(Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a treaty on the country’s strategic partnership with North Korea which includes a mutual defence provision, according to a decree published on Saturday.
The accord, signed by Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June after a summit in Pyongyang, calls on each side to come to the other’s aid in case of an armed attack.
Russia’s upper house ratified the treaty this week, while the lower house endorsed it last month. Putin signed a decree on that ratification that appeared on Saturday on a government website outlining legislative procedures.
The treaty galvanises closer ties between Moscow and Pyongyang since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Reports from South Korea and Western countries say North Korea has supplied Russia with weaponry. Ukrainian forensic experts say they have found traces of the weapons at sites of Russian attacks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday that North Korea has sent 11,000 troops to Russia and some of them suffered casualties in combat with Kyiv’s forces Russia’s southern Kursk region.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
The UN is not going to countenance Russia bringing Korea into its war with Ukraine so it will be interesting to see their response. It will also be interesting to see what Trump will do now. He has been very outspoken about being able to end Russia’s war with Ukraine.
With escalating hostility in the Middle East with Israel and Iran, and now North Korea involved in the Russian war with Ukraine it fits with Biblical end times prophecy of “wars and rumours of wars”.
Since October 7, the war between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas has steadily caused ruin and demise — even beyond the Middle East.
The trauma Hamas inflicted upon the Israeli people during the initial attack including the “massacred” neighborhoods, the burning of houses and people, and loved ones ripped away by “a murderous regime.” means Israel has no option but to proceed with the war until Hamas is eliminated no matter how long it takes and the cost, economic and political. Sadly, we are already seeing any goodwill Israel had in the International Community being eroded. It is hard to comprehend the size of marches for the Palestinians and the vehement antisemitism being expressed in most Western Countries. It is not only Muslims marching but many young Westerners.
What about the media? In Australia, journalists signed a group letter in 2021 demanding that journalists be allowed to be activists for Palestinians against their Israeli oppressors – and it has flowered since the October 7 massacre by Hamas terrorists.
Despite what horror Hamas inflicted on women and children, within days, even hours, there were petitions circulating and group letters, signed by journalists, that branded Israel a colonialist apartheid state and excused the October 7 horrors by providing “context” or simply ignoring them. All subsequent petitions, group letters, and statements from every conceivable and inconceivable group, such as Queers for Palestine, have followed the formula of these initial letters and petitions.
The latest one, signed by 300 journalists and approved by the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, the journalists union, is in many ways just a rehash of all the letters and petitions that preceded it. It is confirmation of the fact the contagion is real: a significant number of journalists see themselves as warriors for a cause, the cause of the oppressed Palestinian people, occupied for 75 years by a racist white supremacist state that is perpetrating genocide in Gaza. What this means, in effect, is a call for reporting that is not open and fact-based at all but based on the simplistic and distorted view of Israelis and their Jewish fellow travellers as ruthless and heartless oppressors of the powerless and victimised Palestinian people.
When you consider the amount of land Israel occupies compared to the Muslim countries that surround it you realize that what the Bible tells us, that it is not about the land, it is a spiritual war that is raging, and as prophesied, the only way it will end is when Jesus returns to defeat all the nations against Israel at the battle of Armageddon.
“Behold, a day is coming for the Lord… I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle… Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one-half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward.” Zechariah 14:1-4
“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness, he judges and makes war… And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh He has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.” Revelation 19:11,14-16
“Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.” And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.”Revelation 19:18-21
The Biden administration stopped shipments to China of more advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips designed by Nvidia and others, part of a raft of measures that seek to stop Beijing from receiving cutting-edge U.S. technologies to strengthen its military.
Taiwan dominates the foundry market, or the outsourcing of semiconductor manufacturing (50%+).
Much of that dominance comes down to TSMC, the world’s largest foundry that counts major technology firms such as Apple, Qualcomm, and Nvidia as its clients.
Semiconductor designers and manufacturers are on a quest to make chips smaller and better. Currently, TSMC and its South Korean rival Samsung are the only foundries capable of manufacturing the most advanced 5-nanometer chips. China does not have a company capable of manufacturing these leading-edge semiconductors. They rely on just three companies — Intel from the U.S., TSMC from Taiwan, and Samsung in South Korea.
