Watchman on the Wall

Narrator: Welcome to Watchman on the Wall, a daily outreach of Southwest Radio Ministries and swrc.com. God is still on the throne and prayer changes things. Today Don Perkins visits with Josh Davis to answer the question, is Israel still in God's plan? And then a little later we get an exciting update on our new television series, Prophecy in the News.

Southwest Radio Ministries: The biggest influence on children today is school through peer pressure and through the classroom. Today public schools have become an indoctrination station. Test scores are dropping. Is it because we left God out of schools? Of course it is. Find out what a Christian family is today in Dr. Rob Lindsted's article in issue 23 of Prophecy in the News magazine. Education, a battlefield and a mission field. Subscribe today when you call 1-800-652-1144. That's 1-800-652-1144. Or you can subscribe by visiting prophecyinthenews.com. Prophecy in the News. Subscribe for insights into contemporary culture from a biblical worldview. Is Israel still in God's plan? Josh Davis recently sat down with Don Perkins to answer this important question.

Josh Davis: Greetings friends. We're at a wonderful Bible prophecy conference. One of the great blessings of coming to something like this is that you get to fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ and you get to hear from some wonderful Bible teachers, preachers, pastors, authors, scholars, and we are privileged to be joined by a great Bible prophecy teacher, Brother Don Perkins.

Don Perkins: Josh, it is always a blessing to be with you. I love coming on your program.

Josh Davis: We enjoy you and enjoy your Bible teaching. I know our listeners have been blessed by you on our Watchman on the Wall radio. Of course you've been with us at a few of the conferences and things like that over the years and so I always enjoy seeing you and your dear wife and we enjoy fellowshiping together.

Today we're opening a can of worms and we continue to talk with Bible prophecy teachers about this crucial issue of Israel. There's a rise of antisemitism in the United States of America and in Canada and in much of the Western world. Europe is filled with this same kind of thing and we're going to talk about the rise of antisemitism. We're going to talk about Israel and God's plan for Israel.

The reason that we're emphasizing this so much is because there is so much error that has entered social media and many other destinations, books, etcetera, that have been written from these perspectives and it's filtering into the church. Conservative Bible-believing Christians are latching onto replacement theology saying that Israel has been replaced in God's prophetic and redemptive plan by the church. But we want to address this head-on as we bring these programs to you. And so Brother Perkins, let's just start with God's plan for Israel. Is Israel still in God's prophetic and redemptive plan?

Don Perkins: Absolutely, absolutely. Israel is a part of God's end-time program. As a matter of fact, we cannot get to the end of the story without Israel. Israel is a major puzzle piece that God has dropped back into world history. 1948, when Israel became a nation, that was a major puzzle piece that clicked in. And once Israel was in place, it's like prophecy began to speed up. Other prophecies began to click in.

And I've said many times, you cannot get to the end of the story without Israel. Many people have tried to isolate Israel or say Israel is done with. They look at the sin of Israel. I've had people come to me, Brother Perkins, Israel is not a Christian nation now, Israel is in a sinful state. But this is exactly what God said, how He would find them. God knows the state of His people. He's brought the nation back into world history because He is about to deal with the nation of Israel. Israel will come to a saving knowledge of their Messiah. But again, prophecy has to come to pass in order to bring those things to fruition. This replacement theology in the church is bad.

Josh Davis: Yes, it is. It is and so many people have latched onto that. We hear it from parents a lot saying, pray for my son, pray for my daughter, pray for my grandkids, whatever the case may be. 20-somethings, 30-somethings, 40-somethings that are latching onto this teaching. And where do you see that originating? Where do you see this coming into the church?

Don Perkins: Well, I think it's coming in mainly because of a lack of knowledge. A lot of churches don't embrace Bible prophecy and Bible prophecy has to be a part of the Christian diet. It has to be a part of the church diet. I challenge pastors, you need to teach Bible prophecy and if you're going to teach Bible prophecy, you will deal with the nation of Israel. But if you don't have an appetite for it, you need to bring in speakers and Bible prophecy teachers that can give you a clear biblical understanding from the scripture about the nation of Israel.

I teach in all kinds of churches from coast to coast and even international. There's times I teach and the Lord challenges my heart, I want you to teach on Israel tonight and I'm in a church that I know they probably haven't heard anything about Israel. But I'm obedient to His word and when I teach it from a biblical perspective, it changes the whole atmosphere of that church in their perspective about Israel. Because a lot of people, because they don't hear a clear message on prophecy, all they have to feed on is what the news media is giving them. And depending on what kind of news they're listening to, they have a warped perspective about Israel.

