Daioyu islands dispute and Gog-Magog war

What does a local territorial fight between China, Japan, and Taiwan over some Asian Sea rocky outcroppings have to do with a future prophesied war in the Middle East? Read on.

East Asia’s Sea Disputes: Scar Tissue from War Wounds
"It’s not easy keeping track of all the territorial disputes over rocky outcrops, barren mini-islands and submerged chunks of coral in East Asian waters. Each piece of land seems to have competing and passionate claims by any number of countries in the region, and each island group is called different names by the opposing claimants. Fishing boats are rammed, ship captains are detained. Diplomats bluster and politicians rant. “Standoffs” are declared. “History” is invoked, with dusty maps, charts and treaties. It is, to many observers, an indecipherable mess."

First of all, did you even know this was going on? I really wish our US mews media would focus on something other than Michelle Obama's dress, Jay Leno's salary, and Obama's lies. Anyway, the article continues-

"The latest dispute began Wednesday, with Japan detaining 14 Chinese activists who clambered onto a bleak little islet claimed and controlled by Tokyo. The activists, who had set sail from Hong Kong, dodged Japanese coast guard vessels and planted Chinese and Taiwanese flags on one of the Senkaku islands, which are also claimed by China and Taiwan. The Chinese call them the Diaoyu islands."

"The incident has the region in something of an uproar, especially in China. Global Times, a mainland newspaper with a nationalist bent that is affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, ran a photo on its front page on Thursday of an activist standing on an outcrop and waving the Taiwanese flag. A state-run media outlet showing the flag of China’s “breakaway republic,” well, it’s almost unimaginable.' "

The journalist is right, it IS unimaginable. So why is it happening?

"Why all these disputes over soggy and godforsaken patches of land, many of which disappear at high tide? The easy (and perhaps lazy) answer: oil and gas. The next great bonanza fields are expected to be in East Asian waters, and sovereignty over these micro-islands might conceivably be important as bases for exploration and drilling teams. Fish. That’s another commonly heard answer. Fishing boats, trawlers and factory ships from every Asian country now go thousands of miles in search of fish and seafood. It’s a hugely important industry in Asia. But the disputes — which are real and impassioned — are not about fish, oil, gas or real estate. They’re about World War II. They’re about national pride. And they’re about historical scar tissue that refuses to heal."

Natural resources, land, and national pride. The big three. Now to Israel-

Here is Joel Rosenberg's comment from his blog preceding an excerpt from an interesting article from NatGeo he has posted.

New Natural Gas Wealth Means Historic Change for Israel
"Israel discovers more and more natural gas, will this be a “game changer” in a positive way, or a new reason for Israel’s enemies to attack? Specifically, what will Russia’s reaction be when Israel becomes a natural gas exporter to Europe? Russia is currently one of the major suppliers of natural gas to Europe. Could such developments lead to the fulfillment of the Ezekiel 38-39 prophecies? These are trends worth watching closely."

The NatGeo article states:
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"Israel’s northern port city of Haifa has been a crucial energy center for decades; refineries dating back to the British Mandate in this land have long processed the oil sent by pipeline or shipped here from abroad. Today, rigs are working off Haifa’s coast to tap the first major fossil-fuel reserve ever found in Israel’s territory, a store on which it hopes to build a far more independent energy future."

"The Tamar natural gas field was discovered in 2009 some 50 miles (80 kilometers) off Haifa’s coast in the Mediterranean Sea. There are perhaps scores of known gas fields bigger than Tamar, with its estimated 250 billion cubic meters (9 trillion cubic feet) in reserves; Alaska’s North Slope, for instance, is believed to hold four times as much fuel. But Tamar is large enough to meet all of Israel’s natural gas requirements for 20 to 30 years, the experts say."

"This unprecedented offshore bonanza expanded dramatically the following year when another field, Leviathan, almost double the size of Tamar, was discovered another 30 miles (48 kilometers) to the west. (A smaller field, Tanin, with an estimated 33.9 billion cubic meters (1.2 trillion cubic feet) in natural gas, was discovered nearby earlier this year.)With natural gas scheduled to begin flowing from Tamar next year, and from Leviathan about four years later, Israel is on the brink of a historic shift. Instead of being an energy-scarce nation amid Middle East oil giants, many of them hostile, Israel now faces a future as a fuel producer in its own right—likely as an exporter and supplier to some of its neighbors, a development that could dramatically alter the region’s geopolitics."

"Israel’s foreign and domestic policy no longer will be intertwined with the question of securing adequate fuel supply. Now it will face a quite different challenge—managing the nation’s newfound energy abundance."

“This is going to change the overall way of the economy of Israel,” says Shaul Zemach, director general of Israel’s Ministry of Energy and Water Resources. “It’s like a domino—it’s going to have a domino effect on all of the markets.” Quite simply, he said, it’s a “game changer.”
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If three nations dispute over rocks, what do you think they will do when the Holy Spirit is taken out of the way, and He no longer restrains, and the stakes are enormously higher in terms of land and wealth and religious pride? Will it take long for Russia to think to invade Israel to steal her wealth, settle old scores, and take land?

‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme. You will say, “I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people —all of them living without walls and without gates and bars. I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the land.” Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all her villages will say to you, “Have you come to plunder? Have you gathered your hordes to loot, to carry off silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods and to seize much plunder? ”’ (Ezekiel 38:10-13)

Do you see now how easy it will be for whole nations to band together and run hordes over those whom they perceive as weak, or rich, or for revenge? Easy. It will happen, the prophecy of Ezekiel's Gog-Magog battle will occur. Israel would lose because she was unsuspecting. Israel would succumb to the invasion, except for God's supernatural protection, that is. The bible says,

"This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign Lord. In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground. I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign Lord. Every man’s sword will be against his brother. I will execute judgment on him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord. ’ (Ezekiel 38:18-23).

Man fights over rocky outcrops and plunder that moths and rust destroy. The LORD God has set in place a holy plan of redemption since before the foundation of the world. He is mighty and great. Man is not. Look to the LORD for salvation, protection, and security. You don't have to wave a national flag on a pile of rocks that disappear at high tide, not when you can stand on THE Rock, (1 Cor 10:4) and wave the banner of truth, (Psalm 20:5) which endures forever.