Rapture and End Times

They worshiped the dragon because he gave authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to wage war against him?” (Revelation 13:4)

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Turkey Briefing Al-Monitor, February 10, 2023

This week was marked by the catastrophic earthquakes that decimated a large swathe of southern Turkey and northern Syria.

Monday’s twin earthquakes centered in Turkey’s Kahramanmaras province are poised to upend the country’s political and socio-economic landscape in dramatic and unpredictable ways. As of this writing, more than 19,00 people had perished in Turkey. The toll is expected to rise significantly, perhaps even eightfold the UN cautioned, as comprehensive debris removal starts. As I noted in a quick initial take, the government’s handling of the disaster, among the biggest in Turkey’s modern history, will be a key factor in the outcome of the presidential and parliamentary elections that are scheduled to take place on May 14. However, as opposition Good Party leader Meral Aksener told veteran columnist Murat Yetkin, given the scale of the destruction, the polls may well have to be postponed till June 18, the formal deadline for holding the current round. But Aksener also made clear there was no question of the opposition agreeing to any indefinite deferral.

Erdogan, who loves to blame Turkey’s woes on foreign powers, was smart enough though to welcome offers of international aid early on. It’s come in spades, with more than 60 countries riding to the rescue as Adam Lucente reported. Turkey’s historic foes, Greece and Armenia, were among the first to respond. Israelis have set up field hospitals. Even Ukrainians flew in with rescue dogs from their war-torn country.

The World Bank has committed $780 million to help Turkey rebuild its infrastructure. The EU is also pitching in with millions of its own. The United States is providing $85 million and, as our Pentagon correspondent Jared Szuba reported, the Pentagon has ordered a US aircraft carrier operating in the Mediterranean Sea to help out should Ankara ask. The UAE has pledged $50 million in aid. Qatar is sending 1,000 mobile homes.

Turkey’s economic frailty can no longer be mitigated by Russian and Arab largesse alone. The economic impact of the quake will be felt for years. Will this soften Erdogan’s aggressive posturing towards the West? Will he for example drop his objections to Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership, and cool ties with Russia?

After Monday’s earthquake, everything is possible.

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Turkey’s earthquake spikes Europe’s fears of Middle East flare-ups February 10, 2023

PARIS — The massive earthquake that hit eastern Turkey and northwestern Syria early Monday morning was met with shock and horror both in the region and in Europe.

The death toll reached over 20,000 at the time of publication, while thousands of buildings were flattened on both sides of the border as many did not meet the seismic standards — all the more so in ramshackle Syria after more than a decade of war and civil governance neglect. European governments mobilized to send rescue teams and materials, but the geopolitics of the impacted region proved to be an issue.

Aid to Turkey was dispatched while Erdogan was restricting Twitter, having intense quarrels from Sweden to Greece and bickering relentlessly with most other European governments and institutions. Necessity might now force him to tone down the xenophobic language he’s been hammering in view of the forthcoming presidential election set for May 14. Meanwhile, even though he may use the State of Emergency decree to repress opposition even more, the massive rescue policy shortcomings resulting in thousands of people trapped under the debris and freezing until death are expected to exert a heavy toll on his record as an incompetent leader — as hinted at by many furious firsthand reactions of quake victims.

The Turkish-Syrian border area at large remains one of the world’s geopolitical quagmires, a major epicenter of tensions and fault lines that run throughout the Middle East toward Europe. It was the threshold for thousands of European jihadis reaching out eastward to the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq in the late 2010s and has remained since then one of the key conduits for westward waves of emigration to Europe by the millions from the whole region, as far as Southwest Asia.

