Putin Comes to the Aid of Kazakhstan

It can be very easy to get Russian troops to come to the aid of your nation. Once you invite them in, it may be difficult to get them to leave. Syria began fighting opposition groups in 2011, and by 2012 the conflict had expanded into a full-fledged civil war. Russia’s military intervention in Syria began in September 2015 after a request by the regime for military aid against rebel groups.

Moscow deployed troops and military equipment to an airbase near Latakia. Since then, it has carried out airstrikes targeting opposition groups. Putin said several times that his troops were only going to be in Syria for a limited time. He even said at one point they were in the process of leaving the country.

The Russian government announced its troops would be deployed to Syria permanently at the end of December 2017. It is estimated that there are 4,000 to 5,000 Russian troops in Syria.

Another nation has turned to Russian troops to help with opposition groups. The trouble started when the government of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev sharply raised fuel prices. Kazakhstan is basically a dictatorship that claims to have free elections.

It’s not even sure if Tokayev is really in charge of the government. Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev ran Kazakhstan for nearly 30 years. He may have stepped down so he can secretly run the nation. According to some opposition groups, he is still the “unofficial leader” and “dictator” of the country.

After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia formed the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which is something of a poor man’s NATO for Eurasia nations. Members are Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Defending the prompt intervention of (CSTO) peacekeeping forces in Kazakhstan, Putin said, “it was necessary to react without delay.” The CSTO will be on the ground “as long as necessary,” but after the mission is accomplished, “of course, the entire contingent will be withdrawn from the country.”

The unrest in Kazakhstan puts Putin into a strong position of being the most powerful force in the region to deal with a “hybrid terrorist attack” by both internal and external forces aimed at overthrowing the government.

Most of the Eurasia nations have a growing problem with radical Islamic groups. Since the average American couldn’t find these nations on a map, western media has largely ignored the problem. ISIS has reconstituted near the borders of Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan.

The degrading security situation in Afghanistan shows that you can’t rely on the West to control radical groups. When Putin comes in, he’ll bring heavy bombers to fix any problems. The Russian military bombed several ISIS-controlled cities in Syria back to the stone age.

About 10 years ago, it was generally believed that we could force Russia to bend a knee by simply applying economic pressure to the Russian economy. In the past few years, Russia has sold all its dollar holdings. It built a financial network that doesn’t need to use the American banking system. Europe has become so heavily dependent on Russian natural gas, Putin can hold the economies of several nations hostage at any time.

Some Bible scholars have identified Gomer as being Germany. I’ve always rejected Germany’s involvement in the Ezekiel 38 & 39 invasion because I couldn’t see how the political landscape could change that would have Germany on Russia’s side.

If Putin called the German Chancellor and demanded they help with an invasion of Israel or he’ll turn off the gas, the answer would be likely no. Germany’s enslavement to Russia would make it more prone to look the other way.

Russia has never been in a better position to play the role of Gog. At one time, Iran regarded the USSR (Russia) as its greatest foe. Now both nations have a good diplomatic relationship. Right now, the only thing lacking is the crazy idea to attack a nation that God promised to supernaturally protect.

“Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops—many people are with you'” (Ezekiel 38:1-6).

–Todd

God’s Egress System

Harkening back fifty plus years ago to my time in the United States Air Force, memories of the jet fighter trainers we were responsible for maintaining further stimulates thoughts on Bible prophecy. The words of Dr. J. Vernon McGee come to the forefront of that time a half-century ago.

Dr. McGee once commented in answer to the naysayers about him being an “escapist” in regard to his pre-Trib view of Bible prophecy. He answered the detractors in his typically southern, cornpone, yet brilliantly humorous way.

The arguments of those who poo-pooed the Pre-Trib Rapture usually went something like this.

“Those who preach that that Christians will somehow avoid being part of the Tribulation are pie-in-the-sky escapists. They are preaching and teaching false doctrine. They just hope to escape that terrible seven years of God’s judgment and wrath.”

Dr. McGee would say something like: “You better believe I hope to escape that time of God’s judgment and wrath. If the house is on fire, I’ll go out the door, through the window, or up the chimney. I’ll leave that burning building however I can.”

