Prophecy Line
Foreshadows of 1984
The apothegm “life often imitates art” has never been more applicable than when considering today’s headlines in the literary shadow of the novel 1984. And that maxim, upon considering that novel, shows, I think, just where at this late hour of the age this generation stands upon God’s prophetic timeline.
Many years ago I wrote a novel along the lines of Orwell’s fiction, all the while trying to stay within exactly how things are prophesied to unfold in God’s Word. That novel, Jacob’s Trouble 666, is still available, I think, on Amazon.
While my effort in writing the story of my protagonist, Jacob Zen, didn’t rise to the level of the brilliance in creativity and syntax of Orwell’s portrayal of his protagonist, Winston Smith, Jacob’s Trouble 666 did, like 1984, foreshadow, I’m confident, what we have long since begun to witness big time. That is, life is now imitating art, just as both Orwell’s novel and mine were intended to present.
George Orwell’s story now seems almost prescient in its conception. While mine didn’t anticipate as accurately how the world would be divided as the dictatorships developed to their present state.
By that I mean Jacob’s Trouble 666, although biblically centered, was, as is most of my writing, America-centric. Orwell’s fictional account of the coming global dictatorship was…well…global in scope.
Not only that, his was British-centric, which, as we will see below is important to examination of a current news item as relative to prophetic development, in my view.
A synopsis of 1984 novel provides futuristic geographical orientation for the reader.
1984 is set in a dystopian future where the world is divided into three superstates constantly at war: Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia. The story unfolds in Airstrip One (formerly Great Britain), a province of the totalitarian superstate of Oceania, which is under the control of the Party led by the figurehead Big Brother.
Britain has, in the story, become the center of power for an all-controlling dictatorship. I don’t know to what extent George Orwell looked into Bible prophecy and the foretold coming Antichrist when forming his storyline. But I have to believe he at least was cursorily familiar with the book of Daniel, Revelation chapter 13 and beyond.
Whatever the case, the author, by accidental good fortune, highly intuitive reasoning, or through premonition provided by a muse on his shoulder, hit upon where such dictatorship might emerge to Antichrist-level control. And to astute observers of recent developments in Great Britain and the UK in general, things are trending swiftly toward change that is disturbing.
While Islamic influence is becoming overbearing in many areas of Britain –and European nations in general— the cultural degrading being foisted upon the society is nothing short of dystopian.
The following news indicates that movement into Orwell-like dystopia.
The UK government is considering a mandatory digital ID for all citizens and legal residents in the UK. And the NHS has plans to sequence and store the DNA of all babies born in England. We are fast approaching a dystopian digital surveillance state, similar to what China’s communist government has implemented.
The UK government is considering a proposal for a mandatory digital ID, known as the “BritCard,” which would require the entire population to download it and connect their birth records to the “One Login” system.
The BritCard scheme was proposed by the “think tank” Labour Together. Labour Together’s team is made up largely of former Labour MPs, former local government politicians, former civil servants and former politicians’ assistants. It is influential within the Labour Party and, currently, the Labour government under Keir Starmer.
Labour Together claims that, according to a poll they had conducted, 80% of Britons would support a digital identity card. We would like to know who they polled – their office staff?
“For a progressive society to work, it needs to be able to collectively agree who is allowed to join it. Because it will exclude those who cannot join it, it needs to give its members proof that they belong,” Labour Together said. “Progressive” doesn’t mean that society is improving or people’s lives are going to improve; it means that society is progressing towards the Globalists’ aims of totalitarianism…
Meanwhile, the Bank of England and HM Treasury are currently in the design phase for a potential digital pound, the UK’s central bank digital currency (“CBDC”), with an Academic Advisory Group supporting the process. In January 2025, the Bank of England announced plans for a “Digital Pound Lab” to enable “hands-on experimentation” as part of its preparation for a potential CBDC. (“Digital dystopia looms large in the UK,” by Rhoda Wilson, The Expose, June 26, 2025)
Those who watch (Mark 13:37)-who view all these goings-on-see the prophetic shadows creeping across the European landscape. Just as we are witnessing the peace efforts spreading across the Middle East-an effort that will ultimately bring the “peace that will destroy many,” we know the moving forward of the global, digital economic efforts will result in enslavement for that dystopian Tribulation world in which all will be forced to accept the mark and number in the worship of Antichrist, or face starvation or death by beheading.
While the actual year 1984 is long since in the past, George Orwell’s novel, 1984, is casting shadows into and over our time, it seems. But it is God’s infallible, Holy Word –His prophetic Word—from which those who seek to know where we are on Heaven’s timeline for the wrap-up of this great supernatural novel (the Greatest Story Ever Told) finds truth not fiction.
We have indeed been seeing “all these things begin to come to pass” for quite some time. And it is past time that we who name the Majestic Name of Jesus Christ be “looking up, for our Redeemer is drawing near!”
Here again is how to be rescued by that Redeemer before that time of satanic evil of the Tribulation begins.
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)
Almost Persuaded
When I heard the words I sat a bit straighter in my chair while the president ended his uncharacteristically brief speech. He was reporting the “total obliteration” of Iran’s nuclear facility buried 300 feet below a mountainous terrain.
