With so much going on in the world today, even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, many significant events are converging that concern soon-to-be-fulfilled Bible prophecy and the end of the age. Israel rarely shows up in Western media but events that have been incubating for years (decades even) are rapidly evolving into a dangerous endgame, not just for Israel but for the world.
The biblical prophet Ezekiel foretold of a last days invasion of Israel by specific enemies wherein the attack would be so swift and colossal that God Himself would protect her by supernatural means--a firestorm, torrential hail, earthquakes, et al (Ezekiel 38-39). Many believe God to be getting humanity's attention via global current events. However, when Ezekiel's prophecy unfolds, He will have our attention indeed, for "all who are on the earth shall shake at His presence" (Ezekiel 38:20).
I have written an up-to-date detailed analysis of the geopolitical and biblical historical context involving the coming world-changing event (see link below). I do not employ the pop-culture practice of "newspaper exegesis" or "headline news theology" that attempts to interpret Scripture via the lens of world events. Rather, I seek to prayerfully interpret world events via the lens of Scripture.
The report is some 30 pages, so for anyone desiring to skip some of the historical and modern geopolitical backstory of nations, I would suggest beginning on page 9 with the subheading "The Sum of All Fears." Godspeed!
>>>Read/Download here: Distant Thunder: The Imminent Invasion of Israel
[UPDATE 2021]
Since spring/summer 2020 there have been numerous developments, specifically concerning topics addressed in the “Distant Thunder” report. The nations of Russia, Turkey, and Iran are growing more hostile toward Israel, though Russian aggression is more subtle and political (for now) per numerous extant alliances and treaties with Turkey and Iran.
Persian Aggression & Nuclear Ambition
Highly notable is that Iran has now crossed a “red line” set by Israel’s
Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu in 2012. Speaking at the United
Nations, Netanyahu warned that if Iran crossed a specific and dangerous
threshold in their nuclear weapons development, Israel would be forced
to take military action. In January 2021, Iran announced it is enriching
uranium to 20% (crossing the “red line”). Yet according to US
Ambassador Dennis Ross, Iran has produced 12 times more highly enriched
uranium than legally permitted by the International Atomic Energy
Agency, which makes building a nuclear weapon possible within two or
three months! Israel is not likely to announce an attack (note their
surprise strikes against Iraqi and Syrian nuclear reactors in 1981 and
2007). In June and July 2020 a series of “mysterious” explosions, power
outages, and possible cyber attacks rocked major Iranian nuclear
facilities and military sites, crippling Iran’s nuclear program. But in
reference to current Iranian bluster, for how long? Iran has kept quiet
concerning how much damage was done. The Israelis and/or the Americans
were suspected of the 2020 series of strikes, but both have denied
involvement.
Iran has also been hit hard by sanctions that have frozen billions of
dollars that would undoubtedly be funneled into global terrorism
campaigns and weapons development. In 2018 US President Donald J. Trump
rightly scrapped the farcical 2015 Nuclear Deal with Iran, but with a
radically new US president taking office in 2021, Iran is now seeking a
resurgence of the deal and a lifting of those sanctions. Israel and its
growing coalition of allies are pressuring the US Biden regime to
refrain from aiding Iran and neglecting Israel, as the former Obama
regime had done. This development is more serious and urgent than most
people realize, particularly concerning the prophetic root that has
sprouted and is beginning to bloom (Ezekiel 38).
The Israeli Elections and the COVID Crisis
Israel’s political climate has been in disastrous flux for the past four
years; in March 2021, Israelis held elections for the fourth time
in two years! Prime Minister Netanyahu has been a popular conservative
mainstay for the past decade but the political landscape has changed
massively in just the past few years. In December 2020 Israel failed to
pass a budget, and a seven-month-long contentious coalition between
Netanyahu and Benny Gantz came to an end. With Netanyahu weakened
politically by corruption indictments and a looming trial, his Likud
party ifractured and he faced leadership challenges even from
within his own conservative wing, notably from Gideon Sa’ar who
recently left Likud to challenge Netanyahu. Sa’ar is even more
conservative than Netanyahu and is gaining a significant following with
his freshly minted New Hope party.
