“There is no such word as ‘coincidence’ in God’s vocabulary.”

Hal Lindsey is the one I first heard say this. Perhaps others said it before him, but I’ll just give him credit for that truth. And truth it is. Nothing that happens occurs without God knowing. As a matter of fact, He knew about it—whatever it might be—since as far back as eternity goes. And this gives me great confidence that when the Lord Jesus says our redemption is drawing near when we see things He foretold begin to come to pass (Luke 21:28), we can be sure those things we see are not coincidences.

Jesus is the very Word of God (John 1:1). So the things His Word tells us we should look for to determine the nearness of His return to “redeem” or “rescue” God’s children can’t be mere coincidence. We know these are bona fide indicators that His return is on the very brink.

Jesus said great deception and deceivers would be on the scene as the time nears for Him to intervene in the wickedness of humankind. He said there would be great tumult within the seas of humanity, and there would be great ethnic turmoil. Things, He said, would be like they were in the days of Noah and of Lot in Sodom. He said there would be wars and rumors of wars.

Through the Apostle Paul, Jesus warned that the times would be perilous as the end of the age nears. People would be fierce. They would be without natural affection, meaning, I take it, that humankind would be going after “strange flesh,” as Jude described the greatly increased ungodliness. They would, like in Lot’s day, be engaging in homosexual activity and abortion, both of which are as far from “natural affection” as any society or culture can get.

Do we see great deception today? Just consider the way the American political process the deceivers, with the assistance of the mainstream news media, blatantly display this end-times characteristic.

Is there tremendous tumult among the peoples of earth, with ethnic strife ramping up to the point that there are great rumors of war, and, in fact, major wars that threaten much wider conflict?

Are things like they were in the days of Noah and of Lot? Is there ever-increasing violence, with homosexuality seemingly becoming the norm rather than aberrant?

Are there indicators today that, like Jude points out, this world is filled with ungodliness and incorrigible wickedness that is deserving of God’s judgment and wrath? How about, as a prime example, the slaughter of babies by the multi-millions in their mothers’ wombs?

Any believer filled with Holy Spirit discernment can testify that we see all these end-of-days’ characteristics and activities in every direction. But, to go deeper into where this generation stands on God’s prophetic timeline, let’s examine up close things taking place that cannot be mere coincidence in showing the nearness of Christ’s soon, sudden involvement in the evil affairs of fallen humankind.

In my thinking, the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump is an astonishing indicator of Heaven’s direct reach into this wicked time. That the candidate for the presidency was providentially protected is nothing short of miraculous. Yet the matter has been totally washed over by a lack of mainstream coverage. The prince of the power of the air turned all the right devices of control to influence his broadcasting minions to ignore what surely was one of the most overt acts of Deity in history.

Mainstream media, after twenty-four hours or so of semi-coverage, relegated the near assassination, the murder of another, and the near-fatal wounding of two others to being nothing more than coincidence.

But it was not coincidental. The intervention was on full display before the entire world. It was God making a statement. He is now showing His great right hand of omniscience and omnipotence at this late hour of the quickly fleeting Age of Grace.

Our God has reached down to make such statements before in recent times. These, too, have been treated as coincidence by mainstream media–and subsequently they have deceived their mass audiences.

You might recall that one memorable event took place several years ago as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was voting to approve a “social statement on human sexuality” designed to open the way for congregations to be led by openly homosexual ministers and to make way for ELCA to perform same-sex marriages. A fierce storm described by many as a tornado unexpectedly ripped through downtown Minneapolis, where the ELCA convention was taking place. The storm damaged the convention center, along with the ELCA church across the street—even knocking over the church’s steeple in a bizarrely symbolic occurrence.

The tornado touched down near the outskirts of the city and made its track directly to the church, where it struck precisely at 2 p.m., the exact time the vote on the matters involved was to begin.

The Washington Post reported on the event in a joking way, calling it a coincidence and chiding mockingly those who attributed it to anything other.

Jesus said through the prophets that His return to intervene into the affairs of humankind would involve the nation Israel at the center of the turmoil that would be raging at the time. There is great turbulence at this moment in the Middle East. And Israel is at the center–not only of the troubles in the Middle East, but of the entire world of diplomatic chaos.

Those diplomats are crying “peace and safety,” wanting to force Israel to bring to an end the ongoing conflict against Iran and its proxy terrorist entities.

Israel, because of the October 7, 2023, assault that killed 1,200 people, has directly attacked Iran, killing one of the top terrorist leaders in Teheran. Iran’s supreme leader has vowed to make Israel pay for the attack. This, the diplomatic sorts fear, could spark all-out war–even one that might go nuclear.

But just as everything pointed to this expanded war taking place, another “coincidence” has taken place. My friend Dr. Mark Hitchcock frames the incident: 

The main story I would like to highlight surrounds the earthquake that took place recently in Syria. There’s an article in the Jerusalem Post about this fascinating development. The headline of the article says, “Heaven sent: Is Lebanon’s earthquake a testament to divine protection?”

Here is some intriguing information the article included:

Hezbollah’s underground ambitions may now lie buried, turned to ashes before they had any chance to harm us.

In our collective memory, Tisha B’Av has always been a solemn day, marked by the destruction of the First and Second Temples.

To provide further context, Tisha B’Av is a day of sorrow and reflection, which usually falls on our calendar in early August. It marks the destruction of Solomon’s Temple in 586 BC and the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70. Those events happened on the same day. That’s not an accident—that’s divine providence. It was the hand of God showing the Jewish people that He was behind these destructions that took place because of their disobedience to Him.

The article continues:

This year, however, the day bore witness to what many of us view as a modern-day miracle—a testament to divine intervention that could not have come at a more crucial time.

Reports confirmed a 5.4-magnitude earthquake that struck Syria and Lebanon, profoundly impacting the region. This was not just any seismic event; it may have served as an unanticipated yet divine act that thwarted a grave threat against the Jewish nation. (“Tectonic Shifts: Did God Use an Earthquake in the Middle East to Thwart an Attack on Israel?” “Marking The End Times,” August 18, 2024)

The collapse of those tunnels filled with munitions meant to be fired into Israel is profound proof of God’s hands-on control.

I believe we will see God’s mighty hand of control continue to reach into our world of wickedness the nearer we come to the time when Jesus calls all believers to Himself in the Rapture.

I implore you to be part of that divine rescue and avoid the terrible judgment and wrath that will then befall all rebels left on earth.

Here is how to go to the Lord when He calls all believers living and who have died:

That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and will believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9–10)