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While I am by no means a Prophet, and have never claimed, and would never claim, to be a Prophet, I must admit that recent events in Russian politics have inspired my personal faith by confirming that the Lord can and will indeed reveal things to us if we are in tune to His Spirit. Such is the case with the recent dismissal in August of this year -- 1998 -- of Sergei Kiriyenko as the Prime Minister of Russia. In the article called "Revealer of Secrets and Sergei Stepashin", I wrote in part:

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In spite of myself, I cannot deny that, for reasons of His own, the Lord sometimes chooses to give me little glimpses of the future. These "spiritual peeks" usually come in the form of strong impressions, and not actually in words, like the experiences I have described on previous occasions. As I explained a moment ago, the Lord gave me the impression that Sergei Kiriyenko, the former Prime Minister of Russia, would not last; that he was too weak; and that Yeltsin should get rid of him before the Russian presidential election drew any closer.

There is no other way that I could have known this. God did it! I was just looking at Kiriyenko's picture, and that was the immediate impression I received; one of weakness, and that he wouldn't last very long. I can't deny that God must have revealed it to me. I am not a real political analyst.

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It is now apparent to me that when I wrote the above words, less than two years before the 2000 presidential election actually occurred, the Lord was indeed inspiring my thoughts, and impressing on me what was going to happen in Russian politics, because Sergei Kiriyenko is now officially out of office. In fact, he barely lasted for four months as Prime Minister due to Russia's worsening economic situation under his short-lived leadership. To the surprise of the West, for the second time this year, during the third week of August, Boris Yeltsin dismissed the entire cabinet, including Mr. Kiriyenko himself. Following are several excerpts taken from a CNN -- Cable News Network -- news report issued on August 23, 1998:

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"Yeltsin Fires Kiriyenko And Cabinet - Chernomyrdin Back During Economic Crisis"

"MOSCOW (CNN) -- In a surprise move Sunday, President Boris Yeltsin sacked Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko and the rest of the Cabinet and re-named former premier Viktor Chernomyrdin as the acting prime minister, the Kremlin said."

"The announcement came as the 35-year-old Kiriyenko, who served only four months in office, was struggling to overcome one of Russia's worst economic crises since the collapse of Communism."

"During an emergency session on Friday, the lower house of parliament had blasted the government's handling of the crisis and called for a government of national trust to be formed. The Duma also passed a resolution urging Yeltsin to resign."

"It was the second time this year that Yeltsin had sacked his entire government. He dismissed Chernomyrdin, 60, and his cabinet in March, saying he needed a new prime minister to inject new life into market reforms."

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Exactly as I had foreseen through what I can only conclude was the guidance of the Lord's Spirit, Boris Yeltsin finally realized that Kiriyenko was simply too weak, and not the man for the job. To be quite honest, I was rather hesitant about even making the statement regarding Kiriyenko, because I do not consider myself to be a very knowledgeable person in a political sense. If I know little about American politics, I know even less about Russian politics. Despite this fact, I decided to go ahead and place myself, and my reputation, on the limb so-to-speak, by including the previous thoughts in the aforementioned article. It is for this reason that I was greatly encouraged to see my very words fulfilled only a few short months after I wrote them.

As I stated above, what is important about this particular development is that, being the politically astute leader that he is, President Yeltsin also realized that he needed to change horses before the year 2000 Russian presidential race draws any closer, if he expects to be succeeded by someone whom he supports. The following excerpts taken from another CNN news report released a day later on August 24, 1998, confirm this very point. Notice that Yeltsin clearly defines his main motivation for dismissing Kiriyenko; and that is his concerns for the year 2000 election, precisely as I said a few months ago:

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"Yeltsin Says Chernomyrdin Recalled To Restore Stability"

"MOSCOW (AP) -- Russian President Boris Yeltsin said Monday he recalled Viktor Chernomyrdin to head the government because an experienced leader was needed to tackle Russia's burgeoning crisis and restore political and economic stability."

"A day after he dismissed the government of Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko on Sunday and named Chernomyrdin acting premier, Yeltsin spoke to the nation in a televised address. He suggested Chernomyrdin might be the best candidate to succeed him when his term expires in 2000."

"Today we need those whom we call heavy-weights. I consider Chernomyrdin's experience and weight essential," he said."

"There is another important reason for that proposal, that is, to ensure continuity of the government in the year 2000," Yeltsin said. "(His) main advantages are decency, honesty, and thoroughness. I think these qualities will be the decisive argument in the presidential elections."

