As a long time student of the Bible and lover of end time prophecy I understand that Israel is the key to knowing when we’re getting close to the end of the age and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. By studying the Scriptures I’ve calculated the Second Coming will be over Easter weekend in April 2033 and the rapture exactly seven years before that in 2026. At the rapture Jesus will call all the saints to himself in the air, both dead and alive, and take us back to heaven with him in our glorified bodies. I know the Bible says no man knows the time of the Second Coming, only God the Father. God doesn’t say believers can’t make an educated guess about the time of the Second Coming. Who knows; my guess could be spot on or very close; and then again God could give someone like me a revelation about the end times. All I know is we should be watching both Israel and Europe for signs of the prophesied end times. The Bible tells us that the coming antichrist will be the leader of a ten nation federation from Europe. We know this will be from countries that make up the current European Union. European countries have been working closely together since World War II but they all stubbornly defend their individual sovereignty. Fear is the only thing that could possibly cause all of these European countries to give up their national identity, control of their weapons and their security to one man and that is the fear of war; the fear of being invaded by another country that is bigger and more powerful.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 – For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Historically, the only thing Europe is afraid of is being invaded from the east. First it was Genghis Khan and his Mongol horde; then it was Atilla and his Huns; and finally it has been Russia for the last 300 years. That’s why the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formed after the last world war. I have long known that the antichrist, the man of sin, would not appear on the world stage in a vacuum. There had to be a major political upheaval of some kind in Europe in order to make the conditions just right for the antichrist to emerge. I also knew there had to be a time span for the evolution of the antichrist’s political power to come to fruition (months or years); a time in which spiritually mature Christians could discern the coming of the man of sin well before the rest of the world recognized him. Christians won’t be able to do anything about the antichrist even if they do identify him because the world won’t listen to us. We can’t stop it because it’s part of God’s plan so don’t even try. All we can do is put the word out; hoping to convince some people to accept God’s saving grace while there is still time. Many people will look at the coming prophetic signs of the end times and decide that now is the time to seek God’s salvation.
1 Corinthians 15:50-53 – Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed – in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised up incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruption must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
I say all this as background information, as a leadup to what I want to discuss, which is the current Russia-Ukraine crisis. I believe this impending war, and there will be a war, will be the beginning of the European struggle that causes the antichrist to emerge just as foretold in the Bible. Let me give you some additional background before I tell you what I think will happen. The old USSR unraveled back in 1991, 31 years ago, and fourteen republics within the boundaries of the old USSR declared their independence and the central government wasn’t able to do anything about it because it was in disarray. The Baltic provinces of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had been a part of Russia off and on for over 300 years. They declared their independence as soon as the USSR collapsed. Belarus, just east of Poland declared its independence too. The Ukraine and Moldova, forever at the heart of the Russian empire, also claimed their independence. Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, three small provinces between the Dead Sea and the Caspian Sea just north of Turkey saw their chance and quickly claimed independence as well. The five large sparsely populated central Asian provinces of the old USSR also took the opportunity to declare independence (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan).
John 14:1-3 – (Jesus speaking) – And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, you may be also.
Russia felt violated and robbed by the breakup of the USSR, and as a result it staggered around like a drunk sailor for ten long years until Vladimir Putin came to power and stopped the bleeding. Russia has never forgotten the sting and the shame of losing her former territories. The Russian people always seem to turn to a strongman in times of crisis and they did it again. Russia couldn’t have chosen a worse leader than Vladimir Putin. Putin was a former colonel in the Soviet secret police (KGB) and well trained in the communist style of leadership using oppression and terror; where the end always justifies the means. The man is a stone cold killer, a psychopath and a liar. Vladimir Putin is evil incarnate which means he doesn’t think like a rational person. He has personal control over Russia’s nuclear weapons and that should scare all of us. Mr. Putin has personally killed and tortured dozens of people when he was a KGB operative and even as the President of Russia he has ordered the deaths of hundreds of people including his political opponents. Putin is utterly ruthless and without remorse which why the man has been a successful dictator for over 20 years. Putin has said on a number of occasions that the greatest tragedy of the twentieth century was the demise of the USSR. From day one in office Putin’s goal has always been to regather the lost republics and remake Russia into the world power it once was. Putin seethes with anger and resentment because he feels that Russia has been humiliated and disrespected on the world stage. Putin plans to rectify the situation, by force if necessary. Putin has put every last ruble he can lay his hands on into modernizing and rebuilding the Russian military and dictators don’t do that unless they plan to use it.
Matthew 24:6 – (Jesus speaking) – And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
The honor of mother Russia and his personal legacy demand that Putin face off against the west. Minor concessions won’t buy Putin off and sanctions won’t deter him either. Putin has stoked Russian nation pride and called for conflict with the west to the point where he can’t back down now without losing face and possibly even power. Putin has made the case that it’s Russia who is the victim who is being attacked by western aggression through their puppet the Ukraine. It’s an “us against them” gambit straight out of the old Soviet Union playbook. Threats by NATO and the U.S. don’t scare Putin in the least. He knows NATO is a defensive alliance and the west won’t invade Russia because it’s not their mandate to defend non-member states plus it’d be utter suicide to attack Russia, who is armed to the teeth with tactical nuclear weapons. No country in history has ever attacked Russia on the ground, on their own soil, and been victorious and I don’t believe anyone ever will. The Russian winter and the resolve with which the Russian people defend their homeland has defeated everyone who has ever attempted to invade Russia.
Matthew 24:7-8 – (Jesus speaking) – For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.
In 2008 Russia invaded Georgia briefly before retreating. Since then a proxy war using pro-Russian separatists has carved out territory in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan which continues to try to overthrow the country and rejoin Russia. In 2014 Russia took Crimea from the Ukraine and annexed it. That should tell you Russia doesn’t intend to install a pro-Russian government in Kyiv. That’s the thing with dictators; once they take a little nibble and get away with it they always come back for the whole apple. Russia means to annex all of the Ukraine this time. Russia set up pro-Russian separatist conflicts in the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk back in 2014 which have been ongoing for eight years at the cost of over 15,000 lives. Putin has been fighting judiciously by using separatist to do the fighting for him and unconventionally by using special forces, saboteurs, spies and cyber warfare while playing the long game. Putin means to conquer the Ukraine and at age 69 he’s running out of time to cement his legacy. Putin is a bully at heart and he only respects power. Moldova, which was once a western province of the old Russian Ukraine, is a long sliver of land between the Ukraine and Romania. Russia has also established pro-Russia separatists in the Transdneistr area between Moldova and Ukraine.
Matthew 24:27 – (Jesus speaking) – For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Step one for Putin is to absorb the five former Russian republics of Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan before anyone can do anything about it, all under the pretext of defending the separatist struggles of the majority Russian-speaking population in those five countries. None of these countries are NATO members so Putin knows they won’t be defended militarily. All NATO and the U.S. can do is bluster a bit, rattle the saber, and threaten economic sanctions on Russia. Russia has had 20 years to prepare for any sanctions and get ready for this war. You can see how carefully planned this is by the way Russian forces have been strategically positioned surrounding the Ukraine. Everything has been carefully thought out ahead of time leaving nothing to chance. It’s the perfect time for Putin to act. NATO is divided, the U.S. congress is ineffective and Putin thinks he can push the U. S. President around. Putin can mass more forces on his borders than NATO can muster, he can strike faster and he has a smaller border area to defend, with shorter supply lines. Putin holds all the cards and he knows it. NATO is all talk. The west will vigorously defend its own territory but they don’t have the stomach for offensive warfare against the Russian bear so whatever Russia can grab quickly and hold is theirs to keep. Russia is resolute on this and the west is not.
Matthew 24:30 – (Jesus speaking) – Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Let me play Putin’s military hand for a moment with the assets he has in place. There are 40,000 troops in Crimea to the south, 40,000 troops in Russia to the east just behind the separatist areas of Luhansk and Donetsk and 40,000 troops in Russia 30 miles northeast Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine. The eastern two thirds of the Ukraine has a majority of Russian-speaking people. Over half of the 250,000 Ukrainian army troops are in the east along the Luhansk-Donetsk defense line fighting the separatist war. The 40,000 Russian troops that are in Belarus are there to pose an invasion threat to Kyiv, the capital of the Ukraine, which is 45 miles from the northern border with Belarus. Most of the Ukraine’s remaining military forces are up north protecting the capital from invasion. If I’m Putin I bypass the major cities and urban centers. I would focus on military assets and attack eastern Ukraine first, from the northeast above Kharkiv and from Crimea in the south in a pincer movement designed to cut the Ukraine in half and come in behind the Ukrainian army at Luhansk and Donetsk. If Russia controls the mighty Dnieper River that runs down the middle of the Ukraine and the bridges that cross the river they own the eastern half of the country and effectively cut off any resupply for the Ukrainian forces dug in at Luhansk and Donetsk.
Luke 21:36 – (Jesus speaking) – Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.
When The Ukrainian army at Luhansk and Donetsk turns to face the new threat at their rear the 40,000 troops waiting behind the separatist areas will then attack. The surrounded Ukrainian army will be cut off from resupply while the rest of the Ukranian army is pinned down defending the capital. Putin will use his air power and precision munitions in a shock and awe campaign to wipe out the airfields, troop and equipment concentrations, fuel and ammunition depots and command and control centers in order to paralyze any organized resistance from the Ukraine military. The Ukraine only has a few aircraft so Russia will control the air almost immediately so there won’t be any resupply of war materials by air from the west or available to the Ukraine across any of its borders. The Russian navy will block the Ukraine from receiving any shipping at the Ukrainian seaport of Odessa on the Black Sea. Russia already has numerous warships on station there that will stop all incoming goods to the country. Putin will probably bypass the all the major cities as I said earlier, so as to not get his army bogged down and because urban warfare is costly. It’s better to starve out the city residents or wait for them to surrender after they know the rest of the country has fallen.
John 5:28-29 – (Jesus speaking) – For the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth – those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of the damned.
I think the 40,000 troops in Belarus are there mainly as a decoy, as reserves and for resupply. These troops will never leave Belarus to actually invade the Ukraine unless absolutely necessary because the Ukrainian forces are dug in and any invasion of Kyiv from the north would be costly and would have to be conducted through a massive swamp that is along the border between the two countries or an invasion route that runs through the radioactive Chernobyl area . After Putin takes Kyiv, probably from the south, he will then pivot his forces in Belarus to the border with Poland to defend against any possible NATO aggression. Putin will then complete his takeover of Belarus. The five “stan” republics are also in the Russian sphere of influence and can be absorbed whenever Putin chooses. It’ll take two or three years tops to complete all the military actions I’ve just laid out and mop up pockets of resistance. All the while NATO will be sitting on their hands doing nothing but watch the carnage unfold. That’ll leave only the three Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania left to conquer. Putin will save them for last. They were all part of Russia and now they are NATO members. Putin will mass his armored divisions at the border when he is ready and quickly overrun the Baltic countries and then fight a defensive war to hold them. When Putin takes the Baltic countries the fight with Europe will start.
Mark 1:15 – (Jesus speaking) – The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent, and believe in the gospel.
Russia’s conflict with NATO will last a couple of years with back and forth fighting. Europe will fear that Russia intends to conquer the rest of Europe and they will look for someone to lead them. They will place the combined leadership of NATO forces into the hands of one man, who will turn out to be the antichrist. At the same time Russia will be trying to secure the eastern Mediterranean Sea which will bring it into direct conflict with Israel. The prophesied end time peace agreement between the antichrist and Israel will actually be a mutual defense pact to protect each other against Russian aggression. Europe cannot afford to let Russia control the Mediterranean Sea and have access to the soft underbelly of Europe. I always wondered what would make Israel enter into a peace treaty with anyone. They’ll do if for the same reasons as the European countries; out of fear of the Russian bear. I’m looking at a conflict lasting roughly four years for all this fighting to take place and the antichrist to emerge on the scene.
John 8:32 – (Jesus speaking) – And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
What made me look twice at the current Ukraine crisis as a possible trigger point for the end times was because on my last blog I calculated the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to come in 2033 and the rapture to occur in four years and two months from now (April 2026 over Easter weekend). It then occurred to me that the timeline of the coming conflict in the Ukraine perfectly parallels my rapture prediction timeline. It’s made me a bit unsettled these last few weeks as I’ve mulled over these thoughts in my mind and thought through different scenarios; hence this blog and the two previous ones. I have a vivid imagination. I could be totally off base on this, but then again, I could be spot on and God has put me in this position to sound the alarm to all who will stop and listen. Look at my facts, give it some thought and join me in watching closely the events that will occur in Europe and Israel in the coming months and years. I sure hope I’m wrong about this. Either way I stand ready for the approaching storm. I will continue to work for the kingdom of God because I know, “Jesus is coming!”