Russia Will Need the Basics of Life

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, intended to be over quickly, is heading to its 5th year! I have pondered what, if anything, might that signify from Heaven’s strategic perspective?

From the start, I considered this war from the perspective of Ezekiel 38, which predicts a Russia-led coalition invasion of a then defenseless, potentially overcrowded Israel. No allies will be able or willing to come to its aid. Verse 13 signifies that invasion will likely be out of desperation for the basics of life! Curious? Indeed!

How Wars End

Wars either end with a win for the aggressor, a win for the victim nation, or a draw, when no side wins. The latter may be more rare than the former. This is the broad pattern of how wars end, irrespective of the engagement of allies on either side of a conflict.

In Ukraine Never Ceases to Amaze Me, a YouTube video, Paul Warburg, an open-source, independent geopolitical analyst, reminds us that aggressor nations tend to win wars that are resolved quickly, but they tend to lose wars that are long and drawn out. Quick wars, as Russia intended its invasion of Ukraine to be, tend to sustain the aggressor’s ‘foundation’ that supports its war effort—its financial, political, socio-cultural, military, economic, industrial, institutional, allies, etc. Spiritually, a strong  ‘foundation’ becomes the context that feeds the spirits of pride and aggression. Long, drawn-out wars, however, gradually erode, then seriously threaten that foundation, greatly increasing the risks of an embarrassing loss of the war the aggressor initiated.

 

I intuit only when Heaven intervenes, might this well-worn pattern be interrupted. When it intends war as a nation’s judgment for persistent, unrepented sinfulness, no amount of aggression or resistance to aggression will ensure its win! The Bible and history are replete with such examples, e.g., when The Lord sent foreign armies against Babylon, Egypt, Tyre, Israel, Philistia, Moab, Ammon, and Judah, as judgments for/against their persistent sinfulness.

 

It is instructive to recall how the USSR and the US, two, strong, prideful, global hegemon nations, both lost long, drawn-out wars of aggression against Afghanistan! This happened about 3 decades apart. ¹ Ponder that…

 

Roughly 3 decades after Russia recovered from a DOUBLE WHAMMY—its loss in Afghanistan (1989), and 2 years later, the collapse of the USSR (1991)—observers around the world began to track how its second invasion of Ukraine (the first in 2014, the second in 2022) might impact its ‘foundation’. Currently, after 4 years of fighting, reports are that, on one hand, allied support for Ukraine, and its successful adaptation of hybrid warfare tactics, and on the other hand, the combined impacts of broad western economic sanctions against Russia, the freezing of its foreign currency reserves in banks in Amsterdam, and its out-sized manpower losses, have substantially degraded just about every aspect of Russia’s ‘foundation’. Analysts report that Russia needs the basics of life, NOW!!! If this trend continues, Warburg suggests a leadership change in Russia, or Ukraine’s ability to ‘hold out’, might result in a win for Ukraine, the clear ‘underdog’ in this ‘David and Goliath’ war.

 

Heaven’s Strategic Plans? 

 

Bottom line: We don’t know what The Lord in Heaven intends re. this current war in Ukraine. The Bible demonstrates how ‘Biblical prophecies seed human history’, and thus, ‘history’ is ‘HIS-story’, it seems safe to intuit His Hand in the eventual outcomes. 

 

But this we do know: In Ezekiel 38 and 39, The Lord declared He is ‘against Gog!’ I continue to intuit that Gog may be, not a man, but possibly a demon/principality—satan’s top general. ² If so, and if he is currently, or will become the influencing spirit over Russia during the 4th age of our history (the tribulation age), when I intuit events in Ezekiel 38 may occur, then the following scenario may be worth considering.

 

What Ifs…?

 

For aggressor nations that typically need to sustain a high-profile of aggression throughout wars it initiates, history proves it can take several decades for them to recover from war. This may be especially true for an aggressor nations whose ‘foundation’ was seriously degraded during such a war. 

 

So whether it wins or loses,

how long could it take for Russia

to recover from its war in Ukraine?

 

What if… history were to repeat itself in an escalated form? Russia has already experienced a devastating DOUBLE WHAMMY once before: the loss of a long, drawn-out war in Afghanistan (1979–1989), followed just two years later by the collapse of the USSR, itself (1991). What if, before Russia can recover from its war in Ukraine, the initial trumpet judgments of the pending apocalypse, erupt globally—impacting ALL nations, but delivering a second, far more severe DOUBLE-WHAMMY against Russia?!

 

If-IF that happens, and if the world learns that Israel is somehow being sheltered from the judgments, as Isaiah 26:20-21 hints, I wonder…

 

Could that untenable situation possibly motivate Gog 

to inspire Russia to lead a coalition, as it did against Ukraine, 

to invade a then defenseless Israel for its abundant, basics of life??

 

NB: If Gog is indeed satan’s top demon general, or a high-ranking spiritual principality who operates through national leaders, then one thing must be clearly understood: No part of satan’s kingdom favors any part of humanity! Unlike most of us, evil spirits know and believe Biblical prophecy, because they know Who inspired it, and Who will enforce it—Jesus, The Lord God Almighty! They manipulate national leaders, not to achieve geopolitical victories, but to ensure as many humans as possible will share what The Lord declared will be their eternal fate in His brimstone-lit lake of fire. Period!

From these insights, join me in perceiving

what your personal prayer opportunities may be. 

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¹ The USSR withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989. The US withdrew in 2021.

² See: Favoring Gog! (Part 1). Gog may be to satan, what the anti-Christ’s ‘false prophet’ will be to the anti-Christ—his #2 in charge.