Global SITREP B3-13: ISRAEL'S FINAL WARNING ON IRAN

This image is of PM Netanyahu before the UN General Assembly in September 2012 explaining that Israel's red line for Iranian nuclear weapons program would be crossed in mid-2013. Was he bluffing? Did he make a fool of himself and the State of Israel before the entire world with empty rhetoric? Or did he mean what he said and is Iran now 3.5 months inside of this drawn red-line? Will PM Netanyahu be giving the same speech to the UN General Assembly in 2014?

UPDATE 28 October 2013: With respect to the ISIS update posted below two days ago, Danny Danon, Israel's Deputy Defense Minister, went on-the-record concerning the true meaning of that analysis:

Israel Deputy Defense Minister (Likud) Danny Danon

"We have made it crystal clear - in all possible forums, that Israel will not stand by and watch Iran develop weaponry that will put us, the entire Middle East and eventually the world, under an Iranian umbrella of terror."

26 October 2013: Many have questioned and some have even denied that PM Bibi Netanyahu has reached the end of the rope with Iran and its drive for indigenous nuclear weapons capability. Some see him as weak and ineffective, prone to cave-in to whatever an American president demands of him. But then again, such people do not know what Bibi Netanyahu and several of the world's leading nuclear weapons experts have been aware of since last month. Not only will Iran be able to produce about 7 nuclear weapons by Christmas, but the first of those weapons could be constructed and deployed before we can cook our turkey dinners this coming Thanksgiving Day. 

This is news that comes not from a leak inside Israel, but from an analytical study (.pdf file: Iranian Breakout Estimates, October 24, 2013) conducted by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) as revealed in yesterday's edition of USA Today. And, yes, ISIS is an American institution. And, unlike the Obama Administration, the ISIS is under no illusion nor are they in denial about what 19,000 spinning Iranian IR-1 and IR-2m enrichment centrifuges can accomplish within the next month without anyone on planet earth knowing that it had occurred until after the weapon was detonated in a test. This is likely the urgency driving Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu's final warnings to Iran and the world-at-large.

20 October 2013: The key intelligence item that has emerged from the recently adjourned P5+1 nuclear negotiations in Geneva is this: Iran has arrived at the technological point of its military applications of uranium enrichment and weapon design and delivery where it could construct approximately 7 deliverable weapons in just 8 weeks time. Put another way, the apocalyptic Iranian regime could construct and deliver its own nuclear weapon by Christmas 2013. This level of Iranian achievement is non-negotiable in further talks, nor will it be reduced in any manner whatsoever. Iran has determined to retain this technological capability in perpetuity and to execute the final sprint to weapons construction without any outside party being aware of it. The question is: How comfortable is Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu with this fact?

16 October 2013: "The first lesson is to never underestimate a threat, never underestimate an enemy, never ignore the signs of danger. We can’t assume the enemy will act in ways that are convenient for us. The enemy can surprise us. Israel will not fall asleep on its watch again. 

We can’t surrender the option of a preventive strike. It is not necessary in every situation, and it must be weighed carefully and seriously. But there are situations in which paying heed to the international price of such a step is outweighed by the price in blood we will pay if we absorb a strategic strike that will demand a response later on, and perhaps too late.

A preventive war, even a preventive strike, is among the most difficult decisions a government can take, because it will never be able to prove what would have happened if it had not acted. But the key difference between the Six Day War (June 1967) and the Yom Kippur War (October 1973) lies first of all in the fact that in the Six Day War we launched a preventive strike that broke the chokehold our enemies had placed on us, and on Yom Kippur the government decided, despite all warnings, to absorb the full force of an enemy attack." 

--The above are the essential words of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel as spoken on Tuesday, 15 October 2013, on the 40th Anniversary of the 1973 Yom Kippur War in a speech to the Israeli Knesset.

Assessment: If the negotiations currently underway in Geneva, Switzerland between the five permanent members of the United Nation Security Council P5+1 (US, UK, France, Russia and China, + Germany) and the Islamic Republic of Iran results in the easing of its imposed economic sanctions against Iran and fails to dismantle Iranian nuclear weapons capabilities, then the amount of time that remains before Israel launches preemptive strikes on Iran might well be counted in single digit days.


