Trump Takes On The "Deep State"...

I don't think this will end the "Deep State", but it may be the beginning of the end for them!   The evidence is mounting that members of the federal bureaucracy, Obama appointees in particular (but not exclusively; and to their great shame, even some Trump Administration appointees!) have been conspiring behind closed doors to disrupt the Trump administration's policies, and "stonewall" legal evidence that appears to incriminate them for so doing.  They apparently felt they could get away with this malfeasance, because their Government Employees contract protects them from being fired for political reasons.  Or, perhaps they were so sure that Hillary would be elected,  that they could risk their (even illegal) behavior, and she would ignore their malfeasance.

All they have to do to protect themselves from being fired is to characterize the attempt to fire them as being politically motivated, and the courts will throw the case out, not because there is no merit to it, but because their contract is so air tight that it is difficult to prove, legally.  The whole process, if successful, takes anywhere from six months to a year to fully accomplish, and is so time consuming, and probably expensive, that most agencies don't bother, but merely demote, and  reassign to less important tasks.

This "protection" was  written into the contracts, ostensibly to protect bureaucrats from being fired automatically when the opposing party gained power through election, and merely wanted their own people in position.   But, the implication was obviously to allow them to keep their jobs, and demonstrate that they could implement the policies of the new administration, even if they politically disagreed with them.  It has now become obvious that many feel they can subvert the new administration's policies, at will, and expect their jobs to be protected by this one-way-protection contract!

President Trump has just signed an Executive Order, "making it easier to fire incompetent workers", according to news reports.  I don't know the details of it. but if it truly does, then this will be a major step n the right direction.  Of course the unions will scream "unconstitutional", even though there is nothing in the Constitution about Union contracts, and then we will have to put up with insufferable rhetoric about ridiculous twists of facts to characterize this as the most legally repugnant effort by any President in history, ignoring the fact that no President has ever had to deal with such evil efforts to subvert his presidency while in office.

Then there is the quagmire of negotiating a new employee contract, that both protects the employees from political firing, and guarantees that they will perform the legal, and legitimate policies of the new administration, even if they personally object to them.  We may have to deal with periodic walkouts of the bureaucracy, which will shut down the government, from the bottom up, instead of from the top down.  But, after many hostile bureaucrats drain their bank accounts, during the walkouts, and others lose their court cases to sue for reinstatement, we may actually see some real progress in draining the "Deep State", which I consider to be more important than "Draining the Swamp"!!!

This whole process could take years to accomplish, dragging out beyond the term of President Trump.  It will then be imperative to keep the Democrats out of office, and out of control of the Congress, until this is done!

But, by the grace of God, this, too, may prove Not to be impossible !!!

How Do "We" Make Iran Agree To A New Pact?

The short answer is..."we" don't!!!  Leave it up to God.  He'll work it out for us!

I was listening to Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, read off a list of issues the Trump Administration expects Iran to be willing to agree to, in order to establish a new agreement for their denuclearization, and the removal of any severe sanctions by America.  I was struck by the absurd likelihood that Iran will agree to all, or even any, of these proposals!  I do not mean to say that I think they are unrealistic for a country that wishes to trade, fairly in a free market place.  But I don't believe Iran does!

For that matter, neither does Russia, and I don't think Turkey intends to remain a faithful partner in the N.A.T.O. alliance, any more!  These diplomatic sanctions can truly be painful, and are often severe enough to cause honest nations to rethink unfair trade practices.   But if anyone really believes these countries are planning anything remotely to do with honest, and fair trade practices, they are soon to be in for a very rude awakening.

