Let Us Watch & Be Sober

Matthew 24:36

• But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Acts 1:7

• And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

2 Peter 3:3-4

• Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

Genesis 2:16-17

• And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Genesis 3:4-5

• And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Romans 8:5-8

• For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-6

• But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. …

1 Thessalonians 5:1-6

• But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

Joel 3:1-2

• For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

Ezekiel 38:1-6

• And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth…

Ezekiel 38:1-6

• …and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.

Ezekiel 38:3

• And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:

Encyclopedia Britannica

• Russian BELAYA TSERKOV, city, Kiev oblast (province), north central Ukraine, on the Ros River. Founded in the 11th century, Bila Tserkva ("White Church") long remained a minor regional centre.”

Encyclopedia Britannica

• RUS, also spelled ROS, ancient people who gave their name to the land of Russia. Their origin and identity are much in dispute. Traditional Western scholars believe them to be Scandinavian Vikings, an offshoot of the Varangians, who moved southward from the Baltic coast and founded the first consolidated state among the eastern Slavs, centring on Kiev.

Encyclopedia Britannica

• Russian scholars, along with some Westerners, consider the Rus to be a southeastern Slavic tribe that founded a tribal league; the Kievan state, they affirm, was the creation of Slavs and was attacked and held only briefly by Varangians.

Encyclopedia Britannica

• Russian scholars...have insisted that the eastern Slavs, before the entry of the Varangians, had evolved a sophisticated feudal state comparable to the Carolingian empire in the West. The Rus were simply a southern Slavic tribe living on the Ros River.

Ezekiel 38:13

• Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish; with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take the spoil? hast thou assembled thy company to take the prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take great spoil?

Ezekiel 38:14-16

• Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD: In that day when my people Israel dwelleth securely, shalt thou not know it? And thou shalt come from thy place out of the uttermost parts of the north, thou, and many peoples with thee, all of them riding upon horses; a great company and a mighty army…

Ezekiel 38:14-16

• …and thou shalt come up against my people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring thee against my land, that the nations may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.

Robert Gates – June 10, 2011

• Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Final Address to NATO: • “With respect to Europe, for the better part of six decades there has been relatively little doubt or debate in the United States about the value and necessity of the transatlantic alliance. The benefits of a Europe whole, prosperous and free after being twice devastated by war requiring American intervention was self evident.

Robert Gates – June 10, 2011

• Thus for the most of the Cold War US governments could justify defense investments and costly forward basis that made up roughly 50 percent of all NATO military spending. But some two decades after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the US share of NATO defense spending has now risen to more than 75 Percent - at a time when politically painful budget and benefit cuts are being considered at home.

Robert Gates – June 10, 2011

• “The blunt reality is that there will be dwindling apatite and patience in the US Congress- and in the American body politic writ at large- to expend increasingly precious funds on behalf of nations that are apparently unwilling to devote the necessary resources or make the necessary changes to be serious and capable partners in their own defense.

Robert Gates – June 10, 2011

• Nations apparently willing and eager for American tax payers to assume the growing `security burden left by reductions in European defense budgets. Indeed, if current trends in the decline of European defense capabilities are not halted and reversed, future US political leaders those for whom the Cold War was not the formative experience that it was for me …

Robert Gates – June 10, 2011

• …may not consider the return on American investment in NATO worth the cost.

• “What I’ve sketched out is the real possibility for a dim, if not dismal future for the transatlantic alliance.”

Washington Times

• “The Times reported last week that Shota Utiashvili director of information and analysis for the Georgian Interior Ministry, said the embassy blast and others in his country were the work of a Russian military intelligence officer named Maj. Yevgeny Borisov. “It is written without hedges, and it confirms the Georgian account,” said one US official…

Washington Times

• …familiar with the US Intelligent report. This official added that it specifically says the Russian military intelligence, or GRU, coordinated the bombings.

Isaiah 18:1

• "Ho! to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Khush: that sendeth by sea whirling things, even on vessels of fleetness upon the waters, Go ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from this and onward: a nation prostrate and trodden down, whose land the rivers (invading armies, Isaiah 8:7) have spoiled."

Translation by John Thomas, MD

Ezekiel 21:25

• And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.

Leviticus 26:15-18

• And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant: I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

Leviticus 26:15-18

• And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you. And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.

Jeremiah 51:24-26

• And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD. Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain. …

Jeremiah 51:24-26

• And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the LORD.

Cline (historian)

• Saddam also portrays himself as the successor to Nebuchadnezzar. In 1979, he was quoted by his semi-official biographer as saying: "Nebuchadnezzar stirs in me everything relating to pre-Islamic ancient history. And what is most important to me about Nebuchadnezzar is the link between the Arabs' abilities and the liberation of Palestine.

Cline (historian)

• Nebuchadnezzar was, after all, an Arab from Iraq, albeit ancient Iraq. … That is why whenever I remember Nebuchadnezzar I like to remind the Arabs, Iraqis in particular, of their historical responsibilities. It is a burden that should… spur them into action because of their history."

Cline (historian)

• Although Nebuchadnezzar was neither Arab nor Moslem, Saddam Hussein's "Nebuchadnezzar Imperial Complex," as one psychologist called it, has been remarkably consistent. In the late 1980s he promoted the Iraqi Arts Festival called "From Nebuchadnezzar to Saddam Hussein." He also had a replica of Nebuchadnezzar's war chariot built and had himself photographed standing in it.

Cline (historian)

• He ordered images of himself and Nebuchadnezzar beamed, side by side, into the night sky over Baghdad as part of a laser light show. He has spent millions rebuilding the ancient site of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar's capital city, provoking fears among Christian fundamentalists who see this as one of the signs of the end times and the imminent approach of Armageddon.

Cline (historian)

• “The role of Saddam Hussein's Babylonian palace was more symbolic than functional. When American troops entered Babylon in April, 2003, they found little evidence that the palace had been occupied or used. Saddam's fall from power brought vandals and looters. The smoked glass windows were shattered, the furnishings removed, and architectural details - from faucets to light switches had been stripped away.”