Countdown 2 Eternity

James Kaddis: Well, hello, my dear brothers and sisters! I want to welcome you to another episode of Countdown to Eternity, and I have the great Andy Woods with me. I'm very happy that you're here, bro. I missed you. I'm glad you're doing well. How are things going, man?

Andy Woods: James, good to be here. Things are going well. It's June, as we all know, and in Texas, that means it's hot, hot, hot. So I'm staying indoors the best to the best of my ability.

James Kaddis: Yeah, good for you, bro. Stay away from the nonsense, that's for sure. Bro, so much has happened over the last few days that I did not see until right now. You got it. I'm shocked over it just because... well, everybody will understand why. It's a bit mind-boggling to me, but it's mind-boggling because when you contextualize it with what has happened over the last few days, it's going to make a whole lot more sense.

We have some kind of an MOU that was signed, or not signed, it's going to be signed by the president or by the vice president. We still don't know yet with Iran. And that looks like it's already beginning to fall apart. I don't know all the details right now because the White House has not released the document. They've not released the text.

I assume that the president has some reluctance in his heart right now to release the text of the MOU because Iran has released their own text of an MOU that I actually believe is completely fictitious because there's no way in the world the president would sign a deal like that. Like, no way. I can't even imagine it.

But in the midst of all of that, even though we don't know what the contents of this MOU is, I was given a headline by you that is mind-boggling. Okay? And the headline is, "Iran, Russia sign $25 billion nuclear cooperation deal as Tehran presses ahead amid US talks." What in the world, bro? I mean, how do we make sense of that?

First of all, let me get your thoughts and comments on this MOU that we know nothing about. And this is... we know nothing about it as of Monday. By the time people see this, it'll be Wednesday. We might have a lot more substantive information on it by Wednesday. He told Macron while he was in France on a broadcast that I watched where he said... or he told a reporter where he said, "Yeah, we'll make that MOU available to everybody," but I don't know when that's coming. So what are your thoughts?

Andy Woods: Well, pardon me, James, for being a little bit on the skeptical side of things. Signing an agreement with a Shiite Islamic theocracy to me is not really worth the paper it's written on. I mean, first of all, there's the issue of taqiyya, where they are allowed to lie to advance the cause of Allah. It seems like everybody in the world understands that, other than Witkoff and Jared Kushner and some of these people that keep wanting to broker these deals. And so I don't really look at this as some kind of arrangement or agreement that they'll keep.

I want to see the enforcement mechanism language in the agreement, if there is any. And I want to know what Iran is going to do long after Trump is out of the White House. He's not going to be there forever. And let's say we get a weaker president, a Democrat or maybe a RINO Republican in name only. Are they going to honor the agreement when that happens? And beyond that, can you name a single agreement that these people have ever kept? I mean, I can't think of a single one.

And so my goodness, isn't past prologue, as they say? I mean, history is the future. If this is their posture and their mindset, I guess I'm just very skeptical about this deal. And I think they're going to just continue their nuclear ambitions. Yeah, we knocked out some of their capabilities, but we didn't take away their knowledge. They still know how to get this done.

And I think they're just going to move right back into what I call the talk and build strategy. Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, while at the same time they're denying inspectors the ability to come in and hold people accountable, and they just keep building, building, building. And it's part of their theology because they think that they can bring the 12th Imam to the world, to the earth, through chaos that they themselves can inflict.

And so obviously people like this want to go nuclear. And beyond that, we know what the Bible says. We know that Persia is going to play a dominant role in the end-time scenario. She's going to be aggressive. She's going to invade the land of Israel along with Russia, Turkey, and others. So I just don't see Iran going quietly into the night.

I think what Iran has experienced ever since Operation Epic Fury is just a speed bump in the road for them. It doesn't demonstrate any kind of U-turn. And so that's... I guess I look at this whole thing with a great degree of skepticism from that standpoint.

James Kaddis: You know, it's interesting. I share a deep skepticism, especially as it relates to Iran. That is undoubtedly the case. But what is interesting to me is that the president has a proven track record and has given us every indicator that he's been pro-Israel. So there is one ounce of hope that exists there.