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As I write this today, the serious economic and political problems in Russia continue unabated with no clear relief in sight. In fact, as you will come to see shortly, the Russian situation has deteriorated to such a serious degree, that a G-7 meeting has been called which will be attended by members of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the European Union. More on this in a moment. To make matters worse, in contradiction to Boris Yeltsin's wishes, the lower house of the Russian Parliament -- known as the Duma -- which is currently controlled by Gannady Zyuganov and the Communist extremists, has refused for three weeks now to approve Boris Yeltsin's nomination of Viktor Chernomyrdin as the new Prime Minister. Chernomyrdin was the Prime Minister before Yeltsin removed him from office, and replaced him with Kiriyenko.

To make matters worse for the Russian President, those same Communists are likewise demanding Yeltsin's resignation as well. The situation has clearly reached a critical point between Mr. Yeltsin's reformative forces, and the Communist hard-liners -- headed by Gannady Zyuganov -- who desire to return to the way things used to be prior to the supposed fall of Communism and the break-up of the U.S.S.R. less than a decade ago.

What I find particularly alarming regarding these current developments in Russia, is the fact that many of the older generation Russians who have suffered because of all of the economic reforms, clearly support the Communists. These people have grown up with and worked under the seventy-two year Communist regime. That is basically all they have ever known. They have also seen the negative effects that Western influences, such as hard rock music and carnal materialism, have had on their youth, and they don't like it at all. In short, these older generation Russians would quickly embrace Gannady Zyuganov and the Communist hard-liners, were they to suddenly make some significant political gains.

Given the current political and financial state in Russia, this is quite possible, and it could happen rather quickly. In similar fashion, Russia's elderly generation would also gladly welcome the ultra-patriotic Alexander Lebed with his past Communist leanings as well. I discuss Mr. Lebed quite at length in the article entitled "Alexander Lebed and the Year 2000 Russian Presidential Race".

The Duma's staunch refusal to approve Chernomyrdin is not something which should be taken lightly. These people do represent a very powerful force, and I believe that they have very strong economic backing from both within and outside of Russia. In fact, the Russian Communist Party is the second most powerful, and the second largest political party in Russia after the United Russia Party.

One question which was undoubtedly on everyone's mind until a few days ago, was whether Boris Yeltsin would once again demonstrate his political savvy by surviving yet another attack from his political enemies. Would he discover a way to force the Duma to approve his nomination of Chernomyrdin as the new Prime Minister, just as he did with Kiriyenko? Or is the current economic and political confusion going to force President Yeltsin to resign?

Well, as we now know, Zyuganov and the Communist-controlled Duma have forced Yeltsin's hand. While they finally approved Yeltsin's nomination of Sergei Kiriyenko as the new Prime Minister following a week of stiff protest, this time they have pushed Yeltsin to the limit, and they have won. About a week ago, on September 5, 1998, CNN reported the following concerning the continued Communist opposition to Viktor Chernomyrdin's re-election to the Prime Minister post:

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CHERNOMYRDIN PROPOSES ECONOMIC RESCUE PACKAGE

"Acting Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin called Friday for "economic dictatorship" to end Russia's crisis and preserve market reforms as the hard-line opposition said it would again block his confirmation as prime minister. Outlining plans to stem the country's economic crisis, Chernomyrdin said the government would allow the ruble to float freely, allowing market forces to determine its value. He also said the government would press ahead with market reforms as soon as the situation was stabilized."

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This is precisely what the Russian government has done too. The ruble has been floating freely against other currencies, including against the American dollar, for several weeks now, and it is faring very poorly. In fact, as the following CNN news clip reveals, as of about a week ago, the ruble had lost sixty-three per cent of its previous value in less than three weeks. For my American readers who don't understand how serious this is, imagine if every dollar in your pocket lost its value so fast, that in less than three-weeks from now, it was only worth thirty-seven cents. Roughly speaking, that means that what costs you one dollar today, would cost you three dollars in a few weeks. That is the current real situation with the Russian ruble. The Russian people's money is losing value before their very eyes. The cost of living is skyrocketing dramatically. On September 6, 1998, CNN reported the following:

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RUBLE CONTINUES FREE FALL

"The Russian ruble continued its sharp decline Friday as acting Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin outlined plans for an "economic dictatorship" and struggled to convince the opposition party in parliament that he's the right man for the job. The ruble fell 21 percent in Moscow Friday to 16.99 to the dollar. The beleaguered currency has dropped 63 percent since Aug. 17. The free-falling ruble has boosted prices on food products and other commodities."

