Watchman on the Wall

Southwest Radio Ministries: Welcome to Watchman on the Wall, a daily outreach of Southwest Radio Ministries and swrc.com. Today, Josh Davis shares the first headlines from the end times of 2026. You can still show your support for Watchman on the Wall and Southwest Radio Ministries. Prayerfully consider giving a gift today. Visit swrc.com and share your gift or simply call 1-800-652-1144. That's 1-800-652-1144. Your income tax deductible gift will help us begin this new year strong. 1-800-652-1144.

During 2025, the world moved closer to the biblical end times scenario with a convergence of prophetic signs. The pieces of the puzzle continue to come together from all sides, from the rise in Christian persecution, antisemitism, and groundbreaking technologies. Josh Davis shares the top 10 pieces of the prophetic puzzle from 2025 right now on today's Watchman on the Wall.

Josh Davis: Greetings, fellow Watchman on the Wall, and welcome to another Headlines from the End Times. In 2025, we saw the world march toward the biblical end times scenario. We know that Bible prophecy paints a picture of a coming global empire. In fact, in His Olivet Discourse, Jesus alerted His disciples to this coming end times storm, the like of which the world has never seen.

During the year 2025, planet Earth moved closer and closer to that scenario, and we witnessed the convergence of prophetic signs. So the pieces of the puzzle continue to come together from every side. It doesn't matter which piece of the puzzle you're looking at, which section of the puzzle you're looking at, you understand that when you look at things like the rise in Christian persecution, the rise in antisemitism, groundbreaking technology, and how those technologies are being employed in today's world, we see those pieces of the puzzle coming together.

Today, I want to count down the top 10 pieces of the prophetic puzzle that we saw come together during the year 2025. Starting with number 10, we saw how the global agendas seek to control the internet. I'm putting this piece of the puzzle together with some other smaller pieces, so hang on as I share some details of how we saw this come together.

Remember, the UN held their COP30 summit in Brazil during November 2025. I did a special Headlines from the End Times report all about the details of that. During that annual climate change summit, they identified two of the biggest threats facing the world in their opinion, at least. They argued that climate change is one of the most dangerous threats to planet Earth, and they also posited that the spread of misinformation and disinformation about climate change is a perilous threat to the planet.

Connect those dots and read between the lines. Back in 2024, the UN adopted a Global Digital Compact at its Summit of the Future. That happened in September 2024. In that document, it revealed that the UN is working with governments worldwide to control what can and cannot be shared online. Really, what it boils down to is an attempt to decide and be the decider of what is misinformation and disinformation.

Somebody has to make that call. Somebody has to decide what is misinformation and disinformation about climate change and about all the other messages that are out there. Somebody gets to make that decision. If the UN gets its way, what voices will then be silenced? What voices will be cut off from access to social media or being allowed to post things to social media or to other platforms? What this boils down to is internet control is something we need to keep an eye on as we launch into this 2026 brand new year.

Number nine in our countdown: AI policing raises some serious questions. The AI revolution made some major headlines in 2025, and it occupies several spots on this top 10 countdown. Biometric cameras are now equipped with AI technology, and that can enable police to quickly identify people. It could be a suspect, somebody that they're trying to help, or someone who's been kidnapped, and they use facial recognition to rescue that person.

I know this tool has been used to help people. It's been used to save lives, and I'm not saying throw out the baby with the bathwater, but there are some serious privacy concerns with this powerful technology. Watchman on the Wall and students of Bible prophecy understand that the Antichrist could use a similarly powerful tool to control the populace and assert his evil dictatorship, just as the picture of Bible prophecy makes clear.

Number eight in this top 10 countdown: the coming AI industrial revolution. During 2025, we saw an explosion of AI technologies as the world prepares for nothing short of a renaissance powered by advanced AI. Amazon's CEO during 2025 said that the workforce is going to see the biggest change since the internet. Wrap your mind around that. There was a Microsoft executive who commented that the world will witness the biggest transformation since electricity.

That is high praise for what we stand on the verge of. The White House stated its desire for the US to lead the way in AI innovation and development. Areas like jobs, science, medicine, education, art, and entertainment are on the verge of a revolution, according to the experts. We're entering a brave new frontier, and it's promising all kinds of breakthroughs, but keep in mind all that glitters is not gold.