You know, you have a lot of kids out there, I see these kids all the time on TV, "From the river to the sea, Israel shall not be." I was watching one of the news times and the commentator went to this young lady and he said, "Well, ma'am, what river are you talking about, what sea?" And the lady was stumped. She didn't know what river or what sea. So it told me that she didn't know what she was doing. She was just out there protesting. They probably even paid her to be a protester.

But what's really sad, Josh, is when that type of attitude enters into the church. I had a gentleman talk to me, he said, "Brother Perkins, my son is a Christian, his daughter's a Christian, but they have bought into this lie about God is done with Israel." And then there's a lie in regards to the Palestinians. They think that Israel is occupying the land. Israel's not occupying the land. That land was promised to Israel. It's called the Promised Land for a reason. God promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was never promised to the Palestinians. And we know that based on history. It was not promised to them. It was promised to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and that lineage. What has happened though, because they're not getting a clear message of Israel in prophecy and they're hearing these false teachings, they believe that God is done with Israel and it's not so.

Josh Davis: You've touched on something very important that I haven't heard a lot of people talk about and that's the role of the church in leading to what the younger people are experiencing today. In other words, the silence from the pulpit, perhaps, and from pastors being intentional in preaching Bible prophecy and things like that has led to people looking for the answers and they're searching online from other voices and things like that.

And so I know you travel in a lot of different churches, a lot of different conferences. Spiritually speaking, can you take the temperature of the churches? What percentage of the churches do you think are interested in Bible prophecy? And I'm not looking for a solid number, but what's the atmosphere like when you're in so many different churches?

Don Perkins: Well, for me, as I travel, if they invite me in, then I know that they're at least interested. I'm in a lot of churches where they've never had Bible prophecy teachers come in. I think it is growing because of the times. A lot of pastors have to deal with this issue. If they can't deal with it, then they bring a speaker like myself or other guys that do this.

And the reason why I believe that that is happening is because there's so much that's going on in the world that people don't understand. They know something is up. "Pastor, what's going on? Why is Israel in the news every day? Israel is in the news every day." And they want to know what's the big deal about Israel. What's so big about them being the chosen people? What does that mean?

And I get people that come to me all the time. "Why did God choose Israel?" I say, "Because He's a sovereign God and God does exactly what He wants." God chose Israel. He was going to use Israel to reach the world. But when they rejected Him, He said, "I'm going to go to another nation that will bring forth fruit." But then He said, there's one account where Jesus gave a parable where He actually told His Jewish brothers, He said the publicans and the harlots will go into the kingdom of God before you. Now what He was basically telling them, basically that the Gentiles at that point will go into the kingdom of God before them. Now it wasn't that they weren't going to go in, but what He was doing was He was going to put them on hiatus for a little bit. Not reject them, just put them on hiatus for a little bit and then He said they would go in before you. Thus it brought in the church.

And I really believe the Apostle Paul was instrumental because God raised him up as an apostle to the Gentiles. Now we know the church is not just Gentiles. It's predominantly Gentile, but we know it's Jew and Gentile. If a Jewish person gets saved, he's a Messianic Jew. And the scripture said that God is able to graft them in again. So you have a lot of Jewish believers that are coming to faith and believing in Messiah. But we do know that the majority of the church is Gentile in nature and what happened, God raised up the Apostle Paul to establish the church. Now what's amazing about the church, the church is a mystery, the Bible says.

The rapture of the church is a mystery. God dropped the church in between the 69th week of Daniel's prophecy and the 70th week which is the completion of Daniel's prophecy. That 70th week of that prophecy will be the time of Great Tribulation. The Great Tribulation will focus mainly on the house of Israel. That seven-year tribulation is going to literally cause Israel to come to a saving knowledge of their Messiah. Now it's going to be a rough time.

God's going to take them through that season where He is allowing things to fall in place right now for Israel. He's on the news all the time about the temple. They want to restore the temple. You hear about the five red heifers. You hear about all the temple furnishings. I mean they have everything ready as far as that. And these things have to be, they have to come to pass. Since they have not accepted Messiah, they want the atonement again so that they feel that they have a covering. God is allowing that.

But many people believe that God is done away with Israel and that is not so. It's dangerous to hold that view. As a matter of fact, in the book of Jeremiah, God put Israel in the scripture there, but what He did, He tied the nation of Israel to the universe. God says if you can stop the ordinances of the sun, moon, and stars from coming up and doing what I've called them to do, then Israel will cease to be a nation for what they have done. God did something that was so impossible, man cannot stop the sun from coming up and the moon.

God put Israel, the promise to Israel, He put into the clouds. Then He pushed it a little bit further and He told them, He says, "I'll tell you what, if you can go to heaven and measure the expanse of heaven," He said, "then Israel will no longer be a nation for what they have done." God gave two things that mankind has nothing to do with to prove that the nation of Israel is here by divine providence of God. God is allowing things to happen because we are in the end times and these things must take place.