But even in that public interview that I heard, or that public conference that was held with the president and Macron, he actually referred to the leader of Iran as being smart and better than the two previous layers of leaders, which very much scares me. And I understand you're talking about a negotiating position, but that in and of itself is a very difficult thing.

Now, granted, I mean, they may be smart people. So again, the president's probably using descriptive terminology that puts him in a place where he isn't being viewed as possibly postured nefariously against them. Maybe that's what he's trying to do. But there's a lot here that still... I mean, it just doesn't make sense. And we're not completely aware of what is actually happening. I know that the Strait of Hormuz is open.

That to me feels like a tremendous mistake. But I don't have the intelligence that the president has. I'm not looking at the same data. I don't know. And then that brings us to this article: "Iran, Russia sign a $25 billion nuclear cooperation deal as Tehran presses ahead amid US talks." What do you think of that title? I mean, that's... that's a big deal.

Andy Woods: Well, I mean, it's interesting from a couple of standpoints. I mean, one is the thing that nobody... almost nobody wants to talk about. Not even the White House wants to talk about this when this subject comes up. Caroline Leavitt, I've noticed, deflects questions on this almost immediately. But Russia is backing Iran in this whole enterprise and this whole endeavor, as is China, for that matter.

So when Trump says, "Yeah, we've taken out their navy, we've done this, we've done that," I'm thinking to myself, "So what?" Russia will just resupply. And I think it's interesting from the standpoint of Gog-Magog, Ezekiel 38 and 39, because Ezekiel specifically mentions Turkey, as we've documented many times on your show, Iran, and Russia as the principal invaders.

And so since that is true, it stands to reason that Iran would develop a very tight relationship with Russia on the eve of this invasion. You remember the headlines when things were tough on Iran during Operation Epic Fury, they basically said, "You know what? We're going to escape. Our leadership is going to escape where? To Russia, of all places."

And then you throw in this headline that you're talking about here from the Algemeiner. This is a June 4th, 2026, article, and you already read it, the headline: "Iran, Russia sign a $25 billion nuclear cooperation deal as Tehran presses ahead amid US talks." I mean, to me, that tightens the relationship even more between Russia and Iran.

So I think everything that's happened since Operation Epic Fury began and really even going back to Operation Midnight Hammer, it hasn't driven Russia and Iran further and further apart. It's driven Iran into the arms of Russia, which I think is stage-setting for the Ezekiel 38 and 39 invasion.

James Kaddis: Yeah, and bro, there are so many things that I just think about immediately that I tend to gravitate towards when I look at this, and it's kind of mind-blowing. I mean, first and foremost, the one thing that it shows us, especially considering the timing of the article, is that Iran is not waiting for the outcome of the US talks. It doesn't seem to really care about the US talks.

If it believed that there was some kind of a comprehensive agreement with Washington was eminent, why would it likely be more cautious in this arena doing this? I mean, it doesn't make sense. And then what scares me even more is the president has to have intelligence like this. He has to know that Iran and Russia are working on a nuclear deal.

So then why is an MOU being agreed to with respect to shelving the conversation of nuclear talks until certain sanctions are lifted? To me, it just doesn't make sense. It appears to be strengthening strategically ties with Russia, regardless of what happens to America. And again, like you said, it falls into the biblical narrative.

And then it also means that Russia is becoming Iran's, for lack of a better term, nuclear patron. I mean, there's... how do you even deal with it any other way? I mean, their nuclear power plant that they mention here in this article... and I'm reading it as I'm going... is unbelievable because what this agreement's going to end up doing is expanding cooperation into additional nuclear energy products and infrastructure.

Although we don't know the specifics as to what is happening, Russian news sources are actually talking about this. From a geopolitical perspective, that tells us that there's going to be way more Russian influence inside of Iran and more Russian leverage over Mideast energy. I mean, is there any other way of looking at this?

I mean, I don't see it any other way other than the fact that, in and of itself, it's a problem when you begin to see this strategic alignment taking place between these countries that already in many ways have shown a nefarious intent with respect to Israel. Like, bro, this is kind of wild.