The world needs to proceed with caution before just blindly accepting the shiny promises of a better tomorrow thanks to AI technology. There are some serious ethical and moral questions that need to be answered before we just accept this AI revolution at face value.

Number seven on this top 10 countdown from stories from 2025 continues with the theme of artificial intelligence. We saw how AI border control was unleashed in 2025. While in the works for many years, the European Union finally launched its entry and exit system during 2025. Anyone seeking to enter the European Union has to scan their face and fingerprints with this biometric device before they can cross the EU borders.

The world is being conditioned for the infamous mark of the beast. I've said this before; I'm not saying this system or something like it is the mark of the beast, but I am saying, look at how our world is being conditioned. By the scan of the face and the scan of the hand—the fingerprints, precisely—we're being conditioned to think this is normal. We saw that technologists were using the iris scan of people's eyes, right near the forehead, as a unique identifier that they say is safer and more personalized than even the fingerprint scanning would be.

It's interesting to see how we're moving in this direction. Also, under the radar, the United States of America has expanded a similar program for non-US citizens. The Department of Homeland Security removed the testing parameters from about 15 ports of entry, like airports and seaports. They were testing out this kind of system that the European Union has had in place, and they expanded its reach nationwide in the name of curbing illegal border crossings.

It is important to keep our borders safe and secure. No doubt about that, and I'm all for those kinds of efforts. But again, we have to ask ourselves what steps we are taking in this direction. I also made you aware of the United Kingdom and their efforts to develop a mandated government-issued digital identification for anyone wanting to work in the United Kingdom. They have seen illegal migration explode there, and now they're trying to document everyone and give this mandated government-issued digital identification to everyone.

There was a major pushback to those kinds of things. All I'm saying in sharing these stories—whether it be the European Union, the United States of America, or the United Kingdom—is these headlines reveal that the world is moving toward a standardized international biometric database of all people. You can see the steps that we're taking, and you know that this is coming.

There is going to be a mighty call from many voices saying, "Look, every nation is doing their own thing when it comes to these biometric databases. We need to have a standardized bottom-line method of collecting this data, and we need to share this information with one another so that we can see who truly is legal and illegal, who's a criminal, and who's not a criminal." You can see the writing on the wall that this is easy to connect these dots to Bible prophecy and to understand how the Antichrist could utilize this kind of database in his one-world government scheme. Why do I say that? Because a one-world citizenship is needed to have a one-world government.

Number six on our top 10 countdown of prophetically significant stories from 2025 is the rise in spiritual deception. Islam continues to make inroads across the Western world as some extremists seek a global caliphate under the authority of Sharia law. In the United States of America, citizens grew concerned when news of Islamic communities broke in states like Texas. We worried that independent Islamic communities could creep into the US and slowly take over.

But it's not just with the spread of Islam. A new Pope was selected in 2025. That wasn't the only milestone for the Roman Catholic Church during the Vatican's Jubilee. The Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica opens only once every 25 years to mark the Vatican's Jubilee year. It opened in 2025 to Catholics who identify as LGBTQ+. The BBC reported that some 1,400 Catholics donned rainbow attire and carried crosses during this September 2025 event. Pope Francis allowed priests to bless same-sex couples back in 2023. Pope Leo has not yet released an official statement on his opinion, but as this event demonstrates, actions speak louder than words.

Southwest Radio Ministries: Greetings, and the information I'm sharing with you today will be in print form in our January 2026 Prophetic Observer newsletter. We send this out to thousands of mailboxes every single month, and you can get your free welcome packet by contacting us today. Give us a call at 1-800-652-1144. 1-800-652-1144. Say that you would like to get our welcome packet. You will be added to our mailing list for our monthly Prophetic Observer newsletter. This is something that's always very timely and information-packed that we want to get into your hands every single month as part of our ministry here at SWRC. Thank you so much for your support and partnership with us in ministry.

