June 2021 Events Analysis
GAZA WAR HINTS AT ISAIAH 17 LATER:
The trigger for the 11-day Gaza War of May 2021, was a projected Flag March of Israelis through the Damascus Gate and Old City of Jerusalem, claiming ownership. Further, the ongoing presence of Jews on the Temple Mount was considered provocative. After it was over, on May 25th, the Hezbollah in Lebanon said any violation of Arab rights in Jerusalem or the Temple Mount will cause a regional war. Hamas in Gaza launched over 4300 rockets and missiles to Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, & other cities. Supporting fire came from groups in Lebanon and Syria. Anti-Israeli riots occurred in Jordan. Hamas was primed by the Iranians to test the Iron Dome system. They found it could not handle more than 130 rockets simultaneously to one region or 1000 to the whole country at any one time. Hezbollah and Hamas have over 150,000 smart missiles ready for use, so the weakness in the current Iron Dome defense shield has been found. Hamas claimed that they had reserved for future use an accurate rocket & missile barrage that would knock out key cities & military bases simultaneously. As a side note, the Israelis stated they destroyed the tower housing the International Press in Gaza because Hamas was using the tower for a jamming system against the Iron Dome defense batteries as seen here:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-envoy-tells-ap-hamas-sought-to-jam-iron-dome-from-your-gaza-tower/
Two facts emerge.
1). As riots go on in Jerusalem & the Temple Mount, they are becoming the flash-point focus against Israel. The status of Jerusalem & the building of the Temple will thus become the key issues in the run-up to the 7-year Covenant and the subsequent events of the Tribulation. These events have accelerated that trend. For example, the erstwhile spy for Israel and hero, Jonathan Pollard, gave an important Temple Mount speech reported here on June 16th:
https://www.israelunwired.com/the-most-important-speech-about-the-temple-mount-for-todays-generation/
Pollard basically states that no other nation gives up control of its holy sites to a different ethnic group – except Israel. If Israel exercises it rights to do that, it is a cause for war. However, the Temple on the Temple Mount is a basic requirement for the Jewish religion and their Temple had been there until 70 AD when destroyed by the Romans.
2). The line-up of nations in this war is a forerunner to those Israel will have to contend with for Isaiah 17:1-11. The Palestinian Arabs have previously determined that they, as proxies of Iran, will initiate events in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, and Israel will have to respond. Unlike the expectation of some expositors, when all the relevant passages are examined, this may well turn into a 4-front war with the focus in Damascus, Syria. This is mentioned in Isaiah 17:1-11; Zechariah 9-11; Amos 1:3-5; Zephaniah 2:1-9 (LXX); Obadiah 20; Joel 3:3-8 – and others. At the same time the alignment of Middle Eastern nations from the Abraham Accords fits in with this. We have given details about this elsewhere.
7 NOTES:
a. The king of Gaza perishes in this war (Zech.9:5). This has not happened yet, despite 7 attempts on his life by Israeli intelligence over a long period.
b. Israel gets southern Lebanon up to the Zahrani River between Tyre & Sidon (Obadiah 20) and Jews from around the world settle there “till no place is found for them.” (Zechariah 10:10).
c. Zechariah 9:13 says that the sons of Greece will come to assist Judah and Ephraim against these attackers. Just recently, Israel signed a military agreement with Greece and Cyprus. A translation mix-up in our modern Bibles makes it seem as if Greece comes against Israel (as in the times of the Maccabees around 160 BC) instead of supporting her.
d. The Abraham accords have made Saudi Arabia more friendly towards Israel. Two passages suggest that the captives taken by Israel from this Syrian & regional war are given to the Saudis &/or Gulf states (Joel 3:8 & Amos 1:5).
e. Isaiah 17:4-6, 11 says Israel wins; wipes out Damascus etc., but comes back in twos & threes. It is a “harvest of grief and desperate sorrow.” It is then that Russian & Iranian armies come to wipe out Israel (Is. 17:12-14; Ezekiel 38) with the miraculous intervention of God that leaves all nations knowing He supports Israel.
f. It is in the context of the wipe-out of Damascus (Zechariah 9:1), that we are told the Lord appears over the armies and God himself blows the Trumpet (Zechariah 9:14). In 1Thessalonians 4:16 we are informed that the Rapture of the Church will occur with God blowing the Trumpet. It is thus possible that these references may be the same event.
g. The comments in Isaiah 17:12-14 indicate that the massive invasion from Russia and Iran will be over within less than 24 hours. It says “Behold! At evening time there is trouble! But before the morning, they are no more.” (verse 14).
