Paul Rolland | Night Watchman Ministries | Who is the First Rider or White Horseman of the Apocalypse?

Revelation 6:2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

Commentary; the rider is the ‘beast’ or ‘antichrist’. His being clothed in white suggests ‘3’ false righteousness, false peace and false authority. He has a bow, but no arrows. He rules with lies and threats, but no military or arms. He conquers and subjugates, not with force but with ‘5’ lies, deception, false covenants and false agreements and false promises. He is the world’s greatest ‘political’ leader and deceiver. He is the one who ‘confirms the false covenant of seven years with Jacob’ which starts the tribulation. You should know now of who I speak. His ‘crown’ represents authority, rulership and position. It even literally represents his ‘position’ as Crown Prince, once the tribulation begins. My discernment is that the ‘white horse upon which he sits’ is symbolically a white Arabian stallion.

Paul Rolland | Night Watchman Ministries | MbS as the One World Government Leader

7’ Paul Rolland, Night Watchman, Night Watchman Ministries:

Evil mankind (6) + evil beast/antichrist (6) + evil false prophet (6) = 666 (a literal number represented by the number 6, repeated three times in a linear row.)

666

The infamous, “Mark of the Beast” and “number of his name is 666” imagery is no different than any of the other generalized, descriptive terms that John the Apostle used, while in his banishment on the Isle of Patmos. Rev. 13:17-18 is probably the most symbolic, well known and most poorly understood two verses in the book of Revelation, and in the entire Bible. “And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man: and his number is Six hundred, threescore and six (666).” (Emphasis added).

(6) The Number of an Evil Man:

Verse 13:18 clearly states that 666 (6) is a number of a man … not a number of an angel, not a number of Satan (which is ‘5’), Devil, serpent or dragon, nor of any kind of reference to Babylon (city) or Mystery Babylon (false religion). The reference is literally to man (mankind), the beast/antichrist (a literal, physical man) and the false prophet (a literal, physical man). Each of them is judged to be extremely evil and each is therefore assigned a number of six (6) to represent the imperfection, sinfulness and evilness of man, before God. Combining the number of each type of man leads to 666, this (6) number represents the totality of evil, of the three men. ‘7’ The number three (3) denotes intensity and emphasis. The fact that the number six (6) is repeated three (3) times emphasizes the most intense evil that mankind, antichrist, and the false prophet (6) collectively possess during the tribulation period. Evil doesn’t come any worse, or more intensely than this. Period. When the bible states an important reference to someone or something, the word ‘7’ of God is very specific and literal. There should be no confusion. To understand why the number six (6) represents evil, Verse 13:18 (6) tells us to “count” his number.

The False Prince of Peace or ‘White Horseman’ is Riding! Digital authoritarianism has permeated the Middle East. Welcome to the world of digital authoritarianism, where digital harassment, surveillance and disinformation are used in an attempt to control human behaviour

Marc Owen Jones 11 August 2022 12:43 BST | Last update: 5 months 1 week ago

In an exclusive extract from his new book, Marc Owen Jones explains how governments and non-state actors use social media and digital technology to deceive and control citizens

Paul Rolland | Night Watchman Ministries | MbS and the Evil Trinity of Technology.

https://youtu.be/nwHMvdnAMNE

Over the past ten years, and in the wake of the Arab Spring, while writing about various aspects of Gulf politics and media, I have received death threats, threats of rape, and online pile-ons. I have had caricatures drawn of me as an Iranian puppet, and websites set up for the sole purposes of defaming me and other academics and activists. I have had impersonators set up social media accounts and write to local newspapers with political opinions contrary to those that I hold.

I have been the subject of multiple, often contradictory, smear campaigns. If my attackers are to be believed, I am both gay and homophobic, both an Iranian and Qatari stooge, both Shi’a and an atheist, and at times a Western secret agent. My colleagues and friends have been sent malicious spyware that steals their passwords, monitors phone calls, and even records videos from their webcams.

I have been banned from entering Bahrain for criticising government repression online, and even had my Twitter account temporarily suspended after numerous smear campaigns. I have drunk coffee with people who were later incarcerated for merely writing a tweet deemed too critical by their government. Over time, I have witnessed the psychological change and damage, within me, and others, who have been subjected to continuous online violence. 

Welcome to the world of digital authoritarianism, where digital harassment, surveillance and disinformation are used in an attempt to control human behaviour. Digital authoritarianism is the “use of digital information technology by authoritarian regimes to surveil, repress, and manipulate domestic and foreign populations”. By empirically documenting known disinformation campaigns, and the different and evolving forms of deception, this book lays out the case that Saudi Arabia in particular should be seen as a new digital superpower, at least in the realms of deception via social media, specifically Twitter.

Paul Rolland | Night Watchman Ministries | MbS and His Mark of the Beast Coming Soon ‘666’

It includes a wide gamut of repressive techniques, including “surveillance, censorship, social manipulation and harassment, cyber-attacks, internet shutdowns, and targeted persecution against online users”. An increasingly worrying component of social media manipulation is disinformation and misinformation; terms often used interchangeably to describe attempts to manipulate public opinion or give the illusion of public support for specific issues.

Although this book deals with multiple aspects of digital authoritarianism, its primary focus is on disinformation and deception through social media. Fundamentally, it asks how governments and other non-state actors use social media and digital technology to deceive and control citizens living in the MENA region, and more specifically, the Gulf region.  

