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"And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared." - Revelation 16:12
"And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them." - Revelation 9:13-16
For a number of years now, the fulfillment of the above prophecy has been possible. The stage is being set for the sounding of the sixth trumpet.
In the above prophecy, the size of the army from the east is given as "two hundred thousand thousand:" - 200 million. In 1964, it was reported nationally in the U.S.A. that the Communist Chinese had harnessed a militia of more than 200 million men in Mainland China.
Since January 1990, a further element has been in place.
"In January 1990, when the Ataturk Dam (the sixth largest in the world) was being flooded, Turkey cut off the flow of the Euphrates completely, for three weeks. There was near-panic in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and black-outs in the towns which depended for their electricity on hydroelectric power generated from the Euphrates - there simply wasn't enough flow to turn the turbines."
Source: The BBC Correspondent programme on the Turkish GAP Project shown on 30th September, 2000.
The Southeast Anatolia Project (commonly known by its Turkish initials as GAP) has been under construction for more than 30 years. The project will eventually include 19 hydroelectric power stations and 22 dams, built across both the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. It was the brain-child of Ataturk back in the 1930's in order to vitalise the impoverished Southeast Anatolia region.
Turkey claims exclusive rights to the water in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers as they originate in her territory.
"Neither Syria nor Iraq can lay claim to Turkey's rivers any more than Ankara could claim their oil. This is a matter of sovereignty. We have a right to do anything we like." - Suleyman Demirel, Turkey's former president
Turkey is currently has plans for a dam, called the Ilisu Dam, across the valley of the River Tigris. In contrast to the above quotation, Turkish officials pledge that the design of the dam will make it impossible to hold water back, and anyway Turkey would never want to. So fears that the dam will become an international flashpoint - with the countries downstream, Syria and Iraq - receiving less water, are held to groundless.
However, there is still potential for war over this issue in the Middle East.
Are you watching and praying (Mark 13:33)? Are you watching for the signs of the seven trumpets? Believers will be caught up to meet the Lord Jesus Christ in the air on his return "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump" - 1 Corinthians 15:52.
We will not know the day or the hour, but we should know the season!
"Now learn a parable of the fig tree; when her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So ye, in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done. Heaven and earth shall pass away; but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is." - Mark 13:28-33
"For yourselves know perfectly, that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
" - 1 Thessalonians 5:2-6
Another Turkish GAP web site.
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