However, in June 2021 it was another former Netanyahu associate and
fellow conservative, Naftali Bennett (allied with now Foreign Minister
Yair Lapid), who won the Knesset as Prime Minister, ousting Netanyahu’s
government and avoiding a fifth round of elections. Most Israelis and
Evangelical Christians are sad to see Netanyahu go, but they recognize a
season of change is necessary as Israel faces many new challenges in a
fast-changing, post-pandemic, and increasingly politicized
culture–nationally and globally. Many are deeply appreciative of
Netanyahu’s solid legacy (particularly concerning Israel’s national
security and desire for genuine peace with her Arab neighbors) and the
new PM Bennett will indeed build upon that legacy, for he fully supports
the Abraham Accords and is just as conservative–even as hawkish–as
Benyamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu struggled to campaign for reelection as he also
strived to lead Israel through and out of the COVID pandemic. However,
with three full lockdowns since May 2020 and with the last two lockdowns
(in September 2020 and January 2021) doing more harm than good on many
fronts, Israeli citizens are turning on their governing leadership--a situation that Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid will be pressured to diffuse. Many
doctors and private sector leaders have even proclaimed the lockdowns
as hazardously unnecessary since the results have actually seen an
increase in COVID-19 cases; an unprecedented economic crisis; rising
frustration and declining mental health in the populace; and unraveling
political stability. Iran/Hezbollah, Turkey, Russia, Hamas, ISIS, and
any other surrounding enemies of Israel are smelling blood in the water.
And a weaker US Administration that is less likely to come to Israel’s
aid may prove to be an opportunity for those enemies as they conspire
toward a possible window to attack the Jewish State; for example, the recent Gaza conflict and its far-reaching agitation of anti-Semitic insanity. Even an Israeli
strike on Iran or on a key target in Syria may be the catalyst toward
the same.
Since the Syrian Civil War began in 2011, and in an effort to prevent
Iran from gaining a more established presence in Syria, Israel has
launched airstrikes against thousands of Iranian targets (long-range missiles), and hundreds
in just the past two years! Curiously, Iran has not directly
retaliated. With Syria now being a failed Arab state, Iran and Turkey
are attempting to claim territory, although they are mostly kept at bay
by their Russian overlord who unites them and who also holds the
greatest territorial claim.
From Russia Without Love
Of course, with Russia (Gog/Magog) being the de facto overlord of the
region, both Turkey and Iran and its proxy militias will not act without
the Russian Bear’s consent and/or directive (Ezekiel 38). For now it is
all geopolitical smoke and mirrors, personal smiles and handshakes…
until “God’s hooks in Gog’s jaw” draws him and his army (Magog/Turkey)
out from the far north (Russia) to come up against Israel like a storm
(Ezekiel 38:3-16).
As I detail in the “Distant Thunder” report, Russia
has been establishing a presence in Syria (immediately north of Israel)
since 2006, and is now well-entrenched throughout the region–a naval
presence on the Mediterranean, command of Syrian ports, command of
Syrian airspace via multiple airfields, and dominance of the Syrian
frontier via armed ground bases and patrols. Moreover, the list of
Israel’s enemies in Ezekiel 38:3-6 are each contemporary Middle and Near
Eastern client states of modern Russia. In tandem with the major
players already mentioned, other enemies include Libya, Tunisia,
Algeria, Ethiopia, and part of Sudan; of course those countries may
simply be represented by the varied radical Muslim expats who comprise
the surrounding militias of Hezbollah, Hamas, Fatah, ISIS, and al Qaeda.
