Iranian Vessels making Probes into Persian Gulf
February 21, 2007
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
There is a lot of sword rattling on land and sea in the Middle East that could develop into the final great conflict of this age at some point in time between 2008 and 2012.
The famous “last days” prophecy of Balaam is very interesting when one considers today’ s grouping
s of forces in the Middle East on dry land and in the waters surrounding it.
Numbers 24:23-25 – And he took up his parable, and said, Alas, who shall live when God doeth this!
[24] And ships shall come from the coast of CHITTIM, and shall afflict ASSHUR, and shall afflict EBER, and he also shall perish for ever.
[25] And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place: and Balak also went his way.
CHITTIM – Web Bible Encyclopedia – The name originally designated the Phoenicians only, it came latterly to be used of all the islands and various settlements on the sea-coasts which they had occupied, and then of the people who succeeded them when the Phoenician power decayed. Hence it designates generally the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean and the races that inhabit them.
ASHUR (Assyria) – From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ashur (Hebrew: אַשּׁוּר; Akkadian: Aššur), was the second son of Shem, the
son of Noah.
Ashur’s brothers were Elam, Aram, Arpachshad and Lud.
The Hebrew text of Gen.
10:11 is somewhat ambiguous as to whether it was Ashur himself (eg. as reads the KJV), or Nimrod who built the cities of Nineveh, etc. in Assyria, since the name Ashur can refer to either the person or the country.
“EBER” – From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eber ( Standard Hebrew Éver, Tiberian Hebrew Ēḇer, Arabic:) is a person from the Hebrew Bible.
He was a great-grandson of Noah’s son Shem and the fa
ther of Peleg and Joktan. He was an ancestor of Abraham who was in turn the father of the Israelites and the Arabs
Eber, the great-grandson of Shem, refused to help with the building of the Tower of Babel, so his language was not confused when it fell. He and his family alone retained the original human language, called lingua humana in Latin or Gortighern.
After this, the language was called Hebrew, named after Eber.
The name “Eber” is considered by Biblical scholars to be the root of the word “Hebrew”, and is considered by some Islamic scholars to be the origin of the word “Arab”. Biblical concordances say the name originates is the root word “eber”, most often meaning “side” or beyond”, but also region beyond or across, opposite side, or passage.
It would appear that the ships of Chittim could be those positioned in the Mediterranean Sea, while the Assyrian Antichrist would be leading the Arabs they bombarded on land. (Please See Our Archive Prophecy Updates 62 to 69 for Assyrian, 74 for Ships of Chittim, and 233B for Eber (Arab).
Begin DEBKAfile Report
DEBKAfile: The UN Security Council’s Iran sanctions session Wednesday is accompanied by a US Navy buildup and Iranian war games
February 21, 2007, 12:55 PM (GMT+02:00)
The arrival in the region of the carrier USS Stennis strike group with more than 6,500 sailors to join the
carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower is causing concern in Tehran, which faces tougher sanctions at the Security Council for missing the 60-day deadline for suspending uranium enrichment, as confirmed by the nuclear watchdog director Mohammed ElBaradei.
Iran’s senior nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani warned Tuesday that any “non-conventional, illogical or irrational” moves against Iran would definitely receive an appropriate response. He said the issue could only be resolved through dialogue.
Top US Navy commander in the Middle East vice Adm. Patrick Walsh told newsmen Monday that Iran had brought its war games over the past year into the busy shipping lanes in the Straits of Hormuz, through which two-fifths of the world’s oil supplies pass. The moves alarmed US officials about possible accidental confrontations that could boil over into war.
During maneuvers, Iranian sailors have loaded mines onto small mine-laying boats and test-fired a Shahab-3 missile into international waters very close to the straits, said the US vice admiral.
Walsh said the increase in US firepower in the Gulf region aims to reassure Arab allies in the Gulf and prevent misunderstandings that could escalate into outright conflict.
Walsh, who departs his command of the Fifth Fleet this month to become vice chief of naval operations at the Pentagon, the Navy’s No. 2 post, said the Navy was responding to “more instability than we’ve seen in years” in the Fifth Fleet’s region. He listed conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia, tensions in Lebanon and the standoff with Iran and its increasing “provocations.” Iranian vessels, he said, have been making “probing” incursions into Iraqi waters.
Regarding a possible US Navy attack if a multi-casualty incident in Iraq was traced back to Tehran, Walsh said he could not to discuss the Navy’s rules of engagement, but added, “There are events on land that can spill over onto the sea.”
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