The Bible is clear that eventually, Russia will triumph in the conflict in Ukraine, and go beyond to bring all Europe (except Britain) under its control. Ezekiel describes the host that will come in the latter days, and it includes the geographical areas of Europe stretching to the English channel.
“Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,” (Ezekiel 38:2 RSV)
Rosh is identified by historians as Russia. Meshech and Tubal equate with the Muscovites who settled into the area of Moscow and those dwelling in the Tobolsk region of Russia. The land of Magog has been identified by historians dating back to Ezekiel’s time to cover the area from the river Don (the Donbass region) to the River Danube. This incorporates Ukraine, Modova, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Czechi, Poland and much of Germany.
“Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee. Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.” (Ezekiel 38:6–7)
Gomer and his bands describe the populations that migrated from Turkey across Europe, settling eventually in France and Germany. Togarmah is the area of the Caucuses.
We can expect then, from the scriptural definition of the host that comes down with Rosh, that Europe will fall under Russian dominion. Especially when the prophet Daniel states:
“Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” (Daniel 2:35)
All the metal empires that formed the Image, golden Babylon (Iraq), the silver Medo-Persia Empire (Iran), the brazen Greek Empire (including Syria), the iron Roman Empire which spread across Europe, and the fractured iron/clay European Union of today to be united in order to be “broken in pieces together”.
Russia’s Domination Assured.
The Bible has spoken, and Russia’s domination of Europe is assured. When we turn to the news, we see the situation in Ukraine has grown increasingly dire as Russia is gaining the upper hand. While sources outside the “mainstream media” have been pointing out the obvious collapse of Ukraine’s military, the official line has been that all is well on the western front. However, even the mainstream media is now having to acknowledge the inevitable. The Guardian Newspaper reported on October 5, 2023:
Ukraine’s counteroffensive, launched this summer, has garnered lackluster results. Russia has actually gained more territory in this calendar year than Ukraine has, despite the immense quantity of advanced weaponry that the US and Europe have supplied to Ukrainian forces.
In the absence of progress on the battlefield – Ukraine’s army has not made a breakthrough since last autumn – ever more strident demands for ever more aid, doled out indefinitely and regardless of circumstances, make the war look potentially endless and fruitless.
US Congress Removes Funding for Ukraine from Budget
It is interesting to see the hand of the angels at play. Now that Ukraine has had the life beat out of it, America’s support is collapsing.
Many American politicians to start questioning the wisdom of continuously supporting Ukraine’s military. Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri attended a meeting with Zelensky during his visit to the USA on September 23rd. He was asked whether the meeting with Zelensky changed his mind on funding for Ukraine. He stated:
“What the meeting revealed to me is that, in the words of President Zelenski, that “the conflict is a total stalemate,” that’s what he said, “totally frozen.” I believe was what his words were. Which is also what the administration told us yesterday. The Administration told us yesterday, “They want to spend 100 billion dollars more. Our money, more, over the next year, in the hopes that it will remain a stalemate.” Which leads me to ask, “what is the goal here, for the United States. I mean, what is it this administration wants to do?” I honestly have no idea. They used to say, “Victory, Victory, Victory.” Now it is “Stalemate for ever”. In fact, yesterday, Milly said, “there will be no military victory.” Ok, so what are we doing? I have no idea!”
Even CNN acknowledged the shift of American popular support for Ukraine with the mounting crisis on the home front. A CNN poll from August stated:
A a majority of Americans oppose sending additional funding to support Ukraine. If Trump were to return to the White House in 2025, it seems all but guaranteed that American support for Ukraine would be slashed. The potential for European governments to fill the gap if American support recedes is low.
The crisis in American government brought funding for Ukraine to the forefront when the US congress removed funding for Ukraine from the budget in order to pass it and avoid a government shutdown this past week. The Guardian Newspaper reported:
Scrambling to avoid a government shutdown, the US Congress last week refused to approve a new $6bn aid package for Ukraine. Nearly half of the Republicans in the House of Representatives also voted to strip Ukraine money from a must-pass military spending bill.
The crisis led to an unprecedented vote to remove Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the US Speaker House on Tuesday. This is the first time this has ever happened. Eight republicans and all democrats supported the removal. This has brought the US Congress to a halt until a new speaker is voted in.
Running out of Ammo
The situation in Ukraine is dire. Euro News reported on October 3:
Ukrainian troops could soon run out of ammunition and equipment if hard-right officials in Washington succeed in cutting US funding, experts warn.