In ending his speech Mr. Trump thanked the pilots who flew the B2 bombers that released the “bunker buster” bombs. He thanked the Israeli military for their work in making it possible to fly to the targets in an uninhibited way. He then thanked God and followed that by what made me sit straighter in my chair.
The president of the United States said: “We love you, God.”
Never had I ever heard such words coming from a president of the United States. And it came from a man I have always supported yet have said he isn’t a godly man –but is “God’s man” for this time and place so near the end of this Church Age.
What does this statement mean? Is it a statement just for speechifying? Is it a comment of momentary elation over a spectacularly successful mission sent by this presidential administration? Is it made just to solidify and satisfy the president’s evangelical Christian base? Is it a genuine thanks to the God of Heaven made by a worldly man who has seen the light and now is a believer for salvation of his soul?
His statement of love for God did come from a tone of heartfelt gratitude.
Regardless of the reason for saying “We love you, God,” it is, in my view, a most significant, even profound, matter in this profoundly late prophetic hour.
Upon reflection of the statement and things going on that give evidence of God’s great hand in all things involved in not just Iran and the bombing of the nuclear facility, but in all matters surrounding this president, my thoughts immediately leaped to the Apostle Paul and his meeting with King Agrippa.
Paul was accused falsely of blasphemy, fomenting uprising and for crimes of sedition and with other charges. He claimed the right of a Roman citizen and was brought before King Agrippa.
The apostle laid out before the king how he had greatly persecuted Christians, but that Christ disrupted his journey on the road to Damascus. He told of Jesus’ words to him and all the rest. How he was thus converted to the Christian faith.
Festus, who brought him before the king, was incredulous. Here is the account.
And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad. But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness. For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds. (Acts 24-29)
So, I am led in my spirit to wonder, based upon his being spared death in the assassination attempt, whether our president, in view of his “We love you, God,” prayer-like words stem from his conversion like the Apostle Paul’s, or to the “almost I am persuaded” words of near conversion like in the case of King Agrippa.
I prayerfully hope, of course, that it is the former rather than the latter of those possibilities that is the case.
But the real point in pursuing this line of thought with this commentary involves the number-one prophetic indicator of where we stand on God’s prophetic timeline. I mean, of course, the nation Israel.
A prominent Jewish writer presented for me a most interesting segway into my thinking regarding matters somewhat akin to the Apostle Paul’s meeting with King Agrippa. The writer offers a novelist’s perspective into the Jewish look at Bible prophecy. It fits within our theme “Almost persuaded.”
“The Bible is a story,” the Yeshiva University philosophy professor told a global audience Thursday evening. “It has a beginning, middle, and an end—and we are the characters writing its final chapters.”
[Rabbi Yosef Bronstein’s] thesis was unlike anything being said by other commentators: this isn’t about ancient prophecies coming true, but about understanding ourselves as active participants in a divine narrative that began with creation and is racing toward its climactic conclusion. By Sunday night, as President Trump announced Iran’s nuclear program had been “completely and totally obliterated,” Rabbi Bronstein’s vision of real-time biblical storytelling seemed prophetic.
The author of “Engaging the Essence: The Torah Philosophy of the Lubavitcher Rebbe” wasn’t offering traditional religious commentary. Instead, he presented something far more compelling: a framework for understanding current events as the latest chapters in the ultimate story ever told.
“The Bible begins with Genesis—’In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’—and ends with the eschatological perfect world where God’s presence is revealed for all to see,” explained Rabbi Bronstein, who leads a rabbinical training center in Efrat and holds a PhD in Talmudic studies. “In between, you have an unfolding story where God is constantly trying to push the world forward from creation all the way to redemption.”…
Three days after his presentation, as Iran’s nuclear facilities lay in ruins and the world witnessed what seemed like divine intervention through human action, Rabbi Bronstein’s vision of participatory biblical narrative seemed less like literary theory and more like an instruction manual for understanding our times.
We aren’t just witnessing history—we’re writing the Bible’s final chapters. And the story, Rabbi Bronstein suggests, is approaching its long-awaited happy ending.(“We Are Characters in God’s Story” – Scholar Reveals How Israel’s War Writes the Bible’s Final Chapters, Elie Mischel, Biblical News Israel365 June 23, 2025)
This author, an orthodox rabbi, is persuaded that God’s story of humankind is right and true and he can see it developing to a “happy ending”. But he, along with all who are of belief held within Judaism, as well as all other belief systems not centered in Jesus Christ, are almost persuaded, just as was King Agrippa almost persuaded when Paul preached to him. Sadly, tragically, theirs, apart from coming to belief in God’s only way to salvation –His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ—is destined to end in eternal separation from God and heavenly bliss. It will, for these, not be a happy ending.
This is why it is vital that we who name that majestic, Holy Name witness as never before to those who need to come to Jesus, who is the only way, truth, and life that leads to the Heavenly Father and happiness in Heaven forever.
Here, again, is how to witness to those who are not yet persuaded.
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)
“Looking Out” vs. “Looking Up”
We should all be on the same prophetic page, but that isn’t the case. Prophecy “watchers” are attuned to differing wavelengths on a prophetic spectrum. And it’s a man-made rather than a biblically constructed spectrum that is divisive to the point of being a disservice to God’s family here on Earth.
