God’s Eternal Plan & The Unfolding End Times Alignment of Nations

God’s Eternal Plan & The Unfolding End Times Alignment of Nations

Host: Hon. Sam Rohrer

Guest: Dr. Carl Broggi

Note: This transcript is taken from a Stand in the Gap Today program aired on 8/26/26. 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. I’m Sam Rohrer, and I’m glad that you’ve joined us as we look and examine the rapidly moving events of our day with the news reports, as we often say, the newspaper in one hand, it’s no longer the newspaper as much, but the news reports in one hand and the word of God in the other. And joining me on the program today is a longtime friend and faithful teacher of God’s word, Dr. Carl Broggi. Dr. Broggi served as a senior pastor and serves there as the senior pastor of Community Bible Church in Beaufort, South Carolina. Since 1990 he’s been there and he is the voice behind the National Radio Ministry of Search the Scriptures. Now, today we’re going to link two essential truths.

Stay with us because I think this program today will be very, very helpful. We’re going to link two essential truths. First is God’s eternal plan for nations and the quickly changing alignment of nations that we’re witnessing every day, those two things. The title I’ve chosen to frame our conversation today is this, God’s eternal plan and the unfolding end times alignment of nations. Now, if you open up a newspaper or you go to your digital news feed, whatever you look at, or you turn on the news of any type today, it feels like the geopolitical global chess board is being forcefully shaken and reset. In reality, I’m going to suggest, I believe it’s being more supernaturally aligned right before our eyes. The movement and the realigning of nations is happening at a speed never before seen. For instance, historical security data, this is late data as of today.

It confirms that armed conflicts within and between nations have reached their highest level since World War II, averaging between 60 and 65 active state-based conflicts occurring at any moment, that’s today. Conflicts and wars and rumors of wars are accelerating in both quantity and velocity while global economic and defense alliances are being completely reset. Wars are no longer isolated regional events because due to instant global communications, proxy alliances and economic integration, local conflicts instantly trigger global supply chain disruptions, mass migration events, cyber warfare and regional escalation risks. I’m going to identify just a couple of these to prove this point and to set the stage for today’s program. Here’s a couple of the more prominent examples that are happening. First, one of them is the development of the BRICS nations about which we’ve talked many times. Now close to about 40 nations actually waiting in line to join this group.

What are they about? Well, they are seeking to culminate their efforts to divorce themselves from the US dollar and what they term to be US dollar servitude. And they are by so doing rejecting the America of today. Secondly, here’s another one, this is developing and that is NATO and the Western alliances as we’ve been known are experiencing unprecedented strain and reshaping as we speak. Thirdly, of course, over the last couple of years, and we’ve talked about it much in this program, long-term treaties are now in place directly between Iran and Russia, Iran and China, Russia and China and North Korea. And they’re all also directly aligning against the United States and frankly Israel, who the world today increasingly views Israel and the United States together as a single hegemony and enemy of the world. Lastly, the newest and greatly disturbing taking us to the Middle East is the alarming alignment of Middle East nations motivated by the US Israeli war with Iran referred to as the Mecca joint defense agreement, which is aligning the Arab and the Muslim world of Saudi Arabia and Turkey along with nuclear armed Pakistan into that at Bangladesh, Syria, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the likelihood of the nations of Egypt and Iran are today in the discussion as perhaps joining them.

And with that, I welcome you, Carl, to the program. Thanks for having me back.

Carl Broggi:

Thanks for having me, Sam. Great to be with you today.

Sam Rohrer:

Okay. I took a little longer time to set that all up, but where I want to go with this, Carl, because you’ll have more time to explain during the program, but when we see these things aligning, these alignment of nations, and I just mentioned a few, but these are big ones that I just mentioned, are these shifting dynamics just standard, put it this way, diplomatic, maneuvering, or are we witnessing, as you look at scripture and the events of the day, the actual structural setup for the world order foretold in scripture?

Carl Broggi:

Well, I think your line there, the structural setup is a good statement because people’s tendency, Sam, is to say, “Oh, this event here is Ezekiel 38, or this is Revelation 16.” And the Bible does not tell us that every change that happens in international affairs is a direct prophetic fulfillment. But what it does tell us is that as we move to the end of time and the second coming of Christ, the world is going to become more and more internationally aligned. They’re going to be connected economically, militarily, and ultimately the Bible teaches that they’re going to be connected in opposition to God and really ultimately towards Israel. So what we do know is that the Bible’s prophetic picture is not merely about isolated nations fighting isolated wars, but in the end they’re going to come together. Psalm two, we all love it. The kings of the earth take their stand, the rulers take counsel against the Lord and against his anointed.

In Zechariah 12 pictures that the pinpoint opposition will be against the people of Jerusalem, which represent the nation of Israel. And Revelation 16 tells us that all the kings of the whole world are going to be gathered against Israel in that coming day. So these things are definitely a setup for a prophetic fulfillment.

Sam Rohrer:

Okay. And with that, about a minute left before we get here, here’s the why. You’re talking about the what. Okay, we’re watching the what and scripture gives indication. We’re going to talk more about that ladies and gentlemen, so stay with us. But here’s the why. Why should all true Bible believers be interested in watching these things?

Carl Broggi:

When Jesus told us to watch and to look, and I think among other things, it gives us a sense of confidence that history is not out of control, that God is sovereign. It gives us, I think, a sense of urgency that we have a limited period of time in which to share the gospel and people desperately need to know how they can be forgiven. But ultimately it gives us a great hope. It’s called the blessed hope because the ultimate outcome is already known. God’s going to scoop his people off the earth and ultimately Jesus will come back and Israel’s enemies will not win, the antichrist will not win, Satan will not win, and the Lord Jesus wins. And so that’s the good news.

Sam Rohrer:

And ladies and gentlemen, it is the good news. At the end of the day, have you ever thought about this? Why did God establish things called nations and kingdoms? Does God have a plan? Is there a purpose? Of course the answer is yes, because God’s all about order and purpose, but we’ll talk about that part of it when we come back in the next segment and understanding this theme we’re talking about today, God’s eternal plan and the unfolding end times alignment of nations. Thanks for being on board today. This is our bimonthly focus, which we’ve done for almost since we began this program many, many years ago on every other Wednesday focusing on, well, something that God focuses on, that’s why we do it, Israel, the Middle East and biblical prophecy. And today our theme is this, God’s eternal plan and the unfolding end times alignment of nations.

And within this, all of those three are going to connect and you will see Israel, the Middle East and biblical prophecy. My guest today again is Dr. Carl Broggi, has a website at searchthescriptures.org and I’ll give that again as we get further into the program. But in the last segment, segment one, we established the fact that the staggering reality of today’s headlines, we can’t run from it. It ranges from the multipolar, which is the word that’s used to describe where we’re going, the economic push of the Brix nations as an example, to the defense alignments, now bridging Sunni powers, nuclear powered Pakistan and the wider Islamic world taking place in the Middle East as we speak and we need to keep our eyes on that development which is occurring there. But as believers, we have to ask, since we know that all authority is established and ranked by God under God to be his ministers, as Romans 13 makes very clear, a logical question a lot of people don’t consider, and we’re going to talk about it now, and that is this, why do nations exist in the first place?

Was it man’s idea? Why nations? Why kingdoms? And for what divine purposes do nations and kingdoms and all ordered authority exist? Understanding God’s intended purpose for government helps us to more clearly, I think, evaluate the chaotic alignment of world powers we’re increasingly seeing, the rise of wicked nations and evil rulers and rebellion generally against the God of heaven, just as initiated by Satan himself and then acted upon by Adam and Eve in the garden and thereby to all of us. So Carl, considering our focus here for this segment, nations within God’s purposes and plan, why do nations exist in the first place and for what divine purposes do nations, kingdoms and all ordered authority exist?

Carl Broggi:

Well, that’s such an important question, Sam, because if we don’t understand that, we can’t see what’s happening in the world. And some people think, well, these are just things that evolved and they’re accidental, but they’re not. It’s by the hand of a sovereign God. And the passage that immediately comes to my mind is in Acts 17, Paul is in Athens. He’s preaching to really some raw pagans up on Mars Hill. And he says, “And he made from one man, Adam, every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation.” So he’s underscoring many purposes for the nations. First, God is the one who establishes human government, and he does so for a reason. After the flood in Genesis nine, God for the first time has human government. He allows them to punish evil.

Romans 13 echoes the same truth that it’s needed in order to restrain evil. Nobody would want to live in a country or a city or a state where there’s no authority to restrain evil. So that’s one of the functions. But two, the fact that there are nations that divides the world is very, very important because in the opening of Genesis nine, the people don’t want to do what God says. God commanded them be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. And then the people will say, I’m here in Genesis nine, he says, “Come let us build for ourselves Genesis 11, a city and a tower whose top will reach into heaven and let us make for ourselves a name. Otherwise, we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” That’s what God wanted. That’s what they did not want. And so when you don’t have these borders, you have basically collective evil coming together that can exasperate what God has.

And so what does God do? He steps in, babble, confusion. He divides them by language. He divides them geographically. So number one, nations are established to provide order and nations really show that God is sovereign. Daniel echo this truth that it’s God who changes the times and the epics. He is the one who removes kings. He establishes kings. We think we do. By the way we vote, we have a role with God in that, but he is ultimately over it. The most high is over all of human kind. And so then third, I would just say that God has a purpose for the nations that we might seek him. He says again here in Acts 17, Paul will say that they should seek God if perhaps they might grope for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

And so God has in view salvation. He said to Abraham and you, all the nations of the world will be blessed. And in Revelation seven, you see people from every nation and tribe and people in tongue standing before the God, before God’s throne. So he wants to provide order. He wants to stop evil. He demonstrates that he’s sovereign and ultimately he wants to bring people to himself. And so that’s some of the broad strokes as to why God has nations.

Sam Rohrer:

That’s great, Carl. And one thing that I learned when I was in office, Carl, was I went to Romans 13 and verse six where minister of God there is the Greek word like turgos, literally leader in worship. And then that ties back to what you’re saying that ultimately the purpose of authority, ladies and gentlemen, government, civil, authority within the home, parents, authority within the workplace, the employer, those who understand and have committed and submitted themselves to the God of heaven and ranked authority, what will they do? They will lead people to the worship of God. All right. Now that being the case, let’s go back to Daniel. You mentioned that Carl, because when looking at God’s plan for nations, you have the purposes there and the why, knowing that he raises up and he puts down. Back in the book of Daniel, and you’ve preached on this many times in your church, but nebuchadnezzar there given a dream of a statue where he was at the top, went to Daniel.

Tell me what this means. Daniel had to have an angel help him. And then of course it laid out a vision of the kingdoms of the world. Explain that and how understanding that help us to understand perhaps what we’re witnessing today.

Carl Broggi:

Yeah. So the king has this dream and he’s bothered by it. He calls all the wise men and he says, “Interpret my dream.” They say, “Well, tell us and we’ll interpret it.” And he knows they’re just going to blow smoke. And he said, “You tell me my dream first and then interpret it.” And no one can do it. He threatens them with death. And so Daniel with his friends seek the God of heaven. God gives him the dream and then he interprets it and he kind of walks through the major parts of human history. He says, Nebuchadnezzar, you’re the head of gold. You’re the start of this statue and it represents Babylon. And then he describes the chest and arms of silver that follow with Medo-Persia and it’s perfect fit as history underscores. And then a belly and thighs of bronze that pictures Greece, that rules over the whole earth.

And you see Alexander the Great coming in ever before he’s born and he does exactly what the dream says. Then the legs of iron that picture Rome, they’re strong as iron, which pictures the extraordinary power and the opposition in which they will crush all that, don’t like them. And then in the end, you have this feet of toes where it’s partly iron and partly clay. And it ultimately pictures this 10 nation coalition that the revelation further expands and Daniel seven will expand in which one will take precedence over the 10. And he’s known in the New Testament as the antichrist. But the point of the whole vision is that human kingdoms come and go, but God’s kingdom is forever and ever and ever. Babylon came, it went. Medial Persia came, it went. Greece came, it went. Rome came and went. And every subsequent kingdom and empire will ultimately pass away.

And so Daniel then goes on and Daniel two, and here it is in verse 35. And he says, he speaks of this great stone, which if our listeners know the dream, it represents the Lord Jesus, a great mountain that filled the whole earth. And so God is going to ultimately rule. And so I know we can look at things like BRICS and the European Union and NATO and China and Russia, and some of these specifically are highlighted in the Bible as having prophetic significance. But the bottom line is that history is not a collection of random political events, that history is what we used to say is his story. God raises up kingdoms, he removes them, but ultimately God will replace every human kingdom with the kingdom of his son. And so we don’t have to be frightened. We can rest in that great truth.

Sam Rohrer:

Okay. Just in the remaining time here, those nations envisioned in that statue, the ones that you mentioned, the ones that Daniel explained, were Gentile nations. What was the significance of those Gentile nations then leading up to the time of Christ, to his second coming as it relates to Israel? Why wasn’t Israel among that list?

Carl Broggi:

Well, it’s interesting because Daniel tells the vision, he expands it with the four beasts in Daniel seven, and it’s in reference to how these nations will ultimately interplay against Israel. They’re in Babylon. It seems like God has abandoned Israel. And one of the great truths of the book of Daniel is no, I’m going to use Israel. I’m going to use your people, Daniel, to culminate human history. And so all of these nations in the end go against Israel and this great massive beast that is unbelievable, we call him in the New Testament, again, antichrist, he’s under 30 some titles, but he ultimately will go against Israel, but God wins in the end. That’s the good news.

Sam Rohrer:

So ladies and gentlemen, God’s eternal plan, see how that fits? God has an eternal plan, works through nations and kingdoms as they relate to Israel, as Israel relates to them. When we come back, we’re going to take and expand further upon this as we focus on the idea of nations and then the end times align. We’re going to go to what does the Bible say about the nations that we know will be aligning in our day? Well, as we enter into segment three here now, looking back to the last segment, we examined then the foundational purpose of nations and civil governance within, well, the author of all of that, God, in his sovereign framework. That included the historic sequence of Gentile kingdoms as revealed in Daniel’s vision coming out of the vision that was given to Nebuchadnezzar. Now in segment three, we’re going to turn our focus to nations within that broader concept, understanding God, author, raising up, putting down who he will, even including the rulers within nations, having established nations and their geographical boundaries.

Acts 17 talks about that. So within all of that, we’re going to go into how we then look at where we are right now because between Romans 13 and Acts 17, as I just referenced and Dr. Broggi talked about in the last segment, the Apostle Paul there makes very clear that God has laid out the nations and they’re very geographical boundaries, very specific for what purpose? For his purpose. And we know all of them revolve around a couple of things. One, his holy city of Jerusalem, which is God’s city called that in scripture, his covenant nation, Israel, and his chosen people, the Jews. And scripture warns that in the final era of human history, global powers will coalesce into strategic regional alliances, ultimately kind of standing together as one collective group, but the commonality, hostility to God and opposition to that which is chosen of God, Jerusalem, Jewish people, Israel, and centered around the land of Israel.

That’s why we talk about here on this program, Israel, the Middle East and biblical prophecy. You cannot get away from it in the reading of scripture. So today, as we watch defense packs forming across the Islamic world, the economic consolidation of the Brix nations and the anti-Western coalitions uniting Iran, Russia, China and North Korea, and they’re aligning against the United States and primarily against Israel. But we’re there for now. And for a lot of the reasons, you can say whatever you want, it’s happening. And the alignment of nations is mirroring, in my opinion, as I look at scripture, the precise prophetic footprints laid out thousands of years ago in God’s word. And so that brings us to this, Carl, as we examine these key end at times prophecies. A lot of discussion about the Northern Coalition of Ezekiel eight and 39 and the regional alliances described in Daniel and Revelation, the Kings of the East and all of those kind of things.

From your perspective, as you’re looking at it, how should this specific modern realignment such as what we’re seeing today, right now, just now being formed, the Mecca joint defense agreement and the Russia-Iran-China axis, how do we look at these things in light of what scripture tells us?

Carl Broggi:

Well, what’s so fascinating to me, Sam, is that for the very first time in human history, we have these geopolitical relationships that bear such a close resemblance to what we read in scripture. We don’t have the 10 nation package yet that will develop after the church is raptured, but we have all the pieces forming for this coming world of kingdom because when he speaks to the final kingdom before Jesus comes in Daniel seven, I’ve turned there, it says, “The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms, and it will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it.” We’ve never had any world government, but very often what has to happen before prophecy is fulfilled, the stage has to be set. For instance, the prophet David, most people don’t think of him as a prophet, but a thousand years before Christ, he spoke of Messiah having his hands and feet pierced.

Isaiah, 700 years, the same thing. Zechariah, 500 years, but crucifixion didn’t exist. It doesn’t exist as we know it today until the Romans come online. The Bible speaks of this one world government in Revelation 13, where you can’t buy or sell anything unless you take this mark. If someone read that 2,000 years ago, they might scratch their head and they say, “How could they have this kind of control?” Well, now we can see through the technology of the world and so forth. So the stage is being set in a number of specific nations. You mentioned Ezekiel 38 and 39, and so the Bible speaks of this commune war that will further set the stage, I think, for this one world government. The participants is a prince. His name is Gog. Some people say, “Well, do you think Putin is Gog?” We don’t know that. He may be Gogesque, I think as Joel Rosenberg would say, “But we don’t know that he’s Gog, but there’s someone who’s going to come from Russia named Gog, and then he names these nations, Magog, Rosh, Meshach, Tubal, all these weird names.

And then he adds in many peoples with you.” So the nine nations that are named are not exclusive. Of course, people often ask me, “Why do they use all these weird names in the Bible?” Well, because places are always renamed. Byzantine was once the capital of a section of the world that became Constantinople that 1500 years later when the Muslims overtured, it became Istanbul. So names change all the time. So what God does in scripture to the table of nations is he identifies places based on their ethnicity. So you can go back and you can say, “Oh, I see some major players here. This is modern day Persia. This is modern day Iran. This is modern day Turkey. This is modern day Russia.” And those are the key players that are going to come against Israel. And again, God’s going to allow it to happen.

I think it will happen, frankly, after the rapture and it’ll be instrumental for the setup of being able to build the temple in the rest and for the antichrist to step on the scene. So these things are important.

Sam Rohrer:

All right. And as you’re describing, leading up to setting the stage, and that’s important, Carl, as you preach and as we talk about here, people who try to set dates or they try to say exactly what we’re seeing is exactly what we think it is, can’t do that, but we can see these pieces moving. So if we don’t note these things, we’re not being alert. Now let’s go onto this. Scripture indicates that at the end of the age, what we’re talking about here now, that human governments, some of which you described, Ezekiel 38-9, some countries, actually the very current name used, Persia is used, but it means Iran. I mean, those kind of things. Some are mentioned and others, like you say, loosely and other peoples with them. But as we know from scripture that human governments of whatever name they may have will be marked by increasingly rejecting God’s ordained boundaries and they will move toward a centralized, just like a Tower of Babel effort again, antichrist globalism type of thing.

Now here, what specific indicators do you believe that believers should be watching for right now that show the transition from, I’m going to say standard geographical shifts because nations make changes, but into the actual prophesied end times alignment? What are you specifically looking for as we speak here?

Carl Broggi:

Well, three or four that fit the larger biblical pattern. One is there’ll be growing hostility towards Israel and Jerusalem. And so God tells us in Zechariah chapter 12, it will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples and all who lift it will be severely injured and all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it. After World War II, all the nations of the world seemingly were sympathetic towards the Jewish people and now there’s this growing hatred and hostility. And that’s important. Now for this to have been fulfilled, when Zechariah writes this, the whole place is in ruins and yet he writes of the future of Jerusalem, even though the Babylonians had destroyed the place because God literally fulfills prophecy. And so for this to happen, they have to be gathered at the end of time back into the land.

And so that’s significant. Secondly, I would say that we need to watch for this global interconnectedness because that’s what the antichrist does. He has a worldwide government where all the nations of the world are connected and we can see through artificial intelligence, through a coming one world economy, through the mark of the beast and the like, how he’ll be able to pull that off. Third, the Bible would say we should watch for an erosion of biblical morality because the coming of the Son of Man will be like Noah’s day and like Watt’s day, days of moral impropriety and days of moral perversion. It’s part of The rebellious nature of man that will come to a head again, much like it did in Noah’s day before Christ returns. And then I would say we should look for the convergence of all these things. And that’s what’s so unusual, that all of these things are coming together.

So we don’t watch the nations just because we believe the nations control history. Sam, we watch the nations because scripture tells us that God does and that the movement of the nations ultimately points to the return of his son for whom we’re looking for. And that is a great encouragement to me.

Sam Rohrer:

So ladies and gentlemen, see part of the reason for this program, and part of the reason that you are listening to this program I know, is because we try to take these events happening in our day and connect with them biblical truth. Because as we say, and you know if you’re listening, have you listened to us any length of time, you cannot make sense out of what is happening around us, the nonsense around us without looking through the pages of scripture. The lens of scripture brings confusion into clarity. A biblical worldview makes the dark late. And that’s what we’re trying to do. And so hopefully this is being helpful today. When we come back, we’re going to go where God goes, where his word goes and hear this phrase. How did the Lord tell all his disciples to pray? Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done.

We’re going to go there when we come back.

Well, as we go into our final segment now, we’re going to wrap all of this focus today. The theme has been, if you weren’t able to join us at the very beginning, go back and listen to the program in its entirety because it all fits together kind of like fingers into a glove. But our theme is this, God’s eternal plan and the unfolding end times alignment of nations. And we’re going this direction today as a part of our bimonthly focus on Israel, the Middle East and biblical prophecy because no one who has any eyes at all can look at the news of the day and not notice that the alliances of nations that have existed are rapidly changing. The Western world rapidly changing. We got problems between America and Canada right now, right? But Europe is in turmoil. The entire Middle East is realigning. And frankly, one thing I find in common almost with all of them is that they’re aligning against primarily Israel, but the United States at this point who is well dependent upon Israel, even that relationship frankly between Israel and the other states is changing.

But you get my point. Now in segment three, the last segment, we connected today’s geopolitical headlines from the Mecca joint defense agreement, big thing, watch it as it’s unfolding, to the Russia, Iran, China, North Korea axis, the axis of evil we’ve referred to, it’s been developing for years. And then directly to the prophetic coalitions as outlined in Ezekiel 38 and Daniel in the book of Revelation. We saw how God’s sovereign hand sets the boundaries of nations. Why? Well, to fulfill his ultimate purposes centered on Jerusalem and his covenant people. Now in segment four here in this segment, we’re going to turn our eyes to the ultimate, I’m going to call it the climax of human history, that for which the Old Testament prophecies talk so much and that for which Israel of old longed and frankly Jewish people still long for in which the church under the new covenant that Christ brought to us was told for us to look forward.

And that is a coming perfect kingdom. That to which Jesus in his sample prayer for the disciples said this, you pray this way, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That’s not symbolic, that’s real. But for today, until we get to that point, these last days, these geopolitical days of instability fall in human governments and end times realignment of nations that we are seeing, they’re not the end of the story, but they surely point toward the end of the story. And scripture promises that the chaotic rebellion of the earthly kingdoms will give way to what? Well, to the righteous literal reign of Jesus Christ as king. From the millennial kingdom or even in a perfect environment, the depravity of the human heart without Satan’s directing, he’s going to be locked up. They’re still sin in the hearts of people and it’s going to come forward and manifest itself in an ultimate culmination, the end of the world.

And then things will change. That’s a blessed hope. Now, Carl, as we move from the chaotic alignment of what we’re talking about, we’re seeing today to the fulfillment of scripture where literally Jesus Christ will sit as king and judge and log giver and fulfill God’s plan for human governments. Tell us a bit about the working of the millennial kingdom government and the demonstrating of the complete depravity of the human heart, how it still exists and how God ends the final chapter. Put all this together as thy kingdom come, thy will be done.

Carl Broggi:

Well, we’ve been speaking obviously about the nations of the world and God had a purpose for them, but the fall changed everything. And so the millennial kingdom will really demonstrate what God ideally wanted us to know and to experience. People sometimes ask me, why don’t we just have Jesus come back, take us all to heaven, and that’s the end of it. Well, there are people who affirm replacement theology, super secessionism, that the church has superseded Israel and they think that’s how it’s going to happen, but they’re not literally interpreting scripture, at least not in a consistent way. And so one of the functions of the millennial reign will be to show the depravity of man, but to show human government as God intended it to be. And so even at the birth of the Lord Jesus, Mary’s pregnant, the angel Gabriel says, speaking of the one in her womb, he will be great and he will be called the son of the most high and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David.

So when Jesus came the first time, he never received the throne of his father David. Was God just blowing smoke? Of course not. Isaiah would say a child will be born to us. A son will be given to us. That’s the incarnation that’s been fulfilled. But very often in a single verse of scripture, God will give the whole prophetic schedule. And he goes on to say, and the government will rest on his shoulders and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor. That’s never happened, but it’s going to happen when Jesus comes back to the earth and there’ll be no end to the increase of his government. And on the throne of David and over his kingdom, he’s going to rule. So the promise given to Mary, given first through Isaiah and others is going to literally going to be fulfilled. But what’s amazing is what happens at the end of that millennial reign because for a thousand years while Christ is ruling, we’re co-ruling with him.

We’re co-regents. Those of us who are in resurrected body, Old Testament saints who have been resurrected, church saints who’ve been resurrected, tribulation saints who were martyred and have been resurrected, we’re ruling with Christ. But those who enter into the millennial reign in their natural bodies, that’s why the Messiah will rule with a rod of iron because they’ll be like us. Now they’ll all be believers initially, but they’ll have children, grandchildren, great grandchildren over the course of a thousand years. And the amazing thing is that even with Jesus literally ruling on the earth with the devil bound where he can’t deceive anyone, not everyone will receive him. And it’s really going to picture how bad we are by nature that the heart is more deceitful and desperately sick than all other things. But he’s going to make all things new. Praise God for that.

Sam Rohrer:

Praise God for that as right. And so end with this, what’s the central call to action for the true church today, both on how we should live, gospel urgency and how when we pray thy kingdom come, what should we really be thinking when we pray that?

Carl Broggi:

I like to put two commands together, go into all the world and preach the gospel. That’s what we’re supposed to be doing and we’re to be praying your kingdom come. And those two commands belong together. We pray for his kingdom to come, but in the interim we labor. We share the gospel. We try to win people to Jesus because we believe that people will live forever and ever and ever either in heaven or in hell. And so there is a sense of urgency. So we don’t look at all the nations of the world and say, “Well, what are they going to do next?” We look at God’s word, his promises, and we are reminded God’s told us how the story is going to end. And so with a sense of confidence, urgency and hope, we rest in the fact our king is coming. And the question that I think every listener should ask themselves is whether or not they’re going to be ready to meet the king when he comes because there’s no second chances once he comes.

It’s too late then. And so we need to, in faith, call upon him to save us from our sin and to trust the sufficiency of his death and resurrection to secure us for all of eternity such that we’ll be a part of his coming kingdom.

Sam Rohrer:

Thank you, Dr. Carl Broggi. And we’re right at the end of the program, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for being with us. Listen to this program again, forward it to our friend. You can find it on our app, Stand in the Gap or on our website, which we’ll hear in just a minute. And then actually, you can actually find an entire sermon series from Dr. Carl Broggi at searchthescriptures.org where he goes through the Book of Revelation, the book of Daniel as an example that further expands upon all of these things of which we’ve hit only the highlights in this program today. But I pray that you’ve been blessed and can go out and being further equipped to stand in the gap for truth.