Today is Monday, July 6, 2020. The grace period given by the regime is now in its 180th day. Being almost six months into this time, it seemed good to stop and assess where we are.
The Ram’s Capability
The IRGC has proven its capability to be the Persian ram, to charge out and shock all across the Middle East. They have demonstrated this capability in three key areas:
1) Take out oil facilities hundreds of miles from Iran with extreme precision;
2) Take out US military land assets hundreds of miles from Iran with extreme precision, and;
An overhead photo of the Al Asad base in western Iraq. Note the circled areas where IRGC ballistic missiles struck. Note, too, that each strike hit the center of each building.
3) Take out US military ships hundreds of miles from Iran, again with extreme precision.
There is nothing else needed for the IRGC except for the possibility of nuclear warheads, which may or may not be needed.
How Much Longer?
How much longer is it to the start of the Second Signpost? As always, we don’t know. However, it will likely start at the end of the grace period. The grace period may end tomorrow or take several more months.
I’ve been wondering if there is a chance we might see a bit of an echo in the history of the relations between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The echo would be between the start and the end.
On November 4, 1979, about seven months after the Republic was founded with Khomeini as the supreme leader which is the power being the first horn of the ram, Iranian student militants took hostage a number of Americans remaining at the American embassy. A total of 52 American hostages were held 444 days.
The Iran Hostage Crisis began in November 1979 when Iranian students climbed into the grounds of the US embassy in Tehran.
In a way, Iran is holding the world hostage to the Second Signpost. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this grace period go as long as 444 days as well. Not only would the history between America and the Islamic Republic begin and end with a period of many days, but a period of 444 days takes us to the end of March 2021, which is springtime, when wars have historically begun in the Middle East.
The recent series of explosions of Iranian facilities may or may not have had great impact on the regime’s plans for the start of their war.
Categories: Signpost #2: Iran, The Signpost Perspective
THE FOUR SIGNPOSTS 
Mark-
I do believe that the Second Signpost could start at any time. However, I also think that the positioning for March of 2021 makes a lot of sense. For one the enemies of the US are enjoying watching our country fall apart. Also, if we end up in a war with China or get into a civil war or even end up with UN troops on American soil then the door for Iran to charge will be wide open. It does seem that there is something else that is needed to take place prior to the Ram’s charge for their guaranteed success.
I will continue to position myself for this coming time as I have been doing for years now and even more so with my recent move to a very obscure and remote low population mountain farm community as well as getting out of the US dollar as much as possible. We are currently renting a farm with a few acres that is part of a 1,000 acre cattle ranch with many other things in play to help us in the coming days! Hope all is well with you brother!
Yeah, I remember George W bombed Iraq on my dad’s birthday, then Libya got bombed on another birthday of his. I don’t think he needs another ‘present’ like that.
Jesse Colling-
UN troops on US soil would get their clocks cleaned. The only exception would be a joint Chinese/EU/Canadian occupation after the US had already collapsed, which would be… bad, very bad.
Mark,
I read this article last night at oilprice.com. This deal empowers the IRGC’s defenses and military immensely with Russia and China’s support.
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/China-Inks-Military-Deal-With-Iran-Under-Secretive-25-Year-Plan.html
On July 24, the Hagia Sophia, a Christian church built in AD 537 in the Byzantine capital of Constantinople, will be reopened as an Islamic mosque: https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/erdogan-hagia-sophia-to-open-for-worship-on-july-24/news When the Ottoman Empire conquered Constaninople in AD 1453, the Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque. Christian symbols and artwork were either removed, destroyed, or plastered over, because Islam teaches that Jesus was not the son of God and was not crucified. The long history of the building is summarized in a new video produced by TRT World (controlled by the government of Turkey): https://youtu.be/rqa0eXnDey4 When Ataturk converted the Hagia Sophia into a museum in 1935, plaster covering some Christian art was removed. Since any artwork suggesting that Jesus is divine and was crucified cannot be allowed in a mosque (unless retractable screens are constructed?), Christian artwork may be removed or plastered over again. There are many who are not happy about Turkey’s decision: https://greece.greekreporter.com/2020/07/10/erdogan-defies-world-orders-hagia-sophia-to-be-turned-into-mosque/
https://greekcitytimes.com/2020/07/11/turkey-to-cover-holy-icons-in-hagia-sophia-with-special-technology/ “According to Hürriyet [A Turkish news website] … icons and mosaics will be covered with special technology and lighting. Specifically, special curtains will be used during Islamic prayer, while carpets will be placed on the floor which will be illuminated to darken the space and not show paintings.”
https://greece.greekreporter.com/2020/07/10/what-will-now-happen-now-to-hagia-sophias-byzantine-mosaics/ has images of three Byzantine mosaics that will be covered during Islamic services.
https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/july-24-from-lausanne-to-hagia-sophia-mosque-a-date-for-turkeys-sovereignty/news discusses sovereignty issues. There is a reason why July 24 was chosen to begin Islamic services in the Hagia Sophia. The 1920 Sevres and 1923 Lausanne treaties allowed Greece to take over Aegean islands, resulting in Turkey having only tiny EEZs along its coastline.
Turkish President Erdogan is reminding everyone that beginning in 1453, the Hagia Sophia has been the property of the Turkish nation. https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/hagia-sophia-irreplaceable-for-turkish-nation-president-says/news “‘This is a structure that hosted Mehmet the Conqueror’s first Friday prayer when he conquered Istanbul and then converted it to a mosque as a symbol of that conquest,’ the president said regarding the Hagia Sophia, which is why his society puts such a high value to it, he explained.”
Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, was born in 1881 in a house in Greek Macedonia. http://www.museumsofmacedonia.gr/History_And_War/Spiti_Kemal.html In 1935, the same year that Ataturk converted the Hagia Sophia from a mosque to a museum, “Thessaloniki City Council gave it [the house] to the Turkish state, which decided to convert it into a museum dedicated to Kemal Atatürk.”
Now that the Hagia Sophia is being converted from museum to a mosque, many Greeks want to convert Ataturk’s birth home from a museum celebrating Ataturk to a museum chronicling his crimes against humanity. https://greekcitytimes.com/2020/07/11/greek-political-party-calls-for-ataturks-house-in-thessaloniki-to-become-a-genocide-memorial-museum/ “Although Turks think of Atatürk fondly as the founder of the modern Turkish Republic, Greeks, Armenians and Assyrians remember him as one of the main perpetrators of genocide against Christian minorities in the Ottoman Empire, that led to the systematic extermination of around 3.5 million people. With about a million Greeks exterminated on policies made by Atatürk and his predecessors, more than 1.2 million Greeks were forcibly removed from Turkey in 1923-1924 as a result of the the Treaty of Lausanne, decimating thousands of years of Greek life in Asia Minor, Pontus and Eastern Thrace. The only thing Turkey’s mad drive to convert Hagia Sophia into a mosque has done, is provide the legitimacy for Greece to turn Atatürk’s birthplace into a Genocide Museum.”
The Treaty of Lausanne was signed on July 24, 1923. The Hagia Sophia is to reopen as a mosque on July 24, 2020, exactly 97 years later.
Since Atatürk’s birth home was a free gift to Turkey by only a city council, I suppose that the Hellenic Republic [Greece] has the authority to cancel Turkish ownership of a house not attained by conquering. Meanwhile, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood are congratulating Turkey on converting the Hagia Sophia into a mosque. https://greekcitytimes.com/2020/07/12/hamas-and-muslim-brotherhood-congratulate-turkey-on-converting-hagia-sophia/
China showing their muscles here…if Iran continues to strike a strong alliance with them and Russia that ram will be hard to stop.
Here is the link…
https://nypost.com/2020/07/04/the-world-is-finally-uniting-against-chinas-bully-tactics/?fbclid=IwAR2fQdHpsIibeUkznqYlATpJZOlP0cXXLYYcVpviBJ6YySCgHlUfTjUA8Yc
Prisms,
The exchange of Muslim Greeks and Christian Turks is discussed in DR. It is yet another way the leader of Turkey can be the king of Yavan.
Mark:
Although it may seem amazing that what was written in “Daniel Revisited” in 2013 is proving true today, it shouldn’t be. Your approach was and is to first discover what Bible prophecies are teaching. Only after that is determined do you cite history, economics, and geopolitics to project what is most likely to happen. As I read Iran or Turkey news in English, I observe how those nations are becoming capable of accomplishing their second and third signpost roles.
