Russia, the US, and the Middle East in Biblical prophecy

Russia's Move Into Syria Fulfills Bible Prophecy

by Rev. Paul J. Bern

I have been following the news intently throughout the Middle East as usual, but the Russian incursion into Syria that has been ongoing for 12 straight days has really piqued my interest. The CIA's completely inept attempt to arm and train “moderate” (whatever that's supposed to mean) Syrian rebels, for the purpose of overthrowing the Assad regime of Syria, has emboldened Vladimir Putin's Russia to make a move while he has the chance. This has become a victory in brinkmanship handed directly to Vladimir Putin on a silver platter by Barack Obama in what has turned out to be the biggest American foreign policy goof-up since the Libyan disaster of Benghazi on September 11 (there's that date again!) 2012. So, Russia has been building a military base in northwestern Syria right under the noses of nearby Turkey and Lebanon on the west, while forging an alliance with Iran and Iraq on the east. Putin is obviously after the oil, and all at the expense of the US. In my view, American foreign policy in the Middle East is in shambles as of this writing, with no relief in sight until possibly as late as January 2017. And that, ladies and gentlemen, may be too late for America. Still, this all falls in line with End Times Biblical prophecy as it is chronicled in the Old Testament books of the prophets Jeremiah and Daniel, as you all will see shortly.

As I delved into the following Bible verses, it struck me that this all began three days after the 4^th Blood Moon of September 28^th. Starting on that same day, hurricane Joaquin began drenching America's east coast with up to two feet of rain. Putin's military victory in Syria combined with the effects of Hurricane Joaquin add up to a double-whammy for the US exactly three days after that 4^th Blood Moon. The number three, as many of you know, is the Biblical number of perfection, sometimes called the number of completion. So I do not believe that the occurrence of those two events exactly three days after the 4^th Blood Moon was coincidental. But first, a little background, specifically about the Great Babylon mentioned by the prophets Jeremiah and Daniel. Many of you will recall that I posted an in-depth piece about the Great Babylon back in the Spring of this year that used Ezekiel chapter seven as a frame of reference (you may view that posting by clicking here). In this post, plus another prophetic one from a couple of months before that, I used Revelation chapter 18 and Ezekiel chapter 7 to prove conclusively that the Biblical Great Babylon of the end times is none other than the United States. But in this post I will show you some places where modern-day Russia can be found in Scripture, with the first example coming from Jeremiah chapter 50, verses 41-42: “Look! An army is coming from the North; a great nation and many kings are being stirred up from the ends of the earth. They are armed with bows and spears; they are cruel and without mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride on their horses; they come like men in battle formation to attack you, oh Daughter of Babylon.” 

 

Again in the following chapter Jeremiah wrote in verses 45-48, “'Come out of her, my people! Run for your lives! Run from the fierce anger of the Lord. Do not lose heart or be afraid when rumors are heard in the land; one rumor comes this year, the other the next, rumors of violence in the land and of ruler against ruler. For the time will surely come when I will punish the idols of Babylon; her whole land will be disgraced and her slain will all lie fallen within her. Then heaven and earth and all that is within them will shout over Babylon, for out of the north destroyers will attack her', declares the Lord.” In this passage, the name 'Babylon' has a double meaning. The original Babylonian empire of King Nebuchadnezzar was overthrown by a night time military assault by the Medes and the Persians in 539 BC. The new Babylonian Empire, as it is called in the Bible in Revelation chapter 18 and Ezekiel chapter 7 (among others) is the United States as I have previously demonstrated. So who, then, is the 'Daughter of Babylon' from Jeremiah chapter 50 verse 42? That would be none other than Israel, whose chief ally is the US, of course.

There are also comparable passages in the Book of Daniel that describe what Daniel called the 'kings of the north' and 'kings of the south'. With the 'kings of the north' (Russia and Iran) coming down and attacking Israel as described herein, we can conclude with substantial certainty that the 'king of the south' can be none other than the US, Israel's staunchest ally. This also means that at some point in the fairly near future, Russia will attack Israel, and America will come to Israel's aid while emerging victorious, as it is written: “Then the king of the south will march out in a rage and fight against the king of the north, who will raise a large army, but it will be defeated. When the army is carried off, the king of the south will be filled with pride and will slaughter many thousands, yet he will not remain triumphant. For the king of the north will muster another army, larger than the first; and after several years, he will advance with a huge army fully equipped.” (Daniel 11, verses 11-13, NIV) In verse 11, we have what closely resembles the Cold War. In the very next verse, the narrative moves along to what appears to be the Iraq wars, where America attacked from the south. As you can see, it is debatable as to whether Russia has any significant involvement at this juncture, excluding being mentioned in verse 11. But in the following verse is a prophecy that has yet to be fulfilled, and that is the resurgence of Russia as a world power, a process that is already well underway, as I stated at the beginning of this posting.