Here I intend to present my thoughts on Bible prophecy yet in the future, which I maintain is based only in truth from God’s Word—in contrast to what I perceive as a falling-away from that truth at this late hour of the Church Age.
By this, I’m not in any way intimating that this falling-away is the apostasies (departure or falling away) foretold in 2 Thessalonians 2. That sort of departure from the faith denies gospel truth that belief in Jesus Christ alone for salvation is the only way to God the Father and Heaven (John 14:6).
Although some who are truly saved by their belief in Christ say there is no pre-Trib Rapture, I do believe they are misguided to the point of being damaging to the great cause of Christ. These observers of today’s issues and events relative to the anticipation of prophecy to be fulfilled are, as the title has it, “looking out.” But they are not, as the second part of the title says, “looking up.”
They are watching for issues and events that signal fulfillment of things prophesied in God’s Word. But they aren’t anticipating the any-moment call of the Lord Jesus Christ to all believers who have lived and died during the Church Age—this Age of Grace.
These who watch are “looking out”–that is, at things going on around them, but they aren’t “watching” the way Jesus and the Apostle Paul instructed.
Jesus said to “watch” for the signs He gave in His Olivet Discourse:
What I say unto one, I say unto all. Watch. (Mark 13:37.
The watchers of the first sort–the ones who only “look out” at things happening that appear to be setting the stage for the fulfillment of prophecy—aren’t following through on Jesus’ words in His final instruction about “watching”:
And when you see all these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your head. For your redemption is drawing near. (Luke 21:28)
Those who only “watch” the signals of prophetic stage-setting miss the true point of the Lord’s instruction. Those of us who are believers–who are saved by His wonderful grace—must be looking for Him, our Redeemer, not for a fulfilled prophecy other than that of the Rapture.
And what these mistaken observers watch for is the start of the Tribulation, that seven-year period–Daniel’s seventieth week—the second half of which Jesus said will be the most horrendous time of all human history. And the first half of era won’t be much better, according to the twenty-one specific judgments given in the book of Revelation, following Christ’s call to the Church (Revelation 4).
That time of horror will be ruled over for the most part by Antichrist. He will be history’s most vicious tyrant, a dictator indwelt by Satan who will demand worship (Revelation 13).
So those who are in grievous error of watching exclusively for signals of the Tribulation, rather than for the imminent (any-moment) call by Jesus into the clouds of Glory in the Rapture, are looking for Antichrist. This is not what our Lord commanded. This is not what the great Apostle Paul, who was given this mystery by God the Holy Spirit to divulge to believers during this Church Age, told us. We are, Paul said:
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. (Titus 2:13)
There is no “blessed hope” in looking for Antichrist and the Tribulation. And there is no comfort in looking for God’s wrath that will befall rebellious humankind during that terrible seven years of judgment upon this fallen planet.
About that comforting blessed hope, Paul writes:
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:16–18)
We are to take great comfort–encouragement—as we watch all these things that signal that the Tribulation is very near beginning: things that will bring about the worst time in human history. We who are saved by the precious blood of Christ will not be here to suffer God’s judgment. God’s Word tells us:
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1)
The Church–all born-again believers in Christ—is mentioned nineteen times in Revelation chapters 1–3. The Church is not in Revelation’s prophetic picture again until chapter 19, where we read that the saints, robed in pure white, accompany King Jesus back to put an end to Armageddon. The Church will be in Heaven, not on Earth, during Daniel’s seventieth week–the Tribulation.
Now there is great comfort in that promise!
So while we look outward at what’s going on—the evil that is so troubling to others—believers should find comfort, even thrilling anticipation, that we are about to see our Lord face to face in Heaven. We are, as instructed by our coming King, to be “Looking up,” as well as watching the issues and events that are setting the prophetic stage, and working to bring others to a saving knowledge of Christ.
Here, again, is how to be saved from the sin that condemns those who have not accepted Christ’s redeeming forgiveness.
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)
Israel Here to Stay?
Authors note: While awaiting President Donald J. Trump’s decision on ridding Iran’s Islamic regime of its nuclear weapons-making capability, I researched through past commentaries I’ve written on this troubling topic. There were a number of such articles, but the one I chose, I think, portrays just how long the threat has been allowed to build to this moment of absolute necessity of eliminating a sure and present danger—a danger not only to Israel and America, but to the entire world.
Now the president has made the decision that will have resounding ramifications throughout the world. Iran’s nuclear facilities have been totally eliminated in the strikes Saturday night, June 21, 2025.
However, none of the usual pundits can answer: What happens next? Will there be regime change? There are no answers coming from the so-called experts.
There is no uncertainty from this quarter. It’s not that I am super-smart or prescient. But I read the future that is found only in the Holy Word of our God.
The ”Persian” evil is not finished. Iran is destined to join the Gog-Magog coalition of Ezekiel chapters 38-39.
Because of Bible prophecy, I’m prepared to offer with a significant degree of certainty the opinion that this action–righteous though it is in ridding Israel and the world of an immediate nuclear threat from this wicked regime, has started a process that will very quickly push Iran further into the arms of the likes of Russia, Turkey, and others that will constitute the Gog-Magog coalition.