Agreeing to the list of requirements that Pompeo read, would mean that Iran wanted to have fair trade relations with America.  But, if they believe that they can continue their corrupt ways, and somehow make these sanctions irrelevant, I believe they would prefer to do so.  I suspect that this is part of the agreement that Russia must have proposed to all of their Muslim allies!  They all must expect that invading Israel, especially if they could actually succeed in history's most massive genocidal extermination of every man, woman, and child in Israel, would carry the most severe penalties that any nation had ever experienced, going far beyond trade sanctions!  But, if as I suspect, Russia's ultimate goal is the total conquest of Saudi Arabia's, and the other Gulf States' oil fields, and the eventual squeezing of the West's need for petroleum, Russia probably has promised to make up for any lost revenue that their allies will initially experience, through sanctions.  I expect that their grand scheme is to drive the Free World into complete submission with a monstrous oil embargo, that will leave Russia as the dominant power in the world, and America struggling with a G.D.P. similar to what Somalia, and Bangladesh deal with, today!!!  And with a much larger population fighting off starvation!

But, they don't count on God coming to Israel's defense, and somehow turning their diabolical invasion into a panicked rout, with various factions of their own troops fighting one another, to try and turn them around, until they destroy 5 sixths of their original force!!!  (This is not just my imagination; it's all there for you to read in Ezekiel: 38, and 39!).  In the process, Iran may be wiped out; making any agreement "we" could negotiate unnecessary!  God's way of dealing with evil people is always better than any negotiated trade pact!!!

Praise the Lord!!!   And pass the ammunition!!!

"Why Do The Heathen Rage..."

"...and the people imagine a vain thing?"

Christians will doubtless recognize the famous quote from the first verse of the second Psalm of King David, in which he obviously used the expression "why...?" not to express any confusion, but more to express his incredulous exasperation at their foolish delusion, that they might actually plot against the anointed of God, to overthrow His people, in battle.  

My Bible, and likely yours as well, has a star next to this verse, indicating that it was obviously a prophetic reference to the time of Christ, when the "heathen" of His own people would surely rage against God's Anointed One, and vainly condemn Him to death.   Vain, first, because they actually thought they could kill Him, against His will, not realizing that He was willingly allowing it because it served God's purpose, that He should  "...lay down His (sinless) life" sacrificially, that we all might be saved; being guilty of such a death, ourselves (because of our sins), yet receiving His substitution in our place!  He knew that He had the power to, "...lay down His life, and to take it up again", as He did, on the third day afterwards.   Hallelujah!!!

Yet, like many scriptures in the Bible,  I believe this scripture has a secondary application that does not directly apply to, or in any way diminish the primary importance of the above reference,  but justly describes the "heathen" of today, and the incredible foolishness of their plotting against God's chosen people!   Without any knowledge of modern technology, I believe that King David could see (if he were alive, on earth today) the pathetic foolishness of the Russian, Iranian, and other Muslim nations' conspiracy to invade present-day Israel, and try to create a massive genocidal slaughter against God's people!  It is not the weapons they intend to bring against the Israelis, that will make a difference, but the Israelis' faith in God, and His ability to deliver His people from their enemies, no matter what their enemies bring against them!!!  The Israelis' obedience to His prophetic warning, given 2500 years ago has apparently caused their government to distribute gas masks throughout the country, because they have read the description of the invasion as beginning with the invaders, "... coming as a cloud" to indicate something far more ominous than the people of Ezekiel's day could have comprehended.  But the Israelis today recognize the willingness of their enemy nations to use poisonous chemical weapons (Syria, in particular, through Russian technology, no doubt), so they have been taking this precautionary task seriously, for decades,  If that doesn't qualify for faithful obedience to God's warning, after 2500 years of dormancy, I don't know what else would!!!

Their obedience to this apparently foolish prophecy, given 2500 years before man even had developed the technology to bring it all to pass, will also cause God to defeat the enemy invasion, by causing the first invaders to panic (perhaps at an earthquake), and retreat, with what seems to be resistance by their reserve ranks (Russian ???),which God describes as, "every man's sword (or modern weapon) will be against his brother (or, comrade in arms)".  By this method God will allow the destruction of 83, and 1/3rd% of the original invasion force!!!

