Prophecy Update Newsletter
April 11, 2017
IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER...
Blue Sky Option #4 - Pete Garcia -
http://www.omegaletter.com/articles/articles.asp?ArticleID=8420 A little over two years ago, I penned an article entitled "The Hermit Kingdom" which talked about the secretive and belligerent nation-state of North Korea. My opinion then was North Korea would not survive the decade without regime change. Regime collapse speculation has been ongoing since Kim Il Sung died in 1994, but as the old saying goes... a broken clock is still right twice a day. My belief then was based on the increased information flow into the kingdom via a thriving black market economy, movies, thumb drives, and cell phones are exposing the world to a new generation of North Koreans. My view was once the general population got news and information about the outside world, this would inspire an upwelling of discontent. Although the population is still in great fear of their tyrannical leader, we do know from defectors that "law and order" are beginning to break down outside of Pyongyang proper. Guards and police are starting to look the other way. Vendors who once worked in secret selling their black market items, now sell openly. Kickbacks, bribes, and quid-pro-quo are becoming the norm. This is similar (in a way) to the conditions Eastern Europe was a decade or so before the Iron Curtain collapsed. Adding to that is the fact that Kim Jong Un (KJU) is the weakest, craziest, and least popular of the three autocratic leaders who have run North Korea for the last 69 years. His father Kim Jong Il and grandfather Kim Il Sung also had a much better standing with their national benefactor China than he (KJU) currently does. Had Hillary Clinton won the election last November, North Korea probably would have limped into the 2020s economically broken but armed with long-range nuclear missiles. This, because the Clinton's have long had their hand in China's pocket for the last two decades and would not want to damage that financially beneficial relationship over something like North Korea's nuclear arms program. But after eight years of neglect under the Obama Administration, there is a now a laser-like focus back onto North Korea under President Trump. In a way, this may be a continuation of what the then-President Bush called the Axis of Evil (Iraq, Iran, and N. Korea) in his 2002 State of the Union address. He set a plan in motion to contend with these separate but intertwined entities. Other geo-strategic scholars and thinkers included Syria, Al Qaeda, and Hezbollah into this growing axis, but we have seen how this has been filling out over the past 15 years. The US policy (at least from a military and intelligence perspective) was to disrupt and destroy state sponsors of terror. Summary: 2002-2017 President Bush: Launched two-front war on terror in Afghanistan and Iraq. Set strict economic sanctions on then Kim Jong Il's North Korea President Obama: Withdrew from Iraq (allowing for ISIS to become) and minimized our footprint in Afghanistan making our efforts there virtually meaningless. He also encouraged the Arab Spring and ignored the Green Revolution in Iran. Also supported the Iranian-Nuclear Deal which all but guaranteed Iran the ability to produce nuclear weapons within a decade President Trump: Conducts first strike on a Syrian airbase presumed to be the point of origin for the use of chemical weapons. Issues general warning to North Korea that their actions are unacceptable and consequential. Notifies China that the US may take action with or without their help or consent Assessment The continued survival of North Korea's government is based on its ability to harness absolute terror against its population, its possession of nuclear weapons, and its access to economic resources. Although North Korea requires all three of these to survive, contradictions between what it takes to secure each will make the regime's demise all but inevitable over time. The difference this time with a Trump Administration is that we now have over two decades of evidence marking both action and inaction, harsh economic sanctions, empty rhetoric, and numerous military exercises, all of which have failed to thwart North Korea's nuclear ambitions. (See for timeline) Mainly, that from 1993 onward, North Korea has aggressively advanced in developing both a nuclear capability and a means to deliver that payload (short, medium, and long range missiles) despite everything (short of war) to stop it. US policy in the past was centered on using China as the agent of leverage with North Korea, but as it turns out, our agenda is not their agenda, and thus, North Korea has had no real incentive to quit. "We have 20 years of diplomacy and sanctions under our belt that has failed to stop the North Korean program," one senior intelligence official involved in the review told NBC News. Timed for maximum effect, President Trump informed visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping of the Syrian airstrikes just after their dinner this past week at Trump's southern command of Mar-a-Lago. The Syrian airbase airstrike was the first time the US had directly targeted Bashar