WISDOM INSIGHTS NO. 6 - SEASONS, LOVE & MARRIAGE IN MODERN TIMES

"See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments.." Deuteronomy 30:15-16

I started to write about wisdom a few months ago and my starting point was the foundation described by King Solomon – “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 1:7). The theme of wisdom is scattered throughout the Bible and in the New Testament, St Paul writes to believers in Corinth (1 Corinthians 3:18-20) that:

“…If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”; and again, “The LORD knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”

Paul’s emphasis to the early church scattered throughout the Roman Empire was that the so-called wisdom of the age was actually foolishness. It seems to me that such is our situation today in so many areas of “modern wisdom”.

Each day I am staggered at the many unwise decisions taken by companies, legislators and individuals. As a shorthand guide to foolishness in our present times, the current woke agenda seems to be the opposite of godly wisdom. The quote “go woke, go broke” – is increasingly appropriate and the latest example is the 50% drop in Disney share price after the company’s promotion of an LBGTQ+ narrative for children in their new films. Disney also unwisely decided to enter the political realm to oppose sensible legislation relating to education in Florida and suffered a financial penalty.

The word “progressive” also is a good guide that the ideas proposed are actually the opposite of godly wisdom. Like so many opinions promoted by the left side of politics, such as the recent US “Respect for Marriage Act” or the “Inflation Reduction Act” - the concept being promoted is the opposite suggested by the title of the act. The political left though, has been clever with its use of the term ”progressive agenda” as it sounds exciting, new and dynamic - leaving behind old ideas that held us down.

However, we are told by King Solomon in the Book of Ecclesiastes that there is nothing new under the sun. Solomon says (Ecclesiastes 1:9-11):

“That which has been is what will be,
That which is done is what will be done,
And there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which it may be said,
“See, this is new”?
It has already been in ancient times before us.
There is no remembrance of former things,
Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come
By those who will come after.”

Everything that seems new has a precedent, according to Solomon, and often represents at its heart, rebellion against God, who is not “progressive” but the “same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

To Everything There is A Season

The Book of Ecclesiastes is short and in it there is much of value to read and reflect upon. The king muses about the challenges of life, death and the role of wisdom. His sense is that all accomplishments ultimately are meaningless (Ecclesiastes 12:8). This is an important perspective for all of us to maintain as we strive to achieve financial success or prominence. Solomon points out that if we acquire many possessions, it is likely that a wastrel child will come after us and will spend the lot!

An important insight early in the book also is the significance of timing and to recognize what season it is in life. Solomon says (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8):

“To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:

2 A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
3 A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
4 A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
7 A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
8 A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.”

The Byrds recorded a wonderful version of these words in a song in 1965 that was originally written by Pete Seeger, using these verses from Ecclesiastes. The song still sounds good more than 50 years after it was recorded:

It is important to recognize where you are in the seasons of life. For farmers, it is critical to know when to sow and when to gather in. It also is important to recognize metaphorically the seasons for sowing and those for reaping. It always seems that we are ready to reap before we have even prepared the ground or waited until the rain has come, the seed to germinate and the plants to come to maturity. Søren Kierkegaard said:

“Patience is necessary, and one cannot reap immediately when one has sown”.

I also love the quote of Robert Louis Stevenson;

“Sooner or later, everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences”.

There similarly are sayings such as: “you need to be a friend to make a friend” which demonstrate the importance of understanding the principle of sowing and giving. Jesus Himself said: “..it is more blessed to give than receive” (Acts 20:35).

It does seem wise in any season of life to make an evaluation of the season that you are in and recognize some of the constraints and opportunities associated with this particular season. I remember hearing a speaker many years ago say that rather than ask the question: “why did this happen?” when something went wrong, it may be wise to ask “what does this mean?”. The latter question may force us to “sit down to the banquet of consequences”, a banquet where most of us are unwilling to eat!

For many of us, the most challenging thing is to find ourselves in an emotional or spiritual desert or wilderness, when nothing seems to be going right and we can’t make sense of our circumstances. This is a time when we need patience and in situations like these, God is often trying to get our attention and draw us into a relationship with Him. The famous quote from St Augustine of Hippo expresses this best:

“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you”.