Thus will God cause Himself to be glorified, in saving His people from almost certain genocide, and showing, "...the heathen that there is still a God in Israel!"  And, by showing the Israelis (and the Jews of the Diaspora around the world) that He, "... still loves them, and forgives them!!!"

ADDENDUM--

The final quote, above, seems to me to carry a powerful connotation, if I understand it correctly.   What I am about to write is merely my own opinion, right, or wrong, and it is not intended to be offensive, though I realize it will clash with the long held biases of others.  Still others may be offended by the seemingly perilous conclusions I am about to draw with what may seem to be far too little evidence to do so.  Yet, if I am correct, the importance of sharing my beliefs with others who may simply not have considered the possibility of what I am about to say, could be imperative!

I know how controversial it is to say that Israelis will receive God's "forgiveness", but as a Christian I have to say this seems true, simply because AS a Christian,  I believe they, and their ancestors who didn't believe that Jesus was the one true Messiah for Israel, are in error.  For this, God has apparently caused around two thousand years of living without the best of His blessings, but not completely.   Also, the Nazi holocaust was probably meant to cause the survivors to wonder where His salvation was, for them.   But, after the above account, God is declaring His forgiveness, another reason why I feel the Christians will be gone, before this.

I have written before, after my accounts of the projection of the "Gog/Magog" invasion, that I am able to conclude, that God will cause the defeated  Russian army, upon retreating, to receive "...a fire" (nuclear, I wonder?), with a corresponding "...fire" being sent to a nation described in terms that some biblical scholars have long thought it could refer to America (see Ezekiel: 39, 6).  If this does describe a prophecied  nuclear exchange between the Russian survivors, and America, I feel it is important to warn us all!!!

I do not claim absolutely positive correctness of my reading of this prophecy.  But I believe there is enough evidence to at least cause concern that I may be correct in my interpretation, both by what the Bible states, conclusively, and by what it implies, while leaving unsaid.  I believe God wants the inquisitive Christian to reflect upon what is stated, and what logically agrees with what he has prophecied.

If my understanding is correct, I believe that the last few verses of Revelation Six describes a nuclear holocaust, which causes many to believe that the "end of the world" has come, and the "rich and powerful" take shelter, in various underground bomb shelters.   Revelation Seven describes a brief halting of the Earth's rotation (perhaps as a reaction to the force of nuclear blasts, in opposite direction of the Earth's rotation), during which 144,000 of Israelis are anointed to be God's messengers.  Which causes me to wonder why God would consider this to be necessary, with somewhere between 50, and 100 million believing Christians around the earth to act as his witnesses, already.  Unless, of course,  if for some reason those Christians were suddenly NOT on the earth, any more (like, say, if the "Rapture" occurred after the nuclear missiles were fired, but before they landed and detonated on their targets!)

This would seem to me to be perfectly in line with God's mercy for His people (believers), while simultaneously creating a need for more witnesses for those who remain.  After all, someone would need to explain why millions of known Christians suddenly disappeared,  especially those not located in the nuclear target areas.  I'm sure Hollywood would love to claim that hungry Martians invaded the Earth, looking for "worthless" Christians to kidnap and take back to Mars, to serve up as food for their starving planet.  That's something that I would expect from  those shameless idiots!

Anyway,  I offer the above as merely my opinion, and  I'm sure there are many scoffers who will fall over laughing at the "ridiculousness" of my logic.   All I can say, in my defense, is to remember what the old adage says about, "He who laughs last...", etc.

Even so, come Lord Jesus!!!

"The Uttermost Parts Of The North..."

I had trouble sleeping, tonight, and (for some reason... Gee!  I can't guess why...) I started thinking about some troubling aspects of the prophecy of the "Gog/Magog" invasion of the Middle-East, written about in the prophecies of Ezekiel: 38, and 39.  I know many of my readers must be tired of my myopic view of Last Days prophecy, since I seem to be most concerned with this one.  But, the current-events evidence seems to be pointing to this as the next fulfilled prophecy, of the magnitude of God's parting of the Red Sea for the crossing of the Chosen People of Israel!