Assad's forces and infrastructure. Furthermore, Pres. Trump and Sec. of State Rex Tillerson each announced that if China were unwilling to partner in reining in North Korea, the US would act unilaterally if necessary. "If China is not going to solve North Korea, we will," Trump told the Financial Times (Source). Regarding the then upcoming meeting with Pres. Xi Jinping, Trump added- "Yes, we will talk about North Korea," Trump told the newspaper for a story that appeared Sunday on its website. "And China has great influence over North Korea. And China will either decide to help us with North Korea, or they won't. And if they do, that will be very good for China, and if they don't, it won't be good for anyone." But both that announcement after their dinner, and the silence of not telegraphing our intentions, swiftness, and violence of the Syrian airstrike (59 Tomahawk missiles is a bit of overkill) was meant to send a strong message to North Korea that its days of mischief were over. Also conveyed in the strike, was the idea that the US was no longer waiting on China to help. There is a fascinating article that lists out why specifically China is not enthusiastic about reining in North Korea economically. As Beijing sees it, the consequences of cutting off economic ties and precipitating the fall of the North Korean regime would be disastrous. Either the result would be complete chaos, with millions of North Korean refugees crossing the Yalu River into China's depressed North Eastern provinces, or it would be a successful reunification led by South Korea, an eventuality which would in time lead to the emergence of a new American-allied economic powerhouse, complete with US military bases, right on China's border. So China's concerns about the fate of tiny North Korea, at least from a geopolitical standpoint, merits some consideration. They like things the way they are now. A divided Korea means less threat on their immediate border. Likewise, the poor and impoverished in North Korea are their problem, not China's. But if North Korea does collapse, how does it happen? Pres. Trump's Administration is actively seeking a way to do this. The Trump White House, through the National Security Council, asked for blue sky options in early February, a senior official told NBC on background. "Think big," the official said that the agencies were instructed. Many proposals have already been abandoned, but on the military side, sources say, the three options with the highest impact still constitute the next steps. Those options thus far are: Option 1: Deploy nukes back to the Korean Peninsula (reverse the 1991 "denuclearization of the Korean peninsula" which the North has already violated Option 2: Assassinate KJU and decapitate the Senior N. Korean leadership Option 3: Cripple infrastructure and North Korea's ability to move missiles with strategic attacks If the US or South Korea assassinates Kim Jong Un: To our knowledge, does not have an immediate blood-heir to Kim Jong Un himself thus would require a brother, sister or other relative to fill in. This has two effects:
If KJU own inner circles assassinate him: It has long been speculated that KJU suffers from a form of paranoid schizophrenia. Thus far, he has personally ordered the assassinations of dozens from within his inner circles, so it may behoove someone close to him to strike first preemptively. Why is Kim killing so many high level associates? I think the real reason is that Kim suffers a paranoid disorder. This psychological sickness usually begins in early adulthood as Kim. Classic symptoms of a person with paranoid disorder include: (a) suspicion, without sufficient basis, that others are exploiting, harming, or deceiving him or her; (b) preoccupation with unfounded doubts about the loyalty or trustworthiness of associates; and (c) feeling threats from benign remarks or events. Kim most likely suffers also from schizophrenia by not being able to assess the reality as is. What I think will happen though, is a combination of two and three. We'll call this blue sky option #4. This calls for:
The missing piece of the puzzle is how to action this option without interference or drawing in China. As the aforementioned issues present serious concerns to China, there may be a way to do this while sidelining China as a direct participant. But first, we realize that waiting on China to come to its senses before North Korea goes fully nuclear, is not an option. Been-there-done-that. China would want some iron-clad agreements beforehand if we were to notify them an impending attack. It would seem NOT in our best interest to let China know ahead of time, as they may convey that to Kim's regime and make matters worse. If the US does collapse N. Korea through any of the options previously mentioned, these could be up for grabs:
Any one of the three (or a combination of the two) would be pretty tempting for China to abandon North Korea over. I do not expect that we will ever agree to abandon Taiwan, but stranger things have happened in the past, so we cannot rule it out completely. Conclusion You might be wondering how this all ties into Bible prophecy? Well, we know a few things for certain pertaining Asia and the end times. The first of which is that the Rapture of the Church will force a global restructuring around the world. How and what that looks like is uncertain, but we know that there will be an alignment of ten kings/kingdoms that the Antichrist eventually assumes control over. We know that after the Rapture, the Seal Judgments allow for the introduction of this man Antichrist (Revelation 6:1-2). He is followed by the rider on the Red Horse (vs. 3-4), which introduces a period of intense global war. Third, we know that the Kings of the East (Daniel 11:44, Revelation 16:12) (presumably led by China) march westward to join the Antichrist and his forces. They end up participating in the battle at Armageddon only to meet their demise at the glorious return of Jesus Christ (Revelation 19). Furthermore, as God is the one who enthrones leaders and rulers for a time and season (Dan. 2:21) it seems that seventy years is about the extent that God has allowed for authoritarian-type governments to remain in control (at least now here at the end of the age). The Iron Curtain collapsed in 1989 after 44 years of control. The Soviet Union (1922-1991) collapsed after 69 years. Both China and North Korea formed communist governments in 1949 and 1948 (respectively), which puts them right about the 70 year mark in 2017. In respects to China, as economic prosperity has flourished and produced a growing middle-class, there has been a softening (of sorts) in how China rules. North Korea continually runs a $500M to $1.5B deficit each year. They cannot use international banking due to the existing sanctions. This limits them to dealing exclusively with China and Iran along with having to utilize the black market to raise capital it needs to fund its militaristic endeavors. This in and of itself, means they cannot sustain what they have even if the US does nothing at all. One defector equated North Korea as a square wheel that cannot roll naturally on its own. It has to be forced. (Source) With an almost certainty of an impending collapse, is it both more humanitarian and strategically advantageous for us (and the region) to know and control the method and timing of that collapse, or let it come at a time and choosing that is not our own? 
Putin: Syria Chemical Attack Was 'False Flag,' More 'Provocations' Coming -
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2017/04/11/putin-syria-chemical-attack-was-false-flag-more-provocations-are-coming/ At a Tuesday press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed last week's chemical weapons attack in the Idlib province of Syria was a "false flag" - a phony operation staged by enemies of Russia and Syria to discredit them. He said more such false flag operations were on the way. "We have reports from multiple sources that false flags like this one - and I cannot call it otherwise - are being prepared in other parts of Syria, including the southern suburbs of Damascus. They plan to plant some chemical there and accuse the Syrian government of an attack," said Putin, as reported by Russia's RT.com. "President Mattarella and I discussed it, and I told him that this reminds me strongly of the events in 2003, when the US representatives demonstrated at the UN Security Council session the presumed chemical weapons found in Iraq," Putin continued, referring to Italian President Sergio Mattarella, who appeared with him at the press conference in Moscow. "The military campaign was subsequently launched in Iraq and it ended with the devastation of the country, the growth of the terrorist threat and the appearance of Islamic State [IS, formerly ISIS] on the world stage," Putin declared. According to RT.com, the Russian General Staff has prepared a report that claims "militants" among the Syrian rebellion are "transporting toxic agents into several parts of Syria." "These actions are aimed at creating a new pretext for accusing the government of Syria of more chemical weapons attacks and provoking more strikes by the US," said Colonel-General Sergey Rudskoy, head of operations for the General Staff. The Associated Press reports that Russia's General Staff has expressed a willingness to allow international inspectors to examine the Sharyat airbase in Syria for traces of chemical weapons, and offered to provide military security for the inspectors. Putin said he would appeal to the United Nations to investigate the incident. The UK Independent reports that Putin more specifically accused the United States of planning to drop chemical weapons on Damascus and then blame the incident on Assad, although it does not provide a translation of the Russian president's precise words to that effect. On Monday, Russia and Iran declared the United States "crossed red lines" by attacking Sharyat airbase, borrowing a phrase made infamous by former President Barack Obama. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has accused the Russians of either being "complicit" in the Syrian chemical weapons deployment, or "incompetent" for allowing it to happen. The Pentagon is investigating the possibility that Russia actually participated in the chemical weapons attack, and/or the bombing of a hospital where victims were receiving treatment afterward. 