The Abraham Accords
Astounding the world in summer/autumn of 2020 and continuing its
progress into the foreseeable future are the Abraham Accords brokered by
the US Donald J. Trump Administration, Israel, and a growing alliance
of moderately Islamic Arab nations. The only Arab allies to hold formal
peace treaties with Israel prior to this unprecedented event are Egypt
(1979) and Jordan (1994). The decades of stymied “peace processes”
between Israel and her Arab neighbors have been due to a narrow view of
how peace should be defined, who should represent the Arab perspective,
and a few overzealous US presidents looking for a political legacy. This
senseless obstacle was overcome by Israel and America simply refusing
to negotiate with the terrorist-backed Palestinian Authority that
refused (by its own Charter) to even recognize Israel as a legitimate
nation. Instead, Israel and the US Trump Administration invited other
Arab nations to the table that were willing to work together toward a
stable Middle and Near East. Thus, the Abraham Accords were born, named
in reference to Abraham, the father of both Jews and Arabs.
Presently, the Arab nations officially joining with Israel in this peace
accord are Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan
proper, and Morocco. Others formally moving toward the same are Oman,
Indonesia, Mauritania, and Saudi Arabia (a very strategic partner!).
Deeper diplomatic ties are also coming to fruition between Israel and
various moderate Islamic states such as Kosovo, Serbia, and Bosnia. A
recent template of constructive Arab unity manifested as Operation
Decisive Storm in 2015, a coalition of moderately Islamic states that
formed in opposition to Iran attempting to take control of both Yemen
and the Bab al-Mandeb strait via Iranian backed (tribal) Houthis. While
successful in thwarting Iran’s designs, the conflict continues.
Islamic Reformation?
A primary reason (and need) for these agreements is modernization and mutual goodwill
in a rapidly growing and shrinking world. A secondary reason is mutual
protection against barbaric terrorism of any sort, as such seeks only to
destroy, divide, and dominate. Notably, Islam has been undergoing an
internal “reformation” since 9/11. Muslim leaders from imams to scholars
are beginning to openly and honestly revisit the Koran’s jihadic
contexts along with the blatantly hypocritical, vile, and brutally
violent nature of Islam’s founder, Muhammad. Much discussion and debate
continues about the very heart of Islamic meaning and its place in the
world, particularly in relation to other non-Muslim regions, religions,
and nations in our modern era which is vastly alien to Muhammad’s
medieval cultural context.
This “reformation” within the Islamic world has surely sharpened the
divide between the moderate and radical Muslims, including the
longstanding division between the Sunni and Shi’ite sects. Yet there is
hope. Many Arab nations are friendly toward the West and have chosen the
path of a peaceful moderate Islam coupled with modernization,
which makes possible a positive participation in global affairs and
healthy relationships with other national states and entities. The
alternative is a backward and oppressive form of Koranic government
(rigid Sharia law) that suppresses personal freedoms and breeds a brutal
and radicalized martial religion that seeks world dominance devoid of
goodwill, innovation, or anything of use to the world overall. Adherents
to moderate forms of Islam are becoming more outspoken toward the
extremists, demanding they wake up and join the 21st century!
Shadows of the Future
So how might the Abraham Accords foreshadow end-time events? Remarkably,
the Arab nations that have joined in peace with Israel (and those
expressing interest in the same) are condemning all radical forms of Islamic terrorism, and are not on the list of enemies found in Ezekiel 38. And those nations that are
listed as enemies of Israel in Ezekiel 38 are presently bound to each
other by their anti-Semitic speech and violence, their ties to Russia
(Gog), and their desire for a world under totalitarian Islamic rule.
It is these radical Muslim enemies that will be supernaturally destroyed
when they launch an unexpected invasion of Israel in the near future.
When the smoke clears, those nations of the Abraham Accords will be left
intact and will be the foundational confederation of nations that the
rising Antichrist will use to mediate his false covenant with Israel
(Amos 3:7; Daniel 9:27; Revelation 6:1-4).
*See All Israel News & All Arab News for expanded reference.
