Prophecy And War In Ukraine

This Russian invasion of Ukraine is apparently so utterly illogical that it has completely baffled the world. The majority of Ukrainians do not want to be ruled by Russia and whatever Vladimir Putin might gain from this will nowhere near make up for what the war and the economic cutoff from the world will cost.

But people who are secular often do not understand people who are motivated by religion. We saw this in the posting on this blog, "How Secularism Leads Us Astray" April 2020, and that is what is going on here.

This new Cold War is not at all like the old Cold War. The old Cold War was western Capitalism against Communism, and Communism was atheist. In most Communist countries it wasn't actually illegal to be religious, but it was discouraged.

In this new Cold War Russia has returned to it's Eastern Orthodox roots. Vladimir Putin is very religious and now it's "Holy Russia" against the drug-addicted, crime-ridden, decadent west.

It must be said that Kyiv is where the Eastern Orthodox Church began. Another Vladimir, Prince Vladimir, conducted a mass baptism of his people in the Dneiper River, in the Byzantine Rite of Christianity in the year 988. In the year 1054 the Byzantine Church broke away from the pope altogether to form the Eastern Orthodox Church. The center of the church moved to Moscow because Kyiv had been utterly devastated by the Mongols in the Thirteenth Century. 

The roots of the conflict in Ukraine go back far into history. They go all the way back to the Hagia Sophia, the House Of Holy Wisdom, in the city that is now called Istanbul. It is impossible to really understand this crisis, which has so upset the world, without going all the way back to it's roots in the Hagia Sophia.

It was there that the monumental split between the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches took place. The split itself was rooted in the magnificence of the Hagia Sophia, which had earlier caused Prince Vladimir to choose the Byzantine Rite of Catholicism for his kingdom, rather than the Latin Rite.

This long-ago split in the Catholic Church has come back to us in secular form in modern times. It's manifestations include Napoleon's Invasion of Russia, the eastern fronts of both world wars, the Cold War, and now this crisis in Ukraine.

This split that is rooted in the Hagia Sophia is why we just can't get away from the Cold War. Has anyone stopped to think that the present hostile dialogue between Vladimir Putin and western leaders is a virtual secular mirror image of that which took place in the Hagia Sophia in 1054, nearly a thousand years ago, between the representatives of the pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople?

If you have some reading time and would like to really understand this crisis that is so disturbing the world, here is a link to the compound posting about the Hagia Sophia:

www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-house-of-wisdom-where-modern-world.html?m=0

Part of the present scenario is that the Ukraine Orthodox Church split from the Russian Orthodox Church in October 2018. This was followed by the Russian Orthodox Church splitting from the Patriarchate of Constantinople (now Istanbul) shortly afterwards. This is known as the 2018 Moscow-Constantinople Schism. 

If the pope created the Holy Roman Empire to prevent a schism by the eastern Christians then why shouldn't Putin take action to prevent this schism? The Russian Orthodox Church has blessed this invasion of Ukraine, with the exception of a limited minority.

The split of the Eastern Orthodox Church from Catholicism is known as the Great Schism of 1054. The Eastern Rite of Catholicism, known as Byzantine Christianity, began in Kyiv as described above. The actual schism with Catholicism took place in Constantinople, in 1054.

When Constantinople was conquered by the Ottomans, in 1453, the Eastern Orthodox Church would have moved it's focal point to Kyiv, except that it had been so devastated by the Mongols. It ended up moving to Moscow, which is what made Moscow an important city. The conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans led many scholars to take their manuscripts and leave for western Europe, this is what sparked the Renaissance which ultimately led to the Protestant Reformation which is the other great schism of the church.

Vladimir Putin has mystified the world by claiming that his purpose is to "denazify" Ukraine. But let's stop and think, what exactly were the Nazis? They called themselves the "Third Reich", with the Holy Roman Empire being the "First Reich", and the time of the Kaisers was the Second. 

