Russia and Georgia go to war. Reports indicate that Georgia has control of Tskhinvali, the capital of the breakaway province of South Ossetia. However, separatists claim that Russian tanks have reached the northern edges of the city and that Georgian troops have begun to retreat.

Why does this matter?

• Georgia is a key transit point for oil and gas from the petroleum-rich Caspian Sea
• The U.S. basically organized and underwrote the “Rose Revolution” that brought Georgia’s pro-Western government to power
• Georgia wants admittance to NATO, which Russia strongly opposes
• Israeli military advisers assisted Georgia in its capture of Tskhinvali, possibly opening the door to a wider conflict.

That last point is one that has to raise the radar of anyone who’s read biblical prophecy (see Ezekiel 38). Israel apparently has a strong interest in seeing that the oil pipelines crossing Georgia from Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan connect to Turkey, and then to Israel’s oil terminal at Ashkelon, rather than the Russian pipeline network.

One assumes that Western oil companies prefer the Georgia-Turkey-Israel connection, too.

Who’d have thought that the Gog/Magog war could be triggered by a dispute over oil pipelines?