This is rather a long introduction to a topic that I have been writing about for the last few newsletters: marriage and parenting. Last newsletter, I indicated that I would write more on this challenging topic and so my focus for the rest of this newsletter is on love and marriage.

Love and Marriage

It’s difficult to be an expert on love and marriage, although it would have been good to have had Elizabeth Taylor’s views after 7 husbands and 8 marriages (she married Richard Burton twice). She did say “My troubles all started because I have a woman's body and a child's emotions," - which is clearly a bad foundation for lasting relationships.

In my parents’ era, if a woman wasn’t married by 21 years of age, she thought that she was probably “on the shelf”. My mother decreased her age by 1 year as she thought that at 25 years old, she could be too old to have a baby! Now, people are marrying later and often not at all.

The majority of young couples seem to be living together without any commitment before man or God. It’s significant to note that unwittingly, this has played into the hands of the godless communist agenda. Three of the 45 goals outlined by the Soviet Union to destroy America and published in 1959 in the famous and influential book “The Naked Communist” were as follows:

·      Goal 26 – Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as “normal, natural and healthy”

·      “Goal 40 – Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce”

·      “Goal 41 – Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents”

When you read through the complete list of the 45 goals, there has been almost complete success in transforming the US and the West to the communist agenda.

So – in this newsletter, I am going to pull together all the wisdom that I have been able to discern from God’s Word, from Christian teachers and my experience, to conclude this section on wisdom related to love and marriage. There may be one or two ideas that could be helpful to Sons of Issachar readers or at least may provide food for thought:

1. God Invented Marriage and it is a Life-long Commitment

As I discussed last week, God made a “helper” for a lonely Adam after which it is written – “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). In a question about divorce from the religious leaders of First Century Judaism, Jesus made very clear that marriage was a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman (Matthew 19:4-6):

“Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female,’ and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Jesus said that God permitted divorce because He understood the hard hearts of men. However, marriage is a lifelong commitment where in effect, we shut ourselves and our spouse in a jail cell and then throw away the key! This is poorly understood in the modern world but was better understood 100 years ago when the divorce rate was only 1%. The great British Bible teacher, Derek Prince has a wonderful short teaching on marriage as a covenant which is worthwhile watching:

2. There are Many Important Elements to Consider When Choosing a Lifelong Relationship

If marriage is a lifelong decision, then we had better get it right! Unfortunately we do not have the concept of marriage as a lifelong commitment, even as a worldview amongst Christians. Data from large companies show that most employee hiring decisions have a 50:50 chance of success. The current divorce figures show a similar long-term success rate for marriage. It is important to make a good decision in choosing a marriage partner and King Solomon points out in Proverbs that it is:
“Better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and angry woman” (Proverbs 21:19). I think that we can apply the same principle to men.

So – how do you make a good decision? Fortunately there are some excellent principles outlined in the Bible and using these, Derek Prince has published a small booklet that is available in electronic format called: “The Choice of a Partner” and another book “God is a Matchmaker” . There also is an excellent 10 part series audio series where Derek speaks about God as a matchmaker -

Here are a few of Derek’s key points that struck me:

a.     The choice of a marriage partner is one of the most important decisions we take in life.

If you are a Christian you should never choose a non-Christian partner (see Amos 3:3 and 2 Corinthians 6:14-18). Derek tells a story in his booklet that I think originally was told by Charles Spurgeon:
 “A young lady once took a young man to see her pastor and said: “This is the young man whom I am going to marry.” “Is he a Christian?” asked the pastor. “Not yet,” said the young lady, “but I will help him to become one after we are married.” “Before you finally make up your mind, I would like you to do something for me,” said the pastor. He pointed to a table in the room and said, “Just climb up unto that table and stand there for a moment.” The young lady did so. “Now,” said the pastor, “give the young man your hand, and try to lift him up onto the table beside you.” Then he turned to the young man and said, “Now you try to pull the young lady down to you.” Within a few moments, the young lady was down on the floor beside the young man! “That’s how it will be when you are married,” said the pastor. “You will not be able to pull him up to your level, but he will pull you down to his!” So it is when a Christian marries an unbeliever. It is always easier for the unsaved partner to make the Christian a backslider than for the saved partner to make the unbeliever a Christian.”

