The puzzle pieces are coming together and I think that means we are getting oh so close to the Rapture friends. I’ve been watching to see how the final couple players who are believed to be part of the attacking force detailed in Ezekiel 38 would start to form stronger bonds with the other three nations believed to be in that mix who are ultimately prophesied to attack Israel in ‘the latter years’ (Ezekiel 38:8) to plunder the Jewish nation of all that God has blessed them with abundantly.
Now I’ve only been aware of how late the hour is for when Jesus will return for the past 2 or 3 years, but for anyone who has been watching for the Lord’s return longer and is aware of the prophecy of Ezekiel 38, you, my fellow watchers, have already seen how three of the five peoples that make up the alliance of attacking nations have come together slowly over time and as we speak have forces stationed at Israel’s doorstep – namely in Syria.
For those not familiar with the Biblical prophecy of Ezekiel 38, this chapter names specific peoples who will team up to attack Israel for plunder (Ezekiel 38:12). This will occur after Israel has been restored as a nation (Ezekiel 38:8) in ‘the latter years.’ While there is some debate about who the players are mentioned in this chapter, which when it comes to Bible prophecy is not an uncommon occurrence, there is a generally agreed upon idea of the specific members involved, which include Russia, Iran, Turkey, Libya and Sudan. Check out this article that goes into the ancient names and gives an explanation on how the modern nations are derived.
Since I have only known about the prophecy of Ezekiel 38 in recent time I haven’t had to wonder how the first three players would come together, which consist of Russia, Turkey, and Iran. This is a trio of countries that have never before had a pact together until just now in history. We now presently see them inside of Syria and on the doorstep of Israel near the Golan heights. Their leaders most recently met together in late September for planning in Syria and they continue to strengthen their bonds together as the days progress.
The other two nations believed to be a part of the alliance of nations are Libya and Sudan. Now for me this has been quite the puzzle trying to figure out how exactly these countries would come into the fold with Russia, Turkey and Iran. We know this Bible prophecy will come true 100% accurately. So these specific players will be the only ones that are a part of this invasion. This isn’t a world war type of scenario where these member nations happen to be on one larger side. No – it’s just these specific countries who will attempt the attack.
To me the most mysterious thing about this alliance to me is the power difference between the first three and the last two members. According to one list that tries to rank the top 80 countries by power, we have:
- Russia – #2
- Iran – #13
- Turkey – #16
- Libya – Not in the top 80
- Sudan – Not in the top 80
I found another list that actually includes Libya and Sudan:
- Russia – #2
- Iran – #14
- Turkey – #9
- Libya – #77
- Sudan – #69
As you can see there is a vast, difference in ‘power.’ It would be hard to picture what exactly would give Libya and Sudan the courage to attack Israel who on these same lists is ranked #8 and #17 respectively. Israel is described as living without walls and securely within Ezekiel 38, so there is speculation that this attack must be during the first half of the tribulation period when Israel has signed a covenant with the antichrist who will promise to protect Israel from her enemies. Read more on the timing theory here. Little do all five of these nations know that their attack will rouse the fury of God and will lead to the utter destruction of the invading forces in such a way that people will know this is from God (Ezekiel 38:22-23).
Will all of that said, I’ve been encouraged in my spirit that we are getting closer to the rapture after seeing some serious movements from Libya that I believe will lead them down the road to Ezekiel 38.
So to set the stage for what is happening currently we need to back up to 2010. It was in December of that year when Noble Energy discovered what would be one of the largest oil reserves found in the past decade some miles off the coast of Israel. The gas field was named Leviathan, which is the same name as the underwater sea serpent mentioned in the Bible. Noble Energy has been prepping the field for exporting oil with plans to begin official commercial oil flow in December 2019 as stated on their website.
Surely the timing of this commercial oil flow is what led Turkey to approve a bold treaty with Libya earlier this month giving Turkey access to far-reaching economic zones in the Mediterranean to look for oil and to build military bases in Libya. This is a highly contested deal, which even the EU denounced in support of Greece who feels Turkey is violating international maritime laws.
My opinion is this will work to embolden the relationship between Libya and Turkey as it ostracizes these two countries from other surrounding nations. Libya in the meantime continues to be in an ongoing civil war where Russia has also been heavily involved similar to their presence in war-torn Syria. Turkey and Russia actually plan to meet early next year to discuss their plans for Libya.
One of the big reasons for Turkey seeking this agreement is to essentially blockade the Mediterranean from any oil lines heading to Europe, which Israel and a number of other nations had already agreed on plans to move forward with while excluding Turkey from the deal. In this way, Turkey is trying to force Israel and any other countries interested in exporting oil through the Mediterranean to Europe to first need Turkey’s consent. More can be read on this here.
