Tired of War…Longing for Peace

Tired of War…Longing for Peace

October 8, 2025

Host: Hon. Sam Rohrer

Guest: Chris Katulka

Note: This transcript is taken from a Stand in the Gap Today program aired on 10/08/25. To listen to the podcast, click HERE.

Disclaimer: While reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate transcription, the following is a representation of a mechanical transcription and as such, may not be a word for word transcript. Please listen to the audio version for any questions concerning the following dialogue.

Sam Rohrer:

Hello and welcome to this Wednesday edition of Stand In the Gap Today, and it’s also our bimonthly focus on Israel, the Middle East and biblical prophecy. And I’m glad to have back with me today on this emphasis. Chris Katulka, he’s Vice president of North American Ministries of the Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, and he is also host of the Friends of Israel Today radio program. He’s also a Bible teacher. As you’ve been listening before and you’ve heard him, you note that he’s also a writer for Israel, My Glory magazine, and he’s authored a book, Israel Always. Now that being established, let’s go into it here as we consider the headline news of today and the past week. Attention, as you all know, as you’re listening to me here right now, regardless of the world’s attention has shifted to the Middle East, the Gaza Strip, the Gaza area there, Hamas, and a potential peace plan proposed by Donald Trump at the White House made official then last Monday, September 29.

Now, during this past week, I’ve revealed here numerous aspects of this plan of the President’s plan, which are certainly creative. Many aspects are, some are, in my opinion, severely concerning and problematic. Some are potentially positive for the nation of Israel, and I’m going to say some are potentially harmful. Now, in the end, I’ve tended to describe this plan not so much as a plan for peace, as much as hundreds of billions of dollars worth of real estate development plan driven by money for money, and for a shifting power base just from one entity to another who’s going to actually control that area. Now, in the end, however, the plan has the world captivated and it is anticipating further negotiations underway as we speak regarding the plan. And for a moment anyways, seems to me enjoying a pause in wars and rumors of wars. Maybe they’re still happening and they are, but at least this kind of overshadows them for a moment. So today I’m going to talk with Chris Katulka about this plan and the implications and more the title have chosen to frame today’s conversation. Is this Tired of war, longing for peace, aren’t we all? Chris, welcome back to the program. Thanks for being with me,

Chris Katulka:

Sam. Thanks for having me again. I appreciate it.

Sam Rohrer:

Chris, we’re going to get into some of the details of what I’m going to put all these names in because they are Trump, Kushner, Witkoff, Dermer. Peace proposed in the next segments because they all have their fingerprints on it. But to get us started, I’d like to get your sense of the current attitude inside Israel today towards this potential peace plan. I know they’re tired of war. I know they want peace, but the enemies of Israel are all still alive and well. And regardless of what happens with this peace plan, they haven’t changed their attitude of hate towards Israel or the Jews or God’s plan for Israel in Jerusalem. So what does the average Israeli person think about this peace plan here right now? Are they hopeful, skeptical, or just a Trump media stunt? What did they think? Chris, where did you go? There you are, Chris.

Chris Katulka:

Oh, can you hear me?

Sam Rohrer:

Yeah, go ahead. Yes, we got you.

Chris Katulka:

Yeah, I think that they’re hopeful because they’ll grab on anything right now for peace, Sam. That’s the reality, is that the Israelis are hoping for peace in any way possible what they’re getting, they’re not getting any help from the United Nations when it comes to peace. They’re not getting any help from the other Western countries like UK and Canada and Australia and France, who have decided instead of trying to push a peace plan to recognize a Palestinian state, there’s really nobody that’s helping with this idea of trying to bring an end to the war. And so I do think when they look at the structure of what the 20 point peace plan is showing, I think any hope is good hope for them. But of course, it always comes with being hesitant about what the realities will be. Look, I think I recently saw that in an article that President Trump said to Netanyahu, why are you always so negative about these peace deals when it comes to the Palestinians?

He might’ve even used an expletive in there. But the reality is that Netanyahu and the Israelis know we’ve put forward peace plan after peace plan after peace plan after peace plan, and we get told, no, no, no, no. So we have a history of understanding what we’re dealing with here. So I think that the biggest thing, the big takeaway from all of this might not even be the end of the war. The big thing I think for Israelis is getting those hostages out. That is one of the most important things, Sam. I think it’s the hostages that are driving the conversation. And then once that’s done, I think then the questions are going to be what’s next for Hamas or for Israel?

