Saturday, January 29, 2011

UPDATE: EGYPT

First some breaking news, and then a very nice summary from Joel Rosenberg. These types of situations are very familiar to Mr Rosenberg, given his background and experience and his insights will be invaluable as watch the Middle East ignite.

Mubarak sacks gov't, protesters remain in Cairo's streets

Embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak fired his Cabinet early Saturday and promised reforms in his first response to protesters who have mounted the biggest challenge ever to his 30-year rule.

But many protesters were outraged by Mubarak's nationally televised address, in which he also defended the crackdown by police on tens of thousands of demonstrators that drew harsh criticism from the Obama administration Friday, and even a threat to reduce a $1.5 billion program of foreign aid if Egypt escalated the use of force.

Mubarak's decision to dismiss Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and the rest of the Cabinet would be interpreted as a serious attempt at bringing change under normal circumstances. But on a day when tens of thousands of people took to the streets to demand Mubarak's ouster, it fell far short of expectations.

As a result, options appeared to be dwindling for Mubarak, a 82-year-old former air force commander who until this week maintained what looked like rock-solid control of the most populous Arab nation and the cultural heart of the region.


There is much more in this article regarding the current state of affairs in Egypt.

Egypt Cuts Off Most Internet and Cell Service

Autocratic governments often limit phone and Internet access in tense times. But the Internet has never faced anything like what happened in Egypt on Friday, when the government of a country with 80 million people and a modernizing economy cut off nearly all access to the network and shut down cellphone service.

The shutdown caused a 90 percent drop in data traffic to and from Egypt, crippling an important communications tool used by antigovernment protesters and their supporters to organize and to spread their message.


White House: Time for reform to come to Egypt

The White House says that the "legitimate grievances" of the Egyptian people must be addressed immediately by the Egyptian government and violence is not the right response.

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama has not spoken with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the target of roiling street protests. Asked why not, Gibbs said that "we're monitoring a very fluid situation."


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Now for some insight from Joel Rosenberg:

Revolution in Egypt? And Could Jordan Be Next?

This commentary is worth reading - here are a few parts:

One thing’s for certain: No one predicted the demonstrations in Egypt would grow so big so fast. Momentum for the protests is growing. A Facebook page promoting the democracy protests grew from 20,000 members on Wednesday to 80,000 on Thursday.

The government then reportedly shut down Facebook, and disrupted Internet service in parts of the country. Twitter has been blocked. Police are beating protesters. As of Friday, more than 1,000 Egyptians have been arrested for demonstrating. Now an overnight curfew has been imposed and the Egyptian army has been deployed to urban centers.


Meanwhile, protests have mounted in recent days in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. There, too, economics is playing a critical role. Reports the AP: “The economy saw a record deficit of $2 billion this year, inflation rising … to 6.1 percent just last month and rampant unemployment and poverty — estimated at 12 and 25 percent respectively.

In Jordan, there is a very high risk that Islamic radicals would take over the regime. As I write in Inside The Revolution, “It is precisely because the Jordanians have made such progress [with positive political and economic reforms in the past two decades] that I am worried by the Radicals’ determination to launch a jihad there, seize the capital, and create a new anti-Israel, anti-Western base for Iran and al Qaeda.

Therefore, I often pray for Jordan’s peace, prosperity and continued progress. I pray for King Abdullah’s health and safety, and I pray that the Lord would grant him the wisdom to know how best to move forward in such challenging times.”

On top of all this, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror movement has just toppled the government in Lebanon. Iran’s leaders are convinced their so-called messiah known as the Twelfth Imam is coming to earth at any moment, and feverishly trying to build nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles to help usher in a new messianic age and an Islamic caliphate.


One aspect of this whole situation strikes me the most. With the Hezbollah (Iranian) takeover of Lebanon - and with Egypt in turmoil. Not to mention Jordan - we now have perfect "staging areas" for the battle of Gog-MaGog. Staging areas where troops can assemble prior of the massive invasion of Israel. Israel is completely surrounded, and feeling pressure from every end.