b.    Marriage is designed by God

This is clear from the opening of the Bible (Genesis 2: 24) and its conclusion (Revelation 19:6-9), both featuring a marriage. Derek’s argument is that because it is God who planned marriage then it is wise to seek God, even today, for the provision of a partner for life. Proverbs tells us (Proverbs 19:14) –“….a prudent wife is from the LORD”.

c.      Character is critical

Character should be noted carefully. Derek says “marriage does not change a person’s character. If a person has a bad character before marriage, that person will still have a bad character after marriage.” Look for things like: what provokes anger, does the person lie to excuse him/herself, are they miserly or generous, how do they relate to your family, is he/she reliable?

d.    An important verse quoted by Derek is Proverbs 4:23 – “Above all, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life”.

His insight is:
 “In our contemporary culture, young people in particular are being bombarded continually with influences that undermine biblical standards for sex and marriage. These are at work through teaching in schools and colleges, through the media, through peer pressure, and through other ways that arc hard to detect. If you are to find God’s plan for marriage in your life, you must set a guard over your heart…”.

e.     Be Prepared to Wait

This is a critical piece of advice but hardest to follow. Rather than finding “Mr or Mrs Right”, I often have seen situations when people settle for “Mr or Mrs Right for Now” – and longevity in marriage is unlikely to result. The Bible verse that is important is from Isaiah 64:4 – “for since the beginning of the world, men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, who acts for the one who waits for Him”.

f.      Seek Counsel

Proverbs 12:15 tells us “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise”. Counsel from parents and family members in relation to choice of a marriage partner is important particularly when it is negative. Unfortunately this advice often is ignored, as when Prince William counseled his brother Harry about rushing into marriage to Meghan Markle. With what has eventuated since then, it does look as though Harry should have taken William’s advice. The hardest advice to consider is that which we don’t want to hear but may be correct.

3.     Opposites Attract – but Often This is a Hidden Relationship Time Bomb

It is interesting how often we are attracted to a person who is opposite in character and temperament. The psychologists explain this phenomenon as people involuntarily looking for “completeness”. It is certainly true in most of my observations that an introvert will be attracted to an extrovert; a person with an eye for detail will be attracted to a big picture thinker; a messy person will be attracted to a tidy person etc. These differences often bring great joy but in the longer term may cause significant difficulties because eventually the differences irritate and cause conflict. The person who is the life of the party finds that their partner wants to stay home and read. Conflict then ensues. So it is important to understand what strengthens your partner and to take time to ensure that you prioritise the things that bring life, joy and strength to them. As the French say – “vive la différence”!

4.     A Roving Eye Will Lead to Disaster!

This is self-evident but mostly ignored in modern relationships. Many warnings about the destructive nature of adultery are scattered throughout the Book of Proverbs. King Solomon warns in this section of Proverbs (Proverbs 6:32-34):

“Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding;
He who does so destroys his own soul.
Wounds and dishonour he will get,
And his reproach will not be wiped away.
For jealousy is a husband’s fury;
Therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance”.

I was thinking about these verses when watching a recent episode of Series 5 of “The Crown”. Prince Charles was involved in an adulteress relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles, which clearly was a cause of conflict even early in his marriage to Diana. The outcomes of this are a lesson to all – death, destruction, trauma, and a legacy of relationship breakdown that still has many elements yet to play out and certainly will follow the release of the new “Harry and Meghan” Netflix series, and Harry’s book “Spare” to be released in the New Year. If Harry sought counsel, it looks as though it was not from those who understand about how to create harmonious family relationships.

Conclusions

Like many of the choices in life – they can bring a blessing or a curse, depending on whether we follow God’s ways or our ways.

The ”Form for the Solemnization of Marriage” in the Church of England Prayer Book from 1662 provides an excellent overview of the care that must be taken and this ancient admonition says that marriage:

“is not by any to be enterprised, nor taken in hand, unadvisedly, lightly, or wantonly, to satisfy men's carnal lusts and appetites, like brute beasts that have no understanding; but reverently, discreetly, advisedly, soberly, and in the fear of God; duly considering the causes for which Matrimony was ordained…  ”.

As Moses warned the children of Israel, just before they entered the Promised Land – at the end of a long sermon in Chapters 28 to 30 of Deuteronomy:

“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land….” (Deuteronomy 30:15-18).

These words apply to the joys and dangers of love and marriage and we would all be wise to understand God’s marriage covenant and the blessings that flow from keeping the covenant and the curses that result from breaking it.

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ONLINE SECURITY AND PRIVACY

My wife is very clever and even though she has no computer training, she has excellent instincts. When facebook became widely used about 18 years ago, I was going to hand over all my information. She said:

“Don’t do it – they are just trying to get all your data and you’ll have no privacy.”

Some years later there was a lot of publicity for the fact that facebook was doing just as she said and I was glad that I never signed up to this intrusive platform.

Then about 8 years ago, I bought an Amazon Echo device and I had just set it up in the house and was calling out –

“Alexa, what’s the temperature”, “Alexa, play Bob Dylan’s latest album” and other great commands, when my wife walked in:

 “What’s that?” she said

“It’s Alexa doing all sorts of cool stuff just by me talking to her”, said I.
My wife immediately reached into her nuclear arsenal:

“Right - it’s either Alexa or me”, she said.

I hesitated for 30 seconds as I really loved Alexa and what she could do for me. However, I realized that I held no cards and so I packed up Alexa and sent her off to a friend in the US. He used the device for several years until he realized that Alexa was spying on him and threw the device out.

Since then, it turns out that Amazon has been using Alexa to spy on millions of people.

My wife’s instincts are clearly much better than mine and so I have appointed her the family chief privacy officer. She is slightly paranoid but I have realized that in this area – where Big Tech and Big Government are vacuuming up millions of bits of data from each of us every day – you can’t be paranoid enough.

I was excited then to have the opportunity of participating in a webinar this week that was set up by Tom Woods. The webinar was run by Glenn Meder, who runs the online Privacy Action Plan site.

The webinar was excellent and I thought that Sons of Issachar readers may benefit from Glenn’s top tips on internet privacy and security. He pointed out that many of us take this issue far too casually as companies, government and online hackers are collecting information from us without our consent. I have decided to enrol in his online program but here are the tips that he gave us during the webinar:

5 STEPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM BIG TECH,  BIG BROTHER & THIEVES WHO WANT TO SPY ON YOU WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT

1. COVER YOUR CAMERAS – you need to cover these – computers and tablets. There are hackers that live to hack web cams and security cameras. They will livestream the webcam to many sites on the dark web. Find all your cameras, use duct tape or even nail polish which can be scraped off when you need to use it. Test to make sure it works. Don’t use masking tape.

2. DO NOT USE THE CHROME BROWSER OR MICROSOFT EDGE – Edge is designed to steal all your data. Chrome and Edge specifically designed to steal data. Glenn recommends BRAVE browser and when you install make this your default browser. Uninstall Chrome from your computer. Don’t use EDGE.

3. DON”T USE GOOGLE.COM AS YOUR SEARCH ENGINE – Glenn recommends Brave Search as search engine. Make it default search. He doesn’t recommend DuckDuckGo anymore – they not only censor but also track people even though they said that they were private.

4. USE A VPN – this is software that creates an encrypted tunnel between you and the internet. You internet service provider can legally watch and record everything you do, if you don’t have a VPN. In the future, it will be possible for this information to go into your credit file. A VPN is effective, however the VPN company can see what you do. You have to be careful to get a trusted VPN. Glenn’s recommended VPNs are ProtonVPN or iVPN or Molvad. When you get as VPN, turn the kill switch on.

5. STOP USING FACEBOOK MESSENGER, WHATS APP and FACEBOOK – these are actually spy ware. Regular text messages are not private. Use SIGNAL – very private and secure. Do texting, video calls, voice calls and group calls on SIGNAL. Try to stop texting. Notify your friends and let them know that this is the only way to message you.

We all need to be more vigilant about our online privacy and security. Glenn pointed out that Gmail is not private in any way and that many people can get access to our gmail messages. I have enrolled in his course and soon hope to be able to  reach my wife’s high standards of digital paranoia!

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STORIES THAT CAUGHT MY ATTENTION THIS WEEK

Same Sex “Marriage” and Freedom of Religion – A Coming Crisis

It has been interesting to witness the continuing rise of the LBGTQ+ agenda and the way that this has embedded itself into every area of Western society. Many well-meaning people during the “gay marriage” debate over the last 10 years thought – “well  - why not let same-sex attracted people be able to commit to a lifelong union” in a society where the hallmark is supposedly tolerance. However, tolerance or acceptance is not enough and for the activists it is necessary for everyone to celebrate being LBGTQ+ with items such as: “Pride Month”, rainbow flags, rainbow lights lighting up buildings and armbands saying “one love”. Companies (like Qantas in Australia) have pressured staff into being pro-gay marriage and it has become clear that you are out of step with modern thinking if you express doubts about the wisdom of society walking (or more accurately running) along this particular road, to a destination that will end badly.

Jack Phillips, the Colorado baker who was sued because he refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding in 2012, eventually had his freedom to not bake a cake, partially upheld by the US Supreme Court after an 8 year battle. However, in what must seem like an ongoing personal nightmare, Phillips has been in and out of courts since then and recently was back in court in Colorado for refusing to bake a “gender transition cake” . Clearly LBGTQ+ activists will not let this man rest until they have brought him into line with their views. Of course the impact will be to ensure that people who have similar views will not take the stance that Phillips did.

It is then very significant that in the current session of the US Supreme Court, the 9 Justices are considering the case of a Christian graphic artist who has objected to being forced to design wedding websites for gay couples. Ben Shapiro discusses the significance of this case in a podcast this week titled “You Will Be Made to Celebrate”

I recommend listening to the podcast because as Shapiro says, the intention by the political left is to force everyone not only to accept their viewpoint but to celebrate it. Christians and Christian organizations will be pursued through various legal processes until it will be illegal to express views opposing those promoted by aggressive LBGTQ+ organizations. Christian schools, colleges and organizations already have been targeted and most have caved into pressure. The US Constitution has strong freedom of religion protections but the Supreme Court already has moved down a slippery slope by trying to be even handed. Special provisions may be decided to allow people in business to act on their consciences but it is only a matter of time before these are removed as the US Supreme Court appoints more liberal justices. Christianity itself will soon be targeted as a religion promoting “hate speech” and it is not difficult to see a situation in the near future where Christians will be jailed or even put to death for their beliefs. In an infamous case involving one of Australia’s leading rugby football players, Israel Folau, 3 years ago, Folau’s contract was terminated because he posted Bible verses that indicated that hell awaited those living in sin, unless they repented. This was presented as “hate speech” by many commentators, including even an Anglican Bishop.

The issue of freedom of speech and freedom of religion were seen to be closely allied by the US Founding Fathers. Benjamin Franklin said:

 “Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech”.

We are well down the road to the overthrow of liberty as can been observed from the various forms of online censorship that reached a peak during the COVID-19 lockdowns and forced vaccination schedule. Views were ruthlessly suppressed that opposed the official government views that the COVID-19 vaccines were “safe and effective”. Now any opinions that oppose those of the political left, are said to be racist, misogynistic, sexist or homophobic and it must be just a matter of time until there are “show trials” such as those staged by Stalin against his opponents in the Soviet Union. The UK Parliament currently is trying to force through online legislation that would restrict “legal but harmful” content, even though for the moment this clause has been removed.

It would seem wise to remind everyone of the quote attributed to Voltaire but was a paraphrase quoted in the book “The Friends of Voltaire” by Evelyn Beatrice Hall in 1906 -The famous quote is:

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”.

Russia Seems to be Winning in Ukraine

It has been said that “truth is the first casualty of war”  - and Churchill went further to say that: “In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies”. The bodyguard has been at work full time during the Ukraine war and in amongst the blue and gold ribbons and propaganda, the truth has been impossible to find. The war has been convenient for the climate change bandwagon which has been able to blame Putin for the disastrous energy decisions made by the West and their accompanying net-zero mafia.

I subscribe to Jim Rickards newsletter and it was interested to read some of his analysis this week regarding the Ukraine war. I thought that Rickards analysis was important for Sons of Issachar readers and so I have quoted a significant passage below from his article:

“According to the White House, EU and NATO, things are going relatively well for Ukraine. The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) have advanced in eastern Ukraine along a line that runs parallel to the Russian fortified lines between Donetsk and Luhansk.

Ukraine has also reoccupied the regional capital of Kherson, which lies strategically on the Dnieper River, and is Kyiv’s main access to the Black Sea and international trade.

Based on these advances, the narrative says that Russia is in retreat, Russian troops are demoralized, Putin is in jeopardy of being replaced and complete victory for Ukraine is just a matter of time.

The narrative is then used as a basis for increased financial aid from the United States (over $60 billion and growing) and increased weapons shipments from NATO members. President Zelenskyy touts these accomplishments in his customary green T-shirt on video presentations to the U.N., G20 and other international audiences.

Here’s the reality…

The actual situation on the battlefield is almost completely at odds with the narrative. Ukraine did make advances in the east, but they were against lightly defended Russian positions on or near open terrain.

The Russians organized an orderly retreat to fortified lines and let the Ukrainians have the open land. Russia withdrew from Kherson because they regarded it as a nonstrategic salient.

They withdrew to the east bank of the Dnieper River while allowing Ukrainian troops to reoccupy the center of Kherson. Russia avoided a fight over a city of little strategic value while retaining a chokehold on river traffic from the east bank. Russia regarded Kherson as a nonstrategic salient.

The Russians withdrew to the east bank of the Dnieper River while allowing Ukrainian troops to reoccupy the center of Kherson. Russia avoided a fight over a city of little strategic value while retaining a chokehold on river traffic from the east bank.

The Russians essentially organized an orderly retreat to fortified lines and let the Ukrainians have the open land, which will become a killing field for Russian artillery.

Even with that withdrawal, almost all the industrial, technological and natural resource capacity of former Ukraine is in the Donbas now under Russian control.

In the meantime, Russia is now preparing to launch a massive counteroffensive. Russia has completed its 300,000-person mobilization. Over 180,000 of those troops are now deployed behind Russian lines in combat formations. The remaining 120,000 troops will arrive soon. This brings total Russian strength up to about 30 divisions.

They are being supplemented with Iranian drones, a major force multiplier. The major objectives of this counteroffensive are Kharkiv in the northeast, Odesa in the southwest, and Zaporizhzhia in the center part of the country on the Dnieper River.

Completion of these missions will give Russia control of the entire coast from the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea. It will also give Russia control of the Dnieper River and the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.

Russia will incorporate all of this territory into the Russian Federation and will likely move further into Moldova to reunite with a pro-Russian corridor called Transnistria with its capital in Tiraspol. At that point, Russian strategic objectives will be complete. Ukraine will be left as a rump state between Kyiv and Lviv”.

Putin can’t afford to lose this war and sooner or later, the West will lack the political will to keep sending tens of billions of dollars off to a corrupt regime. The situation in Ukraine is very unstable and the continuing global impact of the war is likely to be severe. In addition, some type of nuclear conflict is still not impossible, even though recently Putin has dismissed the idea of nuclear war.  

For an alternative view on the fate of various dictatorial leaders, I have included a recent video from Chris Reed, a noted prophetic voice from Morningstar Ministries. He believes that soon there will be an end to Putin, Xi and Biden! Chris Reed has a track record of accuracy in prophecy and it will be interesting to see what happens in these next 12 months.