NOTE: The following post gives more details on the topics covered below: “The Daniel 11:22 War”, “Sheep/Goat Nations”, “Satanism”, “London = Babylon the Great?” https://dangreenup.com/geopolitics-and-bible-prophecy/
The Daniel 11:22 War
The Antichrist will invade Jerusalem in the end times. This is prophesied in Ezekiel 38. There are eight participants in the Ezekiel 38 invasion. Except Persia, modern Iran, these names come from direct descendants of Noah in Genesis 10. In other words, God named the ethnicities that would take part, with one exception, not the specific geographic locations. This is important because some of these people groups have moved since Ezekiel’s day and this prophecy will be fulfilled at the time of the end. What matters is where these people groups are today. As it turns out, Togarmah is listed as the final participant in the Antichrist’s invasion. Togarmah is commonly associated with the Turkic peoples in modern Turkey and Central Asia.* So, Turkey is going to join the Antichrist in invading Israel.
With this in mind, it’s good news that the United States seems to be decoupling from Turkey. This coming break-up not only lines up with America’s long-term plans of withdrawing militarily from the Middle East, but it’s also consistent with Bible prophecy. After all, without American protection, the Turks will have to turn to Russia for survival. They already know it. Recently, Turkey purchased a Russian surface-to-air missile system, despite warnings from the US that doing so would result in economic sanctions. In response, President Trump canceled a shipment of F-35 stealth jet fighters to Turkey. Naturally, Turkey threatened to revoke US access to its military bases, such as Incirlik. That’s the only leverage Turkey has. While it has worked in the past, the US doesn’t need Incirlik anymore.
In February of this year, President Trump said, “We have an unbelievable and expensive military base built in Iraq. It’s perfectly situated for looking at all over different parts of the troubled Middle East rather than pulling up.” Put differently, our days of military intervention are done. We’re going to have a presence in the region to monitor things, but it’s strictly gathering intelligence to prevent any international terrorism.
Of course, Turkey’s bark is worse than their bite. If they decide to kick the Americans out, they’ll be risking the complete destruction of their economy. Just look at what happened with Pastor Brunson. In July of 2018, Trump tweeted, “The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson.” He imposed massive tariffs, their economy absolutely collapsed and Brunson was released. In January of this year, Trump tweeted about the withdrawal of US troops from Syria. He explained that he “will devastate Turkey economically if they hit Kurds.”
The US has shown it can destroy Turkey’s weak economy, but so could Russia. Turkey is a big importer of natural gas. For importing natural gas, there are really only two options: the US and Russia. The US is the world leader in consumption and production of natural gas. Russia is second in production and the world’s top exporter. Currently, 60 percent of Turkey’s natural gas imports come from Russia. Indeed, Turkey embraced Russia’s TurkStream pipeline project, making them more dependent than ever on Russia. How has the US responded to TurkStream? US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced American support for the EastMed pipeline from Israel, through Cyprus to Greece. In defiance, Turkey has been drilling off the coast of Cyprus. This prompted the European Union to impose light sanctions with the threat of further action. Israel won’t put up with it either.
At the end of the day, Turkey relies on the United States and Russia for military protection and its energy needs. Although it would be extremely uncomfortable, Turkey could handle losing the US. Yet, it couldn’t survive losing both relationships. For all of their tough talk on Syria, the Turks will be a non-factor. If they try to disobey Russia, they will be destroyed.
*Hodge, B. The Tower of Babel: The Cultural History of Our Ancestors (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2013), p. 157-160, 180
Sheep/Goat nations
One of the reasons for God’s coming judgment of the nations is the dividing of Israel, which the Lord calls “My land” (Joel 3:2). The Antichrist will make a deal with Israel and many nations (Daniel 9:27), and this deal will confirm “the holy covenant” (Daniel 11:28). The international community, including all Arab states, will recognize Israel’s right to exist. Here’s the catch: Israel will have to give up the territory it captured during the Six-Day War in 1967. The Golan Heights will be given to Syria, while East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip will probably be given to the new State of Palestine.
Incidentally, the Antichrist will hate Jewish ownership of the land of Israel (Daniel 11:30). That’s why this coming confirmation of God’s holy promise to the Jewish people is also called “a covenant with death” (Isaiah 28:15). Eventually, the Antichrist will invade Israel (Ezekiel 38), overwhelm it like a flood (Isaiah 28:18; Daniel 9:26; Revelation 12:15) and desolate the Temple (Daniel 9:26; Daniel 11:31). Although Israel will be at peace for a short time (Ezekiel 38:8, 11, 14), their agreement won’t last (Isaiah 28:18; Daniel 9:26; Revelation 12:15).
Just this week, Israel demolished 12 West Bank Palestinian buildings in a neighborhood just outside of Jerusalem. Pretty much everybody condemned the move, including France, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the European Union and the United Nations, among others. Although much of the world condemned Israel, the US blocked an attempt to force the United Nations Security Council to condemn Israel’s actions. On top of that, US Mideast peace envoy Jason Greenblatt plainly stated, “no international consensus or interpretation of international law will persuade the United States or Israel that a city in which Jews have lived and worshipped for nearly 3,000 years and has been the capital of the Jewish State for 70 years, is not — today and forever — the capital of Israel.” To add insult to injury for the so-called Palestinians, Greenblatt noted that although the Palestinian Authority claims East Jerusalem is their capital, “an aspiration is not a right.” That’s savage.