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As I mentioned earlier, I do not consider myself to be a Prophet, or a political analyst by any means; but as I am writing this current article, I must tell you that I am feeling something very heavy in the Spirit concerning this entire situation in Russia. I never imagined that I would get inspired writing a politically-oriented article, but I am. You may recall that in my article regarding Alexander Lebed, I stated that due to my Christian beliefs, it is normally not my policy to take much of an interest in many worldly political affairs. However, I have this strong impression that it was the Lord's gentle leading which led me to take an interest in Alexander Lebed, and the Russian situation in general. I cannot think of any other way to explain my sudden interest in these secular matters.

If what I am now sensing, if the impression I am now getting is correct and of the Lord, then as I briefly mention at the end of my article concerning Alexander Lebed, the world may soon receive a major shock. Exactly how soon, I cannot say; but if my impression is correct, then the semi-freedom which missionaries and evangelists have enjoyed in Russia may soon come to an end, if the current situation continues for much longer. The door of opportunity which the Lord opened for the evangelization of Russia may soon close, just as quickly as it opened. It seems that the more the economic situation has deteriorated in Russia, the more the Communists have adamantly held to their position of rejecting Chernomyrdin as the new Prime Minister, and demanding Boris Yeltsin's resignation. On September 7, 1998, CNN reported the following:

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YELTSIN WORKS TO FORGE AGREEMENT ON NEW GOVERNMENT

"Faced with one of the most serious political and economic crises since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russian President Boris Yeltsin began emergency talks Monday with parliamentary leaders in a bid to approve his candidate for prime minister. The closed-door talks with key members of each house of parliament came as the lower house, or State Duma, was preparing to vote later Monday on whether to nominate acting Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin as premier. The leaders of two major parliamentary factions -- the Communists and the Social Democrats -- indicated on Sunday they remained adamantly opposed to Chernomyrdin."

RUSSIA'S CRISIS CONTINUES

"The free falling Russian ruble showed no signs of a turn around Monday, as President Russian President Boris Yeltsin told parliament Monday he would defend his choice for prime minister and added a note of optimism about the country's ability to weather its financial storm. Meanwhile, Russian Central Bank Chairman Sergei Dubinin submitted a letter of resignation to Yeltsin, Itar-Tass news agency reported on Monday."

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Here we witness a classical example of the rats jumping out of a sinking ship, except this is an economic ship. Sergei Dubinin, the chairman of Russia's Central Bank has clearly seen the handwriting on the wall, and he apparently wants out while he can still hopefully save his own neck. It will be interesting to see how many others will follow suit. This move would be similar to Alan Greenspan -- the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board -- suddenly resigning his post in the United States of America. He would never do such a thing unless the economy was in extremely serious trouble. Oddly enough, the American economy is in very serious trouble, but they don't want you to know about it; at least not yet. At any rate, that is how serious the situation is in Russia. The very next day, CNN reported the following:

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RUBLE CONTINUES SLIDE

"Russia's central bank suspended trading of the ruble Tuesday and Russia shares remained relatively unchanged, as the political and economic turmoil that has rocked the country in recent weeks continued. The ravaged currency continued its sharp decent at the street trading level. As of Tuesday morning, the U.S. dollar was buying 20 rubles at the currency exchange booths."

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As I stated above, despite all of his political rhetoric, and his false show of strength, Boris Yeltsin was finally forced to give in to the Communists' demands. Just two days ago, at Chernomyrdin's own insistence, Yeltsin nominated Yevgeny Primakov to replace Chernomyrdin as his candidate for the office of Prime Minister. CNN reported the following:

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YELTSIN TO NOMINATE PRIMAKOV AS PREMIER

"Boris Yeltsin on Thursday nominated Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov to be prime minister in a bid to end a bitter dispute with the parliament that has stalled efforts to stem the economic crisis. Government officials said Yeltsin nominated Primakov after Viktor Chernomyrdin asked the president not to nominate him as prime minister for a third time. 'I cannot harm Russia. Russia has had enough upheavals this century. This is my choice,' said Chernomyrdin, who had been acting prime minister."

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As of this writing, I do not know if the Duma has accepted Yeltsin's nomination of Primakov. However, this Communist victory may be a dark foreshadow of things to come. Yeltsin has now shown weakness, and I suspect that the Communists will continue to exploit this show of weakness until the year 2000 election. These recent events in Russia highlight a very important lesson. While a substantial number of Americans have erroneously been led to believe that Russian Communism is dead, and that it has collapsed under the weight of its own corruption, there are others like myself who feel that this is the furthest thing from the truth. If anything, Communism may simply be a sleeping giant, or a temporarily tamed beast which is just waiting for the right moment to once again rear its ugly head; and surprise those people who have not seen the handwriting on the wall.