LEAD-UP TO EZEKIEL 38 WAR:
Facts from Russia: The Ukraine has announced on the 15th June that they had become full members of NATO. This upset the Russian leader Putin as war with Ukraine is a local problem, but now the Ukraine has NATO backing which is much more serious. This was doubly distressing to Putin as it came on the heels of the NATO and G7 summits, where President Biden had re-formed a new Atlantic Charter and revitalized NATO as outlined in this report: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57422348
In response, Russia sent missile ships and spy ships 3 miles off coast of Hawaii alert to a US missile test which failed because of Russian blocking. Only part of this story is available, but Intelligence reports plus this article below give some details. https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/navy-ships/a36597616/russian-spy-ship-tips-off-us-missile-test/
Russia also is preparing to launch a Kanopus V satellite which will show the whole Middle East in high resolution and is accessible to Iran to monitor all Israeli military activity. Despite denials, Israeli intelligence says the project is going ahead. https://www.jpost.com/international/russia-to-supply-iran-with-advanced-satellite-washington-post-670736
Facts from Turkey: Mid-East Intelligence announced on June 11th that Turkey has invaded 180 km (100 miles) into northern Iraq and troops are controlling population centers. Previously, Turkey had established a 20 + miles deep zone in northern Syria, so these two areas link up. The reason for the action is the predominant Kurdish population in the area shown green here. Turkey looks at the Kurds as “terrorists” because of their PKK forces, and is slowly annexing these green (Kurdish) areas in northern & Eastern Syria and now is moving into Northern Iraq. This is in line with Daniel 8:9 where Antichrist becomes great towards the south (into Syria and Iraq), and towards the east (not in ancient LXX). Turkey is doing just that. This is in line with Daniel 8 & 11 which imply that Antichrist comes from Turkey. Details here: https://www.barrysetterfield.org/Turkey_and_Russia.html and https://www.barrysetterfield.org/Daniel%208/Daniel8.html
Facts from Iran: On June 15th Mid-East Intelligence announced that Iran has enough enriched uranium for 3 nuclear bombs. Intelligence suggests that unless something is done in the next 60 days, Iran will be nuclear. This may well spark an Israeli reaction that could trigger the events leading up to Isaiah 17 and/or Ezekiel 38. Iran has had a series of serious fires, explosions and outages which are intensifying its hatred of Israel. So action may not be far away. The elections in Iran gave the job of President to Ibrahim Raisi, a 60 year old hard-liner who is a close confidant of the Supreme Ruler, the Ayatollah. It is anticipated that a more puritanical line will be followed religiously with more controls on activities and freedoms. Times of Israel: “He has nuclear ambitions.” https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-57537027 Israeli officials warn they have no option but to ready attack plans to remove nuclear threat before Raisi is in power in August. https://www.timesofisrael.com/tv-israeli-officials-warn-no-choice-but-to-ready-attack-plans-after-raisi-win/
COVID VACCINATION: Airlines around the world are now requiring vaccination certificates or “green passes” before a passenger has permission to fly. In many cases such a green pass is needed before entry into another country is permitted. For example, it was announced on May 27th that Australia is to maintain isolation with international border lockdowns until mid 2022. It is called the “Fortress Australia” policy.
On Wednesday 9th June, 178 healthcare workers were suspended from the Houston Methodist Hospital system for refusing a Covid vaccination jab. The sign read – “NO JAB – NO JOB.” Part of the reason was the experience of hundreds of males under 30 in Israel contracting inflammation of the heart muscle – myocarditis – after the 2nd Pfizer jab. One report is here: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/307348
For months, signs at shop fronts read “No Mask – No Entry.” In California, Governor Newsom has announced a new variation of the theme – a Vaccination Verification System. An electronic system will be introduced that will allow businesses to verify who has received the shots. More details will be announced very soon according to the Governor.
All this has echoes of what we are warned will happen just a little further into the future in Revelation 13:15-17. Some of that is outlined here: https://www.barrysetterfield.org/Watchman.html It does seem to be a case of coming events casting their shadows.
