Prophecy Line
ARE WE HEADED TOWARD THE TRIBULATION?
ARE WE HEADED TOWARD THE TRIBULATION? with Terry James | Tracking Toward Tribulation Pt 1
Antichrist’s Power Base
The stunning swiftness of moves made by this newly elected—or would that be re-elected—president brings into question just where the stage-setting for Antichrist’s ultimate base of power stands.
I refer to the fact that Mr. Trump has left America’s western European allies standing on the sideline and gawking from a distance as he enters negotiations with Vladimir Putin. The American president has unilaterally taken on the peace initiative in seeking to put an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine.
His administration’s operatives, in preparing the way for the peace probe taking place, have stated that European nations will be consulted, but may not be present at the direct negotiations between Trump and Putin. This, to my way of thinking, is no doubt insulting to those governments. But I think it perhaps somehow will be instrumental in making Europe the most powerful governmental and military power to exist on earth.
This is a possible future reality when considering the Bible prophecy truth that the one who will be Antichrist will come from Europe—that is, from within the region surrounding the ancient city of the Caesars. Daniel the prophet gave us clue to this eventuation:
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. (Daniel 9:26–27)
The “prince that shall come,” of course, refers here to the one who will be Antichrist. That prince, Daniel prophesies, will “confirm the covenant” with Israel and “the many.” This is the peace that begins the seven years of Tribulation. That prince comes out of the Roman Empire, whose capital, of course, was Rome. We know this will be a man from Rome, because it is the Roman Legion, led by General Titus, that in AD 70 destroyed the city and the sanctuary, as given in this prophecy.
Europe will be central to the ascension of this, history’s last and worst dictator. He will also be the most powerful tyrant to ever rule on earth. He will cause all, no matter their status, to obey him, or else die through execution or starvation.
So, in surveying the present status of this geopolitical nucleus out of which that future Antichrist will arise, it’s more than interesting to witness the almost inconsequential regard with which European leadership is being treated.
This announcement by the US president frames the situation.
TRUMP’S ULTIMATUM: THE U.S. HAS GIVEN EUROPE THREE WEEKS TO AGREE ON TERMS TO END THE UKRAINE WAR! IF WE DON’T, THE U.S. WILL WITHDRAW FROM EUROPE! BOOM!
It’s happening. President Donald J. Trump is DONE playing games with NATO and the corrupt Ukrainian war machine. The message is clear: either Europe agrees to terms and ends this disastrous war in Ukraine, or the United States pulls out of Europe completely. No more free rides. No more U.S. troops babysitting Europe while their leaders drag their feet. Trump is a man of action, and he just put NATO and Ukraine on notice. Three weeks. That’s all they have. If they don’t sign the deal, America is out. (“Trumps Ultimatum: The U.S. Has Given Europe Three Weeks to Agree on Terms to End the Ukraine War!, amg-news.com, American Media Group Telegram, February 22, 2025)
And I believe this treatment of Europe we’re witnessing at this time in actuality is beginning a process that will result in establishing Antichrist’s power base.
The prophecy Jesus the Ascended Lord gave John to write foretells the power of this future “beast,” as he is called.
And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? (Revelation 13:4)
Perhaps we’re watching through our hourly news at present the foundational moments of the construction of such awesome power as described here.
The Europeans now understand that America’s president isn’t playing around in the matter of the seemingly endless war between Russia and Ukraine. He has pushed that leadership aside, obviously considering them as blocking progress in bringing the bloody war to an end.
They’re now looking into what happens when America stops providing the greatest amount of money and military assets for Europe’s defense, which has been the case since World War I. Donald J. Trump has indicated in strong geopolitical, diplomatic language that things will change in this regard. The following report further provides some food for thought.
US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Ukraine has yet to be made public, but it is already abundantly clear that he expects Europe to play a far bigger role in the continent’s future security and the fight against Russian aggression. With the United States now looking to scale back its transatlantic commitments at a time when an openly revisionist Russia is embracing an expansionist agenda, European leaders must urgently adjust to the new geopolitical realities and prioritize security.
The Trump administration has moved rapidly to underline its expectations regarding an increased European role in the continent’s defense. Just days after his inauguration, Trump used an appearance at the World Economic Forum to reiterate his call for European NATO members to increase defense spending to five percent of GDP…
The starkest message so far has come from US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. “Safeguarding European security must be an imperative for European members of NATO,” he told a February 12 meeting of Ukraine’s Western allies in Brussels. “Europe must provide the overwhelming share of future lethal and non-lethal aid to Ukraine.” (“Europe Must Prepare to Defend Itself in an Increasingly Multipolar World,” Mykola Bielieskov, https://www.atlanticcouncil.org)
Increasingly, European leaders are seeing the handwriting on the wall, as the following validates:
The USA has, among other things, declared that Europe cannot count on American support for peacekeeping forces in the event of a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
European leaders fear that the USA’s President Donald Trump will make a peace agreement with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, over the heads of Ukraine and Europe.
Europe is aware that its relationship with the USA has entered a new phase, according to Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The Paris meeting was unanimous that a “significant increase in defense spending is absolutely necessary,” he summarized.
There is no point in getting irritated about our ally USA saying “spend more, get stronger, become more resilient,” said Tusk.
Leaders from Germany, the UK, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, and Denmark, as well as the EU and NATO, participated in the meeting. (“Europe after the Meeting: Must Build Up,” Sweden Herald, February 17, 2025)
This president, I believe, could well be fulfilling, unwittingly, the end-times movement toward Europe’s development of a unified military power base. When the Rapture occurs, America will be in disarray perhaps more than any other nation due to Christian influence within government and military being no longer here.
I believe the probability is strong that a greatly weakened US, because of disunity, will at a future time have to join with a powerfully unified European defense consortium. This coalition will then possess America’s awesome nuclear arsenal, along with all of its technological war-making assets. This would certainly bring to fulfillment the prophecy: “Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?”
These sudden and forceful dynamic rearrangements involving Europe indicate, I’m convicted, how near might be Christ’s call in the Rapture to believers of this Church Age.
It is time as never before to deliver to those who don’t know our Lord, Christ’s soul-redeeming message:
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)
The Snare and Sudden Destruction
Some who make Bible prophecy their major study in writing and other ministry endeavors leave the Rapture of the Church out of their consideration. Or else they bring arguments meant to completely come against the pre-Trib Rapture in particular.
Some even are excellent writers and thinkers. These concentrate correctly on the darkening times, weaving into their messages current issues and events. They present such reports in speculating how those news items might be leading to the Tribulation, Daniel’s seventieth week.
