Ron Reese and Doves,
 
The Middle East right now is like a teenager with a bad case of facial acme. It's all infected, the pressure is everywhere, and as per your challenge Ron.........which zit will pop first?
 
I believe Syria will be the initiator country that will light the fuse which ignites the whole Middle East area. President Assad and his family have spent decades planning Israel's ultimate demise and he sees his mission to accomplish this evaporating as one dictator after another is forced from office in the Middle East. Presently his country is under extreme pressure by the Arab League, NATO and most of the world to relinquish his power. If he is going to be de-throned he will do so honorably and as a hero (in his mind) with a volley of rockets aimed at Israel and not dragged through the streets and executed like a dog as was his friend Quadaffi. His Hezbollah proxies in Lebanon will undoubtedly follow his lead with  40,000 rockets they have aimed at Israel.  As Assad sees this as his last gasp he will not hold back on what his missile warheads are tipped with and you can expect all forms of weapons of mass destruction to be volleyed at Israel...chemical, biological, etc.
 
When the first non-conventional (WMD) missile lands in Israel all hell is going to break loose, the Israelis will retaliate with a nuclear strike on Damascus, a city of millions of people.(Isaiah 17) Israel I believe will at the same time use field grade neutron bombs to stop the rocket fire from Hezbollah in Lebanon and conventional weapons to stop the rockets from Hamas in Gaza. Iran will no doubt jump in the fray as well with missile launches of their own. I believe Israeli submarines will launch an EMF missile bomb over Iran in an effort to shut down Iran's electrical grid and throw the country into complete disarray. At the same time Israel will launch it's Jericho long range rockets at specific targets in Iran along with cruise missiles in an attempt to cripple Iran's nuclear capabilities. Egypt may jump into the fray as well and if they do (as per scripture) I believe Israel will use the bunker buster bombs they just received from the US or a nuke to destroy the huge Aswan Dam in Southern Egypt flooding and laying waste to Egypt.
 
When the dust settles from these volleys I believe that at least half of the population of Israel will be killed. The bible says that two thirds are killed throughout the end times fighting. And when the dust settles the world be be aghast at the carnage that Israel has dished out in an effort to save herself from ultimate destruction. Millions of people will have been killed and the world be even more hardened to remove Israel from the world scene.
 
At present NATO is staged in Turkey supposedly trying to set up a buffer zone for the Syrians who are under persecution by Assad. My feeling are that they are really there to set up a staging zone to attack Israel and "they will" after the dust settles for a few weeks or months from this initial war volley.
 
The bible says that the whole world will be against Israel at some point and that point will be after Israel kills millions in an effort to protect herself from total destruction. The countries of the world (NATO) including the US under Obama will align with the countries mentioned in Ezek.38 and 39 in the staging area already established in Turkey. They will attempt to give this trouble-maker Israel it's final death blow in it's now much weakened state. They will have everything figured out except the "God factor".
 
I believe this coming spring the Ezek. 38 and 39 war will be initiated by the players I mentioned above. At that time God will eradicate all these staged troops that are about to attack Israel as per Ezek.38:14-23. God says that.."My fury will show in My face".....meaning that He will directly expose himself and the extreme light source of His being to these enemies of His holy land and His chosen people the Jews. In doing so, as it is written in Scripture the eyeballs of these troops will melt from their sockets as they stand. He will cause every man's sword to be against their own allies and He will rain down on them flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. Only a small remnant of this large amassed group will survive.
 
Nearly every nation on the planet will witness and be aware of how the God of Israel intervened on her behalf. His extreme power and majesty will be displayed for the world to see. God states it like this in Ezek.38:23....."Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord."
 
This will cause many fence sitters who call themselves Christians and Jews to re-evaluate their positions with the God of the bible. Hopefully for the Christian fence sitters they will make the right decision to accept Jesus as their savior that day.  They will not have another day to decide because I believe the rapture of the church will happen later in that very same day. I say this because in the same text we just read in Ezek. 38 God says....."Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all the creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake in My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground."
 
This world wide earthquake I believe is the same one spoken of in Revelation 6:12 when God opens the sixth seal. At the opening of the sixth seal the same day He destroyed the enemies of Israel on her borders he will also come to rapture His church. It will be in the spring as spoken of in the Song of Solomon 2:10-14 and Isaiah 18:5. When He does, the great worldwide earthquake will cause volcanoes to go off all over the planet and great quantities of dust to enter the atmosphere causing the sun to look black and the moon red.
 
