Americans are very
fixated on their own ambitions to reach Mars and as such most
are unaware that the EU has launched its own program to send men
to the Red Planet.
Americans also are generally unaware that Russia, and to lesser
degrees China and India, are in this race as well. In fact, Russia
has been in this race for thirty years! Russia intends to be the
first nation in history to put a man on Mars.
These are very nationalistic
aspirations by all of the nations involved and on the surface
it seems courageous and a benefit to all mankind, or so some scientists
and do-gooders would tell you. The truth is that these nationalistic
drives to reach Mars in our lifetime speak directly of the end-times
when viewed from a biblical perspective.
What we are watching is a re-alignment of the political axis of
the nations.
Russia, via her "7
Hour Nuclear War" drill (her first since 1982)and her robust
oil economy, has announced to the world her come-back as a world
heavyweight superpower.
Russia's surge towards space must be viewed with alarm. Not because
of the military benefits she will accrue from the mission, but
because Russia and the EU are joining together their space programs.
No, they haven't announced it yet, but Russia and the EU will
join their space programs into a collaborative effort and work
together towards Mars. Mark my words the process has already begun!
Why is this of concern to Christians? To merge space programs is not exactly a problem, after all, NASA has worked collaboratively on projects with both the Russian and EU space agencies, most notably the International Space Station. The problem, as Russia and the EU see it, is that the USA has always been in charge of the operation. This is an embarrassment to Russia who has had a distinguished series of firsts in the exploration of space and still sports a very advanced space program. And it makes the EU desperate to get out from under the shadow of the United States, even if that means leaving the US shadow for the shadow of Russia.
In a Russian/EU merger we will see the Russian Bear take charge. The EU's space program is an infant in comparison to Russia's. Russia would gain a significant technological leap by having access and eventually control of the EU's new global positioning satellite system that is intended to compete head-to-head with the market domineering GPS system controlled by the United States. The EU in turn would gain prestige in space apart from the United States.
Russia would waste no time in adapting the EU's GPS technology to her military just as the US has done. Viewed in light of what the Russians and Europeans call "Security Agreements (read NATO)" we can see the already well developed "Greater Europe" envisioned by Russian President Putin. In the Greater Europe of Putin's vision it is obvious that Russia will not play second fiddle to anyone . . . ever, not to the USA, not to the EU and not to China or India. There is not a superpower now or in the foreseeable future (including the USA) that could stand up to a Russian superpower of that magnitude. This is the superpower described in Ezekiel 38.
In Ezekiel we see that
Gog is the central figure. Gog is the demonic chief prince of
Russia. He is not the antichrist, but a loyal demon prince under
Satan who will throw his support behind the antichrist. Other
chief princes are mentioned, being named after Noah's grandsons.
Among them are Gomer, Magog, Tubal and Meshech. These are sons
of Noah's son Japheth. Today the descendants of these men inhabit
Russia, Europe and parts of of Asia. Gomer specifically has been
identified by scholars as being the various Germanic peoples who
now dominate Europe.
We should be careful to note that Ezekiel shows these European
descendants of Gomer as joining Gog and not Gog joining Gomer.
Russia has a population
of 80 million adherents to Islam. Russia has historic relationships
with Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran.
Many often make the mistake in their prophetic understanding that
the antichrist will rule all the nations. The prophetic reality
is that he will rule over a relatively shaky alliance of nations
in some form of confederation, not unlike Russia's present Confederation
of Independent States of which she is the dominant party.
Russia desperately wants back into her oil contracts with Iraq
and will likely form an alliance with Iraq, and other Middle East
oil nations, to stave-off another US/Iraq war. Why do I mention
Iraq in this equation? Isaiah 14 clearly shows the antichrist
coming from what was Assyria/Babylon and is now Iraq/Syria and
parts of Iran and Turkey. You may have noticed the sudden warm
relations between Syria, Turkey and Iran and the intense interest
all of them show in Iraq.
We know from Daniel
11 that the antichrist will attack the mightiest fortresses with
the help of a foreign god, this is Gog. The combined power and
might of Russia and the EU will be at the disposal of the antichrist.
In Daniel 11 we see the antichrist swarming over Israel as he
attacks the king of the South with combined land and sea power.
These scriptures do not say, but space will most certainly be
a part of the battlefield. What Russia and the EU do now, in space
and on earth, will have direct bearing on that day when Israel
ceases to exist as a nation and for the last 3.5 years of this
age.