The Bible is clear that Russia will be resurgent and eventually Europe will fall under its control. It will join Russia in the inevitable invasion of the Middle East described in Ezekiel 38.

“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.” (Ezekiel 38:3–6)

We live during the time of the great preparation described in verse 7:

“Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.” (Ezekiel 38:7)

This is similar to the description in the prophecy of Joe when the decree goes out to wake up the mighty men of war:

“Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, Let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: Beat your plowshares into swords, And your pruninghooks into spears: Let the weak say, I am strong.” (Joel 3:9–10)

Since the outbreak of the Ukrainian war the world has struggled with how to control the Russian bear. PBS reported,

“Global oil prices have risen on fears of restricted supply, which has only fattened the Kremlin’s take. Meanwhile, skyrocketing energy prices have fed inflation that is squeezing consumers in rich and poor countries alike and threatens to push Europe into recession.”

In an attempt the tether the Russian bear, G7 countries are looking to target any shipping companies working with Russia to ship its oil to market. On September 2, 2022 PBS reported:

Finance ministers from the Group of Seven industrial powers on Friday pledged to impose a cap on the price of Russian oil in a bid to limit the Kremlin’s revenues and ability to fund its war in Ukraine, while also curtailing the war’s impact on energy prices and inflation.

The ministers said they would impose the cap by barring insurance or shipping companies from helping Russia sell oil at prices above the set limit.

However, this will not be easy to implement as Frances Foreign Minister was reported to state by CNBC:

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Saturday that efforts by G-7 nations to introduce a price cap on Russian oil would require commitment from the wider international community to be successful.

Yahoo News reported:

France's Energy Transition Minister said Tuesday that "very clearly Russia was using gas as a weapon of war". Western nations fear that Moscow is driving up gas prices to try and weaken their resolve in opposing its invasion of Ukraine.

Rather than being cowered into a corner, the Russian bear came out swinging.

NBC News reported on Wednesday:

The Russian state-run energy company had shut down the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Wednesday for what it said would be three days of maintenance.

Following the G7 Meeting Russia came out swinging. NBC reported:

Europe’s energy crisis loomed larger Friday after Russian energy giant Gazprom said it couldn’t resume the supply of natural gas through a key pipeline to Germany for now, citing what it said was a need for urgent maintenance work to repair key components, just hours before it was due to restart deliveries.

It came after finance ministers from the Group of Seven wealthy democracies — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States — said a cap on the price of Russian oil was meant to “reduce ... Russia's ability to fund its war of aggression whilst limiting the impact of Russia's war on global energy prices” which have soared.

Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelensky warns of
Russia's energy attack on Europe.

Even Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelensky stated in daily address on September 3:

These days, Russia is trying to increase the energy pressure on Europe even more – gas pumping through the Nord Stream pipeline has completely stopped. Why do they do this? Russia wants to destroy the normal life of every European – in all countries of our continent. It wants to weaken and intimidate the entire Europe, every state. Where Russia cannot do it by force of conventional weapons, it does so by force of energy weapons. It is trying to attack with poverty and political chaos where it cannot yet attack with missiles…This winter, Russia is preparing for a decisive energy attack on all Europeans.

As it stands, Russia has cut off its gas supplies to Europe through the Nord Stream 1 Pipeline.  

CNN Business reported on Tuesday that Gazprom was cutting its gas supplies to France:

Russian energy giant Gazprom said on Tuesday that it will completely suspend gas supplies to French industrial energy group Engie this week due to a contract dispute, amid concerns of a potential energy crisis in Europe this winter. In a statement on its official Telegram channel, Gazprom said: "At the close of the business day on August 30, Gazprom Export did not receive full payment for gas supplied to Engie (France) in July under the existing contracts."

France has begun energy conservation measures and has begun the process of restarting its nuclear reactors. Reuters reported

French state-owned utility EDF will restart all its nuclear reactors, more than half of which are now closed for maintenance or technical issues, this winter, France's Energy Minister said on Friday. "From October, each week new reactors will restart," she said.

This winter, as Zelensky pointed out, will be the decisive point where Russia hopes to cripple Europe. Russia is playing the long game, attempting to force Europe into submission through economic as well as military means. This has been the Russian tactic since Peter the Great.

Meanwhile, the western media is flooded with stories of Russia being finished, its army spent, having “Lost the war in Ukraine.”

Lt Col. Daniel L. Davis (ret) warns of western countries
seeing things as they wish and not as the actually are.