14 October 2013: A final warning is a final warning. Anyone who thinks that the Prime Minister of Israel is bluffing about his intent to prevent apocalyptic Iranian Shi'a from possessing nuclear weapons had better THINK AGAIN because "never again" means exactly that, never again.

9 October 2013: Make no mistake, one week ago yesterday at the meeting of the 68th General Assembly of the United Nations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered to the world what can only be understood as Israel's final warning prior to taking action, unilateral if necessary, against the Iranian nuclear weapons program. You can view the video of PM Netanyahu's U.N. speech HERE. 

Contrary to and well-beyond how the majority of western media portrayed this speech as Netanyahu's use of mild "wolf in sheep's clothing" euphemisms to describe Iranian President Rouhani's charm offensive, the Israeli PM delivered a lesson in 4000 years of Jewish history dating back to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; that this 4000 years of history is at this moment challenged by a nuclear armed Iran that unambiguously seeks Israel's destruction. 

In his speech Netanyahu emphasized what we know as the 2500-year old Biblical historical account of Persian King Cyrus famous edict liberating the Jews from the Babylonian exile and proclaiming their right to return to their ancestral homeland in Israel and to rebuild the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. Netanyahu emphasized that this was a well-known historical Persian decree, which thereby declared as invalid all current Islamic edicts regarding Israel's existence as mere modern-day fabrications of deceived minds.

Prime Minister Netanyahu made clear that Israel's struggle is not with the Persian people, nor with the Arab people for that matter. Israel's struggle is with the false religious construct that is Islam and which has thoroughly deceived those under its dictates in more modern times. In Iran's case, since as recently as 1979, just 34 years ago. The poignant contrast was drawn by Netanyahu between 2,500 years of Jewish-Persian friendship and the past 34 years of blind hatred brought about by the "unforgiving creed" and "unforgiving regime" that is Islam which has conquered and crushed the Persian people's hope for democracy.

Prime Minister Netahyahu's speech speaks for itself. I urge you to click the link above and watch it for yourself. "Facts are stubborn things" stated the Prime Minister of Israel. The fact is these words are the final warning that will be given prior to Israel doing what it must in exercising its vigilance to ensure its own future from the Iranian nuclear threat.

The primary prophetic reference here is to Jeremiah 49:34-39 as has been discussed many times on Eschatology Today.  However, the Lord also spoke through the angel Gabriel with respect to the extent of Persian ascendency among the gentile nations, and this can be found in its fullest extent within the text of Daniel 10:10 and 11:4.

Daniel 11:2 is a single prophetic sentence that encompasses over 200 years of history. This verse takes us from the first year of Darius, through a total of four subsequent Persian kings to the end of the Persian (Achaemenid) Empire when it is crushed in verse 3 by Greece, and which is the Biblical introduction to Alexander III of Macedon, more famously known as Alexander the Great. From the Bible's prophetic perspective Persia is no longer relevant as a great power and appears only briefly in Ezekiel 38:5 as a second tier ally in the final pre-70th Week military engagement of significance.

Global SITREP B2-13: Syria Phase III

UPDATE 24 October 2013: The full-blown international war described in the original 2 October post below has effectively moved into Lebanon where open sectarian warfare between Sunni and Shi'a neighborhoods in Tripoli, Lebanon have raged out of control all week long. Saudi Arabia is warning of full-blown civil war erupting in Lebanon and has directly threatened the Lebanese homes and loved ones of Hezbollah's troops in Syria with "great cost" to be borne if it does not withdraw its forces from supporting Bashar al-Assad's army. Saudi Arabia is now directly targeting Hezbollah in its war against Iran in both the Syrian and Lebanese fields of battle.

8 October 2013: Two or more brigades of Bashar al-Assad's armored divisions were detected moving south from Damascus to assembly areas anticipated to be along the M5 highway. Another armored force appears poised on Highway 7 opposite al-Quneitra. The first battle was engaged at rebel-held Khan Ar-Nabeh, a town 2 miles from the Golan Heights 1974 cease-fire "Line Alpha" of disengagement and no-man's land, and 4 miles from the main highway interchange before al-Quneitra. Not much will remain of Khan Ar-Nabeh after this battle, the southern edge of which lies on the 1974 cease-fire "Line Bravo."

