Turkish President Recep Erdogan has implied a number of times since 2020 that Jerusalem belongs to Turkey. Most recently, on December 22, 2024, in response to the loud chants of “Mr. President, take us to Jerusalem” from a crowd of young people at a speech he gave in Mardin, Turkey, he shockingly responded, “Patience brings victory”. Instead of chiding the crowd about their inappropriate demand, he embraced it. Lest there be any misunderstanding about the intent of this exchange, Devlet Bahceli, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party, a coalition partner of President Erdogan, on the next day, December 23, 2024, in an address to a group of his supporters, reportedly assured them that the goal was for Turkey to take Jerusalem. This is in line with the resurgent neo-Ottoman posture of Turkish President Erdogan. In recent years, he has been promoting a concept known as “New Ottomanism,” which aims to revive the country’s historical legacy and position Turkey as a major player on the world stage.
As to Erdogan’s other fatuous remarks about Jerusalem, pictures are worth a thousand words. Just view photographs of the Temple Mount in the 19th century, showing an abandoned site with the Dome of the Rock and other structures in disrepair. They do not depict what might be expected if this were indeed a highly venerated site, important to the Muslim religion, which, after all, was the official and dominant religion of the Ottoman Empire that occupied and was in firm control of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, at the time.
By way of background, a good portion of the Middle East, including the Land of Israel, was conquered and controlled by the Ottoman Empire (with Istanbul, Turkey as its capital) during the period 1517–1917. Then, the Ottoman Empire was on the losing side of World War I. This set the stage for the establishment of new or reconstituted sovereign states out of the portions of its former empire, which it ceded to the victorious allies, under the Treaty of Sèvres that was signed on August 10, 1920.
Article 95 of the Treaty confirmed the agreement to establish the territory labeled Palestine, within such boundaries as may be determined by the Principal Allied Powers, as a national home for the Jewish people. The Treaty of Lausanne, signed on July 24, 1923, with Turkey, in effect reaffirmed the foregoing, as detailed in the San Remo Resolution of 1920 and unanimously adopted by the League of Nations in 1922.
In summary, under Treaties to which the Ottoman Empire and Turkey are bound and by international law, the Jewish people’s right to return to their homeland of Israel (then called Palestine with no connection to the Arabs who now call themselves Palestinians), join fellow brethren there, and reconstitute the Jewish State there was recognized.
As Winston Churchill stated, in 1922, the Jews had returned to Palestine “as of right and not by sufferance, and that this was based on their ancient historical connection.” Speaking before the Peel Commission years later, in 1937, Churchill snapped at a Commission member who referred to the Jews in Palestine as a “foreign race” and said, “The Jews had Palestine before that indigenous population [the Arabs] came in and inhabited it.”
“It is recommended that the Jews be invited to return to Palestine and settle there, being assured by the Conference of all proper assistance in so doing that may be consistent with the protection of the personal (especially the religious) and the property rights of the non-Jewish population and being assured that it will be the policy of the League of Nations to recognize Palestine as a Jewish State, as it is a Jewish State in fact.”
The San Remo Resolution, unanimously adopted by the League of Nations, and the Anglo-American Treaty of 1924 attest to the validity of these recommendations.
Members of religious groups faced harassment by either governmental actors or social groups in a record number of countries and territories as a new Pew Research Center analysis finds acts of hostility against Christians are on the rise.
The release of Pew’s report, “Government Restrictions on Religion Stayed at Peak Levels Globally in 2022,” marks the 15th time it has conducted research examining government restrictions and social hostilities toward religion in 198 countries and territories. Imagine what a 2024 report will show as persecution has escalated in 2023 and 2024. Significant other Biblical end-times prophecies have already been fulfilled particularly the re-establishment of Israel as a nation back in 1948 and now the falling away from Biblical faith by most of the institutional churches (apostasy).
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:9-13
The research revealed that in 2022, “harassment of religious groups by governments or social actors occurred in 192 out of the world’s 198 countries and territories.” This constituted “an increase by two countries from 2021 and a new peak level for the study.”
“Governments harassed people for their religious beliefs and practices in 186 countries in 2022, up from 183 in 2021,” the report states. “Social groups or private individuals harassed people due to their religion in 164 countries, the same number as in 2021. Governments and/or social actors harassed religious groups in 192 countries, including 158 countries where both governments and social groups or private individuals engaged in harassment.”
As has been the case in every installment of the study, Christians experienced harassment in most countries, reaching a record high of 166 in 2022.
One example cited in the report was the arrest of a man whose son brought Bibles and other Christian literature across the border into Mauritania from Senegal.
Another example is a Syriac Catholic Church leader in Bartella, a historically Christian town in Nineva province rebuilding after the defeat of the Islamic State, who said militias “sought to ‘seize and occupy Christian properties’ in an attempt to drive out Christians and alter the religious composition of the town.”
The study identified property damage, assaults, detentions, displacements and killings as examples of physical harassment experienced by religious groups. It highlighted how at least one instance of physical harassment toward a religious group occurred in 145 of 198 countries, marking an increase from the 137 measured in 2021.
Governments used physical force against religious groups in 111 countries, while social groups or private individuals were determined to have engaged in such harassment in the same number of countries.
The most frequent form of physical harassment directed at religious groups was property damage, occurring in 61% of countries. Detentions occurred in slightly less than half (47%) of countries, while the share of countries where physical assaults, displacements and killings occurred were measured at 45%, 26% and 25%, respectively.
According to a detailed appendix accompanying the report, the only countries where absolutely no harassment of religious groups occurred at the hands of the government in 2022 were Cape Verde, Fiji, Grenada, Macao, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Portugal, San Marino, Senegal and Suriname. The United States was listed as one of 110 countries where there was widespread intimidation of religious groups “by any level of government.”
Religious groups in the U.S. found themselves subject to property damage and physical assaults, while no displacements, killings or detentions were recorded. Another adverse experience faced by religious groups in the U.S. involves organized groups using “force or coercion in an attempt to dominate public life with their perspective on religion, including preventing some religious groups from operating in the country.”
The pope’s decision to have a special pilgrimage for the LGBT community in the 2025 Jubilee Year, titled “Church: Home for All, LGBT+ Christians and Other Existential Frontiers” is evidence he has departed from Biblical faith and is leading the Catholic church into apostasy. What he is proposing will involve a prayer vigil for LGBT Catholics on September 5th at the Church of the Gesù in Rome. They will then pass through the Holy Doors of St. Peter’s on September 6th.
Here we have the Church allowing the categories that are at odds with Catholic teaching on sexuality and the human body — to drive the 2025 Jubilee celebration. However well-intentioned the pastoral motivation may be, the impression is one of either ignorance or contempt not merely for traditional Catholicism in particular but for orthodox Christianity in general.
Before Jesus’ second coming, He prophesied that most of the institutional denominations would fall away and compromise with the world. They have departed from God’s ways on homosexuality, gay marriage, and transgender issues. We are truly in the Biblical prophesied end times and as the following Scripture reveals persecution/tribulation will only intensify for Christians.
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:9-14
God will purify His church prior to the rapture. We cannot say we were not warned.
Jonathan Cahn shows us that everything is moving towards the Biblical end times prophecies playing out in our day. It is happening at an escalating rate. We are living in the prophesied time just before Jesus returns to Earth.
Generations of believers have wondered about the Book of Revelation, but are we in our generation actually seeing the signs of the approaching Apocalypse even now? Don’t miss as Jonathan Cahn continues to open up the Book of Revelation.
Another relevant sermon from Jonathan Cahn. God has uniquely graced Jonathan to draw connections between ancient Biblical prophecies and modern-day occurrences, particularly in global political shifts, religious movements, and the rise of anti-Judeo-Christian sentiment. Through a blend of biblical insights, historical references, and personal stories, he urges us to remain vigilant in our faith as end-time events unfold.
This post follows my previous post: Purpose of the seven letters to the Churches in Revelation. It proposes that each of the Seven Churches represents the Church in one of the seven years of the 70th week of Daniel. The first letter is to the Church during the First Year of the 70th Week of Daniel, the second letter is to the Church during the Second Year, etc. Scripture provides multiple other “pictures” of these seven years, particularly the seven seals and Jesus Olivet Discourse. Studying these other scriptures provides a stunningly consistent Pattern of Seven Events: 1) Deception by False Messiahs, 2) War and Bloodshed, 3) Famine, 4) Abomination of Desolation, 5) Martyrdom and Apostasy, 6) Celestial/Earthly Disturbance and Rapture, and then the 7) Wrath of God/Day of the Lord.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE LETTERS
Not only do the letters match the seven-year pattern. they also all have a somewhat complex internal structure consistent among each of the seven letters. This internal structure shared by all the letters helps the reader to compare and contrast how the environment surrounding the Church is changing during each year and how the Church reacts to this changing environment. Let’s look at the basic elements of these seven letters. Each of the church names has a symbolic meaning. Each letter is addressed to an angel in the church. John is commanded to write to the angels. Angels who stand before God himself have no need to have a human write to them. Human messengers need divine revelation, so this highly favors an interpretation that the “angels” are human messengers that relay God’s instructions to his churches. According to Nelson Walters the “angels” of each church are those that bring the message of “overcoming” to the Christians during each year of the 70th Week of Daniel. Many will die and be martyred, so the “angels” may differ from year to year in each of the churches. Each of the letters includes a call to listen, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” This call to listen is a favourite phrase of Jesus that he included at the end of many of his parables (Matt. 11:15, 13:9, 13:43; Mark 4:9, 4:23; Luke 8:8, 14:35). The extended Parable of the Sower in Luke 8 seems to give the best understanding of this phrase. I believe this is the primary reference Jesus was giving us when he used this phrase in each of the seven letters. By quoting the reference to this parable in each of the letters, Jesus is telling us that only a portion of the Christians will have a receptive heart (good soil) for his message. Notice those with good soil will hear, retain, and persevere. By quoting from this parable (Luke 8:5-8) in each of the seven letters, Jesus is warning us there will be those in each year of the 70th Week that “fall away,” and for Christians to be mindful of the snares the devil will set. Now that we have examined the two common elements—-they are all addressed to an “angel” and they all have the same “call to hear”—-let’s investigate each of the individual seven letters.
If the letters are prophecy, then the name given to each church may be symbolic of the general condition facing believers during that respective year of the 70th Week of Daniel, and the purpose of all of Revelation is to prepare and equip believers to overcome this time of trial.
Concerning the first letter, Ephesus means “the desired one.” This name is highly reflective of the immense spiritual battle about to take place. God and Satan both desire the souls of believers. All of the 70th Week of Daniel will revolve around this battle. In year one Satan’s counterfeit messiah and False Prophet will burst upon the world scene. The conflict for the souls of believers will be between the false messiahs and the true Messiah, Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life. The battle lines are drawn for the “desired one.”
The attributes of Jesus’s appearance mentioned in the letter to each church is symbolic. The description of Jesus to the church in Ephesus is: “The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:” (Rev. 2:1) Jesus himself has defined both of these aspects of his appearance for us. The seven stars are the angels of each church. Human messengers delivering Jesus’s instructions on how to overcome the 70th Week of Daniel. Jesus holds these angels in his right hand. The right hand is the hand of blessing. God’s right hand is also a place of power, “Your right hand, O Lord, is majestic in power, Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy” (Exodus 15:6). Jesus will use these angels to help shatter his enemies by the revelation of His Word, and he will bless these human messengers. The seven lampstands are the seven churches. The Seven Churches are all pictures of the one true Church (as there was only one lampstand in the Tabernacle). Also, it says that Jesus walks among the lampstands. Jesus will be right there with us as we endure and overcome.
In all Seven Letters after the address and the description of Jesus’s symbolic appearance, he briefly describes the Church. For most of the seven years, Jesus provides both positive and negative feedback. This is what our Lord says will be the positive aspects of the church in the First Year of the 70th Week of Daniel: “I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evilmen, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for my name’s sake, and have not grown weary.” Revelation 2:2-3
The primary condition of the world during this First Year will be deception by false messiahs. It appears from this passage that the Church is initially able to test and then recognize the false messiahs and false prophets as liars. Jesus also commends the Church for hating the works of the Nicolaitans: the word “Nicolaitans” means “overcoming the people of God” and it is tied to the actions of the rider of the white horse whose “conquering” in Rev. 6:2 is a spiritual overcoming. By this, we determined the Nicolaitans here are the followers of the Antichrist, most likely Muslims. Jesus also commends the Church for their perseverance. The Greek word for perseverance is HUPOMONE which is also sometimes translated endurance. This is the identical Greek word we just saw in Jesus’s explanation of the Parable of the Sower which is critical to understanding Jesus’s call to hear: But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance (HUPMONE). (Luke 8: 15. Bearing fruit in the coming trial will require endurance. Additionally, the trial will help produce this endurance, “We also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance (HUPOMNE)” (Romans 5:3, emphasis mine). This is one purpose of Daniel’s 70th Week—refining the Bride of Christ.
Jesus has one rebuke for the Church, and it’s a big one: But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent” (Rev. 2:4-5). Bringing the Bride of Christ back into a love relationship is the main purpose of the 70th Week of Daniel. Jesus is clear that the Church will cease to be the Church if they don’t repent and act accordingly. They will fall away and apostatize.
Entering the trial, the Church will do “works” and will “toil,” for the Lord says, “I know your deeds and your toil” (Rev. 2:2). The Church will be expending effort, but it will not be done through the love of Jesus. Just a few verses later, we learn the Church’s works are not adequate. Jesus wants the Church to “do the deeds you did at first” (Rev. 2:5). Even though Jesus is aware of the effort the Church is expending in “good deeds,” these deeds are not done in the right spirit.
Next post we will look at the church in the second year of tribulation, the church at Smyrna. Nelson Walters’s video is excellent but you will need 2 hours and 51 minutes to watch it.
The stage is being set for the prophesied end-times war in Daniel 8 when the Goat (Sunni Turkey) overcomes the Ram (Shia Iran). What we see unfolding fits with end-times Biblical prophecy that prophecies a major battle between Sunni Turkey and Shia Iran with Turkey winning a decisive battle and re-establishing its dominance in the Muslim world.
Assad’s downfall marks a new realignment in the Middle East. The outcome of this tectonic shift is bound to have a profound impact on the Middle East and the global balance of power.
“We see a huge change in the region. Turkey has become stronger, Russia has become weaker, Iran has become weak,” said Badr Jamous, a leading anti-Assad opposition politician. “But it is the Syrians that will play a big role now, not like before. All will have to listen to our voice and to our decisions.”
Iran, whose embassy in Damascus was looted immediately after the rebel takeover, has lost its major ally in the “axis of resistance” and the vital land connection to its Hezbollah proxy militia in Lebanon.
Turkey is on the ascendant. With Assad gone, Ankara will clearly exert much greater authority over its southern neighbor, and the entire Levant, a boost to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s neo-Ottoman aspirations.
Turkey openly supports the Syrian National Army militia, which has focused its energy mostly on battles with Syrian Kurds in recent weeks, with clashes continuing Sunday. Turkey has also provided tacit backing to the most formidable Syrian rebel force, Sunni Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS.
Shia Iran (Ram) through its proxies has tried to be the dominant Muslim force in the Middle East “charging westward and northward, and southward” but the much stronger Sunni Turkey (Goat) will not allow that to happen.
“I was in Susa the citadel, which is in the province of Elam (in Iran) And I saw in the vision, and I was at the Ulai canal. I raised my eyes and saw, and behold, a ram (Iran) standing on the bank of the canal… I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward. No beast could stand before him, and there was no one who could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and became great.” Daniel 8:2-3, 4
“As I was considering, behold, a male goat (Turkey) came from the west across the face of the whole earth, without touching the ground… He came to the ram (Iran) with the two horns, which I had seen standing on the bank of the canal, and he ran at him in his powerful wrath… And the ram had no power to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled on him.” Daniel 8:5-7
Turkey seeks to re-establish its Ottoman Empire and for a short time it will be successful but then the prophecy reveals it will be broken up into four probably by the United Nations. They will not countenance another Ottoman Empire attempting to dominate the world.
“Then the goat (Turkey) became exceedingly great, but when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and instead of it there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven. Out of one of them came a little horn (Antichrist), which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land. It grew great, even to the host of heaven.” Daniel 8:8-9
It is out of one of these four Muslim nations that the Antichrist arises.
