Welcome back, friends. Yesterday we launched a mini-series focusing on understanding the times in which we live. Never have we been closer to last days, and never has there been a greater need to discern the times in which we live. Today, we learn that, in these times, God wants our attention. (That, itself, is a sign of the times!)

Let’s begin with some great encouragement from the mouth of Jesus Himself. One of my favorite passages to build upon when teaching Bible prophecy is John 14:1-3:

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. ² In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

Oh, how He longs for us to join Him there! But also wrapped in that promise is the fact we (believers and followers of Jesus) do not have to be troubled. God’s got this!

However, every believer must be alert. We are told to watch and pray in order to escape what is ahead (Luke 21:36) and live soberly, righteously, and godly as we await Jesus’ return (Titus 2:12-13).

We must be alert to the fact the table is being set for soon-coming end time prophecies. Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and other wicked regimes have become exceedingly emboldened and are all acting out aggressively. Ezekiel’s prophecy of Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 38-39) has never been better aligned to occur than now.

Those chapters describe an invasion from the north of Israel, led by Gog of Magog, a military/political leader. (Putin-esque, if not him.) He will lead a coalition of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal (modern-day Russia), along with Persia (modern-day Iran), Ethiopia (including at least parts of modern-day Sudan), Libya, and Gomer and Togarmah (modern-day Turkey and perhaps neighboring lands). All this is clearly detailed in the first 6 verses of Ezekiel 38.

Verses 8-9 of that chapter describe the attack as coming like a storm, and verses 10-13 describe the evil plan that will lead to this unprovoked attack on Israel.

Never in the history of the world have Russia, Iran, and Turkey been so closely aligned against Israel, with the north African regions (Ethiopia, Sudan and Libya) so sold out as weapon storage/transfer areas and terrorist training grounds for the Iranian regime as they are today. The Ezekiel 38 table is set and awaiting the headmaster (Gog) to approach the table and activate what Bible prophecy predicts will happen.

Scholars have different views as to whether or not that attack happens before or during the Tribulation, and the Bible doesn’t clearly say. But we can see that conditions are ripe for that event to take place. Those rogue regimes, once held in check, are even now being loosed to wreak havoc on Israel and the Middle East.

Even non-believers are beginning to talk about “the end.” Anxiety over the state of our world is reaching epic proportions. People are fearful of what’s ahead. But God is the only One who doesn’t just predict the future, He has ordained it! Nothing happens apart from His sovereign knowledge and control.

Tell and bring forth your case;
Yes, let them take counsel together.
Who has declared this from ancient time?
Who has told it from that time?
Have not I, the Lord?
And there is no other God besides Me,
A just God and a Savior;
There is none besides Me.
“Look to Me, and be saved,
All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
~Isaiah 45:21-22

Indeed, the Sovereign One is also He who saves! There is no need to fear when you live under the shadow of His wing!

The prophet Hagai wrote this descriptive warning with a promise:

⁶ “For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; ⁷ and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts.”
~Haggai 2:6-7

Understand the times, my friends! God desires our attention…and He will get it one way or another! He is jealous for you, and longs for you to turn your full attention to Him. Every one of us has the opportunity to do so voluntarily now, or wait for Him to shake heaven and earth, stripping us of all other distractions. When the truth of God’s Word is alive and active IN you, you will rest in peaceful confidence that, no matter what happens on this planet, you are safe with Him.