Now, let's continue on with our top five in this countdown of stories from 2025. We heard of wars and rumors of wars as we pick up with number five. The armed conflicts around the world continue to escalate with every passing year. Wars and rumors of wars are in the news every single day. We wonder, will peace ever come between Russia and Ukraine? China has been saber-rattling, and it's increased concerns in Taiwan, the Philippines, and other key places near the South China Sea.

We see that gang violence has escalated conflicts in Central America and South America. Other nations are fighting civil wars. We watch a world on edge, with more conflicts than we've witnessed since World War II. We know that the war between Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire in 2025, but some Bible prophecy experts wonder if Hamas will regather elsewhere to aid the Ezekiel 38 coalition nation to once more fight against Israel.

We see that Israel continues to stand against Hamas, Hezbollah, and a coalition of countries seeking its destruction. That leads us to number four on our countdown: the Israel-Iran 12-day war. One war that occurred during June of 2025 deserves special recognition on this list. Students of Bible prophecy are well aware that Iran will play a key role in the biblical end times scenario. It's mentioned as Persia in Ezekiel 38 as part of that coalition of nations. It's mentioned as Elam in Jeremiah 49.

Both of these prophecies are yet to be fulfilled, in my humble opinion. So the world watched as Iran accelerated its uranium enrichment. The UN, of all people, warned the world that Iran was breaking its nuclear deal by exceeding the enriched uranium levels. Iran sheepishly told the world, "Oh, we're just developing enriched uranium as an alternative power source." Well, Israel and the United States of America knew better than that.

In less than two weeks of fighting, Israel put down Iran's nuclear threats. Iran was wounded and embarrassed, but recent reports indicate that it's developing weapons to strike Israel again. Is this just propaganda? Is this just something that they're sharing, or is another conflict brewing? Whatever the case is, one thing we know for sure, based on Ezekiel 38, is Iran's fighting with Israel is not over yet.

Number three on our countdown of the top 10 stories with biblical prophetic significance from 2025: we saw a rise in global antisemitism outside the church. Speaking of Iran's hatred of Israel, the world's oldest hatred, the hatred of the Jewish people, continues to escalate globally. While the UN is credited with warning the world about Iran's nuclear armament, it's no secret that that same body has stood against Israel time and time and time again.

In fact, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the UN during its 80th session back in September 2025, less than a week after a UN commission found him guilty of genocide. This is a real head-scratcher, folks. Have you ever seen anything like this? A nation is attacked by terrorists. Israel was attacked by Hamas, October 7th, 2023. It goes to fight those terrorists where they live, all while doing its very best to protect innocent lives and innocent civilians.

It is a proven fact that Israel and the US brought lots of aid to Gaza. Hamas was trying to block that. Hamas was trying to give out a lot of propaganda. They were effective in some ways as they worked with mainstream media outlets across the world to bring out this kind of fake news. Israel is doing its best to protect innocent lives. They didn't just go into Gaza and blow up anything and everything, level the whole place, and start over again. That's not what they did.

They were trying to root out the terrorists who were hiding and doing despicable things to the innocent civilians, even their own people. That very nation and Prime Minister Netanyahu are then convicted of genocide. What a backward way of thinking. Connect some more dots, and you're going to discover how the UN and Hamas are linked. That's a rabbit trail we don't have time to go down today.

The spread of antisemitism worldwide goes much further than Hamas's propaganda machine. In Australia, they witnessed that December 14th Bondi Beach attack during the Hanukkah celebration. It really shocked the world. We learned an ISIS-inspired father and son duo killed some 15 people in a targeted attack against the Jewish community. What a blatant display of antisemitism in Australia.

Since October 7th, 2023, the number of antisemitic events has just soared through the roof. There was a sign in a German shop during September of 2025 that exclaimed, "Jews are banned from entering here." That's the English translation of the German language that was used to write this sign: "Jews are banned from entering here." Underneath that forbidden message was the disclaimer: "Nothing personal, no antisemitism, I just can't stand you."

That, friends, is the spirit of our age. While he was committing a hate-filled antisemitic act by barring Jewish people from entering his shop, the shopkeeper justified himself by declaring, "I'm not antisemitic. This isn't a personal attack on anyone. I just don't like you. I just can't stand you." That is blatant antisemitism, and this man is attempting to justify his own actions and say, "I'm not hate-filled, I'm not antisemitic." Oh yes, you are, dear sir.

