Prophecy Today Weekend - December 14

Uh Welcome to the Prophecy Today. I'm Jimmy D. Young Jr., and along with my brother Rick, we examine current events in the light of God's prophetic word. Rick, the landscape of the Middle East, the landscape of the world is changing politically and strategically, militarily, just about every which way we could see. Who would have imagined it in our lifetime?

Well, we've got a lot to cover today with Ken Timmerman, David Dolan, Colonel Bob McGinnis, Mike Gendren, and of course the legacy series with Dr. Jimmy D. Young because it is Christmas. Rick, we've got a lot to do, so let's get going with our first Ken Timmerman.

Well, that's right, Jimmy. I have Ken Timmerman with us. He is an author and an analyst. His latest book, The Iran House: Tales of Revolution, Persecution, War, and Intrigue, is out right now. Ken, as always, we appreciate you taking the time to be with us today.

It's a pleasure to be with you, Rick. Thanks for having me. Ken, certainly a lot has happened since I talked with you last week. The Assad regime falling in Syria. This is an event that is an earthquake-sized event.

Can you tell us about it? It is. It's a sea change, Rick. And it's the type of thing that happens perhaps once in a generation. In Syria, it's once in 52 years.

The Assad family has been ruling Syria for 52 years, and overnight it was over. You know, what I find most remarkable about this, Rick, is that you have all these Middle East experts and you have the CIA and you have others. Basically incapable of imagining. Things different from the way they are today. Incapable of imagining.

You had Lloyd Austin, the Secretary of Defense, on Monday. He was in Tokyo at some security confab, and he said, We were taken by surprise by Assad leaving Syria by the swift collapse of his regime. Austin said, we thought the Syrian army would fight harder and longer. It just shows that they're incapable of thinking outside the box and they forget history. Remember what happened with the Berlin Wall.

So Syria collapsed in less than a week. And we're learning now some really amazing details about the final hours of Assad himself. It turns out that Rick Bashar al-Assad didn't tell anybody. He was going to fly out to Russia. And don't forget, last week I told our listeners, you asked me whether he was going to Tehran or to Moscow, and I said, no, no, he's going to Moscow.

He didn't want to go to Tehran, especially not with that beautiful wife of his and his three young kids. They don't want to be brought up under the Islamic Republic. But he didn't tell anybody. His wife and children were already in Moscow, apparently. In fact, he fled to the Russian airbase near Tartus on the Mediterranean and then took another Russian flight right up to Moscow.

So it was really quite extraordinary. He left secretly. The Russians refused to help him militarily. He was in Moscow just a week before the collapse, and they said, no, we're too occupied in Ukraine. And then just three days before the collapse, the Iranian foreign minister, Arakshi, came to Damascus.

But by that time, Assad could see which way it was going, and he didn't even ask the Iranians for military help.

Well, let's talk about Assad a little bit. He certainly was not out of central casting as a villain. He was kind of tall. I believe he was an eye doctor before he took over for his father. And both of the two of those, they were the ones that were in charge for the last 52 years.

You look at some of the things that are coming out right now about the way he ruled and things that we knew. He was a brutal dictator. Can you tell me what do you think his legacy will be in Syria and in the region?

Well, I think he'll have a mixed legacy. Remember, Syria was the third leg of the Arab Spring stool. Obama set out to basically smash the traditional Arab regimes in 2009, 2010. The Arab Spring began in late 2010, and by 2011, it had spread from Egypt to Libya and by 2012 into Syria. The Syrian dictatorship was the only one that resisted.

So Mubarak falls in Egypt, Gaddafi falls in Libya, but the Syrians hang on. And they hang on, first of all, with help from Hezbollah. They hang on also because ISIS itself, which was trying to take over, calling themselves a secular movement, which of course was a lie. ISIS was so hated by the ordinary Syrian population. And Assad was actually backed by the Christians at that point.

I can remember a discussion I had with the Syriac archbishop. He was living in Sweden at the time. But he said, you know, don't condemn Assad here. Assad, it is better for Christians under Assad, certainly, than it would be under Islamist rule. And now we're going to see, Rick, we've already got these stories coming out on YouTube.

You get clips of video and stuff on YouTube and elsewhere showing that these so-called rebels are finding regime officials, Assad regime officials, tying them behind their cars and dragging them through the streets. And you look at how the people in the street are reacting to this, Rick, it's terrifying. They are gleeful, they are gloating as people go with batons and sticks and baseball bats and rakes and whatever else they can find to beat these people to death as they're being dragged through the streets. It's really quite horrifying. Let's continue to talk about what Assad's fall means.

Kind of to the greater region there. One of the people, one of the countries that was not worried about seeing Assad fall was Turkey. Can you talk about them? Right.

Well, Turkey has long had differences. Erdogan has had differences with Assad for many, many years. And remember, Turkey has been actually sponsoring these terrorist groups. The US calls them terrorist groups that have now taken over Syria. They've sponsored the jihadis, the Muslim Brotherhood.

And the Turkish army was sheltering them for years. And now Turkey has moved in and used the unrest in Syria as an excuse, as they always do. To go hit the pro-Western Kurdish groups in the northwest of the country. And people need to remember that those Kurds who are being supported by the United States, and I think rightly so, they are guarding. Prison camps that have somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 ISIS members and their families.

So, this is a huge, huge security risk. Turkey is bombarding them every single day. And one report I saw, Rick, said that the commander of those Kurdish groups has said he now has only 50% of the prison guards that he had just two weeks ago. They could lose control of those prisons. If they do, 50,000 ISIS people are able to escape and rejoin the battle.

That would be horrible, an awful, awful development. Another major player in the Middle East is Iran. Can you talk about how they are affected by the situation in Syria?

Well, you know, the Iranians, again, like to blame Israel, just as Erdogan does. And they are saying, no, we have not been defeated. Israel claims that Hezbollah agreed to the ceasefire in Lebanon because Israel had beaten them. No, they didn't. It was actually a defeat for Israel.

The Iranian regime is in la-la land, and they are wearing adult diapers today. Everybody in the leadership in Iran is very, very worried. They think they are next. And I think there are many good reasons to believe that they could be next. They could be the next domino to fall in this current unrest.

Well, another development on the horizon for Iran is the inauguration of Donald Trump coming up in January. This is not going to be a welcome site for Iran, is it? No, it's not going to be because they understand that he is going to immediately reimpose the maximum pressure sanctions. How do we know this? Because his national security advisor, Mike Waltz, has said so.

And he said so repeatedly on national television. We are going to reimpose the maximum pressure sanctions. And when President Trump did his interview with Time magazine, right, when his person of the year interview, they asked him about Iran. Can there be war with Iran? And he said, you know, anything can happen.

And this is from a man who abhors war, who is very proud that during his first term, there were no new wars. He ended the war with ISIS, but there were no new wars. Russia did not attack Ukraine, and Iran did not attack Israel.