Tillerson: Russia either irresponsible or incompetent in failing to rid Assad of WMDs - By Josh Lederman - http://www.timesofisrael.com/tillerson-russia-must-choose-between-iranian-axis-and-us/
Secretary of state, now visiting Moscow, says Putin must choose between Iran axis and US US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson issued an ultimatum to Russia on Tuesday: Side with the US and likeminded countries on Syria, or embrace Iran, militant group Hezbollah and embattled Syrian leader Bashar Assad. Tillerson, who landed in Moscow on Tuesday afternoon following urgent meetings in Italy with top diplomats, said it was unclear whether Russia had failed to take seriously its obligation to rid Syria of chemical weapons, or had merely been incompetent. But he said the distinction "doesn't much matter to the dead." "Russia has failed to uphold the agreements that have been entered into under multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions," Tillerson said. "These agreements stipulated Russia as the guarantor of a Syria free of chemical weapons." Syria's stockpiling and continued use of chemical weapons show that "Russia failed in its responsibility to deliver on this 2013 commitment," he went. "It is unclear whether Russia failed to take this obligation seriously or Russia has been incompetent, but this distinction doesn't much matter to the dead. We cannot let this happen again." "We want to relieve the suffering of the Syrian people. Russia can be a part of that future and play an important role," Tillerson added in remarks to reporters. "Or Russia can maintain its alliance with this group, which we believe is not going to serve Russia's interests longer term." Since the US launched airstrikes against Assad's forces in retaliation for a chemical attack on civilians last week, Trump administration officials have offered mixed messages about whether Washington believes Assad definitely must surrender power - and when. Tillerson said it was clear the US saw no role for Assad in Syria's future, given that he had lost legitimacy. "It is clear to all of us that the reign of the Assad family is coming to an end," he said. "But the question of how that ends and the transition itself could be very important in our view to the durability, the stability inside of a unified Syria," which he said he "hopes" Assad will not be a part of. "That's why we are not presupposing how that occurs," Tillerson added. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault also told reporters that the G7 ministers agreed that "no future in Syria is possible with Bashar Assad," Ayrault told reporters. He said the message for Russia was: "That's enough now. There must be an end to hypocrisy and a very clear return to the political process." "This is not an aggressive stance towards Russia, rather a hand out-held, with clear intentions," Ayrault said. Tillerson also said the cease-fire talks that Russia and Iran have helped broker in the Kazakh capital, Astana, could generate momentum toward broader talks about a political transition - if the Astana talks succeed in creating a durable cease-fire. The resulting political talks would take place under the auspices of the United Nations process in Geneva. "To date, Astana has not achieved much progress," Tillerson said. Tillerson spoke after a meeting of the "likeminded" countries was hastily arranged on the sidelines of the summit of the Group of Seven industrialized economies in Italy, days after the US for the first time launched airstrikes against Assad's forces. A key focus since the chemical attack has been on increasing pressure on Russia, Assad's strongest ally, which has used its own military to keep Assad in power. The US and others have said that Russia bears responsibility for the deaths of civilians at the hands of Assad given Moscow's role in guaranteeing the 2013 deal in which Assad was supposed to have given up his chemical weapons arsenal. The US raised the stakes significantly on Monday when a senior US official said Washington has made a preliminary conclusion that Russia knew in advance of Syria's chemical weapons attack. Yet the US has no proof of Moscow's involvement, said the official, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly on intelligence matters and demanded anonymity. That accusation will hang over Tillerson's visit to Moscow, where he plans to meet with Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, and possibly with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin declined to say whether Putin would meet with Tillerson, in line with its usual practice of not announcing such meetings ahead of time. The United States has sought to minimize expectations for the trip or the likelihood that the US will leave with any concessions from Russia regarding its support for Assad. Instead, the US is hoping to use the visit - the first by a Trump Cabinet official to Russia - to convey its expectations to Moscow and then allow the Russians a period of time to respond. Though intended to punish Assad for a chemical weapons attack, the US strikes last week served to refocus the world's attention on the bloody war in Syria, now in its seventh year. Diplomats gathered in Italy as US officials in Washington floated the possibility of new sanctions on the Syrian and Russian military, plus the threat of additional US military action if Assad's government continues attacking civilians. At Tuesday's meeting in the walled Tuscan city of Lucca, the G-7 countries were joined by diplomats from Muslim-majority nations including Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. The inclusion of those countries is important because the U.S. strategy for Syria involves enlisting help from Mideast nations to ensure security and stability in Syria after the Islamic State group is vanquished. 
