Global SITREP E4-18: Daniel 8

The Vision of Daniel 8

27 December 2018: In watching current events point to and even fulfill Bible prophecy literally in this generation, it suddenly struck home that with the exception of Jeremiah 49:34-39 there are no others that deal with the current and growing greatest problem in the Middle East - the Shi'a apocalyptic regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

So, I asked the Lord, why is it that Iran is so strong in Lebanon, in Syria and even in Iraq; that Iran is the leading threat to Israel and all of the other regional nations, and even to nations that are thousands of miles distant (think: Argentina and Venezuela), and yet there is no distinct prophecy we can look to that gives some hint as to how Iran is reduced to a smaller or secondary role in the prophecy of Ezekiel 38/39?

Within just a few moments later I found myself directed to Daniel 8. This is a purely prophetic chapter that has been read, written about and discussed quite extensively on Eschatology Today. It is a chapter I've always considered to have been fulfilled circa 330 BC in the time of Alexander the Great and the four successor empires led by his generals. I had never so much as considered Daniel 8 as constituting a prophetic duality; a two-fold prophecy, a prophecy where the past is prologue for the future.

I am now seriously considering this as a distinct possibility, if not another imminent prophetic fulfillment. Israel is in the midst of an ever widening kinetic war against Iran in Syria, and against Iran's Hezbollah proxy in Lebanon for the better part of the past four decades. America has been in a hot and cold war with Iran for most of that same four decades, and now it's become a heated economic war (sanctions) that could easily morph into a direct conflict.

Instead of Alexander the Great being the he-goat attacking the ram that is Iran, the modern type would be President Trump as the he-goat going after Iran that is the ram. As this may play out in the near future I would note the subsequent appearance of the coming true Antichrist following in the type example that was Antiochus IV Epiphanes from one of Alexander's successor empires (the Seleucid). 

But what is it that piqued my interest in Daniel 8 being a two-fold prophecy; one that sees its ultimate fulfillment in this generation? There are two explicit sets of verses for this. The first is found in Daniel 8:5-7, where the he-goat travels into combat against the ram from a distant land in the west, never touching the ground across the whole surface of the earth. This is a modern military capability only the USA possesses. The second set of verses are Daniel 8:15-17 where the angel Gabriel informs Daniel, "Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time of the end." Alexander the Great's conquest of Persia (Iran) was not an 'end time' event; it occurred about 2,350 years ago. 

This is just the beginning of a new study on the prophetic duality of Daniel 8; a prophecy that must be fulfilled in this generation.

28 December 2018: Another key set of verses begins at Daniel 8:18 where Gabriel says to Daniel, "Look, I am making known to you what shall happen in the latter time of the [Divine] indignation; for at the appointed time the end shall be." Gabriel then identifies the two symbols, the ram and the he-goat, as the kingdom of Medo-Persia and the kindom of Greece. Once again, and as discussed previously on Eschatology Today, verse 23 is a critical verse because this it evidences a definitive continuity from over 2,300 years to ago to the present time. 

How does the West as a whole regard itself? Obviously as the heirs of the ancient Greek and Roman Empires! One look at the great buildings of Washington D.C. and the classical Greek and Roman architecture is seen throughout this globally dominant seat of government. "In the latter time of their kingdom..." is expressly literal! The modern-day versions of the ancient empires are once again deadly enemies in these 'last days.'

29 December 2018: Not wanting to dwell on this much further because the "time of the end" aspect remains unfulfilled. Iran will not quit their push into Syria because Israel hits their bases and depots every couple of months or so. Ditto for Hezbollah. Ditto for HAMAS and the PIJ in Gaza. It will take a superpower and its coalition to suddenly strike and drive Iran out. Hezbollah, HAMAS, the PIJ, plus Islamic State in the Sinai, will be Israel's to deal with in finality. This is what the Lord's prophetic word teaches. 

UPDATE 30 December 2018: Not sure if this will be the final update to this last SITREP of the year, but there is an I&W (Indication and Warning) that another Israeli strike may occur shortly in Damascus region. As stated directly above concerning the fact that Iran, short of massive direct military action, will not quit their push into Lebanon and Syria, the news this morning is that Qeshm Fars Air, the false-front IRGC-QF Boeing 747-281F Cargo aircraft (the ONLY aircraft operated by Qeshm Fars Air) departed Tehran and arrived at Damascus International Airport at 10:30 AM IST this morning. US and Israeli intelligence collection aircraft orbited over the eastern Mediterranean Sea, Syria and Lebanon respectively, awaiting the arrival of this IRGC-QF cargo aircraft which is known to have transported Iranian military hardware to Syria and Hezbollah several times since November. The most recent IAF strike in Damascus occurred within minutes of this aircraft departing Damascus back to Tehran the night of December 25th.

Also, in data mining for the above intel, I noticed some social media sites are rife with many recent reports of Russian forces preparing for chemical warfare in the Donbas region of Ukraine.