The following was posted on Raptureready.com August 23, 2010.
My thought in reposting here is to show that no matter how things look from human perspective, God is in full control at all times. He is restraining and has the satanically inspired forces of evil often in derision as promised in Psalm 2.
The dangers examined in that article still exist, and the Lord continues to restrain and be in full control. So, those who know the Lord and watch prophetic developments as we are Instructed by Jesus (Mark 13:37 and Luke 21:28) can be assured that God’s promise to take believers home to Glory is imminent, while witnessing “all these things begin[ning] to come to pass.”
Israel Here to Stay?
Originally posted August 23, 2010
My inbox and the news from Bible prophecy circles bulge with talk of Israel’s almost-certain attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. The scuttlebutt has been coming hard and fast since 2007 or even earlier. Each summer was going to bring an assault by Israel,and all-out Mideast war was sure to ensue.
As I write this, the predictions are at fever pitch. John Bolton, former American UN ambassador, declared that Israel had until Saturday, August 21, [2010.] to take out Iran’s nuclear plants, or risk—by their bombing—spreading radiation contamination across the area and into the Persian Gulf.
The flood of emails proclaims that this is it. The region is going to go up in flames, with Russia coming to the aid of Iran, because the Russians are so heavily invested in the Iranian nuclear program. There will be Russian nuclear technicians installing the radioactive rods necessary to fuel and power up the facility. They will be in harm’s way, and Moscow–from which Gog of Magog prophetic infamy will come—will not abide such an insult. The thought frequently conjectured: Could this be the beginning of Ezekiel 38-39—the Gog-Magog attack?
Israel can’t afford, the argument goes, to allow the facility to come online. This, because the spent fuel rods will provide plutonium and other byproducts to give Iran the materials from which they can produce nuclear weapons. That’s a simplification of the matter, but should suffice, I hope, for making my point.
This attack by Israel will be, the emailers apparently believe, prophecy being fulfilled. This preemptive attack by the Jewish state upon the land of ancient Persia surely will, the messages exclaim, instigate a chain reaction of events. These events will bring the Gog-Magog attack, and perhaps Isaiah 17:1 will also be fulfilled. Some even believe it will provoke the long-pondered-over Psalm 83 war supposed by many to be in the offing.
I could have waited until Saturday, August 21, had passed to write this piece, but chose not to do so. My reason is primarily that I don’t believe this is the time for the Gog-Magog War, or for the proposed Psalm 83 conflict, should it be an actual prophecy. Exigencies just aren’t ripe for producing the horrific results such conflicts as the Gog-Magog, or even the supposed Psalm 83, conflagrations would inflict. At least, that’s my view from my present perspective.
More than that, I believe that’s the way it is presented from the perspective of Bible prophecy. One thing I do think is an almost 100-percent certainty is that Israel isn’t going anywhere. Iranian tyrant Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s promises to erase Israel from the face of the Middle East and the world are empty threats. It will never happen—not even with the help of the Gog nation, Russia.
Why do I say “an almost 100-percent certainty”?
This goes to the argument of those who say it is possible that Israel could be removed from its land yet again. Then, all would have to once more rearrange in order to get the prophetic indicators into place like they are now. God might allow Israel’s enemies to again take the Jews from the Promised Land because of their unbelief.
Zola Levitt and I were once discussing the hatred of the Arab nations for Israel. I mentioned that the late Dr. J. Vernon McGee didn’t think the Jews being back in the land was necessarily a major signal of the nearness to Christ’s return. My friend Zola, a very passionate man when it came to Israel, got pretty exercised, as I recall. He said he and Dr. McGee “got into it” over this subject.
Zola said Dr. McGee said it could be that Israel might yet be removed from the land of promise. Zola didn’t like that at all, so they had a rather lively discussion on the matter—on camera. I said, “Well, Dr. McGee [who went to be with the Lord in 1988 at age 84] knows now, that’s for sure.” That seemed to calm Zola a bit.
Dr. McGee would no doubt agree that Israel is back in the land to stay, if he could have watched developments of the years since he left the planet. Israel being: the center of most all controversy so far as issues of war and peace are concerned; pressured by the international community to give up God’s land; at the center of a forced, phony peace process, with Iran (ancient Persia) threatening from the north. How could he or anyone being privy to such facts say otherwise?
Whatever happened last Saturday—as you read this on August 23 or later—Israel isn’t going anywhere. So, I’ll change my “almost” to an absolute 100-percent certainty.
Although Israel—and the world—is in for some terrible times ahead, I firmly believe we have the very Word of God about the current and future disposition of His chosen nation. Israel is here to stay.
And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God. (Amos 9:14–15)
Revelation 17 Harlot System
We can see on the prophetic horizon a monstrous beast lumbering in this direction with a woman riding astride its back. Dave Hunt, you might recall, wrote a provocative—even controversial—book on the subject: The Woman Rides a Beast. Most literalists believe (as did Hunt) the “woman” represents the apostate religious system that will be Antichrist’s mistress, as a counterfeit of the Church, the Bride of Jesus Christ.
