(Revised addition)

I have been saying that the Mediterranean Union (MU) will be the actual revived Roman Empire and not the EU alignment that we see today because many of the nations in the EU do not belong in the land area of  the old Roman Empire and others that belong in it are missing from the EU. Some have said I am wrong because the MU idea was recently not well received by certain nations. However, that is changing, it looks like Sorkozy’s MU idea will take root after all.

The Mediterranean Union as the revived Roman Empire makes more sense to me than the present EU for a lot of prophetic reasons. First of all, let me be clear, I am not saying the EU is going to die, it will probably just morph into the borders of the MU and move its headquarters to Rome. Whether or not the EU changes its name to the MU or even something else is really not important.

I still think the major change from the present EU to the borders of the proposed MU will take place during and after a world war with radical Islam that will include the Arab and Israeli war of Psalm 83. There has to be a war in the Middle East. How else can Israel rid the area of over 40,000 rockets that threatens all of Israel today? The Arabs are never going to peacefully give up their weapons and they are not going to recognize Israel’s right to exist in the Middle East as a Jewish state. A major war is certain.

Some of the Eastern nations in the EU are just not going to fit in with the West and will eventually form their own union probably dominated by Russia. Look at a ancient map of the land extent of the old Roman Empire. This will probably be about the same extent of the revised Roman Empire. The EU today simply does not fit.

The EU has its headquarters in Brussels Belgium which prophetically means absolutely nothing. The MU would much more likely have its headquarters located in Rome which prophetically means absolutely everything.

Israel will be in the MU as will the defeated states of Psalm 83 and others already predetermined to be part of the MU. This makes the prophetic statement about the Antichrist figure confirming a covenant with the “many” for seven year much more plausible. The only way Israel can live in peace and security with hostile neighbors is if it is enforced by a force larger than any of the nations involved. Being part of the MU is a rational reason why Israel would be living in peace and security prior to the Ezekiel 38 and 39 war.

Israel is to become part of this revived Roman Empire also known as the MU. The peace and security in Israel is prophetically absolutely required before the war of Ezekiel 38 and 39. The covenant or treaty the Antichrist confirms with all these nations is the conditions lain down by Israel and the Western powers after the war of Psalm 83, the war against radical Islam, and probably the Ezekiel war.  At the end of the Ezekiel war, the God of Israel will reveal Himself to Israel and the whole world by His supernatural intervention which destroys the army of the northern invaders.

The “many” that this later Antichrist figure from the MU confirms the agreement with could be ten regional zone leaders within the MU. A much expanded Israel  could be one of the ten zones. Then 3 1/2 years after confirming this agreement, this world leader breaks the pact with Israel after Israel’s two prophets are killed. Then he attempts to appease and deceive all the world nations that hate Israel and the Israeli God and he eliminates three leaders and three MU zones in order to make room for his new Babylonian province that God identifies as Babylon the Great.

This article by Chris Perver will give you the latest on the revived Mediterranean Union. It is good to see that he also thinks this Mediterranean Union fulfills the prophecy of a Revived Roman Empire.

EU to Revive Mediterranean Union ~ Bible Prophecy Today

The French Foreign Ministry has announced that the Union for the Mediterranean, a project aimed at boosting ties between the European Union and Mediterranean states, is to be formally revived at the end of this month. The announcement follows a meeting of French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, who jointly hold the presidency of the new bloc.

As we saw at its inception, far from being a political project aimed at merely increasing peace and prosperity in the Mediterranean region, Sarkozy’s vision of the Union for the Mediterranean is nothing less than a revival of the old Roman Empire itself.

The French President claimed in February 2007, “within every man and woman who lives on the shores of the Mediterranean sleeps the memory, nostalgia, for the unity lost 15 centuries ago”. He added that he wanted to be “the president of a France that will set the Mediterranean on the path of its reunification, after 12 centuries of division”. That vision, of a revival of the order of the old Roman Empire, is also shared by other politicians involved in the European Union project. Last year European Commission President Manuel Barroso, when questioned on exactly what the European project hoped to achieve, claimed that the EU was the world’s first “non-imperial empire”. Belgian politician Paul-Henri Spaak, who famously called for a man, “be he god or devil”, to lift the nations out of the economic morass into which they were sinking, was a signatory to the Treaty of Rome which established the institutions of the European Union. When asked how he felt when signing the treaty, he said, “we felt like Romans on that day… We were consciously recreating the Roman Empire once more”.
(bold emphasis mine)

Full article

It is interesting times in Iran these days. When 1 in 6 of all Iranians take part in the demonstrations in the streets of Tehran in rage against the fraudulent election results you know things are a changing in Iran. The Iranian people are taking to the streets knowing that they will be in danger from the Islamofascists running the nation. Their Islamic taskmasters are even using foreign hired Arab thugs to put fear in the people. You can be sure when city streets are totally filled with people that things are soon likely to change. Read Joel Rosenbergs take on these Iranian events.

It seems to me that the Islamofascists are rapidly losing control of Iran and that Iran is now ripe for a cultural revolution. We are probably seeing the start of this taking place right now. Could you even imagine the change in America if 85 percent of people eligible to vote actually voted? Could you imagine if government then decided not to count most of the votes of the conservatives? Would Americans have the guts to march on Washington like the Iranians are doing today? We might be put in that position sometime down the line. Would Americans put their lives on the line to throw off oppression like the people of Iran? Maybe we can learn some lessons from the people of Iran. Guns are not even needed for a Revolution if huge numbers of people of the nation get out on the streets in protest. Troops are not going to kill their own people for long. The troops will soon turn against the outlaw leaders giving them the orders.

The official government line is that Ahmadinejad won the election by a 2 to 1 margin but everyone knows that is a lie. The real election result looks more like the following:

Did you know that 70 percent of the people of Iran are secular and are really atheists? So much for Iran being a Muslim nation. Those in Islam have controlled the Iranian people through threats and intimidation but they do not have the popular support. The majority of the people of Iran have more in common with the West then they do Islam. It also is no coincidence that 70 percent of the people in Iran were born after the Islamic Revolution. These young people do not support the repression coming down from the Mullahs through puppet leaders like Ahmadinejad. They see them as a hindrance to their economic prosperity, freedoms and modernization and they fear that they will lead them into a war and the destruction of their nation.