However, if and when they mention the Rapture, they say that this event, prophesied by the Apostle Paul, will happen not before the Tribulation, but sometime during that last seven years leading up to the return of Christ at the time of Armageddon. There is, in their view, no Rapture prior to that terrible time. Christians, they believe and present uncompromisingly, will have to go through at least some portion of the Tribulation.
Some of these folks charge those of us who believe God’s Word holds forth the pre-Tribulation Rapture as guilty of causing Christians to not recognize Antichrist when he comes on the scene. Thus because we teach and preach that all believers will not be on earth when that man of sin becomes known.
It is a complete mystery how such otherwise biblically astute, Christ-centered, and quite talented, in some cases, believers can so misunderstand. It is most perplexing that they go against the Scripture as presented. God plainly presents the Rapture as occurring before God’s final wrath and judgment will fall.
They declare that God’s promise is to keep us “through,” not “out of,” the coming time of Tribulation, the worst of all times. But the word in Christ’s most profound promise in this regard is the Greek word ek, meaning “out of,” not “through.” We see this as follows.
The pre-Tribulation Rapture is built upon a body of scriptural references. But the most powerful proof that the Church—all believers in Christ of the Church Age or Age of Grace—will be kept out of the time of God’s wrath and judgment is given by the Ascended Lord Jesus Himself in one statement:
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. (Revelation 3:10)
The word “from” in the phrase “from the hour” is the Greek ek, meaning “out of,” as stated previously. Jesus will keep the Church out of those seven years of judgment and wrath soon to come.
Jesus, in His ascended position following His resurrection, gave John the message He wanted to be presented to the churches of the Age of Grace. The message gave Christ’s holy assessment of each of the seven churches John was to address.
In the above statement, Christ was commending believers of the Age of Grace for their faithful belief in His death, burial, and resurrection as payment for their sin.
Because of this unbreakable belief that seals their souls forever (Romans 8:38–39), Christ would keep them out of the terrible wrath and judgment that would befall all of the world’s unbelievers. This promise was a prelude to John being called into Heaven, symbolically foreshadowing the believers being kept out of the wrath and judgment.
Revelation, then, beginning with chapter 4, lays out in terms of seven scrolls, seven trumpets, and seven bowls or vials, twenty-one specific judgments through which God deals with the rebels of earth. This is the unfolding of the time, the latter part of which the Lord foretells will be the worst time of all human history (Matthew 24:21).
The purpose of this time of wrath and judgment, the overall picture Bible prophecy portrays, is to: 1) judge the world for sin and rebellion; and 2) bring out of that terrible era a remnant of Israel (Jewish believers). This remnant will comprise the head nation of the world during the millennial reign of Christ, which follows Christ’s return at Armageddon.
Now the reason for the title of this commentary.
The writers and other presenters who ignore any possibility of the pre-Tribulation Rapture of believers in Christ watch and report on the issues and events of this darkening age, but see no hope for believers escaping the seventieth week of Daniel—the coming seven years of Tribulation. If Christians are alive when that era begins, they will, according to the anti-pre-Rapture pontificators, go into that time along with all the lost (those who don’t know Christ for salvation) and who are alive at that time.
However, here again is what the Bible tells us:
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. (Titus 2:13)
What hope is there in “looking for” the worst time in all of human history? Our hope is in Jesus Christ and His promise to call us into His presence before the seven years of judgment and wrath begin, as, again, He told John to write to the Church.
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. (Revelation 3:10)
The anti-pre-Trib Rapture proponents do not discern the entire body of prophecy; else they wouldn’t miss the following:
And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. (Luke 21:34–36)
There is a sudden moment coming when all things on earth will change in a millisecond. It will come as a snare upon the world. Here is that moment from another Holy Spirit perspective:
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 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. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. (1 Thessalonians 5:1–6)
What is this moment of snare-like change upon earth? Paul explains in the verses immediately preceding the above. In the last verses of 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, he says this:
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 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: 15–18)
A profound question: What are the closing words of this Rapture promise? “Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
What comfort can be found if we are facing seven years of the most horrendous times in all of human history?
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Zechariah 12: The War Before Armageddon – By Bill Salus
The overwhelming vast majority of conservative Bible teachers strongly believe that the war in Zechariah 12 will take place at Armageddon when all the nations of the earth come to attack Israel. Then, as per Zechariah 14 and Revelation 19, the Lord single-handedly destroys these invading armies. However, every Bible translation of Zechariah 12 has Israel, with the help of the Lord, militarily defeating all the peoples that came to attack them.
The Zechariah 12 war happens in the future when the Arab nations sharing common borders with Israel besiege Jerusalem and Judah. These invaders are soundly defeated by Israel’s military with the Lord’s help.
Conversely, the war of Armageddon in Zechariah 14 is a totally separate war that takes place subsequently when all the nations of the earth with their armies attack only the city of Jerusalem. In this siege, they successfully capture half the city, which leaves Israel in a completely defenseless situation. Thus, the Lord steps in, and He personally defeats all the world armies in Revelation 19:15-21.
The primary purpose of this in-depth Bible prophecy study is to show that Zechariah 12:1-9 IS NOT dealing with ARMAGEDDON but IS dealing with the conclusion of the ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT. This conflict is the topic explored at the end of this article.
The Separate War of Zechariah 12:1-9
The three verses below mostly explain what happens in the Zechariah 12 war.
“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem” (Zech. 12:2).
“’In that day,’ says the Lord, ‘I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness’” (Zech. 12:4).
“In that day I will make the governors of JUDAH like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; THEY shall DEVOUR all the SURROUNDING PEOPLES on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place—Jerusalem” (Zech. 12:6, NKJV; emphasis added).
In Zech. 12:2, the surrounding people lay siege on Judah and Jerusalem. In Zech. 12:4, the Lord divinely intervenes to level the playing field. Zech. 12:6 points out that after the Lord intervenes, Israel decisively defeats the surrounding peoples.
The key to understanding this separate war is to recognize that these verses above only identify “the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left hand” of Israel. This is in contrast to “all the nations” of the world that are included in the Armageddon Campaign in Zechariah 14:2 and elsewhere.
All Bible translations of Zech. 12:2 clearly identify only the neighboring nations that share common borders with Israel. A few examples are included below.
“cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples” (NKJV)
“cup of reeling unto all the peoples round about” (ASV)
“cup brings dizziness to all the surrounding nations” (NET)
“cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling” (NIV)
“intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger” (NLT)
“cup of poison to the nations around her” (NCV)
The Hebrew word that identifies these peoples round about Israel is “Sabib,” and it means, “On every side, places round about, round about in a circuit, in the circuit from every side, a circle, a neighbor, or within all the confines of its border.” This word is used in both Zech. 12:2 and 6 to single out the Arab states that border Israel.
One of the first uses of this word in the Bible makes this clear in the verse below.
“And the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in (Sabib), all the borders round about,” were made sure” (Genesis 23:17, KJV; emphasis added).
No part of Zechariah 12 appears to prophesy about the Armageddon Campaign, but for centuries, and even continuing today, most all commentaries connect Armageddon with Zechariah 12.
Here are important questions for those who teach the war in Zechariah 12 is part of the Armageddon scenario.
1.) If Zechariah 12 involves “all the nations of the earth,” why are there no Bible translations that have “all the nations of the earth” besieging Jerusalem in Zech. 12:2?
2.) Similarly, why are there no Bible translations that have “all the nations of the earth” identified in Zech 12:6, whereby the IDF defeats only the surrounding peoples on Israel’s “right hand and on the left?”
3.) If Zechariah 12 takes place at Armageddon, do you believe that in the Armageddon scenario, the Lord will divinely intervene (Zech. 12:4) and empower the IDF (Zech. 12:6) to militarily defeat the Antichrist and “all the nations of the earth?”
4.) Many Bible teachers believe that America will be among all the nations of the earth that will attack Jerusalem at Armageddon. Do you think that, as per Zech 12:6, the IDF will soundly defeat America at Armageddon?
5.) According to Zech. 13:8-9, only one-third of the Jews will survive the Jewish genocide of the Antichrist. These killings happen around the same time as the Armageddon campaign. This remnant will likely become refugees fleeing for their survival. Do you think that Israel’s army at this time will be able to defeat “all the nations of the earth,” including the USA and China (the Kings of the East)?
6.) How can Zechariah 12:2,4-9, whereby the Lord divinely assists and empowers the IDF to defeat the peoples surrounding Israel, actually take place at Armageddon, if according to Zechariah 14, Isaiah 63 and Revelation 19, the Lord HIMSELF, at Armageddon without any IDF help, defeats “all the nations of the earth?”
Comparing the Wars of Zechariah 12:1-9 and Zechariah 14:1-3
“Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle” (Zech. 14:1-3).
The passage above declares the Lord will gather all nations to battle against Jerusalem. These international armies wage a highly SUCCESSFUL SIEGE against the Holy City, “the city shall be taken.”
In this scenario, Jerusalem does not become a cup of trembling to the surrounding Arab states, nor to the invading world armies. If anything trembles, it’s the Jews as they witness the ransacking of their houses and the raping of their women. Moreover, capturing Jerusalem is no longer impeded by a burdensome, immovable stone but is easily conquered.
I mention this point because Zechariah 12:3 likens Jerusalem to an immovable rock, “on that day” when God turns Jerusalem into a cup of trembling.
“On that day I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves” (Zechariah 12:3, NLT).
Because this verse says, “all the nations,” the tendency of many has been to connect this with “all the nations” in Zechariah 14:2 and Armageddon. The potential problems with this are:
- In Zech. 14:2, there is no immovable stone creating an obstacle to the capturing of Jerusalem.
- Zech. 12:3 happens “on that day” that Israel in Zech. 12:6successfully fends off the siege of the surrounding Arab states and not at Armageddon.
Subsequent to this successful conquest of Jerusalem in Zech 14:2, Jesus Christ single-handedly defeats the Antichrist and his armies in fulfillment of Rev 19:11-21. The differences between the Zech. 12:2-6 siege against Jerusalem is starkly different than the one in Zech. 14:2-3. The comparisons are below.
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*Pre-Tribulation timing is because in the first 3 ½ years of the Tribulation Period, Israel is living peacefully as a result of the covenant in Daniel 9:27. Dwelling in this condition, they are not likely at war with the surrounding nations. Then in the second 3 ½ years of the Tribulation Period, the Jews are fleeing from the genocidal attempt of the Antichrist and unable to make war with the surrounding peoples. This timing sequence is explained in more detail in my FUTURE WAR Prophecies book.
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Comparing the Wars of Zechariah 12:1-9 and Revelation 16:12-16
Revelation 16:12-16 deals with the events that occur within the Sixth Bowl Judgment, which happens toward the latter part of the Seven-Year Tribulation Period. The details are summarized below.
“Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared” (Rev. 16:12).
In this bowl judgment, the kings of the east make their way to the Middle East by crossing over a dried-up Euphrates River. These eastern kings are commonly taught to be the leaders from China and other Asian nations. They, along with many other world leaders, are persuaded by three powerful demonic beings to gather together for a final war against God, which is referred to as “the battle of that great day of God Almighty.”
“For they (three frog-like beings) are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty” (Rev. 16:14; emphasis added).
“And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon” (Rev. 16:16).
The differences between Zech. 12:2-6 and Rev. 16:12-16 are identified below. These comparisons strongly suggest that these are two distinctly different wars.
Comparing the Wars of Zechariah 12:1-9 and Revelation 19:19-21
Thus far, I have demonstrated the stark contrasts between Zech. 12 and Zech. 14 and also between Zech. 12 and Rev. 16. Now I’ll attempt to disconnect Zech. 12 from Rev. 19.
“And I saw the beast [the Antichrist], the kings of the earth, and their [international] armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him [Jesus Christ], who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh” (Rev. 19:19-21, NKJV; emphasis added).
Other Comparative Arguments
So it seems to be strike one, two and three for a strikeout on the potential of Zechariah 14, Revelation 16, Revelation 19 to connect with Zechariah 12:1-9. However, there are a few more questions to answer to safely suggest that Zechariah 12 is not part of Armageddon.
- Zechariah 12:9mentions “all the nations”; doesn’t that identify “all the nations” that gather together for the Armageddon scenario?
- Zechariah 12:3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11informs the events happen “In that day”; isn’t that alluding to “The Day of the Lord” that takes place at Armageddon?
- If Zechariah 12:10-14is fulfilled early on in the Millennium, then why wouldn’t Zech. 12:2-9, happen just prior at Armageddon?
My answers to these three questions are provided at this link.
How Psalm 83 Connects with Zechariah 12
Could this war in Zechariah 12:2-9, in which the Lord supernaturally empowers the IDF to fight and achieve a decisive military victory over the neighboring people surrounding Israel, be the result of the answered imprecatory prayer of Asaph in Psalm 83?
