Wallace G. Smith

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

Are You Truly Following Jesus Christ?

Over the last 2,000 years since it was first used, the word “Christian” has taken on many meanings. And, as it has done so, the word has become almost meaningless—to the point that many today who call themselves Christian would not be recognized as such by the founder of true Christianity Himself, Jesus Christ.

What about you and me? When Jesus looks at us, does He see someone who claims His name but isn’t actually following Him like a disciple?

If you have the courage to ask yourself this question—and the integrity and humility to answer it—it has the potential to completely change your life.

Our question today is whether Jesus would recognize you as a Christian—or, even, would He recognize me, for that matter. And before we jump into answering that question, I should warn you—some of the points we’re going to discuss today might make many of you uncomfortable, maybe even angry. They made me uncomfortable and angry the first time I heard them. The sort of truths that move us forward in life and in our relationship with God often do.

But I hope you’ll stick with me for the whole program and hear me out. It might take some courage on your part, but seeing the Bible’s own answer to this question may very well be the most important thing you’ve ever done in your life.

What Is a Christian?

At the heart of our discussion today is the word “Christian.” It’s an interesting word—a simple word that seems like it should be obvious in meaning, and yet a word that is the source of so much confusion today.

The Bible itself reports on the first time it was ever used in history. We see this in the book of Acts in chapter 11.

This was early enough in the Church’s existence that the Apostle Paul wasn’t even an apostle yet—and he still went by the name of Saul.

Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch (Acts 11:25–26).

We see here that there were disciples of Jesus Christ in Antioch, and they numbered enough that people began calling them Christians—identifying them as disciples of someone named Christ.

Some have speculated that the name Christian might even have originally been meant as an insult. But whether it was intended as an insult or not, the early followers of Jesus seem to have accepted it.

In chapter 4 of Peter’s first letter, the Apostle uses the word to encourage his brothers and sisters in the faith who were being persecuted.

Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter (1 Peter 4:16).

In the New Testament letters, we see the disciples referring to each other as brothers and sisters.

Biblical Definition of Christian

But in contrast with the world, the word “Christian” helped to identify them as those who believe in, follow, and obey the teachings of Jesus Christ.

However, that was a long time ago. And things have changed a great deal since then.

Of the two billion people on earth claiming to be a Christian, there are a maddening number of different doctrines, different practices, different traditions, different beliefs about creation, different understandings of prophecy, different beliefs about the afterlife, different beliefs about what God is like and the purpose of man—even different understandings of who and what Jesus Christ really was. The list goes on and on.

Frankly, as the executive editor of the Tomorrow’s World magazine, I’ve seen how the word “Christian” is a real challenge. It’s come to mean so many different things that the word is a source of confusion. When we say the word “Christian,” many of our hundreds of thousands of subscribers think different things—just like our hundreds of thousands of viewers do.

How to Follow Jesus Christ: 5 Steps That Matter

So let’s get down to the basics and frame today’s question this way: If a TRUE Christian is a disciple and follower of Jesus Christ, then what does that mean? How can we know whether Jesus would recognize us as one of His disciples? And if He wouldn’t, how do we need to change?

We’ll cover five key points about being a real disciple of Jesus Christ that most do not understand.

Get to Know the Real Jesus Christ of the Bible

The first point might seem like the most obvious, but don’t be fooled.

1. A disciple of Jesus believes in and follows the real Jesus Christ.

Now, that might prompt you to think, “Excellent! That’s me. I believe in Jesus.”

But the Bible would push back on that conclusion and ask you: Which “Jesus” do you believe in?

Because many believe in a “Jesus Christ,” but it is not the real Jesus Christ. Don’t take my word for it—take the Apostle Paul’s.

In his second letter to the Corinthians in chapter 11, Paul discusses this very real possibility.

But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it (2 Corinthians 11:3–4).

Yes, “another Jesus.” Jesus Himself warned His disciples that, right after His resurrection, many would come in His name, proclaiming Him as Christ, yet they would be false teachers who “deceive many” (Matthew 24:5). And they did.

Even in the first century, writers of the Bible were warning their readers to:

Contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3).

While so-called “Christianity” is the largest religion on the planet, Jesus says that His true disciples would make up a “little flock” on the earth (Luke 12:32).

In fact, after someone asks Jesus if many or few would truly follow Him, He answers with a warning that we should all take seriously.

“Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity’” (Luke 13:24–27).

Jesus is warning us not to take for granted that He even knows who we are. Many think they know Jesus Christ, but the “Jesus” they are following is, in Paul’s words, “another Jesus.”

So, how do we know we are following the REAL Jesus?

True Christians Repent and Turn Away from Sin

Our next points will give us some clarity. For instance:

2. A disciple of Jesus repents of sin.

You know, “Just as I Am” is one of the most popular Christian hymns in history. And yet, it is also a lie. One of the very first steps one takes to become a disciple of Jesus Christ is to repent of one’s sins—to turn away from disobeying God and to begin obeying Him.

Again, don’t take my word for it—take Jesus’.

Mark 1 records the beginning of His earthly ministry. Let’s see it there for ourselves.

Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:14–15).

Repentance and turning from sin is fundamental to being a true disciple of Jesus Christ. So much so that the need to repent was emphasized in the very first sermon of the Church Jesus founded. We read of that in Acts 2. There, we see that after being convicted by Peter’s sermon of their guilt in the death of the Messiah, the people are moved to take action.

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:37–38).

Now, I’ve heard some so-called Christian preachers say that repentance was only for the Jews, and never a requirement made of the non-Jewish Gentiles.

Well, let’s just say that those preachers must have purchased a defective Bible, because such claims are deceptive hogwash. For instance, look at Paul’s statement to King Agrippa in Acts 26:19–20.

“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.”

In fact, in Athens Paul told the assembled Greeks that:

[God] now commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30).

Far from saying we come to Christ like the old hymn says, “just as we are,” being a disciple requires repenting of our sins—a necessity for anyone to be a true follower of Christ.

But what does that mean, repenting of sin? Most people don’t understand the most basic definition of sin—even though it’s right there in the Bible under their noses.

Let’s look at it in 1 John 3:4. In the New King James Version, we read this:

Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.

The meaning is even plainer in the old King James Version.

Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law (1 John 3:4).

Jesus Christ Said to Keep the Commandments

That brings us to the next point about being a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

3. A real disciple keeps God’s commandments.

Many so-called Christian teachers will tell you just the opposite—claiming that God’s law and commandments are not required of Christians. But if you want to be a true follower of Jesus Christ, ignore them and listen to Jesus.

In Matthew 19, we read of a rich young man who came to Jesus and asked Him what he needed to do to have eternal life. Jesus’ answer was simple.

“If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:7).

The young man asked Him which ones, and Jesus listed several of the Ten Commandments.

Many like to cast commandment-keeping and obedience as if it is somehow foreign to Christianity, claiming that you need only to believe—and cherry-picking verses here or there to prop up their ideas. But all such arguments always fail when the whole of God’s word is taken together.

For instance, how important did Jesus think obedience is? Let’s read it ourselves in Matthew 7:21–23.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

Notice that. Those who profess Christ’s name and even work wonders in His name—if they practice lawlessness and will not obey God’s law—are told by Jesus Christ Himself that He does not know them.

If Jesus HIMSELF does not recognize us as one of his followers, how does the word “Christian” apply to us?

John, the last of the Twelve Apostles, understood this. Let’s look in 1 John, which he wrote near the close of the first century.

John is often called the “Apostle of Love” because of his great emphasis on the need for Christians to love others. But He could also just as well be called the Apostle of Law, because he also emphasized obedience to God’s commands. Again, don’t just take my word for it, let’s look in 1 John 2:3–4.

Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

My friends, read that in your own Bible as many times as you need to in order to take it in and believe it! If we believe that we know Jesus and are His followers, yet we do not seek to keep the Commandments, then the Apostle John, the Apostle of Love, says we are liars.

And those who say we do not need to keep the commandments to be Christians are liars, as well—lying in ignorance, perhaps, but lying all the same.

That lie is rooted in the doctrines and traditions of men, who have warped the truth of God for almost two millennia.

Be Doers of the Word, Not Substituting Man-Made Traditions

And understanding that leads us to our next point about true disciples.

4. A disciple of Jesus believes the Bible over traditions of men.

Many so-called Christian organizations will pay lip service to God’s word, but in practice they put their own human traditions and council decisions above Scripture time and time again. They do not keep the biblical festivals like Jesus, His apostles, and the first-century Church did. They keep holidays intermingled with pagan symbols and practices, which God condemns in multiple places in His word. They do not keep the seventh-day Sabbath—the only weekday set apart in Scripture for rest and worship, often choosing instead Sunday—a day taken from pagan worship practices and enforced by Roman decree, long after the Apostles’ deaths.

Yes, there is a real human, organized, and ordained authority in the REAL Church Jesus founded, which persists today. Many passages make this plain. Christianity is not a “lone wolf” religion, in which everyone interprets the Bible based on his own, individual ideas.

But did Jesus ever think human beings could OVERRULE the Bible with their own traditions? We see His own answer in Mark 7.

There, talking to the Pharisees, who had used their legitimate authority to make God’s word of no real effect through their traditions, Jesus had harsh words.

He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men’” (Mark 7:6–7).

In verse 9, He continues His condemnation.

He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition” (Mark 7:9).

No, Jesus is not interested in all the fancy arguments and theological traditions that various denominations use to justify their commandment-breaking idols in their cathedrals, Sunday meetings instead of observing the biblical Sabbath, and pagan-tainted holidays instead of biblically-commanded Holy Days.

For the disciple of Jesus Christ, God’s word is just that: God’s word. And it outranks any traditions that effectively contradict it and make it of no effect.

Disciples of Jesus Put God First | Luke 14:26-33 Explained

The last point we’ll discuss today is this—and it’s a big one:

5. A disciple of Jesus yields his or her whole life to Christ.

This might seem like something obvious. But it is far from clear to most who call themselves Christian.

This requirement of Jesus’ disciples is probably best explained by Jesus Himself—like most of our points have been! We read His description of it in Luke 14. We don’t have much time, but let’s look at portions of that passage together. We can start in verse 26.

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.”

Now, don’t misunderstand. Jesus isn’t saying you must truly hate your family. If so, He’d be contradicting Himself, because He also says to love each other and to keep the commandment to honor your father and mother.

Rather, He is speaking of loving Him more than them. He must come first in the lives of His disciples—before their own parents, siblings, spouses, or children—yes, even before their own lives.

Note His words there. He doesn’t just say this priority is a “good idea.” He literally says that those who will not put Him first above all “cannot be [His] disciple.”

That means that if following Jesus, repenting of our sins, and beginning to obey God’s commandments and living according to the Bible means going against the wishes of our family, then that’s what we do. Even if it costs us our lives, Jesus expects us to do just that, to give up our lives. As He says toward the end of this passage:

“So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:33).

Those are powerful words, not to be taken lightly. “All that we have” literally means all that we have. Our work and business connections, our personal or political preferences, our hobbies and pastimes—all that we have must be laid at Christ’s feet and seen as tools for His purposes, sacrifices we are willing to make for the sake of His Kingdom and His righteousness.

Now, the good news is that, in many ways, the reward for doing so is often immediate. For instance, it’s remarkable how much better and happier a marriage can be when both husband and wife put Jesus Christ truly first in their lives, even over each other. Yet, I would be lying if I didn’t say that a commitment to Christ never entails instead the sacrifice of these things.

Yet being willing to go further than comforting, but ultimately confusing, labels like “Christian” and strive for the reality and commitment of true discipleship under Jesus Christ makes available rewards so much more profound than anything we would ever have to give up in this life:

• A real and living relationship with our Creator and our Savior
• The forgiveness of sins and the gift of God’s indwelling Spirit
• The power of divine purpose as we seek membership in the Family of God
• And the hope of unending glory, love, and joy, with our Father, the Son of God, and our fellow disciples, as we enter eternity at the return of Christ.

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

Signs of the End-Times: 3 World Superpowers Emerging

History has seen many superpowers rise and fall. Since World War II and the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States of America was left as the last remaining superpower—a nation capable of extending its power and influence to any part of the globe, seemingly at will.

But times are changing. The old international order is crumbling. Alliances are shifting. And new leaders, nations, and organizations are seeking the throne for themselves.

Political scientists pour over reports and analyses, trying to figure out who will come out on top, yet they all ignore the one source that reveals the future configuration of the world in detail: God’s word.

The Almighty Creator of heaven and earth REVEALED the identity of Earth’s final superpowers millennia in advance in the prophetic pages of your Bible.

World War II left civilization with three national powers recognized around the globe as superpowers: the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union. However, that conflict was exhausting for the British, and their power to influence world affairs quickly declined—a decline revealed in the starkest terms in the Suez Crisis of 1956. The Cold War that followed World War II ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, leaving the U.S. as the sole remaining superpower—able to project its influence and power to any location on the face of the earth and unquestioned in its military and economic dominance among the nations of the world.

But, my friends, times change. Yesterday’s great empires become today’s backwater nations and, in some cases, tomorrow’s historical footnotes—mere memories of interest only to academics studying the relics of the past.

The Fall of the United States

Today, the United States is riven by ideological differences and seems continually fractured into smaller and smaller angry fragments, each finding it harder and harder to live within the same country with the others.

As the U.S. seeks to get its own house in order, nations such as China see an opportunity to exert influence and project their own dominance in directions that the American government would once have never allowed. European nations, such as Germany, who have long looked to the United States and its backing of NATO for a sense of security against the Soviet Union, and later Russia, no longer have confidence that the U.S. has their backs. And alliances that stood for generations are now disintegrating, even as long-time enemies—such as Israel and many Arab nations—reconsider their options in a world where all the old variables are taking on new values.

And all of this is happening in a world that has grown more dangerous than ever—one in which the massive deployment of drones in the Ukraine-Russia conflict has changed the face of warfare, not to mention the potential impact of advanced biological weapons and the wildcard represented by artificial intelligence.

The structure and shape of the world is changing right before our eyes.

Will the United States remain the superpower for years to come? Will a rival to the U.S. eventually rise to the top? Or even replace it?

Who will be the next superpowers?

Well, the answer to that question doesn’t have to be a mystery, because there is a source of knowledge and understanding that the political prognosticators of our day rarely consider. Yet it is the only one that has been right each time and every time in its predictions. And that is the word of God—the Holy Bible.

The prophecies of the Bible are like history written in advance—and are inspired by the only One who KNOWS that future with certainty. Look with me in Isaiah 46, beginning in verse 9, where the prophet records God’s challenge to mankind.

Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure… (Isaiah 46:9–10).

What He says is going to happen DOES HAPPEN, WITHOUT FAIL, EVERY TIME.

3 World Superpowers Arise in End-Time Bible Prophecy

If we want to be able to identify the superpowers of the future, we need only to look to God, the One who reveals the future, and see what He says in His word.

So, where do we look?

Well, in World War II, the superpowers were easy to find. You only had to look at where the conflict was raging the hottest, and there you saw them engaged in battle.

So to identify the END-TIME superpowers, we need only look where the greatest END-TIME conflict will take place before the return of Christ. And God’s word is utterly clear on that location: the Middle East and the land of Israel.

We see the centrality of Israel and Jerusalem in end-time conflict made plain in Bible prophecy. For instance, look in Zechariah 12:2:

Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, 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).

What a testimony to God’s word that Israel was re-established as a nation in 1948. And as prophecy foretold, it remains at the center of world affairs.

God long ago prophesied that the nations of the world would not be able to solve the challenge of Israel and Jerusalem—and no, even current peace treaties, agreements, and alliances will not solve it.

So if Jerusalem, Israel, and the surrounding region represent the stage for the final acts of mankind before Christ’s return, then the three final superpowers are the actors who will occupy that stage in the end-times.

The King of the North, the King of the South, and a 200-Million Man Army

Now, many biblical prophecies combine to give us the details of the end-time scenario. For instance, in Daniel’s book of prophecy, we see that a dominating economic and military power he calls the King of the North will storm through the Middle East. It will be provoked by a rival power he calls the King of the South.

The King of the North will press against the King of the South, entering its territory conquering and pillaging, until it is troubled by NEWS it hears of incredibly MASSIVE ARMIES on the other side of the Euphrates. After much conflict, the river Euphrates is miraculously dried up, allowing these two powers, the King of the North and the massive force from the East to meet on the hill of Megiddo—at what is called in Hebrew Armageddon—and they gather there for what God calls in Revelation 16:14 “the Battle of that Great Day of God Almighty.” The devastation unleashed by these military forces in their conflicts leading up to the final battle is prophesied to kill “a THIRD of mankind” (Revelation 9:18).

In today’s terms, a third of humanity would be more than TWO BILLION PEOPLE.

The conflicts to come between these superpowers will be horrific—so horrific that Jesus Christ warns all of us in Matthew 24:22 that “no flesh would be saved” alive unless “those days were shortened” by God’s intervention. And we should thank God that He will intervene.

So, who are these superpowers—the King of the North, the King of the South, and the massive armies from the East?

Who Are Kings of the East? 200-Million Man Army Explained

First, we have to recognize that such compass directions in prophecy—north, south, and east—are determined from the perspective of Israel and Jerusalem, the land of the prophets.

With this in mind, the massive forces from the East are perhaps the easiest to find candidates for.

Revelation 16:12 refers to these as “the kings from the east,” implying a multinational coalition of some sort.

Revelation 9:16 describes the armies from that region, on the other side of the Euphrates, as being two-hundred million strong. There are very few nations in the world that could muster such an army in the foreseeable future. Of them, there are two obvious candidates: China and India—both of which lie east of Israel and of the Euphrates River. Combined, these two nations contain more than one-third of the ENTIRE POPULATION OF THE WORLD—one out of every three human beings on earth.

These facts, along with their geographic position, make them strong candidates for being contributors to the collective armies of the East. No doubt, other peoples east of the Euphrates River will contribute, as well—such as Iran (or Persia in Bible prophecy), portions of modern Russia, North and South Korea, and Japan. All are candidates as additional partners in this combined eastern superpower, creating one of the largest military coalitions the world has ever seen.

Who Is the King of the North in Bible Prophecy?

Next, let’s consider the King of the North. This terrifying individual is more commonly known as the Beast of Revelation.

In Daniel 2, we read of a great prophetic image that symbolized four successive world powers, beginning with the Babylon of Daniel’s day. The fourth world empire pictured by the legs of iron in that image is the Roman Empire and its various successive revivals throughout history—such as the reigns of Charlemagne, Napoleon, and Mussolini. The feet of the image made of iron and clay symbolize the final, end-time revival of the Roman Empire that will exist in power at the time of Christ’s return. We read of these feet, beginning in Daniel 2:41:

Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay (Daniel 2:41–43).

This end-time power will be “partly strong and partly fragile” because its component parts do not naturally adhere together, just as iron and clay do not.

As this very ministry has explained for the better part of a century, the current seeds of what will become this Revived Roman Empire can be found in today’s European Union and will be led by a resurgent Germany.

Now, to be frank, we’ve been ridiculed for this stance over the years—after all, since World War II, Europe has relied heavily on the United States for military support and protection, and Germany has been so burdened by its past in World War II that it seemed almost too ashamed to build a massive military presence. But as the Apostle Paul says in the book of Romans: “[L]et God be true but every man a liar” (Romans 3:4). And as usual, current events are catching up to prophecy.

Spurred by conflict between Russia and Ukraine and their concern that the United States is turning its back on them, Europe and Germany have suddenly begun taking dramatic actions to seize their own military destiny.

In 2025, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced:

“We are in an era of rearmament, and Europe is ready to massively boost its defence spending,” and proposed mobilizing up to 800 billion euros—almost one trillion U.S. dollars—in defense spending (“Press statement by President von der Leyen on the defence package,” ec.europa.eu, March 3, 2025).

For Germany’s part, the office of German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced in December 2025:

“We are sending a signal to the (NATO) alliance and our partners: Germany is leading the way. We are fulfilling our obligations to the alliance and accepting our responsibility for security and peace in Europe” (“German lawmakers approve billions in military expenditure,” dw.com, December 17, 2025).

Now this was after the German government had just authorized 50 billion euros to be spent on military upgrades. Earning much of that money will be Germany’s biggest defense contractor, Rhinemetall—the same major manufacturer of arms for Germany during both World War I and World War II, and which is now expanding arms factories across Europe and building new ones.

Once again, the forges of war are igniting across Europe.

But what of the prophecy that the kingdom of the north, the revived Roman Empire, will be a mixture of iron and clay that has difficulty adhering? Truly, unity in the European Union HAS historically been a huge challenge, and it remains so today. What force will be able to bind these nations together to truly empower the King of the North, the coming Beast of Revelation?

That binding power will come from a common religion, and an unholy alliance of church and state.

Who Is the King of the South in Daniel 11?

We’ve identified two of the three end-time superpowers: the collection of a massive military force powered by nations east of the Euphrates, and a revived Holy Roman Empire centered in Europe. But what of Daniel’s prophesied King of the South?

Again, we look to Jerusalem and the Holy Land to understand directional references. The prophesied Kings of the East are just that: nations and peoples that lie east of Jerusalem. Now, if you draw a horizontal line at Jerusalem, you’ll notice that Europe lies above that line—in latitudes north of Jerusalem on the globe.

So what nations do we see south of Jerusalem?

Some have sought to identify the King of the South with Iran, given the frequent trouble that nation has sought to cause for modern Israel. But look at our map. Iran (or Persia as it is called in Scripture) is not south of Israel, but east.

Remember: Don’t try to interpret the Bible based on current events. Eventually, current events always catch up to the Bible, as the late evangelist John Ogwyn writes in Revelation: The Mystery Unveiled!

We have to let the Bible interpret itself, rather than trying to read our own preconceived notions or current world events back into the text. Only in this way can we see Bible prophecies in their proper context.

That is, don’t try to cram the news into the Bible. The Bible interprets itself. And in the case of the nations behind the King of the South, we see details in Daniel’s prophecy if we’ll simply read them. For instance, turn to Daniel 11, and let’s begin reading in verse 40.

At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through. He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon. He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels (Daniel 11:40–43).

Daniel 11 pictures the wrath of the King of the North against the King of the South being directed at nations of northern Africa.

It is worth noting that today’s League of Arab States lies primarily south of Jerusalem, and key nations of these Arab states, such as Egypt, face the wrath of the European King of the North in the years to come.

Now does that mean that the current Arab League is the prophesied King of the South? Of course not. With the topsy-turvy nature of alliances today—not to mention the historic volatility of relations between Arabic nations—much can happen in the years just ahead. But the Islamic nature of the nations south of Jerusalem, plus the historic conflict between so-called Christian Europe and Islamic peoples, as in the Crusades, is a detail worth noting as these end-time conditions come together. And rest assured, there will be a unified power of nations south of Israel that will be powerful enough to provoke the European superpower to great wrath—as these three leviathans of end-time prophecy compete for global dominance.

The Final Superpower at the End of the Age

So in the last days leading up to the return of Christ, we see a counterfeit-Christian, European superpower, a massive military superpower alliance to the east of Israel and the Euphrates, and an Islamic superpower involving nations of North Africa and others.

But note—what’s missing in all of this? Or, perhaps more accurately, WHO is missing in all of this?

After all, can you imagine a major conflict involving superpowers today that does NOT involve in some way the United States? Where is the U.S. in this great, end-time conflict?

In short, the United States, the United Kingdom, and other British-descended nations will find themselves to be superpowers no longer—utterly bereft of power and influence on the world stage and, frankly, subjugated nations, crushed, dissected, and replaced by the very nations we’ve discussed today.

I know that is hard to believe given the dominating prominence of the U.S. today. But let there be no doubt. God’s word is sure. These three powers—the King of the North, the King of the South, and the armies of the East—will rise. And in today’s headlines, we see seeds of their rise to power being planted.

But in reality, there is a FOURTH superpower to consider—one we’ve barely mentioned, but one which is prophesied to crush those that we’ve discussed today.

We read of it in Daniel 2.

We read there earlier of the revived Roman Empire that was symbolized by the feet of a statue, composed of iron and clay. This statue was seen by Nebuchadnezzar in a dream—a dream explained to him by the prophet Daniel.

In this dream, this final, carnal, end-time worldly superpower is destroyed in a spectacular manner.

You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth (Daniel 2:34–35).

Daniel later explains to Nebuchadnezzar that the stone from heaven, cut without hands, that would crush the worldly superpowers of this world is the Kingdom of God that will come with the returning Jesus Christ.

And the reign of Christ will spread to the entire earth. But unlike the superpowers of today, Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, will not seek to enrich Himself or selfishly control the world for His own benefit. Rather, He will bring the peace, joy, and true prosperity that all people and nations have always desired but could never achieve.

In fact, as we close, let’s turn to Isaiah 19:24 and look into a small window at the peace the world will enjoy under that final superpower.

In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing in the midst of the land, whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”

When you understand that Assyria in prophecy is modern Germany, you see that this is a beautiful picture of nations, once connected with the King of the North and the King of the South, now working alongside the people of Israel, with all three of them claimed as His own by Almighty God and His Son.

What a glorious day of peace Jesus Christ will bring to this world, when all human superpowers—past, present, and future—will be replaced forever by the Kingdom of God for all eternity.

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

The Fourth Commandment Explained: The Sabbath Day

Longtime viewers—and even most new ones—are aware that we here at Tomorrow’s World are passionate about keeping the Ten Commandments, including the Fourth Commandment about keeping the seventh-day Sabbath.

• Jesus kept the seventh-day Sabbath.
• His first-century followers—both Jew and Gentile—kept it.
• And a continuous line of faithful Christians throughout history have kept it, as well—just as God commands.

But exactly HOW do you keep the seventh-day Sabbath?

Well, today we’re going to give you God’s own answer to that question.

The Sabbath Was Made for Man—Not Just for Jews

But first, I want to highlight two ditches to avoid.

The first is believing we should look to Hebrew or Jewish practices and Judaism to understand how to keep the Sabbath.

This is a mistake for a number of reasons.

First, over the centuries, Judaism added many additional man-made regulations, restrictions, and conditions that God never intended to be part of Sabbath-keeping. In fact, one of the themes of Jesus Christ’s ministry in the first-century was His confrontations with the Jewish leadership about how they’d made God’s Sabbath a burden.

For instance, let’s look at His example and instruction in Mark 2, beginning in verse 23.

Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. And the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” (Mark 2:23-24).

Now, you can search the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation and see no passage at all in which God says you can’t feed yourself by plucking a few heads of grain on the Sabbath day. Now you’ll find instructions not to use busy times of the year, such as plowing and harvesting times, as an excuse not to keep the Sabbath—that’s in Exodus 34:21. But no one would rightly call what Jesus and His Apostles were doing “harvesting.”

God Created the Sabbath as a Blessing—Not a Burden

They were violating the overly strict, unbiblical regulations of Judaism, but they were not guilty of breaking the Fourth Commandment. If they were, then Jesus was too—yet we know that He never broke even one of God’s commands.

So after highlighting how the high priest in King David’s day had done a better job of administering God’s law according to its intent, Jesus concludes in verses 27 and 28:

“The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28).

There are multiple insights to be gained here, and we’ll touch on some later. For now, note that Jesus pointed out that the Sabbath was created by God to benefit man, not the other way around. And the unbiblical requirements that the Jewish authorities had added to the Sabbath command were turning it into a burden God never intended it to be.

Such examples of Jesus’ instruction to the supposed experts concerning proper Sabbath keeping abound in the gospels. The scribes, Pharisees, and priests may have been experts in Judaism, but that doesn’t equate with being experts in how to keep God’s laws as He intended. And that is still true today.

Paul spoke of his fellow Jewish citizens as “hav[ing] a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge” (Romans 10:2). It is God’s Spirit working through the ministry of His Church, the Body of Christ, that brings truth and understanding of the Scriptures—not an obsession with any one historical language, culture, or people.

Keeping the Sabbath doesn’t mean adopting practices rooted in Judaism or the teachings of various so-called “Hebrew roots” movements. God’s commands are often far simpler than people give them credit for. To keep the Sabbath, no one needs to adopt Judaism or any of the many movements that seek credibility by imitating it.

Saturday Is the Sabbath Day—Set It Apart

The other ditch we need to identify at the beginning is the mistake of treating the Sabbath as if it were a generic principle of “one day in seven,” and not the specifically designated seventh day of the week—the only day of the week God set aside as the Sabbath.

We saw earlier in the book of Mark how Jesus said “the Sabbath was made [or created] for man” (Mark 2:27) This points to a profound truth about the Sabbath: That it was directly created by God. Let’s read about that creation in Genesis 2. When we do, we’ll see that the Sabbath was very unique—something God made by NOT working.

Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made (Genesis 2:1-3).

Here we see that God did not set apart just any day of the week, but the seventh day specifically.

Remember the Sabbath and Keep it Holy

We see this reflected in the Fourth Commandment itself in Exodus 20, beginning in verse 8.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God (Exodus 20:8-10).

We’ll read the rest of the commandment later, but notice how plain it is that God, who alone has the authority to designate holy time, set apart the seventh day of the week specifically as the Sabbath. To observe any other day of the week is simply not Sabbath-keeping. Resting? Sure. Taking some “me time”? Perhaps. But not keeping the Sabbath.

The Fourth Commandment | Exodus 20:8–11

Let’s begin our look at three keys to keeping God’s Sabbath by starting with the Sabbath command, itself. This time, though, let’s read it in full.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it (Exodus 20:8–11).

The Sabbath Rest Means Stop Work

There are several things worth noting in that commandment, but for now, let’s focus on the fact that:

1. We should cease from our work on the Sabbath.

We saw earlier that God did this Himself at creation.

On the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work (Genesis 2:2).

So, too, He commands us to cease from our own work on the seventh day.

In today’s busy world, it’s easy to find ourselves working 24/7. But God commands us to pause and cease from our labors when the seventh day begins.

When Does the Sabbath Begin? At Sunset Friday

By the way, when does that day begin? As Genesis 1 and other passages of the Bible reveal, God counts days from sunset to sunset. So, the seventh-day Sabbath begins from sundown on Friday and continues to sundown on Saturday.

And when sundown arrives on Friday, God commands that we set aside our labor, cease from our regular pursuits, and take a rest—just as He did 6,000 years ago.

God doesn’t get tired. He didn’t need to rest on the seventh day He didn’t think, “Wow, those six days of creating were really hard. I need a break!”

He did that as an example for us to follow.

And “work” doesn’t just mean “employment.” How many people spend their Saturdays mowing the lawn, maintaining their home, or doing other laborious chores? The commandment is plain: “On the seventh day… you shall do no work”—neither you, nor those over whom you have authority.

Now, some of you might say, “My job has times that are just too busy to take a break.”

If you think this applies to you, I hear you. I used to be an actuarial mathematician for a large insurance company, and our department had its own seasons in the year when work was especially crazy, often involving important legal reporting.

But are we to abandon the Sabbath rest during those busy seasons? What does God say?

God’s Work Week: Six Days You Shall Labor

Consider Exodus 34:21, which we mentioned earlier. And as we read it, remember that ancient Israel was an agricultural society.

Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.

Now plowing time and harvest time were just about the busiest times of year in their society. Yet God told them not to make an exception in those days. They were to honor His command and to rest from labor on the seventh-day Sabbath.

Come sundown Friday evening, God commands us to focus on different things, as we’ll discuss further later in the program.

Use the Preparation Day to Protect the Sabbath

Part of making this work is properly preparing for the Sabbath. God taught ancient Israel this principle after freeing them from Egypt. Many people have heard of the miraculous “manna from heaven,” but few realize that a major purpose of the miracle was to test God’s people to see if they would take the Sabbath command seriously.

I recommend you read the entire account in Exodus 16. For now, let me summarize it by saying that, for the first five days of the week, God rained down enough manna for one day, every day. But on the sixth day, what we’d call Friday, He rained down two days’ worth, so that they could prepare enough for that day and for the Sabbath day that followed. And on the Sabbath, they were not to go out looking for more—since God had given them enough for two days the day before.

Then Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, there will be none.” Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none. And the LORD said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws?” (Exodus 16:25–28).

God had warned them to prepare properly for the seventh day during the time leading up to it. And that’s what we should do, as well.

God wants us to protect the blessing His Sabbath represents by planning for it—taking care of household chores and other mundane work on the other six days of the week, and preserving the seventh day for the divine rest God intended.

Yet the Sabbath is about far more than mere relaxation. As helpful as physical rest is, the real power and blessing of the Sabbath begins to be unlocked as we engage with the two keys that remain.

Keep the Sabbath Holy | Exodus 20:8 Explained

A second vital key is that:

2. We should keep the Sabbath holy.

Far more than a mere day of rest, the Sabbath is a day that is holy and set apart by God. In fact, we see this mentioned in the Fourth Commandment even before we’re told to rest. Look with me again at the commandment listed in Exodus 20.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy (Exodus 20:8).

There it is, right at the beginning.

We saw this in Genesis 2, as well. Let’s read that again and note what God does.

Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made (Genesis 2:1-3).

Now notice, God didn’t just rest on the seventh day. He blessed it and sanctified it—made it holy. Those who want to say that the sacredness of the Sabbath began at Mount Sinai or that it is only for Jewish people have no leg to stand on. The Sabbath was made holy from creation.

As a day sanctified and set apart from the other days as holy time, the seventh-day Sabbath is not a day we spend like we spend other days. After all, you might rest or recharge on a Sunday, Tuesday, or Thursday all sorts of ways—go to the movies, watch some sports, play a little golf, go to a concert, or read a few chapters in your favorite book.

It’s One of God’s Holy Days in the Bible

But the Sabbath isn’t just a day off or some restful vacation time. It is holy, sacred time, set apart by God for special purposes.

God highlights this in the book of Isaiah. In Isaiah 56 God makes plain that He is speaking to people of any origin or nationality, not just Jewish people, and He says in verse 2:

Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold on it; who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing any evil (Isaiah 56:2).

Now note, that is a blessing for not defiling something God has declared holy—His Sabbath. God elaborates two chapters later, in Isaiah 58, beginning in verse 13.

If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the LORD; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth… (Isaiah 58:13-14).

So what do these words really mean? Certainly, the Sabbath is a day we should seek to spend more time than we normally do in prayer and in reading and studying from God’s word. But it really is more than that.

Roderick Meredith—an evangelist of Jesus Christ for more than 60 years and one who LIVED God’s way of life for even longer—explains what God means by these passages in Isaiah:

So we are not to be doing our own pleasure on God’s Holy Day. That means we are not to be pursuing our hobbies or leisure activities. That does not preclude doing any enjoyable things on the Sabbath whatsoever, for we are to find delight in it. The point is that whatever we do, God must be an intrinsic part of it. A family walk through a natural setting, for example, is a wonderful way to get in touch with the great God who made the beautiful creation we see.

When the seventh day arrives, we must stop pursuing our “own ways” (the things we normally do), seeking our “own pleasure” (just trying to have fun), and speaking our “own words” (the everyday things we talk about that do not involve God). This last one is often very hard to follow because “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34). To truly keep the Sabbath in spirit, we must focus our minds on God and those things He wants us to be concerned with during His holy time. Then, as God promises, we will be truly blessed (Which Day Is the Christian Sabbath?, Roderick C. Meredith, p. 38).

Learning to honor God’s command by resting from our usual, day-to-day lives—and treating the seventh-day Sabbath as the holy time it is—truly is life-changing.

The Sabbath Day Is a Holy Convocation

Yet there is a vital third key to keeping that Sabbath.

• We should cease from our work on the Sabbath.
• We should keep the Sabbath holy.

Many sincere people stop there, but doing so prevents you from experiencing the full blessings of the seventh-day Sabbath as God designed it. For that, we need the third vital key, as well.

3. We should meet in holy convocation on the Sabbath.

We see this explained in Leviticus 23, beginning in verses 1 and 2.

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts’” (Leviticus 23:1-2).

Notice here that He doesn’t call these days “the Feast of the Jews” or even the “Feasts of Israel.” God says that these are HIS Feasts, “the Feasts of the LORD”! And He says further that they are “holy convocations.” Let’s continue.

Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings (Leviticus 23:3).

Holy Convocation Meaning

Now as we’ve seen, God speaks to the holiness of the Sabbath and the need to treat it as a sacred rest. But again He highlights that it is a “holy convocation.”

What does this mean?

Well, we’ve already covered what it means to be “holy”—something set apart by God for His own use. And a “convocation” is a calling together of people out of the world to a meeting. In this case, a HOLY meeting of HOLY people, commanded by their HOLY God!

God’s People Gather Together on the Sabbath to Worship

The seventh-day Sabbath is THE day of the week God Himself set aside for His worshippers to gather together—to praise Him together, worship Him together, and learn together from His ordained teachers out of His inspired word. And when we meet and fellowship with each other—not on a day set aside by human tradition or doctrines, but on the day the Lord Himself set apart as holy, we do more than fellowship with each other—we fellowship with God the Father and Jesus Christ, as well.

It’s no wonder that the Apostle Paul wrote what he did in Hebrews 10:24-25.

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

Today’s free offer explains how the seventh-day Sabbath pictures the beautiful rest Christ is bringing to the whole world. And as we see that approaching, we should long ALL THE MORE to meet in holy convocation on the day picturing that time of peace and wonder.

For anyone seeking to truly observe the biblical Sabbath, just as Jesus Christ and His faithful followers have done for almost two millennia, these three keys are the essential ingredients:

• Cease from your own work.
• Keep the day holy.
• And gather together in holy convocation with the people of God.

Thanks for watching. If you found this video helpful, check out more of our content, or hit subscribe to stay up to date on what we publish. And if you want the free study guide related to this topic, just click the link. We’ll see you next time.