Sam Rohrer:

I think that’s really good because that’s actually part of the negotiations going on right now. We’ll talk some more about that, but let throw this into it, the fall feast, we’ve talked about it before, but they’re underway. Feast of Trumpets was in September, Yom Kippur, we just passed. Now Succoth, which began yesterday, October 7th, extends for seven days. But interestingly, that was also the two year anniversary of the Hamas attack against which this whole thing, this whole peace discussion is surrounding. So here’s my question here. Inside Israel today, whether it’s by the religious observing Jews or whoever, is there a connection or is any of them making any connection between Succoth, which is actually a time of peace, and you can talk about that and perhaps the last two years of war and these current peace discussions, any connection being made at all?

Chris Katulka:

That’s a great question. I’ve not heard of anybody making a connection. Maybe you’ve heard something from somewhere, but Israelis and Jewish people around the world will take the next several days according to biblical law, to stop for a moment. And I really think the idea of Sukkoth biblically boils down to the three Ps. It’s remembering God’s provision for his people, his protection of his people, and his presence with his people. Those are the three Ps of Sukkoth or the Feast of Tabernacles. Again, it’s God’s provision, his protection and his presence. And that was the idea of what Sukkoth is all about. And really for the Jewish people globally, not just the Israeli people, but for the Jewish people globally, it’s a time of celebration. This is the last feast of the feast of Israel. The next one that will appear biblically, the next biblical feast is Passover.

In the spring. We know that Hanukkah and Purim are in there in between, but those aren’t technically Leviticus 23 feasts. And so this is the last of the biblical feasts according to Leviticus chapter 23. And so it’s a time of joy because God has provided for his people, and it’s not just a provision, Sam, it’s a provision of the good things in life because God already provided the wheat. God already provided the barley, now he’s providing the grapes, now he’s providing the figs, now he’s providing all the sweet things, the olives, all of those sweet things in life that we don’t deserve. It’s God’s provision for his people. It’s his protection, how he protected his people in the wilderness wandering. It’s a time of protection and in a time of his presence coming down to be with them.

Sam Rohrer:

And ladies and gentlemen, we’ve talked about it before, but the spring feast, if you recall, that starts with Passover, as Chris said, it’s all been fulfilled, has all to do with Christ’s first coming, the Fall Feast Fe of Trumpets and the Yom Kippur and Kot as we’re talking now, all relate to Christ’s second coming and all of those things, God’s provision will be manifested. Anyway, stay with us. We’ll continue as we look into now further aspects of the Peace Plan. Well, if you’re just joining us, this is a Wednesday program. As you know, it’s our bimonthly emphasis on Israel, the Middle East and biblical prophecy. And we have done that since nearly the inception of this program many years ago. And it’s because of the amount of emphasis that God places on Israel and the Middle East and biblical prophecy because it’s a fundamental part of God’s redemptive plan.

So when God himself puts so much attention on it in his word, we feel like why in the world would we put any less than that? So that’s why we do that. And my guest today is Chris, he’s vice president of North American Ministries of the Friends of Israel. They have a website, Israel my glory.org and the magazine they have, which many of you may get, is available I think at that site. And I’ll ask Chris in a little bit, share a little bit about that. But our theme today is this tired of war, longing for peace, and certainly doesn’t that describe increasingly the world, but really, really describes the Israeli people. And Chris, you talked about that in the other segment. So let’s move on into now the peace plan that offers some hope. But we’ll get into that here right now. But there’s a little bit of background, ladies and gentlemen, as I set this up here.

When it comes to the current Trump peace plan, there are many considerations that one could make. And if you’re reading out and about there, there’s lots of opinions by lots of people on a lot of different directions. For instance, one of them is if the plan would actually be formally agreed upon, which at this point it is not, even though Donald Trump last night talked like it was a done deal, but then backed off to express optimism for its success. I’ve read the 21 points or 20 points, they say 2021, it depends, but it’s so filled with if then conditions in my opinion, that it’s a framework designed to fail or impossible to measure even if agreed upon. But it’s certainly has the framework to continue delay, and most importantly, to prevent, I think either side from declaring complete victory, just like so many of the agreements led by Western politicians, whether it’s following World War one or two or the Korean War or the Vietnam War or the Afghanistan conflict, or the war in Iraq, or what’s happening now between Ukraine and Russia and between Russia and NATO as it may develop.

