BEAR NOW OUT OF HIBERNATION
WHEN THE BEAR HEADS SOUTH TOWARDS ISRAEL
GOD WILL SET HIS FACE AGAINST THE LAND OF MAGOG
February 13, 2008
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
The clock is ticking toward the time the occupants of the l and
of Magog will be drawn south to Israel, joining the forces of Islam at Armageddon in a final battle marking the end of the fullness of the Gentile Age. The land of Magog, at the time Ezekiel wrote his book, included Russia and those nations immediately to the south of its southern border, which at one time were part of the old Soviet Union.
In Ezekiel 38 he sets his face against two different things: (1) A Man called Gog, and (2) A Land that has been settled by descendents of one of the sons of Japheth, a man called Magog.
But there is no way one can legitimately claim by linguistics Gog is the chief prince of the land of Magog. Gog is clearly identified in both Ezekiel 38 and 39 as the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, who were two of the brothers of Magog, all three being sons of Japheth, who was one of the three sons of Noah.
When Ezekiel wrote, the descendents of Meshech and Tubal had settled immediately north of Israel, and the descendents of Magog were heavily concentrated to the distant northeast of Israel in, and around, the land we identify as Russia today.
Archive Prophecy Update Number 28
June, 2001
Ezekiel 38:1-3 – “And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, [2] Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, [3] And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:”
In Prophecy Update Number 27 we established, from the Scriptures and the Assyrian stone monuments, that the descendants of Meshech and Tubal, at the time Ezekiel wrote his prophecies, were primarily located in what we know as Syria and Lebanon. We also established that the prophecy is again a person, Gog (Antichrist), and against a land, the land of Magog. I am convinced that the Antichrist will attack Israel from Syria. Now, what about the “land of Magog?” Where were the Magogites located at the time of Ezekiel’s writings? Flavius Josephus, the noted Jewish historian makes the following statements concerning the Magogites in Antiquities of the Jews, Chapter VI, under the title, HOW EVERY NATION WAS DENOMINATED FROM THEIR FIRST INHABITANTS: “Japhet, the son of Noah, had seven sons.” “They called the nations by their own names.” “Magog founded those that from him were called Magogites, but who by the Greeks were called Scythians.” The Greek writers of the Classic Age said the Scythians occupied the area which today we identify as stretching from Moldova eastward across the Ukraine, southern Russia, and into Kazakhstan, then southward into Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan – Roughly the area north of the Black Sea, between the Black and Caspian Seas, and the area northwest, north, and northeast of the Caspian Sea. I do not believe the nations in this area will join in the initial attack against Israel, but I am certain they will come down for the final battle of Gog’s war, which is the Battle of Armageddon. The Battle of Armageddon, found in Revelation 16:16, is the final battle in Gog’s war, which began 3 and ½ years earlier.
Verse 3 fails to include the “land of Magog,” and is a message directly pointed, and personally addressed, against the Antichrist Gog, who once again is identified as the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Popular writers in the last century brought a teaching into play that is simply not true.
They said the word “chief” was “rosh” in the Hebrew language, which is true. But they said it meant “Russian,” which is not true.
The Russian and Hebrew language have never overlapped in history to support such a claim. He is not a Russian prince. He is the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, most likely having a Syrian father. The word “rosh,” in the KJV, is translated as “chief” 90 times, as “head” 349 times, as “top” 75 times, as “beginning” 14 times, as “company” 12 times, as “captain” 10 times, as “sum” 9 times, as “first” 6 times, as “principle” 5 times, as “chief man” 4 times, and as “ruler” on two occasions. At no time, in all of history, could it legitimately be identified as someone who is a Russian.
I am convinced this chief prince of Meshech and Tubal will come from northwestern Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, or southern Turkey, but I will be very much surprised if his father is not a Syrian.
He will be the leader of a multilateral Arab force that will carry out a surprise attack against Israel from the north. I believe this is spoken of in Revelation 17:12,13 – “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. [13] These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.”
Although he will have the support of ten Arab nations, I believe the nations directly involved in the initial attack will be Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran from without, and the Palestinian terrorist groups from within. I believe the other nations, which will then immediately become involved in the Jihad, are most likely Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Turkey, and Sudan.
Begin Article from the Australian
US has unleashed arms race: Putin
February 09, 2008
RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has accused the US of unleashing a new arms race on Russia’s borders in a speech that is likely to provide a blueprint for his successor’s policies.