Thankfully, they have God on their side.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Scott >>>

Please go back and reread 38 Ezekiel....it says, they will GO
UP like a cloud covering the land when they attack.

I believe it will be an AIR ATTACK,
NOT by ground. I got that from the
NIV version.

Stephen in Hawaii >>>>

Mrs.C said...

God tells us in His Word, that is is describing the multitude coming against Israel is "like a cloud".
Ezekiel 38:9
9.Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.
God also tells us in His Word, that they will be on horseback. Both Israel and the Gog forces will be in a primative condition.
Ezekiel 38:15
15.And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:

Mrs.C said...

Yes Scott, I have to agree :) The take over of these nations, will solidify the hatred towards Israel by the nations surrounding her. This sets the stage for His Judgment. I have to respectfully disagree that these nations will be used as a "staging area", as God does not tell us this in His Word. He doesnt say for example,” I will bring you down to gather in the land of Jordan etc., to come against My people". He knows full well the name of every nation surrounding Israel, and He does not say there names. Lets see together what He does say.:) We know that Isaiah 17 war comes first, and will leave the nations surround Israel, devastated. As well, Israel will barely survive, being left in a primitive condition.
From Isaiah 17, God tells us that these enemy nations surrounding Israel will "rush in".
Isaiah 17:12-13
12.Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13.The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
These nations shall "rush in" to finish off Israel, but then God steps in and "rebukes" them. JMHO this "rebuke" will be the fulfillment of Gods Judgments against these nations, as stated in Ezekiel 25-32
Jordan,Gaza,Lebanon,Egypt.
Then God tells us that after He "rebukes" them, they "flee a far off". Where is a "far off"?. Like baby cubs running to their mama bear, they flee to Russia to gather against Israel. Their home nations surrounding Israel have been decimated, and they survived to "flee a far off". God tells us in Ezekiel 38, that Gog in in the land of Magog, and that the remnants-survivors of these nations (tagalongs) gather to be with Gog before the invasion. How do we know they gather in the land of Magog? Because He tells us in this verse:

Ezekiel 38:7
7.Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.

God tells Gog, to be a "guard unto them" that are "assembled" to him. Gog will "guard" this assembled coalition in his own land.
Gog will hesitate at first, to enter into these devastated, abandoned lands surrounding Israel, but then the crys for revenge, the hatred will be the hook that God allows to draw Gog to invade His land, against His People. This massive force will enter from the North, and only from the North as God says. This entrance into Israel is historical, as Zola pointed out once, for centuries, enemies of Israel have attacked through the Golan Heights. This entrance, militarily, leads them directly down the mountainous range, the spine of Israel. This, this mountain range, is exactly were God says He will destroy the Gog forces.
Ezekiel 38:21
21.And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man's sword shall be against his brother.
Ezekiel 39:4
4.Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
God Bless!
YSIC

Expected Imminently said...

Hello Mrs C
“God also tells us in His Word, that they will be on horseback. Both Israel and the Gog forces will be in a primitive condition”.

It is interesting to see your comment. I see no reason to suppose Ezek didn’t mean literal horses, just as it say’s. Most folk think he was unable to describe modern weaponry.

The assembly starts in a valley, before they begin to ascend and GO UP, i.e. climb the Golan (first called the Mountains of Ephraim I believe?) If there has been an (EMP?) attack, then all things electronic will be useless and primitive will be efficient, including bows and arrows in the right hands, these are as deadly as a bullet.

I once saw a stag taken down by a man using an English Longbow and, ~shudder~, the arrow punched a hole into its chest, exited the other side, taking the creatures heart with it before pinning it to a tree.

I cannot help thinking there are a great many sizeable underground tunnels just waiting to throw aside the camouflage for horses and men to spill out of the earth and cover the land like a blanket of cloud. It may seem silly, but I don’t see why not!
God bless
Sue

Mrs.C said...

