In view of the recent hostilities between Russia and Georgia, I want to here remind you of Mikkel Dahl's insight regarding the Russian Bear, her whelps, and these momentous end-times in which we live. - JRW
The "Bear Bereaved of Her Whelps"
by Mikkel Dahl • edited by Jon R. Welker
"I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them." Hosea 13:8
HOW RUSSIA BECAME A BEAR AGAIN
newsblog by Peter Walker
It's like the Cold War never ended. To the UK press, Russia is once again a fierce grizzly bear.
Let me introduce you to a measure used by the west to guage levels of suspicion about Russia; the Bear Index.
The method is simple - the more references, oblique or direct, to Russia as a bear, whether cuddly or fierce, the greater the mistrust of Moscow. Well, today the Bear Index went off the scale.
...The [Daily Telegraph] is among a series of titles to feature a bear in its main cartoon. This one, disturbingly, has Vladimir Putin's face and is stomping on Georgia.
The Times's caroon bear also has its claws on the country, while the Independent's version is a growling, caged beast which savages Georgia's president, Mikheil Saakashvili - but only after George Bush prompts him to goad it with a stick.
The Mirror, meanwhile, makes do with a mere heading - "Wrath of the Russian bear" - while the Sun merely has a bizarre photo composite above Trevor Kavanagh's comment piece with a snarling grizzly surrounded by Putin's head and pictures of Russian bombing damage.
The message is clear: Russia is, once again, a cold-eyed predator.
Any bear sightings elsewhere in the media gratefully received.
MailOnline
The Pipeline War:
RUSSIAN BEAR GOES FOR WEST'S JUGULAR
The war in Georgia escalated dangerously last night after Russian jets reportedly bombed a vital pipeline that supplies oil to the West....
London Free Press - Editorials • canoe network news
RUSSIA'S NEIGHBOURS KNOW THE BEAR BEST
In these Olympic days, Russia's Vladimir Putin has tested positive for aggression in Georgia, and Stephen Harper is bang on in referring to a "Soviet-era mentality."
No one understands that better than Russia's neighbors, which lived under Soviet oppression for 45 years, and that's why leaders of Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia appeared last week at a Tblisi rally supporting Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili.
They see that the post-Soviet Russian bear has tasted blood outside its borders and fear its appetite has been whetted.
"These neighbours (Russia) feel that the nations around them should be subservient to them," said Polish President Lech Kaczynski. "We say no!"
Battle Cry
TAUNTING THE BEAR
by James Traub, The New York Times
...The border between Georgia and Russia, in short, has been the driest of tinder; the only question was where the fire would start.
...Georgians are a melodramatic people, and few more so than their hyperactive president; but they have good reason to fear the ambitions, and the wrath, of a rejuvenated Russia seeking to regain lost power. Indeed, a renascent and increasingly bellicose Russia is an ominous spectacle for the West, too. While China preaches, and largely practices, the doctrine of "peaceful rise," avoiding confrontation abroad in order to focus on development at home, Russia acts increasingly like an expansionist 19th-century power, pressing at its borders. Most strikingly, Russia has bluntly deployed its vast oil and gas resources to punish refractory neighbors like Ukraine, and reward compliant ones like Armenia.
A senior American official said that while the United States and Russia have common interests, Russia has become "a revisionist and aggressive power," and the West "has to be prepared to push back."...
"I think it important to comment [on] Arcturus...the first magnitude alpha-star in the constellation of Bootes. This great and dazzling star has been known to different nations by different names, such as `Bear Watcher'.... Yes, the Bright One in the high heavens keeps a watchful eye on the Russian bear...." [from The Heavens Declare the Glory of God]
Continued turmoil in Russia (the former Soviet Union) showed us that such instability could lead to a yearning and desire to return to the old Soviet or renewed Communistic or Socialistic system. With these thoughts in mind, we present Mikkel Dahl's comments that were written after the fall of the Soviet Union. - JRW
A few decades ago, in the publication now entitled The Beast's Plan for World Domination, I pinpointedly tied the Soviet Union to the Empire of the Beast and the end-time dramas of our age. There were also other publications such as The Time of the Lord's Return is Due, World War III, Tomorrow's Empire of the Beast and His Number, etc. These were all linked to Revelation chapter 13. But Mr. Gorbachev had been dethroned, and did turn in his signed resignation as President of the Soviet Union. I believe it was also shortly following the declared independence of the Warsaw Pact nations, that the announcement was made: "The Soviet Union Is No More"! Thus, many asked: "Was M.D. merely Bad-Guessing?" Therefore, in the paragraphs which follow, I will turn the spotlight on President Boris Yeltsin and ex-President Gorbachev in an effort to ascertain the explanation.
