Category: Current events

On August 2, after warning Turkey’s Islamist President Recep Erdogan that he would do so, U.S. President Trump imposed sanctions upon Turkey. President Trump has been calling for the release of an American pastor, Andrew Brunson, who was arrested and imprisoned in Turkey in October, 2016 on false charges that he was involved in terrorist activity. For more than a decade, Erdogan has been aggressively and steadily leading Turkey into the radical Islamic fold in the Middle East. While Turkey is still a part of NATO, it has been alarming that no other country in NATO has had the courage to step up and condemn Turkey for its radical Islamic actions in the last decade.

Many who follow the events in the Middle East and know the prophetic Scriptures have been warning us that it appears Erdogan is helping to set the stage for the future political empire of the Antichrist. The Turkish monetary system, the liyra, has already lost 25 percent of its value this year. Therefore, the economic sanctions imposed upon Turkey will have serious consequences for the citizens of Turkey. Following these events in Turkey in the last few years brings back memories of the historical events that led up to the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany. Are we witnessing significant events that are setting the stage for the entrance of the Antichrist onto the stage of history? Only time will tell!

Turkey is in the process of cooperating with Russia, and Iran in Syria on Israel’s northern border. According to Ezekiel 38, these nations and other radical Islamic groups will invade Israel to capture the wealth in Israel in the last days. As these events unfold, the believer should be listening for the shout that will take us out.

Please pray for the release of Pastor Andrew Brunson from house arrest in Turkey.

For more information, please see Joel Rosenberg’s blog: https://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/

Recently 232 Jews from North America immigrated to their ancient homeland – Israel. There are more Jewish people living in Israel than any other nation. That mark was just reached a few months ago. Since the beginning of the 20^th century the world has watched a miracle in the making. According to many biblical prophecies, the Jewish people are doing what no other people group has ever done – go back home and help rebuild a nation that was dead. In both of Mike’s August Bible studies he will speak about this amazing miracle. His message is entitled: “The Miraculous Return of the Jewish People to Israel.”

Israel is now officially recognized within Israel as ‘a Jewish state.’ The “Israel’s Knesset, by a vote of 62-55 with two abstentions, passed the contentious ‘Jewish Nation-State’ bill into law Thursday morning, July 19, making it the 14th Basic Law. ‘122 years after Herzl published his vision, we have stated by law the basic principle of our existence,’ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said from the Knesset podium. Arab [representatives] denounced the new law as ‘racist’ and declared that it heralded the ‘death of our democracy.’ The law declares Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people and codifies Jewish symbols of the state, including the Menorah on various official documents and seals, the status of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and national holidays centered around Jewish traditions and customs.” (int.icej.org) This means that the political process in Israel is finally recognizing what God declared in the Bible thousands of years ago.

The recent escalation between Israel, Russia and Iran in Syria is raising questions in Israel concerning ancient Biblical prophecies. According to the prophet Ezekiel (chapters 38-39), Russia, Iran, Turkey and other Islamic nations will invade Israel on its northern border in the last days. (Ezekiel 39:2; Joel 2:20) Ezekiel stated that God will cause certain conditions to develop that will provoke this invasion: “And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth…” (Ezekiel 38:4) What will be the nature of this divine provocation?
All of Israel is talking about the developments on their northern border. Those who know these Biblical prophecies are wondering, as I am, are we witnessing the provocation that will start this war? In the last few months, Israel has been attacking Iranian positions in Syria to stop the flow of dangerous military equipment to their proxy army, Hezbollah, in Lebanon. However, in the last few days, this has escalated. A few days ago, Iran sent a military drone (unmanned aircraft) into Israeli territory. Israel considers Iran to be an enemy that has openly sworn that it will destroy the Jewish state. Therefore, Israel retaliated. The Israeli Air Force flew into Syria and bombed the location that was the command center for the military drone that infiltrated Israeli air space. In the process, the Russian-made air defense system in Syria successfully damaged an Israeli F-16, forcing it to crash in Israeli territory. Thankfully, both pilots ejected themselves from the aircraft and safely landed, with some injuries, inside of Israel. This marked the first time since 1982 that Israel has lost an aircraft. Consequently, Israel once again sent a squadron of fighter jets into Syrian territory, destroying 12 major Syrian military installations. One of the installations that Israel destroyed was a major military command center. Syria, Iran, and Russia were shocked because they all thought this was a secret facility that Israel did not know existed.
Many Islamic enemies of Israel, in Iran, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinians, etc. danced in the streets when they heard that Israel had lost an F-16 in its confrontation in Syria. They saw this as a major military victory over Israel. One needs to understand that in the past, it has been this kind of scenario that has provoked a dangerous escalation of war with Israel. Many of the enemies of Israel view the downing of this F-16 as an indication that Israel is not invincible and that the time has come when they need to take advantage of this perceived moment of Israeli military weakness.
About a week before these developments, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a special trip, along with some of Israel’s military commanders, to talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Russian military leaders about the developments in Syria along Israel’s northern border. The Israelis made it clear that they did not want to harm Russian military personnel deployed in Syria. However, Netanyahu boldly communicated to Putin that Israel would not be deterred from destroying any Iranian effort to develop a military presence in Syria, or transfer missiles to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Given the blind hatred that Iran has for Israel and its determination to destroy the Jewish homeland, there is no question that all of this is about to escalate. What will happen if Iran continues to provoke Israel? What would happen if Israel were to accidentally kill some Russia military personnel in one of its defensive responses to another Iranian provocation? Will Iran give Hezbollah the green light to begin a war against Israel?
Without question, in light of the prophetic Scriptures, these developments certainly indicate that the war that Ezekiel wrote about is just over the horizon. Many rabbis in Israel are alerting the nation that these developments are heralding the coming of their long-awaited messiah. One rabbi said: “It is not a matter of whether or not the War of Gog and Magog is coming. It is a matter of time and at this point, we are counting the days.”
(www.breakingisraelnews.com)
I personally believe that the battle of Gog and Magog will happen before the Rapture. If this is a true assessment, we are very close to the Rapture. Get ready to fly! It appears we are going home soon.