In order for China to maintain its dominant position in manufacturing it needs to maintain a reliable supply of leading-edge semiconductor chips and the easiest way to do that would be to take control of Taiwan which it already considers part of China.
China is still significantly behind Taiwan in GDP per head of population as is the situation with Hong Kong. Taking over Taiwan can only improve the economics of China.
Jesus told us that in the end times prior to His return, there would be wars and rumours of wars.
“And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” Matthew 24:6-8
We also know from this Scripture that kings from the East take part in the Battle of Armageddon against Jesus and the glorified Saints.
“The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.” Revelation 16:12-14
Back to wars and rumours of wars: we are seeing this playing out in the Middle East, Russia, and Ukraine, and soon with China and Taiwan. When China moves on Taiwan what will the U.S.A and Russia do? In a recent War Game, Russia and China destroyed a “hostile submarine” in the “Sea of Japan.”
MOSCOW, Oct 15 (Reuters) – Russia and China held joint naval drills in the Sea of Japan on Friday and practised how to operate together and destroy floating enemy mines with artillery fire, the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.
The war games are part of naval cooperation drills between the two countries which run from Oct. 14-17 and involve warships and support vessels from Russia’s Pacific Fleet, including mine-sweepers and a submarine.
Time is short, what is God calling you to do at this time? For a Christian, it is an exciting time to be born. Next on God’s agenda is Jesus’ Millennial Kingdom.
The Israel Air Force and the United States Air Force held the largest joint aerial exercise in years, simulating strikes against Iran’s nuclear program and mid-flight refueling.
The two-day drill took place over the Mediterranean Sea and Israel. Fighter jets from both countries simulated long-range flights and striking distant targets, increasing readiness for combat scenarios with Iran.
The Israel Defense Forces and the American military’s Central Command have conducted several joint drills over recent years.
Two Israeli and one American F-16 fighter jets fly alongside one another during a joint exercise in southern Israel in January 2022.
(Israel Defense Forces) In July of 2022, President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Yair Lapid signed a Joint Declaration on the U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership – also known as the Jerusalem Declaration.
The declaration stresses the U.S. commitment “never to allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon, and that it is prepared to use all elements of its national power to ensure that outcome.”
The joint drill was the subject of meetings in Washington last week between IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi and U.S. officials, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, and CENTCOM Commander Gen. Michael Kurilla.
While there, Kochavi was awarded the Legion of Merit by the U.S. Armed Forces in recognition of his achievements in “establishing Israel’s position as a leader of groundbreaking operational capabilities in the Middle East,” and strengthening the Israeli-American strategic alliance, a statement from the military said.
Kochavi was also recognized for stewarding the U.S.-Israeli military-to-military relationship through a transition period, as U.S. European Command handed over its geographic combatant command responsibility for Israel to U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations and regional cooperation in the Middle East.
Some NIS 3.5 billion ($1 billion) has been earmarked from the IDF’s NIS 58 billion ($17 billion) defense budget for the next year military activity relating to combating Iran.
Outgoing Defense Minister Benny Gantz earlier this month warned Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu to think “very carefully” before striking Iran.
“Israel has the ability to act in Iran. We have the readiness, development capabilities, and long-term plans we are managing. We need to prepare for this possibility, and we will also need to consider this issue very carefully before carrying it out,” he said.
God has warned us of exactly what will unfold in the end times that precede Jesus’ return to restore righteousness to His world so we should not be taken by surprise God is in control.
“And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.” Mark 13:7-8
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and President Ibrahim Raisi, in late July seeking a ‘green light’ to re-invade northern Syria.
The US, Iran, and Russia all agree that any Turkish aggression in northern Syria would enable a revival of the Islamic State. Frustrated but not deterred, Erdogan vowed to carry out the invasion anyway, saying he doesn’t need anyone’s permission to advance Turkey’s interests. Analysts suspect Turkey is preparing to invade the Kurds, Assyrian and Armenian Christians, and the Syrian Arab Army is preparing for that eventuality.
In the northwest, Aleppo would be gravely imperiled. In the northeast, Christians across the entire Jazira region (the largest and most populous part of Hasakah Governorate) would be imperiled. After 10 years of war against the US-backed Sunni Axis, Islamic State, the Turkish state, and its jihadist proxies, a remnant of Christians remains in the north. Determined to maintain the Christian presence there, they desperately do not want to be erased from the map. However, as Nabil Warda of the Khabour Guards warns: “The Turkish occupation threatens the existence of the Assyrian people.” The Christians will resist to their last breath. Please pray it does not come to that.
