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At any rate, as I was looking at the picture of -- at the time -- recently-installed Russian Prime Minister, Sergei Stepashin, and contemplating what to write about the man, I received the very same impression of him, that I had of Sergei Kiriyenko; that is, one of weakness, and that his tenure in office would be short-lived. I received a strong impression that Boris Yeltsin was only using him. Thus, the following is what I wrote about him at that time:

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At this time, my personal impression is that like his predecessor, Sergei Kiriyenko, Stepashin is simply just another patsy for Boris Yeltsin, being used to buy the aging president more time. If my impression is correct, Stepashin will serve a short term as the Russian Prime Minister.

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Well, when I got up early that morning, and downloaded the latest batch of email from my ISP, which included the CNN news clips for August 9, 1999, I was shocked by the headline article! In fact, I was so surprised, that I immediately opened up Mr. Stepashin's HTML page on the BBB website -- please note that this world leaders section no longer exists on the BBB website, being as I no longer have enough time to maintain it -- to verify that I had actually written what I thought I had written in my commentary on him. When I did that, the Lord was so faithful to clearly remind me of what I had done when I wrote that commentary; and He showed me my lack of faith. You see my dear readers, after I had written it, due to my own lack of faith to fully believe the first impression He had apparently given me, I took out one little word; and that was the word "very". You see, my original commentary read as follows:

"If my impression is correct, Stepashin will serve a very short term as the Russian Prime Minister."

Lord help me, but I confessed to Him, as I confess to you now, that I took out that word "very"; because in my heart, I was concerned about what people would think of me if it didn't happen very soon, as was my impression. I was worried about my image; I was menpleasing -- a term used in the KJV Bible -- so I didn't quite deliver the full message I had been given. Well, God, the Revealer of Secrets, knew; and He showed me what was soon going to happen in Russian politics. But I wavered slightly in my faith due to the fear of the opinions of men, and took out that word "very", in order to kind of cover for myself; just in case it didn't happen as soon as I was really feeling that it would.

So thank the Lord! God knows the future. He is the Revealer of Secrets. He knows Boris Yeltsin's heart, and exactly what He will put in his heart to do. Why? because as I have explained many times before, God is one who sets up the rules of this world in order to fulfill His Divine Purposes, whatever they happen to be. Consider the following verses:

"Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck. For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another."


"Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:"


"This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men."


"The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will."


"For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD. And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel."


Don't be mistaken. From a worldly point of view, this move by Yeltsin was not expected; just as Kiriyenko being ousted was not expected either; but God knew! In fact, as the CNN news article clearly states, even Sergei Stepashin himself was totally caught off guard, and shocked, by Mr. Yeltsin's sudden decision to dismiss him and his government; because he -- that is Stepashin -- had been licking Boris Yeltsin's political boots for a long time. He had been a faithful political lapdog to Yeltsin; so he was not expecting this development in the least. In fact, Mr. Stepashin had just returned from the troubled Dagestan region where he had been trying to broker a peace agreement. So for Stepashin, it seemed to be business as usual, but he was already on his way out the door.

On a final note, let me just add that I sensed that what Boris Yeltsin was really doing at that particular time, was simply playing a tough game of hardball with his political enemies in Moscow and elsewhere. While the world press and supposedly in-the-know political analysts may have thought that this was just another sign that Mr. Yeltsin could no longer properly govern Russia due to failing health and his questionable mental condition, my impression is that the Russian president was still very much in full control of the government, and he knew exactly what he was doing.

Tell me something. Can the American President repeatedly dismiss the Cabinet and still remain in office? Definitely not; yet Yeltsin did this same thing four times in a row, and he still held on to power for a while longer. My feeling at the time was that Yeltsin's strategy was simply to keep his political opponents reeling back and forth, in a state of turmoil and confusion, due to all of the governmental shake-ups and dismissals, in order to buy himself more time. In that way, he could position his designated successor at the right time, when it would do the most damage to the opposition.

Concerning the man chosen as the new acting Prime Minister -- none other than Vladimir Putin -- whom Yeltsin claimed was his most promising successor for the upcoming year's presidential election, I sensed at that time that for whatever the length of his term in office might be, Putin possessed the potential to be a lot tougher than Kiriyenko and Stepashin. As noted by CNN during that period, besides being head of the Federal Security Service -- which is Russia's domestic intelligence agency -- Vladimir Putin was also secretary of Boris Yeltsin's advisory Security Council; and he spent a total of seventeen years in the KGB. From an American perspective, you might consider him to be somewhat like former U.S. President George H. W. Bush -- who was also the director of the CIA, or Central Intelligence Agency -- and quite the hawk according to some people, for one year.

So even back then in 1999, I sensed that Vladimir Putin could mean serious business; and that if he were elected as the new Russian president the following year, it could very well spell trouble in American-Russian relations. Now, over sixteen years later, we all know that this is exactly what happened. Mr. Putin was Russia's President from 2000 to 2008, then Russia's Prime Minister from 2008 to 2012, and then he became Russia's President again in 2012, a position which he still holds today. The man is very powerful to say the least, and popular as well. He has remained in power for as long as two two-term U.S. Presidents, and that says a lot about him.

At that point in time, I was not certain who would cause more damage to American-Russian relations; Vladimir Putin, or the leader of the Communist Party, and lead voice in the Russian Duma, Gennady Zyuganov; who I strongly sense was very subtle and evil. Compared to these two men, former general -- later a governor of the Krasnoyarsk Krai region -- Alexander Lebed, began to appear to me to be more like a lightweight in the year 2000 presidential election. While Mr. Lebed was probably still a Communist at heart, and an extremely patriotic Russian who had some very anti-Western views, I didn't sense the same degree of darkness around him, as I did around the former two.

I am not saying that he would not have spelled trouble for the West if he were to have been elected in 2000, but he might have been the easier choice of the three. One thing which was in Lebed's favor, is that he was an outsider to Moscow. This exonerated him of some of the guilt of selfish Muscovite politics, and thus helped to contribute to Lebed's extreme popularity with the common Russian people. I doubted that Vladimir Putin had that same advantage at the time; but Zyuganov did; at least with older Russians. But this is all water under the bridge, because on April 28, 2002, Lebed died in a Mi-8 helicopter crash during foggy weather in the Sayan Mountains in southern Siberia.

Regarding the immediate future, as I note at the conclusion of my article "Communism: Is the Dead Beast Really Dead?", it will be very interesting to see exactly what kind of a relationship Vladimir Putin and President-elect Donald Trump develop following the January 20, 2016 inauguration in the United States. I for one will be watching this pair closely.

With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It is my hope that you have found it informative, enlightening, and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well. If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you abundantly!

For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this article. All of these articles are likewise located on the Bill's Bible Basics web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.

For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were also mentioned in this article, or which contain topics that are related to this current article, and which are likewise located on the Bill's Bible Basics web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.

Communism: Is the Dead Beast Really Dead?
Communism: The Raging Bear out of Control!
Alexander Lebed and the Year 2,000 Russian Presidential Race
The International Jew and the Protocols of Zion
The Only Credentials You Need!
The Wisdom of God vs The Philosophy of Men
The Kings of the North and the South
The Plight of the Children: School Gun Violence!
Lying Wonders of the Endtime

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Please avail yourself of other areas of the Bill's Bible Basics website. There are many treasures for you to discover.