But first, let us not get swept off our feet by the astounding world developments since the crumbling of the Berlin Wall. We should not be surprised by developments in reverse!
First and foremost, I - Mikkel Dahl - stand FIRM and UNshaken in the Bible Prophecies. Assuredly, man can fail to fully understand. But with reference to Revelation 13, there is too much which so clearly dovetails with history, that it appears impossible to misunderstand. In that chapter, the Revelator beheld. . .
"A beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority." Revelation 13:1-2
The pages of history do not reveal that any past nation has ever fulfilled this prophecy.
It was in the mid-19th century that Karl Marx, together with Friedrich Engels, produced the publication in which religion was described as but an "opiate" to keep the masses subservient to the "powers that be." God was but "an invention" by man! Thereby fulfilled the prophecy: "...and upon his heads the name of blasphemy [Communism]"! THAT philosophy was adopted by Lenin and largely promulgated by Stalin and his successors!
Observe: it was like "a Leopard." That animal has spots. Its feet were that of "a BEAR." Every reader is well aware that the bear is a symbol for Russia. Its Lion-like mouth bespoke LOUD words in that it was originating in England; for Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels lived in England while producing that epic philosophy. The Lion was well known as a symbol for England closing the 19th and opening the 20th century. The foregoing astounding prophecy DEFIES present-day apparently contradictory situations, even such as the announcement years back that "THE SOVIET UNION IS NO MORE"! Then, a little later, President Gorbachev turned in his resignation to Boris Yeltsin.
Believe, spurn or curse me: my position (with reference to these matters) HAS NOT CHANGED! Howbeit, astounding developments and changes since the Berlin Wall crumbled, must be carefully scrutinized. It was also in 1989, on the morning of June 13th, when the news media announced that "an accord" had been achieved by President Gorbachev of the Soviet Union and Helmut Kohl of West Germany. About a week previous thereto, I had told Jon R. Welker of Shepherdsfield, that that would spotlight the Beast! POLITICAL situations may change repeatedly, but persons and countries remain the same! Neither does God's word change.
...Because there is no question in my mind as to the absoluteness of the truth of Revelation 13, then the present conundrum will swiftly clarify as soon as the Bride-elect disappears and reappears. I have said it and repeat it: the call-out and return of the Bride-elect shall plunge the entire world (especially the lands of Christendom) INTO SHOCK! Then will the Communists in Russia suddenly take advantage of the daze existent in Christendom; recruiting the "ten horns" of Revelation 13, which are Moslems and which "hate the whore" (the Vatican); all of which shall be in preparation for that titanic DRIVE TO RULE THE ENTIRE WORLD.
...Russia, under Yeltsin, was almost in a frenzy! ...I will not presume to forecast the results, except to say: "ALL of this is but the foreplay which shall eventually again put the Communists back into the saddle! Then, once more, will they roar like unto the Lion!"
Think not for a moment that leading Communists have cast off their ambition to rule the entire world. Even as recently as when the then President Khrushchev visited the U.S.A. a few decades ago, he stated very clearly that "WE shall bury the West!"!
Some fundamentalist Christians have believed, and still do, that there shall be a death and resurrection of the End-time Beast! This they support by Revelation 17:10-11. That they set forth as a parallel to Jesus' death and resurrection. That could be the meaning of verses 10-11, but not necessarily.