Vladimir Putin has warned Russia would be prepared to use its nuclear arsenal to defend its territory as he dramatically escalated his war with Ukraine, mobilising 300,000 reservists to join the fight in response to the country’s humiliating battlefield defeats.
The Russian President declared in a national address on Wednesday that his country would use “all available means at our disposal” to protect itself against a Western plot to “destroy” it, as the Kremlin moved to annex occupied territories in Ukraine’s Donbas region. Beijing – which this year established a “no limits” partnership with Moscow – responded by calling for a ceasefire and peace talks.
“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” Matthew 24:6-8
“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” Matthew 24:6-9
The following headline is taken from The Australian May 1st, 2022, one of our leading conservative newspapers in Australia
It’s a whole new war … and one Putin can’t win
The West has moved from supporting Ukraine to actively seeking the total defeat of Russia.
Welcome to the new cold war. That is the blunt message from Washington to Vladimir Putin this week as the fighting in Ukraine increasingly threatens to spread beyond its borders.
After more than two months of the war, the Biden administration this week recast its ambitions for Ukraine well beyond its initial aim of trying from a distance to help Kyiv repel the Russian invaders.
An increasingly confident US is now framing the conflict as a generational battle to weaken Putin’s Russia and stop Moscow from any future military adventurism.
“We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things it has done in invading Ukraine,” said the usually cautiously spoken US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.
“It has already lost a lot of military capability, and a lot of its troops. And we want to see them not have the capability to very quickly reproduce that capability.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shakes hands with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a meeting that also included US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin on April 24 in Kyiv.
This was no thought bubble. Austin’s comments were backed by other senior administration figures, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken who, along with Austin, visited Kyiv this week.
“We don’t know how the rest of this war will unfold, but we do know that a sovereign, independent Ukraine will be around for a lot longer than Vladimir Putin is on the scene,” Blinken declared.
During their visit to Kyiv, Blinken and Austin announced an additional $US713m in financing to pay for weapons for Ukraine and allied countries. In a sign of Biden’s determination on Ukraine, his administration this week unveiled a massive $US33bn request to Congress for a new round of aid – an eye-watering amount that is equivalent to about half the size of Russia’s defence budget.
This new and more assertive posture by Washington has been strongly backed by other Western allies but it also carries with it a greater risk that the war in Ukraine could eventually spread beyond its borders.
Biden and European leaders have been buoyed by what they see as a sniff of an unlikely victory in the Ukraine conflict or at least the avoidance of the catastrophic defeat that was once feared.
More than $US5 billion in Western arms has now been committed to Ukraine including new American battlefield aerial drones, modern US and Canadian artillery, antitank weapons from Norway and others, armoured vehicles, anti-ship missiles from Britain and Stinger counter-air missiles from the US, Denmark and others.
Austin said he wanted America’s allies to have “a common and transparent understanding of Ukraine’s near-term security requirements because we are going to keep moving heaven and earth so that we can meet them”.
What’s more, both Britain and the US have willingly provoked Moscow by expressing open support for Ukraine using Western-supplied weapons to strike Russian territory. Ukrainian forces are suspected of having caused a series of explosions in southern Russia and a fire at an ammunition depot this week.
British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace this week claimed that 15,000 Russians have been killed, 2000 armoured vehicles destroyed, and 60 helicopters and jet fighters downed in the fighting so far. That casualty toll, if accurate, is more than double what the US lost during 20 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.
Wallace also said Russia’s massive invasion army of 120 battalions had suffered a staggering 25 per cent loss in combat strength.
Jesus said this is but the beginning of birth pains but we know that birth pains intensify and this is what we will see as we approach the prophesied last seven years prior to Jesus’ return to this earth to establish His Millennial Kingdom.
Following on my post on February 13th, US President Joe Biden believes Russian leader Vladimir Putin has decided to invade Ukraine and that the attack could begin “in the coming days.”
“As of this moment, I’m convinced he’s made the decision. We have reason to believe that,” Mr Biden said, adding that Washington has “significant intelligence capability” to back the claim.
