Daniel 8:25, and confusion in Washington

Submitted by Michael S. (United States), Sep 27, 2014 at 19:32

Hi, Tom

We are posting across a "mediation time lag", so we may have some cross-communication and repetition. You said,

"This Psalms 83 war and the Gog/Magog war will occur before the tribulation causing desolation throughout the Middle-East such that the world cries for a leader who by peace will destroy many. Daniel 8:25"

Very quickly, a recap:
(1) I do not believe Psalms 83 spoke of a war in our day: it spoke about things that happened 2600 years ago.
(2) The name "Gog/Magog" War is misleading: Gog is spoken of in Ezekiel 38-39 as the LEADER of a group of peoples in what is now Turkey, and Magog refers to that land. In Revelation, there is also mention of a war to which people will be gathered from "the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog". In this case, "G&M" is a metaphor for "far and wide" or "the ends of the earth".
(3) Daniel 8:25. I will consider that here.

Daniel 8:
[21] And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.
[22] Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.
[23] And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.
[24] And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
[25] And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.

Why do you do this to me, Tom? The scripture clearly says that this "king of fierce countenance" would arise out of one of the four successor kingdoms, the Diadochi, of Alexander's (the "goat"'s) Greek empire. The "latter time" does not refer to the advent of the Messianic Kingdom. The one who "magnified himself in his heart" was most likely Antiochus Epiphanes, who desecrated the Temple and persecuted the Jews. The Jewish feast of Hanukkah celebrates events associated with his demise.

I was hoping to find something more profound than that. Some really momentous news has been happening lately; but seeing Christians come out of the woodwork and posting a bevy of irrelevant prophecies does not add any clarity to the matter. I'm sorry to have to say this. I'm not rebuking you in particular: I'm rebuking this whole spiritually counterproductive enterprise being undertaken in the name of Jesus Christ.

Meanwhile, back in the Middle East (and its wannabe control room in Washington), I keep reading something disturbing. The World Socialist Website alerts us to the following:

"While maintaining the pretext of destroying ISIS, Hagel put Assad squarely in the US cross-hairs. "As we pursue this program," he declared, "the United States will continue to press for a political resolution to the Syrian conflict resulting in the end of the Assad regime."

-- https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/09/17/iraq-s17.html

It's apparent from this, and from other statements, that the US plans on two operations:

I. an air and land attack on ISIS IN IRAQ, by NATO and allied aircraft; and Iraqi and Kurdish (KDP only, though we all know the actual fighters are PKK) land forces, and

II. an air-only attack on selected ISIS and other Islamist targets (specifically avoiding help to the Kurds) in Syria, coupled by aid to those same Islamist insurgents in order to attack and overthrow Assad.

It that doesn't sound like a recipe written by a madman, please tell me.

My prayer for Obama, is that he give it all up and spend the next three years playing golf.

Shalom shalom.

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