2025 in Prophecy

Thank you to the quartet for the beautiful special music. Very much appreciate that song. I've sung that one before. I really enjoy singing it as well. I couldn't help but hum along to the bass part as I was listening to it, so thank you guys for that. Certainly do appreciate the music that we have in our area. You know, we are very blessed to have so many talented musicians here locally, as well as the opportunities that we have for special music. So hopefully we're regularly praising God for that and thanking him for that. Well, brethren, we live in interesting times.

Take a look at the news. We live in interesting times. Two weeks ago, the United States flew a sortie into Venezuelan airspace, dropped a whole pile of Delta Force operatives onto Nicholas Maduro's compound in Caracas. The operatives captured Maduro and his wife Celia Flores and extricated him to the United States to face trial on drug and weapons charges. That military action has met with incredible criticism from many world leaders and very tough rhetoric from communist bloc countries such as Cuba, China, and Russia, who support the Maduro regime, as well as other countries such as Iran and many others who oppose Western interventionism.

Speaking of Iran, this past week, tens of thousands of citizens stormed the streets of Tehran, protesting current economic conditions in the country, an inflation rate on basic goods of 40%, the depreciation of the currency of the real. For example, today the real is trading at one US dollar to one million, seventy-two thousand some real, compared to forty-two thousand a year ago today. So the depreciation of the real. The protests actually reached a point where they became serious enough that the threat to the rule of the ayatollah, which by the way, overthrew the Shah of Iran 50 years ago. It's hard to believe it's been 50 years, but he had contingency plans to flee the country. Intelligence reports actually say his son did flee the country, but there was a brutal crackdown on protesters this week, led to the estimate of upwards of 12,000 protesters killed that are in the process of trying to verify that number that's been brought out. But as of today, the ayatollah remains in power. Here in the United States this past week, we've seen anti-government protests taking place in Minnesota, other places around the United States after the death of Renee Good during an altercation with ICE agents on January 7th. Additionally, this week we saw increased rhetoric around the United States acquisition of Greenland, with Trump making clear his desire to possess Greenland, set off a clamor among Europe, among the United Nations, and among NATO. Never mind the ongoing wars in Ukraine, in Israel, in Syria, in Myanmar, and several other locations throughout Central Africa. There is unrest on the home front. There is unrest in the Western Hemisphere. There is unrest on the world scene as we experience the words of Jesus Christ in Matthew 24. If you want to turn over there, Matthew 24, we're going to pick it up in verses 6 and read through verse 8. Matthew 24 verses 6 through 8. Matthew 24 verses 6 through 8. We are experiencing these things now. Matthew 24 verses 6 through 8. He says, you will hear of wars, rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom.

There will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All of these are the beginning of sorrows. Interesting times, indeed. Recently, at the ABC sampler that we conducted in Mexico City, Mr. McNeely gave a presentation while we were there titled, Let's Rise Above the Headlines.

And during that presentation, he advocated and encouraged the attendees to shift their perspective from the headline that we see to what God is doing with these events. So to speak, zooming out on the chessboard, if you will, and seeing each of these events as a move that is in place to bring about the ultimate end of the process. And advocated for us to step back from the headline, so to speak, and to see exactly what it is that God is doing prophetically at this time. So in that vein, since 2025 has concluded, and we're now into 2026, I thought it might be interesting to pause for a moment, take a look back over the past year, and do a quick check-in prophetically as to where we are in that timeline, and to explore some of the things that we absolutely know from Scripture must take place before the return of Jesus Christ.

The title of the message today is 2025 in Prophecy. 2025 in Prophecy.

You know, many of the people who have lived before us throughout history have believed that Jesus Christ was going to return in their lifetime. When you consider the events that have to take place, and specific descriptions of prophecy that have to be fulfilled before Christ's return, there have been times in history when it has seemed very likely that world conditions supported that conclusion. There have been times in history. Think about, for example, the incredible persecution of the church during the mid-60s AD, the Roman occupation of Jerusalem during that same time. It seemed very likely when you see all these events taking place, with the rise of persecution against the church, the occupation of Jerusalem, when you see middle of, you know, end of the 60s AD, the destruction of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, you know, there is a feeling at that point things couldn't possibly get worse.

That fit the descriptions in Matthew 24, that fit the descriptions in Mark 13 in Luke 21. And so, as a result, many of the apostles believed that Jesus Christ was going to return in their lifetime.

You can see it in their writings. Paul, James, Peter, John. The way that they write, they believe those conditions that Christ described in Matthew 24 were being fulfilled before their very eyes.

There have been times, even in the modern era of the Church of God, where conditions seem to be so significant and so serious on the world scene, that we conclude it when we look at the world scene, that it couldn't possibly be much longer before Jesus Christ's return. Yet, here we are.

Here we are, thousands of years on from the time of the apostles, five decades on from some of the predictions of the modern era. And yet, the return of Jesus Christ is still prophesied to take place.

And during the time in which we wait, the bride is to make herself ready. The bride has work to do while we wait.

What are some of these specific events that we need to consider? What are some of these things that we're keeping an eye on, that we see taking place on the world scene? What we're going to look at today is seven very specific signs of Jesus Christ's return, the things that must take place before his return. Some of them are already fulfilled. Some of them are continuing to be fulfilled. Others of them we're currently awaiting their fulfillment. And so we're going to take a look at seven of these today and explore through what these look like with regards to what is coming. The first of these seven things is that mankind must first have the capability of self-extermination.

Mankind must be able to cause the extinction of life on this earth. Turn with me please to Matthew 24. We're already there. Let's go over to verse 21 of Matthew 24. Matthew 24 and verse 21. And we'll go ahead and we'll pick up this words of Christ here in the Olivet prophecy as we see him describe the conditions that are going to be on earth just prior to his return. Matthew 24 and verse 21. Jesus Christ says, For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, nor ever shall be. And he says, unless those days were shortened. Speaking here, of this time of tribulation, unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved. No flesh would be saved. But, verse 22, for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened. This coming tribulation is described as a time unlike any other time since the beginning of the world until that point. So we think about all these horrific and difficult things that have taken place up to this point. They will pale in comparison.

In fact, Christ goes as far as saying one of the defining characteristics that, unless God directly intervened, all flesh on earth would be destroyed.

Unless the return of Christ were to come, without that divine intervention, all flesh on earth would cease to exist. What's interesting about that, that word in Greek, sarx, which is flesh, doesn't just refer to humans. It doesn't just mean mankind. There's actually a different word in Greek to describe mankind. This is describing any physical thing with earthly descent. In other words, it lives on this earth, it was born on this earth, it is made of meat. That's basically what it's saying. Sarx is something that is made of meat that came from this earth. That includes humans, but it also includes the animals. It also includes all biological life on earth. What Christ is saying is that one of the conditions leading up to his return is that if he doesn't return, life on earth is done. That's what he's saying with this concept. And what's interesting about that is this prophecy really didn't have the capability of even being fulfilled in this way during the time of the apostles. You know, yes, you could have had massive battles. You could have had one group facing off against another group, and then we got half that group dead, and then the next group faces off, and eventually it's one guy and one guy, and they're poking each other with a stick. I mean, you could have had something like that. But what this is describing is large, wholesale, global annihilation. It wasn't until World War II, post-World War II, that something along these lines even became a reality.

With the advent of nuclear weapons in the early 1940s as a result of the Manhattan Project, for the first time in human history, large-scale extinction such as this could be a real possibility. Throughout the 1950s, 1960s, some of you experienced this proliferation of arms between the United States and Russia. Some of you experienced the drills at school where they said, get under your desk, like that's going to do anything. I mean, let's be honest.

It's a nuclear weapon. That desk is made of something stronger than I can imagine.

But schoolchildren drilled nuclear drills. Families bought backyard fallout shelters. The doomsday clock ticked ever closer to midnight, right? You guys remember this.

It's not hard to see why, at that time in history, people believed the return of Jesus Christ was near. It's not hard to see why when you look at the scenario, when you look at the conditions in the world. As of 2025, so this past year, there are nine nations around the world that have registered nuclear weapons. There are nine nations. Russia has 5,449 nukes on paper.

5,449. The United States has 5,277. China has 600. France has 290. The UK has 225. India, 180.

Pakistan, 170. Israel has 90. North Korea has 50. In addition, nuclear warheads from the United States are hosted in Italy, Turkey, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands as part of a NATO partnership, while Russia has an unknown number of nuclear weapons that are hosted in the nation of Belarus. For perspective, it's been estimated that as few as 400 nuclear warheads could cause the extinction of the human race. As few as 400. Some have argued for significantly more than that, but 400 is the rough estimate. In June this past year, the United States flew B-2 bombers into Iranian airspace. Operation Midnight Hammer dropped GBU-57 massive ordnance penetrators on Fordo and Natanz to Iranian nuclear development sites, as well as a Navy submarine launched dozens of Tomahawks into another site at Isfahan. The stated objective was to obliterate Iran's nuclear aspirations. Current estimates indicate that the United States' action likely set Iran back one to two years. It didn't destroy the program, but it likely set it back one to two years.

The leadership in Iran currently, the Ayatollah, has declared their desire to destroy the nation of Israel. They've said numerous times they would like to see Israel wiped off of the map, and so a nuclear-armed Iranian regime destabilizes an already very tentative world peace. But for the first time in history, beginning in the early 1940s, the technology existed to create the kind of conditions described by Jesus Christ right prior to his return in Matthew 24. So based on that, mankind must have the capability of self-extermination.

The second thing that must be in place before Jesus Christ's return is a Jewish homeland must be reestablished in the Middle East. Let's turn over to Luke's account of the Olivet prophecy. So Luke 21. Luke 21. We'll pick it up in verses 20 through 22. Christ describes, there's a specific location where these events are going to be taking place. Luke 21, and we'll pick up verses 20 through 22. Luke 21, 20 to 22. Again, the location of where these things are going to take place prior to his return. Luke 21 verses 20 through 22 says, but when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. So this is talking about an end time fulfillment of these things. All things that are written may be fulfilled.

It says, woe to those who are pregnant and those who are nursing babies in those days, for there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon the people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away captive into all nations. Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Christ here in Luke 21 affirms that Jerusalem is a central focus of end time biblical prophecy. Jerusalem is a focal point. And for Jerusalem to be a focal point of end time prophecy based on scriptural descriptions, it has to exist as a part of a Jewish homeland in the Middle East. Jerusalem is one of the world's oldest cities. Numerous nations have and people have vied for its control since the very beginning. There's actually archaeological evidence of an ancient civilization located around the spring in Gihon. Jerusalem is mentioned as a city in ancient Egyptian texts, though not by the name Jerusalem at that time, but it is referencing the city of Jerusalem. Abraham went up onto Mount Moriah, which is a part of the city of Jerusalem, to offer his son Isaac. David captured the city from the Jebusites and then purchased the location where the Temple Mount is located from a man named Ornan. We see that the Israelite Kingdom, Jerusalem was the capital of that before it was captured by the Babylonians in 586 BC.

After Babylon was conquered by Cyrus the Great, he allowed the Jews to return to rebuild the temple. And so successive waves of people came back to repopulate the city in those subsequent years.

But the city was fought over for centuries. The Greeks conquered it at one point in time. It was restored to Jewish rule. Then the Romans conquered it, and then it was restored to Jewish rule. And then for the past 400 and so years, up to about 1948, the city swapped back and forth between Christian and Muslim rule as crusades were led and wars were fought, and it went back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. But since 1517, the city has been part of the Ottoman Empire until a decision in 1948 by the United Nations set the wheels of this particular prophecy in motion. Following World War II and the horrors of the Holocaust, it was decided the Jewish people needed a place of their own. They needed a place that they could call home, that they could defend, that they could protect themselves. And so the land of Israel, decreed by God as their portion, was selected. They were given this land atop existing Islamic inhabitants, and therein lies some of the many challenges that continue to be in this area. It wasn't without its challenges, but for the first time in centuries, Jerusalem was under Jewish control. There was a war immediately, 1948. 1967, there was another war. Since 1967, it's been terrorist actions primarily until 2023, in which case another terrorist action with backing from, materially and financially from Iran, was involved in the attacks on October 7th. And so we have a scenario. We have a situation that is taking place in this area. This past year, 2025, Israel has continued to be occupied with military action against Hamas, against Iran. This past June, Israeli strikes against nuclear facilities in Iran led to U.S. involvement. So the U.S. came into that battle as a result of Israel's actions. In August of this past year, they mounted an assault to retake Gaza City. And just last week, January 9th, Israel carried out strikes against Gaza after a breaking of the ceasefire by Hamas. So this is an ongoing thing. This is an ongoing action. It's been taking place all through 2025. Prophetically, in Zechariah 14—you can turn there if you'd like, or you can write it in your notes. Either way, Zechariah 14—what we see recorded for us is that when Jesus Christ returns, His feet will stand upon the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. Now, that part of this has not yet been fulfilled. Christ has not yet returned. But it tells us that when it does take place, Jerusalem, the city of God, continues to exist. And so this has to be in place. The existence and the continuation of a Jewish homeland has to be in place. It's a prerequisite prophetically for Christ's return. The third thing that needs to be in place is the emergence and conflict of the King of the North and the King of the South. So up to this point, we have two largely fulfilled prophecies. We have the capability of exterminating ourselves, and Jerusalem is currently under Jewish control. Both of these things currently exist. And so these two things have been met. And this one is the first one in which we don't have a full fulfillment.

We're not there yet. But we might be getting close. It's hard to know for certain. Daniel 11, if you want to turn over to the book of Daniel. Daniel 11, I'm going to reference. We're going to actually turn to Daniel 8. So if you want to go to Daniel 8, you can. But in Daniel 11, we have recorded for us a prophecy in which two leaders are described. Two kings, as it's described. And they are described as the King of the North and the King of the South. Both leaders of these regions. In prophecy, again, as we mentioned before, Jerusalem is the focal point. So what we're talking about are regions which are north of Jerusalem and regions which are south of Jerusalem. Okay, and that gives us the ability to understand this prophecy. But to understand it its entirety, we have to go back to Alexander the Great. To understand this in its entirety, we have to go back to Alexander the Great. Daniel 8 gives us a little bit of information on Alexander the Great. So if you turn to Daniel 8, Daniel 8, we'll go ahead and pick up the account there. During the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar, Daniel was given a vision. So he was taken in vision to a city known as Shushan. Now you're going to hear more about Shushan today, because that's where the Book of Esther takes place, is in the city of Shushan, which was the capital of the Persian Empire. Daniel 8, and we'll pick it up in verse 3. This is what Daniel records. He says, then I lifted my eyes and I saw, there, standing beside the river, was a ram, which had two horns, and the two horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last. I saw the ram pushing westward and northward and southward, so that no animal could withstand him, nor was there any who could deliver from his hand, but he did according to his will, and he became great. Throughout the Book of Daniel, we see a number of examples of world empires that would come in the future, would be on the scene. Some of them already there, others that would develop as these empires rose and fell. For example, in Daniel 2, Daniel was given interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream. He saw the head of gold, the chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, the legs of iron, and the toes of mixed iron and clay. He sees a stone that was not cut from hands destroy and topple the entire statue, which we recognize is the return of Jesus Christ. Later in Daniel 7, he's shown the same progression of empires in a different way, this time in a different form. He sees four beasts, successive, coming out of the sea. He sees a lion with wings. It might have been a little interesting for him to see. Wait, lions don't have wings. He sees a lion with wings. He sees a bear with three ribs in its mouth. Very specific. He sees a leopard with four wings and four heads. And then finally, he sees a beast with iron teeth and with ten horns.

Now, the ultimate interpretation is the same, essentially, as what he saw in the image of Nebuchadnezzar's dream. He would see successive empires, those empires of Babylon, of Medo-Persia, of Greece, and then of Rome. Now, in this case, in Daniel 7, though, he gets a final revival of that empire, bleeding into the return of Jesus Christ. But here in Daniel 8, he's being shown the rise of the Medo-Persian empire. The empire had two powerful horns, the Medes and the Persians. Right? It's the Medo-Persian empire. Two powerful horns, the Medes and the Persians. Now, the Persians came up later than the Medes, and they were stronger than the Medes.

But together, the two of these empires pushed westward, northward, and southward, and according to estimates, ruled up to 44% of the globe at that time. It was, the Persian empire at the time, was the biggest empire the world had seen to date. They were massive, with 44% of the globe under Medo-Persian control. That included clear down into India, clear over into China, clear over into parts of Asia as well. Daniel 8, verse 5. As I was considering, so as Daniel's looking at this, as he's thinking about it, suddenly a male goat comes from the west.

Out of nowhere comes this goat. It says, across the surface of the whole earth, without touching the ground, the goat had a notable horn between its eyes. Then he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing by the river, and ran at him with furious power. I saw him confronting the ram. He was moved with rage against him. He attacked the ram, and he broke his two horns. There was no power in the ram to withstand him, but he cast him down to the ground, and he trampled him, and there was no one that could deliver the ram from his hand.

In 331 BC, Alexander the Great conquered the armies of Darius III. Darius III was the leader of the Achaemenid Empire at the time, the Medo-Persians. At the Battle of Gogamela, he destroyed their army, and that was a decisive battle. At that point, the Medo-Persian Empire came to an end, and the Empire of the Greeks, under Alexander the Great, became the next empire on that world scene. Verse 8 says, therefore the male goat grew very great, but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it four notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven.

So Alexander dies. After Alexander dies, he had four generals who vied for control of his kingdom. And so these four generals, during the War of the Diadochi, fought over the remnants of Alexander's empire. The King of the North and the King of the South became the heads of these regions with respect to Jerusalem under a man named Antigone, and another man named Ptolemy to the South.

So Antigone to the North, Ptolemy to the South. So King of the North at the time, in that moment, was Antigone. The King of the South was Ptolemy. We want to go over to Daniel 11 and verse 40. We'll see what this matters to us and why we're looking at this. Daniel 11 and verse 40. Daniel 11 and verse 40 says, At the time of the end, the King of the South shall attack him, and the King of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind with chariots and horsemen, with many ships, and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through.

He shall also enter the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown, but these shall escape from his hand, Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon. He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt.

Also the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall follow at his heels. At this time, it says, at the time of the end, prior to the return of Jesus Christ, the King of the South will move against the King of the North. They'll attack him in some way, provoke him in some way, and what it says is the full force of the King of the North will be unleashed on the King of the South. It says, like a whirlwind, like a whirlwind, it swoops in. That military action will overwhelm the nation and will pass through. It says he'll actually enter the glorious land.

He'll go into Jerusalem as part of this process, and he says many countries in the scope of this will be overthrown. But what's interesting is it says that Edom, which we understand to be modern-day Turkey, and Moab and Ammon, who we understand to be modern-day Jordan, will escape his hand. Turkey and Jordan will not fall in this effort.

Those of you that have some understanding of geopolitics, that's interesting. Why might that be? Because Turkey and Jordan are both very pro-Western countries right now. They actually have agreements with Western powers to allow them to maintain air bases, to host nuclear weaponry, and through defense agreements to be able to move through their airspace freely and without impediment. Currently, north of Jerusalem is Europe, south of Jerusalem are the Arabic peoples. Specifically, the nation of Egypt.

But what's interesting is that Egypt is often used in Scripture to be a type of the enemies of God. It's not just a situation where it's a physical nation necessarily, but an ideological war, an ideological battle, which may take place. Egypt was the seed of Ptolemy's power in the years that followed Alexander's death. This past year, 2025, saw a number of countries in Europe elect right-leaning leadership. A number of countries elect right-leaning leadership. Those leaders ran on immigration reform. That was their primary platform, was immigration reform as a result of unchecked migration into Europe from Arabic countries.

The effects that that has had on the nation of Europe has caused the nation of Europe to lean more right in their political nature. Belgium, Italy, the Czech Republic, and Hungary all elected presidents and prime ministers that are right-leaning, while Finland, Slovakia, Sweden, and Croatia established right-leaning coalitions to tackle this particular issue head on.

2025, this past year again, also saw increasing calls from Christian sources here in the United States as well as in Europe for the need for another crusade against the Arabic peoples. I don't know how many of you have heard that call for action, but there have been a number who have called for another crusade to take care of this influx into Europe. You know, this is the first of these seven signs that are yet to be completely fulfilled. It has experienced a partial fulfillment in the time following Alexander's death, but its end-time fulfillment has not yet taken place.

Is it possible that the King of the North and the King of the South are already on the world scene? Yeah, I mean, it's possible.

It's certainly possible. If that is the case, to date, they've not yet been identified.

They've not yet been identified, and in some ways we are left a little bit to speculate as to what the exact nature of this conflict may be as it develops, but it does seem, based on what we're seeing, it seems that it will be an ideological battle between a coalition of Muslim nations and a coalition of European nations in the end times, which is a possibility made more likely as we continue to see European power consolidating and European power coming together within the EU, which leads us to our fourth necessary event, an end-time union of European power, end-time union of European power. You know, as we brought out in our previous point, Daniel 2 and 7 illustrate prophecies that describe four great Gentile kingdoms in succession, and those kingdoms lead right up to the return of Jesus Christ. Those examples that are given, especially in Daniel 2, lead right up to the return of Jesus Christ. It's notable that both of those end with the establishment of the kingdom of God and the destruction of that final empire. You know, that's important for us to consider because what God gave Daniel was the totality of these Gentile empires between his time and our time and the end and the return of Jesus Christ. In Acts 17, if you want to turn over there real quick, Acts 17, the Apostle Paul records something that's critically important for us to keep in mind as we consider biblical prophecy, and you might be thinking, wait a minute, we're talking about prophecy, why are we going to Acts 17? In this particular section, the Apostle Paul is addressing the Athens, the philosophers of Athens, on Mars Hill at the Areopagus. You're familiar with the story. He goes in, he says, oh, I see this, you know, monument to the unknown God. Let me tell you about this God. And in the process of telling them about this unknown God, he makes a statement in Acts 17 and verse 26 that's important for us to consider.

He says, this God, this unknown God that the Greeks were unaware of, he says, He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings. What Paul is telling us is that through history, God has determined the pre-appointed times of empires and kings. He's pre-appointed the boundaries of their dwelling, that that nation and that empire can only go so far before God says, uh-uh, not an inch more. That's what your appointment is. And you will be an empire for this time, and then you will fall, and another empire will take its place.

And that's what we see through these examples in Daniel, that as these kingdoms rose and fall, another kingdom or another empire would take their place. What that tells us is that God is in charge of these events, that God is establishing their boundaries. He's establishing their times. And so what I want you to do for a moment is picture this. Zoom out from the headline. Zoom out from immigration in Europe. Zoom out from attack on Venezuela. Zoom out from all these headlines and see God's chessboard. See the board. See the moves that he's using with this empire moving into here and then being captured.

This empire coming in and moving into here and being captured because every one of these moves is setting up the final move, which is the return of Jesus Christ. And if we can view the news, if we can view headlines, if we can view these things in this way, we can see what it is that God is doing in the background and that he is in charge of these events. He is in charge of these bounds and these times.

But it's leading to something. It's leading to that checkmate, which is the return of Jesus Christ. Daniel 2, Daniel 7, like we mentioned earlier, succession of four Gentile empires. Babylon, which is the head of gold and the winged lion. The metal Persian empire, which is the chest and arms of silver and the bear with three ribs in its mouth. Those are the three, you know, kingdoms that ultimately they subdued as part of the conquering of Babylon.

Greece, belly and thighs of bronze, and the four-headed and four-winged leopard. Four heads because four generals fought over it when it was done. They separated into those four regions. Two of those become the king of the north and the king of the south. Rome, the final empire, the final one leading into the return of Jesus Christ, was represented by legs of iron and the feet of mixed iron and clay—toes, rather, of mixed iron and clay—and the beast with ten horns. The beast with ten horns. Before the return of Christ, the final empire in Daniel 2 had ten toes. All of us have ten toes, hopefully. Hopefully you've got ten toes. All of us have ten toes.

Those toes are made, in this case, of both iron and clay. They're strong and they're weak. They're strong and they're weak. The beast in Daniel 7 is described as having ten horns. Ten horns, ten kings, ten governments, ten empires—or kings, rather, not empires. Let's go to Daniel 7. Daniel asks about this fourth beast. I'm not sure why he didn't ask about the other three, but he definitely asks about the fourth one.

Daniel 7. And he asks about this particular beast. Daniel 7, verse 23. The answer that he receives is important for us. Daniel 7, picking it up in verse 23, says, Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth. Trample it, break it into pieces. The ten horns are ten kings, who shall arise from this kingdom. Another shall arise after them. He shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three kings.

He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. And then the saints will be given into his hand for a time, times, and a half a time.

For time, times, and a half a time. So God instructs Daniel that, similar to the ten toes of the image of Nebuchadnezzar, which grow out of the iron legs of that statue, the Roman Empire, these horns represent ten kings who will arise from a final revival of this empire. A final revival of this empire. One that's going to arise after that is different. He's going to subdue three. He's going to speak pompous words against God. And that final leader, that final leader, is responsible for persecuting the saints of God for time, times, and a half a time, which is the three and a half years of the tribulation. So this is the leader that it's referencing that is in place during the time of the tribulation. So before the return of Jesus Christ, this power, this final revival of the Holy Roman Empire, will reform one last time. There's a corresponding account in Revelation 13. You can turn there if you'd like. Revelation 13 is a corresponding account here that describes a beast with seven heads. Seven heads, ten horns. It describes it as being like a leopard with the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion. In other words, it's a conglomeration of all of these world empires that Daniel has seen. It's got the feet of a bear, it's got the mouth of a lion, it's got the body of a leopard, right? It's a conglomeration of all of these things. It's building on what these empires have done over time and are all now part of this beast that comes out to the sea. It says, one of these heads of the beast is as though it was wounded and was healed. But it says there are seven heads in total and there are ten horns.

Those ten horns correspond to the ten toes, so to speak, of the image in Daniel 2. So what we believe this to mean is that these heads of this final beast represent successive revivals of this final empire, right? The Roman Empire existed back many, many, many, many, many years ago, but it's come back multiple times throughout history in a variety of ways. We're going to look at some of those here today. The Roman Empire fell. 467 AD was the fall of the western part of the Roman Empire. So the Roman Empire falls in 467 with the western Roman Empire collapsing, and since that collapse there have been a number of attempts to restore it to its full power. Its full power is a combined military and religious power that goes out to conquer.

Now the western Roman Empire was like a mortal wound that was healed. Justinian, during his reign, revived the Roman Empire from the eastern part of the Roman Empire through a number of decrees, but one of those decrees required something that has been notable about every other successive revival of the Roman Empire since, and that is a mandated unification of church and state. Not a separation of church and state, a mandated requirement of church and state. In other words, the military and church are united, and they are working as one.

That has come to the western hemisphere. One of the things we discussed—we'll get there maybe here in a little bit—but one of the things we discussed while we were there at the conference in Latin America was they've experienced this Roman Empire. When the conquistadors came in in the 1500s, it was under Charles V who had united the Holy Roman Empire once again.

These guys came in, and they brought both the power of the crushing military might, and when that was done, forced baptisms into a religious belief that at the time many did not follow. Latin America has seen this. They've seen it happen, and it's coming again. It's coming again. The Second Revival, after Justinian, took place under Charlemagne. Charlemagne was crowned by Pope Leo III in Rome in 800 AD, so he was crowned by the pope as Holy Roman Emperor—that was his official title. He united much of Western Europe through military conquest and promoted standard education, laws, etc., spread Christianity through the empire at that point in time. After Charlemagne died, the empire was divided up among his grandsons. The title continued—the Holy Roman Empire title, or emperor, rather, title continued—but the empire was pretty weak and was fractured until the reign of Otto the Great. The Third Revival was Otto the Great. Otto the Great came along. He united the German nation and ultimately this empire again through military conquest. Pope John XII crowned him Holy Roman Emperor in 962 AD. So 162 years after Charlemagne, Pope John XII made this third of seven Roman revivals. The Christians at that time believed that the Roman Empire would last until the end of the world, so that kind of goes along with their belief of who and what they really were at that time. But his empire lasted for almost 300 years, Otto the Great's, almost 300 years before it was divided up to rival factions.

And ultimately, after a few decades without an emperor, Rudolph I was the first that went became what he called the King of the Romans. So he was the King of the Romans in 1273.

Again, Europe knows who they are. They're Rome. They know it. Europe knows who they are.

He was the King of the Romans at the time. And so he went, each king, subsequent king, went down to the Vatican when they were coronated to be possibly coronated as the actual Holy Roman Emperor. And many of them were not. In fact, a few of them became the elected emperor of the Romans, which is like a, you know, I guess an assistant to the regional manager position, I guess.

But really not quite the same as the Holy Roman Emperor, but only one of those kings that had been coronated were given the title of the Holy Roman Emperor, and that was Charles V. Charles V, when he was when he was made king, traveled to the Vatican. Pope Clement VII crowned him Holy Roman Emperor. So Charles V of Habsburg, the Habsburgs, inherited the holdings of the Habsburg family from basically all of Central Europe, Germany, and Austria, as well as Italy. And from his mother, who was the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, he inherited the entirety of the Western Hemisphere. And so this Holy Roman Empire now spanned the Atlantic Ocean. For some of you that have been to the southern parts of the United States, you've stood on Roman ground at one point in time. This empire was up into the United States, well up into Colorado, well up into parts of the Midwest. For a number of years, we're under what we would consider Rome, under the Roman Empire. For a period of time, Mexico, parts of the U.S., Latin America were all part of this.

Charles got weakened through fighting battles with the French, through the Ottomans, the Protestants even fought the Pope, eventually abdicating the role in 1556. There was no Holy Roman Emperor until Napoleon. When Napoleon came along after the French Revolution in 1799, he managed to move himself into the top political position in France, but that wasn't enough. He wanted what Charlemagne had. He wanted what Alexander had. And Napoleon was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Pius II at Notre Dame Cathedral in 1804. He ruled from Germany to the Atlantic, ruled over the Spanish and French territories until his loss at Waterloo by British forces. The sixth revival of this empire came along when Germany and Italy desired to unite all of Europe back in the early 1900s. Late 1800s, technically, with the Caisers, but then into German dreams of a greater-led empire. Beginning with World War I in 1914 and ultimately the Second World War, Adolf Hitler was obsessed, obsessed with the idea of the Holy Roman Empire. You read about it. He went around collecting relics. He went around, you know, that part of Indiana Jones is sort of true, you know, in the part that he was looking for these things because he believed that that would solidify this idea of this Holy Roman Empire. Now, he was not officially crowned by the Pope. He was not officially crowned. The Church kind of looked the other way for a lot of this. In fact, there's been some issues there as time has gone on, but that dream of a unified empire almost succeeded. He had a good portion of Europe by the end of the late 1930s.

But that leaves one final head. That leaves one final revival of the Roman Empire and a unification of 10 leaders that, based on Revelation 17 and verse 12, represent 10 kings that will receive authority for one hour with the beast. So for a short period of time, Revelation 17 even indicates that this unification won't come by force. It's not going to come as a result of military conquest. These leaders each receive power and then cede their authority to a single leader. And that single leader is the little horn that we see described. All of these revivals have centered in Europe. Every one of these Roman revivals have centered in Europe. And it stands to reason this final revival will come from Europe as well. It'll be a unification of 10 nations, potentially 10 regions, maybe 10 regions of Europe, but it will have a very strong figurehead, and that figurehead will be supported by the Catholic Church. It wasn't until 1981 that this prophecy could begin to be fulfilled. Greece was brought into the European Union as the 10th member nation of the European Union in 1981. At the time, I had a little bit of a different name, but that idea of voluntarily ceding power, not through military conquest, but through a unification of nations, was not made possible until 1981. Now, today, 2026, the EU has 27 member states. It's possible those 27 member states become 10. It's possible that they become regions that those 27 member nations are a part of. But what we see is that that statue has 10 toes and that beast has 10 horns.

That matters. That matters when it comes to interpretation of prophecy. In 2025, Donald Trump reduced funding for NATO, significantly reduced funding for NATO, requiring member states in Europe to increase their defense and their war spending. Germany notably increased its spending in response to Russia's ongoing aggressions in Ukraine. In fact, just this last week, French President Macron gave a speech because Russia used a hypersonic missile into Ukraine, which is within the range of France. And Macron said, hey, Europe, Russia can touch us with nukes now. We might want to think about this. And so that was part of his speech this past week to Europe. This past year, we've seen calls from a number of European leaders, those in Ukraine, those in France, and a number of others, to begin a creation of a standing European army that could be used to advocate for and to defend European interests. It's possible that this next year we see meaningful steps being taken on this particular endeavor. Another of these things that must take place is an end-time fall of Israel and Judah. End-time rise and fall of Israel and Judah. So what we saw in Acts 17 is that God has these boundaries and the rise and fall of nations in place. Right? He has these things set up. He's working with these nations through history to ensure His will is going to be done, that these things are going to take place. Modern iterations of these nations today, we see coming into the promises that Abraham was provided many, many years ago. 2800 years ago, the Kingdom of Israel split into the northern ten tribes and the southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The Bible consistently refers to history or to the northern ten tribes, rather, as Israel. The southern ten tribes is Judah. That's what we see throughout the Bible. The northern ten tribes are Israel. The southern tribes are Judah. The whole collective group can be Israel as well. But a couple hundred years after the split, those ten northern tribes fell to the Assyrians and they were dispersed. They were kind of lost to history, so to speak. You can track the movements a little bit. You know, it's a little fuzzy. You can track the movements more or less, and history records that most of these people migrated across Europe, settling in new homelands that are in different places than the Middle East. Ephraim, the concept of Ephraim, is often used in Scripture to represent the whole northern kingdom. So, all of Israel, quote-unquote, is sometimes known, scripturally, as Ephraim. But it also can refer to Joseph's son, Joseph's son, who we see prophetically would become a multitude of nations. Ephraim's older brother Manasseh was prophesied to become a great nation, separating himself from the multitude of nations. So we have a promise that there will be a multitude of nations, and of that group there will be a great nation, which comes out of this. The only empire and the only nation that fits this prophetically in this end time period is the British Empire in the United States. What's another empire and what's another great nation that has come out of that empire? prophetically, that could have the effect in this end time as those two nations. Coming out of the British Empire and the United States itself. There have been other great nations. There have been other great empires. But as far as one that fits the prophecy in the way that it does in this time frame, it's the US and Great Britain. That's really about it.

Let's go over to Hosea 5, because in Hosea 5 we see some headlines that we've seen before that are connected. One of the things that we notice these days is it seems like, for some reason, even despite some soured relationships, it's always the US, Britain, and Israel. Always.

It seems like those are the three that are standing up to this, or they're standing up to that. Those three, even though the relationships at time are strained, these three are together in so many things. In the book of Hosea 5, verse 5, we see a prophecy that involves Israel, Ephraim and Judah. Verse 5 of Hosea 5 says, the pride of Israel testifies to his face. Therefore, Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity. Judah also stumbles with them. With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the Lord, but they will not find him. He's withdrawn himself from them. They've dealt treacherously with the Lord. They've begotten pagan children. And now, verse 7, a new moon shall devour them and their heritage.

So, these three nations, Israel, Ephraim and Judah, labeled here, would be devoured within the time period of one month. A new moon. One month. From the time to this time to this time is one month period. They would be devoured in that period. Israel and Judah fell hundreds of years apart the first time around. The northern kingdom, the southern kingdom, was hundreds of years. It's not referring to that fall, to the Assyrian and the Babylonian armies. It's referring to a time in the future in which these nations will fall within one month of one another.

They will collapse within one month of one another. In Genesis 48 and verse 16, Israel gave his name to Ephraim and Manasseh. He specifically gave his name to Ephraim and Manasseh.

Genesis 48, verse 16. And so what we see is that with Ephraim being specifically mentioned here and Israel, this is likely referring to Ephraim and Manasseh. The United States and Britain and the modern nation of Israel are all mentioned in this prophecy. And what it says is that they will experience their destruction within one month's time of one another. Now, that has not been fulfilled yet. At the moment, Great Britain is still a commonwealth of nations. The United States is still a sovereign nation. Israel is still a nation. It's not been fulfilled yet. But its fulfillment is coming. Again, God works in rise and fall of nations, pre-appointed times, pre-appointed boundaries. These are the nations that are on the world scene now, but their destruction is prophesied.

This past year, the reputation of the United States has taken a bit of a hit.

As I've traveled internationally, based on some policies that have been enacted by the current administration, for the first time in my travel around the world, the hit to our reputation is noticeable. Noticable among people in other countries. Trump's relationship with Netanyahu is strong. It's very strong. That alliance could very well cause the United States to receive criticism, as Israel is criticized. Trump's relationship with Kier Starmer of Britain, it's not great. It's not great. And they are somewhat reluctantly connected at this point in time. But it seems in recent years, the U.S. and Britain, Israel, have been close allies. They've been involved in so many things. What happens to one seems to affect the other. And so it's possible that it is this relationship that we see in Hosea 5 that leads to the fulfillment of this prophecy. The other thing that needs to take place is that the gospel is to be preached to all the world. Matthew 24—again, back over to Matthew 24—we'll see Christ's response to the question of what would be the sign of His coming. Matthew 24 in verse 10—we'll go ahead and pick up the context. Matthew 24 and verse 10 says, "...then many will be offended, and will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many, because lawlessness will abound. The love of many will grow cold. But," notes verse 13, "...he who endures to the end shall be saved, and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come." One of the conditions upon Christ's return is that the gospel is preached to all the nations. "...Then and only then, after that is taken place, will the end come." The gospel is a good news of the coming kingdom of God. It's a message of who Christ is. It's a message of salvation, of peace, of grace, and it's a message that is desperately needed in the world.

That message could not be preached around the world without the Bible—without a printed Bible to be in front of people, at least not to the capacity that this describes. It also requires freedom of religion, requires nations that allow for freedom of religion. Both of those started around the 16th century and kind of slowly and gradually continued, but it was really only through recent communication technology like radio and television that the message could be taken to billions—not just a few people here and there, but billions of people. The gospel of the kingdom will continue to be preached as long as we have continued ability to do so. There are still nations around the world that do not have freedom of religion. There are nations around the world that do not have open access to the internet. Their government can turn on and off the channels to enable them to see what the government desires them to see. There are nations around the world today who are actively trying to suppress the Bible, and some people in other countries face the death penalty for converting to Christianity. Notably, 19—or 1925, 2025, just this past year, China has significantly tightened restrictions on the proliferation of Christianity with new laws that limit preaching in those areas. They require approval for religious activities which has pushed many people underground amid government surveillance and threats. This is very real things happening around the world in various places. In parts of the world—Muslim world in particular—Christians face increased persecution, face death for their faith. In the northern part of Nigeria, ISWAP has killed Christians for their faith as they come in, and that's caused others to reject the message of the gospel or to ignore its preaching in efforts of self-preservation. This is happening all over the place, but the internet has changed everything. It is so difficult to control the flow of information, and there's ways to get around everything. You know, there's VPNs, there's this, there's that. People have the ability to circumnavigate some of these things now, but that gospel message we see as part of the conditions leading to Christ's return will be preached—will be preached in all the world—until God decides that time is fulfilled and final end-time events take place. Does that mean that every single tribesperson in the middle of the Amazon somewhere that is uncontacted hears the gospel? Maybe, maybe not. I—God knows ultimately what that's going to look like and whether or not that means every single person or whether that means a reasonable effort to those areas. That's up to God.

That's up to God. But the reality is that is one of those things that has to take place before Christ returns. The last thing that has to take place, the final thing, is we have to have the capability of instant worldwide communication and the final witnesses that God brings on the scene. There's another end-time Bible prophecy that was not able to be fulfilled until the advent of mass communication in the latter 21st century. Luke 21 verse 26 talks to the disasters that would come on the world scene. It talks of frequency—of increasing frequency of earthquakes and increasing frequencies of wars and rumors of wars and diseases and famines and all these things that are going to come up and the increasing fear that people would feel as a result of these things. That's what's interesting with Luke 21-26, is it talks about the increasing fear that would come about as a result of these things.

We were in Mexico a couple of weeks back—Mexico City for that conference. I experienced my very first earthquake. I'd never been in an earthquake before. I mean, maybe it felt like a small one here in Oregon, maybe, but this was a five, maybe five and a half. Not sure. It was a six-five when it hit Acapulco. By the time it got to us in about a minute after the alert went off, the ground was doing this and it was like we were on a boat in the ocean, standing out in the street in Mexico City. Overpass is swinging, buildings are wobbling, you know, the whole thing. I've never experienced that before. Without mass communication, you guys would have never heard anything about it.

If I hadn't immediately posted it on Facebook, oh check this out! Earthquake! You guys never would have heard anything about it. Mass communication enables the spread of fear. It enables the spread of fear because people can share what's happening in various places around the world, and now I can worry about something that's happening 3,500 miles away somewhere else. I can have anxiety over something happening 4,000 miles away because mass communication enables us to share these things.

Facebook gave me the option to mark myself safe. Well, I don't want anybody to worry. I'm safe. I'm fine. How do people hear about these things? These earthquakes in diverse places? How do people experience fear and concern over these things without mass communication methods?