The ex-President Gorbachev did not change his colors, even though he wore "sheeps' clothing" twice on the "Day of Infamy" in 1987 and `88. He hoodwinked the American President Ronald Reagan, and again, one year later, pulled the wool over the eyes of the U.N. General Assembly! THEN roared forth God's voice, by means of the Armenian earthquake, to warn of great destruction. But on this you may stake your last shirt and dollar, Christ the Lord was not "hoodwinked"!!
Repeatedly I have claimed that the so-called "Peace Process" invented by the American President and his James Baker, was but "a Process unto WAR"! Many of you may recall that in ancient Egypt, when Joseph was in prison, he did interpret two dreams unto the two cell mates. One he said would be restored to power, the other one (a "baker") he said would be hung on a tree. (A tree depicts A MAN.) So soon as I heard that James "Baker" was to be the Campaign Manager for the re-election campaign of George Bush, I knew that would terminate their political career!
Certainly, I have erred in my expectations more than once. Yet my head does not hang in shame! Those that call me a false prophet have not risk erring, for they have remained silent (because of their ignorance). They justify their silence by the Scripture: "Of THAT day knows no man...." But read carefully all of Matthew 24:35-36 and observe "of what day" the Lord spoke.
Although I have said in the past that the Pope would flee to the U.S.A. as soon as the Bride-elect is called, I see now that the Revelation passage could be understood to indicate about 9, or even 13 days later.
"What I say unto you, I say unto all: WATCH"! Mark 13:37
We are now far into those days.
May the right arm of our Lord and Redeemer be about your shoulders, holding you close unto Himself, in order that soon you may rejoice beyond measure....
by Mikkel Dahl (concluded 12/14/1993)
"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, 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.
Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a
guard unto them.
After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the
sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth
out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them." Ezekiel 38:3-8
Clearly does God's Word say that "I will turn thee back…." Therein does God's Word tell us the aggressive intentions of the bear shall be so discouraged that he shall turn his heart BACK (to his homeland business). That Russia has been "preparing," there can be no doubt. And at this very moment it is quite possible that that "turning back" stage in their policy is in process of fulfillment. Although that is not necessarily conclusive, still it is quite indicative. We must understand that the "turning back" phase of the "bear that is bereaved of her whelps" does not consummate in one hour, but may be drawn out over several years or more. After the fall of the Soviet Union, we saw how she has lost her whelps! This rearming of the western democracies was THAT deterrent which TURNED BACK the Russian Bear. Even though his people and all the world should rise to castigate ex-President Truman, it was his split-moment decision in releasing the American armed forces against the North Koreans which constituted THAT event which completely upset YEARS OF SOVIET SCHEMING! And God shall vindicate him in THAT.
For, says His Spirit: "I AM AGAINST THEE, O Gog…." GOD Himself was AGAINST Gog! But wherein is God AGAINST one country or another, EXCEPT THROUGH HIS INSTRUMENTAL PEOPLE? (Yes, ponder that well!) Therefore, rising AGAINST the military tyranny and the Soviet's tentacles of oppression WAS A DIRECT EXPRESSION OF GOD'S WILL AND A CONFORMING TO HIS COMMAND. We may lament countless incidental errors and other failings, but THAT (the Korean decision) was of God's Spirit and shall be JUSTIFIED in the Day of Judgment. Otherwise, God could not have said: "I AM AGAINST THEE, O GOG…." God is NOT a God of DREAMING: God is a SPIRIT IN ACTION! And His ACTION comes through His people!
"And I will…put hooks in thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth…." Ezekiel 38:4
THAT is the developing situation which follows hard on the preceding "turning back" stage. By this God tells us that a situation shall develop which shall so appeal to the Russian Bear, and constitute such a DEMAND on both his interests and POWER, that it shall be like a fish hook in his jaw, DRAWING HIM OUT! And THEN he shall go up against Palestine!
from World War III
And, many continue to point out that Socialism is not dead in the world - nor is Communism. The world's most populous nation, China, along with Vietnam, North Korea, and Cuba along with others, are still under the "hammer and sickle" banner and Communist governments. After the present fling with prosperity and the inequality of the distribution of wealth, the proper "soul" for a renewed world Socialism will have been prepared. Dare we ignore what is a real potential for Mother Russia, who is now "bereaved of her whelps"?
"I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them." Hosea 13:8
We strongly believe that the march of events in history as end-time events unfold will confirm that Russia is the "...bear...bereaved of her whelps..." and the end-time power-center through which the Beast will work, along with China and other Communist and/or Socialist world powers. These may initially or at some other time be allied with Muslim and renegade nation-states against formerly Christian nations. We commit our remarkable prediction to the reader and its warning. Be alerted to its message and watch the continuing unfolding of God's end-time plan which will counter the "Beast's Plan for World Domination"!
from The Beast's Plan for World Domination
In the sealing of the tribes prophetically pictured in Revelation 7:4-8, the tribe of Dan is omitted, and Revelation 13:1 pictures the beast out of the sea of human emotions as having the name of blasphemy upon its heads. This corresponds to the type mentioned in the Leviticus 24:10-23 passage, where a man of Dan blasphemed the Name of the Lord.
In its modern spiritual counterpart, the tribe of Dan is represented by a nation which is anti-God, has apostatized from Christianity and has taken upon its head the name of blasphemy. It must be a nation which has repudiated the Lord God and cursed the Name of Jesus Christ, occupies territory in the north, and is capable of bringing judgment by military action against the other nations. Only one nation satisfies the conditions. That nation, which was the seat of the sea-beast of Communism, which is positioned in the uttermost north, which is the serpent in the path (Satanic control) and which will bring the other "tribes" or nations of Christendom under judgment of war, is Russia. It can be none other.
Russia is a portion of the extended Holy Roman Empire, through the Greek Orthodox Church. Russia apostatized and accumulated the strength to bring the judgment of war on all of Christendom. In the description of the descent of the forces of Gog upon endtime Israel, it is written that they fell upon the mountains of Israel (Ezek. 39:2,4). In Scripture, a mountain is symbolic of a kingdom or nation. Thus it is pictured symbolically and prophetically that the endtime Israel is more than one tiny nation in the land of Palestine. Endtime Israel is also a group of mountains, Christian nations of spiritual Israel, which shall feel the wrath of the beast system under the leadership of Russia/Dan when the final staging of the endtime drama takes place.
Why do I state there is only one nation which can possibly fulfill the prophecy of the beast nation of the end of our age? Couldn't one of several other nations develop its power into world rule as the years roll by? Why couldn't one of the Popes be that anti-Christ? How do we know the U.S.A. will not become that dreadful and terrible beast? The answers are not too hard, if we use the whole of the Bible - and think.
From the words of Jesus, we know that all things must be fulfilled before the generation passes away which is alive at the time of Israel's budding into national existence again. It is now 60 years since the budding in May, 1948-1949. It then has to follow that the beast power under consideration must already be almost strong enough to act out its prophetic role of world domination. Weaker nations just don't have the time to develop, even if they had the resources. It has to be a nation now almost strong enough and now with enough military reserves.
It should be rather obvious to the thinking mind that the world power of this anti-Christ must be a well organized and well equipped military power. No ecclesiastic body could possibly fulfill the many prophecies which speak of raw military force such as the beast power will employ in making peoples captive. (Even though Russia, after the break-up of the Soviet Union, appears weakened and bereaved of her whelps [Hos. 13:8], she is still capable of launching nuclear war, and of quickly turning around from her present course. The Russian populace is restless, and many long for the days of the former Communist Soviet Empire.)
from The Pearl of Great Price and Names of Tribes on Gates of Pearl
We know by the Bible prophecies that towards the consummation of the present Christian era, there is a Beastial Empire to arise which shall seek to gain absolute dominion over the entire world. More than 2,000 years ago, God foresaw such an eventual world situation, therefore, in process of time, He revealed those details to His servant John (in Patmos). The Revelator was granted to behold that Beast which had the feet of a bear (feet standing in Russia, which country we associate with the bear symbol) and with the mouth of a lion (it was in the very land of the British lion that Karl Marx spoke and wrote his Das Kapital, and set forth the Communist Manifesto). That Beast also had the spots of a leopard (not a communist world society, but spots here and there, depicting countries and groups which we might call communist cells scattered throughout the world). It was prophesied that this Beast would grow and become so strong that the psychology would eventually become: "who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?" (See Rev. 13:4.)
We witness conferences and hear a multitude of words which talk of disarmament and peace. But what we are destined to witness will be an arms race building up to a feverish pitch, and, before many years, when the Beast decides that the time has come for him to go forward, then shall the might of the great American military giant arise to challenge the Beast, most likely centered in the Kremlin! Then ensues the greatest military struggle this world has ever seen! I have no knowledge of the military potential of the American shuttle series, but it seems a plausible supposition that, with their maneuverable "arm," they can and will eventually pluck out of space, satellites which aid the Beast countries in their military drive.
from The Beast and The End are now at hand!
We might also look back to Daniel's 7th chapter where his vision is recorded of the 4 winds which strove upon the sea of humanity and the consequent arising of 4 beasts. The first beast was a lion, symbolic of Great Britain, but eventually was given a human heart and caused to stand up on its feet, that is, erect upon its hind legs as a human being. I think we could say it came to its change of heart late in the decade of the 1930s. The second beast was the Russian bear. Eventually that became a leopard with its many spots which were symbolic of its numerous Communist cells manifesting in many different countries throughout the world during its approximate 70 year era, although plenty more of them are still in existence, busy at their undercover work.
For a more up-to-date perspective we should turn to Revelation chapter 4, verse 7 which depicts the 4th beast as a flying eagle. As we ponder those 2 visions carefully, there is not as much as one of them which depicts a human being. In the Revelation vision, the 3rd beast is shown to have the face of a man. How well that depicts our present era. Are we not perpetually reminded of the "dignity" of man? And that all human beings have the same rights and privileges as do all the others? But see to that you should not overlook nor ever forget this astounding fact: God has labeled it a "beast"! That is, our era is bestial. Even the outcasts as viewed by God must have the same rights and privileges and opportunities as the most devout Jew and as the most devout Christian believer.
Although the eagle is no four-footed beast, nevertheless it partakes of precisely the same nature as the lion, the bear, the leopard and all beasts of prey. Like unto the lions and bears, the leopards and the hyenas, the eagle subsists entirely on its prey. But we must bear in mind that when God thus depicts our varying eras, He speaks of our leaders and the systems of government which they impose upon their own people.
from the October 1996 Chat, section entitled: "Who Is The Beast?"
"The New Attitude"
a segment of: The Soviet Phoenix Arises
1
by Dave Breese
The onlooking world is developing the attitude that Russia is weak. The suggestion is that purpose is gone and discouragement has taken over. This, along with the touted reduction of Russia's military forces, is an attitude that attempts to write off Communist capabilities in the days to come.
We would not, however, be wise in accepting this evaluation at face value. While weakness appears to be the story of the present, that story is not the real truth. No, the Russian phoenix will rise again to power, and it has not in fact even disappeared today.
Despite all the talk about Russian weakness, this nation still retains a military force that places it number two in the entire world. The array of infantry forces, naval vessels, aircraft, and especially rockets is still a genuine threat to the world.
"But isn't this in the process of being destroyed?" some will ask. It is true that we are treated by the press to pictures of rockets being decommissioned and their fuel burned away. Such photographs are presented on American television as proof that Russia is working at reducing its nuclear force to zero.
But to believe this is to be amazingly shortsighted. Nuclear materials have a relatively short life, probably less than ten years (although don't plan on it). It is therefore necessary to destroy older weapons on a regular basis because they become unstable. The Russians would certainly not be above giving us pictures of the routine destruction of aging weapons as evidence of a large reduction of the nuclear force-in-being.
We do not, however, have any serious evidence of a real reduction of the 30,000 nuclear warheads that Russia is known to have. It is frightening to imagine the potential of this force in the hands of a bewildered and unstable government.
In fact, such a situation practically invites the ascendancy of a strong ruler who steps to the fore to bring purpose and goals once again to exactly such a ruler.
1 Chapter 9 of Foreshocks of Antichrist, William T. James, general editor, © 1997 by Harvest House Publishers, pp. 242-243