Zechariah 12:1-9 seems to tell us how the Arab-Israeli conflict ends. This will not happen politically, but rather, it will conclude militarily. The surrounding Arab states, alongside the Palestinians, will make a final attempt to wipe Israel off the map and take over Judah and Jerusalem. It will be an unsuccessful siege that the IDF will decisively defeat.
These surrounding peoples are identified in the prophecy of Psalm 83 and many other scriptures. The central theme within the Psalm is the intent by these Arabs to destroy Israel so thoroughly that even the name of Israel would be forgotten forever.
“’Come,’ they say, ‘let us wipe out Israel as a nation. We will destroy the very memory of its existence’” (Psalm 83:4, NLT).
They seek to possess Jerusalem, Judah, and all of Israel.
“For they said, ‘Let us seize for our own use these pasturelands of God’” (Psalm 83:12, NLT).
These belligerents are identified in my book and companion DVD entitled The FUTURE WAR Prophecies. Also available to read for free online is my article entitled “God Helps Israel Defeat the Arab Armies: (Zechariah 12:1-6).” This article presents a good commentary on Zechariah 12:1-6.
Some teach Psalm 83 is simply a prayer, but below are a couple of quotes from respected theologians that rebut this idea.
John Peter Lange is a well-respected theologian and the author of the Lange Commentary on the Holy Scripture, which was published in 1877. He points out that those combined against Israel are never mentioned elsewhere as enemies allied at the same time and for the purpose of annihilating Israel. Lange notes:
“With regard to the time of composition, the following difficulty meets us. The ten nations who are here enumerated as being combined against Israel are never mentioned elsewhere as enemies allied at the same time and for the purpose of annihilating Israel.”
In addition, Lange notes there were some individuals during his time who taught that the Psalm was just a general idea about enemies from all sides of Israel. However, Lange believed that the details found in Psalm 83:8 were unfavorable to this view. Here is how he explains it:
“And yet the expressions are of such a nature that we cannot be inclined to consider this enumeration as only a poetical individualizing of the general idea: enemies from all sides (De Wette, Hupfeld). The position of Assyria as an auxiliary of the sons of Lot, that is, of the Moabites and Ammonites, is especially unfavorable to this view.”
Psalm 83:8 points out that Assyria, one of the ten confederate members, actively helps “the children of Lot” in this war prophecy. In modernity, Assyria represents Syria and Iraq; and Lot’s children, who were Ammon and Moab, are Jordan today.
“Assyria also has joined with them; They have helped the children of Lot. Selah” (Psalm 83:8, NKJV).
The next commentary on Psalm 83 below is from Bible scholar Merrill F. Unger, who was a professor of Old Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. The following words were published in his book in 2002 entitled Unger’s Commentary on the Old Testament on pages 866-867.
“This psalm is the last of the Asaph series (Psalms 73-83), of which prophetically glimpse Israel’s future trouble and deliverance into Kingdom blessing…. Probably its fulfillment will come in some pan-Arabic coalition and attack on the Israeli State before the church is taken out, or at least before Daniel’s seventieth week begins.”
Thus Psalm 83 and Zechariah 12 are seemingly related prophecies. By the time Zechariah 12:2-9 happens, the following prophecies should also happen concurrently or already have been fulfilled and none of these seem to be part of Armageddon:
- Jeremiah 12:14-17,
- Ezekiel 28:20-26,
- Psalm 83 and the peripheral prophecies below.
- IDF vs SYRIA (Isaiah 17:9, Jer. 49:23-27)
- IDF vs HEZBOLLAH (LEBANON) (Psalm 83:7, Ezek. 28:20-24)
- IDF vs PALESTINIANS (Obadiah 1:18, Ezek. 25:14, Psalm 83:6)
- IDF vs HAMAS (GAZA) (Zeph 2:4, Ezek. 25:13-14, Psalm 83:7)
- IDF vs JORDAN (Isaiah 11:14, Jer. 49:2, Ezek. 25:14)
- IDF vs EGYPT (Isaiah 19:1-18, Psalm 83:6)
- IDF vs SAUDI ARABIA (Ezek. 25:14, Jer. 49:8)
- IDF vs HOSTILE NEIGHBORS (Zechariah 12:6, Ezek. 28:24-26)
I’ll conclude with a final quote from my dear friend, Dr. David Reagan, on Zechariah 12. David used to teach that Zechariah 12 was part of Armageddon, but after reading my teachings and doing his own extensive research now recognizes that it’s not likely part of Armageddon.
David Reagan, “The Wars of the End Times, Part 2.”
“The first the War of Israeli Extermination is described in Psalm 83. Psalm 83 states that the immediate neighbors of Israel will launch a war for the purpose of wiping out Israel as a nation…. The outcome of the war is not specifically stated in Psalm 83, but we know from other Scriptures that Israel will be victorious. For example, Zechariah 12:6 says, “That in the end times Israel will be like a firepot among pieces of wood, and a flaming torch among sheaths so that that they will consume on the right hand and on the left all the surrounding peoples.” … “Bill Salus believes this war of annihilation will boomerang on the Arab nations and will result in their overwhelming defeat producing great territorial expansion, enhanced national resources for Israel, and yes, peace for Israel.””
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Prophetic Proof: Jerusalem and Judah Belong to the Jews – By Bill Salus
This article will prove prophetically through Zechariah 12:1, as supported by a sequence of historically fulfilled foretold events, that Jerusalem and Judah belongs exclusively to the Jews. This article concludes with this proof.
Zechariah’s prophecies in chapter 12:1-9, foretell of a coming siege upon Judah and Jerusalem by the surrounding Arab states. Presently, these Arabs contest Israel’s rightful sovereign claims over Judah and Jerusalem. These Muslim countries believe that Jerusalem is Islam’s third holiest city and that Judah is under Jewish occupation, but actually belongs to the Palestinians. Ultimately, the Arabs will try to forcefully take over Judah and Jerusalem. Below is a brief overview of this future siege in Zechariah 12:2,4,6.
“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.” (Zechariah 12:2; KJV)
In that day, the Lord will intervene to prevent this. First, by making Jerusalem likened to a cup of trembling, dizziness or intoxication in some translations. This will initially stagger their efforts, but then secondly, they are hit with three heavy supernatural blows.
“In that day,” says the Lord, “I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.” (Zech. 12:4)
Remember that when Zechariah wrote, the soldiers rode into battle upon horses, rather than flew in on fighter jets or drove military tanks. Therefore, I will translate these events into modern-day warfare concepts.
The LORD will level the field by the following three supernatural blows;
1. “I will strike every horse with confusion.” This suggests that debilitating malfunctions might occur within the Arab artilleries with their jets, tanks, weapons, transport vehicles, etc.
2. “I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness.” This implies that the military equipment malfunctions will cause panic and hysteria among the soldiers. By now Jerusalem will certainly become a cup of trembling to these Arab attackers.
3. “I will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.” To top off the failed equipment, it seems that the military GPS guidance and radar systems also quit working.
Now, with the divine interventions above, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are able to decisively defeat the attackers.”
“In that day I will make the governors of JUDAH (IDF) like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; THEY shall DEVOUR all the SURROUNDING (Arab) PEOPLES on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place—Jerusalem.” (Zech. 12:6, NKJV; emphasis added)
This siege is unsuccessful! Key words are in bold font above to show that the attackers are from the surrounding Arab armies and not international armies. The world armies will subsequently make a siege upon Jerusalem in Zechariah 14:1-2 and it will succeed, but that is part of the Armageddon campaign and not the Arab siege.
For more details about both the Arab and subsequent Armageddon sieges read my articles entitled, “God Helps Israel Defeat the Arab Armies: (Zechariah 12:1-6),” and “Zechariah 12: The War Before Armageddon.”
Jerusalem and Judah Belong to the Jews
Now, it’s time to prove prophetically that Jerusalem and Judah both belong to the Jews. Zechariah 12:1 intentionally quotes from Isaiah 44:24-28. Isaiah prophesied between approximately 740-701 BC. Zechariah began his prophetic ministry about 200 years later in 520 BC.
“The burden of the word of the Lord against Israel. Thus says the Lord, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him.” (Zechariah 12:1)[i]
This sovereign declaration serves as the Lord’s certificate of authenticity concerning Zechariah’s prophecy. This acknowledgment was first made around 720 BC in Isaiah 44.
“Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: (forms the spirit of man within him) “I am the LORD, Who made all things, who stretched out the heavens alone, who (lays the foundation and) spread out the earth—Who was with me. Who frustrates the signs of the babblers, And drives diviners mad; Who turns wise men backward, And makes their knowledge foolishness; Who confirms the word of His servant, And performs the counsel of His messengers; Who says to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be inhabited,’ To the cities of Judah, ‘You shall be built,’ And I will raise up her waste places; Who says to the deep, ‘Be dry! And I will dry up your rivers’; Who says of Cyrus, (King of Persia 600-530 BC) ‘He is My shepherd, And he shall perform all My pleasure, Saying to Jerusalem, “You shall be built,” And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.”’ (Isaiah 44:24-28; emphasis added)
This Isaiah prophecy was issued over a century before Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians around 586 BC. Isaiah essentially stated that, as sure as the Lord single-handedly stretches out the heavens and spreads abroad the earth, the Jews would rebuild Jerusalem and Judah.
Isaiah was clearly issuing a future prophecy because during his time, Jerusalem was inhabited and the cities of Judah had already been built. In essence, Isaiah anticipated the destruction of Jerusalem and Judah by the Babylonians and the subsequent need to restore it.
Isaiah 44:26 prophesied that Jerusalem would be inhabited with Jews and the cities of Judah would be rebuilt by Jews. Isaiah 44:28 proclaimed over 150 years in advance, that King Cyrus of Persia would issue the command for the restoration of Jerusalem and Judah.
In 539 BC the Persian King Cyrus conquered the Babylonians and according to Ezra 1:2-4, he immediately commanded the Jews to return to Israel to rebuild the Jewish Temple and restore the devastation in Judah. 
“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people, (the Jews)? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem. And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.” (Ezra 1:2-4, NKJV; emphasis added)
Zechariah’s generation served as the living fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. His generation was the one that again re-inhabited Jerusalem and rebuilt the cities of Judah that the Babylonians had destroyed. Thus, his repeat declaration of Isaiah 44:24 is intended to leave no doubt that both Judah and Jerusalem were exclusively sovereign to the Jews.
PROPHECY fulfilled HISTORICALLY is the best PROOF AVAILABLE!
Zechariah 12:1, which called to remembrance Isaiah’s prophecy about King Cyrus, clearly declared that the Jews possessed God given sovereignty over all of Jerusalem and Judah. King Cyrus commanded the Jews, not the Arabs, to return to Israel and restore their homeland.
Zechariah 12:2 foretells that someday Israel’s rightful claims to these areas would be falsely and forcibly contested by the surrounding Arab peoples. They will attempt a final siege upon Judah and Jerusalem, which Zechariah 12:6 informs will end the Arab-Israeli conflict.
[i] Zechariah 12 verses are taken from the New King James Version, unless otherwise noted.
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America’s Astonishing End-times Power
All during the Obama and Biden administrations, I considered the decline of America—deliberately perpetrated by those administrations in conjunction with the globalist cabal, i.e., these worked tirelessly to take down United States from the awesome American world hegemony the nation exerted for more than a century.
Now, everything is in such obvious change from the downward trajectory wrought from the four years Biden debacle that the ravenous media-haters of Trump can’t regain their balance in order to dig in against his prolific “winning,” as he terms it. And I must admit that I am off balance, too. What is this head-and-neck-twisting change in direction, with America again being looked to by even America’s enemies as standing at the top of the nation ladder, as they seemingly look to the new US leader for direction?
As I’ve related here before, I thought that with the coming of the first Trump presidency in 2016, the stage was being set for fulfillment of Luke 17:28-30. It seemed that Trump, the business mover and shaker, would bring the US and, in effect, the world back to a business-as-usual configuration. It would be, as Jesus said, “as it was in the days of Lot.” And that did to some extent happen. Business was beginning to boom.
Following the drastic downturn in the national and global economy during the Obama administration, I thought Trump and his immediate actions portended America’s return to dominance, with the dollar returning to prominence in being intricately linked to all other economies of the nation states. Then the shock set in when Donald Trump, in what I still consider a stolen election, was removed from office. This, in my estimation, took this nation and the world’s economy in general out of the business-as-usual time the Lord said will be the circumstance when He next intervenes, like He did in Lot’s day.
The country and the world did indeed then begin to degenerate under the Biden administration, particularly in the area of economic well-being. Then another shock–at least to those who so hate Donald J. Trump. He won the 2024 election–and with a healthy mandate to implement all of the many promises he made during the presidential election campaign.
Can anyone who is paying any attention at all deny that Trump has attacked the amazing number of things he promised to accomplish, and with lightning-like swiftness? And his actions go far beyond anything we could have anticipated.