Watchman Warning: World of Trouble - By Hal Lindsey - http://www.hallindsey.com/ww-4-10-2017/
The U.S. attack on Syria's al-Shayrat airfield may turn out to be one of the most important moves by an American President in this century. To see its importance, we should start by looking a long way from Syria - at Pyongyang, North Korea. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea operates as a vast prison camp where every citizen-inmate is confined and monitored. They are born with a life-sentence to hard labor. Like all prisons, it is not self-sustaining, and must be subsidized by someone else - in this case, the People's Republic of China. By economically and militarily propping up North Korea, communist China makes itself the enabler of North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Those programs put the whole world at risk - not just because of North Korea's belligerence, but because they sell both weapons and weapons technology to the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Iran nuclear deal of 2015 ensures that country's development of nuclear weapons. But just as important as the bombs, are the means to deliver them. North Korean ballistic missile technology undergirds Iran's ongoing missile program. China enables North Korea which in turn enables Iran, and threatens the peace of the world. Iran is a nation of Shiite Muslims, and the world's number one terrorist state. Sunni and Shiite Muslims are in a centuries-long, pitched battle for dominance in the Middle East. In 2011, it looked like the Iranians might lose a key ally in their struggle. That year, the United States and others encouraged so-called "moderate Muslim rebels" to take down the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Probably without fully realizing it, the U.S. was encouraging a religious civil war. Assad is part of the Alawite branch of Islam. According to Reuters, "Sunni Muslims make up 74 percent of Syria's 22 million population, Alawites 12 percent, Christians 10 percent and Druze 3 percent." In the religious civil war, Assad's Alawite faith put him at a distinct disadvantage. But because Alawites revere the "Twelver school of Shia Islam," Shia Iran sees him as an ally. So, when things turned against Assad early in the civil war, Iran stepped in to prop up him and his government. On the other side, Sunnis also funneled money and fighters into Syria on behalf of the rebels. With all factions being sustained by outside forces, and no clear winner on the battlefield, the cruel war drags on with no end in sight. And finding a good guy in this fight is like finding a mountain in Florida. If there ever were moderate rebels, they have long since disappeared. The ferocity of the war, along with its unending nature, has produced a humanitarian disaster. According to Mercy Corps, "Syria's civil war has created the worst humanitarian crisis of our time. Half the country's pre-war population - more than 11 million people - have been killed or forced to flee their homes." We're talking about 470,000 dead Syrians and two million injured. Many fled into Europe, hastening a fundamental change in European society. In 2012, then-U.S. President Barrack Obama, announced to the world that if the Assad regime in Syria used, or even looked like it might use, chemical weapons against the rebels, it would cross a "red line" forcing the U.S. to take action. In 2013, Assad used such weapons. Obama acted like he might use military force, then backed off. Instead, he welcomed Vladimir Putin to Syria. The Russians promised to supervise the removal of "every single bit" of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal. The U.S. readily agreed, but warned Syria that "the threat of force is real" and could still happen if they did not comply with the removal of all such weapons. Some chemical weapons were removed from Syria, but not all. They proved this by using those weapons several more times in the intervening years. Some of the attacks may have come from rebels who stole pieces of the Syrian stockpile, but others clearly came from Assad's army. The bigger issue was Russia's new position as a leader in the search for peace in the Middle East. In 2015, Iran convinced Russia to further step into the situation by putting troops on the ground in Syria on behalf of Assad. For students of prophecy, it was an amazing moment. Magog and Persia of Ezekiel 38 had joined forces in a nation along Israel's northern border. In Assad's recent chemical attack, the U.S. military monitored the planes carrying the weapons from the time they left the al-Shayrat airfield until they returned. This time, there's no doubt. It was Assad's men carrying out the chemical raid against civilian targets, including small children. The U.S. responded with a cruise missile attack on a single Syrian airbase. Such an attack does not stop Assad, or even cause him lasting harm. The immediate purpose was as a warning against the use of chemical weapons, or any other form of WMD, anywhere in the world. But there is another, deeper message - not just to Syria, but also to the Russia, North Korea, China, and Iran. The United States will no longer sit on the sidelines. Passivity in the face of danger only increases that danger, and is no longer America's policy. It is this switch from passive to active that makes this a significant move at a key moment in history. The attack on the Syrian base took place during a summit between President Trump and President Xi Jinping of China. The message seems obvious. If you do nothing about your renegade friends in North Korea, we will take care of the problem ourselves. Of course, none of this is without risk. The world staggers like a drunk on the edge of a cliff. We need divine intervention and wisdom. Strikingly, in announcing the U.S. attack, Donald Trump acknowledged that point. He said, "We ask for God's wisdom as we face the challenge of our very troubled world." That's a prayer to which we can all say, "Amen." 