Turkey has been quick to start trying to enforce this newly locked in deal by escorting an Israeli research ship out of contested waters near Cyprus this past week and threatening military action on any vessels found exploring for oil in the region. To further that threat, Turkey just landed a weaponized military drone in northern Cyprus this week and approved the military portion of the memorandum this week.
So what is the significance of this? I personally see this as being a massive stepping stone and trigger that will lead Libya down the road to Ezekiel 38. I mean this deal with Turkey has cemented a relationship that Turkey will be very reluctant to withdraw from. In fact, with the sanctions from the U.S., Turkey’s currency has been weakened significantly.
This is pure speculation on my part, but I see this entrenching Turkey deeper into maintaining the maritime deal with Libya in the hopes of forcing Israel and others to bring Turkey into the lucrative oil exporting dealings to the EU. If Turkey could force the hands of regional countries to play ball, perhaps that would give Turkey leverage to convince the U.S. to ease on sanctions if they are in open trade deals with Israel – a huge ally to the U.S.
The situation is getting even tenser though with Egypt reportedly sending tanks into Libya to oppose Turkish forces in a battle for Tripoli. This all seems to just be fueling the war in Libya even more, which I haven’t really gone into in this post.
Does this mean we can consider Libya ready to go for an attack on Israel? I think there is still some ground to be covered before that step, but that doesn’t mean that Libya’s current faction in the deal with Turkey wouldn’t contribute their naval forces into an attack on the western side of Israel.
I mean when you look at a map you can see that Libya’s only real way to contribute to this attack currently seems to be by way of water. I don’t see Egypt letting Libya march their armies through their country. I also don’t foresee Russia, Iran, and Turkey wanting yet even more foreign forces inside of Syria. That’s even if Libya had forces to spare with the ongoing civil war taking place.
My best guess is if the civil war continues in Libya, then Turkey and Russia will promise to support one of the factions militarily and/or to give significant spoils from Israel in return for sending whatever forces/weapons they can via water to attack Israel.
Of course this just guesses, but it should go to show that even now there’s possibility for this attack to be right around the corner.
So why does this news build my faith even more?
Well for one, we are starting to see the alliances between the nations believed to be the modern peoples mentioned in Ezekiel 38 forming as we speak even with countries that it wasn’t really clear until now how they would ultimately get involved more deeply. If this attack is to take place during the Tribulation, then I don’t think it’s that hard of a stretch to consider that we are rapidly approaching that time.
The second thing is something that Pastor J.D. Farag has said about the build up of forces inside of Syria by Russia, Iran, and Turkey – simply that these things have a shelf life.
And when you consider some of the things occurring, it’s just a pot ready to boil over.
In Iran, you have massive riots occurring against the government and crippling sanctions that are wrecking its economy. That’s not to mention the race they seem to be in to build out an atomic weapon, which no doubt they would plan to use on Israel or threaten to use incessantly. This post written in November says Iran is potentially seven to eight months out from having a nuclear weapon. Now at the end of December that means 6-7 months.
Israel’s prime minister Netanyahu already made a vow that he won’t let Iran develop a nuclear weapon. So this situation with Iran will come to a head soon if all parties remain on the same course. And this is all occurring while Israel is unable to form a government for the second time in a row.
Turkey is obviously heating things up with their new deal with Libya. With a hurting currency in the Lira and more sanctions on the way, they are in a critical moment. It just occurred that Israel signed a deal with Cyprus and Greece to form a gas line to Europe. So we will have to wait and see what Turkey will do in response.
To an unbelieving person things might seem out of control and it just may seem like there is something to panic about in every part of the world, but for Christians there is nothing to fear. God knew this would all take place. Before the Tribulation period starts believers in Jesus will take part in what is commonly known as ‘the rapture’ to rescue us from the wrath of God coming on the world. When the rapture occurs we will forever be with the Lord.
So again, to emphasize my point earlier, if we see the believed to be nations forming an alliance right now, it doesn’t take much faith to believe that we are rapidly nearing that moment.
If you are reading this article, then I’m assuming you are probably a believer and interested in learning more about this prophecy in relation to the end times, but I’d venture to guess that someone and maybe it’s you who is reading this right now, is fairly new to all of this, but it’s making complete sense the more you read about the end times and the current world in relation to what is found in the Bible. I would challenge you to consider praying to the God of the Bible to call on His name to save you from the sins you’ve committed (we all have sinned), and if you aren’t ready to do that yet, I would still challenge you to pray to ask God to draw near to you that His Truth would be revealed to you.
Romans 10:9-13 NASB tells us “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.””
Perhaps the most well known verse of the Bible is John 3:16, which makes things clear: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
Being saved comes down to believing that Jesus is the Son of God, He died for our sins, was buried and rose again. There are no amount of works involved that could ever save you because we can only be saved through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.
I invite you to take that step of faith.
Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation