Those who don’t believe that we live in the last days often say that we interpret prophecy “with a newspaper in one hand and the Bible in the other.”
My response to such a claim might be this: “How can you not see Bible prophecy unfolding in the world around us apart from an unbelief in what Scripture reveals about our day?”
If you think that sounds a bit extreme, please consider the recent gathering of nations in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This largely unnoticed meeting at the end of October has prophetic implications that leap from the news accounts of it.
Over ninety nations met in the Arab natin to press for the establishment of a Palestinian state. This, they believe, is the only path to peace in the Middle East. The attendees included representatives from both the U.S. and Israel.
The group, which calls itself the Global Alliance, will meet again in Brussels on November 11, 2024, and then soon after on the 28th with the goal of putting in place a seven-to-ten-year peace agreement that would divide the Land and the city of Jerusalem via a two-state solution.
The agenda of the Global Alliance points to the future fulfillment of at least three specific Bible prophecies that are in some way preparing for the antichrist’s arrival on the world scene.
1. The Seven-Year Covenant
According to the prophet Daniel, the antichrist will make a seven-year covenant with Israel, which he will break at the half-way point by defiling the temple in Jerusalem.
And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator. (Daniel 9:27)
We don’t know for sure whether or not the meetings of the Global Alliance will lead to the fulfillment of Daniel 9:27. However, this group consists of “many” nations who want to initiate a peace covenant with Israel and they are thinking in terms of it being of a specific length of seven to ten years.
In my blog post, The Biblical Necessity of the Seven-Year Tribulation, I demonstrate why the seven-year period of Daniel’s seventy-weeks has not yet happened (Daniel 9:24-27). The Bible says there will be a time when the antichrist confirms a peace covenant with the many for seven years. Is it not stunning to see Israel and the nations negotiating with the purpose of initiating such an agreement of that exact length? Absolutely!!
2. The World’s Obsession With Jerusalem
About 2,500 years ago, the Lord told Zechariah that He would focus the world’s attention on Jerusalem during the last days.
Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem will also be against Judah. On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will gather against it. (Zechariah 12:2-3)
What we see happening with the Global Alliance is just such an obsession with Zion. It’s this mindset that will lead to the battle of Armageddon at the end of the Tribulation.
The nations are not meeting to impose a peace plan on Ukraine and Russia for their war, which has lasted much longer than the current Middle East conflict, just the opposite. Rather than push for a resolution to the hostilities, the NATO nations are contributing billions of dollars to and sending a wide array of weapons to Ukraine in order to keep it going. Other nations are aiding Russia’s war effort, too.
Even if the meetings of the Global Alliance don’t prepare the way for the antichrist’s covenant with Israel, it verifies the world’s obsession with Jerusalem, which is what the Lord predicted would happen in the last days. Why else would the nations be so focused on this tiny nation? Why else would Israel’s claim of Jerusalem as its capital be so controversial to the majority of the world’s nations?
3. Dividing the Land
The clear intent of the Global Alliance is to divide both the Land and Jerusalem in order to make the two-state solution a reality. Again, how is it possible to miss the prophetic significance of their agenda? The Lord, through the Prophet Joel, said this would happen during the end times:
For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land. (Joel 3:1-2)
Notice that Lord not only said that the nations would divide up His Land and Jerusalem, but He also promised that He would judge them as a result. The Global Alliance has just recently come into existence. However, there’s nothing new about their proposed solutions; Scripture warned long ago that this mindset would prevail in the last days.
The Missing Piece
What we don’t yet see is the antichrist driving the peace agenda and finalizing the deal. That’s the missing piece, which cannot happen while the church is present. That’s because the Holy Spirit is currently restraining the beast (see 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8). He can’t jump into the world stage and drive the peace process for Israel until after the Rapture.
It’s only then that he will be able to galvanize world opinion into finalizing the peace deal with Israel, which will be seven years in length. The Global Alliance meetings, however, tell us that this time is close as they may very well be preparing the way for the man of lawlessness to make his big splash as the one with all the right solutions.
All these things tell us that we are at the end of the church age. The intense preparations of the globalists for the arrival of the antichrist tell us we will meet Jesus in the air in the extremely near future. It could even be today!
Note: In Hereafter, It’s Far Better Than You Can Imagine, Terry James and I describe the future glory that awaits us as believers beginning with Jesus’ appearing to take us home. From beginning to end, we emphasize the jubilant joy that awaits us in Heaven. The last chapter contains twenty-seven frequently asked questions and answers pertaining to Heaven and our experience there.
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