Recently. I was watching the 700 CLUB television show, which I try to do regularly,  since I have a great deal of respect for the wisdom (both Biblically, and secularly) of the founder, and host, Pat Robertson.   He was talking about this prophecy in the context of Turkey's anti-Israeli posture of late, since Turkish President Erdogan has turned the formerly secular state (and N.A.T.O. ally) into an ultra-radical Muslim state.  He mentioned that some Bible scholars consider that the "Gog/Magog" prophecies, of Ezekiel: 38, and 39,  refer to this area of Turkey since the ancient tribe of "Magog" was known to have settled there.

Some basic research, on my part, has revealed that this was true, but that the descendants of this tribe are reputed to have later migrated north, and re-settled in an area of today's southern Russia, just north of present-day Iran.  Also, the leader of this invasion, referred to as "Gog", was identified somewhat as the "chief prince of Meschech, and Tubal".  These could easily refer to the present-day Russian cities of Moscow, and Tobolsk (the Asian "capital" of Russia).

But the most convincing point, as I see it, is the Ezekiel: 38 reference to this invasion as coming out of the "north parts", also translated as the "far north", from Israel's perspective.  The NEW AMERICAN STANDARD Bible even goes so far as to translate this term as, "the uttermost parts of the north", again, of Israel.  A look at the earth's globe will show that the country that is located farthest (or, "uttermost") north of Israel, is Russia (unless one skips the Artic Ocean and continues to Canada, America, and all the way to the southern tip of Argentina, which I don't think God was intending for us to consider).

Turkey will still likely become involved, as the prophecy also lists the tribes of Gomer, and Togarmah;  ancient tribes that also settled in present-day central Turkey. But I believe the ultimate leader of this invasion will be whomever "Gog" is (and Putin seems to be working real hard to convince us all that it's him), and that "Magog" is Russia.


So, all this leads me to believe that my original view of "Magog" as being a reference to Russia is probably correct.  And the fact that Russia's Putin (is he "Gog"???) is massing troops and armaments in Syria today, along with Russia's ally, Iran (a hated enemy of Israel), suggests to me that the Ezekiel prophecy is soon to be fulfilled!!!

With all due respect to Pat Robertson (who caused me to repeat the "sinner's prayer", with him, for my salvation in the Lord), I humbly disagree.  His point of Magog residing in present-day Turkey, is correct, but he apparently didn't consider that their descendants moved northward  to re-settle in present-day Russia.

(Please refer to the "Archives" list, to the right of this column, for more about the Ezekiel prophecy.)

Time To Defund The Leftist Academia

President Trump has stated his overall goal, while in office, is to, "drain the swamp!", of political cronies in Washington; lobbyists who want money for outrageously wasteful programs,  and "deep state" bureaucrats of the Left, who try to scuttle conservative polices within the federal government, and constantly leak government secrets to the leftist media, for their own political agendas, verses those of the President's.   While I certainly support his efforts to "drain the swamp", I, reluctantly, believe more must be done to "make America great again!"

First. "drain the swamp".   That will take time, and will be difficult enough, mostly because of government employee contracts, which are so air-tight as to make it so difficult, and time-consuming, to try to fire incompetent bureaucrats, that most federal agencies simply don't bother (such as the F.B.I., recently, when it became obvious to the public that certain agents were E-mailing back, and forth, their desperate concerns  that Trump must not be elected, and if he is, they must apply their "insurance policy", whatever that was.  Instead of firing them, they simply demoted, and reassigned them, until they decided to resign, on their own.)   What was presumably meant to protect bureaucrats from being fired, simply for political reasons, when the opposing party was elected, has become the tool of the leftist, "deep state" bureaucrats to protect them from legitimately holding them accountable for intentionally trying to undermine the policies of a new administration, which they disagree with.   If these legitimate legal protections are to be honored, it follows that these career bureaucrats must be willing to enact policies of a new administration, even if they personally disagree with them!