The matters involved present a terrifying specter—a foreshadowing of bloody things to come, given John to record on the Isle of Patmos almost two thousand years ago:
So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. (Revelation 17:3–6)
Historicists–those who believe that most prophecy, including this one, has been fulfilled historically—say this all took place during the Roman-based persecutions throughout early Church history. The prophecy, they say, has nothing to do with things to come, except in the most general sense. Certainly, the prophecy has nothing specific to do with an end-times persecution leading to the most terrible time in human history. Such a view presents a torturous task for historicist adherents who try to explain the Revelation 17 prophecy of the wicked woman on the hideous beast.
And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. (Revelation 17:12–14)
This powerful ten-nation entity and the beast have no historical basis as accomplished fact. Any dealing with this part of the prophecy from the perspective of any but the futurist view—that there is much Bible prophecy yet to be literally fulfilled—requires spiritualizing, allegorizing, or else applying pure sophistry to everything to do with these Scriptures.
Contemporary headlines, as they do for so many prophecies yet future, make the case for the Revelation 17 prophecy coming into view in our time. It is literally shaping up for fulfillment before the eyes of those with prophetic discernment. We’ve used these commentaries many times to dissect and examine news stories that show the governments of the world reconfiguring into what George H. W. Bush, Henry Kissinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Barack Obama, and many others have termed “New World Order.” The dire global economic crises that have moved toward critical mass just within the past couple of years have shown the inextricable national fiscal interlinkages. It has become obvious that the world is being forced into a monetary mold that could easily morph into something like the ten-kingdom power bloc God’s Word says will give its power and authority to the beast.
I believe it will be the Rapture of the Church that will quickly bring about that ten-kings fiscal power bloc.
So, it’s reasonable to expect the harlot who rides the beast—the agglomerate ten kings and kingdoms of Revelation 17—to be somewhere in the prophetic picture, if indeed we are witnessing that monster in the making.
There has always been much talk, among those who watch for signals of the end times, about a final Catholic pope who might be Antichrist’s False Prophet. I ‘m not one who believes a future pope will necessarily become that second beast of Revelation 13.
However, the religious organization the pontiff heads will, I believe, be a major part of the nucleus of the religious amalgamation outlined in Revelation 17.
It’s quite interesting to consider here the perspective of one who came out of the Catholic Church and who I believe is one of the key observers of these profound times we face as we watch for our Lord’s return.
The new pope appears to be well qualified to be the head of an international organization. He can speak five languages including English, Spanish, Italian, French, and Portuguese and he can also read Latin and German. He is well educated with advanced degrees in Mathematics and Theology. But is he qualified to be the head of the church that Catholics believe was founded by the Lord Jesus Christ? The short answer is a resounding “No!” Jesus Christ, God’s perfect man and man’s perfect God, is the only one qualified! He is the One who purchased His church with His own blood and He is its only Head and only foundation (Acts 20:28; Eph. 5:23; 1 Cor. 3:11).
Catholics have foolishly replaced Christ as Head of the church with the pope. This is why the Reformers referred to the Pope as the antichrist, which means, the one who replaces or stands in the place of Christ. The Bible has many warnings concerning antichrists and trusting in mortal men. “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. He will be like a bush in the wastelands…But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him” (Jer. 17:5–7). “Do not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation” (Psalm 146:3).
Will the Pope Be Liberal, Conservative or Biblical?
Many Catholics are wondering if Pope Leo XIV will be liberal or conservative on social and political issues. Yet, they should be more concerned with biblical issues that have eternal consequences. If he continues to preach a false gospel that keeps 1.4 billion Catholics on the wide road to destruction, he is accursed (Gal. 1:6-9). (“What Will Catholics Do with Pope Leo XIV?”, Mike Gendron, Proclaiming the Gospel, June 2025)
The new pope is at the center of the ongoing reach of the Catholic Church into the European structure from which the Antichrist regime, I believe, will emerge. The following shows that continuing relationship between the EU and the Vatican.
Led by its President, H.E. Mgr Mariano Crociata, the COMECE delegation introduced itself and engaged in discussion with the Holy Father on the current state of the European integration process and the European Union’s role in promoting peace and integral human development in an increasingly uncertain and rapidly evolving world. During the audience, Pope Leo XIV underscored the significance of COMECE’s mission of dialogue with the institutions of the European Union.
During the meeting, a number of pressing themes were addressed. These included the urgent need to promote dialogue and peace both within Europe and globally; the challenges posed by migration and asylum; the social implications of emerging technologies, particularly those based on Artificial Intelligence (AI); and the erosion of democracy in various regions.
The new pontiff particularly emphasized the Christian roots of Europe and their significance for the European project, while also acknowledging the presence of other cultural and religious traditions, and highlighting the importance of guiding younger generations in their faith and supporting their integral development. (“Pope Leo XIV to Host EU Bishops’ Delegation in First Official [Meeting],” CatholicVote.org, https://catholicvote.org)
This brings home to my thinking how many of the megachurches within Christianity are, similarly to the EU “summits,” contributing to setting up platforms that will produce the woman who will one day ride upon the back of the beast government of Revelation 17. Like in the EU get-together, there is compromise at the heart of these mega-efforts at man-made salvation.