So this is not a president who's looking for a fight. This is a president who wants to end wars. And he's talked many, many times about ending the war between Russia and Ukraine. And I think he's going to do his very best to do that. Remember, I think.

I told our listeners last week that General Keith Kellogg, who is my boss at the America First Policy Institute, is now the envoy, the special envoy for Russia and Ukraine. And I know the way that General Kellogg thinks. He is going to look for a ceasefire as soon as possible, but at the same time, keeping the pressure on Russia by arming Ukraine.

So we're not going to cut off arms to Ukraine yet. We're going to make sure that that pressure is kept on Russia. But President Trump wants to end this war. He sees the numbers of dead young soldiers on the field. He talks about this.

All the time. It's horrifying. It is absolutely horrifying and it's got to stop. But the Iranians are on notice. They are on notice.

And as I said before, I think they could be next. Ken, as we look at all of these things taking place in the Middle East, you have a vast experience in that part of the world. Have you ever seen such seismic shifts as we're seeing right now? It's big, Rick. It's very, very big.

We talked about the Arab Spring a little bit earlier, and I think what's happening now in the past two weeks, it makes the events of the Arab Spring pale in comparison. The biggest difference, Rick, is that you have Iran engaging Israel militarily. Directly. This has never happened before, and it's happened because the Israelis lost their deterrence after October 7th. And actually, they lost the deterrence for the first time since the 1973 war.

This is the first time since 1973 that Israel is at open war with a major hostile state. The wars in Lebanon don't count because Lebanon was not a major hostile state. This is very, very big. Israel must reestablish deterrence, and they must be able to keep the Iranians at bay. But you're right, governments are collapsing, and the Iranians and Israel are in a direct shooting war But as I said, I think the Iranian regime could be next.

And I think the weakness that they have shown, both in Lebanon and in Syria, is very, very visible to the Iranian people. And when the people smell the weakness of their leaders, Things happen. Ken Timmerman reporting for Prophecy Today. Ken, as always, we appreciate your insight. Thanks so much.

We look forward to talking to you again soon. Thanks so much, Rick. It's always a pleasure to be with you. Great job, as always, Ken. Remember, I always tell everybody that the actors and props are on the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.

Sometimes the actors will change, but the nations of Bible prophecy will always stay the same. And it looks like we are developing new cast of characters every day. We've got to take a break when we come back, David Dolan, with our Middle East news update. Right here on Prophecy Today weekend. I'm Ruth Kramer with Mission Network News.

Although Russia's been a protector of Assad's regime in Syria, Russia failed to hinder the Syrian rebel takeover as in years past. Eric Mock with Slavic Gospel Association explains: the war in Ukraine has weakened Russia's military strength on multiple fronts. For Russia to continue to maintain its aggressive offensive in Ukraine, it really had no capacity to defend Syria when the rebels began to take over.

Now, Moscow is negotiating to keep two key bases in Syria as leaders rise and fall. Pray God's will be done in those nations. In the middle of trying to decipher world events, I would challenge your listeners to be sure not to lose sight of the calling to advance the gospel to all people. Then heavy rains across Haiti over the past couple of weeks have impacted thousands of families and many are teetering on the edge of despair. Roselinda Hartwith for Haiti with Love says.

And it's in the whole country, not just in one part. There's been a lot of mudslides, the mountains washing down. Flooding, people's houses were all flooded up to their hips inside their house. Cap Haitian authorities have declared a state of environmental emergency for six months. We tell them that You know, Jesus loves them, that there is hope for Haiti, and it's only in God.

But they said it's hard for them to believe that there there really is a God after what all that's going on. If you've ever known that feeling of helpless despair, pray for hope in Haiti. Ask God to enable ministries like For Haiti with Love to keep serving as His hands and feet. Thanks for listening to Mission Network News, a service of one-way ministries. This month, Slava Gospel Association is making available the free book Much Prayer, Much Power, by Peter Dyneka, SGA's founder.

It's a resource aimed at making your prayer life more vibrant. Get your free copy when you click on the banner ad at missionnews.org. Mm-hmm. Welcome back to Prophecy Today Radio, the program that looks at current events in the light of Bible prophecy.

Well, this is our Middle East news update, a segment that focuses on news coming out of the Middle East in general, Israel in particular. And of course, there's a lot of news coming out of that area right now. To do that, we have with us journalist Dave Dolan. Dave, thanks for being with us today. Glad to always be with you, Rick.

Well Dave, since we've last talked, the Assad regime has fallen and so many dominoes have been put into effect. Could you give us an update, especially from an Israeli perspective, on what happened this week?

Well, Rick, last week I said the apple cart has been turned over. That was after we learned that Aleppo had fallen, that the Holmes, the city of Holmes, was near to falling and that forces were heading towards Damascus.

Well, the next morning, Sunday morning, the apple cart wasn't just tipped over, it was exploded. And it sent exploding apples in every direction. It wasn't just an earthquake, it was a volcano. it changed the Middle East entirely. It changed Israel's strategic situation very deeply and all in just a matter of days.

And this, of course, coming after a year of warfare that has Started in a small way, and nobody dreamed it would get this large. Although, I've said several times in your program: keep an eye on the north, it's going to go. Into an explosive phase, but even I didn't think that Assad would be removed so quickly. Yesterday, Rick, was called a Victory Day in Syria by the new government. By the way, the leader, Mohammad Julani, has.

Reverted back to his given name, which is Ahmed Ashara.

So that's how he's going to be referred to from now on. But Julani, he took that name from the Golan because his parents lived there and were thrust out of there in the 1967 Six-Day War.

So he's always made it a major goal to get back the Golan Heights for Syria.

So that may explain why the 603rd Battalion of the Israeli Army was. sent up, this is a combat engineering corps, was sent up from Lebanese town that's near to where I worked over the weekend and stationed just inside of the security buffer zone next to the Golan Heights.

Well, now they've taken over the entire buffer zone, including one of the the tallest mountain peak actually on Three Peak Mount Hermon, Hermon in English, but the tallest peak was under Syria's control.

Now that Israel has that in their hands, they can look directly into Damascus. From listening posts that were already there that were Syrian, and they have reinforced their forces there. And they're afraid, of course, that these radicals with Jolani now changing his name at its head will head down that way. Of course, the Arab League met on Friday and condemned Israel's seizure of Syrian land, they're saying they're only about 50 miles from Damascus now, Rick, Israeli forces. About 10 miles they've gone in, maybe eight miles from the Golan border, but they're taking back that security zone.

Meanwhile, Israel launched two days of massive strikes early this week, Rick. Over 500 sorties launched. 1,800 munitions were employed, the bombs that were dropped, 83,000 all told during the war since it began over a year ago, they're saying, but just 1,800 in two days, they hit 80% of Syria's air defenses, destroyed it. They destroyed their SA air defense systems, bunches of jets and other things. I can talk about that later.

They are on the offensive clearly, and of course, Russia has bases up in the coastal area of North. West Syria, where the Alawites, the Alawese, the Shiite regimes, Ethnic group, if you will, religious ethnic group. That's a small breakoff. From Shia Islam in the ninth century. They've got some weird theology, Rick.

I won't go into it right now, but they're not accepted as Muslims by Sunni or Shiite Muslims. Iran was happy to work with the Alawite regime in its interest to attack Israel and to support Hezbollah. We've had more tensions in Jordan with concerns that the Sunni Muslim radicals would come there and join up with, well, there's already 16 fundamentalists in parliament there, Muslim fundamentalists, that they would join up with them. That's caused the Jordanian government to keep the Dara crossing into Syria closed. None of the 1.3 million Syrian refugees in northern Jordan are being allowed to return yet.

Of course, we've got several million refugees in Turkey as well. We've got refugees in Iraq. That's another aspect of all of this moving situation. And of course, we have Russia with its two bases along the coast. Israel striking near there during the week, and especially some chemical weapons.

storage sites, Rick, which is Amazing that Israel has basically destroyed their potential enemies.

Well, their enemies. a large chemical weapon supply.

So a lot of changes, a lot happening. And there's also news in Gaza with the talks continuing and hearing that they're getting close To a ceasefire deal. Israel wants a shorter initial ceasefire than 60 days, we're being told. 30 living hostages would be released. Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor to the President of the United States.

is in Israel this weekend and the region continuing talks on this. And they're saying that the chances of a positive outcome are much brighter now that the Syrian regime has fallen and that Hezbollah has essentially been dismantled because, of course, those were two of their close allies. And the leadership of Hamas is now entirely abroad. Sinwar is powerless inside of the Gaza Strip. Both Mohammed Sinwar, the brother of Yahya Sinwar, the official leader, are underground, in hiding.

And so it's Hamas leaders abroad that are making the decisions, meaning a better chance of a ceasefire deal, the Israelis are saying.

Well, David, so many things taking place all the way from Gaza all the way up into the north. And again, we talked a little bit about it. And I talked to you earlier this week. Such a seismic shift, such a large change going on, taking place in Israel. You gave us an update of the current situation in Israel right now.

What I'd like to do for our follow-up time this week, David, is just to start to step back a little bit and look at this from an overall perspective. And I know you agree with me. We were talking about it before I came on air. Since October 7th, 2023, and the attack from Hamas on the Israeli citizens there around Gaza, everything has changed, and nobody could have seen these events taking place. What I'd like to do is to bring up a few names for you, David, and we can look at who is, we can say winners and losers.

I'm not saying that flippantly. Who has benefited from what has taken place? Since then, and who has been hurt or has not benefited? And so, we'll start with that group that started this whole thing. We'll start with Hamas, Yahya Sinwar.

You talked about him, the slain leader there of Hamas, so who was the architect of the attack? Can you tell us where does Hamas stand since October 7th, 2023?

Well, Rick, you could say that they are encouraged this week that the Syrian regime has been taken over by fellow Sunni fundamentalist Muslims. That share their thoughts and ideology in every way. But of course, Syria is likely to be a basket case for some time. Half of their cities. are down.

Most of the military has been dismantled. The Israeli Navy has taken out most of their naval force. Their airports have been bombed. The central bank isn't functioning. Schools hadn't been functioning for some years in several places.

The civil war had already disrupted life greatly.

So it's going to take some time to sip through the ashes and see what happens there. But in one way, the Hamas group is getting a new ally in the new Syrian regime in place of Assad. But who knows? Who knows how long it will take them to gain control of the country? And even if they do, Rick, unless Turkey invades or Russia, now we got to talk about that.

They're both very much involved in this conflict. Of course, the US in the east has forces, eastern Syria. We have the Druze in the north. We have a lot of conflicting interests, Islamic State there.

So, Hamas, we just don't know, but we know that they themselves in Gaza have been decimated. And as I said, their two remaining leaders. Are underground. They've been underground literally, but we don't know where they are. They don't seem to have any influence anymore.

And it's just basically little groups of Hamas spiders that are roaming around and launching attacks on the remaining Israeli soldiers. But it really looks like now Hamas will have no choice but to accept. A ceasefire and that Israel will have pretty favorable terms, Rick, because they have clearly won this war. Hamas made a huge huge mistake doing what they did just over a year ago. And now the entire axis of resistance, quote unquote, is under tremendous strain all the way from Tehran to Yemen to, of course, Syria and Israel itself.

Well, Dave, we have to take a break right now, but I would like to continue to discuss the fortunes of these major players in the Middle East since October 7th. Can you hang on with us through the break? I'd be glad to. Every time there is a conflict in and around Israel, many see it as a sign of the quickly approaching end times. The problem with this is that we may eventually tire of the conflict in Israel so much so that we will not recognize when true, prophetically significant events occur.

Conflict in Israel is not necessarily a sign of the end times, but it does indicate that God's word will be fulfilled, and over a third of his word is prophetic in nature.

Well, we've got to take a break and we'll come back. David Dolan will take a look at who the winners and losers are right here on Prophecy Today Weekend. I'm Luth Kramer with Mission Network News. The United Nations Human Rights Committee is urging Pakistan to amend or repeal the country's blasphemy laws. The committee noted an increase in false blasphemy accusations that often lead to mob justice.

Nia Maya with FMI says: legal reform is good, but true change in Pakistan will only come through transformed hearts in the gospel. FMI supports local church planters representing Jesus in their communities. Pray for the people of Pakistan to embrace peace in Christ. And despite being technically illegal in Iran, satellite TV is used by millions of Iranians. It's a powerful gospel outreach strategy used by Transform Iran.

CEO Lana Soak says it offers a safe, anonymous way to learn about Christ. She estimates that more than half of the Iranians who reach out to Transform Iran say their first contact was a satellite TV program. Find your place in the story at missionnews.org. Mission Network News, the Service of One-Way Ministries. I'm Luth Kramer.

Well, I'm back with journalist Dave Dolan, and we've been discussing the quote-unquote winners and losers: who benefits and who loses in this current shake-up that is unlike ones that we have ever seen almost in the Middle East here. And let's continue. We'll talk about the nations surrounding Syria right now. Let's talk about Turkey. It seems to me like they are thrilled with what's going on.

Well, Rick, we know prophetically that some of the people named as coming against Israel in the final battles of history, the Gog and Magog War, will include Turkey.

So, whether they now try to take over all of Syria, that's a real possibility. They've got a standing army of almost half a million soldiers, Rick. They've got a massive air force. Of course, they're a NATO ally. They've got the latest U.S.

equipment, whereas almost all of Syria. Russian supply chains, jets, the Sukhoys, and the MiGs. Have been destroyed in the last week by Israel. A lot of them weren't even working. They also destroyed a good portion of their helicopter fleet and almost all of their air defense system.

So Turkey is coming into an open field, basically. And they have said, Erdogan has said he wants the Ottoman Empire back. He wants to be the new caliph, the new head of the whole thing, and that includes Jordan and Israel and Lebanon and really even parts of Egypt, Gaza, et cetera.

So who knows? He may well try to do that at this time. And Turkish forces are actively fighting right now in the north of Syria against the Kurds, who they consider a great enemy. Of course, they've been fighting them for years and suppressing them in southeast Turkey.

So Turkey is definitely a country to watch. You mentioned the Gog Magog war.

Well, that is the area that we believe is where Russia is right now. And Russia has certainly been affected by this. Of course, they have their own situation with Ukraine and their having enormous expenses to to keep up with that war and what they have done there. And uh it seems like they're a bit of a loser when you look at their uh backing of the Assad regime and the way it crumbled so quickly and they could do nothing about it. Tell us how Russia is affected in this.

Well, Rip, the new regime in uh Damascus is definitely not a friend of Russia's. They are Muslim fundamentalists. Al-Qaeda. ISIS, Islamic State, et cetera, they are definitely against communism. They don't want to see Russia take over.

But on the other hand, they're not stupid, presumably. They know that the two Russian bases in North West Syria are very, very important to. Moscow. They have no other warm water ports On the Mediterranean, Rick, with the loss of Libya and Qaddafi and one or two other things over the years. Of course, they used to be in Egypt, but that's long since changed.

So Rick, their warm water port in Tartus is not going to be overrun by these militant groups that have just taken over Damascus. That was easy to do. They can't take over Syria's main naval base in the Mediterranean and also their air base. Nearby in the Takia, which of course is the center of the Alawite zone in Syria, so it remains pro-government, as it were. It remains under the control of the former regime, more or less.

But again, they're not going to go in there and try to take on that base, I wouldn't think.

So Russia will still have a foothold. Whether they oppose Turkey if Turkey tries to take over is going to be something to watch. But we do know eventually they'll be united, as you said, in their war against Israel. But this is probably another indication that we're not on the cusp of that, as some have felt in recent years, that there's more to take place before that final invasion happens. But it could happen quickly.

We're in the nuclear era, so anything can happen.

Well, scriptures also say in Ezekiel thirty eight that Persia, which is modern day Iran, is going to be involved in this war.

Now you've already mentioned them in your report. Their influence has been decreased, it would seem, with their proxies' failures in Hamas and Hezbollah. Can you tell us where Iran stands right now?

Well, Rick, not only with their proxies failures, but of course, Israel has gone into Iranian territory twice now, and the last one a major success, taking out a good portion of Iran's air defense system supplied by Russia. and taking out almost all of Syria's air defense systems. means, as they're saying in the Israeli media, the skies are now open between Israel and Iran. There's Iraq doesn't have any sort of forces that could really oppose it. Israel destroyed most of the radars.

That Iran had in Syria and Iraq during the past couple weeks They can fly in.

So now would be the time to take on their nuclear program. And we have continued press reports in Israel that they are speeding up their enrichment process in Tehran. They're rushing now to get nuclear capability.

So it looks very likely, especially with Donald Trump coming in, reports the Wall Street Journal said Friday that the new White House will back Israel fully if it takes on Iran and may even initiate something itself. Of course, them trying to assassinate Donald Trump, according to U.S. officials.

So Iran is sitting in a very precarious place. Again, we know that Persia, Iran, will be part of the final battle against Israel. But again, another indication that it's not imminent by any means. They've been wounded pretty poorly. But of course, they're also a very proud people and a very large country, 10 times the size of Israel population-wise, and much larger than that land-wise.

And they won't disappear. They've got a lot of oil, and they still got that alliance with Russia. They're selling oil to China, North Korea.

So they're not going to disappear, but we may see their nuclear program. set back or destroyed even in the next, I would say the next couple of months.

Well, you're alluding to the fact that I would imagine that Israel might be the one responsible for destroying their nuclear program, which has been a stated goal of Prime Minister Netanyahu. For my final question for you today, I'd like to ask you, Israel was the victim on october seventh. They were the ones that were attacked, and they were on their heels for a little while, but they have certainly demonstrated the ability to protect themselves, to defend themselves. Can you talk to us in this final question about how Israel has been affected over the last year and then especially with what has taken place in Syria?

Well, Rick, beginning with the Gulf War in nineteen ninety one, when President Bush, the father, told Shamir, the Israeli Prime Minister, sit on your hands If Saddam hits you with scuds, we'll respond. You don't. And that's what happened, of course. 39 officials, GUDs, more than that actually, were fired at Israel, and they never on the ground responded, in the air responded. And that was considered to be a grave strategic mistake by many at the time, including the defense minister of Israel at the time.

So they feel like for decades now their credence, their credibility has been eroded. The debacle in Lebanon that ended with Israel's rather humiliating pullout in the year 2000, the first and second uprisings, the forced pullout from Gaza, on and on, that these have all weakened Israel in the region in the eyes of their enemies. And now, in just a few weeks, But definitely over the last year, that has changed But nobody, but nobody thought a year ago that Hammas Hezbollah and Syria and Iran would all be basically neutralized as enemies of Israel, or at least not neutralized maybe, but at least. taken off the immediate table of threat.

So we were expecting a three or four front attack, and that's what we got. But we were expecting it to be much more massive, much more deadly.

So we can only thank God that Israel's come through this. Not only alive and thriving, but Israel. should be celebrating Victory Day. This is a victorious time for Israel, and it's the resilience of the people, the resilience of the country, but of course also the fact that the God of Israel lives, exists, and is defending his people, he who keeps Israel, Hashomer Isael, the God of Israel. Neither slumbers nor sleeps.

And I think we've seen that over the last year, and we'll continue to see that. A lot of pain still ahead, a lot of pain over the last year. This isn't over, but definitely the light is at the end of the tunnel. Dave Dolan, reporting for Prophecy Today. Dave, as always, we appreciate your knowledge, but also your passion for Israel and your passion for helping our people understand what's taking place in the world, especially as it relates to Bible prophecy.

Dave, thanks so much. We look forward to talking to you again soon. I'm very glad to do it, Rick. God bless. Great job, as always, David.

Remember, there is much turmoil in the Middle East today. Israel is persecuted, surrounded by enemies: Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah. And they're all new characters now that are involved. And it's really yet to be seen what will take place and how Ezekiel 38 will unfold. But this hatred and persecution of Israel is only a hint of what will happen in the end times.

Matthew 24:15 to 21 gives us much information about what will take place in the future. The latest round of persecution really began. Many people believe when Israel was reconstituted as a nation in 1948. Remember, it was dispersed in 70 AD, came back again 2,000 years, almost 2,000 years later, 1948. And many believe that, you know, Bible passed.

Prophecy scholars even begin the ending of all of this, the beginning of the end with the Arab-Israeli war in 1967.

Well, we're witnessing many things that are taking place now. Could what is taking place today in Israel indicate that the end is near? No, Jesus himself said it best. Watch out that no one deceives you. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed.

Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Matthew 24, verses 4 to 6.

Well, we're going to continue, and we've brought in our good friend Colonel Bob McGinnis, who has got a lot of connections in Washington, D.C., in Foggy Bottom, and you'll know all about that, the Pentagon, many things like that. Rick, let's bring in Colonel McGinnis and let's find out, get his analysis of what's taking place.

Well, that's right, Jimmy. I have retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Bob McGinnis. He's a frequent contributor to this program. Colonel McGinnis, we appreciate you taking the time to be with us today.

My pleasure.

Well, Colonel McGinnis, we wanted to get your thoughts on just a couple of things today, the main one being Russia with the recent events that have taken place, the fall of Syria, what's going on in Ukraine, and even the election win of President-elect Trump. Can you talk a little bit about the status of Russia right now?

Well, there are a host of things going on with Russia, China, the Middle East, and obviously our interest in all three. Russia, of course, has had for a long time a close relationship with Bash. which explains why he is now in exile in Moscow. The Russians have an air force base and certainly a naval facility in Syria. And at this point, they continue to operate, though that may come to an end at some future point, subject to the new government that's eventually going to form in Syria.

Yeah, I I would caution people to expect more chaos. Clearly, the various disparate groups that have overtaken Damascus, overtaken Syria, do not necessarily align themselves ideologically, though they shared a common interest, and that is the defeat of Bashur Saad and the takedown of Damascus and his government, and the military did fade in or Exited the country.

However, the diversity of groups like ISIS, Islamic State, mostly in the East, the various groups that are aligned with Turkey, other groups that are aligned in the past with Al-Qaeda, and so forth, they share not a lot in common as far as long-term interests. There could come a time in which they put down their arms and collaborate. I think only after a significant time to come will that happen, if it happens at all. Chaos would probably prevail. We've seen this.

Same scenario played out. Certainly in Libya. Arguably elsewhere in North Africa and the Middle East. And so it's. likely going to have to find some sort of modicum of peace or stability before we see the the threats against Israel, the threats against their other neighbors come to fruition and settle into something that we call a state.

I think Russia, though, is certainly trying to read the tea leaves here. Iran, I would argue, is probably hurt the most. Because they had a great relationship with Bashar Assad, using him as a conduit to push arms mostly to Hezbollah and Lebanon. And of course IRGC has used portions of Syria as a training camp for jihadist going elsewhere.

So you've got a volatile mixture there. And the history of the that part of the world, as everyone that's listening to this program knows, is not terribly encouraging about long term peace.

Well, specifically as it relates to Russia, so they have lost at least a little bit of influence there because Assad was essentially their man there and their main ally.

So now we turn our attention back to Russia at home. It looks like things are heading towards potential negotiations with Zelensky and Ukraine to potentially end this Russia-Ukraine crisis. What I would like to know from you, what does Vladimir Putin especially what does he need here? I mean, is he so firmly entrenched that it really doesn't matter what happens, or does he need a victory? Can you talk a little bit about how you think these negotiations will go?

Well, the Russian military of late has been very aggressive in the Donbas area in the eastern part of the country and throwing virtually everything that it has at retaking portions of the East so that they can bring some sort of stability, perhaps, to Two. the negotiation tables that I'm sure mister Trump is pushing Zelensky to embrace No doubt that the Trump administration will push Putin using a variety of State craft. tools To compel him to come to some sort of negotiated end. of the war. And of course, Zelensky sees the prospect of us under a Trump administration of cutting off You know, lethal aid, which you know, he can't continue to fight the fight and.

The balance of the NATO allies are not necessarily all that reliable when it comes to a con constant flow of arms that are required to sustain operations. And beside the fact that the Ukraine uh has you know a high desertion rate, um doesn't you know Enlist Slash draft. eighteen to twenty five year olds.

So their population is being drained rapidly, as is the the Russian population. But of course, it's a vastly larger country with far more resources. And of course, they do have the backing of their erstwhile allies in Tehran, in Penguin and, of course, in Beijing. And so you put all that together. We can be hopeful for a peaceful resolution in the not too distant future.

But at this point, it's just hope. I don't think that we have anything solid. And if we did have something solid, I think there'd be more rejoicing in especially Eastern Europe.

Well, I'm speaking with retired Lieutenant Colonel Bob McGinnis. Bob, one of the reasons we love to have you on this program is not only for your insight on world events, and much of that comes from your time spent in the Pentagon and in the Army, but you are also an author and you have many books. And I just wanted to, if we look at just a few of these books, one of the later ones, Divided We Stand: The Globalist Scheme for a One World Government, Kings of the East, China's Plan to Eliminate America and Impose a Communist World Order. You have a book called The Deeper State, which talks about the deep state.

So I mentioned these books, for one, I think our listeners would be very interested in looking at them, and you could find them at Amazon.com if you're interested. But also, these are all of the issues that this incoming Trump administration is going to be facing. You talked about that a little bit. President Trump, our president-elect Trump, is assembling a team, starting with the traditional, maybe like Marco Rubio, the Senator. From Florida, who is going to be the Secretary of State, but then some non-traditional picks as well.

Could you talk about the team he's assembling and what you think about it and how he's going to be able to face these threats and issues that are going to be facing him when he comes into office? Yeah, Rick, be glad to. Yeah, I have twelve published books. and many other contributions and other books as well as um a thousand or so published articles. My new book, which just came out, is Preparing for World War three, a global conflict that redefines tomorrow.

And that kind of lays out the the agenda, I would argue, as to what Mr. Trump faces geopolitically around the world. And therefore, his team that he's bringing to The administration beginning the twentieth of January is so critical that they be prepared for that.

So you have a representative, a former representative, Waltz Uh special forces Army guy has taken over as national security advisor to the president. You know, all of these people for the most part, like myself, have uh been on Fox News, you know, for a long time. And so most of your listeners are likely who do watch Fox are likely to know what they look like and some of their thoughts. Certainly Rubio will be, I think, a good choice because of his international focus and his expertise in Washington. And I would argue, you know, Marco is a pretty good diplomat in dealing with our international partners.

And you've got to be. This is a volatile world, and a lot of dangers out there. And you can't go in there with your eyes closed. State Department or Foggy Bottom is just a quagmire of deep staters. And of course, my book, The Deeper State, which was applauded with a personal letter from Mr.

Trump years ago, recognizes how well established the Deep State is within the Washington administrative state. It's not just the people inside the buildings, but it's the network of people outside on Case Street and elsewhere throughout the region that have a a a grasp and a control to a certain degree over the the think tank you know, the lobbying and so forth throughout the national capital region. And there's many of the darker pieces that I've been talking about and have published about for the years.

So that's important. It's interesting that Tulsi Gabbard, you know, it's going to be a challenge as the DNI, but I'm sure she's up to the task. She has Washington experience as well as some military background that's going to be helpful. helpful. Arguably Intel expert, but I'm not sure at the policy level you need to do that.

Probably most notable is Pete Hexeth.

Now When I was the Vice President of the Family Research Council, Pete was my intern. And a lot of people uh don't know that, but I've known Pete since uh he was uh a basketball player at Princeton many years ago. And uh and of course Pete has been on national news and as a Fox News commentator and and host uh for Fox uh family and friends in the morning and so forth.

So he has a really an uphill battle, not just for confirmation, which I think he'll eventually get. Um Pete is an open Christian. Uh having gone through some Some tough times in the past, but from what I can tell, he's overcome those and has put his trust in Christ, which is absolutely critical. What's important for someone such as Pete going into the Pentagon is he didn't have any Pentagon experience. And it's a it's a very tough place to to jump into the middle of.

Uh I was there all day yesterday, I'm there every week. Uh I know the bureaucracy More than most, because of my twenty-five years in the in the building. It it's uh you talk about it in administrative state, uh bureaucracy par excellence, that's the Pentagon. But so is much of the federal government. And of course You know, th that that's the environment that I've had.

been associated with for 50 years since my mother was on Capitol Hill and worked in the Ford White House. And our relationships have been involved, let's say, throughout this region.

So I'm optimistic that we have some great people from the Trump administration that are going into positions of authority. Uh it's They need to break through the upper crust though. And what I mean by that is that you have many, many layers that are well entrenched, that have to be. Addressed. You can't just expect that an order is going to be given by a secretary level, a Tom Holman or a Pete Hexeth or Tulsi Gabbert, and expect that to be executed the way you want it two or three or four levels down.

So you have to have a team of people that are of like mind, that are willing to go in there and really shake things up. But they have to know how the organization functions. It's like how does an automobile function? You have to have the means of trying. tracking the changes that you want to make and cause those changes to actually happen using the right mechanisms.

And unless you understand the inner workings of that automobile/slash government, you're not going to be successful. And so that's my prayer that the Trump White House and their personnel understand the necessity to have deep Um Placements. That understand the inner workings because we can't reinvent these incredibly complex. uh organizations and the all the things that they do uh just by uh hoping for it or putting someone at the top that you know Can Projects solid sound bites. It's far more tough than you know the what you're going to see on the nightly news.

So Uh I that would be my advice if Mr. Trump were listening, is to y you've you've got to go deep. Uh 'cause I know what people uh all over the staffs And the Pentagon alone has, what, 22,000, 23,000 people that work there. Um that most people have no idea. All these little groups that are all over that building.

And that's a different story. I could write a book literally about those types of things. It's an interesting situation. Time will tell whether or not Mr. Trump gets all his nominees.

Kind will tell whether or not they perceive the the complexity of the task and and are able to Uh insert the right Experience in there. Other than the projections that Mr. Trump has made from the stump and the people that are mostly solid. Citizens are placed into positions of great authority, but. getting that realized is going to be a challenge, to say the least.

Retired Lieutenant Colonel Bob McGinnis. Fascinating to hear your thoughts, both because of your experience, but also your insider perspective there.

Well, we will continue to rely on you to keep us updated on this process, both before the inauguration and afterwards. We appreciate what you do coming on this program, keeping our listeners informed. We look forward to talking to you again soon. Thanks, Rick. Have a great day.

Well, we've got to take a break, and when we come back, Dr. Jimmy DeYoung in the Legacy Series, talking about those shepherds in the shepherds' fields. Right here on Prophecy Today, weekend. 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. I really love the legacy series that we've been doing all the month of December, Rick. And it is looking at the interesting events that took place around Christmas time. We looked at the month of December. We looked at the date of December 25th.

This week we're going to be looking at the shepherds in Shepherd's Fields. Rick, it's a great series, isn't it? It sure is, Jimmy. And we've talked about it many times, and half of the prophecies that were in the Bible point towards that event that took place, the most important event in all of history, the arrival of Jesus Christ to the earth. And we've been in Shepherd's Fields and rehearsed that many times, haven't we?

We sure have. And we're going to have a special offer. That's right, Jimmy. We have the DVD called The Bethlehem Beyond the Christmas story, and we talk about what took place at the Shepherd's Fields during that time, the arrival of Christ's birth. If that's something that you would like, if you call our office at 423-825-6247, we would love to give that DVD to you for a donation of.

Any amount. And Jimmy, these last two weeks, the end of the year, this is when we receive a large amount of our support. And we greatly appreciate the support of our listeners. It's what keeps this ministry going. If you appreciate this ministry and the ministry of prophecy today overall, if you would consider giving to us at this time of the year, we would greatly appreciate it.

You go to our website, prophecytoday.com. And like I said, Jimmy, if you call our office, 423-825-6247, let us show our appreciation by giving you Bethlehem Beyond the Christmas story or any DVD that you might like for your gift of any amount. Prophecytoday.com, and we thank you in advance for you prayerfully considering giving to our ministry. In our past studies, we studied how Zacharias and Elizabeth would have John, John the Baptist, who would be the forerunner to the Messiah Jesus Christ. And then we looked at December 25th.

Was that the day, the true day, that Jesus Christ was born? This week, we want to focus on. On the shepherds. There were shepherds there in the shepherds' fields just outside the little village of Bethlehem. Who were they?

And what is the significance of where they were there in the shepherd's fields? And by the way, why were they there in the shepherd's fields?

Well, we will look at all of that as we continue our study today, and we're going to be looking at the book of Luke chapter 2, verse 8. As we continue our study of interesting details and facts about the Christmas story, I want to focus in on the shepherds. They were key players in the Christmas story. I want to talk about the shepherds, who they were, where they were located, and why were they there? Naturally you expect to find shepherds in the shepherds' fields where the sheep are being kept.

Most of the time, these were bedouins or nomads. That's the case throughout the Middle East today. These shepherds, these bedouins and nomads, will wander from place to place, mostly in the desert, in search of grass for their sheep. You know, that's still the case today. You can travel throughout the land of the Bible and see shepherds in field after field across the countryside.

It is amazing to do a study on these shepherds. They know how to care for lambs. Lambs are very dumb animals. In fact, there's a wonderful story told about how one shepherd had to break the leg of one of his lambs in order to teach him discipline, so that he would be able to keep the flock together and keep them from going into harm's way. There's an interesting parallel that Jesus Christ has with the shepherds, and that is told in the book of Psalm chapter 23.

The Lord is my shepherd. In fact, there are a number of passages in the Bible where you can read about shepherds. But on that night of the birth of Jesus Christ the shepherds were in the shepherds' fields there just outside the little village of Bethlehem. When we go to the text, Luke two now this is one of four chapters in the Bible, Psalm one hundred and sixty eight verses, that give us the details and the facts about that Christmas night some two thousand years ago. Here in Luke two and verse eight we read that there were indeed in that same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And lo, the angel of the LORD came unto them, and the glory of the LORD shone round about them. And they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Now notice verse twelve here in Luke chapter two. And the angel said unto the shepherds, And this shall be a sign unto you.

Now let me stop right there just for a moment. For many years I had difficulty understanding what the sign was. The text reads following that statement by the angel, that ye shall find the babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in the manger.

Now, you know, I really don't understand how that could be a sign.

However, these shepherds, after receiving the announcement of the birth of Jesus Christ, went with haste to find Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. That's verse sixteen of Luke chapter two. This was indeed a sign that is a key component of understanding how Bible prophecy laid out every single detail for the birth of the Messiah, the true Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Next week we'll get more into the study of how this was a sign to those shepherds there in the shepherds' fields. Let me think with you just a few moments about who were these shepherds. First of all, they were not little boys, or they weren't even teenagers. You might think as you travel through the Middle East and you see all the shepherds as little boys, maybe in their early or late teens, these are the shepherds that would have been in the fields there that night of the birth of Jesus Christ. You see, these shepherds were also trained as priests that would operate in the temple.

Every one of these men had to study for twenty eight years. They would study from two years of age all the way to thirty when they would qualify to be the priest, and they would study the book of Leviticus. In the book of Leviticus they would learn how to do the sacrificial activities at the temple, that's the first seven chapters of Leviticus. Then they would learn the standard that they would have to meet to be a priest in the temple. That was chapters eight, nine, ten, and eleven of the book of Leviticus.

Finally, from chapters twelve through twenty seven, they would understand how to worship in a temple, which was a key responsibility for all of these priests.

However, the priests that were out there in the shepherds' fields that night, they were priestly shepherds with a different responsibility than operating the temple there three miles away from the shepherds' fields. These priestly shepherds were there to watch over the sheep that had a destiny at the temple. Before I get to that, let's think a moment. Where were these shepherds fields? The shepherd's fields were just outside the little town of Bethlehem in the area of Bethlehem Euphrida.

Now, that's required by the book of Micah, chapter five and verse two, because the birth of the true Messiah, Jesus Christ, had to take place in the little town of Bethlehem.

So these shepherds fields were right outside the little village of Bethlehem. I myself have stood right there in those shepherds' fields in the nighttime, looking across those fields over to the lights of the little village of Bethlehem, and had my mind go back some two thousand years as if I was a shepherd, one of those priestly shepherds there in the shepherd's fields. By the way, these shepherd's fields are the same location where Jacob pitched his tent after he buried his wife Rachel, who had just given birth to their last son Benjamin, there in Bethlehem, Euphrida. The text tells us in the book of Genesis, chapter thirty five, that Jacob left the burial site, went back towards Jerusalem, and on the road between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, which is only a three mile trip, there Jacob pitched his tent at a place called Migdal Mikdal Adar, or translated from the Hebrew, the Tower of the Flock, is a very important location in the fulfillment of Bible prophecy as it relates to the first coming of Jesus Christ. This will also be a part of our study next time we get together.

You know, as you read the book of Ruth, you'll find out that these were also the fields of Boaz. Boaz was the kinsman redeemer who actually redeemed Ruth, and made her a part of the lineage to the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Ruth was the great grandmother of David, the son of Jesse, who was a shepherd in these same fields. A lot of activity had taken place in this location before that eventful night of the birth of the Messiah Jesus Christ. Let me remind you who these shepherds were.

They were priestly shepherds there in the shepherds' fields in the area of the little town of Bethlehem. But the question still remains, why were these priestly shepherds in these fields? Priestly shepherds had the responsibility of watching over the lambs. You may recall I Samuel seventeen, which is a record of David the little shepherd boy, who would actually become one day a king of Israel. And the record indicates that he had to watch over his father's sheep there in the shepherd's fields, and one day he went out and had to kill a bear and a lion in order to protect his sheep.

Well, these priestly shepherds had that same responsibility to protect these sheep because they were very special sheep. They were lambs that would be sacrificed at the temple some three miles away. You see, these priestly shepherds were serving there in the shepherd's fields because the shepherd's fields were the holding pin for the sacrificial lambs to be offered at the temple. They had to be without blemish and without spot. They must be protected so they could be presented as a pure sacrifice at the temple.

In addition to watching over these lambs that were destined to be sacrificed at the temple, these priestly shepherds would give birth to the newborn lambs as well, and they would do that at Migdal Adar.

Now I'm getting ahead of myself in the story and I need to wait next week to see how Migdal Adar plays into the Christmas story as we look at the interesting details and facts about the birth of the Messiah Jesus. Jesus Christ. Let me just remind you that these priestly shepherds had the responsibility of watching over these lambs that would be indeed sacrificed at the temple. It was on that Christmas night, over two thousand years ago, when these priestly shepherds in the fields just outside the little village of Bethlehem would receive the announcement from the angels that would announce the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Again, let me go to the text, Luke chapter 2, and this time, verse 9.

And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon these shepherds, and the glory of the Lord shone around about them, and these shepherds were sore afraid. The angel said unto them, Fear not. For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. These angels then announced to the shepherds, And this shall be a sign unto you.

And with haste these shepherds went to find the newborn babe, the Messiah, Emmanuel, God with us, the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, let me remind you that these shepherds' fields were the holding pin for the sacrificial lambs. And on that night, the shepherd's fields would become the holding pin for the sacrificial lamb. Uh Jesus was the sacrificial lamb. He gave his life for you and for me.

Jesus indeed is the reason for the season. He brings to all of us the gift of salvation, which is a free gift in fact, the best gift that any of us could ever receive. You know you can receive that gift of eternal life, that gift of salvation from Jesus Christ, and you can do it to day. All that is needed is for you, as I did when I was eleven years old, to admit that we're sinners and we are in the need of a Saviour. then we need to believe that Jesus Christ, who was born some two thousand years ago, came to this earth to be the ultimate sacrifice for all of sin.

He died, He was buried, but three days later He rose from the dead to give us eternal life. All we need to do is call upon Him to save us. Romans ten thirteen says Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. What a gift we can receive at this Christmastime. Thank you, Doctor de Young.

And if you did make a decision to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour this Christmas, please send us an email at Jimmy Junior at Prophecy Today dot com. We would love to hear from you, and we have a special gift for you as you start to grow as a new born Christian.

Next week on the broadcast, we'll find out more about what that sign was all about that the angels gave to the shepherds there in the shepherd's fields. Hope you can join us next week as we study more interesting details and facts that are related to the Christmas story. We have to take a break. We'll be right back right here on Proxy Today weekend. I'm Ruth Kramer with Mission Network News.

The UN Human Rights Committee is urging Pakistan to amend or repeal its blasphemy laws. FMI's Nehemiah says. The problem is not really a blasphemy. law or the constitution. Of Pakistan.

The problem is that. The people of Pakistan, Muslims of Pakistan. They have become extremists. The mobism, where a mob just goes and burns. Christian houses or kill Christians in Pakistan.

This is the major problem. Because critics urge that the laws are frequently Exploited for personal vendettas, leading to false accusation and mob violence. Pray ultimately for changed hearts in the gospel. And then, despite being technically illegal in Iran, satellite TV is being used by millions of Iranians. Here's what makes it such a powerful gospel tool.

Transform Iran's Law, and Silk says: imagine what it's like for an Iranian Muslim who's curious about Jesus. They'll be looking for a way to safely explore without being detected. And the only way to truly do that is either TV or radio. Silk estimates that more than half of the Iranians who connect with them say that their first contact was a satellite TV program. And you can be part of this.

Catch the vision for this gospel tool to close countries like Iran, where Silk says: We can't walk the streets, we can't have open meetings, we have to use digital media to open that conversation.

So pray for us, help us raise awareness for the need, and go and partner with us. Find your place in this story at missionnews.org. Thanks for listening to Mission Network News, a service of one-way ministries. This month, the Slavic Gospel Association is making available the free book Much Prayer, Much Power, by Peter Dyneka, SGA's founder. It's a resource aimed at making your prayer life more vibrant.

Get your free copy when you click on the banner ad at missionnews.org. I'm Luth Kramer.

Welcome back to Prophecy Today. I'm Jimmy DeYoung Jr., and Rick and I have been taking a look at current events in the light of God's prophetic word.

Well, this has been a packed program today. In fact, our last interview that we have, we're going to put in the look at the book section where we usually take a look back at the things we've talked about. But I thought this was so very important. The world has seen the pictures of Baby Jesus at the Vatican. The Pope is there, and baby Jesus is laying on a Kafia in a manger.

So we thought it would be very important to get our good friend, Mike Jendren, back on the program today.

Well, that's right, Jimmy. I have Mike Gendren on the line from proclaimingthegospel.org ministries. Mike spent 35 years in the Catholic Church, an intense study. He discovered the gospel and now is a born-again Christian. Mike, as always, we appreciate you being on the program.

Thanks. for being with us today.

Well, it's always good to be with you, Rick.

Well, Mike, I got a couple things I want to talk to you about. One of them is your newsletter, and I want to share that with our listeners and how they can get involved with it and how important it is. But before I do that, I want to start. We've talked many times about this current Pope and how he is very different than many of the past popes for a lot of different reasons. And again, he made news this week.

He debuted a nativity scene, a nativity scene from Bethlehem, an olive wood neutrality. Scene, nothing crazy there until you realize that Jesus Christ was sitting on a Palestinian kefiya, which is the symbol of the Palestinian quote-unquote resistance. Anyways, I was wondering if I could get your thoughts on this situation and on what this pope did.

Well, sure. It's amazing, Rick. Every time you look up the POCAs making some bizarre statement that goes against historic Roman Catholicism or even goes against the Bible. But in this particular case, for him to lay the baby Jesus on a kifah, It just shows that his leaning is pro-Palestinian because uh Roman Catholicism historically has been anti-Semitic. In fact, many of the reformers were anti-Semitic when they came out of the Catholic Church and discovered the gospel.

And so when you look at what's happening there in Bethlehem, It's not surprising because Number one is pushing forward his ecumenical agenda, so he wants to include the Palestinians and his global church But on the other hand, it's also showing that since the Palestinians are at odds with Israel, it's showing that He favors the Palestinians over Israel since The Roman Catholic Church has been anti-Semitic. And maybe your listeners aren't even aware of this, but it has prophetic implications. The Roman Catholic Church did not recognize Israel as a sovereign nation until over 50 years after 1948. And that's because they believe that the Catholic Church has replaced Israel as the chosen people of God. And so this carries on today, even with this Pope's announcement today with the Kifa and the baby Jesus in the manger.

When we look at that situation, that Kifah, some could say, and it seems that it represents that Jesus was a Palestinian and not a Jew, which is entirely not correct. It's complete wrong doctrine. And it's not of the scripture as well.

So again, this emphasizes the anti-Semitic aspect of the Catholic Church as well as the differences that they have in eschatology. As you said, in their minds, they have replaced Israel, and this is just an example of that, isn't it? It really is. you know, this Pope, uh, the Catholic Church doesn't know what to do with him because He is said to be infallible when he speaks from the chair of Peter. Of course, nobody knows.

What that means, because rarely does he ever sit on the chair of Peter anymore. But his bizarre statements go against historic Roman Catholicism. as well as going against the Bible.

So Clearly Jesus was a Jew. If the Pope would just read his scriptures, he wouldn't be confused.

Well, I appreciate your insight on that subject. Before I let you go, I just have a couple of things from your most recent newsletter. And again, if I could encourage all of our listeners to go to proclaimingthegospel.org, you'll see several of the materials and content that Mike has put together for those that are interested. And also to sign up for the newsletter. And you had a couple of great stories.

You had a question and answer section, which was a very frank question and answer series. And I'm certainly glad you put that in there. It was very informative. And you also talked appropriate for this Christmas season, the condescension and exaltation of Jesus. Can you talk a little bit about that as we prepare for Christmas?

Well, sure. It's really amazing when Jesus descended from the highest point of heaven. to take on human flesh and then became sin for his people. was crucified and was raised again and ascended back into heaven. to receive the name above all names.

So we went from Condescension to exaltation. And it's given so clearly in Philippians 2, verses 5 to 9. The eternal Son of God emptied Himself and took on the form of a bondservant and was made in the likeness of men. He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death on a cross. For this reason God exalted him and and bestowed on him the name which is above every name.

And so man's perfect God became God's perfect man in order to save his people from their sins. He had to be like his brethren in all things so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest. In things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of his people. deity and humanity came together in perfect unity, And he was born a man so that man could be born of God. It just is so beautiful to see the gospel and how.

the attributes of God remain in perfect harmony Rick, this is just so amazing because It it really sounds finds its place in the infinite profound wisdom of God. the only way he could be just and righteous and holy and at the same time let centers go free. to demonstrate his love, mercy and grace is to have his son become a man, a perfect man, so that he could die as a substitute for sinners. And so that's what we celebrate this Christmas season the glorious Savior we have in Christ Jesus. What a wonderful and timely message as we prepare for Christmas.

Well, Mike Gendren, again from proclaiming thegospel.org. As always, we appreciate your insight. Appreciate you being on the program. Look forward to talking to you again soon.

Well, thanks and blessings to you this Christmas season. Great job, Mike. Thanks so much for being on the program today. Rick, great job. We had a power-pack program so much here.

And you might need to listen to the program again, but we want you to understand, folks, as you listen and you study God's Word, understand that the world that we are living in is changing and it's being conformed to what God wants it to be and His plan and how it's all going to work out. Keep studying God's Word because the rapture of the church cannot be far away. 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.