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

“The Devil Made Me Do It”?

Does a spirit being named Satan the devil really exist? Or is he just the imagination of artists, sculptors, and fiction writers? My friends, one of the greatest deceptions would be the idea that this deceiver does not really exist. When we review the history of the world, and the deceptions of various religions we find strong evidence that the Devil, called Satan, has been very active in history, but WE NEED TO REALIZE that he is very active even now. Have you been deceived? Your Bible makes this astounding statement, Revelation 12:9:

“So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world.”

Do you know the Devil’s strategies, deceptions, and devices? The Apostle Paul stated in 2 Corinthians 2:11: “We are not ignorant of his [Satan’s] devices.”

Deceivers are out to deceive us and cheat us. Liars and con-artists strive to defraud us. But above them all there’s a great deceiver whom your Bible calls Satan the Devil. Millions of people dabble in the occult and seek answers from soothsayers and mystics. These dark practices are deceptive.

Do you know Satan’s schemes and deceptive devices? You need to know the Devil’s deadly deceptions!

Stay tuned!

Wrong Desires and the Lies We Tell to Fulfill Them

Warm greetings to all our friends around the world.

Millions of con-artists, deceivers, and charlatans are out to deceive you and me. Some salesmen do their best to defraud senior citizens and rob them of their investments. And yet there are other forms of deception. The Harry Potter books featuring the occult have sold millions. Others look to séances, tarot cards, channeling, and astrology for power and insight. Millions of people dabble in the occult and seek answers from soothsayers and mystics. Others seek selfish short-term physical pleasure, with no thought of morality or consequences.

On today’s program, we’ll examine seven of the deadliest deceptions offered by Satan the Devil.

Our Savior, Jesus Christ, warned us to be on guard against the Devil’s deadly deceptions. Matthew 24:3:

“Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?’ And Jesus answered and said to them: ‘Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.’”

Yes, many, not just a few, will fall victim to Satan’s deceptions. The first deception we’ll cover today is lust. Human nature is filled with vanity, jealousy, greed, and lust. Satan can take advantage of that tendency and weakness in all of us. He sends temptation through the media, movies, television, the Internet, magazines, and through carnal and covetous individuals. Teenagers growing into adulthood are very prone to the sexual messages readily available to them on the Internet.

Many married people give in to the seducing temptations of others and commit adultery. The Apostle Paul warned married couples not to deprive one another from sexual relations. Otherwise, Satan could take advantage of our carnal nature. 1 Corinthians 7:5:

“Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”

In our modern age, sexual temptations are all around us. So, the Apostle Paul advised those who might lack self-control,

“Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband” (1 Corinthians 7:2).

Let’s understand, my friends, that lust, greed, and covetousness is sin. The Tenth Commandment states:

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s” (Exodus 20:17).

The 1987 movie Wall Street featured the corporate investor Gordon Gekko, who made the famous statement, “Greed is Good!” No, my friends, greed leads to idolatry. How many millions around us make idols of business moguls and entertainers whose wealth they envy?

You must not lust for sexual sin, or for the wealth you see other people trying to enjoy. God promises to provide all your needs—but all your godly needs, of course. That promise is in Philippians 4:19. Let’s also understand that covetousness is a form of idolatry. You can desire a person, position, or possession so strongly that it becomes an idol to [you]. As it states in Colossians 3:5,

“Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”

Instead of being filled with envy and covetousness, be thankful for all the blessings God has given you. Satan’s Deception #1 is: Lust. My friends, pray, as Jesus taught us,

“And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen” (Matthew 6:13).

Deception #2 is: Lying. There’s a classic example of lying in the New Testament. Members of the early Christian church donated property and funds to help fellow Christians. However, one individual named Ananias, committed fraud. He claimed to have given all of the proceeds to the Church, but held back some of the funds. He lied to the Apostle Peter. Let’s read the story in Acts 5:

“But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. [Now listen to this] But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.’ Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things” (Acts 5:1).

Sapphira, his wife, came to Peter later. She lied, and she experienced the same judgment as her husband. She died on the spot! Let’s understand. Satan is the father of lies, as it states in John 8:44. My friends, examine yourself. Monitor your communications. Do you shade the truth? Or do you simply lie? Don’t let Satan take advantage of you, as he did with Ananias and Sapphira. Remember, the ninth commandment states:

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16).

And let’s also realize that you can LIVE a lie. I’m afraid that too many professing Christians are doing just that! As it states in 1 John 2:4,

“He who says, ‘I know Him,’ [that he knows the Lord] and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

My friends, ask God to help you to speak the truth, and live the truth!

Human Conceit and the Vanity of the Occult

We’ve seen that Satan wants to entice us with lust and lying. The third Satanic deception we’ll discuss is PRIDE, VANITY, AND ARROGANCE. Selfishness and egotism are part and parcel of human nature. We like to feel important. That desire can lead to deception. The Apostle Paul instructed Timothy concerning the ordination of a bishop, or an overseer. In 1 Timothy 3:6, he wrote that such a candidate should:

“not [be] a novice, lest being PUFFED UP WITH PRIDE he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”

My friends, do you let pride and vanity guide your thinking and behavior? If so, you can be deceived. You can be snared by the devil. How do you counteract self-centeredness and vanity? The Apostle James wrote:

“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4:10).

James also gives us this encouragement in verse 7,

“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

Remember the biblical examples of those who cultivated pride, and did not give glory to God? King Herod allowed himself to be worshipped as a god! He cultivated vanity and arrogance. And what happened to him? Acts 12:21,

“So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them. And the people kept shouting, ‘The voice of a god and not of a man!’ Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died. But the word of God grew and multiplied.”

Another king who had to learn lessons the hard way was King Nebuchadnezzar. When he neglected to take the prophet Daniel’s advice to repent, God took Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom away from him. And King Nebuchadnezzar lived like an animal for seven years, until he learned his lesson. You can read about that in Daniel the fourth chapter.

My friends, be on guard against pride. When God blesses you, give Him the glory. As it says in 1 Corinthians 1:31,

“He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”

Deception #3 is: Pride, Vanity, and Arrogance.

Satanic Deception #4 is: False Dreams, Visions, and Miracles. How many times have individuals told me their dreams or visions that were obviously Satan-inspired? Some thought they had seen Jesus. He supposedly appeared to have the traditional long hair. But the Jesus of the Bible did not have long hair. The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11:14,

“Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?” (King James Version).

Jesus escaped out of crowds on several occasions because He looked like the average Judean man of His day. That means He did not have long hair! My friends, do not be deceived by dreams, visions, or appealing messages. The Apostle John wrote in 1 John 4:1,

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

The occult appeals to many people. Some try to contact their deceased relatives through mediums. Children read Harry Potter books and become fascinated with the occult. Satanic video games are popular. You need to educate your children on the dangers of the occult, satanic activities, and other demonic influences. God Almighty condemns witchcraft and sorcery. He tells us in Deuteronomy 18:12,

“For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD.”

Be sure to read Deuteronomy 18:9–14 and Galatians 5:20.

Satan uses dreams, visions, and miracles to deceive people. The book of Revelation describes the great false prophet who will arise soon. Be sure to read this in your own Bible. Revelation 13:11,

“Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb [a counterfeit of Christ] and spoke like a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.”

My friends, don’t be deceived! Religious leaders will perform great signs and miracles. Be sure that you test all such leaders with the Bible, the word of God. That’s why we say, don’t believe us just because we tell you, check these references in your Bible—believe your Bible. As it says in Isaiah 8:20,

“To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”

Satanic Deception #4 is: False Dreams, Visions, and Miracles.

False Religion and the Loss of Faith

Some of the most deadly lies of the devil are in the realm of false doctrine, false religious teaching. Where did you learn about Christianity? Amazingly, Satan has convinced most Christians to believe and do those things Jesus never taught!

Satanic deception 5 is: FALSE DOCTRINE. Where do we find godly doctrine or teaching? Jesus said in JOHN 8:32,

“[Y]ou shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Truth is revealed in the Bible, but we must also practice the truth. Jesus said in the previous verse, verse 31:

“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.”

But the majority will not practice the truth. The Apostle Paul prophesied that religious people would seek teachers to preach what they want to hear, rather than teachers who would preach the truth of the Bible. Turn in your Bible to 2 Timothy 4:2. The Apostle Paul exhorted the young evangelist Timothy:

“Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”

My friends, are you willing to be guided and corrected by the Bible? Or will you be turned aside to fables? One of the major errors of professing Christianity is the practice, by some, of pagan traditions. We’ve documented them on previous programs. Easter eggs are a pagan symbol of fertility; decorated trees, holly wreaths, and mistletoe were pagan traditions; December 25 was celebrated as the birth of Mithras, the sun god. It was never the date of Jesus’ birth. Should Christians observe Valentine’s Day? In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius I established the Feast of St. Valentine on February 14. Previously, since the days of ancient Rome, young lovers had often observed the Lupercalia—the feast of Lupercus, a fertility god—on February 15. Even in ancient Greece, mid-February was associated with love and fertility; the Greek month of Gamelion, ending in mid-February, was associated with the marriage of the gods Zeus and Hera.

The historian Will Durant gave this analysis in his book The Story of Civilization:

“Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it. The Greek mind, dying, came to a transmigrated life in the theology and liturgy of the church; the Greek language, having reigned for centuries over philosophy, became the vehicle of Christian literature and ritual; the Greek mysteries passed down into the impressive mystery of the Mass. Other pagan cultures contributed to the syncretist result…. Christianity was the last creation of the ancient pagan world” (pp. 595, 599).

My friends, are you practicing pagan traditions in the name of Christianity? Remember Jesus’ warning to the Pharisees and scribes concerning certain religious customs. He warned them in Mark 7:9,

“All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.”

The world is full of false religions, false traditions, and false doctrine. My friends, be on guard against the deceptions of Satan! Deception #5 is: False Doctrine.

Satanic Deception #6 is: Lack of Faith. The patriarch Job was attacked by Satan. Job remained faithful to God and learned vital spiritual lessons. At one point Job said,

“For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me” (Job 3:25).

In our modern language, we might call this a self-fulfilling prophecy. We must face our fears and pray for God’s protection and intervention. We must exercise faith. When we study the Bible and believe God’s promises, He gives us faith. At it states in Romans 10:17,

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Lack of faith opens us to Satanic deceptions. The book of Hebrews recounts the faithlessness of ancient Israel. They lacked trust and faith in God. We need to learn from their hardness of heart. Hebrews 3:12,

“Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”

Those who lack faith in Christ, and who persist in trusting Satan, will ultimately be destroyed as it tells us in Revelation 21:8:

“But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

But the good news is emphasized in verse 7:

“He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.”

Is There an Unpardonable Sin? Can Satan Lead You to Committing It? Can It Be Overcome?

When we fail or hurt, it can be easy to become bitter about what has happened. Our hurt can turn to a grudge, or to a desire for revenge. If we nurse those feelings, they can turn to hate, and then hate can turn into bitterness. Our seventh Satanic deception is: bitterness. My friends, you must identify and overcome any feelings of hate and bitterness. Notice this instruction in Hebrews 12:14:

“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.”

Such bitterness can even lead to the unpardonable sin. How do you counteract those feelings? Simply by following Jesus’ instructions. He said in Matthew 5:44,

“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

My friends, pray for your enemies. Bless those who curse you. That’s the Christian way. That’s the way that will overcome Satan’s infectious attitude of hate and bitterness! Avoid Satanic Deception #7: Bitterness.

My friends, God wants you to be His trusting and faithful son or daughter through Jesus Christ our Lord. He will give you His faith, if you turn to Him with your whole heart. If you feel God is calling you, and you desire to follow His command to repent, and be baptized, we have representatives around the world who will be happy to counsel you and help you understand the baptismal commitment.

In the meantime, arm yourself with spiritual knowledge. Do not allow yourself to be deceived by yourself, by the world, or by Satan. As the Apostle Paul emphasized:

“… we are not ignorant of his [Satan’s] devices” (2 Corinthians 2:11).

Bible prophecy predicts that a great future false religious system will deceive and influence billions of people all over the earth. Don’t you be deceived!

Thank you for watching!

My friends, you need to know how you can avoid the Devil’s deceptions. Our booklet Satan’s Counterfeit Christianity reveals a massive, global deception that has gone on for many centuries and will show you how the Devil has corrupted most of the world’s professing Christian churches. You can receive your own copy for free by clicking the link in the description. And remember to subscribe to our channel so you don’t miss another Tomorrow’s World video.

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

Is the Rapture a Myth?

There’s a popular myth that the second coming of Jesus Christ can happen at any time—maybe even tonight. Do you realize, dear friends, that is a false doctrine? He will not come tonight—not according to the Word of God. But wait, you may think. Doesn’t He return in a secret rapture that can happen at any moment to protect His true servants from the great tribulation? Again, not according to the Bible.

On today’s Tomorrow’s World program, instead of looking to popular Left Behind novels, we’ll open up the Bible and see what it actually says about this subject. We’ll see that Jesus Himself listed specific signs that must precede His return. What are they? And more importantly, what is the warning He gave along with that first sign? It’s an important one.

No, Jesus will not come tonight, tomorrow, this year, next year, or the year after. You or I may die tonight, and we’ll meet Him in our next conscious moment, but He will not return to earth tonight, not even in a secret rapture. Stay with me as I’ll be back to answer these important questions from the pages of the Bible. And I’ll also reveal what Jesus gave as the first sign of the end of the age, and just as importantly, the warning He gave that accompanies that sign.

Stay tuned.

Prophetic Signs from the Book of Daniel and the Gospel of Matthew

A warm welcome to all of you from all of us here at Tomorrow’s World, where we ask serious questions and give solid answers—straight from the pages of the Bible. We’re pleased that you have joined us on today’s program, and we give a special welcome to those of you tuning in for the first time. Today, I’m asking and answering the questions:

“Can Jesus come at just anytime? Is there a secret rapture? And what was Jesus’ first sign of the end of the age and the warning that accompanies it?”

You’ve likely heard someone, perhaps a professing Christian minister, say that Jesus can come at any time—maybe even tonight. Setting aside the subject of the rapture for a moment, some have concluded this based on a misunderstanding of Matthew 24, where it tells us in verse 36,

But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only (Matthew 24:36).

Then, in verses 42 to 44, we read what appears to many as confirmation:

Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

It’s true that no one knows the day or the hour, but that is not the same as saying He can come at any time. These verses must be taken in the context in which they are written—in other words, what goes before and what follows. If we start at the beginning of Matthew 24, we find Jesus’ disciples asking about the destruction of the temple and the time of His return. Notice beginning in verse 3:

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be?

[That is the destruction of the temple]

And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3).

His disciples understood that a series of events must take place before the climax at the end, and He confirmed this with a list of signs to watch for that would precede His return. A number of these signs are ongoing, taking place throughout human history. That’s why He tells us in verse 6,

See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet (Matthew 24:6).

And then in verse 8,

All these are the beginning of sorrows (Matthew 24:8).

However, when we compare these signs that Jesus gave in Matthew 24 with the famed “Four Horsemen” of Revelation chapter 6, we must conclude that such catastrophes as war, famine, and disease will take on greater significance in the near future as they are precursors of the Day of the Lord when Christ returns. And among the signs given, it would do us well to note a very specific one found in verse 15:

Therefore when you see the “ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION,” spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand) (Matthew 24:15).

Notice that Jesus refers to the prophet Daniel regarding this sign. We read of it in Daniel chapter 12, where it clearly shows the time setting to be “the time of the end.” Notice it in verse 4:

But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end.

[Then in verse 9, we read…]

And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end” (Daniel 12:4, 9).

In verse 11, Daniel records this message that gives a specific time between when this abomination is set up and the end when the Messiah, Jesus Christ, returns:

And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days (Daniel 12:11).

That is 3 years and 7 months. There are three settings involving the abomination of desolation. Two are past tense and the third is yet to come.

#1 In 168 B.C., it took place under Antiochus Epiphanes.

#2 The destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

And the third one is yet to come: 1,290 Days before Christ returns.

Since that destructive abomination has not yet occurred, and that takes place 1,290 days prior to the end, when the Messiah Jesus Christ returns, we know that He will not come tonight, or, at the very least, another 3 years and 7 months. But that is merely one sign. Others precede the Abomination of Desolation, as shown in Matthew 24 and elsewhere.

How ironic it is that people conclude that Jesus can come at any time when a chapter they use as proof is devoted to describing what must first happen. It’s in the context of these signs, that Jesus admonishes us, in verses 32 and 33:

Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! (Matthew 24:32–33).

It’s only after He gave this parable of the fig tree that He mentions that no one would know the exact day or hour.

But what about a secret rapture that we are told can come at any time? Does the Bible teach it? And what is the first sign that Jesus gave signaling the end of the age and the warning that accompanies that sign?

The Last Great Trumpet—A Resurrection, NOT a Rapture!

The passage most often used regarding a secret rapture is found in 1 Thessalonians 4, beginning in verse 13:

But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus (1 Thess 4:13–14).

This is the context: those who have died in the faith and why those who know the truth need not sorrow as others who have no hope. That hope is, of course, the resurrection from the dead. Paul then gives this further encouragement and explanation in verses 15 and 16:

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first (1 Thessalonians 4:15–16).

Notice the order of the resurrection—those already dead will be resurrected first. Yet, the man-made rapture doctrine purports that the rapture protects believers from the Great Tribulation by taking them to heaven. Why take the dead? Do they need protection?

And let us not forget when this occurs:

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

It is only after the trumpet sounds and the dead are raised that those living at the time will be changed. Read it for yourself in verse 17:

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 thus we shall always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

Then Paul brings the subject full circle to the purpose of this passage:

Therefore comfort one another with these words (1 Thessalonians 4:18).

Yes, the subject is not some kind of rapture, which is never spoken of in these verses, but how to comfort one another over the death of loved ones. Furthermore, the New Testament is absolutely consistent regarding the coming of Christ—He returns at the sounding of a trumpet, whether literal or figurative, but it is not just any trumpet. Let’s notice this detail provided in 1 Corinthians 15 and verses 51 and 52:

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep

[That is, we shall not all die.]

but we shall all 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 incorruptible, and we shall be changed (1 Corinthians 15:51—52).

Did you notice that:

“…at the last trumpet….”

And that leads us to the book of Revelation where we read of seven trumpets that portend natural disasters and warfare, with a spectacular event occurring at the sounding of the last, that is the seventh trumpet. Let’s read it in Revelation the 11th chapter and verse 15:

Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Revelation 11:15).

So far we’ve seen that Jesus will not return at just any time and that the passage most often referred to by rapturists has nothing to do with a secret rapture. So let’s now turn to the next question: What is the first sign Jesus gave leading up to His second coming?

The End Times—The Worst Period in Human History!

Perhaps you already know the answer, but more importantly do you also know the warning Jesus gave along with that sign? And what relationship does that have to you?

Three chapters in the Bible, written by three different authors, record what is known as the “Olivet Prophecy”:

Matthew 24

Mark 13

[and] Luke 21

We find that Jesus and His disciples had left the Temple and were going out to the Mount of Olives just across a narrow valley. As they went, the disciples were in awe of the beauty of the Temple. It was then that they asked Jesus, and He informed them:

Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down (Matthew 24:2).

That’s found in Matthew 24 and verse 2. Not surprisingly, the disciples wanted to know when this would happen and as they sat on the Mount, they asked this twofold question:

Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age? (Matthew 24:3)

The answer had a former fulfillment and a latter-day fulfillment. The former fulfillment had to do with the destruction of the temple that we know from history took place in 70 A.D. Incredibly, some scholars believe the whole prophecy only applied to the events in 70 A.D., but even a child can understand that this prophecy also has an end-time fulfillment. Let’s read the latter part of verse 3 once again:

And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?

We know that the second coming did not take place in 70 A.D., nor was that the end of the age. We also know that some of the specifics of this prophecy can only apply to the time of Christ’s return. As an example, we read verses 21 and 22:

For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened (Matthew 24:21–22).

There can only be one such time as this, for as it says, “nor ever shall be.” And a simple reading of the book of Revelation, written around 90 A.D. after Jerusalem fell describes a time of worldwide trouble far greater than anything mankind has ever known. Daniel 12 also refers to this worst of all possible times and connects it with the time of the resurrection from the dead at Christ’s return:

And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt (Daniel 12:1–2).

Clearly, there can be no two times worse than anything before or after. So what is the first sign Jesus gave? Right after the disciples asked about the signs of His coming, we read in Matthew 24 and in verses 4 and 5:

And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many” (Matthew 24:4–5).

So the first sign Jesus gave was religious deception, but not just any religious deception. It’s speaking about Christian deception. And regarding that deception, Jesus gave this warning:

Take heed that no one deceives you (Matthew 24:4).

Worldwide Religious Deception—NOT the Christianity Christ Taught!

If you’re driving down a dark road at night and see a sign—“Bridge out” —would you not take the warning seriously and take another road? So why do so few take Jesus’ warning seriously? Let’s read it again in Matthew the 24th chapter:

Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and will deceive many (Matthew 24:4–5).

Let’s analyze this. Jesus said,

“many will come in My name.”

It’s not a few, but many who will come using His name. But what does that mean? If someone knocks on your door and shouts, “Open up in the name of the law,” he’s claiming he represents the law and its authority. And when ministers “come in Jesus’ name,” they’re claiming to represent Him and having His authority. In addition, these deceivers say,

“I am the Christ”!

And by doing so,

“Will deceive many.”

There are a few deranged individuals who claim that they are the Christ, but few follow them. But false ministers do deceive many when they claim that they represent Christ, even saying that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. The statement “I am the Christ” is understood from the context. Taken alone it could mean that these deceivers are claiming to be Christ, but the context shows that they claim to be representatives of Christ and proclaim that Jesus—remember He is the Speaker here—is the Christ. With such tactics, they deceive, not the few, but the many. That is why Jesus began this first sign by saying,

Take heed that no one deceives you.

Few claiming to be Jesus will deceive very many, but if someone in the pulpit claims to represent Him, saying that Jesus is the Christ, that’s another matter, and that’s what we see. False Christianity began almost immediately following Jesus’ death and resurrection but wholly took over the Roman Empire in the fourth century and continues to the present. The Apostle Paul describes the problem on more than one occasion. But let’s look at what Paul wrote to those at Corinth—2 Corinthians the 11th chapter:

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).

These were believers, but they were putting up with ministers deceiving them with a false Christ and a different gospel—a Christianity of a very different spirit. He continues his warning about these deceivers in verses 13–15:

For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works (2 Corinthians 11:13–15).

Consider for a moment. Is it possible that you have been deceived?

Consider whether the popular belief in the Rapture is one of the many deceptions pawned off on professing Christians. Don’t you be deceived, no matter how popular an idea may be.

Thank you for watching! To understand more about the popular false doctrine of the rapture, order your free copy of “Is the Rapture Your Incredible Future?” by clicking the link in the description. Remember to subscribe to our channel, so you can continue to learn the truth as given in the Bible. See you next time!

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

The Inevitable End

The crazy old guys in the cartoons that used to wear signs saying “The End Is Nigh” were right—the end of the world IS coming upon us! In fact, the Bible describes the end of the world IN DETAIL. Hollywood always gets it wrong—but we’re going to get it RIGHT. Join us RIGHT NOW on Tomorrow’s World as we reveal HOW THE WORLD WILL END!

Seven Signs of the End Times

The end of the world has occupied the fancies and fantasies of human beings for ages. Movies sometimes paint pictures of asteroids striking our world and wiping out all of humanity like the dinosaurs of old, or else send earth off in a blaze of glory as the militaries of the world duke it out with aliens from afar—or zombies, or intelligent machines, or whatever else is in vogue at the time. In early 2022, director Roland Emmerich, always looking for a new way to destroy the world, smashed the moon into us. Even our science programming has gotten into the act, with quasi-documentaries detailing how our vulnerable planet could be wiped out by climate change, disrupted by a passing black hole, or eventually eaten by our swollen sun.

But none of these things are going to happen—at least not exactly.

Let me be clear: When we speak of “the end of the world,” we’re not talking about the end of the planet. God says through King Solomon in Ecclesiastes,

One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever (Ecclesiastes 1:4).

No, God has plans for this planet, as the Bible reveals.

Rather, we are speaking of the END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT. The end of our world’s civilizations, societies, economies, institutions, and systems; the end of this age in which we now live, and the destruction of everything we consider familiar. THAT is what we mean by “the end of the world.”

And today, we will discuss seven ingredients to the end of the world—some of which are happening in the world right now before our very eyes.

The first element of the world’s end we’ll discuss would surprise most of our Hollywood and scientific doomsday planners, since it is something that rarely shows up on their radar. It isn’t an asteroid or a physical threat, at all. It is entirely SPIRITUAL.

The first ingredient of the end of the world is RAMPANT WORLDWIDE IMMORALITY AND GODLESSNESS.

Ultimately, any civilization stands or falls in connection to its relationship with its Creator. And the beginning of the end of the world lies in an utter abandonment of that relationship.

We read of the conditions that result from that rampant immorality and godlessness in the Apostle Paul’s second letter to Timothy. In 2 Timothy 3, starting in verse 1, we read:

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power (2 Timothy 3:1–5).

In Matthew 24:12, Jesus Christ described this element of the world’s end, as well, saying, “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.”

This “lawlessness” is not just an abandoning of, say, traffic laws, or tax laws, but a pervasive spirit of casting aside the laws of God. And, frankly, we see that growing today, don’t we? The morality and guidelines of the Bible are increasingly cast aside as archaic and out-of-date—even as the world grows all the colder, crueler, and more loveless for it.

It is this moral and spiritual dimension of the end of the world that enables all the others. Yet, for all of our worries concerning the environment, or nuclear war, or health regulations, it is our devotion to God that goes neglected. And it is our lack of devotion to God that will initiate the end of the world.

Global Consequences for Moral Collapse

The next ingredient to the world’s end is UNPRECEDENTED PESTILENCE, FAMINE, AND NATURAL DISASTERS.

Of course, we live with these concerns in our lives today. Pestilence, or disease, has plagued mankind from its earliest days, and the nightmarish years of COVID-19—both the disease itself and our governments’ fumbling attempts to deal with it—will not be soon forgotten. Famine has long ravaged various populations of the earth, sometimes due to weather or soil conditions, but also due to human cruelty or incompetence—such as the forced starvation of Ukrainians by the Soviet government in the early 1930s that killed millions. And natural disasters are ever with us. The day I began working on this program, my wife and I were at a friend’s house when news alerts warned us of a potential tornado, causing us to quickly consider where we might take shelter.

But the diseases, famines, and natural disasters coming at the end of the world will be unlike anything humanity has ever seen. Jesus Christ predicted these events in His famous Olivet Prophecy, as we see in Matthew 24, beginning in verse 7:

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 (Matthew 24:7–8).

We see His words reflected in the vision He gave His servant John in the book of Revelation. There, in chapter 6, John describes the third and fourth of the famous Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse—the rider on the black horse, with scales in his hand, picturing devastating famine, and the rider on the sickly, pale horse, whose name was Death, picturing unrelenting disease. Revelation 6:8 tells us that these Four Horsemen, together, have an almost unbelievable impact on humanity:

And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth (Revelation 6:8).

If the population of the earth is around 8 billion people by that time, then Christ inspired John to write that these forces would kill around TWO BILLION PEOPLE—one-fourth of mankind. We are talking about devastation on an unimaginable scale.

As the end of the world advances, we will see another ingredient added to the mix: THE COMPLETE REORDERING OF GLOBAL POWER.

For now, most would agree that the United States maintains a grip on its position as the most powerful nation in the world—though that grip is increasingly tenuous. Great Britain remains a relatively strong ally to the U.S., as does Canada. Europe struggles to remain united to fulfill its leaders’ visions of greatness, China strives to dominate its region and seize superpower status, as Russia pursues plans of its own. Meanwhile the Middle East remains a fractured collection of individual states, often sharing common enemies, but not always a common purpose.

Yet the end of the world will see all of these power relationships reorganized and reordered into something far different.

Daniel 11 speaks of a King of the North, which represents a powerful and united European entity—one we will come to again later—and a King of the South—a unified bloc of nations in the Middle East and North Africa. Verse 44 of Daniel 11 points us to a power bloc east of these, and the book of Revelation describes this eastern power as possessing an UNIMAGINABLY vast army of 200 MILLION men, as well as weapons of mass destruction.

The conflict between these end-time powerhouses is said in Revelation 9:18 to be responsible for killing ONE-THIRD of mankind—a toll no war has ever taken throughout the annals of time.

What you DON’T see among the great powers at the end of the world are the United States or Great Britain and the nations that descended from her. Those nations will already have fallen—their cities devastated, and the survivors scattered among the nations as captives and servants, as described in Ezekiel 5:12:

One-third of you shall die of the pestilence, and be consumed with famine in your midst; and one-third shall fall by the sword all around you; and I will scatter another third to all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them (Ezekiel 5:12).

My colleague Gerald Weston has covered this aspect of Ezekiel’s prophecy thoroughly in our program “Ezekiel’s Message Unlocked.” I encourage you to visit our website or YouTube channel, where you can view that powerful message and come to understand the fate of the United States, Great Britain, and English-speaking peoples of the world.

Yet, in all these rearranged political powers and alliances of the world, the end of the world will feature one particular power that will tower over all the others.

The Rise of a New Superpower, and World War on a Massive Scale

That is the fourth element we’ll examine today: WORLDWIDE DOMINANCE BY A NEW SUPERPOWER.

This superpower is the entity known in prophecy as the BEAST OF REVELATION. This political, economic, and military powerhouse will be headed by a singular individual, the Beast, and it will stand out amongst all others in that day in an astonishing way. We read a description of this man and the power he wields in Revelation 13. After describing the strange creature he saw in vision—providing details that help to IDENTIFY this entity in world history, past and future—John writes:

… all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” (Revelation 13:3–4).

Now note: The whole world follows this Beast, and the military capacity of this entity is like none the world has ever seen.

You’ll notice that Revelation 13 said that the Beast was worshiped. This worship is enabled and enhanced by the next ingredient of our “end of the world” mixture: THE RISE OF AN ULTRA-POWERFUL FALSE CHRISTIANITY.

Later, in Revelation 13:11, we see in John’s vision a SECOND beast arising, different than the first beast:

Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men (Revelation 13:11–13).

This second beast looks like a lamb—that is, he APPEARS to be Christ-like. Yet John says it “spoke like a dragon”—that is, he teaches the subtle twisted truths of Satan the Devil. This False Prophet is the infamous Antichrist, foretold in numerous passages of the Bible. He will come working miracles and wonders and the false Christianity that he preaches will dominate world religions and provide support for the European Beast of Revelation. Together, these two will form an unholy alliance of Church and State and will persecute the small flock of true saints of Jesus Christ.

Suffice it to say for now that the actions they stir upon the earth lead humanity to the brink of utter destruction—to the potential destruction of ALL LIFE ON EARTH. As Jesus Christ Himself described this time,

And unless those days were shortened, NO FLESH would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened (Matthew 24:22).

Yet, those days WILL be shortened! They will be interrupted by the next element of the end of this world: DIVINE INTERVENTION DURING THE DAY OF THE LORD.

The sins of mankind will have reached their fullness, and God will declare that He has had ENOUGH! The announcement of the Almighty’s intervention in world affairs is described in Revelation 6, beginning in verse 12:

I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Revelation 6:12–17).

This begins a year-long period of divine intervention known as the Day of the Lord—when the powers of this earth learn where REAL power truly lies!

God’s Supreme Intervention and the Beginning of a New World

We’ve been through cataclysmic moral degradation; experienced unprecedented natural disasters; and witnessed the rearrangement of world powers. We’ve seen that one power will rise above the rest, and that this power, in conjunction with a false global religion claiming the name of Jesus Christ, will seek to destroy those who bear His name truly as they seek to worship Him in spirit AND in truth. And we’ve seen the Creator of All Things step into history to put the powers of the world in their place and to send His Son Jesus Christ back to earth to set things right.

And amidst the rubble of all that had gone before, we finally come to the last ingredient in the end of the world as we know it: THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A BRAND NEW WORLD to take its place!

Once Jesus Christ and His heavenly armies have rid the world of the Beast power, the Antichrist, and all the worldly forces who foolishly sought to oppose Him, He will send His angel to lock Satan the Devil away from mankind for 1,000 years.

Then, Revelation 20:4 tells us that, in his vision, the Apostle John saw

thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years (Revelation 20:4).

Yes, the resurrected martyrs, and ALL who have lived and died in Jesus Christ before His return will be resurrected, joining those who are alive at His return to rule by His side in power, glory, and majesty.

This period of 1,000 years will be a time when the Kingdom of God will reign on earth, beginning at Jerusalem and spreading over the entire earth, utterly replacing every element of the old world with the joys and glories of the new! The saints, together with Jesus Christ, will work to make this world what it SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALL ALONG: A place of beauty, peace, order, and love. The ultimate cause of that new world is described in Isaiah 11:9:

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9).

As the true knowledge of the way of God grows to cover the world over 1,000 years, the world as we have known it so far will truly have come to an end. And a brand NEW world will have begun—a world with joys and wonders that will last not just for a time, but for eternity.

Thank you for watching our program today. All of us here at Tomorrow’s World—the folks in the control room, the handsome guys here behind the camera—all work hard to help you understand your world through the pages of your Bible, and we appreciate your attention. If you’re interested in today’s offer, there should be a link there in the description below for you to be able to click on, and if you did enjoy the program please do click on subscribe. And, if you’d like to be notified, click on YouTube’s bell. Thank you very much!

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

A Dramatic Reversal!

Our world has changed greatly since the time I graduated from High School in 1964. Drive-in theaters were still a place to go on a Saturday night. Transistor radios were a hot item for teens, and most of us learned to type on mechanical typewriters. Telephones were mostly dial-up versions. And, most of us had to wind up our watches unless we had one of those new ones that wound up by itself by the motion of our wrists.

But all of these are a thing of the past. Today it is all about computers. We talk directly with others over Skype or Zoom. For some, hardcopy letters are ancient history—everything is computerized, including greeting cards. Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, and Instagram are the ways many interact socially.

But there are equally profound changes in society, not the least of which concerns how men and women see themselves. The feminist movement, which really took off in the seventies, has had a dramatic impact on culture and families. Do you realize that a reversal in the roles of men and women was predicted long ago in the pages of the Bible? I’ll read that to you in a moment, so stay tuned!

A Misleading Source of Information Results in Inequality

Welcome to Tomorrow’s World, where we fearlessly tackle the problems facing our world and bring you good news of a better world to come. On today’s program, I’ll be discussing the feminist movement and how it is fulfilling a prophecy from the Biblical prophet Isaiah.

Among feminists’ most successful initiative was the 1992 report released by the American Association of University Women (AAUW), titled “How Schools Shortchange Girls.” It alleged that boys were favored in the classroom while girls were ignored, but the report was biased and dishonest. Dr. James Dobson had this to say about it in his popular book Bringing Up Boys:

The most widely disseminated finding was that teachers permit boys to speak or participate eight times more often than they do girls, but as with the rest of the conclusions, this turned out to be pure nonsense. Their data was based on an old 1981 study that actually said boys are reprimanded eight times more often than girls, and that three-fourths of both girls and boys said they thought teachers compliment girls more often, think they are smarter, and [teachers] would rather be around female students. That level of distortion was evident throughout the AAUW report (Dobson, Bringing Up Boys, p. 172).

The report garnered significant attention in academia and in public

perception and brought about dramatic changes in how schools approached boys and girls. Dobson went on to write that:

Although the report has been widely discredited now in the professional community for what it was—a blatant attempt to skew educational resources away from boys and to characterize girls as victims—the damage had been done. It resulted in an unfair distribution of available resources that continues to this day (Dobson, Bringing Up Boys, p. 172).

Most damaging was when Congress, as a result of lobbying from various feminist organizations, passed:

… the Gender Equity in Education Act, which allocated hundreds of millions of dollars per year to programs designed to redress the [so-called] bias against girls (Dobson, Bringing Up Boys, p 173).

Among the initiatives in the Act, money was funneled to:

“reprogram” teachers who were unconsciously sexist (Dobson, Bringing Up Boys, p 173).

What the feminist movement, and especially the Act, has done is create an atmosphere that is bringing about the fulfilling of an ancient prophecy. You can read it in Isaiah 3 and verse 12;

As for My people, children are their oppressors, And women rule over them. O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err, and destroy the way of your paths (Isaiah 3:12).

Education has changed at all levels since the AAUW report.

Falling Behind, Replaced—But for What Result?

This resultant bias in favor of girls in education, starting at the earliest levels, has had its effect. The September 6, 2021 Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece by Douglas Belkin titled:

A Generation of American Men Give Up on College: “I Just Feel Lost.”

The numbers are disturbing. Roughly 60 percent of college admissions are women and schools of higher learning struggle to keep the male population at the 40 percent level. Samuel Goldman, writing for The Week, in the article titled “The American elite will be female,” points out that the ratio between men and women would be even worse were it not for a bit of fudging on entrance requirements.

The burgeoning gender gap is an open secret in higher education. With none of the fanfare that accompanies their pursuit of racial diversity, many institutions give an admissions advantage to men. One reason is that administrators fear women are also less likely to enroll when the male student population drops below 40 percent (The Week, “The American elite will be female,” September 8, 2021).

As disturbing as that is, it is only part of a dismal picture. Going to university is one thing—graduating is another. Belkin explains:

Among University of Vermont undergraduates, about 55% of male students graduate in four years compared with 70% of women (“A Generation of American Men Give Up on College: ‘I Just Feel Lost,’” Wall Street Journal, September 6, 2021).

Those percentages are significant, but when we put them to specific numbers, they are shocking. If you take 100 students where 60% are women and 40% are men, and apply the percentages who graduate in 4 years, it means for every 42 women graduates you only have 22 men.

Some would argue, “so what?” Men still make more money and hold power positions in our world. That’s the conventional wisdom, but Goldman points out that this is “largely a generational effect.” He explains that leaders across the board, whether in industry, commerce, communications, or government:

… began their careers decades ago, when college student bodies were more equally divided (and in some cases, exclusively male). It would be surprising if the gender ratio in upper management remained the same in another 20 years (The Week, “The American elite will be female,” September 8, 2021).

He then explains what should be obvious to all.

Because elite institutions hire almost exclusively college graduates, campuses are the point of departure for female dominance of publishing, the culture industry, and areas of the corporate world—particularly the massive human resources industry (The Week, “The American elite will be female,” September 8, 2021).

The double standard goes beyond education. For decades, women strove to invade every bastion of male exclusivity. Women reporters demanded equal access to men’s locker rooms for interviews. Girls clamored to play on boys’ baseball teams. They lobbied for admittance into the Boy Scouts. Anything that was singularly male became a target, but could you ever imagine males being allowed into women’s locker rooms or competing in women’s sports?

… Well, I guess we now can. What goes around comes around. Yes, by a bizarre circuitous route, men and boys are today invading everything female, by simply claiming that they are females trapped in male bodies. Girls and women are pushed aside as confused, or opportunistic, men break record after record in female track and field, in weightlifting, and more. Scholarships that should rightly go to girls are funneled to biological boys who will never become biological girls. I can only imagine the anger fathers must feel when they see their daughters robbed in this way.

In October 2017 the Boy Scouts of America began admitting girls to their organization. Not surprisingly, the ones most disturbed by this turn of events were the Girl Scouts! Yes, what goes around does come around!

The problem is not that special programs have encouraged girls in academics, sports, and leadership, but that these resources are mostly going in one direction. Just as girls have special needs, so do boys, and without proper support and motivation, too many are left adrift, feeling lost. Boys especially need guidance and focus as Belkin explains.

Social science researchers cite distractions and obstacles to education that weigh more on boys and young men, including videogames, pornography, increased fatherlessness and cases of over diagnosis of boyhood restlessness and related medication (Belkin, Wall Street Journal, September 6, 2021).

Or, as civil engineering student Luke Weiss put it:

I see a lot of guys that are here for four years to drink beer, smoke weed, hang out and get a degree (Belkin, Wall Street Journal, September 6, 2021).

What we see is a world turned upside down. Instead of men as leaders, we have men floating aimlessly, with more and more leadership positions going to women. Some women no doubt rejoice in this turnaround, but thoughtful women understand that the problem is not good for society as a whole. As college enrollment consultant Jennifer Delahunty warns, the disparity we see in education today is not only bad for men, but also for women.

If you care about our society, one, and, two, if you care about women, you have to care about the boys, too. If you have equally educated numbers of men and women that just makes a better society, and it makes it better for women (Belkin, Wall Street Journal, September 6, 2021).

One wonders, “Has the feminist movement, which spawned the biased AAUW study, improved the lives of women? Are women happier as a result?”

Does “Liberation” Equal Happiness?

According to a 2013 Psychology Today article, the 1970’s feminist movement has NOT translated into greater happiness.

This is a great time for women. Women all over the world are running countries, companies and universities. The most recent U.S. Secretary of State and Speaker of the House were women. Women make up about half of the workforce and can now fight side-by-side with their male counterparts in the military. But, given all of these advancements, are women happier? According to a 2009 study entitled, The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness, the answer is a resounding no (“Women & Happiness: Is It Still Declining?,” Psychology Today, March 10, 2013).

Quoting from the referenced study, “The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness”:

By many objective measures the lives of women in the United States have improved over the past 35 years, yet we show that measures of subjective well-being indicate that women’s happiness has declined both absolutely and relative to men…. Relative declines in female happiness have eroded a gender gap in happiness in which women in the 1970s typically reported higher subjective well-being than did men. These declines have continued and a new gender gap is emerging—one with higher subjective well-being for men (Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers, “The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness,” NBERI, May 2009).

Britain’s Daily Mail Online published an article in response to the study, titled:

“Women have it all but are less happy than forty years ago.”

In it, Netmums website founder Siobhan Freegard explains:

We pushed so hard for equal rights, for having the right to work, for having equal status, we pushed so hard to have choice.

But what we hear from many mums is: I have no choice, I have to work, I don’t love my career, my childminder is taking half my salary and I’d rather bring up my children myself but I can’t afford to.

If you enjoy your job and it’s a fulfilling career, that is a positive choice, but if it’s not, it’s almost in some ways that we got it all, then found that actually it wasn’t quite what we wanted (Daily Mail Online, June 1, 2009).

An interesting observation is found in The Guardian, another British source, on May 18, 2016. It explains that the Swiss did not give women the right to vote until 1971. Many things in life are counterintuitive. They go against expectations. Ten years after receiving the right to vote, another referendum was held. This time to decide whether to amend their constitution to require equal pay for equal work.

Different parts of Switzerland voted very differently. Unsurprisingly, cantons (Swiss states) with a high proportion of votes in favor of the amendment were recorded as having a small gender wage gap some years later. But strangely, working women in areas with strong traditional values—where most people had voted against equal pay—were happier than working women in liberal cantons (“Gains in women’s rights haven’t made women happier. Why is that?” The Guardian, May 18, 2016).

One of the casualties of the feminist movement has been marriage and family. Feminists wanted to be free from what they described as the drudgery of housework and the responsibility of children. They wanted sexual freedom, and the result is a hookup generation where the commitment of marriage has declined sharply.

Men and Women, Working Together God’s Way

There are certainly women who are happy with their choices in life, but overall, studies show that they are less happy today than they were in the 1970s. This should not surprise us, because the feminist movement, among other things, is a rejection of God. This is not to say that individual activists—and especially women who simply bought into the attractive sounding propaganda of the feminist movement, without truly understanding it—were deliberately rejecting God. They saw the feminist movement as an attempt to improve the lot of women and did not realize it sought to overturn the roles of both men and women as given in our Creator’s instruction book—the Bible. But make no mistake. It is an attempt to do away with the nuclear family. But is that wise?

If we are indeed a product of creation and design, the Creator and Designer must know what is best for that which He created and designed. And, indeed He does!

The Biblical prophet Isaiah predicted that the reversal of traditional male/female roles would take place at the end of the age.

As for My people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them (Isaiah 3:12).

O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err, and destroy the way of your paths (Isaiah 3:12).

Men have not brought the world peace, and must bear responsibility for the world as it is today, but will women do any better? Not according to this prophecy!

Samuel Goldman’s prediction that “The American elite will be female,” is correct, even if Isaiah “scooped him” by more than 2700 years! Of course, it was not Isaiah, but our Creator who understood this in advance. In a later passage, Isaiah quotes God as saying…

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).

Male and female relations have never been in perfect balance. Far from it. Even today women are horribly abused in some countries around the world, where girls are not allowed to go to school and women may be beaten mercilessly with no consequences handed out to their husbands. Yet, our Western world has gone to a different extreme where men are considered bumbling fools incapable of the proper leadership role they were given by their Creator.

Radical feminists, many of whom resent men, perhaps due to abuse in their upbringing, or for other reasons, reject the God-given roles of men and women. And too many men are not being trained to be the loving providers and leaders they were created to be. The Bible lays out these simple facts:

For man is not from woman, but woman from man. Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man…. Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord. For as woman came from man, even so man also comes through woman; but all things are from God (1 Corinthians 11:8–9, 11–12).

It is obvious that men and women are different physically and emotionally, but these differences are being discounted. Today it is the woman who comes to the rescue of the man. Need a tire changed? Woman to the rescue. Have a problem in business? Woman is there. Being attacked by city thugs? There she is again—stronger, quicker than any man, and a marvel at karate. But is this reality? I think we know the answer.

Men and women were made to complement, not compete, with one another. Men are designed physically to be protectors and providers. It’s not that a woman cannot provide and where the husband suffers sickness or injury, it may be necessary to reverse the roles temporarily or even permanently. There is no stigma to this. A man can still be the head of his household even under such circumstances, but when men do not prepare for the proper place of being the breadwinner and leave it to the wife to go out into the world to “bring home the bread,” problems readily arise. A woman needs to be loved and a man needs to be respected, and these needs are more likely to suffer when the roles are reversed. Instead of women fighting for control of the pants, God instructs:

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her (Ephesians 5:22–25).

Feminists have long scorned this passage as being sexist and misogynistic, not understanding that God has a plan far greater than they could ever imagine. Referring to the marriage relationship, Paul went on to say:

“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband (Ephesians 5:31–33).

The blending of male and female in marriage is essential to a well-ordered society. History shows that, as with the family, so goes the nation. Marriage between one biological male and one biological female can bring children into a balanced nurturing and loving environment where male and female contribute their unique qualities. Family is a perfect training ground to learn good manners, caring for others, self-discipline, and self-sacrifice.

Thank you for watching! To learn more about your role and purpose in life, order your free copy of “God’s Plan for Happy Marriage” by clicking the link in the description. And, remember to subscribe to our channel so you can continue to learn the truth as given in the Bible. See you next time!

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

God Has a Purpose for Prophecy

Millions of people all over the world claim the Holy Bible as their sacred guide to understanding themselves and the world around them. Yet, most of them ignore one-fourth to one-third of that Bible: The portion made up by prophecy.

You might wonder why God placed prophecy in the Bible in the first place. Can’t we just ignore all of those weird chapters in Revelation, Isaiah, Daniel, and other books of the Bible and just focus on the parts we find easy to understand?

In short, no. If we want to be people who follow Jesus Christ in word and deed, and if we want to benefit from the entirety of God’s word and the full store of instruction and blessing that He has prepared for us, then Bible prophecy needs to be on the menu of our spiritual diet.

Join me right now on Tomorrow’s World, where together we will answer the question “Why Does God Use Prophecy?”

How Much of the Bible IS Prophecy?

Greetings, and welcome to Tomorrow’s World where we help you make sense of the world through the pages of the Bible. I’m glad you’re here.

Today, we’re going to answer the question, “Why Does God Use Prophecy?”

And let me be clear here at the beginning: When I say, “God uses prophecy,” I’m not talking about the modern-day proclamations of many who go around claiming themselves to be Christians and calling themselves “Prophet This” or “Prophetess That.” I guarantee you, they are no prophet in the sense of the biblical title. Now I know that may upset some, but here at Tomorrow’s World, we’re not here to make people happy—we’re here to clear away the fog of confusion and shine the light of God’s word in a world darkened by the Devil’s deceptions.

No, I’m here to talk about Bible prophecy. Many preachers and teachers ignore it, and you don’t often hear Bible prophecy proclaimed and explained from the giant stages of the megachurches of the world—at least not in any meaningful or significant sense. And many study guides claim to “explain” prophecy, but they do more to “explain it away,” and minimize the vital impact it should have on our everyday life today.

And we need to be honest with ourselves: How many of us make reading and studying Bible prophecy a significant part of our spiritual diet? After all, so many other parts of the Bible seem so much more straightforward and beneficial. Uplifting even. But Revelation—with its weird images of multi-headed monsters, blood-drinking harlots, and other strange sights and descriptions—seems almost out-of-place and unnecessary for living the “Christian” life, doesn’t it? And when you wander from the stories of the lion’s den and the fiery furnace, the book of Daniel just seems to get weird, with visions of strange statues, monstrous beasts, and vague references to Kings of the North and South.

Yet, think about it. It’s estimated that one-fourth to one-third of the Bible is prophecy. So pick up a Bible and estimate how much one-fourth of that Bible would be. In this Bible, here, if you look at the first fourth, it would be about this much. Imagine ignoring or cutting out and throwing away that much of your Bible—in this case, you would be cutting out Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, and 1 Samuel—possibly some of 2 Samuel, too. Or take the final fourth. Now, you’re cutting out the last four books of the Old Testament and the entire New Testament. Can you imagine cutting out all of that and throwing it away or burning it? Yet, if you never read and study Bible prophecy—at least one-fourth of your Bible—that is essentially what you’re doing! That 25% may as well not be in there.

In 2021, I wrote an article for the Tomorrow’s World magazine detailing how many elements of today’s cancel culture are working overtime to cancel the Bible, one idea at a time, removing the words of Scripture from our lives in whatever ways they can.

But my friends, if you and I don’t even bother to read one-fourth to one-third of our Bible’s pages, we’ve effectively canceled those parts of the Bible ourselves.

And, frankly, we violate the teachings of Jesus Christ and are robbing ourselves of the benefit of His instruction when we avoid prophecy.

Look for yourself in Matthew 4 and verse 4. When fighting against Satan’s temptations at the beginning of His ministry, the Savior shot back at the devil,

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD.”

My friends, “every word” means “every word,” not “three out of every four” or “two out of three.” “Every word” includes the recorded words of biblical prophecy.

When you think about it, Christians should be the most motivated people in the world to read and study biblical prophecy. Revelation 19:10 says that “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy,” and the very beginning of the book of Revelation, the very first verse of the very first chapter, tells us that Jesus Christ revealed the contents of that book under God’s instructions, “to show His servants—things which must shortly take place.”

And just two verses later, God gives us a promise:

“Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.”

My friends, prophecy is important, and God places it in the Bible for good reason. In fact, in the remainder of today’s program, we are going to detail four reasons God uses prophecy in the Bible.

A Call to Repentance—and a Warning

The first of those reasons is this:

Bible prophecy warns people and nations to repent so they can avoid punishment.

Most of you viewing today’s program at home or on your computer or smartphone probably look at today’s world and feel like I do: Something is very wrong. At the most fundamental of levels, the very fabric of civilization is tearing asunder. The Bible explains in clear detail why we are coming apart: sin. The world is increasingly turning its back on everything God commands, and we are suffering the consequences—consequences that will climax in the most horrific time the world has ever known or will ever know: The Great Tribulation, followed by the Day of the Lord. We read of the times prophesied to come in Matthew chapter 24, beginning in verse 21:

“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.”

Those times are coming due to man’s accumulating sin against his Creator. Frankly, biblical prophecy tells us that suffering will begin with divine punishment on the United States and Great Britain and those nations around the globe that have descended in one way or another from the British people.

Yet, God the Father and Jesus Christ do make a way of escape available. In Ezekiel 33 and verse 11, God tells us that He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He would rather that the wicked see what is coming and repent. Change to avoid it and accept the opportunity for escape. Turn earlier in the book of Ezekiel to read His passionate words to Israel—words that I assure you are meant for nations and peoples today. We begin in verse 30;

“‘Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For WHY SHOULD YOU DIE, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,’ says the Lord GOD. ‘THEREFORE TURN AND LIVE.’”

In the free DVD we’ll send you today, “The Power of Prophecy,” we will explain that one of the keys to understanding prophecy is to be able to identify modern nations in the prophetic words of the Bible, and the identity of those nations is not always clear. When you do understand that, then you understand this warning is for many nations of the world—and you understand why we here on Tomorrow’s World are unrelenting in our constant admonition to the nations of the world to cease their sins, repent, and turn and dedicate themselves to Jesus Christ and His Father, lest all that is prophesied to take place come upon them.

Now, before we move to Reason #2, we have to be honest with ourselves about Reason #1, about human nature, and about our nations and their leadership. Personally, I’m an American, and let me be frank with you about my country: With every day that goes by, I see nothing in my nation’s government, its politics, its culture, its educational systems, or my fellow citizens at large that gives me any real hope that the United States, as a whole, will repent, turn, and embrace Jesus Christ and the commandments of God.

I’m not trying to be a pessimist, and believe me, I—as well as all of us here at Tomorrow’s World, the members of the Living Church of God, and the many around the world who voluntarily support us—all of us are throwing all we have into reaching the whole world with God’s warning and Christ’s Gospel of the coming Kingdom. And we pray like Paul did, that God might use us to save from the times to come as many as He will.

But we also know that some will go into punishment and captivity. And when they do, we see the second purpose of prophecy come into play:

Bible prophecy encourages those in captivity to repent.

We see this hope of God concerning prophecy in passages such as Deuteronomy in chapter 4. There, God speaks to Israel in words that today’s free DVD explains have great meaning for many of today’s nations as well. He tells them of the punishment they will receive for their national sins and how they will respond then in a way they did not before. Let’s look, beginning in verse 27:

“And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you. And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the LORD your God and obey His voice (for the LORD your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.”

God’s words and prophecies will serve as a witness to those being punished in captivity, who will remember and begin to seek God in a way they did not before their punishment.

For those of our viewers today who will not turn to God and change their lives and who will find themselves under the punishment of the Great Tribulation, it is our prayer that you will remember these things and remember to seek God with all of your heart, with all of your strength, and with all of your soul. Cry out to Him when that time comes—with a sincere and willing heart—and He will hear you.

Ironically, the third reason God uses prophecy is ignored by most who claim the name of Christ today, even as it explains why His disciples, above all people of the earth, should care passionately about prophecy.

Prophecy and the Gospel Message

The third reason should matter most to all who claim the name of Jesus Christ, but sadly it matters to relatively few of them:

Bible prophecy announces the good news of the coming Kingdom of God.

Many think Jesus only came with a message about how all can be forgiven their sins by accepting Him as their Savior. But, my friends, that belief is an incomplete and shallow one that denies the rich, full message God sent His Son to bear to mankind concerning the coming Kingdom of God and God’s plan to transform this world and mankind for all eternity.

And focusing as it does on future events, that message of the Kingdom of God and the glorious return of Jesus Christ is inherently a prophetic message. In fact, many, many, many prophecies of both the Old and New Testaments point us to the beautiful times of restoration to come under the reign of Jesus Christ and His glorified saints—that is, under the Kingdom of God. For instance, Revelation 20 speaks of the 1,000-year removal of Satan the devil and proclaims that glorified, faithful Christians will reign alongside Jesus Christ during that time. Zechariah 14 explains how all the nations of the world will be required by God to assemble in Jerusalem each year for the Feast of Tabernacles. Isaiah 11 speaks of the transformed nature of the animal world, while Isaiah 35 tells of the transformed and beautified earth, and the healing of all who are blind, deaf, and unable to walk. Zechariah 8 tells of how both the elderly and small children will be safe to play in the streets.

Honestly, there is too much to encompass in one program—read the prophecies for yourself. There is a reason the Apostle Peter called the prophetic reign of Jesus Christ “the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:21).

Of course, if you are a longtime viewer of Tomorrow’s World, you know that the prophesied Kingdom of God is a frequent topic of ours, as we are commissioned by Jesus Christ Himself to boldly preach that Kingdom to the world—without apology or compromise. And let there be no doubt: The Gospel message is a prophetic message, and ignoring the prophecies of the Bible is like cutting out vast portions of the message of Jesus Christ.

Finally, we come to the fourth reason God uses prophecy:

Bible prophecy demonstrates God’s total sovereignty and power.

We see this inspiring purpose reflected in the awesome words God inspired the prophet Isaiah to record for us in chapter 46 of his book. Read them there, beginning in verse 9:

“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,' calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it.”

My friend and fellow presenter Richard Ames frequently emphasizes a powerful truth that our predecessor in this Work, Herbert W. Armstrong, described as the most important fact in the entire universe—a fact stated in three simple words: “God reigns supreme.”

And if you have noted Mr. Ames’ passion and intensity on this program over the years, you can know it is rooted in this vital truth. And God uses prophecy to help teach us that truth: Declaring the end of things from the beginning so that we may see and understand. Understand that He is faithful and can be trusted. Understand that all of human history represents simply the unfolding of His plan for all mankind—indeed, for all of reality.

Seeing God prophetically proclaim the outcome of affairs in the world before they have even taken place helps us to have confidence in the promises of God and provides an eternal perspective on the one who inhabits eternity. The Apostle Paul found such comfort in that perspective, as he illustrated at the beginning of his letter to Titus:

“Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began…” (Titus 1:1–2).

Yes, when we read of the commands of God or the promises of God, we must always remember that He is Eternal and Almighty—the one who has the power to call those things which do not exist as though they did, as Paul says in Romans 4:17.

Prophecy teaches us that there is One who not only has the power to proclaim His will in the world, but the power to guarantee that what He proclaims will happen.

My friends, when we consider these four reasons God uses prophecy, we see that there is a purpose He intends to work in our lives through His written prophetic words.

Faith, Hope, and Love—And Prophecy!

God wants those who read His word to understand that He is a God who is acting in the world—and in their lives. As a God who loves us, He wants us to take His commands seriously, as the life and death matter they truly are. For those who refuse to respond to His warnings, He wants them to have the witness of His prophetic word in their punishment, so that they may remember, and respond to that punishment with repentance. He wants those who love His Son to commit themselves to spreading the message of His glorious reign to come and the prophesied wonders that Jesus Christ will bring at His return. And He wants us to see that He is a God who can be trusted with our lives. He wants us to see that, yes, He demands our absolute faith and obedience—but also that He is worthy of that absolute faith and obedience, because He truly does reign supreme.

His use of prophecy in His word helps to accomplish all these purposes. And now, it’s in your hands. Will you set a quarter or more of your Bible aside, to be neglected? Or will you allow God to work in you through what He reveals?

Thanks for watching! We make these videos to help you make sense of your world through the pages of your Bible. We hope you’ll take advantage of this offer. If you’d like today’s free offer of “The Power of Prophecy,” please click on the link below the description to get that free DVD. And if you’d like to see more of these videos, don’t forget to subscribe and if you want to be alerted, just click that bell. See you next time!