Such a spiraling of violence, absent any political agenda, is also perceived in Europe in great awe because of its potential echo in the continent, home to millions of Jews and Muslims. Past decades evidenced that bloody attacks on synagogues or Jewish schools there had but vicariously echoed confrontation in the Holy Land, particularly when political deadlock occurred between Israel and Palestine. Some European sparkles, in such an international context, could send the continent ablaze. In Sweden, after a Quran was burned on Jan. 21 during an authorized demonstration, someone asked permission to set ablaze the Torah in public, which was immediately forbidden: The embers stand ready to be fanned, in a super volatile context. The European social agenda is rife with strikes on both sides of the Channel, caused by two-digit inflation following the Russian gas deliveries shortage, and with huge tensions around the Mediterranean due to enduring illegal immigration. As a sequel, extreme-right parties are on the rise all over the continent, from Norway to Spain and Poland to Greece, with a strong anti-Islam agenda mixing memories of the jihadi bloodbath of the late 2010s with fears of a demographic shift in favor of Muslims due to tidal waves of immigrants, known as the “Great Replacement” threat.

Such are the lenses through which — with drumbeats of war resounding louder every day in Ukraine — Europeans, absent a cohesive political and military capacity, look in shock and awe at the cataclysmic quake in Turkey and Syria and the resumption of violence in the Holy Land.

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Israeli Ambassador to Turkey: A ‘New Page’ in Relations Amid Devastating Tragedy The Algemeiner, February 8, 2023

As the death toll in Turkey and Syria from a pair of devastating earthquakes crosses 12,000 on Wednesday, Israel is stepping up rescue efforts alongside dozens of other countries in a race against time and freezing temperatures to find additional survivors.

“Already on [Monday] evening, the first advance team arrived to the site,” Israeli Ambassador Irit Lillian told The Algemeiner in an interview Wednesday. “Unlike in previous natural disasters that have occurred in Turkey, this time the [Turkish] Minister of Interior moved immediately after the announcement of the earthquake and said ‘we will need international assistance.’”

Once that request was made, Israel moved to send a team that they had already begun assembling “within minutes” of hearing of the scale of the disaster. So far, that team includes 150 people from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, led by Israeli Ambassador David Saranga. The Israeli government said Wednesday that an additional 230 medical personnel and tons of medical equipment sent on 15 planes had arrived in the area that evening.

According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s readout of the call between Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday, Erdogan thanked Herzog for the rescue mission and expressed his “gratitude for Israel’s stand alongside its friend, Türkiye, at this difficult hour.”

Lillian said that while relations between Israel and Turkey have warmed in recent years, the political situation didn’t factor into Israel’s decision to send humanitarian aid.

“We all know that the Palestinian question is very close to President Erdogan’s heart,” she said. “But nevertheless, we’ve warmed up relations in the past year. Ambassadors from both sides came back to capitals and we decided to open a new page.”

“I believe that President Erdogan was very sincere when he thanked Israel,” she continued. “And in such cases, you don’t judge ‘what are the stances of this person on other political issues?’”

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While our thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Turkey, we believe that soon another “earthquake” will hit the Middle East and the world. Erdogan is going to do everything in his power to overturn the Ottoman defeat of 1917, and the second half of the Tribulation will be dominated by the Turkish Neo-Ottoman Empire and the Beast.

As watchmen on the wall we want to alert you to an upcoming comprehensive Peace Agreement. This international peace treaty is the major End Times sign, and indicates the beginning of the 7 year Tribulation. It is the prophetic trip wire that is more critical than any other modern sign.

Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who substitute darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who substitute bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.
Woe to those who are wise in their own opinion
and clever in their own sight. (Isaiah 5:20-21)

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The Modern Beast of Babylon

They worshiped the dragon because he gave authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to wage war against him?” (Revelation 13:4)

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What is the nature of the Beast that John is referring to? What do we know about him?

The description of the beast is found in Revelation chapters thirteen and seventeen. Chapter thirteen gives the fullest description. John saw it “rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.” (Revelation 13:1) It was like a leopard, with feet like the feet of a bear, and had a mouth like a lion. One of its heads had a mortal wound which healed itself, causing people to wonder at it and follow it. (Revelation 13:1-10) This description draws many parallels with a vision in the Book of Daniel where four beasts symbolizing a succession of kingdoms come out of the sea in the forms of a lion, bear, leopard and a beast with ten horns.