The objective of the Syrian force appears to be to sever the rebels from their Jordanian supply corridors through Dara'a and from medical treatment of its wounded across the Golan in Israel.  This maneuver will present the Syrian army with a "kill box" from the Jordanian border to the mountainous Lebanese frontier in which rebel forces will be trapped and exterminated. Once the maneuvering is completed, and short of any significant foreign intervention, the Syrian force appears likely to achieve this objective and be in a position to deal far more effectively with the newly created Liwa al-Islam put together by Saudi Arabia.

2 October 2013: The war in Syria has finally morphed into the full-blown international war most had hoped would not take shape in the wake of recent U.S. threats of direct intervention and the Russian Federation's military and diplomatic countermeasures against it. 

Now the war has become a battlefield directly pitting Sunni Saudi Arabia against the apocalyptic Shi'a Islamic Republic of Iran. Tehran versus Riyadh. It's the same Sunni versus Shi'a inter-Islamic war, but more defined than ever before. The immediate objective of the new Sandi-controlled rebel formations will be full control of the city of Damascus and all of southern and eastern Syria. The central front is headquartered in the Ghouta/Jobar areas of eastern Damascus where the chemical attack of 21 August occurred. The theological and eschatological ramifications of a great battle between the armed forces of Sunni and Shi'a Islam over the city of Damascus and Aram/Syria will be immense among all parties involved. This will be a defining battle for them.

On one side is Iran and its IRGC controlling Syrian government forces and Lebanese Hezbollah. On the other is Saudi Arabia and its newly created Liwa al-Islam or Brigade of Islam. Riyadh's Army of Islam is a confederation of many thousands of jihadist fighters from 43 to 50 different "brigades" that have been in operation in and around Damascus without any higher headquarters directing their operations or unity of purpose. This force is now under the direct command of Zahran Alloush and his father Abdallah Alloush, a Syrian Salafist based in Saudi Arabia. Salafists are the theological fundamentalist brethren of the Wahhabists of the Saudi Royal family. The ultimate goal here is the Saudi-funded formation of an opposition Syrian National Army.

Left out in the cold in this realignment of rebel forces without any foreign government backing are the Al Qaeda-aligned jihadists of Jabhat al-Nusra and their Iraqi cousins of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). These formations will be marginalized or absorbed by the now better equipped, organized and commanded Brigade of Islam.

So begins what may well be a final battle for control of Damascus and southern Syria, a head-on collision between Saudi Arabian and Iranian aligned forces with the prospect for escalation to direct conflict between the two regional rivals facing each other across the shallow waters of the Persian Gulf. How this all manifests itself in the prophecies of Isaiah 17 and Jeremiah 49 remains to be seen, but it does appear that the Sunni's will prove to be the superior force before biting off more than they can chew in taking on Israel in the fulfillment of Psalm 83.

Global SITREP A16-13: "I Will Set Egyptians Against Egyptians"

UPDATE 9 OCTOBER 2013: The promised criminal trial of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has been announced to commence on 4 November by the Middle East News Agency (MENA). Morsi will be tried by Judge Ahmed Sabry Youssef along with 14 other defendants. In addition to compromising Egyptian national security, Morsi will also be charged with "inciting his supporters to commit premeditated murder."

5 October 2013: Yesterday, in the discussion going on within the comments of SITREP A30-13, an Eschatology Today reader asked:  "Are the Egyptians really planning an attack against Gaza?"

The response was: Yes.

HAMAS has been put on notice by the Egyptian military that it bears full responsibility for any and all attacks on Egyptian forces in the Sinai, and for any deterioration in the security situation with Israel; that Egyptian forces will strike HAMAS and its leadership directly.

In anticipation of the necessity for strikes against HAMAS the Egyptian military has been flying reconnaissance drones over Gaza in order to select high priority targets in Rafah and Khan Younis.

Intense Egyptian army operations are ongoing in the northern Sinai. It would not take much for these forces to spin around and take aim at Gaza.

Now, why is this important to Eschatology Today readers?  Because of the critically information posted originally in this SITREP back in July regarding Isaiah 19 and Ezekiel 29. Even more to the point are the details I gave in my response to the above question:

"I am of the opinion that the reference to Hagarenes in Psalm 83 is a direct reference to Islamic jihadists. Prior to Muhammed and the rise of Islam, Hanif Arabs were fundamentalists in Arabia who adhered to monotheistic believe in the God of Abraham. Mohammed came along and these ancient Hanif Arabs were deceived and adopted his Al-Lah as being the same as their Al-Lah.