The Holy Roman Empire was set up by the pope, with Charlemagne crowned as it's first emperor in the year 800, to rein in the eastern Christians who were questioning the authority of the pope. These eastern Christians would later split away altogether to form the Eastern Orthodox Church, in 1054. This is Vladimir Putin's church, which is so important to his invasion of Ukraine.

Now you can see what I mean because Newsweek Magazine reported that a prominent Russian lawmaker, Vyacheslav Nikonov, stated that Russia's enemy in Ukraine is the "Fourth Reich". According to Wikipedia this is the grandson of the famous Soviet foreign minister, Vyacheslav Molotov. On behalf of the Soviet Union Molotov would sign the ill-fated non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany, the later breaking of which would be Hitler's attempt to fulfill the original purpose of the Holy Roman Empire.

The real center of the Holy Roman Empire was Nuremberg which is why the Nazis, the Third Reich, focused their rallies there and set up the "Cathedral of Light", with searchlight beams. 

The major project of the Nazis was, of course, their ultimately unsuccessful attempt to conquer the Soviet Union, which included Russia and Ukraine. This is what the world might have expected since they were the spiritual descendants of the Holy Roman Empire, which was set up to rein in the wayward eastern Christians.

What Vladimir Putin means by "denazification" is the liberation of the Eastern Orthodox holy city of Kyiv from a government that leans toward the historically Catholic domain of Europe, which formerly organized the Holy Roman Empire to rein in the eastern Christians and whose descendants are the Nazis, but which has now descended into western-style decadence.

Putin also mystified the world by demanding that Ukraine be guaranteed never to join NATO. Ukraine has been independent for over thirty years, surely if it was going to join it would have done so by now. Also it isn't exactly like NATO always sticks together, remember the Iraq war in 2003.

But NATO is a euphemism for the Latin Catholic domain from which Putin's Eastern Orthodox Church broke away, remembering that this split happened before the Protestants also later broke away. Kyiv, in Ukraine, is where the Eastern Orthodox Church began.

The first Cold War ended, with the Berlin Wall coming down, because the former Eastern Orthodox domain, now secularized as Communism, had overreached too far west. But now the opposite has occurred and the Russian view is that the former Latin Catholic domain has overreached too far east, occupying the sacred city where the Eastern Orthodox Church began. Crimea, which Russia seized in 2014, is also viewed as sacred because that is where Prince Vladimir was baptized.

Now Communism is gone in Russia and the Eastern Orthodox Church has been revived. Meanwhile the west, the Latin Catholic and Protestant domains, has fallen into apostasy and decadence. Surely God would be on the side of Holy Russia and the Eastern Orthodox Church is now the real Christianity. What will all of the economic sanctions of the west amount to if God is with Russia?

We know that the Antichrist, the great leader in the Last Days as described in the Bible, will be from western Europe. This shouldn't surprise Putin, or anyone else in the Eastern Orthodox Church, because it is the now-decadent Latin Catholic domain that they broke away from. Remember that they consider the now mainly-Protestant countries as part of this domain because their split happened before the Protestant split.

The real purpose for the invasion of Ukraine is to alarm and upset the world enough to prompt the emergence of the Antichrist, who will seem to have the answers to everything. The war to compare this with is George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq in 2003. If Putin was looking to gain anything material from this invasion of Ukraine he would be trying to get the world to accept it, instead he is alarming and reminding the world that he has nuclear weapons. 

This is the kind of global crisis that could induce the Antichrist to make his appearance. Whoever could solve this crisis world really be a hero to the world and would have the world's confidence. The Bible tells us that, in the Last Days of the world, a great leader will emerge who the world will follow. This leader is referred to as the Antichrist.

If Vladimir Putin really wanted a place in history, not just in human history but in eternal history, he could be the one who induced the Antichrist to emerge. This would begin the Tribulation Period that will end with the establishment of the Kingdom of Jesus on earth.

The 2003 invasion of Iraq, very much against world opinion, was undertaken by George W. Bush. It was for the dubious reason of supposed "weapons of mass destruction", which were never found, and "harboring of terrorists". Has anyone noticed that Putin's invasion of Ukraine is along just about exactly the same lines as the invasion of Iraq in 2003?

