Russia Then And Now—Should We Worry? 07/05/2024
Most people really do not remember, nor have they been taught about World War II (1939‐1945), even though it was the biggest, and deadliest world war in history, involving more than 30 countries. As odd as it may sound, the (3) axis powers, consisting of Germany, Italy and Japan, unleashed tremendous destruction on most of Europe, Asia (including Russia, which is technically in both Europe and Asia), the islands of the Pacific Ocean, Australia, and North America—all known as the Allies. Sadly, most Americans are totally unaware how the hand of God protected America′s mainland after the bombing of Pearl Harbor from Japanese submarine attacks on the west coast, and attacks of German submarines in the Atlantic and in the Gulf of Mexico. Check out this link for more on the west coast attacks, and this link for Gulf of Mexico attacks. (Note, the Japanese fire balloons are most interesting as Hamas has used these weapons in their war with Israel resulting in devastation of land, housing, crops and lives.)
Some may question, “Wasn′t it the Americans who really caused most of the destruction with the dropping of the first atom bomb?” No—it has been documented, by reputable sources, that the atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused fewer deaths in proportion to the amount of people that would have died if a full scale attack had been attempted on the islands of Japan. Japan was a formidable enemy mixed with tenacity. And yes, most of the people were civilians, but like Israel usually does before they bomb Gaza, the U.S. notified the citizens of these Japanese cities, on several occasions, that the bombs were coming. It was by no means a surprise attack.
As war is a destructive business, there was no country that was involved in the war, that did not suffer casualties. The Chinese probably suffered the most horrendous atrocities at the hands of the Japaneses, only to be rivaled by Germany′s barbaric march toward the east—invading the U.S.S.R, which included modern day Ukraine. And while the U.S.S.R. eventually was considered an allied member, at the start of the war, Russia was not in the allies′ camp. Here again is the hand of God, because had the U.S.S.R. joined the axis camp,(as they desired to do), this may have made a considerable difference in the out come of the war. If you would like to read more on the history of Russia and Germany during WW2, please check out our 2/18/19 blog, Poland, Iran, The Soviet Union And Their History.
Nearing the end of WW2, most people felt that World Wars were no longer imminent—there had been enough pain and suffering. By August 1944, the American Office of Public Opinion Research‐Cornell University, polled citizens of the U.S. with a survey they called, The Roosevelt Poll. U.S. citizens were asked, “There is a lot of talk about what Russia will do in Europe after the war is over. Which of the following statements do you think most nearly expresses the policy Russia will follow?” (Please note, during the war, the U.S.S.R. lost approximately 27 million people due to the war and war related situations—in contrast the U.S. lost a little more than 400,000. The Russians have never put much trust in their neighbors.( Back to the poll, the pollsters found, (21%) of the people polled believed Russia would follow a good neighbor policy (believing their neighbors had good intention toward them). A greater number of citizens (46%) thought Russia would make herself secure against her neighbors. That meant Russia would seek to install, in countries surrounding her, more communist/socialist leaning governments. However, it was really the (19%) of people polled, those that believed Russia would try to take over a large part of Europe, that turned out to be correct. After the war, the U.S.S.R. took over the governments of Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, East Germany, Poland, Romania and Yugoslavia. Then the Soviet′s also, under the acceptance of allied powers, annex Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Their communist/socialist ways were also present in Outer Mongolia, Italy and France. And they continued to grow until 1991, when the Soviet Union disbanded and most of the former Socialist Republics became independent states.
That brings us to present day and a very long and drawn out war between Russia and the Ukraine. Many believe President Putin is in a land grab for Ukraine, but the Russian President has, from the very start, been very straight forward. He believes the United States and NATO have betrayed a trust agreement made long ago in the 1990′s.
What was that trust? According to the German news source, DW.com, in an article dated 02/23/22, the first post soviet elected President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, made clear to reporters, in a meeting with Bill Clinton that, “We believe that the eastward expansion of NATO is a mistake and a serious one at that.” In a memorandum from 1990, the U.S. State Department wrote, “In the current environment, it is not in the best interest of NATO or the US that {Eastern European} states be granted full NATO membership and its security guarantees”, this was in reference to those states who were still emerging from Soviet control as the Warsaw Pact disintegrated. The memorandum continued, “{We} do not, in any case, wish to organize an anti‐Soviet coalition whose frontier is the Soviet border. Such a coalition would be perceived very negatively by the Soviets.” However, at that time, there were no formal agreements made, nor treaties signed. Since that time, politicians have come and gone, and NATO has gone through five rounds of enlargement, throughout the years, that has included former parts of the Soviet Union and several former Warsaw Pact states.
A former deputy US ambassador to Germany, JD Bindenagel, has gone on record to express his views. He believes, “NATO′s mistake was not so much the actual enlargement, but with not taking seriously the Russian view that it had been betrayed.” So, here we are. There is a lot more history, but in a nut shell, President Putin has said, “If Ukraine were to join NATO, it would serve as a direct threat to the security of Russia”. He believes it would liken Ukraine to becoming a springboard for a NATO strike against Russia.