Disinformation and fake news 

From Washington, DC in the United States to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, disinformation and what is sometimes termed “fake news” is a global problem. It is part of what Claire Wardle describes as a growing “information disorder”. Since 2008, academic attention across disciplines, but especially psychology and communications, has been directed at understanding the purpose of disinformation. 

However, while disinformation is not new, the digital technologies that are being exploited by those spreading disinformation are relatively recent. No longer are the more centralised mediums of television, print news and radio the sole – or indeed, the primary – means of distributing disinformation. The new reach afforded by digital media and social media platforms, abetted by the growing ubiquity of internet-enabled smartphones, is shifting the scale of the information disorder, and disinformation is fundamentally altering people’s perceptions of established truths and facts. 

This is no different in the Middle East and North Africa. As a profoundly unequal region, the impact and takeup of digital technology are varied and differentiated according to governmental, business and consumer adoption. The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar are among the top countries in the world with regard to digital consumer adoption, “with more than 100 per cent smartphone penetration and more than 70 per cent social media adoption” in 2016. 

This is higher than in many parts of the United States and Northern Europe. Yemen, on the other hand, is one of the poorest countries in the world, and this is reflected in the fact it has the lowest internet penetration in the MENA region. Yet while internet penetration rates are increasing or have plateaued, social media is more subject to fluctuation.

For example, use of Twitter and Facebook is declining in the MENA region in general, although Saudi is still the world’s fifth (5)-largest Twitter market, with 38% (10 million) of its population considered active users. Although the use of Twitter, WhatsApp, Facebook and, to an extent, Instagram is generally falling across the Middle East, in countries such as Egypt, Facebook use is increasing. Despite changing trends, the numbers of those using social media remain high.

New platforms may rise and fall, but the reality of how we communicate has been irreparably changed by digital technology. As a result, the extant challenges such technologies pose for the spread of disinformation are not going to disappear any time soon. 

(5) The growing dangers of deception 

These dangers of the information disorder are becoming increasingly apparent. From (7) the rise of those who reject vaccinations to those who believe the world is flat, fringe conspiracies are arguably becoming more mainstream thanks to a proliferation of alternative information sources abetted by an apparent rise in distrust in traditional authority, whether that be government communications offices or the mainstream media.

In his book on propaganda, Peter Pomerantsev argues that we are experiencing a “war against reality”. Here disinformation and deception seek to alter people’s views on reality through the discrediting of “experts”, the sowing of alternative explanations, and playing on people’s visceral emotions to make them feel more vulnerable and therefore receptive to falsehoods.  

And it is serious. Disinformation can lead to indoctrination, which can lead to incitement. Depending on the nature of the indoctrination, incitement can lead to violence and even genocide. The Arab world has witnessed the tragedy of this. The rise of Daesh [the Islamic State group] has widely been attributed to the ability of disinformation, propaganda and indoctrination to transcend global borders via digital technology.

Even Facebook has acknowledged that its platform was used to incite what has been described as “genocidal” violence against Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim population. The same was true in the “closed” environment of WhatsApp, where one video, for example, claimed to show Rohingya cannibalising Hindus. Of course, it was found to be false. Hundreds, and possibly thousands, of people may have died during the Covid-19 pandemic as a result of disinformation about the virus. 

The war against reality risks undermining many of the advancements in critical thinking, science and knowledge creation that have been made over the past few centuries. It is no surprise then that disinformation and the attendant term “fake news” have become ubiquitous in the past decade. The terms, along with the expression “war against reality”, are bound up in the vocabulary of the “post-truth” age, wherein “objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief”.

The motivations for such falsehoods are myriad, and several explanations have been touted; false information makes companies more money, truth is boring, or disinformation for profit is itself a business model. However, while financial gains in the realm of commerce are often the objectives of the service provider, the clients of such disinformation cannot be overlooked. After all, without demand, there is no supply, and the post-truth age has played out in specific ways in the Gulf region.  

Another way to view fake news is not a fight about truth, but about power. As Mike Ananny notes, “Fake news ‘is evidence of a social phenomenon at play – a struggle between [how] different people envision what kind of world that they want’.” In the realm of politics, the terms post-truth and war against reality sometimes even seem like a quaint euphemism.

Michael Peters is more forceful, and highlights the phenomenon of “government by lying”, whereby demagogues and those on the fringes of political life use online media to disseminate controversial and often fallacious content in order to obtain power as a means of promoting their view of reality through policy or legislation.

The phenomenon is not confined to authoritarian regimes, but is also being driven by well-established democracies traditionally thought to have a relatively robust media that allowed for some plurality of opinion.

Democratic regimes have, with various levels of sophistication, deceived their people. Some of these lies, such as the claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD), were used to justify an immensely tragic war, the consequences of which are still being felt and will continue to be felt for generations.

We should not delude ourselves into thinking that deception is the purview of regimes classified as authoritarian. It is an illiberal practice common to every regime type. 

Having said that, a key distinction between illiberal and authoritarian regimes is the presence of the press.

A functioning and critical media, free from state control, has always been considered a mechanism by which to expose such lies and hold governments to account, even if this happens after the purpose of the lie has been achieved. However, despite the efforts of populists like Trump and Orban, a free press, however precarious, still exists in most European countries and North America. 

That these institutions offer a key line of defence against the unfettered and unchallenged deception by autocratic leaders places them squarely in the realm of the enemy. For this reason, a cornerstone of the new age of deception has been the trope of demonising the media.