If funding was halted, “it would be devastating for the Ukrainians,” warns Mark Cancian, an advisor to the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington.
“Ukrainian troops would be weakened and could even possibly collapse,” although he believes they could “continue to be able to remain on the defensive.”
Far from the front lines, the end of US aid could also weaken Ukrainian air defences, which need to be continually resupplied with munitions.
The warehouses used for the resupply of armaments are at a critically low state: The Voice of America reported Admiral Rob Bauer, chair of the NATO military committee as stating at the Warsaw Security Forum:
"We now give away weapons systems to Ukraine, which is great, and ammunition — but not from full warehouses. We started to give away from half full or lower warehouses in Europe. And therefore, the bottom of the barrel is now visible, and we need the industry to ramp up production in a much higher tempo. We need large volumes. It takes on average between two and four years to set up a new production line for high-intensity military equipment that you need in Ukraine. Same thing goes for munitions. We're talking about hundreds, potentially thousands of people who need to have very, very niche skill sets to be employed in this undertaking."
CNN Reported on October 4th:
“An inability to ensure timely procurement and deliveries could undermine essential Ukrainian operations to retake additional territory or defend against potential future Russian offensives,” US Undersecretary of Defense Michael McCord wrote in a letter to congressional leadership on Friday as the spending bill that ultimately eliminated aid for Ukraine was being negotiated.
“Without additional funding now, we would have to delay or curtail assistance to meet Ukraine’s urgent requirements, including for air defense and ammunition that are critical and urgent now as Russia prepares to conduct a winter offensive and continues its bombardment of Ukrainian cities,” McCord wrote.
Finding Funds
With Biden’s hands tied to find funding in the US, he is promising to find other methods. Politico reported:
President Joe Biden hinted at this strategy on Wednesday, saying “there is another means by which we may be able to find funding for that.” He declined to comment further.
As of Sept. 21, the U.S. had roughly $650 million remaining out of $4.6 billion in foreign military financing that Congress appropriated across two supplemental packages for Ukraine and “countries impacted by the situation in Ukraine,” according to the State Department.
There are $300 billion in Russian central bank assets are currently frozen in democratic countries. The USA holds $38 Billion in its jurisdiction. Biden could mount an international campaign to transfer Russia’s frozen assets to Ukraine to fund its military.
Cracks are appearing throughout the alliance of nations once supporting Ukraine to the end. Slovakia has voted in a pro-Russian government who campaigned on a promise to withdraw military support for Ukraine and to stop sanctioning Russia.
Poland, which share boarders with both Russia and Ukraine has been in an ongoing dispute with Ukraine over grain. It has been one of the biggest supporters of Ukraine. However, this past week it stated it was halting weapon supplies to Ukraine, and focussing on its own armed forces. Poland is facing an election in the middle of October, and ongoing support for Ukraine is a major issue.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has maintained close relations with Moscow during the war and argued against supplying arms to Ukraine or providing economic aid. Hungary is also a member of NATO.
While Europe as a whole remains committed to supporting Ukraine, they have been happy to do so as long as America is footing the majority of the bill. With American support being stifled, Europe will have to decide if it is willing to put its money where its mouth is.
Money is not Enough
However, money is not enough. Andrew Micta, a writer with the The New Atlanticist wrote a column describing the lessons learned from Ukraine so far. He stated:
The overarching lesson from the unfolding war in Ukraine is simply the scale of what’s required to fight a modern state-on-state war. No Western military has prepared for such levels of weapons and munitions consumption and force attrition. No NATO ally today—save for the United States—has the armor or munitions stocks that could last longer than a few weeks or months at best on Ukraine-like battlefields.
This war has brought into focus an enduring truth in warfare: In a state-on-state conflict, mass trumps precision. The impact of mass is immediate and registers at the point of contact, while precision strikes on enemy forces concentrated in the rear, on ammo depots, or on logistical chains will only register over time, perhaps after the decision on the battlefield has already been reached.
Russia has the mass for these kinds of conflicts, but the West does not. The writer went on to observe:
The war in Ukraine has shown that one needs mass to counter mass. When it comes to numbers, you need to match or, better still, outmatch what your enemy can field. During World War II, for example, Germany had tanks that were in many ways superior to US tanks in design, but in the end those Tigers and Panthers were outmatched by the sheer number of the Shermans the United States could field.