It's as a result of real-time mass communication, and it's through similar communication methods that the people of this world will see the fate of God's two witnesses. Revelation 11, if you want to turn over there, Revelation 11 describes the efforts of the two witnesses, these end-time prophets that are granted power similar to the prophets of old. Verse 3 of Revelation 11.

Verse 3 of Revelation 11. It says, I will give power to my two witnesses. They will prophesy 1,260 days clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive stands, or olive trees, rather, and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. You've got to think that's going to get people's attention, right? That's going to be something people are going to be texting about. That might get on Facebook, evening news, someplace. You might hear about that.

Man devoured in the streets of Jerusalem today by fire, which proceeded from the mouth of a man.

You know, think of the headlines. Anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner.

These have the power to shut heaven so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy. Again, think of the headlines. It hasn't rained for 1254 days. It's amazing. These people shut off the rain.

You should not like them. Boo! Right? It says they have power over waters to turn them to blood, so not even the cisterns are going to be safe. It's to strike the earth with all plagues as often as they desire. As you might imagine, their message is not going to be popular. It's not going to be a popular message. They are going to be hated by this world. I mean hated by this world. Despised. Absolutely despised. Verse 7, when they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. Their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three and a half days and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves.

Those who dwell on the earth, those who dwell on the earth, will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

It says those from peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies for three and a half days in the streets of Jerusalem. They'll rejoice over this. They'll make merry over their deaths. They will send gifts to one another. Finally, these two prophets are dead! Oh, here's a gift! Oh, we're celebrating! We're rejoicing! We're having a party here! It is only through recent communication developments and technology that this is even possible. That this is even possible on the kind of scale that is described here in Revelation 11. 2025 alone, 2025 alone, SpaceX launched over 120 Starlink missions. 120 missions of Starlink. They deployed more than 3,000 satellites into the Starlink constellation. 2025, the following countries received service by Starlink Internet just in 2025 alone, just this past year. Liberia, Tuvalu, Bhutan, Niger, Kiribati, Oman, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Guyana, Jordan, Saint Vincent, Bahrain, Bangladesh, DR Congo, Dominica, Marshall Islands, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Sri Lanka, Chad, Qatar, Somalia, Israel, Antigua, Kazakhstan, and Liechtenstein.

Most of that list we couldn't point out on a map. I'll be honest, I'm not sure I could point them out on a map. But they have download speeds and upload speeds now that make video conferencing possible. I mean, they have the ability to, let's say that, they have the ability now to have download and upload speeds that make video conferencing possible, surfing the net, accessing various things, seeing real-time streaming video, perhaps of, oh, I don't know, two witnesses being killed in the streets of Jerusalem. Throwing that out there. But they have that ability now. They did not have that ability last year. Now, some of those places have internet signals, but most of it's 3G across most of West Africa. Liberia is similar. Some of them are beginning to get LTE and some other things. But this makes lightning-fast telecommunications possible to some of the remotest places in the world. And interestingly enough, an internet that is very difficult for governments to turn off, kind of to our previous point. Makes it very difficult for governments to turn them off. But that enables the fulfillment of this prophecy pertaining to the two witnesses. Return of Jesus Christ is one of the most prophesied events in the Bible. References in Scripture pertaining to His second coming occur at a ratio of 8 to 1, when compared to those prophesying His first coming. It's actually estimated between about 200 to several thousand passages address His return. And there are very specific conditions that have to take place in order for that to occur. Very specific conditions that have to be met in order for that to occur. And while we don't use these events to set dates, they do very much help us recognize that it was only really recently that some of these required prophetic fulfillments were even capable of being fulfilled in the manner that we see them outlined in Scripture.

Only recently capable of doing these things. And so when we see these aspects, there have been several turning points in history that have occurred that enable these things to take place. You had the advent of the hydrogen bomb making extinction on this planet possible.

You had the establishment of the Israeli state making it possible that Jerusalem is still a city when Christ returns. You have the advent of mass communication. You have conflicts between the king of the south and the king of the north as it pushes against these powers. You have political maneuverings that enable continued unification of the European continent, decline of America and Israel and Britain's reputation on the world scene. But all of these events, all of these things, these seven things that we looked at today, point to a return of Jesus Christ that is nearer today than it was 50 years ago or even 2,000 years ago. As we began in the offset, we live in interesting times. We live in interesting times. You know, it's wild to think that we could be among the generation that sees the return of Jesus Christ. It's wild to think that. You know, to be able to see these things happening in the way that they do. And again, we don't set dates, but we recognize that these events are closer today than they were yesterday, right? They're always closer today than they were yesterday. One of the interesting concepts of prophecy is that while all of this is taking place, right, we can look at all these things. We can zoom out. We can look at the chessboard. We can see the headlines. We can follow the news.

We can check all that stuff out. But one of the most interesting concepts of prophecy is that while all these things are happening, God has a very explicit expectation of His people. Let's turn over to Revelation 19. Revelation 19, as we turn to our final passage here today, what all of this is pointing towards, what all of this is set for, the checkmate, the return of Jesus Christ, the establishment of the kingdom of God, the wedding supper, all these aspects that we recognize in Scripture are the endgame of this process.

Revelation 19 and verse 6 says, I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigns.

Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. His wife has made herself ready.

And to her it was granted to be a raid in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

The culmination of all of these things, all of these events, Christ has returned. He's collected His people. The marriage supper has come. The bride has prepared herself.

She has made herself ready. That is what all of this points to.

So what all these things point to? Spiritual preparation now for eternity in the kingdom of God.

Brethren, we have work to do. We have work to do to prepare ourselves for this eventuality, while all these things are taking place in the world around us, while all these things are happening. The work that each of us has to do is internal. It's in here. It's internal.

2025 has been a busy year in prophecy. 2026 is shaping up to be the same. 2026, in just the first three weeks, has been kind of hard to believe, honestly, prophetically. But let's endeavor to ensure that we don't lose sight of the forest for the trees. Let's not get lost in the individual events. Zoom out. Let's see the chessboard. See what God is doing. See how he's positioning these things. And let's ensure that we remain grounded. Let's ensure that we remain settled. And let's not be moved away from the hope of the gospel of the kingdom of God.