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Germany’s Angela Merkel faces President Donald Trump
It’s been an unexpected run for Germany’s first female chancellor, she led Europe’s greatest power through the global financial crisis, the European sovereign debt emergency and the refugee calamity. But now that run is close to being over. Chancellor Merkel’s popularity has faded quickly. Within the next 2 years Ms. Merkel will no longer be the leader of Germany.
Her decline in popularity started with the refugee catastrophe. She refused to close Germany’s borders during the 2015 Syrian refugee crisis thus allowing more than 1.2 million Middle East and North African migrants to enter the country, in a period of just two years. This policy proved to be political suicide. Before the refugee crisis, the Party she leads (CDU), had for a couple of years unfailingly polled above 40 percent; today its approval is in the mid-to-high 20s, an all-time low.
And it is not just the refugee crisis; the German economy is in trouble. The German economy still relies far too weightily on exports. The World Bank tells us, more than 48 percent of Germany’s gross domestic product came from exports in 2018, the highest level of any major economy. The problem is; that relying on exports to other countries is risky; if those nations slow in buying your products it can deeply hurt your economy. This is happening now; the U.S. has become more protectionist, and China isn’t buying German cars at the amount it used to. The German economy has not collapsed but it is wavering.
President Trump is still holding the intimidation of car tariffs over the heads of Germany’s meticulous automakers, and it’s getting tougher to claim that the disagreements between Europe and the U.S. are only about trade and not about greater intentional quarrels. In the past year, President Trump has threatened the entire EU for trying to keep the Iran nuclear deal alive, proposed a speedy free trade agreement to allure the U.K. into pursuing a weaker relationship with the EU, suggested that France abandon the EU for its own trade deal with the U.S., ridiculed French President Emmanuel Macron on Twitter for advocating a European army, offered to buy Italy’s public debt more or less to fund its budget brawl with Brussels, and, repeatedly denounced Germany for its titanic trade surplus and its construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, which links the country to Russian natural gas supplies. Europe’s leading countries are no longer comfortable to be the junior partners in a relationship that doesn’t always serve their interests. Frankly, Chancellor Merkel does not know how to deal with President Trump.
Germany is making moves on the military front. The shift in Germany’s defense thinking is significant. It is in response to the matching blows of Vladimir Putin’s aggressiveness and President Donald Trump’s questioning of the advantage of NATO. President Trump has intimated that the United States might refuse to protect members that fail to meet the NATO defense spending target of 2 percent of GDP. Germany is almost forced to focus more of its attention on defense. German Chancellor Angela Merkel joined French President Emmanuel Macron in calling for a European army two weeks ago, accentuating that such a military would be an accompaniment to NATO, not stand in resistance to it.
The trend is now certain, Germany and much of Europe will now look to securing itself militarily and will rely less and less on American help.
In the not too distant future-we are told that political chaos in Europe (Revelation 17), will lead to a newly formed confederation of states that will be beastlike (terribly destructive). We believe that Germany will play the leading role in the end-time beast system. We are also told in the book of Daniel, that God often removes and sets up leaders according to His purpose and insights: Daniel 2:21- He controls the course of world events; He removes kings and sets up other kings…thus we watch Europe with this in mind, and with intense interest!
European leaders will eventually choose one single dictator, the prophesied “beast,”–he will set up a system that will be extremely brutal (Revelation 17, verses 12 and 13). European extremism will return to European cities. Jesus Christ himself will destroy this end-time empire; and then Christ will establish the Kingdom of God on earth; that Kingdom will rule the nations with justice and force. Europe is important-we will continue to watch events in Europe, and we will monitor closely political change in Germany -doing so with a discerning eye. –Steven LeBlanc
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi
Now we know the Saudis killed Mr. Khashoggi…but why?
To help see through this ongoing international drama, understand that the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Turkey don’t trust each other. The Turks support the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood; the Brotherhood is working to overthrow the Saudi Royal Family. Thus, the Saudi leadership view the Muslim Brotherhood as a great enemy.
We must always keep in mind that Saudi Arabia is prophetically significant–We believe Saudi Arabia is home to the descendants of Ishmael: “He (Ishmael) will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”—Genesis 16:12. That description continues to play out in real time today.
So what do we know about the murder? Mr. Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to sign papers relating to his marriage and never surfaced again. The Jamal Khashoggi murder mystery has shocked the Western world. But it shouldn’t have; silencing your enemy, and being brutal about it, is the way of the Middle East. Remember, the prophecy in Genesis regarding the Arab people (this would include Saudi Arabia).
European left leaning media have largely painted Mr. Khashoggi as a liberal journalist who opposed the regime of the self-styled Saudi reformer, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (known as MBS). They say he wasn’t really a reformer at all; so, MBS had Khashoggi killed because Khashoggi was a threat to the Royal Family.
What really happened, we may never know—but this is another story coming from Middle East sources…The more likely reason is that Mr.Khashoggi was very much an Islamist connected to the Muslim Brotherhood. It seems, Mr. Khashoggi was intimately connected to the Saudi regime, which is bitterly opposed to the Brotherhood. He was the ultimate insider who had turned–gone rogue—he became a type of spy; feeding the Brotherhood secret information about the Saudi Royal family.
Mr. Khashoggi worked closely with the former directors of the Saudi Intelligence Agency Prince Turki al Faisal and Prince Bandar bin Sultan. A news source in England stated; “he knew a lot of intelligence secrets, and so when he got too close to the Qataris and the Turks, who are now the arch-enemies of the Saudis, this is when Jamal Khashoggi really crossed the line.”
His fiancé, is a Turkish diplomat, and is the daughter of a former adviser to Turkey’s Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Khashoggi was planning to start a Turkish center, funded by the Turks and the Qataris, encouraging change in Saudi Arabia to champion rebellion.
