Bible News Prophecy with Dr Bob Thiel

Continuing Church of God 64

AI-Made Viruses, the Fourth Horseman, and a Coming Mark of the Beast with Dr. Bob Thiel

Dr. Bob Thiel joins host Steve Dupuis to trace reports of AI-engineered viruses and rogue artificial intelligence back to Bible prophecies of pestilence, the fourth horseman of Revelation, and a coming digital mark of the beast.

AI's Biological Threat Emerges

Steve Dupuis opens the Bible News Prophecy program by asking Dr. Bob Thiel whether artificial intelligence poses real risks to people today. Thiel points to a headline he saw the day before, "AI's Greatest Threat is Biological," which describes an Anthropic researcher who resigned after concluding there is roughly a ten percent chance AI could wipe out humanity within three to ten years, an estimate he says others in the field share. Thiel explains the article's greatest alarm is not runaway machines but biological warfare and synthetic biology, warning that artificial intelligence could eventually help produce a virus lethal to people whether they are vaccinated or not. Dupuis presses further, asking how close AI actually is to creating a genuine bioweapon risk, setting up Thiel's account of a specific study that turned that abstract worry into a documented, unsettling result.

Stanford's AI-Made Viruses

Thiel tells Dupuis that last month a report described artificial intelligence creating sixteen new viruses that never existed in nature, after the system learned patterns from nine trillion nucleotides in research associated with Stanford University. He explains that scientists have synthesized viruses for decades to study disease and pursue medical advances, but artificial intelligence now lets them generate viral genomes unlike anything found in nature. Thiel reads a line from the researchers themselves, that the ability to compose viral genomes using generative AI now exists while the governance to safely steer it does not. Dupuis asks whether this research is simply a hopeful step toward medical progress, and Thiel answers cautiously, recalling that COVID is presumed by some to have come from a lab pursuing similarly well-intentioned work. He warns that a rogue AI program could misuse such techniques, adding that turning biological agents into weapons has never been difficult for determined nations, the United States included, despite official denials of biological weapons programs.

Prophecies Of Pestilence And The Pale Horse

Thiel turns to scripture, citing Jesus's words in Matthew 24:7-8 that famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places mark the beginning of sorrows. He argues that biological warfare agents, whether engineered by AI or developed by humans alone, could easily be a factor in that prophesied pestilence. Thiel then reads from Revelation chapter six, where the fourth seal opens and a pale horse appears, its rider named Death, with Hades following behind and given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, by hunger, by death, and by the beasts of the earth. He notes that pestilence naturally falls under that last category. Dupuis asks directly whether AI-developed pathogens could be part of the pestilences riding with that fourth horseman, and Thiel answers without hesitation that they absolutely could, tying the ancient apocalyptic image to the modern headlines about synthetic viruses and rogue programs discussed earlier in the conversation.

Raymond McNair's Doomsday Bug

Thiel widens the discussion by reading from a 1969 article by the late Church of God evangelist Raymond McNair, titled The Doomsday Bug, which described a feverish international search for germs and chemicals capable of wiping out whole nations overnight. He recounts McNair's visit to a chemical and biological warfare laboratory and his survey of history, noting that people have used such weapons against enemies for thousands of years, from poisoning rulers' food and water supplies and using poisoned arrows in battle to catapulting corpses of plague victims over the walls of besieged cities. Thiel adds McNair's account of early American settlers trading plague-infected blankets to Native Americans on the frontier, calling it evidence of what he describes as humanity's virtually limitless inventive genius for destructive weapons of warfare. Dupuis listens as Thiel stresses that none of this diabolical history required artificial intelligence, underscoring that the danger long predates today's technology and only grows sharper with it.

Plagues, Crop Warfare, And Historical Scale

Asked about the magnitude of past viruses and plagues, Thiel cites the Black Death, the bubonic plague that wiped out roughly a third of Europe, with three-quarters dead in some regions, and cites a Cold War-era claim that a single gram of Q fever-inoculated chicken embryo could infect more than a million people. He adds that twenty million people died of flu at the close of World War I, with about fifty times that number falling ill. Thiel then describes chemical and biological warfare aimed at economies rather than armies, recalling that the highest US civilian award once given went to a woman who developed a deadly rice blast fungus usable against rice-dependent nations, while Russian scientists developed a wheat rust capable of striking American crops. He argues scientists bear real responsibility for developing microbes that could unleash horrifying epidemics, then cites Jesus's warning in Matthew 24:21 of a coming great tribulation unlike any before or after it.

Digital Wallets And The Coming Mark

Thiel turns to a second AI risk beyond pestilence, warning that AI programs may increasingly break into financial systems and drain accounts as world commerce grows more digital. He predicts a European leader could respond by proposing a biometric system to guard against such AI-driven economic disasters, noting that all twenty-seven European Union nations must offer residents a digital wallet holding identification and driver's license information on their phones by the end of 2026. Thiel suggests that system may prove insufficient, speculating that a future leader could push a more secure mark involving the right hand or forehead for safer buying and selling. He reads Revelation 13:15-18, describing the image of the beast compelling everyone, small and great, rich and poor, to receive a mark permitting commerce, numbered 666, then cites 1 Thessalonians 5:3's warning that sudden destruction follows cries of peace and safety. He closes citing Revelation 16:2's warning against taking the mark, before Dupuis thanks him and points listeners to biblenewsprophecy.net.

Bible News Prophecy with Dr Bob Thiel

Earthquakes: Sorrows and The Big One

We keep learning of major earthquakes all over the world in places such as Colombia, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines. and various islands. Official sources, including the USGS, say there is nothing unusual about this seismic activity and there is nothing to worry about. Official sources tell us that this seismic activity is “fairly” normal. What does that mean?

Have official sources ever been wrong in the past? Could official sources, however sincere, be wrong? Is it even possible that some official sources are scoffers of the word of God. Are you aware that geologists have announced that the situation with of the San Andreas Fault in California are worse that scientists previously thought?

What does the Bible say about earthquakes, troubles, and “the beginning of sorrows”? Earthquakes are part of what Jesus referred to as “the beginning of sorrows.” Could these official sources be wrong?

Do you know of anyone who scoffs and mocks whenever the word of God is mentioned? The “beginning of sorrows” happens during the last days of humanity’s rejection of God. AND earthquakes are on the increase during the “beginning of sorrows”. See what God says about scoffers during the last days in 2 Peter 3:3.

Does the Book of Revelation warn of specific earthquakes? Is the 'big one' so apocalyptic that it is bigger than modern scientists realize is possible? Will it be so big that it levels mountains and drowns islands?

Watch this video as Dr. Thiel shines the light of Biblical truth on earthquakes, an earthquake (the big one), the beginning of sorrows, and what Jesus said to do.

