Steven Collins
October 13, 2007
US Secretary of State Rice and Defense Secretary Gates were in Moscow for what supposed to be a meeting which would stop further unraveling of US-Russian ties. Instead, as the BBC link below put it, “the talks had been a disaster.” Indeed, Russian anger was so evident in the public arena that one can only imagine what was said behind closed doors. The icy stares of all participants afterwards indicated that the US representatives had been “taken to the woodshed” by Putin’s team in the conference.
An October 13, 2007 article in the Minneapolis-Star Tribune (see link below) noted that Russian President Putin and his senior officials “kept Gates and Rice waiting for 40 minutes” and “mocked” US proposals. Things went downhill from there. According to various media stories seen today, the Russians demanded the US drop its plans to deploy anti-missile systems in Eastern Europe, threatened to pull out of a key Cold War treaty which limited medium-range missiles and further threatened to aim Russian missiles at European targets. The BBC link observed “…that Russian-US relations are now at their lowest point since the end of the Cold War.” The Minneapolis Star-Tribune article noted the same thing in very similar language.
Indeed, the advent of a new Cold War now seems evident. However, this time it is the Russians (with their Chinese and Iranian allies) who hold many high cards. Russia and Iran are awash in petrodollars and energy wealth while China has vast sums of surplus US dollars because of the endless and exorbitant US Trade and Budget deficits. These nations are in an excellent financial position to rebuild their military power. The USA, on the other hand, has exhausted its army in Iraq and Afghanistan and is wearing out its equipment in those wars. The longer the USA is bogged down in these two Asian wars, the more it helps Russia and her anti-American allies as the US forces grow ever-more depleted. During much of the Cold War, the USA was a creditor nation and had the ability to finance massive weapons programs. However, the USA is now the world’s largest debtor nation due to decades of foolish political and economic decisions, and it has little strength to rebuild its military forces. The USA also has lost much of its domestic infrastructure to rebuild its military forces due to the relocation of so many manufacturing plants overseas. The USA is in a very weak position because of globalization, which has relocated much of the USA’s manufacturing strength to Communist China, a rival nation.
Russian comments after the Conference made it very clear that US-Russian relations have been deeply breached. Sec. Rice was in denial. As the BBC reported, she “did her best to sound conciliatory” but “it was all too obvious that Ms. Rice was trying rather too hard to sound upbeat.” The clear breach between Russia and the USA shows graphically that US policies toward Russia have been based on delusions. Even now, Sec. Rice seems to fantasize that more empty “happy talk” will somehow change the reality of what is happening. It is now clear that President Bush was duped by Vladimir Putin when Bush declared six years ago that he had seen Putin’s “soul” and declared him to be a friend and partner in a New World Order envisioned by Bush and his political/corporate backers. Bush obviously wore “rose colored glasses” when he made his earlier misjudgment of Putin’s intentions. An October 13, 2007 analysis piece entitled “‘Soul’ on ice–President misread Putin” by Jonathan Landay of McClatchey News Service (available at www.startribune.com for a limited time) discusses the disastrous Moscow conference. In it, Michael McFaul of Stanford University’s Hoover Institute is cited as observing that “Bush and his aides ‘grossly misjudged Putin.'” The piece noted the real Putin is now on display, and he is “a hard-line, derisive Russian nationalist.”
It is true that the US missile-defense system offers no threat to Russia, as now proposed. However, Russia is afraid the US defensive installation will eventually become a site for offensive missiles targeted at Russia. Russia’s fears may be justified. The BBC link states that when the Cold War ended, “Washington made a promise to Moscow that…it would not push its military deployment up to the borders of the old Soviet Empire.” If this is true, then the USA is breaking its promise, and Russia anger is understandable. On the other hand, the USA and European nations, knowing that Russia has supplied Iran with nuclear facilities and technology, sophisticated anti-aircraft missile systems, etc., likely have a publicly-unstated fear that Russia will also secretly give cruise missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads to Iran. Russia is clearly protective of Iran’s nuclear program in the UN so Western fears on this issue are justifiable. This is a new factor not present when the USA made its apparent earlier commitment to Moscow. Both sides have causes to feel “double crossed,” and a new Cold War is beginning.
A prophecy in Ezekiel 38 assures us that this new Cold War will become a very, very “Hot War” when Russia, China, Iran and their allies launch a global military attack on the USA, NATO and their western allies. This attack is prophesied to occur during the latter days” of this age just prior to the return of Jesus Christ. Irrefutable evidence that we are living in the biblical “latter days” can be found in my article “Are We Living in the Biblical Latter Days?,” available in the articles link at this website. However, many biblically-aware Christians will find the above assertion that this attack will be directed against the USA and NATO hard to fathom as they assume the biblical use of the term “Israel” for the targeted nation means the Jewish Israeli nation will be attacked. This assumption is incorrect, and readers deserve some brief documentation on this point.
