Cold War II is springing to life as Russia and the United States have spent the better part of a month trading barbs and quasi-threats. Russia even has a pair of top-of-the-line nuclear subs patrolling the east coast of the US for what is believed to be the first time in 15 years. This comes less than two weeks after VP Joe Biden assured the former Soviet republic of Georgia that the US would stand behind the nation in any further conflicts with Russia, who briefly invaded Georgia last year.
Tensions are further raised over missile defense plans. The US wants to put missile defense facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic, a move that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev promises will result in Russian missiles being pointed at Europe. Further, Russia has vowed to counteract any US moves by placing weapons in space, a move long predicted by some prophecy scholars. (Note that these predictions are generally based on Revelation 12. While it is possible this could be a “double prophecy” and reference two events, I am of the opinion that one must take these verses out of context to conclude it is talking about “war in space” between human nations.)
Vladimir Putin, the insanely popular once and future President of Russia, is regarded by many to be a strong candidate to be Gog of Magog, or the prince of Rosh who launches World War III in Ezekiel 38-39. We know that these chapters are specific to Russia because actually cities in the country are named. For instance, Rosh is Hebrew for Russia, Meshech for Moscow, and Tubal of Tubalsk.
Russia will lead a Middle East confederation of nations against Israel (Ezekiel 38:15; Psalm 83:4-5), with Iran being its key sidekick (Ezekiel 38:5). The partnership between Russia and Iran is growing stronger, and the two nations are even holding joint military exercises, and Russia is refusing to back any sanctions against Iran for attempting to acquire nuclear technology.
As part of the opening salvo that begins World War III, this Russian led group will attack the United States (Jeremiah 50-51) using missiles (Jeremiah 50:14, 29; 51:3, 11) launched during a sneak attack (Jeremiah 50:24; 51:12).
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It is time once again to play, Does this mixture of headlines make any sense? As you read the following news items, remember that the embracing of sin (Jeremiah 50:14) coupled with the systematic removal of God (Jeremiah 50:29) will lead to catastrophic judgment upon the Western world (Jeremiah 50:28), particularly the United States (read Isaiah 18, Jeremiah 50-51, & Revelation 18 for an in-depth picture).
Group one–pro sin:
Group two–anti-God:
Group three–just to think about:
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A quick look at some news from the realm of state-sponsored and promoted “alternative lifestyles” in the United States and UK:
This last story provides a good jumping off point to see how Christianity is being treated by these same governments. In addition to the aforementioned snub in the so-called “hate crimes” laws, these stories also come from the UK and USA:
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In response to the United States tracking of the suspected North Korean weapons-transporting ship, North Korea now threatens to wipe the United States off the map.
North Korea threatened Wednesday to wipe the United States off the map as Washington and its allies watched for signs the regime will launch a series of missiles in the coming days.
Off China’s coast, a U.S. destroyer was tailing a North Korean ship suspected of transporting illicit weapons to Myanmar in what could be the first test of U.N. sanctions passed to punish the nation for an underground nuclear test last month.
The Kang Nam left the North Korean port of Nampo a week ago with the USS John S. McCain close behind. The ship, accused of transporting banned goods in the past, is believed bound for Myanmar, according to South Korean and U.S. officials.
The new U.N. Security Council resolution requires member states to seek permission to inspect suspicious cargo. North Korea has said it would consider interception a declaration of war and on Wednesday accused the U.S. of seeking to provoke another Korean War.
“If the U.S. imperialists start another war, the army and people of Korea will … wipe out the aggressors on the globe once and for all,” the official Korean Central News Agency said.
Like Iran’s declarations against Israel, North Korea’s threats to the United States are not idle. They fully intend to partake in the utter destruction of the United States. Sadly, the United States will be destroyed by missiles (Jeremiah 50:14, 29; 51:3, 11) launched during a sneak attack (Jeremiah 51:11, 28) by the Russian-led coalition (Jeremiah 50:9, 41; 51:48). While North Korea will take part in the second-half of the Middle East invasion (Revelation 16:12), it is unknown if they will launch nuclear weapons toward the United States, since the Bible appears to indicate such arrows will come over the North Pole (shot by Russia, Jeremiah 50:14).
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I do not talk about this topic too much because most of the “real” persecution of believers does not begin until after the start of the Tribulation, when saints will be beheaded for converting to Christianity (Revelation 20:4). And while we have it easy in the United States, facing only the occasional discrimination, Christians in other parts of the world face death on a daily basis for their faith. Just so we don’t lose sight of what is starting to take place, here is a sampling of headlines from the past week. All except for the first one comes from the United States:
There will come a time when all the Christians and Jews from around the world will face death at the hands of the Antichrist (Daniel 7:21; Matthew 24:9; Revelation 13:7, 20:4; Mark 13:9, plus many others). Stunningly, many will die after being reported to the authories by their own spouses, parents, children, and siblings (Mark 13:12-13; Luke 21:16). That notion becomes very believable when one reads the headlines and realizes that the natural love among families is eroding away. In the past few days we have seen a slew of horrific stories to this affect, such as the mother who broadcast the sexual assault of her 5-year old daughter live on the Internet, and the mom who set her daughter on fire in a voodoo ritual.