Next, we as concerned Americans must hold Congress accountable for the leftist mess that they have encouraged to take over our nation's academia, which, along with the greedy Banking industry, has essentially enslaved our youth, while creating the myth that a college education was absolutely necessary for success in the marketplace, today.   Between making easy student loans available (even for poorly-motivated students) with the surreal expectation that they will lead to high-paying  jobs, sufficient to pay off enslaving debts, upon graduation, and silly curriculum that is meant to entice these poorly-motivated students to their schools, rather than the expectation of a truly advanced education,  Congressional guarantees for defaulted loans has created a system where the object of higher education is to perpetuate high graduation rates, after bloated admissions, and doubtful education standards, rather than the teaching of truly high education values, that will serve the graduates well in the marketplace.   And the banks that make these easy loans, even to questionably  motivated students, don't fear their loan defaults. because they know that the federal government will pay them off, anyway.

Naturally, the left (primarily the Democrats, but also the "Establishment Republicans") wants even more of the same, as they are vocally calling for "Free college tuition", as if this it the solution for the ever-increasing student debt crisis, and the mounting default crisis of the same.  It is an established fact that people who are given something, for free, soon begin to lose value for it, and a free college education will begin to be seen as valueless to poorly motivated students, who will be even less motivated to apply themselves.  Soon we would see the government seem to be paying the tuitions of partying students who graduate with nothing more than an alcohol, or drug dependency.    This call for "Uncle Sugar" to pay for everybody's college tuition accomplishes nothing more than to increase the already staggering, and mind-boggling national debt, while perpetuating the employment of questionable  professors, who have no interest in teaching valuable skills to our youth, but merely entertain them, while they draw what amounts to government-protected salaries.  The disillusioned students, will be taught every leftist dogma, preparing them to protest any non-socialist government, which they will wrongfully blame for their inability to get, and hold a high-paying job!

It's time to stop this vicious cycle of leftist Congressmen throwing more money at a situation that has run amok, due to their throwing too much easy money at it, in the first place!  There are probably too many colleges in America today, and they compete, not on the basis of quality education standards, but on the popularity of their "trendy" curriculum.   Stop all the easy, government-backed loans, and make the schools compete solely upon reputed academic excellence, for students who have demonstrated a capacity to complete high-quality academic studies, and leave the poorly-motivated students to work at less demanding jobs, until they develop a new sense of motivation for excellence, and save enough money to at least begin to pay for their tuition (with the intention of working hard at school, to demonstrate a new-found ability for excellence, that will make any future loans seem to be a safe investment).

Eventually, this will create an academic environment where students work hard to learn valuable skills, from highly competent professors, that will serve them well in the work force, upon graduation.   The colleges who refuse to purge their staffs of all the nonsensical teachers of "trendy" courses, which do not relate to valuable education skills, will slowly see their enrollment dwindle, and eventually close their doors (and good riddance!).  An adjustment period may prevail for a time, but eventually the surviving schools will be profitable, minus the idiots who pose as tenured professors, but really teach garbage, and spend tuition money on irrelevant programs.  Eventually, the bloated tuition rates would begin to decrease, without the bloated staff salaries of worthless professors, and quality colleges would be able to meet their expenses, without creating silly. "trendy" courses.

Perhaps then the Democratic Party would even begin to see  that their Socialist agenda, is nothing more than empty promises, made to a gullible public!  But it won't happen until we all, collectively, WAKE UP!!!

