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Dan. 4:17 – “This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.”
The events of 2025 have provided further incontrovertible evidence of the truth of the above declaration by Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar. Our last update was in November 2024, and it is pleasing that much that has been previously written can be repeated with updates on progress towards what Bible prophecy requires.
This mid-year update of fulfilling Bible prophecy will focus on the following topics:
- The status of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the prospects for the future;
- The status of the war in Gaza and what prophecy requires in its ultimate outcome;
- The changed situation in the wider Middle East as Israel continues to have victories over its local enemies at the cost of some of its past supporters.
- The consequent rise around the world of Antisemitism.
- The way Israel will ultimately secure the peace required by Ezek. 38:8-12 before the Gogian invasion and Armageddon.
- The swing to ‘hard right’ political parties in Europe and the implications for NATO and the European Union;
- The dramatic change Donald Trump has brought to America, its allies and to the rest of the world by his ‘America First’ policies;
- The escalating debt crisis and ‘cost-of-living’ crisis heralding the greatest collapse of the world’s financial and economic systems in history.
THE STATUS OF RUSSIA’S 2022 INVASION OF UKRAINE
The Scripture is clear. Russia will be ruled by a ruthless and deceptive dictator at the time of the end (Ezek. 38:2,8-12), and he is called ‘Gog’ (“the one at the top”), who is “of the land of the Magog” (Rotherham), which territory, according to historians, includes Ukraine and Belarus
(the original homeland of the Kievan Rus). This “prince of Rosh (Russia), Meshech
(Muscovites) and Tubal (Siberia)” (Youngs Literal), will dominate the entire Eurasian continent, including the former territory of the USSR, now independent Ukraine.
We will briefly repeat some information from former updates and add some comments about the current situation in Ukraine. The war has dragged on with enormous loss of life and equipment due to advances in modern warfare and all attempts to achieve peace have failed.
- Ukraine has had some spectacular success over recent months using drones and by infiltrating the Russian homeland. Their major push into the Kursk region of Russia last year was very successful, but cannot be sustained as the crack troops used to achieve that success were needed elsewhere as Russian forces made significant gains in the eastern quarter of Ukraine. The relationship between Ukraine and America foundered earlier this year and has only been stabilized by Trump making deals favourable to the
US, including now requiring European nations to pay for military equipment intended for Ukraine provided by America.
- If one was to believe the wild claims of Ukrainian victories over Russia so prolific on social media, it would seem the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is at the point of collapse. It may well be true that Russia has lost close to a million troops in the war, and have much of its outdated military equipment destroyed by Ukrainian drones and artillery, but all that will do is force its leaders to re-arm with modern military weapons as Joel 3:9-10 requires for Armageddon. Remember, Russia lost over 20 million soldiers in World War 2 fighting the Nazis, and Putin is as ruthless and uncaring as Stalin. He doesn’t care about losses of soldiers. In fact, while suffering heavy losses, Russian forces are steadily making progress in capturing more territory and towns in the east. Meanwhile, they are pounding the rest of Ukraine with rockets, missiles and drones taking out vital infrastructure and causing a sense of hopelessness among ordinary Ukrainians who cannot see an end to the war.
- The losses among Ukrainian frontline soldiers continues to mount to disturbing levels and they cannot be effectively replaced. It is Russia which can sustain those losses, not Ukraine. The latter can call on around 400,000 men while Russia has over 5 million, plus soldiers from North Korea. Putin is playing the long game, knowing that Ukrainian resistance will finally crack through exhaustion and endless loss of life and infrastructure. He also knows that support from democratic nations is waning through the debt crisis in most countries worsened by the ‘cost-of-living’ crisis that is turning ordinary people away from their overly generous democratic leaders to those on the right who promise a better standard of living for their own people and peace with Russia. Nationalism is on the rise. Sheer survival will ultimately determine the political disposition of nations.
- Western nations continue to promise new state-of-the-art tanks and military equipment to Ukraine, but most will not be available for many years. This will be too late to save the Ukrainian army from final defeat through exhaustion of materiel and manpower. Now Trump is requiring European nations to pay for what America supplies. NATO nations will not (indeed cannot) commit troops to the conflict, and are reluctant to provide deadly long range weapons to Ukraine. It is obvious that this situation is unsustainable in the long term. When the world’s economy and financial systems collapse (which it will soon), that will be the end for Ukraine.
- Support within the European Union for Ukraine is waning as the ‘cost-of-living’ crisis continues to produce a swing towards hard right wing political parties in Europe who like the National Front in France are seeking “a privileged partnership with Russia,” and the AfD party in Germany (who gained the second largest number of votes in the election in February) who want to restore Germany’s relationship with Russia.
- Ukraine has decided its own fate. By insisting that Russia must give up all captured territories, including Crimea, before there can be peace, Ukraine is demanding the impossible. No Russian leader of any character would accede to that. While Ukraine insists on that outcome as the only acceptable path to peace they are doomed to incorporation into the Russian orbit just as Putin intends and Scripture requires.
- Donald Trump made the foolish claim that he would resolve the Ukraine war within 24 hours of taking office. Half a year later he has given up on Putin and declared that stiff sanctions will be applied if there is no movement towards peace. That is unlikely to change the situation much as past sanctions by many nations have failed to produce the collapse of the Russian economy and its war effort. An IMF report released in early 2024 revealed the opposite: Russia to grow faster than all advanced economies says IMF – By Faisal Islam & Hannah Mullane, Economics Editor & Business Reporter – “An influential global body has forecast Russia’s economy will grow faster than all of the world’s advanced economies, including the US, this year. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Russia to grow 3.2% this year, significantly more than the UK, France and Germany. Oil exports have ’held steady’ and government spending has ‘remained high’ contributing to growth, the IMF said.” Russia continues to trade with many countries, including China, Iran, North Korea, India and other BRICS countries. This is not likely to change, and that spells disaster for Trump’s peace plans.
THE STATUS OF THE WAR IN GAZA
On 25 July 2025, US and Israeli delegations were withdrawn from lengthy and fruitless negotiations with Hamas in Doha, Qatar. Hamas has been weakened to such a point that their only hope of survival is a ceasefire leading to a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Israel under the leadership of Binyamin Netanyahu and his right-wing government have vowed to destroy Hamas and that priority is even greater than the desire to have the remaining 20 or so living hostages released. Those hostages are the only remaining ‘card’ that Hamas holds in this conflict. A stalemate has been reached while some people in Gaza are said to be starving to death. While such reports are not always reliable, it has played well in the international arena.
It is clear that Israel is not far away from securing its objective of eradicating Hamas as an effective military and political force. With a change in Defence Minister, the whole approach in Gaza changed. Whereas the IDF once made incursions into Gaza and pushed Hamas out of an area and then withdrew, only to see Hamas regain control of that area, now Katz has his forces remaining after areas of the Strip are captured. This has forced Hamas into ever decreasing portions of the Strip and with the imposition of strict regulations on the distribution of aid has denied Hamas of supplies, but it has also enraged the international community over Israel’s actions. Israel is now being severely criticized for what is described as inhumane treatment of ordinary Gazan citizens, and some nations are accusing Israel of Genocide (it is ironic that during the Genocide of Jews in Europe during WW2, many of these nations remained silent). However, it is apparent that Israel’s actions in Gaza are harsh and unyielding and this has increased the opprobrium surrounding their operations there and has clearly led to a spike in Antisemitism around the world. Israel’s triumph over Hezbollah in Lebanon; its quieting to some degree of the Houthi threat in Yemen, and of course its staggering victory over Iran and the reduction of the nuclear threat (with US support) has certainly given it a sense of dominance and pride in its own ability to secure peace and security. It does seem that the pressure cooker is at a point of boiling over and some significant developments seem imminent.
While the attention of the world has been focused on Gaza, Israel is rapidly taking over more territory in the West Bank through settlement building and acquisition of land. They are rapidly evicting radical Palestinians and building more Jewish settlements as fast as they can, especially in areas B and C (60% of the West Bank including the Jordan Valley). All of this is leading inexorably to the fulfillment of Bible prophecy considered in previous updates (see section below), including the annexation of the West Bank by Israel (Ezek. 38:8,12), and the formation of a Palestinian State in the Gaza Strip with a government prepared to tolerate the existence of Israel, although still hating it (Joel 3:4; Zeph. 2:4-11; Ezek. 25:15-17).
Israel’s Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich has declared 2025 as the year Israel will annex the ‘West Bank’ (Judea and Samaria to Israel) and moves are already well under way to achieve that. He said on 11 November 2024 – “The year 2025 will be the year of sovereignty for Judea and Samaria. I instructed the Directorate of Settlements in the Defense Ministry and the Civil Administration to begin professional and comprehensive work to prepare for applying our sovereignty.” Al Jazeera reported on 23 July 2025 that the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) voted 71 to 13 in favour of the motion (a non-binding vote) which calls for applying Israeli sovereignty to Judea, Samaria and the Jordan valley, claiming annexing the West Bank will secure Israel’s security in the future. Smotrich himself actually lives in an ‘illegal’ Israeli settlement in the West Bank while administering Israel policy for that region.
The decision by France’s President Emmanuel Macron to push for a declaration of a
Palestinian State by September 2025 is only likely to hasten the process of Israel annexing the
West Bank. Israel and other nations believe this move has killed off the establishment of a
Palestinian State, but the Bible says otherwise. It will be established in the Gaza Strip and this possibility has already been canvassed in the halls of Middle East politics (see below). For the time being, Arab (Muslim) nations will object to Israel’s unilateral moves in the hope of heading them off, but the raw facts on the ground will force them to pursue another course as prophecy requires.
The following segment appeared in previous updates in 2022 and 2023 and is repeated here in relation to the above developments.
West Bank is part of Israel proper – Ezek. 38:8
Up until the series of indecisive elections in Israel during 2020, Benjamin Netanyahu was not keen on the annexation of the West Bank promoted by sections of his party. However, the crucial decision made by the Likud party in his absence at 11.45 pm on 31 December 2017 to annex the West Bank finally became politically viable for the (former) prime minister in order to shore up his fading support among right wing voters. In fact, both major parties contending for power in Israel went to the voters with the same policy, namely, annexation of those parts of section A of the West Bank where Jewish settlements had been established. Since a change of government in Israel in June 2021 that policy remains but with the problem that there is an
Israeli Arab party in the strange coalition that now governs Israel. However, the growing presence of Jewish settlements has made achievement of a Palestinian State in the West Bank impossible.
Ezek. 38:8 requires the West Bank to be part of Israel proper at the time of Armageddon. Gog comes “against the mountains of Israel”, not the mountains of Palestine. Gog’s intention to “go up to the land of unwalled villages” is another proof. The Hebrew word for “unwalled villages” is perazah which means “open country” (Strong H6519). Today, the West Bank is not open country. However, when Israel finally annexes it, the way will be open for travel from
Jerusalem along the central massif of the Land unavailable today. The walls around the Green Line will have been taken down, the nation “dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates.” Another proof is V.12 where Jews are said to dwell prosperously in “the midst of the land.” The word “midst” is tabbur which Rotherham translates as “navel” and others “centre.”
One notable achievement of the Trump regime (2017-2020) was securing the support of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia for the replacement of the 2003 Saudi proposal (supported by the UN) called the “Two State Solution” which foreshadowed a Palestinian State in the West Bank with East Jerusalem as its capital. That has been dropped by Saudi Arabia in favour of a Palestinian State in the Gaza Strip with additional land in northern Sinai being granted by Egypt (Debka report 16 December 2017). This accords with the requirements of prophecy.
Joel 3:4; Zeph. 2:4-7 and Ezek. 25:15-17 in the context of Armageddon both suggest that any Palestinian state will have a coastline. The West Bank does not have a coastline. The nearest it gets to the Mediterranean is 9 miles (13.4 kms).
It is always important to allow Scripture to speak for itself and consistency with context is the touchstone of veracity. For example, in Joel 3 the context concerns Armageddon (V.2) and in Zeph. 2 verse 11 determines the era of the fulfilment of the prophecy of verses 4 to 7. Verse 11 speaks of a time when Yahweh will “famish all the gods of the earth”. That can only be when those ‘gods’ have no more worshippers and are starved of devotees. It also says “men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the nations” (ASV). That can only apply to the Kingdom.
Yahweh’s judgements on Edom and the Philistines spelt out in Ezek. 25:12-17 also provide clear evidence of a latter day fulfilment. This is important because there are no descendants of Esau on earth today (Obadiah), or of Philistines. In latter day Biblical terminology, Edom represents all Antisemitic powers, and Philistines are represented by Palestinians (a name derived from ‘Philistine’). It would be impossible to write a more accurate description of the awful events of October 7, 2023 than what is found in Ezek. 25:15 – “Because the Philistines (Palestinians) have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred.” That is why Yahweh will take vengeance on the “nation” (Zeph. 2:5) of “the Cherethims” (“executioners”). Then “I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.” It will not be pleasant for the Palestinians in the day of Yahweh’s wrath.
WHAT DOES PROPHECY SAY ABOUT HOW ISRAEL WILL SECURE THE PEACE REQUIRED BY EZEK. 38:8-12?
The prophecy of Isaiah is built around the history of the Assyrian invasions in the reigns of
Ahaz and Hezekiah. The latter in the 14th year of the reign of Hezekiah is used extensively as
a type of the latter day Gogian invasion of the Land of Israel in both Isaiah and Micah – Isa. 10:5,24; 14:25; 30:31; 31:8; Mic. 5:5,6. This is made very clear by the following citation:
Isa. 14:24-27 – “The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand: That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?”
This is obviously a latter-day prophecy based on the events of Hezekiah’s time. Similarly, the Assyrian invasion of the northern region of Israel in the reign of Ahaz is also a forerunner of latter-day events preceding the Gogian invasion. This is strongly suggested by Isa. 14:28 – “In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden.” This follows immediately after the citation above and is in the context of a chapter that deals with the ultimate redemption and restoration of scattered Israel (Isa. 14:1-2), and the destruction of Israel’s past enemies, especially Babylon (Isa. 14:3-23).
Ahaz was a type of faithless latter-day Israel. He had no faith in Yahweh and sought to save himself from the invasions of Israel and Syria (Isa. 7:1-9). Judah had suffered tremendously at the hand of Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the king of Israel (2 Chron. 28:5-6). Yahweh offered him help against his enemies, but he rejected it and sent to the Assyrians for assistance (2 Chron. 28:16), after the Edomites added to his woes. The Assyrians saw an opportunity and came down. However, they did not really help Ahaz (2 Chron. 28:20-21). What Tiglathpileser the king of Assyria did was to invade the northern region of Israel which drew
Pekah’s forces north, and away from Judah – 1 Kings 15:29 – “In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of
Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria.” The first five towns listed were in the tribe of Naphtali. They are now either in southern Lebanon or just across the border of northern Israel. Southern Lebanon was controlled by Hezbollah and was used to fire cannon, and launch drones and rockets into northern Israel.
After sweeping through Naphtali, Galilee and Gilead, the Assyrians went on to Damascus where they slew Rezin and destroyed Damascus which lay in ruins for 40 years. This helped Ahaz by removing his enemies, but almost guaranteed the invasion of Sennacherib in the 14th year of Hezekiah. Thus, the pattern for the latter days was established.
Damascus is doomed again, as Isa. 17 makes clear. If this pattern is followed, Russia, which is already firmly ensconced in Syria to the north of Lebanon could easily sweep down through Lebanon (a country in a state of total political collapse), subdue any enemies of Israel and then move on to Damascus to fulfil Isa. 17:1. It is significant that Vladimir Putin and Binyamin Netanyahu have had a respectful and workable relationship for many years. This was revealed by the effective talks they had in October 2015 when Russian forces entered Syria. They agreed to avoid conflict between their forces over Syria. Ten years later, there have been no serious incidents between Russia and Israel despite Israel’s numerous aerial bombing incursions into Syria against Iranian installations (both Syria and Iran were allies of Russia). While Russia makes statements criticizing Israel’s actions in order to placate their allies, they have taken no action against Israel. This is almost the identical situation that Ahaz experienced. The pattern was set in his days – “In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden.”
Like faithless Ahaz, latter-day Israel will ‘die’ and be replaced by a nation who will learn they cannot save themselves after suffering the devastation from the latter-day Assyrian in whom they trusted – Isa. 14:1 – “For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land.”
THE SWING TO RIGHT-WING POLITICAL PARTIES IN EUROPE
The last few years has witnessed a steady drift towards radical right-wing political parties all across Europe. The June 2024 elections in France indicated where things are heading and even though Marine Le Pen’s party received a setback in the second round of parliamentary voting, the writing is on the wall. Italy, Hungary, Austria, the Nederland’s and Serbia all have right wing governments, some of which seek to be allies of Russia.
The Daily Express reported on 4 October 2016 that Marine Le Pen (a female),the leader of the National Front, advocates leaving the Eurozone; withdrawal from NATO; abolition of the IMF; limits on immigration; and forging what she calls a privileged partnership with Russia. If the world falls into the Great Depression that many know is coming, Le Pen who contested the last presidential election against Macron, is likely to win the Presidency in 2027 (if not before), and her party would control the French parliament. The pattern was set in the 1930’s with the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany in the late 1920’s, the Depression and the ultimate acquisition of power by Hitler in January 1933.
A similar situation is emerging in Germany, right wing parties are on the rise. A headline appeared on 14 July 2023, reading German far-right works for EU’s ‘controlled dissolution’, and went on to say – “The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is set to make the controlled dissolution of the EU one of its key targets for the upcoming European elections, with its leader Tino Chrupalla calling Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán one of his main allies. In their EU election manifesto proposal, which is due to be ratified during the party conference on 29 July 2023, the AfD calls for a “controlled dissolution” of the “overbearing EU”. “We’re demanding a reset for Europe so that we can use the potential of nation-states and rebuild the bridge to the east,” Chrupalla, co-leader of the AfD, told EURACTIV.
In the elections held in Germany in February 2025, the AfD doubled the 2021 result by increasing its share to 20.8% (the second largest). While kept out of government for the time being, it is likely that Germany’s growing problems will see it come to power eventually. The coming Depression will ensure that outcome as it did for Hitler in 1933. He had been in prison in 1925 an became Chancellor in January 1933.
The coming Depression is likely to lead to right wing ‘dictatorships’ all across Europe as the
European Union is dissolved. Prophecy requires this because Rev. 17:12-18 speaks of 10 ‘kings’ who unite with and support the Papacy against the rule of Christ. These ‘horns’ will develop during the 10 years of the unprecedented time of trouble (as happened in the 1930’s). Ten southern European nations will look to the Papacy for leadership and support, and throw their lot in with Russia and its allies. The EU will have dissolved.
But what about NATO?
NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is doomed, and paradoxically may be destroyed by its most powerful member, the United States of America. Donald Trump is back in the White House at a time when the world is in a crisis of his own making by the imposition of staggering tariffs on almost all of America’s trading partners. While the situation is relatively calm at present, his repeated threat to cut NATO loose is likely to be the outcome of the world entering into a Depression. He almost did so in his first Presidency when NATO members were not meeting their financial commitments to the organization. He has successfully bullied them into dramatically increasing their defence spending which most cannot afford. The US will have to save money in a Depression, and the “America first” policy will return with force. Listen to what the BBC reported about Trump’s attitude towards NATO in February 2024 – At a rally in South Carolina, “Trump suggested that he would ‘encourage’ aggressors (for example Russia) ‘to do whatever the hell they want’ with NATO countries that fail to pay their dues. This has prompted an immediate condemnation from the White House. A spokesman called the comment ‘appalling and unhinged’, saying it was ‘encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes’.”
Donald Trump’s Vice President added fuel to the fire. A headline in the Daily Mail for 16 July 2024 said – “Trump sends a message to Europe with Vice President selection JD Vance, who has declared NATO ‘a tax on Americans’ and said the UK is now an ISLAMIST country with nukes under Labour.” Moreover, he is an outspoken supporter of Trump’s “America first” policy. In fact, most EU countries have realized that Vance meant what he said when he indicated during a visit to Europe that the relationship between the US and the EU will not be the same in the future, and they have begun to prepare to defend themselves. Germany’s new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said on 24 February 2025 after his election victory, “that the country can’t afford political paralysis at a time when Washington’s foreign policy is shifting and the German economy is slumping. ‘For me, the absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the USA’ in defense matters.” NATO is doomed.
THE LOOMING DEPRESSION
In almost every prophecy update since 2020 reference has been made to the looming Depression that will trigger “the time of trouble such as never was” (Dan. 12:1), the time when the dead will have been raised (Dan. 12:2), and the faithful saints rewarded (Dan. 12:3). Socalled ‘experts’ like Harry Dent have been warning of this collapse for a few years now. They study the patterns of collapses in the past and the current trends in the financial world. They know it must come soon. It is only a question of when, not if. Don’t take my word for it. Simply type in “the coming global Depression” into a search engine and read articles like “The timing of the next global depression is getting closer than you think” – John De Goey: We will be in for a world of hurt as soon as government deleveraging begins – Author of the article: By John De Goey, Special to Financial Post; etc. Just one of many.
