By David Ben-Ariel
The Church of God has been charged to get the Word out to all the world and make disciples (students) within every nation, teaching them to follow Yeshua's (Jesus') teachings. What did Yeshua teach? Yeshua boldly proclaimed the good news of the Kingdom of God, the immortal family of divine beings soon to reign over all the earth. He also taught His students how to live a life that graces the Gospel and compliments the Kingdom. We're to become more godly, more Christlike, more Kingdom-like, daily, in anticipation of its Dawn.
But Yeshua also warned of TURBULENT TIMES to occur just before His landing on the Mount of Olives to liberate Jerusalem and secure David's Throne (leading to Israel's deliverance).
We know that certain prophecies were not to be fulfilled until these "last days." Therefore their sealed messages weren't to break their silence until the appointed time (Dan. 12:9). With the advent of the nuclear age, we've been living, for the first time in history, with the weapons of mass destruction that can erase all life from off planet Earth! (Matt. 24:21-22).
The early Church preached the Gospel, but within the framework of addressing issues and concerns of their time and place. For example, they emphasized Yeshua's necessary death and resurrection. The biblical approach is to offer "meat in due season," custom-made messages, tailored for the times, "becoming all things to all men," using current events as a prop and a podium. The apostles and evangelists preached Christ and Him crucified, and didn't deal with Yeshua's prophecy about Jerusalem's imminent fall and the Temple's destruction. Why? Because it wouldn't affect the daily lives and national affairs of their Gentile audience.
However, today the European Beast is taking shape and form before us, while the American, British and Jewish peoples continue their nosedive to oblivion. Both of these intertwined events were clearly prophesied (Lev. 26; Deut. 28). And it's only with our God-given understanding of biblical prophecy that we can see where these trends are rapidly heading. Both the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation reveal a Gentile confederation of nations to emerge upon the world scene just before Messiah comes, wrecking havoc upon Israel and opposing the Heavenly Army (Dan.7; Rev. 13; 17).
These prophesied headlines will directly affect the lives of every member of the Church of God and nations of Israel! We're living in the prophesied time of a knowledge explosion, of mass transit and rapid communication, and have truly become a global village (Dan. 12:4). Therefore these "geopolitical" prophecies are most personal and pertinent.
It was necessary for God to first identify Israel today (the so-called lost 10 Tribes) so the Church could deliver His message to them, preserved by the Prophets for our time. We're to warn the sinful Israelite nations that the Holocaust was only a preview of what's to come! Many different groups and organizations (for better and for worse) have helped to restore Israel's identity. But Herbert W. Armstrong was the most influential, through his inspiring book The United States and Britain in Prophecy, as God ordained (Isa. 49:6). How else could we go with the Gospel to the "lost sheep of the House of Israel" unless God directed us? How could we warn about the imminent "Time of Jacob's Trouble" unless God sent us?
Many professing-Christian ministries today are still lost in their own little religious worlds (Ezek 34:4-5). They still don't know or care who Israel is or reject our identity (yet express interest in our Jewish brethren), although God expects His shepherds to help remind Israel of our biblical roots and responsibilities and regather them as "One Nation Under God," a truly "United Kingdom" (Ezek.37:22). It appears that they're happy believing they're Gentiles (with their counterfeit Christianity/Gentile religion) and don't want to return to biblical ways and days, preferring their perverted scatter-brain traditions (Hos. 1:9).
As brought out in my timely book, Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall, "Christ referred to WORLD WAR III as the GREAT TRIBULATION (Matt. 24:21-22). He'd given an outline of prophetic events to occur just prior to His Second Coming. Although we can't know the exact time or date, we can know when it's very near!"
Yeshua taught that the end time would be very similar to Noah's time and how it was in Sodom and Gomorrah. Didn't Noah know what was about to happen? Wasn't Lot warned about imminent destruction? YES! Biblical precedent provides the proof that the people of God won't be left without a clue (Amos 3:7).
The Church of God, His called-out ones (drafted to be delightfully different and wonderfully weird, living "ahead of our time"), are called Children of Light (I Pet. 4:4; I Thes. 5:1-6). We haven't been left in the dark, in stark contrast to those around us who know the latest weather report but miss the significance of the times. Too many remain oblivious to the fact that a EUROPEAN STORM IS BREWING (Matt. 16:2-3). Many won't realize it until it HITS HOME and they're devastated!
There's precious little time left to help sound the alarm and let the sirens go off. We're supposed to serve as God's EARLY WARNING SYSTEM (Jer. 44:4). From the Watchtower of Faith we're able to see what's on the horizon and pick up on our spiritual radar screen the clear and present danger Europe presents. We know what's going to happen, based upon biblical facts, and declare it with confidence (Rom. 4:17).
If we don't help warn the world, giving everybody a chance to escape, we'll be held accountable for their deaths (Ezek. 3:18). Isaiah 42:19 warns about God's servant going blind and His messenger going deaf; Isaiah 56:10 rebukes blind watchman and dumb watchdogs that don't know how to bark and are asleep on the job! Obviously God didn't "hire" them that way. This is so serious that God must warn us about it, (and you're being warned right now) because apparently many won't pass this part of our Christian test, deserting our posts, and running like Jonah. Such Christian-doves will get swallowed up in the belly of the Beast! There's nothing new under the Sun: just as Yeshua's closest friends fell asleep just before His trial and crucifixion, it appears some will nod off just before our Church and nations are scourged.
An important part of Yeshua's teachings, relevant to this generation, is the warning signs of what's about to strike, so everyone can prayerfully watch and seek shelter before it's too late (Luke 21:36). But we're to share His survival course with others so they can know what to look for and expect and how to receive around-the-clock protection by trusting in Him. We can help save lives and prepare people for what's just ahead, whether it's World War III or the Lake of Fire (Jude 23).
Signs reveal what direction we're heading and how close we're getting to that destination. We're to share our God-given light of understanding with the world that they may be warned. That is our solemn privilege and responsibility. How nations or individuals respond is not our responsibility, it is between God and them.
Ezekiel's warning message is the same as Yeshua's and Paul's: repent or face the judgment of God. Likewise, Revelation's message is to repent of such things as murder, occult practices, immorality, idolatry, etc. and begin to obey the commandments of God and hang on for dear life to Jesus' teachings (in attitude and actions, in word and in works). However, God has decreed that His final warning to the world before the Storm breaks should be directed to His People Israel, now identified as prophesied, and that it should include exposing the European Beast as a satanic system opposed to the saints of God and His government.
If God preferred that we stuck to a general message of salvation rather than to warn about a specific POLITICO-RELIGIOUS POWER rising in Europe, then He wouldn't have given us such inspired details in the Bible! Those who think otherwise are vainly dismissing the Prophets and Revelation as unnecessary. They think they're so smart but they're acting like fools (Rom. 1:22; Job 38:2). God knows what He's doing. Anyone can preach a generic message, but only the Children of Light can understand the fine print in God's Word and reveal His Secrets to mankind.
All the magicians in the times of Joseph and Daniel put together couldn't provide the right answer to the questions of their day, yet those two witnesses gave God the glory and revealed truth that could only come from God (Gen. 41; Dan. 2:30). Likewise, God expects us to share HIS DIVINE REVELATION (Isa. 48:6). This deeper understanding and special relationship with God and His Word ought to be evident to outsiders as something truly unique (Deut. 4:6-7; John 15:15).
May the Church of God share the complete teachings of Yeshua, His full gospel - individual and national - with all the world. Such priceless teachings about the Kingdom of God, faith and forgiveness, also warn about frightening events that will signal the end of this age and help usher in the Wonderful World Tomorrow.
May we faithfully explain the spiritual significance of today's bad news (through the light of Bible prophecy) and emphasize the GOOD NEWS that we have a Savior from sin and a Deliverer from men!
Come Lord Jesus! Hosanna in the Highest!
David Ben-Ariel is a Christian-Zionist writer and author of Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall. With a focus on the Middle East and Jerusalem, his analytical articles help others improve their understanding of that troubled region. Check out the Beyond Babylon blog.
