Much angst was generated from the matter of the Wagner Group’s movement toward Moscow. Everyone within the media and diplomatic circles was thoroughly exercised. But, strangely, the populous–here in America at least—seemed to pay minimum attention.

Nuclear war was almost a certainty, according to some sources, if the assaulting force leader Yevgeny Prigozhin had knocked Dictator Vladimir Putin off his throne. It was one big rumor of war, in the vernacular of Bible prophecy. But all seems to have fizzled, with Prigozhin, Putin’s former “best friend,” as some would have it, stopped the assault and was” exiled” to Belarus.

The experts at every level are still trying to do the calculus on the things involved. And I certainly have no idea of what the strange turn of events meant –or means even yet.

I do believe, however, that it is not just political maneuvering and/or diplomatic high jinks at the heart of it all.

We are, by every metric that prophecy watchers can employ, getting near the very last moments of the final days of the age. Of this, I am confident with all that is within the spiritual prompts that continue to insinuate into my deep desire to comprehend exactly where things stand on God’s Prophetic Timeline.

Next to all of the many stage-setting machinations taking place surrounding the prophetic nation of Israel, those involving the forming of the Gog-Magog force of Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 are currently front and center.

Of course, the two prophetic issues are inextricably intertwined. Dynamics stirring the volatility of the Middle East are powerfully in agitation at present. That turbulence surrounding Israel and Russia –and all other entities— makes the student of Bible prophecy from the preTrib view strongly suspect the source from whence comes the burgeoning tempest.

The tumult taking place in the geographical area that Ezekiel foretold will bring about one of mankind’s final and most horrific battles. We know that, at this late hour of the age, this present stage-setting for that future war is demonically driven. While we can’t slice and dice into precise details how the dynamics are shaping –are stage-setting— for the Gog-Magog war, we can be assured the devil is in the details, as it is said.

Author Jonathan Cahn has taken considerable flak in criticism of his latest book, Return of the gods. He gets no such criticism from this quarter. Anyone who is observing these insane times, whether they acknowledge it or not, must sense something akin to invasion from a culturally-darkening force taking place.

Cahn questions in an article: “Is it possible that behind what is happening to America and the world lies a mystery hidden in inscriptions of ancient Mesopotamia?

Could the ancient entities known to the nations as the “gods” be more than just fiction and myth – but actually possess an independent reality?

“Is it possible that they have returned to our world? Could these entities lie behind what we see on our television screens and computer monitors, what our children are being taught in their classrooms, current events, news, and the movements of our times – behind what is even now influencing our lives without our realizing it? Could this mystery be the explanation behind all the strange transformations happening to our culture in our own day?

I believe that the answer is yes. And I believe that one such entity termed Gog in God’s prophetic Word is one who has been loosed to enter into the world at this time. The entity is from the abyss and will, at some point, indwell the leader of the Gog-Magog force. From this demon from the abyss will come the evil thought, which God will use to put hooks in the jaws of this demonically-inspired leader of the Israel-hating military juggernaut.

It seems to me that all the things we see stirring within the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and all we have witnessed develop with regard to the conflict between Vladimir Putin and Yevgeny Prigozhin involves the possibility of that entity called Gog now being freed to do his devilish worst. Even though things are stirring in ways that create that angst I mention in the beginning of this commentary, it is obvious that God’s Restraining Hand is Firmly in Control.

Just as it looked as if Putin might do something unthinkable, like unleash a nuke or two on the force threatening to dethrone him, there was a simmering down. Diplomats and media pundits will say almost in unison that cooler heads prevailed and the situation was chilled by internal negotiations, etc. But we who hold to the belief in that Restrainer of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 know better.

There can, at this moment in time, be no nuclear war –in the sense of a world-rendering holocaust—because it just doesn’t fit the Bible’s prophetic scenario.

Gog’s defeat is yet future, and that defeat is now in the stage-setting phase, as we have been witnessing. That demonic entity could well have been loosed as part of the Return of the gods, as our friend Jonathan Cahn proposes.

This all means that stage-setting for the wrap-up of this Age of Grace (Church Age) is almost complete. The next Event on God’s Prophetic Timeline, as we of the preTrib viewpoint believe, is the Rapture.

You don’t want to remain on this planet when the Gog spirit and all other evil from the abyss take over when the Restrainer removes His Heavenly Handcuffs for the 7 years of Tribulation.

Here again is what you must do to make sure you go to be with the Lord Jesus and to safety during that terrible time to come.

“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).

*Note: Some years ago, my late friend Dr. Tim LaHaye wrote a chapter for one of my books. The subject involved the Gog-Magog War of Ezekiel, chapters 38-39. The chapter particularly dealt with the nation Russia.

Dr. LaHaye’s in-depth work in this chapter remains one of the very best and most thorough I’ve read. I recommend you read it for your study regarding the fate of end times Russia and all attendant to that nation. The chapter was called: “Will God Destroy Russia?”

Here is the link to “Will God Destroy Russia” by Tim LaHaye on the Rapture Ready website:

https://www.raptureready.com/2023/07/01/will-god-destroy-russia-by-tim-lahaye/