Almost every day in online newsfeeds there are articles about the looming crash. We will not include them here as anyone watching the news is fully aware of the sensitivity and uncertainties in the financial world, not to mention the recent tremors in stock markets around the world as Donald Trump’s almost unbelievable machinations regarding tariffs and alliances has every nation on tenterhooks. There is nothing like the loss of money and assets to galvanize the minds of those who live for the present.
China is in deep economic crisis, although you wouldn’t know it from the way it is flexing its muscles around the globe. Two very large construction companies have collapsed in recent years leaving ten of thousands of unfinished and vacant residences across the country. China’s population is imploding and India is now the most populous country on the planet with over 1.4 billion. China’s birth rate was seriously impacted by the ‘one child’ policy of recent decades and marriages have declined dramatically as the ‘westernization’ of Chinese society has resulted in many females foregoing marriage. There is an enormous number of unmarried males in China, and moreover there are many people leaving the country. There are simply not enough people to put into the vacant houses and apartments available even if they were given away. On top of this, during 2022 to 2024, lengthy embargos on imported goods from countries like Australia (China’s biggest supplier of coal); drought that resulted in massive shut downs of factories due to insufficient hydro-electric power generation, and then floods, undermined China’s economy in that period. The trade war between China and America is far from over and threatens to carry the world over the precipice.
Japan is in trouble. Its Prime Minister has lost control of both houses of parliament and is likely to resign. His final legacy may be the deal with Donald Trump to reduce the tariff on Japan’s exports to the US (mainly vehicles) to 15%. Even that is going to hurt Japan’s economy significantly. Meanwhile, Japan maintains a much lower interest rate than other countries. Whereas most advanced nations have interest rates between 4 and 6 percent, and in some cases are looking to lower them in the coming months as inflation slowly decreases, this is not the case in Japan. Japan has had a zero interest rate for years. This has meant that investors, both institutional and individual, have been able to borrow huge amounts of money from banks at extremely low interest rates in order to buy shares on the stock market. This is exactly what happened in America in the 1920’s that led to the collapse of the stock market on 29 October 1929. That led to the Depression of the 1930’s. The pattern was set and is being repeated now.
Why is this important to us?
At the risk of much repetition, it is proposed to include again some relevant selections from previous updates.
The warning of Christ in Luke 17:26-30 is even more relevant now as the world continues to experience what they call “a cost-of-living crisis” while signs of reducing inflation levels and economic growth in some nations such as the US provide a glimmer of hope that the world will avoid the collapse many commentators predict.
“And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” Careful thought about this passage comes to the following conclusions:
- Christ will not come in a time of deep economic or domestic hardship. People will continue to consume lavishly despite increasing pressure on household budgets right up to the day of Christ’s return to raise the dead.
- Accordingly, Christ did not come when the world was in lockdown due to Covid. There must be full activity for restaurant and pub type dining and drinking, multiple unrestricted weddings, full-on buying and selling, building and planting. None of these happened during the Covid pandemic lockdowns but they are happening now.
- Christ’s return will occur just before the collapse of the prosperity of the world and his servants will be secreted away from danger just as Noah and Lot and families were. What cannot be denied is that the moral state of the world has reached such unprecedented lows that the days of Noah and Lot are upon us.
- Everyone can see the prosperity of the last 70 years (in most countries) disappearing. If the predictions are correct that a collapse is around the corner, there will not be prosperity again for 10 to 20 years even if conditions were favorable. They are not. How can the world pull out of such a crisis and return to prosperity when many scientists are predicting that at the present rate of global warming and catastrophic ‘natural disasters’, the globe will be uninhabitable somewhere between 2035 and 2050? This world has run out of time. Add to that the year 2060 that Sir Isaac Newton noted in his Bible alongside
Dan. 7:25 that would see what he called “the end of the days of short-lived beasts” (meaning the 4th beast that will be destroyed by Christ – Dan. 7:11). That is only 35 years away. He based that prediction on the life span of the Holy Roman Empire for 1,260 years from AD 800 to 2060.
- The collapse of the world’s economy and financial systems will be on the scale of the disaster of the Flood and the holocaust of Sodom and its sister cities in its effects on humanity. That is why it is called “a time of trouble such as never was” (Dan. 12:1), and it is concomitant with the resurrection of the responsible dead (Dan. 12:2). Hence, the resurrection and the removal of the responsible living happens just as Noah’s timely removal into the ark and Lot’s fingernail biting escape from Sodom. We will not be here to experience the massive tribulations that will hit this world.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Jim Cowie – August 2025