Barry’s Beacon - Shining Biblical Light on Current Events
A Pot-Pourri of News Items in order of date:
March 4th: French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné on the French, American, and Arab coalition planning for Palestinian statehood as a mechanism for exerting pressure on Israel had this to say: France is working with the US on creating a coalition with moderate Arab states, and within just a few weeks or months, the coalition will offer a political solution to the crisis, not merely a security one. He added that France is doing everything it can to prevent an Israeli ground operation in Rafah.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-790057
March 7th: Gaza War Restrictions. The American administration in a leaked message to the Washington Post: we are considering not allowing the use of American weapons if there is an operation in Rafah. Since then, the US position has hardened and offensive weapons and ammunition will not be supplied if ground operations occur in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The ground troops have been delayed by the US demand that Israel build shelters for the civilian population from the city before the troops can enter.
March 7th: Various Diplomatic sources report: "The Western countries have received a message that Israel has set a target date of March 15 as the date to reach a political settlement with Lebanon, otherwise it is ready to escalate military operations into a large-scale war"
March 8th: Daily Telegraph, UK, headlines: “London is now a no-go zone for Jews”
March 8th: US says UFO sightings likely to be secret military tests – examples given https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-68515515
March 9th: “Russia's actions toward Ukraine, including missile strikes on churches, show that it is targeting evangelicals”, said Pavlo Unguryan, the executive secretary for the Ukrainian Evangelical Conservative Movement and a former member of the country's parliament. "It was a crazy, difficult, horrible week for us as evangelicals, as protestants in Ukraine," Unguryan said on Newsmax's "Chris Salcedo Show."
March 10th: Fox News Exclusive – The Biden administration's recent diversity, equity and inclusion toolkit on religious tolerance recommended a resource guide that advocates a website with articles that referred to evangelical Christians as a "threat" whose influence needed to be "root[ed] out." The PDF the White House included was created by "America Indivisible" and recommended that stakeholders read a controversial website called "MuslimGirl." The White House offered the PDF to stakeholders, so they can "increase… media literacy to ensure you are sharing accurate information from reliable sources; or sponsoring a course on media and information literacy for your faith community." MuslimGirl's objective is to draw awareness "to the Qur’an’s message of gender equality and Islam’s principle of peace," according to the website's description.
March 12th: “Hungary is the only European country where Jews can be themselves.” "Thanks to a responsible immigration policy, Hungary stands as the safest haven for Jews in Europe today, where the presence of armed guards at their institutions is unnecessary," Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó remarked to Israeli Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli in their meeting on Monday. The meetings, part of a diplomatic initiative, focused on reinforcing the bond between Hungary and Israel, addressing critical concerns such as terrorism, antisemitism, and the political challenges facing Israel within the EU.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-791500
March 12th: Even as Russia's war on Ukraine has crossed the two-year mark, another European nation is highly likely in Russian President Vladimir Putin's crosshairs. A Ukraine-like crisis is brewing in Moldova, a former Soviet state, possibly stoked by Moscow.
https://www.newsmax.com/platinum/vladimir-putin-russia-vladimir-putin/2024/03/11/id/1156732/?ns
NOTE: Ezekiel 38:4 says that God will turn Russia around from where it was going and instead lead her to go against Israel instead. We do not know where Russia was planning on going but her plans are thwarted by God and she is very swiftly wiped out on the hills of Israel.
March 12th: Various reports indicate that Israel is preparing for a major war with Hezbollah. Air raid siren systems are being tested in major cities and military installations in Israel. Meanwhile Arab reports on Israeli F-15 flights over the entire airspace of Lebanon.
March 12th: The current U.S. administration as well as some very wealthy globalists are pushing hard to bring about a recognition of a Palestinian state before the November elections. Israeli Prime Minister, Bibi Netanyahu, is considered by the US to be the biggest obstacle to achieving this, so efforts are being concentrated to somehow replace him.
March 12th: Trump has Nomination for Republicans; Biden for Democrats
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68550523
March 14th: Houthis test a hypersonic missile successfully and will start production. The Iran-backed Houthi rebels have successfully tested a hypersonic rocket in Yemen, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reports, citing a military source. According to the report, the Houthis are planning to begin manufacturing the missiles for use on targets in the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden, as well as against targets in Israel.