You know what I mean? So anyway, I’ll leave it there. But in the end, the agreement I believe is far more about economics because it does involve a mega billion dollar real estate development deal, which is a part of all of the arrangements with the Arab countries and Gaza. And it’s being arranged by Jared Kushner, who was the son-in-law of the president, wherein he is involved in a furtherance of his own business interests, which is multi-billion as well as the Trump Family real estate empire. And I have put out there because that is what the president said months ago was going to happen. We’re going to take Gaza, you’re going to give it to us, or we’re going to take it and we’re going to build a European style, middle East, Riviera, all of those things are still in the mix, so you can’t drop them from the table, which is why I say it’s more real estate than peace, but peace is what’s getting the attention.

Now, that being said, Chris, from a policy or a political military perspective, there are those in Israel who some are happy, hopeful, as you said, be it in the last segment, but there are some who are not happy because for instance, it prohibits Israel from annexing, Judea and Samaria. Another thing is if Hamas agrees fully and other things happen in that agreement, it still recognizes a two-state solution, a Palestinian state of some type, and it requires Israel to release up to 250 of the very worst of the worst Hamas leaders who are now in Israeli jail. So there’s a lot of things, and what it does is it prevents Israel from finishing the job in declaring victory, although there is also a provision if the Hamas does not allow it, then Trump has said Israel, then you go in and you clean them out. So I’m not sure what will happen. People have opinions on that, but what’s your sense about how the peace plan actually helps Israel to achieve lasting peace, or in your opinion, does it hurt the effort to really achieve peace?

Chris Katulka:

Well, I appreciate this conversation and I just want to say, if I can go back really quick, I agree with your concept about the economics of peace, Sam, because if you actually talk to some rationally minded Palestinians, I’m thinking of an individual named Bassem Eid, who’s actually a Palestinian human rights activist, but supports Israel and the Jewish people, he’ll say, if you want to bring peace between Israelis and Palestinians, it’s got to be economic. It can’t just be talking points, it’s got to be economic. And so I agree with you on what you’re saying there when it comes to the idea of economics. But when you’re saying, can this actually work, can this create lasting peace? I’m sorry to say, all of these deals have only ever put Israel back in the same place again. Now, I do think the 20 point Peace plan that’s been laid out does pressure Hamas to say, if you don’t come to the table, we’re done with this, you’re going to return the hostages.

If you don’t do that, then guess what? We’re done with you and Israel’s going to go in and finish this job. That of course, that’s a nice opportunity for Israel to have the open door to be able to finish Hamas once and for all. I think in the past peace plans of the past might’ve even limited Israel on their response. The one thing I give credit to the 20 point peace plan for is at least it leaves open the opportunity to say, Hey, look, if you don’t come to the table, then Israel’s going to finish the job. And I give them a hundred percent support to do that. That’s a big one that I don’t want to overlook. But then again, all of it is designed. I’m thankful at the end of the day, I’m thankful when you get to the very bottom of the peace plan, I’m thankful that it doesn’t say we will recognize a two state solution.

We will recognize a Palestinian state. It just uses nice words like it’ll start a conversation about a Palestinian state, almost like the Oslo Accords of the nineties. And so again, I only think it ever draws us back to where we were before with peace and of course with the annexation of Judea Samaria. Or maybe if your listeners are going, what is that? That’s the West Bank when it comes to the annexation, I think if Hamas had never gone to war with Israel, I don’t think Trump would bat an eye at the idea of it. But now that he has to work with nations like Qatar and nations like Saudi Arabia and Egypt, in order to bring some type of peace between the Israelis and Hamas, I think now Judeas Samaria is on the table. It’s got to be a part of the conversation, and I guarantee the Qataris are playing hardball and saying, we’re not going to bring Hamas to the table unless you get these Israelis out of Judea, Samaria. We don’t even want to have that conversation. And I think that’s when Trump goes, okay, I think Trump is riding the line between the Qataris and the Egyptians and the Israelis, and I think he’s listening. So instead of having conviction like he did with Jerusalem in its first term and conviction about the Golan Heights, he’s playing the middle line to try to win that deal. That’s his goal right now is to win this deal.

Sam Rohrer:

Alright, as I said in the beginning, it has benefits, potential, there are drawbacks and one could easily say, well, that’s the way peace negotiations are because you have a lot of different personal goals, ideological goals, all those kinds of things that are all wrapped up into this. But let me ask you this, do you think it’s an issue when there’s a flat ultimatum given by our country, which is not Israel? And of course we know the relationship. Our nation is obviously very, very important to Israel, but when we tell them, look, you will not annex Judea Samari, which is the heartland of Israel, even our ambassador, their Huckabee was public about urging Israel to annex the West Bank, Judea, Samaria. But then the president came out and said, you absolutely will not almost like over my dead body type thing. So is that an issue or not?

Chris Katulka:

Yeah, it’s always been, I’m telling you, Judea, Samaria, the West Bank, it’s always been the issue. And so I think personally, Trump was stuck in a moment where he had to voice what I think is actually the Qatari side of the conversation. I don’t know what it will look like when the peace plan is done and a few years move on if peace does come and the conversation could change because the peace deal’s done. You mentioned that if then conditions, and I’m telling you it’s very difficult to nail down Donald Trump when it comes to these peace plans. This isn’t a normal style of acquiring peace. And so what will his opinion be in two or three years? Additionally, I think the Israeli people will make their own decision. I think especially as governments change, I don’t think Netanyahu will be around, of course forever. But as governments change, it’s a very conservative government right now.

And the reason that we’re even talking about annexing Judea and Samaria is because Netanyahu has a very, very religious coalition. And so they want to annex the average Israeli. I don’t believe they necessarily want to get involved in, because it already is a problem for their conversation globally. And they know this only creates more animosity toward Israel. And so I think the average Israeli is looking going, look, I don’t even want to play around with the Judaism area. And I think Netanyahu has a government that’s saying, no, we want in there because remember, they’re vastly religious and you’ve got Huckabee in there, like you were saying, who is willing to oversee the annexation of it? I think it will be become an Israeli decision overall as time goes forward.

Sam Rohrer:

And it just underscores, doesn’t it? The challenge about the Middle East and ultimately Jerusalem, the heart of Israel just becoming a burdensome stone that the nations of the world would like to solve it, but they can’t. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s the reminder. Ultimately, the problems surrounding all of this will be resolved, but it’s not going to be right now that we know biblically. Now, when it come back, we’re going to go further and talk about there are other enemies around Israel. What are they doing? What are they responding? Well, welcome back to Stand in the Gap today, and again, our guest today is Chris with the Friends of Israel. And Chris, just before I go into this program, can our listeners, if they want to get a free subscription, at least it was at one point to Friends of Israel Magazine, can they do that?

Chris Katulka:

Yeah, if they go to our website, Israel my glory.org, they will see a subscribe option there. And that subscribe option will give them a one year free subscription to our award-winning Christian magazine. And this is a great opportunity for somebody who might be listening and they want to learn more about what God says about Israel in the midst of everything going on. Or maybe they’re Israel pros. Wherever you are, you can go to Israel my glory.org. And if you go to actually Israel my glory.org/subscribe, it will take you right to the page and there you can get your one year free subscription to Israel, my Glory if you’ve never subscribed before.

Sam Rohrer:

Okay, excellent. We’ll get that again, Israel, my glory, forg. Alright, let’s go further into this because you’ve got the peace plan and we’ve talked about that internal Israel response, hopeful, skeptical, which is what he said. The President referred to Netanyahu. Why are you always as skeptical? Well, that’s because that’s what history shows, and so it’s logical, but let’s talk about some of Israel’s enemies around them because there are other nations that are involved. When the President talked about laying this thing out, it also anticipated economic relationships with Iran, and he had mentioned Iran by name, but the Saudis, the Qatari, the Egypt and all of that. But as of this morning, this day here on Wednesday, further negotiations regarding the Peace Plan were underway. And so ladies and gentlemen, you may or may not be aware, but this is what was happening. They were going to be taking place in Egypt and US Envoy, Steve Whitcoff Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner and White House Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, those three individuals of the three who crafted the peace plan to which the president put his name.