Revelation 17 mentions a third beast described as “a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.” (Revelation 17:3) and some of the symbols are explained. The prevailing view is that the scarlet beast is another, distinct, visualization of the same subject as the beast of the sea, which is pictured with crowns on its horns, unlike the scarlet beast. The scarlet beast is shown being ridden by a harlot who “reigns over the kings of the earth”, (Revelation 17:18) whereas the beast of the sea is not described as being ridden, and is given “power and great authority.” The seven heads represent both seven mountains and seven kings, and the ten horns are ten kings who have not yet received kingdoms. Of the seven kings, five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come. The beast itself is an eighth king who is of the seven and “was and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition.”

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Who is the Beast?

And they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to wage war against him?” (Revelation 13:4)

We can see the makings of the Antichrist in Recep Erdogan, as the Bible shows that the Antichrist will be seen as a peace maker and will be very wise in the beginning of his rule. At first the Antichrist will seem to solve many of the world’s problems and he will be considered great in the eyes of most in the world. Representing the Muslims, the Antichrist will help mediate a peace agreement in the Middle East, especially with Israel.

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Pope Francis Speaks to Turkish President Erdogan About Palestinians, Meets Iran’s Foreign Minister EWTN News, May 17, 2021

According to a statement from the Turkish president’s office, President Erdogan told Pope Francis “that Palestinians would continue to be subjected to massacre as long as the international community did not punish Israel, which is committing humanitarian crimes with sanctions.”

“Let us pray unceasingly that Israelis and Palestinians may find the path of dialogue and forgiveness, to be patient builders of peace and justice, opening up, step by step, to a common hope, to a coexistence among brothers,” Pope Francis said.

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A century after the establishment of the modern Turkish Republic, the country is looking to celebrate its hundredth birthday in a way that has become popular throughout the Middle East today. Turkey’s ambitious Vision 2023 aims to put the country in the world’s top ten economies within the next five years by making dramatic improvements to its trade, energy, health care and transport sectors. Announced in 2013 by the then Prime Minister (now President) Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he gave the country ten years to rise from one of the better off developing countries shaken by a long history of military coups to a nation whose economy, stability and regional influence is to be reckoned with.

Over the past century, particularly within the last decade, Turkey has risen to become a somewhat hegemonic power within the region, with Iran being its only rival in influence and Israel being its only rival in military might. Its proactive stance in the Syrian conflict – through its famed “Operation Euphrates Shield” and its current “Operation Olive Branch” – has enabled the country to again become a regional power to be reckoned with militarily, economically and diplomatically.

Sultan Erdogan?

There have been some misgivings over the intentions of Erdogan and the nature of his government – are they Islamists, neo-Ottoman fantasists with a dangerous nostalgia for the past and with an aim to occupy its former territories? While that view is an exaggerated one that plays into the hands of his opponents both within and outside Turkey – especially the European Union which vehemently opposes Turkey’s bid for membership – the current AKP government has displayed a love of national history which goes beyond Ataturk’s founding of the Republic.

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All indications are that Erdogan is going to do everything in his considerable power to “make Turkey great again” and overturn the Ottoman defeat of 1917. The Ottoman Empire will strike back around the hundredth birthday of the Turkish Republic, in 2023.

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How will the Beast gain his throne?

Near the end of their kingdoms,
when the rebels have reached
the full measure of their sin,
an insolent king, skilled in intrigue,
will come to the throne.
His power will be great,
but it will not be his own.
He will cause terrible destruction
and succeed in whatever he does.
He will destroy the powerful
along with the holy people.
He will cause deceit to prosper
through his cunning and by his influence,
and in his own mind he will make himself great.
He will destroy many in a time of peace;
he will even stand against the Prince of princes. (Daniel 8:23-25)

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Erdogan heralds massive military complex to coordinate military, security agencies Al-Monitor, September 8, 2021

Turkey has launched the construction of the massive military complex, the Crescent and Star, named after the symbols of its national flag, to bring the Defense Ministry, the chief of General Staff, and the headquarters of the land, air and navy forces under a single roof, with the stated aim of enhancing coordination between military institutions and their operational effectiveness.

