PTNews
P r o p h e tic Truth in the N e w s
October 2024
Published monthly by Mike Wingfield Ministries
All Bible references are from the KJV
(Examining Current Events in the Light of Bible Prophecy)
P.O. Box 67, Boones Mill, VA 24065
The Rapture & Feast of Trumpets
“Behold, I [show] you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:51-52
By Mike Wingfield
October 2021
(Examining Current Events in the Light of Bible Prophecy)
P.O. Box 67, Boones Mill, VA 24065
The Rapture & Feast of Trumpets
“Behold, I [show] you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:51-52
By Mike Wingfield
Unleashing Evil
“And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity…” Isaiah 13:11
By Mike Wingfield
Only time will tell how significantly the humiliating U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan will impact America’s standing in the world, and especially in the Middle East. Those who live in the Middle East, both Israelis and Muslims, are saying this will have lasting and dangerous repercussions for our world. U.S. actions in recent months have been viewed by the racial Islamic world as weakness. Islamic terrorists groups are rejoicing over the rapid demise of this once great nation. They are now more emboldened than ever, thinking their worldview is coming to fruition. Thanks to the Biden Administration, it appears we are on the threshold of a new global wave of Islamic terrorism.
Our withdrawal from Afghanistan was a political and military farce. As we left in shame, our enemies such China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan, Qatar, and Turkey smiled with glee as they supported Afghanistan’s new radical Islamic leadership known as the Taliban. These evil nations will not restrain Islam’s attacks upon the U.S. or Israel. It is apparent that we have some very ominous days ahead for our world.
We are witnessing the earthly manifestation of a cosmic battle in the spiritual world. At the center of the clash between the kingdom of darkness and the plan of God at the end of this age is a sinister figure the Bible calls the Antichrist. What is hindering the Antichrist from coming? This man will be the ultimate culmination of wickedness, and rebellion against the Lord. His power, deception, and lawlessness will surpass all other evil men before him. There have been many antichrists. But the true Antichrist will be Satan’s finest attempt to defeat God and His eternal plan. Why doesn’t Satan produce him now?
The Scriptures declare that Satan and his Antichrist are being restrained by God. The Antichrist will burst onto the world scene at the moment God is ready to unleash evil upon the final rebellious generation. This is all under the plan and control of the sovereign God of the universe.
When the Apostle Paul wrote his second epistle to the church at Thessalonica, he informed them that the Tribulation Period could not begin until there was a time of apostasy in the church (2 Thessalonians 2:3). The church, God’s spiritual restraining influence in the world, is growing increasingly weak due to its dilution of the doctrines of God’s Word. The church will be removed when the Rapture, the next prophetic event on God’s time clock, occurs. When this happens, the church’s restraining influence on evil in the world will be gone. At that time, the Antichrist will be revealed (2 Thessalonians 2:6-8).
I believe the Bible gives us enough information to conclude that the Antichrist will be a Muslim. [I will present a detailed analysis of this in the November and December newsletters.] I believe there is a great possibility that he will be the coming Islamic messiah, known as the Mahdi. The Islamic world is eagerly anticipating his arrival and world events are leading them to believe that day is soon. It is troubling to think that our world is rapidly moving toward this horrific event! I believe the events in Afghanistan are preparing for the entrance of the Islamic Antichrist and his jihad efforts to take control of the world.
The events in Afghanistan in the last few months are preparing for the entrance of the Islamic Antichrist and his jihadist efforts to take control of the world.
The stunning revival of Islam since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, along with the blind support of Islam by the liberal West, are paving the way for Antichrist. When the time has come for the Antichrist to step onto the stage of human history, Jesus will invite him to come onto the stage of history (Revelation 6:1).
God is restraining the appearance of the Antichrist until the world reaches a time of total rebellion and wickedness. This rebellion will demand God to respond by unleashing evil upon the final generation of mankind on this earth.
Our world is about to radically change. We are now living during the Church Age in the time when God is exercising His grace. The Apostle Peter, while responding to the timing of Jesus’ return in his 2nd epistle, made it clear that the unfolding of the end-time events is anchored in God’s patience to wait for sinners to come to salvation. He said, “the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering [toward us], not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). This is in sharp contrast to the future Tribulation Period when “God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe [the] lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12).
During this present age, the Lord is restraining evil in our world to allow His Holy Spirit to strive in the hearts of sinners to bring them to repentance and salvation. As mentioned in my August newsletter, the Lord is using three restraining influences to hold back the advance of evil in our world. They are:
The conscience of man- Romans 2:15– internal influence
Government of man- Romans 13:4– external influence
The Church (Holy Spirit)- Romans 8– spiritual influence
Therefore, before God can unleash evil and the unveiling of the Antichrist, He must cease the work of His three restraining influences.
God’s internal restraining influence through the conscience of every human being will cease when the collective conscience of a society suppresses “the truth in unrighteousness” (Romans 1:18). Like Pharaoh in the book of Exodus, they will harden their hearts against God’s voice in their conscience. As a result, God will harden their hearts just as He did Pharaoh’s heart in divine judgment. This is illustrated in Romans 1when God declares three times that He gives a wicked culture over to their depraved heart. God stops restraining them from their sin and allows them to self-destruct. At this point they become complete fools and have no moral compass. They call good evil and evil good. In my opinion, America and most of the world have already reached this point.
God also uses human governments to be His servants as they apply the law of God as an external influence to keep evil contained (Romans 13:1-5). God’s intended purpose for human government is to promote good and to punish those who practice evil. These governments are to use God’s law as a discernment of what is good and evil. The Bible tells us that when the end comes, the kings of the earth will agree to rebellion against God and His laws (Psalm 2:1-3).
America entered World War II to defeat evil governments that were attempting to take control of the world. Since that time, God has used America, in spite of all of her inadequacies and problems, to provide an external restraining influence in the world. For 80 years the U.S. has held in check evil Communist nations and violent Islamic forces in the world. During this period of time, we “planted 800 [military] bases worldwide, more than 20 times what the other four superpowers have combined. The number of U.S. troops stationed abroad, 200,000, is equal to the size of the entire standing army of France. Some 150 of the world’s 195 countries host American troops.
“America’s annual military spending, more than $770 billion, is larger than the next five military spenders combined. The 11 aircraft carriers with which Uncle Sam navigates the high seas equal the combined total of all other countries’ carriers” (The International Jerusalem Post, August 27- September 2, 2021, p. 10).
Unlike all other countries in world history, America has not flexed her military muscle to conqueror more territory, or to dominate another country or region. America’s purpose has been to defend those who were being attacked by evil forces. America’s war efforts have been aimed at the defeat of evil, and the promotion of good and freedom. In the war against Communism and radical Islam, we have attempted to foster democratic societies around the globe. This attempt has failed.
Our actions in Afghanistan in the last few months have signaled to the world that America no longer has the will to continue as the world’s premier military police force. In addition, America has become mired in internal problems at home. We are a country that has lost its moral compass. We have become enamored with the gratification of self and immoral pleasures. America has become a country of undisciplined people who have no desire to work or sacrifice for good.
Today, America is fighting from within for its own freedom. We are being deceived into following evil leaders who are plotting our demise. They want evil to reign over the world. They have successfully deceived a new generation of Americans into believing that good is evil and evil is good. They promote freedom as slavery and slavery as freedom. The blind are leading the blind.
Our hasty and humiliating defeat from Afghanistan will go down in history as the final act in the unfolding drama of America’s freedom march across the globe. We have just sent our greatest enemy, radical Islam, a message that we do not have the will to continue the fight against evil. We have failed to understand that radical Islam, with its passionate goal to dominated the world, has never lost the will to fight. “Islamism is the most effective, intense and global threat to peace since World War II, a scourge that compensates for its lack of warships, tanks, and jets with one elusive weapon it owns in abundance: the will to fight.
“Islamism’s war is not on the West; having struck in Russia, China, Indonesia, Turkey, and throughout Africa. Its target is the entire human race. That is why the war on Islamism, unlike the war for democracy, is both winnable and imperative” (The International Jerusalem Post, August 20-26, 2021, p. 9).
Our world is being threatened by two groups that are vying for power to control the world – Communism and Islam. According to biblical prophecy Islam will win this struggle. As the global economy collapses and natural disasters increase, it will devastate the Communist regimes that have heavily invested in the physical building up of armaments. Islam is different. Like the Viet Cong in the Vietnam War, their guerrilla type of warfare does not require sophisticated weaponry.
When the Tribulation begins, the Antichrist will begin his global march “to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword” (Revelation 6:4). The Greek word used for sword is not the long saber used in military conflicts. This sword was a short knife used by assassins. This would indicate that the forces of the Antichrist will not take peace from the earth by conventional warfare, but by acts of terrorism as it is called today. The fact this is a great sword does not speak of the size of the weapon, but rather the size of the conflict. This will be a global jihad, making it a great military advance by the Antichrist.
The world does not realize that the withdrawal of the U.S. from Afghanistan has created a monster that will destroy the world as we know it. Israel 365 News, recently covered the U.S. retreat from Afghanistan by quoting Dr. Mordechai Kedar. Dr. Kedar’s credentials demand that we respect his insight into the mindset of the Arab-Islamic world in the Middle East. He “has a deep understanding of the Arab mindset. A senior lecturer on Arabic culture at Bar-Ilan University, he served for 25 years in the Israeli Defense Force Military Intelligence, where he specialized in Islamic groups, the political discourse of Arab countries, the Arab press and mass media, and the Syrian domestic arena. Fluent in Arabic, he is one of the very few Israelis appearing on Arab television, frequently debating Arab thought leaders and imams in their native tongue” (Israel 365 News, August 31,2021).
Quoting Dr. Kedar, Israel 365 News reported, “August 15, 2021, the day in which Taliban resumed their rule over Afghanistan after 20 years of Western occupation, will forever be viewed and remembered in the Islamic world as the victory of Islam over Christianity, the victory of faith over heresy, and the victory of tradition over permissiveness. These events are pumping new blood into jihad arteries and the results will soon be seen around the world, including in Israel.
“All of Islam views the U.S. as the representative of Christianity today. Therefore, a victory by an Islamic entity over the U.S. is not just a victory of one nation over another. This is precisely what the Koran describes as Jihad. The Koran states that Islam must have dominance over all other religions. Muslims must always be involved in this.
“The entire Muslim world perceives Afghanistan as a Muslim victory over Christianity, not just a Taliban victory or the U.S. capitulating. The average American does not see that religion has anything to do with politics. But this is absolutely not the case in the Muslim world. America saw the war in Afghanistan as a war on terrorism. The Taliban and other Muslims saw it as a religious war. Here in the Middle East, everything is religion” (Israel 365 News, August 31, 2021).
From a biblical viewpoint, we must view this war in Afghanistan as a part of a war between Islam and Christianity that has been going on for 14 centuries. In the name of Allah, Muslim jihadists have slaughtered millions of innocent people. As Dr. Kedar has observed, from a Muslim viewpoint, this is the beginning of the final struggle for Islam to take control of the world. From their perspective, they have just won the first war. The final war of good and evil is about to begin. The humiliating withdrawal of the U.S. from Afghanistan is opening the gates of hell for an invasion of demon-possessed warriors who are dedicated to killing infidels around the world in the name of Allah.
With the cessation of the first two of God’s restraining influences in the world, the conscience and human government, there is only one more restraining influence that needs to be removed – the Spirit’s indwelling presence in the church. When the Apostle Paul spoke of the withdrawal of God’s last restraining influence in 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7, he used the personal pronoun “He” to describe the Holy Spirit’s work in the church.
God has designed the body of Christ to be His final restraining influence in the world. We are to be His light in a world of darkness. We are to be holy and to proclaim the Holy Word of God. Obviously, the church in the West has reached a point of apostasy and apathy, just as the Scriptures indicated would take place. This is why Western societies are collapsing and Islam is filling the vacuum with deadly spiritual darkness.
This is what happened in the 6th century in the area now called Turkey. As the church in that region began to die, spiritual darkness replaced the light of the church that was established by the apostles. This opened the door for that area to become an Islamic stronghold. Eventually, that area became the center of the Turkish Islamic Empire that ruled the Middle East and world until its defeat in World War I.
Just as the church began with an event on one day, Pentecost in Acts 2, even so it will end with an event on one day – the Rapture. With the cessation of two of God’s restraining influences, the conscience and human government, only the removal of the church remains. And, that is about to take place!
Everything is ready for Jesus to come. Jesus said, “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28). The world is now prepared from the coming of the Antichrist. The Islamic jihad against the world is about to ensue.
How much of this Islamic jihad the Lord will allow us to endure is under His sovereign control? We must remind ourselves that during the Tribulation, believers in Jesus from every nation of earth will be butchered by the Antichrist and His religion (Daniel 7:25; Revelation 7:9-17; 17:6; 20:4).
My friend, do you know the Lord? Have you received Jesus and repented of your sins for salvation? The door of salvation is still open. Jesus declared that He is the only door of salvation (John 10:9; 14:6). There is only one God, one Savior, one Bible, and one way to heaven. If you do not receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you will miss the Rapture and be left behind to suffer the horrors of the most difficult time people have ever faced on earth. If you die without Him, you will suffer in hell and the Lake of Fire for all of eternity!
In the final book of the Bible, Jesus gave this final invitation, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and fellowship with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). Jesus is called “the Lamb” 26 times in the book of Revelation. (Revelation 6:1). As God’s lamb, He was sacrificed for your sins on the cross of Calvary. Now, it is up to you to accept or reject His sacrifice. The choice is yours! Repent and be saved before it is too late.
Be ready for the shout that will take us out!
China and Global Killing Viruses
China has been the place of origin for many global killing viruses in the last 64 years. See the list in the text box below.
Global Killing Viruses from China
Asian Flu- 1957
Hong Kong Flu- 1968
SARS- 2002
Bird Flu- 2008
Avian Flu- 2015
COVID-19- 2019
Some believe this historical fact is related to China being the most populated nation in the world. Others note that these viruses began in China because of the lack of sanitation, poor eating habits, the combined living habitats for animals and humans, and the lack of safe drinking water.
However, all of this analysis falls short of pointing the finger at the evil government that rules over the people of China. The Communist regime that rules in China is godless, ruthless, merciless, and does not care for its people. Like Islam, it exhibits little respect for human life. It is possessed with a evil power to rule the world at the expense of its own population. Anything or anyone who challenges the oppressive leadership in China is quickly silenced or killed.
Many unanswered questions about COVID-19 still remain. Did it begin as an accidental leak in the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan China? Or, was it purposely created in China as a biological pathogen aimed at killing people around the world? Evidence at this point in time seems to be inconclusive to answer these questions.
However, one thing is clear. China has lied to the world about COVID-19. When this virus began in China near the end of 2019, the Chinese officials stated it could not be transmitted from one human to another. Evidence has been presented that they did know it was deadly to humans. However, they did not warn the world or stop their citizens from traveling to other countries. To this present day, China’s leadership refuses to cooperate with the world into the investigation of the origin and transmission of this virus around the world. It refuses to share with the world the facts they discovered about COVID from the very beginning of it appearance in China.
There is no justification for China’s failure to work with the international community on the containment of this virus that continues to impact the lives of billions of people on the planet. The malicious nature of Communist China and its track record in the last two years raise great suspicions concerning China’s possible evil intent in all of this. It also makes us wonder what China has planned for the next Chinese virus.
Gordon Chang, a distinguished senior fellow with Gatestone Institute, recently released a very insightful article. He states that “China’s military is working on the next generation of pathogens. Its National Defense University, in the 2017 edition of the authoritative Science of Military Strategy, mentioned a new kind of biological warfare of ‘specific ethnic genetic attacks.’
“China’s military researchers and analysts for half a decade have been writing about pathogens of this sort, and American officials are in fact concerned that Chinese scientists have been experimenting with, in the words of Bill Gertz of the Washington Times, ‘germ weapons capable of attacking ethnic groups.’ Beijing’s determined campaign to collect genetic profiles of foreigners while preventing the transfer to recipients outside China of the profiles of Chinese is another indication that the Chinese military, in violation of its obligations under the Biological Weapons Convention, is building ethnic-specific bioweapons.” Chang goes on to say, “If Chinese scientists succeed in designing pathogens targeting only foreigners, the next microbe, virus, or germ from China could end non-Chinese societies. This will be Communist China’s civilization-killer” (Gatestone Institute, “Biden Letting China Get Away with Crime of the Century,” August 31, 2021).
The disengagement of the Biden Administration with regard to foreign affairs is making our world a very dangerous place. President Joe Biden does not seem to show any interest in holding China accountable for their deception and reckless handing of the COVID-19 global tragedy. Without the U.S. as the global watchdog, evil governments around the world are plotting the demise of the free world.
The Bible has much to say about global pandemics in the last days. Jesus listed “pestilences” [diseases] as one of the signs of the end of the age (Matthew 24:7; Luke 21:11). Near the beginning of the Tribulation, one-fourth of the world’s population will die as a result of war, famine, and pandemics (Revelation 6:8). China’s threat of bio-weapons to create a global pandemic that would become a civilization killer could be one of the causes of this horrific global death toll. We are living in days in which prophecies like these are increasingly become more probable.
Iranians Close to Golan Heights in Israel
Many intelligence and military voices are raising concerns over Iran’s increasing presence not too far from the border with Israel on the Golan Heights. Israeli commentator Ehud Yaari, recently stated, Iran has inserted itself “into the Syrian army’s nervous system – its chain of command – and into the everyday lives of the local population” (World Israel News, August 31, 2021). Iran is doing this in a very discreet way because it knows that any attempt by Iran to build an immediate major military base in Syria will be destroyed by Israel’s military.
This is an exact copy of the tactics deployed by Iran in Lebanon decades ago. Iran’s proxy terrorist group, Hezbollah, slowly migrated into Lebanon, infiltrating its fighters within the villages along Israel’s southern border.
All of this is of great interest to those of us who study the prophetic Word. We know that the Battle of Gog and Magog, mentioned in Ezekiel 38, is rapidly approaching. Ezekiel lists Russia, Iran, Turkey, Sudan, and other radical Islamic warriors that will ban together in an attempted invasion mentioned in Ezekiel 38.
As with all other reports mentioned in this newsletter, we are watching the events unfold at this hour. Get ready for the shout that will take us out!
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