This was the week where everything changed in America. The Biden administration left power and Trump’s team entered the Whitehouse. Immediately following the inauguration ceremony began the wave of sweeping presidential executive orders from Trump, on a scale never been seen before this early in any other administration in American history.

The rhythm and deliberate speed of the change was demonstrated by Trump as he sat down and signed 8 executive orders on stage at the Capital One arena following the inaugural parade. For anyone who is interested in Bible prophecy, these are exciting times – we acknowledge that the most High rules in the kingdom of men and gives power to whoever he chooses. Several of the executive orders signed by Trump signal vast changes in the Middle East that could bring the nations of the world more closely aligned to the situation prophesied in scripture prior to Armageddon and the invasion of Israel.

Reminder: What do we expect from the nations prior to Armageddon?

Before thinking about the past week in more detail, lets remind ourselves of how the bible describes some of the key protagonists in the time just prior to Armageddon.

A map of the nations that unite against the Jewish people in the latter days
As described in Ezekiel 38

Israel – the focus of all Armageddon prophecies is the nation of Israel. Armageddon can only take place once the Jewish people have begun to return to the land – this signals the period of the latter days. We expect them to be dwelling at peace in the land, while likely controlling (perhaps even annexing) the territory of the West Bank, so that they can multiply cities and people on the mountains of Israel.

Russia – As the “Rosh” power of Ezekiel 38:1-2, we expect to see a resurgent, militaristic, expansionist Russian power who have their eyes on the ancient territory of the Russian Empire including Constantinople (modern day Istanbul), as the ancient seat of the Eastern Roman Empire. This will precipitate their sweeping move from the North, into Constantinople, then Israel before moving down into Egypt. Russia is also allied with other countries in the region such as Iran, Libya, Ethiopia and, more widely, the Western European nations.

The merchants of Tarshish and her lions – Bible students have long since believed that Tarshish is a name for the British Isles while the young lions are the commonwealth nations that arose out of this naval power. This includes the United States of America. This group of nations questions the northern invader, but does not stand in to protect Israel from invasion. This suggests that while they are not as antisemitic as their European counterparts, they perhaps are too isolationist and too weak to be involved in helping the Jewish people. This group of nations are often mentioned in a kingdom context, suggesting they will be among the first to bow to Christ’s rulership and more pro-israel than those in Russia and Europe.

The ‘Palestinians’ in Gaza and the West Bank – while it is possible that certain prophecies imply there could be foreign presence occupying the ancient territory of Gaza, this power must be limited enough so as to not affect the peace and safety of the Jews on the mountains of Israel. We should expect more Jewish peace through strength in the region

As commonly remarked on Bible in the news, the events of the last hundred years if not more, in a wholistic sense, have brought the world creeping every closer to the situation described about the latter days by the prophets of Israel. With this view in mind, the events of the past week have been absolutely monumental when we consider world events in the light of Bible prophecy.

Relevant executive actions

The last week has brought a staggering 51 presidential executive actions – see link at the bottom for the full list so far. The important question we should ask about this list is how it will effect the nation of Israel and geopolitics in the middle east. The key executive actions that could affect the Middle East include the following:

America First

On January 20th, just hours after inauguration, Trump signed several actions relating to his America First doctrine. For example:

• America first trade policy
• an America first directive to the secretary of state
• a re-evaluation of US foreign aid.

This emphatically signals the Trump administration’s intent to be inward-looking and isolationist when it comes to foreign policy. America first is about strengthening the country at home and avoiding foreign wars. With this in mind, the directive to the secretary of state is as follows: “From this day forward, the foreign policy of the United States shall champion core American interests and always put America and American citizens first”. America has always been prone to isolationist tendencies, particularly with the Atlantic Ocean making Europe seem far away. But this deliberate emphasis on this policy could easily be the building blocks for the major young lion of Tarshish power who shies away from conflict. The focus on the Americas (think Trump on Greenland, renaming the gulf of Mexico,the border crisis for example) ultimately leaving Russia free to dominate in Europe. This is a fascinating development when we consider the signs of the times. We expect to find a situation where Russia is triumphant and Europe chained.

Drill baby drill!

Another area of interest is energy policy. On the campaign trail, Trump famously promised to “drill, baby drill,” and his executive actions have so far lived up to this mantra. On January 20th, he sign the following executive actions:

• Declaration of a national energy emergency
• Unleashing American energy

This policy will have huge implications for both Iran and Russia. Over the course of the Biden administration, Iran oil exports soared, boosting their economy. This is one the ways that terrorism was funded for Iran’s proxies across the Middle East. Trump’s key advisers are looking at a big sanctions package that Bloomberg says could blow a $30 billion hole in Iran’s economy –  equivalent of about 7% of Iran’s GDP. This could be a huge moment for the prospects of peace in the Middle East. A weakened Iran and proxies along with a strong Israel could be part of how the situation described in Ezekiel 38 could arise  – peace on the mountains of Israel. It has also been reported Trump’s oil policies are will be used to target Russia’s oil revenue – reducing oil prices can be used as leverage to end the war in Ukraine. Any deal that includes the Russian occupation of Ukraine’s territory will be an expansion of Russia’s territory.

The Houthis

The Trump administration also designated the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organisation. Joe Biden lifted this designation in 2021, but this has been restored. This demonstrates the incoming president’s stance on terrorism around the world and signals a much harder line being taken in the region. Once again, this could easily be a piece in the puzzle that leads to peace for the mountains of Israel. The fact the Houthis have been allowed to continue their attacks on Israel and shipping in the last year is ludicrous, considering their size and minuscule military strength.

Removal of Sanctions for Judeans!

On inauguration day, Trump gave a speech with recovered hostages from Gaza standing behind him – including Not Argamani who has become famous in the last year. He revoked Biden’s sanctions on certain Jews in Judea and Samaria, announced a halt to the funding of UNRWA (the UN relief and works agency) and restored his previous sanctions on the international criminal court. Biden had outrageously sanctioned five Israelis for “violent extremism” in February last year. In short, the vacillating weakness of the Biden administration has been replaced with the policy of peace through strength (and crazy threatening tweets) as endorsed by Trump. This combined strength from Israel and the US could be pivotal for the aforementioned situation of peace in the region.

Trump’s inauguration and the ceasefire in Gaza

A few days before the inauguration, the ceasefire in Gaza came into effect. The ceasefire consists of three phases:

Phase 1 – ceasefire, release of 33 hostages for 1900 Palestinian prisoners. Israel will leave populated areas but remain on the border and  in the Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors.
Phase 2 – A permanent ceasefire will be established with the remaining hostages being released for more Palestinian prisoners and Israeli forces will make a complete withdrawal.
Phase 3 – The bodies of dead hostages will be returned and the reconstruction of Gaza will begin.

While the Biden administration claimed took credit for establishing the ceasefire, this likely not a fair reflection of events.  The important fact of the ceasefire is that Trump will not criticise Israel for re-entering Gaza after phase 1 whereas Biden would have – this explains the timing of the deal. Israel can recover some hostages and then probably continue their war with Hamas. Once again, the strong backing of America behind Israel will bring about a much more favourable situation in Gaza for Israel. For the mountains of Israel to be at peace, we would expect the situation in Gaza to further calm down and reach a state of relative normalcy although it’s still unclear how this situation will be reached. A deal including the Saudis and the UAE to begin rebuilding Gaza seems like a strong possibility for the Trump Administration – this would bring further ties and stability to the region.

Summary

This has been an exciting week for Bible Prophecy – the hand of the angels have no doubt been at work to bring about the purpose of God in the earth. While we can see the nations aligning themselves as scripture foretold, we also remember that nothing further has to happen before the Saints, or believers in Christ are taken to be judged. The night is far spent and the day is at hand – we may not understand all of the events in the world around us but scripture gives us a clear framework for the latter days. The Jewish people have returned to the land against all the odds after thousands of years as so many of the prophets foretold. The Catholic nations of Russia and Europe will continue to align themselves against God’s people as the prophets foretold. The scene is being set for Armageddon and the return of the King of Israel to redeem his people and bring comfort to Zion.

This has been Daniel Blackburn joining you for this weeks edition of Bible in the News

https://edition.cnn.com/politics/tracking-trump-executive-orders-actions-dg/index.html (Note: 51 executive actions does not include nominations sent to the Senate, or pardons/grants of clemency, except when they were issued by proclamation)

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/