Mark Hitchcock - Russia Rising - Tracking the Bear in Bible Prophecy

As the Kremlin is combing the world for soft spots to exert its influence, the Middle East and North Africa are key targets. Putin is taking advantage of the unrest, instability, and chaos in these places to promote his expansionist agenda. The disarray in the Middle East and North Africa has proved to be fertile soil for Putin’s unbridled ambition to bring back the Russian empire. Russia is working to bring Libya, Sudan, Turkey, and Iran under its umbrella. But the linchpin in Russia’s push into the Middle East is Syria, where the Kremlin has thrown in with the devil, supporting the diabolical tyrant Bashar al-Assad. Russian troops and aircraft poured into Syria in 2015. Russian air power combined with Iranian ground support is propping up the Assad regime. Russia is entrenched in Syria, even establishing a naval port in Tartus, giving Russia the warm-water port it has coveted.

The United States is already engaged in a proxy war with Russia in Syria that’s been going on for several years with both powers supporting different sides in the Syrian civil war. After the US Tomahawk missile strike of a Syrian air base on April 6, 2017, Russia and Iran warned the US of crossing “red lines” and raised the prospect of war. Without a doubt, Syria is a dangerous flash point. With Russian and Iranian troops stationed there and the United States launching missile strikes, the potential for a serious misstep is ever present. Any wrong move there could push the world to the brink of disaster. The Russian-Iranian alliance in Syria has put troops from these two nations ominously on Israel’s northern border. Russia’s new allies would love nothing more than to drive the Jewish state into the sea.

All of this forces us to reckon with some serious questions. Is what we’re witnessing just geopolitical coincidence, or could there be a hidden hand behind it all? Is it possible that the rise of Russia and the alliances that the Bear is forming are part of something bigger? Could it be the buildup for the fulfillment of ancient prophecies from Scripture? Is this another prophetic signpost that the world is racing toward the end of days?

On January 26, 2017, the Science and Security Board for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the minute hand on the Doomsday Clock ahead thirty seconds, bringing it to two minutes and thirty seconds to midnight. This is “the closest the clock has been to midnight since 1953.” [16] W. J. Hennigan and Tracy Wilkinson, “Scientists Move Doomsday Clock Closer to ‘Midnight.’ Trump’s Comments on Nuclear Weapons Are a Big Reason Why,” Los Angeles Times , January 26, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-nuclear-weapons-20170126-story.html . Among the reasons for the move were the rise of nationalism and the possibility of a renewed arms race between the United States and Russia.

People everywhere seem to sense that world events are moving toward an apocalyptic showdown. According to a recent poll, “41% of all U.S. adults, 54% of Protestants and 77% of Evangelicals believe the world is now living in the biblical end times.” [17] “Shock Poll: Startling Numbers of Americans Believe World Now in the ‘End Times,’” Religion News Service, September 11, 2013, http://religionnews.com/2013/09/11/shock-poll-startling-numbers-of-americans-believe-world-now-in-the-end-times/ .

A Pew Research poll found that

• 72 percent of Americans expect the world to face a major world energy crisis,

• 58 percent think it “definite or probable” that there will be another world war, and

• 41 percent believe Jesus Christ will return by the year 2050. [18] “Public Sees a Future Full of Promise and Peril,” Pew Research Center, June 22, 2010, http://www.people-press.org/2010/06/22/public-sees-a-future-full-of-promise-and-peril .

Additionally, a 2004 Time /CNN poll found that 59 percent of Americans believe the prophecies of the book of Revelation will come to pass. [19] Jeff Brumley, “Global Events, Prophecy Stir Talk of ‘End Times’ Beliefs,” Florida Times-Union , July 16, 2010, http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-07-16/story/global-events-prophecy-stir-talk-end-times-beliefs . Similar polls have revealed the following:

• 55 percent of Americans believe “that before the world ends the religiously faithful will be saved.”

• 46 percent of Americans agree with this statement: “The world will end in the Battle of Armageddon between Jesus and the Antichrist.” [20] Douglas Todd, “We Need to Bring End-Times Beliefs Out of Their Closet,” Vancouver Sun , November 8, 2008, www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html?id=ac308456-5493-4756-8ad6-68d .

Similarly, “research conducted by the Brookings Institute’s Center for Middle East Policy on Americans’ attitudes toward the Middle East and Israel found that 79 percent of Evangelicals say they believe ‘that the unfolding violence across the Middle East is a sign that the end times are nearer.’” [21] Walter Einenkel, “New Survey Shows That about 80% of Evangelicals Believe the ‘End Times’ Are Near,” Daily Kos , December 7, 2015, http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/12/7/1457887/-New-survey-shows-that-about-80-of-Evangelicals-believe-the-end-times-are-near .

Concerning the terrible civil war in Syria, “almost one in three Americans see Syria’s recent conflict as part of the Bible’s plan for the end times. One in four thinks that a U.S. military strike in Syria could lead to Armageddon. One in five believes the world will end in their lifetime.” [22] Jeremy Weber, “Survey Surprise: Many Americans See Syria as Sign of Bible’s End Times,” Christianity Today , September 13, 2013, http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2013/september/syria-survey-end-times-armageddon-lifeway.html .

These statistics reveal that people everywhere have serious questions—searching questions—about how recent events, including the rise of Russia, relate to the ancient prophecies of the Bible.

And the Bible is certainly the best place to look for answers. The Bible is a book of prophecy. Almost 30 percent of the Bible was prophecy at the time it was written. Scripture contains about one thousand prophecies, and about five hundred of them have been literally fulfilled with 100 percent accuracy. That’s quite a track record, setting the Bible far apart from any other holy book. Unlike the predictions of astrologers, mystics, and mediums, the prophecies of the Bible aren’t vague and general predictions that can be altered to accommodate any situation. The prophecies recorded in the Bible are detailed and intricately interwoven. The specificity of the Bible’s prophecies and its stellar track record continue to draw people to its pages for insight into the future. Even the most skeptical person can put the prophecies of Scripture to the test. In light of current events, prophecies formerly brushed aside as incredible or speculative are now being carefully examined again.

We must never forget that while the prophecies of the Bible never change, world events are constantly in flux. The Bible, not cable news, is our prophetic plumb line, the standard by which we measure everything else. Nevertheless, today’s headlines are increasingly aligning with ancient biblical prophecies that describe an end-times scenario not unlike what we see today.

The Jewish prophet Ezekiel, writing more than 2,500 years ago, foretold a Russian-led invasion of Israel in the end times. Russia’s allies in this predicted offensive are a group of Islamic nations that are forming closer ties with the Bear as you’re reading these words. Russia is rising right on schedule and is expanding its influence in the Middle East just as the Bible predicts. That’s precisely what we should expect if the coming of Christ is drawing near.