Wars and Rumors of Wars - Foreign Sub Off the California Coast and China Massing Troops - http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=1150#s8STUvhOdzlGpidm.99
And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. Matthew 24:6 According to Korean news agency Chosun, the "Chinese army has deployed about 150,000 troops to the North Korean border to prepare for unforeseen circumstances." The reason: the prospect of "military options", such as preemptive attacks on North Korea, like the one the United States launched on Syria. Japan's daily newspaper Sankei said the attacks were taken in China as "warning" of a possible attack on North Korea and they are now preparing for the possibility of North Korean refugees should a conflict break out. The Chinese deployment comes after one of President Trump 's military advisers confirmed they have been asked to come up with a list of options to smash North Korea's nuclear threat. The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group is now on it's way to the region. Only adding tension to the region is the expected celebration by North Korea of of the 105th birthday of its founding leader Saturday, which is often celebrated by a demonstration of military might. It is expected North Korea will flaunt it's defiance against the US by launching another nuclear missile test at the celebration. US intelligence officials believe that Pyongyang could be less than two years away from its goal of striking the continental United States. Meanwhile, there is speculation that North Korea or another foreign power such as Russia could be hovering one of it's submarines off the San Diego coast in California. Anti-submarine aircraft have been loitering over the same area off the California coast for hours and the military patrol is apparently not part of a routine exercise due to the number of aircraft hovering over the same area and the late hours of operation. The patrol includes multiple low-flying aircraft including a Navy EP-3E Aries II, which is used for electronic surveillance, a Navy P-3C Orion, which is used for submarine spotting, and a Boeing P-8 Poseidon used for anti-submarine warfare. North Korea is said to possess around 70 submarines, with the majority consisting of Sang-O class subs the communist nation uses to spy on naval installations. 
My Review of "Rapture Ready...Or Not?" Over the last 35 years, I have literally read hundreds of books on Bible Prophecy and End Time signs. I especially enjoy books on the Rapture, and I have read almost every Rapture-related book published. In all those years, devouring thousands of pages, and millions of words, I have not read a better book on the Rapture than, Rapture Ready...Or Not? Terry James might be physically blind, but he is spiritually sharp and well discerning beyond most authors. In "Rapture Ready...Or Not?" Terry has nailed the pre-trib Rapture, and removed any doubt what so ever about the Church going through the Tribulation. With great insight and Godly discernment, Terry explains with simple, yet profound words, why and how that he has come to believe the ways he does about the Rapture, the Tribulation, and the End Times scenario. I think after reading "Rapture Ready...Or Not?" you too will believe as Terry does, and be Ready for the Rapture like never before! - Randy Thomas - Publisher / Editor - Prophecy Update For more information and or to get your copy of "Rapture Ready...Or Not?" use this link: http://www.raptureready.com/terry/book35.html Nearing Midnight: New World Order Throwing Fit - Terry James - http://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/
Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) was quick to get behind mainstream media microphones and cameras. He did so immediately following President Trump pulling the bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Healthcare Act (Obamacare) from consideration of the House of Representatives. The former presidential candidate, acknowledged as a severe critic and opponent of the new president, presumed to instruct Mr. Trump on how he might approach Democrats in order to improve the soon-to-implode health system President Obama ramrodded through Congress. McCain then launched into his thoughts on how Trump and himself are totally on the opposite ends of the ideological spectrum with regard to America's rightful place so far as world leadership is concerned. The senator talked about how he believes the United States should come closer to the European Union (EU) and totally embrace NATO as part of a new world order. He implied that Trump foolishly rejects this approach, wanting America more or less to be isolationist in its approach to dealings with the world around our nation. McCain said "The new world order is under tremendous strain." While speaking at the Brussels Forum, he went on to say that the world "cries out for American and European leadership" through the EU and NATO, and said that the EU and the US needed to develop "more cooperation, more connectivity." McCain, chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, said, "I trust the EU." He said further that the EU was "one of the most important alliances" for the U.S. and that the EU and NATO were the " [most effective organizations] in history"-in maintaining the peace for the last seventy years. McCain's strong implication was that Trump's idea of moving away from the so-called new world order was opposite of the direction America should move. The nation must, he implied, embrace this alliance in order to save the world in keeping peace and security in view. I am reminded of Psalms chapter 2 about the end-times powers that be that will have no deity to rule over them, but declare that humanist effort will prevail. I believe the tremendous upheaval we have seen, particularly since Trump's election, is minion-driven enragement. The insane statements and movements are centered in the fact that God has intervened, for whatever reason, into Satan's plans to install world government. It is just a postponement-a temporary setback-for the new world order builders, but it has driven them into manifesting the insanity that reprobate minds come