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 C1-24: Trump Returns as POTUS

 

President-elect Trump Addesses Supporters in Florida

November 6, 2024: Donald J. Trump is the President-elect of the United States of America.

UPDATED 7 November 2024: Following a brief pause to collect intel, we continue. Here is what is now known about the incoming Trump Administration's policy, particularly with respect to Israel. 

Contrary to the weeks and months of the Global Left's demands for Israel to unilaterally end the wars against HAMAS, Hezbollah, Yemen's Houthi's and Iran and its proxies in Iraq and Syria (i.e. a unilateral Israeli surrender), and coupled with the Biden/Harris Administration's policy of interference in preventing a decisive 'Israel Victory' over these enemies, the Trump Administration on January 20th, if not sooner via back-channels, will tell Netanyahu's coalition government to end the wars by going all-out and allowing the IDF to achieve "decisive" victories over all of these enemies. 

In fact, this is what our President-elect has said to PM Netanyahu privately. The global media only reported that Trump wants Israel to end the war, omitting in its entirety the second half of the sentence: End the war by achieving a decisive victory (on every front). Students of Bible prophecy can clearly see how this approach dovetails perfectly with the inspired prophetic words from Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Joshua as well as Asaph's Psalm 83. 

Decisive victories win wars. Period.

UPDATE 17 November 2024: With a little more than 60 days remaining to the inauguration of the second Trump Administration, the image of the immense changes coming are getting clearer with each passing day. This is most poignantly reflected in the nominations the head key cabinet posts, the appointments to be made during recess, and the mainstream, fake news media handwringing angst as each new cabinet head is announced. Several nominees have thus far been the target of grotesque attempts at character assassination. The astute among us can surely see where this is heading. 

Nevertheless, God is in control and His purposes will be realized; the prophecies of His seers of ancient time will come to pass exactly as foretold.

The Psalm 83 war continues to rage without respite: rockets, missiles and drones in the hundreds launched from Lebanon, Syria and Iraq target Israel's civilian communities on a daily basis. All of these weapons were manufactured in the Islamic Republic of Iran or locally by IRGC-QF experts. 

The IDF continues to press its relentless northward advance into southern Lebanon as it destroys more Hezbollah warfighting infrastructure on a 24/7 basis. Also, with respect to the next 60 days, Israel has a free hand to take out other Iranian nuclear infrastructure. Israel's destruction of a key nuclear site at Parchin in October has not completely erased the Iranian nuclear threat. Additionally, Iran has been warned by the United States that any major escalation of the war on its part will result in US military strikes. What we can know with certainty that there is nothing in God-breathed Scripture which indicates the type of destruction in Israel that an Iranian nuclear attack could cause. Syria, however, according to Isaiah 17 is another matter entirely.

To be continued...

Global SITREP B10-24: Striking the Bow and Bringing the Sword PART II

 

Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu

UPDATED 28 October 2024: Israeli PM Netanyahu has set the goals moving forward: "Our long-term strategy is to dismantle the axis of evil, to cut off its arms in the south and in the north, to exact a heavy price from Iran and its proxies and to prevent Iran from having nuclear weapons."

The U.S. warned Iran today (28 October 2024) at the U.N. Security Council of severe consequences should it launch further attacks Israel or U.S. forces in the Middle East. 

For its part Iran accused the U.S. of facilitating Israeli criminal aggression and said it would settle scores at a time and place of its chosing. 

The ball is in the hands of the side that options for comprehensive military preemption first.

29 October 2024: We all understand how a bow and arrow, a most ancient weapon system, works. The arrow is launched by the bow; without the bow the arrow cannot fly to its target. 

Technically speaking, the foremost of Iranian military might are their ballistic missiles (arrows). The newest, which was designed to carry a nuclear warhead, is the Khoramshahr-4 as seen in the collage image above. The mechanism is sits upon is a Transporter Erector Launcher or TEL. The TEL is the bow.

During Israel's recent hours-long retaliatory strike one of the highest value targets hit was a high-tech facility and campus in Hakimiyeh, Iran which manufactures the TEL. There won't be any more TELs coming out of the facility.

IAF F-16I Sufa with Rampage Standoff Missiles

UPDATE 1 November 2024: The State of Israel is on high alert for an Iranian attack. Depending on the sources, and there are at least a handful of anonymous sources reporting on this, the Iranian attack will occur either before the November 5 U.S. election, or after it. The sources range from Iranian insiders to IDF insiders to U.S. media quoting them as anonymous. One source, the chief in the office of Ayatollah Khamenei is referenced by name in an AFP report citing the Tasnim agency, claims the coming Iranian attack will be "brutal" and make Israel "regret" its recent attacks on Iranian military targets.

