Dear Brethren and Friends,
For many decades, a monthly letter has been sent out, both in the now defunct Worldwide Church of God and for over 20 years in the Church of the Eternal God and its international affiliates in Canada and the UK. These letters were also published on our English and German Websites. Today, as we see world events gathering pace at an alarming rate, anything I can write in this letter may well be eclipsed before this letter is even sent out and so I will resist any specific remarks on the current world scene that I could make.
Since Donald Trump’s electoral victory in the United States election on November 5, 2024 and more particularly since his inauguration into office on 20th January 2025, events are unfolding at an astonishing rate. In his inauguration speech he recalled the assassination attempt on his life during the campaign and said: “I felt then, and I believe even more so now, that my life was saved by God to make America great again.”
Looking at the state of the USA at this time, it would need the nation to repent of their ungodly ways in an unprecedented way to achieve such aims, but wrong practices and entrenched views and habits don’t give any suggestion that this is going to happen anytime soon. We read in the Book of Jonah that he was sent to Nineveh for a particular reason as we read in Jonah 3:1–6:
“Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.’ So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent. And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, ‘Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’ So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes.”
We read that the result of the action taken by the Ninevites from the king downwards, and throughout the city, as well as their repentance, shows that God’s mercy is available when genuine and true repentance takes place. But can any of us see this happening in the USA and other nations around the world today?
Wrong “values” can be seen as good by those not understanding God’s Ways and His Law, and sin has become so entrenched in the ways that countries are run that there seems no way that a “Ninevite” attitude of repentance could ever take place in any of our modern nations today. We saw in the previous American administration how poorly the country was run with corruption, anti-Christian values such as allowing free rein with abortion, increasing the huge national debt to unprecedented levels, and so much more. Ditto for pretty much all other nations on planet Earth!
No doubt, there will be many things that this new American administration will do, combining both success and failure. However, 6,000 years of Satan being the “prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2) and the “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4) has taken its toll, as was prophesied. It seems perhaps that God has allowed Mr Trump to be elected to bring about end-time prophecies to be fulfilled. His antagonism to the European Union and Europe’s fear to become forsaken by America could facilitate a European Army and the rise of a strong leader. His close connection with Israel may be a factor in the 3rd Temple being built, these being actions that could accelerate end-time events.
What should we do as members of the Body of Christ at this time? We will all, surely, continue to watch world events taking place at a breathtaking pace but we need not fear as so many others may be doing at this time. God’s people have support and backing of God, but others have no one to turn to except the leaders and politicians of their respective nations who, quite simply, are not able to deal effectively with the insurmountable problems that are engulfing countries all around the world. We have been given an incredible opportunity to be in the Family of God subject to us “enduring to the end” (cf Matthew 24:13).
We must continue to put God first in our lives, being subject to His Will and His Ways, as Satan and his demons will be on the lookout for those of us who show any weakness in our Christian life. We can’t say that we haven’t been warned: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). That is as true today as when it was written nearly 2,000 years ago because Satan never gives up and he now “…has great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time” (Revelation 12:12).
For many years, long-time members have been looking forward to the time of Jesus’ return to this earth to clear up the mess that man has made for 6,000 years and to set up the Kingdom of God, and we must keep our eyes on the prize ahead for us, and we must thwart any attempts of the demonic world to distract us from our goal.
World affairs seem to be heading towards the necessity for Jesus to return, as never before. The advent of the Trump regime in the USA may well accelerate such events which makes it even more important that we are not diverted off track by any number of worldly concerns and situations that may affect us all individually.
Many of us in the true Church of God today are suffering from ill heath, pain and anguish as well as genuine day-to-day concerns in respect of unemployment, income, family problems, housing and debt. We see a more hardened society where love, care and concern for others is on the wane and self predominates. Satan will use all of these issues to broadcast wrong attitudes to try and throw us off track.
What we are currently seeing are events on the world scene that have been brewing up for some time and it now seems to have arrived where the return of Jesus Christ to this earth will be so necessary to save us from committing cosmocide, that is the destruction of planet earth, as a result of human activity. We read in Matthew 24:21–22: “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.” That is why we know that, in the end, we win!
With Christian love,
Brian Gale (United Kingdom)