Jesus and the Last Days | Sunday Message

A New Beginning presents a new book from Pastor Greg Laurie. We are offering a brand new resource called The House of David Devotional, and it's based on the great Psalms of David as well as the life of David. So I'm going to put this brand new devotional in your hand so you can learn from this man of God. Or your gift of any size at harvest.org. It's the official companion resource for the new Amazon TV series also called The House of David. Hey there, thanks for listening to the Greg Laurie podcast, a ministry supported by Harvest Partners.

I'm Greg Laurie encouraging you if you want to find out more about Harvest Ministries and learn more about how to become a Harvest Partner, just go to harvest.org. Let's pray. Lord, as we have just sung, great are you, Lord. And you've been so good to us as a church, to us individually. And now we pray as we open your word that you would speak to us because your word is truth. And as we talk about this amazing topic of the return of Jesus, help us to long for your return. Scripture says that you will return for those who are looking for you. Lord, help us to be those who are looking for your return. So speak to us from your word we pray now. In Jesus' name we ask this. Amen. All right you can all be seated.

Good afternoon. Welcome to church. We have a very special Sunday for you. My message is going to be about the end times, about the return of Christ. The title is Jesus and the Last Days and it's going to be a little shorter than normal which will make some of you happy. But we're going to fill up that other time as I interview New York Times best-selling author Joel Rosenberg.

Joel and I have been friends a long time and he is a expert on the end times. And this is going to be a fascinating discussion and I think you're going to be glad you came to church today to hear it. So let's turn to two passages together. John 14 and Matthew 24. John 14, Matthew 24.

Again the title of the message is Jesus and the Last Days. So a number of years ago I was in Israel leading a tour and we came to a place called Gideon's Spring. Remember the story of Gideon in his 300. So he had an army of 10,000 people and the Lord said there's too many people in your army. So the Lord wanted to shrink that army. They said if you're fearful and afraid go home and a lot of people left.

The army is getting smaller. Then the Lord had them go down to this little spring of water and the Lord said choose the ones who are ready and alert because they went down and got down on one knee and pulled the water up to their face watching for an ambush, an enemy. Those are the ones I will save you by the Lord said. So I'm teaching on this story and I had our youth pastor with us. Now he's a pastor of a church in LA. His name is Steve Wilburn but at that time he was our youth pastor. I said Steve demonstrate how they would have drunk the water. So Steve gets down on one knee and he starts cupping the water, pulling it up to his mouth and I said see that's how they did it and then for the first time I noticed a sign that said do not drink this water.

It is polluted. But fortunately Steve survived that. But so it's good to read the signs because sometimes you miss what's on them. One time I was speaking at a church on Oahu and I was up next so I thought I would hit the restroom really fast and they had the weirdest signage I've ever seen. It said men and women okay. Men door women door. But what I didn't notice is each one had arrows on it. So it said men arrow pointing this way to the other door. Same with the women. So I went right into the women's restroom.

I didn't notice. I was in a stall and all of a sudden I heard all of these female voices. What is why are these girls in the men's room? Then I realized I was in their room. So I was so embarrassed I pulled my feet up so you wouldn't even see my feet and I'm waiting and it's getting quieter and there's one girl left and I peeked at the little crack there in the stall and it's my wife. I said Kathy. She says Craig what are you doing in here?

It's a long story. Are the girls gone? Yes.

Boom you've never seen a man move so fast to get out of that bathroom. So I didn't read the signage very well. Well all around us are what we would call signs of the times. And they're all saying one thing Jesus is coming. Even skeptics even non-believers are asking haven't I heard about this somewhere before? Is this what you Christians call Armageddon or the last days? They're wondering about it because of the things that are happening.

It seems like every day you turn around not even every day every couple of hours there's a new news cycle some dramatic event and so many of these events are saying Jesus is coming back again. When President Trump met with President Zelensky from Ukraine recently in the Oval Office and of course we know that conversation didn't go that well for Zelensky at least. President Trump made a statement to him and the statement was you could lead us into World War III. And that's kind of alarming to me to hear the leader of the free world even mention the concept of World War III.

It's kind of scary and it can freak you out a little bit. So how should we react to the things happening in the world today? Here's what Jesus says John 14 verse 1. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God believe also in me and my father's house are many mansions if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you to myself. So here's what Jesus is saying. Don't panic it's organic. No he's not saying that.

That's not in the Bible. What he's saying is don't freak out. Don't worry. The Bible says when you see these things beginning to happen look up for your redemption is drawing near. It doesn't say when you see these things beginning to happen freak out. Look up. Why should I be calm? Why should I be looking up?

How can I not have a troubled heart? Number one he has a place prepared for me in heaven. Number two he's coming for me. So let's talk a little bit about this. Now some people are frightened by this subject but consider this Bible prophecy is not given to scare us but to prepare us and we need to know about these things.

These are important topics to discuss. So let's just start with that statement of Christ in John 14. He says I'm going to prepare a place for you and I will come again and receive you to myself. Jesus is referring to the rapture. Now there's confusion about the rapture and the second coming. There are actually two separate events and I'll explain the rapture in a few moments because it is somewhat controversial. But the rapture happens before the great tribulation period begins.

I'll explain that to you in a few moments as well. The second coming happens at the end of the great tribulation period. So this is something he's referring to because he says I'm going to come and receive you to myself.

That phrase receive could be translated to bring close. It's the same word used in Matthew 24 40 where Jesus describes one being taken and the other left. Two men will be in a field. One will be taken and the other left. Two will be in a bed. One will be taken and the other left.

Two will be grinding in a mill. One will be taken and the other left. Years ago I was laying in bed with my wife. It's okay we're married. We were actually newlyweds and we were talking about the return of the Lord and we're saying we could just be caught up to heaven. You know we could go to bed and wake up in heaven and you know and Kathy was talking about how wonderful it will be and I just had this devious thought. Wouldn't it be funny if I quietly slipped out of the bed and she thought she missed the rapture somehow.

So I very quietly slipped out of bed. I was laying on the floor and she's saying Greg just think about it. We just we'd just be wake up in heaven Greg. Greg.

Greg! I'm on the floor laughing. So don't try this at home. I am a professional. A professional idiot.

That's what I am. So but it really will happen and it's no joke. Two will be in a bed. Shows it will happen for some at night.

Two will be in a field. It shows for others it would happen in the morning or the afternoon. It's a universal event that will take place. So the teaching of the rapture was given 2,000 years ago by Jesus on the Mount of Olives. He answered a question they asked. What will be the sign of your coming?

Let me update that. Lord how will we know when we're actually in the last days. And so Jesus gives this long answer. This is the longest answer he gave to any question in the Bible.

Sometimes it's called the Olivet Discourse because he set it on the Mount of Olives. But he's telling us what the future will be. Understand when God, I hesitate to use the word predict because predict suggests that it may or may not be true. When God speaks of the future it's fact.

It's as factual as if he was speaking of the present or even of the past. Because God lives in the eternal realm. So when he says something is going to happen it's not as though the Lord is going out on a limb somehow. It's certain.

It's absolute. So he gives a flyover of the end times events here in Matthew 24. Let's read a few of those verses starting in verse three.

As he sat on the Mount of Olives the disciples came to him privately saying tell us when will these things be. What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age. Jesus answered and said to them take heed that no one deceives you for many will come in my name saying I am the Christ and will deceive many and you'll hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled for all these things must come to pass but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation.

Kingdom against kingdom. There'll be famine, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. Drop down now to verse eight of Matthew 24. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing on the holy place whoever reads us let him understand.

And then he will stop right there. So here's an important thing. God wants us to know about these things. Notice as Jesus mentions the abomination of desolation which by the way is after the temple is rebuilt by the Antichrist he will do something that offends God.

He'll declare himself as God in the temple. That's the abomination of desolation. But notice the Bible says let the reader understand. Like understand what I'm saying. Some would say we can't understand these things.

No that's not true because it's not God's desire to conceal but to reveal. We need to know about end times events. I think we need more preaching and pulpits today about end times events.

It's very important for us to understand this. I was talking with Joe Rosenberg in the back room and we were discussing how this was talked about so much more years ago. In the Jesus movement you heard about it all the time. Now it's becoming rare to hear a preacher talk about this and I think it's unfortunate because I think people really want to know about it. And Paul even writes and Thessalonians brothers I don't want you to be ignorant about these things.

So that brings me to point number one. The tribulation period begins with the emergence of Antichrist. Verse five many will come in my name saying I am the Christ and will deceive many. So there is a period of time coming on the earth called the great tribulation period. It is my firm belief that Christians will not be in the great tribulation period.

In fact I don't even think the great tribulation period can start until the church I mean Christians are removed from this earth. Now the Antichrist is going to emerge on the scene as a great world leader. A man with peaceful overtures. A man with economic solutions. In fact no one will be able to buy or sell unless you have taken this convenient little mark.

It's going to be a cashless society. He's going to do what no other leader has ever been able to do. And some will even hail him as the Messiah. The prefix anti doesn't just mean against.

It also means instead of. He is a false Christ. He is a false Messiah masquerading as Messiah. But the tribulation period lasts for seven years and at the three and a half year mark midway he shows his true colors commits the abomination of desolation and then the judgment of God is poured out upon the planet. Let me put a graph on the screen that will help you get clarity on how this works chronologically. So in my opinion which is right I believe we'll see. The next event is the rapture.

You see it there. Then Antichrist. Then this seven year period.

This peace treaty is signed. Culminating in the battle of Armageddon fought in the valley of Megiddo in Israel. Then Christ returns in the second coming. And then the millennium begins.

The word millennium means one thousand. The one thousand year reign of Christ on the earth. This is where when you read about the lion and the lamb together and all that that happens in the millennium. And finally heaven comes to earth effectively.

The new Jerusalem adorned as a bride for her husband comes down from heaven to earth. So the tribulation begins with the emergence of Antichrist. Now I said I don't think Antichrist can emerge until the church is removed.

Why? Because we're told over in First Thessalonians excuse me Second Thessalonians 2.7, he who now restrains will continue to do so until he is taken out of the way. And then that wicked one will be revealed whom the Lord will destroy with the brightness of his coming. There is a restraining force in the world today that is stopping the wholesale spread of evil.

And that restraining force is the Holy Spirit working through the church. America took a turn just a few months ago. We decided to not go into one direction and we chose to go in another. That's largely due to Christians getting out there and letting their voice be heard. And that's very important for us to do. We are to do good. We are to love people. We are to reach out to people and we do that every day. But we also have to speak out against that which is evil.

And so we're a restraining force. Now imagine a world for a moment if the Christians were gone. Who's going to say well that's not right. No we shouldn't do that.

That's wrong. No there'll be very few voices like that. If you want to see what it could look like look at Europe today.

As the absence of evangelicals there, there are some but not that many. And you see how they're going the wrong direction. And how America needs to turn to God. And we do that.

And I hope we'll keep doing that. But God has a plan for our nation in the future as well. But the emergence of Antichrist starts a tribulation period which cannot begin until the church is removed. Therefore don't be trying to figure out who the Antichrist is. And every now and then someone says I know who the Antichrist is. No you don't.

You don't know. In fact the Bible never tells us to be looking for the Antichrist. But it does tell us to be looking for Jesus Christ.

So that should be our focus right. The tribulation period ends with the return of Christ to the earth. Verse 30 Jesus says, then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. It doesn't say great glory.

Great glory. Though I do expect to be there. Because when Christ returns at the second coming the Bible says He'll return with thousands of saints.

And I expect to be one of those saints and I expect you to be one as well. So we will indeed return with Him. So this is the promise of Scripture.

And this is what we should be focusing on. Nation will rise against nation. Verse 7 Kingdom against kingdom there will be famines, pestilences, earthquakes, and various places. It all culminates in the valley of Megiddo for the battle of Armageddon. Now let's shift gears and look at Matthew 24 verse 36 where Jesus warns about date setting.

Why is this important? Because every now and then someone comes along and says I know when Jesus is coming back again. There was a book in 1988 actually titled 88 reasons why Christ will come back in 1988.

Millions of them sold until 1989. No one knows the day of the hour. This is what Jesus says. Look at verse 36. But of the day and hour no one knows not even the angels of heaven but my Father only but as the days of Noah were so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and giving a marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark and they did not know until the flood came and took them all away. So will the coming of the Son of Man be. Watch therefore for you don't know what hour the Lord is coming.

Know this if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore be ready for the Son of Man is coming in an hour that you do not expect. Now Christ is talking here about the rapture not the second coming.

Listen to this. I know when the second coming is. No one knows when the rapture is. You say Greg what do you mean you know when the second coming is.

Put the graph back up again. When is the second coming. It's at the end of the tribulation period. Here we go.

See that. It's at the end. So in the rapture he comes for his church and the second coming he returns with this church. In the rapture he's delivering us before judgment and the second coming he's returning with judgment. When is the second coming. At the end of the tribulation period. So once it begins it'll be seven years. No one knows the exact date I don't think but you have a general sense of when it will be rapture.

We don't know when that's going to happen. That's what Jesus is talking about right here. So someone comes along and says I know the exact date of Christ's return. You can be sure of one thing.

They're wrong. It's as simple as that. So what is this thing called the rapture. Our English word rapture comes from the Latin translation of the Greek word harpazo. That word is used 14 times in the New Testament. So it is a biblical event that's spoken of a number of times. The best known verse about the rapture is 1 Thessalonians 4 17 that says the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God that dead in Christ will rise first and we which are alive and remaining shall be caught up together with them in the clouds and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

You say I still don't understand. The rapture is a future event when Christ himself will descend from heaven as he promised and in the blink of an eye or as the Bible says the twinkly of an eye everything will change. Those who are in the grave will rise again. Okay this is the bodily resurrection. What happens to a Christian when they die? Their soul goes into heaven but there's going to be a bodily resurrection. Greg are you actually saying bodies will come out of the grave?

That's exactly what I'm saying. Because that's what the Bible says. As Job said in my flesh I will see God. So your loved ones who are lying in graves right now one day God will resurrect their body. When will that happen? At the rapture. So the dead in Christ rise first and we which are alive and remaining shall be caught up together with them. With who?

With loved ones who have preceded us. So imagine this for a moment you're just going about your business ordering an In-N-Out burger animal style. An extra crispy fries and all of a sudden you're in heaven. You're saying what happened to my burger? I don't know. I don't care. Maybe you take it with you.

Maybe there's something better than In-N-Out burgers in heaven I'm sure. But whatever it is all of a sudden everything changes. Your reality changes. Maybe the loved one you were thinking about who has died in faith.

Well suddenly you'd be looking at them talking to them again. This is a great hope. Now could this happen in our generation? Yes. Will it?

I don't know. But I hope so. And I think we need to be ready for it because I do believe with the events that are happening before our very eyes right now it could happen at any time. So why is there a rapture? The context of Paul's teaching on the rapture was a response to the believers to the believers in Thessalonica who had loved ones die.

They were wondering if they would miss the rapture and if they would ever see them again. So in 1 Thessalonians 4 13 Paul says, brothers I don't want you to be uninformed about those who have died so you grieve as those who have no hope. See when we lose a loved one we grieve. Christians grieve. Christians mourn. Sometimes people say well if they were a Christian you shouldn't mourn you shouldn't cry they're in heaven. True they're in heaven but not only should I mourn but I think it's really important to mourn. When I talk to people who've lost a loved one I encourage them to weep. I encourage them to cry. The Bible says there's a time to laugh and there's a time to cry.

The depth of your sorrow is an indication of the depth of your love. Even when Stephen died the first martyr of the church we read godly men mourned over him. But didn't Stephen go to heaven?

Oh yes he did. He even was given a glimpse of heaven before he died. But still they mourned because they were sorry. But here's the difference between the grief of a Christian and the grief of a non-Christian. We grieve hopefully they grieve hopelessly. And here's why we grieve hopefully. Because we know we will see our loved ones again. That's a big deal.

They're not just a part of our past they're also a part of our future. So when we have a loved one who has passed on before us we don't say goodbye. We say I'll see you later. I'll see you later.

Because you will. That's the hope of the rapture. So it could be even sooner than we think.

But that's up to God. So I have one last passage I'd like to look at and then we're going to talk to Joel about things happening in our world right now. Jesus' last statement in the Bible is behold I am coming quickly. In Revelation 22. The word behold means pay attention.

So he's saying hey listen to what I'm saying right now. I am coming quickly. And we read that and I say well quickly.

Once you say this 2000 years ago I guess your definition of quickly is different than mine. Sort of like well my wife and I are leaving the house. I'll say are you ready? She says I'm ready. Now it has a different meaning to her than it does to me. Ready to me means we're getting in the car and we're leaving.

Ready to her means I'm going to go upstairs. I'm going to change my outfit possibly. I'm going to straighten up a little bit before I make it to the car.

I mean there are times when I'm sitting in the car. Are you coming? I'm coming and I'm waiting. It seems like an hour.

It's probably three minutes. I've actually gone in the house. What is it you do? And those final moments. But what she does she straightens straightens straightens straightens everything. Okay that's why I have a neat house.

Okay that's great. So what did Jesus mean when he said I'm coming quickly? The word quickly means suddenly not necessarily soon. The word from the Greek means suddenly swiftly in the blink of an eye. In other words when Jesus comes it's fast and without warning. Another way of putting it is you could just say the coming of Christ is imminent. It could happen at any moment.

Therefore we should live in a constant state of expectancy. Okay so a good litmus test of where you are at spiritually is how you react to this. If you hear this and say I love it. I hope he comes today. I would say you're probably walking with God.

However if your reaction is the very opposite of that and you would have a sense of apprehension or dread that is not a good thing. I love John's response. Jesus says behold him coming quickly. John says even so. Come Lord Jesus.

That's great. Amen. Come Lord Jesus. Let's say that together. Come Lord Jesus.

One more time. Come Lord Jesus. That that's how we should feel. Lord I'm ready for you to come.

So is that how you are feeling and living right now. Remember when we were kids and we would play hide and seek. I hope you don't still play that in your 50s but maybe you do. But you know you count to 20 or whatever and then you say ready or not here I come.

One day Jesus is going to effectively say the same thing. Ready or not here I come. I used to play it with my grandkids when they were very little. One of them is sitting in the front row. Remember Riley. And they they would hide but I always could find them.

Because they would hide behind the curtains and I could see their feet. Here I come. There they are laughing out loud. So very easy to find.

They love that. Let's do it again Papa. Okay let's do it again.

I'd count to 20. Come back they're hiding in the same place. That's us trying to hide from God. Nothing is hidden from God.

Everything is known to Him. So we need to be ready. So my question to you is if Jesus came back today would you be ready?

If not why not? That needs to be resolved. Coming back to the Lord's statement in John 14. He said in my father's house there are many mansions and where we're not so I would have told you. If I go I will come again and receive you to myself. I prepared a place for you. And then he says and where I go you know in the way you know.

Thomas says we don't know where you're going and we don't know the way. And Jesus said you know the verse. I am the way the truth and the life.

No man comes to the father but by me. How can I get right with God? How can I know with certainty that when Christ comes I will be ready to meet Him by putting my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead and if I will turn from my sin and put my faith in Him I'm forgiven. This is not about living a good life or doing X amount of good works. It's about having a relationship with a good God who paid the price for our sins. So if you've not done that yet I would like to give you an opportunity to do so. To pray a prayer and say Lord come into my life so you can know you'll be ready for the Lord's return.

If you need to do it do it right now. Let's all pray. Father I pray for every person here.

Every person watching wherever they are. If they don't know you yet let this be the moment they believe. Well our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed. Maybe God has spoken to you. Maybe you see your need for Jesus Christ. Maybe you're not sure if you're ready for the Lord's return. Listen if you would like Christ to come into your life.

If you would like Him to forgive you of your sin. If you would like to know with certainty that you'll go to heaven when you die. If you would like to be ready for the Lord's return wherever you are I want you to raise your hand up and I'm going to pray for you. Raise your hand up high where I can see it and let me pray for you. God bless you. You want Christ to come into your life.

You want to be ready for His return. Let me pray for you now. God bless you. I see you all raising your hand. God bless each one of you.

Anybody else? Raise your hand now. Let me pray for you. Let me pray for you. I'm going to lead you in a simple prayer. God bless you. You guys watching at Harvest Riverside, Harvest Maui.

Same thing you guys watching online. You can pray this prayer with me as well. All right now you that of nature can I want you to pray this prayer after me and I want you to pray it out loud right where you are. Wherever you are pray this prayer out loud.

Pray this Lord Jesus. I know that I'm a sinner but I know that you are the Savior who died on the cross for my sin. I turn from my sin now and I choose to follow you from this moment forward. I want to be ready for your return. Thank you for hearing this prayer and answering this prayer. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

God bless all of you. All right so I'm going to welcome my friend Middle East expert New York Times best-selling author of his brand new book which is called The Beijing Betrayal. Let's welcome Joel Rosenberg. Welcome Joel Rosenberg. There he is. Here.

Sit there Joel. Good to see you. Good to see you. All right well good to have you again and there's so much to talk about but I was just thinking about that meeting in the Oval Office with President Trump and President Zelensky where Trump actually started talking about World War III and all the things happening right now.

The alignments of nations we never thought would be aligned together like China and Iran and in Russia. Zelensky you don't have good cards. I'm just saying you don't have good cards Vladimir. You've got you've got to be thankful. You're gambling with World War III and I'm just saying we're not going to abandon you but you've got to show a little bit of gratitude. Gratitude.

I'm the guy that's going to help you. Just saying. I think this should be your new career. Very good. Do you do any other precedents?

Well I think you're thinking you shouldn't be doing this. That's George H.W. Bush. The younger folks they don't know.

If I was doing Biden. That's right. That they got you know. That's right. I don't know. Unfortunately that's true. So but is World War III something that literally could happen in our lifetime? A hundred percent and this is I mean you know setting humor and partisan politics aside.

Yeah. The president keeps saying this. He is worried. Genuinely worried because the president President Trump is a son of the Cold War. He he grew up during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

He grew up during the time of mutual assured destruction where the idea that the world could just that the U.S. and the Soviet Union could just launch thousands of nuclear warheads at each other was was real and it was imminent. So this is why he doesn't tease and mock Putin and Xi Jinping of China right. With North Korea it's the little rocket man you know. But you don't hear that with Putin and Xi Jinping because those guys have missiles that can hit us. They have warheads. Right. North Korea has them but they don't have the rockets that can reach California yet.

Thank God. But the president is genuinely saying because he's genuinely worried that Russia which is leading the largest land war in Europe since World War II and the Nazis. Iran. How many people have died in that conflict in Ukraine? The Russians alone have lost 800,000 troops.

Wow. The Ukrainians have lost somewhere in the five to six hundred thousand troops and civilians and this is why he's saying you know he's not saying it this way but you have to understand that what Trump is thinking he's he he sees that Putin is being humiliated. Putin thought it was a three-week invasion and he'd have Ukraine. And now it's three years.

Wow. And he is right on the verge Putin is right on the verge of using tactical nuclear weapons to finish this war and to humiliate and annihilate Ukraine and then inject fear in all of his enemies including his domestic enemies which could who could assassinate or overthrow him if he doesn't show strength and show it quickly. This is what Trump worries about. Iran is an estimated three or four weeks away if they made the decision today to build six fully operational nuclear warheads and communist China their military strategists say that they were planning to invade Taiwan if Taiwan doesn't surrender and become into the communist fold by 2027. So this is very serious on all three fronts this could blow up into nuclear war and on all three fronts so this is where the president is and this is why we need to be praying for him because uh whether you agree with him or not the he is the president and right now we are that close to a full-on nuclear war right and we shouldn't tell ourselves well that's not going to happen before the rapture or that's not going to happen happen until the tribulation. Well there's going to be horrible things that happen at the tribulation but if you're a Syrian Christian can you say well we're not going to see it the the uh destruction of our country until the rapture or the tribulation it's already destroyed. Gaza? You can't be a Gazan Christian and say well apocalypse will come you know some the apocalypse has happened I've been in Gaza as a reporter and I'm telling you it's apocalyptic destruction as far as I can see so let's not kid ourselves that the world couldn't blow up even before the rapture even even before the tribulation. So we just bombed the Houthis in Yemen and we've got Hamas and we've got Hezbollah all proxy organizations of Iran and of course Hamas led that horrible attack against Israel on October 7th the law and still so many are hostages. 59 yeah Israelis are still and a few Americans are still in Gaza we think 24 maybe are alive and we're you know the Trump administration has gotten everybody out in the first phase of the deal but we're you know the president and his team are working very hard to get the rest out right but I believe whether we get them out or not very soon we are going back into full-on war in Gaza to finish and vanquish Hamas once we say we you mean Israel with my American not my American hat my Israeli citizenship because you people may not know this you're born in where were you born well I was born in New York I'm an American citizen originally and and I still am I'm a dual citizen it means you get to vote twice it's like living in Chicago so dual US and Israeli citizenship two of our sons have already served in the Israeli military and one of them the last one of our four is being drafted in May 4th so you know when we prayers you know we think about this as Christians in light of Bible prophecy so we hear about this force known as Magog spoken of the book of you know in the book of Ezekiel marching against Israel we know one of our allies is Persia which was the name of Iran when they changed their name 1935 1935 right so word is because like we're thinking about Iran getting nuclear weapons they've threatened many times to wipe Israel off the face of the earth they've threatened to want to destroy America as well which I wonder why did we ever send any money to them of course but we have unfortunately but so here is a nation hell bent on destruction funding terrorist organizations getting nuclear weaponry what if Israel struck to take out that threat could that be something that would potentially bring about the Magog scenario it's difficult to say it that way if if Israel were to strike or the United States or the United States and Israel were to strike in the next few weeks or months to neutralize the Iran nuclear threat I think that would be a positive development and it may forestall for a number of years the Gog and Magog scenario however when we look at Bible prophecy the key is to study it do our best interpretation of what it means but be very humble and cautious about trying to extrapolate into the when it's going to happen I agree setting aside Jesus saying we don't you know nobody knows the day or hour except those guys that write 88 years 80 reasons any reasons that it's going to have I have the I have a whole box of those false theology books they're in storage in Virginia right now but I have heresy written on every side of the box because I don't want to get raptured and then have somebody say oh this is what Joel's reading like yeah right but but we don't know the timing of Gog and Magog yeah and what one of the cautions is is that before the rapture yeah is it after the rapture I think it's before the tribulation I agree because Israel is burning weapons that it captures or recovers for seven years that's right now in the first year or so of the of the tribulation there's going to be a you know a false peace with this anti-christ so I don't Israel might start burning weapons but they're not going to burn them all the way through the seven years of the tribulation because the anti-christ invades Israel halfway through and Daniel 11 so all that to say I hope that Gog and Magog happens before the rapture because I would like to be there living in Israel as a citizen with all Israel news TBN the Rosenberg report the Joshua Fund preaching and teaching about this now I will be seen as a lunatic that God's going to supernaturally reach his hand into history and and rain fire down from heaven to protect Israel no Israeli is going to believe that until it happens I don't mind I mean most people think I'm a lunatic anyway but I to be at a moment of actually knowing that's what you're going into teaching it clearly and then having it come to pass is going to be a great evangelistic moment not only for Israel but for the entire world God says all the nations of the world will be watching yeah so that's going to be a good a good moment to be speaking truth biblical truth in a world in which most pastors don't even teach prophecy at all that's true for either they don't believe it they don't understand it or they're spooked by the people that all seem like they live in Roswell New Mexico and they are building websites at area 51 right and it's all red and black and flames and every sentence is in capital letters with 97 exclamation points after it you're like dude just have some decaf like like you know it haven't you read to the end of the book it works out right so anyway so I can't tell you but I when Gorgomad Gorgon happened but I will say this some interesting developments right so right now Israel has nearly defeated Hamas and president Trump has given us the full green light finish them off so I think by the end of 25 Hamas will be vanquished then the president says we're gonna make Gaza great again Greg Gaza was never great there's 20 references in the Bible to Gaza none of them are good maybe Philip you know he wouldn't say that but you know maybe Philip right in acts right somebody gets saved we're going into Gaza that's good great evangelist but it hasn't been great and most of the Gaza's references in the Bible are wickedness and judgment and so but we're gonna make it great we're gonna take it we're gonna own it rebuild it it's gonna be fantastic there's gonna be Gaza a largo we're gonna have Gaza Disney you're gonna be bringing tours to Gaza we're gonna have world-class golf courses there's a lot of holes in Gaza right now we only need 18 of them I'm just saying you know it's true it's safe that's good but if a year from now two years from now Israel is the dominant superpower in the region yeah Gaza's quiet and being rebuilt Hamas Hezbollah is mostly destroyed what if the Lebanese rise up and say we're done with Hezbollah and we want a peace treaty with Israel what if the Saudis are ready to make peace five years from now we could be sitting together going Israel is the most peaceful most prosperous country in the entire Middle East nobody ever thought that might be the precursor where Ezekiel 38 says Israel's living securely in the land that's right and is incredibly processed and at that point the Russian Iranian Turkish uh Libyan Sudanese coalition yeah you know it could be a few years down the road so we just have to be cautious and not uh not get ahead of ourselves well let's shift gears and talk about China but China happy to talk about China you've written a new book called the Beijing betrayal so China a major military power now a major economic power a nuclear power a nuclear power of course so where do they fit do you think in the prophetic puzzle yeah so several things first uh in in revelation 16 yes it talks about the kings of the east will be coming with an army of 200 million well that's revelation nine and I believe there are bible commentators and prophets uh pastors and and scholars who say that revelation nine the 200 million is is the Chinese uh army I don't uh believe that um I'm not super critical of those who think it but I would I would say that the context of that is that their leader is from is the king of the abyss this is really a demonic this is really a demonic these are demonic creatures that have been unleashed in the last days to kill I don't think it's literally the Chinese army the Chinese army right now is about two million so I guess they could you know increase by a factor of a hundred yeah uh but I don't I don't think that's the case I do believe in revelation 16 where it says the kings of the east are going to come and lead the charge against Israel now the demons are going to then persuade all the kings of the earth to come against Israel and I believe that China although it doesn't say China um I believe that it makes sense that China North Korea Pakistan are going to be part of leading that charge and already we see since October 7th China which took a fairly benign non-hostile view towards Israel up till now but after October 7th they've been super hostile to Israel flooding social media TikTok and others with anti-Israel and anti-Semitic propaganda let's just and building a strategic alliance with Iran openly uh which is the worst terror state in the country how could we have a rise of anti-Semitism after that horrific attack against the people of Israel with the loss of so many lives in barbaric horrific acts done to people and that we've even heard of the hostages that little baby that was strangled and and all sorts of things that are in many ways unspeakable but they actually happened yeah but and now even on college campuses you know we have these these these riots you know people protesting well how is there why is there such a rise of anti-Semitism right well this too is a is a sign of the end time if all the nations of the earth are eventually going to turn against Israel the Jewish state then you would expect that over time sympathy or love or even kindness towards Jews is going to shift into deep hostility and and ultimately hatred and and this is the trend line and we've seen since in this war more countries showing more hatred uh against Israel than really any time since the Holocaust and and that is so shocking but that's one of the reasons evangelicals need to stand with Israel and the Jewish people in solidarity and compassion because Jews feel very much alone Israelis feel very much alone now I want to be clear God loves the Palestinians yeah I believe that Gaza right now is under a biblical judgment I've been in Gaza I've seen that apocalypse of destruction but when you have a society that for eight decades has cursed Israel and the Jews every single day in their media in their schools in their government in their mosques and then when they were given all of control of Gaza in 2005 Israel completely withdrew and our prime minister said you've got beachfront property on the Mediterranean you've got trillions of cubic feet of natural gas you've got smart hard-working industrious people go build a Palestinian society we're out it's all yours what do they do they elected not a moderate government they they elected a genocidal Hamas terrorist organization to plan for the next 19 years to invade and kill us burn babies alive in ovens set homes on fire I've been to those homes I've seen I've met with the the survivors I've met with the hostage uh survivors and I'm saying that Gaza is under judgment now but just like Nineveh was under judgment in the book of Jonah that's God's sovereign will if you if you defy Genesis 12 three every day for eight decades when you you know I will bless those who bless you curse those who curse you and you curse every single day you're you're going to face a judgment yeah but the Ninevites were facing judgment too but God had compassion because once they realized they were in biblical divine judgment they repented and Jonah was furious because when the people repented God relented yeah and Jonah was like I knew you would be that way yeah I'm paraphrasing but go look it up today yeah it's true we don't want to be Jonah's we judgment is happening to in Gaza however our heart is how do we get the gospel to every single person in Gaza they may reject but what if they receive Paul himself was a Jewish extremist terrorist when he was heading to Damascus trying to kill and arrest Christians and he came out the greatest apostle in history we got saved many of us or at least grew in our faith because a terrorist became an apostle and so what if one Gaza comes to Christ what if 50 or a thousand or a million right so we've really got to be praying for the not just for Israel but for Israel's neighbors and her enemies including the people of Gaza but all of this should be telling us yeah there's a lot of signs that we're tracking deeper deeper into the end days yes Jesus is coming and because he's coming the question for us is not to argue or just even get fascinated with prophecy alone but say so what how you know and this is one of the things you do so well is you say the closer we get to the return of Jesus we may not know everything that's going to happen from today forward but we know we got to reach every single person with the gospel and strengthen the church and that's what our ministry the Joshua Fund is about is how do we how do we fulfill the great commission in Israel and the neighborhood in the time that we have yeah excellent no so your new book beijing revival so this is your care trail oh yeah we we would like a revival actually more chinese are coming to faith in Jesus we've gone from a million 40 years ago to a hundred million maybe that's the next book the beijing revival sounds good that would be your version of it yeah okay so it has your character Marcus Riker yes and so this is the last time you're using him in a series right this is the explosive conclusion to a six book series uh yeah and Marcus Riker former marine by the way let me just say he is an excellent writer these are real page turners I love I read all of his books I do and and I and I'm really I love them so I can't wait to read this copy well I appreciate it come and leave right now and read it fair enough uh so but tell us what the premise of it is the premise of this one is uh Riker has been hunt and his team have been hunting down the world's worst radical islamist terrorists for several books yeah uh getting closer and closer but they're exhausted and they're making mistakes but as they go deeper into this hunt uh they stumble across intelligence that they were not looking for and that is that communist china is getting ready not in years to invade the democratic island of Taiwan but in hours in days and what's more that communist china has infiltrated the united states through Mexico with all kinds of terrorists and they're getting ready to unleash a biological toxin far worse than the Ebola virus to kill millions of americans in the days and hours before the invasion of Taiwan why to paralyze the united states and get us to be unable or unwilling to defend Taiwan and to protect our alliance in the pacific this is a worst case scenario I'm not predicting it will happen that's not in the bible but it is a very real scenario and talking to former CIA directors that have become friends and readers of the books and talking to other experts this is the type of stuff that keeps them up at night um and let's pray the Beijing betrayal doesn't come true but the Beijing revival continues I like that so in closing in light of this you brought this up earlier like so what so what should I do how should I live as a follower of Jesus you've touched on it but give us sort of a summation what should we be focused on as Christians as we await the return of Christ well in the context of the Joshua Fund ministry focusing on Israel and the neighbors I mean there's a lot of answers you know if you want to get involved in the most amount of spiritual fruit these days get involved in ministry in China or in Brazil or Sub-Saharan Africa or even Iran millions of Iranians are coming to faith in Jesus but the last frontier of the gospel is Israel and the Arab Muslim world and that's what the Joshua Fund focuses on so we talk about fourth takeaways for everybody learn pray give and go yeah so what we're doing now this is why I'm traveling all over the country for two months and doing the Rosenberg report all Israel News is to help people learn what is really happening you're on television tell them about your show the Rosenberg report we couldn't come up with a better name so that's you know it's good it's a half hour uh weekly shows uh Saturday or Thursday nights and Saturday nights on TBN right and uh and you know we've taken people inside Gaza we meet with the pastors in Israel that are on the front lines we talk to the the high political and leaders and generals and as well as the poverty stricken how is it affecting them and we go to Arab countries and we interview their leaders as well and so that's what the Rosenberg report is uh all Israel News all Israel.com helps explain every day digitally you can get an app and it can be a great source of if you're learning what's really happening it helps you pray more in a more focused way yes as you learn and you pray you may think I do want to give and the Joshua Fund is is a fund over the last almost 20 years we've raised and invested in the church in Israel and the neighborhood over 100 million dollars to strengthen the church to preach the gospel train and refresh pastors uh plant new churches care for the poor needy and try to fulfill the great commission in our lifetime but is more needed yeah there's a norm the the war has rattled Israelis and Palestinians and others so much the needs post-war are going to be greater than during the war because people are hungry and they're hurting they're hungry for hope and they're hurting and they don't know Jesus. I think our Jewish friends are discovering that one of their best friends in the world is the evangelical Christian I was just talking with a gentleman that was working with Samaritan's Purse and our outreach efforts up in LA you know were sort of sifting through the rubble of the homes that were destroyed they sift through the ashes and they recover things and he said that the majority of the homes that he's been sifting through are owned by Jewish people and they can't believe that these Christians are coming this guy came from Canada he volunteers comes from Canada uh to help you have a few Canadians that were reluctantly about to clap but then they weren't sure because they thought are there any Canadians here in the 51st state and they weren't sure if they want to go there anyway I'm just trying to keep you off guard yeah you that threw me off right there okay so but you know that here's a Canadian Christian coming such a great distance to show this person the love of God and I think that they're seeing it in Israel you know and and our Jewish friends are seeing the more Israel is attacked and the Jewish people are attacked from all over yes and the other governments and world leaders and other religions don't come to show compassion much less defense is making evangelical light shine even brighter and clear in this terrible darkness we are living in Israel's darkest hour since the holocaust yes now that doesn't mean we don't have compassion for Israel's neighbors who are suffering also but we have to you know you start with the Jewish people and then you also love you know love your neighbors but you're right so learning praying giving that may not be financially giving maybe it's giving your time and your talents to uh help advance the great commission in the least evangelized place in the world it's really amazing that most of the rest of the world is hearing the gospel like never before and yet most Jews in Israel have not rejected the gospel they've never heard the gospel yet they're rejecting Jewish Christian relations and the history so they need to see that love learn pray give go now we're not encouraging people to go quite yet you and I are already talking about when when is the right time to start bringing people back to Israel um you can certainly go it's not illegal or you know it's not like the doors are closed but you know we're about to go back into full-on war in Gaza so people are like maybe not yet uh we're taking some pastors uh next month to bring them over who want to come see come see and meet hostage families meet rescued hostages meet the president of the country meet pastors and ministry leaders that Joshua Fund supports so we're doing that in small groups I'm not sure we're ready for the full learn pray give go and the emphasis on the goal quite yet but we'll get there and uh but those are ways those are takeaways and if the Joshua Fund can be an outlet it's not the only one but if it's something that people find helpful we certainly need a lot of prayer and um and help well thank you for all you're doing this new book is out and we he's going to be signing copies in the bookstore here at harvest oc after the service you can also order it amazon.com other places that sell books yes every place that I don't want to exclude I love amazon but barnes nobel christian bookstore yeah audio and ebook are also available all right let's let's pray for Joel thank you lord for Joel thank you for his heart to reach not just the Jewish people but all people continue to guide him lead him protect him bless him provide for him and use him for your glory and lord all of us lord as we await the coming of Jesus help us to be about our father's business looking for opportunities to show your love to people that don't know you yet we commit ourselves to you now in Jesus name we pray amen let's thank Joel for coming thanks Joel hey everybody thanks for listening to this podcast to learn more about harvest ministries follow this show and consider supporting it just go to harvest.org and to find out how to know God personally go to harvest.org and click on know God