Trump’s exhortations of fake news media are not new. The German term Lugenpresse, or “lying media”, was used extensively in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to discredit those media that contradicted the statements of particular political parties.

The term has even been used by the likes of Richard Spencer, an American neo-Nazi and president of the National Policy Institute. In addition to discrediting those news channels that criticise him or his allies, Trump has promoted a steady stream of news outlets that he believes are supportive of him, such as One America News Network (OANN). For Trump and other populists, the idea has been to discourage the exposure of potential supporters to criticism of Trumpism.

While lying is not a partisan notion, in the current post-truth age the rise of right-wing populism has brought with it a tide of deceptive influence campaigns.

The Washington Post revealed that President Donald Trump had made approximately 22,000 false or misleading claims by the middle of 2020.Discrediting the press results from the existence a pluralistic media system, and thus is indicative of a desire to undo that pluralism in favour of a more monistic and authoritarian approach. 

Although figures such as Donald Trump might have pathological characteristics that encourage their tendency to govern through deception, the emergence of what has been described as “truth decay” has been partly spurred on by a loosely regulated digital environment.

Without established safeguards and gatekeepers setting the agenda through vertically organised media platforms as well as the deterioration of sovereign boundaries that separate national news from the international information ecosystem, disinformation has become detached from its parochial context.

A tweet sent by someone in Hong Kong can be read instantly by someone in Argentina. Regardless of whether you agree with a message or not, the swift and immediate transmission of messages, however erroneous or truthful, has become accessible to the multitudes.  

This is not to advocate for vertically owned media structures that maximise the control of certain gatekeepers. Naturally, the benefits of challenging traditional media monopolies should be clear by this point. Globalisation, satellite TV and now the internet have challenged the ability of dictators and democracies to control their own domestic ecosystems. Whether we like it or not, technological change has resulted, to some extent, in a regional and global pluralism.

Digital citizen journalism, activism and open source investigations have all contributed to creating new streams of accountability that promote transparency and openness. But this book is not about the positive aspects of our digital information ecosystem; it is about the manipulation of truths and facts designed to serve the agenda of powerful actors that primarily seek to censor and mislead their populations.

It is about the “deception order” that works together to enact a war on truth that threatens the shared reality in which we live, whether that’s about medical science or harmful lies about a particular ethnic group. Fundamentally, it is about documenting weaponised deception that results in widespread suffering and misery, or the perpetuation of political systems that promote corruption and inequality. 

Paul Rolland | Night Watchman | Night Watchman Ministries | MbS and the ‘Bottomless Pit’ of Evil – House of Saudi Seven

It is important to note that disinformation transcends borders, and malign actors are using disinformation to influence the foreign policy of other countries to further their own interests. Digital globalisation does not necessarily respect the sovereignty of states or the increasingly porous digital boundaries embodied in the term “world wide web”.

The information ecosystems in liberal democratic states have, to varying extents, created a space in which institutions act transparently in order that their facts and “truths” may be contested and validated. This creates a reciprocal level of trust that affirms and establishes the authority of institutions through their accountability to those whom they serve. 

And while partisanship over moral and ethical choices may thrive, the trust imbued by this reciprocal relationship, to no small extent, encourages a shared set of specific ideological values. This shared reality, while allowing for disagreement and conjecture, is still mostly bounded by a mutual set of assumptions about science, civility and the nature of truth – aspects socialised through state education and other hegemonic endeavours. However, the rise of post-truth politics has highlighted the fragility of this relationship, and the vulnerability of sovereign media ecosystems to the transnational nature of digital media.

It is the functionality of software created as far afield as Silicon Valley, combined with the malicious intentions of specific bad actors, that are undermining this shared reality inside and outside their specific polity boundaries (assuming they are a state). Populists and bad actors, wherever they may be, are able to subvert these norms for their own ends.  

Situating the Middle East 

Despite this urgency, up until now the study of disinformation has tended to privilege a Cold War paradigm, which frames Russia and China as forces undermining US and European security. The focus is rarely on the Middle East and Western-allied Gulf states. In a similar vein, there has been a tendency to focus on actors who produce their own capabilities, such as China and Russia. 

This is not to diminish such research, but simply to argue that there is a normative tendency to focus on these states as the main actors in the disinformation ecosystem. It is a field dominated by transatlantic security concerns. From a communications and political science perspective, much of the existing non-MENA literature is also focused on the disinformation propagated by the rise of the far right, both in the United States and across Europe. 

This has been especially true within liberal democracies, which have often framed the rise of disinformation as being integral to the decline of democracy and to a renewed interest (5) in libertarian or authoritarian principles. It also makes sense, as disinformation has arguably been both the product and symptom of the resurgence of populism. Parallels drawn with the rise of European fascism in the 1930s have also created an understandable sense of urgency in trying to understand the role (5) of propaganda, deception and populism.  

However, for those living in the Middle East, disinformation is all too familiar. But, like other regions beyond Europe and the English-speaking world, it is neglected by social media companies too.

BuzzFeed’s Craig Silverman notes how Facebook tended to be US-focused when dealing with disinformation. Sophie Zhang, a former Facebook employee, highlighted how Facebook tended to ignore or delay dealing with platform manipulation in places that would not cause an overt PR backlash. Conversely, it is this seeming indifference from tech firms in the so-called Global North that facilitates illiberal practices across vast swathes of the globe. It has become abundantly clear that the research agenda needs to focus on disinformation in the Middle East and Africa.