Specifically to the United States, America will continue to remove God from society (Isaiah 18:2, 7; Jeremiah 50:11, 24, 29, 31, 32). This will cause God to reign holy judgment upon the land (Jeremiah 50:14, 28, 29; 51:24).
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Before I begin, let me make it perfectly, undeniably clear that I am not asserting that President Barrack Obama is the Antichrist. I do not believe he is, for reasons I will get into at the end of this post. And even if he were the Antichrist (and for the third time, I don’t think he is–just to be clear!), we Christians wouldn’t know it, for the Antichrist is not revealed to the world until we are off the scene (2 Thessalonians 2:6-8). As a Christian, it is my duty to honor, respect, and submit to those in authority over me (Romans 13:1, 1 Peter 2:13-18) unless that causes me to contradict a direct commandment of our Lord (Acts 5:28-29).
For these reasons, I want to be very careful not to imply anything, nor should you infer assertions that are not there. That said, the Bible’s description of the Antichrist is strikingly in tune with who President Obama is, and even though I do not believe Obama is the terrible one who is to come, it provides a good opportunity to illustrate how the Antichrist will rise to prominence and how he will attain his great power.
Here are some characteristics of President Obama that also are used in Scripture to describe the Antichrist:
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US President Barack Obama has extended benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. Opposite-sex partners of federal employees, without the benefit of marriage, will not see these new benefits. The President also appointed gay rights activist Kevin Jennings, who wants to mandate pro-gay clubs in school, to the postion of “Safe Schools Czar.”
The government sanctioning of the gay lifestyle, along with the systematic removal of Christianity (Jeremiah 50:11, 24, 29-32), is one of the reasons God sends his judgment upon the United States during the Tribulation (Jeremiah 50-51).
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As we alluded to last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally endorsed a sovereign Palestine, albeit with a host of conditions. The Palestinian state would have to agree to be demilitarized, cede control of its airspace, and the Palestinians would have to officially recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Most importantly, Netanyahu said dividing Jerusalem is out of the question. Predictably, the last two conditions were met with disdain by Arab leaders, with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas saying Netanyahu had killed the peace process and ensured “another round of violence and bloodshed.” A Palestinian official asserted that Netanyahu wanted to “kill off any chance of peace,” while the leader of Hamas, Ahmed Yousef, characterized the Israeli PM as a “war criminal” for rejecting President Obama’s policies.
One of the more fascinating aspects of this is the involvement of the Obama Administration.
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The Obama administration, in a cost cutting measure, is moving to scale back some of the database creating measures of the Real ID Act.
The new plan keeps elements of Real ID, such as requiring a digital photograph, signature and machine-readable features such as a bar code. States also will still need to verify applicants’ identities and legal status by checking federal immigration, Social Security and State Department databases.
But it eliminates demands for new databases — linked through a national data hub — that would allow all states to store and cross-check such information, and a requirement that motor vehicle departments verify birth certificates with originating agencies, a bid to fight identity theft.
The monitoring of citizens on a worldwide scale is key to the creation of a global government and to the ability of the Antichrist to track humans across the globe (see Revelation 13 & 14). While the proposed changes to the Real ID Act seem to take a step back from building a global watchdog database that includes Americans, the newly planned Pentagon cybercommand does the opposite. When created, the cyberdefense initiative will have the ability to monitor and log e-mails, instant message conversations, and web browsing history. While presumably the privacy of American’s will be safe unless they are talking to suspected terrorists (even though earlier this week the NSA admitted to intercepting more calls and e-mails of Americans than previously thought), the infrastructure will be in place to monitor and log all Internet and telephone communications with the flip of a switch.
Lest you doubt the goals, they are already implementing these plans in Britain, where everything from e-mails to Facebook messages are to be cataloged. Further, a system that is able to monitor all forms of communication worldwide (including cell phone and satellite usage) is already in existence (do a search on ECHELON after reading this post).
Meanwhile, the US State Department is sponsoring a conference on globalization. It is coming, and it is coming soon.
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In perhaps the greatest sign we’ve seen in years that proves the Lord Jesus Christ is coming soon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will announced Sunday that he is open to a sovereign Palestine. This is a dramatic shift in policy for Israel, and removes the greatest barrier to the signing of a peace contract in the Middle East, an event that marks the beginning of the Tribulation (Daniel 9:27).
We have pointed out many times that seemingly the whole world is calling for a two-state solution. Even Netanyahu’s own Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, has recently endorsed a Palestinian state. President Barack Obama has been heavily involved in pressuring Israel to yield to the idea of a sovereign Palestine. The US holds a lot of sway over Israel (esepcially concerning Iran), even to the point where King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia said Obama should “impose a solution” to the Mideast conflict. Obama’s Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, says the US wants to see a ‘Palestinian state as soon as possible.’
(I will have much, much more to say about Barack Obama’s involvement in the peace process after Netanyahu’s speech early next week. There are some amazing things going on that I have been chalking up to coincidence or, at best, foreshadowing. Now information is piling up to a level that is impossible to ignore.)
The Tribulation begins when a world leader negotiates a seven year peace contract between Israel and the nations of the Middle East (Daniel 9:27). As we’ve said all along, this brokered peace deal will involve a Palestinian state (Joel 3:2, Zechariah 14:2). This will be a temporary peace because the Jews and Palestinians will both want complete control over Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:2-3).
Much more information on this topic to come next week.
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