Presently, the U.S. and other NATO allies have been weaponizing the Ukrainians for years in the hopes of the Ukrainians protecting and defending their own country with little or no help from NATO members. However, due to the delicateness of the situation, the Ukrainians have had certain perimeters they have had to abide by, including not using NATO supplied rockets to fire into Russia. To date, that has all changed and according to many news sources, “The U.S. has told Ukraine it can use American supplied weapons to hit any Russian forces attacking from across the border—not just those in the region near Kharkiv, according to U.S. officials.” And the Ukrainians are doing just that, concentrating their efforts on Russian energy centers. How is President Putin responding? An article from the Associated Press dated, June 23, 2024, headlines: With Its New Pact With North Korea, Russia Raises The Stakes With The West Over Ukraine. As you probably already know, the President of Russia visited the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June 2024. Apparently, the two countries have continued bonding over their dislike for the West and formed a Pact of mutual military assistance between the two country′s if either is attacked. This Pact also specifies that Russia may be sending weapons to North Korea, under the radar of International notice, which could destabilize the Korean Peninsula and even surrounding areas. But, that may not be the most frightening news for the countries that have been sending weapons to the Ukraine. Mr Putin has said for the record, “They (NATO/Americans) are escalating the situation, apparently expecting that we (Russians) will get scared at some point, and at the same time, they say that they want to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield.” The Russian President continued, “For Russia, it will mean an end to its statehood, an end to the millennium‐long history of the Russian state. And a question arises: Why should we be afraid? Isn′t it better, then, to go to the end?” According to Aljazeera news, President Putin, “has promised retaliation against not only the US, but also other Western allies of Ukraine who also removed restrictions on using their weapons against Moscow.” The news agency added, “Putin…adding that Moscow was ready to use nuclear weapons.”
While those in high positions of political power debate what President Putin is trying to say, it might be a good idea to be clear headed and believe what he is saying—he is ready, at any point, to attack the U.S. or any other NATO ally as they have already attacked his country by giving Ukraine weapons to fight Russia—and not only to fight Russia, but send those rockets into Russia. Russia excepts the fact of a mass devastation which will come to his country in such a case. Is the American government ready for this? Are the members of NATO ready? How about the American public? Are you ready if nuclear bombs start falling from the sky? You will not have much warning—if you have any.
We could go on about the strategic advantages the Russians would possess if they could safely harbor their ships in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, or how advantageous it would be for the Russians to have the Black Sea Fleet so close to the Mediterranean Sea in regards to an invasion into Israel, or even the fact that President Putin has sent a show of force to Cuba very close to the United States, (Key West, Florida is about 90 miles from Havana in Cuba) and now some of those ships are ported in Venezuela. Again, very close to U.S. borders. But, what is most important for this blog is how does all of this relate to Bible Prophecy? It really can be answered in our blog of 02/12/20, What Is Really Important To Look For Regarding Bible Prophecy? To quote our own blog, “Before the Tribulation, the following things need to be in place based upon Ezek 38:2,3,5,6.” The items in category ♯3 are of most interest for this blog. To summarize, those regions aligning themselves with Russia in an attack on Israel includes Tubal. “Tubal is a part of Russia between the Black and Caspian seas. It also includes the Ukraine…”. The Scriptures do not say that this alignment needs to be in place before the Rapture, but will be in place at the time of the invasion. Herein is the really important part, Russia is rather close to overtaking Ukraine, had the U.S. and NATO not stepped in, Ukraine perhaps would have already been taken over. An interesting situation to observe is the fact that Russia has not already defeated Ukraine—it would only take a few missiles, all over—what would the rest of the world do? Talk about how bad Russia reacted? Add more sanctions against them? However, most think tank professionals say President Putin is afraid of causing more international players to come into this war—but, perhaps the reason President Putin has not actually acquired Ukraine is that maybe, in God′s time table, the timing is not right. Perhaps before much more breaks out, just maybe the Rapture is really, really, really close?
Does Russia attack the U.S.? The Scriptures indicate yes, and the U.S. attacks back. Will that be the end of the world? No,but the fall out across the world, especially the northern hemisphere will devastate crops, all life on earth, may cause further damage to the Ozone layer and many are predicting a nuclear winter. Check out this link if you would like to learn more about the devastation of the U.S. and Russia as indicated by the Bible.
Some Preachers and others are teaching that we are already in the Tribulation. Don′t be deceived. Paul encountered people who were teaching contrary to the Gospel. He said, “ Their evil teaching will spread like a sickness inside the body...They have left (strayed away from) the·true teaching (truth), saying that the rising from the dead (resurrection) has already taken place, and so they are destroying (undermining; overturning) the faith of some people”‐2Tim 2:17,18(EXB). To clear some doubts, one description of the Tribulation is, the worst time in history since man has been on the earth. These are indeed trying times, even times that try men′s souls; but, hardly the worst time in history. Check out this link if you would like to learn more about the Tribulation.
Sources: history.com-World War 2;
dva.gov.au;
history.com-Five Attacks On U.S.Soil During World War 2;
maritimemuseumlouisiana.org;
theatlantic.com-December 1942 edition;
worldpopulationreview.com;
nationalww2museum.org;
factsanddetails.com;
rbth.com;
history.com-The Secret Hitler Stalin Nonagression Pact;
cpreview.org;
ncesc.com;
msn.com-Ukraine Needs To Stop Fighting The War With Russia;
cfr.org;
wilsoncenter.org;
dw.com;
apnews.com;
aljazeera.com;
rusi.org;
msn.com-Russia Presses Its Offensive In Ukraine And Issues New Threats As The West Tries To Blunt The Push;
msn.com-U.S. Says Ukraine Can Hit Inside Russia Anywhere Its Forces Attack Across The Border.
Willmot, H.P. The Great Crusade. New York:The Free Press, 1989,p 470-473.