to, as indicated in Romans chapter 1. All of this involves two of the end-times characteristics the apostle Paul prophesied in his 2 Timothy chapter 3 foretelling. I wrote about this in-depth in my latest book Rapture Ready...Or Not: 15 Reasons Why This Is the Generation That Will Be Left Behind. I include a portion of that presentation here. Sadat's Prophetic Legacy Those of us old enough to remember can still see the smiling faces of U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat shaking hands on the White House grounds. It was prelude to the formal peace treaty that was concluded and signed on March 26, 1979. The treaty became effective January 1980. The two nations-Israel and Egypt-had been in a perpetual state of impending war since Israel became a nation on May 14-15, 1948. Israel agreed, as part of the accord hammered out in Washington D.C. in 1977, to completely withdraw all military forces from the Sinai Peninsula. Israel had won the territory in the 6-Day War of 1967. Egypt agreed to leave the area demilitarized. Additionally, the agreement guaranteed Israel free shipping passage through the Suez Canal. Also, it gave recognition of the Strait of Tiran and the Gulf of Aqaba as international waterways. The treaty effectively made Egypt the first Arab state to officially recognize Israel and the first to make an agreement with the Jewish state. Anwar Al-Sadat was successor to Gambel Abdul Nasser, the dictator who fiercely waged war against Israel in times leading up to the 1956 war and then in the 1967 war. Sadat was a fierce warrior himself during those wars against the hated Israeli intruders as they saw them. None of the major Arab states recognized Israel as a legitimate nation-state. None today officially do so-except Egypt. Much of the Muslim world was enraged when Sadat signed the historic treaty. In my estimation, this set-in motion a truly satanic rage that has escalated since, bringing us to where things are today. Most all Muslim states are in agreement with Nasser's long-ago declaration that Israel must be eliminated-eradicated from the face of the Middle East. Anwar Sadat led the 1973 Yom Kipper War. He was at the center of its planning and execution. The Arab forces were overwhelming, and by every metric of military strategic methodology, it was thought that Israel's days were numbered. The Yom Kipper assault was indeed a surprise to even the brilliant Israeli generals at the time-among whom was the Israeli strategists, Menachem Begin. The Arab coalition assault at first made heavy inroads into Israeli territory. But the tide soon-miraculously, some say-turned, and Israel routed the much larger forces and captured large portions of land from its enemies. I observed all this and especially Anwar Sadat after all these developments. I was then and remain convinced that he came to realize that-like Pharaoh came to realize finally-that Israel's god...is God. Sadat, a hardened Muslim-Arab warrior, I determined, changed considerably. He still was a strong leader, but with a much softer eye toward Israel-toward the West, for that matter. Anwar Sadat paid for his embrace of Israel and the Western world with his life. He was assassinated by Muslim military elements within his own ranks near Cairo on October 6, 1981, while reviewing a parade that memorialized, strangely enough, a part of the battle that had initiated the Yom Kippur War. Despite the death of Sadat by such violence, his successor, Hosni Mubarak-also severely wounded during the attack-held to the agreement Sadat had made with Israel. The agreement has, in effect, remained to this day, even in spite of the time of Egyptian inner-turmoil when the Obama administration worked to install the Muslim Brotherhood leadership, that organization and others overthrowing Mubarak. The Egyptian soon became irate with the Muslim Brotherhood tyrant, Mohamed Morsi, who tried to reinstall strict sharia law and other freedom-suppressing actions. Morsi was put out of office by the peoples' demand, despite the Obama administration's attempt to influence the situation. Abdel Fattah el Sisi, a much less restrictive leader along the lines of Sadat, is now president, having overthrown Morsi. He met this week with, in my view, a much less freedom-suppressing United States president than the previous one. It was Sadat's first reaching out to a foe who had severely "whupped" him-as Muhammad Ali might have put it-that has made possible a better working relationship in all of this Middle Eastern madness. It is Anwar Sadat's foundation-laying that continues to at least provide Israel some degree of buffering protection against it's blood-vowed enemies. His influence is seen within the most recent, unfolding news. Egyptian and Jordanian leaders both were in Washington, D.C., to meet with President Donald J. Trump this past week. The meeting was to include talks on Iran, Isis, and the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. It was el Sisi's first meeting in the White House. He had been treated as persona non grata by President Barack Obama in the view of many. Apparently, a number of those within the diplomatic community dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process see el Sisi as being a player in working toward bringing the two sides together. While the Bible makes clear that a man-made peace deal between Israel and "the many" will end only in Israel's having to flee for its national existence, the Lord also said "Blessed are the peacemakers." Sadat tried to make peace, and it remains a resilient peace under the governing hand of el Sisi. Some who study the prophetic picture see Egypt as a nation that will be immensely blessed and will embrace Israel as a friend. The nations are scheduled to be split during that judgment into the sheep and goat division, according to Matthew chapter 25. The Bible indicates that Egypt is a nation on the scene during millennial times. It will be Israel's friend. So, Egypt obviously will make it into the "sheep" nations during that division. Perhaps Anwar el Sadat put that blessing into motion when he met Menachem Begin with a smiling handshake on the White House lawn all those years ago. 