Middle East sources have been quoted in the U.K. as saying that the Saudis set out to bring Khashoggi back against his will. That’s why they sent the 15-strong squad, who had been alerted to the scheduling of his consular appointment. The goal was to remove him back to Riyadh, interrogate him and lock him up for a period of time, but not to kill him.
“If they’d wanted to kill him,” my informant said (U.K. Newspaper said), “they could easily have paid $200,000 to the Chechen mafia in Istanbul who could have taken him out so easily and made it look like a robbery gone wrong. There was no kill order from Saudi Arabia. Khashoggi would have been locked up and interrogated. They wanted to know who he had talked to and what he had revealed. They say some leaks from Qatar had his fingerprints all over them.” They tried to sedate Khashoggi, but that plan broke down, during the sedation process he died. His body had to be destroyed. So it was a bungled kidnapping and not a planned assassination.
We may never know if this is true. What we do know is that Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Iran are all vying for power in the Middle East. It is tribe against tribe, brother against brother. The killing of Mr. Khashoggi is shocking to the West, but it is the way of the desert.
Certain European leaders are saying “NO” to Angela Merkel of Germany regarding her policy of Immigration from the Middle East and North Africa. A new pro-border consensus is budding, which includes Italy, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Poland and others states who are saying no to immigration from the world of Islam.
In Revelation 17:12 we are told that in the near future, there will be union of “ten kings [leaders] who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour [a short time] as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast” (verses 12-13). The focus of this prophecy is Europe.
Why this Middle East nation is important!
Major instability in Jordan would have consequences for the entire Middle East
Jordanian protesters at a demonstration outside the Prime Minister’s office in Amman
Jordan occupies a strategic location in the Middle East, wedged between Israel and Saudi Arabia. To its north and northeast lie Syria and Iraq – the region’s main trouble spots that have drawn in regional and global powers like Iran, Turkey, Russia and the United States. Jordan is now home to 660,000 Syrian refugees, nearly 7 percent of its total population.
For years, Jordan has been a fairly stable country in a volatile region. But recently we have seen a change in this pivotal Middle East country, as thousands of demonstrators took to the streets recently to protest government austerity measures. How much does it really matter that a small country like Jordan is experiencing the sort of social unrest that is normal in this chaotic region? It matters much!
Israel watching Jordan closely
Israel shares its longest border with Jordan, and a majority of Jordanians are of Palestinian origin. Jordan relies heavily on Israel for its national security, and Jordan helps Israel contain potential dangers. But Israel is exposed at the moment – Israel Defense Forces are on alert due to escalating instability in the West Bank, Gaza, Golan Heights, Sinai Peninsula and Lebanon. Israel is especially uneasy that Iran will make inroads into Jordan through proxy groups. According to Al-Jazeera, the recent protests in Jordan were led in part by a youth movement called Hirak Shababi, which Israeli intelligence accused in 2016 of being directed and funded by Hezbollah, Iran’s longtime proxy in Lebanon. The Israeli Defense Ministry does not want to see any form of Iranian proxy group take hold in Jordan.
Jordan in Prophecy
Psalm 83 foretells a confederation of Arab nations that are determined to eliminate Israel—Jordan will be involved in this cabal of nations. This prophecy will take place, but not in the next year. It will take time, right now many Arab nations are more worried about Iran’s growing influence in the Middle East than any Israeli threat. See the prophecy below:
“They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, and consulted together against Your sheltered ones. They have said, ‘Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.’ For they have consulted together with one consent; they form a confederacy against You: The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites; Gebal, Ammon and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also has joined with them” (Psalms 83:3-8).
These biblical names are significant. Edom includes the Palestinians and some of the Turks. The Ishmaelites, descendants of Ishmael, are many of the Arab peoples throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Moab is the area of central Jordan. The Hagrites appears to refer to other descendants of Hagar, mother of Ishmael. Gebal, meaning “mountain” or “boundary,” is commonly equated with the Phoenician city of Byblos, modern Jubayl in Lebanon. Ammon refers to northern Jordan around Amman, the capital (which gets its name from Ammon). Amalek appears to refer to a branch of Edomite Palestinians. Philistia is the area around what is today known as the Gaza Strip. Anciently Tyre was a major city-state in southern Lebanon along the Mediterranean coast. Assyria ethnically appears to refer to inhabitants of Central Europe who migrated there many centuries ago, while geographically Assyria is in what is today northern Iraq. The children of Lot refers to Moab and Ammon—again, regions of modern-day Jordan.
●Jordan has an estimated two million Palestinians and 1.4 million Syrian refugees residing in the country. In a nation of just 9.5 million people, this represents over a third of the population.
●Alongside Egypt, Jordan is one of only two Arab nations to have made peace with Israel. In 1994, Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel, ending the 46-year official state of war.
●Unlike the other Arab states in the Middle East, Jordan has no oil of its own.
Sixty-nine years after Israel declared Jerusalem as its capital, and 25 years after the US Congress passed a law directing that Washington move its embassy there– Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the decision as “momentous.”
Of the 28 EU countries, only four sent representatives to the ministry reception: Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania. Austrian ambassador Martin Weiss, admitting that by showing up at the event he was stepping out of line with most of the EU, said that his attendance was a sign that Austria recognizes that this is a day of joy for Israelis. He added, however, that Austria does not currently have any plans to move its embassy.
The prophet Zechariah foresaw the politically vital position and troublesome nature of Jerusalem in the end time: “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples … I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it” (Zechariah 12:2-3).
We wait to see how much of a violent reaction takes place within the Middle East as a result of the move by America—Steven LeBlanc