So we see this rise in global antisemitism outside the walls of the church. That brings us to number two on this top 10 countdown: the rise in global antisemitism inside the church. As shocking and disturbing as these events are—the antisemitism outside the church—what's happening inside the church is more appalling. Should Christians be surprised when sinners act like sinners? No, we shouldn't be surprised when sinners act like sinners.

But when the church jumps on board the antisemitic bandwagon, the body of Christ needs to take notice. Thoughtful discourse, nuanced discussions, biblical exegesis, apparently, have all evaporated in some Christian circles. Social media, I believe, has trained us to be hastily and harshly reactionary. He who is loudest and quickest to react wins the argument, or so goes the logic of our day.

Everyone competes to have the hottest takes, which is the fastest, harshest, and loudest. That's what's going to get people's attention. That's what's going to get the likes. That's what's going to get the response that I'm wanting, the engagement that I'm wanting. That's all that people are looking for in today's world, and the social media machine has trained us to think this way.

Thusly equipped, some professing Christians use their social media platforms to spread unbiblical lies about Israel. I believe that some are doing it in ignorance. What do I mean by that? They just simply don't know any better. They don't know what the Scripture rightly teaches on this kind of thing. I believe that this group of people needs to step away from social media, press pause, and properly understand things before they open their mouths.

What does the Scripture tell us? It says that those who are teachers are going to come under a more severe judgment from God. If we lead people astray, even in our ignorance, we are doing a great disservice to the body of Christ. It's better to just walk away for a while, open your Bible, read it, understand the biblical perspective on these things, and then you'll be in a better position to preach and teach and proclaim God's word.

I was recently asked, "Where should Christians begin reading about God's future for Israel in their Bibles?" If they're struggling with this, where would you recommend they turn? I thought that was a great question. There are many scriptures that you can turn to, but a great place to begin in the Old Testament is Jeremiah chapter 30 through chapter 33. Then, if you want to read in the New Testament, turn to Romans 11.

While you're reading through these scriptures, just prayerfully ask God, "God, guide me into Your truth concerning Israel's role in Your plan. God, show me the place that You have for Israel in Your word." There are that group of influencers, there are that group of Christians, who are acting in ignorance, but I am convinced there are others, and I believe they're in the minority, but there are still others who call themselves Christians and who are definitely influencers that are not acting in ignorance. They know full well what they're doing, and they are pushing antisemitic rhetoric with willful rejection of God's truth, of God's word.

That brings us to number one on our top 10 countdown: the rise in global Christian persecution. Nigeria saw a massive increase in murders and attacks against Christians. The Christian community worldwide seems to be waking up to these evil actions as the outcry for intervention is increasing. However, the world is a less friendly place for Christians than it was one year ago.

I wrote an article for our October 2025 Prophetic Observer detailing the global rise in Christian persecution spanning across the globe. I'm not going to take the time to repeat that information here, but suffice it to say, from north to south, from east to west, there seems to be no nation on Earth where opposition to Christianity and persecution of Christians is not increasing.

Perhaps the biggest story of 2025 among American conservative Christians was the tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University. At the time of the shooting, the suspected killer was dating his roommate, a biological male who wanted to be a woman. This unbiblical relationship was at least part of the motivation for killing Charlie Kirk.

Friends, I know that this news can be disturbing as we're walking through this top 10 and our minds are swerving about all the different things that are happening and how it's taking shape. It just causes us to worry and to feel bogged down, to feel discouraged. But I don't want to leave you discouraged. I want to leave you with an encouraging verse from Isaiah chapter 41, verse 10. God tells His people, "Fear thou not; for I am with thee."

Dear friend, that's the message for us today. Don't be afraid because God is with us. "Be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." When people say, "What's this world coming to?" we know that it's coming to Jesus. Hey friends, I want to encourage you with the message that we have said for decades here at SWRC: God is still on the throne, and prayer changes things. We know that God is the one in control. Don't let this top 10 discourage you; rather, let it give you great resolve to stand firm in God's word, to go forward in this brand-year new year with your eyes fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ. As you remember, God is still on the throne, and prayer changes things.

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