Trump said he would bring an end to the Russia-Ukraine war-making, and in short order. No one in the upper-crust diplomatic community believed that, for example, Russia’s Vladimir Putin could be brought into a reasonable negotiation mindset.
But Trump was almost immediately on the phone to Putin and reported that the former Soviet KGB agent-turned-president of the Russian Federation was willing to negotiate a settlement of the Ukraine matter. The power that continues to be exhibited by this unusual man called Trump now seemingly places America’s position again at the nation-state apex level of interaction.
For example, in the situation in Gaza, Trump, apparently even without the foreknowledge of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, announced America might take over there and clean up the mess so that the people of the area, after being exported from the region, could return to their home that would be almost resort-like.
The announcement, mentioned casually during Netanyahu’s Oval Office visit, took everyone by complete surprise. The mainstream media and all Trump-haters melted down, furious over such colonial audacity.
Trump said that Jordan and Egypt, he believed, would accept these Palestinian refugees for the time it takes to clean up the deadly ordnance and damage done by the Gaza war–damage caused by Hamas and their years of evil in control of the region.
The king of Jordan and the Egyptian leader both said they would not take these people into their countries under any circumstance. That was their initial and official statements.
Now, after being on the phone with Donald Trump, both have, it seems, relented, saying they would take some of these people–beginning with the very young, the elderly, and the infirmed.
Fact is, this complete change of mind by the Jordanian and Egyptian leaders is due to the man who is obviously the world’s top leader, just as America’s presidents have been touted to be, but have rarely attained such heights of power-wielding.
Additionally, the leaders of both Jordan and Egypt, as well as others of the Mideast, have indicated they are willing to consider funding the cleanup of the Gaza–a thing they previously scoffed at even considering. –Thus, it is conjectured, because they don’t want America having such presence and influence in their part of the world.
So Mr. Trump has begun shaping things in the way he apparently intends. He, it is thought, never intended to send American assets, economically, militarily, or otherwise to get Gaza cleaned up and Hamas completely out of the region. Some believe he used brilliant threat of American presence to get those in the region to do what needed to be done. His negotiation prowess is almost supernatural.
Now, we come back to earth. We ask: What is this all about, prophetically speaking? I haven’t a clue of the details.
I do, however, have a clue of a general nature from God’s Holy Word. There will be a peace arrangement that will come out of the region surrounding and involved with God’s chosen nation, Israel. This, I’m convinced/convicted, is precisely what is going on. This is all to prepare the geopolitical Middle East stage for the peace that will bring on Antichrist at some point, the man of sin who will confirm the covenant with Israel and the many. This is foretold for the last seven years by Daniel’s sixty-nine weeks of years and Daniel’s seventieth-week prophecy that leads to Christ’s triumphant return.
In all of this, Donald J. Trump is at the center. And…no, he will not be the Antichrist.
Again, I haven’t a clue of the details, but having witnessed all the things, including that miraculously foiled assassination attempt surrounding this strange human being (and one cannot deny he is out of the ordinary), I can conclude with certainty in my own thinking that he is God’s man for this equally strange end-times hour.
So whatever America’s ultimate fate, this nation, too, based on the power it now demonstratively is beginning to exert, is being used by heavenly prerogative as a stage-setting instrument to help bring God’s foretold things to conclusion. And that conclusion appears to be coming very quickly!
Even so, come Lord Jesus!
Tracking Toward Tribulation – New Book
Tim Moore, head of Lamb and Lion Ministries and Christ in Prophecy TV, encapsulates the essence of my new book of compilation, I think. He mentions in his chapter in this new book, Tracking Toward Tribulation: And the Any Moment Intervention by Jesus Christ, the words of Dr. Adrian Rogers, the late pastor of Belleview Church of Memphis, Tennessee. So I guess I will give credit to Adrian Rogers, as well as to my great friend Tim for capturing my thoughts as I began praying and thinking about this volume as it progressed.
Tim writes the following in opening his chapter:
The storm clouds of the Tribulation are gathering. The signs of the times are increasing in frequency and intensity. Even those who are spiritually blind can discern that our world is hurtling toward a chasm.
For those who are awaiting Jesus Christ—our Blessed Hope—even these foreboding signs point to the imminence of His return. As Adrian Rogers once said, ‘It’s getting gloriously dark!”
Indeed, movement toward the time on earth the Lord Jesus Himself declared would be the worst of all human history is storming upon this generation. Jesus said about that coming era that if He didn’t intervene, no flesh would be saved; all of humankind would perish. But He added that for the sake of the saints–believers in Christ—the days of that terrible time will be shortened.
And this is in fact the essence of Tracking Toward Tribulation.
Tim Moore was agreeing with Dr. Rogers that the times are growing “gloriously dark,” meaning the Lord Jesus Christ has assured believers He will intervene so we who accept Him as our Savior and Lord will not perish in that coming time of unalloyed evil. And I am convicted that, in some sense, Jesus was referring to the Rapture of the Church as well as to the rescue of Tribulation saints.
It is glorious to think of the moment of Rapture when Jesus calls us into the clouds of Heaven’s domain to be with Him forever.
That promise, of course, is reinforced in the words given to John, the writer of Revelation, by the Ascended Christ:
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. (Revelation 3:10)
This book is a bit different from my many previous books of compilation—compilation meaning a number of authors writing chapters. It is different in that, in the previous books, I assigned topics I requested each author to write. The chapters were based largely on each writer’s area of expertise and interest.
For Tracking Toward Tribulation: And the Any Moment Intervention by Jesus Christ, I asked each author to choose material they’ve recently produced, with the only direction from me, the general editor, being that they stay within bounds of our basic title (Tracking Toward Tribulation). And our main thrust, of course, was implicit within my request. The glorious part about all the darkness in considering the time of Tribulation is the Heaven-guaranteed promise by Jesus, Himself, that He will suddenly interrupt that movement into the evil-spawned darkness by removing believers of the Church Age from this judgment-bound earth.
Within the past two weeks, we taped television programs for this book at SkyWatch TV in Crane, Missouri. Defender Publishing is the publisher of this and many of my books, is, along with SkyWatch TV, a part of my great friend Tom Horn’s inspired and brilliant vision for a corporate Christian media entity that deals largely in matters of Bible prophecy. Preparing for the programs, and actually doing them, I think, helped me to understand just how special this particular book effort is in covering where the world stands at this moment on God’s prophetic timeline.
The SkyWatch TV program’s host, Joe Ardis Horn, always manages to bring out in these interviews the most pertinent and fascinating information from among the authors involved during the tapings of the books Defender publishes. This was no exception. The book is one of the best volumes of its type of my experienced memory. And it’s due to the great writers and their acumen and expertise in God’s prophetic Word and in observation of prophetic import they see developing as this generation moves more deeply in the direction of the coming time of trouble described by Jesus and the prophets.