“We believe they will target Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, a city of 2.8 million innocent people,” he said of Russian forces.
This Maxar satellite released on February 18 shows a view of Su-25 ground attack aircraft at Luninets Air Base in Belarus, about 50kms north of the Ukrainian border.
But with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken scheduled to speak with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday, Mr Biden said there was still time for negotiations to defuse the crisis.
“Diplomacy is always a possibility,” he told a press conference overnight.
Mr Biden said Moscow was conducting a disinformation campaign, including accusing Kyiv of planning its own attack in order to create a pretext for a Russian invasion.
“There is simply no evidence to these assertions and it defies basic logic to believe the Ukrainians would choose this moment, with well over 150,000 (Russian) troops arrayed on its borders, to escalate a years-long conflict,” Mr Biden said.
“All these are consistent with the playbook the Russians have used before to set up a false justification to act against Ukraine,” Mr Biden said at the White House.
The Australian Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg aims Ukraine war salvo at Russians at G20 meeting
The US President’s latest warning comes after Australia and Russia clashed behind closed doors at a G20 finance ministers meeting in Jakarta, with Josh Frydenberg warning Russia that an invasion of Ukraine would deliver not only a human disaster but a devastating second shock to the global economy just as the world was recovering from Covid.
In an interview with The Weekend Australian, the Treasurer said Russia was playing a “dangerous game” with the global economy that threatened to derail the pandemic recovery.
Mr Frydenberg’s comments follow Defence Minister Peter Dutton’s assessment that Russia and Ukraine were on the cusp of all-out war.
Scott Morrison said on Friday an invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces was imminent. “I hope that does not occur, but I think what we are seeing leads us to fear the worst,” the Prime Minister said.
In a closed-door intervention on Thursday night leading into the first G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bankers for this year, Mr Frydenberg issued a warning to his Russian counterpart that an invasion of Ukraine, which the West now fears is imminent, would have far-reaching human and economic costs.
“On the global outlook, we face a range of important challenges,” Mr Frydenberg told the meeting in which Russian deputy finance minister Timur Maksimov was present.
“The current tensions surrounding Ukraine are deeply concerning, We call upon Russia to de-escalate tensions, the alternative would be disastrous in both human and economic terms. It is in our collective interest that these tensions are resolved peacefully.”
Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland is understood to have issued a similar message, claiming that the knock-on economic consequences of an invasion of Ukraine would deliver a global shock to the economy worse than the pandemic.
Ms Freeland said she was worried the work the G20 was doing to recover could be jeopardised should Russia invade.
The remarks from Mr. Frydenberg earned a swift response from Russia, which accused Australia and Canada of using the economic forum as a security meeting.
“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” Matthew 24:6-8 and Mark 13:7
Top Israeli defense officials say the country is preparing for the possibility of an armed conflict with regional arch-rival Iran and its proxies.
“We will be prepared to execute operations that haven’t been seen in the past, with means that weren’t in our hands in the past, that will harm the heart of terror and its abilities,” said Defense Minister Benny Gantz.By Associated Press
Israeli army chief of staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi said Tuesday that the Israeli military was “speeding up the operational plans and readiness for dealing with Iran and the nuclear military threat.”
Israel readying for War with Iran, Officials say
Israel considers Iran an existential threat and has warned that it would act with military force if needed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Last month Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said that “if a terror regime is going to acquire a nuclear weapon, we must act.”
Addressing lawmakers at a meeting of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Kohavi said the military “continued to act against our enemies in covert operations and missions around the Middle East” during the past year.
His remarks came following a string of reported Israeli airstrikes in Syria. Israel has staged hundreds of strikes on Iran-linked military targets in neighboring Syria in the past decade but rarely acknowledges its operations. It has been said that Iran’s presence near its northern frontier is a red line and that it targets arms shipments bound for Iranian-backed Lebanese terror group Hezbollah and Iran-linked facilities in Syria.
Speaking during a visit to a defense industry factory in the northern city of Shlomi, near the Lebanese border, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that Israel was “working all the time to prevent war — carrying out operations, conveying messages, preventing (a military) build-up.”
In the event of war, he said, “we will be prepared to execute operations that haven’t been seen in the past, with means that weren’t in our hands in the past, that will harm the heart of terror and its abilities.”
