Most relevant of the political questions presently is: Why can’t the Democrat Party acknowledge that the majority of America’s voters–and by a large margin—have rejected their party’s governance?

That this is the most relevant question isn’t even considered by that party’s radical membership–the base that so obviously controls that party. As a matter of fact, that radical base, I think it’s reasonable to say by observing their antics, doesn’t have the individual or collective capability of figuring out their dilemma. –That of why America’s voting public has shown them the door as of last November’s presidential election.

Their irrational antics include screeching in resistance to and protest of anything Trump. They also include burning and/or defacing with swastikas Tesla vehicles they just weeks ago championed over polluting, gas-burning vehicles.

They scream against deporting illegal migrants who have raped and murdered throughout this country. They rant and rave over the new administration closing borders that formerly allowed such murderers, rapists, and child sex traffickers into our nation.

They support wholeheartedly the drive by Israel-Jew-hating jihadists who perpetrate genocide, determined to remove all such people from the “river to the sea.” They embrace every anti-God cause that degrades, debases, and debauches human beings and normality. They worship at the altar of Mother Earth with their climate-change insanity. They favor in every way possible the abuse of the most innocent, championing the insane changing of children’s gender through bodily mutilation and hormonal disrupters.

They have, as the radical base of that political party, contributed mightily to turning America’s subculture into a mirror image of ancient Sodom.

This fanatical base sees America not as a light on the hill for freedom and national sovereignty–an example for the world to emulate—but as a holdup to bringing all the world together as one, as John Lennon would have it. They embrace the globalist goals toward that end.

But the God of Heaven has, for His own reasons, stopped these anti-God of reprobate mind (Romans 1:28) sorts dead in their tracks. At least for the moment…

Psalm chapter 2 is in view, I believe, and it can’t be missed:

Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. (Psalms 2:1–5)

God the Holy Spirit, resident within each believer in Christ, is restraining evil and wickedness during this time so near the end of the Church Age (Age of Grace; see 2 Thessalonians 2). And I believe we are witnessing, through Heaven’s action, God saying just how near we are to the moment He will have His Son, the Lord Jesus, call all believers into the clouds of Glory.

I believe God is—by plainly putting His Psalm 2 “derision” of anti-God forces on display—giving a heads-up on things to come in the very near future. These things include proof of the truth Paul the apostle was inspired to write:

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. (Romans 1:28-32)

Now, understand that I in no way whatsoever believe the Democrat Party is the devil’s political party and the Republican Party is God’s. All political entities of this fallen world are sin-laden. Please know that this is all to say I believe God is displaying that Heaven is restraining against and has in derision the anti-God forces at this late prophetic hour through His dealing with this particular evil. I believe it’s evidence that He is on the very cusp of intervening into this Sodom-like world.

This leftist political entity that goes against all that is godly is in total derision. The fanatical adherents within its body are tearing apart the fabric of their political brand for all to see. That derision is from the very hand of God, in my view.

Again, I believe this is particularly important, because it could be a significant indicator of just how swiftly things are about to unfold from this point. Christ’s call to “Come up here!” could be very near indeed.

And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. (Luke 21:28)

Second only to Israel now being at the heart of the desperate search for global peace, I’m convinced that Europe being suddenly thrust to the top of the end-times quest for that world peace is a profound development. And, just as profound, I believe, is that this man—who, against all odds, is opposed by all the powers of geopolitics, and is the object of two nearly successful assassination attempts—is the force behind bringing this generation to the time when God will bring His prophecy to fulfillment.

Donald J Trump is, I believe, the man who is, unwittingly, key to the process in this matter—the world being moved toward the time God’s Word plainly says will be history’s most terrible era.

By this, I don’t mean Mr. Trump is a pawn of Satan in setting up the world for the son of perdition (Antichrist) to step onto the platform of power. Rather, I believe this unusual man (and, like him or not, who can honestly deny that he is unlike any we’ve seen?) is being used by heavenly direction—again, unwittingly—to bring all the evil of this world to its conclusion.