Extant disinformation studies on MENA have tended to conform to Western foreign policy concerns, for example, Daesh and Iran as bad actors. The rise of Daesh has thrown into sharp relief the power of non-state actors to spread gruesome and morbid propaganda. It has also reflected the fact that disinformation or propaganda has tended to elicit interest from Western policymakers only when it poses threats to Western civilians or interests.

Yet the rise of Daesh itself, both on- and offline, can partly be attributed to a tendency to ignore the initial indicators of a looming crisis before it breaks into the mainstream. Without wishing to undermine the importance of studying the likes of Daesh, or indeed, their disinformation, it tends to divert limited attention from the sheer scourge of disinformation generated by MENA state actors that are well integrated and legitimised within the international community. 

Of course, this does not mean there is not a burgeoning network of scholars, activists, policymakers and journalists working to document and highlight the prevalence of (5) disinformation in the Middle East. Fact-checking sites such as the Jordanian-based fatbyanno (meaning “just check” in Arabic) and Misbar have been pioneering Arabic language fact checking. But they have their work cut out; with over 400 million Arabic speakers worldwide, and a media ecosystem plagued by disinformation, efforts are limited. Much research has been issue focused, with published articles seeking to elaborate on specific events, such as the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, or the Gulf Crisis, or religiously framed Covid-19 disinformation. 

Paul Rolland | Night Watchman Ministries | MbS and His Mark of the Beast Coming Soon ‘666’

There are also emerging studies based on country cases and demography. Sub types of disinformation connected to cybersecurity, such as studies (5) on “hack and leak operations”, shed important light on the minutiae of tactics and how they resonate in a regional context. However, due to the need to highlight disinformation campaigns rapidly, the snail-paced aspect of academic publishing creates a lag around what is a rapidly changing and urgent problem. 

The new methods required to do open source and forensic analysis are also creating a chasm in the literature between those working in the realm of computer science and the social sciences. Empirical studies are increasingly documented by reputable news outlets working with researchers, and research organisations focused on technology and digital forensics.

The Citizen Lab, based at the University of Toronto, has published numerous forensic investigations on (5) digital authoritarianism across the region, and for some time ran a periodical update entitled The Middle East and North Africa CyberWatch.The Stanford Internet Observatory has also established relationships with companies like Facebook and Twitter, and frequently publishes analyses of state-backed information operations emanating from the Middle East based on data provided on those countries. Similarly, the Global Inventory of Organized Social Media Manipulation published annually by the Oxford Internet Institute interviews subject area experts to document the nature of disinformation in a worldwide context. 

The European Union is also beginning to resource tackling disinformation, and, as Mariatje Shaake has noted, “Europe” is one of the only serious regulators of big tech. Given the wide range of methods required to study and identify disinformation, it does not sit comfortably within a single academic discipline.  

It can seem somewhat arbitrary to focus on countries equally when studying a whole region. The term MENA is a problematic term used to describe diverse populations, languages, historical experiences and political traditions, not to mention increasingly divergent foreign policies and domestic priorities. Nonetheless, without wishing to appear reductive, many of the states are still bound by common strands, especially with regard to religion, language and legacies of imperial or colonial domination. At the very least, it is a useful, albeit flawed, heuristic.

In the context of this book, the MENA is also a nexus, where multiple actors compete for interest. Part of de-essentialising any region is to acknowledge that the “deception order” is not confined to authoritarian states hermetically sealed into neatly packaged geopolitical regions.  

While the role of the internet and digital media has spanned multiple disciplinary spheres, there is still a tendency within research on the region, and more broadly on the global context, to focus on the state as a key unit of analysis – whether in terms of state policies or state activities. This is particularly true of relevant studies of authoritarian resilience in the region, which focus on regime survival. Much of the capability of MENA-based actors comes from the utilisation of technologies and human resources from China, Europe and North America, which often permit such expertise to be shared on the basis that many of these countries share overlapping foreign policy goals.

This is not to discount the role of the state, but rather to acknowledge it as one actor among many in (5) the creation of digital authoritarianism, and that states, just as they interact with other entities, are also able to more easily project their power beyond borders when it comes to digital authoritarianism.

So while these agglomerations of disinformation actors span continents, MENA here generally refers to the locations and populations targeted and exploited in the context of these operations, and that emanate from the deception order outlined in Chapter 2. At the same time, while the book deals with numerous case studies, the focus tends to be on events and actors in the Persian Gulf. Indeed, as this book argues, the politics of the Gulf region have resulted in numerous global deception operations since 2011.  

With the majority of Gulf states rated by most indices as authoritarian, the need to understand digital illiberal practices is as pertinent as ever. The fact that the study of digital disinformation is relatively new, and that the Middle East is often overlooked, means that many pertinent questions remain unanswered. These questions span multiple disciplines, but especially International Relations, Political Science and Communications. In the area of Communications, Ferrara et al. note the urgent task of identifying the “puppet masters”.

Indeed, by exploring whom bots target, what they talk about, and when they take action, we might be able to determine who is behind them. Such inquiries overlap with the demands of IR theorists, who seek to understand “why states and non-state actors use disinformation, and why disinformation appears to be ever more present in modern-day international politics than ever before”.

To do this we must first document and uncover deception operations, and then determine who is responsible, how they work, and on what scale they operate. We can do this by examining the discursive, tactical and strategic qualities of deceptive content. By answering these questions we can begin to understand who the largest deception players in the region are, and what it is they are seeking to achieve.  