The Hanif Arabs came from Hagar's (Arabic: Hajar) son (by Abraham) Ishmael, so they are a descended branch of the "Ishmaelite" family tree and originated in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia (near Mecca).

Many modern Arabic words have their root in Hagar/Hajar, words such as: mujahir/mujahid, hajir (the Hajj pilgrimage all muslims must make) and hijra. In today's language a Hagarene (Hajarene) can mean any Muslim or Ishmaelite, and the most fundamentalist of them are the mujahideen, or Islamic jihadists, a/k/a Al Qaeda et al. Even the al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun (MB) of Egypt."

Update 09 July 2013: Based upon the released transcript of the last meeting between Mohamed Morsi and General Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi it seems apparent that the military and judiciary now running Egypt have planned from the outset to place the former president on trial on charges of compromising the national security of Egypt. Here is the English-language translation of the transcript released on 5 July by Al-Watan ("The Nation") one of Egypt's most popular daily newspapers.

Morsi: What’s the military’s position concerning what’s going on? Is it just going to stand by watching? Shouldn’t it protect the legitimacy?

Sisi: What legitimacy? The entire army is with the will of the people, and the overwhelming majority of people, according to documented reports, don’t want you.

Morsi: My supporters are many and they won’t be silent.

Sisi: The army will not allow anyone to destroy the nation, no matter what happens.

Morsi: What if I don’t want to leave?

Sisi: The matter is settled and no longer up to you. Try to leave with your dignity and tell those whom you call supporters to go back to their homes in order to prevent bloodshed, instead of threatening the people through them.

Morsi: But this way it will be a military coup, and America won’t leave you alone.

Sisi: The people concern us, not America. And since you’ve started to talk this way, I’ll talk to you candidly. We have evidence to condemn you and to condemn many governmental officials of compromising Egypt’s national security. The judiciary will have its say and you will all be judged before the whole people.

Morsi: Okay, can you permit me to make a few phone calls and then afterwards I’ll decide on what to do?

Sisi: You are not permitted; but we can let you check up on your family only.

Morsi: Am I imprisoned or what?

Sisi: You are under arrest from this moment.

Morsi: Don’t think the Brotherhood is going to stand by if I leave office. They will set the world on fire.

Sisi: Just let them try something and you’ll see the reaction of the army. Whoever among them wants to live in peace, he’s more than welcome; otherwise, [if they try anything] we will not leave them alone. We will not single anyone out, and the Brotherhood is from the Egyptian people, so don’t try to use them as fuel for your disgusting war. If you truly love them, leave office and let them go to their homes.

Morsi: Anyway, I’m not going, and the people outside of Egypt are all with me, and my supporters are not going.

Sisi: Anyway, I’ve advised you.

Morsi: Okay, but take care—I’m the one who hired you as minister and can remove you.

Sisi: I became minister of defense due to the military’s will and not yours—and you know this very well. Moreover, you can’t remove me; that’s it—you no longer have any legitimacy.

Morsi: Okay, if I agree to be removed, will you allow me to travel abroad and promise not to imprison me?

Sisi: I can’t offer you any promises. It’s the justice [department] that will pass its verdict.

Morsi: Okay, if that’s the case, I’ll make it war, and we’ll see who will prevail in the end.

Sisi: Naturally the people will win.

It appears to me that it was this conversation which set in motion the events which will bring the last days "Egyptians against Egyptians" prophecy of Isaiah 19 and "The Proclamation Against Egypt" prophecy of Ezekiel 29 to fulfillment over the coming days, months and years. I believe this will be a long-term process of fulfillment stretching well into the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ. Coming soon, I will address some details about what those dire prophecies foretell for Egypt.

03 July 2013 (Updated 4 July): Today the Egyptian military made good on its 48-hour ultimatum and sacked the Islamist al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun President Mohamed Morsi. The announcement was made on Egyptian TV by 58-year old Army Chief of Staff General Abdul-Fattah Khalil el-Sisi this evening because President Morsi "did not meet the demands of the masses."