Daniel L. Davis is a senior fellow for Defense Priorities and a former lieutenant colonel having served 21 years in the U.S. Army retiring in 2015. He was interviewed on Fox Business where he questioned this narrative:

“It puzzles me, because a lot of this stuff is self-inflicted wounds, and it was planely obvious. I think too many people in the west, Neil,  are still trying to deal with things as they wish they were, and not as they actually are. I mean, you cannot slap all these economic sanctions on Russia, talk openly about wanting to harm them, and then expect Russia to do nothing. I mean, Russia has levers to pull, and this is one of them, this issue with the Nord Stream right now, with claiming that it is for maintenance or whatever, and they are going to cut it off until Friday (we hope), and then turn it back on. But it just shows that they have complete leverage over this, and of course that sent prices of gas through the roof as you just mentioned there, and there is probably a lot more to come. But I think that you can see that on the ground, Russia is playing for time, they are not putting their troops in as much risk, they are using a lot more fire power, knowing that it is going to get a lot tougher for the West to maintain the unity that it has, come the winter, when these prices really start to bite into us.”

This is the issue with a generation whose opinions are formed by media soundbites. They think the “narrative” is the “truth” and what they are carefully allowed to see and are told is what is going on. The reality is that God has a narrative that His angels are busily bringing into place that will see His vindication.

“And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.” (Ezekiel 38:16)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

Russia cares less and less what the world thinks about its actions as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the BBC in June

“Russia is not white and fluffy. Russia is what it is. And we are not ashamed of showing who we are.”

In a 4,000-word policy article Alexei Drobinin, the head of the Russia’s Foreign Ministry’s planning unit, declared:

“Irrespective of the duration and outcome of the special military operation, we can already acknowledge that the three-decade epoch of mostly constructive, but not problem-free cooperation with the West is irrevocably over.”

The turning back of Russia had finished. The drawing forth of Russia is beginning in accordance with the prophecies of Ezekiel:

“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:” (Ezekiel 38:4)

Not only this, but Russia is also threatening the nation of Moldova (not a member of either NATO or the EU). The German publication Deutsch Welle (DW) reported:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov this week warned Moldova not to endanger Russian troops stationed in Transnistria, a pro-Russian breakaway region in the country's east, saying doing so could spark military confrontation.

In a television interview with a Russia station this Thursday, Lavrov said "any action that would threaten the security of our troops would be considered under international law as an attack on Russia."

In the television interview, Lavrov also said Russia would defend Russian speakers in Moldova, reminding viewers that apart from Transnistria, the region of Gagauzia was also seeking special recognition in the country. He said he hoped "Molvoda's leadership would end the Western-dictated geopolitical games and instead think about the interests of the people, living side by side." In July this year, Lavrov already accused Moldova of working to "annul everything Russian, just like in Ukraine."

German's Chief of Defence General Eberhard Zorn

Moldova is the country bordering to the southwest of Ukraine, right next to the city of Odessa, and was once part of the Soviet Union, like the Ukraine. The threat of Russia opening a second front isn’t just bellicose bear speak. Yahoo News reported German’s chief of defence General Eberhard Zorn warning on Wednesday:

“The bulk of the Russian land forces may be tied down in Ukraine at the moment but, even so, we should not underestimate the Russian land forces’ potential to open a second theatre of war,” He pointed to Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave in between NATO members Poland and Lithuania, as a potential hotspot. Russia threatened to station nuclear and hypersonic weapons there should Finland and Sweden join NATO.

Putin visited Kaliningrad this week, instead of attending Gorbechev’s funeral. Gorbechev was the last Soviet President deemed by Putin and many Russians as the man responsible for the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.  Putin wanted to shore up the ability of Russian’s to come to the enclave after the EU’s efforts to restrict Russian travel by denying visas to Russians wishing to do so.

Russia is claiming America is in a chess game with death. Newsweek reported of current Deputy Chairman of the Security Council for Russia, (Former Russian President and Prime Minister), Dimitri Medvedev:

Former Russian President and Prime Minister Medvedev accuses the west of
"playing chess with death"

Medvedev accused the West of wanting to take "advantage of the military conflict in Ukraine" to "eliminate Russia from the political field." "Those are the dirty dreams of the Anglo-Saxon perverts, who go to sleep with a secret thought about the breakup of our state, thinking about how to shred us into pieces, cut us into small bits." Medvedev wrote in the translated post. "Such attempts are very dangerous and mustn't be underestimated. Those dreamers ignore a simple axiom: a forceful disintegration of a nuclear power is always a chess game with death, in which it's known precisely when the check and mate comes: doomsday for mankind."

While we do not fear global annihilation from nuclear war as the earth has been promised to the “meek” and the kingdom is soon to be established upon it, with the Lord Jesus Christ unseating all corrupt world governments.

“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” (Daniel 2:44)

We know the eventual outcome of the conflict in Europe. Russia will be triumphant, and Europe chained. The world is in complete denial of this prophetic fact.

Israel is once again in a fight for who will govern it. Britain has deposed its leader and is in a fight for who will replace him. America has never been so divided and busy fighting itself, with the current and former presidents both declaring each other to be “enemies of the state”, while the true enemy is continuing its preparations, preparation we know from the Bible will eventually lead to Armageddon.

For the Bible in the News, this has been Jonathan Bowen joining you.