The Gulf’s post-truth ‘moment’ 

With the above in mind, this book makes the case for a Gulf post-truth “moment”, a period of time characterised by the strengthening of digital authoritarianism and led primarily by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The book seeks to explain both why this moment has emerged and its various modalities – i.e. what are the tactics and methods of deception? One of the overarching arguments is that the techno optimism characterised by the Arab Uprisings that began in 2010 has given way to the rise of digital authoritarianism, a central tenet of which is deception. 

(5) Social media and digital technology, which helped fuel the Arab Uprisings, is now being used as a tool of counter-revolutionary repression, particularly by certain Gulf states, to protect the authoritarian status quo across the MENA region, especially from perceived “Islamist” threats and Iranian expansionism. 

Although this book explores the chains of information operations across multiple states and actors, it focuses on the biggest players – in line with the normative tendency to focus on dominant actors. In particular, it argues that Saudi Arabia, and to some extent the United Arab Emirates, are the main projectors of digital media power in the Arabic-speaking Middle East. 

Paul Rolland | Night Watchman Ministries | MbS and the Evil Trinity of Technology.

https://youtu.be/nwHMvdnAMNE

It is worth noting that it is somewhat facile to assume that all countries or entities are engaging in such behaviours equally. Certainly, almost all countries will engage in information operations, but it is more fruitful to base such analyses about bad actors and their use of disinformation on the known sources of disinformation rather than seeking to generate false parity by overstating cases. To do so would just be to reify the concept of equality of disinformation based on an arbitrary state-centric parity between vastly different actors, whether in the MENA or otherwise.

Indeed, there is a reason why disinformation scholars often focus on the large powers such as Russia, China and Iran. Not all countries are equally powerful, populous, authoritarian and, as we shall see, deceptive.

Indeed, a useful question that derives from this is: who are the deception superpowers in the MENA region? By empirically documenting known disinformation campaigns, and the different and evolving forms of deception, this book lays out the case that Saudi Arabia in particular should be seen as a new digital superpower, at least in the realms of deception via social media, specifically Twitter. Here being a digital superpower involves using human resources and digital technology to launch influence operations on three fronts – domestically, regionally and internationally – in a sustained and evolving manner.

The impetus for this moment can be seen as the unsurprising evolution and “upgrading” of authoritarianism. That is, the tendency for authoritarian regimes to upgrade their capacity to resist dissent and adapt to new challenges (such as social media).

The Gulf’s post-truth moment can be characterised by the advent of a new era of Gulf politics, largely forged as an alliance between the Trump administration and the states of the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The Trump administration’s policy of maximum pressure on Iran and its drive to encourage normalisation between the Gulf and Israel have bred a fertile ground for disinformation and deception synergies. 

This has overlapped with a new vision for the Middle East led chiefly by the rulers of Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) and Mohammed bin Zayed (MBZ). These two emerging autocrats have sought to place their respective nations at the helm of a new Gulf moment, one that seeks normalisation with Israel and increasing hostility towards Iran and political Islam.

Paul Rolland | Night Watchman Ministries |MbS Confirms the False Peace Covenant For Seven Years

Rolland | Night Watchman Ministries | MbS and His Abomination of Desolation

The Gulf’s post-truth moment can also be defined by disinformation synergies, complementary disinformation narratives in which right wing American policy and the foreign policy goals of the Saudi and UAE feed off each other in mutually reinforcing tropes.  

A striking aspect of the Gulf’s post-truth moment is the emergence of tyrannical and totalitarian tendencies. In order to create a “permanent state of mobilisation” where citizens advocate and defend their new “messianic” leader, totalitarian leaders often invoke external enemies in order to deflect from internal domestic criticism.

Paul Rolland| Night Watchman Ministries |The False Prophet Endorses the World’s Worship of the Beast and His Image

In the Gulf, Saudi Arabia and the UAE in particular have created an “axis of evil” consisting of the Muslim Brotherhood, Qatar, Turkey and Iran. Expressions of sympathy for these entities, as well as criticism of the Saudi and UAE governments, is firmly suppressed. As part of attempting to legitimise the re-orientation of Gulf politics, disinformation and propaganda efforts have focused around attempting to construct this axis of evil as a regional bogeyman threatening the GCC.  

Crucially, this book highlights how the digital space in the Arab world is not a level or horizontal playing field in which individuals or states are competing equally: just as with more conventional military might, certain states pour more resources into their digital deception apparatus, which feed their varying strategic objectives. Similarly, as with any autocratic or totalitarian regime, personality of leaders matters when it comes to how those informational control strategies play out. 

Who is the ‘First Horseman of the Apocalypse that Rides a White Arabian Stallion?

Revelation 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and POWER was ‘GIVEN’ him (Prince, Beast, Antichrist) over ALL kindreds, and tongues, and NATIONS.

The Antichrist; ‘A King of Dark Sentences’ (political language, false agreements, deceiving covenants, lies, back-room dealing, deception, intrigue, announcements and deceiving doctrines and programs.)

23 “ And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.

24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.

25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.” (Daniel 8:23-25)

Paul Rolland | Night Watchman Ministries |MbS Confirms the False Peace Covenant For Seven Years

Daniel 9:26-27 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people [Palestinians, Arabs/Muslims] of the prince [Beast, Antichrist] that shall come shall destroy the city [Jerusalem] and the sanctuary [Third Temple]; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he [Prince, Beast, Antichrist] shall confirm [verify] the covenant [‘Normalization’, Abraham Accords] with many [MENA, Arabic/Muslim Countries] for one week [7 years]: and in the midst [3.5 Years] of the week [7 Years] he [Prince, Beast, Antichrist] shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate 

Isaiah 28:14-19  Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.

