Israel is Still the Epicenter

End Times Berean Watchman Report

October 17, 2025 – No. 50

Analysis and commentary on today’s prophetic events from author and biblical researcher – Dr. Christian Widener

EndTimesBerean.com

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Thank you for reading another edition of the End Times Berean Watchman Report!

First of all, praise the Lord that 20 hostages were released this week in Israel! In this issue, we’ll talk about what that could mean in this new push for eternal peace in the Middle East.

And if you haven’t seen my latest timeline video, check out how things are unfolding in a way that is sure to surprise everyone. 🙂

You’ll probably also want to hear two of my recent interviews with Caleb Colson of the Bearded Bible Brothers of Zola Levitt Ministries, you can find them on my News and Media page.

News and Media

[ I am also headed back to Israel from October 22 to November 4 to do some filming with Joshua and Caleb Colson in Israel. We’ll be talking about the Temple location, the Decree Everyone Missed, and Finding the lost works of Solomon. I can’t wait! 🙂 ]

And while you’re on my News and Media page, if you have 8 hours to spare 😊, you might want to listen to the four episodes (2-hours each) that I spent discussing my last days timeline with Christopher Brock on YouTube back in September.

But what in the world is going on with Israel?

Keep reading below and find out…

We’re now in the final stretch of time for the birth pains, and I think we are also halfway through the 1260 days of sheltering for Israel in her land, before her time of Jacob’s trouble really begins.

I know! What do I mean that Israel’s real time of trouble hasn’t even started yet?

So let me say just a few words about the overall timeline that I am proposing for clarity, and then we’ll jump back into the assessment of the things going on in Israel. And remember that the overall evidence for this timeline is found in my book, which you can still download for free as a pdf file, and in my videos on YouTube or Rumble.

CLICK BELOW to Download the FREE PDF
WITNESSING THE END:
Daniel’s Seventy Sevens and the Final Decree Everyone Missed

Understanding the Timeline

The first thing to really grasp is the idea that there is a second set of Daniel’s Seventy Sevens running from 2020 to 2027. But the idea that is even more paradigm breaking is that I am increasingly confident that Daniel’s Final Week is counting down to Christ’s return in the Rapture, not His Revelation 19 return. That means the birth pains will be about 7 years long, and then the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord will start AFTER that!

And in another kind of humorous mind-bender, it means that the Rapture could be called Pretrib, Midtrib, Postrib, or Pre-Wrath, all at the same time, depending on which aspect of the timing you were emphasizing.

And here’s a great short from Dr. Michael Heiser that someone recently sent me where he is acknowledging the potential weakness of the seven-year tribulation presumption regarding Daniel’s Seventieth Week.

How Does This Timeline Relate to Israel?

Understanding the timeline this way really upsets our base understanding of many of the main events in the Last Days, specifically regarding what we expect to happen in Israel.

It changes our expectations about the timing of the Abomination of Desolation, the rebuilding of the Temple, the return of sacrifices, the rise of the Antichrist and his 42 months, the 1260 days of Israel sheltering in the wilderness, the splitting of the Mount of Olives, Israel’s seven-year peace agreement, the trampling of Jerusalem for 42 months, Ezekiel 38 & 39, Jacob’s Trouble, the Mark of the Beast, the fall of Babylon, and the Two Witnesses. So I know that is a lot to process.

But the good news is that we don’t really have to figure it all out before it happens. We just need to keep watching and be prepared to be surprised when things don’t go exactly the way we thought they would. But with all that has happened already, I do think that there are some puzzle pieces falling into place that are revealing to us where things are probably headed.

The Gog-Magog War of Ezekiel 38

The first piece to talk about that I think is falling into place is the Ezekiel 38 war, which has been developing for more than a decade. Currently, we are seeing all of the actors coming to the table and joining forces in the present war against Israel that as of today has been raging for 742 days. And yes, I know that there was a big peace deal that was just signed, but many political analysts recognize how fragile the present peace really is.

Something new happened this time around, though. Turkey sat down at the peace table for resolving the Israel-Gaza War. And don’t miss that they refused to let Israel be present. What does that mean? It means that very possibly Turkey is there not for peace, but for a later justification for invading Israel. By joining the peace agreement, they are now one of the monitors and “guarantors” for peace. Hence, if Israel is later accused of breaking the peace agreement, then Turkey could say that they have no choice but to invade Israel to protect the Palestinian people and the al-Aqsa Mosque (the Temple Mount). It’s a strong possibility because just a little over a year ago Turkey threatened to do just that.

And I’m not just coming up with that, political analyst Gregory Copley, president of the International Strategic Studies Association, is warning that this current conflict is far from over. In fact, he said he believes that Turkey is there expressly to ensure that the peace does not hold. Follow the link to watch the 8-minute clip giving his assessment.

https://www.ntd.com/analyst-breaks-down-significance-of-trumps-signing-of-gaza-peace-deal-future-dynamics-in-middle-east_1096368.html

Now the question would be doesn’t Israel recognize the danger here? And I think that the answer is, yes, but they just could not pass up the opportunity to receive back 20 live hostages. And again, praise the Lord for their release. But one might suspect that Hamas would have never given them up if they weren’t trying to leverage this pause in the war, along with the return of another 2000 terrorist fighters that were being held by Israel, to have an opportunity to hurt Israel again. Hamas looks to be far from laying down their arms or changing their spots, especially as Turkey is being drawn in, which could bring about a more direct role for them in this conflict.

Based on where I think we are in the prophetic timeline, this could result in the full invasion of Israel by Turkey, Iran, and the rest of the Gog-Magog players after 1260 days of Israel’s war against Hamas, which if you listen to Gregory Copley’s assessment, is really a war against Turkey that started on October 7th. In that case, we are already in the Gog-Magog war and are waiting for the final escalation that we read about near the end of Ezekiel 38.

The amazing thing about all of this, though, is that Ezekiel 38 seems to end at the sixth seal and the first trumpet. I’ve discussed this at other times in my book and videos, but it really does look to me like this is all coming together.

¹⁸ Now on that day, the day when Gog comes against the land of Israel ​— ​this is the declaration of the Lord GOD ​— ​my wrath will flare up. ¹⁹ I swear in my zeal and fiery wrath: On that day there will be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. ²⁰ The fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the animals of the field, every creature that crawls on the ground, and every human being on the face of the earth will tremble before me. The mountains will be demolished, the cliffs will collapse, and every wall will fall to the ground. ²¹ I will call for a sword against him on all my mountains ​— ​this is the declaration of the Lord GOD ​— ​and every man’s sword will be against his brother. ²² I will execute judgment on him with plague and bloodshed. I will pour out torrential rain, hailstones, fire, and burning sulfur on him, as well as his troops and the many peoples who are with him. ²³ I will display my greatness and holiness, and I will reveal myself in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

Ezekiel 38:18-23

The great earthquake will not just be in Israel, although it will certainly be felt there. We know that because in verse 20 it says that everyone on the face of the earth will shake before God. This is very much like the sixth seal (Revelation 6:12-17). Then it talks about fire and brimstone raining down on them, which is also what happens with the First Trumpet (Revelation 8:7), which seems to follow shortly after the sixth seal and seventh seal (silence in Heaven for half an hour). And it also says that God will reveal himself to the nations, which is I think a reference to Jesus coming on the clouds to gather his elect, when every eye will see Him (Revelation 1:7).

Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. So it is to be. Amen.

Revelation 1:7

Putting all of that together, I think 2027 is the time for the Rapture and the Day of the Lord to begin, following the Sixth and Seventh Seals, but that it is also the time for the Gog-Magog War of Ezekiel 38, meaning that we are watching Ezekiel 38 play out right now before our eyes!

It also means that Israel’s time of sheltering for 1260 days is actually during the birth pains and that it will end not long before the Day of the Lord begins. That answers the question of how Israel will both be sheltered and also experience the time of Jacob’s Trouble. It probably means that Jacob’s Trouble will follow a 1260-day period of protection. It will be a time after the Rapture that will leave Israel essentially without a friend in the world…

The Red Heifers

There has also been a lot of talk about the red heifer “practice” sacrifice that was performed in Israel near Shiloh. Technically, it has been rejected by some rabbis and the Temple Institute, since it was not performed on the Mount of Olives and some say it was not blemish free. However, while it wasn’t on the Mount of Olives, it was “outside the camp” as required by the Torah and it was the best of the five heifers that was sacrificed, which some rabbis did find to be blemish-free. The rest of the ceremony was performed exactly to the standards of Torah and the Mishnah, and the ashes were collected and could be used.

So the real question is whether or not the majority of the Jews will come to accept it as valid, or not. It’s hard to say at this point. As asserted in the article, the red heifer ceremony was immediately deemed to be only practice, but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t later change their minds.

Here’s my suspicion, though. First, we only assume that sacrifices will be reinstated because it says that they will be halted, which is based on the presumption that one can only halt that which has begun. However, I would argue you can also halt something that someone was trying to do but were prevented from doing. In this case, the Jews in Israel fully intended to sacrifice a red heifer and perform the ceremony before Passover in 2024, but were expressly attacked on October 7th to prevent them from doing that. In that case, then, the sacrifice was already halted, and there is no longer a prophetic reason, necessarily, that sacrifices need to be restarted. Therefore, it might happen, but it might not. That practice red heifer may never be accepted as valid. They may never fully restart the sacrificial system before the Lord returns, even if they are later successful in something symbolic, like a Passover sacrifice. Scripture does seem to indicate that some kind of offerings will be restored at the Temple Jesus builds after His return, though, but obviously not to atone for sin (see Zechariah 14:16-21).

¹⁶ Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. ¹⁷ If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, they will have no rain. ¹⁸ If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The LORD will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. ¹⁹ This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. ²⁰ On that day holy to the Lord will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the LORD’s house will be like the sacred bowls in front of the altar. ²¹ Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the LORD Almighty, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and cook in them. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD Almighty.

Zechariah 14:16-21

Peace and Safety (Security)

The other thing that we shouldn’t miss is how loud the call for Peace and Safety has been getting, which is a condition that immediately precedes the Day of the Lord, according to 1 Thessalonians 5.

² For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. ³ When they say, “Peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

1 Thessalonians 5:2-3

See how Paul is associating the Day of the Lord with both the time of the birth pains and the call of the people of the world for “Peace and Security.” If we were approaching the end of the birth pains and the seals, then you would also expect that there would be increased calls for peace and safety, and indeed there are. Coincidence?

The Antichrist, Two Witnesses, and 144,000

When people hear about my timeline for the first time and realize that we are already 5 years into it, they immediately begin questioning how that could be possible and we don’t already see the Antichrist, the Two Witnesses, and the 144,000 young Jewish believers in Jesus as the Messiah who are sealed by God’s angels.

First, the easiest one. The 144,000 are sealed before or most likely during the seventh seal. Since I think we are at the 5th Seal right now, that’s not a problem.

Second, I think that the Antichrist, as the beast from the sea, is rising before our eyes right now. The question is exactly who the prominent horn is and who the man of sin is that will declare himself to be god in God’s Temple (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 and Daniel 11:36-45). I still think that there is more than one possible candidate, so I am holding my full identification until we see that. Plus, I think there are many antichrists, so I think it isn’t as simple as just naming one guy. I also expect that because of Daniel 12:11, that final event of the abomination of desolation will come 1290 days after the first part of the abomination of desolation on October 7, 2023. For those that may not have seen the case for a 2-part abomination of desolation that began on October 7th, here’s the video I made to help explain that.

Third, I think that the Two Witnesses are most likely two natural men living in our present age who are going to be supernaturally appointed to those positions in a manner similar to the way that Saul was called to be Paul on the road to Damascus, or maybe the way tongues of fire descended on the Apostles on Pentecost. Their ministry will somehow have a specific starting point to count 1260 days from, but we really aren’t told in Scripture when that will begin. We only really know that it will end after 1260 days, at the end of the sixth trumpet, which is called the second woe in Revelation 11.

¹¹ But after three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet. Great fear fell on those who saw them. ¹² Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” They went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies watched them. ¹³ At that moment a violent earthquake took place, a tenth of the city fell, and seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake. The survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. ¹⁴ The second woe has passed. Take note: The third woe is coming soon!

Revelation 11:11-14

This means that the main part of their ministry is likely to be in opposition to the beast and the false prophet. It probably also means that the time of the trumpets could be for an extended period of time, rather than something very short. At a minimum the green grass of the earth has to grow back between the First Trumpet, when all the green grass is burned up, and the Fifth Trumpet, where the locusts are told not to harm the grass or any green thing (See Revelation 8:7 and 9:4).

l also suspect that their ministry will begin before the Rapture, but their empowerment for supernatural signs and wonders may not be given until either the man of lawlessness is revealed by declaring himself to be god, or the Rapture takes place. The idea about a connection with the rapture comes from the application of the story of Elijah and Elisha. Elisha wasn’t empowered until he saw Elijah taken up in the fiery chariot to Heaven. That might not mean anything for the two witnesses, but it seems like it could.

Anyway, my point is not to definitively answer the question, but simply to explain why I don’t see their absence at the moment as proof that we are not currently in the tribulation of the birth pains and seals.

What I can say, though, about the timing of 42 months and 1260 days, is that it looks like of the two possibilities that I have mentioned before, one being that the Great Tribulation will only last one year and the other that it will last more like 3 years, it is looking more and more likely that it will probably be at least three years.

Wrapping Up

Well, as I finish preparations to head back to Israel next week, I hope this has been a helpful update on where I think things are and what has been happening with the ministry of End Times Berean.

Please pray for safety on our trip, and for the Holy Spirit’s help and guidance as we go. We already have a couple of additional appointments for our time in Jerusalem, and trust that the Lord will go before us to prepare the way for any additional meetings that He may have planned for us.

I am still hoping to finish my third book, Finding Solomon, and I pray that God will give me the wisdom and strength to finish it after this trip.

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, and may we be found ready when He comes. Amen and Maranatha!

Christian Widener, PhD

christian@endtimesberean.com

EndTimesBerean.com