Hi Sue, :) Yes, there was a time, along time ago, when I would read His Word, with an allegorical view. However, as He has grown me over the many years, His Holy Spirit has convicted me that what God says, He means, and He means what He says. :)
He speaks of horses many times in Ezekiel 38-39
Ezekiel 38:4 38:15
4.And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
15.And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
Then here is the clincher:

Ezekiel 39:17-20

17.And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.
18.Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19.And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20.Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD

Fascinating with the horses in Ezekiel! God says, that the birds shall eat "horses AND CHARIOTS". "Chariots" are made of wood, and without getting disgusting, you can imagine why the birds would eat the chariots too! Birds cant eat tanks! Here is an article from 2007, on the horse population in the world:
World horse population estimated at 58 million
The United States, by far, reports the highest total number of horses with an approximate 9,500,000.
...
The figures for Europe show the Russian Federation as having the most horses, at 1,319,358, followed by Romania (834,000), then Ukraine (585,000), Germany (500,400), France (422,872). The United Kingdom is estimated at 185,000.
...
Other than the Russian Federation, countries with horse population totals over one million included: China (7,402,450); Mexico (6,260,000); Brazil (5,787,249); Argentina (3,655,000); Columbia (2,533,621); Mongolia (2,029,100); Ethiopia (1,655,383); and Kazakhstan (1,163,500). Guam (20) and Grenada (30) had the lowest population totals. Two countries, Rwanda and Saint Helena, reported a zero horse population.
http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/archives/2007/09/105.shtml

There will be an extreme amount of death and destruction during the Isaiah 17 war(an EMP could very much be part of this), and this will leave Israel defenseless, vulnerable to the Ezekiel invasion.
God tells us that Israel will be in a primitive state also, as in Ezekiel 39, He tells them they no longer have to collect wood for fuel.
Ezekiel 39:10
10.So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord GOD.

Yes, I believe they will be on horses, just as He says. :)
God Bless!
YSIC

Expected Imminently said...

Mrs C

Great! I am glad I asked; that’s at least two of us. :D

Concerning ‘every feathered fowl’.

From decades of personal observation, it isn’t only ‘Raptors’ that each flesh. Out of all the birds that visit our garden, the only one’s I am not too sure about are the pigeon family. Otherwise sparrows, robins, thrushes, blackbirds, starlings … join in to pick clean the bone from our Sunday roast. All the tit family love the fat balls we hang in the trees.

I mention this because I have seen interest expressed in the growing numbers of buzzards, and their kind in the Middle East, being prepared for the feast? I don’t doubt that, but as I said, the majority of all varieties of birds do eat flesh.

Watching the scenes coming out of Egypt, it is all getting so horribly close. I have no doubts about the Pretrib Rapture, none whatsoever – but it does trouble me that I may live to see this carnage.

Praise the Lord!

Maranatha!
Sue
x

Caver said...

Sue & Mrs C, well ya just gotta raise the standards. Its 3 of us.

I was surprised to find that the Lord tells us 3 times in 3 different places that it will be birds doing the feasting. Plus, there are research papers now documenting the return, after many centuries, of the carnivore foul to Israel and the surrounding areas.

The new blooming of the desert combined with shifting wind currents have moved the migratory path right over Israel.

Birds eat flesh and blood and what its soaked into. Steel does not absorb blood.....wood does.

For whatever reason, and I suspect the coming Is 17 war going nuclear, current war technology and equipment just won't be available. The combatants will be reduced to what the nuclear exchange did not take out.....and that will be the same as early 1900.

Amazing, ain't it.

Expected Imminently said...

Mrs C and Caver

Crumb's that is amazing, we are now a heady Trio!

I just thought! Does this mean Gog Magog will be on ‘Twitter’? :)

Caver said...

Hummmmmm......Twitter.

Well Sue, might as well be.

CNN won't cover it.
CBS will skip over it.
MSNBC will ignore it.
ABC won't cover it.
AP won't mention it.

Fox and Twitter will be the only resources left.....other than Glen Beck, Rush, and Shawn.