From Susa in Iran the ram would be charging northward to Lebanon and Iraq
What we see Iran doing militarily is an “end times” prophecy in the book of Daniel. Iran is the ram charging westward and northward and southward. The two horns represent the supreme leader Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei and General Hossein Salami head of the country’s Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) together they control all political and military power in Iran.
“I was in Susa the citadel, which is in the province of Elam (Iran). And I saw in the vision, and I was at the Ulai canal. I raised my eyes and saw, and behold, a ram (Iran) standing on the bank of the canal. It had two horns, and both horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last. I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward. No beast could stand before him, and there was no one who could rescue them from his power. He did as he pleased and became great.” Daniel 8:2-4
We need to watch for the next part of Daniel 8’s prophecy to be fulfilled. Sunni Turkey (Goat) will not tolerate Shia Iran (Ram) claiming leadership of the Muslim middle east. Turkey (previously controlled the powerful Ottoman Empire) considers itself the leader of the Muslim world. Daniel’s prophecy predicts Turkey defeating Iran in what is described as a savage encounter but then we are told Turkey’s bid to re-establish a neo-Ottoman Empire is short-lived. We are not told who comes against Turkey, possibly the UN or a coalition of western nations that do not want to see a revived Ottoman Empire. Russia for one would not want to see a revived Ottoman Empire challenge its dominance in the region. We are told that it is broken up into four nations/kingdoms and it is out of these that the Little Horn (Antichrist) emerges.
Turkey’s attempt to re-establish a neo-Ottoman Empire
“The goat (Turkey) had a conspicuous horn between his eyes. He came toward the two-horned ram (Iran) I had seen standing beside the canal and rushed at him with savage fury. I saw him approaching the ram, and infuriated with him, he struck the ram, shattering his two horns, and the ram was not strong enough to stand against him... Then the male goat became very great, but when he became powerful, the large horn was shattered. Four conspicuous horns came up in its place, pointing toward the four winds of heaven.” Daniel 8:6-8
It is only then that the Antichrist (little horn) arrives on the scene and is allowed to dominate the world for an allotted time, three and half years.
“From one of them, a little horn emerged and grew extensively toward the south and the east and toward the beautiful land. It grew as high as the heavenly host, made some of the stars and some of the host fall to the earth, and trampled them. It made itself great, even up to the Prince of the host; it removed His daily sacrifice and overthrew the place of His sanctuary. Because of rebellion, a host, together with the daily sacrifice, will be given over. The horn will throw truth to the ground and will be successful in whatever it does.” Daniel 8:9-12
Ezekiel 38 also links the Antichrist (Gog) to modern Turkey (and/or its immediately surrounding vicinity). Ezekiel singles out all Islamic nations in the Middle East and North Africa as comprising the vanguard of Gog’s invasion force during the Great Tribulation.
This following testimony is from Cody Archer. Cody Archer, along with his wife, Liat, help lead the youth group at Ahavat Yeshua and work together in Revive Israel’s international department.
In preparation for the coming prophesied persecution, it is important you read Cody’s testimony now to help you prepare for what lies ahead.
The following verses from Revelation reveal how believers are to overcome Satan in the “end times” just prior to Jesus return, first to rapture the saints, and then to return to earth with the saints to rule and reign in the Millennium.
“Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” Revelation 12:11
We all want to be in the centre of God’s will for our lives as we approach the time of Jesus return, so it is important we understand what is ahead, remembering that even Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, agonised over what was ahead of Him.
According to global statistics, over 200 million followers of Yeshua are undergoing high levels of persecution today—primarily in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. But, I believe the Scriptures teach that the time is coming when such persecution will be the norm in every country of the earth.
“When I was a new believer in my early 20s, a leader in my life spoke prophetically over me: “Cody, go deep in God’s Word now, because there will be a time in the future where it will be taken away from you, probably because you will be put in prison for your faith.” What an encouraging word for a new believer, right? I took that word seriously and have continued to devote much time to meditating in God’s Word almost daily for the past decade.
Heart Training
As I study the end times, one of the themes that continues to catch my attention is that of persecution. More and more in my quiet times, I have been picturing myself being arrested, beaten, put in prison and even martyred for my faith. I am training my heart now to walk in love for Yeshua and stand up for my faith when those times of extreme pressure come.