Clearly, Europe and the Arab world have made the wrong choice regarding the land of Israel. Obviously, the Americans have made the right choice. What will the rest of the world do?
LINK: https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/IDF-12-buildings-razed-were-too-close-to-security-barrier-596491
Satanism
2 Thessalonians 2:7 mentions something called the mystery of lawlessness. Lawlessness is a spirit that seduces people into believing they can be God. The Antichrist is known as “the man of lawlessness” and the “lawless one.” Fittingly, he is going to exalt himself “above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” Sadly, the spirit of lawlessness is everywhere. There is fundamental disdain for law enforcement, institutions and traditional culture.
For example, when people refuse to acknowledge the legitimacy of Trump’s presidency, that’s lawlessness. The Bible says, “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities.” It adds, “whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God.” That’s right, resisting Trump is ungodly. By the way, it’s not just about ignoring laws or getting rid of them. It’s about promoting lawbreaking. Indeed, several prominent Democrats want to give illegal aliens taxpayer-funded healthcare. This doesn’t help illegal aliens; it rewards them for being lawbreakers. It incentivizes breaking the law, which will only encourage them to break other laws.
Like Romans 1 says, the further people move away from God, the more depraved they get. They open themselves up to demonic affliction. It’s a spiritual principle: as God is rejected, Satan fills the void. Eventually, these lawless people lose all self-control. Consider the case of Miguel Alvarez-Flores, an illegal alien and member of the street gang MS-13. He kidnapped and murdered a Houston girl because she challenged his satanic beliefs. Before he murdered her, he offered a cigarette to a satanic idol. According to court documents, he said, “The beast did not want a material offering, but wanted a soul.” In his first court appearance, he smiled and waved at the cameras. That’s not human behavior; that’s demonic. That’s what the spirit of lawlessness looks like.
California, which gives illegal aliens taxpayer-funded healthcare, has a serious MS-13 problem. 22 members of MS-13 in Los Angeles were charged with murder and racketeering earlier this month. A few of them regularly attended a local high school. School administrators and law enforcement officials knew they were members of the most dangerous gang in the country, but intentionally kept students and parents in the dark. If you live in a sanctuary city, don’t be surprised if your kids go to sanctuary schools.
LINK: https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-district-ms13-investigation
London = Babylon the Great?
The Antichrist’s empire is described in Revelation as a beast with seven heads and ten horns. Revelation 17:12 says the ten horns are ten kings that will rule with the Antichrist for a short time. The ten kingdoms will come out of the geographic area of the Roman Empire. How do we know that? Let’s take a look at Daniel’s vision of the four beasts. Thankfully, we’re given the interpretation: the various beasts represent successive empires. Put differently, each empire conquered the one that came before it. The Babylonian Empire was a lion, which was followed by the Medo-Persian Empire represented by a bear. Next, the Greek Empire, symbolized by a leopard, would reign. Finally, the Roman Empire was represented by a beast with iron teeth and ten horns. Here’s the interesting part: the ten horns are ten rulers that come out of the fourth empire.
On a side note, it makes sense that the Roman Empire would figure into the end times somehow. After all, the Roman Empire carried out the crucifixion of Christ, destroyed the Temple and persecuted early Christians. Likewise, Jesus ushered in the Kingdom of God while Rome was still in power. This is significant, because before Daniel’s vision, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream which prophesied the same succession of empires. In his dream, he saw a statue. The empires were represented by different parts of the statue. They were also different metals. During the time of the Roman Empire, symbolized by legs of iron and feet of iron mixed with clay, the Lord was going to fully establish the Kingdom of God. This was represented by a stone made without human hands which destroyed the statue and then became a mountain. The stone made without human hands that crushed the statue is the Kingdom of God and it has been expanding ever since Christ ushered it in. Praise God!
Anyway, Rome controlled North Africa, the Middle East and most of Western Europe. That said, the Antichrist is going to defeat many countries in North Africa and the Middle East during the Daniel 11:22 War. Likewise, the ten kingdoms will be to the west of Israel. They’ll also be powerful enough to stop the Antichrist in his first attempt to invade Jerusalem. Eventually, the Antichrist will take control of this ten-kingdom coalition and remove three of the rulers. They’ll then attack Babylon the Great together. Putting it all together, the ten kingdoms come out of Western Europe.
Unsurprisingly, the idea of a European army is being promoted within the European Union. Former German defense minister Ursula von der Leyen, now President-elect of the European Commission, has argued that an integrated EU army is going to become a reality. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has made it clear in the past that the EU needs to collaborate on weapons systems development. The Germans have even floated the idea that France’s permanent seat on the UN Security Council should be converted into a European Union seat. That’s quite presumptuous, isn’t it?
Regardless, Britain isn’t interested. Some British politicians have mocked the EU army; others have labeled it a threat. Whether it materializes or not, with Brexit likely to happen in the next few months, Britain is going to strengthen its position in Europe. According to the Henry Jackson Society, Britain has the most geopolitical influence in Europe. Germany understands this. Ultimately, the EU army is their desperate attempt at trying to maintain control over Europe. It’s unlikely to succeed, but someday, could an EU army be used to attack Babylon the Great?
LINK: https://www.politico.eu/article/new-german-defense-minister-aims-to-develop-eu-defense-integration/
That’s all for this week! Thanks for reading and Godspeed!