“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Matthew 24:12). Our Lord’s words, of course, never fail, because He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. His prophecy telling of the diminishing of love within fallen humanity as the end of the age approaches frames all the evil and wickedness we have been witnessing for decades.

During the 1976 approach to America’s one hundredth birthday, there were dangers to the nation in many directions. Communism was on the move, despite the ending of the Vietnam War, which, to many observers, America lost. That evil ideology seemed to be spreading everywhere, including to this hemisphere. The American culture was growing coarser by the day, with many universities and colleges harboring professors who taught (and students who excitedly embraced) communism. Anti-American revolutionaries grew from these enclaves to foment growing internal strife.

America’s founding fathers—that is, a majority of them—recognized the nature of the profound leverage they were allowed to apply in order to burst free from the most powerful military on the planet at the time. It was providential leverage that most of them acknowledged as the intervening force that birthed this nation. George Washington said on a number of occasions following the War of Independence that he felt the hand of the Almighty on him. He said he was providentially prevented from being shot on several occasions.

September of 1950 was when Billy Graham’s organization was founded in Minneapolis. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association was the very heart of powerful expansion of the saving message of Jesus Christ. Jan Markell's ministry carries on that all important push to get the message that Jesus saves from this geographical area. Is it any wonder Satan and his minions wage war on this twin-city area that serves as the center for evangelization of America and the world?

Much of this disregard (even though the Bible consists of more than 27 percent prophecy) is the fault of the people in the pews, who genuinely call Jesus Christ their Lord, but have little interest in personal Bible study. At least an equal share of blame for not paying attention to the prophetic signs of the times must be placed with the pastors whose flocks receive little or no teaching about biblical prophecy, for which the stage is being set in every direction we look.

The hatred for Daniel’s people–Israel—is so prevalent at this late hour of this dispensation (the Age of Grace) that a large portion of our nation has lost its collective mind. They have become totally reprobate, as Paul prophesied in Romans 1:28. The haters have become mad and upside down in their ability to reason when it comes to the much-hated Israel.

Whether talking about hate-filled nations of the Middle East that surround Israel, the metropolitan areas of Europe and Asia, or even in the United States of America, like in the case of Australia, governments are ignoring the anti-Semitism that’s growing at an astonishing rate. The terrorists perpetrating these deadly assaults are almost, it seems, being given governmental permission to do their dastardly evil. There is, to those of us who observe from the biblical perspective, the undeniable fact that Jews are being shown the door to exit these hostile cities and countries.

To me, this entire political cesspool smells of the Apostle Paul’s “perilous times” descriptions: “trucebreakers,” “false accusers,” “traitors,” and “high-minded.” That shouldn’t be surprising to those who seek truth in their study of Bible prophecy. As we discern prophetic stage-setting signals in every direction on the near horizon, so near the end of this Age of Grace, this great traitorous betrayal predicted by Paul is front and center.

Jesus was saying He wants all who believe He is Lord and Savior to not be like the Judaizers, the Pharisees of the time when He first visited the earth in His fleshly incarnation. They could determine what the weather would be next day by observing the signals—the clouds, et cetera—but they couldn’t recognize Israel’s King standing before them at that very moment.

We must wonder today about those, particularly among the so-called clergy—who cannot or will not discern the times. These totally ignore, or refuse to accept, God’s Word on things to come. They spiritualize or allegorize prophecy yet future concerning Christ’s soon return to put an end to this rebellious world system.

The most important thing about Trump choosing Mr. Huckabee is not that a Baptist preacher will be in the position to wholeheartedly bring America’s full support to God’s chosen nation. Even more profound is that he will have this president’s ear in such an influential way.

If not such a serious matter of keeping Israel from the dastardly plans of the likes of Iran’s regime leaders, it would be hilarious to consider the paranoid reaction Israel’s “magical” doings have inflicted on those devoted to the destruction of the Jewish state and people.

This movement has been growing for some time since Erdoğan took over as president of the country. Turkey, a member of NATO, has been moving more and more into the orbit of Iran and Russia and spewing hateful rhetoric against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Jewish state.

The buildup is accelerating toward the time Jesus said would be a period of trouble unlike anything that’s ever been. He placed Israel at the center of that time of Tribulation. Watch Israel and the world’s increasingly hate-filled treatment of its people. This is the number-one signal that shows definitively where we are on God’s prophetic timeline.

It is not the hatred of God for the lost people of this fallen planet that drives prophecy. It is the love of God that powers His prophetic Word. It must be the Christian’s desire, therefore, to study Bible prophecy and put forth those forewarnings out of a spirit of God’s love, not through an anger-filled abhorrence of those who are lost.