A relatively small and undeveloped post about the war going on over there...
I do not believe it is the start of WWIII. Of course, I could be completely wrong on that but it is my current belief that WWIII will start in an unexpected place and in an unexpected way, and starting in the middle east is hardly what one would call an "unexpected place" or an "unexpected way".
Many self-proclaimed "prophecy experts" (and I am unclear on how one earns such a title -- how does one become an expert on understanding events which have not yet occurred?) have stated innumerable times that the final great war will begin involving Israel, but I am of a different view. I think it will start with an event in one of the Balkan states, or somewhere like that, leading to a preplanned invasion of Europe (specifically targeting Germany) and Turkey by Russia, and later attacks on the USA and perhaps on others by China, all leading to other nations being foolishly drawn into battle and resulting in their own great harm. Those that avoid engaging in this coming war will probably fare the best.
Once it is a global war, it will then converge on the middle east with anti-Israel nations, taking their cue from Russia's trek west across Europe, and bearing down on Israel, which will itself be deserted by its very busy no-longer-so-friendly allies. Eventually Russia and China will converge towards Israel as their battles elsewhere are flagging, the USA following them into that arena, and a standoff between Russia and the USA for a period will probably ensue. If it occurs, that standoff will, I believe, eventually culminate in a global nuclear holocaust. The whole war will probably last between two and three years and the ministry of the two witnesses will either bookend the war or begin during the war, and they will testify of the truth of Christ and His imminent return, with midnight being the darkest hour, the week of the nuclear holocaust. It will not be long after that, perhaps less than a year, when they are murdered and their resurrection takes place a few days later. It is shortly thereafter when the third woe and seventh trumpet occur, the return of the Lord, who will have His angels sweep the world clean of the remaining wicked and all that causes sin and then gather His own to himself.
Eventually, I will attempt to spell all or most of this out in more detail when (or maybe if?) I have the time to devote to it but, as always, I am not claiming to be a prophet, let alone a "prophecy expert" (whatever the heck that is), and everything herein written could be completely wrong. Nevertheless, I write it because I believe that views like my own are unheard in the world and that all too many people are easily sucked into the poplular but often deeply misguided beliefs of so many so-called "experts", too many voices claiming to speak for God and yet disagreeing with each other, leading to the secular world seeing God as being somehow schizophrenic and, thus, non-existent, not a real god. It is a great disservice to the Lord and those who unrepentantly continue on such a path will be held to account for maligning His Great Name.
The current war between Hamas and Israel is, I believe, simply setting the stage for the unification of Israel's regional opponents, with political, if not military, support of global powers such as Russia and China, and general opposition to Israel being fomented in extremely anti-Israeli MSM reporting of the horrors of what Hamas has done (mostly silence on that) but exaggerations and outright lies on what Israel does to defend itself. The world must be brought to the point of standing against Israel for the end to come, for God to be shown gloriously victorious over all the nations. It is the forces of darkness which are lashing out violently as their demise draws ever closer and, the closer it is, the worse such events will become. Recall that Islamic states have not been unified for a long time and none of them acting alone has power to overthrow and destroy Israel but they will perhaps come to believe that all together they can. Of course, the battle goes the way God decides, not men.
Trust God, not man, trust only the Ever Living God, our ever-loving heavenly Father.
