Turkey Making New Enemies, Frustrating Old Friends

Turkey is in the news again today.  We believe the news is very prophetic in that on the same day they apologized to Russia they were also making friends with Israel.

Most prophecy watchers believe that Turkey will play a part in the Ezekiel 38 prophecy so we watch them closely.

Check out this first paragraph from the NYT and imagine the scene of 1,000,000 Turks in the street waving red flags as they celebrate the victory of Islam throwing over Western Christianity some centuries ago.  Also notice the language that President Erdogan uses in forcing people to the heel of Islam.

ISTANBUL — Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, strode onto a stage a month ago looking down upon a sea of a million fans waving red Turkish flags. They were celebrating the 15th-century conquest of Istanbul by the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II, the golden moment of Turkey’s Muslim ancestors triumphing over the Christian West.

“The conquest means going beyond the walls that the West thought were impervious,” Mr. Erdogan said as the crowd roared. “The conquest means a 21-year-old sultan bringing Byzantium to heel.”

The spectacle, complete with a fighter-jet sky show and a re-enactment of the conquest with fireworks and strobe lights, projected an image of unity and command, of a nation marching together toward greatness, drawing on the achievements of a glorious past. But that soaring vision is being grounded by sobering realities.

Mr. Erdogan, who long professed a foreign policy of “zero problems with neighbors,” now seems to be mired in disputes with just about everybody and just about everywhere. Kurdish and Islamic State militants have struck Turkey 14 times in the past year, killing 280 people and sowing new fears. The economy has suffered, too, as the violence frightens away tourists.

At the same time, Mr. Erdogan has become increasingly isolated, frustrating old allies like the United States by refusing for years to take firm measures against the Islamic State. He has recently gotten serious about the militant group, but that appears to have brought new problems: Turkish officials say they believe that the Islamic State was responsible for the suicide attack that killed 44 people on Tuesday in Istanbul’s main airport, a major artery of Turkey’s strained economy.

He has helped reignite war with Kurdish separatists in Turkey’s southeast, and hundreds of civilians have died in the fighting, which began last summer. He alienated Moscow last fall when Turkish forces shot down a fighter jet that he said had strayed into Turkish airspace.

He had grown so alone that this past week he moved to make peace deals with Russia over the jet’s downing and with Israel over its killing of several Turkish activists on a Gaza-bound flotilla in 2010, after railing against both countries to voters.

Where Mr. Erdogan once held up Turkey as a model of Muslim democracy, he now frequently attacks democratic institutions. The editor in chief of Turkey’s largest daily has fled the country, and another is on trial on charges of revealing state secrets. The president has grown intolerant of criticism, purging his oldest allies from his inner circle and replacing them with yes men and, in some cases, relatives. (His son-in-law is the energy minister.)

Mr. Erdogan hints darkly in near-daily speeches on Turkish television that foreign powers are plotting to destroy him, and he has moved from a modest house in central Ankara to a grandiose, Persian Gulf-style palace on the edge of the city. Brown and pink buildings for his staff dot meticulously landscaped grounds so enormous that staff members are driven around in minibuses.

Now he has set his sights on a new target: transforming Turkey’s parliamentary system of government into a presidential one, a change his critics say could soon open the door to his seizing the title of president for life. On the night of the airport bombing, the Parliament, which his party controls, worked until 5:45 a.m. to pass sweeping legislation that will help pave the way by purging hundreds of judges from Turkey’s top two courts.

“The ship is going very fast toward the rocks,” said Ergun Ozbudun, a liberal constitutional expert who once defended Mr. Erdogan. “Pray for us.”


Here;  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/05/world/europe/turkey-erdogan-new-enemies-frustrating-friends.html?_r=0

Notice how he has all the signs of a coming dictator?  He currently may be trying to change the constitution even now so he could be named PRESIDENT FOR LIFE.

Also of interest is that Daniel said that we can expect the Antichrist to come out of the people who destroyed the 2nd Temple in Jerusalem....which was the Romans.  The Eastern leg of the Roman empire was in Constantinople....which is today called Istanbul.  Notice that this article comes from Istanbul.

Do we believe he is a candidate for the Antichrist?

We have no idea.

Is Turkey an actual gateway or connection between the Western world of Europe and the Muslim Middle East?

Yep.

Is Turkey seen as a "moderate" Muslim nation and a nation who could potentially sew together a peace agreement with Israel while at the same time making friends and double crossing her with Russia?

Yep.

Will God allow Israel to be destroyed by this Russian-led coalition?

Nope.  Quite the opposite is actually what will happen.

Ezekiel 38
18 This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign Lord. 19 In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. 20 The fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground. 21 I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign Lord. Every man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 I will execute judgment on him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. 23 And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’

As you can see, most watchers believe this event will happen after the rapture.

Why?

Because Jesus comes for his bride in secret during a time when earth is totally unaware of any supernatural events.  It's just like it was in the days of Noah....people eating drinking, building, planting, marrying, planning their weddings, etc....

Clearly, when Ezekiel 38 happens and burning sulfur falls on all the troops and the world sees that the God of Israel has supernaturally protected Israel while destroying the invading armies so the GOD MAKES HIMSELF KNOWS IN THE SIGH OF MANY NATIONS....this is not going to be a business as usual type of event.  This event will NOT fit into the category of "As it was in the days of Noah"

Just be aware....we have no idea when Jesus is coming for his bride....but don't be surprised if it happens a lot sooner than you think.