II Esdras 15:28-45

An analysis of prophetic scriptures in the Apocrypha.

II Esdras 15

:28

Behold, a terrifying sight, appearing from the east! The nations of the dragons

of Arabia shall come out with many chariots, and from the day that they set out,

their hissing shall spread over the earth, so that all who hear them fear and

tremble. Also the Carmonians, raging in wrath, shall go forth like wild boars of the

forest, and with great power they shall come, and engage them in battle, and shall

devastate a portion of the land of the Assyrians with their teeth. And then the

dragons, remembering their origin, shall become still stronger; and if they combine

in great power and turn to pursue them, then these shall be disorganized and

silenced by their power, and shall turn and flee. And from the land of the

Assyrians an enemy in ambush shall beset them and destroy one of them, and fear

and trembling shall come upon their army, and indecision upon their kings.

:34

Behold, clouds from the east, and from the north to the south; and their

appearance is very threatening, full of wrath and storm. They shall dash against

one another and shall pour out a heavy tempest upon the earth, and their own

tempest; and there shall be blood from the sword as high as a horse's belly and a

man's thigh and a camel's hock. And there shall be fear and great trembling upon

the earth; and those who see that wrath shall be horror-stricken, and they shall be

seized with trembling. And after that, heavy storm clouds shall be stirred up from

the south, and from the north, and another part from the west. And the winds

from the east shall prevail over the cloud that was raised in wrath, and shall dispel

it; and the tempest that was to cause destruction by the east wind shall be driven

violently toward the south and west. And great and mighty clouds, full of wrath

and tempest, shall rise, to destroy all the earth and its inhabitants, and shall pour

out upon every high and lofty place a terrible tempest, fire and hail and flying

swords and floods of water, that all the fields and all the streams may be filled with

the abundance of those waters. And they shall destroy cities and walls, mountains

and hills, trees for the forests, and grass of the meadows, and their grain. And they

shall go on steadily to Babylon, and shall destroy her. They shall come to her and

surround her; they shall pour out the tempest and all its wrath upon her; then the

dust and smoke shall go up to heaven, and all who are about her shall wail over

her. And those who survive shall serve those who have destroyed her.

II Esdras 15:28

:28

Behold, a terrifying sight, appearing from the east!

     The assaulting nations of the Russian Alliance will come from the east.

II Esdras 15:29

:29

The nations of the dragons of Arabia shall come out with many chariots, and from

the day that they set out, their hissing shall spread over the earth, so that all who

hear them fear and tremble.

     Here we find a profound identification of the nations allied with the Russian Alliance as being

from Arabia! Truly the Muslim nations hate Israel. Their dragons and chariots will come out to do

war. The word 'chariots' should be taken to mean a man-carrying vehicle. How better could the

writer have described tanks than as dragons? It will be tanks, self-propelled artillery and armored

personnel carriers rather than the traditional horse-drawn Roman chariots. The great rumbling

they make will scare the bejeebers out of those being assaulted.

II Esdras 15:30

:30

Also the Carmonians, raging in wrath, shall go forth like wild boars of the forest,

and with great power they shall come, and engage them in battle, and shall

devastate a portion of the land of the Assyrians with their teeth.

     The Carmonians, from eastern Persia or Iran *1, will fight like wild men. They will attack the

land of the Assyrians which is Iraq. Sounds a lot like the Russian Alliance will at that point be

disintegrating as ancient rivalries between Iraq and Iran flare up in the middle of the war.

II Esdras 15:31 - 33

:31

And then the dragons, remembering their origin, shall become still stronger; and if

they combine in great power and turn to pursue them, then these shall be

disorganized and silenced by their power, and shall turn and flee. And from the

land of the Assyrians an enemy in ambush shall beset them and destroy one of

them, and fear and trembling shall come upon their army, and indecision upon

their kings.

     The Arabian forces will get the upper hand if they can consolidate their forces. The Iranians will

be defeated. The Iraqis will ambush them and push the Iranians back leaving the Iranian

leadership in quite a quandary.

II Esdras 15:34

:34

Behold, clouds from the east, and from the north to the south; and their

appearance is very threatening, full of wrath and storm.

     Clouds from the east of Israel cross the sky from north to south. The clouds are not enormous

towering thunderclouds as we think of them, but rather the jet contrails criss-crossing the sky as the

fighter aircraft race across the sky to engage in combat.

II Esdras 15:35 - 36

:35

They shall dash against one another and shall pour out a heavy tempest upon the

earth, and their own tempest; and there shall be blood from the sword as high as a

horse's belly and a man's thigh and a camel's hock.

     These aircraft shoot each other down in vicious air-to-air combat. They will drop huge amounts

of ordnance upon enemy ground targets, creating explosions which rip the ground and throw metal

shards, rocks and dirt high into the air. Tempest is a too mild a word to describe the destructive

force being witnessed.

Oil will flow out of ruptured pipelines in such quantities that it will flow like streams upon the

ground.

II Esdras 15:37

:37

And there shall be fear and great trembling upon the earth; and those who see that

wrath shall be horror-stricken, and they shall be seized with trembling.

     Panic will be widespread as those who witness the bloodbath recoil in terror.

II Esdras 15:38

:38

And after that, heavy storm clouds shall be stirred up from the south, and from the

north, and another part from the west.

     The storm clouds are a representation of military force, both in the air and on the ground. More

aerial combat will occur with forces coming from the north, south and west.

II Esdras 15:39

:39

And the winds from the east shall prevail over the cloud that was raised in wrath,

and shall dispel it; and the tempest that was to cause destruction by the east wind

shall be driven violently toward the south and west.

     The armies from the east will overcome the armies of the west and drive them west and south.

II Esdras 15:40

:40

And great and mighty clouds, full of wrath and tempest, shall rise, to destroy all the

earth and its inhabitants, and shall pour out upon every high and lofty place a

terrible tempest,

     The great military forces will engage in an immense conflict. Bombs will be dropped in such

great quantities that seemingly everything is destroyed.

II Esdras 15:41

:41

fire and hail and flying swords and floods of water, that all the fields and all the

streams may be filled with the abundance of those waters.

     Clues are given which point to this battle being conducted with modern technology. Fire and

hail we have seen can easily be a description of conventional bombing attacks. The next type of

weaponry used here is 'flying swords.' What a great description of cruise missiles! Modern

technology was being described by the ancients, and not badly at that.

II Esdras 15:42

:42

And they shall destroy cities and walls, mountains and hills, trees for the forests,

and grass of the meadows, and their grain.

     Everything is obliterated, from homes to food.

II Esdras 15:43

:43

And they shall go on steadily to Babylon, and shall destroy her.

     The Babylon shown here is referring to the capital of Iraq, not New York City as described by

John. Considering that this battle of nations is referring to an end times conflict between Iraq, Iran,

and Arabia situated during the great war, the Babylon mentioned would refer to a local city.

II Esdras 15:44

:44

They shall come to her and surround her; they shall pour out the tempest and all its

wrath upon her; then the dust and smoke shall go up to heaven, and all who are

about her shall wail over her.

     The Iraqi capital city will be obliterated.

II Esdras 15:45

:45

And those who survive shall serve those who have destroyed her.

     The Iraqis will serve the Iranians when the battle is done.

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