POPE FRANCIS STATEMENTS:
A June 1st report on news from March 25th : Pope Francis replaces Jesus with Mary; “Mary is the Bridge joining us to God.” This video clip gives the details. https://bit.ly/3fVA1IG
Quote from link: “Mary is not only the bridge joining us to God; she is more. She is the road that God traveled to reach us, and the road that we must travel in order to reach Him.” Pope Francis 25th March 2021. See God’s view in 1 Tim 2:5.
https://reformationcharlotte.org/2021/03/25/pope-francis-replaces-jesus-with-mary-says-she-is-the-bridge-to-god/
In Revelation 13, the religious leader is the false prophet. This may be a Pope as the word “Vatican” in Latin means prophet. This false prophet makes an image of the Beast which moves and talks. In that regard, on May 6th: “The Giant 2021” was announced. It is a 10 stories tall moveable, programmable, statue that takes the form of any designated person, sings, talks, moves – millions of programmable LED’s . It is going to perform in 21 major cities in world this year.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/arts/2021/05/06/the-giant-worlds-tallest-moving-statue-phoenix/4947964001/
We are being prepared for events that become common in the Tribulation.
CHINESE EVENTS OF POTENTIAL SIGNIFICANCE:
UNITED STATES EVENTS:
On June 19th US was reported to be pulling Patriot anti-missile systems from key Middle East countries, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan. They are also removing them & their radar equipment and the THAAD Systems with jet fighter squadrons. Because this equipment was effectively an early warning system for these countries and particularly Israel, this move has far-reaching ramifications for Iranian aggression & seriously affects Israel. The increase in the numbers of Iranian drones is also cause for concern. The US stated their focus will be on China & Russia instead of the Middle East. This effectively means that Israel is being left to face the Iranian and Russian threat alone as Numbers 23:9 states. https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/us-to-pull-patriot-batteries-from-key-mideast-countries-report-671437
ISRAELI RELIGIOUS POLICIES CHANGING: (See Israeli Election Results and God’s Schedule - attached below)
The new Government is making an egalitarian section at Western Wall & is promising to remove Orthodox restrictions.
The importance of Prime Minister Netanyahu:
The last 4 elections in Israel, held over a 2-year period, have proven indecisive. Through it all, Bibi Netanyahu and his religious right coalition have just barely retained power. They have been in office with only one break since 1996. In that time, the Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox religious parties have maintained Bibi in power. This has come with both a blessing and a cost. The blessing is that, in the last decade, Bibi has negotiated a deal with Russia’s Putin that allows Israel to attack only Iranian interests in Syria without any Russian reprisals. In fact, Israeli papers noted in mid-January 2020, that Putin had stated that, but for Netanyahu, who blocked it, Russia would have gone to war against Israel 4 times. The obvious threat that this has avoided has been Ezekiel 38 with its Russian and Iranian invasion of Israel. When that invasion occurs, the miraculous defeat of those armies by God’s action, will allow the rise of the final Eastern Mediterranean powers that play a key role at the beginning of the Tribulation. So, the presence of Bibi Netanyahu as Israeli Prime Minister has been used by God to influence the timing of these prophetic events.
The importance of the religious parties:
There is also a cost involved because of the iron grip the religious parties have that allows them to control all matters pertaining to life, living, the law and religious practices [see for example how the Orthodox monopoly of Israeli life is outlined in these two Jerusalem Post articles:
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/kariv-condemns-orthodox-monopoly-over-religious-life-in-maiden-speech-667287
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/the-haredi-parties-impact-on-israels-religious-life-under-netanyahu-670690
These articles point out that this monopoly stipulates who can or cannot marry, and which person can or cannot become an immigrant to Israel or even be employed in some cases. Many Messianic Jews are severely ostracized and Messianics are not welcome as immigrants. Neither are many secular Jews. As a result of these religious policies, Netanyahu has stated that he is the one person who has maintained the pure Jewish character of Israel instead of it becoming a pluralistic society. Even though their ethnicity was entirely Jewish, if a person was not from the right “category” of religion, they usually were not welcome. As a result, many Reformed , or secular or Messianic Jews cannot immigrate to Israel or marry there, and so on.
Consequently, Jews from overseas often have had a problem with the current government and the controlling Chief Rabbinate and Department of the Interior. This is the case, even though the nation has largely been at peace and has really prospered under this leadership, more than any time since it formed. This peace and prosperity in Israel are in line with Ezekiel 38:8, 14, just before the Russian-Iranian invasion, which must therefore be close. But there are further matters of prophetic importance involved here; one relating to Jews, the other to non-Jews.
