Putin’s Ukraine Invasion in the light of Bible Prophecy

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        Today’s question, Putin started to invade Ukraine. What is its significance in the light of Bible prophecy? 

Excellent question. Today we are living in a dangerous world. It is becoming chaotic day by day. The world is just feeling a sense of relief from Covid Pandemic. Now, Putin has started to invade Ukraine. There is a huge humanitarian crisis unfolding. Our organization is planning to send some help to Ukrainian refugees. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to this ministry. You can easily donate online.

      Recently, I was in a conference. In the dining hall, I met a couple from Ukraine, who relocated to Canada. The woman told me, ‘I am glad we are not in Ukraine now because my young son would have been drafted into the army’. That is the condition of the people in Ukraine. Young people are being drafted to fight a never ending war. All they want is freedom and liberty. Yet, Putin is not willing to give them that freedom. Off course, Putin’s eyes are not just on Ukraine. He wants to bring back the glory and status enjoyed by Russia during the days of the Soviet Union. He thinks the fall of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe in 20th century.

That itself shows his ignorance. Soviet Union was built upon a political philosophy which was doomed to fail. Government run industries, Government run hospitals, Government run colleges, Government run restaurants, Government run farming, Government run everything. Karl Marx was a fool responsible for the deaths of millions of people. In Ukraine, Stalin’s collectivization policies caused the Great Famine of 1932-1933. This is known as the Holodomor or ‘Hunger killing’. Russian army seized the grain from the farmers of Ukraine. It created a political famine. It was not a natural disaster. Stalin wanted to put his Marxist philosophy into action with his inhuman cruelty on the people of Ukraine. Ukraine is one of the most productive and fertile regions of the world, the bread basket of Eastern Europe. Stalin reportedly admitted to Churchill that 10 million people died in Ukraine because of Holodomor.

In 1941, Hitler sent his tanks to encircle Kiev, Ukraine to punish Soviet army. Nazi soldiers trapped 600,000 Soviet troops inside Kiev. In this fight between Nazis and Soviets around Kiev, lot of innocent Ukrainians lost their lives. Many Ukrainians still remember those horrible days they endured under Stalin and Hitler. Now, that terror might return under Putin.

The Fall of Soviet Union on December 25, 1991. 

          Soviet Union collapsed on December 25- Christmas Day. A day when we think about God coming to this world as our Savior. A day that reminds us that God intervenes in human history. A day that reminds that God controls the destiny of humanity. Today our leaders completely forgot that truth. They behave like God does not exist. Even if he exists, he is irrelevant to human society. Our leaders think they can achieve anything they want on their own. 

In April 1986, a horrific accident happened at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in northern Ukraine. The Gorbachev government did not even bother to inform Ukrainians about the accident. Thousands of citizens were exposed to deadly nuclear radiation. This nuclear disaster might have played a role in Ukraine’s giving away thousands of its nuclear arsenal back to Russia. Ukraine once had over 4000 nuclear weapons. They listened to President Bill Clinton, Al Gore and John Kerry and returned all their weapons to Russia. They were told that they should worry more about climate change and melting ice caps, not Russia and Putin. Thank you, John Kerry! Poor Ukraine now facing the consequences. Disarming good guys will only embolden bad guys. No country wants to come to its rescue. Germany sent some helmets! America sent some weapons and food packets! France sent some medicines and blankets!

While there is nothing wrong with taking care of our planet and fighting ‘climate change’, Bible prophecy clearly tells us that current earth is unredeemable. God is going to destroy our planet and our universe in the near future (2 Peter 3:7). So, Kerrysque climate reformations do not save our planet from God’s wrath. Distracted by this godless environmentalism, the Western leaders lost sight of real danger posed by Russia and China. Their eyes are not looking at Jesus, the Lord of history.

Are we seeking God’s help?

During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln asked people to pray for the nation. During the Second World War, President FDR and Harry Truman asked people to pray for the nation and the world. During the Cold War, President Ronald Reagan strongly believed in God and asked people to pray for the world. His policies brought down the Soviet Union without firing a shot.

Communism collapsed. Atheism failed. Christians went back to churches and praised God all over Russia and Ukraine. Today, Ukraine is among the most religious nations in the world because those people experienced the life under leaders who espoused atheism.

Today, no leader is asking us to pray for the world. President Biden is not asking us to pray for the world or for Russia or Ukraine. The Chinese leaders are atheists. They do not even think about prayer. Sadly, the Western leaders are also practically atheists. None of them take prayer seriously. CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, ABC, BBC.. you turn any channel. No one is saying, let us pray and seek God’s help. For the first time in our world, prayer has become irrelevant. Truly this is the age of humanism. The age of secularism and unbelief.

         Putin’s Russia has been aggressive for a while. He has his eyes on Ukraine since 2004. Back in 2012, Presidential candidate Mitt Romney was mercilessly mocked when he suggested that Russia would become an aggressive nation. But now that has become a reality. Putin is waging cyber warfare on other nations, he is poisoning, imprisoning and killing his opponents, often outside Russia. He killed a plane load of people who left Amsterdam airport. In 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, with 283 passengers and 15 crew, was shot down when it was flying over Donetsk region in Ukraine. Their body parts splattered all over Ukraine. Putin sent a chilling warning to Ukrainians using the body parts of innocent people flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. This man is full of evil. Their blood is on his hands. With 6000 nuclear warheads, he possesses the world’s largest nuclear arsenal.

According to the Bible prophecy, Russia will play a major role in world events during the last days. It already has a significant presence in the Middle East. It has been equipping the enemies of Israel for many decades now. It supplies deadly weapons to Egypt, Syria and Iran, who would love to see the State of Israel destroyed. 