Global SITREP E3-18: Fractures and Stresses

FRACTURES and STRESSES

UPDATE 26 December 2018: Well, that didn't take long, re: my comment below concerning Israel not bluffing about dealing with Iran in Syria. It was far sooner than expected - last night in fact - that Israel launched a massive attack on Iranian, Syrian and Hezbollah targets from Damascus airport and other distinct points southwest of there towards the Golan Heights. Israel has also closed the skies in the area to all traffic above 5000 ft altitude over the Golan and east to Bashan. Rather to be correct instead of being first, here's what I've scrambled to learn from various sources on what made Christmas night in Damascus anything but a "Silent Night."

There appears to have been an IDF strike against Hezbollah luminaries at the Damascus International Airport that was coincidental with a just arrived shipment on an IRGC-operated Boeing 747 and another commercial aircraft of advanced GPS components destined for Hezbollah's rockets in Lebanon, and several Isranian/Hezbollah arms depots in Southern Syria. These strikes appear to have completed their mission objectives; neither of the Iranian aircraft were struck by Israeli missiles. The 747 had departed for Tehran just minutes prior to the first impact of Israeli missiles. The strikes commenced at about 10 PM Israel time; 3 PM EST in the US.

It appears that during this mission a handful of F-16I Sufa's launched Delilah cruise missiles at select targets, and this was followed up by strikes launched by F-35I Adir stealth aircraft. No Israeli aircraft were lost during this operation. Also, a stray Syrian S-200 anti-air missile was fired on by IDF anti-air batteries, while in Syria their attempt to intercept the Israeli missiles failed completely. Reportedly five dozen Russian-made SA-125 Neva missiles (a/k/a the SA-3; NATO Name "Goa") were launched by Syrian batteries and immediately began impacting at various locations around Damascus. Many of them coming down like this suggests electromagnetic suppression of Syrian air defense systems by the IAF aircraft, possibly the F-35I Adir's.

This update is deliberately ignoring anything coming from Russian government or media sources for the obvious reason of their being blatant misstatements of facts. Disinformation in other words.

24 December 2018: Keeping track on several developments in the Middle East. Going through them in no particular order of importance as each could lead to something more in the near-term. 

About 12 hours ago the IDF opened fire in the northern Golan on an enemy squad that was spotted having crossed Line Bravo (1974 ceasefire line) and was getting too close to Israel's border fence. This is further proof that neither Syria nor Iran and its proxies, including Hezbollah, have any regard for the conditions and lines drawn at the end of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The enemy squad was most likely attempting to infiltrate Israel to gather intelligence on IDF defenses. The mission was an epic fail thanks to IDF direct fire upon them. 

The USS John C Stennis (CVN-74) and its Carrier Strike Group (CSG) passed through the Strait of Hormuz earlier this past weekend. The transit of the strait occurred as the IRGC Navy was launching its 'Great Prophet 12' live fire exercise nearby. All Iranian rocket fire was directed away from the Stennis CSG.  The Stennis CSG is conducting integrated operations with the USS Essex Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) on boths sides of the Strait of Hormuz (i.e. in the Gulf and the Araban Sea. The Essex (LHD-2) ARG has the VMFA 211 USMC squadron (the 'Avengers') of F-35B Lightning II stealth fighters embarked. Iranian media has been silent on the Stennis CSG's and Essex ARG's presence.

The Israeli government's position, as announced by PM/DM Bibi Netanyahu and IDF CoS Eisenkot, that Israel will continue its operations against Iran and its proxies is no bluff. We can expect by late February or March, if not sooner, a massive IDF operation into Syria should the Iranian's look upon the announced U.S. withdrawal of its forces from Syria as a "blank check" it can now cash at Israel's expense. The infil attempt noted above is very probably related to Iranian intentions and IDF CoS Eisenkot's remarks of yesterday.  

20 December 2018: This will likely be the final SITREP for 2018, and within it we will look at the Fractures and Stresses that are probable Indications and Warnings (I&W) likely to manifest as global crises in 2019. This will not be an all-inclusive list, but it's not going to be a short listing either. It will be a list of the major problems the Eschatology Today blog is likely to address in 2019. We like being ahead of the curve; we have spent much of the current year as well as the previous ten years being ahread of the curve. It is our mission.

Firstly, all of the signs Jesus revealed to His disciples on the Mount of Olives that were to occur in the future to signal the end of the age and His coming again are present and increasing at the end of 2018. These signs, as He said, must take place. Look around. False messianic figures and wannabes are everywhere. Wars and rumors thereof are everywhere. Famines, pestilences and unprecedented seismic quakes, shakes and eruptions are occurring globally. These are all the "beginning of sorrows;" far, far worse will occur during the final 70th week as revealed by the angel Gabriel to the prophet Daniel 2,500 years ago.