We’ve watched him jump without hesitation into the world’s most dangerous conflict—the one involving Israel, the number-one Bible prophecy signal of this being the end of the age. His doing so is because of another top sign of this late prophetic hour: the desire to bring peace in a region where war threatens to break into global nuclear conflict. This peculiar peace, in fact, is at the center of what Bible prophecy says will indeed bring carnage to all of humankind at some point.

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. (1 Thessalonians 5:1–3) 

And now, Mr. Trump, the American president number 47, has jumped in with everything available to him into the second-most-dangerous situation involving the very real possibility of world war being ignited. We’ve watched with almost mesmerized attention the unprecedented lack of decorum when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tried to pull a fast one in the televised Oval Office visit.

The American president told Zelensky he was putting the world in danger of World War III by his effort to force America to guarantee troops on the ground in Ukraine to protect against Russian assault. This wasn’t part of the agreement already made before that meeting, and Zelensky was trying to make America look bad before the world through his subterfuge.

However, the confrontation, as entertaining as it was to some—me included—the greater takeaway is that the entire matter has Bible prophecy at its dark center, I have no doubt.

Here’s what I mean.

Zelensky was told to leave the White House in rather rude terms, but in terms well deserved. The Ukrainian president then returned to Europe, where he was received by the nations whose leaderships, though stunned by what had happened in the Oval Office, nonetheless embraced Zelensky, who was nursing wounds from his underestimation of Trump’s reaction.

Or was it underestimation? At the very least, it was, in total, governed by heavenly direction, in my opinion. Whatever it was, it has thrown fear into those who govern/rule Europe. It has put into fast-forward the movement toward establishing the prophesied military power for that area, which is destined to be the area out of which the world’s last and most despotic dictator will arise.

Here is a news item that somewhat enlightens, I think.

European nations are rapidly increasing defense spending in response to growing security concerns driven by the ongoing war in Ukraine and uncertainty over US commitments under Donald Trump’s presidency.

European leaders met in London on Sunday to advance plans for stronger defense cooperation, with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen warning that Europe urgently needs to “rearm.”

“We need a massive surge in defense, without any question. We want lasting peace, but lasting peace can only be built on strength,” von der Leyen said on Monday. She added that she would inform EU member states on Tuesday about plans to strengthen European defense industry and military capabilities.

The talks, which brought together 18 allies, came just days after Trump publicly berated Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, accusing him of being “disrespectful” and ungrateful for US aid…

“We should have woken up earlier,” [French President Emmanuel] Macron said. “I’ve been saying for years that we need a more sovereign, more united, more independent Europe.”

The UK, Germany, and Denmark are also set to increase defence investments. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged last week to raise defense spending to 2.5 percent of GDP by 2027 – the largest increase since the Cold War. (“‘We should have woken up earlier’”: Europe races to rearm as old alliances falter, Explainer, Rapture Ready News, March 4, 2025)

As I wrote in a commentary of March 3, “Antichrist’s Power Base,” this president, I believe, could well be fulfilling, unknowingly, 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 the military no longer being here.

I believe the probability is strong that a greatly weakened, disunified US will have to join, at a future time, a powerfully unified European defense consortium. This coalition will then be in possession of 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?” (Revelation 13:4).

As we watch, as commanded by the Lord Jesus, it’s these two developments we should observe most diligently: 1) Israel and America’s/Trump’s involvement in the “cry for peace and safety”; and 2) America’s/Trump’s involvement in forcing Europe, through fear, to create, ultimately, the most powerful military force ever.

Of course, what all this means is that believers—all born again into God’s family through belief in Christ—will at any moment be called into the clouds of Glory in the Rapture.

Here again is how to tell everyone you know how to go to Christ when He shouts, “Come up here!”

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)

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!

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

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)

Sometimes, as a morning routine, I listen to the Chris Plante national radio show. The other morning, he played sound bites of a typical anti-Trump night-time comedian saying, with sarcasm, that it is now, since the election and inauguration, 24/7 coverage of Donald Trump, whereas before it was only 24/7 coverage of Donald Trump.

Chris Plante then said in his own humorous way: “Ahh yes…mental illness is such a terrible thing, isn’t it?  When did they all come down with the same mental illness?”

Plante was, of course, talking about what long ago became known in pseudo-psychological vernacular as the “Trump derangement syndrome” (TDS). Certainly, that widespread hatred for the now forty-seventh president of the United States wasn’t stanched by his overwhelming win in the 2024 presidential race. The Trump bashers, which include the radical left on the political spectrum, mainstream media, and almost the entire entertainment industry, continue apace in manifesting the syndrome.

One of the more amusing aspects of the ongoing hatred these TDS entities project is that they now–after Donald J. Trump’s win—seem to be joining in agreement with those of us who study Bible prophecy from the pre-Trib view. I’ve heard some of these anti-God types refer to Trump as “the Antichrist” a number of times, so I guess they now believe in Bible prophecy.

Of course, I’ve also read the charge that Mr. Trump will be the Antichrist put forward by more than a few who are presumably Christians claiming Bible prophecy as their source for such a proclamation. These, too, seem to have been infected by the Trump derangement syndrome.

Truly there has never been such a man as Donald J. Trump to so dominate presidential political headlines most every day since he came down the golden escalator at Trump Tower in New York City. Since that moment in 2016, never has any person endured at one and the same time such hatred and accolades on the national stage.

Despite the Trump derangement, the election on November 7 seems to indicate powerfully that most of America’s voting public didn’t fall for the mainstream and entertainment media-fueled Trump hatred. In spite of everything thrown at Donald J. Trump, including the proverbial kitchen sink, he has emerged as the leader that even many of his former hate-filled enemies in many cases now eagerly seek to embrace.

Those who exclusively attribute to his charismatic persona this mercurial political entity’s rise to the ultimate governmental position in the world, then his nation-rendering fall, then his rocket-like rise again is, I believe, as blind spiritually as I am physically. I, you see, am not downcast by the Trump derangement syndrome. Rather, I’m spiritually enlightened and uplifted by understanding what I call the “Trump arrangement syndrome”–a thing, as believers, we must avoid, as I hope to make clear.

This understanding begins with the knowledge that God raises up kings and brings them down:

He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. (Daniel 2:21)

Donald Trump is, as I’ve written many times, not a godly man. He is, however, there is no doubt in my thinking, God’s man for this late hour of the Church Age (Age of Grace). In this sense, the term “Trump arrangement syndrome” is the right one that encapsulates this president’s ascent to the ultimate, earthly, geopolitical power. The present Trump arrangement is a matter only our Mighty God could bring into this, the prophetic hour just before He again begins dealing in a final prophetic way with His chosen people and nation, Israel.

Proof of this heavenly action–arranging Trump’s positioning–I now believe, was when God spared Trump’s life on that August 14, 2024, afternoon in Butler, Pennsylvania, for the entire world to witness. It was the God of all creation making a statement and preparing the way to get back to “business as usual,” rather than allowing the reprobate thinking to be unchecked—the anti-God insanity that was moving too quickly toward satanic stage-setting for Antichrist’s rise to power.

Now let me explain. By saying “business as usual,” I’m not referring to the business of returning to normalcy in the human sense so that we can all just live happy, secure lives. That would mean God approves of the wickedness that “business as usual” has produced–business that has taken us far from Him.

The “business as usual” to which I refer is the exact kind that was going on at the time Lot, his wife, and daughters were removed from Sodom. That activity was, I believe, very much like it will be here in America—and by extension, the world—at the moment Christ next breaks in to the wicked affairs of humanity on earth.

We see how quickly this arrangement is shaping up following Trump’s return to the Oval Office. Even the technocrats–the billionaire producers of the great, advancing technologies are on board this man of destiny’s Trump Train. The president has announced the AI wonders that will constitute what he termed Stargate, which he says will be funded by $500 billion, and immediately produce more than 100 thousand jobs.

I believe Mr. Trump truly believes this will lead to making America great again and will bring about an American Golden Age, as he puts it. Indeed, America might for a time experience an unusual uptick in economic achievement. But we must not be deluded. It all smacks of preparing the post-Rapture world for AI technological controls for the era Jesus said will be the worst of all human history.

So the Trump arrangement taking place is, I believe, Heaven preparing the world for fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy as recorded in Luke 17:28–30.

The Lord said it will be “as it was in the days of Lot” when He is next “revealed.” Then, just like in Lot’s day, judgment will begin falling on a world that has rebelled against God.

It will be, Jesus said, at “a time you think not.” We’re told in Scripture that “It will come upon the world” “like a snare (a surprise snatching-up).”

For the Christian, we are to be watching all these developments (Mark 13: 37) We’re to notice that Israel is again in the center of all things, and that the desire for peace also is at the center of all things. We are to take notice that the world is not in as dire a situation, economically speaking, as it was looking when the Biden era came to a close. Yes. The world continues to be in an anti-God spiral downward morally, culturally, and throughout society. But now we see an almost exponentially upward spiraling economic and technologically advancing situation in America—and, by extension, worldwide—we are assured by Mr.  Trump and others.

At the same time, there are wars and rumors of wars, and all of them revolve around major players in God’s prophetic Word for the time of the end. Russia, Iran, Turkey, China–all are poised to fulfill their disastrous destinies during the Tribulation—the last seven years leading to Christ’s Second Advent.

We do not want, as believers in Jesus Christ, to get caught up into the Trump arrangement syndrome. This term means Donald Trump is going to make America great again. That syndrome is as wrongheaded as what those with the Trump derangement syndrome suffer.

I am, like you, thankful the 2024 presidential election went the way it did. The Lord arranged it, no doubt. All thanks and glory be to Him! This heavenly arrangement perhaps gives believers time to work to bring more souls into God’s family through salvation in a culture and society that remains free to do so.

At the same time, we are to be “looking up,” for our Redeemer is drawing near. The Rapture is the next event on God’s prophetic calendar!

Here again is the message to share as we go about witnessing the soul-saving power of our Lord:

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)

I’m hearing it proclaimed in the strongest terms that God is judging California and punishing that area with the horrific fire because of the wickedness it embraces. I disagree. I say God is not yet judging, not in the sense that His judgment produces punishment from Heaven.

Indeed, the parts of California that are, as of this writing, being devoured by the fires—fanned by 100 mph winds, in some cases—are the center of wickedness the likes of which might make the people of ancient Sodom and Gomorrah blush.

One observer writes the following in that regard:

There is so much anger about the unprecedented fires that are ravaging the Los Angeles area, because there is a widespread belief that they could have been prevented.  Some are blaming mismanaged forests, some are blaming the extreme incompetence of our leaders, some are blaming “climate change”, and some are blaming budget cuts.  But could it be possible that the real reason why Los Angeles is burning is not related to any of those factors?

What is the one thing that sets Los Angeles apart from any other city in the world?

Needless to say, it is the entertainment industry…

Most people living in the western world consume entertainment that originates from Los Angeles almost every single day.

Most of us are literally opening up our minds and pouring in filth on a regular basis, and that has had absolutely devastating consequences.

Of course much of the filth that the entertainment industry produces openly mocks God and misuses His name.

Sadly, the entertainment industry was even mocking God at the Golden Globe awards just 48 hours before the fires hit.

So they mocked God on Sunday at the Golden Globes, couple days later their houses burn down…

The entire planet has been corrupted by the movies, television shows and music that come out of Los Angeles.  On top of all that, L.A. is the epicenter for the global pornography industry. (“Could There Be A Reason Why Los Angeles Is Burning That Nobody Really Wants To Talk About?” by Michael, End Of The American Dream, January 12, 2025)

President Trump said recently the area destroyed by the fires look as if they’ve been hit by a nuclear attack. It sure seems like the judgment of God is being visited on America’s Pompeii, doesn’t it?

No. I think not. I believe what we see happening—the fiery devastation ravaging one of America’s most desirable place to live in terms of environment—is actually an expression of God’s love.

Now, that seems almost as wrong in reasoning as the woke thinking that comes out of California, that state of upside-down, reprobate insanity!

Here I want to say that we are to have love and concern for the people who are suffering so desperately from these catastrophic fires. And they are catastrophic, with entire neighborhoods across a vast expanse having been completely burned to the ground. Let us reach out in compassion, knowing that, but by the grace of God, we could be in the same circumstances.

That said, I’m of the thinking proffered by my friend Tom Hughes, whose ministry is located in California.

He likened what’s going on there to the terminal health dilemma of someone he once witnessed to about the saving power of Jesus Christ.

The man had only days to live when he went to visit him, Tom said. The man wanted to know that if there was a God, why he was suffering such pain.

Tom lovingly and gently told the cancer patient that God had blessed him all his life with a successful life and wonderful family. Despite all the opportunities to accept Christ, the man had rejected God’s offer. The pain was given to call the man one more time. The pain was necessary as a strong measure because God knew the place the man was going without Christ was many times worse than the pain from cancer he was suffering. In other words, God was using the pain to call him to salvation one last time.

Tom’s words to this terminally ill man might sound harsh, but the Lord sometimes works His love and mercy even through the pain of life.

Thankfully, the man did accept Christ before passing into the Lord’s presence just several days later. (The following is the link to Tom’s recounting of this conversion experience: https://youtu.be/kDvItdgONFM?si=OEvKS0bITAoc0Oj7)

Tom Hughes said:

It’s the same thing I see going on right now in America. You see it in the heart of Hollywood. God is shouting to people, “Hey, you better turn to me.” The Bible tells us what’s coming during the Tribulation period.

Wow, folks. God is screaming to us. He has blessed this country with great things–with so many good things, and instead of turning to the Lord, they are turning from Him. And God is shouting to us, because He knows the pain is coming [when His true wrath must punish those who reject His Son.]

For anybody…if you don’t know the Lord, ask Him to forgive you. He will forgive anybody who will come to Him.

Amen! The fires are a merciful call to repentance–perhaps a last, loving call to accept God’s order, rather than the anti-God way of wokeness and rebellion.

What painful calls to repentance might we expect as the time of the Tribulation grows closer by the hour? Once Jesus calls all believers to Himself in the Rapture, the pain will grow infinitely worse as God’s wrath pours out on God-rejecting humankind.

You don’t want to be part of that wrath and of Antichrist’s unprecedented evil.

Here’s how to accept Christ and be kept from that worst time of human history AND from the eternal, truly horrific fire—the lake of fire—following the final punishment of lost humankind at the great white throne judgment.

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) 

While thinking on the inauguration of the 47th president of the United States on this 20th day of January 2025, I reflect on things more than a decade earlier.

I wrote in January of 2010 the following. Peace is more than the absence of war in which blood is shed while weapons destroy and death tallies their toll. Peace is contentment, with prospects for a future free of worry that conflict will disrupt tranquility. There is neither contentment nor tranquility upon this fallen sphere:

Conflict is everywhere one looks. Unsettling issues assault the eyes and ears—the senses—of the world community. Anxieties and perplexities inundate societies and cultures, nations, and continents. The voices of humanity cry “Peace! Peace!” when there is no peace. As much as I would like to bring tidings of great joy—having just celebrated the birth of Christ—I cannot do so from the perspective of what is going on here on earth. The year 2010 just ahead looks bleak for a world of inhabitants who, by and large, reject the only One who can bring peace. The rejection portends the ascent of evil that is prophetically scheduled to grow worse, according to the apostle Paul: “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:13).

That forecast certainly has proven accurate. But it is God’s prophetic Word, not this poor messenger’s predictive acumen, that made the 2010 prognostication an easy one. The times here at the beginning of 2025 have changed only in that the outlook for peace this darkening world seeks flees farther distant by the hour.

While seducers are on the scene in this generation at every level of human interaction, deadly conflict lurks just around the geopolitical corner in the region of planet earth foretold to be the host geographical area of man’s most horrific war. The prince of Persia foments rage against God’s chosen nation, inciting the likes of Iran’s Islamic leadership to create weapons that can destroy Israel, thus hoping to derail God’s prophetic plan to install the King of all kings upon the throne of David. Alliances form that make the wary student of Bible prophecy know that the prophet Ezekiel’s Gog-Magog coalition is coming together. One day the “evil thought” of Ezekiel 38:10 will come to a Russian leader’s mind. All hell will break loose in the most volatile region on earth.

Politicians in America and in other nations lie to their publics, promising resolution to civil and economic strife and perplexities that have no chance of improvement, based upon those leaderships’ self-serving motives and intentions. They seduce the publics they are supposed to serve, and instead rule with deluding words that flow from the mind of the great deceiver himself—the father of lies.

Religious leaders—even supposed Christian leaders—move their flocks in directions away from, not toward, the God of Heaven and His prescription for living a peaceful life on this ever-darkening planet. Indeed, the seducers of religiosity grow worse and worse, and the gospel light dims for America as it has been dimming for so long in Europe, out of which the American republic burst under God’s great providence.

Still, the self-delusion that man-made peace can prevail over this sin-blackened world persists. The cry for peace and safety is exponentially ratcheting up in the region prophesied to host the worst and final war of the age—Armageddon. That cry for peace and safety predicted to characterize the end of the age is front and center in today’s headlines.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking to the 79th session of the UN General Assembly September 27, 2024, laid out the opposition to peace God’s chosen nation faces in this time so near the end of the age:

Mr. President, Ladies and gentlemen, I didn’t intend to come here this year. My country is at war, fighting for its life.

But after I heard the lies and slanders leveled at my country by many of the speakers at this podium, I decided to come here and set the record straight. I decided to come here to speak for my people. To speak for my country, to speak for the truth. And here’s the truth: Israel seeks peace. Israel yearns for peace. Israel has made peace and will make peace again. Yet we face savage enemies who seek our annihilation, and we must defend ourselves against them.

These savage murderers, our enemies, seek not only to destroy us, but they seek to destroy our common civilization and return all of us to a dark age of tyranny and terror. When I spoke here last year, I said we face the same timeless choice that Moses put before the people of Israel thousands of years ago, as we were about to enter the Promised Land.

Moses told us that our actions would determine whether we bequeath to future generations a blessing or a curse.

And that is the choice we face today: the curse of Iran’s unremitting aggression or the blessing of a historic reconciliation between Arab and Jew.

But, that cry for peace isn’t working—not yet, anyway. One day the “prince that shall come” (Daniel 9:27) will confirm such a covenant of peace that will temporarily induce euphoria for a fearful world. But the present Israeli prime minister isn’t fooled into thinking such a covenant is at hand. His words haven’t changed since back in 2010. He said at that time: “There’s no more time for excuses. It is time for action.” Netanyahu also said that Israel’s most important challenge is Iran’s attempt to get nuclear weapons.

We have witnessed since that time now fifteen years ago not the trending toward peace between Israel and its enemies, but a severe ratcheting-up of terrorism and war-making. The Hamas atrocities of October 7, 2023, have thrown fuel on the fire of Middle Eastern volatility.

Iran continues to be at the center of all of it, with the new president of the United States, as of today, January 20, 2025, promising quick and devastating action against Iran’s nuclear threat, and against the Hamas perpetrators of the most heinous evil against the Jewish state since Hitler’s holocaust.

All of this gloom for this new year is depressing, you say. What a downer to begin 2025! The hope in all of this is glorious beyond imagination, however. It is the “blessed hope” of Titus 2:13 who remains in complete control. For the student of Bible prophecy, whose Lord is the King of kings, all of the foreboding for this world that is passing away means Christ’s return to make all things right on planet earth must be near indeed. The Prince of Peace is about to intervene dramatically into the disastrous affairs of humanity.

Margaret and I were leaving Highland Heights Baptist Church after a Sunday service sometime in the 1980s. As we turned to trek down the side of the church on the road leading to the parking lot, I heard the voice: “Terry! You and Margaret come here. I want to introduce you to Mike Huckabee.”

It was our pastor, Robert McDaniel, who was standing near the frontage road talking with Mike Huckabee, who had delivered the sermon that morning as a guest speaker.

“Mike is running for lieutenant governor,” the pastor said. “I wanted you to meet him and shake hands with him.”

We did so, and spent a few minutes in pleasantries, with my thanking him for his sermon.

Little did I imagine Mr. Huckabee would achieve the level of national and international prominence the Lord chose for him, of course.

He was, and remains, the personification of a Christian gentleman, according to all I have known from reports all these years. This, despite his being engaged in the rough-and-tumble (some would say “wicked”) business of political warfare in our state of Arkansas and in the nation.

There were many in the Christian community in those days when Mike ran for lieutenant governor and later for governor who either questioned a Baptist preacher becoming intertwined with the often nefarious art of politics, or who adamantly opposed such engagement by a Baptist preacher.

I, myself, remember asking why a Baptist preacher would want to become a part of the politicking in our state and nation.

My question has since been answered in my spirit. The Lord has had his hand on Mr. Huckabee–as well as on his daughter, Sarah, who was a youngster when Margaret and I shook hands with her father. She, of course, became President Trump’s press spokesperson and is now governor of Arkansas.

Mike, of course, ran for president, and he and the rest of the GOP field were defeated by one Donald J. Trump. Trump went on then to be elected president in defeating another who was once part of Arkansas government–Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton’s First Lady when he was governor here, and, later, when he was president of the United States.

The 2016 election was, as we recall, a complete surprise to many–especially to the Hillary Clinton presidential-aspiration camp. The shock of that victory continues to reverberate with wave after wave of political and cultural impact.

Point is that God’s mighty hand continues to be on display as He restrains evil, has that “wickedness in high places” in derision, and especially as He brings all into focus for the prophesied wind-up of this Church Age (Age of Grace).

To those who observe developments through the prism of Bible prophecy, no instance of God’s great hand of providential direction and control is more profound than the dynamics involving Israel taking place at present.

We’ve seen God moving powerfully since the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023. Remember, for example, the strategic brilliance employed by the IDF in the exploding of communications devices, killing many enemy terrorists in the process. We who believe Israel’s God neither slumbers nor sleeps know this seeming miraculous action was orchestrated by Heaven, while the Supreme Maestro, Israel’s God, continues to direct the prophetic stage-setting.

That same Supreme Maestro has placed in the president-elect’s mind, I’m convinced, to appoint Mike Huckabee to be the next ambassador to God’s chosen nation. Here is a news brief framing that appointment.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be ambassador to Israel, has long rejected a Palestinian state in territory previously seized by Israel and has repeatedly signaled his staunch support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Huckabee, a former TV host and Baptist preacher, frequently visits Israel and once said he wanted to buy a holiday home there. He has maintained throughout the years that the West Bank belongs to Israel, and recently said “the title deed was given by God to Abraham and to his heirs.”

His argument for a so-called “one-state solution” contradicts longstanding official U.S. support for the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state.

He has described the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas as “horrific” and “beyond anything I’ve ever witnessed in my lifetime” and argued that the U.S. needs to stand firmly behind Israel. (“Trump picks Mike Huckabee to serve as US ambassador to Israel,” AP News, Adriana Gomez Licon, November 13, 2024)

The most important thing about Trump choosing Mr. Huckabee is not that a Baptist preacher will be in the position to wholeheartedly bring America’s full support to God’s chosen nation. Even more profound is that he will have this president’s ear in such an influential way.

This message isn’t only for Mike Huckabee. I want to implore others as well who have Donald J. Trump’s ear. That is, I implore other godly men to advise without reservation as Mr. Trump performs the duties God has appointed him to carry out. That is a main reason they’ve been placed by the God of Heaven into the pathway of this unusual man who will soon again be the most powerful human leader on planet Earth.

God’s men who have this president’s ear, such as John Hagee and Robert Jeffress, have, like Mike Huckabee, a responsibility to inform the president, at every opportunity, about Heaven’s ultimate control over things at this prophetic hour. Your advice in that Holy Spirit sense, gentlemen, is far beyond the Senate’s “advice and consent authority” under America’s constitutional prerogative. Please do not shirk that great responsibility.