“You should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing first of all that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.” 2 Peter 3:3-10
This is a section of scripture where the Apostle Peter is clearly instructing us on Jesus’ Second Coming. First, he shows us how in the last days there will be mockers who doubt that the return of Jesus is imminent. These mockers are non-believers and some are believers. Much of the church acts as if Jesus’ coming is not close at hand. This includes believers who are living as if they have their whole, normal lifetimes in front of them. Most pastors are not preparing their flock for the trials that lie ahead. Peter then helps us understand why the mockers mock: they don’t understand God’s way of telling time! The modern Church has focused on the verse that says that God wishes all to come to repentance. This is a wonderful picture of God’s grace, and we should focus on it. But before that verse is the phrase that explains it all. “One day is like a thousand years.” This is the key to this entire passage, but it has been misunderstood. This is not some general statement like: “God is eternal so long periods of years are like a day to Him.” No, this is a specific instruction. It means when we see the word “day” in the account of creation, it refers to a thousand years prophetically! Notice that before this instruction about the thousand-year equivalent, Peter carefully mentions creation, “by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water.” Why does Peter mention the creation? What does it have to do with the return of Jesus? The Creation account is mentioned so the reader will understand that the day-equals-a-thousand-years formula is to be inserted into it. If Peter did not mean for us to insert the formula into the creation account, why did he mention the creation? This is an awesome key to understanding. It helps show us in the scriptures how God tells time.
Peter validates that the reason scoffers don’t understand when Jesus will return is that they don’t understand that the creation narrative gives us the approximate timing of the Lord’s return. They don’t understand that the principle of a day = a thousand years is to apply prophetically to the creation account.
This Earth has had 6000 years under Satan’s rule, next is Jesus’ Millennial Kingdom. Jesus will rule the nations from the nation God established for His purposes: Israel, with a new Jerusalem as the capital city of the world.
In the Millennium, 13 tribes will inherit a parcel of land. The portion given to the tribe of Levi is called a holy section. It will be a parcel 50 miles by 50 miles and will be situated between the land inheritance given to Judah and Benjamin. Both the city of Jerusalem and the Temple will be in this section of land, called the “sacred district” As described in Ezekiel 45, the land around the Temple is divided into three large parcels of land – The Sanctuary, open space around it and homes for the Levite priests.
King David shall own the land on both sides of the holy district and the property of the city.
JERUSALEM – A NEW CITY, A NEW NAME– THE LORD IS THERE
Jerusalem will be the Capital of the World on the Highest Summit
Jesus promises that in the end times, there will be tribulation, even great tribulation before His return but believers will be kept from the wrath of God that is poured out on unbelievers at that time.
Dr. Baruch Korman of Love Israel Ministries (www.loveisrael.org) explains the timing of the rapture and the wrath of God is poured out with the Trumpet and Bowl judgements. What happens and who is involved when the seven seals are opened and the four horsemen are released is enlightening.
Christians will be on Earth for six years of the final seven. The Wrath of God with the Trumpet and Bowl judgements will take one year and ten days which just happens to be the same time as the time God poured out His wrath the first time with Noah’s flood. Why one year and ten days? The length of a year before a Jubilee year is always one year and ten days on the Hebrew calendar.
“And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 1:19-21
The Bible is full of fulfilled prophecies, which testify to its divine inspiration and inerrancy. It is estimated that as much as 75% of the 2,500 prophecies in the Bible have been already fulfilled, and most of those yet to happen are last-day/end-time events.
Do you realise there are far more prophecies about Jesus second coming than His first coming? The Pharisees and Sadducees did not get it with His first coming, and the church is not getting it with His second coming, maybe in your lifetime.
“For this reason, you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.” Matthew 24:44
With knowledge of the Bible’s last days’ prophecies, we can use them to evangelize unbelievers, showing them that God controls history. I hope my book, Living Eternal Now – Ready for Jesus Return will assist you in being equipped to complete the Great Commission before Jesus’ second coming. It is available as a paperback and ebook on Amazon.
LIVING ETERNAL NOW 