Daily Jot: Passover and prophecy - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com
Monday began Passover. Passover is a Jewish feast commemorating how God led the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery. Christians often overlook Passover, not understanding that it is most Holy and prophetic. The Israelites painted the blood of an unblemished, sacrificial lamb on their doorposts for the plague of death of the firstborn to Passover them. This is the picture of Christ, the unblemished lamb, who died on the cross for our sins. Our church family and friends celebrate the beginning of Passover with a traditional Passover Seder, a feast retelling the story of the Exodus from Egypt and foretelling the Messiah's sacrifice, return, and reign. What Christians call the Lord's Supper, is actually a Passover Seder. Jesus said in Luke 22:15-16, "I have desired to eat this Passover with your before I suffer: For I way unto you, I will not anymore eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God." The Seder Plate is comprised of salt water, parsley, a lamb shank bone, chopped apples and nuts, horseradish root, bitter herb and a roasted egg-each element symbolizing a part of the redemption story of deliverance from Egyptian bondage. There are four symbolic cups of wine from which participants drink. The first is the cup of Sanctification, the second is the cup of Deliverance, the third is the cup of Redemption, and the fourth is the cup of Restoration. The Seder uses matzah, unleavened bread pierced with holes, in three pieces shared during the Seder. One piece is broken and then wrapped in cloth and hidden until the end and then is revealed and shared in communion. As Christ said, "Take, eat; this is my body." The cup of Redemption symbolizes the blood of the Passover lamb. It was the cup taken after the meal. When Jesus took the cup of Redemption, he said in Matthew 26:27-29, "Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." As you can see, the Passover has several layers. God brought the Israelites out of Egypt by demonstrating to them that the blood of the Lamb saves them. He instituted a service (Passover Seder), that the Israelites were to keep forever. Exodus 12:27 says, "It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses." Through the Passover, God delivered the Israelites from bondage, foretold of the suffering Messiah, the redemption of sins, and the kingdom to come. When we, as Christ followers take part in Passover, we are participating in the prophetic redemption and return of Christ. 
Daily Devotion: The Lord's Supper - Greg Laurie - www.harvest.org
Therefore, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. -1 Corinthians 11:27-28 Matthew 26 contains one of the most well-known events in human history and certainly the most famous meal ever eaten, the Last Supper. As the disciples sat together, Jesus said, "'Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.' In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood'" (1 Corinthians 11:24-25). Jesus, as He often did, was speaking symbolically. To say He was speaking literally here does not fit with the word pictures He often used. After all, Jesus said He was the Bread of Life. And didn't He say that He was the Door? So, do we insist that Christ is an actual loaf of bread or a door? Of course not. Nor should we insist that the bread and the contents of the cup are actually Christ's body and blood. There is no evidence of a supernatural process that transforms the cup's contents into Jesus' blood and the bread into His flesh. Therefore, as we participate in Communion, we don't want to overly mystify what it represents. We don't want to think of the bread as flesh and the cup as containing blood. On the other hand, we don't want to devalue Communion by thinking it means nothing. Clearly, the Scriptures warn us about taking part in Communion without recognizing its significance (see 1 Corinthians 11:23-30). The bread and the cup are not holy elements in and of themselves. But they do represent something that is very holy. So it is with great respect and reverence that we come to the Communion table, recognizing it is a symbol of what Jesus Christ accomplished for us on the cross. 
FROM THE HEART
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