March 15th: The leader of the Houthis in his speech this evening said: “So far we have attacked 73 ships as part of our support for Gaza. We sacrificed 34 martyrs for this purpose. We announce that from now on we will prevent Israeli ships, or those that make their way to Israeli ports, from passing through the Indian Ocean. MEMRI (Middle East Media Reports International).
March 15th: President Biden just gave a $10 billion sanctions waiver to the Iranian regime.
POSSIBLE PEACE MOVES AND THE COVENANT
News Summary from 3 sources: Donald Trump, Presidential candidate for the November 2024 election in the US, met with Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, who flew in to Trump’s Mar–A–Lago estate in Florida, on Friday 8th March. Trump and Orban have been friends for some years. Orban is in frequent contact with President Putin of Russia and has access to President Erdogan of Turkey. Israel considers Orban and Hungary its best friends in the EU. In the discussions with Orban, Trump pledged that, if elected, he could end the Russia-Ukraine war “within 24 hours.” Mr Orban said Trump had “pretty detailed plans” of how to achieve this, and “he had a clear vision, which is hard to disagree with.” The initial point was that no money or weapons would be given to Ukraine by the US and Europeans. Since the Europeans alone are unable to finance the war, then the war will be over. However, the discussion went much further, but Orban did not elaborate. He did conclude by saying it was "another matter" how the war will be closed with peace talks after a truce, and how a stable and safe Europe would be created, but first peace must be achieved and "he (Trump) has the means for that." John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, said Trump “likes dealing with other big guys like Orban, and big guys like Erdogan in Turkey and Putin in Russia.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68533351
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/11/europe/orban-trump-ukraine-intl/index.html
Interpretive Comments: These reports seem to be saying that if Trump wins the November election in the US, he claims he can stop the Ukraine-Russia war “in 24 hours”, by which it is assumed that he will be able to arrange some truce. After the truce has been achieved [and Orban states that “Trump has the means for that”], actual peace talks on how a stable and safe Europe would be created will then take place. These latter peace talks have already been set in motion much earlier in 2022, as evidenced by an additional News Item:
On March 29th 2022, peace talks on the Ukraine-Russia war were organized and opened by the Turkish President Erdogan. He announced that “a new global security architecture will have to be set in place that will shape the course of events for decades to come.” At the conclusion of the talks, the Ukrainian President (Volodymyr Zelenskyy) said that a number of countries will have to work together to supply security guarantees for us. He continued “All this is being done at the level of advisers and leaders with France, the United States, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Poland, Italy and Israel.” Turkey is aiming to guide this project to its conclusion, and Israel is also closely involved.” As of March 2024, these Turkish-brokered talks are on hold pending other developments, as the outcome of Russian, Turkish and US elections may play a part.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/03/29/ukraine-russia-turkey-negotiations/
These developments may therefore be potentially significant. An unexpected event arranged by Trump, or some surrogate, may stop the expected Russian advance. The resulting peace conference may produce a European and Middle East security pact involving Israel. At the moment, the key players in this drama look to be Zelenskyy of the Ukraine, Putin of Russia, Erdogan of Turkey, Orban of Hungary (EU) and Trump of the US. If things progress along these lines, Netanyahu of Israel may also become involved. In fact, the developing situation seems to be heading in the direction prophesied by Daniel 11. To understand this, a little more background is needed. Please be patient as we do so, since there has been a persistent problem in opening this chapter to a more correct analysis.
This problem has arisen because of a traditional Jewish belief, that was later adopted by many Christians. That tradition claimed that verses 21-35 in Daniel 11 refer to the activities of Antiochus IV around 165 BC, especially the Abomination of Desolation in verses 31-32. In accepting this interpretation, along with a similar one for Daniel 8:11-14 where the Abomination of Desolation is also mentioned, the whole interpretation of Daniel 11 becomes problematic.
