JD: We've been talking about the on going conflict there in Syria at the Turkish-Syrian border. They've agreed to some type of a cease fire there in Idlib, what can you tell us about it?
KT: Well that's right and Erdogan made the pilgrimage to Moscow to workout this agreement. In theory they're conducting joint Russian-Turkish military patrols to insure that the cease fire holds. There have been violations but it does seem to be holding and that's because its in both countries best interests. The Russians don't want an all out shooting war with Turkey and the Turks don't really want to get into a big conflict with Syria. So the cease fire does serve every parties interest for the time.
JD: I would imagine and there was a headline, Can Turkey defeat Russia's army in Syria? The best alternative was a cease fire.
KT: I think you're right about that. But again this cuts both ways. The Russians have their own vulnerabilities in Syria that we don't often pay attention to. For example, they must resupply their troops by sea and those resupply ships have to go through the Bosphorus. The Bosphorus obviously by Istanbul controlled by Turkey.
The second vulnerability the Russian's have is they have a single air base in Syria. Now that could also be the target of either the Turks or Jihadi groups. It hasn't been so far. So the Russians are not invulnerable. They have a couple of thousand troops on the ground. The Turks have about 7,000 but remember Turkey is just next door. So to resupply its troops it just has to drive trucks across the borders; for the Russians it's a lot more complicated.
JD: Ken Timmerman explaining why Russia and Turkey decided on a cease fire in Syria.
We report this information because it is setting the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.
Ken's report is evidence of how Russia will fulfill the prophecy of Ezekiel found in Ezekiel 38:2. That passage tells of the Gog Magog war. Gog being the personality, Magog being the location Russia and how Russia will lead a coalition of Islamic states in an effort to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth.
The Russian-Turkish conflict in Syria is a precursor for how Russia will take that leadership role. Daniel 11:40 reveals that Syria the other player in Ken's report will make the first move of the coalition to attack the Jewish state. This prophetic stage is being set so that Bible prophecy can be fulfilled.
