[Darris McNeely] We've been talking in a series of BT Dailys about President Trump's recent trip to the Middle East and to Europe. While the President was in Saudi Arabia, he gave a speech to more than 50 Arab leaders there. And he highlighted of the dangers of Islamic extremism through ISIS and Al Qaeda, and the need for them to band together to deal with it and to eradicate it from their own countries. But something else was announced while the President was in Saudi Arabia and it's this: a massive arms agreement to flood into Saudi Arabia and the region American armaments, fighters, missiles, and other munitions to beef up that area.

The value of this particular deal initially, I think, was set at $110 billion. But potentially with other parts of it that will come online, it will add another over $300 billion of arms sales. So over $400 billion of arm sales over the coming years are going to be made between Saudi Arabia and America. That'll mean great jobs for America. That's part of the deal and part of the claim about it. But here's the bottom line, it's going to flood into that region a great number of armaments, the most sophisticated in the American arsenal, to beef up their defenses, to buffer the area against other enemies, ostensibly for good.

But any student of history knows that deals like this, and arms that are piled up, eventually will be used. And sometimes in ways that are unexpected when certain turns of events take place. When you look at this, and you couple it with even in Iran... Iran a neighbor to Saudi Arabia, is on the march toward a nuclear weapon, and of course the President and others have vowed that that will not happen. That's yet to be seen. But they are desiring to build their own nuclear weapon. And that is also shaping up in that region to create a massive, again, powder keg of armaments just waiting for the right match to be struck to ignite a conflagration that can draw in all the nations of the world in a massive battle.

There are great dangers in this U.S. arms buildup. There's no guarantee that the current ruling family of Saud in Saudi Arabia will remain. Their kingdom has some internal dissent as well. Who is to foretell what other event, from outside external events, might trigger a change in the leadership and the direction of Saudi Arabia? If those armaments would fall into an aggressive, hostile, religiously fanatic regime, it could be turned against America and Europe and threaten the peace and the stability of not just the Middle East, but the entire world overnight.

What I find to be interesting is that either people do not know, or they have forgotten, that in the late 1970s an American ally, the Shah of Iran, was the leader of Iran but then he was, virtually overnight, overthrown in the Iranian Revolution. And the current Shiite-dominated Islamic fundamentalist regime took over and began a very hostile relationship toward America and Israel and other countries. Something like that could happen again in that region and turn such an arms deal like this against America and other nations creating a more...an even more volatile situation. The lessons of history, and even current history, are not always remembered by anyone.

In the last BT Daily, we went to Daniel, chapter 11. And I showed you that prophecy shows that, in the time of the end, armies are going to begin to merge and and move into that region like a whirlwind. And one verse I did not read was in verse 44 when the armies of what is described as the "King of the North," a power based in Europe, possibly including others, but moves into the Middle East as a result of a provocation from what is described as the "King of the South," a power based in that region of the Middle East. Eventually there will be tidings, or news, from other world regions that will reach the King of the North. And In verse 44 it says, "news from the East and the North will trouble him. Therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many" (Daniel 11:44).

East and North from that area puts you into the critical regions of Iran, through Pakistan, up into China, and even into North Korea and certainly Russia. All of them being, interestingly, nuclear powers. Unrest in those regions could draw nations toward Jerusalem and to a final confrontation. There's another scripture for us to note, Revelation chapter 16. Timing of certain major events that are poured out in the seals, plagues, and the bowls of Revelation. 

Beginning in verse 12 we have what is described as the sixth bowl in the...that opens up here in the sequence of events. "And the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates," which is a major river identified in the Middle East today in current...the current nation of Iraq. Its water is dried up, "so that the ways of the Kings from the East might be prepared." And then as the vision goes on, "I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet." Two leaders, a religious and a political leader, that are prophesied to arise at this time.

These spirits are spirits of demons, verse 14 says, "performing signs which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battle of that great day, of God Almighty." "And behold," it says. And these are the words of Jesus Christ blessed...he said, "behold I'm coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. And they gather them together to the place called in Hebrew Armageddon" (Revelation 16:12-16). And so what is described here is a gathering of armies, inspired by demonic forces, that emanate out of two world leaders, identified as a beast on a false prophet, that draw these nations into the region of the Middle East and actual area occupied by the state of Israel today.

Bible prophecy shows us that that area is going to be a focal point of events at the end of the age. And right now virtually all the world trouble spots, in Europe and in Asia, and the Middle East, actually have a role in these events that are talked about in the book of Revelation and in the book of Daniel. That's why understanding them, what is taking place today, and what's happening in these regions is very important to you. Not only for understanding Bible prophecy, but more importantly understanding God's purpose and plan that the Bible shows us and your part and your place within that. That helps us to have a discerning mind and to understand our world today. And to be better prepared spiritually for these events, some of the other matters that surround them even like spiritual deception.

So it's important that you as a viewer of Beyond Today and a reader of Beyond Today Magazine stay in tune and in touch, understanding what is taking place in the world today and these events that are shaping events that we read about here in the Bible. We'll talk more about this in part three of this series.

That's BT Daily. Join us next time.