So let’s for a minute assume that the Islamofascist Iranian government and the Mullahs lose control and an actual democracy soon emerges in Iran. Iran then becomes more moderate. So what will that mean to the West and Israel? It certainly will not be the end of the Iranian nuclear program but they truly might decide to not actually start producing nuclear weapons. It also means that Iran will no longer be calling for the destruction of Israel. In that case, I do not think Israel would strike Iran. That would explain why Iran does not come against Israel with the Arabs in the war of Psalm 83. It also explains why they will be one of the major players with Russia in the Ezekiel Chapter 38 war. Their military capabilities will not have been destroyed and their nuclear weapons development will be postponed until that time.

Be aware that Iranians are not Arabs. The Arabs fear them and they certainly do not want to see Iran with nuclear weapons. A cultural revolution could be the reason why they do not attack Israel until the Ezekiel war. However, if the people lose and the old guard consolidates their controls over Iran you can be sure that a first strike on Iran by Israel is a certainty and that it will happen soon.

Anyway, the events we are seeing now will be a major turning point in Middle East events so pay close attention to the latest events in Iran. The protests are not about Mausavi either the Iranian people did not have anyone but state approved candidates to vote for and Mausavi is part of the problem. What the people want is freedom from their oppressors.

The great majority of the people of Iran are disillusioned and even disgusted by the mediaeval incompetent, oppressive, and corrupt rule of the mullahs, irrespective of which mafia gang is in power. The votes, more than anything else, are protest ballots cast against the entire system, rather than indications of support for the so-called conservative-moderate coalition.

It took less than 4 years for Iranians to realize that boycotting the so-called elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran can only bring to power even a worse bunch of Islamofascists. This time around the people turned out to vote for the lesser of two camps of evil — the mullah dominated gang of conservatives and “moderates.”

It is clear that Mr. Mir Hussein Mousavi won the election by a large margin. Ahmadinejad came out third. But on Friday June 12, 2009, in the Islamic election (selection) something happened. Something beyond what anyone could have ever imagined. Something huge. A daylight coup d’état by the elements of the establishment, particularly, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which the Senate designated as a terrorist organization (with Senator Obama not voting). The clerical leadership in Iran has grown increasingly reliant on the IRGC to help it stave off internal pressure for political and economic reform and external pressure resulting from international concern over Iran’s nuclear program.

An Iranian journalist said, “The important event that took place in Iran is that it wasn’t an election; it was a coup d’état. [They] stole 24 million votes of the nation and took them away for themselves. If there were really a winner, they would have to celebrate, but instead they beat people. They performed a coup, but they don’t call it a coup.”

He continued, “Please don’t use the word “fraud” because it is mitigation of what has happened in Iran. Fraud is what was happening in the past 30 years. This is not fraud. They haven’t [counted] people’s votes. Using the word fraud is like calling a deep cut a small scratch. There was no fraud; it was a coup.”

The political chief of the powerful Revolutionary Guard warned it would crush any “revolution” against the Islamic system by Mousavi’s “green movement” — the signature color of his campaign. However, on Saturday and Sunday, hundreds of thousands of opponents of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad clashed with Hizbollah thugs dressed in police uniforms in the heart of Iran’s capital, pelting them with rocks and setting fires in the worst unrest in Tehran since the 1979 Islamic revolution. They accused the hard-line president of using fraud to steal the election victory from his reformist rival.

The ever-conniving mullahs dread the Iranian people. Granted that a small percentage of Iranians, known as the 3Fs — fools, fanatics and frauds — support the mullahs. No totalitarian rule can ever survive without a segment of the population, for one reason or another, supporting it. Yet, time is not on the side of the mullahs. By their mismanagement, thievery and oppression of the masses, they have created explosive internal conditions. As I have said over and over, the Mullahs need to have the N- bomb to create a fake sense of security so they can prolong their survival.

In short, Iran is in a state of serious upheaval. Replacing Ahmadinejad with the already tried and proven wanton gang of Rafsanjani-Khatami-Mousavi is not going to change matters much.

As for the West, it is prudent that it does not embark on a trigger-happy, self interested policy. The mullahs’ lease on life, [short of brutal massacre of the Iranian people in the absence of any foreign media] is just about over. A concerted political, economic, and moral support for the long-suffering and valiant Iranian people and the secular opposition can put an end to the shameful and hate-driven Islamofascists of any and all stripes.

Full article

While reading Carla’s excellent and always discerning More Books and Things blog I came across an article that I think needs further attention by those who study world events and Bible prophecy. I might not agree with every single point in this article but I certainly agree with Prof. Malan’s major concepts. Bible prophecy teachers seem to convey that Israel today is in the will of God. Therefore they suggest we better not do anything that could be conveyed as touching the apple of God’s eye. Some even suggest that if we do not bless this largely atheist nation that God will judge our nation. There are some erroneous teachings going around that relate judgments on America to how we treat unrepentant Israel. That concept is wrong. The judgments coming on America today is due to our own sins. We are judged on how we treat all nations not just Israel. If we are a just and moral nation we have nothing to fear. God will judge all the nations on how they treat Israel after Israel accepts their true Messiah.

Israel today is still reaping the curse because they rejected God’s salvation in His Son. When God said He would curse those who curse the descendants of Abraham and Jacob he was talking about those cursing the children of the promise, the people of faith. They are the true children of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. Remember, the leaders of Israel claimed they also were children of Abraham but Jesus called them children of their father the Devil. So did Jesus curse these descendants of Israel? Actually He did. He cursed the unbelieving descendants of Israel as represented by the fig tree that had no fruit when He came (Mt 21:19).

Other Christians will not even evangelize Jews thinking that Jews already know God. They are also wrong. Those who do not accept Jesus Christ do not know the Father either (John 14:6). The nation of Israel will certainly prove that point when they accept the false Messiah that is coming in his own name and not the Father’s name like Jesus. Some of these Christian ministries will raise large sums of money to send Jews back to Israel but spend nothing on giving these Jews the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They do not even tell them that two-thirds of the people that they are sending back to Israel will be killed in the coming Jewish holocaust (Zec 13:8).

One might think that if Christians really loved the Jews they should be telling Jews about Jesus so they would get saved before these terrible events happen to them? But it is not happening, not that anyone is actually allowed to preach the gospel in Israel anyway. So what does that say about Israel? Instead we rant about how nations are dealing with Israel as if God is not sovereign and not using the leaders of these nations toward His own ends to bring Israel to repentance. Had not God said that these things would happen to the Jews in the end times?

So how will Christians siding with Israel on world events give them physical peace and spiritual enlightenment? Even if we could change our national policies toward Israel the things God said about Israel in the latter days are still going to happen. The real problem with Israel is not the Gentile nations and our leaders decisions. The real problem with Israel is the unbelief of the Jews in Israel. The Gentiles will just be used to bring Israel to a place of repentance. God would protect Israel if they came to belief in Jesus Christ but instead they will believe in the Antichrist and go into more national tribulation before they finally get the message that peace and security is only found in their Messiah Jesus Christ.

If I did not know that we were in the end times when God’s words about Israel will be fulfilled I would have to believe that the unbelieving Jews now occupying God’s land would again be cast out. Yet, the religious Jews living in Israel think that God is on their side while they reject His Son and the non-religious Jews think that they are going to hold unto the land by their own military might. Sorry, but that is not God’s plan for Israel. Many Christians by what they say and do, seem to covey similar false pretense as well. Ever wonder why the Jews flee to the mountains for 42 months? Because Satan seeks to kill every Jew in the world (Rev 12:13). That is the real destiny of those in Israel before they come to God’s Messiah. Exactly what world actions and reactions get us to that point is frankly very subjective stuff that even Bible prophecy experts do not agree on. So how do we know where God’s will is on every current event in the Middle East so that we take the correct position? Does our position even matter in God’s plan?

So knowing these things lets teach the truth to Israel and evangelize those that can be reached instead of acting as if Israel’s leaders or America’s leaders will make correct decisions to keep Israel from the holocaust that clearly will come upon Israel in these last days. In the final analysis, it really does not matters one iota if Israel or the US takes out Iran’s nuclear capabilities at least not if we are in the sequence of end time events like Bible prophecy teachers claim. Iran will invade Israel in the latter years because Ezekiel says so, and the end of that war has already been determined by God. It really does not matter if Israel agrees to divide Jerusalem in some false peace deal either because the Bible says it will happen anyway, “Zec 14:2  For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.”

It really does not matter what action Israel takes because whatever action Israel takes in unbelief will lead to the same biblical end that God foretold the prophets and that us Bible prophecy believing Christians should be aware of. The primary Christian commission is to teach the gospel to Israel and everyone else. Our commission is not trying to stop or change Middle East events that have to happen if we are in the last days. If Christians should learn anything from Bible prophecy it should be to discern how close we are to the Lords coming for the watching faithful Church. If Christians use Bible prophecy it should be to used to evangelize those who might come to know God through Bible prophecy. Bible prophecy for Christians should not be about trying to figure out every insignificant detail and the exact dating of all events beforehand. Some of these things cannot be known with any certainty.  Nothing at all has to be fulfilled before the rapture of the Church and after the restrainer is removed all end time events will rapidly come on the earth just as God said. For most Christians it is enough to know that what God said about the last days will take place literally and that the time to work is short.

If you want more thinking on this issue read the full article.

Jesus Christ in Biblical Prophecies

Jesus Christ in Biblical Prophecies

Prof. Johan Malan, Middelburg, South Africa (June 2009)

The spiritual and doctrinal value of various articles currently published on Israel is extremely poor. Authors mostly offer only a secular review of news events without giving a balanced biblical perspective on them.

It is an alarming fact that even Christian analysts on the situation in the Middle East reveal very little insight into Israel’s end-time position. Obama is now blamed for isolating and forsaking Israel. Is he responsible for these actions or did the Lord ordain them? According to Ezekiel 22:18-22, Jeremiah 30:7 and Zechariah 14:2, the Lord will bring Israel into great affliction because they have, spiritually, become dross in His eyes for dishonouring His Word and rejecting the Messiah. In the light of this situation we should understand their international dispersion during the past 2000 years, as well as the Holocaust of World War II. Or will we merely blame the Roman Empire, the Nazis and other nations for this human tragedy? These nations are definitely guilty, but Israel is more guilty and mainly responsible for their own problems. Didn’t Jesus say that Jerusalem would be destroyed and trodden down because its inhabitants refused to accept Him as their Messiah (cf. Matt. 23:37-38)? In the attached addendum a Messianic Jew, Arthur Katz, explains the full implications of Israel’s sin and lack of faith.

As for Israel’s future, it is really irrelevant what Obama, the pope, the EU, Iran or Russia say or do with regard to Israel. If they don’t persecute or isolate Israel the Lord will allow other groups or nations to do just that. The fact is that the Israelis have to go through the time of Jacob’s trouble because of their continued apostasy.

Why are there so few people who have the boldness to inform Israel on the true reasons for their problems? Why is their own spiritual bankruptcy not addressed? Why are even organisations such as the International Christian Embassy engaged with the establishing of good relations with unsaved Israel without explicitly proclaiming the Messiah to them? Why do preachers such as John Hagee deny Jesus as Messiah of the Jews by alleging that they don’t have to accept Jesus to be saved? Why do all the Christians follow him and merely donate money to Israel, but withhold the gospel from them, which is their only hope?

When will Israel’s fortunes take a turn for the better – when the United States again support and assist them militarily, or when they have accepted the Messiah? Will they ever seek the Messiah unless they are in a great affliction (cf. Hosea 5:15; 6:1-2)?

The less people think and speak about the Lord Jesus, the less they will believe in His promise of a pretribulation rapture (Luke 21:36); the less they know about His judgement seat, the less they will be prepared for His sudden coming (1 Cor. 3:9-15). Many people become so involved with a study of the signs of the times, including possible dates for the second coming of Christ, that they never seriously attend to the necessities of our relationship with Him (holiness), and also neglect to work for Him while it is still day – the night of God’s judgements is approaching when no one can work.

I do believe that Israel and many other signs are prophetically significant, but this knowledge should lead to deeper spiritual insights and particularly to the glorification and exaltation of the Lord Jesus – also to fear for the coming day of His wrath upon sinners, including all the carnal, agnostic and unholy people. His judgements should be considered as part of the bigger picture, lest people think that the nature of the future world will only be determined by the decisions and military actions of the present generation of world leaders. One actually pities them when listening to their decisions and beholding their military manoeuvres, as they don’t have the faintest idea of what is waiting for them. They don’t know that they will be gathered in Israel to be judged by the Lord (Joel 3:2; Zech. 14:2,12).

Israel is prophetically one of the most uninformed nations in the world as far as events at the end of the church dispensation are concerned. Their ignorance will cause their virtual downfall as they will lead the way in concluding a covenant with the Antichrist under the false impression that he is the true Messiah (Dan. 9:27; John 5:43).

People in the end-time are shallow in their thinking and judge all things in terms of secular, humanistic criteria. Even Christians start conforming to this way of thinking and are in most cases not able to correctly determine and describe a spiritual perspective on world events. Many of them do not even realise their own spiritual poverty and blindness,

every Christian is committed to inform Israel on the correct biblical route to their full restoration. If they are not warned against the coming false messiah and the great tribulation, how will they ever be able to correctly understand these times and make the right decisions? Without accepting Jesus the Messiah by faith they cannot be saved – neither can they share in the blessings that He promised to the believing remnant in Israel and also to the whole world during His coming reign of peace.

Full article

Although I have seen this study posted in several different parts on a re-posting site elsewhere, the complete study is available on the link. This is about the best study I have seen on all the possible timings and positions on the Ezekiel 38-39 war. It gives all the different views and the pros and cons of each position. Nathan Jones position is quoted below. To read all the other views on this you will have to read the whole article.

By the way Nathan’s position is the same as mine except for a couple of timing differences. I am not sure this war is before the Rapture and I do not see how Israel could be burning the weapons of war for 7 years during the great tribulation?  At that point Antichrist has complete rule over the land of Israel and is exterminating Jews that did not flee to the mountains for safety. So how can Israel be burning Gog’s weapons of war in the great tribulation of 3 1/2 years?

My position is a little different then any Nathan presented. I think the war of Ezekiel 38-39 occurs 3 1/2 years before the 70th week of Daniel begins. After Gog is defeated supernaturally by God Israel burns the weapons of war but is forced to stop burning after 7 years because Israel has to flee from the Antichrist when the two witnesses sent by God are killed.

If you look at the many different views in this article you will see that none of them perfectly fit. I believe there is a reason for that. It is because most everyone thinks the war of Ezekiel 38-39 and Armageddon will happen within a seven year period. Actually I do not see where these events have to be limited to seven years at all. I do not think we can assume that all the seals of Revelation are within the last seven year spoken by Daniel. We also cannot assume that the first seals are part of Jacob’s trouble. The Jews are not even mentioned at all in Revelation until after the 6th seal is opened.

I say (not dogmatically) that the last seven years actually starts after the 6th seal. It begins with the sealing of 144,000 Jews. With my view we have a 10 1/2 year period from the war of Ezekiel 38-39 and Armageddon. All prophecy can then fit without using a shoehorn. In my view seven years after the Ezekiel intervention when the world is expecting a type of Christ to appear they receive the Antichrist.

So when is the Rapture in my view? It is imminent. It could happen today. It could be before the Ezekiel war or after it but before the sealing of the Jews.

Articles – Featured – Timing Gog-Magog

Timing Gog-Magog
When will Ezekiel 38-39 be fulfilled?
by Nathan E. Jones

My View
Which view one holds probably rests more on what one sees is the view that provides the most logical answers to the prerequisites. To me, timing the Gog-Magog Battle just before or at the very beginning of the Tribulation can best fulfill these prerequisites and makes the most logical sense in my mind.

This is how I see the timeline most likely playing out:

1. The Rapture of the Church removes the Restrainer.
2. Israel subjugates their surrounding neighbors in fulfillment of Psalm 83.
3. The Gog-Magog Battle destroys the Russian and Muslim influence in the Middle East, makes the world aware of God’s presence, and restores Israel’s belief in the God of the Torah.
4. The Antichrist conquers what’s left of the Middle East and makes a peace covenant with Israel to complete the Revived Roman Empire.
5. Israel spends the seven years of the Tribulation burning the weapons.
6. Jesus returns at the end of the seven years to defeat His enemies at Armageddon resulting in Israel acknowledging that Jesus is God’s Son.
7. Jesus gathers the people from all over the world for the Sheep/Goat Judgment, which results in only believers entering the Millennial Kingdom.

Time will tell when the Gog-Magog Battle will truly take place. But, the players are already in place and the scene is just about all set for this epic battle to be waged in the not-too-distant future.

Full article

Is the war of Psalm 83 and a enlarged Israel imminent as in the book “Isralestine”?
One of the great mysteries for those who study Bible prophecy is the timing of the wars mentioned in Psalm 83 and the war described in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39. They are obviously different wars but which war occurs first and when? Are they pretribulational wars or tribulation wars? How can Israel be living in peace and security prior to the Ezekiel war as the prophecy clearly indicates? That is the ongoing debate.

Bill Salus in his book “Isralestine” offers a solution but the thesis is very difficult to accept in light of real world realities but that does not mean the thesis he offers based on his selection and interpretation of certain scriptures is wrong. I have had a very difficult time reconciling the issues in his book and think that you really need to read the book and judge the merit of this hypothesis for yourselves and not just rely on my review.

The thesis of the book is that the war of Psalm 83 is imminent. It occurs before the tribulation. The war brings about the defeat of the Arab nations and it allows a very large territorial expansion of Israel into the Arab states by conquest. After the war of Psalm 83 the greatly expanded Israel then lives in peace and security until the war of Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 where Gog (Russia) comes against Israel with Iran and other allies. At that time God intervenes for Israel and Israel expands to the entire land area promised to Abraham. Bill Salus also believes the Ezekiel war is before the “Day of the Lord” and that the rapture could be before or after the war of Psalm 83 but will be before the “Day of the Lord”.

Full article

I have not read the book “Isralestine”, by Bill Salus but it sounds like an intriguing prophetic explanation of end time events. Almost all futurist Bible prophecy students will agree that there are three end time wars involving Israel. However, we disagree somewhat on the timing of first two wars. Those wars being the Ezekiel Chapter 38 and 39 war where Gog comes down with a host of nations and the Psalms 83 war where a confederacy of nations attempts to cut Israel off from being a nation. In the mix somewhere is the destruction of Damascus since the prophecy has never been fulfilled yet.

I have heard enough about this book to know that Bill Salus makes a strong case for the war of Psalms 83 coming first. I believe the premise is that after the aftermath of the Psalms 83 war that brings the destruction of Damascus, Israel will expand its borders. That will allow Israel to have the security that is implied by Ezekiel at the time of the Gog invasion. At that time Russia will come down with a host of nations against Israel and God will intervene.

In the past, I have tended to put the Ezekiel war first and I placed the Psalm 83 war in the middle of the tribulation making that the reason why the Jews flee to the mountains. However, Bill Salus may be correct, it does answer a whole lot of questions.

If you have read this book I would appreciate your own insights.

Israel destroys Damascus, then Russia invades

Indeed Russia and Iran are ready to make their moves, but what about Syria? Oddly Syria, who today panders alongside Iran for Russian affections, is not included among the elite nine members of the Ezekiel 38 and 39 consortium of attacking nations. Why not? What knocks their quiver of missiles out of the Ezekiel military equation?

As I have documented in my recently released book, “Isralestine, The Ancient Blueprints of the Future Middle East,” the Bible makes quite clear that in a distinctly separate Psalm 83 episode Damascus, the capital of Syria, soon ceases to be a city, and subsequently shortly thereafter Russia and Iran advance against Israel.

Furthermore “Isralestine” explains how the destruction of Damascus followed by the Ezekiel invasion sets the stage for the final tribulation period, whereby the Antichrist rallies his Armageddonites together in one last days ditch effort to destroy the Jewish race.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin

Thus there are three scheduled end time advances against Israel, not just Ezekiel’s. First comes Psalm 83, the Arab-Israeli war, followed promptly by the Ezekiel 38 and 39 Russian – Iranian invasion, and lastly the campaign of Armageddon by the Antichrist.

The destruction of Damascus will be such a powerful world event that Isaiah was instructed to boldly and succinctly state, the burden against Damascus. “Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, And it will be a ruinous heap.” (Isaiah 17:1, NKJV) Isaiah further announces that the fortified cities of Syria will be forfeited into Israeli sovereignty. (Isaiah 17:9) This suggests that the dooming of Damascus and conquest of Syria results from of an Israeli Defense Forces campaign.

Amos and Jeremiah echo this 2,800-year-old Isaiah prophecy by prophetically uttering some additional details they were given. Amos declares that the capitol building of Syria will go up in smoke, and that the nation as a whole, will go into captivity. (Amos 1:3-5) Jeremiah concurs and furthermore declares the Syrian military will be decisively defeated, and in addition many young men will die in the blood-stained streets of Damascus. (Jeremiah 49:23-27)

Full article

I believe Hal Lindsey will be correct that Russia will now actively seek to regain its former empire. It might not be all the same nations of the former USSR at least at first. But Russia will intimidate the nations of Eastern Europe to join a regional alignment of states to counter the West. Especially if the West is mired in the economic and Islamic caused turmoil that looks almost certain to come. These Eastern nations were not in the original Roman Empire and they will not be in the revived.

My advice to the U.S. and Israel is not to wait too long to take out Iran’s nuclear capabilities because within a very short time Iran will be protected under a Russian nuclear umbrella (thou hast been to them for a guard., Ez 38:7, YLT) and then we will not be able to take them out without a nuclear war with Russia. The cold war between East and West is coming back fast. If NATO can claim that an attack on any of their alliance of states is an attack on them all, then Russia feels it can and will do the same with the nations in their sphere of influence.

Right now the U.S. can delay a nuclear Iran by 10 to 20 years by almost complete destruction of Iran’s nuclear and missile facilities. Israel cannot do this alone. The most Israel can do is set them back is a few years and there will not be any second chance because of the Russian umbrella that is about to open. If we get a weak president like Obama you will see Russia open this nuclear umbrella near the start of his term. If McCain gets elected they might not risk it just yet.

Oh, my Gog! (Hal Lindsey)

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, most of these republics broke with Russia to form new alliances with NATO and the West – an event for which I was widely ridiculed at the time.

How could most of Magog, like Ukraine, Georgia and Turkey, all firmly allied with the West, also be part of Russia’s Gog alliance?

I didn’t know. But I didn’t pen Ezekiel’s prophecy. I only reported it.

Now, Gog has evidently decided to reclaim its former Soviet empire, starting with Magog. Despite weeks of promising to withdraw almost any minute, the Russian military continues to dig in and consolidate its forces in and near the Georgian port of Poti on the Black Sea.

The Russians introduced tight restrictions of movement on Georgian citizens, refusing to accept anything except Russian documents. Despite agreements to the contrary, the Kremlin now says that “Russian forces will leave in their own time.”

When Poland was contemplating an agreement that would allow the U.S. to deploy missile interceptor batteries in its territory, Russia warned them that by entering the treaty agreement they ran the risk of a Russian nuclear attack. When the Poles signed the treaty in defiance of the Kremlin, Russia promised its response would “rise above the level of diplomacy,” a reference to the principle that “war is the result of failed diplomacy.”

The Russian invasion and apparent occupation of Georgia is feared by many analysts, particularly those from former Soviet republics, that Vladimir Putin plans to re-conquer and restore the former empire.

Full article

David Flynn’s “Temple at the Center of Time: Newton’s Bible Codex Deciphered and the Year 2012, is probably all very interesting but can you really tell significant biblical events on the earth from the distance from the Temple in nautical miles or feet?

As in the Bible Code, what we have here more likely than not, is selecting what supports the theory and ignoring what does not. If God was going to make a unified system of Bible prophecy everything would fit not just what the author choose to select.

I also do not believe the Millennial temple will be at the Temple Mount of Old Jerusalem. It is much too large. So what does that do to the exact measurements when you do not even know the exact point on the earth to measure from? Are you measuring from Ezekiel’s Millennial Temple or the ancient Temple Mount?

Was God using our modern calenders and nautical miles for events? That would not be likely. Why measure to London just because it took over that area of the world in 1917 and then apply London to the year 1948 because it is 1948 nautical miles to London? The British hindered the return of the Jews in the end, so it seems more fitting to me use the nautical miles to the UN in New York city should be used but that distance would not fit the 1948 theory. Why were Nautical miles used in one measurement and feet in another? Just because they fit?

The book is being compared to the “Bible Code” but as far as I am concerned the Bible Code has been adequately debunked. These theories all sound good because the author stacks the deck. Only after
the scholars and skeptics give their reason why the theory does not hold up is there any balance brought to the speculations. It is like going to court and only hearing the case against the defendant and not ever
hearing the defense. This is why those that give doctoral theses also have to give a defense of their thesis.

I have not read the book so I cannot comment on the details in it but I surmise that after the scholars critique the book it will fittingly join with the Bible code.

It seems that an awful lot of people have figured out a date for the start of the tribulation or the second coming. Many are jumping on the 2012 to 2019 bandwagon others are picking 2032 2033 as the return of the Lord. Did we not also hear not so long ago about dating schemes built into the Great Pyramid where the end was going to come in 2000? Now we have the Mayan Calendar influence for 2012 that is plaguing us and helping to spawn these new theories. I have news to a certain TV Bible prophecy teacher and everyone else, God has no reason to follow pagan calendars and theories. Why should any Christian believe they contain truth?