God will at the same time open the dimension (window open) to heaven and throw Satan and the fallen angels from the heavenlies to earth and then He will close that window back up......"And the stars (angels) of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops it's late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded (window closed) as a scroll when it is rolled up..."  Satan and millions of his fallen angels will get a one way ticket to earth at the same time millions of the dead in Christ and the alive in Christ are going up in the opposite direction. Not sure if Satan's troops will be in spirit form or as aliens in UFO's.
 
The rulers of the planet and the left behind will be scared to death as to what has just transpired on the planet and God says they will be hiding in caves. God also announces that ..."The great day of His wrath has come"......meaning the great tribulation that goes by many names in the bible has officially begun. The start of the seven years of Jacob's trouble. The bible says that the spoils of the battle God just won for Israel will fuel the country for those seven years.
 
I think God called it "the great day of the Lord" because multiple things happen that day. Along with what I just described something else major happens that day, the 144,000 children of Israel (the cream of the crop) from the 12 tribes past and present are also raptured that day. But before they are, they are given the mark of the Father on their foreheads. They are sealed as the first fruits of God's harvest and are to be His entourage and follow Him wherever He goes. The bible says nothing about them staying on earth as evangelists as many believe. But that they will accompany the Lamb wherever He goes.
 
Then in the very next verses of Rev.7 we see the raptured saints show up in heaven. Rev.7:9-17
 
Now there is a quiet period in heaven as per Rev.8.  And............ a what the hell just happened to our world moment for the left behind people on earth.
 
The world will be looking for answers as to what just transpired and a person of great renown will step forward with all the answers. He will be Satan himself disguised or indwelled as Pope John Paul II who will appear back on the world scene. If you have followed my posts you know that I have gone into great detail explaining this from the verses in Rev. 13 and 17.  http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/oct2011/johnb1029.htm
 
This being we call the antichrist  is really Satan...."So they worshiped the dragon (Satan) who gave authority to the beast (John Paul's image); and they worshiped the beast"....meaning they didn't realize that this risen pope was actually Satan in disguise. He will have all the answers to what just happened on the earth. He will come up with lying signs and wonders and all out lies as to what just happened to the planet. The world will be in complete disarray and he will organize a one world religion, a one world government and a one world monetary system where nothing can be bought or sold without his mark. (And just to throw in a warning to those who may be left behind, anyone who takes this mark will loose their salvation.)
 
He will use the Roman Catholic world wide system that is already in place to orchestrate His maneuverings. The headquarters will be in Rome. (the religious Babylon) The Jesuits of the RCC already have the world broken up into 10 areas (kingdoms) and whereas these Jesuits have no power now ten of them will be given extreme power by Satan (the antichrist) as per Rev.17:12-13 to rule the world with and for him for a period of time.
 
Other players will pop up in Satan's entourage that will allow him to firm up his one world plan and to complete his great deception.
 
One of these I believe will be a false Mary, not the earthly mother of Jesus but the fabricated Roman Catholic Mary who is supposed to be a co -equal being with the trinity, the Queen of Heaven, the co-redeemer of men's sins along with Jesus, the mediator between God and man (taking Jesus' role) etc. etc.etc. I believe a being will show up claiming to be the true Mary and will be used by Satan to deceive millions especially Muslims who already have a great adoration to Mary, and surely all the many left behind Catholics will go ga-ga when she arrives on scene as part of the evil deception. The only ones that will be able to see through the deception are the ones whose names are written in the Lambs Book of Life.
 
Next, Satan will trot out the false prophet who I believe will be this entity that all the major religions of the world are waiting for. The Muslims are waiting for the 12th Imam, the Buddhists someone else, the Hindu's someone else, the new agers someone else. And I believe that Satan (the antichrist) will convince the world religions that this man who will arise.......the false prophet....will qualify to meet all their expectations as to the one they are all waiting for. And of course he will become Satan's right hand man so to speak in the evil that will permeate the planet.
 
At this point there remains seven more years of details to deal with and if I address those details now this post will be much too long. So I will save these details for another post.
 
Details like the two witnesses and their protection of Israel, the Jewish 200 million man army as per Ezek.37, the protection of the Jews for three and a half years, the antichrist declaring himself to be God, stopping the daily sacrifices, revolt of his ten world leaders, the burning of Rome, the relocating of his headquarters to economic Babylon in Iraq, the seal, trumpet and bowl judgments, persecution of the the true believers, what becomes of America, the mountain birds of prey, the beasts of the earth, demonic giants of old, UfO's, final battles, etc. etc.
 
Hope this meets the standards of your challenge Ron......... and by the way (a small jab) Obama is not the antichrist. Just  a very evil, anti Israel man that God is using to fulfill His ultimate plans. Wish he was the president of anywhere other than America but God knows best.
 
Blessings........John B