Judah (from which we derive the term “Jew”) was only one of the 12 tribes of Israel which were formerly a part of the ancient and powerful kingdom of Israel under kings David and Solomon (the world’s history texts call it the “Phoenician Empire” because the Israelites, the dominant people in the alliance, were allied to the smaller city-states of Tyre and Sidon, who remained in that region after the Israelites tribes scattered into exile). Tyre and Sidon retained the name of “Phoenicia” upon them, but it never again had the empire status that existed when these city-states were allied to the much-larger Israelite tribes. The non-Jewish Israelite tribes did not die out. Hosea 1:10 prophesied they would become too numerous to count after they went into exile. Secular historical accounts confirm all the biblical prophecies about their post-exilic destinies. Irrefutable evidence that the ten tribes of Israel formed new empires of their own in Scythia, Carthage, Parthia, etc. is found in my books available at the book links of this website. The migrating Israelite tribes eventually sought new homes in Europe and supplanted the Roman Empire after the Parthian empire of Asia collapsed. Please “do not take my word for it.” Examine the evidence and see for yourself. Tens of thousands of people have already read my books, and they now know the truth about where “Israel” can be found in the modern world.
The term “Israel” in latter day prophecy cannot mean the modern Jewish nation in the Mideast. The Israelis are, indeed, the tribe of Judah. but the other tribes were prophesied to have far larger populations than the tribe of Judah. When the tribes of Israel divided in a Civil War after the reign of King Solomon, Judah (the Jews) formed the kingdom of Judah along with the tribes of Benjamin and Levi. The other ten tribes formed the kingdom of Israel, and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah were generally enemies from then on in biblical times. From the Civil War onward, the term “Israel” designated the people of the supposedly “lost” ten tribes of Israel while the term “Judah” designated the Jews. When the Bible discusses the Jews/Israelis in latter-day biblical prophecy, it uses the term “Judah” (as in Zephaniah 2, Zechariah 12 and 14). Conversely, the Bible also refers to the northern ten tribes of Israel in prophecy via their historic name, “Israel.” Newsweek magazine had an eye-opening article a few months ago in which it revealed that when the Israeli nation was founded in 1948, President Truman was surprised because he thought they would name the new Jewish state “Judah.” President Truman understood the Jews were the people called “Judah” in the Bible,” not the people called “Israel.”
Ezekiel 38-39 nowhere mention “Judah” but only “Israel” so this prophecy pertains to the modern descendants of the ten tribes of Israel, not the Jews/Israelis. Lest the reader think that the Israelis will be “sitting out” the end-time war, Jeremiah 30 makes it clear that both “Israel” and “Judah” will be simultaneously attacked by common enemies in the latter days. While this climactic world war will take place all over the globe at one time, Ezekiel 38-39 is a prophecy about the theater of warfare involving the USA and NATO nations while Zechariah 14 is a prophecy about the theater of warfare involving the Israelis. Biblical prophecy confirms that the USA, NATO, the Israelis will all be targeted for destruction by Russia, China, Iran and many other nations. One can easily see the preparations for this climactic world war taking shape in the events of modern geopolitics. However, Ezekiel 38-39 (and many other prophecies) indicate it will be Russia, China, Iran and their allies who are almost wiped out. Ezekiel 39:2 foretells only 1/6th of the attacking nations will survive the final world war of our age. The USA, Europe, Israelis and other nations in the Western orbit will be saved, not by their own power, but by the intervention of Jesus Christ and his angelic army (Ezekiel 38:20-39, Joel 2, Revelation 19:11-21). The age of human self-rule will end at the very cusp of human self-annihilation (Matthew 24:21-31). This final global world war will be followed by a 1000 year reign over all nations by Jesus Christ and the resurrected saints (Revelation 20:1-4). A terrific outcome is in our future, but very evil times will occur before that positive outcome occurs.
What is very clear is that biblical prophesies are being fulfilled exactly as prophesied. This confirms that an Almighty Creator, the God of the Bible, is shaping world events to ensure that they fulfill his ancient prophecies. It is not possible that mere coincidence could account for the fact that ALL biblical prophecies about the latter days are now coming to pass. Modern world events are being determined by a Divine Hand. To learn more about how future events will unfold, please read the free essay entitled “What Ezekiel 38-39 Reveals about a Future World War III.” It is available at the “prophecy” heading at the articles link at this website.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/europe/7042675.stm
http://www.startribune.com/722/story/1480970.html