Andy Woods: Yeah, I mean, this relationship between Russia and Iran has been developing for a long time. And I think now is just being put in cement. And I don't think Operation Epic Fury slowed this down at all. I think it sped it up. And when you kind of step back for a minute and look at the big, big picture, it's really fascinating.

I mean, Russia prior to the Communist Revolution in 1917 was a Christian Orthodox country. And they weren't going to invade anybody. They certainly weren't going to invade Israel pre-1917 because there was no Israel to invade. And then we had the Communist Revolution, the character of Russia started to change in the way Ezekiel predicted it would in the last days.

The nation of Israel came into existence in 1948. And who was one of the nations that honored the newborn state of Israel? I mean, it was none other than Persia, who we think is Iran. And how everything changed in Iran in 1979 with the deposing of the Shah, replacing the Shah with the Ayatollah.

Iran's now becoming the Islamic Republic of Iran. And the two nations that Ezekiel told us to keep an eye on started to become hostile to the West, hostile to Israel, which has not always been the case. And then you throw into the mix that the two are cooperating with each other, right down to this $25 billion nuclear cooperation deal, and how Operation Epic Fury is pushing Iran into the arms of Russia.

I don't know how clearer God could be in terms of, you better pay attention to my prophetic word because things are heating up, they're moving a particular direction. And that's why when Operation Epic Fury started, you know, I was one of the ones that said, you know what, I don't think the character of Iran is going to change.

I don't think there's going to be meaningful regime change in Iran as much as I from a human standpoint wanted that to happen. And I didn't think that would happen because I really believe, James, as do you, that we are on the precipice of this Gog-Magog invasion. I mean, we're just too late in the game for some kind of meaningful reform to break out in Persia or Iran and for regime change to happen and for the character of Iran to change. I just don't see that happening. Things are moving too quickly.

James Kaddis: Okay, but let me throw a kind of a monkey's wrench into this because it is the natural... the imposition of this question should be a natural kind of an outflow when looking at these circumstances. Reading Ezekiel 38, we know that there is a condition of peace that has to exist in Israel.

Matter of fact, the way that that Hebrew word is translated is it's like... solitary's not the word I'm looking for. It's very hard to translate it in English in my mind. It's tranquility. Tranquility's a good word. Like it's tranquil. It's not the word that we use for shalom. It's a different word. You know this. You know all the terminology.

Andy Woods: Yeah, it's *shacat* is the word for tranquility there in verse eight and verse 11. And then there's another word thrown in, *betach*, which is the word for security. So there's two Hebrew words, one security, one tranquility.

James Kaddis: Yeah, and those are not small words. Those words are... I would argue poetically descriptive. This is not emphasizing some kind of a metaphorical element. This is not... we're not talking about that. What we're looking at here is we're looking at something that's very literal. I mean, it's very, very literal and it's expressive.

So what we're talking about, peace, real security... I mean, obviously it's temporary, but it's very real. Like it's not a small... there's nothing about this that appears to be just like some fleeting thing. So how do you reconcile that passage knowing that Ezekiel 38 is inevitable?

How do you reconcile that because it would... like I personally would be looking for some level of reform. I'm not looking for reform in the Iranians. I think that Iran no matter what's going to end up getting forced to be at least a momentary portion of an alliance that treats Israel well because they kind of have to, not because they want to. I mean, I get that. But how do you see that in light of what has to happen before this attack takes place?

Andy Woods: Well, I think we may have a major clue answering that question in a headline that goes back a week or two where Trump said he wants every Middle Eastern nation, every, in the Abraham Accords. And let's remember what the Abraham Accords are. They're normalization agreements where Israel will open up to any nation, a Muslim nation, that will acknowledge Israel's place on the map. She'll open up to that said nation, what I call the four Ts: trade, travel, tourism, and technology.

And so I think it's conceivable. And the interesting thing about prophecy is it gives us the end game. It doesn't tell us how we're going to get there. So everybody that argues how we're going to get there is just speculating, myself included. But one possible scenario is these Abraham Accords really take off. And these normalization agreements work. And that creates the temporal *shacat* and *betach*, which Bible prophecy says has to exist prior to this invasion, on the eve of this invasion.

And then you throw into the mix the treaty that the Antichrist, the Bible's very clear, Daniel 9, verse 27, he confirms, meaning he strengthens...

James Kaddis: Make strong, that's right.

Andy Woods: Yeah, he strengthens it with the many. Now, who are the many? Well, some would argue that the many is Israel. That's a reasonable conclusion. Daniel 11, verse 33, I think it is, calls the many Israel. But the many could also be all of these other nations that are involved with these Abraham Accords.

So the Abraham Accords sort of create this false peace, which is confirmed by the Antichrist. That starts the seven-year tribulation period, albeit Daniel chapter nine, verse 27. And that creates what I would call the fake peace, the pseudo-peace, the temporal peace, which has to exist on the eve of this invasion.

One of the things people need to understand is the Islamic mind is not pacified. It's not satiated based on economic benefits. The Western mind is. We all like economic benefits. People that are involved in Islamic ideology could care less about that. What they care about is their theology.

And so the West is kind of lulled to sleep through all of this, but the simmering hatred thanks to Islamic theology and ideology still exists. And so this peace is quickly vitiated as you move into the tribulation period itself, and that's when this invasion happens according to this scenario that I'm sort of coming up with here.

I mean, do I know it's going to happen that way? No, I'm just sort of speculating. Bible prophecy doesn't tell us how we get to the end-time result. It just tells us what the end-time result is. And so this is one potential scenario where we could arrive at what the Bible anticipates for the end of the age.

James Kaddis: Yeah, okay. I personally, and maybe I'm just calling me closed-minded, I don't know, but I can't see another scenario where it plays out differently. It would seem... there's nothing that seems very viable, especially kind of understanding how the Middle Eastern mindset works and how the geopolitics are assembled. I just... I can't see it.

Now, mind you, I've said things like this before and was introduced to a completely new way of looking at something based on something radically changing. So I guess that doesn't really mean anything if I say I can't really see it any other way. But it is interesting to me to see it as such. And I think the implications of this article are very affirming to everything that you're talking about.

Like, I want to just read this little paragraph that you have underlined here. It says, "The Iranian diplomat further underscored the growing scientific and technological partnership between Tehran and Moscow in the nuclear sector, particularly in the production of radiopharmaceuticals which are used in nuclear medicine for diagnosis and cancer treatment."

But it's interesting, there's some operative terminology that I want to point to, and for me, it's like critical. "The growing scientific and technological partnership" between Moscow in the nuclear sector. Like those are... those are some pretty operative terms there that we probably should talk about for a second because that's heavy. That's no small thing.

Andy Woods: Well, it's... when you look at the two, Iran and Russia, it's a match made in heaven, or maybe better said, a match made in hell. Because I mean, everything Russia needs, Iran has, and vice versa. And it's been this way for a long time. And the two are forming an alliance on the basis of things that are as innocuous as pharmaceuticals, medicine, cancer research.

And so if you speak out against this, you know, you're labeled as, "Oh man, you want people to die of cancer. You must be a very hard-hearted person." But the truth of the matter is we're warning about a coalition between two very wicked powers. I mean, let's not forget how many people Putin is responsible for mass murdering.

I mean, the guy is a class-A human rights violator. I mean, those that opposed him in an electoral sense are either killed or rotting away in Siberia or some Russian prison somewhere. And I saw a statistic where Iran since Operation Epic Fury even started, they have murdered somewhere on the low end of 40,000, on the high end 80,000, depending on who you listen to, of their own people.

So we can talk about pharmaceuticals and cancer research, but these are two wicked powers. Ezekiel 2,600 years ago saw them forming, and they're forming an alliance at every conceivable level. It's not just, "Hey, we hate Israel. Let's get together." That's obviously the big idea. But they're forming an alliance with medicine, the public sector, private sector, cancer research, radiopharmaceuticals. So I call it a match made in hell.

James Kaddis: Yeah, it's so absolutely true. And I think they are... they're becoming intertwined at virtually every level. And that's really the story here. I think this is the part that a lot of people might not necessarily see, but you are right in that vein.

You know, the nuclear deal is almost... dare I even say this, it might be scary to put it this way, but the nuclear deal is almost a symptom of the larger reality. You know, 20 years ago people could argue that Russia and Iran merely had overlapping interests. And that would be reasonable. Like even 20 years ago, we could say something like that, right?

But today, we are watching them build these long-term structures that, in many ways, bind them together economically, technologically, especially militaristically speaking, politically even. So that's a much bigger development than a single $25 billion agreement. And that's what I want our audience to think through for a second because it goes back to affirming what we know in the scriptures to be reality, what the Bible told us about what was happening.

And it makes sense, too, because when we start talking about the region of Magog, you know, we've already talked about Gog. That's presumably a title, presumably the leader of Russia. But isn't it more than a coincidence to think that when we talk about the region of Magog, it is, in essence, what was the former USSR in many ways? I mean, it should make a lot of sense to a lot of people here.

Andy Woods: Yeah, well, the Magogites would be that soft underbelly of the former Soviet Union, all of those *stans*. Yeah, all all the nations from Central Asia. Turkmenistan... well, we throw into the mix Afghanistan. My goodness, the Biden administration armed them by pulling out the army first and the citizens and the Americans and everybody else second, which was absolutely insane.

And left behind for the Taliban, I don't know how many billions of dollars in sophisticated American weaponry. I heard the number was as high as about $8 billion.

James Kaddis: No, I thought it was $86 billion.

Andy Woods: Okay, well, whatever it is, it's a lot. And so Biden armed Central Asia, armed Magog. And we're talking about sophisticated armaments, sophisticated weaponry. So that angle's coming together. The Russian angle's coming together. The Iranian angle's coming together. We haven't really even had a chance to talk much about Turkey. Turkey is playing a role in all of this. And you know, if there's ever a time to be taking a good hard look at Ezekiel 38 and 39, now would be the time to do it.

James Kaddis: Should we talk about Turkey for just a second? Because that is an interesting one. Yeah, by the way, I went and did the fact check on the numbers and yeah, it's... oh, this is interesting. So I don't know why I said $85 billion was left behind, although that may have been the initial numbers that were thrown out.

But listen to this, bro. 78 aircraft, 40,000... I didn't realize it was that much... 40,000 military vehicles: Humvees, MRAPs, trucks; 300,000 weapons. They still don't know how much communication gear was left or night vision equipment, ammunition and other military supplies, and also tactical dogs, bro. Like dogs were even left behind.

I mean, that's... I'm blown away at that. $18.6 billion in total equipment is what it appears to be that we spent in Afghanistan from 2005 to 2021, and $7.12 billion is the estimated value of the equipment that remained in Afghanistan. So you were dead right. Like that's a correct number. But that just to me is just wild.

Andy Woods: Yeah, and it's almost like with every headline major development, you know, the Lord is pushing us closer to the Gog-Magog scenario. Even the dogs you mentioned, the animals, I find that really interesting because Ezekiel is pretty clear that when this invasion happens, a lot of it is going to be accomplished through animals on horseback.

Now, dogs obviously aren't horses, and horses aren't dogs, but the fact that dogs and animals are involved, you know, with this level of warfare again makes the Gog-Magog scenario all the more believable and credible.

James Kaddis: Well, and I'm sure you heard about this. I made a couple of videos on this, which is strikingly interesting. Russia has been training their soldiers now to be fighting on horseback, specifically in Ukraine because of some of the challenges they've been running into, which is remarkable. I mean, you think about it, it's like, man, this has Ezekiel written all over it.

Andy Woods: Yeah, I did catch a lot of those headlines related to Putin using horseback in terms of his activity, military activities in Ukraine. But you know, the temptation, James, in prior generations with not just Ezekiel 38 and 39, but all kinds of end-time prophecies in the Bible revolving around Israel, the temple, Mark of the Beast technology, pharmakeia... I mean, the temptation was those things really can't mean what they say.

Because they just couldn't have imagined these things happening literally. But we're in a time period where you don't have to do that anymore. In fact, if you do that, there's really no excuse for it because the scenario that those things revolve around are coming into full bloom in our own generation. And so there's no need to make it sound less than what it is. I mean, it's going to happen exactly like God says. And we would expect that because God knows the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end, and it's impossible for God to lie.

James Kaddis: Amen to that, bro. And it's just astounding to see it all come together. We are running out of time, but I do want to open up the door for just a second to talk about Turkey, because I know you mentioned Turkey and I kind of took you off track when I went back and gave you those figures. Do you want to touch base for just a second about what you're seeing with Turkey?

Andy Woods: Well, Turkey to me is interesting because it's the only nation that's given four names in Ezekiel 38 and 39. And when you study those out, Meshech, Tubal, Gomer, and Togarmah all represent modern-day Turkey. And Turkey is a place where Israelis used to take their vacations, and boy, that's changed.

I've been to Turkey many times, a few times I should say. I've been to Ephesus, for example, one of the letters to the seven churches in the book of Revelation, the book of Ephesians written to the church there in Ephesus. And you know, when you take a tour of Ephesus, boy, they know how to put on the propaganda machine on the bus ride.

And they know how to put their tour guides on there and tell you that Islam is a religion of peace. And Turkey has become predominantly Islamic with hostile intentions towards Israel. And what you're seeing in the news constantly now are more and more headlines revealing the animus that Turkey has towards the West and Israel.

Here's just a couple of recent headlines: "Why Turkey matters more than people realize." That comes from armstrongeconomics.com, which is his substack. Here's another one from worldisraelnews.com: "Trump nixed Israeli plan to overthrow Iranian regime after Turkish pressure, a report indicates." You and I were talking a little bit about that off the air. People can explore that.

It's almost like one headline after another. I saw a recent headline where Turkey, the leadership, says, "Yeah, we're going to invade Jerusalem." Well, gee, don't hide your true ambitions. Just come out and tell us how you feel about things. And so these type of headlines are more and more frequent, they're more and more recurrent, and we would expect that coming together with all of these other signs.

And to me, James, the interesting thing about this is not just a sign or two materializing, but they're all coming together in harmony, in concert, in unison. And that's what makes the time period that we're living in so fascinating from a prophetic angle.

James Kaddis: Yeah, it may be one of the most extraordinary things I've ever seen in my life, especially considering the fact that when we first started studying Bible prophecy, I know when I did over 30 years ago, I mean, you would go cuckoo if you got a single story represented in any of these countries every six months. You know, now it's literally every six minutes is what it feels like. I mean, it's unbelievable. Okay, bro, final words?

Andy Woods: Well, I guess my final words were Jesus... I would think of Jesus in Matthew 16, where he rebuked first-century Israel for not understanding the signs of the times. He calls them a wicked and adulterous generation. He says, "You know how to interpret the weather, but you don't know the Messianic time period that you're living in."

And I think of that frequently because the times and the signs that we're living in now are more abundant than anything first-century Israel had. And so our accountability to understand the season that we're living in has grown exponentially. And I guess as a final exhortation, I would just encourage us all to use our time wisely.

Any opportunity that God gives you, you should take it, not thinking that that opportunity's going to be there tomorrow. Maybe it will be, maybe it won't be, but we're living in times that are absolutely extraordinary, and it should change the way we think, it should change the way we live, it should change our priorities, it should change our urgency. We shouldn't spend our lives trying to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic, which would be a waste of time. We need to be getting people off the boat through evangelism and discipleship.

James Kaddis: Amen. Bro, I could not have closed that a better way. What a great conclusion to come to. And it's important. We really have to continue to be dedicated to understanding things like that.

So with that said, folks, we do sincerely hope that you enjoyed watching this and listening to it as much as we've enjoyed making it. On behalf of my dear brother Andy Woods, thank you for joining us for another episode of Countdown to Eternity. We love you guys. Keep fighting the good fight and remember, Christ could come at any moment. That's real. We love you guys. God bless you.