Paul Rolland | Night Watchman Ministries | MbS and His Abomination of Desolation

The Confirmer / Prince / Beast (now) who becomes the Antichrist (future), midway through the coming seven (7) year tribulation, in the Jews rebuilt Third (3) Temple. Six (6) verses:

Daniel 9:26-27 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Matthew 24:15: “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place(whoever reads, let him understand) then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.”

Daniel 11:36 Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done.

2 Thessalonians 2:3 “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”

Daniel 11:31 And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.

Daniel 12:11 And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.

NWN; Count 1,290 days to the Second Coming of Christ, from when the ‘Abomination of Desolation’ occurs. ALL timelines lead to the Second Physical coming of Christ to earth on the last day of the entire 7 year tribulation.

Paul Rolland | Night Watchman | Night Watchman Ministries | MbS and the ‘Bottomless Pit’ of Evil – House of Saudi Seven

Revelation 17:8-11 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

‘Seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.’ = NEOM Babylon sits on the seven (7) tallest mountains in the Midian Mountain range in the Tabuk region of Saudi Arabia. Tallest mountain is Mount Sinai. These mountains are scarlet and purple colored due to volcanic origin and related minerals deposited in rock. NEOM is a $500 (5) billion technological/hedonistic paradise. No mention or acceptance of Christ.

The seven and eight kings are in reference to the genetic lineage (bottomless pit of evil) of the House of Saud. These are ALL the modern kings since the foundation of modern Saudi Arabia.

Proof of the ‘line of’ of the 8 kings.

Kings of Saudi Arabia (1932–present)

 1.        King Ibn Saud. 9/22/1932 – 11/9/1953. Kingdom founded by conquest. Had six (6) sons that became Kings of the Kingdom. Six (6) is the number of evil man/men. The ground work for this kingdom was being created at the same time as the ground work for the State of Israel. Satan started establishing his ‘chosen people’ (those who worship the dragon and beast) at the same time God was re-establishing his ‘chosen people’ (the Jews) over the 1930’s to late 1940’s. 1 of the 5 ‘fallen/dead’ kings.

2.         King Saud. 11/9/1953 – 11/2/1964. 2 of the 5 ‘fallen/dead’ kings.

3.         King Faisal. 11/2/1964 – 3/25/1975. 3 of the 5 ‘fallen/dead’ kings.

4.         King Khalid. 3/25/1975 – 6/13/1982. 4 of the 5 ‘fallen/dead’ kings.

5.         King Fahd. 6/13/1982 – 8/1/2005. 5 of the 5 ‘fallen/dead’ kings.

6.         King Abdullah. 8/1/2005 – 1/23/2015. The king ‘that is.’ This is the 6th king revealed by the Holy Spirit to John the Apostle. He is the signpost for the ‘season of the times’ of the latter days, prior to the tribulation. A sign for the evil Gentile nations.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30945324

7.         King Salman. (King 2015 – ?). 1/23/2015- (2022) This is the 7th and ‘future’ king revealed to John the Apostle who will reign for a ‘short time or while’. If his reign lasts for 7 years, from 2015 on into 2022, it will truly reflect a short reign and denotes God’s divine completion to his plan or purpose for the seven kings, including the seventh king. King Salman is the LAST of the six (6) sons of Ibn Saud to be King of Saudi Arabia.

8.         Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman. He is the 8th and final ‘future’ king revealed to John the Apostle. He is the ‘beast’, comes from seven (7) kings/lineage before him and goes to perdition. His reign is over the seven (7) years of the tribulation. Born 1985, he will be 35 (7×5) years old in 2020. Seven (7) denotes God’s divine completion to His plan or purpose. Five (5) denotes Satanic influence of men and kings. God’s influence over men in greater than Satan’s influence over men 7>5. Notice that MBS will be the FIRST king who is NOT a direct son of founding King Ibn Saud in 1932. Becoming the 8th king, MBS represents a ‘new epoch’ a ‘new future’ for the kingdom that forms an ideological break from the past. Eight (8) denotes a new beginning, new timeline, new season, new plan. God is addressing the evil status quo of the House of Saud (bottomless pit of evil, wealth, influence, power, corruption) and ushering in the time of great wrath, the tribulation for Gentile nations. From a spiritual perspective, MBS not being one of the six (6) sons of the founding King Ibn Saud, now holds claim to being the son of perdition under the power and influence of the dragon (Satan). MBS has no allegiance to his family tree, tradition, other family princes and historical political protocol. Only an extremely evil, pathological soul manipulated by Satan would turn on his own family. In Satan’s plan, he used the ‘bottomless pit’ of evil House of Saud to raise MBS, the beast, the son of perdition to be in the positions he both currently and in future, will hold. Just as Jesus Christ had an earthly family tree and lineage, Satan used the House of Saud as the earthly family tree, lineage for his son of perdition, the beast, the coming Antichrist.