I get documents from people writing books who have the timing of the second coming or the start of the tribulation all mathematically figured out to an exact year and feast day. However, I notice when one starts with what one believes to be the prophetic date and then makes all their data conform to fit that date it will come out to the date they want it to come out.

We are getting close to the end. We can see that by world events but when you are tossing out your precise theory of when Jesus will return or reading someone else’s profound theories on that date, you might not sell the farm quite yet.

Is Temple Mount God’s time bomb?

Was the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem more than a place of worship?

Was it, indeed, a roadmap to future events – a kind of prophetic landmark whose significance is only now revealed through the development of satellite imagery?

That is the contention of an explosive new book, “Temple at the Center of Time: Newton’s Bible Codex Deciphered and the Year 2012,” by David Flynn.

The book asserts it has “deciphered Isaac Newton’s greatest paradox: None other than ‘the unified field theory’ of Bible prophecy.”

The Romans established Londinium in about A.D. 47. It was a civilian settlement built where the Thames became narrow enough for a bridge to be built across it but was still deep enough to admit large ocean vessels. In the 16th century, William Camden believed that the “London Stone” was a Roman milestone from which all distances were measured in the province. In the 17th century, Christopher Wren was able to observe the foundations of the London Stone underneath Cannon Street during the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire. With this information, it is possible to extend a measuring line from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to the exact center of ancient London, and by fixing a point on the site of the temple mount, a measuring line extended over Jerusalem to the center of London produces 1,948.40 nautical miles.

Therefore, incredibly, recorded in the earth between the Temple Mount of Jerusalem and the historic center of London is what Flynn sees as the fulfillment of Newton’s own prediction: Israel became a nation again May 14th, 1948, corresponding perfectly to a distance between the temple and London of 1948 nautical miles.

As the reader moves through Temple at the Center of Time, these time-length correlations accumulate quickly, including numerous ancient dates such as 1441 B.C. when the Exodus from Egypt occurred. It turns out is 1,441,000 feet from the Jerusalem Temple to the Great Pyramid in Giza. Flynn finds dozens of other key dates in the past through similar satellite mapping measurements including some related to the United States, Russia and Rome.

Before it is even officially released, Flynn’s book is causing a sensation in some circles where it is being compared to “The Bible Code.”

Today Sept 17th I am adding the following information because some are saying that Flynn never implied a set date for the end of the world. Obviously WordNetDaily is hyping the 2012-2013 date in order to sell this book. The following quote was taken from the article posted on WND today. The belief that world will end in 2012-2013 is prophetically preposterous.

“But,” says Flynn, “there remains a valid aspect of Newton’s calculation. There is reason to believe he was correct in his assumption that there would be 1,260 years until the return of Christ at the rebirth of the Roman Empire, but that the year he chose was incorrect. There is actually a better date based on the founding of Rome and the methodology of Daniel’s prophecy.”

Flynn explains: “The Romans had fixed the birth of the city of Rome and the Empire in 753 B.C. It was believed that the patriarch of the city, Romulus, had marked out the boundaries for the wall of Rome in this year. Known as Ab Urbe Condita (literally, from the founding of the city) the Roman calendar began with 753 B.C. according to the dating of Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 B.C.) who lived at the time of the Empire itself.

Because of how the prophet Daniel divided the prophetic week in half, Flynn believes the original founding date for the empire of the prophecy, Rome, would follow this pattern and be bisected. Therefore, correcting Newton’s date, the year 753 B.C. designates the founding of the physical Rome while A.D. 753 establishes the rebirth of spiritual Rome. Counting 1,260 years forward from A.D. 753, one arrives at the year 2013.

Additional significance can be attached to this finding when considering that 2013 follows the end of the great cycle of the Maya calendar and the planetary cycle of the Aztec calendar, which concludes Dec. 21, 2012. This date has raised apocalyptic fears in corners around the world. According to “The Bible Code,” the world will end on this date due to a collision with a meteor, asteroid, or comet. Another theory – the “Novelty Theory” – claims time itself is a “fractal wave,” which will end abruptly in 2012. Even the popular television program X-Files speculated that colonization of the earth by “aliens” would occur in December 2012.

The Maya themselves describe past visits of Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent, descending through a “hole in the sky” on a rope ladder. They believe at the end of 2012 the serpent rope will emerge again from the center of the Milky Way, and Quetzalcoatl will return, heralding a new era at the start of 2013. Another version of the story has Quetzalcoatl sailing down on a winged ship, causing some to speculate that a UFO armada or “mother ship” could descend and take up position over earth on that date.

Besides this type of speculation, an unusual number of important events will occur beginning in 2012. NASA is predicting the next Solar Maximum will arrive in 2012 and will be the strongest in 50 years. At the same time, the sun will align with the center of the Milky Way for the first time in 26,000 years, on the exact date of the end of the Mayan calendar, Dec. 21, 2012. This will also be the year when the United States and the United Nations elect a new president and a new secretary general, considered by some to be the two most powerful “thrones” on earth, and the seat from which prophecy experts say the Antichrist will rule or receive power.

On a YouTube video here, well-known preacher Jack Van Impe says that the year 2012 and the end of the Mayan Calendar could mark the return of Jesus Christ.

Based on his research into the Jewish Feasts, Pastor Mark Biltz of El Shaddai Ministries (as laid out in a series of two DVD teachings produced by WND Videos called “The Feasts of the Lord”) believes this time frame between 2012-2015 could be prophetic and may signal the return of Christ. He says for people who believe in a “pre-tribulation rapture,” this would make the year 2008 very important. For those who believe in a mid-tribulation rapture, 2012 may mark their departure. And on his website, he adds “if you’re prewrath, then 2014 might be interesting [and] if you’re a posttribber, 2015 is the date to watch for.”

Full article

This is a very good analysis of the Russian Georgian conflict by Terry James. I also think that this is the turning point with Russia to achieve its manifest destiny. From now on you will see Russia act militarily or at least forcefully on conflicts that support their national interest of building a counter force to the West and in doing so Russia will attempt to achieve control over much of Europe’s energy. Yes, Russia is now totally controlled by the old KGB and thugs and Putin’s groomed fascist brown shirts will soon be put into positions of power. There has been no real change in Russia since the cold war. They just got a fresh start thanks to the West and don’t use the term communism anymore. They never were pure Communists anyway they have been and are again very much Fascists.

The next major step for Russia may be the Ukraine. The people in the Ukraine are torn with many wanting to join NATO and many of the Russian ethnics wanting to join with Russia. Russia will prevail. I doubt if NATO will have the guts to really oppose a nuclear power like Russia. After the Ukraine goes to Russia expect other dominoes near Russia to again fall into the sphere of a new Russian Fascist Union.

