The Prophecy Update Newsletter - 2/18/25 - The Coming World Leader: Make No Mistake, The Antichrist Is Not a Fictional Character

News & Information for the End Times

Feb 18, 2025

ISRAEL AT WAR!!! Day 501 - PRAY!!!

Pray For Israel — Psalm 122:6-8, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee."

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In Today’s Newsletter…

*The Coming World Leader: Make No Mistake, The Antichrist Is Not a Fictional Character

*We Are Closer to All-Out War in Europe, In Asia, and In the Middle East Than Most People Realize

*Prophecy Update Videos

*Recommended Reading

*Bible Prophecy’s Great Purpose

*Marking 500 Days Since an Act of Pure Barbarism Ignited a Multifront War

*Daily Jot: Smokescreens everywhere

*Daily Devotion: Quick, Slow, and Slow

*Prophecy Update News Headlines

(Scroll Down to Read)

The Coming World Leader: Make No Mistake, The Antichrist Is Not a Fictional Character

By Skip Heitzig - https://harbingersdaily.com/the-coming-world-leader-make-no-mistake-the-antichrist-is-not-a-fictional-character/

In 1979, an article in Time magazine carried the headline, “Inflation: Who Is Hurt the Worst?” A worried blue-collar worker named Arthur Garcia said, “I keep waiting for a miracle, some guy who isn’t born yet, and when he comes, we’ll follow him like he’s John the Baptist.” One day, Arthur Garcia’s lament will become the cry of the world.

Revelation 13 introduces us to one of the main characters on the stage during the Great Tribulation. We usually call him the Antichrist. Now, when some people hear of the Antichrist, they tend to snicker and grin in a condescending way, as if to say, “Oh, how hopelessly naïve!” They put him on par with Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. But make no mistake: This sinister, dark, evil person will come on the scene, and people will say of him, “Our savior!” He will deceive and destroy the world.

The Coming World Leader (Revelation 13:1-10)

Six characteristics will mark this future world leader. The first is wickedness. In verse 1, he is called “a beast.” As John stands on a beach, he sees rising from the sea a monstrous, weird creature with seven heads, ten horns, and ten crowns. This creature is a hideous combination of three animals: a leopard, a bear, and a lion. This is how God sees the Antichrist—just as he saw Satan as a dragon rather than an angel of light. God is able to peel away the veneer of supposed reputation and reveal the fabric of one’s character.

The Greek term for “beast” is therion, which speaks of a wild, venomous beast, a monster. Paul calls this character “the man of sin,” “the son of perdition,” and “the lawless one” (2 Thessalonians 2:3, 8). The Antichrist will come on the world scene much like the angels at Christmas, saying, “Peace on earth” and offering a plan for world tranquility. But this will not last long. Midway through the Tribulation, he will commit what both Daniel and Jesus called “the abomination of desolation” (Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15), thus revealing his true character. This beast, the Antichrist, will serve Satan and will receive both power and authority directly from the father of lies, the head of this counterfeit trinity.

The second characteristic is world dominance. Verse 1 says the Antichrist will have seven heads, ten horns, and ten crowns; verse 2 declares that the devil will give him his power, his throne, and great authority. This man will be granted power to “make war with the saints and to overcome them” and will be given authority over “every tribe, tongue, and nation” (v. 7). This recalls the vision in Daniel 7 of four beasts representing four distinct world powers: a lion (Babylon), a bear (Medo-Persia), a leopard (Greece), and a grotesque and terrifying creature (Rome). Here, John sees a single beast possessing all of the characteristics of the four creatures in Daniel 7. And this final kingdom will have seven heads and ten horns, representing separate governments that at the time of the end will come together in a confederacy.

This ruler will impose a new kind of world order on the planet—a world order with unprecedented influence. Daniel 7:23 says the Antichrist will devour the whole earth, trampling it and breaking it into pieces. If he is to deliver world peace, then he will need a global influence.

Part of the Constitution for the Federation of Earth, produced by the Democratic World Federalists, says,

Realizing that humanity today has come to a turning point in history; that we are on the threshold of a new world order which promises to usher in an era of peace and prosperity and harmony; conscious of the obligation to save humanity from imminent and total annihilation and conscious that humanity is one despite the existence of diverse nations, races, creeds, ideologies, cultures; that the principle of unity in diversity is the basis of a new age when war will be outlawed and peace shall prevail; conscious of the inescapable reality that the greatest hope for the survival of life on earth is the establishment of a democratic one world government; we, the citizens of the world, hereby resolve to establish a world federation to be governed in accordance with the constitution for the federation of the earth.

The framers of this document thought the new federation should be headed up by a “world executive,” a presidium of five leaders who represent five continents. They called for one president and four vice presidents who would aid him. This world executive would control everything.

As world conditions decline—and the world will get progressively worse as we approach the rapture—there will grow such a cry for peace that any solution, any confederation that can promise peace on earth, will gain global support. By promising exactly this, the Antichrist will achieve global dominion.

One key element to gaining world peace, according to the “one world” strategists and planners, is the removal of absolutes. In his classic book The Closing of the American Mind, Alan Bloom said the only way globalism can work is by eliminating any system of absolutes. In other words, nothing is right, and if nothing is right, then no one has the right to say, “You’re wrong.” And that’s how we’re all going to get along. Linda Faulkinstein of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory said, “Black and white answers probably never really existed, but the time has long passed when even the myth can endure. Competent world citizens must act in the large zones of grays where absolutes are absent.” Planners like her realize that religious beliefs—which tend to divide people—must be eliminated, and that the adherents to those beliefs must be labeled as close-minded, prejudiced, and intolerant. All of this will contribute toward a massive truth vacuum throughout the world.

The Antichrist will accomplish this total control, in part, through the third characteristic, wonder (v. 3). The beast will be engineered by the devil, possessed by the devil, controlled by the devil, and empowered by the devil. Apparently, he will survive some kind of head wound that appears fatal, causing the world to marvel over him and follow him. The word “marveled” in verse 3 means “to greatly admire, to wonder, to feel stunned by.” Marvel is the first step toward worship.

The “return” from a mortal head wound could be a reference to the revived Roman Empire, but in verse 12 we read that the wound seems to be of a more personal kind. There we find a term that is also used of Jesus Christ, when John sees the Lamb, or Christ, “as though it had been slain” (5:6). Some scholars believe the Antichrist will conjure some kind of fake resurrection. While the devil can never manufacture an actual resurrection, he can create a sign or wonder that could be mistaken for such—a wound that merely appears to be fatal and from which the Antichrist fully recovers, prompting the whole world to marvel after him.

The fourth characteristic is worship (vv. 4,8). Marvel and fear will quickly blossom into full-fledged worship of the beast—and through him, worship of the devil. That’s what Satan has always wanted. Ever since he tried to usurp God’s authority long ago, the devil has wanted to be like the Most High, and that includes receiving the worship only God can receive. Paul said the Antichrist will oppose God and exalt himself above everything that is called God, to the point that he sits in the temple in Jerusalem to proclaim his divinity (2 Thessalonians 2:4). The world will willingly believe this lie, giving him praise that sounds a lot like authentic worship of God: “Who is like the beast?” (v. 4). In the Old Testament, believers often declared, “Who is like our God?” (see, for example, Exodus 15:11; Psalm 35:10; Isaiah 40:18; Micah 7:18). And the unbelievers during the Tribulation period will say to the beast, “You are our god!”

Satan has always tried to masquerade as God. Here the dragon will try to masquerade as God the Father, while the Antichrist will masquerade as the Son. At this point in the Tribulation, all the dreams that people have expressed for a one-world religion will be fulfilled—but it will be demonic and blasphemous.

Fifth, the beast will be characterized by many words (v. 5). Almost every dictator who has risen to power has done so through the persuasive use of words. They know how to sway a crowd with potent speeches. Perhaps you have seen films of Adolf Hitler mesmerizing throngs in pre-World War II Germany. The Antichrist will be powerfully persuasive, but his enticing speech will eventually turn into blasphemy against God.

Sixth, the beast will become a man of war (v. 7). He will “overcome” the saints and slaughter millions of them (see also Daniel 7:25). These saints are not members of the church, of which Jesus said, “The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). Rather, they are Tribulation saints. The church will have already been raptured from the earth, and the believers whom the Antichrist persecutes will be Tribulation saints. Large multitudes of them will suffer a martyr’s death.

We Are Closer to All-Out War in Europe, In Asia, and In the Middle East Than Most People Realize

by Michael Snyder - https://endoftheamericandream.com/we-are-closer-to-all-out-war-in-europe-in-asia-and-in-the-middle-east-than-most-people-realize/

We really are at one of the most pivotal moments in human history. Decisions that are being made now will have very serious implications for every man, woman and child on the entire planet. We have entered a time of “wars and rumors of wars”, and we have seen so much death and destruction over the past couple of years. But now a new administration is in control in Washington and we have reached a fork in the road. Will global leaders take advantage of this small window of opportunity to establish peace, or will they choose all-out war?

The good news is that for the first time in a long time, U.S. officials are talking with the Russians. On Monday, Marco Rubio traveled to Saudi Arabia, and it is expected that he will be talking with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about Ukraine while he is there…

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was on his way to the country, amid expectations that peace talks on ending the war in Ukraine are about to begin.

This is a very positive development, but negotiations with the Russians will certainly not be easy.

For one thing, the Ukrainians and our European allies are demanding that the Russians make territorial concessions, and the Russians are completely ruling that out…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday ruled out territorial concessions to Ukraine, setting out a tough opening stance on the eve of talks on Tuesday with U.S. President Donald Trump’s team in Saudi Arabia.

Trump said after a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday that the two sides would begin talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.

The Russians are winning the war and having been steadily moving forward in recent months.

They see absolutely no need to give any territory that they have captured back.

The longer the Ukrainians wait to make a deal, the more territory they will lose.

The Russians have all the leverage, and they know it.

The Ukrainians and our European allies are also adamant that Ukraine must be allowed to join NATO and that western troops must be allowed to serve as “peacekeepers” in Ukraine once the war is over.

In fact, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer just admitted that he is “ready and willing” to deploy British troops for such a purpose…

Europe is growing more hawkish in its rhetoric, seeing the need for a counterbalance against Trump efforts to secure lasting peace in Ukraine, which recently included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announcing that the US does not see future NATO membership for Ukraine as a realistic possibility.

The latest shot across the bow is British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announcing that the UK is “ready and willing” to put British peacekeeping troops on the ground in Ukraine, and stressing it’s essential that the West backs Kyiv toward “securing a lasting peace in Ukraine that safeguards its sovereignty for the long term” which essential” to deter Putin from “further aggression.” There is as yet no framework for negotiated peace in place, and yet Starmer is talking boots on the ground.

Over and over again, the Russians have rejected the idea of Ukraine joining NATO.

And over and over again, the Russians have rejected the idea of western “peacekeepers” in Ukraine once the war is over.

Peacekeepers from neutral nations might work. If I was negotiating this deal, I might suggest that.

But from my perspective, it will be nearly impossible for the Trump administration to come up with a deal that will be acceptable for both sides.

Of course Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is already sabotaging the peace talks between the United States and Russia before they have even started. He just told Meet The Press that he will “never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine”.

Zelenskyy refuses to talk to Vladimir Putin, and he doesn’t want anyone else talking to him either.

Instead, Zelenskyy just continues to try to come up with new ways to drag western powers directly into the conflict. His latest scheme would result in the creation of an “armed forces of Europe”…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for the creation of an “armed forces of Europe” to guard against Russia, appearing to suggest that the United States may no longer come to the continent’s aid.

Zelensky, speaking on the second day of the Munich Security Conference, said Ukraine’s three-year fight against an invading Russian army has proved that a foundation exists for the creation of a European army that has long been discussed among some continental leaders.

“I really believe that time has come,” he said. “The armed forces of Europe must be created.”

There already is an “armed forces of Europe”.

It is called NATO.

And Zelenskyy has been trying over and over again to drag NATO into the war, because that is Ukraine’s best chance of winning.

At this point, I think that Zelenskyy is deeply frustrated with the Trump administration. Earlier this month, the Trump administration sent him a contract that would give the U.S. a tremendous amount of control over the natural resources in Ukraine…

The Telegraph has obtained a draft of the pre-decisional contract, marked “Privileged & Confidential’ and dated Feb 7 2025. It states that the US and Ukraine should form a joint investment fund to ensure that “hostile parties to the conflict do not benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine”.

The agreement covers the “economic value associated with resources of Ukraine”, including “mineral resources, oil and gas resources, ports, other infrastructure (as agreed)”, leaving it unclear what else might be encompassed. “This agreement shall be governed by New York law, without regard to conflict of laws principles,” it states.

The US will take 50pc of recurring revenues received by Ukraine from extraction of resources, and 50pc of the financial value of “all new licenses issued to third parties” for the future monetization of resources. There will be “a lien on such revenues” in favor of the US. “That clause means ‘pay us first, and then feed your children’,” said one source close to the negotiations.

Once they understood what this agreement said, officials in Kyiv started freaking out.

Just like the Biden administration did, the Ukrainians wanted the Trump administration to hand over giant piles of money with no strings attached.

Clearly that is not going to happen.

The Ukrainians are holding a losing hand. They should make peace with the Russians while they still control most of their country.

If no peace deal materializes within the next few months, I believe that the Russians will strongly consider sending a massive force at Kyiv from the north in an attempt to end the war by force by the end of 2025. At this stage the Ukrainian armed forces have deteriorated so badly that I think such a move would be successful.

Of course if the Russians did take Kyiv, that wouldn’t cause the Trump administration and the Europeans to back down. Instead, that would just push us to the brink of nuclear war.

Meanwhile, U.S. relations with China just took another turn for the worse…

China accused the United States on Monday of a “serious regression” in its position on Taiwan, after the State Department updated the Taiwan section of its website to remove a reference to the independence of the Beijing-claimed island.

The State Department fact sheet on U.S.-Taiwan relations continues to state Washington’s opposition to any unilateral changes to the status quo from either China or Taiwan, a self-ruling democracy that rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims. But the phrase “we do not support Taiwan independence” appears to have been removed Thursday in what the State Department says was a routine update.

The change was cheered by Taiwan, while China said it “sends a wrong signal to the Taiwan independence forces” and urged the U.S. to “immediately correct this mistake.”

We are far closer to war with China than most people realize.

A trade war between our two nations has already erupted, we are headed for a showdown with China over control of the Panama Canal, and the Chinese have been preparing for the day when they will invade Taiwan.

But the most imminent threat of all-out war is in the Middle East.

The Trump administration and the Israeli government are in full agreement that Iran’s push for nuclear weapons must end.

Earlier this month, President Trump indicated that making a deal would be preferable to “bombing the hell” out of Iran…

US President Donald Trump said he would prefer to make a deal with Iran rather than “bombing the hell out of it,” in a media interview published Saturday, adding that Israel would not carry out a strike if there were an agreement.

“I would like a deal done with Iran on non-nuclear. I would prefer that to bombing the hell out of it,” he told the New York Post aboard Air Force One on Friday. “They don’t want to die. Nobody wants to die.”

“If we made the deal, Israel wouldn’t bomb them,” he predicted, though he also said he would not discuss potential negotiations with Tehran.

The Trump administration has decided to impose “maximum economic pressure” on Iran in a last-ditch attempt to force the Iranians to make a deal.

But it won’t work.

The Iranians have no intention of making a deal.

So it won’t be too long before the Trump administration and the Israelis are faced with a decision. Either they will choose to allow Iran to build nukes, or they will choose the “bombing the hell out of it” option.

I have a feeling that the second alternative will prevail.

So enjoy this little bubble of relative calm while you still can, because it is not likely to last for too much longer.

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PROPHECY UPDATE VIDEOS

Bible Prophecy’s Great Purpose

Terry James - https://terryjamesprophecyline.com/2025/02/17/bible-prophecys-great-purpose/

One of the falsest and most-cutting accusations launched at the belief that the Bible teaches that people can’t lose their salvation when they’re truly born again (John 3:3) is: “If you believe once saved, always saved, you’re saying people can live any way they want without fear of punishment.” Or so the line of condemning criticism goes.

The absolute assurance of eternal security, of course, engenders no such thought within the mind truly regenerated by the saving power of Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches that the Lord convicts His children in their spirits, and that habitual, unrepented-of sin will result in severe penalties—even physical death, in some cases. The Heavenly Father’s patience is longsuffering, but it is not infinite.

A child of God cannot sin without severe repercussions if repentance isn’t forthcoming.

But, that person will never be kicked out of God’s family. Never. Here is God’s own promise in that regard, given through Paul the apostle:

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38–39)

A kindred accusation is thrown at those who believe in the pre-Trib view of Bible prophecy, which, of course, is the one we at Rapture Ready and the Prophecy Line blog believe. It is the view that Jesus Christ will call all who are born again to Himself before the Tribulation (the last seven years of history leading to the Second Advent; see Revelation 19:11).

The angry diatribe against the pre-Trib Rapture view—by even genuine Christians, in many cases—usually goes something like this: “People like you, who believe that the Lord is going to rapture them before the Tribulation, think you can live however you want, because you think and teach falsely that you’re going to be rescued before God’s judgment and wrath fall, no matter what.”

Non-Christian accusers who castigate those of us who hold the pre-Trib Rapture view have their own version. It goes something like: “Christians who believe like that don’t care anything about making the world better. You even hope for things to get worse and worse. You wish for earthquakes, famines, pestilence, war in the Middle East, and for Armageddon to hurry up and get here so you will go to your pie in the sky and watch the rest of us get ours.”

Although the first criticism is absolutely not true, I have to admit that, regarding the second, too often I’ve sensed—even heard—such sentiments from some who believe in the pre-Trib Rapture. And, it is entirely the wrong attitude for the Christian to hold. There are no excuses for wanting the Christ-rejecting world of non-believers to receive God’s judgment and wrath. It is only by His unfathomable grace that every one of us isn’t headed into that time of unprecedented horror.

No matter how—to use Lot’s King James Version word—“vexed” we become by the debauched, debased actions of the lost world around us, our job as Christ’s children—His representatives here on earth—is of a completely different nature than wanting to see them “get what’s coming” to them. The changed nature produced by being born again should make us do just the opposite of wanting them, in our vexation, to get what we see as coming to them.

The Christian whose spirit is attuned to the Holy Spirit’s desire for the lost doesn’t want to see them “get what’s coming to them” either during the Tribulation or upon death. Rather, we want to do all within our power to keep them from having to go through the time of God’s judgment and wrath.

Like God Himself, we shouldn’t be willing for anyone to perish, but we should want everyone to come to repentance. That’s what Christ’s Great Commission to His disciples before He ascended to sit at the Father’s right hand is all about, you see. That’s what God’s love—love that those who have Christ indwelling them possess—is all about. (Read Matthew 28:18–20.)

In the same vein, that’s what Bible prophecy is all about. Prophecy given in God’s Word has purpose—profound purpose. It has at its center the commission from the Lord to warn of God’s judgment and wrath that will come upon all who oppose Him. It isn’t the hatred of God for the lost people of this fallen planet that drives prophecy. It is the love of God that powers His prophetic Word. It must be the Christian’s desire, therefore, to study Bible prophecy and put forth those warnings out of a spirit of God’s love, not through an anger-filled abhorrence of those who are lost.

Christians who do study prophecy—and they seem to be few these days, I’m sad to have to say—are often heard wondering about when Christ will call the Church (born-again believers) in the Rapture. Everything seems so ripe for Him to pluck His people from this sin-darkened sphere.

Nothing and no one can change God’s timing for His next catastrophic intervention into earth’s history. It will happen exactly on time, as He has determined since before the foundation of this world. However, as believers, we might look to ourselves for the Lord’s—often in our view—delay in calling us, as outlined in 1 Corinthians 15:51–55 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18.

Again, the Apostle Peter gave the heart of the reason Christ hasn’t yet raptured His Church:

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9).

The purpose of Bible prophecy is to show the love of God to a lost and otherwise doomed world. God isn’t willing for anyone to die in their sins, but He wants everyone to accept Jesus Christ as the one and only sacrifice for sin that God will accept.

The Lord is “longsuffering.” The reason, I’m convinced, that the Lord seems so “slack” to many in His coming is because those same people have neglected their duty to share the love of God with the lost—the lost whom God loves so very much that He sent His only begotten Son so they would not perish.

It is well past the time for God’s people to invest in getting the message of the love of God to those who otherwise won’t hear the warning of deadly things soon to befall this Christ-rejecting planet. Considering these times that are so dramatically signaling the coming Tribulation, Bible prophecy can and must be used as a productive tool for evangelism.

Marking 500 Days Since an Act of Pure Barbarism Ignited a Multifront War

By Fretwell - https://harbingersdaily.com/marking-500-days-since-an-act-of-pure-barbarism-ignited-a-multifront-war/

On October 7th, 2023, a day that will forever be etched into the collective memory of the Jewish people, Israel suffered the deadliest massacre of Jews in recent history. Hamas, the terrorist organization that controls the Gaza Strip, launched an unprovoked, brutal attack on southern Israel. The assault began in the early hours of the morning, as over 2,000 rockets were fired from Gaza, indiscriminately targeting Israeli towns and cities. While the Israeli population took cover from the bombardment, Hamas terrorists breached Israel’s borders, storming communities, slaughtering families, raping women, and taking hostages.

This attack was an act of pure barbarism, designed not only to kill but to instil terror. The scale of the violence was unimaginable: over 1,400 Israelis were murdered, including men, women, children, and the elderly. Entire families were massacred in their homes, their lives cut short in a single day of unimaginable violence. The terrorists took hundreds more hostages, dragging them across the border into Gaza, including civilians, women, children, and even the elderly. The total number of those kidnapped surpassed 200 people, including foreign nationals and individuals who were visiting Israel when the attack took place.

The massacre of October 7th was the most significant atrocity against the Jewish people since the Holocaust. It was an unprovoked, calculated act of terrorism. The international community watched in horror, but the response, as history has shown, was tragically muted in some quarters. For Israel, the events of this day marked the beginning of a new chapter in its struggle for survival.

In the year that followed, Israel found itself at war on multiple fronts. The initial response was a large-scale military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, targeting the group’s infrastructure and leadership. Despite Israel’s efforts to weaken Hamas, the terrorist group continued its attacks, launching rockets at Israeli civilians on an almost daily basis. The war expanded beyond Gaza, with Hezbollah in the north, backed by Iran, joining the fight. Israel engaged in conflict on at least seven fronts, defending its citizens from terror attacks originating from Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and other hostile actors in the region.

The world’s reaction to this ongoing conflict, in many ways, added insult to injury. Rather than rallying behind Israel’s right to defend itself against the horrific terror of October 7th, large sections of the global community instead turned their ire towards Israel. In cities across the world, from London to New York, demonstrations have been held in support of the Palestinian cause—often aligning with the Islamic ideologies that orchestrated the massacres. The irony is tragic: in their quest to express solidarity with what they perceive to be oppressed groups, Western societies are marching in support of ideologies that fundamentally oppose their own values of freedom, equality, and human rights.

Furthermore, much of the global media has shown itself to be deeply biased against Israel, with rampant misinformation and outright propaganda shaping public perception of the conflict. The BBC alone breached its own editorial guidelines over 1,500 times in its reporting, repeatedly misrepresenting facts and disseminating Hamas’s narrative. Despite the evidence of mass murder and hostage-taking by Hamas, many media outlets have focused instead on demonizing Israel for its military responses. This skewed coverage has fueled anti-Israel sentiment worldwide, culminating in protests even on the one-year anniversary of the massacre, while rockets continued to rain down on Israeli civilians.

Looking Forward with Biblical Eyes

500 days on, Israel has made significant gains in its war against Hamas and its northern adversary, Hezbollah. The Israeli military has severely weakened Hamas, targeting its leadership and key infrastructure. One of the most significant achievements has been the elimination of top commanders within Hezbollah, including its elusive leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Hezbollah, long a proxy for Iran’s regional ambitions, has been dealt a heavy blow, raising questions about the future of Lebanon, which has been held hostage by this terror organization for decades. Will the elimination of Hezbollah’s leadership pave the way for Lebanon’s freedom from its grip? And what role will Israel play in dismantling the network of terror that has enveloped the region?

Israel’s ability to defend itself has also sparked larger questions about the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East. Iran, which has funded and equipped Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terror groups, remains the ultimate force behind much of the conflict. Many are now asking whether Israel will take the fight to Iran, potentially launching strikes against its nuclear facilities or military infrastructure. Such an escalation would have profound consequences, not only for Israel but for the broader region and the world.

From a biblical perspective, these events may be part of a larger prophetic puzzle. In Zechariah 12:2-3, the prophet foretells a time when the nations of the world will turn against Israel, surrounding it on all sides. The events of the past year have given us a glimpse of how easily this could happen. The global tide of anti-Israel sentiment, the unprovoked attacks by terror groups, and the world’s failure to support Israel’s right to self-defense—all of these could be seen as laying the groundwork for the prophesied final battle of Gog and Magog, described in Ezekiel 38-39. In this biblical account, Israel’s enemies will launch a coordinated attack, only to be met by divine intervention as God steps in to defend His people.

Looking ahead, we must ask: Are we on the precipice of such an event? Will Israel soon experience an unprecedented time of peace following the defeat of its regional enemies, as suggested by some interpretations of Ezekiel’s prophecy? And will this period of peace set the stage for an even larger conflict involving nations like Russia, Iran, and Turkey?

For Christians around the world, this is a time to watch, wait, and pray for the salvation of Israel. The Bible tells us that God has a plan for His people, and as the world turns increasingly against Israel, the church must stand ready, prayerful, and vigilant. The events of the last 500 days remind us that history is unfolding according to a divine plan, and we must be prepared for what lies ahead.

Daily Jot: Smokescreens everywhere

Bill Wilson – www.dailyjot.com

Democrats in Congress are running around from the Treasury Department to USAID and who knows where else in protest of President Trump’s investigation of government efficiency and corruption. They have tried their standard “go to” scream that such an action is dangerous to democracy. They have even gone so far as to say that they will shut down the government rather than allow Elon Musk under the direction of Trump to investigate this graft and corruption. In other words, it’s ok for them to shut down the government and that’s not a threat to democracy. Trump, however, freezing spending pending an investigation of corruption and waste is somehow a threat to democracy. Huh?

Argument Number 1 from the Marxist left is that somehow auditing government agencies for waste and corruption is a threat to democracy. Yes, it is a definitive threat to their brand of democracy which is a Marxist organized crime and wealth redistribution cartel. Their brand of democracy is to suck the middle class dry of its ingenuity and wealth, and give it to themselves and their cronies. As of February 10, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) already had made over $3.4 BILLION in cuts, despite activist court judges trying to frustrate and restrict DOGE audit efforts. All the while, Democrat lawmakers are claiming Trump and Musk are trying to “take from the poor and give to the rich.”

Argument Number 2 is that Elon Musk is a non-elected private citizen who should not be allowed any kind of access to your sensitive information because that is a threat to democracy. Have any of these Marxist road warriors considered that the Department of Government Efficiency is a new government agency established to fix the waste and corruption problem in the federal government? Has anyone considered that Musk has been appointed by the President to head up this effort? Has anyone considered why the Democrats, especially those in Congress and within the government itself, want to put a stop to holding government agencies accountable for waste? How is being honest, efficient and accountable to the American people so far as how their tax money is being spent a threat to democracy?

None of these arguments remotely meet the straight face test. These Democrats running around screaming the sky is falling is just the fabric made specifically for cover-ups. So far, the massive waste and fraud is exposing Democrat programs that are used to make each other wealthy. It’s the exact opposite of what they are accusing Trump and Musk of doing. The news media keeps giving them a platform and they are in a panic thinking their gravy train at your expense is coming to an end. As is written in Ecclesiastes 12:14, “For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” It’s happening. Don’t believe the smokescreens that accountability is a threat to democracy or to your well-being, or that those holding accountability are somehow a threat. Let’s clear the smoke and expose these evildoers.

Daily Devotion: Quick, Slow, and Slow

by Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org

Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. —James 1:19

https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/quick-slow-and-slow/ - Listen

You can tell a lot about people by the things they’re quick to do and the things they’re slow to do. For instance, some people are slow to get to a party and quick to leave. Some people are quick to make a mess and slow to clean it up. Some people are slow to promote themselves and quick to praise others.

How would your family, or the people who know you best, describe you in terms of being quick to do one thing and slow to do another? How would you describe yourself? What do you think that says about you?

How well do you align with James’ model in the verse above—being “quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry”? Most of us get it completely backward. We’re slow to listen, quick to speak, and quick to get angry.

We listen just long enough to convince ourselves that we have pearls of wisdom to contribute. We’re quick to interrupt by offering advice or steering the conversation where we want it to go. And if our pearls of wisdom or attempts to “solve the problem” aren’t appreciated, we get angry and blame the other person.

This is a challenge many married couples face. When your spouse comes to you with a problem, instead of cutting him or her off by saying, “Here’s what you need to do,” try saying something like, “Tell me why this is bothering you.” And then listen—closely, and for as long as your spouse needs to talk. Even—and especially—if your spouse’s problem is with you.

Resist the urge to dismiss the problem as something insignificant. Find a way to work it out calmly. Avoid raising your voice. If you feel rage boiling up inside you, walk away until it goes away. Follow the advice of the apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:31–32: “Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you” (NLT).

Ruth Graham, the wife of Billy Graham, once said, “A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers.” That’s part of being slow to get angry. You must learn how to forgive, how to keep short accounts, how not to bring up things that happened twenty years ago. Remember, your goal is to work things out and find a resolution. Paul also says in Ephesians 4:26, “Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry” (NLT). So don’t go to bed angry at each other. Fight to resolve, not to win.

Of course, you can often avoid the anger by being quick to listen. And by being slow to speak—and making sure that when you do speak, you’re considering your spouse’s needs in that moment. And by keeping a long fuse on your anger by refusing to get mad about things that ultimately don’t matter.

Reflection Question: How can you become quicker to listen, slower to speak, and slower to get angry?

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