Again, the commentary is presented from an Amero-centric perspective. The continuation of vantage point is because, indeed, at this particular time in history, America is at the heart of the geopolitical milieu.

Much of what has happened, and is happening at present, has been or is influenced by the actions of those in control of the government of the United States. For example, when Donald Trump was president, Russian leader Vladimir Putin held in check his aggressive nature. Or at least the Restrainer, the Holy Spirit, did so. At any rate, Putin threatened Ukraine because of its leaders’ talking about joining NATO on occasion. Mr. Trump is said to have let it be known (I don’t find the exact quote) that if Putin invaded Ukraine, Moscow would be the target for being nuked. Trump didn’t hide his intentions. He was blunt and always followed through on his promises/threats – at least for the most part.

Putin realized this, no doubt, and never came close to invading the former Soviet state.

The Trump administration put the Chinese Communist Party leaders on notice that to assault Taiwan or to disrupt American, or any other shipping, in the South China Sea would bring America’s naval might to the area, and it would be used if necessary. As a matter of fact, there was increased American naval presence there during all years of the Trump administration. Xi Jinping, the Chinese Communist dictator, got the message and, again, with Holy Spirit Restraint I’m convinced, thought better than to unleash his missiles, navy, and army upon Taiwan.

The Chinese are known for their patience, however – in waiting for the right opportunities that will inevitably come. Xi Jinping has been watching the Russian invasion and all attendant to it.

He has considered the present American president and his response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I’m convinced, as stated in previous commentaries, that Xi Jinping will, at some point soon, decide to take over Taiwan, the island state Chinese dictators have long considered to be a part of mainland China.

This might be done sooner rather than later, as it is said. Xi Jinping knows that the American political environment is chaotic – that the Democrat Party is, at this point at least, due to take a drubbing in November elections. If things don’t change drastically, the Presidential elections in 2024 will be calamitous for the Democrat Party also.

Almost certainly, the new governing elements within Congress and then in the White House will bring back strong leadership in direct opposition to all that is going on at present, with the Biden Administration doing all it can to disassemble America as founded – to bring the nation into the globalist sphere. For example, Biden’s immediately on taking office adopted the radical, green demands of the left, thereby severely curtailing the Keystone Pipeline System, making America again dependent on global sources of energy, thus putting the nation under the thumb of the globalist elite.

The November 2022 election change to a pro-America (nationalist) administration will doubtless include a reconfiguration of the U.S. military, with replacement of the present Joint Chiefs of Staff being almost a surety.

I.e., I believe the Communist Chinese leadership very likely might have concluded that now is the opportunity they have longed for since Taiwan broke away in 1945. Another such opportunity might not come until a future such weakened America and western world – thereby with diminished resolve to oppose such aggression – might again come into being.

Now, understand that the above is offered with the absolute assurance that God’s Mighty Hand is in all of it. We know that from God’s Word.

“And now ye know what withholdeth [the Holy Spirit] that he [Antichrist] might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he [the Holy Spirit] who now letteth [restrains] will let [restrain], until he [the Holy Spirit] be taken out of the way.” (2 Thes 2:6-7)   

So why do we “Watch” as our title of the commentary suggests?

Because we are commanded to do so by the Lord Jesus Himself, to begin with…

“And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.” (Mark 13:37)

“And when you see all these things begin to come to pass, look up and lift up your head, for your redemption draws near.” (Luke 21:28)

His command is more than enough to make clear that God wants us to be aware of His impending return to Planet Earth as the moment of that Glorious Appearance nears. He said to look up when we “see all these things begin to come to pass.” The Judaizers of His first coming to present Himself as Israel’s Messiah and King couldn’t see the Truth. Jesus was that Messiah. Christians must not be oblivious. We are commanded to be aware of the time of Christ’s Return to put an end to the carnage that is happening now and is scheduled to take place in Judgment and Wrath during the 7 years of Tribulation.

We are to thus warn those who are lost and headed for Hell of these things to come while witnessing the Loving Gift Offering of God’s only Son in Sacrifice for the sins of mankind.

To know that Bible prophecy tells the end of all things from the beginning does one thing more for the Christian who “watches” as Jesus commanded. It offers comfort and assurance. Assurance that there will not be nuclear exchanges that end civilization. There will not be World War III as so many are fretting about right now. People will be doing all the things of normal life at the very moment of His next intervention into human history. All will be normal for the times in that regard, while the times are chaotic just like in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. Boy howdy! Are we ever at that point in comportment right at this moment?

Jesus, Himself, promised this would be the condition of humanity in just one passage I continue to repeat for all who will listen.

“And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” (Luke 17: 26-30)

The Lord Jesus Gave the most important Promise of all as recorded in the following passage. And remember that “the last day” begins with the Rapture!

“And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6: 40)  

A number of questions have come in with the worry over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s Vladimir Putin seems to be in the process of fulfilling the Gog-Magog prophecy in the opinion of some of those among whom have sent emails, etc.

Of particular interest in this regard is Russia’s sending the warning to Israel that Russia no longer considers the Golan, etc., to be Israel’s sovereign territory. i.e., apparently, it’s now open for Russia’s taking it over because of Israel’s dealings with Syria in some perceived unjust way.

Putin took unkindly to Israel saying they supported the Ukrainian people in opposing Russia’s assault on their nation.

During all this perhaps stage-setting for the Gog-Magog attack of Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39, another powerful player of prophetic dimension is starkly in view. The developments in the regions east of the Euphrates, the oriental world, are indeed worth delving into in terms of likely prophetic progression.

I refer to the matter of the persistent probing into Taiwan’s air space with military jets. The actions are intended not only to intimidate but to see just how not only Taiwan itself but how the western powers – particularly the U.S. – will react and respond.

Of course, China is the culprit in all this. Taiwan’s monstrous neighbor, under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP,) has had for many years a festering hatred for that democratic republic just miles off China’s coast. They are now making that hatred manifest for the world to see.

Vladimir Putin’s daring invasion of Ukraine has, without a doubt, given China’s despot, Xi Jinping, the evidence he needs that confirms America’s weakness of leadership. The current presidential administration’s perceived inability to deal with Putin and his aggression with military action or even with other effective means to deter Russian incursion have no doubt caused Xi Jinping to become more aggressive by the day in probing Taiwan’s vulnerability.

The buildup of China’s aggressiveness has been coming more clearly into the picture of events shaping for prophetic fulfillment for several years of late. The building of artificial islands in the South China Sea, for example, has been part of this buildup. They have thus challenged navies and anyone other who passes through that sea, even though that is legally, in terms of maritime law, open waters for movement of ships from around the world. China has proclaimed it as its sovereign waters and has threatened military action even against U.S. naval ships.

So among the questions I’ve gotten through email and in personal conversations as well as on TV and radio interviews is: “Do you think China will attack Taiwan and take it over?”

People who are well-versed in Bible prophecy already can see the proverbial handwriting on the wall when it comes to Russia. They are fairly certain the Russian actions, with their taking of Ukraine (or at least parts of it at this point), is a sure signal that it might be all setting up the Gog-Magog assault at some point. Russia’s aforementioned threatening of Israel, denying the Jewish state’s sovereignty in the matter of the Golan, strongly adds to the evidence that the Gog-Magog attack must be somewhere in the not-too-distant future.

But China is another matter. The questions concerning its intentions, etc., are not issued with any certainty that they see potential prophetic fulfillment within the matters involved.

“Will China attack and take over Taiwan?”

The question has been ruminating within the aging gray matter and within my spiritual neurons that want to know, too.

Here is my assessment, or at least my best epiphany, if that’s the correct term.

I do believe that because of this American presidential administration’s weak actions and reactions to most everything that involves aggression, China will decide to take Taiwan. If they wait until the midterm elections in this nation, they will face much stronger opposition if, as expected, there is a complete rout of the Democrat Party, particularly in the House of Representatives.

If they await the presidential election of 2024, their prospects for successfully taking the Taiwan island-state without use of nuclear weapons might be even more greatly diminished.

Bible prophecy tells of the massive force of 200 million troops that will cross the dried-up Euphrates River at the end of the Tribulation period. This force is called the kings of the east. I have always believed that China, who now can easily put together that size force, joined by all the other “kings of the east” in that oriental part of the world, will be the lead nation in the demonically-possessed horde. I believe that China will be the King of the kings of the east in that attack that will kill one-third of people on earth.

If this generation is at the very end of the Church Age (Age of Grace) – as many of us believe the world is – all prophetic progression must soon come together in preparation for the wind-up of history this side of the Tribulation and the Triumphant Return of Christ. Just as the Gog-Magog forces seem to be coming together at present, so, too, the things in the oriental world must be coming together.

China, by bringing Taiwan into its hegemonic embrace, is almost a certainty in firming up the kings of the east assault force. Xi Jinping, or whomever is the Chinese leader, will soon be bringing all of those oriental nations that are now independent, sovereign countries into their orb through whatsoever means necessary.

I don’t believe those means will be nuclear – at least not this side of the Rapture of the Church. That would throw the world into configuration other than prophesied by the Lord Jesus as recorded in Matthew 24:36-42 and Luke 17:26-30. It would not be business as usual if there were nuclear exchanges all over the world, or, I believe, even on a limited basis.

No matter the way things will play out within the near term, the God of Heaven is in complete Control. We can be absolutely certain of that Truth. And He will take Christ’s Bride, the Church, out of this doomed world because of its rebelliousness before His Wrath must fall.

Here again is how to avoid that coming Judgment and Wrath.

“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).

A couple of commentaries ago, I announced my great friend Bob Rogers going to our Heavenly home and how he is now enjoying things beyond which we can imagine. Today we share with you through tears comforted by joyful knowledge that he is alive forever, that his dear wife, Vicki Rogers, a wonderful Christian, wife, mother, grandmother, and friend, has joined him after a lengthy bout with illness.

However, both were infinitely more than my friends. We are all part of a family the Lord put together many years ago. It is a spiritual family relationship rather than biological, and that, to me at least, has always meant it was even more meaningful than if we could have been relatives in the earthly, biological sense.

Their daughter, Angie, is my honorary daughter in every sense. She is also my editor (the best in the world of editing) of many, many years. The children of Angie and husband Kurt (also close to my fatherly heart) – Nick, Lindsey and Erin – are my honorary grandchildren, whom I love as if they were my biological family.

Because of her belief in Jesus Christ and being in God’s family, Angie’s mom is now together again with her beloved husband Bob and is exulting in a magnificent joy that’s beyond comprehension. We can know this because of the following familiar promise from God’s Holy Word.

“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Cor. 2:9).

We have read in that Holy Word that Jesus said that in Heaven we are neither married nor given in marriage. Some might find that to be something that is discouraging. I do not. That’s because of the above promise. We are promised more wonderful things when we reach that eternal state of joy than we are capable of imagining. This means, to me, and should to you also, that the relationships, whether they be earthly friendships and family relationships – or marriage partnerships – the intimacy will be millions of times more wonderful than any relationship we’ve had while in this earth-bound body.

Like in the earlier case of Bob’s making that trip to his eternal home, Vicki’s going to be with her Lord tripped things within my spiritually-motivated cognitive processes. It immediately brought up the scriptural promise that I have always found profound almost beyond ability to express. Here is that promise. It is more than a promise.

It is a fact right at this moment, not just when we reach that heavenly home that Bob and Vicki now are enjoying. It is profound because it is so hard for us who are now in God’s eternal family to get our earthly minds around while still in these mortal bodies.

“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together” (Romans 8: 16-17).

Do you grasp what this is truly saying? All that God has He has given to His Blessed Son, Jesus. God is telling us here through the Apostle Paul that we – already, in this life – are possessors of all of God’s riches, in exact measure as is His Son! Now that is something that I can certainly not truly get this feeble, full-of-much-age grey matter around!

God is telling us that we are joint heirs with the Creator of all that is! Jesus was given the power and authority from the Father to make all there is!

“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist” (Col. 1:16-17).

The phrase “by him all things consist” has always given me a sense of the awesome power of our Lord. We are told that He created the very substance of all matter. He holds together the atoms and even the elements that make up the atom! If He didn’t hold the elements of Creation together, all that is in existence would fly apart instantaneously.

That is how we can begin to somewhat understand why when Jesus rode the little donkey into Jerusalem to present Himself as Israel’s Messiah, he said that if the people didn’t praise Him at that time, the very stones would cry out. All of nature – the very elements – obeys our Lord and recognizes Him for Who He is!

When we are in Heaven with Bob and Vicki, with each other, and with our wonderful Savior and Lord –our Brother Jesus – we won’t just be tiny unrecognized figures in a Heaven full of billions of souls. We will be people in flesh-and-bone bodies – immortal bodies – like Jesus’ Body. We will know each other individually and intimately, as God, our omniscient Father, knows each of us and every hair on our heads (which all men among us will have again in abundance)!

As Dr. David Jeremiah might say while preaching fervently, “Can I get a praise?

I had just turned twenty years old a couple of months earlier when I watched and heard John F. Kennedy say live on TV something like: “The United States shall consider any missile launched from Cuba to be a direct attack by the Soviet Union upon this nation, which will bring a full retaliatory response by the United States upon the Soviet Union.”

The president’s famous smile had been wiped away and a grim expression had taken its place. Even at only twenty, I knew there had never been such a critical moment in human history, so far as potential for war was concerned. The missile crisis of October 1962 had brought mankind to the brink of all-out nuclear war.

Many years later, it was learned that only the refusal of one Soviet submariner to agree to launching a missile prevented initiating a conflagration. The sub’s command was under the mistaken impression that Soviet military assets had been attacked with nuclear warheads.

The Soviet naval officer was the third vote required to send the nuclear missiles toward their targets. Two of his fellow officers, one of them being the sub’s commander, voted yes. He voted no, so the missiles weren’t launched. It was the right decision, and, after days of tense standoffs and negotiations directly between Kennedy and Soviet Premiere Nikita Khrushchev, the most dangerous nuclear confrontation in history dissolved back into less-threatening cold-war status.

Both Kennedy and Khrushchev–particularly Khrushchev—have been credited with and lauded for showing great restraint in preventing all-out atomic war. This, because the Soviet dictator started dismantling the nuclear missiles on the Cuban island.

I knew little about the details of Bible prophecy at that age, although I had been taught prophecy from the pre-Trib viewpoint since I was very young. I can remember vividly, as a six-year-old, hearing Pastor Harris in the Seventh Street Tabernacle in Pekin, Illinois, preaching on the Rapture of the Church. The belief that the Lord knows the end from the beginning was never a point to question in my thinking. But when the Cuban missile crisis was in full bloom, I admit I didn’t think about all that. I was very worried–as was most every American who kept up with the unfolding events.

My naïve understanding was that these geopolitical leaders had indeed been responsible for applying the restraint of common sense in preventing the world from being blown up. I even found a modicum of appreciation for Khrushchev, who had, a year or two earlier, boasted that he would bury us.
And now, in 2022, some are saying we are facing the greatest threat to world peace and of nuclear annihilation since the Cuban missile crisis of October 1962.

These six decades later, I have no fear whatsoever of nuclear world annihilation. Thus, even though Russian President Vladimir Putin has just said something to the effect that if anyone tries to interfere with his going into Ukraine, they will experience something that they have never faced in all of history. By this, the diplomats of the world began thinking Putin meant he would unleash nuclear attacks against the US if American forces tried to intervene.

At this moment of writing, it seems there is no restraint whatsoever from the Russian side. And many, including yours truly, believe that America’s current leadership either doesn’t know how to restrain the nuclear demon, or is using the attack on Ukraine in a wag-the-dog move to distract from all this presidential administration’s failures at every level.

Despite the seemingly out-of-control movement toward possible nuclear conflict, like I say, I have no fear of the world ending through atomic warfare.

I’ve learned much since I was that naïve youth of 1962. I have learned to trust, without reservation, our God’s ability to restrain even the most horrific of man’s proclivity for self-destruction.

I now know the end from the beginning, because my Father in Heaven has told those who believe His prophetic Word that there will be “wars and rumors of wars,” and He has said that we should look for them. But He has also foretold that “the end is not yet” when we hear of those wars and rumors of war.
Our Heavenly Father has also told us that particular developments must take place as the end of human history plays out. That process does not include all-out nuclear destruction prior to the Rapture of the Church.

Following that great event, the red horse of war will indeed ride. As much as three-fourths of humanity will be killed by the judgments; most of the destruction almost certainly will come from nuclear weapons being unleashed. The black horse of famine and the chloros horse of death and Hell will quickly ride upon a planet of rebels deserving of God’s wrath.

Since the atomic bombs fell in 1945 on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the nuclear demon has been restrained. Not one such weapon has been allowed to be released in warfare, only in testing. This, in itself, is a miracle of God.

It won’t be any human leader or other human agency that will restrain the nuclear demon. The demon about which physicist Dr. Robert Oppenheimer remarked upon witnessing the first atomic explosion at the site called Trinity might be referenced obliquely in his following statement: The explosion brought to Oppenheimer’s mind words from the Bhagavad Gita: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”
I believe that it is God’s mighty hand that will continue to restrain the nuclear demon–and all other wickedness—until the Restrainer, the Holy Spirit who indwells believers in Christ—is removed when we are called into the clouds to be with Jesus for eternity.

We’ve talked several times about Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, offering Himself as Israel’s Messiah. The people were exultant.

So much had been seen and heard regarding Jesus’ miracles and transforming message as He taught through his travels with His immediate disciples. He was hailed by the masses as He sat atop that donkey, moving through the slopes and into the city.

At the same time, those of the Jewish ecclesiastical class—the so-called Judaizers—decried the Lord’s movement into the city, seeing it as blasphemy. They believed He was anything but sent from God. They were, as a matter of fact, determined to murder Him. They did, in fact, do so, through the Roman government, a short time later.

The Jewish religious leaders were enraged at the way the people who believed (Jesus’ disciples) were responding to Jesus as He came toward Jerusalem.

And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. (Luke 19:37-40)

Jesus was revealing a truth that few who read this passage really grasp: the truth about His relationship not just with people, but with the very creation—planet earth and all the cosmos. That is, all that God created.

Remember the time on the Sea of Galilee when the little boat was about to be destroyed in the great storm that came up? Jesus was sleeping soundly when the disciples came to Him and, with great fear of being swamped by the storm, wanted Him to know what was going on.

The Lord simply said calmly “Peace, be still,” and the sea’s surface became instantly as slick as glass. Nature itself obeyed Jesus’ command, and His disciples, who had been with Him and seen many miraculous things He did, were dumbfounded.

They said, “What manner of man is this that even the sea obeys him?”

Later, Jesus said that if He didn’t receive praise while He rode into Jerusalem showing He was that God/man–Israel’s Messiah King—all of nature would erupt in praise of Him. Nature knows to not turn its back on the God who created it. Man, on the other hand, continues to do so without thinking twice. And mankind turning its back on God is what will ultimately bring the great geophysical and astrophysical upheavals of the Tribulation as given in the book of Revelation. It is the Revelation, the unveiling of Christ for all of the rebels of earth at that time to witness. They will endure horrendous judgment and wrath, but they will know, in the end, that Jesus is Lord–the Creator of everything that is.

And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? (Revelation 6:15–17)

But the rocks won’t obey them as they do the God who created them. Man will face God’s ultimate punishment for willfully, knowingly turning the back to Jesus Christ and the great price He paid to redeem sin-condemned mankind if they would but accept God’s grace offer.

We present numerous news stories of the increasing weather and geological upheavals at this late hour so near the end of the age. The climate change the New World Order builders claim is man-made, thus, they proclaim, can only be dealt with by man, is beginning to ratchet up. But it is the stones–nature— beginning to cry out because wicked mankind is determined to remove God from heavenly governance. These phenomena are scheduled to get worse–much, much worse.

The Jewish religious hierarchy continues to misunderstand God’s truth regarding all this. They almost get it, but still don’t understand who is Israel’s Messiah. Excerpts of a recent report make this clear.

Two earthquakes shook northern Israel within a few hours, bringing the total of earthquakes in Israel this month up to four. Scientists are issuing dire warnings of imminent doom, but rabbis point to the prophecies as proof that people who have faith, have nothing to fear and even that the Messiah’s arrival is “speeding up.”…

Rabbi Lazer Brody, an American-born Hasidic rabbi from Ashdod, explained that earthquakes and other signs of the end-of-days would begin appearing at an even faster pace.

“People don’t need to wonder about this,” Rabbi Brody said. “The sages wrote that when the fate of Israel would be in the hands of the Erev Rav (mixed multitude), God will speed up the geula (redemption). And that is precisely the government Israel has right now. They are telling Jews that we can’t live in the Negev, Judea and Samaria, and now they are even kicking Jews out of their houses in the Shimon HaTzaddik neighborhood in Jerusalem.”

“This is Hashem having mercy on us by speeding up Moshiach (Messiah), like he did at the end in Egypt.” (“Israel hit with two earthquakes in ten hours, 4 in one month; ‘Accelerating Messiah’s arrival,’” by Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz | Feb 16, 2022 | Biblical News)

Like we’ve looked at many times in these articles, we’ve come again to times described by Paul in Romans chapter 1. People in America and around the world have largely turned their backs on God. The results are a collective reprobate mindset. We can expect, with this rebellion, nothing less than what the Lord Himself said about this condition.

I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. (Luke 19:37–40)

But God’s judgment and wrath are not reserved for believers who praise Him (Revelation 3:10). So take heart. He will rescue believers from the Tribulation storm that’s coming. He is saying even now to us as we look upon this tumultuous sea of rebellious humanity and all the wickedness it engenders, “Peace. Be still.”

Many Bible prophecy students of the pre-trib sort have carefully watched Vladimir Putin over the past years. The Russian president’s demeanor, many believe, demonstrates that this man of relatively short stature exhibits and presents a much larger image, in possible prophetic terms.

I’m referring, of course, to the belief by many that the dictator, a former KGB operative, could be the Gog of Ezekiel 38-39. That is, Mr. Putin could be the leader who will be possessed by the Gog spirit or demon who will think the evil thought described by the prophet Ezekiel. –That Putin might be the leader who will lead the Gog-Magog coalition of nations prophesied to invade toward Israel.

While I find this an interesting, even fascinating prospect, I’m not prepared to totally commit to a definite postulation in that regard.

However, thinking on these strange and troubling times during which we are traversing times of fortified prophetic progression, a term my partner in raptureready.com, Todd Strandberg, has coined, the possibility of Putin filling that prophetic role is certainly worthy of consideration.

The lateness of these closing days of the age, while Russia threatens to invade Ukraine, brings into focus such prophecies by Jesus Himself as the following.   

“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” (Matt 24: 6)

and

“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring.” (Lk 21: 25)

With Putin bringing more than one hundred thousand troops and military equipment to the borders of Ukraine and his apparently wanting to invade to bring that former Soviet bloc nation again into Russia’s orb, the rumors of war are rampant. This is perhaps the greatest threat of regional and even world-wide war since the fall of the Soviet Union and the close of the cold war.

With the world-wide protests across Europe and the Canadian/American truckers’ massive protests, and with despot-like leaders facing them and not knowing how to handle it all, the nations are in perplexity and the people are likened to seas and waves roaring.

So, it is more than understandable why many Bible prophecy observers of the times might strongly point to Putin as the Gog possessed leader of that invading force predicted by Ezekiel. All stage-setting seems almost complete for these things to begin to come to pass.

This American presidential administration has demonstrated weakness in practically every endeavor, in terms of dealing with international problems. They have dealt in evil harshness and dogged determination in confronting American patriots –the prime example being the January 6 peaceful protesters who were seduced into a march on the capitol, etc., and set up by the FBI and others as terrorists, imp my humble opinion. But in facing off with Russia and China –the truly great threats against America– this president has been, as the overused word indicates, feckless.

While in SkyWatch TV studios last week doing a number of programs for Pete Garcia’s and my book The Disappearing: Future Events That Will Rock the World, I was asked the question: Do you think Putin will invade Ukraine?

My answer at that time, just this past week, was, “I really don’t think Putin really wants to invade. He has things going his way without invasion.”

My opinion has changed in that short period of time. His bringing more troops and military assets to Ukraine’s borders isn’t the movement of one who is bluffing. The fact that he won’t talk with American officials, and barely will talk with this president is indication enough to know that he intends to fully act out the role of the Russian bear. I would now be surprised if he doesn’t invade. This is due to placating him at every turn and threatening only sanctions of the economic sort.

If Putin were to deliberately attack a NATO nation, then there would be confrontation from the western alliance. But Mr. Biden observably hasn’t the nerve –or whatsoever it takes— to unilaterally face down this voracious dictator.

There is increasing talk among some observers that Gog is not Putin or a Russian leader but very possibly the Turkish leader Erdogan (the most likely) or a future Turkish leader and that Magog is Turkey, not Russia.

While we must never rule out possibilities so far as details are concerned, I can’t, after years of studying the Ezekiel 38-39 Gog-Magog matters, conclude that the head of the coalition against Israel will be other than Russia. It looks very much like Vladimir Putin might well be the man who could lead such a coalition. His appetite for conquest is building, and a time might come soon when Israel and its vast oil and gas reserves, a threat to Putin’s desire to be the lone supplier of Europe and other regions, might give him that evil thought that puts hooks in the jaws of Gog.

By placating this ruthless Russian leader, Biden and company just might be fueling the fires of Putin’s appetite for such conquest as Ezekiel ascribes to the one who will be Gog.