Josh Davis: Thank you so much for touching on all these powerful truths. And friends, we're talking with our good friend, Brother Don Perkins. Brother Perkins, one thing I had somebody tell me one time was he said, "If you believe that Christians ought to support Israel," and he's a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, he unfortunately does not believe like we do about God's plan and purpose for Israel. He said, "If you're supporting Israel, you must believe that there's a different way of salvation for the Jewish people versus the Gentiles." And he said, "Do you think that there's a one way of salvation for the Jewish people and one way of salvation for the Gentiles?" How would we answer that? Do the Jewish people need to be saved through Jesus Christ or is there another way of salvation?

Don Perkins: That's a very simple answer. The Jewish people must be saved just like we are saved and that is through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. If a Jewish person wants to become a born-again believer, he must accept his Messiah. Jesus died on the cross to give the Jewish person life as well as the Gentile. There's only one way and again, a lot of times we are afraid to be dogmatic about salvation. There's only one way to be born again. You must accept Jesus Christ. You must believe in His death, burial, and resurrection. This is what God requires, Jew or Gentile.

And when a person accepts Christ, if a Jewish person accepts Christ, he's born again. And even though they were the chosen, they were chosen by God to reach the world. And then even with the church age, Paul said that God basically brought this time in to provoke his Jewish brothers to jealousy. You know, Israel, they marvel at the love that we have for that country. They marvel at how when we go to Israel, we love Israel. Israel loves that we love them. But they marvel at that. "What's the big deal about these Christians?" And the difference is God has raised us up to make them jealous about their Messiah.

We love Israel. Now I'll say this, when I started teaching Bible prophecy, I really didn't have a love for Israel. I really didn't know the importance of Israel until I began to study the scripture. And as I studied the scripture, I saw God's heart for Israel. I saw prophecy and when I made my first trip, I think it was in '86, I first went to Israel. I went there with purpose. I wanted to see certain things. I literally saw Bible prophecy come to pass before my very eyes. The Bible came alive to me. And I was so excited about Israel and I'm still excited about Israel. I love Israel and I pray for the peace of Jerusalem like the scripture says in Psalm 122:6. I pray for that peace.

But I do know that there's some dark days coming ahead. You talk about the antisemitism. I really believe that when we see antisemitism, that is an amazing thing to behold in our times. Antisemitism has spread across the world and it's almost like countries and nations are legalizing it. It's okay to do that and it's not.

But here in America, I mean, there's a great rise in antisemitism. But I also believe that there's another side of the coin on that. You have a lot of Jewish people here that are very comfortable in America. As a result of some of this antisemitism, many of them are leaving America going to Israel. Now they haven't accepted Messiah, but they are leaving the US. I had a gentleman work on my watches. He was a Jewish man and a really nice man. And whenever I would take my watches in to get them worked on, I always tried to minister to him. I always wanted to minister to him. And he told me one day, he said, "You know, I have such a longing, a longing to go back to Israel. I just feel this longing to go back to Israel." Today that man is in Israel. That was a tug on his heart to go to the land.

I really believe what God is doing with the regathering or the Aliyah of the Jewish people, God is preparing the nation of Israel for fulfilled Bible prophecy. He's bringing the twelve tribes of Israel into the land, getting ready for the next major event that will take place which will be the tribulation. I do believe that the church will be raptured before the tribulation. I believe that God has to remove the church age out of the way where He can focus directly on Israel. Even though He's going to focus on Israel in the tribulation, Gentiles will be saved even in the tribulation, but His main focus is going towards the house of Israel.

So Israel has a place in the latter days. God is not through with Israel. Don't let anybody tell you that God is done away with them because of their sin. I normally say this, and especially to Christians, how many of us as Christians have never sinned after salvation? All of us are disqualified, every single one. How dare you tell Israel that God is done away with you because of your sin? We've done enough even after salvation to be disqualified. But I thank God for the blood of Christ. Jesus washed us from our sins. We live a contrite heart where we repent. Same with us, the same saving grace that saved us, that forgives us, is the same grace and mercy of God that will forgive Israel. God is going after His people to fulfill prophecy in them.

Josh, when Christ comes back at the end of the tribulation, guess where He's coming to? Israel. He's coming to Israel. He's not coming to the United States. He's not coming to China. He's coming back to deliver His people Israel. That second coming prophecy, Revelation 19:11-16, is a geographical prophecy. He's coming back to an exclusive location. The nation of Israel has to be here in order for Christ to come back to it. So Israel is major in God's prophetic program.

