Three Prophecies That Will Change Your Life

The United States today is divided between the jubilant and the despondent. “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) Republicans look to their hero to straighten out the mess in America—and the world—that they believe was created, or at least encouraged, by the former administration. Meanwhile, many who opposed Mr. Trump’s election were distraught at his victory, some seeking therapy. Several social media influencers counseled women to shave their heads and “cut off” their husbands and boyfriends. Emotional support animals were also in high demand.

In light of all this, what is ahead for America and the world? Will the next few years see peace break out in the Middle East, inflation subside, and America become great again, as many believe? Or will the country fall into a fascist dictatorship, as others fear? Other than by waiting and seeing, how can we know? Tomorrow’s World cannot answer every question about the future, but we can answer a few by looking to the pages of the Bible.

Sadly, as soon as some hear the words Bible or God, they immediately “check out.” After all, can’t you prove anything from the Bible? And, after Darwin, who believes in God?

But such attitudes are shortsighted and even dangerous. People who have never read the Bible, nor investigated it as it relates to history, have no idea how accurate its pronouncements are for the future. Not all biblical prophecy is easily understood, but what can be understood should never be discounted. In this article, I will explain three of the Bible’s easy-to-understand prophecies. Two are occurring right now, and the third is one to watch, as it will surely come to pass—almost certainly in the lifetime of most of our readers.

Prophecy #1: No Peace for the Middle East

As I write this article, the Middle East remains in turmoil. The late Richard Ames, who for decades served as this magazine’s Editorial Director and as a Tomorrow’s World television presenter, wrote, “The Middle East has been in turmoil for decades, and many who follow world news wonder what will happen next. Yet very few realize that Bible prophecy explains in advance the earthshaking events that will lead to increased conflict and greater disasters in the region—ultimately to World War III and then the return of Christ” (The Middle East in Prophecy, p. 1). Yes, what happens in the Middle East will affect you and your loved ones.

Peace Prospects in Doubt

The first Trump administration was able to do something no one thought possible: It actually looked like peace would break out in the Middle East with the signing of the Abraham Accords, a series of agreements to normalize relations among Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco—with the prospect that other Arab states would also sign on. This process continued into the Biden administration, and it looked as though Saudi Arabia and Israel were on the path toward normalizing relations. But then came the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists, plunging the Middle East into turmoil once again.

This second Trump administration will bring a significant change in direction regarding Israel and its enemies. Many are again hopeful that some level of peace can be achieved. However, the question remains: Can the new U.S. president bring lasting peace to that region? The answer is no—not according to Bible prophecy. God through His prophet Zechariah warns of the opposite of peace, foretelling the state of the region for our day. “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples,” He says, “when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it” (Zechariah 12:2–3).

There is a lot contained in these two verses. We learn that Judah—that is, the Jews—was prophesied to control Jerusalem. This prophecy would go unfulfilled for many hundreds of years. The Romans were fed up with the Jews and expelled them from Jerusalem in AD 135—and there was no Jewish state from that time until 1948. Even then, they did not control all of Jerusalem until the Six-Day War in 1967.

Jerusalem Under Siege

We also learn from these verses that Jerusalem would be “a cup of drunkenness” and “a very heavy stone for all peoples.” When Zechariah wrote those words, Judaism was the only religion that lay claim to Jerusalem. It would be another 500 years before the advent of Christianity and another 600 years after that before Islam came on the scene—and it is this religious tension that makes the city a heavy stone. During the Middle Ages, Roman Catholic crusaders from Europe sought to free the city from Islamic control. More recently, Jews and Arabs have been at war over the city. Yes, it is a very heavy stone, and all who attempt to heave it away end up being crushed by it.

Another amazing detail from those verses is that Jerusalem would be surrounded by enemies, and “all nations of the earth are gathered against it”—resenting the Jews’ control of the city. Today, anti-Semitism is, shockingly, on the rise throughout Europe, Russia, and the American and British-descended nations.

The Lion of Judah Provoked

But Zechariah does not stop there. God through His prophet tells us another remarkable fact—that the Israeli state at the time of the end will wield a powerful military force. “In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place—Jerusalem” (Zechariah 12:6).

Zechariah foretold this 2,500 years ago, but do you realize that there is even an older prophecy that predicts the same thing?

The patriarch Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, had twelve sons. At the end of his life, he foretold what would become of each son’s descendants as they grew into tribes and nations—not in that era, but more than 3,700 years into the future, at the end of the age. Jacob’s prophecy began, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days” (Genesis 49:1). Were these prophecies the result of an aged and hallucinating madman? Or were they given under God’s inspiration? You be the judge: Let’s read what Jacob said about Judah, the father of the Jews, in the last days. “Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s children shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; and as a lion, who shall rouse him?” (Genesis 49:8–9).

Is this not exactly what we see? Time and again, the lion has been roused. When Hamas terrorists brutally attacked Israel in October of 2023, they poked the lion in the eye—and they have paid a heavy price for it. Israel has effectively decapitated both Hamas and Hezbollah.

One Final Fall of Jerusalem

And here, from the book of Isaiah, is another prophecy about the Jews. It is addressed to “Ariel,” and while there is controversy over what that word means, virtually all scholars agree that it is a prophecy regarding the house of Judah and Jerusalem. Its early fulfillment was during the time of Assyrian king Sennacherib, but there is clearly an end-time fulfillment as well. Note how the Jews’ enemies anticipate victory, only to wake up and realize it is no more than a dream, an illusion.

The multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel, even all who fight against her and her fortress, and distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision. It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams, and look—he eats; but he awakes, and his soul is still empty; or as when a thirsty man dreams, and look—he drinks; but he awakes, and indeed he is faint, and his soul still craves: so the multitude of all the nations shall be, who fight against Mount Zion (Isaiah 29:7–8).

However, there will come a time “when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies” (Luke 21:20). The Jewish state will be overthrown and the Messiah, known as Jesus Christ, will need to return to save the Jews. Zechariah describes all nations gathering against tiny Israel:

For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; the city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city [indicating a divided city] shall go into captivity…. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east (Zechariah 14:2–4).

No, there will be no peace in that part of the world, no matter who is the president of the United States. There may be brief exuberance over what appears to be peace, but it will not last. As the Apostle Paul warned, “When they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3). The context tells us that this refers to the time of the end.

Prophecy #2: Daily Sacrifices in Jerusalem

Yes, easy-to-understand prophecies regarding the Jews and Jerusalem, given 2,000 and even 3,700 years ago, are being fulfilled right now for anyone to see, though we cannot know the specific timing of most biblical prophecies. But let me explain one prophecy that is yet to occur as of the writing of this article. It is one that could begin at literally any time. We do not expect it to be far off, though we cannot set a date for it. But one part of this prophecy will begin a countdown to the time of Christ’s return. We read of this in Daniel 12.

Sacrifices Must Resume—and Be Stopped Again

Daniel wanted to know when the end would come and was told that the visions given to him were sealed until the time of the end (Daniel 12:4). This would be “a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation” (v. 1). It would be a time of mass transportation and a dramatic increase in knowledge (v. 4), and the context is clearly the time of God’s intervention at the end of this age (vv. 1–4).

Though the prophet wanted to know when all these things would happen, God told him that the prophecies he recorded would be sealed until the end of the age. Nevertheless, God revealed a sign to watch for that would start a countdown to the end. “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days” (Daniel 12:11).

There was a former fulfillment of the abomination of desolation at the time of King Antiochus Epiphanes in 167 BC, when he offered swine’s blood on the altar of the Jerusalem temple. Another such abomination took place when armies under Roman emperor Titus destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70. But there is also a final end-time abomination of desolation to come. Jesus spoke of this in what we call the Olivet Prophecy.

Therefore when you see the “abomination of desolation,” spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath (Matthew 24:15–20).

The next two verses give us the time setting of the prophecy—the end of the age leading to Christ’s return. “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened” (vv. 21–22).

Daily sacrifices have not been offered in Jerusalem for the better part of 2,000 years. The clear implication is that sacrifices must first begin. So, look for Jews to begin offering daily sacrifices once again. We can know that, when that happens, the end cannot be far off. The stopping of those sacrifices will initiate a countdown leading to the return of Jesus Christ (Daniel 12:11).

Prophecy #3: Counterfeit Christianity

Let us now notice another prophecy being fulfilled right now—one that is obvious to those with eyes to see. John was the last of Christ’s original Apostles to die. He was enough of a problem to the authorities that, even at a very advanced age, he was banished to the island of Patmos—a penal colony in the south Aegean Sea. There, God gave him visions laying out a timeline of end-time events.

That timeline was revealed on a scroll with seven seals that only the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, could open (Revelation 5:3–9). When the Lamb opens the first four seals, we find the famous “four horsemen of the Apocalypse.” Many have heard of them, and many speak of them, but few can tell you what they represent, as the late Richard Ames would remind us.

What Does the White Horseman of the Apocalypse Represent?

As the seals are opened, we first see a white horse with a rider who carries a bow and goes “out conquering and to conquer” (Revelation 6:1–2). Then we see a second rider, on a red horse, with a “great sword” to “take peace from the earth” (vv. 3–4). When the third seal is opened, we see a man riding a black horse, who carries a set of scales weighing out wheat and barley (vv. 5–6). The fourth rider, on a pale horse, is followed by death. The rider of the red horse symbolizes war, the rider of the black horse symbolizes famine, and the rider of the pale horse symbolizes pestilence—but what of the first rider, on a white horse?

Commentaries often identify this first horse and its rider as Christ or His followers spreading the Gospel. They make this mistake because we read in Revelation 19 of a white horse carrying the “King of kings, and Lord of lords”—a clear reference to Jesus Christ (vv. 11, 16). But a careful reading reveals important differences between these two riders. One carries a bow, while the other holds a sharp sword. This is significant, but what does it mean? As we saw from chapter 5, only Christ can open the seals—and when we look to Christ’s words spoken elsewhere, we find the answer.

On His last visit to Jerusalem, Jesus and His disciples visited the temple. As they left that magnificent complex, they marveled over its beauty and grandeur. It was then that Jesus shocked them, declaring its sobering future. “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down” (Matthew 24:2). The disciples understandably wanted to know when such a terrible event would happen—and they wanted to know when the end of the age would come. “Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?’” (v. 3).

The very first sign Christ revealed ought to shock professing Christians. Sadly, most read over what He said, thinking it does not apply to them. “And Jesus answered and said to them: ‘Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and will deceive many’” (vv. 4–5). To come in Christ’s name means to come representing Him. When the sheriff comes knocking and says, “Open up in the name of the law,” he is saying that he represents and carries the authority of the law. Christ was saying that many would come in His name, claiming to represent Him—saying that Jesus is the Christ—and in doing so would deceive the many, not the few.

The Greatest Religious Deception of All Time

Jesus then gave signs revealing war, famine, and pestilence (vv. 6–7)—exactly what is described by the second, third, and fourth horsemen of Revelation. If we let Jesus open the seals, we see plainly that the first rider does not represent Him. It represents a deceitful, counterfeit Christianity.

Apostate Christianity is not new. Neither are wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes. This is why Jesus cautioned His disciples that “when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately” (Luke 21:9). So, while Jesus explains the meaning and order of the four horsemen, the book of Revelation focuses on a far more severe occurrence of these scourges on mankind than has ever been experienced before.

The Bible warns of the coming of a great false prophet, who will soon appear and deceive the whole “Christian” world with signs, wonders, irrational enthusiasm, and emotion, as Satan will be working through him. Notice this passage from Revelation: “Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon…. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men” (13:11, 13).

We have seen, from biblical prophecy, that there will be no peace in the Middle East until Jesus Christ intervenes. We see prophecies made 2,500 and 3,700 years ago coming to pass at this very moment: The Jews have a Jewish state and possess Jerusalem, are surrounded by a hostile world, and wield a lion-like military power with their hand on the necks of their enemies. These prophecies, spelled out long ago, are taking place right now for anyone who has eyes to see. The source of these prophecies—the Bible—tells us that sacrifices will begin once again in Jerusalem before a foreign power cuts them off. And Jesus Himself warns us, more than once, against a deceptive, counterfeit Christianity.

These are prophecies you can count on. Presidents come and go, but the word of Almighty God stands forever!