In my view, the Holy Spirit’s imprint is heavily on this joint effort. Each author, I believe this book validates, has been given special insight while addressing the topics they chose to present.
Anyone familiar with today’s writers, broadcasters, preachers, and teachers of God’s Word in general and in Bible prophecy in particular will recognize this line-up of contributors as God’s people, gifted to do His prophecy-oriented work. I believe the reader will agree this book is meant to be released in this late hour of this fleeting Age of Grace.
In addition to my own contributions, here are the authors of Tracking Toward Tribulation. I give them here in the order of their chapters as presented: Jan Markell, Brandon Holthaus, Jonathan C. Brentner, Mike Gendron, Dr. Nathan E. Jones, Pete Garcia, Donna Howell and Allie Anderson, Bill Salus, Tom Hughes, Daymond Duck, Tim Moore, Dr. Randall Price, Jim Fletcher, Wilfred Hahn, and Mondo Gonzales.
With the words, “And when you shall see all these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your head, for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28), Jesus, God Himself, gave the formula for knowing just how close is His coming to receive unto Himself those who believe.
The key in this statement by the Creator of all that exists are the words “all these things.”
There are many things to consider included with in this framework given by Jesus Christ, in answering his immediate disciples’ question: “What shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the age?”
We who have determined to enter this examination prayerfully look at each of “all these things” in order to give the reader of this volume an accurate as possible picture of where this generation stands on God’s prophetic timeline.
Most who observe these times as Jesus commanded—“What I say unto one, I say unto all, watch” (Mark 13:37)—agree. All these things we are to “watch” have accelerated significantly within the recent months, weeks, and days. The ominous foreshadows of the Tribulation–Daniel’s seventieth week—hang heavily above every point on earth.
Yet the gathering darkness that closes in gives those who are in God’s family the opportunity to shine the light of His Truth that Jesus Christ alone is the hope for mankind. Christians are to be the light that reflects from our Savior’s heavenly luminescence. We are to be both salt and light to a decaying, darkening world.
We are to be looking up all the while for our redemption, which is growing ever nearer.
That moment—the twinkling-of-an-eye moment of Rapture—is indeed imminent!
There is one and only one way to go to Jesus in this glorious event when He calls—the one and only way of escaping the coming time of trouble such as people of the earth have never endured:
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)
Order Tracking Toward Tribulation: And the Any Moment Intervention By Jesus Christ at the ministry website of your choice, or at the following: AMAZON
Arkansas Alive :: AI And Lucifer’s Attempt At God-Likeness with Terry James
Welcome to Arkansas Alive, hosted by Happy Caldwell on Victory Television Network (VTN). This engaging program dives deep into faith, current events, and scripture-based teachings to provide guidance and encouragement for viewers across Arkansas and beyond. Join Pastor Caldwell as he unpacks timely topics through a biblical lens, addressing the challenges of our world with wisdom and hope. Whether you’re looking for spiritual growth, uplifting messages, or thoughtful discussions on today’s issues.
Bible Prophecy’s Great Purpose
One of the falsest and most-cutting accusations launched at the belief that the Bible teaches that people can’t lose their salvation when they’re truly born again (John 3:3) is: “If you believe once saved, always saved, you’re saying people can live any way they want without fear of punishment.” Or so the line of condemning criticism goes.
The absolute assurance of eternal security, of course, engenders no such thought within the mind truly regenerated by the saving power of Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches that the Lord convicts His children in their spirits, and that habitual, unrepented-of sin will result in severe penalties—even physical death, in some cases. The Heavenly Father’s patience is longsuffering, but it is not infinite.
A child of God cannot sin without severe repercussions if repentance isn’t forthcoming.
But, that person will never be kicked out of God’s family. Never. Here is God’s own promise in that regard, given through Paul the apostle:
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38–39)
A kindred accusation is thrown at those who believe in the pre-Trib view of Bible prophecy, which, of course, is the one we at Rapture Ready and the Prophecy Line blog believe. It is the view that Jesus Christ will call all who are born again to Himself before the Tribulation (the last seven years of history leading to the Second Advent; see Revelation 19:11).
The angry diatribe against the pre-Trib Rapture view—by even genuine Christians, in many cases—usually goes something like this: “People like you, who believe that the Lord is going to rapture them before the Tribulation, think you can live however you want, because you think and teach falsely that you’re going to be rescued before God’s judgment and wrath fall, no matter what.”
Non-Christian accusers who castigate those of us who hold the pre-Trib Rapture view have their own version. It goes something like: “Christians who believe like that don’t care anything about making the world better. You even hope for things to get worse and worse. You wish for earthquakes, famines, pestilence, war in the Middle East, and for Armageddon to hurry up and get here so you will go to your pie in the sky and watch the rest of us get ours.”
Although the first criticism is absolutely not true, I have to admit that, regarding the second, too often I’ve sensed—even heard—such sentiments from some who believe in the pre-Trib Rapture. And, it is entirely the wrong attitude for the Christian to hold. There are no excuses for wanting the Christ-rejecting world of non-believers to receive God’s judgment and wrath. It is only by His unfathomable grace that every one of us isn’t headed into that time of unprecedented horror.
No matter how—to use Lot’s King James Version word—“vexed” we become by the debauched, debased actions of the lost world around us, our job as Christ’s children—His representatives here on earth—is of a completely different nature than wanting to see them “get what’s coming” to them. The changed nature produced by being born again should make us do just the opposite of wanting them, in our vexation, to get what we see as coming to them.
The Christian whose spirit is attuned to the Holy Spirit’s desire for the lost doesn’t want to see them “get what’s coming to them” either during the Tribulation or upon death. Rather, we want to do all within our power to keep them from having to go through the time of God’s judgment and wrath.
Like God Himself, we shouldn’t be willing for anyone to perish, but we should want everyone to come to repentance. That’s what Christ’s Great Commission to His disciples before He ascended to sit at the Father’s right hand is all about, you see. That’s what God’s love—love that those who have Christ indwelling them possess—is all about. (Read Matthew 28:18–20.)
In the same vein, that’s what Bible prophecy is all about. Prophecy given in God’s Word has purpose—profound purpose. It has at its center the commission from the Lord to warn of God’s judgment and wrath that will come upon all who oppose Him. It isn’t the hatred of God for the lost people of this fallen planet that drives prophecy. It is the love of God that powers His prophetic Word. It must be the Christian’s desire, therefore, to study Bible prophecy and put forth those warnings out of a spirit of God’s love, not through an anger-filled abhorrence of those who are lost.