Laying out his legacy three months before he is to step down, Mr Putin said Russia had to wean itself off energy exports, compete in the world economy and stand up to the West.
In an address containing long passages of tough rhetoric aimed at the West, Mr Putin said NATO expansion and US plans for a missile defence shield in eastern Europe had touched off an arms race.
“It’s not our fault, we didn’t start it. … funnelling multibillions of dollars into developing weapons systems.
“NATO itself is expanding. It’s approaching our borders.
We drew down our bases in Cuba and in Vietnam.
What did we get? New American bases in Romania, Bulgaria.
A new third missile defence region (the US defence shield) in Poland, where it’s being built,” Mr Putin told the State Council.
“It’s already clear that a new arms race is being unleashed in the world … We must not allow ourselves to be drawn into this.”
Mr Putin’s address to the State Council, which gathers minister, regional governors and MPs, will be one of his last keynote speeches before he steps down.
It was also widely regarded as a manifesto for Dmitry Medvedev, the man he has endorsed to succeed him.
Mr Medvedev, a 42-year-old first deputy prime minister and loyal Putin ally, said this week he was not issuing his own program because it would be no different from his mentor’s policies.
Mr Putin, 55, opened his speech by emphasising how far Russia had come in the eight years he had been in power.
In 2000, Russia was reeling from economic collapse, insurgents were marauding through the country and the Kremlin was being manipulated by tycoons, he said.
“Wealthy Russia had turned into a country of impoverished people. In these conditions, we started to implement our program to take the country out of crisis,” he said.
“We have been able to rid ourselves of the practice of taking state decisions under pressure from financial groups and media magnates.”
He hailed the strength of the Russian economy, pointing to a boom in investment, state coffers which are now full and gross domestic product growth of more than eight per cent a year.
But Mr Putin also said Russia needed to develop its human capital if it was to compete in the global economy and reduce its dependence on oil exports.
He proposed tax breaks for companies investing in employees’ training and healthcare and said the government should help promote scientific research and innovation.
MR Putin also touched on Russian democracy, which has come under close international scrutiny three weeks before the presidential election.
Opposition parties say the vote is a farce and slanted in Medvedev’s favour. Europe’s main election watchdog announced on Wednesday it was pulling out of monitoring the March 2 vote because of Moscow’s obstruction.
Mr Putin said democracy was a cornerstone of Russian society but that political parties who took money from foreign governments were guilty of “immoral” behaviour and “demeaning the Russian people”.
Reuters
Begin Australian Article 2
Russian warplanes fly over US carrier
February 13, 2008
WASHINGTON: Two Russian Tupolev 95 Bear bombers overflew a US aircraft carrier in the western Pacific at the weekend, prompting US fighter jets to scramble, a defence official said yesterday.
US fighter planes intercepted the Russian bombers flying unusually close to
the aircraft carrier in the western Pacific.
The official said one Tu-95 buzzed the aircraft carrier USSNimitz twice, at an altitude of about 610m, while another circled about 91km out. The official was speaking on condition of anonymity because the reports on the flights were classified as secret.
The incident on Saturday, which never escalated beyond the flyover, comes amid heightened tensions between the US and Russia over US plans for a missile defence system based in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Such Russian bomber flights were common during the Cold War, but have been rare since.
The bombers were among four Tu-95s launched from Rusia’s Ukrainka air base, about 1000km northwest of Vladivostok, in the middle of the night, including one that Japanese officials say violated their country’s airspace over an uninhabited island south of Tokyo.
US officials tracked and monitored the bombers as two flew south along the Japanese coast, and two others flew farther east, coming closer to the Nimitz and the guided missile cruiser USS Princeton.
As the bombers got to about 800km out from the US ships, four F/A-18 fighters were launched from the Nimitz, the defence official said.
The fighters intercepted the Russian bombers about 80km south of the Nimitz.
At least two US fighters trailed the bomber as it came in low over the Nimitz twice, while one or two of the other US fighters followed the second bomber as it circled.
The official said there were no verbal communications between
the US and the Russians and that the Pentagon had not heard of any protests being filed. Historically, diplomatic protests have not been filed in such incidents as they were so frequent during the Cold War era.
This is the first time Russian Tupolevs have flown over or interacted with a US carrier since 2004.
AP
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