U Welcome to Prophecy Today. I'm Jimmy Deion Jr. Along with my brother Rick, we examine current events in the light of God's prophetic word. You know, everyone has a worldview, the way we see and understand the events in our world today. Therefore, we We must have a prophetic biblical worldview to understand why our world is acting as it is today.
And since one-third of God's word is Bible prophecy, we must know how to study and understand Bible prophecy. We believe that the next event to happen on God's calendar is the rapture of the church. All other events that pertain to the future of Bible prophecy happen after the rapture of the church. Understanding that, that helps us to look at world events, looking at Europe, Russia, the Middle East, even how the United States fits in Bible prophecy. And on today's program, we're going to do just that.
We're going to take a look at those nations with Ken Timmerman, David Dolan, and Winky Madad in Israel. And then I have a question about the period of Matthew 24. And Dr. Jimmy DeYoung in the Legacy Series is going to look at the book of Matthew as he's teaching through the book of 2 Peter. A lot to do on today's program, Rick.
So we need. To get going, let's get started with our first, Ken Timmerman.
Well, that's right, Jimmy. I have Ken Timmerman with us. He's an author and an analyst, and he's the one that we go to when we want to get a look at politics and things taking place around the world. We call it our geopolitical update. Ken, thanks for joining us.
And, Ken, also, where do we find you today?
Well, this week, Rick, I'm in the south of France where it is absolutely freezing cold. But, you know, there's such a thing as winter. It's coming, and it's here.
Okay, I see that.
Well, just you saying you're in the south of France, you have a book about growing olives in the south of France, don't you? Can you tell us a little bit about that? Yeah, raising olives in Provence is really the story of what I do when I am not on the front lines around the world, either as a war correspondent or going to talk to Christian refugees at Iraq or Lebanon or Jordan or elsewhere. And it's a story of a love affair, a long love affair and friendship and of preaching the gospel to the heathen, so to speak, to my French neighbors who I don't think have ever darkened the doorstep of a church, but they have learned to say grace and to recite certain psalms with me at our house.
Well, very nice.
Well, for all those that are interested in Ken's books, you can go to amazon.com, put in his name, Ken Timmerman, or you can go to his website, ken Timmerman.com. And find out more about them.
Well, let's get started with the update. And I want to start and spend a little bit of time today on the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Russia has made several strategic victories this week. Can you give us an update on the status of the war there between Russia and Ukraine? But we're continuing in this phase of jockeying for ceasefire position.
Both the Russians and the Ukrainians are trying to maneuver their forces, are trying to gain territory, and the Ukrainians have hardened their positions in Kursk. By the way, the site of a massive World War II battle after Stalingrad, where the Russians started to push, finally started to push German forces, the Nazi forces, out of Russia.
So the Ukrainians are in Kursk, but the Russians have expanded their hold in parts of eastern Ukraine. They are now circling in on the strategic city of Pogrovsk. Why is it strategic? Because the rail lines and the road lines are at a crossroads from that city towards Kiev, towards the north, Dnepropovsk, which is an industrial area, and also towards the south.
So the Russians are really just about poised to take this city, push the Ukrainians out, and they're using inventive infantry tactics for the first time on the ground. Look, what this means, Rick, is that the Russians are trying to figure out how much territory they can grab before halftime is called. And the marching bands come out on the field, the negotiators start to talk, and a ceasefire locks into place. And they have really World War I frontal lines, trenches out in the flatlands of eastern Ukraine. Very interesting.
You talk about this, them jockeying for position that seems to suggest that, like you were saying, it's half-time or we're kind of in the end game here. And this is all coming against the backdrop of President Trump taking office, his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, making some statements this week. Basically, not giving Putin a pass for his aggression there in Ukraine, but also saying that in setting expectations, we need to be realistic about what a victory or what an end to this crisis looks like, don't we? You know, frankly, I find Rubio's talk about Ukraine quite refreshing. It's quite honest.
He's just looking at the facts on the ground. He said, you know, he denounced Moscow's aggression and the really the war crimes that they have committed. There's no it's Pretty clear that that's what's happened. And yet he says it's dishonest on our part to say that Kiev could have been capable of destroying Russia on the battlefield, as Biden had stated many times in saying that, well, we want to get rid of Putin in Moscow. We want a coup d'état.
We want total victory for the Ukrainians. And Rubio is saying, really, come on, that's not real. It was never realistic. And it was brutal, frankly, to give the Ukrainians the idea that we would supply them and the Europeans would supply them with so much weaponry and so much financial assistance that they would be able to utterly defeat Russia on the battlefield.
So Rubio is being realistic. Donald Trump is being realistic. And right now, Rick, there are some indications that Putin believes he's in the catbird seat, that he can push further, that Trump is not willing to arm the Ukrainians to stop his advances, that Donald Trump wants a ceasefire more than he wants to set a particular Particular line in the sand. And so Putin is really pushing as hard as he can. And he's putting out feelers, Rick, that are quite extravagant, saying, for one thing, he will not negotiate with Zelensky, period, because he sees Zelensky as illegitimate.
And two, there's one real blooper this week, if you wish. He says that, well, why don't we just buy Ukraine? Why doesn't Russia just buy Ukraine in exchange for the $300 billion of Russian assets that are currently frozen in Europe? I can tell you, that's pretty much of a non-starter, not just for the Ukrainians, but I think for most of Europe and even for most Americans.
Well, we look at this situation and the return of President Trump to the White House and him being back in office and his kind of famous quote-unquote transactional style of politics.
Now, he does want an end to this, and maybe Putin is in the catbird seat, but he also likes to make a deal, and he doesn't necessarily want to lose. Compare and contrast that with the way the EU wants to handle this. The European Union, they have had renewed sanctions this week. Can you talk about the interesting dynamics between the way the EU wants to handle this situation and the way Donald Trump and his new team want to handle it?
Well, the EU just doesn't know what they want. They don't want Putin in Ukraine, but they're not willing to finance the Ukrainians to the extent that they would need to actually win the war.
So they put a sanction here, a sanction there, and then they expect the frontline states, and by that I mean those who are closest to Ukraine and Russia, like Poland and Hungary, they expect those states to pick up the tab. Viktor Orban, the leader of Hungary this week, was saying that, look, we need to open up those gas pipelines that go through Ukraine from Russia. We need natural gas, and we're cold this winter, and we don't have enough natural gas. Open up those pipelines, and we might be more amenable to helping out on the policy and perhaps even the weapons and the financing. The EU says no.
So the EU itself is divided, as they always have been, and Russia is just taking advantage of this division.
Okay, very confusing situation there. You are helping us to cut through all the external noise and see what's really taking place there. We'll continue to monitor the Russia-Ukraine crisis, but let's move on. A couple other stories I'd like to get your thoughts on before you go. You were in France, which is one of your adopted home countries.
Another adopted home country, Sweden, was in the news this week. An Iraqi man was killed, assassinated, a man that was associated with the burning of the Koran there. Can you talk about this?
Well, interestingly, Rick, for once, there is now a Swedish government who has pledged to defend people who burn the Quran. They're prosecuting some, but they're defending others. It's a mixed bag. But they are talking about freedom of speech. This man, Salwan Malmika, who's Iraqi origin Swede, he was murdered in his own apartment in a town called Surtotelia.
And I got to tell you, that hits close to home because my wife's family lives about 20 minutes away from there.
So, this is really very, very close to us, very close to home. There has always been a very large Iraqi presence in Suratateliya, mixed, by the way, between Christians and Muslims. I met the Syriac Orthodox bishop in Suratelia about 10 years ago, the beginning of the Syrian civil war, and he exhorted me to actually support Assad because he said Assad was helping the Christians, and the people who were fighting Assad were jihadi Muslims, which, of course, was actually true.
So, here's an example, Rick, where you have a man who is trying to wake people up to the evil inside the Quran and the hatred of Quranic doctrine as it is practiced by these jihadi Muslims, and he pays the ultimate price for it in his own home in Sweden.
Well, Ken, certainly a tragic story.
Well, one final question before I have to let you go today, and I would like to talk about the nation of Turkey, a country that I think we're going to be talking about a lot. More in the future, and they came up this week in the Tulsi Gabbard confirmation hearings where she said Turkey is no friend to the United States.
Well, this is going to get very interesting as some of President Trump's cabinet members have very different positions towards Turkey, and by the way, towards the Islamic regime in Iran than he does. Trump has said he finds Erdogan to be just fine. He's friends with Erdogan. He has a good relationship with him. But Tulsi Gabbard and Marco Rubio, by the way, have both said in the past: Turkey is not our friend.
Erdogan is not our friend. He has supported ISIS. In fact, he was the main power behind ISIS during most of the Syrian civil war, giving them arms, giving them refuge, allowing them to come across the border into Syria to come to hospitals if they had been wounded in battle. And Tulsi Gabbard and Marco Rubio and others are also very recognizant of the Kurds and the role that they have played in beating back ISIS. And Erdogan, as I think all of our listeners know by now, really despises the Kurds, wants to dominate them.
So this is a dynamic that's going to get very interesting. Interesting as we get further along in the Trump administration. President Trump has one view, his advisors have another. And guess what?
Sometimes events on the ground make up the difference. Ken Timmerman reporting for Prophecy Today. Ken, as always, we appreciate your insight into these situations around the world. We thank you for taking the time to be with us there from your home in France. Look forward to talking to you again soon.
Thanks so much, Rick. God bless. Great job as always, Ken.
Well, we've got to take a break when we come back. Our Middle East news update right here on Prophecy Today weekend. I'm Ruth Kramer with Mission Network News. This week, the Rwandan-backed rebel group M23 captured Goma and other key cities in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. DRC leaders are calling Goma's fall a declaration of war by Rwanda.
Greg Kelly with Unknown Nations says it goes back to the 1994 Rwandan genocide. M23 is led by ethnic Tutsis who claim they're protecting their people from Hutus in the area. But the rich natural resources in the DRC also play a factor in the conflict. Kelly says the global church must act on its gospel call as the hands and feet of Christ, and it shouldn't look to government entities to step in. The church doesn't have to stand on the sidelines just because there's war.
I say the body of Christ should be leading the charge and should be responsibly engaging to helping these precious people that are suffering right now. We can connect you to Unknown Nations at our website. And you have God's word at your fingertips in countless ways, whether through a traditional print Bible, audio Bible, or Bible app. But deaf communities aren't quite so privileged. Rob Myers of Door International reminds us: There's almost 400 different sign languages, less than half of them have active translation projects started yet.
There's a collective effort underway to produce more sign language Bible translations. Translation consultants play a critical role in the process. Door wants to streamline its training for deaf and hearing translation consultants, bringing the process down from many years to three. Find your place in this story at MissionNews.org. This is a significant endeavor.
It's going to require some focused time from our leaders.
So we ask people to pray that they would be able to maintain that focus. Thanks for listening to Mission Network News, a service of one-way ministries. We're listener-supported by people just like you.
So, by giving to Mission Network News, you enable us to keep the stories of God's kingdom coming. Look for links at missionnews.org. I'm Luth Kramer. Welcome back to Prophecy Today Radio, the program that looks at current events in the light of Bible prophecy.
Well, this is the portion of our program. We call it the Middle East News Update. We look at news coming out of the Middle East in general, but Israel in particular. To do that, we have journalist Dave Dolan with us. Dave, thanks for being with us today.
I'm happy to be with you. Dave, lots coming out of Israel this week. The hostages being released. More things taking place in the north. Can you give us an update?
What's the latest in Israel right now?
Well, yes, Rick, we had some military action in Lebanon, the strongest actually since the ceasefire there. Began over two months ago in late November. Israeli jets went into the Beka Valley and bombed several Hezbollah positions, including once again the underground. lawmaking facility that they have next to the border with Syria. And that was after an Hezbollah intelligence drone was flown into Israeli airspace.
on Thursday. And of course, that's a total violation Of the ceasefire. And so Israel responded strongly and warned that if this goes on, that the whole ceasefire could collapse. Of course, the main news of the week, as you mentioned, was the release of more hostages. We had three released on Thursday.
Of course, last weekend, we had three more released. And then we have three scheduled for release today, Rick. And as you will know, there are still dozens, in fact, 82 hostages still being held as of today. 15 are believed to be alive and 8 dead of the 23 that are supposed to be released in this first phase. Total of 23.
33 actually is what they're hoping for, but they know that at least eight of those are dead.
So they're really thinking about 23, 24 living hostages. On Thursday, Rick, I'm sure you saw it. Terrible scenes as the single lady, young lady, was released. She's not a soldier, Arbel Yehud, surrounded by thousands of Palestinian young men, many of them in Hamas uniforms, pressing upright against her. You could see on her face she was horrified.
It went on and on and on for quite a few minutes. And also, of course, with her nearby. Was a man, Gabi Moses, eighty-year-old man, who didn't know. that his wife was dead until he got back, but he thought she was. He was from Kibwitz, near Oz, and he also.
Was surrounded, mobbed by people and eighty years old, and he was weak and. etcetera. But then on Friday there was a a bit of joy because one of his sons had vowed publicly not to shave until dad came home. And so it was his father who shaved him. the the released man that shaved him and it was filmed in the nation was thrilled with that.
But Rick, today's scheduled release is expected to be very, very diff difficult. Because it includes the father of the two young hostages. two year old and four or five year old. The Divas boys and their mother, and it's now almost certain that they are dead. Because the original hostage agreement called for them to be released first.
in this exchange with children. And of course, they weren't, they haven't been, and Hamas refuses to confirm. Their condition, and the Israelis are very, very upset over that. But so he'll be coming out supposedly. Hopefully, he's out already, and we'll be finding out that his wife and Two children are probably dead, and also, he lost his grandmother and others on the day of the horrible attack.
Another one is a French Israeli, Olfer Kowderan. He's in his 50s. And Rick, we have an American Israeli being released, 65-year-old Keith Siegel. His family has been strongly advocating at the White House and other places for his release. And it's expected that the other Israeli American hostage that's supposed to be released in this first phase, Hage Dekol Khen, is coming out On Sunday, probably, so we'll see about that.
But, Rick, we have the former head of intelligence, IDF Intelligence, say that 40% of the tunnels in Gaza remain in effect. He said, Hamas is parading these hostages out in their uniforms and all of this. to show that they're still there, they're still a force. And he said basically that they're they are becoming more popular in Judea and Samaria, the West Bank, than they were before, and that if there were elections, Hamas would sweep the field so That wasn't good news, but it's going to be an emotional release today with the father of these two kids. uh coming out uh without them.
Well, David, as we listen to this story, this heartbreaking story of these hostages, we are reminded of the fact, and we have you on this program, not only because you can report the political force and you can tell us what is taking place on the ground in Israel, but you also have a spiritual perspective. And we look at this ideological divide, we look at the animosity that is between the Palestinians and the Jewish people, between the followers of Islam around the Arab world there in the Middle East against the nation of Israel, and it's just exemplified by what took place there in Gaza with those turnovers, those exchanges, and really what has happened since October 7th. That is just on display in full force, that spiritual divide there in the Middle East, isn't it? Absolutely, Rick. Hamas has a strong strong Spirit of death.
A bloodlust. It's an organization that likes to kill, that likes to see people suffer. And we had the testimony this week of a young lady, a British Israeli young lady, Emily Dumari, that was released last weekend. She was talking to the British Prime Minister. She lost two fingers.
They were shot off. As she was being abducted. And she told the Prime Minister that She got very little medical treatment. That they gave her some old prescription drug, but that was it, and she. She was held in a UN building.
She said, I'm red building.
So the UNRWA spokesman on Friday said we are investigating. And if that's true, we're going to take action against that. But we know that Hamas has been using UNRWA facilities tremendously during this war and before, and of course, building things underneath. And Their command centers and all those things. But to think of this young lady losing two fingers.
And not getting proper medical treatment. Of course, they shot them off of her, so they didn't care. And so many of these young ladies were raped, and I was saying.
So it's the stories are coming out, Rick. It's a mixed, very mixed feeling, as you know. You were just there. in Israel of joy with anguish. And people were really angry over that Thursday delivery.
And the Israeli government said to the US apparently, pass along this message through Qatar. We won't release any more Palestinians if this happens again.
So hopefully, that won't be repeated. But joy to see her out. But sorrow to see her fear in her eyes as they were harassing her and cheering and laughing and clapping and taking pictures and you know, celebrating celebrating their viciousness. That's all I can say. Certainly was tough to watch and a tough thing.
But again, celebrating their release.
Well, one of the things that I wanted to ask you is that there is still things taking place in the north.
Now, listeners to this program will remember that you said the war in the north could be much more serious than what happened in Hamas. But Israel had a series of incredible successes, intelligence successes and different things like that, which essentially mitigated what took place in the north. And then, of course, we know what happened in Syria. But maybe it's not completely over there. Can you tell us what you think is going to happen in the north?
Well, we had the Prime Minister Netanyahu, who by the way, is meeting with President Trump at the White House on Tuesday, it was announced on Friday, and he's the first foreign leader to be invited to the White House.
So that's a reversal of what we saw under Biden, to say the least. But Netanyahu has said, and the Chief of Staff said, and the Defense Minister said, others. We have to get rid of Hezbollah. We cannot have this militant military power. to our north that just walks around the country like it owns everything and lashes out at us whenever it wants to.
We just can't bear this.
So I think the idea is that there will be another round at some point. And the idea in Gaza, Rick, is it probably will be another round there too, because if we even get the rest of the hostages, we have to do that first. But both of these groups are savage, vicious, death cults. That's all I can say. And even many of my Muslim friends in Israel agreed with that assessment that these people are just lusting for death.
And we had the Iranian Foreign Minister on Friday saying that Once again, that Israel would be wiped out if it strikes any of Iran's nuclear program. It would be completely eliminated and on and on.
So this is the reality Israel is living with. That's the neighborhood they're in. And it's tough. And again, it's just not quite understood, especially by the left, I would say, around the world.
Socialists and the left wings, and those parties tend to be the most naive on thinking that these people are just like us. We just can have to talk reasonably to them and everything will be fine.
Well, it's not the case. And by the way, Rick, one final note. Hamas did confirm during the week that Mohammed Dave, the military commander of Hamas, was killed several months ago, as Israel claimed at the time, and they denied at the time.
So Israel has decimated the leadership of both groups, but they sure still have a lot of street support, and that's going to be an ongoing problem, obviously. And the spiritual force behind that is, of course, not going to disappear until the Lord returns. And thankfully, these are all signs. That that's coming and coming soon, we hope. We certainly do.
Dave Doltland reporting for Prophecy Today. Dave, as always, we appreciate your insight. Look forward to talking to you again soon. You're welcome, Rick. God bless.
Great job, David, as always. And remember, the stage is being set for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled. Gonna take a break when we come back. Winky Madad and Dr. George Gunn, right here on Prophecy Today weekend.
I'm Ms. Kramer with Mission Network News. President Trump's freeze on foreign aid and a recent prisoner swap are returning Afghanistan to the global spotlight. Greg Kelly with Unknown Nation says Christian nonprofits administering aid can help open spiritual doors. Despite great dangers they face, the Afghan church is one of the fastest growing in the world.
Along with practical aid, Kelly sees spiritual training of leaders as the church's greatest need. Find your place in the story at missionnews.org. And is God helping you build on last year's accomplishments to reach a new milestone in 2025? If so, you're not alone. A believer will call Dane says the Lord is continually setting new goals before Unfolding Word.
The ministry helps believers get God's word into minority languages. Since 2017, Unfolding Word has engaged over 325 languages in 31 countries. 160 of those languages are used by unreached people groups. Mission Network News is a service of one-way ministries on Ms. Kramer.
Welcome back to Prophecy Today. I'm Jimmy DeYoung Jr. Along with Rick, we've been examining current events in the light of God's prophetic word. Later on in this half hour, we'll have Dr. George Gunn, and he will answer an often-asked question about Matthew chapter 24.
But before we do that, I always love this part of the program because I feel like we are going deeper into the situation of what's going on in Israel.
So, to do that, Rick, we need to bring in Winky Madad.
Well, that's right, Jimmy. I have Winky Madad with us. He's the former mayor of Shiloh, a good friend of the program. He comes to us regularly to talk about events that are taking place in Israel. Winky, thank you for taking the time to be with us today.
Always a pleasure and a privilege.
Well, Winky, I want to talk to you a little bit about President Trump's comments about Jordan and Egypt and possibly taking Palestinians into those countries. But before I do that, I want to get your thoughts on this absurd and cruel spectacle that we saw take place in Gaza this week when a young female hostage paraded through the streets, surrounded by armed masked terrorists and chanted at by looks like thousands of Palestinians there. Can you talk to us a little bit about that, how it made you feel, and how the nation of Israel perceived it?
Well, of course, we're very upset. This is nothing new actually. in previous hostage releases just recently, I think last week. And if you remember, back in November, you saw similar Yeah.
So the pattern of behavior of course, has been set. They view this as a victory, and they're chanting, and then they bring their supporters out. And of course, for those who saw the film clips, you'll notice or the civilians hanging around and screaming and yelling. And of course, one of the main messages of Hamas and the pro-Palestinian forces Is that Israel is uh h harming and killing uh civilians. And there's no separation when they themselves don't separate They're civilians from their fighting forces.
But today was bad because It's a smaller group actually. It wasn't Hamas. It was the Islamic jihad. and you had El Jazeera. Basically, directing the filming and what to do, raise your hand.
He had received this and that.
So this is part of the show. But it also shows that they're a danger And they don't have the same values as we do. And that's probably more where the danger starts in when you are facing an enemy that is basically immoral rather than fighting for liberty and freedom.
Well Winky, I know you've spent a lot of time in the media. You do a lot of writing and opinion and op-ed articles for different organizations. I can't even imagine who this content was being made for. If you could, I mean, what do you think was going on there? What do you think the point this is just makes the Palestinians look terrible?
Or is there an another audience that they're looking to, I guess, appease or impress? My only insight would be the only way that they can maintain Their rule. and continue to mobilize teenagers into their armed forces, I should say their depleted armed forces. the the military terror groups is to project some sort of a victory scene. And unfortunately, ours are very good at this.
in a sense of convincing themselves, like a self convincing exercise that they really came up on top. That they withstood the Israeli onslaught. They're still standing, even though their buildings are no longer and even though half or most of their senior leadership is gone, they convince themselves that they're winning. And that way, they are able to continue to fight. which is one point I'd probably want to make now before I forget.
Any deal, any arrangement, any intervention by. uh good people like Trump or bad people like UNRWA must take into consideration that if ever there's going to be any sort of peace Here in the Middle East. The Arabs have to realize they lost. And it's better to make a deal now and maintain what they have rather than continue to lose. And I think this ceremony sort of maybe highlights for some of our listeners The unreality that the Arabs of Gaza and also Judea and Samaria.
clothes themselves and which allows them to continue to fight Israel.
Well, let's talk about that a little bit more then. Israel is I guess looking for a peace partner, if you will.
Now, there have been many opportunities for the Palestinians. Under previous prime ministers in Israel to get a land, basically a two-state solution. And the Palestinians have rejected it. And now, even here in the United States, maybe not so much under the Trump administration, but certainly under the Biden administration, they were very heavily pushing a two-state solution. We look at that scenario now, and you look at the people.
People of Gaza, the Palestinians, the people that you're going to have to deal with, it's going to be very tough to come to an agreement on some kind of two-state solution, isn't it?
Well, it depends which two states we're talking about. If we're talking about Israel And uh Greenland. Israel and Indonesia Israel and maybe moving the Gaza population to Egypt or Jordan, as President Trump is mulling over, that will be their two state solution. Don't forget, and I want to make sure that listeners remember. It was the Zionists both in the prestate period and afterwards, were the first people to offer them a steak.
back in nineteen thirty seven, back in nineteen forty seven, back in nineteen sixty seven, Autonomy Plan, Simon, Paris and Oslo, et cetera, et cetera. We've been the ones trying to give them the state. They don't want it, as you say, because They don't want us to exist. They don't want Israel to exist. They don't want a Jewish national of people to exist.
And that's at the root of the problem that we have. We look at the images coming out of Gaza, we see uh the Hamas, uh the soldiers there in their uniforms now with all the weapons and and and different things, uh we talk about this ceasefire, hostages are getting b released, but it certainly seems like it may be inevitable that uh uh Gaza offensive is going to start again because Hamas is still alive and well, aren't they? The short answer is yes, it's happened before, it will happen again. after two thousand five, when we gave back or more properly, we left them Gaza walked away And they decided to continue fighting Israel with rocks, small rockets, and the rockets got bigger. Then it was terror tunnels, then it was.
Raids, and then it was invasion. I hope That the senior officials and advisors of the Trump administration. realize that it's not Israel's fault. The Arabs have to be able to be convinced That they're going to lose more if they don't make any sort of arrangement now. Otherwise, it'll just continue.
And Israel should not be blamed. Yeah. if the things get out of hand once again and let us finish the job this time.
Well, you've kind of alluded to this and I understand where your point is coming from, but help explain it to our listeners. You live in the area of Shiloh, which has a a Jewish ancestral history of over 3,000 years. And we look at kind of what the world is pushing, not this Jordan or not this Egypt plan, but many in the world are saying that the Palestinians should be given not only Gaza, but part or even all of the quote-unquote West Bank area, the area that we call Judea and Samaria.
Now we see what has happened with Gaza, all the tunnels, all the rockets, the soldiers and terrorist groups operating within the civilian population. If this area is given over in the West Bank to the Palestinians, do you see something like that happening there as well? Definitely. As you and those who've come to travel with you probably know. being here in Judea and Samaria, specifically in Shiloh We're up in the mountains.
The invitation to continue what Hamas did in Gaza by shooting rockets into Israel, this time from the east. is just too much for them to avoid. or to refuse And we'll be once again caught up in some sort of vortex of we hit you, you hit us. And I just want to, you know, we talk about history. Let's talk about only history 70 years ago, right?
At the end of the forty eight war, there were new no Jews left in Judea, even though they were about twenty five thousand before the war started. And yet in Israel There were Arabs who were left. It it was Judea and Samaria that was cleansed of its Jews.
So we're the ones who want to let them stay where they are. It's just that the state and its security apparatus. will be in our hands. And that will be for the benefit of all because to leave it in the Arab hands It'll just roll down into interneescent fighting and just like we see in Syria, Iraq and other places where Arabs are killing Arabs.
So, this is a situation that I hope people in Washington and other places. I realize what it really means.
Well, we look at this situation and we know it certainly seems like the Palestinian cause it has no room for a Jewish state at all, or one for the m from the river to the sea. Maybe that was the impetus for President Trump saying and he said it temporarily, but even the the thought of him bringing up this idea of moving Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan, that was kind of groundbreaking for an American president to say, of course President Trump doesn't shy away from things like that. Can you talk a little bit about this? Do you think it was a premeditated move? Was it President Trump shooting from the hip like he sometimes does?
Tell us what you think about this. We're gonna want it to be. I don't know President Trump personally. Although I've seen him uh fairly close, but I haven't talked with him and they haven't discussed Any issues. My guess.
is he listens very carefully. And he picks up things. And he lets them out maybe sometimes at the right time, sometimes at an unexpected moment. But he's mulling things over. And sometimes he also simply wants to test the waters.
which is okay. That's what politicians do. It's called trowel balloon in the journalism trade. But he's on to something. In other words, If you guys continue to make war against Israel, we'll just move your way.
Farr away so that you Get on with your lives. And don't forget. Arabs in Palestine. are in the United States, they were in Kuwait, all over the world. It's nothing new.
Jews, in fact, have been doing it for two thousand years.
So that if they can't behave themselves, if they insist upon being violent, and threaten people's lives. you have to do something to control the situation. Maybe something like this We'll wake them up. The main or one of the biggest obstacles to this is many believe that the Palestinians are being held there and their refugee status. And that's basically a tool to use against the Jewish people, moving them to countries like Jordan and Egypt, large countries with large Arab Muslim populations right next door, literally miles from where they are right now.
You look at that scenario, you look at that situation, that is going to potentially be resisted by the rest of the Muslim world just because they want that Palestinian cause, don't they?
Well, yes. It also might wake them up and say to the Arabs who call themselves Palestinians. Enough is enough. We have our own problems. We can't deal with your Palestine all the time.
We've got oil. We don't have oil. We've got a population that's hungry. We've got a population that wants Western values or Western commercial things. Let's everybody get on.
Maybe that's the message It has to be told to these people. Israel shutting down UNRWA, for example. which is doing this week, is also sending a strong message. that uh you can't have five generations of refugees completely all the time growing. Uh and so uh I'm just interested in getting over the next two or three years and see where we are then.
Certainly we'll be interested.
Well, one final question before I let you go, Winky. You and I had had a text conversation a little bit about the Temple Mount.
Now, this is a subject that we talk about often on our program. And there was a and this is in quotes, a prayer service, but a thankful service by some Jewish leaders who want to reestablish a Jewish presence on the Temple Mount or to grow a Jewish presence on the Temple Mount. And they were thankful for President Trump's victory, and they feel that it might make a difference down the road on having that expanded Jewish presence on the Temple Mount. Can you talk about that a little bit and maybe how things are changing?
Well look, we've been following this issue for. I don't know, I think decades now. And we've been proceeding along. It's not the speed. Uh or or the increase of support at the rate that I think it should be.
But I think we're doing very good. And President Trump as far as I know, has a lot of good friends in what I call the Christian pro Israel ally movement. I'm not going to break it down because I'm not an expert that much, but I know over the years I've met many people from the Christian faith who understand why the Temple Mount is important. and why Israel in Judea and Samaria important. And the more they are involved with the President, I think it'll be easier for us Don't forget.
I mean, we've got a democratic right to be up there. We have a lawful right to be up there. And I think that also sends a message to American values and the system, which is the best for all. And put these all things together. And I think we'll see a speeded up process in moving towards an eventual Strong of Jewish presence on the Temple Mount.
Uh expanded hours, expanded times, expanded places places and locations And who knows, maybe the temple will be rebuilt speedily. In our days.
Well, Winky, that would be something to look forward to for sure. I know that you would look forward to that as well.
Well, Winky, thank you so much for taking the time there in Shiloh, in Judea and Samaria, there in Israel. Thanks for taking the time to be with us today. Look forward to talking to you again soon. Thank you very much, and goodbye to you. And our listeners.
Great job, as always, Winky. And I'm always asked the question: why should we support Israel? From the biblical declarations of God's love and care for his chosen people, the nation of Israel, and from the history of nations being destroyed because of their evil dealings with God's chosen people, the Jews, Christian believers should give support to the chosen people of God. This is not to say that we necessarily support the methods they use in their relationship with the Arab nations. The Bible warned that conflict would always characterize the relationship between the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael.
Sadly, this conflict will continue until Jesus comes back to judge the nations and to set up his 1,000-year reign of peace on earth. We must look at the big picture with a biblical worldview.
Well, you know, we've been getting questions to our website, and we're going to encourage folks to send questions and we're going to go to Our broadcast partners to ask them. And so I've invited back this week Dr. George Gunn. Welcome back, Dr. Gunn.
Thanks, Jimmy. Good to be back. Yes, he's a professor of theology, head of the, I think, the department at Shasta Bible College. And we're glad to have you back here with us.
So we have a question that came in, and I thought, man, this is right up your alley.
So let me read the question. The Mosaic gospel of grace must be preached to the world before the Great Tribulation. Matthew 24:14. This has not been done. Jesus is our example.
He kept the Mosaic feast of Leviticus 23. God does not do away with these feasts. That's Matthew chapter 5, 17 and 18. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my word shall not pass away. This is the The weekly Sabbath.
It is the Father who created it and sanctified it from Genesis chapter 2. And why are you dishonoring God? Expect Israel to conquer Syria soon and prevent nukes from being brought to the borders. Time is short. Repent and obey the gospel in Jesus' name.
So, well, the question I think is: why are you dishonoring God?
So, Dr. Gunn, I've sent you the question. What's your take on this?
Well, thanks, Jimmy. That's such an interesting question. It's actually one that comes up often. People read that Matthew 24, 14. this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world, As a testimony to all the nations.
Now, this questioner has a little different. twist on that because he's coming from it From the perspective of honoring the Sabbath, keeping the Sabbath and the Jewish feasts and all that, more frequently. I've heard this utilized by missions organizations as a motivation to Christians to preach the gospel to everywhere in the world. We've got to do that before the Lord returns. But the thing is, here, there is a distinction that needs to be drawn between the way the word gospel is using here.
and the way the word gospel is used elsewhere. I think it's important for us to recognize that the word gospel, as Christians, we tend to think of that in a technical sense of the gospel, the message of salvation that gets preached that involves the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. But To a first-century Greek speaker, and of course, the New Testament was written in the Greek language, we know that. to a New Testament first century Greek speaker, the word gospel, which was in Greek evangelion, just meant good news. It could be the good news of any kind.
A dear friend of mine just went to the doctor, for example, and the doctor told him, Well, I have some bad news for you. You have a mass growing in your chest.
Well, of course, he was alarmed by that. But the doctor said, but I also have good news. It appears to be benign and at your age, he's in his eighties, it probably won't cause you any problem before something else brings about your death.
So there was good news. A first century Greek speaker would have used the same word that we translate gospel for that kind of good news.
So there you have to understand the word in context.
So when we come to Matthew twenty four, what was Jesus talking about when he said this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all the nations? This was a gospel. It was a good news about the kingdom.
So Now, you know, the Gospel of the Kingdom is a major theme in the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew starts out. Very early with John the Baptist preaching to Israel, saying, Repent, because the kingdom of heaven is at hand. This was the good news. Israel had been waiting for thousands of years for the kingdom.
God had promised it long, long ago, and now John was saying it's at hand. Jesus came along and he said, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. He sent his apostles out to the tribes of Israel and he told them to preach, saying, Repent, because the go the kingdom of heaven is at hand. This was the gospel of the kingdom. when we look at the big picture of the Gospel of Matthew, what we find is in the first twelve chapters, this is the message, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
In other words, it was an official offer of the kingdom to Israel. And so they were being called to repent. Chapter twelve, everything comes to a big head because Jesus is confronted by the religious leaders up in Galilee, and they say, well, he's casting out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of the demons, And Jesus accuses them of Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which is another kind of controversial topic, and we can talk about that someday. But the thing is that That big encounter led to Jesus Officially withdrawing the offer of the kingdom for that time period. And he went on in the next chapter, the thirteenth chapter, to present these parables about the kingdom.
The main message being that the kingdom of heaven now is going to be withdrawn for a period of time. It will be reoffered at the second coming.
So we are now in this period of postponement. Kingdom postponement.
So in the tribulation period, which is the subject matter now, when we come back to Matthew twenty four, we are looking at that final time just before the second coming. The tribulation period. That's when this gospel of the kingdom will be offered. Again, good news, Israel. The kingdom of heaven is once again at hand.
So When he says in verse 14, this gospel of the kingdom will be preached to the whole world, he's talking about not events that must take place before the tribulation period, like our questioner thought, but he's talking about events that will take place during the tribulation period.
So the thing is, God has given to the Church today a great commission. We are supposed to bring the gospel of the gospel of grace The death The burial, the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, those who believe in Him will be saved. That's the gospel message we have. And we are supposed to bring it to the world. But the truth is that it's the Jews who are going to finish that task during the tribulation period.
It won't be the message won't be identical to what we preach today because we can't say the kingdom of heaven is at hand. We don't know that. The thing that's at hand for the church is the rapture of the church. Following that, there'll be the tribulation period, a reoffer of the kingdom, and these signs that will be performed during the tribulation period, the sun turning black, the moon turning red blood, and these judgments that are coming from God. These are all signs pointing to the fact that just as in the first coming of Jesus, At the second coming of Jesus, the kingdom is once again at hand.
And that's good news.
Now I think in the tribulation period, that message will also include a message about the cross. the resurrection, of course. But it will be a good news that the kingdom is once again here.
So the urgent need to repent is being given over again.
So I think that's what we're looking at here. I love the way you answered it. You know, it's an honest question and just a misinterpretation. There's a technical interpretation for Matthew chapter 24 and a spiritual application. I think technically it was to the Jewish people, the three strands of the human family that we've talked about: Gentiles, Jews, and Christians.
Once the church comes about, we can spiritually apply some of these parables that you talked about about that kingdom. That kingdom, of course, is the future millennial kingdom when Jesus Christ will rule and reign on the earth, correct? Mm-hmm. Absolutely. Yep, that's right.
Yep.
So, well, thank you so much. I hope this is helpful. And I think I really appreciate the question. It wasn't ugly. I've seen sometimes, Dr.
Gunn, I know that you have faced some people. This becomes something that is ugly. I mean, he did ask, why are you dishonoring God? But we don't think that we're dishonoring God. That's right.
Yes. Yeah, we're offering the gospel. We're proclaiming the gospel. And Jesus Christ died for our sins. He offers eternal life to all who will believe in him.
And that's the message we have for today. Amen. Amen. Well, Dr. Gunn, thank you so much.
Here's a question from someone. We encourage folks to send in your questions, and we'll find one of our broadcast partners. And man, I love the way you answered it, Dr. Gunn. Sounds like we're all on the same page together, and I really do appreciate that.
Thank you so much.
Okay, God bless. Lord bless you. Dr. George Gunn. By the way, if you have a question that you want answered, send it into our website, prophecytoday.com, and we will get one of our men to answer the question.
On the legacy series today, Dr. Jimmy DeYoung will look at the kingdom that Dr. George Gunn was talking about. That's all coming up right here on Prophecy Today weekend. Welcome back to Prophecy Today.
I'm Jimmy DeYoung Jr., along with my brother Rick, we examine current events in the light of God's prophetic word. Coming up in just a moment, the legacy series with Dr. Jimmy DeYoung. But Rick, you have actually had a group just get back from Israel and we're planning our next trip. Why don't you tell us about it?
That's right, Jimmy. We just took 45 people to Israel, a senior trip, homeschoolers with their parents. And, you know, we're going to do another trip like that in May. And it was such a great time that we had with these kids, seeing the parents, interacting with their kids. And in fact, we're going to open this trip up to anybody who wants to join along with us.
So if you're interested in coming to Israel, being a part of that trip, and we have some other trips planned as well, but that one is May 5th. That's when that one leaves. And it's May 5th through May 14th of this year. And we're super excited to be back in Israel looking at Israel past, present, and prophetic, walking where Jesus walked. Being in the greatest classroom to study scripture that there is.
Yes, it sure is, Rick. I'm so excited about that taking place. And I know that you do a great job. And who knows? Maybe I'll be on the trip with you.
So that's May 5th through the 14th. And give us a call at our offices: 423-825-6247.
Well, today on the legacy series, we're going to continue our study of 2 Peter with a short interruption in today's lesson. Dr. DeJoung is going to give you an overview of the book of Matthew. You'll see how this study today fits into our study of 2 Peter. Matthew is the best biblical account of the kingdom that will be given to Jesus by his Father.
That kingdom given to him at the second coming of Jesus when he comes back to the earth. That kingdom is not in place today, and we do not bring the kingdom into existence. That kingdom is given to Jesus by his Father. That's Daniel chapter 7, verses 13 and 14. The truth is key to our understanding of Bible prophecy.
Therefore, today a review of Matthew to learn God's plan for the kingdom is very relevant. Dr. Jimmy D. Young and the Legacy Series. In the book of Matthew, chapters 1 and 2, it authenticates the right that Jesus to be able to claim he is the king of kings and lord of lords.
He is going to make an offer of the kingdom, a legitimate offer, setting up the kingdom and the time when he was on the earth here, and he's giving the offer of the kingdom to the people who are going to receive the kingdom, the Jewish people. The kingdom is only promised to the Jewish people. Do you know there's much more about the kingdom than any other subject? Subject or issue in Bible prophecy. Whole book of Isaiah is talking about the kingdom, basically, and what's going to happen in the kingdom.
And we have it so wrong. We sing songs about the kingdom, we talk about the kingdom, we preach about the kingdom, and it's so wrong. We need to study the authenticated word of God that deals with the kingdom. And so, Jesus Christ, in chapters 1 and 2 of the book of Matthew, he authenticates who he is, all of his genealogies, all of his background, everything helps everybody, and especially the Jews. That's who Matthew is writing to.
Hey, here's the king, the king of kings. In chapter 3, what happens there? His baptism. Takes place. John the Baptist, his cousin, is preaching and he says: Behold, the kingdom of God is at hand.
And so there is another testimony of the kingdom being offered to the Jewish people. By the way, right after that, it's when Peter got saved. Remember, chapter 1 of the Gospel of John, his brother Andrew brings him to Jesus Christ. And then what happens in chapter 3 after the baptism? Temptation.
40 days on the mountain right behind the city of Jericho. And then you go from there to chapter 4. What happens in chapter 4?
Well, Jesus takes all of his now disciples and goes up to the Galilee. It says in verse 17 of chapter 4 and also in verse 23, he went up to the Sea of Galilee. What's he teaching and preaching? The gospel of the kingdom. We're not teaching and preaching the gospel of the kingdom today.
We're teaching the gospel of grace. We're in a period of grace right now. At that point, the kingdom was being offered, so they're teaching and preaching the gospel of the kingdom. That's chapter 4. Chapters 5, 6, and 7.
You remember what that is? That's the Sermon on the Mount. Many preachers today Take a text out of context. You know what? If you take a text out of context, it becomes a pretext.
In other words, it's denying what you're trying to teach. And many preachers today will apply Matthew chapters five, six, and seven to the church. Folks, the church is not even in place at that point in time. The church comes into place, Acts chapter 2, on the day of Pentecost. In chapter 4, 5, and 6.
And seven, he said. He's preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and he goes to the Galilee, and he has the Sermon on the Mount on the slopes over the northern part of the Sea of Galilee, overlooking the Galilee. We went to a place where, acoustically, they have proven that's the place where Jesus would have given the Sermon on the Mount.
Now, what is the Sermon on the Mount? The Sermon on the Mount is a commentary, a commentary on the kingdom. What is he presenting? The kingdom, the gospel of the kingdom, how to get into the kingdom.
So he's giving him a commentary. That's not for the church today. Oh, you can get some spiritual application, but remember, when you interpret the scripture, there's a technical interpretation, which is actually what God's saying, and a spiritual application, not spiritualizing scripture. That's what some of these women teachers, Bible teachers, so famous in the world, I'm not mentioning any names there. I want to get out of this building alive, but you know, they're spiritualizing scripture, and that's satanic.
You don't spiritualize scripture because that makes you God to tell us what's there. No, but there is a spiritual application. But it's not technically interpreted. You know what it is? That Sermon on the Mount is a commentary on the kingdom to come.
And I believe that. This is for those who are getting ready to go in the kingdom.
So I'm applying scripture correctly. What's chapters 8 and 9 about? The miracles. Jesus did 35 miracles. It was for the purpose of authenticating who he was and what he could do.
That's what the miracles are about. That's chapters 8 and 9. Chapter 10, he selects apostles. By the way, you know who the first apostle he selected was in chapter 10? Peter, Simon, who Jesus called Peter.
He was selected as the first apostle. He selects 12 of them. One of them has the devil in it, and that one dies, goes out and hangs himself, and later he selects the apostle Paul. To fill in the 12. And by the way, there's only 12.
Don't listen to these characters who tell you today they're apostles. Only the 12 men that Jesus Christ gave that authority to. And it was for the church to help build the church. That's chapter 10 of the book of Matthew. Chapter 11?
What does Jesus say about John the Baptist? His cousin, he was the greatest man born of woman, and he could have fulfilled Elijah's prophecy, Malachi chapter 4 and verse 5: the great and dreadful day of the Lord shall not come until Elijah shows up. But the Jews didn't believe him and they didn't believe me. Chapter 12. He changes the program.
No more after chapter 12 is he going to offer the kingdom. Chapter 12 and verse 40, you know what he says? As Jonah. was in the Belly. of the great fish for three days.
Listen to me, three days. Three nights, I'm not going to rehearse the death, burial, and resurrection again. Three days and three nights.
So I shall be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. You know what my quiet time was this morning? Book of Jonah, as I'm going through. It's amazing. My quiet time always pops up about what I'm almost speaking of: the book of Jonah.
By the way, you know, I don't think that well. Preserved Jonah. I think Jonah died in the wheel. I think there's a greater miracle than a whale preserving. I mean, you know the juices, the digestive juices in a whale?
You wouldn't have seen Jonah ever again.
So I think he died. Look at the description in chapter 2. I believe he died, went to hell, and then God raised him. Boy, isn't that a better miracle than preserving him in a fish? Hello?
You can believe what you want to and be wrong if that's what you'd like to do, but you gotta study. The Word of God.
Now, that's chapter 12. He's going to die, be buried, and resurrect from the dead. Chapter 13, you know what that is? Oh, that's those parables on the kingdom. Do you know there are three groups of people following Jesus Christ when he's preaching up there in the Galilee?
Three different groups. His disciples, which he's mentoring. And then there's the general public who are coming along for the ride, wanting to see the miracles, wanting to have the fish sandwiches and everything else along that line. And then there's the big wheels from the temple. They're following.
Those are the three groups. When he gets to chapter 13, Jesus goes cryptic. He's wanting to teach his disciples about the kingdom to come, but he doesn't want Any more ammunition given to these big wills at the temple.
So he starts talking in parables.
Now that's not applicable to the church either. Don't take the text out of context. He's giving how the kingdom is going to be in the future. And he's teaching those three groups: his disciples, the general public, and the big wills at the temple. That's chapter chapter 14.
There are two events in the life of Jesus Christ that are recorded in all four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Two events. The first one, of course, is the resurrection of Jesus Christ, not in his birth. His birth is only in Matthew and Luke. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ in all four gospels, and the next event, chapter 14 in the book of Matthew, the feeding of the 5,000.
It was recorded. Five thous but it says five thousand men plus the women and the children. You don't have 5,000 men without having 5,000 ladies. And if you have 5,000 men and 5,000 ladies, you're going to have 10,000 kids.
So there were 20,000 people out there on the slopes in the northern Galilee, and Jesus is going to feed them. They're going to have some fish sandwiches, and once they get finished, they're going to take up seven baskets full. I mean, it's unbelievable. The leftovers are going to be enough to feed the whole group here in this building. It's amazing.
I was speaking at a youth conference not too long ago, and this really sharp young person walked up to me and said, Dr. DeYang, I know how he did that. I said, how he did what, young man? How he fed those people all that fish sandwich stuff. I said, well, how did he do it?
He said those weren't little fish. Those were big fish and big loaves of bread.
Well, I started backing up. I said, maybe this guy's got me. I don't remember if I thought that through. But then, as I was backing up, I started calculating in my mind: 20,000 people, two fish sandwiches apiece. That's four slices of bread, probably six ounces of fish on each of the fish sandwiches.
And I started putting that on. You know how many people, I mean, how much fish you'd have to have and how much bread? You'd have to have two fishes weighing 650 pounds apiece. And you'd have to have five loaves of bread 198 feet long. May I tell you something?
The feeding of the 20,000 people was not the miracle. Pay attention to me. The feeding of those people was not the miracle. You know what the miracle was? A little boy picking up two fishes weighing 650 pounds apiece.
and then gabbing a bunch of bread 198 feet long. That's the miracle. I mean, how do you have to understand it? And by the way, when he fed the 5,000, he said, I'm not sure if those guys get it.
So, in chapter 15, what does he do? He feeds 5,000. 4,000 more. at another location, another time. Matthew is just laying it all.
It's so good. I love the book of Matthew. And then you come to chapter 16. That's when the people, the disciples there with Jesus, they asked him who he is, and he asked them, Who do you think I am? and who the people say, and old Peter said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, thou art the Messiah.
And then in chapter 17, he goes up on the Mount of Transfiguration there in the Upper Galilee at Mount Hermon. I keep going. Let me just skip over to chapter 24. In chapter 24 of the book of Matthew, He has postponed the offer of the kingdom. He did that in Matthew 12, verse 40, when he said, I'm going to die, be buried, and resurrected.
He also repeated that in the book of Matthew chapter 16. By the way, that was six months out before his death, burial, and resurrection. You know what Jesus is going to do in the last six months and then the 40 days after his resurrection? Teach prophecy. Teach prophecy.
He prioritized prophecy. When he writes a letter back to the seven churches, what's the focus of it? Bible prophecy, Revelation 2 and 3. As Jesus did, we must prioritize our study of Bible prophecy. Remember, after His resurrection, Jesus went to the Galilee to teach Bible prophecy to over five hundred people.
That's Acts chapter one and verse three. the last book of the Bible totally focused on Bible prophecy. Remember the letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor, Revelation chapters two and three. These are the last words to the church from Jesus Christ, and in these letters he teaches Bible prophecy. Revelation chapter nineteen and verse ten says that Jesus is indeed the Spirit of Prophecy.
By the way, Peter's last letter to us, 2 Peter, is actually a manual for the end times. Our study of the kingdom in Matthew, key to understanding Bible prophecy. Please join us again next week as we will continue our study. of Second Peter. I'm Ruth Kramer with Mission Network News.
President Trump's freeze on foreign aid and a recent prisoner swap are returning Afghanistan to the global spotlight. Greg Kelly with Unknown Nations. We need to find ways where we can resource Christian organizations who are also administering aid because that is also a huge way to open up the hearts of the Afghanis. To be a Christian in Afghanistan is to daily risk your life. Despite this, the Afghan church is one of the fastest growing in the world.
And here's the thing about Christianity in Afghanistan: once the gospel starts taking seed in a community, there's multiplication of it. Alongside practical aid, Kelly sees spiritual training of leaders as the greatest need for the church in Afghanistan. Unknown Nations works with the Afghan diaspora to equip them for a missional return to their country. Please join us in praying for an abundance of fruit from these efforts. And is God helping you to build on last year's accomplishments to reach new milestones in 2025?
If so, you're not alone. A Believer Will Call Dane says the Lord is continually setting new goals before Unfolding Word. Since 2017, we have been active in 31 countries. Over 352 languages have been engaged. 160 of those languages are connected to an unreached people group.
The ministry helps believers get God's word into minority languages. Unfolding Word helps local church networks reach the unreached and establish the church on solid foundations. And we do that by equipping them to quickly, accurately, and sustainably translate the whole Bible for their whole nation. You can find your place in the story at missionnews.org. Thanks for listening to Mission Network News, a service of one-way ministries.
We're listeners supported by people just like you.
So, by giving to Mission Network News, you enable us to keep the stories of God's kingdom coming. And together, the Great Commission happens. Look for links at missionnews.org. I'm Ruth Kramer. Welcome back to Prophecy Today.
I'm Jimmy DeYoung Jr. Along with Rick, we have been examining current events in the light of God's prophetic word. Rick, I started out the program today talking about everyone has a worldview, the way we see and understand the events in our world today. And therefore, we must have a prophetic biblical worldview to understand why our world is acting as it is today. And since one-third of the Bible is prophecy, we must know how to study and understand prophecy in order to understand the times in which we're living.
And I've got to tell you, Rick, on today's program, I love your questions, how you set them up. You've got a great understanding of world events. Does that come natural to you?
Well, Jimmy, we've been talking about this on this program quite a long time, both with you and myself and then our dad, the late Dr. Jimmy De Young. And we've looked at these events and related them to what the Bible says is going to happen in the end times. And it's really hard not to see the stage being set. And so we look at it at a very particular, detailed level as we look at what is taking place.
We look at what Ken was talking about with Russia and Turkey. We look at Winky and what he was saying about the temple potentially being rebuilt. And we can relate these things to things that the Bible says are going to happen in the end time after the rapture of the church. That's right. You know, it's so very important to follow along as you watch events unfolding in the world.
Bible prophecy is used to motivate us to live a pure, productive, holy life in an unholy world. It's also, Bible prophecy helps us to understand the times in which we're living and following the Jewish people. Is the biggest, the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem. Jews are, biblically speaking, the chosen people of God and dearly loved by him. Another reason for Christians to support the nation of Israel is because of the Abrahamic covenant.
We read of God's promises in Genesis chapter 12, verses 2 and 3: I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you, I will curse, and all peoples of the earth will be blessed through you. You know, right in the center of all of that is the preparation to build a temple in the future. And I think it's so key when we bring these men on. And I know a lot of times people say, Well, you've already covered this, and we have been, Rick, for almost 25 years.
We've been doing this program, and we want to thank the radio stations that carry us and helping their communities to understand what the message is, the motivation. For living the Christian life, it's all in Christ. In God's word, especially in Bible prophecy. But, you know, as we look at this, these are some of those things that we can put, and it helps us to narrow out, to focus out, to put the blinders on to stay focused on what we need, correct? That's right, Jimmy.
And those are specifics as we look at those things that are taking place. Just individual things we know that are going to happen, specifically during the tribulation period. We're talking about with the rebuilding of the temple and different things like that. But, Jimmy, if we even come out a little bit and look at it from a bigger perspective, and you're talking about a biblical worldview, and we know that Satan is at work in the world today, and we look at the battle right now, the worldwide battle that is taking place between this Islam and this fundamentalism, this mindset that is essentially anti-God. And it's a battle that Satan is trying to do, a subtle strategy that Satan is trying to wage to.
To basically eliminate God's plan. He's going to eliminate the Jewish people. And this is spiritual warfare that we're looking at here as we talk about Islam and its place in the world today, isn't it? Yes. You know, when we talk about it, Satan's plan is to defeat God, to defeat God's angels, the holy angels, and to defeat man.
And that's been his, you know, that's been his MO, really, from the very beginning. Genesis chapter 3, when God gave dominion to Adam and Eve in the garden, and then Satan, that old serpent, the devil himself, as it says in Revelation chapter 13, Satan really went to defeat God's perfect plan that he had for mankind. And so we see those things, Rick, and you're right. Islam is an attack that Satan uses on the Jewish people, and we see attacks. On the family and on our belief system and the system that God has for us in His Word.
You know, we talk about a biblical worldview, and I always try to remind people: you know, since you talked. Today, we'll be making decisions that will affect tomorrow. You must know today what will happen tomorrow. And that's really what keeps you running the race to finish the course, to press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling. And only by studying all of God's word, that's how we can do this.
That's what gives you the impetus to ask the questions with the knowledge that you have and to focus on events that, you know. These are all future prophecies to be fulfilled. There are none being fulfilled right now.
So you can stop chasing all the prophecies that people are telling you are being fulfilled right now.
Well, that's right, Jimmy. But looking at the world in a biblical worldview, it's so important. And I hope that our ministry here, Prophecy Today, and what we do on a daily basis, gathering this information, putting it up on our website, teaching it on trips to Israel and prophecy conferences that you do, our goal is to help you develop your worldview, your biblical worldview, so you know how to navigate these times in which we live, live a pure, prepared, and productive life, and be. Comforted in this world of chaos, which we live in right now. That's right.
You know, the decisions that you're making today is whether you share the gospel with your neighbor, with your family members, with those that you work with. Because if you don't do that, you are since seen. More or less, or sometimes, if nobody else shares the gospel with them, they will be spending eternity in hell. They will be judged to go to hell.
So, Understanding God's program for the future helps us to make decisions today to be focused on sharing the gospel message. As Dr. George Gunn said, the gospel is the good news. We share the good news of eternal life, and that's what it's all about. Rick, thank you so much for being with us today.
Thank you for doing all the hard work. And I look forward to continuing to do ministry and to share God's word with people so that they can be prepared to live in this world in which we live in. Lord willing, Jimmy, we'll be back here next week doing this again. Yes. You know, we live with the expectancy of the rapture of the church happening at any moment.
With all that we've seen today, the rapture of the church could happen in the next moment. Let's keep looking up. Until. Thank you so much for joining us today. This is Jay Johnson inviting you to join us again next week for more of Prophecy Today.
Prophecy Today is a listener-supported production of Shofar Communications in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I'm going to use the same method for the first time.
