THE HOLY BIBLE CONTINUES TO DISPLAY ITS RELEVANCE TO TODAY’S NEWS

As I read yesterday’s (Wednesday 22nd November) Telegraph report it kept speaking to me of chapter 38 in the Book of Ezekiel. That’s where the Lord told that Old Testament prophet about a future international alliance that would come against His people.

As outlined in Update #2, Ezekiel 38 and 39 describe an alliance known as ‘the Gog and Magog’ coalition that will eventually invade the land the Holy One of Israel gave to His people. Most Bible scholars regard the various people named as forming that group  as coming from the land between and north of the Black and Caspian Seas. ie modern Russia.

The prophet received a word from the Lord to ‘set his face’ against Gog, a leader of those nations north of Israel and which include Persia/Iran. And in coming into battle he and those nations would be used for God’s own purpose for this almighty battle:

“So I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel. I will not let them profane My name anymore – Then the nations shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.” (Ezekiel 38:7 NKJV)

Let’s check the pertinent points of Middle East correspondent Raf Sanchez report, emphases mine.  His opening gives the game away!!

‘Syria’s Bashar al-Assad has thanked Vladimir Putin and the Russian military for helping to save his country as the Russian president prepared to host the leaders of Iran and Turkey for high-level talks on ending the war in Syria. Mr Assad made a secret visit to Socchi (Black Sea resort) on Monday…(where he) met Mr Putin for 3 hours to discuss a potential political settlement for Syria’s future…

‘Mr Putin ordered Russian forces to intervene in Syria on Mr Assad’s behalf in late 2015…(and) with their Iranian allies have swung the tide of war decisively in Mr Assad’s favour.

‘The Kremlin said the two men had worked to “prepare the groundwork for possible understandings” that might be reached during today’s (22nd) summit between Mr Putin, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani and President Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey.

‘ Iran and Russia supported the Assad regime throughout the war whilst Turkey has backed the opposition. The three countries have acted as guarantors of local deals in Syria and Mr Putin hopes they will be able to agree on a comprehensive pact to end the fighting.

Mr Putin has placed himself centre-stage in talks over Syria’s future. As well as hosting the Turkish and Iranian leaders, he spoke to Donald Trump by phone…briefing him on the talks with Mr Assad.

‘The Geneva talks (with Syrian opposition) have collapsed several times…observers agree it’s more likely major decisions will be made by Russia, Iran and Turkey.’

SO, WHO’s IN CHARGE? Clearly the Russian leader is! Although often disagreeing with each other, the leaders of Iran and Turkey kowtow to him.

The above Reuters’ photo of Assad and Putin speaks volumes to those who read body language.

MEANWHILE ON ISRAELI-SYRIAN BORDER

Previous posts on Gog/Magog referred to the Iranian strategy of getting a strong swathe of influence westwards from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean by means of proxy-terrorist, regular military and diplomatic activities. In view of their declared ambition of attacking and capturing Jerusalem, Iran’s military presence in the Golan and within 10 miles of Israel is totally unacceptable to the Israeli government.

Several bulletin point headlines in Middle-East Update #2 highlight those deep issues. Note the reference to a special ‘eschatological’ brigade in the Golan. One whose aim is undoubtedly to prepare the ground for the Shiite Mahdi to appear (with Jesus in tow!) – obviously a blasphemous counterfeit of Christian theology. (Read more on this in third section of Iran and the Nuclear ‘Fix’.)

Moreover, Monday’s long telephone conversation between Putin and PM Netanyahu ended up with them at odds over removing Iran/Hizballah from the Golan border (Debka). It would appear Donald Trump has quietly withdrawn the US from involvement on this front. Having close Christian input, details of the Ezekiel 38 Gog-Magog prophecy will have been brought to his attention.

Next, we’ll consider Joel Rosenberg’s ‘take’ on this week’s news…(click to read)

NB: In view of the increasing relevance of Old Testament prophecy to current world events I’ve set up a new tag: OT-UPDATE.  Click thereon to read a multitude of posts on news of, and developments towards, the fulfillment of Bible prophecies.

Further Reading:

• Tracking Bible Prophecy – The Gog and Magog War
• The Watchman – The Debate of the Gog Magog Battle
• Koinonia House – The Treacherous Trio of Ezekiel 38 – Part 1 (Turkey) – Part 2 (Iran) – Part 3 (Russia).