At the time John the Apostle was in the Holy Spirit and given a ‘vision’ of the future, 5 of the Saudi Kings were already dead (fallen). He was shown the sixth king, and told that a future 7th and 8th king were coming. The sixth king was a ‘sign post’ of the beginning of the ‘end times’ prior to the tribulation. The 7th King ‘short while’ in current King Salman, the last son of founder Saud. Mbs, Mohammed bin Salman is ‘Crown Prince’ and will become the 8th king (goes into perdition). MbS is the ‘Beast’ who rules during the seven (7) year tribulation and great tribulation (last 3.5 year period.) MbS (Beast now), becomes the Antichrist midway during the 7 year tribulation, at the occurrence known as the ‘Abomination of Desolation.’

King Salman brought his son, MBS into the kingdom’s political arena in 2015. 2015-2020 is also a 5 year period of Satanic influence on MBS, as he has grown in power and worldwide influence and stature among not only Western countries, but among ‘Kings of the East’, and those who worship the dragon and the beast throughout Middle East / North African countries (MENA – the ‘many’ Arabic and Islamic countries).

Mohammed bin Salman (named Crown Prince, June 2017). He is referred to scripturally as both a Prince and as a King. This is extremely unique and mentioned for a very real reason. He plays a prophetic role as Prince (when he confirms the false peace covenant among many nations throughout MENA regarding Israel and the Palestinians). Please consider that many, if not all, MENA countries are either Arabic and/or Muslim and are financially and politically beholden to Saudi Arabia in one form or another. Religiously, all these countries are beholden to the House of Saud, because it is the ‘custodian’ of Islam’s ‘holiest’ sites in Saudi Arabia. All Muslims must come for Hajj in Saudi Arabia at some point in their life, if capable (those who worship the dragon and the beast). Satanic influence is woven together and throughout ALL of these counties. They will agree to MBS’ confirmation of the covenant, as Crown Prince. They dare not come against the Crown Prince’s wish and confirmation. Thus, they will abide by his confirmation. They have every reason to accept his confirmation, because of their political, financial and religious vested interests with Saudi Arabia. ‘Who can make war or come against the Beast?’

MBS also plays a prophetic role as Saudi Arabia’s 8th King. This will likely occur before he enters the rebuilt Jewish 3rd Temple and causes the Abomination of Desolation (claims to be god and demands to be worshiped as such). Poor man wants to be rich, rich man wants to be prince, prince wants to be king, king wants to be god and rule everything. As such, MBS will likely be the Saudi’s 8th King once he sets foot in the rebuilt Jewish temple half way through the tribulation. After all, he is already the focus of ‘those who worship the dragon and the beast.’ He now wants the Jews to worship him along with the rest of the world (via the destruction of his previous accommodation and approval of the worshipping of the false mystery religions.) It’s not enough that Satan has deceived almost 2 billion Muslims. He now wants to be worshipped by the rest of the earth by Hindus, Buddhists, et.al.  Satan destroys the false ‘mystery religion’ being propagated by the False Prophet, so he can be the only focus of mankind’s worship. These false religions served their satanic purpose by deceiving men and leading men away from Christ, now is time to throw these other false religions into the fire so men are forced to worship Satan, through MBS exclusively.

Hence, MBS’ role will have changed from beast/prince to king to Antichrist at this point. He is indwelt by Satan in order for Satan to satisfy his claim that he will rise to be like the true God and to be worshipped as such. As a spiritual entity, Satan can only possess and indwell a flesh and blood human man. Satan has done everything in his power to raise MBS up through the evil bottomless pit of the House of Saud, to become a Crown Prince, to become a King, and now that Satan has possessed him to become the world-wide Antichrist. At this point, MBS is completely under Satan’s authority and power and ensues to blaspheme God and Jesus Christ.

The timing of when MBS became Crown Prince is known (June 2017). When he becomes king is when his father succumbs the throne to MBS (this could be through death or a short political reign for one reason or another – health?). The actual timing is unimportant, all we are told is that the 7th king’s reign is for a ‘short time or while.’ His term could be 5, 6, 7 or 8 years.

Where else is there a family/political dynasty on earth that has had seven (7) consecutive kings that rule a country from the same genetic line? In the Middle East? During the time of Israel’s rebirth from a valley of dry bones to a budding fig tree? Saudi Arabia’s current 7th king and future 8th king fit the Biblical narratives set forth by the Word of God. 7th and 8th kings from the bottomless pit of evil, money, power, influence, corruption (5 Satanic influences). MBS is prince when he confirms the covenant. MBS becomes an Antichrist when he is worshiped as a mujaddid by Muslims, and then becomes the worldwide Antichrist when he is indwelt by Satan.

The timing of John the Apostle’s vision regarding the 8 Kings from the bottomless pit of the House of Saud – 5 ‘fallen’, 1 ‘is current’, 2 ‘are future’.

Why is this even a topic worth mentioning? What is the point? Is there a point? Yes, there is a point. And it is VERY important, from a prophetic viewpoint. In that, it is a ‘viewing point’ of the latter days, leading up to the tribulation. How so?

First, as Christians, we know that the Triune God gave John the Apostle a vision and knowledge of many things pertaining to the days leading up to and into the tribulation and after. The Holy Spirit carried him into the future, from his particular life in time, to witness things that he then explained in his Revelation of Jesus Christ. One of the visions he was given, while in the Holy Spirit, was of the 5 kings that were fallen, a 6th king he was being shown, and that of a 7th king who had not come (but would rule for a short while at some point in the future). Lastly, he was shown a future and last 8th king known and described as the Beast who would be sent to perdition, udder destruction, the lake of fire and brimstone, the second death … alive.