The methodologies employed by such churches include the idea to bring together the saved and unsaved in a sort of “summit.” The idea is one of thesis (Christian faith) and antithesis (the lost or unsaved), with the objective of producing synthesis. The “summits,” in these cases, aim to bring about dialogue between the two opposite worldviews to produce answers (synthesis) that both sides can live with.
The process is satanic at its core, denying that God’s way to redemption and reconciliation is necessary. Apostasy is the result—the Laodicean model for the end of the age.
Be sure that you’re not a part of helping that woman of wickedness climb upon the back of the beast that will one day be scarlet with the blood of the Tribulation saints.
Last-Days Lawlessness and Power
In 1887, in a series of letters to Bishop Creighton about the moral issues of writing history about the Inquisition, British historian Lord Edward Acton wrote, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” His understanding of the human psyche bordered on prescient, it seems, considering the all-out quest for power that saturates the American political culture at present.
Former US Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger famously said: “Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.” Growing up in Germany as a boy, because of lawlessness among governmental leaders, he became pessimistic about human nature, skeptical about the inevitability of progress, and deeply committed to the values of order and stability. To these ends, Kissinger viewed power, not moral ideals, as the driving force of history. (This according to “Henry Kissinger and the Seductions of Power,” Iowa Capital Dispatch, https://iowacapitaldispatch.com.)
In America, at this late moment of this Age of Grace, we certainly have to consider Dr. Kissinger’s viewpoint, brought about from his experience in the power struggle he witnessed early in his native country. Stability, in this world of lawlessness, in reality, comes not from moral ideals, but rather from power. There is no reasoning from a morally correct position that will calm the paid-for rage/chaos that has swept the streets of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other cities. The organized No Kings rioters claim they’re protesting the Trump administration’s use of ICE (the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to carry out raids against those who have illegally entered America.
While the violent rioters are held up as bastions of righteous cause by mainstream news media, and the Trump administration is falsely accused as authoritarian and an evil wielder of power, the lawlessness expands to what looks to be prophetic levels.
Jesus, in the Olivet Discourse, told about how things will be as His return nears:
And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. (Matthew 24: 12 NKJV)
To my way of seeing this, in an important sense, the Lord’s words could be taken that the lawlessness being demonstrated to champion illegals staying inside America stems from the absence of love for this nation as founded. I realize much more is involved in the meaning of Jesus’ prophecy here, but there is an undeniable coldness in the way the vicious rioters throw at police and ICE agents frozen bottles of water and chunks of concrete taken from curbs they’ve sledgehammered, in addition to the property they loot and damage at every opportunity.
It is telling of just how appropriate it might be to consider Jesus’ prophecy for this particular time, because almost half of the members of the US House of Representatives and the US Senate either back the lawlessness by supporting the rioters, or, at the very least, offer no condemnation.
This is because one political party has demonstrated time and time again that power is what they seek above all else. They want to swell the voting base with illegals—almost all of whom will support them—no matter the cost to other, legitimate, citizens. Their aim is to garner all power into their political party. Love for country and lawful conduct within government and society is out the window with this party. In this ideology, they’re in agreement with the ideology that sparked the 1917 revolution in Russia: “The end justifies the means.”
To those on the totally reprobate political left in America today, power is indeed the ultimate aphrodisiac.
Indeed, as Lord Acton presciently said, “power corrupts.” And they—the leftists—seek absolute power, and at any price—even to the undoing of the document that gave us a constitutional republic…the American government that Benjamin Franklin told someone the founders had given we the people (adding, “If you can keep it”).
The lawlessness we witness taking place on an increasing level hourly is but another ingredient that adds to the last-days prophetic puzzle. It is a large part of “all these things” our Lord told us to look for at the moment He is about to come for us in the Rapture:
And when you see all these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your head, for your redemption is drawing near. (Luke 21:28)
Jesus will soon return to this unlawful, politically corrupt planet to establish righteous rule and lawful conduct among earth’s inhabitants. It will take His omnipotent power to bring about His millennial (thousand-year) reign.
But it is His power that can bring about a change in the minds and spiritual hearts of humankind even now, amidst this current time of lawlessness and chaos. He can take away the sinful, destructive thoughts, thus the evil actions, of each person who will receive His grace gift of salvation.
Here again is how to receive that gift that renews the mind and dispels lawlessness while empowering with God’s righteousness:
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)
Rapture or Rupture
For immediate posting
Author’s note: Events we are witnessing revolving around God’s chosen nation, Israel, speaks to my spirit in ways I’ve not sensed to this point. Christ’s call to His Church must be very near indeed.
It is time as never before to look up and lift up our heads, for our redemption (the Lord Jesus Christ) is drawing near. He is, I believe, on the very cusp of stepping out onto the clouds of Glory to call to Himself all believers of this Church Age–those alive and those who have already passed into His presence.
I heard again this week an interview between Scottish Christian broadcaster Sheila Walsh and Dr. David Jeremiah regarding the Rapture. This and the likely prophetic import of things happening surrounding Israel prompted me to again post this article, which was previously posted January 3, 2022.
Rapture or Rupture
Twenty something years ago, Pat Robertson was on his network, Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). I remember him saying in an almost amused, mocking tone that there would be no Rapture of the church. He declared that if that were to happen, it would completely disrupt all of the human condition across the world.