Read the full article to this video titled “ Earthquakes in various places–San Andreas concerns–is the big one nearly upon us?” at URL

https://www.cogwriter.com/news/prophecy/earthquakes-in-various-places-san-andreas-concerns-is-the-big-one-nearly-upon-us/

Earthquakes, Sorrows, and the Big One with Dr. Bob Thiel

Dr. Bob Thiel joins host Steve Dupuis to weigh a month of destructive earthquakes worldwide and new research on a faster-slipping San Andreas Fault against Jesus's warning of a coming "beginning of sorrows" and Revelation's prophecy of an even greater quake still to come.

Signs Named In Matthew And Mark

Steve Dupuis opens the Bible News Prophecy program by asking Dr. Bob Thiel which Bible prophecies might describe conditions seen in the world today. Thiel turns first to Matthew 24:7-8, where Jesus tells His disciples that nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, with famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places marking the beginning of sorrows. He adds Mark's parallel account, Mark 13:8, which lists earthquakes, famines, and troubles as the same beginning of sorrows. Dupuis observes that both verses name several worldly sorrows and asks which one Thiel wants to focus on today. Thiel answers earthquakes, explaining they have caused considerable trouble over the last month, and previews a rundown of recent seismic activity from around the globe that he believes deserves closer attention than official sources are giving it.

A Month Of Destructive Earthquakes

Thiel runs through a string of earthquakes that struck within about a month. Indonesia was hit by a 7.7 magnitude quake that proved very destructive, followed by a 7.4 in Colombia that killed hundreds or more. Japan recorded a 6.8, Peru a 6.7, and a second Indonesian quake measured 6.9, though it caused less damage. The Philippines felt a strong 6.3, Mexico registered a 7.3, and the remote Kermadec Islands recorded a 6.3 as well. Thiel notes that official sources describe these events as unrelated and essentially normal, nothing to be concerned about. Dupuis pushes back, asking whether earthquakes officials dismiss as ordinary could still count as the beginning of sorrows Jesus described. Thiel responds by wondering aloud what happens if the experts turn out to be wrong, then begins reading a lengthy passage from 2 Peter chapter 3 to address that very question directly.

Peter's Answer To The Scoffers

Thiel reads at length from 2 Peter 3, where the apostle warns that scoffers will arise in the last days, mocking the promise of Christ's coming and insisting that everything continues just as it has since creation. Peter counters that these scoffers willfully forget how the world once perished by water in the flood, and that the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire until judgment day. Thiel highlights Peter's reminder that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, explaining that God's plan simply operates on a longer timeframe than people expect, which is why prophesied events do not always happen as quickly as some anticipate. He continues reading through Peter's warning that the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and his call to holy conduct while awaiting new heavens and a new earth. Dupuis asks whether Peter's scoffers might not have been talking about earthquakes at all, and Thiel allows that they may well have been.

California's Slipping San Andreas Fault

Thiel shifts to a headline reporting that new research finds the San Andreas Fault slipping faster than previously thought. He explains that the study, from San Jose State University, followed just a week after a 3.9 magnitude quake rattled the Hayward Fault in Oakland. Professor Kimberly Blisniuk tells ABC Eyewitness News that the fault's slip rate appears constant across a ten-thousand-year window her team examined, a finding that surprised researchers who previously assumed rates decreased along the fault. Thiel notes that faster-slipping faults generally produce earthquakes more frequently, and that Blisniuk herself admits the constant rate will surprise people because the data simply was not available before. He observes that experts keep admitting they did not know things they once assumed. Dupuis asks whether California's long-feared big one is actually mentioned in the Bible. Thiel says an extremely large California quake is likely, but he does not believe it will compare to the one prophecy actually foretells.

Revelation's Sequence Of Earthquakes

Thiel turns to the book of Revelation, noting that Jesus also described earthquakes there, always in the singular, unlike the general beginning of sorrows discussed on the Mount of Olives. He identifies the first as Revelation 8:5, an earthquake accompanying an angel casting fire from the altar onto the earth, which he places after the Great Tribulation begins but before the great day of the Lord. Dupuis asks why this one is not counted among the beginning of sorrows, and Thiel explains it belongs to a later, apocalyptic stage. He then reads Revelation 11:11-13, where the two witnesses are resurrected and ascend to heaven as a great earthquake kills seven thousand people and topples a tenth of the city, calling it a more localized quake near the end of the day of the Lord. Thiel adds Revelation 11:19, where God's temple and the ark of the covenant appear in heaven, suggesting this earthquake may coincide with the first resurrection of Christians.

The Biggest Quake And A Personal Warning

Dupuis asks whether that temple earthquake is the largest one in the Bible, and Thiel says no, pointing to Revelation 16:18-20, where a mighty earthquake unlike any since humans existed splits the great city into three parts, topples Babylon, and sends islands and mountains vanishing entirely. Thiel dismisses preterists who claim Revelation has already been fulfilled, insisting that quake has plainly not yet happened, and adds that changes already observed in Earth's core and magnetic field could help trigger it after 2033. He briefly contrasts it with a separate, later earthquake in Ezekiel 38:19. Asked what advice applies to scoffers and believers alike, Thiel cites Haggai's call to consider your ways, then recalls his own first earthquake experience after moving to California in 1976, when shaking walls left him thinking he was simply dizzy. He closes by reading Luke 21:36, Jesus's call to watch and pray, before Dupuis thanks him and directs listeners to biblenewsprophecy.net.

Bible News Prophecy with Dr Bob Thiel

Continuing Church of God 63

AI-Made Viruses, the Fourth Horseman, and the Coming Mark of the Beast with Dr. Bob Thiel

Dr. Bob Thiel joins host Steve Dupuis to weigh reports of AI-engineered viruses and rogue artificial intelligence, tying them to Bible prophecies of pestilence, the fourth horseman, and a coming digital mark of the beast.

AI's Biological Threat Emerges

Steve Dupuis opens the Bible News Prophecy program by asking Dr. Bob Thiel whether artificial intelligence poses real risks to humanity. Thiel points to a recent headline warning that AI's greatest threat is biological, noting that an Anthropic researcher who resigned believes there is roughly a 10 percent chance AI could wipe out humanity within three to ten years, an estimate other researchers have echoed. Thiel says the article's greater alarm is over biological warfare and synthetic biology, warning that AI-assisted science could eventually produce a virus lethal to people whether vaccinated or not. Dupuis presses further, asking how close AI actually is to creating a genuine bioweapon risk, setting up Thiel's account of a specific Stanford-linked study that turned that abstract worry into a documented result, which he describes as no real surprise given that humans have pursued similar biological research for decades even without artificial intelligence's help.