There are three reasons why. First, in explaining the meaning of the vision and the Abomination to Daniel in chapter 8, the angel Gabriel states that this event occurs “at the time of the end”…”in the latter days when transgressors are come to a full” … “in the latter end of the Indignation.” Throughout the Bible these three phrases are used to describe the 7 years of Tribulation immediately prior to the return of Messiah to rule the world for a Millennium of peace. This is NOT the timeslot for Antiochus IV who perpetrated his sacrilege around 165 BC. Second, the Lord Jesus, around 30 AD, stated that, contrary to the then current Jewish tradition, this event was yet in the far future (Matthew 24:15). Third, around 50 AD, the apostle Paul said it would be fulfilled by the Antichrist, (2 Thessalonians 2), who Revelation 13 says was to come at the end of the Church Age. In light of this 3-fold testimony, the acceptance of Daniel 11:21-35 as referring to Antiochus IV should possibly be reconsidered, and the end-of-the-age view of Daniel 11:21-35 at the very least held as a viable option instead.
Several other factors tend to support this consideration. Since it is called THE Abomination of Desolation rather than “an” abomination, these references must all be talking about the same unique event, not several similar events. There is another point. In Daniel 11, the Covenant which Antichrist makes for 7 years, (as outlined in Daniel 9), is actually mentioned 5 (or 6) times from verse 21 to verse 32, at which point the Abomination is set up. Those verses are verses 22, (23), 28, 30 (twice), and 32. In that case, the Antichrist must of necessity arise in verse 21, and verses 31 & 32 mark the middle of the 7-year Covenant period. Antiochus never made such a covenant. Since these supporting factors do not negate other scriptures, we might keep them open as possibilities also.
This revised look at Daniel 11 has been presented very successfully on a number of occasions. It starts traditionally with verse 2 referring to the Medo-Persian Empire; verse 3 to the rise of Alexander the Great; then verse 4 to the division of Alexander’s kingdom among his 4 generals. Verse 5 refers to the Ptolemaic Dynasty in Egypt in the South and then subsequent verses refer to events for the king of the North and the interaction with the King of the South. The rise of the Ottoman Empire in the North from 1300 AD to its demise about 1920 AD can be traced with historical events from verses 16 to 19. A map in the public domain of the old Ottoman Empire at its maximum extent in red is shown here:
Then, from the region of the old Ottoman Empire, the rise of antichrist is detailed in verse 21 and 22, with the setting up of the Abomination of Desolation in verse 31. It is plain from Daniel 8 and 11 that the Abomination of Desolation is set up by the “king of the North.” In this context, he will be a ruler of one of the nations from the lands formerly in the northern sector of the old Ottoman Empire, that is north of Israel. A comparison of Daniel 8 and 11 makes it plain that, in an end-time scenario, the “king of the south” will be ruling in the southern sector of the old Ottoman Empire; that is south of Israel. The regions of Egypt and north Africa, are implicated from other verses and perhaps the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia may also be in view here. The separate regions are boxed where the respective final King of the North and King of the South in Daniel 11 seem to come from.
In order to get as close as possible to the original uncorrupted Paleo-Hebrew text, we would like to consider the ancient Alexandrian Septuagint (LXX). It was translated into Greek from the original Paleo-Hebrew around 285 BC, before any of these later problematical events occurred which might influence a translation. The text of our modern Old Testament originated almost 400 years later and so may have been influenced by those events as well as Jewish tradition. If these possibilities are thought worthy of consideration, then the rise to prominence for Antichrist occurs in verses 21 & 22 of Daniel 11. These verses give us the information of events that may be fulfilled or about to be fulfilled for us today just before the Rapture occurs. Let us see how this might fit the world today.
“And one will stand on his place, who has been set at nought, and they will not put upon him the honor of royalty, but he will come in prosperously and obtain rulership by deceitful ways. And the arms [forces] of him that overflows shall be washed away as with a flood before him, and shall be broken; and so the Covenant begins.”. Daniel 11:21-22 LXX.
Possible Analysis Daniel 11:21:
“And one will stand on his place…” that is from the northern region of the old Ottoman Empire from the preceding verses. So we look to that region for these events to occur.
“And they will not put upon him the honor of royalty…” That implies that this individual is not of royal birth. However, we are told about his rise to power in these terms:
“But he will come in prosperously [or peaceably, or easily/quickly/rapidly, or with a straight course] and obtain rulership by deceitful ways.” This sounds suspiciously like a modern election process in which the candidate wins by a landslide after a campaign full of promises which may be questionable. However, a basic feature which should identify him, as distinct from many others, is given as follows:
This person is “one who has been set at nought…” In older English, that phrase can mean someone who was “despised,” “of no account,” “scorned,” or “laughed at,” or someone who had been “imprisoned.” Let us pause right there for a moment and consider the important individuals in the news item above, namely Trump from the US, Putin from Russia, Orban from Hungary (capital Budapest – see map), Erdogan from Turkey and Zelenskyy from Ukraine. We do this to illustrate one possible way of determining which celebrity may be of importance in this scenario. In fact, none of them may be, but the principle still holds for any other prospects.