Dispersed Jews returning to Israel (Aliya):
The Scriptures talk of a coming change in those circumstances which have been caused by the religious right in the Israeli Knesset. Jeremiah 16:16 states that some-time after their return to Israel from world-wide dispersion, which started in 1948, every last Jew remaining among the nations will be fished out and hunted from the dens, rocks, and caves of the earth, and sent back to Israel. Zechariah 10:10, Obadiah 20-21 and other Scriptural comparisons suggest that this process may result from the Divine intervention in the Russian - Iranian invasion of Israel in Ezekiel 38. Immediately following that battle, the Great Tribulation (Revelation 7:14), the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (Jeremiah 30:7), the Indignation (Daniel 8:19) or the Wrath of God (Jeremiah 10:10) will occur when the Lord punishes the world for its evil (Isaiah 13:11; 26:20-21). As part of this whole process, which Daniel & Revelation state will last 7 years, the Lord turns all Israel to Himself (Romans 11:25-26) which is why they have to be settled in the land.
However, the key point is that the political situation in Israel must be such that a Return of all Jews is possible, no matter what their religious affiliation is. In recent history, this has just not been the case. Since Israel is God’s time-piece (Isaiah 44:6-8), and since the Lord sets up whom He will over the nation (Daniel 4:32), we might conclude that these earlier election results may mean that God has been waiting for a perfect time. This week’s events, where Netanyahu was unable to form a government with the religious parties, suggest that, for the first time in 2 decades, the scene is changing to allow the doors to be opened for all Jews to return home, which is the stated aim of Yair Lapid who has now been tasked to form a government. If this is followed through, the stage set for Ezekiel 38 and the remaining Jews to come home. The current situation is given here: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/ultra-orthodox-mks-in-fierce-broadside-against-bennett-667463
The importance of all this to believers in the nations:
Romans 11 is important here. It says that a hardening in part has happened to Israel so the Messianic message is rejected “until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” A Gentile is a Biblical term for anyone who is not a Jew. The Fullness of the Gentiles or the ‘Times of the Gentiles’ as in Acts 15:14, refers to a period of time during which “God is visiting the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His Name,” after which He resumes His dealings with Israel to turn them all to Him at His Return (Acts 15:16 quoting Amos 9:11-12.
Despite all the other Biblical evidence that we are in the last days at the very end of the age, the composition of the Knesset for the last two decades has ensured that Jews generally have had only limited opportunity to hear the message of Messiah from passages such as Isaiah 53. This message is sometimes referred to as a “stumbling block” for the Jews (Isaiah 8:14, & 57:14 explained in 1 Corinthians 1:23, Romans 9:33 and 1 Peter 2:8). The action of Netanyahu and the religious right in the Knesset to maintain the Orthodox purity in Israel, has ensured that the “stumbling block” has remained firmly in place. The first time there seems to be the possibility of a break in this process is this last week with the new approach of Yair Lapid and his team. This was affirmed on June 15th 2021 by the different approach of the newly installed government and its team on religious matters, as reported here:
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/matan-kahana-wants-to-fix-israels-divisions-over-religion-state-671011
Isaiah says that the stumbling block will be taken out of the way when the Lord is about to act. The Apostle Paul says that will happen “When the fullness of the Gentiles has come in,” at which point the Church Age will finally close, the Rapture or ‘catching away’ of the genuine Christians will occur (1 Corinthians 15:51-55; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:9) and God will once more take up His dealings with Israel in a very specific way just before the Tribulation is poured out. On the 18th June 2021, an article in Israel National News stated that, now a new government is installed, it is expected that many overseas Jews will make Aliya and return to Israel. The world-wide rise in anti-semitism was also expected to assist this process. The final plea from the article was: “Come home, before it is too late!” https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/308329
Tying it all together:
These events are inevitably interlinked. Isaiah 17 verses 1-11 tell of the soon-coming wipe-out of Damascus followed by the reprisal against Israel by an international confederacy in verses 12-14. It is thought by many that these ‘reprisal’ verses refer to the Russian-Iranian invasion given in more detail in Ezekiel 38. There are a number of other references throughout Scripture, but one of particular interest is Zechariah 9-11. The context is the destruction of Damascus, Syria, and the armies that assemble either during or just after. There, in that context in Zechariah 9:14 we are told that the LORD will appear over them and the Lord God will blow the trumpet. This is of interest to Christians as the above Rapture passages state that the trumpet of God will sound for that event. These are the only two occasions in this time period when God Himself blows the trumpet. The suspicion is that these events are coincident. If so, then the events in Israel this month, June 2021, suggest we are getting close to an important climax.
Barry Setterfield 6th May, 2021. Updated June 19th 2021.