What Russia, China, Iran, A.I. and the Bible Have In Common

“Nothing vast enters the life of mortals without a curse” Sophocles. 

There is a lot of concern these days over the rise of China, the invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine, and the ability of A.I. to make life better until it decides to kill us. But what is never mentioned is that Scripture specifically tells us that there will be a time that China will rise, Russia will invade, and A.I will be used to kill people. 

While the rise of these three powers has been prophesied in the Bible for the past 2,500 years, no one considers this precisely because it was prophesied in the Bible 2,500 years ago. Therefore, it cannot be true and if it is, it certainly cannot be coming true now. Maybe 1,000 years ago, or 500 years in the future, but not now. Not in my lifetime! 

Prophecies have historically been unpopular because they are inconvenient. For example, the Jews were notorious for beating, imprisoning and even killing prophets that forecast doom and gloom in their lifetime. First century religious leaders in Judah adamantly refused to believe that the prophesied Messiah would appear in their lifetime. They heard His teachings, saw the crowds, witnessed His miracles and still insisted that the revealing of the Messiah could not possibly be happening now. How very inconvenient not to mention dangerous to have a Messiah at a time when Rome was in control and revolution was in the air. No, Jesus could definitely not be recognized as the Messiah and that was that. If push came to shove and He publicly started to declare that He was the Messiah, then He would simply have to be killed. The religious leaders deemed the first century as simply not the right time for a Messiah to appear. Case closed! 

So here we are in 2026 with every major televangelist and most Biblical prognosticators insisting we are now at the very end of the Endtime Age. And once again we see people saying they do not believe it for a number of reasons. Primarily, it’s simply an inconvenient time for the rule of man to end. People have made plans concerning buying a home, climbing the corporate ladder, entertaining, starting a family, vacations, grandchildren, retiring and generally enjoying the good life. Humm…I think I remember a quote from Jesus about this? (Matthew 24:37) But there is a positive side to our current dire situation. 

First, you have to admit that it is exciting to see that the End of the Age has finally arrived. Every generation before you has looked forward to this day. Second, it was bound to come at some time and affect some generation so you just happen to be the lucky, or unlucky, generation to witnesses it. Third, it should be reassuring for a believer to see the Endtime events unfold because it reinforces one's faith in the truth of the Bible. So how do we know we are very near the end? 

The Book of Daniel tells us that at the End of the Age, people {mankind, technology, information} will run back and forth at an ever accelerating pace (Daniel 12:4). This is a direct reference to the ongoing cumulative effect of science. True science consists of one irrefutable proven fact or truth combined with others. This system inevitably causes an ever increasing and acceleration of facts that lead to greater and greater discoveries. It was only a matter of time before a system, using enormous amounts of energy, could access massive data storage banks. Then, using algorithms that allow the free cross referencing of these data sources, formulate intelligent fact based responses to questions. Thus the system is rightly called Artificial Intelligence or A.I.  So, it was always inevitable that science would eventually find a way to create a system that could logically and independently deduce new, and in some cases, incredible discoveries. And while this can seem ominous, Scripture told us in advance that this system was not only possible but would become a reality at the time of the rise of the Antichrist. In fact, it is this system that will make the rise of the Antichrist possible! So to ignore or try to stop this inevitability would be to work against what the Bible has clearly prophesied would happen and what John clearly saw happen as he wrote in the Book of Revelation. John was allowed to look forward in time. He was not seeing what might happen but what had actually happened 2,000 years in the future. This would make John the first time traveler! 

Jesus wanted John to write down what he saw because He wanted those that believe in Him as the Son of God to find comfort in knowing that the rule of man would come to an end at an appointed time. He wanted His followers to remain calm knowing He was in complete control of all Endtime events. And He wanted His followers to know that those who kept their faith in Him would be rewarded with eternal life. So, John was shown world events that we are currently experiencing . Therefore, we should be very excited about these events and not dread them. In other words, when someone says to you, “Did you hear about all the horrible things that happened one after the other this week? Your answer should be, “Well yeah … but that’s the End times for you!” 

With this in mind, it is really useless to worry about China, Russia, North Korea and Iran as we are told in the Book of Revelation that this is the appointed time for them to arise and fulfill their part of prophecy. Again they have been prophesied to play their part in the Endtime and they are now doing so. Prophecy will always be fulfilled no matter mankind’s thoughts on it. We should not be alarmed about Russia (known in Ezekiel as Magog) and the dictator Putin (known as Gog) as this is the time they were appointed to rise up one last time (Ezekiel 38:1-5; Ezekiel 38:18-23). We should not be alarmed about Iran {Persia} and its doomed Islamic armies of the willing firing missiles at everything that moves. Scripture is clear that God will personally destroy these delusional individuals. We should not be alarmed about Europe forming their own military alliance and Germany currently developing a nuclear weapon as this was the time they are appointed to do so. They will be the armed forces that the Antichrist will draw his power from (Daniel 2:41-43; Daniel 7:24; 9:26; Revelation 13:1; 17:9; Revelation 17:12-13).  

And we should not be alarmed about A.I. because it is specifically mentioned in the Book of Revelation as an image {machine} that is given life. A man made device that can think, speak for itself, and eventually demand that all those who do not take the pledge of allegiance to the World Dictator be killed (Revelation 13:15). To deny these prophetic truths is to just flat out lie about the interpretations of these revelations. This is exactly what the Antichrist will do (Revelation 13:5-6; II Thessalonians 2:11). 

Today we see the Earth and its atmosphere causing massive death and destruction among all the nations. Most recently, the world is at war with Iran. While the United Nations is universally against Iran developing a nuclear bomb, the problem is that the US has stopped Iran from all of its oil export activities, and China gets 90% of its oil from Iran. Further, Russia buys much of its drone weapons from Iran. And in return, Russia uses its spy satellites to supply Iran with military intelligence concerning the troop movements of the United States, Israel and incoming rocket strikes.  

Then there is the issue concerning Iran’s government versus it‘s people. Recent polls show that seven out of ten Iranians now want a democratic government and not a theocracy. Conversely, the current Iranian government does not care at all about what its population of 90 million people want. If half the population were to die tomorrow, the Iranian government would not blink an eye. This is because they are completely and totally dedicated to the creation of an atomic weapon. And they have repeatedly and publicly stated they would immediately use it to destroy Israel and if possible America. And, if Israel were to successfully retaliate and destroy Iran, so be it. The current government would consider this a small price to pay for following the desires of Allah and in death achieving Paradise. As you can imagine, Iranians are not of this belief. As far as they are concerned, the inmates are now running the asylum.

 Also problematic is the fact that Israel is seen as a “One Bomb Nation”. Meaning, one nuclear detonation on Tel Aviv and the nation of Israel would be ostensibly and decisively destroyed. Thus, as the US oil blockade brings civil unrest and regime change in Iran ever closer, the Iranian government is prophesied to partner with Russia and China to create a conventional ground force of a multimillion man army (Revelation 9:16; Revelation 16:12). This ‘Islamic Army of the Willing’ armed by China and led by Russia will invade and attempt to overwhelm Israel. Israel will be restricted from using one of its nuclear devices as a defensive weapon because this would pollute the Holy Land of God. This assault on Israel will trigger WWIII as describe in Revelation 9:18. 

 All of this is really just 101 prophecies from the Book of Revelation, that generation after generation of people have both dreaded and looked forward to. So it had to happen at some time, and that sometime is apparently starting now. You undoubtedly do not like it, you may not be able to sleep and you may wish it upon the next generation. But nonetheless prophecy always come true on God’s timeline.  

So as believers in God, Jesus and prophecy, we need to ‘flip the script’. The world is in a dreadful place and politicians are promising they can fix it. You have probably noticed very few calls for prayer? Coincidence? I don’t think so. Society will start to experience ever increasing dangers and catastrophes. But on the positive side, these events will follow to the letter what Scripture tells us. So this should be both a wakeup call and reassurance that we have nothing to fear but fear itself. Fear is the greatest weapon of Satan. To fear is to show a lack of faith. While it is perfectly understandable that a person can become very concerned for their own safety and that of family and friends, always remember that Jesus solemnly promised that those who have faith in Him will not be on the Earth during the Great Tribulation or last 3.5 years. Instead, they will be with Him in a place He has prepared for a great celebration of life eternal. Those that should fear are those that are unrepentant and have no faith in God. But instead, their only concerns are that a war of any kind for any reason will raise their prices, affect their quality of life, their future plans, their stock portfolio and the weather during their vacations.   

The second major reason Jesus showed John the End time line was that it would serve as a survival guide for all unbelievers who missed the Rapture. You see, God does not take pleasure in the suffering of a single person. But He understands that mankind will need a rude awaking in order to get them to understand the End time is near, repent of their sins and believe in Him. Therefore, the Tribulation Period will slowly unfold over a seven year period with the events of each year piling up one catastrophe on top of the another. Leaders will continue to insist they can create solutions without the belief in a supernatural God. However, as the years pass and the events unfold exactly in the order as recorded in Revelation, more and more people will be forced to admit that something supernatural is occurring and many will start to believe in God. In this way, God can now bestow eternal life on the final remains of mankind. 

But the timeline does have a definite ending that has already been set. We can know this because in Revelation we read that Jesus eventually appears in the sky in such a way that every person on Earth can clearly see Him. But even as He descends to the Earth followed by those raptured off the Earth years earlier, it is still not too late for people to drop to their knees, believe and be saved. However, the moment Jesus sets foot on the Earth, all unbelievers throughout the world fall dead. This particular timeline or dispensation for the rule of mankind had finally ended. The thief on the cross believed on Jesus and was saved just before he died. But once a person dies, their eternal fate is set (Hebrews 9:27).

 This day is known as The Day of the Lord. For some it will be a dreadful day in that millions will die. But for believers it will be a glorious day that will last one thousand years (II Peter 3:8; Revelation 20:5). This time period is known as the Age of the Millennial Reign of Christ. The Jews refer to this time as the Messianic Age. All people of faith who have ever lived will now have been resurrected, given immortal bodies and experience Eden-like conditions on the Earth. All those who came to believe and survived the Tribulation Period will be give incredible longevity in order to repopulate the Earth (Isaiah 65:20).  

At the end of the Millennial Reign of Christ, we are told that Jesus now has all rule, authority and power. It is at this time that He presents His perfected and restored Kingdom to God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. This action completes the divine plan of God put in place before creation (I Peter 1:19-20). Jesus, as God the Word, now subjects Himself to God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. These three eternal coequal entities are known as the Triune Godhead. The Godhead’s presence, glory and Sovereign rule are now once again realized throughout all creation. Thus the term, “… that God may be All in All” (I Corinthians 15:28). The Millennial Age has now ended and a New Age of Perfection begins. Scripture tells us, “…old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (II Corinthians 5:17). It is now that all creation begins to experience an eternal series of Ages one after the other. These revelatory Ages of astounding beauty and wonder are provided by a loving Creator God as a reward to His faithful and loving Children. 

“Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every person according to their work… I AM the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they who do God’s command that they may have right to the Tree of Eternal Life …” (Revelation 22:12-14)   

Amen