Friday, August 8, 2008

BIRTHPANGS!!!


"But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs" - Matthew 24:8

Just as the words of Christ indicate in Matthew, the events surrounding the endtime will be like that of the labor pains of a woman. With the intensity we began to see at the beginning of summer, there had been a lull over the last couple of weeks. The candidates had taken center stage, the price of oil and gas had waned, and the economy seemed to be headed up. Well, the 'birth pangs' have once again started - with even greater intensity! At the posting of this blog, Russian forces are moving against Georgian forces in Ossetia. There have been a reported 1000 deaths already. The news outlets continue to report a fear of all out war. We are once again seeing the rise of the Russian bear.


Earlier in the week, with Iran not giving an adequate response to the world community, the UN 5+1 were considering further sanctions. The Jerusalem Post reported that on August 7th the Kuwait Times posted an article that their country had learned that the US was sending two additional naval aircraft carriers to the Gulf and the Red Sea. With this news, the Kuwait government began to finalize their emergency war plans. There are already two U.S. naval battle groups operating in the Persian Gulf. The war drums sure appear to be beating.


A report out on August 8th in the Jerusalem Post has indicated that Israel has issued a warning to Russia. "If Russia goes through with the sale of its most advanced anti-aircraft missile system to Iran, Israel will use an electronic warfare device now under development to neutralize it and as a result present Russia as vulnerable to air infiltrations" stated an Israeli defense official. These are pretty harsh words, especially in light of what is currently going on in Georgia.

What is of prophetic interest that these nations - particularly Russia, Iran, and Israel - will be involved in a war in the last days. Just take a quick read of Ezekiel 38 & 39. Are we witnessing the prelude to the Gog/Magog war? Only time will tell.

"What I say to you I say to all, 'Be on the alert!'" Mark 13:37