Stanford Study Creates New Viruses

Thiel tells Dupuis that last month a report described AI creating 16 new viruses that never existed in nature, after the system learned patterns from nine trillion nucleotides in research associated with Stanford University. He explains that scientists have synthesized viruses for decades to study disease and pursue medical advances, but artificial intelligence now lets them generate viral genomes unlike anything found naturally. Thiel reads a line from the researchers themselves, that the ability to compose viral genomes using generative AI now exists while the governance to safely steer it does not. Dupuis asks whether this research is simply a hopeful step toward medical progress, and Thiel answers cautiously, recalling that COVID is presumed by some to have originated from a lab pursuing similarly well-intentioned work. He warns that a rogue AI program could misuse such techniques, and notes that turning biological agents into weapons has never been difficult for determined nations, the United States included, despite official denials of biological weapons programs.

A History of Biological Warfare

Thiel widens the discussion by reading from a 1969 article by the late Church of God evangelist Raymond McNair, titled The Doomsday Bug, which described a feverish international search for germs and chemicals capable of wiping out whole nations overnight. Thiel recounts McNair's tour of a chemical and biological warfare laboratory and his history of the practice, from poisoned arrows and poisoned water supplies to catapulting plague-infected corpses over besieged city walls and, in colonial America, trading plague-infected blankets to Native Americans. Dupuis asks about the scale of historical viruses and plagues, and Thiel cites the Black Death killing roughly a third of Europe, with three-quarters dead in some regions, plus a Cold War-era claim that one gram of Q fever-inoculated chicken embryo could infect more than a million people. He adds that 20 million people died of flu at the close of World War I, with fifty times that number falling ill.

Crops as Weapons, Pestilence as Prophecy

Thiel describes how chemical and biological warfare has also targeted economies rather than armies directly, recalling that the highest US civilian award once given went to a woman who developed a deadly rice blast fungus usable against rice-dependent nations like China or North Vietnam, while Russian scientists developed a wheat rust capable of striking American crops. He argues scientists bear real responsibility for developing microbes that could unleash horrifying epidemics. Turning to scripture, Thiel cites Jesus's words in Matthew 24:7 that famines, pestilences, and earthquakes mark the beginning of sorrows, then reads Revelation 6:7-8, where the fourth seal releases a pale horse whose rider, Death, kills across a fourth of the earth by sword, hunger, and plague. Dupuis asks directly whether AI-developed pathogens could be part of that fourth horseman's ride, and Thiel answers unequivocally yes, tying the ancient prophecy to modern biotechnology's unfolding capabilities.

Digital Wallets and a Coming Mark

Asked what other risks AI presents, Thiel turns to finance, warning that AI programs may increasingly break into financial systems and drain accounts as world commerce grows more digital. He predicts a European leader could respond by proposing a biometric system to prevent such AI-driven economic disasters, noting that all 27 European Union nations must offer residents a digital wallet holding identification and driver's license information on their phones by the end of 2026. Thiel suggests that system may prove insufficient, and speculates a future leader could push a more secure mark involving the right hand or forehead for safer buying and selling. Dupuis asks whether this lines up with biblical prophecy, and Thiel reads Revelation 13:15-18, describing the image of the beast compelling everyone, small and great, rich and poor, to receive a mark permitting commerce, identified by the number 666, which he says today's computing and AI technology could finally make enforceable.

Peace, Safety, and a Warning

Thiel notes that Europe's digital wallet remains voluntary for now, but predicts the eventual mark will not be. He reads 1 Thessalonians 5:3's warning that sudden destruction comes when people declare peace and safety, and argues the coming beast power will sell its system, likely involving AI, as protection from rogue technology and economic chaos, a carrot-and-stick approach that grows more coercive over time until it is finally forced on everyone. Thiel says he is fairly certain that guarding against AI risks will be among the system's advertised benefits. He concludes that AI will likely help both create pestilences and persuade people toward the mark of the beast, though scripture promises God will intervene before humanity destroys itself, per Matthew 24:21. Citing Revelation 16:2's warning of punishment for those who take the mark, Thiel urges listeners not to be persuaded, and Dupuis closes by directing listeners to biblenewsprophecy.net.

Bible News Prophecy with Dr Bob Thiel

Islamic NATO, the Mecca Defence Agreement, and the Rise of the Bible's King of the South with Dr. Bob Thiel

Dr. Bob Thiel joins host Steve Dupuis to examine the new Mecca Joint Defence Agreement among Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, tracing how the emerging "Islamic NATO" fits the Bible's ancient prophecy of a coming King of the South.

Islamic NATO Alliance Announced

Steve Dupuis opens the Bible News Prophecy program by asking Dr. Bob Thiel about an off-air remark on an emerging Islamic NATO and its possible link to the biblical King of the South. Thiel says many analysts are asking whether such an alliance has begun forming, but news outlets rarely connect it to prophecy. He reads a headline reporting that Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey have signed a Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, combining nearly 1.4 million active military personnel, more than 3,400 aircraft, and over 6,000 tanks. The pact, he explains, includes a NATO-style Article 5 clause treating an attack on one signatory as an attack on all three. Commentators have already nicknamed it NATO in the Middle East, and Thiel notes the alliance is widely seen as a deterrent against two regional powers in particular, Iran and Israel, though officials insist it targets no single country.

Roots Of The Islamic NATO Idea

Dupuis asks whether the Mecca agreement caught the world by surprise, since Islamic NATO has suddenly become a buzzword. Thiel says the idea itself is not new, noting that he has warned of a coming Arab-Islamic NATO since at least 2018, when his ministry even produced a video titled Arab NATO and the Coming King of the South. Asked how the new pact relates to the actual North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Thiel explains it has no formal tie to NATO, but earned the nickname after a Turkish official described its workings using NATO's own language. He reads a second article predicting the alliance, if it holds, could form a long-term regional defense structure whose effects ripple outward to India, China, the United States, and eventually Europe. Thiel adds that Europe, too, will eventually be affected according to biblical prophecy, then notes that the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation has already hailed the agreement as historic and strategically significant for the wider Muslim world.

Analysts Weigh The New Alliance

Thiel continues reading the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation's response, in which Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha praises the Mecca pact as a fundamental pillar for regional security and a mark of Islamic solidarity. Dupuis interjects to ask whether the United States is not already guaranteeing peace in that region, and Thiel answers only to a degree, since the Iran war and Israeli actions are shifting attitudes. He reads further analysis describing the agreement as a potential turning point, with the Atlantic Council calling it an inflection point in an emerging multipolar order as Turkey extends its protective umbrella beyond allies like Qatar, Syria, and Libya. Abdulaziz Sager of the Gulf Research Center is quoted calling the symbolism of three influential Muslim states meeting in Islam's holiest city significant in itself, and predicting that, if institutionalized, the framework could build a more regional-driven security architecture less dependent on outside powers such as the United States.