Dubbed “Turkey’s Pentagon,” the project will sprawl on an area of some 12.6 million square meters and have indoor spaces of 890,000 square meters to house up to 15,000 employees. A crescent-shaped structure in the middle of the complex will contain various conference halls, curving around a ceremonial ground of 23,000 square meters and facing a star-shaped structure to the south. The complex will be erected in Ankara’s suburb of Baglica, not far from the new, high-security headquarters to which the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) moved last year. The Defense Ministry, the chief of General Staff, and the headquarters of the land, air and navy forces are currently housed in separate buildings in Kizilay, the commercial heart of the Turkish capital, in close proximity to parliament and government buildings.

According to state-run media, “The design, originality, size and technological features [of the Crescent and Star complex] will make it one of the most modern and functional headquarters in the world.” The structure will “instill fear in enemies and give confidence to friends,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan boasted at the groundbreaking ceremony Aug. 30.

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Now begins the Revived Roman Empire, also known as “Babylon the Great”

The Christian understanding of apostasy is a willful falling away from, or rebellion against, Christian truth. What is happening here is a rebellion against Christianity by society at large. The apostasy reaches the point where the “man of lawlessness” declares himself to be God.

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me: “Come, I will show you the judgment of the notorious prostitute who sits on many waters. The kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and those who live on the earth became drunk on the wine of her sexual immorality.” So he carried me away in the Spirit to a desert. I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and 10 horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls. She had a gold cup in her hand filled with everything vile and with the impurities of her prostitution.

On her forehead a cryptic name was written:

BABYLON THE GREAT
THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES
AND OF THE VILE THINGS OF THE EARTH.

Then I saw that the woman was drunk on the blood of the saints and on the blood of the witnesses to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished.

Then the angel said to me, “Why are you astonished? I will tell you the secret meaning of the woman and of the beast, with the seven heads and the 10 horns, that carries her. The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up from the abyss and go to destruction. Those who live on the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast that was, and is not, and will be present again.

“Here is the mind with wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated. They are also seven kings: Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he comes, he must remain for a little while. The beast that was and is not, is himself an eighth king, yet he belongs to the seven and is going to destruction. The 10 horns you saw are 10 kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they will receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast. These will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings. Those with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.” (Revelation 17:1-14)

The 7 mountains can also refer to the 7 hills of Rome, and the G-7, which consists of the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, Italy, France, and Canada. Also, there are 10 core members of the European Union.

Bible prophecy foretells a 10-nation military alliance that will rise out of a revived Roman Empire (the European Union) and will come under the control of the Antichrist (Daniel 7:23-24). Unknown to many Christians, a 10-nation military alliance appeared in Europe in 1995, called the Western European Union (or the Brussels Treaty Powers).

These 10 nations are members of both NATO and the European Union. What bound them together was a mutual defense obligation under Article Five of the modified Brussels Treaty, which meant that an attack against one would be an attack against all.

Yet, on March 31, 2010, the 10 nations announced that they had agreed to terminate their alliance and transfer the Western European Union’s powers to the European Union – which, under the Lisbon Treaty, has developed a mutual defense obligation that includes all the EU member states.

He also said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute was seated, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages. The 10 horns you saw, and the beast, will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, devour her flesh, and burn her up with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His plan by having one purpose and to give their kingdom to the beast until God’s words are accomplished. And the woman you saw is the great city that has an empire over the kings of the earth.” (Revelation 17:15-18)

The 10 core members of the European Union, known as the “Berlin Group” (Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain) just lost Britain. Soon, they will add Turkey as it reconciles with Israel and promotes a Middle East peace plan.