Christians who do study prophecy—and they seem to be few these days, I’m sad to have to say—are often heard wondering about when Christ will call the Church (born-again believers) in the Rapture. Everything seems so ripe for Him to pluck His people from this sin-darkened sphere.
Nothing and no one can change God’s timing for His next catastrophic intervention into earth’s history. It will happen exactly on time, as He has determined since before the foundation of this world. However, as believers, we might look to ourselves for the Lord’s—often in our view—delay in calling us, as outlined in 1 Corinthians 15:51–55 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18.
Again, the Apostle Peter gave the heart of the reason Christ hasn’t yet raptured His Church:
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9).
The purpose of Bible prophecy is to show the love of God to a lost and otherwise doomed world. God isn’t willing for anyone to die in their sins, but He wants everyone to accept Jesus Christ as the one and only sacrifice for sin that God will accept.
The Lord is “longsuffering.” The reason, I’m convinced, that the Lord seems so “slack” to many in His coming is because those same people have neglected their duty to share the love of God with the lost—the lost whom God loves so very much that He sent His only begotten Son so they would not perish.
It is well past the time for God’s people to invest in getting the message of the love of God to those who otherwise won’t hear the warning of deadly things soon to befall this Christ-rejecting planet. Considering these times that are so dramatically signaling the coming Tribulation, Bible prophecy can and must be used as a productive tool for evangelism.
The Nuclear Iran Non Sequitur
The mullahs who drive the hatred for Israel have, through Iran’s foreign minister, warned the newly inaugurated US president, Israel’s government, and the world that any attack on Iran’s nuclear development facilities will be met with catastrophic consequences for the region and the attackers.
Iran will react immediately and decisively if its nuclear facilities come under attack, an action that could trigger an “all-out war in the region,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi warned on Friday.
Araqchi, speaking to Al Jazeera TV and quoted by Reuters, cautioned that any military strike by Israel and the United States on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure would be “one of the biggest historical mistakes the US could make.”…
Iran recently informed the IAEA of its intention to “significantly increase” its production of uranium enriched up to 60 percent.”
The Biden administration sought to return to the 2015 deal and held indirect talks with Iran on a return to compliance, but those talks failed due to Iran’s insistence on the closure of the UN nuclear watchdog’s investigations of its nuclear sites…
Top Iranian officials have become increasingly concerned that Trump might grant Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the green light to launch an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites. (“Iranian FM warns: We will react decisively if our nuclear facilities are attacked,” Israel National News, Arutz Sheva, Elad Benari, Canada)
While the radical Islamic regime continues to grow as the greatest threat for initiating all-out war in the Mideast, the Iranian government grows ever closer to Russia in setting up for hegemony over all the region. The mullahs, not the people of Iran, intend to wipe Israel from the earth. They say so almost daily.
Iran (Persia), of course, is to be one of the primary members of the invading force in attacking Israel, according to Ezekiel’s Gog-Magog prophecy (Ezekiel chapters 38–39). We believe Russia, Togarmah (Turkey), and Iran (Persia) will lead many other peoples in the assault on Israel in order to take “great spoil.”
The diplomats of the world approach the matter of Iran and its drive to develop nuclear weaponry from a totally humanistic perspective. No doubt, none among that community give much thought to Ezekiel’s prophecy. The only thing most diplomatic sorts care about is that all-out war won’t be initiated in the region. Israel—and now America, in particular, under the Trump administration—insists that Iran never gets a nuclear-weapons capability to make good on their wanting to erase the Jewish state from the world. I doubt seriously that many within the new administration give much thought to Ezekiel’s prophecy about the coming attack.
Well, Mike Huckabee, now the ambassador to Israel, certainly knows all about the Gog-Magog prophecy. He will, I hopefully presume, explain it to those in the new administration. And I have hope for the new Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. He declares without any hesitation that Jesus Christ is his Savior and Lord. That is quite heartening, to be sure. How deeply he understands the Ezekiel prophecy…another question.
Whether there is understanding by Secretary Hegseth or within the new administration, they have vowed—along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and most all of Israel’s government and military—that Iran’s getting nuclear weapons capability is not going to happen.
Thus the mullah-driven, carrot-and-stick approach. Again, Iran’s foreign minister has threatened all-out war that will be catastrophic for the world—especially for those who attack their nuclear-development laboratories, etc. At the same time, Iran is slyly reaching out with the carrot, trying to “reason” with President Trump to come to the table of negotiation to assure that peace remains the order of the day. All the while, Iran feeds military assets to its proxies–such as, for example, Hamas, the terrorists who incessantly afflict the Jewish state in attacks such as those that took place on October 7, 2023.
I really am convinced that soon, Israel, led by Netanyahu, backed strongly by the new US president, both of whom have vowed there will be no nuclear Iran, and the American military in some way will destroy the nuclear-weapons labs deep in the mountainous caverns of Iran. I base this on the Ezekiel 38–39 Gog-Magog prophecy.
Iran (Persia), as a major military force in the Gog-Magog coalition, apparently has no nuclear weapons in that attack. As a matter of fact, Ezekiel seems to go out of his way to present the assault as one of a conventional sort. He even uses the antiquated warfare methodology of his own time—horses, etc.—to describe the attack.
Now I know that “fire on the coastlands,” which might indicate involvement of nuclear explosions, is part of the attack, but it seems, almost certainly, that this “fire” is God’s own doing as the Gog-Magog forces invade His land.
This lack of nuclear weaponry in the attack upon Israel is why I titled this commentary “The Nuclear Iran Non Sequitur.”
It does not follow logically. That there is a nuclear Iran (Persia, in the Ezekiel prophecy) doesn’t seem to be the case in the least.
On this premise, and on the strength represented by America’s 47th president adamantly backing an immovable Israeli prime minister, I believe it’s relatively reasonable to conclude that Iran’s nuclear program will soon be no more.
All of this, and the Elam prophecy that a powerful destruction of some sort in the mountainous area where Iran’s nuclear facilities are located, gives backing to this likely scenario. The Iranian nuclear-weapons development will somehow be brought to a halt.
And, all of this prophetic progression means Christ’s call to the Church into the clouds of Glory must be very near indeed.
For 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)
Tell all the people you know about how near is the coming of Christ. Witness to them the saving power that’s only found in the Lord Jesus Christ and what He did on the old rugged cross at Calvary.
Tell those God gives you the opportunity to witness to the following:
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 