Joel Richardson’s books proving that the Bible teaches that the Antichrist will be Islamic got your investigation going and also enabled me to understand the results of your investigation. I watched Richardson’s recent “The Underground #143” on the first seal of Revelation 6 with disappointment. He is arguing that the first seal won’t be fulfilled until an end-time seven-year period starts. This approach tries to make Bible prophecies fit human imaginations. As “Daniel Revisited” shows, every phrase relating to the first signpost was fulfilled from 1979 to 2011. The flow of history has conformed to God’s words and will continue to do so. In a previous video, Richardson suggested that even if Iran invades the Middle East, It wouldn’t necessarily fulfill any specific prophecy regarding the end-time! Yet his online store sells “Daniel Revisited,” which reveals the specific Bible prophecies that Iran will fulfill prior to the rise of Antichrist.
Your books are the best there is on Bible prophecy. I am looking forward to your next one.
TRT World has released a video with English subtitles of President Erdogan’s speech to the Turkish people explaining why the Christian-built Hagia Sophia in Istanbul will reopen as a mosque on July 24. https://youtu.be/0x-ROvVnPXU As an adherent of the signpost perspective, three portions of Erdogan’s speech caught my attention.
19:08 “When Fatih [Sultan Mehmet II] conquered Istanbul [in 1453], he also earned the title of the Roman Emperor and therefore had all the rights of ownership over the property of the Byzantine dynasty. According to this law, the ownership of Hagia Sophia was given to Fatih and the foundation established by him.” “Chronicles of the End Times” page 141: “… the four ancient Hellenistic kingdoms were conquered and united by Rome. Rome was conquered by the Ottoman Empire. Then the Ottoman Empire broke up again to create the four end-time nations. This is how the how the four end-time nations are tied to the four final Hellenistic kingdoms.”
25:36 “The poem of Nazim Hikmet on the conquest of Istanbul and the conversion of the Hagia Sophia into a mosque is also very stunning. ‘This is the most honorable day that Islam has been looking forward to. Greek Constantinople has become Turkish Istanbul. The leader of the an army against the world, the Sultan of the Turks, like a sky gets split on the gray horse from Edirnekapi [a neighborhood in Istanbul] he conquered Istanbul in eight weeks and three days. What a happy, blessed servant of Allah, the Sultan who conquered the town. Allah accepted his biggest prayer and enabled him to perform afternoon prayer in Hagia Sophia.'” Was the Sultan’s gray horse foreshadowing the prophesied black horse of Revelation 6:5?
30:25 “The resurrection of the Hagia Sophia is a heartfelt greeting to the symbolic cities of our civilization from Bukhara [Uzbekistan] to Andalusia [Spain].” “Chronicles of the End Times” page 456: “The greatest news story of 1492 in Spain was not Christopher Columbus discovering America, but that the ruling Islamic kingdom had been eradicated from Spain.” The reopening the Hagia Sophia as a mosque is a greeting to those who want to see Spain reconquered for Islam. Even Iranian leaders who have not liked Turkey’s relations with Western countries are cheering Erdogan’s Hagia Sophia decision. https://greekcitytimes.com/2020/07/14/iran-felt-joy-when-hagia-sophia-was-converted/
In 1832, the Ottoman Empire owned Crete and most of the islands near Asia Minor. Today, Greece owns Crete and most of the islands near Asia Minor.
Eight days ago:
https://greekcitytimes.com/2020/07/05/greece-needs-to-radically-change-its-defence-doctrine/
“In recent years, Turkey has made it clear that it wants to revise the borders that have emerged in the wider region since the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923. Turkey is already in Syria and Libya, and it is only a matter of time before it conducts underwater surveys south of Crete, in which Greece has sovereignty and exploitation rights. Turkey is also a country with a population of over 80 million with a GDP of about $750 billion, while Greece is a country with a population of 10 million and a GDP of about $200 billion.”
Today, July 15, 2020:
https://greekcitytimes.com/2020/07/15/turkey-to-begin-illegal-drilling-in-cypriot-waters-on-saturday/
“Athens is on high alert and is making a series of diplomatic moves to shield itself from a possibility of war with Turkey. Despite this possibility, Turkey maintains that it will begin illegal drilling in Greek waters in September, which of course has received little to no condemnation from the European Union. It remains to be seen how the EU will react when Turkey begin illegal drilling in Cyprus on Saturday.”
https://greece.greekreporter.com/2020/07/15/turkey-plans-new-drillings-off-cyprus-fueling-mediterranean-tensions/
“Turkey issued a new notice for its continued gas exploration and drilling inside the Cypriot Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) on Wednesday, further fueling tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean.”
Ever since Israel began tapping natural gas from the bottom its Mediterranean exclusive economic zone, Turkey has been dissatisfied with the Lausanne Treaty of 1923-07-24, which defined borders between Greek and Turkish lands and waters. Although the treaty allowed Turkey to take from Greece eastern Thrace and also Ionia in western Turkey, it left islands along Turkey’s Aegean coast as Greek possessions. Since those islands had been owned by the Ottoman Empire, Turks commonly call them “occupied territories.”
Lausanne, a city in Switzerland, is mentioned in three quatrains by Nostradamus: 4:9, 4:42, and 8:10. The first two were only of local interest, both mentioning nearby Geneva, 4:42 also mentioning places in France. The only one of general interest is 8:10:
Paunteur grande sortira de Lausanne,
Qu’on ne saura l’origine du fait,
Lon mettra hors toute la gent loingtaine
Feu veu au ciel, peuple estranger deffait.
Leoni’s 1961 translation:
A great stench will come out of Lausanne,
Such that one will not know the source of the fact,
They will put out all the remote people,
Fire seen in the sky, foreign people defeated.
Lemesurier’s 2010 translation:
A mighty stench shall come out of Lausanne
such that nobody shall know its origin.
They shall expel all the aliens:
fire seen in the sky, the foreign race defeated.
NATO exists to rally all its member states to defend any one of them when it is attacked by an outside force. What would NATO do or not do if war broke out between NATO member Turkey and NATO member Greece? Would NATO even survive as an alliance?
On 2019-09-03 Turkish President Erdogan was photographed in front of a map showing Turkish territory extending halfway across the Aegean Sea and reaching the eastern shore of Crete (part of Greece). https://greekcitytimes.com/2019/09/03/erdogan-photographed-front-turkey-blue-homeland-map/
https://greekcitytimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/erdogannn-thumb-large-thumb-large.webp
Today, 2020-07-18, Turkey was to begin illegally drilling in the Cyprus EEZ. Although Cyprus is independent of Greece, Greeks don’t like the precedent that Turkey is setting.
Today, Greek General Floros, famous for saying “Whoever attacks Greek territory, we will first burn them and then see who it was,” said that the Greek Armed Forces are “on alert at the highest possible level and are ready and able to meet the requirements determined by the sense of duty that governs all personnel of the Armed Forces, in order to ensure its territorial integrity and national independence of our homeland.” https://greekcitytimes.com/2020/07/18/general-floros-the-greek-armed-forces-are-ready-for-any-provocation-from-turkey/
But today it was also reported that Iranian computer hackers are actively doxxing Greek naval personnel. https://greekcitytimes.com/2020/07/18/greek-navy-personnel-doxxed-by-iranian-hackers/
Monday is the 46th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus. https://usa.greekreporter.com/2020/07/17/cyprus-invasion-of-1974-to-be-commemorated-in-online-event/ “The Turkish invasion of Cyprus began on July 20, 1974, five days after a coup d’etat which had the aim of enosis, or union, with the nation of Greece. Much of the northern half of the island was occupied by Turkish troops and the island remains politically divided to this day.”
On Friday, the 97th anniversary of the Lausanne treaty, the Hagia Sophia will open as a mosque.
On 2020-07-21 Greece and Turkey may be on the brink of war.
