Read the first part on the Prophetic Storm here.
Paul Berman, author and contributer to “The New Republic” wrote some ominous observations about what is taking shape with Russia and the West. Here’s one of those observations:
3) The nature of the Iranian regime requires Europe as a whole to press Iran to forebear from developing nuclear arms; and a primary way of doing so is to press Russia to refrain from offering a commercially profitable helping hand, and to press Russia to refrain from sending additional weaponry to Iran. The sudden and vast increase in the power of the pro-Russia parties across a large swath of Europe will make it harder for Europe to do anything of the sort. So the Iranians, too, or at least the Ahmadinejad faction, emerge from the invasion a little stronger. Already the Iranians have benefitted in Iraq, given the withdrawal of 2,000 gung-ho Georgian troops. The setback to the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon is likewise an Iranian triumph.
Iran’s successes will surely weigh on the debate within Israeli political and military circles, and not in favor of patience and conciliation. The events of August 2008 make Israel look more vulnerable, instead of less. The Israeli argument for relying on European solidarity against Iran, and the Israeli argument for looking to the United States to prevent rash acts by the inveterately hostile, will look weaker. The argument among the Israeli political and military circles in favor of launching a desperate pre-emptive attack on Iran, or in favor of renewing the war in Lebanon, will end up looking stronger.
The potential of new and catastrophic wars in the Middle East has therefore grown.
The significance of this is frightening.
As detailed a bit more closely in the first post on the Prophetic Storm, Ezekiel 38-39 speaks of a nation called “Gog” which invades Israel in the last days. By the way, this invasion occurs after Israel had been regathered from the nations, and after the land of Israel had been desolate for many years.
The moment in world history that fits the description exactly, is now. Israel was scattered as a nation throughout the world for 1800+ years and during those centuries, the land of Palestine was a desolate place. Since they became a nation, Israel has been reclaiming the land through good agricultural practices and has become quite a tourist place. Thus the description fits:
Speaking to the nation called “Gog,” the Lord says: “After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety.” -Ezekiel 38:8
I would only wonder about “all of them live in safety.” They do overall, I suppose, especially in Israel proper. At any rate, world events are moving.
“Gog” is described as the “chief prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal.” As mentioned before, the descendants of those people live primarily in Russia and Georgia. Yeah. Georgia. Which means if I had looked closely a month ago, I might have predicted a future Russian oppression of Georgia. Another instance where Bible prophecy keeps in lock step with current events.
Ezekiel claims “Gog” (today primarily Russia and Georgia) would get dragged into a conflict in the Middle East, conceive an evil plan to invade Israel and attempt it. The nations going with “Gog” (Persia, Put, Cush, Gomer, Beth Togarmah) are all either connected with people who settled in Russia or the Caucasus’s (Urkraine and Geogia), or connected with people known today for Islamic extremism -especially Persia which is today’s Iran. Not only is Russia allied with these today, but the events in Georgia have made it more likely that Israel may attempt a strike against the nuclear program in Iran. Suddenly, the thought of the conflict in Georgia widening to include the nations listed in Ezekiel is not at all far-fetched. It could happen.
Another excerpt from Berman (I put a few more things in bold):
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Today, any time some large group of people behaves in a way that defies a logical calculation of potential gains and losses, the people in question are said to be reacting to “humiliation,” or what used to be called “ressentiment.” Humiliation, though, taken as a political experience, exists only where it has been ideologically constructed, and not otherwise. Germany, having been defeated in World War I, was afterwards said to be undergoing “humiliation”; and yet, after World War II, having been defeated ten times more cruelly, Germany was no longer said to be “humiliated.” That was because the German political doctrines promoting a feeling of “humiliation” disappeared after World War II. It was the doctrines, not the experience of misfortune, that had created “humiliation.”
Russia, having been defeated in the Cold War, is said to be undergoing “humiliation.” But I think mostly the Russian leaders feel something worse, which is fear. The Russian leaders picture their country in a terrifyingly vulnerable position, not unlike how Israel sees itself. Fear, not “humiliation,” led Russia to invade Georgia–a fear of utter destruction facing their own country. Russian diplomats have expressed this fear openly during the last few months. I have heard them to do it–speaking aloud, with hot conviction, about an “existential danger” to Russia, posed by Georgia.
And yet, their fear is entirely doctrinal–which is to say, imaginary. Russia’s situation is not, in fact, like Israel’s. No foreign power since the end of the Cold War has entertained a plan of attacking Russia or destroying Russia’s power and wealth. The Russian fear rests merely on a somewhat paranoid interpretation of world events. Fears based on paranoid interpretations cannot be assuaged. A tacit agreement by the rest of the world to allow Russia to conquer the breakaway regions of Georgia and to install a puppet regime in Tbilisi, and to do likewise in Ukraine, and so forth, will not make the Russian leaders feel any less threatened.
Why do the Russians indulge such an interpretation?
Why do they indeed. Perhaps because of this:
I will turn you around and drag you along. I will bring you from the far north and send you against the mountains of Israel. -Ezekiel 39:2
But I hope not. I’d prefer to see the NFL season conclude. Nevertheless, we shall see.
