The. 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. I'd have to say that within the next 72 hours, something is going to be very, very crucial for the world.
I don't know what it is right now. You know that there are things that are happening worldwide that we need to be aware of. And on today's program, we're going to cover some of those events that are taking place. In fact, that's what we do. We examine current events.
In the light of God's prophetic word, Ken Timmerman, David Dolan, Winky Madad, and Rick and I will be talking about the ground stoppage that's taking place around the United States. And Rich Schmidt will be here to take a look at the book with us today on the program. 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's our expert in geopolitical affairs. He comes to us from his home in France. He's an author and an analyst.
Ken, thanks for being. With us today, Rick is always a pleasure to be with you. Thank you.
Well, Ken, let's start with the situation in the Middle East. Can you give us an update on the negotiations between Iran and President Trump? Everybody has been waiting for the midterm elections to be behind us for the president to give the instructions to the military to resume military strikes on Iran. It's still not clear whether that will happen or it won't happen. But this week, both the president and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said we don't need an Iran deal, and it means also that maybe we don't need an Iran war.
They're both talking about. The effectiveness of the naval blockade, which now CENTCOM has reinforced with a land blockade all around Iran's borders, so Iraq, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan—all of those areas on land are now under U.S. blockade. We have isolated the country economically. They are having a very Very very difficult time, and the only one who seems to want to give the Iranians or let the Iranians off the hook is J D Vance, who wrote this letter two weeks ago to Mossadegh, the very hardline number two of the regime.
And Trump seemed to kind of put J D in the doghouse this week, and he said, "Look, J D is going to focus on corruption and Democrat-run cities and states from now on, and we're going to take care of Iran." But here's the important takeaway. The Iranians have nothing to offer us any longer. Their seven demands. Marco Rubio was in Paris on Tuesday. He said they're absurd.
They want all of the concessions that JD Vance, Whitcomb, and Jared Kushner worked out for them in June. The three hundred billion dollar investment account. They want us to release money that is frozen, and on and on and on. Rubio said that's all off the table. That's not going to happen.
The only. The Iranians still might have to offer is freeing up the Strait of Hormuz, and Trump has made pretty clear, and our military has made pretty clear, we own the Strait of Hormuz today.
Well, Ken, as we look at this situation, one of President Trump's greatest assets in this war against Iran has been Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and this week we found out that he's been threatened personally, hasn't he? He absolutely has, and and I have called Scott Besson the one of the big heroes of this war effort because of the economic blockade. He has been tremendously effective at throttling Iran's. Oil exports and their ability to essentially make money and to access their hidden assets—the hidden assets of the Revolutionary Guards, in particular—worldwide.
So this week, Besant actually had to leave his home in Washington D.C. and move on to a military base. Because of active threats from Iranian terrorist cells, and by the way, I've got to say, the Wall Street Journal really has some mud on his face for this because they published a photo of his house that made it possible to geolocate where he lived. They never should have done that. But the Iranians picked up on it.
The CIA has been warning of this, Rick, for quite some time that the Iranians would target U.S. officials. Also this week, our B one bomber pilots living in Great Britain had. To leave their bases and their off-base living quarters to be in specially secured areas because of Iranian threats.
So the Iranians take the economic war very, very seriously, and they are personally targeting people, individuals, pilots, U.S. government officials, Treasury Secretary Besant.
Okay, and this week we also learned that one of the leading companies in the world, especially when it comes to artificial intelligence, Nvidia. The leader of that company was forced to resign over a scandal with China. Can you talk a little bit about this? Nvidia has been the real locomotive of the stock market, of not just of the Nasdaq, but of the stock market, because of these amazing computer chips, amazing profits. They every time they have blowout profits, every Every single quarter, and Jensen Wong, their CEO, has been the driving force behind it.
Well, this week we learned that he had an affair with a Chinese woman who ran a company called MegaSpeed in Singapore, and she has now been accused of being a Chinese intelligence agent. And the fear and the investigation that is going on by Congress and also by the United States government is that by allowing MegaSpeed in Singapore to Import the fastest computer chips from Nvidia that are not allowed to go to China. That in fact, this woman was either shipping them to China or allowing the Chinese to buy computer time on those fast Nvidia chips.
Now, it's a it's a big deal. You say, okay, this is a sex scandal. It's more than a sex scandal. But you know, there is the the problem of the chip sales. And now, Scott Besson has been blaming the commerce.
Secretary Lutnick for allowing these sales to go on, even though they have known inside the administration for nearly a year of this problem between Jensen Wong and the woman at Megaspeed.
So here's what Besson said. He said Treasury, War, the U.S. Trade Representative, and State they were in favor of putting Megaspeed on the Entity List for months.
Now that means the list of denied companies. You say if you're on the Entity. List you cannot access high technology from the U.S.
So we've been in in favor of this for months, but Treasury has the pen and they blocked it.
Well, got to tell you, Rick, I've been around for a little while and I've seen these fights between the Commerce Department, which has always promoted U.S. exports, and the Security Departments, like Treasury, the Department of Defense, and others, have always been against them.
So that's nothing new. But what really happened? We're still going to learn from the investigation coming up. Did Jensen Wong actually betray those chips? I tend to think he didn't, but we'll have to see.
Well, we'll continue to keep an eye on that situation. But let's move to Europe right now and let's talk about Russia and Ukraine. And there have been reports of overnight attacks amid a U.S. diplomatic push. Can you talk about that?
Well, the Ukraine Russia negotiations—it's talk and shoot, talk and shoot. That's been going on for months. Rick, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner were in Moscow on Thursday, and on Friday there were twelve hundred Ukrainian drones swarming against Russian oil facilities all across the country. And the Russians, of course, they were no slackers either. They hit Odessa on the Black Sea.
This is Ukraine's lifeline. For its grain exports, there just doesn't seem to be a real breakthrough. Everyone was hoping that Melania Trump, with that ceasefire, the temporary ceasefire that she had worked out ten days ago, that that was going to be an opening to to more extensive talks. It hasn't turned out to be that, and now you have the Europeans who want to insert themselves into the negotiations. I tell you.
I think there's fat chance that's going to happen. Why should Putin let them weigh in on the Ukrainian side, which is where they're going to be, when they've been totally unhelpful either to him or to the United States until now? And why should Trump let them come in either when they haven't helped us?
So, unfortunately. I don't see any progress in the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. I think we're again in this World War One slog in the trenches. Final question for you, Ken. I mentioned that you're in France right now, and of course the French riots taking place.
Can you talk a little bit about these riots, what they mean not only for France but also Europe and maybe the world as well?
Well, the riots are important, and they show the fissure within French society—not just among the young people and the those in control, but also between the Muslims of France and the rest of the world, the rest of the population. We have a number of prominent Muslim groups in France who this week filed a lawsuit against an author, a guy named Michel Houellebecq, who wrote a novel in 2015 called Submission, and they're accusing him of inciting. Violence against against Muslims for saying that Muslims should either stop the violence or leave France.
Well, it shows that Islam has no tolerance, and they have even less a sense of humor for a humoristic novel. It's jihad, jihad, jihad. It's war, war, war. And it's not just France. It's Germany.
It's Belgium. It's the U.K. It's Sweden. And it's Michigan and Texas and Maryland.
Now the riots are going on. November seventeenth. In a couple of days, there's going to be another general strike, and we learned this week that the French president, his biggest fear is that the police will kill a protester.
So he's given orders that they should not use any violence to harm protesters, even if the protesters are threatening the life of a police officer. No wonder they still have riots and violent protests. They have arrested five thousand people for rioting. Most of them were released within hours. The schools now are being blockaded by students.
I was listening to the national French radio this morning. You know, with discussions with the students, and and one of the student leaders said, "Yes, of course we're blockading the schools because." It's an effective tactic. Before we blockaded the schools and wouldn't allow anybody to go into class. No one would talk to us. We had no seat at the table.
Now the Minister of Interior, he receives us personally, and they talk to us and they listen to us. That is just so incredibly cynical, and it's incredibly incompetent on the part of the government that that they allow that to happen. Rick, I can't believe it. These kids have not been in schools since September twentieth, and those who are in their final year of school, they're going to have a real hard problem. All right, I'm biased.
I have a house in the south of France. I've written a book called "Raising Olives in Provence." We just harvested our olives. We chatted with other local producers. Life goes on down here in the south of France, to the Frenchmen of the land. Politics takes place on an alien planet, Rick.
Until it comes to a neighborhood near then, but if it does. They revolt with trucks full of tomatoes on the highways and a lot of other things. Never underestimate the power of the French peasant. Ken Temerman reporting from his home in France for Prophecy Today. Ken, thanks so much.
Thank you, Rick. God bless. Great job as always, Ken.
Well, we've got to take a break and when we come back, David Dillon with our Middle East news update right here on Prophecy Today weekend. I'm Steve Odell with Mission Network News. Iran isn't backing down from its nuclear demands. Yesterday, Iran's top security official said not even a particle of enriched nuclear material would leave the country—a major sticking point in negotiations with the U.S.
Meanwhile, Iranian families are struggling. Shah Amadi, with Iran Alive Ministries, recently spoke with Voice of the Martyrs Canada. He says they are hopeless. They are bombed by Iranian government. They see the millions.
And the billions of the dollars they spend on tourism, they spend on the expansion of tourism around the world. The Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the own people that are suffering. Iranians are desperate for hope, and some are finding it in Jesus. This year, Iran Alive has seen nearly six thousand people come to Christ. Pray for strength for the Iranian church.
Then rising out of poverty is difficult for anyone, but in parts of Southeast Asia, following Christ can put an extra target on your back. We've had stories come where people have had their houses and properties burned down, or things like having to go on the run from authorities or whoever it is. That's Tim Landis with Farms International. Their team helps Christians around the world develop livelihoods. Recently, program leaders from all around Southeast Asia gathered to.
Worship, encourage each other, and discuss challenges they face. I just got the sense of like they wanted to be together in this and be able to help each other out and and share the victories as well. Each farm's microloan program is led by local Christians, but the global church plays a part by investing. Learn more in the full report at our website. Thank you for listening to Mission Network News, a service of One Way Ministries.
We're listener supported by people just like you. Join us here on our social media network, or stream our podcast on Amazon Alexa, Apple Podcasts, or TWR three hundred and sixty. Together, the Great Commission happens. Look for the links at missionnews dot org. I am Steve Odell.
Welcome back to Prophecy Today Radio, the program that looks at current events in the light of Bible prophecy.
Well, this is the portion of our program we call it the Middle East News Update. We look at news coming out of the Middle East in general, but Israel in particular. To do that, we have with us journalist Dave Dolan. Dave, thanks for being with us today. Glad to be with you, Rick.
Well, David, plenty going on with Israel putting together a government or trying. To put together a government, and of course the situation in Iran. Could you give us an update? What's the latest coming out of Israel?
Well, Rika, it was a week of political haggling, as I expected, and anyone else following it knew would be the case. That came after Sunday's formal announcement by President Herzog that he'd ask Gadi Eisenkot, the leader of the new Yeshar party, to be the first to attempt to form a new coalition government. Of course, Eisenkot did not come. In first in terms of the overall numbers in the elections, he won 21 seats to Bibi Netanyahu's Likud Party, which I think took 27. But still, he got the first nod because he had 67 endorsements from Knesset members.
You only need 61 to form a new government, so that made it obvious he would be the choice. But again, like I said last week, that was due to two Arab parties recommending him, 19 seats, Rick, and we still have one of the parties that is a Zionist party, Lieberman's Russian-based. Israel Beitenu party saying no, they wouldn't sit in a government with any Arab party. Earlier, he'd said he wouldn't sit in a government with any Orthodox party, but he seems to be moderating that. This is again Lieberman.
His position on that is opposition, realizing they're not going to be able to form a majority government. Without the Arab parties, unless they get at least one of the religious parties, and hopefully two, both of them.
So, Eisenkov's been busy talking with these different heads and getting their recommendations. On Tuesday, the prime minister made a speech in the Knesset. The new Knesset's been sworn in. It was that day, and he basically blasted the Eisenkov bloc for even thinking of forming a government with the Arab parties. That angered Eisenkopf, so he broke off planned talks with the Lakoud on possibly forming.
A unity government, but Rick, it still looks most likely that in the end there will be a unity government formed, including the Likud. That because there just really is no other path that Eisenkotz has for a solid, reliable government. The first issue he brings up that the Arabs object to, he could be voted out of power.
So it's just a very unstable situation, and of course we're facing the prospect of. Renewed warfare at any time. On Thursday, both Eisenkoff and Netanyahu attended a special briefing for Eisenkoff. Really, from the security establishment, the Mossad and others, the IDF chiefs on the prospects of war with Iran. And press reports said that the expectation is that they won't.
Israel won't do anything. And President Trump's Probably not going to do anything militarily," he said.
So much this week that the war is over, but he said the blockade would continue. And on Friday, we had the regime in Iran claim that it had taken out an American radar system on the island nation of Bahrain there in the Gulf, where we have our big airbase. And the U.S. denied that. They said there was.
Two drones shot at it. That was after another U.S. military action. Let's say not a major one, but in Iran earlier on Friday.
So there's still some kinetic activity going on there, and there is a growing consensus, so say military analysts in Israel, that Iran is probably planning itself a preemptive attack. To restart the war now, why would they do that? Because the economic blockade, the sea blockade, is extremely effective, and is definitely crippling the regime. And so they might as well lash out. And the fear is, of course, Israel would be one of their main targets.
So there's pressure on the. Parties to form a government as quickly as possible. Netanyahu again advocating this unity government, and Rick, there's a suggestion going around that. The Eisenkoff bloc.
Some of the parties, two of them, have said they would never sit in the government if the Likud is part of it, or if Netanyahu is part of it specifically.
So there's a suggestion that he may step aside as party leader, and possibly the defense minister would. Israel Katz would assume the number one spot in the party. Eisenkoff would be prime minister. Then Katz would remain as defense minister. Bibi would remain in the Knesset probably, but just as head of the party from the Knesset.
So that's a possible solution to the dilemma. But again, growing pressure to get this thing going because of the prospects of a war, and of course the fact that Israel is weak. In a position where it doesn't have a formal government, is kind of like it was before the October attack in 2023, where the two sides were so bitterly divided and squabbling. We had all these demonstrations, as you recall, that the Iranians and they're saying this out loud in their media that Israel is weak and politically unstable. In other words, we're tempted to hit out at you.
Well, David, while all these political changes are taking place in Israel, there are also political changes here in the United States. A new House coming in, likely next U.S. House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries, has said that there needs to be a quote unquote dramatic change in Israel.
Well, Rick, and he was even more specific in saying there are several areas in the current agreements with Israel, et cetera, that we will oppose, and we're going to get those revoked. And of course, the Democrats so thoroughly smashed the GOP, to be frank, that they can do whatever they want. Essentially, now of course the president can veto it, and then that could be overridden because they also have a pretty good sized chunk of the Senate now—57, maybe 58 seats in the end, probably.
So it's a dilemma, and the Israeli defense establishment is very worried. Say the press reports from Israel that the U.S. is moving away from supporting, actively supporting Israel. It was the refueling jets, the U.S. refueling jets that were so essential to the Israeli side of the campaign earlier this year.
And some of those jets, of course, up in England, where they've increased the security up there because of threats from Iran to lash out at them there, and throughout the region again.
So there's a great concern, obviously, that the president is dithering, and they think that the negotiations going on that were being led by J.D. Vance, but the president said on Thursday they were no longer being led by him.
So we'll see. But that their goal now is really to just get the war out of the way, and you know not carry on with the goals that were really established. And that Israel will be, as one headline said today and said yesterday, and Israel will be left alone to fight this Iranian regime, and that is fearsome to them because, of course, it's so. Wicked and so clearly wants to destroy the Jewish state, as is said all the time. And of course, the victories of some very strongly anti-Israel Democrats has people worried as well.
And of course, just the anti-Semitism last weekend in Philadelphia, Ricka. Place I visited many times, spoken there at the Jewish Federation, etc. We had what was called a second Kristallnacht. It was the eve of the actual Kristallnacht attack in. In Germany in one thousand, nine hundred and thirty-eight, the pogrom there, and again we saw Jewish restaurants a firebomb, and we saw some mostly lesser damage, but a concerted attack upon them.
And again, all this saying, Rick, that the American Jewish community is, you know, very worried. Although, as the president pointed out. The majority of Jewish voters in Michigan voted for Al Sayed, so go figure.
Well, to go a step further, David, President Trump said that he compared anti-Semitism in the United States right now to what it was like in Germany in 1938. Of course, we know that anti-Semitism is on the rise, and that it will only get worse. That's what the Bible says. Yes, and you and I have discussed this many times, and. You know we know it, but still emotionally, it's very hard.
Especially as an American who spent most of my adult life in Israel, with still, of course, hundreds of contacts there and friends and people serving in the military there, etc. In the north where I first lived, still empty homes there because of the situation unresolved. It's hard to watch it actually unfold, but it will be a question mark for America. You know, I point out in my talks over the years, etc. Israel's future is secure.
The Bible tells us that God will defend it. God will be involved in the Armageddon battle, the Gog and Magog battle, these sorts of things. He will defend His people. The United States is a sheep nation. I believe it's one of those that has, well, clearly, that's supported Israel and been vital for that.
If it turns away from that, what will God do towards America?
So that's what I'm actually more worried about. And where I think we need to be, not only praying, but contact your representatives. Those of you in the states listening to this, and let them know that you want to see us continue. To back Israel, if indeed that's what you want to see, and hopefully, our audience at least—that's what most people do think. Journalist Dave Dolan for Prophecy Today.
Dave, as always, we appreciate your insight. Thanks so much. Look forward to talking to you again soon. You're welcome, Rick. God bless.
We're going to take a break right now, but when we come back, we'll have Israel Madad coming to us from his home in Israel. That's all ahead right here on Prophecy Today. God's judgment—it's a sure thing. This is Ken Ham on a mission to call the church back to God's word and the gospel. When God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden, He told him to eat freely from any tree except one, or he would die.
Adam and his wife rebelled against God and ate from that tree. God's judgment was swift; they were kicked out of the garden. Creation was cursed, and eventually they died. God didn't overlook their sin; He judged it, just like He said He would. Whenever we see death, we should remember that God judges sin, and the judgment is death, just as surely as God.
Judged Adam and Eve sin, so he will judge our sin. But he's made a way of salvation for us through Jesus Christ. And I urge you today: repent and trust in Jesus and be saved. Plan your visit to our two world-class attractions: the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter at AnswersRadio.com. That's AnswersRadio.com.
Welcome back to Prophecy today. I'm Jimmy DeYoung Jr. Along with my brother Rick, we examine current events in the light of God's prophetic word. Let me remind you that as we do these programs, we are examining current events in our understanding of God's prophetic word. We're not far-reaching, and everything that we touch on, talk about, focus on Israel, of course, being number one.
The European Union geopolitical aspect of things being number. Two and then really edifying and educating the body of Christ, Rick. We've got Israel Madad standing by to kind of update us again on more in depth of what's going on in Israel. Let's bring in Winky.
Well, that's right, Jimmy. I have Israel Madad with us today. He's a columnist, a former politician, the mayor of Shilo, and a frequent contributor to this program. We call him Winky because that's his nickname. Winky, thanks for being with us today.
Again, thank you very much for having me on. All kinds of things for us to talk about today. Let's start with Israeli politics, and you give us an insider perspective there in Israel. Can you give us your thoughts on the attempts to put together a government there in Israel? Give us an overview.
Well, as I've explained to our audience in the past, Israel is a parliamentary democracy and a proportional representation vote for the Knesset, the 120 seats in our parliament, which means historically that no party has ever gained 61 seats by itself. Therefore, it looks for partners to build a coalition.
Now, despite Benjamin Netanyahu's party, the Likud, Likud party, coming out with the highest number of vote mandates, as we call them, or seats in the parliament in the Knesset, that was only 27, and together with the other members of his former coalition, he doesn't reach 61. On the other hand, the other opposition parties also do not reach. 61, unless they attach another party from either Netanyahu's coalition or former coalition, or one of the Arab parties. Both of those are very difficult at this point because the from the former coalition of Netanyahu would be the Charedim, what we call the ultra orthodox, and that would be kind of funny in a. Ironic sense, because about seventy-five percent of their electioneering was: we want all the ultra-orthodox to come into the army to enlist to serve; otherwise, we're going to cut off all their funds.
And in fact, some of them even said, "We're not even going to allow you to vote." Of course, they said nothing about the Arabs, and so basically, it's it's a turnabout. I mean, you know, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people voted to keep the Charedim out, and now the government has no choice but perhaps to bring them in. On the other hand, the Arab party—it's one thing to have them attached as a supporter of the coalition outside the government, but they want in. To come into the government means they will be privy. To security, economic, military, all sorts of other affairs that their own ideology and their own statements oppose.
I mean, how are we going to go and get Hamas if they say, "Oh, we don't. We want Hamas to be peacefully treated," and they pull out of the government, the government falls.
So we got a rocky road ahead of us still. In that area, it'll probably take another few weeks until everything irons out one way, which means Eisenkot, or the other way, which is Netanyahu as prime minister. The statement "politics makes strange bedfellows" certainly applies here because no government can be put together without going to basically somebody that's diametrically opposed policy-wise. It seems like, do you see whether it's Eisenkot or not, Netanyahu? Do you see them compromising and bringing in one of these groups?
And what would be the what would be the what would be your worry? What would be the pitfalls of bringing in one of these?
Well, the pitfalls would be, of course, that most of the nationalist agenda would be stalled, or delayed, or some other form of stopping it. I'm talking about Jewish communities in Judean Samaria, a a strong offensive approach to security affairs in Syria, or even Turkey. Not to mention Hamas in Gaza, for example. I mean, I don't see Eisenkot. Attacking very much, he didn't even when he was commander in chief of the IDF in the second Lebanese war and in the early engagements, campaigns in Gaza, he was he was not a shall we say for the Americans.
He was not a John Patton. He did not force himself ahead. He continuously looked for compromise.
So it's going to look very bad for Israel in that sense. On the other side, as I explain, the Charedim will switch whichever gives them the best deal, because they just want to keep themselves semi-isolated and committed to what they call Torah study. Even though a lot of religious people, like myself, study Torah, and we also serve in the army, like King David did, for example, just to take one biblical story.
So it's kind of frustrating, actually, because, as you said. Not only politics makes strange bedfellows; politics makes strange politics. No loyalty to principles, very little upholding of ideology, and let's get in office rather than let's do the best for the country. As we continue to try to understand the Israeli-Arab vote, and we know that was a big factor in this election, and that is a big factor going forward here. What?
Is the goal? If you were to say, if you were to look at it and maybe put all those Arab parties together and that vote, where would their policy be? What are they looking to happen there in Israel? My personal opinion, and I think it's based on a lot of their own statements, is to do what's been being done in Europe and beginning to be done in America: use the democratic system as much as possible to undermine and subvert. The country you're in, and that's what they're going to do here.
Their policies will be, for example, to cut down as much as possible offensive actions against Hamas or even the Palestinian Authority, to begin to remove Jews from Judea and Samaria as much as possible. And to change Israeli society, much more than necessary, in order to enable them to be much more dominant in in the in the social fabric, it's the policy they adopted about fifteen twenty years ago, and it's moving along, and it's it hasn't skipped Germany, it hasn't skipped skipped Belgium, it hasn't skipped France or England, and now you've seen it in the United States. Why should it skip Israel? That certainly is the viewpoint that we are looking at right now, and we're facing issues here in the United States. And let's talk about the United States.
We've just recently had elections ourselves, Democrats with a resounding win, and the presumed Speaker of the House, Hakeem Jeffries, has said that there is going to be a dramatic change in in the way that Israel and the U.S. and that relationship, including. Aid, all kinds of different things. Can you talk a little bit about maybe your thoughts about this upcoming new Congress and what it might mean for Israel?
Well, first of all, despite the fact that I speak on the program mostly as an Israeli, my first emphasis should be to Americans. You're going to see a change in what we call in political science the the public square. And you Americans should be ready for this in terms of a change of what America has always been. Maybe people will like it that way. I'm not going to make your decision for yourselves.
Maybe some people are upset about it. I've seen video clips, as you know. I I watch a lot and I try to keep up, not only to be the best interviewer for your program, but just for my own interest. I've seen Muslims walk into restaurants and say, "Throw out the ham, throw out the pork." I might appreciate that as a Jew, but I wouldn't force it on a Christian. But that's what they're doing because that's that's their religion.
Their religion is is a forceful pressure. I won't go into anything else because we got it's a short program. But they're going to push for those people who say, "Well, remember, don't Jews push? Jews never pushed." If any Jews pushed, they pushed into the general society as part of that general society. Whether it was in Hollywood, whether it was in finance, whether it was in construction, whether it was anything else, Jews tried to fit into the system.
Maybe some Christians didn't like it, but I think it did very well for America in terms of economically and and culturally and scientifically. You're talking about polio. Right, that was that was a Jewish doctor who found the the vaccination.
Okay, so we try to help. I don't think that's the Muslim approach to fitting into any society. Again, you can argue with me, but I think you're going to be facing a lot of pressure. And the second thing, of course, of course, we're concerned about the. Aid identification, empathy—that America, as a democratic liberal state, has with Israel, which is a democratic liberal state.
If you can find me a Muslim liberal democratic state, I will give you an award. That just isn't on the table. I'm not saying anything bad or anything good. I'm just stating a fact. You people who are listening to me and.
You know, we'll have to make up their minds with my information. You can go on the internet and find altered information and make your judgments. I'm just trying to point out that the change in Congress, as a result of the last elections, is a challenge to the American way of life for the past 200 plus years. You have to make your decision if if that is amenable to you, if you're okay with that, or you. Want to push back yourselves?
That's your choice. Push back through the ballot, push back through city laws, state laws, federal laws. That's what your democracy is all about.
Well, it certainly is, and that's something I've been thinking about lately. And we talk about Western society being incompatible with Muslim governance, and that is proven not from what is taking place in places like the UK or the United States, but in majority Muslim countries that have no room. For democratic liberals at all, and then so I really don't understand the alliance, and that is something that is puzzling, and maybe a path to power for some people. But that is certainly something that we need to be aware of. And like you said, we need to vote.
We need to vote in in an appropriate way to handle that. I agree fully. I I'm actually speechless. I have nothing to add. I agree with you fully.
Well, let's talk a little bit. I saw Hakeem Jeffries also said that again, America is going to change their policy towards Israel, and they are going to essentially renew their intent on a two-state solution.
Now, in the wake of October seventh, what happened in Hamas? The fact that Hamas basically had their own state in Gaza and weaponized their state, their land. All of their resources towards attacking Israel, putting their civilians at risk. A two-state solution, either it's Netanyahu or Eisenkot. A two-state solution is not something that is going to be able to come to fruition in Israel right now.
No matter who's in charge, is that correct? Yes, it is correct. Not only that, but we've tried the two-state solution. I, of course, being an historical freak, say the first partition of Palestine was back in 1921 when Transjordan was given over to the Emir Abdullah and turned into the Kingdom of Jordan. The 37, 47.
Even after 67, we suggested returning almost more than 90 percent of the territories, and on and on and on. In other words, it's not that it's not theoretical. I appeal to our audience. Right, we're not talking. Oh, a two-state solution.
That's good. We've tried it, and as you said, specifically, we tried it not only with the. Autonomy idea began, or the Oslo Agreement with with with Arafat, but very recently, right with Hamas, two thousand and five, we walked out of Gaza one hundred percent, and it didn't work because whether it's Jews or non Jews, Israelis or non Israelis, the issue is not territory. The issue is: Should Israel exist as a Jewish national state? And if I can just say one more sentence on this, that's also the problem with the Arab parties in the Knesset that we discussed a couple of minutes ago.
Their position is that oh, we recognize Israel, just like I would recognize a stone in the way of the path, and I have to go around it. But do I move it? Do I throw it off the road? Do I pave it over? That's what they're going to do with Israel.
They don't recognize Israel as a Jewish national state either. For example, in the Knesset, the first Knesset session, swearing in, they walked out on Artikva, all except one, if I'm not mistaken.
Now, if you're a citizen of a state. Or America, for example, and you demonstratively, as a parliamentarian or a politician, do not sing Star Spangled Banner in an official thing. A lot of people would think you're crazy or not normal.
Well, that's what we had in Israel's parliament. Sixteen members of Knesset, the Arab members of Knesset, walked out of the plenum hall during the singing of Hatikva, the national anthem. You look at that situation, and that—that's something that we're going to be facing here as we look at you know the the these recent elections and people that have come into power. But let's move on just a little bit. I touched briefly on the fact that.
Gaza essentially had their own government and basically weaponized their civilian infrastructure against Israel in a futile attempt, because Israel was vastly military superior. It was essentially just a PR maneuver to turn world opinion against the nation of Israel.
Now the winter rains are coming in Israel and Gaza again is facing all kinds of crisis. Not just the fact that you know, not just what's going on with the the war and the war between Israel and Hamas, but the fact that they are battling the conditions. But you look at over hundreds of miles of tunnels that are there that were constructed that have no civilian use at all. That were constructed at great cost, and that was money that was given by the UN, that was money that was given by the United States, and we look at that scenario. That's just a microcosm of what Israel would face.
The longer we look at a quote-unquote two-state solution, or we look at the fact that Hamas needs to be elevated or preserved in Gaza.
Well, the one main point I'd like to say, if I could illustrate the situation, is in building those tunnels. They spent a lot of time, money, cement. And other iron, whatever else goes into building these tunnels, and they didn't build a sewage system.
Now, in my life, I've been in several construction sites where the first thing you do is you dig up the ground, either to put in sewage lines, right, or electricity, or some other item that will allow you to build a better house. And have it successful for the family who's going to move in. And tell the truth, Gaza is mostly sand, so it's not so difficult to do that, right?
So for twenty years they didn't do that, and so when the rains came, there was flooding, right? It flooded last year. It flooded five years ago. It flooded ten years ago because there's no sewerage in Gaza. Who's at fault?
Oh, not Hamas. They're only the government in Gaza, as you pointed out. It's Israel's fault. I don't know how many things you can blame Israel for, but I guess that's the game Hamas plays, progressive play, Marxist play, all sorts of people play, because it's an easy game to play. We're the smallest minority on Earth, basically, and but we do defend ourselves, which makes people angry because people don't want us to defend ourselves.
And you're right. I think one of the words I could use is shenanigan. Right? They're just playing around. They're taking pictures of babies in in in plastic bowls floating on the water.
All right, that's that's war propaganda by Hamas.
Well, Winky, as we finish up this conversation, let's see if we can put a positive spin on this. In the end, we look at. These Israeli elections and the attempt to form a government, and all the uncertainty that is there. Of course, we see what is taking place here in the United States with a new Congress coming in and the potential challenges that we might face, and that certainly Israel is going to face because of that new government. And and also, we still in the background have the war in Iran, and we still have that regime in charge there.
I don't know exactly what's going to happen, but if you want to look at this. Let's say over the next couple of weeks, months, maybe until the the beginning of the new year, any hope that you see as far as the potential for Israel to put together a government, the potential for Donald Trump to come up with a compromise, the potential for success in Iran, if you could, if it's possible, could you give us some hope for the future? You always make it difficult for me. Ah.
Okay, so right now there are a few, not many, a few members of Knesset from what we call the opposition who are very uncomfortable with Arabs in government, and they might either leave the Knesset. There's one person, one mother said actually of her son who was elected, or they might skip over to the Likud, which would of course alter the balance. And you and I have been speaking a good few years on Israeli elections, especially this last decade when there was several periods we had elections almost every couple of months. And other than that, Netanyahu came out on top all the time.
So I'm not a betting man, but I would bet with a winner, okay, or bet on a winner.
So I think there's a positive outlook on that, and I think eventually those political forces that you and I've been discussing, that I think we can say are more negative than positive, will eventually make a mistake. They'll go too far, and that will begin to upset many more people than. Should have voted in the last elections and didn't, and so there's always that opportunity of democracy saving itself, and I think that's what we have to look forward to.
Well, that's certainly true. Winky Madad for prophecy today. Winky, as always, we appreciate your insight. We appreciate your attempt to put a good face on things as we go forward, and of course, we'll continue to pray for the nation of Israel. We'll continue to pray for our nation here in the United States as well, and we hope you do the same.
Thanks so much. Look forward to talking to you again. Again soon. Thank you very much, and goodbye to you and our listeners, Winky Madad. Great job as always, Winky, and we Rick really go to Winky every time that we want to know exactly from someone who knows what's going on the ground in Israel.
But let's talk about something that's happening here in America. And I started the outset of the program saying the next seventy-two hours for not only the United States but really for the world is very crucial and.
So we did get information. November thirteenth, Friday the thirteenth, the FAA has ordered a nationwide ground stop; all takeoffs suspended due to a communications failure at air traffic control centers. Aircraft already in flight can land. International flights will be handled case by case. There are no signs of an attack.
This is what they've told us. In New Orleans, we had a tanker collide with the American Heritage cruise. About one hundred and thirty people on board on the Mississippi River at the port of New Orleans, and then, of course, last week we had the outage of the global Microsoft three hundred sixty five outage, and that seems to still be kind of ongoing.
So, what's your take on this?
Well, Jimmy, it certainly seems like chaos is the order of the day as we look at all these things that are taking place. And you know, in our lifetime, unfortunately, you know, we've experienced several things like this, nine eleven. And I'm not saying this is a nine eleven caliber event, but I'm just saying it does feel like something's going on. It does feel like something is happening. And of course, we talk about on this program.
Technology, artificial intelligence, all the the the bad actors in the world, and we look at Russia and China and Iran. And yes, it does feel like something is going on. It creates chaos. It creates uncertainty. We have children.
We have families, and we're worried about it. But we do have hope, Jimmy. We know we are not set adrift in this world. We know, we know how the story is going to end. Yes, there's going to be bumps along the way, and this might just be a small bump in the road, or it might be a big thing.
But we, what do we do? What do we focus on now, as as as believers? What do we focus on? We continue to. Focus on the Word of God.
We focus on Scripture. We focus on Bible prophecy because it is a comforting thought that we know what is going to happen, isn't it? Yes, and and that's the thing. I think that you know, you and I have been scouring since this broke. We've been looking at world news sites, all of our contacts, trying to see.
I've talked to many contacts and the and official official contacts, and just say, hey, we don't know what's going on. And I think that's the word that's going around. I think it's interesting that President Trump is silent on all of this. Maybe he will come out at some point. But I think you're right, Rick.
We do know how the story ends, and that's the advantage that we have understanding Bible prophecy. We've talked to Ken, who's in France. We've talked to David Dolan, who's talking to us about the elections in Israel and what the situation is. You know, even with in the United States and in our electoral process, and you know, and then of course, Winky is talking about. The things that is happening there in Israel, so we do know something's going on.
Of course, we know that. That's the interesting thing. That all right, we can be somewhat looking at this stuff, but you know, we also need to be aware that we do realize, as we talked last weekend, that God is sovereign and He's still on His throne. He certainly is. And we also we talked with Doctor Andy Woods last week from Sugarland Bible Church, and he.
He was talking about how you look at the things that are taking place in the world, and we remember when we were studying Bible prophecy, and we thought, "Well, there's this is seems far fetched. It doesn't seem like this could happen. How can the whole world all be responding to these things in real time?" But that, of course, was before the internet. That's before the technology like we have today. And you know, I don't want to sound like a broken record, but this is paving the way, setting the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.
These Things that we have studied and heard and and and and heard about for such a long time, they don't seem so far fetched now, do they? They don't at all, Rick. And again, this might be just a simple communication issue between an old technology and new technology. But all of us get the feeling like there's something bigger that is about to happen, and I think that's one of the things that you and I. That's one of the reasons that we do this program, and sometimes.
As any news program, things become outdated before you're even done talking about them. But we do encourage everyone to continue going to the Word of God, continue doing what we should be doing, what God wants us to do. Correct? That's right. Again, Doctor Woods last week said, "What are the two things we can invest in?
We can invest in the Word of God because it does not pass away, and we can invest in our friends, our families, those around us. We can invest in souls." And people, and that involves us taking care of our families, but also involves us sharing the gospel. Exactly right, Rick. I couldn't have said it better. Great job, and we're going to continue.
We've got the legacy series coming up, and then we'll take a look at the book. Let's just all keep praying for our leaders, world leaders around the world, and pray for those that are you know far-reaching as far as carrying out the gospel message. Because we do feel like we're getting close to something happening. We've got to take a break, and when we do come back, we'll have the legacy series with Dr. Jimmy D Young.
Right. Here on Prophecy Today Weekend. Welcome back to Prophecy Today. I'm Jimmy DeYoung Jr., and along with Rick, we've been examining current events in the light of God's prophetic word.
Well, what an exciting time to be alive! And it is interesting to know that we have God's word that we can always go to to understand why the world is acting as it is. And with the events of the last couple of days, and maybe the next couple of days, we're going to see the things that we depend on so much sometimes. We need to really go to the Word of God. Dr.
Richard Schmidt will be coming up at the last half hour of this segment. But Rick, if we're getting ready to go back to Israel, Rick, if people wanted to find out information about us and what we're doing, where would they go?
Well, that's right, Jimmy. ProphecyToday dot com. You could also listen to some of our other materials that we have put out throughout the year, and you can go read our devotionals. We strongly encourage you to do that as we look at prophecy, all the way from Genesis to Revelation, throughout the Bible, going book by book. And of course, if you would like to support our ministry, we always appreciate that.
We are a listener supported ministry. We appreciate all that you do. Thanks so much for. Being involved with prophecy today, we look forward to serving you in the future. Today, we're going to begin our study on the book of Daniel, as it relates to the overall study of God's plan through the ages.
Daniel deals with the member of the human family known as the Gentiles. Remember, there are three members of the human family: Gentiles, Jews, and Christians. God has a plan for each of these three members of the human family. In the book of Daniel, there are some very practical. Passages and, of course, Daniel is a book of prophecy.
Prophecies focused on the Gentiles. There is a key phrase that is found in Daniel, and it is the times of the Gentiles. The times of the Gentiles extends all the way through history, and includes the seven-year tribulation period that begins after the rapture of the church. We'll begin our study today in Daniel chapter one. Doctor Jimmy DeYoung in the Legacy Series.
Take your Bibles and let's go to the book of Daniel, if you will, with me. The book of Daniel.
Now, reminding you that indeed what we have learned thus far, there is a philosophy of history that gives us a systematic interpretation of the past, that gives us the old whole scope of history, the past and the future, that helps us to coordinate and make certain that these. And there is meaning and purpose in how we put history together, and understanding how that happens, and that there is an ultimate into history, and that is key to understand where we're going to go. The three questions that Jack Worthington used to ask: Where did I come from, or where did you come from? Why are we here, and where are we going? Three important questions, which really lay out the understanding of.
Of. Time and history, his story, Genesis one one, Revelation twenty verse eleven. When all the earth is burned up, and we move into eternity future, which does not include time. And then we talked about the three members of the human family: Gentiles, Jews, and Christians. From Adam to Abraham, that's a two thousand year period of time in the Bible.
That's Genesis one to twelve, and there were only Gentiles upon the face of the earth. From Abraham to the apostles, another two thousand year period of time, in Scripture that would be Genesis chapter twelve to Acts chapter one. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit baptized believers into the body of Christ. That established the third member of the human family, the church, and that would be from the apostles to the Antichrist. And so, you can use those four personalities: Adam, Abraham, apostles, and Antichrist, to see how God has a plan—a systematic plan—going through history.
We need to understand that plan, God's plan. Throughout all of the ages, we're coming now to the first book that is a timeline for one member of the human family.
Next session, we'll look at the book of Ezekiel. It's a timeline for the Jewish people, and then finally, our final session, we'll look at Revelation, a timeline for Christians, but also includes the other two members of the human family as well, and has a purpose of helping us to understand what will happen with the Jews. With the Gentiles and with the Christians, God has a program for each member of the human family.
Sometimes they overlap a bit, but nobody is two members of the human family. You're either a Gentile, a Jew, or a Christian. The Bible tells us in Ephesians chapter two, verses eleven and following, two people at enmity with each other, Gentiles and Jews, a wall of partition between them. When that wall was removed by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, two people became One and those would be Christians.
So there is no such thing as a Messianic Jew or a completed Hebrew. If a Jewish person gets saved, that person is a Christian. If a Gentile person gets saved, that person is a Christian during the Church Age, from the time of the Day of Pentecost, Acts chapter two, to the Rapture of the Church. In those parameters, Day of Pentecost, Rapture of the Church, the Christians are made up of Jews and Gentiles who come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. That period of time would be referring to the Church, are the Bride of Christ.
As we go.
Now to the book of Daniel, our efforts are going to be to look at the timeline for the Gentile people. We've looked at the overall timeline. I did that as I traced from Adam all the way to eternity future. And thank you for being so patient with me as we went through that. But you know, people tell me, DeYoung, you go so fast.
Well, that is true. But you got it all in your mind through your eye gate, your ear gate, and if you're taking notes, your touch gate. You got the information in your brain, in your database. You'll remember it. You'll never forget it.
You cannot forget anything you've ever put in your mind. That's why it's key to make sure you put only pure things that you read or that you hear, and that's the purpose of God when He puts everything in your mind to bring it back to your attention. The Holy Spirit, John chapter sixteen, Jesus said, "I'm going to go. I'm going to send the Spirit of Truth, the Comforter, and when He comes, He will teach you things to come." Now, the Holy Spirit doesn't come and reveal something to you that you've never heard. Are read before you've got to hear it or read it to have it in your mind, and then the Holy Spirit does His work of bringing it back to your attention.
Memory is perfect always; recall is sometimes a bit more difficult. And at our age, we start to recognize that more and more recall is more difficult. But the Holy Spirit steps in, and that's His ministry. Luke chapter twenty-one. You not remember when Jesus sent His disciples out?
He said to them, "This. Don't worry what you're going to have to say, what your words will be, or what wisdom you're going to need. I'm going to give you the wisdom. I'll give you the words. But again, I must remind you, you have to hear those words or read those words in order for them to be in your brain, so the Holy Spirit can use only that.
Holy Spirit doesn't come along and reveal anything that you haven't heard or read before. He, and that's the reason for a daily consistency in." Studying the Word of God.
Now, when we go to the book of Daniel, let me just give a couple of thoughts to you about Daniel before we start tracing through what I would suggest are the four main prophecies in the book of Daniel. In fact, Daniel is not only a prophetic book, but it's a very practical book. If you remember in Daniel chapter one, and by the way, I'm not going to try to give an extensive study in Daniel in the 45 to 50 minutes I have. I want to wet your appetite, give you the mountain peaks, and encourage you to get in the word and study it out for yourself. If I can point out a couple of important factors, I believe that would help your study.
But Daniel is very prophetic and very practical. Chapter one. We see Nebuchadnezzar returning from his sojourn down into Egypt. His father has just died. He is now he was the crown prince, the heir apparent.
He's on his way back to Babylon to become the king of Babylon. As he goes through Jerusalem, taking a shortcut from the Via Maris, which is the roadway along the Mediterranean, crossing the desert and going over into Babylon. On the way, he stops by Jerusalem, sees a religiosity he's never seen. Before they're worshiping in a temple, they're sacrificing animals. He doesn't understand all of this, so he takes four young men from the royal family—Daniel and an I, Hasa, and Michel—and he takes them into the Babylonian captivity.
He's going to train them into being one or two or three or four of his wise men. It's a council of advisors who gives Daniel, excuse me, Nebuchadnezzar, the advice that he needs to have in making decisions. And the three Hebrew buddies of his are going to be a part of that. But you'll remember in chapter one and verse eight. Daniel says, "We have purposed in our heart to do right.
We're not going to compromise. We're not going to eat from the king's table. We're not going to drink the king's wine. That food is not kosher. In essence, the word kosher is not there, but that's what he's talking about.
He's going to follow the dietary rules that were given to him in the book of Deuteronomy, and so he purposes in his heart to do right. And God blesses that, makes both all four of these young men ten times." Better looking, ten times more knowledgeable than the ones that were in the training class with them. When you go to chapter three, Daniel's not on the scene. In chapter three, the three Hebrew buddies are told that they must bow. Before this image of the beast that was talked about in chapter two, and if you don't bow, you're going to burn.
They said we're not going to bow, and I don't think we're going to burn. And as you studied chapter two, you said if we're thrown, and he said our God is capable of taking care of us, and if He doesn't, but if He doesn't take care of us, we're still not going to bow. Throw us into the fire; somebody'll take care of us. And of course, the Lord Himself appeared to take care of them then in the fire. And it was interesting to me when you study chapter three, you'll see that they had on long coats, they had on pants, they had socks, they had hats on, and there wasn't even the smell of smoke on their clothing.
After they were thrown into the fire, in fact, the only thing that burned when they were in the fire was the rope that they used to tie their hands behind them, and so it's amazing how practical and what precious precious truths there in chapter three, chapter four. We see that Nebuchadnezzar was a man who thought the world revolved around him. He had an ego that you would not believe. He was an egomaniac of the first degree. And he said, "Everything that I have done, the Lord gave him a vision, and Daniel had to interpret it again.
And ultimately, he was saying, 'You're going to be like a dog crawling around on your hands and knees. Your hair is going to grow long. Your fingernails will grow long. The rain will cause your hair to mat like feathers of a bird, and you're going to be that way for seven years until you realize it's not you, it's him.'" And then Nebuchadnezzar comes out and praises the Most High God. One of the key names for God in the Book of Daniel used five times in Daniel, the Most High God.
Look up those sections and read about the Most High God. That's Chapter Four. Chapter Six is another practical passage. It's after the Babylonian Empire, the Medes and the Persians have defeated the Babylonians. Chapter Five of the Book of Daniel, Daniel goes in now under the Medes and Persians and their leaders.
And he is made the ruler of the governors of Babylon. There are other governors; they're going to be under him. They don't like his control over them. They're Gentiles. What's this Jewish boy from Jerusalem telling us what to do for?
And so they plot to get Daniel thrown into the lion's den. And of course, Daniel's custom was to pray three times daily, looking towards Jerusalem. He'd go to the window of his room, look out towards Jerusalem, and pray towards the holy mountain of God, the Temple Mount in the city of Jerusalem. That was his custom, and he didn't vary that custom just because there was a decree that went out that you don't pray to anybody except the leader of the Medes and the Persians.
Well, he was thrown in the lion's den, and indeed, those who Threw him in the lion's den, fell into the lion's den, and they were all eaten up— their women, the men that threw him in, their wives and their children, etc. Daniel comes out the better and continues to be a leader among the leaders of the world. You remember now—the Babylonian Empire controlled the entire world. That was the government, the human government of the world. The Medes and the Persians controlled the entire world.
And so Daniel was at that echelon as far as his leadership is concerned. And so those four chapters—chapter one, chapter three, chapter four, and chapter six—are very practical passages. This prophetic book of Daniel. Is as we've studied today a very practical book as well. In chapters one, three, four, and six, we see how the Lord teaches us some very important practical lessons.
You might want to go back and study these four chapters again to learn these practical truths. That would be chapters one, three, four, and six. As we continue our study of Daniel next week, we'll look at the prophetic passages that deal with the Gentile people down through history, from Daniel's day, some twenty-five hundred years ago, up until today.
Next week, we'll look at the times of the Gentiles. It's the time that we're living in today. You don't want to miss that study. Please be sure to join us, Dr. Jimmy D Young and the Legacy Series.
We've got to take a break, and when we come back, Dr. Richard Schmidt with a look at the book right here on Prophecy Today Weekend. I'm Steve Odell with Mission Network News. Severe funding shortages mean that aid groups can only help one in ten people in Sudan, home to the world's largest humanitarian crisis. Nearly 20 million Sudanese face acute hunger, including five million at emergency levels.
Dennis partners with churches in Sudan. He says conditions on the ground are only growing more desperate. Number of children are malnourished, so food will continue to be the greatest need. Dennis and his organization help local churches respond to their community's greatest needs.
Sometimes, when we look at the gospel, we think it's proclamation. The gospel is a combination of proclamation and demonstration of the love of Christ. This approach often leads to life changing conversations. Pray that Sudanese will turn to Christ as they encounter the hope only He can offer. And a new study in JAMA Pediatrics linked longer screen time for children to struggles in school and emotional and mental health.
Another study connected smartphone ownership at age 12 with eating disorders. From social media to gaming platforms, kids get messages about identity, relationships, and morality. Greg Yoder with Keys for Kids Ministries says, "There's all kinds of things that they're talking about. Maybe some things that us as parents don't really want our kids to really even dive into, but yet they're being." Exposed to it, so some of the messages I think can be harmless, but others are directly opposed to biblical truth. Whether parents want better quality screen time or a screen-free alternative, there's something at Keys for Kids—printed or online devotionals, Keys for Kids Radio, and more.
Connect children and teens with biblical truth. Thank you for listening to Mission Network News, a service of One Way Ministries. We're listener-supported by people just like you. Together, the Great Commission happens. Look for the links at missionnews.org.
That's missionnews.org. I'm Steve Odell. Oh, oh, oh. Welcome back to Prophecy Today. I'm Jimmy DeYoung Jr.
Along with my brother Rick, we've been examining current events in the light of God's prophetic word.
Well, here we are at the point of the program where we want to take a look at the book, and I thought that I would bring back in my good friend Dr. Richard Schmidt. I call him affectionately America's Pastor. He's a very good man, former sheriff of Milwaukee County in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. By the way.
Congratulations on the Brewers! That that was a good win. You know, this last week I saw you do, and and people can go there to sermonaudio dot com, where you did your prophecy focused global update, and you made a statement, Doctor Schmidt, where you said things are not falling apart; they're falling into place. And when you look at the prophetic scenario and what's taking place, and that God is in control, so whether you're ecstatic about last night. That was you were talking about the elections, or very upset about last night.
Take your Bibles real quick, and I love the fact how you go to God's Word.
So I want to give you a few moments to give us a, a charge, a pastor's charge during this time. Welcome to the program, Doctor Schmidt.
Well, thanks so much, and you're exactly right. I mean, in these days, Paul basically admonished Timothy. He said, "Listen, in the last days, basically the last days of the church age, perilous, dangerous times and seasons would come." We believe that that's exactly. What we're seeing taking place in America—it's unfortunate, but it is very true. And we did talk about the issue of biblical truth.
Literally, does have at times political consequences. And when we stand firm on God's word, when we look to it as our model, you'll find that many things that people have tried to say are political, really, our biblical issues. And when you look at the change now, where instead of America being focused as it used to be on let's just call it capitalism, and things are now moving towards a socialist, Marxist. Communist regime, and it's unfortunate that we saw some of the democratic socialists of America get into, if you will, into the political scene and have actually made some strides. But again, as you just stated, things are not falling apart; they're literally falling into place because God made it very clear and specifically.
We could look at Revelation chapter thirteen as things are being set in. Again, as you and your dad have always. Said when we look at the things from a political perspective against what's happening in Scripture, the stage is being set for Bible prophecy certainly to come to pass, which I believe we're both on that page.
So when we look at things such as what's taking place and what are the changes that are apparently going to happen in Congress and Senate and so forth, moving towards that social Agenda moving towards, unfortunately, away from what America was founded on, which of course is the. Christian biblical standards, and what's going to happen?
Well, again, in the last days, perilous, dangerous times and seasons will come. Second Timothy four reminds us that people will get itching ears; they're going to reject the truth, and they're going to latch on to things that are a non-biblical world view.
So that's exactly what we're seeing happen.
So when you think at such issues as abortion and marriage, human sexuality, gender issues, immigration, justice, these are all things that God made very clear His position on in the Scriptures. But unfortunately, so many people are thinking that while these things are all social issues, they have nothing to do with the Bible. It's totally wrong. Things that we're facing literally are moral and spiritual issues.
So, when we see these changes taking place in our government, we need to stand firm and not look at things simply.
Well, that's a political issue. Unfortunately, most issues, right or wrong, actually have a very strong biblical nexus.
So, it's not really a social issue; it's a biblical issue.
So when we get away from doing things the way America was built on, what America was founded on, we've got to take a stand, if you will. Was said unfortunately, and it's been brought out that supposedly, and statistically, that the Christian community. Allegedly failed to come out and vote for the most part, which of course is one of many factors that caused this change in leadership. But for the Christian Church, what do we need to do?
Well, we need to stand firm. We think of an individual like Daniel, who served underneath a Babylonian king. He was exiled. He was deported. He was pulled in, and he stood firm.
He didn't bend when the king said. You need to eat my food," he said. "No, I need to eat food that's approved by God's dietary laws." When they told Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, "You'll bow down and serve the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar," they said, "No, we cannot do that." And as we know, they were placed in the fiery furnace, faced death, but yet they stood firm. Think about Daniel when he was eighty years old, many, many years after Daniel one. Started, and what happened to him?
Well, he was told you can't pray except to King Darius for 30 days, and he said no. And he went home and he prayed and did the right thing. He was cast into the lion's den, but God preserved him.
So, what's the message for the church today? Listen, we've got to stand firm on biblical principles. We can't wander. We can't be persuaded to. If you will curl up in the sand and just let things happen, we've got to take a strong stand.
We cannot. If you will compromise on our standards, I want to read one sentence here that Tony Perkins had written, and I think it just really encapsulates everything we just mentioned.
So the issue is not whether the church should become political; it is whether Christians will remain biblical when biblical truth has political consequences. I love that statement. Christians must remain biblical when biblical. Truth has political consequences, and I think that kind of sums up where we believe we should be as a church. And to stand strong, don't compromise, and move forward.
Dr. Schmidt, that was perfect. Thank you so much. That's a great charge to us today. And if people listen to your prophecy focus, your prophecy global focus update, if they listen to prophecy today weekend, hopefully they're understanding that they need to go to God's Word, not panic, to stand firm.
I like how you said that, and pray. We encourage people to pray for our leaders, our world leaders, and. For each of our pastors that are leading churches today, thank you, Dr. Schmidt, for being a part of our program today.
Well, thanks so much for having me. With everything that we've seen 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.