Our Lord also assured us that the generation which was alive to see all these events taking place would not pass away prior to their completion. And the greatest sign of them all, God's prophetic time piece which we know as the State of Israel has been existent for more than 70 years. This, in essense, is a recap of Matthew 24:3-8. We should all know this by heart; these are the things we were commanded to watch for. That's why they were revealed to us by the prophets to begin with, so we would know without doubt what season it is.

Next we'll look at some details...

Number one. Today's announced U.S. troop withdrawal from Syria IS NOT as many in the media are portraying it to be. With IS having been decimated and virtually defeated, President Trump, probably under the advisement of his senior military commanders, ordered a draw down of U.S. forces deployed to Syria. Civilians in the US and around the world need to realize that not all U.S. troops deployed to CJTF-OIR and CENTCOM are combat troops. A very large number of them are support forces. With combat ops against IS now having transitioned into follow-on phase of operations a number of the support troops and combat troops are no longer mission essential. Their return stateside will occur over a two to three month period.

The operations against IS in Syria, and Iraq also, will continue. Nothing has changed in this regard. Just because IS has lost its territorial above ground caliphate does not mean it has lost its underground caliphate of tunnels in Syria and Iraq, just as the Taliban has not lost its tunnels in Afghanistan. A U.S. troop draw down in the country, and here they are over running one province after another. There are always risks involved in force reductions, let's hope we got this one right.

And with all due consideration for the continuing combat operations in Syria, force protection and operational security being first and foremost, the exact details of what this troop withdrawal is about will not be released publicly. What we do know from the CJTF-OIR Public Affairs Office (PAO) is that U.S. military operations in northeast Syria will continue, observation posts will remain manned, and the enduring defeat of IS will be ensured until the mission is complete. Quoting the PAO's very important final statement, "Any reports indicating a change in the U.S. position with respect to these efforts is false and designed to sow confusion and chaos." 

And to quote Sarah Huckabee Sanders statement of yesterday, detailed within a White House press release, we find under the heading, "The Global Coalition against ISIS will not end," these words. "The United States and our allies stand ready to re-engage at all levels to defend American interests whenever necessary." Note in detail the first three words of the heading, the Global Coalition, and the last three words, will not end. Right here, right now, you have the most powerful aggregation of global military power ever assembled. 61 nations are in this military coalition. We discussed this a couple years ago on this blog, but most recently in Global SITREP B5-17. Worth a second read if you have the time. It may change names at some point, but it's not going away. And by no act of coincidence this military coalition very aptly fits the Biblical description given to Daniel by God which we read in Daniel 2:40-44.

Who can make war against the beast?

Number two is about concerns for Israel. Israel is protected by God and the archangel Michael. Israel was able to handle its defense needs before the U.S. deployed forces to Syria, and will do the same when eventually the last U.S. combat soldier comes home from Syria. Is this not what the prophetic texts of Scripture tells us? Yes, of course. Yet of all the world's media and former government leaders, it is the Israeli's who are flailing around like chicken little's less than 24 hours after the announcement of our redeployment was made public. This is all part of God's plan, and because of Israel's continued Spiritual blindness they are not yet capable of seeing it for what it truly is. It will take time, and some big battles, but they'll get there because God keeps His Covenant with them.

Number three. As for the reports of the State Department pulling its people out of Syria, that's not a concern. They are mostly civilian non-combatants and with relations between the U.S. and Syria being what they are why would they be needed there? Do we really want another Benghazi. Watch the movie 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi this weekend to provide some insight. I tend to believe the State Department's removal of its staff from Syria is a very prudent measure. Would you want to be in Damascus? I wouldn't. If they are out within 24 hours, that's a good thing.

Number four. Europe and the EU are a mess. And this has nothing to do with BREXIT. France has been a basket case since the Charlie Hebdo murders, and the several terrorist attacks since then, up to and including the killings in Strasbourg. The Islamist jihadists problem in France is a problem of their own making. France has long been pro-Arab, i.e. pro-Muslim. It is also quite anti-Jewish. Last time I checked Jews weren't murdering Frenchmen in the streets of Paris or Strasbourg, but jihadist Muslims were. So there will be more of this, indeed a lot more Strasbourg's before it gets better, and better is a very relative term. In the UK the BREXIT issue reigns supreme, especially in their media. The PM just got a year-long reprieve from a no confidence vote that she prevailed in. But after that year is up... the UK will get a new PM. I wonder who? Belgium just lost its PM to a sudden resignation over his signing the suicidal UN Migration Pact. It was a no confidence vote he lost. Too bad. Germany is in transition even before Angela Merkel departs. So, what all this means is that with Europe being in a top to bottom mess it seems to fit time wise with what we know from Bible prophecy; that is the emergence of 10 nations with three of them being taken by the beast right from the get go. 

Number five. Did I say Europe and the EU are in a mess? Well, so is the USA in a mess. Our sitting president has been in the midst of an ongoing attempt at a coup d'etat that began even before he was sworn in. The "insurance policy," right? Then after the inauguration the coup d'etat went into and continues on a steroidal overdrive. Like nothing ever seen in this nation before.  Our president's biggest mistake was that he showed weakness by not immediately going after Hillary Clinton as he had hinted during the final debate with her. That scared Hillary and the globalists in the swamp to their rotten cores. And the rest is history. Fake, phony and totally fraudulent dossiers run repeatedly before a FISA Court judge, utterly illegal and out-of-control Justice Department and FBI leadership at the very top. Yes, the USA is in a real mess, but because, as I believe, there are so many of the Spirit-filled Bride of Christ in the USA the baddies are being effectively restrained. Our prayers are the most powerful force on this earth, bar none. However, after the Harpazo, no one will want to be here. America will quickly become a land that will redefine the word nasty.

Finally, for item number six we circle back around to the biggest mess of them all - the Middle East. Iran is the biggest trouble maker from one end to the other. But it will be dealt with, Jeremiah says so. Lebanon and Syria - catastrophe looms for both and it could begin suddenly without any warning. Boom goes Damascus and the nation of Syria with it. The "Palestinian" issue resolves, forcibly, into a one-state solution. The one state will be Israel. Russia goes home from Syria licking its wounds and the loss of everything it invested. Like the lost of the IL-22M Coot-A, there's little doubt within myself that Russia won't blame its huge losses on Israel and, as Ezekiel informs us, will seek to compensate for these huge losses by making an attempt to take Israel as plunder. I believe all of this could begin to take place in 2019, and it will be a roller coaster ride from there. At some point, an unknown point, we hear a shout unlike any we've ever heard before (because none of us has ever heard an archangel shout) "Come up here!" And that will be that.

Global SITREP E2-18: IDF Operation Northern Shield

FINAL UPDATE 16 December 2018:  Comments that were made yesterday and early this morning are going to constitute the final update for this SITREP.

The shoot down of the Russian IL-22M (NATO Name: Coot-A) ELINT aircraft (See: Global SITREP D1-18: The End-Game in Syria?) in mid-September did indeed launch the "end-game" in Syria. In fact, that critical event has become the direct impetus for the literal fulfillment of Ezekiel 38:7 NKJV, which reads:

"Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered about you; and be a guard for them."

Here are the details of which Eschatology Today is now fully aware. One week ago a senior IDF military delegation, led by IDF Operations commander Major General Aharon Haliva, and his staff traveled to Moscow to meet with his direct Russian Federation military counterpart.  

Now understand this, most published media accounts, including and especially Israeli media, about this allegedly high-level face-to-face meeting are disinformative at best. These reports deliberately obscure the true net results of what took place. There is one exception that Eschatology Today located yesterday, and that report was published by YNet News yesterday morning.

The senior Russian officer did not meet with MG Haliva. In fact MG Haliva and his staff were snubbed completely by the Russians. The Russian officer who did meet with MG Haliva was his subordinate stand-in, Major General Vasily Trushin. This thing here is that MG Trushin, who is about to retire, has no direct connection to the Russian military operations in Syria. According to an un-named IDF official, MG Trushin is the only Russian military officer to have any regular contact whatsoever with Israel since the Coot-A shoot down by Syrian forces. As reported by Ynet News, 

"Furthermore, the Russians set the date for the meeting knowing full well that their chief of military operations, chief of staff, defense minister, and a large part of the Russian military brass would not even be in the country during Haliva’s visit."

 These details are critically instructive about what the IDF delegation actually returned from Russia with. And that is nothing more than a continuation of discussions on "security coordination" in Syria through which zero of substance is accomplished. Israel, as represented by the IDF, was snubbed in the most overt, in-your-face manner possible by Russia. Israel's best efforts at diffusing tensions with Russia, which are not Israel's fault but Syria's, have been repeatedly rejected. Moreover, the Russians have given the Iranian military forces in Syria, including Hezbollah, the freedom to disguise themselves by flying the Russian flag wherever they may be operating. 

This is essentially Russia fulfilling in real-time the prophecy of Ezekiel 38:7 in guarding them from Israeli military attacks and allowing Iranian and Syrian forces to soon fire upon Israel from their positions flying the Russian flag. What takes place next, preemptive or not, is eminently predictable as we know from several of the ancient Hebrew prophets God-breathed texts.

14 December 2018: The case for direct linkage of several major prophecies (i.e. prophetic dominoes) is becoming easier with each passing day. Take Isaiah 17 for example. There's some intel circulating in the past few days, especially since the alleged IAF strikes on Kisweh and Harfa of a week ago (AFP image above), that the IRGC-QF has deployed Hezbollah units in a continuous line along the Syria-Lebanon border, and then in a semi-circular ring around southern Damascus. 

In addition to these deployments IRGC-QF has deployed its Shi'a militias in front of the Hezbollah positions facing the Golan and Israel. The thinking that goes with this intel is that Iran is preparing to open a broad front against Israel from both Lebanon and Syria, with the initial intent of slicing off the Galilee region, or a good chunk of it, from Israel. Simultaneously the terror in Judea and Samaria and from Gaza is intended to encircle Israel with conflict on all sides. 

The current Eschatology Today assessment holds that Israel will continue to act preemptively as discussed in this SITREP, probably with its regional allies and without so much as a peep of warning, to continue thwarting the Iranian war plans. Think: modern maneuver warfare on steroids, in-depth and well behind enemy lines. It's just a matter of time; yet sooner rather than later.

12 December 2018: There are a handful of updates gleaned from OSINT in the past few days to keep us all ahead of the curve. The events may seen to some to be a world away and no great concern to us. However, as you will soon see, that is not the case.

1. Most of the civilized world is aware, ad nauseum, thanks to media hyping, of the brutal Saudi killing of journalist Adnan Khashoggi. Yet most are completely in the dark about two Iranian murder plots to be executed on foreign soil. One, thwarted in the nick of time last month by Danish intelligence, involved an Norwegian-Iranian who planned to murder an Iranian dissident in Denmark. The other was exposed last July after Austrian intelligence arrested an Iranian diplomat who was leading a plot to bomb an annual meeting of Iranian dissidents in Paris. President Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani attended that meeting. So, behind the scenes, those in power in the West are well aware of the malignant nature of the Iranian Shi'a Twelver regime in Tehran.

2.) Iran has within the past day officially acknowledged the test launch of their Khorramshahr MIRV ICBM. This test has set the EU, specifically the UK, Germany and France, firmly against the Islamic Republic, because they now realize Iran could today hit the heart of the EU with MIRVed warheads, possibly nuke warheads unless Iran's clandestine nuclear program is halted. This reality scares the EU's governing body, and not due to any regard for the prophetic text of Jeremiah 49:34-39. Their anxiety is instead due to Iran's flagrant violation of what they do hold as sacred - UNSCR 2231, a/k/a Annex B of the 2015 JCPoA. These two items have had a cumulative effect upon Western leaders lead us directly to the third and most important part of this update. 

3. There is a growing realization among the Western intelligence community, especially in Israel, that the largely down-played Iranian Shi'a Twelver apocalyptic worldview did not suddenly cease to exist with the fall from power of Mahmud Ahmadinejad. Rather it is very much alive and well within the Ayatollah, his clerics and the current Iranian president Rouhani. Western intelligence now believe in the reality that Iran is planning a "massive regional war" in furtherance of the Twelver objective of hastening the arrival their al-Mahdi figure. Put another way, our guys now believe their guys are serious of creating an apocalypse in the Middle East. The intel folks assess the sum total of all Iranian actions, covert and overt, from the Hezbollah tunnels to Gaza, to Lebanon, to the Gulf and even to Central and South America, all have the common objective of being preparations for war.

One last note, and this one really brings it home. It's been revealed that the "Hezbollah tunnel operative" seen recently on an Israel robot video camera has been identified an an Iranian known by the pseudonym "Azaladin." This Iranian is known to have trained with Mexican drug cartels on the U.S. southern border. Kinda puts a new light on what President Trump said on live TV yesterday with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer regarding who we've captured, who we've seen, and who's still there, as well as the urgent requirements of our own border security. We need to forcefully tell the politicians to stop playing politics with our national  well being - or else.

Israeli soldiers work on their tanks at a staging area near Israel's border. Israel launched a large operation Monday to destroy Hezbollah terror tunnels. (AP/Ariel Schalit)

8 December 2018: As ONS continues apace, the anticipated forward deployment of the IDF into Lebanon proper to complete destruction of discovered tunnels may be a step or two away rom becoming reality. Hezbollah appears to want this to occur. So, within this light the statement today by Minister Yoav Glanat on Israel Channel 10 News is worth noting. This is not a new statement as it has been stated previously when the threat of war with Hezbollah reared its head a couple of time in the past decade or so. 

 "We must trust the IDF and its strength, we know what to do. It does not mean that we want a war, but if we have one, we will return Lebanon to the Stone Age." - Housing Minister Yoav Galant on 8 December 2018. 

Note: Yoav Galant is a retired IDF Major General. A former commander of the Southern Command, MG Galant led the IDF against HAMAS during Operation Cast Lead of 2008-09. 

4 December 2018: Overnight the IDF launched a large-scale operation, code named Operation Northern Shield (ONS for short on this blog), to destroy invasion tunnels built by Iran's Lebanese military proxy force Hezbollah. No doubt these intended invasion tunnels were constructed with funds provided by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Israel has issued warnings to both Hezbollah and the Lebanese Army about the deadly danger they would find themselves in should their forces approach the border.

A quick review is in order to place a series of major recent events in the proper perspective, as they are all part of the larger ongoing war between Iran and Israel.

1. Just over three weeks ago, as ordered by Iran, HAMAS and the PIJ in Gaza launched a massive barrage of nearly 500 rockets into southern Israel. Israel countered this attack with an even more massive set of counter-strikes into Gaza. HAMAS plea for a ceasefire were accepted by Israel, which created a serious problem for Netanyahu's coalition govenment. Assurances were made that the ceasefire was necessary in that a larger issue was at-hand.

2. One week later Israel launched massive punitive attacks on Iranian and Hezbollah positions, command posts and military warehouses across the breadth of southern Syria, right up to the Golan area of Quneitra. Syria, Iran and Hezbollah go silent and lick their serious wounds. Israel watches and waits for retaliation which does not materialize.

3. Operation Northern Shield is launched launched one week later, and as of last evening Israel time the operation was well under way to locate and destroy the tunnels that Iran had planned for Hezbollah and its other proxies forces to invade and seize Israel's Galilee region. These tunnels are a casus belli for Israel to re-engage Hezbollah in combat as they are an obvious and blatant violation of the ceasefire that ended the 2006 war under a U.N. resolution.

Related: IRGC Test Launch of Khorramshahr MIRV MRBM

It should go without saying, but only destroying one-half, the half that are inside the Israeli border, of each of the several Hezbollah invasion tunnels will never result in a "mission complete" status for Operation Northern Shield. The IDF will of necessity have to also destroy the half of the tunnels inside Lebanon. That will bring war against both Hezbollah and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). And that war will require Israel to subdue ALL of Lebanon, and in that we should find the fulfillment of the ancient Joshua 13 directive prophecy found in verses 1 through 7. Verses 8 through 33 deal with the inheritance of the lands in present-day Jordan east of the Jordan River. Israel's possession of these lands in also in accordance with the prophecy of Isaiah 11:14 as well as Ezekiel 39:11-16. 

Eschatology Today cares not what any man or group of men have to say, only what the prophetic Word of God has long ago said about these matters before us today. Marana'tha!

Global SITREP E1-18: Hooks

Hooks

27 November 2018: As the news burst forth yesterday that the Russian Federation's sea, air and land forces had attacked a 3-ship flotilla of the Ukrainian navy at the Kerch Strait east of Crimea, one word immediately came to mind: hooks!

"Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face against Gog, [of] the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords."  Ezekiel 38:1-4 NKJV 

These hooks, as we discussed here back in 2014, are the kind that would be used to lead an animal to its slaughter. That's pretty much the gist of what Ezekiel told to set his face and prophecy against Gog of Magog. The inference is that Gog of Magog and his well-equiped forces are engaged in some military adventure in the far north when these hooks are used to turn Gog and his forces around and draw them south to the land of Israel, and there to be slaughtered.

The ongoing Russian four-year long war of aggression against Ukraine, having consumed 10,000 souls thus far, stands a very strong probability of still being in progress when the time of Ezekiel's prophecy rolls around. That speaks to the near proximity of fulfillment for Ezekiel's prophecy, even though there is much prophetic fulfillment which is still yet to preceed it, it is tantalizingly close-at-hand.

Global SITREP D10-18: Would an IDF Reconquest of Gaza Occur in a Vacuum?

Gettin' ready...

UPDATE 25 November 2018: Regarding the transfer of Russian-made 9M133 Kornet anti-tank missiles from Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah to HAMAS and the other terrorists in Gaza, The Times of Israel is the source for this update. It seems that the Islamic State in Sinai (IS Wilayat Sinai) recently intercepted and confiscated a shipment of these and other high-tech, GPS-guided weapons as they were crossing the Sinai Peninsula (Egypt) enroute to HAMAS in Gaza. It is most telling that despite the blockade imposed upon Gaza, shipments such as this very large one (the largest to date seized by IS Wilayat Sinai) still continue unabated. 

Analysis: In addition to Gaza, the Sinai will also be a front in the coming fighting. HAMAS is therefore liable to permit IS Wilayat Sinai keep the seized weaponry in the realization that a secondary front to pull additonal IDF assets away from the coming Gaza operation would be beneficial to HAMAS and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

There is also a report found on the INN website which made global news this past week. With the U.S. clamping down on economic sanctions against Iran, it was revealed this past Tuesday that a clandestine money pipeleine run by the Russian Federation and Islamic Republic of Iran governments was discovered by the U.S. Treasury invesigators. This complex scheme was one in which crude oil transfers along with hundreds of millions of dollars were run through Syria for funding the Syrian government in addition to the terrorist operations of Hezbollah in Lebanon and HAMAS in Gaza. Details are in the linked report, yet an easy assessment to make here would be that the cuting off of this level of funding for Syria, Hezbollah and HAMAS, all terrorist proxies of Iran and the Russian Federation, is bound to hurt. Financial strangulation is as much a tool of war and bombs and bullets.

22 November 2018: One would have significantly impaired hearing, both literally and spiritually, to not hear the increasing beat of war drums across the Middle East for most of this past year. Limited military engagements are one thing, and these have markedly increased from the spring to this fall, but in the past day, and as noted in the previous SITREP, the military situation across the Middle East has changed significantly.