   Putin occupied Crimea. The world did nothing. He occupied Georgia. The world did nothing. Now, he is occupying Ukraine. The world is not able to stop him. Can anyone stop him if he attacks Israel? 

   You might ask, why would he attack Israel? Around twenty-five hundred years ago, prophet Ezekiel predicted Russia’ dominance in the last days. Read chapter 38 and 39 of the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel gives us a list of ten nations that will attack Israel in the final days. The third name, Rosh, is Russia. Ezekiel says that Russia will attack Israel to seize it’s land. Russia is the largest nation in the world by area. It has 11 percent of the landmass. But by population, Russia is at number 9. It has just 142,320,790 million people. That is less than the population of even Pakistan or Nigeria or Bangladesh. There is so much space in Russia alone for these 142 million people. But for Putin, it is not about taking care of his people. It is more about his craving for power and prestige. He will try to seize the land of Israel. 

With the rise of secularism and welfare state, Western leaders gradually cut down their defense budgets. They fail to see human evil and their militaries are not growing. This trend also emboldens Russia and China to become more aggressive.

   The second reason is, Ezekiel says that Russia will go to take great plunder. Israel has so much technology and wealth which are coveted by many nations. Russia will attack it to steal that technology and wealth. 

The third reason is, the hatred of Jewish people. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is Jewish. Putin wants to shame him. He might even kill him. Sadly, as our world moves away from the Biblical worldview, Antisemitism will only gets worse. This will prompt Russia and its friends to attack Israel.

To the dismay of the United States, today Israel refused to condemn Russia at the United Nations. there is a reason for this. Russia can go full rogue in the Middle East from now onwards. Israel does not want to upset Russia. Today’s Pentagon is consumed with woke ideology. It may not come to Israel’s rescue when it is attacked by Russia. And that is what will happen to Israel. No one comes to its aid including its best friend, USA.

   Prophet Ezekiel says that Russia will go with a coalition. Two weeks ago he met Chinese President Xi and they joined hands to help each other. Putin is also close friends with Muslim leaders like Ali Khamenei. He might form a coalition with China and Muslim nations and all of them will attack Israel. 

    We should take this prophecy seriously. Ezekiel told us that in the last days God would gather the dispersed people of Israel to their homeland. That prophecy was fulfilled in 1948. After two thousand years, God brought his people from many nations around the world to form the State of Israel. The Muslim nations tried to snuff off the little nation of Israel as soon as it was declared. But it was a miracle of God that the little nation withstood their aggression and lived to see this day. So, part of Ezekiel’s prophecy has already been fulfilled. 

Prophet Ezekiel says that God will preserve the nation of Israel against all its enemies. He says, ‘You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land (Ezekiel 38:15-16). They will go against Israel like a cloud. Like a big swarm of locusts. But God says, ‘that my fury will show in my face. For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken’ (vv.18-19). God says that He will destroy Russia and its friends when they attack Israel. Their motives were bad. They want more land and more wealth. These words apply to both Russia and China. They want more land and more wealth. They see the United States becoming less assertive, and they use that opportunity to attack small nations, Ukraine, Taiwan and later Israel.

  During the Afghanistan debacle, when Kabul fell down, the US embassy closed and moved out, but China’s embassy is still open. Now, in Kiev, US embassy closed and moved out, but China’s embassy is still open. Wherever the US moves out, China and Russia move in. Together they form a power coalition. They go after Israel, and God will punish them so much that they will never recover from that destruction. 

    So, that is how we should look at these incidents. As US leadership becomes weaker and weaker, Russia and China will become more aggressive and attack small nations like Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel. But God will not remain silent forever. When they attack Israel, God will intervene and restore the peace in our world. 

   Our God, Lord Jesus Christ, is a powerful God. He intervenes in history. He controls human destiny. Our part is to confess our sins, accept him as our Lord and Savior and do his will every day of our lives. Today we are looking forward to his second coming. The glorious second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is our hope. 

Throughout its long history, Ukraine suffered a lot. On December 6, 1240, the Mongols captured the city of Kiev and oversaw a great slaughter of Ukrainians. Later, Russian leaders also put Ukraine under their oppression. Tsar Nicholas I used his secret political police, the Third Department, to oppress people. He did not tolerate any opposition. Anyone who would dare to question him would be sent to cold prisons in Siberia. When Decembrist Uprising took place in 1825, the rebels were arrested and sent into exile. 11 of their wives or sisters followed these men into exile and isolation. Those women left all comforts behind to stay near their husbands or brothers. They endured hunger, torture, violence in defiance of the Tsar and in love for their loved ones. Those women are remembered as the Decembrist Wives. They became model of self-sacrifice and love in Russian history. Some of them like Maria Volkonskaya suffered in Ukraine.

In 1849, the novelist Feodor Dostoevksy, the author of great novel The Brothers Karamazov, was exiled to siberia for his ‘crimes against the state’. When he stopped in the Tobolsk transit camp, the Decembrist Wives went to meet him. The women gave him food, money and a copy of the New Testament!

Later Dostoevsky recounts how that event left a permanent impression on his memory. In his novel Crime and Punishment, he created the character of Sonya Marmeladova based on the personalities of Decembrist wives. They were patient, sacrificial, loving, enduring, resolute, hopeful of the promises of God given to us in Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament. May the spirit of Decembrist Wives carry the Ukrainians in the current crisis.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we pray for the people of Ukraine. Please help them in this crisis. We also pray that you convict President Putin and make him stop his atrocities on this nation. In your precious name, we pray. Amen.

-Paul Kattupalli MD