Skirmishes Increase, But The War Has Not Yet Started

Iran and Israel are trading missile and air attack skirmishes across the border between Israel, and Syria, which Iran has been using as a platform for their build-up of invasion-like forces.  I don't think either side is ready for all-out war, just yet.  But, they will test each other's defenses until one, or the other (most likely Iran), feels strong enough to overcome the other's retaliation.  Right now, it's like two Boxers throwing jabs at each other, waiting for the opponent to reveal a weakness, before pouncing upon it!

I suppose the actual start of the war will be when Iran crosses the Israeli border, with a cloud of poison gas leading the way.  They will probably feel they are mounting an insurmountable attack, but they don't expect the Israelis to have gas masks, which Israel has been distributing to the general public, for decades.  It seems they have Bibles, too, and (surprise!!!), they actually believe them, as I do!  The pathetic thing is, the Russians have Bibles too, and apparently refuse to believe that anyone can be stupid enough to believe in a prophecy that was given 2500 years ago!  Well, I am plenty "stupid enough", and proud of it, and before this invasion is over the Russians will know what it is like to mess with the "stupid" Israelis, who just happen to believe in God's help to defeat their enemies!!!The Russians can't plead ignorance, because I have been writing about it for the better part of the last decade, and (as I wrote yesterday) someone in Russia takes unusual note of my blog whenever I write something about it!!!  My "pageview" statistics jump from single digits, to triple digits each time, (200 plus Russian readers last week) which makes me feel it is more of an official notice, as mere popular notice would likely tend to balance out statistically, rather than make large jumps, each way.

The "cloud" is the important signal, here. as it is apparently the major "advantage" the invaders will place their trust in.  And, the fact that the international community has long since "banned" the use of poison gas, in warfare. will embolden Israel to retaliate with their own "banned" weapon, probably neutron nuclear bombs, and artillery shells, which kill large amounts of enemy personnel, while leaving the infrastructure (buildings, tanks, and trucks, etc.) virtually untouched!  This will drive the invaders into panicked retreat, which the Russians will probably try to turn, with the resulting conflict, which the Bible describes as, "every man's sword will be against his brother"!!!  This will decimate the entire force, to the amount of 83, and 1/3rd%!!!  So much for "stupid" Bible believers!!!

Iran's Reaction To America's Withdrawal From The Nuclear Treaty

I wrote in my post for April 30th, a partially sincere apology for my apparently myopic view of international developments.  I apologize for the redundancy of my repetition of the same reference to the Ezekiel prophecy, which, as I believe concerns the soon to be Russian, and Muslim nations' invasion of the Middle-East, beginning with (and, unintentionally, ending with...) their invasion of Israel.  I don't feel that Israel is the main objective of this invasion, but Israel must be neutralized first, as the only real military threat to the invasion's success, before proceeding on to the real objective, the oil fields of Saudi Arabia, and the other Gulf State Emirates.

I understand how boring it must seem to have me spout this seemingly ridiculous theme endlessly, especially to those who find it difficult to believe that a prophecy given some 2500 years ago should be about to be fulfilled today.    But, if I am right, then the urgency of preparing the whole world for this critical event will be evident to all, and I believe the offense of boring my readers will be forgiven, and forgotten.

Eight days ago,  I wrote that I now tend to view all international developments from the perspective of how they might effect this prophetic scenario.  Today, we have President Trump's announcement that he is pulling the U.S. out of the Iran Nuclear treaty, that John Kerry negotiated for the Obama Administration.   Personally, I can find no fault in this decision, as it was reputed to be a bad deal in the first place, and should never have been agreed to.  But, I strongly suspect that the unintended consequences of this action will be to enrage an already insane regime in Iran, which is already  "chomping at the bit" to cross the Syrian border with Israel, where they have been amassing their troops, as if an invasion were imminent.  Iran has been preaching the violent destruction of Israel for decades, and believes they have a "prophetic" mandate to do so.   I guess we will soon know whose prophecy was really given by God, and whose prophecy was false!