Planes would be crashing, cars would be wrecking, trains would run wild, and destruction of every sort would take place in such a moment. That’s not going to happen, he said. There will be no Rapture. He implied rather that there will be a “rupture” of all culture and society across the world. The Tribulation would be the implosion that wrecks everything, rather than the explosion a so-called Rapture would cause.
I remember distinctly Pat talking with his then co-host Sheila Walsh, the Scottish Christian broadcaster. As a side note, I presume Sheila has since moved on from agreeing with Mr. Robertson and his dismissing the pre-Trib Rapture “theory,” as he called it. I’ve heard her just within the past year on air with Dr. David Jeremiah, who teaches solidly on the pre-Trib Rapture of the church. She seemed to agree totally with all he said on the prophetic topic.
Over the years, there has been banter coming from those who adamantly hold that the pre-Trib Rapture is a myth. These sometimes use the word “rupture” to sneer at the idea of a Rapture, which we believe is Bible truth as taught by the Apostle Paul—and, by the way, by the Lord Jesus as well. He said the following as recorded by the Apostle John.
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:1–3)
In these words of the Lord we are told, I’m convinced, the same as the Apostle Paul foretells.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17)
For all the fun-making against pre-Trib Rapture and those of us who believe it to be the next catastrophic intervention by Christ into human affairs, they can’t erase these powerful promises. That is, they can’t without spiritualizing and allegorizing as they make their case. They have to conclude that neither Jesus nor Paul meant what they said in a literal sense.
There is, however, a biblically prophetic passage that speaks, I believe, of a rupture. It is a key prophecy that will take place immediately after the Rapture of the Church. As a matter of fact, we’ve seen this rupture beginning for some time. It will be the tear in the fabric of this world system that will rip civilization the way Mr. Robertson once feared.
The prophet Zechariah forewarned of this coming rupture.
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. (Zechariah 12:3)
The prophet is saying here that when the world takes on Jerusalem and Israel–God’s chosen city and nation—it will be a load too heavy to lift. They will be injured severely, or ruptured, in their attempt to remove the city and nation from being in the place where God put them.
We’ve seen almost daily leaders from countries surrounding modern Israel declaring they will destroy the tiny Jewish state. Those such as Nasser and Sadat have tried to do so. Israel not only remains, but is now in a stronger position than ever, even though constantly threatened.
Antichrist and his juggernaut will finally manage to invade Israel, following all of Israel’s surrounding enemies being destroyed in the Gog-Magog attack of Ezekiel 38 and 39. But the man of sin will, too, be severely injured and ultimately bound in chains and removed to eternal punishment. Israel will become the chief nation of the entire world during the Millennium—Christ’s thousand-year reign on planet earth.
Thankfully, all who accept Christ now, this side of the Rapture, will not endure the rupture the whole world will suffer when God again begins dealing with His chosen people, the Jews.
Here again is how to avoid being part of that future injury—that rupture—that will condemn the soul to eternity apart from God.
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)
HOW TO BE SAVED AFTER THE RAPTURE
A Concise Handbook for Spiritual Survival During the Tribulation
By Roy R. Reeves
Book review by Terry James
Readers will be delightfully surprised, I think, to see just how readable and understandable, and woven into a brief presentation, is this book on what can be a complicated prophetic matter.
Roy Reeves has the gift of powerfully yet simply addressing questions we who deal with prophetic matters from the pre-Trib view have been asked over the years. I am most pleased to offer, with my full endorsement, this book to all who have such questions.
How to Be Saved after the Rapture: A Concise Handbook for Spiritual Survival During the Tribulation was written first and foremost for unsaved individuals still on earth after the Rapture. However, it is also for pre-Rapture readers who can benefit from the concepts being presented. The book aims to:
- Show that the Bible provides an opportunity for people to be saved during the Tribulation.
- Discuss what they must do to obtain salvation.
- Explore the challenges to being saved after the Rapture and elaborate on how to deal with the trials saved persons will then face.
The book is written with simplicity of language so that it can be read in a short time by people under the duress of the Antichrist’s oppressive rule. Concepts are presented in a manner that doesn’t require any theological or church background for understanding. Thus, it is hoped the ideas addressed can be quickly understood even by those with little knowledge of Scripture and limited time for study.
The book begins by describing what happens with the Rapture, what it all means, and the dire conditions that result. Since many people left on earth will probably feel salvation is impossible, the next section demonstrates clearly from Scripture that people not only can be saved, but millions will be—even during the Tribulation. With that fact established, the basics of what a person must do to be saved are then presented. Subsequent attention is given to the danger of false salvation. During the Tribulation, deception will be intense, and the reader is warned to trust solely in salvation by the only Way to God: the Lord Jesus Christ. A chapter is then devoted to how to know conclusively that one has truly been saved.
The book then turns to what the saved person needs to do next and elaborates on the difficulties associated with this. Discussion entails the risks of walking out one’s salvation during the time of the Antichrist, but also the necessity and rewards of doing so. Finally, the book reveals that there is true hope and a glorious eternity for those who are saved and endure. No matter how bad things get, the glory of Heaven makes any amount of suffering trivial compared to what awaits those who follow the Lord.