If the sum of all these reports is taken at face value, then the reason for Israel's state of high alert is warranted. This would tend to indicate that an Israeli detection by technical means of Iranian attack preparations, whether from within Iran, or Iraq, or Syria, or Yemen, or Lebanon or all of the above in concert, the near certainty of a wide-scale IDF preemption is also highly probable at any point this weekend and into the middle of next week. 

Buff 52

Knock, knock...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures in front of a map during a press conference at the Government Press Office in Jerusalem, Sept. 4, 2024. (Abir Sultan/Pool via AP)

Notice that on this Israel government map there is no so called "West Bank" -Judea and Samaria are wholly within the State of Israel.

Global SITREP B9-24: Striking the Bow and Bringing the Sword

IRGC Aerospace Shahab-3

UPDATED 16 October 2024: The IDF is actively shaping the battlefield, not only in Lebanon but also in the Golan Heights where since 1 October new forward positions have been created, and operation to remove landmines have been largely completed. Use the clickable map below for reference as we move forward.

UNDOF ZONE

Notice the direct connection the UNDOF (United Nations Disengagement Observer Force) Zone has between Lebanon's eastern border, Syria's southern border and a small section of Jordan's northern border. The western border of the zone is known as the A Line and it functions as Israel's de facto border with Syria; the eastern border is Syria's de facto border with Israel separated by UNDOF troop deployments along its entire length since its institution at the end of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The 1,080 international troops deployed in the zone, in order of contingent size, are Nepal, Uruguay, India, Fiji and Kazakhstan with a handful each from Ghana, Ireland, Bhutan and the Czech Republic.

It is important to note this as Jeremiah 49:26 foretells dire a result for men in general and soldiers ("all the men of war"). Eschatology Today is of the opinion that this verse dovetails with Isaiah 17:12-13. Even a cursory reading these prophetic Scriptures informs as to the reason for the coming dire circumstance which forces their hasty departure.

There is also, as we've noted previously, a reason for the forward push into the Golan, and that would be to flank Hezbollah from the east in southern Lebanon, possibly to in preempt or interdict a mass evacuation of their forces northward. Some reports indicate that Kata'ib Hezbollah (Iraqi Shi'a militia) may have been instructed to forgo engaging in combat with the IDF. This is likely a very temporary situation if accurate.

In the meantime, sand is rapidly falling into the bottom of the proverbial hourglass marking how soon Israel will pounce to strike the bow and bring its very capable sword upon the Iranian Twelver regime. A paradigm changing event to be sure.

IDF released image of KIA Yahya Sinwar

18 October 2024: An IDF armored reconnaissance unit engaged in a firefight with three HAMAS terrorists Wednesday, 16 October. The unit was unaware that one of the three combatants was Yahya Sinwar. Sinwar was attempting to flee from Rafah to the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone on the Mediterranean Sea when spotted by the IDF recon force. A Merkava IV MBT fired a single round into the impromptu hideaway (a house) which ultimately killed the HAMAS leader. He was also found to have bullet wounds to his head and chest.

Suspecting explosive charges in the immediate area the IDF waited until Thursday to search and clear the area before accessing the site. The image above was released by the IDF; it shows IDF troops standing over the deceased Sinwar. Sinwar's identity was confirmed by DNA testing. Subsequent searching of the immediate area did not locate any of the Israeli hostages nor any sign of their presence. Many media reports had long insisted the Israeli hostages were surrounding Sinwar as human shields. Islamic radicals will almost certainly hail Yahya Sinwar as a martyr who died in direct battle with the IDF. Sinwar is gone but the war is not over in Gaza.

Flight of two B-2 Spirit stealth bombers

In a direct warning to Iran the United States deployed long-range B2 Spirit stealth bombers to destroy five hardened weapons depots in a Houthi-controlled region of Yemen on October 17. The depots contained missiles and other weapons used by the Houthis to attack commercial and military ships in the Red Sea and missiles that targeted Israel. It is unknown if the Spirit's departed from CONUS or from a forward base of operations to conduct the strike. It is very likely the first American use of the B-2 in combat since 2017 and the first operational strike mission employing the GBU-57 MOP (Massive Ordnance Penetrator), a 27,125-pound weapon which can penetrate over 200 feet deep into earth and reinforced concrete bunkers. Each Spirit carries two MOPs. The Spirit's mission and weapon chosen were clearly a powerful message to the Islamic Republic of Iran which now understands that destruction of its Natanz nuclear site is clearly within the capability set of American B-2's armed either with the GBU-57 or newer GBU-57 F/B variants, or the newest GBU-72B, a 5,000-pound all-weather precision strike bunker buster weapon. It is no accident this strike on the Houthis and their Iranian-made weapons occurred as Israel is an advanced stage of their own and very imminent air assault on Iranian targets...

Israeli Air Force F-35i and F-15i Strike Package with airborne refueler

Moshiach Patch on IDF Uniform

UPDATE 22 October 2024: The Moshiach (Messiah) patch below the Israel 'Star of David' flag patch was taken off a soldiers arm by CoS Herzi HaLevi and placed in his pocket, close to his heart. 

This Messiah Crown patch has caused quite a stir in Israel, with some opining that to Christian and Jewish Messianic soldiers it honors Jesus Messiah, the King of Israel. 

To others it honors the Orthodox Moshiach; that it is a symbol of the IDF being the army of God (Ezekiel 37). 

Others opine that since the patch is officially non-approved it belongs in a pocket, close to the soldiers heart. 

And a very, very small minority of secular Israelis have nothing but disdain for the patch because they reject all messiahs at face value.

The wearing of non-approved uniform patches is widespread among virtually all of the world's armies; most commanders allow them as morale boosters. The US military is among them, particularly the DTOM and Punisher patches.

Global SITREP B8-24: Joshua 13 Northern Arrows (Continued)

IDF Merkava IV MBT entering Lebanon

UPDATED 2 October 2024: In the aftermath of the Iranian Twelver (Shi'a) Regimes ballistic missile attack on the State of Israel, IDF CoS Herzi HaLevi communicated with 4-Star USCENTCOM Commander Eric Kurilla to coordinate a unified response to the attack, even though the attack turned out to be a military failure. It is assessed at this time that the coming unified response will include Iranian nuclear facilities and petroleum infrastructure as well as the depots containing Iran's remain long-range missiles of all types. The price the Twelver regime will pay for its attack will be extraordinary and will eventually lead to its demise.

The attack is assessed to have included 180 ballistic missiles of the conventional Emad and Ghadr designs, and for the first time the hypersonic Fattah-2. Ballistic missiles reach altitudes which scrape the edge of space before descending into the target area. The vast majority were intercepted and destroyed by Anti-Ballistic Missiles (ABM) launched by two US Navy destroyers and Israel's own multi-tiered ABM array. 

Meanwhile the IDF's elite 98th Division continued its push into southern Lebanon on the ground with armor artillery and in the air (attack helicopters). The Israel Air Force has complete domination of the high ground in Lebanese airspace above. The IDF's 36th Division has also joined the combat Operation Northern Arrows in Lebanon.

Screenshot capture of the Israeli strike in Latakia, Syria

UPDATE 4 October 2024: Israel has struck and completely obliterated a weapons depot virtually adjacent to the Russian Khmeimim Air Base in Latakia Province, Syria. 

The information collected thus far is that an Iranian (IRGC-QF) Qeshm Air cargo jet landed at the Khmeimim Air Base with a cargo of weapons for Hezbollah. This would indicate Russia has decided to allow deliveries of this type making them as much a part of the current war as is America in supplying Israel with weapons. Russia can always make the claim that Khmeimim is a Syrian base as its official name is Bashar Al-Assad International Airport. 

The Qeshm Air delivery was subsequently offloaded and trucked to a previously unknown depot in the adjacent town of Jableh which Israel struck within an hour of the weapons arrival. The Israeli strike appears to have consisted of 30-some odd missiles or Harop drones that came in from the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, indicating that perhaps this was an Israeli Navy strike. In any event this IDF strike is unprecedented and in, no pun intended, uncharted waters. The weapons depot was destroyed in due course by the weapons cooking off for nearly an hour following the initial missile/drone strikes. 

Probably related is the Syrian Arab League Ambassador Ala request for the League to make a decision tantamount to a declaration of war against Israel to halt the "occupiers'" aggression in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria. Neither Israel or Russia have thus far acknowledged this action, even though both Russian and Syrian air defenses were reportedly active in trying to engage the incoming Israeli weapons.

 Israel's flag flies in Lebanon

During the 2006 war instigated by Hezbollah the IDF was unable to gain full control of the high ground at Maroun El Ras. The image above illustrates how the IDF has achieved this objective in 2024 by raising the Star of David there in less than a week.

To be continued...

Global SITREP B7-24: Joshua 13 (Operation: Northern Arrows)

SIDON Being Driven Out, Monday 23 September 2024

24 September 2024: Oh, come now Brothers and Sisters, is this nothing more than coincidence, simply a happenstance??!?!

In my New King James Version of the Holy Bible, the first seven verses of Joshua 13 are boldly captioned "Remaining Land to Be Conquered." And those first seven verses read (underscored italics mine for emphasis):

Now Joshua was old, advanced in years. And the Lord said to him: “You are old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed. This is the land that yet remains: all the territory of the Philistines and all that of the Geshurites, from Sihor, which is east of Egypt, as far as the border of Ekron northward (which is counted as Canaanite); the five lords of the Philistines—the Gazites, the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avites; from the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians as far as Aphek, to the border of the Amorites; the land of the Gebalites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrise, from Baal Gad below Mount Hermon as far as the entrance to Hamath; all the inhabitants of the mountains from Lebanon as far as the Brook Misrephoth, and all the Sidonians—them I will drive out from before the children of Israel; only divide it by lot to Israel as an inheritance, as I have commanded you. Now therefore, divide this land as an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh.”

In the image above, taken yesterday (Monday 23 September 2024), looking south towards southern Lebanon and northern Israel, are these Sidonian not being driven out before the children of Israel? Is this not a direct literal fulfillment of prophecy before our eyes?

I suggest a thorough reading of Joshua 13 is an essential task as it is a prophecy to be fulfilled and witnessed by our eyes in the present time. As you read you will hopefully notice that verses 15 and 16, wholly part of the remaining land to be conquered by Israel, specifically name geographic place names, such as Aroer, the River Arnon and the city which is in the midst of the ravine, Dibon. 

The Valley of the Passengers Ezekiel

Eschatology Today has been here previously in the series The Prophetic Road to Revelation (Part IV): The War of Gog of Magog. This is linked here for good reason as a refresher for some, and new knowledge for others. A good portion of the discussion of Ezekiel 39 notes these places in the Valley of the Passengers as being in Israel, even though they are today within the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Well prior to the prophetic words of Ezekiel, here we have the writer of Joshua naming the same places as being part of the land to be conquered by Israel! 

How much more prescient can these prophetic indicators be with respect to the lateness of the time in which we are living, eating and breathing with the bodies in which we were born?

Thus, a thorough reading of Ezekiel 38/39 is also highly recommended. Notice what takes place at Ezekiel 39:29, a very strong indicator (and Warning or I&W) that the Harpazo (Rapture) of the Bride of Christ will have occurred in the unknown interim!

Marana'tha!

Global SITREP B6-24: Northern Front

IDF troops prepare for operations in Lebanon

UPDATED 18 September 2024: It's said that an object in motion tends to stay in motion. As we have seen in the past couple of days the IDF's "center of gravity" is moving inexorably towards the Northern Front. The IDF mission objective is to fight Hezbollah on Lebanon's territory so as to allow Israeli civilians to return safely to their homes in northern Israel. Based upon Bible prophecy, the books of Joshua, Jeremiah and Isaiah especially, Eschatology Today believes that the Northern Front holds much more in store for Israel and its defense forces than merely driving Hezbollah terrorists north of the Litani River. We'll follow key events closely and as they occur.

UPDATE 23 September 2024: To use colloquial terminology, It's on! 

As of this morning, and following unprecedented leaflet drops, telephone calls and text message warnings from the IDF there are tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians in mass exodus from southern Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley. The IDF has also provided video evidence of civilian homes in Lebanon which show irrefutable proof of special construction of hatches and openings constructed by Hezbollah that contain cruise missiles and other hostile aircraft launch platforms within them. Resident and neighbors were urged for their own safety to depart from these areas with all due haste and these structures will be destroyed. Somewhere between 300 and 400 hundred structures have been destroyed in at least three waves of strikes thus far today, and its only 3:30 PM in Israel as of this writing. The warnings were specific and included the Beqa'a Valley where Hezbollah has long occupied as its primary stronghold.