Could Other Nations Provide Security

Dupuis asks whether the three signatory governments could ever provide the same security guarantee as the United States. Thiel says not really, but stresses that more Sunni Muslim countries are expected to join the framework, pointing to a newly released video in which Pakistan's defense minister calls on other Islamic nations to sign onto the Mecca agreement. He notes that eleven other nations aligned with Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan the day before in a separate naval agreement and may eventually join the broader alliance as well. Thiel then reads a Russian report from RT quoting Murad Sagdazev, president of a Middle East studies center in Moscow, who says the pact's members face the task of deterring both Israel and Iran without overt American involvement. Thiel takes this as evidence that the alliance is forming largely in response to tensions surrounding Iran and Israel, even though no single leader has yet emerged to head the growing bloc.

Daniel's King Of The South

Asked how the Mecca alliance ties to biblical prophecy, Thiel turns to Daniel 11:25, where the King of the South is stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army, and argues that a growing Mecca bloc, already fielding nearly 1.4 million troops, could become that prophesied force. He notes Turkey has said it expects Egypt to eventually join the alliance, which matters because the old Radio Church of God taught that Egypt could supply the final King of the South, though only after a long process. Thiel reads a 1963 Plain Truth article by the late Garner Ted Armstrong identifying the King of the North as a coming United States of Europe, a resurrected Roman Empire built around a rearmed Germany, and the King of the South as a future Egypt, not the Egypt of that era, expanding to draw North African Muslim nations into an Afro-Arabian power bloc. Whether or not an Egyptian personally leads it, Thiel says scripture is clear that Egypt joins the King of the South's confederation.

Watching For Prophecy's Fulfillment

Dupuis asks what other nations might join the new bloc, and Thiel lists Libya, Algeria, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Yemen, along with parts of Sudan, home to the darker-skinned Cushite peoples named in prophecy. He recalls a late-2025 sermon in which he listed steps toward the formation of the King of the South among his items to watch in 2026, then reads Daniel 11:40-43, describing the King of the South attacking, the King of the North sweeping through with chariots and ships, Edom, Moab, and Ammon escaping, and Egypt's treasures, along with the Libyans and Cushites, falling under his hand. Thiel says the Abraham Accords have drawn some Islamic nations closer but are not this prophesied bloc, and that the King of the South was long expected to rise once Iran was militarily weakened. Quoting Paul's warning not to despise prophecies, he says the Continuing Church of God is watching and reporting as Ezekiel's watchman was told to do, and Dupuis closes by directing listeners to biblenewsprophecy.net.

Bible News Prophecy with Dr Bob Thiel

Continuing Church of God 62

Why Prepping Plans Fail and Real Biblical Preparation for the Great Tribulation with Dr. Bob Thiel

Dr. Bob Thiel joins host Steve Dupuis to argue that popular prepping plans are biblically unrealistic, and lays out the watching, praying, and gathering together that Jesus and the prophet Zephaniah command Philadelphian Christians to do before the Great Tribulation.

Are Prepping Plans Realistic?

Steve Dupuis opens the Bible News Prophecy program by asking Dr. Bob Thiel whether most prepping plans people rely on today are realistic. Thiel says no, citing an article claiming that typical prepping plans assume a healthy, young, single person able to handle physical hardship, when in reality most American households include elderly parents, young children, people on medications, and other vulnerable members that government plans do not adequately account for, especially once electricity fails. He stresses this is not a rare situation but ordinary American life, meaning most people's prepping assumptions are already flawed. Thiel distinguishes between real, biblically sound preparation and fake or false prepping, warning that the coming crisis facing the United States will be far worse than most preppers and commentators currently expect, setting up a discussion of what scripture actually says believers should do to prepare for tribulation ahead.

Tribulation Worse Than Ever Before

Asked how bad conditions will get, Thiel answers 'worse than it's ever been,' quoting Jesus in Matthew 24:21 that there will be great tribulation unlike anything since the world began, so severe that no flesh would survive were the days not shortened. He explains that many Americans, rather than dying, will become slaves, and that others fleeing to bunkers in the mountains, as described in Amos 3, will not find lasting safety either. Thiel reads from Lamentations, where Jeremiah describes enemies pursuing survivors even into the mountains and lying in wait for them in the wilderness, arguing that physical hiding places will fail because pursuers will track people down. He concludes that hiding in the mountains might protect a few people only temporarily, making that style of prepping biblically unsound, and reframes the real question as what scripture instructs people to do instead of relying on bunkers and supplies.

Watch And Pray, Jesus Says

Dupuis asks how listeners should actually prepare for what is coming, and Thiel turns to Luke 21:36, where Jesus instructs followers to watch and pray always so they may be counted worthy to escape the events to come and stand before the Son of Man. He then reads Revelation 3, verses 7 through 10, where Jesus addresses the church of Philadelphia, commending its work, setting an open door before it, and promising to keep it from the hour of trial coming upon the whole world to test its inhabitants. Thiel explains that Jesus specifically limits this promise of protection to Philadelphian Christians who have kept his command to persevere, meaning that physical safety from the coming trial depends on spiritual faithfulness rather than supplies or geography. Dupuis presses further, asking whether there is any other kind of Christian besides Philadelphian, opening the way for Thiel to describe the different types Revelation names.

Philadelphian And Laodicean Christians

Thiel answers that while there are false Christians, genuine believers fall into seven types named in Revelation, and he says Jesus indicates most end-time Christians will be Laodicean rather than Philadelphian. He reads Revelation 12:14, where the woman representing the church is given eagle's wings to flee into the wilderness and be nourished for a time, times, and half a time, three and a half years, describing this as only part of the church. Verse 17, he says, describes a second group, 'the rest of her offspring' who keep God's commandments and hold the testimony of Jesus Christ, whom the dragon makes war against after failing to reach the fleeing woman. Thiel clarifies the wilderness is not heaven, since heaven is never called a wilderness, and says those hoping for divine protection need to heed the prophet Zephaniah's instructions, which Dupuis then asks him to explain in more detail.

Zephaniah's Call To Gather

Thiel reads Zephaniah's instruction for God's people to 'gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, O undesirable nation' before a coming decree is issued and before the day of the Lord's fierce anger, tying the timing to the start of the Great Tribulation. He connects this Old Testament command to Hebrews 10:23 in the God's Word Translation, which tells believers not to stop gathering together with other believers as some already are, and to 2 Thessalonians 2, where Paul urges the church not to be shaken into thinking the day of the Lord has already come while still stressing the need for the faithful to gather to Christ. Thiel reads Zephaniah 2:3's call to seek the Lord, seek righteousness, and seek humility, arguing this humility means accepting church authority under a prophet rather than remaining independent, and he notes that the old Worldwide Church of God taught in 1979 that this passage promised protection for the spiritually ready.

The Decree And Real Preparation

Dupuis asks who will issue the coming decree, and Thiel cites Amos 3:7, that the Lord does nothing without revealing it to his servants the prophets, suggesting a prophet may deliver or relay the decree, and he identifies the Continuing Church of God as the only group he believes represents the Philadelphian remnant able to do so. Thiel reads Jesus's warning in Matthew 24:15 about the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place as the decree's likely trigger, followed by instructions to flee Judea for the mountains without delay. For genuine preparation, he cites Proverbs 22:3 on the prudent man who foresees evil and hides himself, Matthew 24:43-44 on staying ready like a watchful servant, and Matthew 6 on trusting God to provide for those who seek his kingdom first. Thiel closes by insisting real prepping means gathering with the Philadelphian remnant, not stockpiling supplies or fleeing to bunkers, before Dupuis thanks him and points listeners to biblenewsprophecy.net.

Bible News Prophecy with Dr Bob Thiel

Can the Jews Build a Holy Temple? Christians as God's Temple with Dr. Bob Thiel

Dr. Bob Thiel joins host Steve Dupuis to examine a Temple Institute newsletter calling for a rebuilt Jewish temple, then walks through Old and New Testament scripture to argue that Christians, not a physical building, are now God's holy temple.

Temple Institute Calls For A New Temple

Steve Dupuis opens the Bible News Prophecy program by asking Dr. Bob Thiel whether any Jewish groups actively want to build a temple today. Thiel answers that several do, singling out the Temple Institute, whose newsletter went out the day before under the heading 'The Place Hashem Your God Will Choose.' He reads the newsletter's quotation of Deuteronomy 12:5-7, instructing Israel to bring burnt offerings, sacrifices, tithes, and freewill offerings to the place God chooses, and its claim that Moses is introducing 'the future Holy Temple' that would replace the tabernacle. Thiel notes that sacrifices in that passage were carried out for centuries without any temple standing. He adds that the newsletter closes with an appeal for donations to 'rebuild the Holy Temple in our time,' framing the modern push for a temple as both a religious conviction and a fundraising cause among certain observant Jewish organizations.

A History Of Israel's Two Temples

Thiel traces the history behind that appeal. About four hundred years after Deuteronomy, King David wanted to build God a great temple in Jerusalem, but God told him no and promised the honor to his son instead, and Solomon built what is called the First Temple, destroyed in 586 BC by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. A new temple began under King Cyrus's decree around 538 BC and was finished by 516 BC, and roughly five hundred years later Herod the Great expanded it into an impressive structure. Thiel reads Matthew 24, where Jesus's disciples show him the temple buildings and Jesus responds that not one stone will be left upon another. That destruction came at the hands of General Titus in 70 AD, an event the Jewish historian Josephus witnessed and described as complete. Early second-century Jews discussed rebuilding, Thiel notes, but nothing came of it, leaving Jerusalem without a temple for nearly two thousand years.

Christians As The True Temple Of God

Asked directly whether Jews can build a holy temple in this age, Thiel answers simply, 'No.' Dupuis recalls that Christians are called the temple of God and asks whether they represent that temple in the end times. Thiel says yes, first pointing to Daniel 12:7, where a heavenly figure swears the end will come after 'a time, times, and half a time,' the three-and-a-half-year period Thiel identifies with the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord, insisting the holy people described there are not unconverted Jews. He then introduces a word study, explaining that the New Testament uses two different Greek words translated 'temple' in English: naos and hieron. Thiel says naos is the word the apostle Paul used after Jesus's resurrection to describe something other than a physical Jewish building, setting up scripture showing that the naos, God's true temple, now refers to Christians rather than to Jewish people or any Jewish structure.

Paul's Letters On The Body As Temple

Thiel reads a string of Pauline passages to build his case. In 1 Corinthians 6:19 Paul asks believers whether they know their body is 'the temple of the Holy Ghost,' and in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 he warns that anyone who defiles 'the temple of God,' which believers themselves are, will be destroyed by God. In 2 Corinthians 6:16, Paul contrasts the naos of God with idols, quoting God's promise to 'dwell with them and walk among them.' Thiel then turns to John 2:19-21, where Jesus tells the Jews, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up,' and the Gospel clarifies that Jesus 'spoke of the temple of his body,' the first New Testament use of naos for something other than a physical Jewish building. Thiel adds Ephesians 2:19-22, where Paul describes Christians as fellow citizens 'built together for a habitation of God,' and cites an old Church of God publication using the same imagery of believers 'growing unto a holy temple in the Lord.'

Sacrifices Are Possible Without A Temple

Dupuis asks whether Daniel's prophesied animal sacrifices before the Great Tribulation require a temple. Thiel says no, explaining that Jews only need an altar, a high priest, sacrificial implements, and willingness, all of which certain groups already have. He notes that before Solomon built the First Temple, Jews sacrificed for centuries on altars alone, citing David in 2 Samuel 24, Aaron's descendants in Exodus and Leviticus, and earlier still Abel, Noah, and Abraham in Genesis. Thiel reads Ezra 3:6, showing that returning exiles resumed burnt offerings 'from the first day of the seventh month' even though 'the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid.' He reports speaking directly with leaders of the Temple Institute and the Reconstituted Sanhedrin, both of whom told him no temple is required to sacrifice, only government permission, which they are simply waiting to receive. Thiel concludes that while Jews may eventually build some sacrificial structure, they remain incapable of building a temple God would consider holy.

The Abomination Of Desolation Reconsidered

Finally, Dupuis asks whether the abomination of desolation Jesus described takes place in a Jewish temple. Thiel says no, reading Matthew 24:15, where Jesus warns of 'the abomination of desolation... standing in the holy place' and adds, 'whoever reads, let him understand.' Thiel argues Jesus never called that holy place a Jewish temple; it could be the first Christian building in Jerusalem or another site entirely. He points to Acts 7:33 and 21:28, which use the same Greek terms, topos and hagios, for a location rather than a structure, and says many Protestants and members of the Churches of God, including his former one, miss this distinction and wrongly expect a rebuilt Jewish temple. Thiel closes by insisting Christians, not any Jewish building, are God's holy people and holy place in this age. Dupuis thanks Thiel and directs listeners to biblenewsprophecy.net for more interviews and articles, closing out the Bible News Prophecy program.

Bible News Prophecy with Dr Bob Thiel

Continuing Church of God 61

Is the Jewish Year 5787 Off by Two Centuries? Dr. Bob Thiel on the 6,000-Year Countdown

Dr. Bob Thiel questions the widely cited Jewish year 5787, tracing chronology problems in the ancient Seder Olam through rabbinic history and New Testament clues to ask how close humanity may actually be to the end of a six-thousand-year plan.

Questioning The Jewish Calendar's Count

Dr. Bob Thiel opens the program by asking not what year it is on the Roman calendar, but how many years have passed since God removed Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. He notes that the Feast of Trumpets, which Jews call Rosh Hashanah, runs this year from sunset on September 11, 2026, through sunset on October 1, 2027, and carries the label year 5787. Thiel reads a passage from Israel365 News citing Rabbi Mendel Kessin's teaching that the Talmud describes a project lasting six thousand years, ending around the year 2240, over two centuries from now. He warns that such a distant date can lull people into thinking they have plenty of time before the end of the age. Thiel signals he intends to test whether the widely cited 5787 figure, drawn from an ancient document called the Seder Olam, is actually accurate, framing the episode's central question about biblical and Jewish chronology.

Cracks In The Seder Olam

Thiel turns to problems scholars have found with the Seder Olam, the ancient document behind the traditional Jewish chronology. He cites the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, which says the document contains material contrary to historical facts, and a Jewish scientist named Saul Kullook, who wrote in 2018 that the Seder Olam is out of sync with modern historical records by a difference of 164 years. Thiel then quotes Rabbi Simon Schwab at length, reading his description of an enormous discrepancy between sacred tradition and secular data, one Schwab says seems to frustrate any comparative chronology acceptable to both orthodox Jews and secular historians. Thiel stresses that Schwab is discussing the opinions of rabbinic scholars, not the Bible itself. He also reads Schwab's suggestion that the sages may have deliberately suppressed a period of roughly 165 years of history, a claim Schwab himself later softened, saying it might not have been a divine command after all.

A Deliberate Shortening, Thiel Argues

Thiel reads a non-Jewish source's assessment of Schwab's material, which argues that the shortening in the Seder Olam was deliberate and that present-day Jewish scholars know this. The source suggests the sages altered the record in the second century to keep anyone from using Daniel's prophecies to calculate the Messiah's coming, tying the change to Daniel 12:4's instruction to shut up and seal the book until the time of the end. Thiel notes Schwab's own admission that including the missing 165 years would reveal the world is closer to the end of the sixth millennium than commonly believed, while questioning whether that reasoning holds up. He then reads Amos 2:4-5, comparing Protestant, Jewish Publication Society, and Complete Jewish Bible translations, all describing Judah's lies leading the nation astray and drawing fire and punishment. Thiel applies this warning to modern reliance on tradition instead of truth about the Messiah.

Rejecting Jesus For Simon Bar Kokhba

Thiel recounts how first-century Jews, having rejected Jesus as Messiah despite prophecies in Daniel 9 pointing to His death and resurrection in the 30s AD, later turned to another candidate. He explains that Rabbi Akiva declared a man named Simon, renamed Simon bar Kokhba, to be the prophesied Messiah, prompting some scholars to adjust dates to support that claim. Unlike Jesus, whose death did not trigger a war, Simon bar Kokhba's rise led to a revolt against Rome, and Thiel reports that Romans reportedly killed about 600,000 Jewish soldiers, with another 1.2 million Jews dying afterward from famine and pestilence, nearly two million deaths tied to the episode. Thiel presents this history as a stark example of the cost of following false tradition rather than truth, and mentions a free book, Proof Jesus Is the Messiah, available at ccog.org, which documents why Jews should have recognized Jesus as the Messiah.

Counting Days From Genesis To Pentecost

Thiel walks through the genealogies of Genesis 5 and Genesis 11, which, combined with Galatians 3:17 and the building of Solomon's temple, suggest Adam could have been created around 3983 BC, though he cautions this rests on assumptions about birth dates and calendar counting that cannot be treated as certain. He then turns to the New Testament, arguing that Jesus began preaching between 27 and 30 AD, placing that moment late in the fourth of six thousand-year days. Citing Peter's speech in Acts 2 and the opening of Hebrews 1, both of which describe Jesus as present during the last days, Thiel concludes the last days must have started no later than Pentecost, roughly 31 to 35 AD. Working from that anchor, he calculates that six thousand years should end no later than 2031 or 2035, and that Adam and Eve likely left Eden between 3969 and 3965 BC.

A Countdown Closer Than 5787 Suggests

Thiel brings his calculations together, saying that if Adam and Eve left Eden in 3969 or 3965 BC, the current year is somewhere between 5991 and 5995, not the widely cited 5787. He recalls once warning another Church of God group about a similar miscalculation, after which its leader retracted the claim. Either way, Thiel argues, the Jewish year 5787 appears to be off by more than two hundred years, an error he links back to the nearly two million deaths caused by following Simon bar Kokhba. He warns that assuming the end of the age is centuries away is itself a lie, since early followers of Jesus taught He would return near the close of the six-thousand-year plan, possibly at the Great Tribulation described in Matthew 24:14. Thiel closes urging listeners to trust the Bible's signs of the end rather than flawed traditional calculations, and signs off as Dr. Bob Thiel for the Bible News Prophecy program.

Bible News Prophecy with Dr Bob Thiel

Toxins: The invisible assault

Natural News put out another warning. According to Jeremy Grantham, co-founder and chair at The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, what do you think is the most underrated threat facing humanity?

It’s toxicity! Can you imagine that? One of humanity’s greatest underrated threats is the threat of toxins. Why? Why would anyone think toxins are such a great threat? Consider this: the impact of pesticide use on cancer rates is potentially rivaling that of smoking.

But where do these toxins come from? They come from man-made and released chemicals including in food contact materials such as packaging and pesticides.

Still, how many pesticides can there possibly be floating around in my body because of a little packaging and fertilizer? Is 3,600 enough? Well, there’s more than that, 80 of which are feared to be “especially dangerous”.

How about women’s cosmetics and personal care items? Do they pose an additional risk? One author claimed “Many of the ingredients in the cosmetics, toiletries and personal care products you use every day are harmful. Studies have found that nearly 50% of cosmetic products evaluated were contaminated with the cancer-causing chemical 1,4-dioxane”.

What about GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic? Could they have any toxic or aging effects?

What about Satan and his influence? What about spiritual toxins? Are there any? If so, what are they and how do we get those? Should we strive to avoid physical and spiritual toxins?

Watch this video as Dr. Thiel shines the light of Biblical truth and the solution to “Toxins: The Invisible Assault”.

Read the full article to this video titled “Toxins: The invisible assault” at URL

https://www.cogwriter.com/news/doctrine/toxins-the-invisible-assault/

The Invisible Assault: Natural, Man-Made, and Spiritual Toxins with Dr. Bob Thiel

Dr. Bob Thiel joins host Steve Dupuis to survey natural and man-made toxins, from algae blooms and contaminated produce to cosmetics and GLP-1 drugs, before drawing biblical parallels between physical poisons and the spiritual toxins of sin and vanity.

Natural Toxins In Food And Water

Steve Dupuis opens the Bible News Prophecy program by welcoming Dr. Bob Thiel and asking directly whether there are both natural and man-made toxins in the world today. Thiel confirms there are, beginning with a Minnesota example: microcystin, a toxin produced by blue-green algae that can cause skin and eye irritation, allergic reactions, rashes, and worse if swallowed, with people who have compromised immune systems at greatest risk. He moves to poisonous mushrooms and other toxic plants that most people learn to avoid. Dupuis asks why not everyone avoids them, and Thiel explains that many toxins are hidden inside food that looks perfectly healthy, pointing to modern cases of diarrhea linked to lettuce and packaged blueberries. He frames these as deceptive threats that catch people unaware, setting up a contrast with man-made toxins, which he says are almost impossible to completely avoid in daily life, an idea he develops from an article on Natural News titled "The Invisible Assault."

Synthetic Chemicals Since World War II

Thiel expands on the Natural News article, explaining that since World War II, chemical innovation has produced synthetic compounds marketed as conveniences, from pesticides to non-stick cookware, that instead undermine the body's ability to detoxify. He explains that many of these synthetic chemicals resemble substances already in the body, allowing them to disrupt hormones and affect fertility, thyroid function, puberty, and metabolism, with researchers suspecting links to diabetes as well. Thiel notes these chemicals are present in air, water, and plastics, and he reads a report describing toxicity as the most underrated threat facing humanity, warning that pesticide exposure may rival cigarette smoking in its effect on cancer rates. Dupuis asks how prevalent this contamination really is, and Thiel answers that more than 3,600 synthetic chemicals from packaging and pesticides have been found in human bodies worldwide, at least 80 of which are considered potentially dangerous, citing environmental researcher Jane Muncke's warning that toxicity remains widely underestimated.

Cosmetics Vanity And Ezekiel's Satan

Asked whether things get worse, Thiel points to microplastics and their cumulative link to heart attacks, then turns to cosmetics as an avoidable toxin people choose for themselves. He cites Ecclesiastes 1:2 on the vanity of vanities before tracing vanity of appearance back to Ezekiel 28, reading verses describing Satan as once the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, whose heart was lifted up because of his beauty until iniquity was found in him. Thiel adds Isaiah 28's description of glorious beauty as a fading flower, arguing that looks do not last even though many people spend enormous effort on outward appearance. He recalls a chiropractor sending him her book "Dying to Look Good" decades earlier, which documented over 1,200 questionable cosmetic chemicals unapproved by the FDA, including findings that nearly half of tested cosmetic products contained the cancer-causing chemical 1,4-dioxane, with the author warning that consumers, not regulators, bear responsibility for their family's safety.

GLP-1 Drugs And Ozempic Temples

Dupuis asks about today's situation, and Thiel notes many dangerous chemicals remain in use, and that most prescription drugs, being foreign to the human body, could themselves be considered toxic in a broad sense. He reports that roughly 11 percent of Americans, more than 30 million people, currently use GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy for weight loss and appearance. Citing a USA Today report, Thiel describes a side effect plastic surgeons call "temporal hollowing" or "Ozempic temples," in which rapid weight loss drains volume from the temples near the brain, leaving patients looking older or disturbed without understanding why. He explains that a full temple area is a hallmark of youth, so its loss is described as a hallmark of aging, illness, and dehydration, while over-correcting the hollowing can create its own problems. Thiel summarizes the irony that pursuing a toxic shortcut to a better appearance can end up making a person look worse instead.

Toxins As A Spiritual Analogy

Dupuis asks whether spiritual lessons can be drawn from these various toxins, and Thiel says yes, comparing poisonous plants to obvious sins like stealing or murder that most people knowingly avoid, while comparing contaminated foods to deceptive sins that catch people unaware, citing 1 Peter 5:8's warning to be sober and vigilant because the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He links this to Satan's biblical title as prince of the power of the air, comparing his pervasive influence to air pollution that everyone must live within. Thiel reads Jesus's prayer in John 17 asking the Father not to remove believers from the world but to keep them from the evil one, then cites James 4:6-7's instruction to submit to God and resist the devil so he will flee. He connects this to the Church of God's longstanding practice of urging minimal cosmetic use and eating real, unprocessed food rather than ultra-processed alternatives.

Entertainment Sin And God's Coming Kingdom

Asked about additional toxins, Thiel names entertainment as potentially spiritually toxic, citing Romans 6:12-13's instruction against letting sin reign in the mortal body and Psalm 101:3's vow to set nothing wicked before one's eyes. He introduces the toxicology concept of a "total toxic threshold," the idea that the body tolerates limited toxin exposure before adverse effects appear, and applies it to living within a sinful society, urging caution as culture grows more toxic. He cites 2 Corinthians 6:17's call to come out of the world and 1 Corinthians 15:33's warning that evil company corrupts good habits, alongside Matthew 5:48's call to be perfect as the Father is perfect. Thiel closes by noting that sin and Satan may be the most invisible toxins of all, but that during the millennial kingdom described in Revelation 20:3 and Isaiah 30, Satan will be bound and the resurrected saints will teach humanity to live rightly, before Dupuis thanks him and directs listeners to biblenewsprophecy.net.

Bible News Prophecy with Dr Bob Thiel and Steve Dupuie

Continuing Church of God 60

Earthquakes, the Beginning of Sorrows, and the Prophetic Big One

Summary

Earthquakes and the Beginning of Sorrows

The episode focuses on earthquakes as one of the conditions the guest associates with the biblical "beginning of sorrows." The discussion begins with references to Matthew 24 and Mark 13, where earthquakes, famines, pestilences, and troubles are presented together. The guest points to a series of recent earthquakes in several countries and argues that people should not automatically dismiss such events as insignificant. The host asks whether earthquakes can still have prophetic importance when official sources describe them as normal or unrelated. The guest responds by questioning whether experts can sometimes be wrong or lack complete information. Throughout this opening section, the discussion treats earthquakes as both physical events and possible prophetic signs.

Scoffers, Prophecy, and the Passage from Second Peter

The guest turns to 2 Peter 3 and reads an extended passage about scoffers, the timing of God's promises, judgment, repentance, and the Day of the Lord. He interprets the passage as a warning that some people will assume conditions are normal because life appears to continue as it always has. He also stresses the idea that God's timetable may not match human expectations and that delay should not be confused with abandonment of the plan. The passage is used to support the guest's argument that people should take prophetic warnings seriously rather than dismissing them. He connects the biblical reference to scoffers with modern reactions to earthquakes, while acknowledging the connection as an interpretation. The overall emphasis is on vigilance, repentance, and awareness of what the guest believes scripture says about future events.

San Andreas Fault Research and California's Big One

The conversation then shifts to research concerning the San Andreas Fault and a report that its slip rate may be faster or more constant than previously understood. The guest discusses a recent Hayward Fault earthquake and cites researchers who, according to the transcript, say new data have improved understanding of long-term fault movement. He argues that scientific knowledge can change as new measurements become available. From there, the episode considers California's long-standing concern about a major earthquake commonly called "the big one." The guest says California is likely to experience a very large earthquake but distinguishes that possibility from the far greater earthquake he believes is described in biblical prophecy. The discussion uses changing scientific assessments as an example of why the guest believes people should remain prepared and avoid assuming current expert estimates are final.

Earthquakes Described in Revelation

The guest reviews several earthquake references in the book of Revelation and distinguishes them from the plural earthquakes associated with the "beginning of sorrows." He discusses an earthquake in Revelation 8:5, another connected with the two witnesses in Revelation 11, and a later earthquake associated with Revelation 11:19. The episode places these events within the guest's interpretation of the Great Tribulation, the Day of the Lord, and the resurrection of Christians. The host asks whether these are separate earthquakes and whether one of them is the largest earthquake described in the Bible. The guest answers that they are distinct events occurring at different points in the prophetic sequence. He then directs the discussion toward Revelation 16 as the passage he believes describes the greatest earthquake of all.

The Greatest Prophetic Earthquake

The guest cites Revelation 16:18-20 as describing an unprecedented earthquake so great that cities fall, mountains disappear, and islands flee away. He contrasts that description with estimates of the largest earthquake that might occur on the San Andreas Fault and argues that the Revelation event exceeds what many experts consider physically possible. He also rejects the view that all of Revelation's major prophetic events have already occurred, specifically criticizing preterist interpretations. The guest speculates that changes involving Earth's core or magnetic fields could potentially relate to how such an event might occur, while presenting this as a possibility rather than an established mechanism. He further states that, in his prophetic chronology, the Revelation 16 earthquake occurs near the end of the Day of the Lord and gives a date-related opinion concerning when it could not occur. He also distinguishes that event from an earthquake he associates with Ezekiel 38:19.

Consider Your Ways, Watch, and Pray

The final portion of the episode turns from prophecy to personal response. The guest quotes Haggai's instruction to "consider your ways" and tells a story about experiencing his first earthquake after moving from Michigan to California in 1976. He explains that he initially mistook the movement for dizziness because he did not recognize what was happening, using the experience as an analogy for how people can discount unfamiliar signs. The guest argues that people may similarly minimize earthquakes or other events because they do not fit their expectations. He then refers to the Lord's Prayer and Luke 21:36, emphasizing the instruction to watch and pray. The episode concludes with a call for personal change, spiritual readiness, and attention to events the guest believes may have prophetic significance.

Bible News Prophecy with Dr Bob Thiel

Is Petra the Place of Safety?

Many that claim some sort of Christian faith and even many that don’t have heard of the Biblically related “place of safety” during the apocalyptic time known as the Great Tribulation.

Millions, instead, believe that they will be raptured to heaven before this.

Bible readers have noted that Revelation 12:14-16 refers to a place to flee to that is in the wilderness--and heaven is not a wilderness.

Many people have heard that Petra in Jordan, instead, is the place you want to be during the Great Tribulation.

But is Petra the place? What if it isn’t?

Some assert that instead of a place like Petra, you will be protected right where you are? Protected right in your own home. What if you’re wrong about that? How about Bozrah in Jordan? Is that the place of safety? Should you flee to Bozrah? Wait a minute! What if you’re wrong about Bozrah?

Does the Bible give us any clues where the place of safety might be? Does the Bible give us any clues where the place of safety would not be? Do you know what scriptures to look for?

Who’s going to be protected in the place of safety? Jews? All Christians? Only Philadelphian Christians? You?

Will you know when to flee to a place of safety? Do you know for sure? Do scriptures teach that you should be gathered together before the decree to flee is issued? Did God promise to send someone to tell you when and where to flee (hint: He does nothing without revealing it to His servants)? Do you not only know what the Bible teaches on this, are you doing what you should be doing now to be protected?

Watch this video as Dr. Thiel fills in a lot of the blanks and shines the light of Biblical truth on the place of safety.

Read the full article to this video titled “Might the ‘place of safety’ not be in Petra?” at URL https://www.cogwriter.com/news/prophecy/might-the-place-of-safety-not-be-in-petra/

A Wilderness Refuge? Weighing Petra and Bozrah Against Biblical Prophecy

Summary

The Central Question

The episode considers where some followers of Jesus might be protected during the Great Tribulation. Petra, the ancient rock-cut city in Jordan, is presented as the best-known candidate, but Dr. Thiel cautions that Scripture does not explicitly name Petra. The discussion therefore treats it as a possibility rather than a certainty.

Petra and Its Practical Limits

The speakers review arguments associated with Petra, including its connection to the words Petra and Sela, both understood in the discussion to mean "rock." They also consider Petra's historical population and whether it could accommodate the number of people some interpreters associate with end-time protection. The episode notes that the broader Petra region is larger than its familiar carved structures, leaving open the possibility that Petra or a nearby area could be involved.

Reading the Biblical Directions

Dr. Thiel draws on passages from Jeremiah, Luke, Zechariah, Revelation, Isaiah, Zephaniah, Psalms, and 1 Samuel to identify directional and geographic clues. He argues that Jerusalem, Judea, northern lands, islands, and the southwestern coastal region do not fit the proposed place of safety. In his interpretation, the remaining clues point generally southeast from Jerusalem toward a rocky wilderness location.

Gathering Rather Than Staying Put

The program rejects the idea that faithful Christians will simply be protected wherever they happen to live. Passages in Isaiah and Zephaniah are interpreted as describing a collective gathering, a decree to flee, and concealment during the day of the Lord's anger. The proposed refuge is therefore presented as a shared destination or region rather than many unrelated individual locations.

Why Bozrah Is Questioned

Bozrah is examined because prophetic passages connect it with Edom, Israel, an eagle, and a gathered flock. Dr. Thiel argues, however, that the biblical prophecies concerning Bozrah emphasize judgment on Edom because of the Edomites' treatment of Israel. He therefore concludes that Bozrah is less likely than Petra or another nearby wilderness location to be the promised refuge.

Protection and the Philadelphian Christians

The closing portion interprets Revelation 3 and Revelation 12 as promising protection to Philadelphian Christians while indicating that other Christians will face persecution. The woman in Revelation 12 is described as going to a wilderness place for three and one-half years rather than being taken to heaven. The episode ends with Petra still under consideration, but with a clear warning against claiming certainty about a location that the Bible does not expressly identify.