In the announcement General el-Sisi suspended the Egyptian constitution and effectively removed the Islamist Ikhwan from governance, replacing it with a technocratic interim ruling council led by the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, 67-year old Justice Adly Mahmud Mansour, while preparations for a new round of transition elections are planned for per the Egyptian army's plan to return to civilian rule.
  

General el-Sisi's announcement was greeted with wild jubilation and fireworks in Cairo's Tahrir Square while to the north, in Alexandria, armed clashes between Islamists and anti-Ikhwan protesters are raging this evening on its streets.

The situation in Egypt is extremely dangerous and a new phase of the Isaiah 19 prophecy concerning Egypt is unfolding before our eyes. The Islamists can be counted on to launch a counter-coup with the goal of killing the popular Egyptian style democracy and replacing with a totalitarian, clerical Islamist regime like that of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Egypt's troubles are just beginning.

Global SITREP B1-13: Reliving Daniel 11 in Preparation for Daniel 12

29 September 2013: We have all just lived through a series of events during August and September 2013 that almost defy description. If my analysis of these events is correct, then we will have all been eyewitnesses to international travesty and conspiracy of Biblical prophetic proportions whether we all realize it or not. It is, in some sense, as if we are reliving the prophetic text of Daniel 11which prepare the way for the prophetic text of Daniel 12 which is without question about the 70th Week. 

Once verse which immediately came to mind in the midst of the recent G20 Summit reflects the text of Daniel 11:27 as far as what transpired between the President of the United States Barack Obama and the Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin:

"Both these kings’ hearts shall be bent on evil, and they shall speak lies at the same table; but it shall not prosper, for the end will still be at the appointed time."

On the surface the text Daniel 11 is clearly about prophecies the series wars that occur between the two great empires of the Middle East, the Macedonian-Greek Seleucid Empire and the Macedonian Greek Ptolemaic Empire. However, the subtext, the foreshadowing text is about the conditions and events that precede the arrival of the future Antichrist of the 70th Week. This is clearly evident because it is within this text that the forerunner Antichrist, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, is introduced to us along with all of the international intrigue and conflict which preceded his arrival. 

It was during the classical historical period of the late 4th Century BC to the early 1st century BC that world events developed which fulfilled the bulk of the prophecies found in the Book of Daniel, many of them directly from the mouth of the angel Gabriel. When it comes to authority, Gabriel is an angel who stands in the presence of God when he is in Heaven. He literally transmits the word and will of God to human beings. It is during this so-called classical period of human history that the Babylonian Empire was overtaken by the Medo-Persian Empire, which in turn was overtaken by the Macedonian-Greek Empire, which was divided into four parts and was then absorbed piece by piece by the final world empire of Rome explicitly as prophesied in Daniel, and completed by the prophesies in The Revelation of Jesus Christ. 

It is during the final century of this period that geo-political events, particularly rampant wars and the absorption of entire nations into a known-world empire, occurred at a rapid pace, so much so that the map of the Mediterranean and Middle East of 1 AD greatly resembles the current map and military dynamic of the same region of the Eastern Hemisphere. There is much to be learned by just looking at the maps of the Eastern Hemisphere between the 4th Century and 1st Century BC.

Given that we are now living in the last days prior to the advent of the 70th Week, I think we can look to Daniel 11 as the foreshadowing of the time in which we are currently living; it is the time immediately preceding the arrival of the Antichrist, and the events between this day are preparing the way for his arrival. My view is that this is not prophetic stage-setting per se, this actually is the fulfillment of already existent prophetic templates found in Daniel.

A brief re-cap of current events shows us that in early August President Obama went from a very public snubbing of President Putin by refusing to meet with him at a Moscow Summit (see: SITREP A18-13) to the face-to-face meeting that I forecast would occur during the G20 Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia. This meeting happened at St. Petersburg Konstantin Palace and it had all of the overtly evidence marks of a grand performance, a charade, where the visitor pretended power and the host knew he was flexible in such a manner that he would cave-in climactic fashion within mere days later. 

After all the naval drama on the high seas of the Eastern Mediterranean and the bellicose threats of unilaterally and without Congressional approval in an exercise of not-quite-so-crushing military power upon Vladimir Putin's Syrian ally and his in-country Persian and Lebanese Shi'a allies, Obama did indeed fold like a cheap camera in the face of pure evil, all the while still embracing the equally and purely evil desires of Sunni jihadism in Syria. This, my brothers and sisters, is the kind of "flexibility" that President Obama told former Russian President Dimitry Medvedev in March 2012 that he would have after the November 2012 election. This "flexibility" took us from the apparent brink of a regional war over WMD in Syria a couple of weeks ago to acceptance of Syrian WMD as well as a nuclear-armed Iran. 

All of this has left Israel holding the proverbial bag. A week or so ago I might have needed someone to tell me this was not President Obama's intent all along; that this kind of crisis-to-resolution-to-crisis behavior has not occurred repeatedly during his tenure irregardless if the crisis is between himself and President Putin, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu, Egyptian President Hosni Murbarak or even the U.S. Congress. 

In seeking the Lord's Word on what is going on these days it's been made very clear that these things must take place, that we are not to fear them, and "the end' is not yet. We're living in the modern part of the Daniel 11 foreshadowing and the imminent fulfillment of existent prophetic templates on the road to the 70th Week. Stay tuned... the concluding prophetic paragraphs are something to behold, and this is why I believe we are still here as witnesses of them.

Global SITREP A30-13: A Nuclear Iran

26 September 2013: It appears that the worst fears of many regarding a nuclear-armed Islamic Republic of Iran may well be realized, and we have a DEBKAfile article published yesterday and the Ayatollah Khamenei and IRGC-linked Kayhan newspaper published in Tehran this morning to thank for the confirmation of those fears.

Yesterday DEBKAfile published an article in which it reported that President Obama has been in direct secret negotiations (led by SECSTATE John Kerry) with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his newly elected sock-puppet president Hassan Rouhani. The core issue in the DEBKAfile report on the secret deal is that Obama has caved-in and accepted Iranian nuclear enrichment capability at 20% as well as all of the stocks of fissionable uranium possessed by Iran. Additional details are at the link.

In exchange for Obama's epic proportion cave-in Iran will agree to limit the number of enrichment centrifuges operating at its Natanz facility. The number of advanced IR2 and IR1 centrifuges Iran will be limited to is unknown. There is no mention of the many other Iranian enrichment facilities known to be in operation. Also completely absent are any undeclared sites involved in the Iranian nuclear weapons program, or what penalties might be incurred should Iran secretly execute the short hop from 20% to a weapons grade level enrichment of uranium. This sounds like a trust but verify secret deal with the IAEA in full control of the verify portion.

This morning the Kayhan newspaper published a front-page article under a red-letter banner headline declaring that DEBKAfile had revealed the details of the secret US-Iranian nuclear agreement. 

What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall of Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu's next Security Cabinet and fully-staffed National Security Council meetings. For that matter, as loud as voices might be raised anywhere in a near vicinity might suffice.

Who is “Gog” and Why he’s NOT the Beast of Daniel’s 70th Week

Collective Security Treaty Organization

Организация Договора о коллективной безопасности

Update 19 September 2013: Four years is a long time between updates, nevertheless, this item is back to the top of Eschatology Today with an update.

In my assessment the CSTO is about to kick itself into high gear due to the very recent events which pitted the CSTO military alliance against a faltering NATO alliance over the issue of chemical weapons use in the Syrian civil war. While the world may see that confrontation as one of Russia versus America, I see it as a CSTO versus NATO confrontation because the charters of these organizations view an attack upon one member as an attack upon all members who are then obligated to join in a common defense.

As a direct result of these recent events a CSTO Council and statutory bodies meeting will convene in Sochi, Russia on Monday morning, 23 September 2013 at which the member nations representatives will sign numerous documents and agree to the creation of a CSTO Joint Air Force. The CSTO Joint Air Force will complement the already existing CSTO Collective Rapid Reaction Force (CSTO CRRF). One week later, between October 1 and 4, these same CSTO members will reconvene in Yerevan, Armenia for further tightening of the alliance in all areas of military cooperation. 

The key military function of both meetings is the CSTO CRRF which as of yesterday morning began a large scale military exercise on the territory of member nation Belarus. The exercise is known as "Cooperation 2013." The "Cooperation 2013" exercise will continue through September 27, 2013 and includes the CSTO CRRF contingents from Armenia, Belarus, the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

It is my assessment that the CSTO Collective Rapid Reaction Force and its newly integrated Joint Air Force will be the forces that are prophesied to march against Israel in the near future during the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38/39. It is these forces which will be annihilated by God and buried by the people of Israel in the Valley of the Passengers (the Valley of Hamon-Gog) east of the Dead Sea.

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

  

02 October 2009: Armies of Gog, The Chief Prince of Magog, Rosh, Meshech and Tubal Initiate Military Exercises
 

The Russian-led military alliance of seven former Soviet Republics known by the acronym CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization), the counter-balance to the American-European NATO alliance, began large-scale military exercises today at the Matybulak training grounds in southern Kazakhstan.

The name given to this CSTO military force is "Collective Rapid Reaction Force" (CRRF). One of the CRRF's principle mission objectives is to wage war on Islamic insurgent groups on the territories of the member countries: Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Just another nail in the coffin of the Gog is Antichrist shoehorned eisegesis.

14 September 2009: The overwhelmingly accepted Christian eschatological definition for the name Ezekiel 38 and 39 identified as “Gog” is that of a man who will be the chief prince or leader of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal and who is to come from the land of the Magog located far to the north of modern day Israel.

Eschatology Today and our sourced documents have provided the ancient historical records, themselves from additional multiple-sourced historical records, from which a firm eschatological conclusion has been achieved in determining that Magog, Rosh, Meshech and Tubal are ethnically diverse nations which exist today within modern Russia to include the 46 oblasts, 21 republics, 4 autonomous okrugs, 9 krays, 2 federalized cities and 1 autonomous oblast of Russia; officially and internationally recognized as the Russian Federation, or within the increasingly totalitarian political confederation known as the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Let’s compare the above regarding “Gog” with my July 8, 2009 article “Origin of the Antichrist.”

A few excerpts of my research should suffice for this comparison.

“He (Antichrist) has always been an enigma, a man of mystery, prophesied to be of fierce countenance, a master of deceit and deception, of such unearthly evil power and charisma that by his mere presence all of mankind will be subdued and submit to his will.

The beast will be a man who ultimately will be wholly possessed by a demonic spirit ascended out of the abyss and identified by the name of Abaddon in Hebrew and Apollyon in the Greek; a man of mind bending unconscionable evil destined to stand as Satan incarnate during Daniel's 70th Week. He is a man whose name John revealed in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, chapter 13 verse 18, would count to or calculate to the Greek alphabetical-numerical equivalent of χξϚ (chi-xi-stigma) or six-hundred, three-score and six. 666.”

Who among us is so bold as to declare, contrary to the Word of God in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, that the name of “Gog” must be given the same alpha-numeric value as the 666 assigned to the Antichrist? Only someone completely ignorant of the Lord’s admonition found in Revelation 22:18-19 would do so.

As I wrote and cited Scripture in the above article, all indications from the prophet Daniel are that the coming Antichrist would be modeled on his Biblical predecessor, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, a man of a definitive Greek-Macedonian bloodline; that he would possess a might that is not derived from his own power; that he would exalt himself above everything, including God and Christ, and yet in the end he would come to his end without human means, as revealed in Revelation 19:20-21:

“Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.”

To review what has already been covered in this blog, Gog comes from the land of Magog and is a prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. Gog is a man who is from an ethnic Russian origin. Gog is killed in battle in Israel and buried in Israel in a mass grave in what will become known as the Valley of Hamon Gog. Gog has no side-kick or accomplice such as the False Prophet.

In stark contrast to the fate of Gog, the Antichrist is indwelt by a demonic spirit from the Abyss known as Abaddon/Apollyon. It is my absolute conviction that Daniel's prophecy informs us in no uncertain terms that the coming Antichrist will specifically arise from a Greek or Hellenic ancestry; that he will be a direct descendant of the Biblical Javan via one of his sons whose progeny populate Europe and most of the nations of the West. In his defeat Antichrist and his False Prophet are captured by Jesus Christ and are immediately “cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.” This fate is entirely and wholly different than that of the human followers of Antichrist who are “killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of” the KING OF KINGS AND LORD OR LORDS, our Lord Jesus Christ.

