 64% Percent of All Israel Want the Temple to be Rebuilt

Survey: 64% want Temple rebuilt
Almost two thirds of Israelis, including half of seculars would like to see Temple rebuilt, believe it is important to commemorate Tisha B'Av

31 July 2009: YNet reported in yesterdays edition that a survey conducted by the Panel Institute for Ynet and the Gesher organization reveals that almost two-thirds of all Israel want to see the rebuilding of the Temple on the mount in Jerusalem. Incredibly, the survey also revealed that 47% of secular Israeli's also want the Temple rebuilt. What this survey should reveal to believing Christians is that the Jewish people who will actually do the rebuilding are desirous of beginning the project.

As all prophecy students of the Holy Bible know, there is no doubt, no question whatsoever, that the Temple will be rebuilt. It will happen, al-Aqsa mosque or no al-Aqsa mosque. The prophetic Word of God clearly declares that the Temple will be standing in the 'last days.' Period. Hopefully the commencement of the rebuilding of the Temple will serve a significant "wake up call" for the world's secular and skeptics. This is also a magnificent witnessing tool for all believing Christians.

Pay a visit to the Temple Institute to learn more.

Part V: Ezekiel 38/39 as a Transitional Event to the 70th Week

Updated 12 June 2016: The image above of a blood-red moon rising behind Smolny Cathedral in Saint Petersburg, Russia is an Associated Press photograph taken in the early morning of 19 May 2009 by Dmitry Lovetsky. This image certainly appears to bode ill for Russia, and increasingly reminds many eschatology students of the imagery evoked within the text of Revelation 6:12.

Indeed, as an epilogue to Eschatology Today's four-part series 'The Prophetic Road to Revelation" this imagery is an appropriate visual harbinger for the events we know to be imminent. In both chapters of Ezekiel's prophetic description of the War of Gog/Magog we clearly can see the destruction which will soon be visited upon the hordes of the Gog/Magog alliance. The specific nations identified are Russia, former-Soviet Republics of the Caucasus and Central Asia, Iran, Libya and the Sudan. The total population of these nations is a little more than 330 million people. So when the Lord declares in verse 2 of chapter 39 to "leave but the sixth part of thee" and in verse 6 declares He will send fire on the Magog horde homelands, the inference is to the destruction of several hundred million people, leaving only the sixth part, or a few tens of millions of people as survivors.

In verse 10 of the same chapter we read of the people of Israel going forth to "spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them." My question here would be to ask how much spoil and robbing of the burnt up and thoroughly annihilated hordes of Gog/Magog can there be aside from using the weapons as fuel for the subsequent seven years, and does this not speak more appropriately to Israel taking yet more spoil (recall the inferred spoils taken as a result of the preceding Psalm 83 war) from the nations of the Gog/Magog confederation?

And also in chapter 39 verses 21, 23 and 27 speak to the effect this destruction has upon the nations of the world. In our age of live image televised satellite coverage the nations of the whole world will see the punishment inflicted upon the Gog/Magog nations, that the nations will know it was the hand of God that was laid upon them.

And finally, in verse 29 ("Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD."), we see what I believe is a grammatical past-tense confirmation that the promised saving of all Israel by the Old Testament prophets and by the Apostle Paul (see Romans 11) will have been accomplished no later than the conclusion of the War of Gog/Magog, thereby and according to Dispensationalists, such as myself, the Harpazo (the Rapture) of the Bride of Christ will have occurred and the Church age will have passed into history, and planet Earth will have arrived on the doorstep of Gabriel's prophecy to Daniel regarding Israel's 70th Week, also known as the 7-year Tribulation or the "time of Jacob's trouble", which concludes with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the establishment of His millennial Kingdom.

Ezekiel 38/39 is therefore understood as being a transitional event; a final military conflict which uniquely delineates our world of pre-70th Week prophetic fulfillment from the 70th Week's prophetic fulfillment which culminates in the second coming of Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords.