Home Office Weekly Update: December 24, 2025
Each day provides us another opportunity to live by and to promote the word of God.
Our World Today and a Biblical Focus on End-time Europe
A sudden rise of German military strength, along with a major shift among societal powers, is underway. This turning point in world history correlates with a prophesied final revival of the Roman Empire. The Church’s long-held position is that the beasts described in Revelation 13 will rise from the European region in a church and state alliance.
The first beast will rule as a world-dominating military power exercising satanic authority over a broad spectrum of global society. A second religious beast, seemingly “Christian” but motivated by Satan, will work in partnership with the first beast.
The rise of a European region superpower has long been anticipated by God’s Church as a political and military revival of the ancient Assyrians. History, coupled with certain passages in the Old Testament, points to the German people as the most likely descendants of the ancient Assyrians.
We note that Isaiah 10:5-6 describes in type and antitype both the historical Assyrian captivity of Israel along with a prophesied future instance. God used Assyria as “the rod of My anger” to punish Israel historically, and it will again play a similar role in end-time prophecy.
The history of our teaching
God’s Church has been proclaiming a rise of Germany for nearly a century. Our congregations in Germany just celebrated their 60th anniversary, of which 30 of those years have been with the United Church of God.
During World War II, Herbert Armstrong wrote on page one in the August-September 1940 edition of The Plain Truth, “France has been crushed by the Nazi Juggernaut. That key event, which we have told our readers and radio listeners for years would come as the crucial turning point in the prophesied end-time world collapse.”
Throughout the 1960s and 70s the magazine ran articles about various rises in German influence. The press watched closely the political rise of “the strong man of Europe,” Franz Josef Strauss. The first Plain Truthmagazine cover of 1980 headlined, “Where is West Germany Headed?” In those decades a close watch was assigned to Gene Hogberg and staff of the Church’s news bureau.
Today, it has been 40 years since Herbert Armstrong’s death and almost two years since Gene Hogberg died. But news seems oddly quiet about the event that will reshape the world as we know it. However, our church members in Germany and Austria are living in full awareness of what is happening. To discover what is being underreported in the news you can search, “Germany Rearms.” Here are some highlights:
The turning point
In February 2022, Germany underwent what Chancellor Olaf Scholz called a “Zeitenwende” (turning point) following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Their military expenditures that year jumped to $71 billion and began a massive transformation. Within a single year, Germany rose from seventh to fourth place globally in military spending, changing its Constitution to remove a “debt brake” in military spending. Last year, the only nuclear powers that spent more on armaments than Germany were the United States, China and Russia. But, by 2029, Germany’s defense spending will have exceeded €500 billion on its rearmament.
Last month, Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated plainly, “Germany will have Europe’s strongest conventional army.” This shift accelerated after President Trump warned NATO that American protection can no longer be guaranteed, prodding Europe to handle its own defense. Already Europe’s biggest economy and largest standing army and main supplier of weapons for the war in Ukraine, Germany is being pressed into the leadership role it had avoided for decades. In this moment, fear of German domination has been replaced by Europe’s need. Soon, it is expected that Germany will also have command of NATO’s nuclear forces in the region. Such power, so quickly.
European defense against Russian aggression
The need for a buildup of European military strength is said to be for Europe’s defense against potential Russian aggression. As a barrier to Russian advances, Olaf recently announced that 5,000 German troops will be deployed in Lithuania. With German support for Lithuania on the northern Baltic border with Russia, Ukraine on its south border of the Black Sea, and Poland with its geography and manpower in the middle, a buffer for Russian advancement is taking shape.
The prophet Daniel gives prophetic support for European concern over eastern power: “But news from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many” (Daniel 11:44). Russia lies east and north of Jerusalem, the starting point of these prophecies, as does the European continent where a very concerning military ramp-up is also increasing.
President Putin of Russia appears to be pursuing a renaissance of the Russian Empire and has indicated that Russia could be in position to attack the West by 2029, alluding to the U.S. as being included. In a recent 60-Minutes television interview, “Germany Rearms,” German Defense Minister, Boris Pistorius, was asked when Germany needs to be ready for war? His response, “We should do everything to be that in 2029. This is our objective.” Asked how big should the German military be, he replied, “Germany is the third biggest economy in the world, and the biggest one in Europe of course. So, everybody in Europe expects us to be the strongest ally in NATO in Europe.”
While an effective German European defense force is being welcomed and even encouraged, military defense can switch to being an aggressive force in a moment. And daily we see the U.S. economy weakening, the dollar devaluating to 1/30th of its 1916 value, and fracturing relationships with many if not most of its allies.
What should we be doing?
We are approaching the 2,000th anniversary of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. With these military projections, we see our days of relative comfort and stability being threatened by forecasts of winds of change. Previous saints, living in a similar society with wealth, impressive architecture, and Pax Romana peace, were told that it would soon fall (Matthew 24).
So, what should we each be doing? Jesus says to, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).
Each day provides us another opportunity to live by and to promote the word of God in a chaotic world led by Satan. Faithfully obeying God in all situations was the focus of the lives of the biblical writers. Godliness is what Jesus and the apostles teach us to endure in. So, not fearing future events, our focus remains on imitating God as His dear children, walking circumspectly and redeeming the time because these days are evil (Ephesians 5).
World events and prophecies are to encourage our days to be “filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom [under the government] of the Son of His love” (Colossians 1:9-13).
With deep love and respect for you in Christ’s service,
John Elliott, President
From Ministerial and Member Services...
We’re happy to announce that on December 20, 2025 Martin Kusz was ordained into the ministry. Martin and his wife Jenny serve the Albury/Wodonga congregation in Australia and also assist David Schreiber in the Indo-Asian region.
—Steve Myers, Operation Manager, Ministerial and Member Services
Live Webcast: Cincinnati Winter Family Weekend Sabbath Services
For those unable to attend the Winter Family Weekend (WFW) in person in Hamilton, Ohio, we are pleased to announce we will be webcasting live on Sabbath, Dec. 27, starting with seminars in the early afternoon.
The broadcast schedule is as follows:
- 12:30 p.m. EST: Live coverage of two seminars.
- 2:30 p.m. EST: Sabbath Services. John Elliott, president of the United Church of God, will be delivering the sermon.
Watch live here: https://www.ucg.org/watch/webcast
—Dave PerMar, WFW Event Coordinator
UNCANCELED: 2026 Southeast Regional Formal Weekend
The 2026 United Church of God Southeast Regional Formal Weekend will be in Columbus, Georgia on Saturday February 28, 2026.
The Columbus congregation is looking forward to hosting this year. We are immensely grateful for the wonderful job the Atlanta congregation has done for so many years and welcome the opportunity to step up and serve our youth in the Southeast Region. We welcome all teens age 13-19 to come and have a night of dancing.
Registration will be opening soon. For questions, please contact Matthew Blackwood at (706) 668-0714 or matthew@unlockmath.com.
—Skeets Mez, Pastor, Columbus, Georgia