I suspect that Russia intends to sit the beginning of this invasion out, believing that Iran, and their other Muslim allies, should be able to defeat any Israeli defense, especially if it is begun with a massive poison gas attack.  They will probably wait to attack the Gulf States after Iran has wiped out Israel, but when Israel turns their invasion into a full-fledged,  panicked retreat, they will try to turn the retreating forces, resulting in what the Bible describes as, "every man's sword (or, modern weapon) will be against his brother (or, comrade in arms)".   This is how God intends to destroy the invasion force, up to 83, and 1/3rd%!!!  Just like the Persians' intent to destroy the Jewish captives was turned against them, in the book of Esther; and the Nazi "final solution" was meant to kill all the European Jews, yet Germany was decimated instead;  God will turn the invader's evil intentions back on themselves!!!  And He will do it in a way that Israel can not be blamed for doing it, though I'm sure their enemies will try, anyway!

As to why my voice seems so lonely, when there are many others who are well-respected Biblical scholars who are not, as yet, calling for this prophecy to be fulfilled soon; the reason seems simple to me.  They all have platforms that must be protected from criticism for outrageous charges, like, "a 2500-year-old prophecy seems about to be fulfilled!"  They are pastors of large churches, or professors at respected universities, and must consider their professional reputations.  I'm sure there are many others who have wondered the same as I , when they have considered the developments in the Middle-East, but they are not yet ready to stake their reputations upon their beliefs.   I have no reputation to be ruined if my guesses about future prophetic fulfillments don't come true.  I can be as outrageous as I choose!  I have very little to lose, and I feel it is worth the risk being called an "Internet Fool", just to get others to investigate my views, to see if there seems to be any truth to it all.  I guess that's what the Bible calls being a, "fool for Christ"!

Perhaps the old World War II ( or was that World War I?) tome of, "Praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition!" would seem appropriate here!

"...For Such A Time As This", Vs, "...A Proper Time And Place"

Even basic amateur students of the Bible will probably immediately recall the words of Mordecai, in the book of Esther, to her (his cousin, whom he raised as his adopted daughter, after her parents died) as she contemplated approaching the Persian King, her husband, whom she had not been called by for 30 days.  She knew the law in Persia was that anyone who approached the King, uncalled-for, was to be put to death, unless the King held out his mitre (or, " golden scepter"), in exception.   She was considering doing so because her people, the Jewish captives (taken by Nebuchadnezzar), were to be massacred by the King's command, which he had pronounced, unknowingly, through the deceptive manipulation of Haman, the King's counselor.

Mordecai could see that Esther was wrestling with her fears of doing so, and he said, as encouragement, the first half of this post's title; that perhaps God had raised her up for this purpose, in order to intercede for the salvation of her people, and herself,  as well.

Today we have the modern-day equivalent of Persia, known as Iran, threatening Israel for a series of attacks on their troop build-up, in Syria, across from the Israeli border.  I'm sure that the I.D.F. (Israeli Defense Force) recognizes the potential of Russia, Iran, and other Muslim forces, to be acting out the prophecy, given to the Prophet Ezekiel, about 2500 years ago, which begins with a  massive invasion of Israel, complete with a "cloud" of poison gas (?) leading the way.  The last half of this post's title was directed to Israel, by Iran, instead of the immediate retaliation that could reasonably be expected.  It is uncharacteristically mild, for Iran to seem so tolerant of their professed enemy, unless they have something bigger in store (like a full-scale invasion?), and they don't want to take their eyes off of their preparations.   This seems to me to indicate Iran's view that their retaliation will be soon forthcoming, and it will be severe enough to account for any apparent delay in their response, now!