Then McGee would usually add: “That’s who Jesus Christ is. He is the blessed hope. And He is my way of escape from that coming time.”

“Boy howdy!” as ol’ Dr. McGee might say, were he here instead of with the Lord in Heaven. “Are we ever in a house on fire today!”

As we’ve covered time after time, every which direction we look we see signals that indicate, like the title of a Billy Graham book once read, in a World Aflame!

Societally and culturally, the landscape is so debauched that nothing short of a miracle can bring things back into a normal pattern of life with morality at its center. The Antichrist spirit has brought about a turning of humanity’s back on God. The result is the reprobate mind of Romans 1:28 for the majority across the world.

Consider the gravity of the sexual revolution of the 1960s that has pulled human sexuality ever downward into some sort of insane-asylum configuration. Men can now be women and women can be men. Boys and girls are taught they can be whichever gender they decide, leaving the parents out of any decision-making. Sodom and Gomorrah-level homosexuality and other depravity is not only accepted, but embraced and championed by governmental leaders and mainstream media. Even worse, a large portion of so-called Christian clergy declare it all to come under God’s love, with no condemnation. The Bible is old-fashioned, out of tune with the times, and should be rewritten to be inclusive of all these new ways of sexuality and human behavior.

Governmental and political lies reside at the heart of everything from legislation to judicial decision-making. Deceivers are on the scene as never before, just as Jesus forewarned for the end of the age while sitting atop the Mount of Olives answering his disciples’ questions about when the end would come.

All nations mentioned in Bible prophecy for the wrap-up of human history seem at play at this very moment. Russia is about to assault Ukraine; Iran threatens Israel with utter destruction; and the Europeans are in turmoil, becoming lockdown states as the likes of Emmanuel Macron of France becomes more dictatorial by the day. China is on a tear, threatening all within its sphere of hegemony and promising to bring Taiwan back into its orb, even if it takes kinetic war.

Pope Francis embraces the dark side at every turn. He fires from the Catholic government longtime clerics who don’t go along with his rewriting of the Scriptures to include homosexuality in biblical approval.

It is indeed a World Aflame!

So, this brings me back to ol’ Dr. McGee and my time in the US Air Force all of those decades ago.

Just as McGee said he would go out the door, through the windows, or up the chimney to escape a burning house, so pilots of those high-performance jet trainers we worked on wanted to escape sure death if necessary.

All jet fighters have an egress system. This is that means of escape. The seats in which the pilots sit and in which they, with their parachutes, are strapped tightly, have what was called in my day t-handles. As I recall, there was a metal handle that the pilot could grip on each side of the seat so it was easy to pull if necessary.

The t-handles were painted bright yellow in the T-38 trainer, as I remember. The pilot could pull straight up on the t-handles. When that happened, the canopy was supposed to pop loose and the wind would take it away. Instantly, a small but powerful rocket ejected the pilot high above the doomed aircraft. At least this is how it was supposed to work. There were times when the canopy wouldn’t pop loose and be carried away by the wind stream. The top of the seat above the pilot’s helmet-covered head had a canopy piercer. It was a piece of metal shaped kind of like an axe blade. If the canopy didn’t deploy, the canopy piercer would crash through the canopy bubble when the rocket fired.

As I say, there were cases when the whole egress system didn’t work properly. These sometimes ended with the pilot being caught up in the destruction of the plane.

All this is to say that we are on a planet about to crash, and, like ol’ Dr. McGee, any sane person would want a way to escape any such holocaust that Bible prophecy foretells.

I’ve given the commentary the title “God’s Egress System” because that’s exactly who His Son, Jesus Christ, is. He is the “blessed hope”—the Savior of the world that is aflame. He came to seek and save the lost—all who are headed down into flames if not ejected into the air when Christ calls all born-again believers to Himself.

The crash into judgment and wrath could happen at any moment. This world is aflame with all of the things we have looked at as indicators of the end times. God’s escape is available for all who will grip that blessed hope—the t-handle of God’s egress system.

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. (Titus 2:13–14)

— Terry