Scripturally-speaking, some Bible students like to point to the prophecies of Gog and Magog -- which can be found in the thirty-eighth and the thirty-ninth chapters of the Book of Ezekiel -- and suggest that the verses are referring to a Communist confederation with Russia at the head. According to this theory, Russia will supposedly lead ten nations of the European Union, which are said to be symbolized by the Ten Toes that are mentioned by the Prophet Daniel, and the Ten Horns which are described by John the Revelator in the Book of Revelation. Consider the following verses:

"Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king . . . And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever."


"After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns . . . And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows . . . And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings."


"And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads."


"And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy."


"So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns . . . And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns . . . And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast . . . And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire."


"I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn: Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck. For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another."


While I too embraced this doctrine for a number of years a few decades ago, as I reveal in some of my other articles -- such as the series "The Seven Heads" -- after conducting a closer study of the Scriptures, I concluded that if these prophecies are actually describing events of the far future -- that is, from the time of the Prophets -- and not already fulfilled events of the distant past -- it depends on if one embraces a Preterist or a Futurist point-of-view -- then the Beast and the Ten Horns which join it may possibly be more correctly associated with an Arab/Islamic nation, which will lead ten other Islamic nations in a military assault against the tiny nation of Israel. However, this type of scenario still does not leave Russia out of the picture entirely by any means.

It is common knowledge that for decades now, both the United States of America and Russia have cultivated friendships and forged political and military alliances in the Middle East. It is in fact these very alliances which keep the Arab world divided -- that is, aside from their own cultural, religious and political differences, which run very deep -- and this may possibly be by intentional design. I seriously doubt that any of these alliances would even exist were it not for the world's dependence upon Arab oil. As long as these Arab nations are divided in their loyalties between Russia and the United States of America, and as long as they mistrust each other, they are in effect neutralized, and unable to bring about the Arab unity which resulted in the oil embargo of the early 1970s. In other words, it should be evident that Arab disunity is in fact advantageous to Western survival and interests.

However, there is a very real danger lurking here. If the West continues to isolate Russia, as it has been doing by way of the eastward expansion of the NATO countries, which both Russia and China have strongly opposed, or by cutting off Russia's access to her Arab allies, this could result in some very dire consequences. If in months and years ahead, Russia were to return to full-fledged Communism, and if her newly-blossoming relationship with some of the Arab nations were to be placed in jeopardy, I can very well imagine a desperate Communist Russia -- which is still in possession of her nuclear arms by the way -- trying to make a move to protect her remaining territory, and perhaps to protect her interests in the Middle East as well.

To add to this dangerous scenario and powder keg, there is also the explosive issue of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks; which as I point out in other articles, I believe may eventually result in a full-fledged war, unless the parties involved both back down to some degree in their demands. Of course, if such a war were to ignite at some point in the future, naturally, both the United States and Russia would be forced to become involved, in order to assist their own allies their. Whether this assistance would be done openly, or as is often done by way of supplying weapons, advisers and military intelligence, remains to be seen.

While the American Zionist-controlled mass media has tried to convince us that Communism is dead and a threat of the past, the following CNN excerpt released on September 4, 1998 clearly shows that the leadership in Washington is indeed concerned about the political strength which is now possessed by the Communist-controlled Duma under the strong leadership of Gannady Zyuganov. I have no doubt that while they outwardly tell us that Communism is a past threat to world peace, they fully realize that now, more than ever, Boris Yeltsin's government is extremely vulnerable, and it could fall to a Communist victory, unless something is done quickly to avert it. If this were not the case, why would President Clinton even make the following remark about staying "on a democratic track"?:

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CLINTON, YELTSIN CONCLUDE SUMMIT

"Concluding his two-day summit with President Clinton, Russia's Boris Yeltsin said Russia has "a lot of tears and sweat" to expend on its struggle to a free market and democracy. Clinton was encouraging but emphasized "there is no short cut." The world stands ready to provide financial help so long as Russia stays on a democratic track, he said. Both presidents described their meetings as successful."

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What we have here is a clear case of government doublespeak that is reminiscent of George Orwell's famous novel "1984". Yes, Communism is dead they tell us, but we still need to watch out for it. Tell me my friends. What danger is there in a dead beast along the side of the road? Absolutely none; unless that beast is not really dead, of course.

Please go to part two for the conclusion of this article.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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