I have attempted to confirm who the 7th and 8th kings are from our point in space and time, relative to the ‘season of the times.’ What about this mysterious sixth king, the king ‘who is’. Why is this king important that John the Apostle was directly being shown? And what possible prophetic importance can he have? Of the 8 kings, why would God single out this particular man?

Consider that God, through the Holy Spirit, could have shown John any or all of the Kings in future ‘real time’. He was not permitted to see the 7th or 8th kings, but only the sixth. What perhaps was God’s reason for this?

The reign of 6th King Abdullah was from 2005 to 2015. This snapshot of time and space is important because it suggests that this time frame is important for us, for Gentiles alive in the final generation. To know that we are indeed in the ‘final season’ prior to our harpazo/rapture and the onset of the tribulation, without any doubt or hesitation. We know that Israel’s prophetic time clock began in 1948. God’s prophetic time clock for the tribulation of Gentile nations suggests that it started during the time of this sixth king. It is beyond the scope of this letter to go into details about what has occurred throughout the entire earth during the time of the sixth king’s reign. Many prophetic things started being revealed over the 5 year period from 2010 to 2015. The time of the sixth king’s reign is a sign post, a flashing light, a notice of when the final season begins and is upon the earth for Gentiles. God has given signs in scripture and the heavens for Jews, and Gentiles alike. The September 23, 2017 occurrence of the ‘great sign in heaven’ is an example of a sign for the Bride of Christ. The 6th Saudi king is a Gentile and a member of the House of Saud and the bottomless pit of evil. His reign (along with all the other past 5 kings and 2 future kings) has been orchestrated by Satan during the growth of this kingdom and the discovery of its bottomless wealth (oil). To a logical mind, clear and sober, this would indicate that God is saying that the age of grace for all Gentiles on earth is coming to a close. It is not important that we don’t know if God considers 2005 or 2015 to be the beginning of the ‘season of the time before the tribulation.’ Just as God spoke generically about the rebirth of Israel, as when you ‘see the fig tree bearing fruit’, he was referring to a time frame or process developing over time. In His divine plan, things develop and take time to grow until their divine timing is ripe to be revealed. Those who can discern can watch this occur, as it happens in ‘real time’ and understand appropriately and accordingly. As God gave a general timeline for Israel, commencing in 1948, he gives a Gentile timeline commencing in 2015. This of course is BEFORE the arrival of the future 7th and 8th kings who would indicate perhaps the middle and end of the ‘Fall Season’ or Season of the Times’ prior to the rapture/harpazo for the Bride and the onset of the tribulation.’

The 7 year period from 2015 to 2022 does indeed represent a 7 year period denoting God’s divine completion to his plan or purpose for the modern kingship lineage (line of) of Saudi Arabia. Time for the ‘Age of Grace’ has almost ended.  As I write this letter, there is exactly only three (3) months remaining in 2019 before the world enters 2020 and a ‘new’ decade. Time is running out before the time begins of God’s great wrath on mankind and Gentile nations. We can know this with certainty by looking at the time frame witnessed by John the Apostle of the 6th king from the House of Saud. Six (6) denotes evil man/men. Seven (7) denotes God’s divine completion to his plan or purpose. Eight (8) denotes new era, new epoch, new season, new time span, new series of events. The 7th Saud King indicates that God is finished with Satan’s status quo in Saudi Arabia and of the evil Gentile world. The 8th Saud King indicates that God is ushering in a new time of tribulation and trial for mankind, Jews and Gentiles. Remember, the seven (7) year tribulation is also referred to as the ‘time or week of Jacob’s trouble.’ A week being seven (7) years and Jacob being a reference to Jews and Israel. God is turning his attention back onto Israel, the redemption of the Jews, wrath towards the Gentile world and arranging the coming Millennial Reign of Christ on Earth.

But how can they call on him (Jesus Christ) to save them unless they believe in him (Jesus Christ)? And how can they believe in him (Jesus Christ) if they have never heard about him (Jesus Christ)? And how can they hear about him (Jesus Christ) unless someone tells them?” —Romans 10:14

In His Service,

Night Watchman

Paul Rolland

Night Watchman Ministries

Make Your Decision for Christ NOW!!!!!!! Time is Up!!!!!!!

Jesus Christ’s Offer of Salvation:

The ABCs of Salvation through Jesus Christ (the Lamb)

A. Admit/Acknowledge/Accept that you are sinner. Ask God’s forgiveness and repent of your sins.

. . . “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23).

. . . “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10).

. . . “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8).

B. Believe Jesus is Lord. Believe that Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be; that He was both fully God and fully man and that we are saved through His death, burial, and resurrection. Put your trust in Him as your only hope of salvation. Become a son or daughter of God by receiving Christ.

. . . “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:15-17). For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13).

C. Call upon His name, Confess with your heart and with your lips that Jesus is your Lord and Savior.

. . . “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10).

. . . “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (John 1:8-10).

. . . “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (John 2:2).

. . . “In this was manifested the love of god toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:9, 14-15).

. . . “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:8-10).

. . . “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23).

. . . “Jesus saith unto them, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6).

. . . “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.” (Romans 1:16).

. . . “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts: 4:12).

. . . “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth for there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:4-6).

. . . “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

. . . “But as many as received him, to them gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12).

True Church / Bride of Christ Spared from God’s Wrath:

 Romans 5:8-10. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

Romans 12:19. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 1:10. And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

1 Thessalonians 5:9. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

Romans 8:35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Jeremiah 30:7. Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.

Revelation 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.