Welcome 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. Rick, Revelation 19, 19 comes to mind as I think about our program today. And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to make war against him who sat on the horse and against his army.
Rick, Revelation 19, 19 is at the end of the tribulation period. But yet as we sit here today, we see the armies and the kings of the earth coming together to make war, which has been Satan's plan from the very beginning. On today's program, Ken Timmerman, David Dolan, Colonel Bob McGinnis, because everything that we're discussing this week has to do with what's going on on the other side of the globe in the country of Iran.
Well, Rick, we've got a lot to cover, so let's get started with our first, Ken Timmerman.
Well, that's right, Jimmy. I have Ken Timmerman with us. He is our expert in geopolitical affairs. His latest book, The Iran House, is out right now. You can find out more about Ken by going to his website at ken Timmerman.com.
Ken, thanks for being with us. Thanks for having me on, Rick. It's always a pleasure.
Well, Ken, we'll start with Iran, of course, and there is word out right now that Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel and President Trump are at odds with each other because of Israel's selected targets. I think this is a bit overblown, Rick. The President was asked while the Japanese Prime Minister was in the Oval Office on Thursday if he had agreed to the Israeli strike on Iran's South Parse gas field. And he said no, we hadn't talked about it. But then I called Bibi and I said, I don't want this kind of thing to happen again.
So it appeared, and much of the media was trying to blow this up into some kind of huge dispute between Trump and Prime Minister. And I think that is way overblown. Israel is focusing on attacking targets that they think will accelerate the collapse of the regime. The U.S. is focusing on targets that will wipe out the regime's military capabilities, and in particular, their capability of closing the Strait of Hormuz.
These are two different mission sets, two different target sets. And I think that's really what led to this dispute. But the President also kept the door open. He said, if the Iranians strike back, And strike back at Qatar's gas resources, then we could completely wipe out their field.
Well, guess what, Rick? They did. The Iranians did respond by hitting the Qataris' half of that gas field.
So All bets are off now.
Well, President Trump has shown great leadership throughout this whole process, hasn't he? If Iran wanted to push around a president, they did not pick the right one.
Well, I think that's right. Look, we're entering the fourth week of this war on Sunday, and the Democrats and the media are behaving like kids in a car on vacation, you know, screaming to daddy, are we there yet? And no, we're not there yet. The President said at the very beginning this was an operation that could take four to six weeks. As I said, we're just entering week four on Sunday.
So we're a bit past the halfway mark, but we're definitely not there yet. The Iranians were hoping that they could push the U.S. around just as they have pushed around seven other presidents before Donald Trump. We've had 47 years of this regime, 47 years of terror attacks at the United States. Remember, it began with the taking of the U.S.
Embassy in Tehran in 1979. That got rid of President Jimmy Carter. He lost his re-election bid because of that. When Reagan was president, They continued those attacks. I was in Beirut in April of 1983 when they hit the U.S.
Embassy, and again in October when they hit the U.S. Marines and the French Marines, 241 Marines killed in Beirut by the Iranians. Those terror attacks have continued since then, Rick. They were taking our hostages in Lebanon, murdering hostages. Colonel Higgins, a U.S.
military officer in South Lebanon, the CIA station chief William Buckley, and it just kept going on. You got to Dahran 96 in Saudi Arabia, the Iranians, and again, the 9-11 attacks. I tell that story in my latest book, The Iran House. We've had 47 years of terror. And finally, a President who's willing to do something about it.
Can your analogy of politicians saying, Are we there yet? Are we there yet? I have young kids. I hear that a lot, and I've read a plethora of articles who's winning the war, are we winning the war? including one from Al Jazeera.
You know, it's kind of interesting. Al Jazeera, that we've called Jihad TV for years and years and years, because that's what they are. They've been pro-Hamas, pro-Muslim Brotherhood, anti-Israel, anti-America. There have been a number of opinion pieces on the Al Jazeera website over the past week praising President Trump and praising U.S. Israeli strategy against Iran, saying it's working.
Look, when Al Jazeera starts praising the war, you know that something has dramatically changed. And I think what's changed is that the Iranian regime has completely alienated Qatar, who has been one of their biggest allies for years. With their attacks on Qatar, I think they've basically demolished the home of their last rich uncle. And they're doing the same thing with the UAE and the rest of the Gulf states. There have been more drones and missiles against the UAE than against Israel.
Now, the United States has brought the venerable A-10 back to the battlefield along with Apache helicopters. They've joined the fight. These are significant additions because they're the kind of platform that is able to loiter over the battlefield. They're able to kind of watch and see when missiles pop up, when drone launchers pop up and take them out. They don't have to fly hours and hours to get there.
They're being launched from just across the Gulf. This is a big deal. We are going to intensify the targeting of Iran's military. This is what Pete Hakeseth said on Thursday. He said, Today we'll have the largest number of strikes that we've had in the war, just as yesterday we had the largest number before that.
We are accelerating, we are intensifying, we're bringing more assets to the battlefield.
So we're entering week four, and there's probably another two weeks. Ken, as we look at this situation, one of the things that would be one of the best outcomes that could happen is a regime change from the inside. Do you see any sign of that happening? I do, Rick. And I see that the Israelis, as I had mentioned earlier, are attacking political targets.
They've been hitting besiege roadblocks. They've been getting help from people inside Iran. And the Mossad has made that very clear. They've made some public statements about that. They've published phone numbers and internet sites and things where Iranians can send them the coordinates of bad guys getting together.
They go and verify that because they want to make sure they're not revenge killings. We saw that in France after World War II, right? In the beginning of the liberation, where people would turn in their neighbors who had been collaborators during the war but weren't necessarily part of the Nazi troops.
So Israel has been getting help from inside Iran. I've seen cracks in the Revolutionary Guards, the Basij, they're hiding, they're worried. The funniest thing is to watch these short videos of Iranians in automobiles approaching the roadblocks, and they play on the speakers of their car. They play the sound of a drone approaching, and they watch, they take video of the Basijis scattering as they're terrified of drones coming to take them out. That's just one sign among many, Rick, of what I think is going to be a regime collapse in the coming weeks.
Of course, according to the Iranian strategy of cutting their own nose off to spite their face, they continue to want to close the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump has a plan for that. Can you talk about that? Yes, and that obviously has to be dealt with before this war can end. We cannot end the war without restoring freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
And, you know, the response from our allies has been extraordinary. Belgium said earlier this week, it's not our war. Macron, Little Cookie, the president of France, was urging us to surrender, to negotiate with the regime.
Now, I might remind our listeners that France is the only country whose tanks have backup lights.
Now, they changed all of that on Thursday when the Japanese Premier came to visit Trump in the White House and signed a collective letter saying seven NATO allies, including Japan, saying they were ready to send assets, naval assets and others, to help restore freedom of navigation. I think that has Absolutely, got to be a priority now. The president understands that oil prices are. Key not just to his reelection effort, but to world security. And he's taken many steps this week, including releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Japan is going to release more oil. We're removing sanctions over Iranian oil that is actually already on the high seas.
So we'll let that get to China. All these things will calm the oil markets. I say to people every day: don't be a panican. Don't worry when you go to the gas pump to fill your car. This is temporary pain.
It's not going to last for long. And when those prices start to go back down, Rec, they're going to plummet very quickly. Final question in the little bit of time we have left. Even while this war is going on in the Middle East, the war between Russia and Ukraine continues on. Any news there?
Well, you know, the Ukrainians announced on Tuesday that they had the deadliest day of the war in terms of Russian losses. They said they had killed 1,700 Russian soldiers, 1,700 Russian soldiers. If that's true, it's astonishing, and it quite well could be true. They have been averaging. 700 to 900 Russian military deaths every day in this war.
It's just incredible. It's way more than we lost in Vietnam. And you've got to wonder, when does this war in Ukraine become Putin's Afghanistan? And I can't tell you when that's going to come. But remember, in Afghanistan, you had the mothers of soldiers demonstrating in Moscow, and that ultimately led to the Russian retreat.
We haven't seen that yet, but it could come.
So far, no peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. It's all been suspended because of the Iran war. But I think this situation is just worsening for Russia. Ken Timmerman reporting for Prophecy Today. Ken, as always, we appreciate your insight.
Look forward to talking to you again soon. Thanks so much, Rick. God bless. Great job, Ken. You know, we always talk about Iran being a part of the invasion that will come against Israel in the prophetic future.
Ezekiel 38, the war of Gog and Magog. And the outcome of this end-time invasion is predicted. God supernaturally intervenes, and God's coalition will utterly be destroyed. On the mountains of Israel you will fall, you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to all kinds of the carrion birds and to the wild animals.
Iran, allied with Russia, will think that their invasion of Israel is a sure victory. But God has different plans. In protecting Jerusalem, God will send a strong message to the world. I will make known my holy name among my people, Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I, the Lord, am the Holy One of Israel.
We got to take a break if 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. The conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran especially hits Iran's neighbor to the west, Iraq.
Samuel with Redemptive Stories explains that Iraq contains both United States military bases and armed groups loyal to Iran. In other words, it's a target for both sides. In Baghdad yesterday, both an Iran-affiliated building as well as the U.S. Embassy came under targeted attacks. Samuel calls the situation a mess on multiple levels.
When chaos happens, it is upon the church and ministries to be a stabilizing force to still communicate the hope not just to survive, but to. Communicated hope and peace in the midst of it. And I'm hearing that from a lot of our partners on the ground. He says believers have had to shelter in place at times this month, but they continue to minister the gospel during Ramadan. Ask God to preserve stability in Iraq and enable more to hear the gospel.
And David Bogosian with the Alliance for the Unreached says, the global mission scene is changing.
Well, this is what God is doing today. We talk about missions being from everywhere to everywhere. That's the idea of that polycentric. There's no longer any center, global center of the missions movement. And that's very exciting, and God's going to use that in amazing ways.
Many places today are unreached because they're resisting the gospel as a form of westernization. But as Christians adopt polycentric missions and the West to the Rest model fades, resistance can too. Christians worldwide need to collaborate and approach new situations in humility, asking each other and God for help. Pray that God will use believers from everywhere to reach everywhere with the gospel. 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.com. Dotto Archie, Armvis 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 our 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 with us journalist Dave Dolan. Dave, thanks for being with us today. As always, Rick, it's a blessing.
Well, David, a lot going on in the Middle East and Israel, including a missile attack in the old city of Jerusalem. Can you give us the latest?
Well, yes, Rec. The war, of course, today, Saturday, is three weeks old. Three weeks ago this morning, it began, and it's still going on. And in fact, as I mentioned last week, the number of Iranian missile attacks has actually increased. the volume of Balis coming in, this sort of thing in the last week or so.
although they're sending less missiles each time than they did a week, two weeks ago, about half of what was coming in then is coming in in terms of volumes. But the use of these cluster warheads in the past twelve days or so have really increased the volume of targets hit Places struck and Israelis wounded or killed. We had a Couple in their 70s killed during the week near Tel Aviv when a cluster bomb went through the roof of their. uh apartment and uh just destroyed it. And again, these are not the huge powerful blasts that a missile with just one warhead makes in a certain area.
That's, of course, terrible, but those are pretty easy to intercept. Once they blow off these bomblets high up in the atmosphere over a city, Tel Aviv or Jerusalem or whatever. then it's impossible to get all of them, and some have been hitting. And we had more attacks from the north during the week, from Hezbollah. The city of Kiratshmona was particularly hit, and people were basically in bomb shelters.
And Rick, about every day, we had at least eight waves Of Iranian missile strikes onto Israel, and they have often been coordinated with Hezbollah.
So you have rockets coming in from the east. and from the north at both the same time. And some Hezville rockets even landed down there a lot during the week.
So some of them have quite a long range. They can hit Tel Aviv. But what you were referring to on Friday, Rick, it was already a dramatic day in the city of Jerusalem where I lived for many years, had a view of the old city, et cetera, where we had once again the end of Ramadan is this weekend and the Eidol Theater feast is held every year. A big elaborate feasting goes on all over the place. And once again, the Israeli military kept the Temple Mount completely closed.
No Muslims were allowed up there to pray, nor were Jews allowed up there, nor are Jews being allowed to the Western Wall Plaza below it. Nor are Christians being allowed into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In fact, pretty much all holy sites are closed by the government now, obviously for reasons that we're seeing. Rockets are falling and people are getting wounded and killed. We had three Palestinian women killed near Hebron on Thursday, Rick, when there was about 14 women waiting at a nail salon to get their nails done for the holiday, and one of those bomblets hit and wounded eight and killed three.
So it's serious and it's real. But the Muslims gathered outside of the old city on Friday noontime, Rick, all over the place. The police tried to break up some of them, but the men mostly and men from the Jerusalem area that just walked there mainly. And you could see them down on the roads praying with their faces, by the way, not facing the Temple Mount behind them or next to them, but facing Mecca to the south. Once again, reminding us that that's the holiest city in the world for the Muslims, not Jerusalem.
But that went on. And then in the afternoon, we had a missile strike on Jerusalem itself, Rick. And we've only had a couple of those so far from Iran. Again, we apparently had some of these bomblets come off, and one pretty large one hit in the old city.
Now, earlier in the week, we had a fragment of an intercepted rocket hit near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, very close to it. But on Friday afternoon, we had a crater created right at the top of the road that goes down to the Western Wall Plaza and the Temple Mount from the Jewish Quarter. There's a parking lot there. You know that area well. I could see it from outside my apartment window very easily every day.
It created quite a blowback. It was caught on. On camera by several people, and you could see the powerful blast. heading towards the outer wall to the south. And fortunately, nobody was right there.
Nobody was wounded or killed. But of course, not very far away, it w could have struck the Dome of the Rock shrine, which obviously would be a major Escalation to say the least in the current war and an attempt by Iran, it seems. to stir up more trouble in the area. And Rick, there is growing commentary and speculation that the Iradi regime realizes It is on its last days. It's not going to ultimately survive this very powerful Israeli US strike.
And of course, Israel hit their main gas, natural gas facility during the week. And Iran responded by hitting Haifa's oil refinery during the week. And nobody was wounded there, but there was quite a bit of damage. That supplies half of Israel's petrol needs, as it were. And so the war goes on in that, and the Gulf states were hit, and all of that was going on, and the Straits of Hormuz closed.
But that they realize they're on their way out, and so they're enacting burn the house down with us policies. They're trying to stir up as much trouble in the region as they can. And as we've talked about before, they believe their great Savior, the Mahi, is prophesied to appear in the last days in the midst of upheaval in the region and probably the world. And it seems like they may be trying to spark that now, and certainly. If they were to destroy a major Christian or Muslim or Jewish holy site, the rocket landed real close to the Herva, you know that, it's a major Jewish synagogue real close to that area, then we would see another dimension to this war come up, and that that may be what they're after here.
But at any rate, the Israelis have been just almost living in shelters or certainly running throughout the day. Like I said, eight or nine times, it's been And all over the north of the country in the center and often the south has been hit as well. But fortunately, very few Israeli casualties and the people are soldiering on and schools were set to reopen tomorrow, but it looks like that's going to be postponed after the Jerusalem strikes and businesses are still largely closed and the airport just very limited traffic, that sort of thing. We're in a very serious war for sure.
Well, it certainly is, David. And continuing to talk about Jerusalem, we know that it's the center of controversy, and the Bible says it will be in the future as well. And this burn the house down strategy, you and I were talking earlier that you usually did not have to be afraid in Jerusalem because there's large Arab populations and those holy sites. But Iran has decided on a very dangerous strategy.
Well, it is, Rick, and it does look now like that wasn't just an accidental thing. We have had bits and pieces of rockets, and we've had some wounded. We've had some deaths. We had some Arabs killed last week. just east of the old city of Jerusalem.
But that was from fragments of rockets that were being fired at Tel Aviv mostly or other parts of the country that were intercepted by Israel as soon as they can, of course. And sometimes that was over or near Jerusalem. But these past few days, it looks like they're deliberately targeting Hebron. They're deliberately targeting Jerusalem. And yes, where I lived, just a quarter mile south of the old city above the Henon Valley, I was on the top floor of a four-story apartment.
We had a bomb shelter in the basement, but And there was about twenty eight apartments and the whole thing. And none of us went down there for the most part because we reasoned that, no, they're never going to hit us here. This is too close to one of their holiest shrines on earth. And it's an Arab neighborhood mostly, and there's Arabs all around.
Well, obviously the Iranians, who are Persians, don't give a hoot about the Arabs, frankly, if I can be so crass in the way I'm saying it, but they're bombing Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait. Saudi Arabia, even with all the Arab foreign ministers meeting there in Riyadh during the week, at that very hour they sent missiles to Riyadh.
So they really are spoilers. There's no question about it. And the whole world needs to recognize that this regime is an extreme danger. It's an extreme danger to everyone. But in the meantime, now the Jerusalem residents have to join the rest of the country in more concerted efforts.
get to a shelter if I can put it that way because they're apparently deliberately firing on Israel. How long they have the capacity to do that, we don't know. We hope not long. But again, we have Hezbollah with thousands of rockets real close to Israel in the north. Rick, and they're under the command of uh the regime, and they know that if it goes down fully, Hezbollah will be eliminated from Lebanon finally.
After, again, forty-five years in their case, not forty-seven, the Iranian regime, but There's a lot of prayer for that. In the meantime, a lot of people are Running to their shelters and hopefully praying to their God because, of course, the God of Israel is the ultimate protector and interceptor and shelter, and it's under his wings that we. can uh ultimately rest. Certainly is a time for prayer. Dave Dolan for Prophecy Today.
Dave, as always, we appreciate your insight. Look forward to talking to you again soon. Glad to do it, Rick. God bless. We've got to take a break, and when we come back, Lieutenant Colonel Bob McGinnis, right here on Prophecy Today weekend.
I'm Ruth Kramer with Mission Network News. Approximately 1 million people are on the move in Lebanon, where Israel began ground operations there earlier this week. Heart for Lebanon added 1,500 families to its care operations when the latest war began. The ministry works with churches throughout Lebanon to reach as many people as possible. One program serves young women aged 13 to 21, an especially vulnerable group during times of crisis.
You can help make Christ's love tangible at missionnews.org. And from Lebanon, we turn to Lesotho, where the patient house sits across from Mission Aviation Fellowship's airbase. MAF flies medical patients from remote villages, and the patient house provides a place to stay until they're seen in the hospital or can head home. It's often the first place they encounter Christ's compassion. Each person who works at the patient house is a believer who can pray with the residents and share the gospel.
Pray Lesotho's people discover healing that only Christ can offer. Mission Network News is Service of One-Way Ministries. I'm Ruth Kramer. Mm-hmm. Welcome back to Prophecy Today.
I'm Jimmy Young Jr. Along with my brother Rick, we've been examining current events in the light of God's prophetic word.
Well, both Ken and Dave are talking about nations that are involved in Bible prophecy. And coming up in this next half hour, Colonel Bob McGinnis, a graduate of West Point, will be with us. He's been a China watcher. He's involved in AI. He's written several books.
But, you know, as we start to think about this, I want people to understand that there is no need for us as Christians to be anxious for the future. It just should encourage us, everything that's taking place should encourage us to be ready to tell others about what Jesus Christ has done in our life. But when we think about the future, Go forward in the book of Revelation, chapter 16. The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up. To prepare the way for the kings from the east.
Then demonic spirits that perform signs, go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle of the great day of God Almighty. Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon, Harmageddon. Revelation 16, verses 12 to 16. This passage. Predicts a massive climactic conflict known as the Battle of Armageddon, and it occurs at the end of the tribulation period after the Six Bold Judgment.
At that time the Euphrates River, which is in Iraq, will be dried up. Allowing the kings from the east to invade the Near East and march toward Israel. It is the kings from the east identification that many associate with China, the Chinese army or a Chinese-led coalition. Will take advantage of the removal of a natural barrier and sweep westward to meet up with the forces of the Antichrist. When the End Times force from China joins with the armies of the Antichrist, the seventh and final bold judgment will be poured out.
And the Lord Jesus will return. The most violent earthquake will ever shake the world, and the forces of the Antichrist and the armies of the East will be destroyed. That's Revelation 16, 17 to 20. Revelation 19, 11 to 21. What we need to be aware of is that this is all future.
But what we are seeing now is certainly setting up events for the future. As you remember, Rick and I and a lot of people believe That no prophecy in the future is going to take place before the rapture of the church, and the rapture is the next thing on God's timeline. That's why we bring all these men to you, to give you an understanding of what is happening in the world and why God is using all these world leaders. to set up a future event.
Well, Rick, let's bring in Colonel Bob McGinnis.
Well, that's right, Jimmy. We have retired Lieutenant Colonel Bob McGinnis with us. He's a long time friend of the program, a graduate of West Point. He's worked in the Pentagon for quite some time. He's also an author with books on national security and Bible prophecy.
Colonel McGinnis, thanks for being with us today. My pleasure, Rick.
Well, Colonel McGinn, there's so much going on. We haven't had you on the program since this current action between the United States and Israel against Iran was started and is continuing to take place. Can you give us just maybe your overall thoughts on this situation?
Well, we've been dealing with this Islamic revolution since nineteen seventy nine. They've killed arguably thousands of Americans, many of which were killed by Improvised explosive devices in Iraq, but also problems in Afghanistan and Syria and elsewhere. Of course, they were the people behind the nineteen eighty six bombing of the Marine Barracks near Beirut. They have been behind the Houthis in the Red Sea, Hamas in Israel. and elsewhere across the globe.
The world's largest sponsor you know, the most frequent sponsor of Islamic terrorism. And so it it's a bloody regime. What evidently the administration, the U.S. administration, as well as the Israelis. felt as if the operation last summer was incomplete, and that is that the nuclear program that Tehran has put together was not completely decimated.
And as a result, further action was required to deny That regime from having a nuclear weapon. And so on the twenty-eighth of February, the President along with B. Netanyahu launched the operation. And they you know, started, of course, with the decapitation effort in Tehran. that killed the Grand Ayatollah and up his first tier of leadership.
And That was followed by I think in the last statement I heard something like seven thousand discrete targets you know Many thousands of you know precision munitions, and now we're in a in a transition from having destroyed their Navy having destroyed much of their ballistic missile program, and of course, struck their nuclear program, which it's hard to know just how much damage they've done on that program because it's been deeply buried in many locations for long periods of time.
So, what we've found is that we're in transition point. gone from conventional operations to asymmetric operations because the Iranians, of course, are striking willy-nilly against Gulf Arab nations, especially their energy infrastructure, which they've already shut down the Strait of Hormuz, which of course long ago we many of us have said that's always been the intent. Uh they've also gone after liquid natural gas uh facilities, which they have major areas. And of course, you know, the US struck their major resource uh of liquid uh natural gas uh and that has spun up a a lot of people and certainly has fueled the energy market worldwide and you know really spiked you know the cost of energy.
Now, of course, we have recently in the last day seen that uh some NATO allies are coming uh to assist because Yeah, after all, twenty percent of the petroleum coming out of the Gulf goes to Europe. Eighty percent to Asia, well we really don't need any uh because of our own production.
So it's about time that these people come and assist us so that we don't have to do all the heavy lifting.
Now how long will this last?
Well that's that's a fair question. I've um I've questioned that in Yeah, certainly my Fox News op-eds over the you know the last several weeks, I don't have a a clear Answer as yet. The administration has not been rather forthcoming, and I can understand that they don't want to tip their hat.
So what we have is an energy crisis globally. We have Iran is now in asymmetric mode.
Some of our allies are coming to help us. Certainly, the Middle East is. uh coalescing uh against Iran. where this ends and how it ends, I think it's the sixty four thousand dollar question because nobody knows as yet.
So that's kind of a summary.
Well, that certainly is. It's a great summary. And we look at this situation now. I want to talk to you about what you called the end game or what we should look at as the endgame in just a second. But before I do that, Iran, like you said, we've been battling them for so many years, thousands of lives lost to terrorism, a commitment to building a nuclear weapon.
I mean, whatever its semantics, if they want to say they had a nuclear program, but they were committed to building a nuclear weapon. This had to happen.
Now, whether we did it at the right time or in the right way, you can talk about that. But this d i in your opinion, did this have to happen? Yeah, well, we certainly didn't want the radical Islamists to Spew hatred toward Israel and the United States on a daily basis to have uh a nuclear weapon. And Like I said, we thought that Um it was really significantly set back last summer, but that evidently wasn't the case. And in fact, in the Final day of negotiation with Witkoff and others at Geneva just Just before the war started, they were boasting that they had, what, 460 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium.
Now, There's no rational reason to have that much enriched uranium. Uh at that level, uh unless you're gonna make a weapon. Because for every purpose other than a weapon, you can probably get by with about three to five percent enrichment.
So they boasted about that, and I think that that was the last straw that convinced President Trump that you know, this this had to end. Uh now Do we have possession of that? No. Is it locked up in Fort Ow or one of the other? A deep Cavernous facilities that the Iranians, with the help of the North Koreans, have built, probably.
I'm not sure we know precisely where it is. Uh how will we get it? That's the loaded question. It's hard to know. We could we may have to go in on the ground ourselves rather than just try to bury the entrances.
the Iranians have thought through a lot of these second and third order effects of what has been happening. And so we're trying to figure out how best to proceed. Colonel McGinnis, I'm looking at a few articles that you wrote for Fox News right now. And then the very first day of this operation, when it began, you said, has Washington planned for what comes next? And in your most recent article, you talk about how do we define the end game in Iran?
Because we need to look at that when the world oil market things are in flux right now. And so we need to look towards the future. What do you see are the potential possibilities for an end game? And maybe if you were advising the President, what would you advise the way for him to handle this? Yes, before the operation, I actually put together a plan that I would have given to the President if I'd had access to him, but that didn't happen.
Um so yeah, I asked what are you going to do next on day two? You know, I yeah, w I had no doubt we could destroy their conventional facilities we could bomb everything into oblivion if we wanted to, but what's going to happen the day after all of this?
Now arguably, we're approaching that day after. That's metaphorical. And I don't see an organic uprising. Yeah, certainly the uh you know crown prince of the former Shah. Yeah, he's I don't think he really has a lot of support inside that 93 million person.
country. The MEK, which was a terrorist organization in our estimation, but is part of the NCRI and a government in exile that's af interestingly in Serbia, They've declared they're ready to go in, but I don't know that they have. internal support for that. Uh and I don't see A military operation or a group that is showing its colors other than the Kurds, who of course are in the north, and the Kurds are more interested in establishing a Kurdistan, which includes part of northern Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria. Will that happen?
Unlikely, even though we've been supportive of them for many years.
So I really don't see an emergence a replacement. And so Uh it's likely given that these Islamists are twelvers and they think that stirring the pot might you know, bring forth their Mahdi, their Messiah. That they're going to go down in flames as martyrs, much like the Grand Aatolus father did. And therefore, they may survive with IRGC and so forth. their, of course, strategy, as I indicated earlier, has been asymmetric of late because they're going after energy infrastructure across the Gulf.
They're going after civilians with very dangerous weapons. They're doing the types of things that radicals would do. to get headlines and to be disruptive and to make it as costly as they can for us. And so it may come to the point that the Trump administration and the Netanyahu people recognize that the price of continuing this Is not worth the cost, especially if President Trump is concerned about losing. uh are retaining the majority in the Senate and the House in the fall, otherwise his agenda is shot.
So I think it's playing out economically through the energy costs, but also politically because Americans don't want to be tied down long term in another forever war like we were in Afghanistan and Iraq. And to a certain degree we're still in Iraq, especially in the north, battling ISIS and the like.
So there are a host of factors at play here. The end game is not clear. I would hope that the President, his advisors are telling him that we've got to, you know, cut bait. We had to get get into a different phase here. Let's like I said in the last op ed, let's kind of complete the immediate uh attack scenario Secure the strait.
and negotiate with whomever is left in Tehran that seems to have some credibility.
Well, and just to complete that thought, former Secretary of State Colin Powell at one time said that famous statement, if you break it, you bought it, meaning if we went into Iraq, he was referring to at the time that we'd have to fix and install a new regime.
Well, that's not necessarily the case here. If we eliminate the nuclear threat, we could essentially pull out and let them figure this out themselves. Yeah, I think so. It's interesting. Colin Powell used to be my battalion commander.
So when I was a young lieutenant, I heard him say that in our operations planning at the battalion level. But of course, he became famous for saying the same thing when he was the Secretary of State. It is certainly very interesting as well. And you have a lot of experience, which that certainly shows us.
Well, let's talk about how this war affects Iran's allies. And we've talked about it often, how China has had much investment in Iran. Russia as well, those have kind of been that axis that America has had to figure out how to face those threats. Let's start with China. How does this affect China?
How does this affect our relationship with China?
Well, eighty percent of all the energy leaving the Gulf on both sides, Iran and Saudi Arabia, Kuwait. you know UAE Bahrain. It goes to Asia and of course a l a large slice of that goes to China. And China by far is a Yeah, what is it? Fifteen million Yeah, barrels of day it imports.
Uh it can get more from Russia and Vladimir Putin is happy as a lamb to get what he can from from chi uh but You know, obviously the Chinese have a a strategic interest in keeping it flowing.
Now, there is a port that the Chinese helped build. In the Gulf of Oman, on the southern part of Iran, which is outside the passageway of the Strait of Hormuz, Jask. And it is still allowed to pump Uh uh petroleum into tankers that are uh going to China. And you know, certain some of them out of the uh other outlets that we bombed the other Day is still flowing, but not as much because we destroyed certainly all the military facilities. And so it would appear as if the Chinese are scurrying.
I know President Trump was going to visit later this month, but now it's delayed at least a month. I think he's going to let Qi stew in his own problems for a little longer. And of course we've cut off their Venezuelan cheap petroleum and now the Iranian flow isn't what it used to be. And the Russians, they have their problems, but they do like a higher retail for petroleum because they've been supplying the shadow fleet around the world. And a lot of that ends up in China anyway.
So all of this is of some consequence for a troubled economy in Beijing. And given that Qi has had some issues with his military and of course his his ambitions to take Taiwan, they're all in the mix here. Um now of course It was three years ago that the Chinese signed a strategic relationship with Iran. and they promised all sorts of things to include buying much of their energy. I do believe behind the scenes, the technology that we've seen used by the Iranians, drones, ballistic missiles, nuclear program.
To a certain degree, a lot of that came from China and its strategic relationship.
Some from Russia, obviously. And of course, the Iranians are the one of the primary purveyors of drone technology that the Russians have been using against Ukrainians for some time. And it's just improved over the last few years today, I think. the Russians and Ukrainians that seventy percent, eighty percent of all the kills on both sides are thanks to drones and to a large degree, thanks to drones using artificial intelligence.
So that's That's my other hat. I talk about that all the time. Speaking with retired Lieutenant Colonel Bob McGuinness, he's the author of many books. He's, like I said, a columnist. You can see him on Fox News and on the television station as well.
But if you go to Amazon.com or DefenderPublishing.com, which is who publishes your books, you can find out several books that talk about all of this.
Well, just you brought up Russia there. President Trump has been unsuccessfully trying to negotiate an end to that war between Russia and Ukraine. How does this action in Iran play into that? What would your take be? How this helps us with Russia?
Well, it of course will deny Russia having a strong ally. In Iran that has influence in the Gulf. They're going to be significantly diminished. I don't know that it really makes a big difference in the ongoing war with Ukraine. The Russians already had the drone making technology, and they'd already imported it from Tehran into their own facilities.
And so they'll continue to use those same blueprints for the balance of whatever the war is in Ukraine. And we've seen, of course, the Russians diminish their presence in Syria, though they will continue to try to have a good relationship with the Saudis and other the Emirates, et cetera, in the region. Putin is is not is not going to heal in this case. Uh he's pulled the wool over. Trump's eyes, I would argue, for a number of years.
Uh in spite of the fact that the President seems to think that he can uh get Vladimir Putin to deal, uh I don't think that Putin is quite ready. And so Uh it's what it is. Uh Putin will tell us when it's time to end this, and of course. Yeah, we've got a lot of n people that are rather nervous in Eastern Europe about you know what Putin may have in mind uh in the future.
Now, of course, he's you know, he's getting old. how long he will live. His predecessors Typically, don't live as long as he has, but he evidently is taking care of himself and is. really going to present, I think, a much more dangerous face Uh if he gets the terms that he wants in Ukraine, and that's what's got the the Baltics, that's what's got Poland, Hungary and other countries on edge. Very concerning there, and we'll continue to keep an eye on that.
Well, my final question: I said that you were, you know, you have your military background, so you have that information, but you're also a student of Bible prophecy. You've written books. As we see all of these things that are taking place right now, these nations that we know the Bible says they're going to be involved in the end times. They're going to be part of that scenario that God's put forth. Can you talk a little bit about how we should look at that and what that should cause us to do as believers?
Yeah, one of the scenarios that I write about in three books ago, uh, Preparing for World War Three. is kind of what happens and what we're seeing emerge from uh the Middle East, uh where it does lead to a a global energy crisis and it does bring in the likes of the Chinese.
Now of course we've been trying to prevent that. Um So that is part and parcel of what's going on here. You have all these forces of. of evil um that are contesting uh against Not only Israel, but the West that is supportive of democracy and freedom and, of course, Kind of the biblical world view of what's going on. I kind of mix that these days with the evolution of artificial intelligence and how things are being mechanized and then they're being digitized out of our out of human hands and more power is being placed in the hands of the agentic artificial intelligence, which of course are orchestrating the delivery of ordnance by drones and Whether they're at sea drones or aerial drones or by robots that are beginning to emerge.
The Chinese are doing great things with r the robotic AI driven. systems. And so I I see a turbulent world, a turbulent Middle East. Uh certainly a multipolar world, not the unipolar world that Uh United States controlled at one point. I I think that that's Uh that's becoming somewhat history.
Certainly, the Chinese have an economy larger than ours, and their military is incredibly capable. We can't dismiss that. And I think, unfortunately, the President of the United States overstates our capability too often. I think it's more politics than it is rationality.
So there are a host of issues at play here. How all these pieces come together prophetically, the eschatology, whether it's of what the Iranians are. Trying to do is spin up the world in a way that brings their Messiah home. But what I see is that all the pieces could come to Khber.
Now, if it's going to be soon, I can't say, but certainly we're seeing the preview of how all of this could fulfill biblical prophecy. And Like like the Bible says, um we're not going to know until Uh it happens.
Well, that's certainly the case, and that's what we do on this program. We look at these things coming together, and right, as you say, all the pieces are in place, the stage is set for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.
Well, retired Lieutenant Colonel Bob McGinnis, as always, we appreciate your insight. We encourage our listeners to go seek out your books. You can find them online, Amazon.com, DefenderPublishing.com. Colonel McGinnis, thanks so much. Look forward to talking to you again soon.
My pleasure. Colonel Bob McGinnis. In the end times, many nations, likely including China, will try their hand at conquest. Ultimately, their fight will be against God. The tribulation will be a tumultuous time of warfare, disasters, and divine judgment.
But God has it all under control. As Psalms 2 says, Says, the kings of the earth will rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles. The once enthroned in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them. He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, I have installed my king.
on Zion my holy mountain. Let's take a break when we come back. The legacy series with Dr. Jimmy DeYoung, and then Rick and I will take a look at the book at the end of the program. Right here on Prophecy Today weekend.
Welcome back to Prophecy Today. I'm Jimmy Deong Jr. Along with Rick, we've been examining current events in the light of God's prophetic word. Rick, we have a website and we dearly want people to go to the website. Jimmy, we have been so encouraged about people finding out about our ministry, going to our website, finding out what we do, following our programs and looking at our bookstore.
All of these things are ways that you can get involved with our ministry at prophecytoday.com. Yes, prophecytoday.com. Thanks, Rick. And Rick, one of the things that they can find on that is Dr. Jimmy D.
Young, our father, who all of his teaching is audio series, which we. Like to feature On our program, as we honor him. And today, Rick, on our broadcast, we want to continue our study of God's plan through the ages with a focus. On the book of Ezekiel, we are looking at God's chosen people, the Jewish people, and the part that they will play in God's overall plan. The fact is, the Jewish people are key to God's plan.
We looked at the ancient Jewish prophet Ezekiel last week and his call to be a prophet. A unique man, obviously, and a unique message. We'll see how unique he really is. In our study today. We'll start Ezekiel chapter four and we'll look at Ezekiel the prophet.
Dr. Jimmy D. Young and the Legacy Series.
Now, if you know anything about a prophet, he's supposed to be pronouncing prophetic truth, or truth of what's the judgment to come going to be. And Ezekiel is going to do that, but in unique ways. He tells him to lay in the street. I said he's going to be a street preacher. He literally tells him to lay in the street.
In chapter 4, that's what he tells him. Look at verse 5. For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity according to the number of the days. 390 days, so shall thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And then thou shalt have accomplished them.
Lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity for the house of Judah 40 days. 390 days he lays on his left side in the middle of the street, 40 days on his right side, 430 days he's laying in the street.
Now, what kind of a prophet is this? He has no capability of speaking unless the Lord loosens his tongue. He's laying in the middle of the street for 430 days. And then the Lord says something really unique to him. He says, Now I know you're going to probably get hungry, Ezekiel.
He said, I'm going to give you a little bit of meat. I'm going to give you a little bit of water. And I'm going to give you ingredients to prepare your bread. Look at here. Here's what he says: Verse 9.
Take thou also unto thee wheat and barley and beans and lentils and millet and finches and put them into one vessel and make thee bread.
Now we'll come back to that in just a moment. Look here what he says in verse 10. And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be of the weight about 20 shekels a day. That's about eight ounces of meat. Verse 11, and thou shalt drink also water by the measure of sixth part of a hen.
And that's about a quarter of water a day.
Now here it is. He's got a little bit of meat, eight ounces. He's got a little bit of water, a quart of water. He gives him the ingredients for bread. But let me tell you what he's going to do.
He's going to tell Ezekiel to take a bow movement. in public. and take the human extrament and put it together And bake his bread. You think I'm making that up? Look at verse 12.
And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung. that cometh out of man in their sight. That's what I said. He's going to tell Ezekiel to take a bow movement in their sight, in public. Take the human extrim and put it together.
Light it and bake your bread. That's somewhat of a prophet, isn't it? Street preacher. He's doing something. He's getting the attention of the people.
What's interesting to me, the Lord then remembers: hey, wait a minute. Deuteronomy, I gave Moses Deuteronomy. And I made the statement in Deuteronomy. Uh-uh, it's not kosher to take a bowel movement in public. And so he changes what he wants Ezekiel to do.
He said, Ezekiel, you don't have to take the bowel movement in public. You don't have to use human excrement to bake your bread. You can use cow dung. Look at verse 15. Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith.
I'm sure Ezekiel must have said, Hey, thanks a lot, God. That's a lot better. I much rather smell cow's tongue than the other. I'm not trying to be funny, I'm not trying to be vulgar. I'm showing you.
God told Ezekiel to be a prophet unto his people. And God is going to use this man in a unique way. In chapter 5, you know what he tells him? Cut the hair off your head. Cut the hair off your face.
Put it in three fi p fi uh piles, the hair in three piles. Pick up your sword. Stab one pile.
somehow light one pile and let it burn, and then the other pile take it and throw it in the air. He's telling Ezekiel what he's going to do. You can read chapter five as well as I can. I don't have to read it for you. But let me tell you what that's talking about.
Ezekiel is getting a message of retribution. RETRIBUTION AGAINST THE JUWISH PEOPLE. And God is telling Ezekiel, When I let the Babylonians come into Jerusalem, They're going to burn the city down. and one-third of all the Jews are going to burn to death. Those that try to escape My military will use the sword and kill them, one third of them.
And then the under third that's left We're going to take them into the Babylonian captivity. God is using Ezekiel. Without going to the 24th chapter, I can tell you what happens over there. In the 24th chapter of the book of Ezekiel, the pride of Ezekiel's life, his wife, dies the next morning. God says to Ezekiel, Ezekiel.
Your wife is going to die tomorrow morning. Don't you dare. Get up. and mourn. You see in a Jewish family, When somebody dies, They mourn for a seven-day period of time.
It's called pronouncing Sheva. Shevah is seven in Hebrew. And for seven days they mourned the death of their loved one. God says to Ezekiel, Don't you dare pronounce Sheva. Don't you mourn?
Get up, put your clothes on, fix your hair, get ready, and go do a prophet's work. Isn't that interesting? Makes him a watchman, tells him to say what he gives him to say and warn the people. But people are going to mock him. Don't let it bother you.
I'm going to make your head harder than theirs. And lay on the ground on your left side for 390 days, on your right side for 40 days, 430 days, you'll lay in the street. And I'm not gonna make you bake your bread over human excrement that you. Did in public. I'm going to let you use cow manure to bake your bread.
But I'm going to use you as a prophet. Do you know why Ezekiel did all of those things without hesitation? Go back to chapter one just for a second. And I'm not going to explain chapter one except to say this much. God used a throned chariot.
It's four cherubim. And they're described here. Four cherubim. There's three types of angels. Actually, four types.
The archangels would be a type. But there are seraphim, Isaiah 6, Cherubim, Ezekiel 1, throne room angels, Revelation 4, and then Gabriel and Michael, the archangels. Those are the types of angels. Here in chapter 1, he uses four cherubim. They're described with four faces and four wings.
They form a throne. They form a throned chariot. Look over here in verse 26 of chapter 1. And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne. And he allows this throne, this throne chariot, to come out of the heavenlies down to the earth.
Verse 28. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, it was a part of this throne chariot.
So was the appearance of the brightness round about, who was in this throne chariot. This was the appearance of the lightness. Look at here. Of the glory of the Lord. You know why Ezekiel did everything that God told him to do, which seemed ridiculous?
Take a bow movement, bake your bread over it, lay in the street for 430 days? Don't mourn when your wife dies. Cut your hair off and stab it, burn it, or throw it in the air. You know why he did it? Listen, he saw the glory of the Lord.
He saw the glory of the Lord. Maybe that's our problem. Maybe we're not obedient because we have never seen the glory of the Lord. You say, well, wait a minute, Dr. De Young, you believe in visions?
No, I don't believe in visions. I don't believe. that Jesus is making any appearance now. But we can still see the glory of the Lord. Do you not remember Psalm 19, verse 1?
The heavens. Declare the glory of the Lord. and his handiwork. declare the glory of the Lord. We can see the glory of the Lord.
When's the last time you just went out and looked up in the heavens? Do you know what happened on the fourth day of creation, Genesis 1? Do you know what happened on the fourth day? The first part of the day, Jesus, who was the Creator, Put the sun up in the sky. And then he put the moon up in the sky.
And it's almost as if he was finished with his work that day. And he starts to walk away and he says, oh, and the stars also. Four words. And the stars also. Do you understand what's up there in the heavens?
Einstein said, Einstein said in our galaxy alone, there are 12 octillion stars. You know how many stars that is?
Well, I don't know how to explain it except it's a one with 98 zeros behind it. That's one octalion. There's twelve octilion. stars in our galaxy. And do you know what they tell me?
The astronomers tell me there are one billion, that's a B. one billion galaxies out there. And Jesus said, and the stars also. I love it. and the stars also.
And all we need to do to see the glory of the Lord is simply look up in the heavens. And His handiwork. His handiwork. One of my favorite characters is the woodpecker. There's a passage in 2 Peter chapter 3, says, that the scientists today are going to be willfully ignorant.
of God creating everything. That interpretation of the Word of God. It's King James, but and I use King James, but I don't like that interpretation. Willfully ignorant. I think there's a better interpretation.
It's mine. Here it is. Those scientists are going to be dumb on purpose. How about that? Is that better?
Dumb on purpose. The woodpecker. They try to say the woodpecker evolved. Have you ever thought about the woodpecker? The woodpecker is one of the most unique birds in all the world.
How could a blue jay evolve into a woodpecker? There's no way. Let me tell you what happens. If a blue jay was trying to be a woodpecker, the blue jay would fly up to a tree. and the blue jay would put his claws into the tree.
You see his claws face up like this. And when he took his beak and tried to peck against the tree, two things would happen. First of all, his beak would go right through his brain and he'd fall off the tree because he's only holding on like this.
Now, a woodpecker, look how I invert my hand. The woodpecker has his claws facing downward. And when he lands on the tree, he puts them into the tree. He's got a very strong tail that he puts, and he's in a tripod. And when he takes his beak, he pecks against the tree, and the membrane behind his The back of his head is so solid that the bee can't go through the membrane to get to his brain.
So he picks against the tree. And so he's not going to fall off the tree. He's trying to drill a hole into the tree to find a worm. By the way, do you know with what force of power he hits that? He pegs against that tree 15 times every second.
Do you want to know what kind of force that is? After this is over, go outside, find you a tree standing out there. Get back about 40 feet, start running as fast as you can, and run smack into the tree. That's the force with which a woodpecker takes his beak and pecks against the tree. Oh, by the way, if a blue jay tried to peck into a tree, if he could ever get in there, you know how you have to try to get the worm, you dig a hole into the tree?
Well, he takes his little tongue. He can't go very far with that small little beat that he has. And so he takes his tongue and he tries to stick it in there and grab the worm. The blue jay has a tongue about that long. The woodpecker has a tongue about this long.
It's wrapped around his head. It has a hook on the end in it and has a special gluish substance on the end of it. And he sticks his tongue into that tree. Grabs that worm. The gluish substance adheses the worm to the tongue.
He pulls it out and has a wonderful meal. Can you imagine a blue jay trying to do that? You know, when I said they are dumb on purpose. And that's exactly what is unfolding in the whole evolutionary world, exactly what is taking place.
Well, why did I give you that illustration? That's the glory of the Lord. You know what our problem is? We don't stop to smell the roses. That's out there.
And that's what Ezekiel saw, the glory of the Lord.
Now, that's how he was able to be the prophet who would give a message of retribution, a message of judgment. That's chapters 1 to 32. The first thirty two chapters of Ezekiel have been a message of retribution, judgment on the Jewish people and on the neighbors of the Jewish people. God used Ezekiel, a unique man with a unique message, to give these prophecies.
Next week we'll look at the last sixteen chapters of Ezekiel, and see how the prophet has a message of restoration. These will be the prophecies of the restoration of the Jewish people to their land, the land of their forefathers, and what happens as these prophecies begin to be fulfilled. It will be a very interesting study, and it will help us to understand the current events of our day. Please join us next week. Dr.
Jimmy D. Young and the Legacy Series.
Let me remind you on our website at our bookstore, there are three books that you can get: commentaries on Daniel, Ezekiel, and Revelation. We would love for you to get those, and we're making those very inexpensive for people to be able to study God's Word. Got to take a break, and when we come back, I'm talking to R.C. Merle about our financial situation in the United States. Right here on Proxy Today Weekend.
I'm Ruth Kramer with Mission Network News. Midweek strikes from Israel and Iran have damaged critical energy fields across the Gulf, including Qatar and Iran. As the economic toll spreads, so too do the psychological and human costs. Fadi Sharia from the MENA Leadership Center recognizes people growing numb to living under sirens, missiles, and drone strikes. The number of those killed and injured are grim, but Sharia says: The first casualty in a war is truth.
So nobody knows really the numbers. Yet the fact remains that every person killed was made in God's image. As the body of Christ, please pray for endurance for Christians in the Gulf region. It's very easy to lose focus and faith whenever you're going through a trauma or war or a conflict. Ask God to use his church around the world to speak the true hope of Christ.
And ministry collaboration is in Mission Aviation Fellowship's DNA. But why doesn't collaboration happen more between ministries in the mission world? MAF Lesotho Director and Pilot Joe Adams says MAF isn't just a transportation provider, but also a connector. We're kind of a hub for the missions community and the people who are doing the kind of work that we support.
So we can say, hey, you know what, this is a farming initiative over here. And I just heard from Lesotho Mountain Discipleship that there's really four farming practices in this particular village. I wonder if we could connect those people. Recently, MAF Lesotho flew rural believers to a preaching seminar. And it just wouldn't have been even physically possible for them to attend that training if we didn't have the aircraft.
Thank God for ministries collaborating for the gospel. 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. And together, the great commission happens. Look for links at missionnews.org. I'm Lee's Kramer. Welcome back to Prophecy Today.
I'm Jimmy the Young Jr. Along with Rick, we have been examining current events in the light of God's prophetic word. Rick, I know, and as I started out the program today, it seems like we're focusing again on. The Middle East. But right now, that's really what it's all about.
As Christians, we understand the prophetic word of God, we understand what's going to take place in the future, and all of that information pertaining to future events. Nothing being done right now is prophecy being fulfilled, but all the things that we cover are pertaining to future events. And every week, as we talk about it, as we look at it. It just seems like that we're focusing on doom and gloom. But really, As a Christian, this should excite us because this means that we are getting closer and closer every day to the rapture of the church to take place.
Well, that's certainly true, Jimmy. And, you know, that may be something that we could talk about right now. Like you said, this is not necessarily fulfilled prophecy, but it is stage-setting for prophecy to be fulfilled in the future. And I thought, I mean, we're focusing on what's taking place in Iran, and a lot of people. Refer that to the Ezekiel 38.
And so, if I could, maybe if you could give us a primer, just tell us what, first of all, these things are going to take place in the tribulation.
So, give us kind of a timeline. What's the next main event? I know what the next main event is, but what needs to happen before that? Maybe you could share that with us. And then, what's going to happen immediately after, especially as it relates to what we're seeing today.
Very good question. And a lot of people want to know this. And there's a lot of people out on the internet, social media, any type of website that you can find. A lot of pastors, teachers, and everybody's teaching Bible prophecy right now, or at least talking about it. That's the main headline in the world news.
So, as you look at the future, and remember, Rick, as we always talk about, if I got 100 prophecy teachers in a room, there's a hundred ways, different ways to look at. How all of the prophecies, the 500 remaining prophecies, will kind of be fulfilled. But at least we know there are three main events in the future: the rapture of the church, which is next. As talked about, Jesus first mentioned it in John chapter 14. Paul mentioned it in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.
John mentions it and talks about it in Revelation chapter 4.
So, as we are looking at the events that take place, you have the rapture. A seven-year period of time, the tribulation talked about in Daniel chapter 9, laid out that seven-year period of time. Basically, everything that's talked about in Matthew chapter 24, Mark chapter 13, Luke chapter 21, everything from Revelation chapter 6 to Revelation chapter 19 is the tribulation period, that seven-year period of time. And then we have the return of Jesus Christ to the earth to set up his earthly kingdom on his holy mountain in Zion, which is where. Today, the dome of the rock stands, but in the future, a temple that Jesus Christ will build.
Not the temple that the Jews are preparing to build right now that will stand during the tribulation period. That's Revelation chapter 11, but. A future temple that Jesus Christ will build when he touches down on the Mount of Olives, and then He goes and fights that battle of Armageddon. That's what I closed out with when we were talking with Colonel Bob McGinnis about a future battle that will take place as the kings of the world are brought to the city of Jerusalem. And, Rick, we're seeing that.
unfold before us. Of course, after the establishment of Jesus Christ and his throne in the city of Jerusalem, after his return, you have the 1,000-year millennial period. And that's when, when you look at Elam. That passage in Jeremiah chapter 49, where it talks about Iran coming back to prominence as a nation where God has restored them. That's when that takes place.
And then you have the end. Of that thousand-year period of time, which takes you up to the great white throne judgment, where all those that rejected Jesus Christ as their personal savior are cast into the lake of fire and then a new heaven and a new earth.
So, in a few moments, Rick, I kind of gave you the timeline to the future.
Well, you certainly did, Jimmy. And again, I don't want to harp on this, but we are looking at things that are setting the stage, not actual Bible prophecy fulfillment. You mentioned what the Bible says is going to happen during the tribulation.
Well, this stuff that we're seeing right now is just essentially setting the stage. If we want to kind of look at this work critically, Jimmy, is there something that you see, whether it be Turkey and Russia, or maybe something that could happen in Israel or Jerusalem? There is something that you see that maybe we should be watching for because we know it's going to have prophetic significance in the future.
Well, I think you're absolutely right. And as we watch, and of course, Ken and Dave and Colonel. Bob McGinnison, any one of our Israel Madad, Rob Congden, Richard Schmidt, R.C. Morrill, any one of our broadcast partners that we have, we're all watching. The Middle East, we're watching what world leaders are doing.
And I think God uses, we've talked about this in the past, God uses world leaders to accomplish His will. And at any moment, any one of these nations, I thought it was interesting. Both Ken and Colonel McGinnis talked about Russia and Vladimir Putin. We know that there's going to be an alignment of nations that will come against Israel. Maybe Iran will be so wiped out That it has to be another, an alignment, obviously, of all these nations that will turn against Israel, even those nations that seem to be.
the friend of Israel right now, which would be Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and all these nations that Iran is shooting these as Ken says, willy-nilly, these rockets everywhere. Iran's trying to drag them all into this battle.
So I think, you know, I mean, every day we're watching, and of course, we're expecting that at the imminent event. Of the rapture of the church could happen in any moment. And none of this has to, you know, this looks like it's setting up for those future events, but. The last thing that needs to happen is that Jesus Christ needs to come into the heart of one last person, and then God says, Son, go get my children. Jimmy, so much fear and uncertainty in the world today, but we have Bible prophecy.
We have the hope of Bible prophecy. That's what we do on this program. And if you could, what would be the last thing you could say to encourage believers today? I would say just find out what the Lord wants you to be doing in your church, in your neighborhood, at your place of business, whatever you do. Make sure that you do it all to the glory and honor of God the Father.
That's our first responsibility. The second responsibility for us is then to share with others what Jesus Christ has done for us. And that's what we need to be doing. Rick, with everything that we have seen on the program today, we can't help but say that the rapture of the church can't be that 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. Prophecy Today is a listener-supported production of Shofar Communications in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