Let's remember what will happen during the Apocalypse. Jesus will remove the true Christians before it starts, in the event known as the Rapture although that word is not in the Bible. The Antichrist will be a great leader that appears to have all the answers and that the world will follow. The Antichrist will be allowed to reign for seven years. The first half of this seven-year period will actually be the best time that the world has ever seen. But it will all be a fantastic satanic lie. Things will begin to fall apart and the second half of this seven-year period will be the worst time that the world has ever seen, or ever will see. Jesus will return with the believers that he took out in the beginning to end the seven-year Tribulation Period, and set up His Kingdom on earth. Jesus makes it clear in the Gospels that, had He not returned to end the Tribulation Period, no one would be left alive on earth. If you find yourself in the Tribulation Period you can still be saved, spend eternity with God, but you will probably be killed.

The plan is not to conquer Ukraine too quickly. It will cause more alarm, and be more likely to cause the emergence of the Antichrist, if the campaign lasts for a while. Putin wants most of the world to pull together against his country. This is because we know that the world must someday be united under the Antichrist.

It is not just alarm about the war that is forcing the world to pull together, it is economic pain. What if a great leader emerged with the answers to bring down fuel and food prices, not to mention to save the environment. 

We know that the Antichrist must be from western Europe. When has Europe ever been as united as it is now? Brexit seems to have evaporated. One foreign leader that Putin always seems ready to deal with is Emmanuel Macron. Does Putin think that Macron might be the Antichrist or is he just setting the precedent for being willing to deal with a prominent European leader?

This invasion is being done to evoke the end of the world, as described in the Bible prophecies. The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, told the world that Russia would fight "until the end". Why would it be necessary to say that when Russia was invading a smaller country?

The symbol of the war in Ukraine has become the "Z" that has been observed painted on so many Russian military vehicles.

What makes it so interesting is that Z is a letter in the Latin alphabet. It isn't even in the Russian (Cyrillic) alphabet. Why would Russia make such use of a letter of the west and NATO that it was supposedly trying to stop from encroaching on Ukraine?

This isn't the old Cold War, now it's the religious "Holy Russia" against the decadence and apostasy of the west. The purpose of this invasion is to prompt the emergence of the Antichrist, which we know will come from the west. The End of the World events will favor Russians because now the Eastern Orthodox Church, which had split from the west, has been revived while the west has fallen into apostasy and decadence.

That is where the Z comes in. Z is The End of the Latin alphabet. It is used by those apostate western nations from where we know the Antichrist must emerge. Remember how the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, announced that Russia will fight until "The End".

The End for the now-decadent western nations is represented by the final letter of their alphabet, which is Z. The Z represents the Apocalypse in the Bible.

Another letter that is sometimes seen painted on Russian military vehicles is V, although that isn't in the Russian alphabet either. What could "V" mean? The Antichrist will have a "false prophet" promoting him. A prophet implies religion and many people believe that the false prophet will be the pope at the time of the Antichrist. So "V" could mean "Vatican".

As we saw in the posting, "The End Of The World As We Know It", the invasion of Israel from the north that will set off the final series of wars of the world will use paratroopers. Russia used paratroopers to attack Kharkhiv early in the invasion. Why was it necessary to use paratroopers? Dropping paratroopers is complicated and risky. Paratroopers in wartime have a very high casualty rate. Paratroopers are usually only used when the enemy has a strong front line. This was just done to evoke Bible prophecy.

If this invasion can bring about the emergence of the Antichrist it will be followed, as described in Bible prophecy, by the Return of Jesus and the establishment of His Kingdom on earth. Holy Russia, even though it will be destroyed along with most of the rest of the world, will have fulfilled it's national mission. Vladimir Putin will go down in eternal history as having outsmarted the now-apostate and decadent west, causing the Antichrist to emerge from it which will lead to the Return of Jesus.

That is what is really going on in Ukraine. I have long noticed how people with a secular mindset often just don't understand people who are motivated by religion. People who believe that they are doing God's work, and that God is with them, probably aren't going to fold because of a few economic sanctions.