My sense is that this heart posture is almost nonexistent in most of the Western church today. Even If you and I don’t end up facing high levels of persecution, I believe it is wise to prepare our hearts, and the next generation, for what is coming.
So what should we be preparing for? Here are some Scriptures I have been meditating on:
“But before all these things [read the preceding verses: false Messiahs, wars, great earthquakes, famines, pestilences, fearful sights], they will seize and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons” (Luke 21:12a). If you think you will get raptured out before persecution and trouble come, you will be in for a big shock.
Luke 21:16 warns us that biological and spiritual family and friends will betray us and put some to death.
“You will be hated by all for My name’s sake” (Luke 21:17). Consider this word: “all.” Atheists, people of other religions and humanistic, secular society may tolerate us at some level today, but this tolerance won’t last forever. Are you ready to be hated by all?
“They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he is offering a service to God” (John 16:2). The deception will be so deep that people will think they are doing God’s will by killing us.
Before Yeshua returns, new laws will be passed against believers, rendering us criminals in the eyes of the world. Calling the nations to turn from their sins and not budging on Yeshua being the only way to God will be seen as major obstacles to global peace. Because lawlessness will abound and the love of many will grow cold, we should not expect human help or mercy when attacked, but instead the plundering of our possessions, major lies and attacks through media, lawsuits, fines and imprisonments (Isaiah 24:5-6, Matt 24:12, Heb 10:34).
The Antichrist will be granted to make war with the saints and overcome (Daniel 8:23-25, Rev. 13: 7). I believe prophetic patterns in Scripture like in Esther 3 and Daniel 3 where laws were passed forcing people into false worship and the destruction of the Jewish people will emerge again before Yeshua returns.
“As it was in the days of Noah and Lot, so it will be also be in the days of the Son of Man” (Luke17:26; see Luke 17:26-30). The wickedness, violence and sexual perversion seen in the days of Noah and Lots are rampant again today and will continue to be directed against believers in an ever-increasing way (Gen. 6, 19).
One day, Jews and Christians will be the most hated people on the earth. But do not despair about the future; there is good news! The greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit and harvest of souls will be happening simultaneously with this global persecution (Acts 2:17). There will be a remnant of faithful believers in every nation who will obey God over man (Acts 5:29) and not love their lives unto death (Rev. 12:11).
Lord, help us to apply Yeshua’s exhortation to watch and pray always, that we would be strengthened to resist compromise, sin and fear (Luke 21:36).”
“We have examined all the options and Israel’s final resort is to strike at Hamas,” Defence Minister Liberman said.
This report by Jack Gold, World Israel News, on rumour of war with Israel fits what Jesus said in the Olivet Discourse would be evident in the last days in the lead up to the last seven years prophesied by Daniel (70th week) and confirmed in Revelation.
“And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” Matthew 24:6-8
Egyptian mediation has failed and Israel is on its way to war. That was the message Defence Minister Avigdor Liberman delivered Monday to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee.
Israel has recently seen an increase in the intensity and the volume of violence and attacks emanating from Gaza, which culminated in Wednesday’s rocket attack on Israel which destroyed a home in Beersheba.
Defence Minister Avigdor Liberman (C) arrives to a Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee meeting at the Knesset, on October 22, 2018.
Palestinian riots on Israel’s border with Gaza are not “popular protests” as Hamas depicts them but rather carefully orchestrated violence organised by the terror group, he said.
“Fifteen thousand people do not show up by foot at the border fence,” Liberman said. “We have been talking since March 30 about the tens of millions [of shekels] Hamas has spent … They pay for every person killed $3,000, each seriously wounded $500, and a moderately injured [rioter receives] less than $200.”
No deal with Hamas
“When we talk about an arrangement and I’m expressing my opinion here – I do not believe in any arrangement with Hamas. It does not work, it has not worked in the past, it will not work in the future,” the defence minister stated.
Israel has “reached a situation where there is no alternative – anything other than the hardest, heaviest blow that we are capable of dealing Hamas in the Gaza Strip – will not help. We are in a state of ‘no choice,’” he added. “We have arrived at that point where we need to arrive at decisions, we have examined all the options.”
Hamas has called for war on Israel, and Hamas means what it says, he noted, and “therefore, we need to reach clear conclusions, and beyond the conclusions we need actions.”
LIVING ETERNAL NOW 