I have written previously of my expectation that this prophecy seems to be about to be fulfilled, though it's reference to a time for fulfillment was no more specific than to say it was, "... for the latter days", which only generally referred to the period of time when the Lord was soon to return, to set up His Kingdom of Heaven on Earth!  There may be a separation of several years between the fulfillment of the "Gog/Magog" invasion, of Ezekiel: 38, and 39, and Jesus' actual return.  But, God has no intention of allowing His chosen people to be butchered by these renegade Shiite Muslims, from Iran, any more than He allowed the captive Jews to be slaughtered in ancient Persia.  God turned Haman's conspiracy back upon him, and those who conspired with him, and the Jews were given complete deliverance!  This future deliverance will be even more profound, and the Russian leader who planned it all will suffer a similar "fate" as that of ancient Haman; and be buried in the valley of Israel that will come to be called "the valley of Hamangog".  "Gog" is the name God has given to the Russian leader who dreamed up this invasion scheme, having all the wisdom (or lack, thereof) that Haman displayed before him.  I wonder if Gog is otherwise known as Putin?

UPDATE:  5/7/2018--

Somebody in Russia really is interested in what I think!  And I find this preposterously mind-boggling!!!  I do not pretend to be the equivalent of Billy Graham to the people of Russia, yet someone (and their cohorts) are reading my blog as if it is the only testament against what their leaders seem to be planning, and in particular "Gog" (Putin?)!   I know they have a certain segment of their population that is Christian,  however large, I don't know.  But, I feel safe in guessing that they have the books of Ezekiel (especially chapters 38, and 39), and Esther printed in their Orthodox Bibles, just as they are printed in mine!  So, why do they take such remarkable notice whenever I write something about what I've read in my Bible?  Read it for yourself, for crying out loud!!!  Don't take my word for it, I am no one special.  My great talent is that I can actually READ!  And I actually believe what I have read (whooptee-doo, for me!!!).

So, why all this attention when I write something about the Ezekiel: 38, and 39 prophecy???  Read it for yourself, and try believing it, before it's too late!  I believe God had two purposes in giving us this prophecy:  First, to warn us (and Israel, in particular!) of the coming peril of the "Gog/Magog", Middle-East invasion, and second, to cause those who might otherwise be ignorantly forced into participating in the invasion to repent, before the disaster that God will bring upon them develops.

My reason for writing the above is the perplexing increase in statistics of "pageviews", every time I write something about the Ezekiel prophecy, or about Russia's apparent preparations for fulfilling this 2500-year-old prophetic invasion plan.  After I wrote the above post, and the preceding one, three days earlier, the statistics of pageviews that my server records for me indicated that the interest from Russian sources jumped from around 1 per day, which I had noticed was consistent since the last time I wrote about this perplexing pattern, to around 40, for the April 30th post, and to 104 for the above post!!!  (And an additional twenty-something today!  UPDATE:  5/8/2018)


Like I said, someone is really interested in my opinion about what I read in my Bible!!!  But, if it were 104 average citizens in Russia, I think by now they would have found a Bible for themselves, and checked out what I said, to see if there was any credibility to my opinions!  The only thing I can guess is that one official at the Kremlin is reading my blog regularly, and notifying 103 other Kremlin "intelligence"(?) officials, when I write something that may come close to what they are actually planning for their Middle-East invasion. 

Hey guys!  Catch a clue!!!  It ain't me, it's God that knows all about your plans.  And, you can read it for yourselves in the Bible, if your communist-atheist arrogance could ever bring you to the point of humility to actually read it for yourselves.  It might even cause some of you to realize that your plans will fail miserably, with 83, and 1/3rd% of your invasion force set to be slaughtered!  But, if you insist upon carrying out this doomed plan, you can read about the consequences, too!  There is little hope for your leader, "Gog" (Putin?), because once a man becomes so arrogant that he believes he can resist God, as Pharaoh did, even after Moses warned him, no amount of reasoning seems to stop him!!!  But, there is still time for the average Russian soldier (and even the average Muslim soldier/terrorist) to repent and refuse to participate in this suicidal invasion scheme!  Even a Russian prison would seem better than being forced into this stupid scheme!!!