After the concluding chapter, appendices for pre-Rapture readers are provided. These discuss what individuals should be doing now and neutrally explore controversial ideas about exactly who will remain on earth after the Rapture. A list of other resources for those left behind is also included.
Again, I wholeheartedly give my full endorsement on this book, which is a volume most important for these closing hours of the Church Age.
This little book will be excellent to hand to lost friends, to your saved friends to use as witnessing tools, and to place in advantageous places for those who will be left behind when the Great Event happens.
How to Be Saved after the Rapture: A Concise Handbook for Spiritual Survival During the Tribulation
Author: Roy R. Reeves
Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishers
ISBN: 979-8-89597-356-1
The book can be ordered from Amazon at this link: How to Be Saved after the Rapture
On War and Peace
Many years ago, I read War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, the Russian writer considered one of the great literary masters of the novelist sort. His masterpiece, portraying in great detail Napoleon Bonaparte’s war-making on Czarist Russia is, once you have the courage to get into it, spellbinding. At least it was in my case.
I have two volumes—each a different English translation, and each well into the thousands of pages. I’ve read both, and have gone back to read portions again and again.
I say “once you have the courage to get into it” because it’s an ancient report of a long-ago war, and dedicating one’s self to such a daunting read indeed takes courage–or something like it. There is a long-time stigma attached to reading overly long tomes, and War and Peace is almost always the one held up as the example of the long-winded reads.
However, the book is a brilliant, although fictional, accounting of man waging war at its most terrible and personal, yet most fascinating, level. Yet we think of such wars of the distant past—such conflicts—as irrelevant to life today. It’s all history. We must deal with now…and with the future. We have our own threats—and they’re potentially globally destructive—so we find it unproductive, a waste of time, to live the lives of characters of antiquity such as Prince Andrei Nikolayevich and Natasha Rostova.
Wars of our own time are everywhere we look, and they genuinely and in real time threaten our own existence.
War and Peace is simply too close to home, and most today shy away from dwelling on the reports of actual conflicts and the efforts at peaceful resolution.
But matters of war and peace within God’s prophetic Word cannot, for the Christian who is commanded to examine the future through that Word, be avoided, if obeying Heaven’s instruction. Jesus said: “What I say unto one, I say unto all. Watch” (Mark 13:37).
The Lord was talking about the signals of His coming again to watch for as the end of the age approaches. He said, for example, that there will be “wars and rumors of war.” We who are in God’s family are to watch, therefore, for these prophesied wars and rumors of war. I believe this warning by Jesus, the Greatest of all Prophets, points to wars and rumors of war as being most profound as an end-of-the-age indicator, second only to the nation Israel itself.
God’s Word also states that at the same time there are wars and rumors thereof, there will be a great cry for peace and safety. As a matter of fact, we’re told that when there is that end-times cry for peace and safety, we can expect sudden destruction to fall (“For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” [1 Thessalonians 5:3]).
A recent news article indicates proliferating signals, I think, of the growing global call for peace and safety.
Pope Leo XIV and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a phone call today, with the Pope asking Putin to “make a gesture that would promote peace,” while emphasizing dialogue.
Earlier today Russian news outlets reported that Leo and Putin had spoken by phone, but it was not until a little after 9 p.m. Rome time that the Holy See Press Office confirmed the news.
A statement issued by the Vatican read:
During the phone call, in addition to matters of mutual interest, special attention was paid to the situation in Ukraine and peace.
The Pope made an appeal for Russia to make a gesture that would promote peace, stressed the importance of dialogue for the realization of positive contacts between the parties and seek solutions to the conflict…
In his first address to the world and the Church on his first Sunday appearance after the election, Pope Leo called for an end to global conflicts. “Never again war,” he urged, citing the conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, and Pakistan by name. (“Pope Leo holds first phone call with Vladimir Putin, urges him to ‘promote peace’,” Michael Haynes, Snr. Vatican Correspondent, LifeSite, June 4, 2025)
The dichotomy of war and peace have been a constant exigency in humankind’s history since the disobedience of Adam in the Garden of Eden. I heard recently that there have been no more than 268 years of peace in all of recorded history. Certainly there has been no such lack of wars and rumors of war that I’ve known during my lifetime. Nor can I find any such periods of absence of war in my, admittedly less than stellar, academic study of humanity’s long history. I’ll just have to trust the statistic, which I heard from Dr. David Jeremiah, who said the 268 years of peace number came from an article in the New York Times.
Again, the Word of God tells the reason for the war that rages and moves humanity toward Armageddon. The war in fallen humankind began in Eden, and it will end at Armageddon.
From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. (James 4:1–2)
There is no peace in this fallen world other than the peace the Lord Jesus Christ gives upon salvation of souls. The Lord said:
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. (John 14:27)
The person who doesn’t know Jesus Christ as Savior can’t find the peace of which Jesus spoke, unless, as James in the Scripture above says, the person “asks.” One has only to ask to receive God’s forgiveness and achieve the inner peace the Holy Spirit gives when He comes to live within the believer.
Here again is how to come to that moment of peace Jesus promises to all who but “ask”:
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)
Terry James Prophecy Line 