The differences between Gog and Antichrist are exceptional differences. They are even more exceptional than the brief synopsis provided in this article. However, even these brief exceptional differences cannot be overlooked by anyone unless they are conducting eschatological studies in a manner not unlike the locomotive ability of some surface skimming water strider.

UPDATED EXEGESIS: The ultimate proof that Gog cannot possibly be one and the same as the Antichrist is found in the Biblical fact that Gog and his armies are IMMEDIATELY UNSUCCESSFUL in their invasion of Israel. Almighty God will personally see to that. On the other hand, the Antichrist WILL BE SUCCESSFUL and will stand in the Temple declaring himself to be God. Put another way, since Gog will be dead and buried in the Valley of Hamon Gog it will be literally impossible for him to stand in the Temple much less have an image of himself placed there. Therefore Gog cannot possibly be the Antichrist.

The Doctrine of Imminence: Have Men Determined That Our Sovereign God Cannot Act According to His Will?

The man-made and so-called “Doctrine of Imminence” has three main tenets according to an article at the Pre-Trib Research Center by Dr. Gerald Stanton, “The Doctrine of Imminency: Is It Biblical? ”  Those three tenets are:

(1) While no one knows the time of Christ's return, He may come at any moment and it is possible that He might come today.

(2) The Rapture is signless, and will be unannounced and largely unexpected.

(3) No clearly prophesied event must transpire prior to the Rapture (Harpazo), for this might date the time of His coming.

While I accept and agree with the first two tenets because they are based solidly upon multiple Scriptures, the third presents a very significant problem because it unilaterally precludes our Sovereign God from any prophetic act according to His will prior to the Rapture (Harpazo) during the present age. This tenet is not based upon any Scripture that I am aware of, and therefore is based upon human error.

Since when can any man or group of men attempt to dogmatically tell other men what our Sovereign God can or cannot do according to His will? 

Since when has any man or group of men determined to dogmatically know the precise order of fulfillment of all prophecies our Lord God has given us in His Word, and when they can or cannot come to literal fulfillment?

What language might one use to describe such a man or group of men holding to such a dogmatic view as this?

This is the error within the third tenet as expressed above. There is nothing within the Word of God which unambiguously states that the Rapture (Harpazo) is the next prophetic event on “the revealed program of God.” How can the third tenet be correct when the tenet which precedes it clearly holds that the Rapture (Harpazo) is signless, unannounced and unexpected?  

I’m not aware of any Scripture wherein God has published His personal calendar of unalterable prophetic events. On the contrary, Scripture clearly tells us that only the Father knows when He will send His Son to collect His Bride.

I maintain that there are numerous prophecies in the Word of God which must come to a literal fulfillment prior to the 70^th Week because they are essential precursor events that will shape the geo-political world that will exist during the 70^th Week.

For the brevity sake I’ll name just a few of the more important among these prophecies.

Have not the prophecies of within Ezekiel 36/37 come to a literal fulfillment in the modern State of Israel?

Is the modern State of Israel not the single stick composed of the house of Joseph and the House of Judah as prophesied? And has this prophecy not come to literal fulfillment within just the past 70 years?

Do not the prophecies of Ezekiel 38.39 foretell of this State of Israel living securely within the land, and is this state of existence not prior to the 70^th Week? And how does Israel achieve this existent sate of safety and security if not for the literal fulfillment of other prophecies such as Isaiah 17, Isaiah 19, Psalm 83, Joshua, 13:1-5 and Jeremiah 49 among still others? Does not Ezekiel provide prophetic proof of this prophetic fulfillment occurring prior to the prophecy of chapters 38 and 39 by saying the following in Ezekiel 28:20-26:

“Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
Son of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against it,
And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.
For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord God.
Thus saith the Lord God; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob.
And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the Lord their God.”

Is this prophecy from Ezekiel not mirrored by Isaiah 11:11-15:

^“ And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.
But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.
And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.”

And, to conclude, there is also the prophetic rebuilding of the Temple which the fulfillment of these prophecies will by then have created the conditions for in allowing unfettered construction to occur on Mount Moriah where the previous two Temples once stood on that sacred ground. 

The sovereign will of God is His alone, He determines its course for His purposes; it is not subject to tenet within a man-made doctrine.  The Harpazo will occur when God the Father determines the time for the Son to elope with His Bride and keep her from the wrath that will follow on the Earth.