How significantly? When was the last time a senior Israeli security council official was heard to say publicly that Israel was "being forced to recapture parts or all of the Gaza Strip." Gilad Erdan said it yesterday. Fellow security council member Israel Katz was quick to back his colleague up, saying Israel faced "a no-choice war against HAMAS in Gaza." When was the last time a former senior Israeli official of the stature of Gideon Sa'ar called for a precision preemptive strike on Iranian missile factories run by Hezbollah in Lebanon before the "window of opportunity closes?" 

And then we have Nickolay Mladendov, the U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, opine what most intellectually honest observers have known for quite some time now: the Islamic Republic of Iran wants a full-scale war to erupt between Israel and HAMAS in the Gaza Strip and across much of southern Israel. All of these statements occurred on the same day at the same Jerusalem Post event. None of them were mere rhetoric.

To top this off, and concurrent with the above statements, the Iranian commander of IRGC forces, Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, threatened all American ground and air forces across the CENTCOM AOR, and all vessels of the U.S. 5th Fleet with strikes by Iranian missile forces. (The Brigadier General's typical Persian braggadocio notwithstanding, that kind of a strike on U.S. forces in the Middle East would almost certainly amount to the last thing he would do with his forces.

Any ardent student of Bible prophecy should be able to rattle off all of the prophetic verses which correspond directly with the above statements. And all of them are inter-related in one manner or another. For example, Isaiah 11:14 has a direct correlation to an Israeli reconquest of the Gaza strip. But if one reads the entire verse it directly links an IDF assault upon Gaza with a military conquest of those areas of modern Jordan (i.e. the Aqaba, Talifah, Karak, Madaba and Amman Governorates) known in ancient times as Edom, Moab and Ammon. This speaks to a much wider war and is just one aspect of what we know as the prophetic Psalm 83 war.

There is also the longstanding real-world link between the terrorist forces in Gaza and Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria. Again, this link is a specific point from Asaph's Psalm 83 prophecy. The Iranians and Hezbollah have been clandestinely supplying Israel's enemies in Gaza with high-tech warfighting materiel for at least the past seven years. The reference here is to war materiel such as the Russian-made, laser-guided 9M133 Kornet anti-tank missiles. 

These anti-tank missiles were transferred from Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon prior to the 2006 war, and subsequently Hezbollah supplied them to HAMAS and Islamic Jihad. The Kornets, with a maximum range of over 3 miles, have since been fired at and have destroyed a number Israeli civilian buses, including school buses traveling within line-of-sight of the Gaza Strip, since April 7, 2011. We read about these attrocites every now and then in Israeli news reports, but the events are soon forgotten as time passes. With absolute certainty, they are not forgotten in Israel. In addition to Psalm 83 there is the widely unheralded (except here on Eschatology Today!) prophecy found in Joshua 13 which deals specifically with Lebanon, and therefore is linked also to the overall Psalm 83 prophetic scenario.

Does anyone seriously think that Israel would engage in warfighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon without also directly confronting Iran and its military proxy forces in Syria? It's a no-brainer, of course they will, and there we have a direct link to the Isaiah 17 and Jeremiah 49:23-27 prophecies that have been a focus on Eschatology Today pretty much for the entire year as well, and since everyone is familiar with them by now those prophecies won't be belabored further in this SITREP.

The point of this is that a full-scale military operation undertaken by the IDF to retake Gaza is a virtual gateway to a much larger conflict; there is no way  such a reconquest would occur in a geopolitical or military vacuum. An IDF operation for the reconquest of Gaza would directly involve, and/or lead to the fulfillment of a half-dozen or more 'last days' prophecies. The flood of falling prophetic dominoes, remember? So, does Eschatology Today assess that a literal fulfillment of Isaiah 11:14 could lead to the final act of the Psalm 83 war? Yes, of course; it's been a consistent theme here for several years. And to borrow Minister Gilad Erdan's phraseology... we're now closer to a literally fulfilled mass of prophetic Scripture than we have ever been before. And it's not if, but when. Eschatology Today assesses the 'when' is soon - very, very soon.

Global SITREP D9:18: The Prophecy of Ezekiel

Artistic rendering of Ezekiel at the River Chebar, Ezekiel 1:4

17 November 2018: One of the most important verses regarding the salvation of all Israel occurs, according to Scripture, in the aftermath of the one-sided military engagement between all of the forces brought against Israel by Gog of Magog and the Lord GOD Himself. That verse is Ezekiel 39:29.

"'And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord God.”

Before expounding upon this verse and its meaning, there first must be established from Scripture the proper background.

Ezekiel, one of ancient Israel's (Judah), greaterst prophets, needs to be understood in the terms of his calling to be a prophet. I would urge reading the first chapter (image above) when the likeness of the glory of the Lord appeared before him. This incredible scene of the calling of Ezekiel to be a prophet to Israel occurred at the River Chebar in Mesopotamia at the time noted in the text. I would also urge to continue reading chapters two and three for the full measure of Ezekiel's calling to be a prophet and watchman background material, but will add a quick synopsis here.