By the way, Check out this Bible prophecy Today Blog as often as you can. This Blog actually does have the best collection of the very latest thinking of astute Bible prophecy teacher/thinkers. I have a link to Bible Prophecy Today Blog on my sidebar.

Bible Prophecy Today • Bible Prophecy News And Commentary By Today’s Leading Bible Prophecy Scholars • News and Commentary From A Biblical Perspective

Gog And The Magog Chess Match

By Terry James

Russian moves, begun this past Friday in the Caucasus region and other parts of what was the former Soviet Union, should sound the siren alarm of things to come for the spiritually attuned Bible prophecy student.

We have watched Iran’s posturing and repositioning during the past months, with the area of ancient Persia coming into focus as a predicted player on the regional chess board that will be part of the end game, as foretold by Ezekiel the prophet. Now, the nation-state that is at the heart of the coalition foretold to storm toward the oil-rich Middle East and Israel seems to be demonstrating intention to achieve its manifest destiny.

First of all, this article is not exactly true the Temple Institute did not just begin preparing for the Third Temple by making priestly garbs. The Temple Institute has been preparing for the building of the Third Temple for decades. It is interesting to watch the effort continue but remember, these Jews do not believe in Jesus and what they say is often self serving and scripturally just plain wrong. For Example: Rabbi Yehuda Glick in this article says the prophets say that all the nations will be coming to Jerusalem and take part in building the Third Temple and that it will unite the nations around one central house of prayer.

What prophets wrote that I might ask? The ones I read in the Bible actually said that all the nations will come against Jerusalem to destroy it in an attempt to cut off Israel from being a nation.

All nations will be judged at Jerusalem when God stands up for Israel for the sake of His own holy name and his unbreakable Covenants to Israel. After that period of nearly complete destruction on earth a fourth Kingdom Temple will be set up when Jesus comes to rule and reign in His Kingdom on earth. The Kingdom Temple will be north of the Temple mount area (Ezekiel chapter 40 – 48) it is too big for Mt Moriah. Even Ezekiel in these passages on the Millennial Kingdom did not say anything about the nations coming to Jerusalem to build the Kingdom Temple. Although the wealth of the nations will be used toward that end. The only thing the nations will be coming to Jerusalem for prior to the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom will be for their judgment.

There are indications in scripture that indicate that a third temple will be built on Mount Moriah and that the daily sacrifice will be started again but the same passage says the daily sacrifice will be stopped and that the Antichrist will enter this temple and defile it claiming to be above anything called God. Scriptures also indicate that this period will start the worst time on earth that ever was or ever will be (Mt 24:21). So in reality when they start building the temple they will really be setting the stage for the fulfillment of the prophecy about the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jer chap 30). Perhaps these Rabies should read these scriptures and the destruction that all their prophets talked about instead of skipping over that part and telling us that all nations will come to help build their Third Temple. Only a minority remnant of Jews will even survive the time after the desecration of the Third Temple.

It is interesting how the religious Jews spin the scriptures to read what they want to read into it. Postmodern Christians are now doing the same thing but make no mistake, judgment will come before any lasting restoration of Israel and the Church is not going to bring the Kingdom on earth by Christian social actions.

Another thing I wish to point out is that Glick and other Rabies like him like the support that the Christian Evangelicals give but they have also heard from the Evangelicals about the second coming of
Jesus. They have heard what we say scripture says about the judgment coming to Israel but they have rejected that message and substituted it with their own postmodern relativism by reading into scripture what they want to hear rather than what it actually says. All religions in the world can talk about religious pluralism and how the world will all become one but that is not what God says in the Bible. There will be no uniting of the world until the King of Peace comes, judges the nations and sinners and establishes His Kingdom on the earth.

Third Temple preparations begin with priestly garb | Jerusalem Post

On Monday, the Temple Institute started preparing to build a Third Temple on Jerusalem’s Mount Moriah, the site of the Dome of the Rock and the Aksa mosque, by inaugurating a workshop that manufactures priestly garments.

Priestly garments have not been worn since the destruction of the Second Temple by Rome in 70 CE and cannot be functional until a Third Temple is constructed.

The secret of the correct shade of blue has been lost since the destruction of the Second Temple, as the identity of chilazon, the snail from which it was extracted, was uncertain until the Ptil Tekhelet nonprofit organization identified it as the murex trunculus, aka hexaplex trunculus, the banded dye-murex found near the Mediterranean Sea.

“The Temple is not a message [just for] the Jewish people. It reunites the world all around one central prayer house. All the prophets say that at the End Times all the nations will be coming to Jerusalem and take part of building [the Temple],” Glick says.

Another significant factor in all this is that Russia’s economy is only thriving because of the high price of gas and oil in the world. Russia’s national wealth is totally dependent on the export of its vast natural resources. That also could be the very reason why Russia marches to the Middle East like Ezekiel says to take a spoil. The day may soon come when a powerful Russia built up with oil and gas money will suddenly see a crash of oil and gas prices. AT that time a Russia dependent on energy exports will become desperate and decide to take a spoil and move against Israel just like Ezekiel said in his chapters 38 and 39 prophecy.

Oil and gas could crash because of a world economic collapse or some energy breakthrough or even because of some massive new finds of deep oil deposits – perhaps found in Israel. I am expecting this conjecture to be fulfilled in about ten to twenty years. Meanwhile, a fascist system is being set up by Putin and he could rule Russia for decades. In my opinion, there is a better chance then not that Vladimir Putin is Gog.

Russia: A totalitarian regime in thrall to a Tsar who’s creating the new Facist empire | the Daily Mail

No decision of any significance for the Russian people or the rest of us will be made in the foreseeable future without the say – so of Medvedev’s unsmiling master.

Just before he stood down as President, Putin declared: “I have worked like a galley slave throughout these eight years, morning til night, and I have given all I could to this work. I am happy with the results.”

As he surveys the nation today he reminds me of that chilling poem by Ted Hughes, Hawk Roosting, in which the dreaded bird sits at the top of a tall tree musing: “Now I hold all Creation in my foot – I kill as I please because it is all mine – I am going to keep things like this.”

Russia may be a member of the G8 whose GDP (because of oil) should soon overtake the United Kingdom, but, in many ways, it is more like a Third World country.

Stricken with an epidemic of AIDS and alcoholism which both contribute to a male life expectancy of 58 years, the population is projected to shrink from 145 million to 120 million within a few decades.

So where has all the oil wealth gone? According to an Independent Experts Report, written by two former high-level Kremlin insiders who have had the courage to speak out, “a criminal system of government [has] taken shape under Putin” in which the Kremlin has been selling state assets cheaply to Putin’s cronies and buying others assets back from them at an exorbitant price.

The threat of prosecution for tax fraud is the Kremlin’s weapon of choice against anyone who dares to challenge its hegemony.

When Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once the richest man in Russia, used his oil wealth to promote human rights and democracy, Putin detected a threat to his throne.

The oligarch was duly arrested and convicted of fraud. He now languishes in a Siberian jail where he is in the third year of an eight-year prison sentence.

None of this is a matter of public debate in Russia where the media has been muzzled by the Kremlin, their freedom of expression stifled by the government.

Almost every national radio and television station is now controlled directly or indirectly by the state, and the same applies to every newspaper of any influence.

Some 20 Russian journalists have been killed in suspicious circumstances since Putin came to office. No one has yet been convicted for any of these crimes.

Putin calls the system over which he presides “sovereign democracy”. I think a better term is “cryptofascism” – though even the Kremlin’s few critics in Russia recoil when I suggest this.

After all, their parents and grandparents helped save the world from Hitler – at a cost of 25 million Soviet lives. Nonetheless, the evidence is compelling.

The structure of the state – the alliance between the Kremlin, the oligarchs, and the security services – is awesomely powerful.

No less worryingly is popular distaste – often contempt – for democracy and indifference to human rights.

Chuck Missler explains why Israel is God’s land, that the covenant to occupy it is to the Jews, and what this has to do with what we see going on in the Middle East today.

The Betrayal of the Chosen – CWN

For those of us who take the Bible seriously, it is a critical time to be up to date on our homework. There are many dangers in not taking the Word of God seriously.

The Land does not belong to the Palestinians. It doesn’t belong to the U.N., the U.S., or even Israel! It specifically is the Lord’s. Yes, “the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.”1 And yet, it is strange to note that there is a very specific parcel of real estate which has been set aside as His, and His alone.2 God delights in making and keeping promises. He takes them very seriously.

Ezekiel 36:21-25

This is a startling passage! They are to be regathered, not because they “deserve” to be, but because God’s own reputation is at stake-His Name is on the deal! (Again, it’s always by grace-just as our own blessings are!)

On May 14, 1948, the debate should have been silenced: the State of Israel was reborn in the very Land which God had declared for that purpose. Also, note the “then” in v. 25: they are to be regathered before becoming cleansed by faith and repentance. (It appears that the acknowledgment and repentance of the believing remnant is a precondition of the Second Coming.9)

Here is one great interview with Joel Rosenberg who gives his very astute view of end time events. His latest book is “Dead Heat”

CNN.com – Transcripts

ROSENBERG: Well I think eventually Rome will be the center of the E.U. How is that going to happen? I don`t know. There is a lot I don`t know. The point is the Bible laid out some details it doesn`t give us all the details.

BECK: Is it true that we — we haven`t bombed parts of Iraq because of, not only the historic significance, but the biblical significance of — of Babylon?

ROSENBERG: Babylon itself, Babylon is a province, it`s also a city, but there is no one living in current Babylon, it`s being reconstructed. There is no question American forces were very careful about bombing in the area. However there was some archaeological destruction as troops were coming in and out of there. That was a problem.

But I interviewed for my previous book, “Epicenter,” a nonfiction book, “Epicenter,” you and I have talked about it. I interviewed the chief economic adviser to the current prime minister of Iraq and I said “The New York Times” and others are reporting you have a plan to rebuild Babylon as a cultural epicenter. He said absolutely. He walked me through the plans they have to rebuild the city. They believe cultural tourism in Iraq will be the second largest money producer after oil, two, three, four, five years down the road.

Now, right now it`s almost impossible to imagine people going on a vacation to Iraq.

BECK: Oh, no. Come to Iraq. I mean .

ROSENBERG: I just went there. My family thought I was crazy, president of Crazytown. But look, the Bible says that is what will happen. People will come from all over the world. Revelation describes all the merchants of the earth are coming to Iraq. That`s not that far off I don`t think.

This is a nice article and perspective on Russia. I do disagree on at least one major point. When the next crises comes to Russia Putin will not settle for another economic collapse. He will will move Russian forces into the Middle East to take a spoil as spoken about in Ezekiel chapter 38 and 39.

American Thinker: The Trouble with Russia

While the Putin regime means short-term trouble for us, it also means that another long-term tragedy is looming for the Russian people. Once again, they are living in a police state. Even now, the Kremlin is busily re-building the dreaded Gulag and packing it with Russians whose only crime has been to oppose Putin or to speak out publicly against the dictatorship he and his cronies are tightening every day. And If you’re wondering why Russia has squandered the historic opportunity it had to join the civilized world when the Soviet Union collapsed back in 1991, the answer is depressingly simple: Countries are like people; some learn from their mistakes and move on, while others keep making the same mistake over and over again.

Russia is now fascist and most of the people in Russia love it. So did Germany under Hitler. Fascism with dictatorial leaders can be a very efficient system. In many ways Putin is following in Hitler’s footsteps. For this reason Russia will prosper for awhile and also because it controls so much of the world’s needed resources. However, no reasonable person should have any illusion where this will all lead. When the Jackals take control of a country you know that they will devour anyone in their way. Russia will become a world superpower again but this time she will be much like Germany was under Hitler. In 10 to 15 years she will be ready to march to the Middle East and fulfill the prophecies of Gog in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39.

Putin’s Iron Grip on Russia Suffocates His Opponents – New York Times

NIZHNY NOVGOROD, Russia — Shortly before parliamentary elections in December, foremen fanned out across the sprawling GAZ vehicle factory here, pulling aside assembly-line workers and giving them an order: vote for President Vladimir V. Putin’s party or else. They were instructed to phone in after they left their polling places. Names would be tallied, defiance punished. The city’s children, too, were pressed into service. At schools, teachers gave them pamphlets promoting “Putin’s Plan” and told them to lobby their parents. Some were threatened with bad grades if they failed to attend “Children’s Referendums” at polling places, a ploy to ensure that their parents would show up and vote for the ruling party.

Around the same time, volunteers for an opposition party here, the Union of Right Forces, received hundreds of calls at all hours, warning them to stop working for their candidates. Otherwise, you will be hurt, the callers said, along with the rest of your family.