“Turkish resource surveys to the south and east [and therefore in Greek waters] of the Greek island of Kastellorizo will commence today and will occur until August 2, Attaleia (Ἀττάλεια, Turkish: Antalya) hydrographic service in Turkey announced, as already reported by Greek City Times. This has provoked a major escalation in the Greek-Turkish crisis in the Aegean as Turkey has dispatched at least 17 warships from the Aksaz Naval Base in Physkos (Φύσκος, Turkish: Marmaris)… In the airspace of Kastellorizo, fierce air battles are taking place with the Turks making overflights.” https://greekcitytimes.com/2020/07/22/at-least-17-turkish-warships-leave-port-as-greek-military-is-put-on-high-alert/
What has prompted Turkey to act in a warlike way? Was it the recent approval by Israel’s government of a pipeline deal with Cyprus and Greece? “The 1,900-kilometre EastMed pipeline, which has been in planning for several years, is intended to provide an alternative gas source for energy-hungry Europe, which is largely dependent on supplies from Russia and the Caucasus region.” https://greekcitytimes.com/2020/07/21/israel-approves-eastmed-pipeline-deal/
“Greek Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos briefed US Defense Secretary Mark Esper during a scheduled phone conversation on Tuesday afternoon. He told his US counterpart that said Greek navy ships were in the area and that ‘Greece is prepared to defend its sovereign rights if necessary,’ according to a defense ministry press release.” … “Ankara wants to exploit the perceived policy vacuum in the US which is heading toward its upcoming presidential elections.” https://greece.greekreporter.com/2020/07/21/usa-department-of-state-calls-on-turkey-to-halt-operations-in-the-east-med/
What does Erdogan think about threats of economic sanctions by the EU or of US pleas to stop causing tension? “Turkey does not need permission from anyone to operate its drilling ships in the east Mediterranean, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday.” https://cyprus-mail.com/2020/07/21/turkey-does-not-need-anyones-permission-to-drill-in-the-east-mediterranean/ “The Greek navy is reportedly on standby and high alert following the Navtex advisory. Greek defense sources are reported to have said that 85 per cent of their fleet is in the Aegean, near Smyrna [Izmir, the third largest city in Turkey], and is closely monitoring the situation. There are reportedly 19 Turkish ships in the area.”
The recent Aegean Sea tensions between Turkey and Greece prompted me to learn where Turkey’s naval bases are. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Turkish_Naval_Forces_installations One of Turkey’s naval bases is in Albania. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasha_Liman_Base “An Albanian-Turkish military cooperation agreement was signed in 1992 that encompassed rebuilding Albania’s Pasha Liman Base by Turkey alongside granted access for Turkish use.”
That bit of information prompted me to look into Albania’s military history. There is an incredibly detailed list of wars involving Albania from 1358 to the present. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_Albania#Ottoman_Albania_and_the_Albanian_National_Awakening_(1479%E2%80%931912) The attention to details is astounding. For example, the displays of flags of nations are always correct for the period. So for the brief communist period in Albanian history, the added yellow star is there when the Albanian flag image for those years is clicked on.
What prompted this list of Albania’s military history to be so meticulously compiled? Perhaps its value will be seen when Albania becomes engaged in its prophesied end-time role that its long history has prepared it for.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has convinced Turkish President Erdogan that it would be foolish for Turkey to search for natural gas deposits under Greek waters.
https://greekcitytimes.com/2020/07/27/merkel-told-erdogan-that-the-greeks-are-not-joking-about-defending-their-maritime-space/
So it looks like an Aegean Sea war will not be a trigger for the second signpost invasion by Iran.
When I was a child, there were “gas wars” between rival filling stations. In my old age, there are geopolitical gas wars over where countries that don’t have natural gas can buy it. Countries selling surpluses of natural gas include Israel, USA, Russia, and Iran.
Israel extracts natural gas from under its Exclusive Economic Zone in the Mediterranean Sea and pumps it through pipelines to itself, Egypt, and Jordan. Israel has signed agreements to lay down a pipeline to Europe. https://www.zenger.news/2020/08/11/israel-set-to-send-natural-gas-to-europe/
Turkey doesn’t have natural gas; it buys some from USA as Liquified Natural Gas loaded on ships, and some as gas though pipelines from Russia and Iran. Turkey is trying to expand its EEZ in the Mediterranean so that it might find and produce its own natural gas. Turkey has attempted to block an Israeli pipeline to Europe by claiming Turkey-Libya EEZs extend across the Mediterranean. To counter that, Greece and Egypt have agreed to EEZs across the Mediterranean that block the Turkey-Libya EEZs. http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/4/0/376497/Opinion/A-GreekEgyptian-milestone.aspx
The gas wars of my youth sometimes resulted in one station being driven out of business and the other taking over its customer base. These new gas wars have had Turkey and Greece on the brink of a real shooting war. Meanwhile, thousands of USA troops are now leaving Germany, whose Chancellor sees nothing wrong with being dependent on Russian gas. Some of those troops are moving to Poland, which is shifting its gas purchases from Russia to LNG from USA. https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/08/pompeo-signs-agreement-to-move-u-s-troops-from-germany-to-poland/