“Then the king of the south will march out in a rage and fight against the king of the north, who will raise a large army, but it will be defeated.” Russia, having lost the Cold War, will fall back and regroup into a far better force than ever before. This prophecy is at the latter stages of being fulfilled as I write this, with ample evidence to be found in Syria – a topic the American media is carefully downplaying. Gee, I wonder who told them to do that? The US military, perhaps? Or did that order come straight from the White House? The prophet Jeremiah goes on to explain in the following verse: “When the army is carried off, the king of the south will be filled with pride and will slaughter many thousands, yet he will not remain triumphant.” How many Americans died during 9/11, roughly 3,000 altogether? How many Iraqi civilians got killed during Gulf War #1? It was roughly 100,000, a number that was not fully disclosed by the Pentagon until many months later. And, how many more Iraqi civilians died in the second armed US invasion of Iraq in 2003, and in the subsequent years of US occupation afterward? Wasn't that figure also in the six figure range? Of course it was. Who does the American media and the combined US military think they are kidding? One thing is for sure – based on the second half of the above prophecy, America's military victories will soon come to an end. I'm sorry, I realize this will be too much to take for some readers, and I may well be accused by some as a prophet of doom and gloom or worse. But I didn't write the Bible. I'm only the messenger, and the message from this passage of Scripture is simply that the age of the American Empire is coming to an end. In fact, Russia will ultimately mount a calculated counterattack, as it is prophesied in the next verse after that: “For the king of the north will muster another army, larger than the first; and after several years, he will advance with a huge army fully equipped.”

This is further chronicled down in verses 25-30, and I quote: “With a large army he will stir up his strength and courage against the king of the south. The king of the south will wage war with a large and very powerful army, but he will not be able to stand because of the plots against him. Those who eat from the king's provisions will try to destroy him; his army will be swept away, and many will fall in battle. The two kings, with their hearts bent on evil, will sit at the same table and lie to each other, but to no avail, because an end will still come at the appointed time. The king of the north will return to his own country with great wealth, but his heart will be set against the holy covenant. He will take action against it and then return to his own country. At the appointed time, he will invade the south again, but this time the outcome will be different than what it was before. Ships of the western coast lands will oppose him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and vent his fury against the holy covenant. He will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.”

“The king of the south will wage war with a large and very powerful army, but he will not be able to stand because of the plots against him. Those who eat from the king's provisions will try to destroy him; his army will be swept away, and many will fall in battle.” As you can clearly see, the 'king of the south' is the US president at the time all this prophecy is being fulfilled. Whether this is Barack Obama or another US president, presumably the winner of the 2016 election, remains to be seen. That sitting US president, whoever he or she is, will be swept away by political intrigue at the very least, and more likely by massive civil unrest that will result in America's downfall. That, combined with the series of natural disasters spoken of by Jesus Christ in Matthew chapter 24 and Luke chapter 21, among others, will ultimately spell the end of the United States as we have known it. It will end with the defeat of the US military, which can only be accomplished by a preemptive nuclear strike as of this writing. (This spells bad news for big city dwellers like myself. The end of life for myself and others like me will be instant vaporization in an atomic blast. My only consolation will be that I will probably not feel any pain.) But then in the following verse, the two “kings” will make a peace treaty that will be long on form and short on substance. “The two kings, with their hearts bent on evil, will sit at the same table and lie to each other, but to no avail, because an end will still come at the appointed time.” I can only surmise that 'because an end will still come', this could mean to either or both opponents in this conflict that has yet to be fought.

“The king of the north will return to his own country with great wealth, but his heart will be set against the holy covenant. He will take action against it and then return to his own country.” When the 'king of the north', likely Vladimir Putin, returns home from those future peace negotiations, the phrase 'with great wealth' could very well mean oil and gas deposits as opposed to cash, gold or silver. “But his heart will be set against the holy covenant”, which is symbolic for Israel. Russia will take some kind of action, either military or economic, against Israel as a condition for returning “to his own country”. It will be part of the peace treaty between Russia and the US, when they “sit at the same table and lie to each other”. “At the appointed time, he will invade the south again, but this time the outcome will be different than what it was before. Ships of the western coast lands will oppose him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and vent his fury against the holy covenant. He will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.” So, the end of the matter as far as this particular set of prophecies are concerned is that Russia will attack Israel a second time (see the Gog-Magog war of Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39), but the Western nations (whether the US as we now know it will be included or not remains to be seen) will counterattack and drive Russia and her allies (Iran, Syria and possibly Iraq) back to their home countries. So, now it is easy to see that there won't be a single war in the Mideast, but there will actually be three wars that will occur within just a couple of years combined. It is reasonable to assume the antichrist will be in power when at least the latter two events occur that I have written about. That's why Jeremiah wrote at the end of the passage of scripture I quoted from, “He will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.” The 'kings of the north', Russia, Syria and Iran will make a peace treaty with the antichrist and against Israel. Anything that goes too far beyond this is outside the scope of this article.

So, this is the majority of Biblical prophecies for what is modern-day Russia, excluding the Gog-Magog war of Ezekiel 38 and 39. As I wrote above, this is also a topic that really should be taught separately, otherwise the Biblical account becomes too convoluted, and potentially confusing to newer believers and those who haven't been taught much about Biblical prophecy (much to the discredit of their own pastors). So this will be the most comfortable place to close this week's message. I cannot overemphasize that we are all commanded to “watch and pray”. Let's all make ourselves busy doing exactly that. Nobody knows what day or hour Christ will return for his Bride. Let us all continue to prepare ourselves accordingly.