God is speaking and warning of things to come. Is anyone listening?
On Thursday, February 19, 2026, ten days before the Jewish people celebrate the divine deliverance from those who plotted their destruction in Iran in the days of Esther, God struck ancient Shushan in Iran with at 5.5 earthquake. It was also the first day of the Islamic holy day of Ramadan! The timing of this earthquake deserves our attention.
All eyes are on Iran and the approaching war with the United States and Israel. As this war approaches, many who study the prophetic Word of God are asking, “Does the earthquake at Shushan, Iran point to what God is about to do in the Battle of Gog and Magog?” According to Ezekiel 38, Iran will be joined by its allies against the modern state of Israel in the last days. When the army of this coalition of Jew haters invade Israel, God will intervene by sending a powerful earthquake in the region that will decimate the entire armies of the invaders (Ezekiel 38:18-23). It will take Israel seven months to bury the bodies of those that hated them (Ezekiel 39:11-16).
This earthquake will signal the end of Russia, Turkey, and Iran, and many other Islamic radical enemies of Israel. Are we about to witness the end of Iran’s war against His people? Perhaps this earthquake is sounding the alarm that the end of days are here, and believers are about to take their heavenly fight home.
At the center of the world’s war with God in the last days is the passionate and defiant rejection of the Jewish state of Israel in its ancestral homeland. This struggle rejects the biblical statement that God has promised the land of Israel to the Jewish people FOREVER (Genesis 13:14-17). While rejecting this truth, the Arab/Islamic world is leading the war against Israel by clinging to a deceptive claim that this land belongs to the Palestinians and ultimately to the Islamic world as a part of their future global Islamic kingdom.
This struggle over the land of Israel is growing and is paving the path to Armageddon (Joel 3:2). Recently, the government of Israel voted to accept part of the disputed land on the so-called “West Bank” as “state land” and gave approval to build Jewish homes in these areas.
An article by World IsraelNews on February 17, 2026, mentioned the Arab opposition to this recent declaration by Israel. “Several Arab and Muslim foreign ministers issued a joint statement condemning Israel’s recent decision to resume land registration procedures in Area C of Judea and Samaria, calling the move a ‘grave escalation’ and accusing Jerusalem of attempting to alter realities on the ground.
“In the statement, released by the foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, the governments “strongly condemn the decision issued by the Israeli [government] to designate lands in the occupied West Bank as so-called ‘state land’ and approve procedures for the registration and settlement of land ownership.
“The ministers claimed the step “constitutes a grave escalation aimed at accelerating illegal settlement activity” and argued it would “undermine the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. …
“The ministers reiterated their ‘categorical rejection of all unilateral measures aimed at altering the legal, demographic, and historical status’ of the territory and called on the international community to take steps to halt what they described as violations and to support Palestinian statehood efforts.”
As prophetically declared in the Bible, all nations are agreeing with the Arab Muslims in this struggle over the land of Israel.
Just a few days ago, Israel completed a major milestone in its war with Hamas. Israel welcomed home the body of the last hostage in Gaza. Ran Gvili was an Israeli policeman on that fateful day when Hamas stormed the southern communities of Israel on October 7, 2023, and killed, raped, and took captive Israelis. Ran fought with the Hamas gunmen in his community before he was overwhelmed and killed. They took his dead body to Gaza and paraded his lifeless body before the cheering Muslim civilians who jubilantly welcomed their murderous heroes who had butchered innocent Israelis in the name of their god, Allah. Eventually, month’s later Ran’s body was buried in an unmarked grave in a Muslim cemetery in southern Gaza.
About four months ago, Israeli intelligence was able to extract enough information from one of the terrorists who knew where Ran was buried. Finally, Israel was able to search for his body. I read the reports about this recovery and I was deeply moved. What happened in Israel as they welcomed home Ran’s body gives testimony to the soul of Israeli society.
The recovery and painstaking exhumation of Ran’s body in the cold was a grueling accomplishment. They were able to confirm his identity with portable dental X-ray equipment. Ran’s body was still wrapped in his Israeli police uniform. When they found his body, about 150 Israeli troops were present. These battle-hardened men wept as they sang religious songs and the Israeli national anthem. I saw the videos. I wept and was deeply moved.
As his coffin was transported into Israel, Israelis stood alongside the road in reverence and respect of this last brave hostage, whose remains were being returned to his family and nation. [See photo above.] It was a great moment for the nation. They had waited for 27 months for this moment when the last hostage, dead or alive, would be returned to Israel.
What transpired in Israel a few weeks ago is a testimony to the nation of Jewish people whom God has called back home in these last days. God had given the ancient Jewish patriarchs His laws of morality, and through His written revelation taught the world about the value of every person who has been created in the image of God. I have been to Israel many times. I have witnessed what I am telling you. Perhaps no people on the face of the earth have any greater respect for the soul of a man than many of the Israelis.
Israelis not only exhibited the sacredness of the soul, but also the sacredness of the soil of the Jewish people – the Holy Land of Israel. Think of the efforts of the Israeli people to recover every hostage from Gaza. It made me think of the incredible rescue of Israelis who were being held hostage in Entebbe, Uganda in July, 1976. Israel has consistently demonstrated that they will pay the ultimate price to rescue one of their own, dead or alive, to return them home to Israel.
The Bible gives testimony to the precious reality that God gave the Jews the Promised Land. There is something unique about the land of Israel and the Israelis that they world does not understand. God has married the souls of the Jewish people to their land (Isaiah 62:4-5). The soul attachment of the Jew to his land is like a spiritual glue that makes the land and the people “one.” The longing of the Jewish people for their land has endured for thousands of years. They have proved they are willing to die to live in the land that God gave to them 4,000 years ago.
This attachment is seen in the longing of many of the Jewish people as they wish for their remains to be buried in the soil of the Holy Land. They believe their burial in the Holy Land gives testimony to the hopes and promises God has given them. This was the desire of Jacob and Joseph (Genesis 49:28-33; 50:25). Thousands of years have passed, but that has not erased the divine attachment of the Jewish soul and soil.
What just transpired in Israel with the recovery of Ran Gvili and his burial in Israel, is a living testimony to the work of God and His people, and His land. God is NOT done with His people or His land. While difficult days are ahead, God’s plan for His people and His land will come to pass, just like the God of Israel has promised.
Long ago, the prophet Joel declared concerning the last days, “Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people. …Fear not, O land and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things” (Joel 2:18, 21).
The current events around us tell us that the final days of God’s story of redemption is just about here. Get ready for the shout that will take us out.
We need to pray for these brave people who are putting themselves in harms way to free their country from the present oppressive Islamic government. In recent decades, we have been told that about one million of the Iranian people have received Christ as their Savior. I am concerned that Khamenei and his radical supporters are glad to use this demonstration as cover to murder Iranian Christians.
Many of the demonstrators are chanting in the streets for the return of the son of the late Shah of Iran, the exiled Crown Prince Reza Palavi. Palavi is standing ready to lead Iran back to a free government for the people of Iran. The present Islamic government is supported by a minority of the Iranian people.
It is apparent that U.S. President Donald Trump is about to make good his promise to attack Iran to stop the needless killing of Iranians. Today, January 14, 2025, U.S. servicemen that are stationed on U.S. military bases throughout the Middle East are being evacuated. Iran has threatened to attack Americans in the region should the U.S. attack Iran. They have threatened to attack U.S. military bases in Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Turkey. Furthermore, governments around the world are urging their citizens to immediately leave Iran by any means possible.
The collapse of the radical regime in Iran will bring about an unraveling of the power structure that has been in place in the Middle East for more than 45 years. Both China, Russia, and Turkey have joined themselves in an economic/military alliance with Iran in recent years. China is especially dependent upon Iran for a major portion of their oil. What will be the reaction of Iran’s partners to Iran’s collapse? Will this force Russia and China to attack the U.S.? Will this eventually precipitate the Gog and Magog invasion of Israel as outlined in Ezekiel 38? Will this trigger a global war and global economic collapse?
Some reports indicate that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Muhammed bin Salman, is already preparing to fill the political vacuum in the Middle East and become the dominant player in the Middle East. Will this catapult Salman onto the global stage and prepare him for his possible role as the Antichrist?
Friends, these are very significant days. While we do not know all the exact details, it seems to point to the events that will lead the world into the dangerous and deadly days of the Tribulation Period.
Prepare yourself! Be ready for the shout that will take us out!
The brutal Hamas attack on communities in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, is still impacting Israelis. The Israeli government has realized their communities were outgunned and undertrained to defend themselves against the murderous terrorists that attacked them.
According to World Israel News, “Israel’s Defense Ministry and the IDF say they’ve completed the nationwide rollout of thousands of Israeli-made ‘Arad’ assault rifles to local emergency/rapid-response teams in border-area communities [at a cost of $31 million], cementing a major shift in how Israel hardens civilian-adjacent defenses after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas massacre. … [These] Israeli-manufactured weapons-and-optics ‘systems’ for these teams, built from hard war lessons are designed to keep communities from ever again waiting helplessly for reinforcements” (World Israel News, January 8, 2026).
Too many Americans do not realize that we live in a dangerous and violent world. We can thank President Trump and his team for providing a good defense along our southern border. We need the wall and other border police to guard our borders to keep us safe from those who intend to harm us. We also need to support the special police force, ICE, that is attempting to round up thousands of dangerous illegal fugitives in our country and return them to their place of origin before they illegally entered America. Many of these evil people have blood on their hands.
According to the Bible, providing civilian citizens safety from evil is one of human governments chief responsibilities. Listen to what God has said, “Let every [person] be subject unto [their government]. For there is no [power] but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resists the power, resists the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves [punishment]. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Will you then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and you shall have praise of the same: For [the ruling authority] is [acting as the servant] of God to you for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he carries not [punishment] in vain: for he is the [servant] of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil” (Romans 13:1-4).
God has called government leaders to provide its citizens protection from evil people. This also includes the use of force. It is my firm conviction that the current policies of the Trump administration to capture illegal evil people from our communities and deporting them is in exact alignment with the Word of God and our U.S. Constitution. This policy exalts good and condemns evil. More importantly, it honors God who created all men in His image.
The great problem we are experiencing in America is due to the moral collapse of some of our citizens. They are calling evil, good; and good, evil. The Bible warns us, “Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20). This moral failure is causing a very serious division in America that will destroy our nation. Jesus said, “If a kingdom be divided against itself, that house cannot stand” (Mark 3:24). If we do not stand on the solid rock of the holiness of God and His Word, then our house will collapse during this storm that has come to our shores (read Matthew 7:24-27).
The nation of Israel is the canary in the coalmine for the nations of the world. If the leaders of our world, like Israel, do not call evil for what it is and be determined to defend its citizens from that evil – even with deadly force, then civilization will be destroyed.
The message of the holy Bible has the eternal answer to this great problem. If we do not turn to the Lord and His Word, we will have no hope.
The answer for America and the world is found in Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords!
Mike has written a book about God’s design for human government. Call us and we will be glad to process your order for his book, “God and Government” (Unmasking Socialism).” Call 1-540-798-5110. Cost is $5.00.