That’s the deal. That’s what’s happening. And into that, then those three have brought Tony Blair from the UK and Tony Blair globalist from years past, and Donald Trump will be co-chairs of a peace committee more or less, that are a part of this. So this is an unusual arrangement, but that being the case, these guys are all on their way to Egypt. Actually. They’re there and they’ve been working on it, but also joining them were delegations from Egypt, which is where they’re holding Egypt, but then also Qatar, Qatar, Turkey as well. And expectations are, I’m going to say like Greece that kind of slide around at will because each of these individuals all in their trying to get their own objectives. And that’s why the president said maybe there will be an agreement Thursday or Friday, and then Trump saying perhaps he’s going to wait until Sunday to give them. So you understand there’s a lot happening. Alright, Chris, as I’ve addressed this issue many times on this program, but when it comes to peace between Israel and her enemies, because it goes ideological, it goes historical. Do you see anything in this proposed Kushner Witkoff peace deal that actually addresses any root causes?

Chris Katulka:

Maybe, maybe a little bit. There’s conversation about the idea of ensuring that future generations of Palestinian children are not educated to hate Israel and the Jewish people, especially funded through the United Nations. United Nations, which is the UNRA, their works and relief agency. And that is a big issue because the issue is that these children are raised to hate Israel. And so there is an aspect within this deal to say, we’re not going to allow future generations to continue to lie about the Jewish people in Israel. Because really the root cause deep down that is a little tiny aspect of maybe a little sign of hope of dealing with the root cause. But the real root cause is antisemitism, the hatred of the Jewish people. I’ve said this on your program before that Israel, the irony of this entire war is that Israel gave the Palestinians this land for peace, and they are the ones who instead elected Hamas to then become their mouthpiece, if you will, for hatred towards the very people that gave them the land to build something on.

And so they ended up becoming the Gaza became the launchpad of hate toward Israel. What’s the root cause of all of that? What is the very thing that created that? I mean, that’s why it’s like a movie. It’s a sci-fi almost. It feels out of this world. The idea of the root cause is actually just embedded in Islamism of a hatred toward the Jewish people. You can’t make a peace deal in this kind of ideology. They’re in our land. They must be kicked out. This is the same ideology that goes back to 1947 when the original two state solution was proposed by the UN Partition Plan, UN resolution 180 1. That was the original two state solution. Israel said yes, the Arab world said never and in fact went to war to try to push the Jews into the sea. It’s vastly different to have these two sides, these two parties at the end of the table, that Israelis who have worked tirelessly, I believe over the years to try to establish peace and to sacrifice so much for peace. And on the other side, in ideology Hamas, the Constitution demands the death of Jews and the elimination of Israel. Those are two different ways of trying to approach peace. That’s not peace. And those are very different angles. And so what is the root cause? Again, deep down it’s antisemitism, it’s the belief that the Jews are in the land and they must be taken out. Honestly, I hope that I might sound pessimistic. I’m optimistic in Christ.

Sam Rohrer:

There you go.

Chris Katulka:

Yep. I’m optimistic in Christ. I agree with you when it comes to annexing, Judean, Samaria, Jesus will do that in the future. But right now, how does it look? The same has looked since 1948. And so again, I remain optimistic in Christ pessimistic toward the way that this deal’s going to play out because I think it looks like a lot of other deals. The only thing that is hopeful to me is that Trump says, if you don’t come to the table, if you do not begin the conversation, I’m out of the picture and I’m actually giving Israel the ability. I’m handing them the baton to take care of you once and for all.

Sam Rohrer:

And Chris, I look at that and I say, at the end of the day, you and I, we agree, and then we talk about it on this program. At the end of the day, we have faith in Christ. We have hope in what God’s plan is because we know that even in the midst of when we look at things day by day, week by week, and we see these things unfold and there’s a hopeful aspect, we know that ultimately the hope is going to be in Jesus Christ when he comes back. But there’s a lot of work to be done that he said is going to happen here in the seven year tribulation period, which has not yet begun, but it looks like it could be at the door in which he will bring back Israel. But the world does not agree that Jesus Christ is God, including most of the Jews, the ruling body anyways, the Israel who’s in the land, even now by unbelief, they don’t even agree that Jesus is God, Yeshua.

So there are a lot of things there happen. But with that in mind, I want to go back to here because some of the participants in these negotiations in Egypt right now are clearly established in their own mind what they have said. For instance, Turkey Egypt has a wavering peace agreement, more or less with Israel, but they’ve been lining up their own military on the southern side as of a couple weeks ago. But turkeys weighed in. They want to become the new Ottoman Empire, and they are aggressors in this Islamic ideology of total destruction for Israel. So this question, how do you envision the goals of Turkey? And Qatar doesn’t love Israel. They’ve agreed to participate here, but they’ve been friends of Hamas. So we got enemies in there trying to make deals on that. What do you think about these enemies like particularly a Turkey who’s trying to emerge as the leader of the forces against Israel?

Chris Katulka:

You have to imagine when you are a party invited to these conversations, that means your opinion is valued and your position is valued. So having a seat at the table gives you power because here we are talking about them. Now we’re talking about the fact that turkey’s involved, Qatar is involved, Egypt is involved. Now, I’ll just say about Egypt. Egypt, it’s a very interesting relationship with Israel because in a diplomatic way, Egypt has a peace deal with Israel. But when you go to Main Street Egypt, they’re very antisemitic and they’re very anti-Israel. So again, it’s two different worlds. One is a diplomatic relationship. Yes, we have this peace deal that goes back to the late seventies, early eighties, but then at the same time, main Street hates Israel. So that’s one thing. The Qataris have never had a relationship with Israel and Turkey who once was secular, like you said, is now rising into this Islamic position because of President Erdogan who is pushing for this Islamic approach.

And he’s the one that’s even saying things like Israel is committing genocide and it needs to stop. So the people that are sitting at the table are speaking lives against Israel. So the parties that are involved, especially Turkey, they were willing to even, he threatened the president of Turkey, threatened to send troops down to Gaza to push the Israelis back. I mean, that could have started a major regional war for Israel beyond just dealing with the terrorists, the proxies of Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah. But again, I think Turkey is doing its best to push its agenda and Turkey always rides that awkward line, Sam, and you know that they are connected to Europe in some way and they’re connected to the Middle East in some way and they’re losing the West influence and they’re moving more towards the east and it doesn’t bode well for Israel In the meantime.

Sam Rohrer:

And ladies and gentlemen, we see all these things like Chris just said, like we’re talking. But does clarity come out of the word of God? It sure does because it talks even about this alignment of these nations. So again, we see what’s happening, we have a hope for the moment, but we know that hope comes when Christ will returned and he will. We’ll conclude now, peace and safety, the prophetic will implicate. Well, as we enter into our final segment here today, as I started the program by saying we focus regularly on Israel, the Middle East and biblical prophecy, because the Bible does that is what the word of God is all about, God’s plan of redemption. Because sin came into the world. God put forward a plan of redemption. And in that was the fact that a Messiah would come God’s son, a sacrifice sufficient to pay the penalty for sin, which is death.

That was the son of God. And they came through Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and the Jewish people. And that first coming did happen and it did occur. And now 2000 year later, we sit here with God’s plan continuing on right on track, but it’s not possible to understand what’s taking place around us for the world who well rejects God or like the Satan himself hates God and is in rebellion to God and God’s plan. You see rebellion against God, his plan and his plan, which includes the Jewish people and what will take place. So all of those things that has to be fit together biblically. We can understand this, but I want to conclude here by looking a little bit at some of the prophetical parts. We’ve mentioned some of that already, but let me take you to a couple verses here. According to the book of Daniel chapter nine, verse 27, for example, a time and a very likely, very soon time, our time, some man will arise and he shall according to that verse, confirm the covenant, the promise with many for one week.

So in agreement then it goes on and says, this reference, we know from other scriptures who’s going to do that? Well, he is going to be the man of sin initially welcomed scripture says by he seems to have some power that comes with him. Clearly he’s eloquent, likely a politician, maybe a business leader, but he’s a leader. And he later will confirm himself to actually be the antichrist. So he comes on the scene as a deceiver. He brings with him at that time some obvious power base that he controls because he either guarantees protection or he threatens someone somehow with some degree of believability. But he brings this concept of peace, which he affirms a structure that’s in place. He’s a man that we know from scripture is characterized as speaking with great and swelling words. He’s persuasive, he’s mesmerizing and full of deception. At some point he presents a peace agreement, refers to something that’s already there, and he affirms, which is what scripture says, and Israel maybe just like today, tired of war, longing for peace, they’re going to agree to it and this agreement will then start the tribulation period.

But this agreement will be enforced for the final seven years, so to speak, of the human civilization prior to the second coming of Christ and the millennial kingdom, which is when we will finally have a ruler in place, Jesus Christ himself, who will rule with a rod of iron from Jerusalem. And then all of the prophetical aspects we know about in scripture will actually come to bear. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. That’s in that setting. So with that, in case we look and say, hmm, biblical references we see merge the politics and the geopolitics of our day with biblical prophecy. So alright, Chris, other Bible verses such as, for instance, one Thessalonians five, three says, for when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as a travail upon a woman with child. And that verse ties directly to the word Jesus used in Matthew 24, 8, where he says to his disciples that this talk of peace in the midst of great deception and wars and rumors of wars and pestilence, earthquakes and all of that, the New American standard actually says this way.

But all of these things are merely the beginning of birth Pang. So the birth pangs travail upon a woman with child all tied together all in this concept of peace and safety, which are exactly the same words that the President used when he proposed his priest’s plan on Monday. And it’s the exact words that the United Nations said when they condemned Israel and put forward a two state solution. They used peace and security pretty much the same. But anyway, connecting the dots of current affairs with Bible facts, that’s what it’s about now. So here it is. How are you as a believer and how do you think Messianic Jews who understand the Jewish mindset but have embraced it, just show how are they in viewing these events today?

Chris Katulka:

Yeah, well I’m glad that you brought up these both the verse from Daniel Old Testament and the verse from Paul and the New Testament and Jesus and the gospels when it talks about the idea of peace and safety or establishing a covenant of peace, some type of covenantal relationship between Israel and the nations. And I can’t help at the moment I was hearing about this peace plan, I couldn’t help but hear the phrase that President Trump said that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up that he wants to establish a board of peace. And I go, this is almost straight from the scriptures when it comes to biblical prophecy. And I called my colleague who is a Jewish believer, and we talked about it and really, I don’t know who is going to sit on this board of peace or run this board of peace, but if this board of peace is an ongoing board, then it only establishes an opportunity for this covenant to be made.

And maybe people have been saying for thousands of years that Jesus could come back at any moment. And it was true. But we live in such a unique time. The thing that sets this apart, especially for Jewish believers and believers alike, is I always tell the church, I don’t know when Jesus is coming back. I don’t know when he’s going to rapture the church. I don’t know. And it’s not our job to know, but you can kind of get an idea of the signs of the times that are going on. And the big one for me all the time, Sam, is this, if we’re living in the splash section of biblical prophecy, Israel is back in the land and they’re dealing with issues of peace and security and peace and safety. And the Jewish people in Israel, the Israelis long for peace. You can hear it in their cries.

You can see in the ways that they’ve attempted to establish peace over the years. And yet you can see this tension that they’re living in constantly in their neighborhood. And all of it is, I believe, building itself up to this moment where the antichrist will establish a peace plan. And so when you are looking at the events that are surrounding Israel, Israel is at war. Even though it’s a powerhouse in the Middle East right now, it’s just a powerhouse. It still has neighbors around it that don’t like them. As you were talking about the alliances of Gog, of Mego from Ezekiel 38 and 39, they’re becoming more present and more of a reality every day that we see take place. So the regional war that the prophet had talked about, Israel’s regathering to the land, Jewish people are moving back to the land in record numbers because of the antisemitism that is rising all around the world and there’s a desire for peace.

And then all of a sudden you hear this phrase, a board of peace and what is that between Israel and I would even say the broader Middle East. And that to me, it kicks off a warning signs, the signs of the, as Jesus said, when it comes to biblical prophecy. Again, I always like to be very hesitant to remind the listeners, you have to do your own biblical study. Please don’t listen to me. Look at the scriptures yourself. I always, at Friends of Israel, we always try to be very, very responsible with biblical prophecy, but also taking into consideration the signs of the times. And we’re seeing some interesting things right now.

Sam Rohrer:

Amen. Amen. And Chris, what a great way to close up the program today. Thanks for being with us today. Chris Katulka, vice President of North American Ministries of the Friends of Israel. They have a website. You can go to Israel my glory.com. Thanks for being with me today. God bless you and all that you guys are doing. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for being with us today. I hope that you were encouraged as we try to connect the dots of that which is happening around us through the lens of scripture. And when you do that, boy, things do come into focus, don’t they.