Viktor Orban: Was born in Hungary; never imprisoned but initially struggled as a politician before holding full power. It is only recently that he has become a prickly customer to his European allies. He is a strong supporter of Israel and Jews are welcomed in Hungary.
Vladimir Putin: Born in Leningrad, Russia. He was never imprisoned, but rose successfully through the ranks and was generally acclaimed at the time. He has recently become more dictatorial.
Donald Trump: Has been arrested and put in jail a number of times. He has been despised by political opponents and a section of the US public. However, his family line originates from the Nordic countries and Germany. It is claimed that most Icelanders are distant relatives. Thus, his origins are not from within the limits of the old Ottoman Empire.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan: Was born in a suburb of Istanbul, Turkey. He was a dark horse candidate for Mayor of Istanbul, and had been mocked by the mainstream media and treated as a country bumpkin by his opponents. He won the election impressively, but after several years he was stripped of his position and banned from political activity and put in prison for inciting religious unrest. While there he formed the AKP political party which he later led to a landslide victory throughout Turkey. He is currently Turkish President and has mediated between the Russians and Ukrainians and has arranged a number of peace conferences with other parties in the region. He especially has interests in Israel, the Palestinians, Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. He claims that since this area of the Middle East was under the jurisdiction of the Ottoman Empire focused in Turkey, then Turkey still has an historic responsibility to guide events in that region.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy: Was born in a city in central Ukraine. From 1997 to 2003 he was actor, performer and the producer of the stand-up comedy team “Kvartal 95” and founded the “League of Laughter” NGO. In a unique way he has been “set at nought”, laughed at and made fun of. Because of his role as President in the comedy series, he was induced to run in the actual Presidential election and won by a landslide majority. His administration has been accused of being corrupt and deceitful. However, he has acceptance right across Europe, and gains much attention in Israel.
Possible Analysis Daniel 11:22:
“And the arms [forces] of him that overflows … If we look only at the situation in the Ukraine, the arms and forces that are overflowing the county are the Russians.
“[and they] shall be washed away as with a flood before him, and shall be broken;…” A surprise intervention that stops the (Russian) forces in their advance in 24 hours as Trump is proposing is a first step. Then the problem is washed away, breaking their power via an international Peace Conference for the whole region brokered by the leadership in Turkey or the Ukraine. This is one possible means of fulfilling these verses. It is possible that out of this peace and security arrangement for Ukraine, Europe, and the region, that the 7-year Covenant and antichrist will emerge. This leads to the final comment in verse 22
“ and so the Covenant begins.” A word of explanation is needed to conclude here. The final part of this verse is often translated “and even the prince of the Covenant.” However, even though the Hebrew “Rosh” can, and does, mean “Prince,” it can also mean “head” or “Beginning” as in Rosh Hashanah the “head or Beginning of the year.” If this is accepted, then it seems that the Covenant may be signed by this individual immediately after a surprise victory against what was otherwise considered to be an “overflowing force of arms.”
Remember, the Russian elections occur on March 15 – 17; the Turkish elections are on March 31st; the US elections on November 5th, 2024. In addition Intelligence reports indicate that a major war is likely between Israel and the Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria soon after March 15th. Any of these may change the above outlook, or at least its timing. However, if there is any validity in the above possibilities at all, it is also apparent that we should keep our options open so that the scriptural outcome does not take us all by surprise. The Rapture may be extremely close. Watch and be ready to come into the Lord’s presence.
To monitor events on a daily basis, it often proves useful to go to Amir Tsarfati’s Telegram channel, which reports on all events of significance around the world and can be accessed from here:
https://t.me/s/beholdisraelchannel
In addition, his weekly news update from Behold Israel can be accessed here:
https://mailchi.mp/beholdisrael/amirs-amirs-weekly-newsletter-1008132?e=f47b1c7e80
Blessings on you all, Barry Setterfield – 15th March 2024.