As most human beings would be certain to do upon seeing the same thing that Ezekiel was seeing in the opening verses of chapter one, he swiftly fell prone in planting his face on the ground. But the Lord GOD said, "Son of man, stand upright upon your feet and I will speak to you." Immediately the Holy Spirit entered into Ezekiel and set him uprught upon his feet. the Lord GOD then informs Ezekiel of his mission to speak prophecy to Israel, a rebellious nation; that Israel whether the heed Ezekiel's God-breathed words or reject them will know for certain that a prophet was among them. 

And then, in a scene very similar to what occurred to the Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos, the Lord God hands Ezekiel a scoll and instructs him to eat it. This Scripture makes clear that all prophecy Ezekiel would speak to Israel came from the scroll he was given to consume; it literally became a part of his body, it was the literal word of God that Ezekiel would speak. Ezekiel is also informed that he is being sent not to a foreign land of strange language, but to Israel, his own people captive in Babylon; but that in a foreign land they would surely accept what Ezekiel would speak to them. But for rebellious Israel, whether they will hear these words or not, nevertheless, the word of the Lord GOD must be spoken to them.

This is, to my thinking, strong evidence of why to this very day Ezekiel 38/39 are of such importance to many Jews that they, deliberately or not, overlook or misinterpret the other just as Divinely inspired 'last days' words of the other Jewish prophets. 

Continuing, the Lord GOD also makes Ezekiel a watchman for all Israel. Now, in a nutshell, being a watchman for the Lord GOD is no simple or easy task. Whatever the Lord tells you to speak, if you don't say it to those you are told to say it to, either the wicked or the righteous, then their affliction will become your affliction; and their blood will be required of you. If you do speak,and they heed the words, then all is well. And this goes well beyond speaking His word to mere individuals; it regards the whole of the nation of Israel as you will learn next.    

Getting back now to Ezekiel 39:29, and the Lord GOD pouring out the Holy Spirit upon all Israel. Has all Israel first accepted Jesus Christ as Messiah to make this pouring out of the Lord's Spirit possible? No, Scripture clearly does not say that. Many Christians are there who maintain that it is a must; that what what about ot be stated here is what they refer to a "Dual Covenant" theology. I assure you it is nothing of the sort. It is the word of God direct from Scripture. 

So, this is where reading the text of Ezekiel 36 is essential to understanding Ezekiel 39:29 and the Lord's pouring out of His Spirit, and, to be sure, the fulness of what Paul wrote in Romans 11 regarding the salvation of all Israel.

Ezekiel 36, verses 1 through 15, begins with God preparing the land of (Eretz) Israel for the return of the nation, the people, of Israel. Then at Ezekiel 36:16 the role of Ezekiel as a watchman for Israel, speaking that which the Lord GOD commands him to say, begins. The numbering of the verses 16 through 21 have been edited out so the text of the the Lord GOD is saying through Ezekiel is continuous; bold text of verse 21 has been added for emphasis.

"Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: “Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds; to Me their way was like the uncleanness of a woman in her customary impurity. Therefore I poured out My fury on them for the blood they had shed on the land, and for their idols with which they had defiled it. So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them according to their ways and their deeds. When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name—when they said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they have gone out of His land.’ But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went."

This section speaks as if the point of reference is the time of Christ's visitation, ministry, crucifixion, rising from the dead and ascension into Heaven, circa 33 AD, and the resultant destruction of the city of Jerusalem, the 2nd Temple and the global exile of the Jews by the Roman Empire and which all occurred in the 7 years from 67 to 73 AD, as prophesied by Isaiah 29. And then there's verse 21 which is the core of the matter, and is now explained in the subsequent eleven verses (22-32), also in bold for emphasis.

"Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,” says the Lord God, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. I will call for the grain and multiply it, and bring no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields, so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations. Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good; and you will [e]loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations. Not for your sake do I do this,” says the Lord God, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel!”

We leave the final five verses of chapter 36 for the reader to read for themselves, they are self explanatory. Of these verses quoted above, we should recongnize that they are found in the same thematic discourse found in the closing verses of Ezekiel 39 begining at verse 25 where God shows mercy on the whole house of Israel in jealousy for His holy name. These things, the restoration of the land (eretz) Israel and the Lord God pouring His Spirit upon all Israel is not for their sake, but for His holy name's sake. 

There is a consistent theme here as well, and it runs from the Covenant of Moab in Deuteronomy 29:4 (an addition to the Covenant of Horeb), to Isaiah 29:10, and the whole of Romans 11. And the time for this 'last days' redemption of Israel was identified by Paul in Romans 11:25-27. 

"For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,

And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;

 

For this is My covenant with them,

When I take away their sins.”"

So, it is after the Lord God has poured out His Spirit that those who recieve it that the prophecy of Zechariah 12:10 comes to fulfillment (again, bold for emphasis) and Israel recognizes Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah:

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for hisonly son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn."