[Darris McNeely] There's a saying that I heard several years ago by a historian I think we should take note of right now. "There are decades," it says, "when nothing happens, and there are weeks when decades happen." That quote, attributed sometimes to Vladimir Lenin, is very appropriate for us to consider right now as we deal with the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and what we are watching as the Russian bear has come alive and has awakened in Europe with this invasion of Ukraine, upsetting so many situations, creating millions of refugees, missiles raining down on Ukrainian cities, causing devastation, killing civilians, and a war breaking out. And that is having an impact now in many other parts of the world.

People ask us, "Is this the beginning of the time of the tribulation, of the time of the events leading to the second coming of Jesus Christ?" Short answer to this is we are not at that point yet, but we should take note of what is taking place with Russia's invasion of a European nation and all of the reactions that's taking place by Germany rearming, by France, by NATO, and all of the other nations that are happening in that place. This is something we should note.

In Revelation 6, the seals of Revelation begin to be opened with the first four being opened in what we commonly refer to as the four horsemen of the apocalypse. You're probably familiar with them. The first horseman is that of a rider on a white horse, false religion. Second rider on a red horse, war. The third rider on a black horse, famine. And the fourth rider on a pale green horse, pestilence. With what we have seen in the last two years with the COVID pandemic, we have certainly seen a precursor of what pestilence can do to the world with the impact of that pandemic. And now we are watching the impact of war upon Europe with this particular invasion by Ukraine of Russia and the fallout from this.

These are what we like to call here on Beyond Today kind of dress rehearsals, war, a pandemic. And frankly, with this invasion and the upset in Ukraine and Russia, we will likely see a disruption in grain harvests in both of those areas, which are very critical to providing grain supplies for other areas of the world. Famine, in some areas, could be on the doorstep. And again, we're looking at what we read about in Revelation, dress rehearsals for things to come. Those are what we should be understanding at this moment as we watch what is taking place with the devastation of the Ukrainian cities.

Prophecy should concern us, interest us as it always does, but it should not lead us to fear, to being overly anxious. When we understand that prophecy is God's guiding hand of history to its conclusion, which is the coming of Christ and the millennium, the time of the kingdom of God on this earth and the end of war, we do understand there are troublesome sometimes we must first traverse and pass through. And what we are watching should wake us and cause us to understand that the day of the Lord can come as a thief in the night, and it's important that we are not caught unawares.

We'll talk more about what all this can mean and what prophecy can tell us about this invasion of Europe in the next "BT Daily."

That is "BT Daily." Join us next time.