While technology gives Western forces an edge, that edge will only go so far when confronted with sheer numbers. If NATO ends up at war with Russia or if the United States and its allies in Asia end up in a war with China, then the decisive factor may be manpower and production elasticity when it comes to weapons and munitions. In a protracted conflict, the decisive factor could be the capacity to reconstitute forces—both personnel and equipment—to compensate for those that have been attritted on the battlefield.
The West is facing a revanchist Russian state intent on relitigating the outcome of the Cold War and restoring its imperial sphere of influence. Russia has already effectively reabsorbed Belarus and has its sights firmly set on Ukraine—and possibly beyond. Hence, the conflict in Ukraine carries with it a high risk of horizontal escalation that could spark a wider war in Europe.
This observation is reminiscent of the description of the Gogian invasion of the Middle East that is soon to take place. The prophets all describe an overwhelming flood sweeping through the Holy Land:
“the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.” (Daniel 11:40)
An overwhelming force is what is depicted by Daniel. Mass that trumps technology. The same picture is painted by Ezekiel:
“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…. 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: And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.” (Ezekiel 38:15–16)
While mass might trump western technology, it certainly will not trump the power of Almighty God who will overwhelm it with divine intervention.
Running out of Soldiers
Ukraine is simply running out of bodies to put into the meat grinder. Ukraine no longer has the ability to hide the number of casualties. While neither Ukraine, nor Russia will release casualty figures, even conservative, such as CBC put Ukraines death toll at approximately 70,000 with at least 100,000 – 120,000 casualties. Putin has claimed that Ukraine has had more than 90,000 casualties in the last four months alone. Turkish media, which is neutral in the conflict, Turkey being a member of NATO, while at the same time friendly to Russia, put Ukrainian military casualties at about 157,000 as of February of this past year. The numbers are very murky, but regardless… they are high.
War has always been a numbers game, as the Lord pointed out in his parable:
“Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.” (Luke 14:31–32)
There seems to be no wisdom, and no desire to seek conditions of peace in Ukraine.
Not only this, but Ukraine’s ability to repopulate itself is impossible. Frances Newspaper Le Monde reported on September 28:
Ukraine is fighting an existential battle against an enemy with a population four times larger, while at the same time hemorrhaging part of its own population. Women and children are fleeing to safer locations. The country's population was estimated to be between 38 and 42 million on February 24, 2022. Since then, between 5 and 8 million people have emigrated. A significant proportion of them are likely to settle abroad permanently. Some countries have offered attractive prospects for integration. It is mainly women and children who are emigrating, as martial law prohibits able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 60 from leaving the country.
In 1991, Ukraine ranked 22nd on the list of the world's most populous countries. It is now 41st. "We've already lost 10 million people in three decades.
The director of the Ptoukha Institute in Kyiv stated, "fertility had already fallen to 1.2 children per woman by 2021. This is a long way from the replacement rate (2.15 children per woman), given Ukrainian mortality rates." The war has accelerated the fall in fertility: It was 0.9 in 2022 and Libanova estimates that it will be 0.7 in 2023 and 2024.
The numbers in this article only deal with migration, and not war casualties. Ukraine is known to have put on an aggressive recruiting push, using nefarious means to bring people into the military. There have been multiple news articles citing 18 Century press-gang tactics to recruit, including kidnapping and coercion.
Back in 2022, the government had suspended the draft of women for one year, this suspensions has now expired. The Voice of America reported on September 26 in an article about women’s uniforms:
Forty-two thousand women serve in the Ukrainian military, and the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense recently officially approved a female uniform.
The dire situation in Ukraine speaks of its coming collapse against Russia as CNN reported on October 5th.
Senior Biden administration officials privately believe only weeks remain before a lack of additional Ukraine funding starts to become a serious battlefield concern — a scenario they are trying to avoid with public warnings and a major speech from President Joe Biden himself.
In the end, the Bible is clear that Russia will dominate Europe. It is fascinating to watch how the Angels are at work in preparing the nations to fulfill God’s will. We know that we have approached the end of all things. Israel is the beacon of light, telling us plainly the Lord is about to appear, as we read in the Psalms:
“Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: For the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, And favour the dust thereof. So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, And all the kings of the earth thy glory. When the Lord shall build up Zion, He shall appear in his glory. He will regard the prayer of the destitute, And not despise their prayer. This shall be written for the generation to come: And the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord.” (Psalm 102:13–18)
The world is about to go through one of the most difficult times in its history, and our prayer has to be in earnest for Christ’s return who will redeem his people Israel, who will call his saints to him, and save this planet from destroying itself.
For the Bible in the News this has been Jonathan Bowen joining you.
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