Babylon the Great is a metaphor for the pagan Roman Empire at the time it persecuted Christians.

In Revelation 17:9 it is said that she sits on “seven mountains”, understood as the seven hills of Rome. The characteristics ascribed to Babylon apply to Rome rather than to any other city of that age.

The Catholic Church is the great whore in prophecy as seen in Revelation 17:1, a false church.

Vatican Calls for New World Economic Order Fox News,  October 24, 2011

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican called Monday for radical reform of the world’s financial systems, including the creation of a global political authority to manage the economy.

A proposal by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace calls for a new world economic order based on ethics and the “achievement of a universal common good.” It follows Pope Benedict XVI’s 2009 economic encyclical that denounced a profit-at-all-cost mentality as responsible for the global financial meltdown.

The proposal acknowledges, however, that a “long road still needs to be traveled before arriving at the creation of a public authority with universal jurisdiction” and suggests the reform process begin with the United Nations as a point of reference.

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Revelation 17:18 as a prophecy of the false church which has power over the kings of the earth. The pope is in apostasy for allowing pagan rituals, beliefs and ceremonies to come into the church, having those who pointed out its apostasy persecuted and killed and never repenting of or fully admitting the true extent of its actions. The Papacy stepped in after the Roman Empire as fulfillment of 2 Thessalonians 2:7 which says, “For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.”

It all comes together when considering that the EU founders are solidifying their political union under the approval of the Pope:

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When millions of Christians are removed at the Rapture, the mystery of lawlessness (apostasy) increases, and the “man of sin” is revealed. This unleashes the Day of the Lord – the Tribulation.

In the Revelation of Jesus Christ, John saw a vision of Babylon the Great:

In this city, people will become part of the “Internet of Things.” During the Tribulation, the demons that were cast down to Earth will infest it:

After this I saw another angel with great authority coming down from heaven, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. He cried in a mighty voice:

It has fallen,
Babylon the Great has fallen!
She has become a dwelling for demons,

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a haunt for every unclean spirit,
a haunt for every unclean bird,
and a haunt for every unclean and despicable beast.
For all the nations have drunk
the wine of her sexual immorality,
which brings wrath.
The kings of the earth
have committed sexual immorality with her,
and the merchants of the earth
have grown wealthy from her excessive luxury. (Revelation 18:1-3)

It is destined to be totally destroyed:

Then I heard another voice from heaven:

Come out of her, My people,
so that you will not share in her sins
or receive any of her plagues.
For her sins are piled up to heaven,
and God has remembered her crimes.
Pay her back the way she also paid,
and double it according to her works.
In the cup in which she mixed,
mix a double portion for her.
As much as she glorified herself and lived luxuriously,
give her that much torment and grief,
for she says in her heart,
“I sit as a queen;
I am not a widow,
and I will never see grief.”

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For this reason her plagues will come in one day—
death and grief and famine.
She will be burned up with fire,
because the Lord God who judges her is mighty. (Revelation 18:4-8)

Therefore the Lord God said:
“Look, I have laid a stone in Zion,
a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;
the one who believes will be unshakable.
And I will make justice the measuring line
and righteousness the mason’s level.”
Hail will sweep away the false refuge,
and water will flood your hiding place.
Your deal with Death will be dissolved,
and your agreement with Sheol will not last.
When the overwhelming scourge passes through,
you will be trampled. (Isaiah 28:16-18)

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The Good News is that we believe that the Rapture will occur before then. If you are a faithful and committed “Philadelphia” Christian, you may never have to face the choice of taking the mark or being put to death:

Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. (Revelation 3:10)  

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If you are not sure that you are a member of the family of God, you can accept Christ into your life right now, by praying:

“Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins.  Please forgive my sins and give me the gift of eternal life.  I ask you in to my life and heart to be my Lord and Savior.”

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