Josh Davis: Absolutely. And thank you so much for joining us and we've got a few more minutes that we want to wrap some things up. What can parents do that are concerned about their kids and young people who have latched onto these kinds of things, replacement theology, some of the antisemitism that's coupled with that? I know that we have people listening who are concerned about their loved ones, pastors concerned about their churches. What would you give advice to them?

Don Perkins: Well, I would challenge parents to study the scripture and get a grasp on Israel from a biblical perspective and then once you have that grasp about Israel's place, then begin to teach your children. Because a lot of the antisemitic views they have is because they've been taught it. They've been taught it in school, they've been taught it with coworkers and friends that they deal with. They've learned how to be an antisemite, against Israel. They've learned that.

A parent needs to be knowledgeable about Israel's place in Bible prophecy and then once you learn that, teach it to your children. My girls, I have two adult daughters, but they grew up in our home and ministry. Both my girls, they love Israel. They know based on the word of God Israel has a place. So we took the time to teach them. And I would challenge pastors, you need to teach your congregation about Israel. Israel is significant for the last days. God is not done away with them.

Josh Davis: Do you have any closing thoughts you'd like to leave with our audience regarding these matters?

Don Perkins: Well, what we are witnessing before our very eyes is fulfilled Bible prophecy. We are living in the last days. I always like to close my program with a clarion call. The Bible says, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord Jesus, they shall be saved." And I say to people all the time, if you're not born again and you want to be, call upon Jesus and you will have eternal life. One way we know we're in the last days is because God has brought Israel back into world history. And I would challenge you to allow God to open the scriptures to you to learn about this wonderful end-time nation that God has brought back into history.

Josh Davis: Amen. Well, Brother Don Perkins, thank you so much for joining me and explaining these powerful truths about Israel in Bible prophecy, the challenges that we're faced with right now with antisemitism, with replacement theology.

Don Perkins: Well, it's always a privilege, Josh, to be with you and Southwest Radio Ministries. I love this ministry and I thank you for allowing us to be a part.

Josh Davis: God bless you.

Don Perkins: Bless you as well. Thank you.

Southwest Radio Ministries: We have resources specifically designed to equip you with the information you need on the end times. The DVDs has "The Church Replaced Israel", "The Reality of Hell", "Beware of False Christs in the Last Days", and "God's Order of Events", all by today's guest Don Perkins. Order these important DVDs when you call 1-800-652-1144. That's 1-800-652-1144. Or you can order online swrc.com. And remember when you order these DVDs, not only are you getting outstanding information, but you're also supporting the ministry of Watchman on the Wall. 1-800-652-1144.

Our weekly television program, Prophecy in the News, is now on the CTN network. Each Sunday evening at 10:30 PM Eastern, you can watch Josh Davis and Larry Spargimino share insight on the headlines and teach on Christ's soon return. With new episodes each week, Prophecy in the News connects you with the leading voices in Bible prophecy, equipping you with biblical wisdom to discern today's events through a prophetic lens. Stay informed, be encouraged, and deepen your understanding of God's word as history aligns with scripture. With an update on our weekly television program, here's Josh Davis and Clayton Van Huss.

Josh Davis: Prophecy in the News television came back in the summer of 2025 and joining me to discuss updates on the television show and to encourage you to tune in is the director of our Affirm Apologetics Ministry, Clayton Van Huss. Clayton, thank you for joining me.

Clayton Van Huss: Oh, thanks for having me, Josh. I'm excited to talk about this.

Josh Davis: So you have an integral part in Prophecy in the News television for multiple aspects. Number one, you're on camera, but also you have a vast background in filming and things like that and you've helped us a lot behind the scenes. And could you give us an update on the television show and what's going on with Prophecy in the News TV?

Clayton Van Huss: Sure, I would love to talk about Prophecy in the News TV. If you haven't heard of PITN TV, you really need to check it out because there are a lot of programs out there that you can watch on Christian networks or even online that deal with eschatology, Bible prophecy, all of that sort of thing. But Prophecy in the News TV is very different from the majority of programs out there.

If you watch those programs, there's a lot of where a host is interviewing a guest. A lot of that goes on, that's good stuff. Roundtable discussions where you have multiple hosts sitting around a table and talking and that also is really good stuff. But this program is the only one that I've ever seen that follows a magazine, a news magazine format. And you have provided a lot of rich commentary for some of those kinds of things to help people connect the dots. And I think that speaks to part of why we do this show and why we feel that the show is so important for people to tune in each week.

Josh Davis: That's right. It's so many different things, different topics that we're talking about, different perspectives. We have different experts. Josh, we've got you talking about Bible prophecy, a good bit on there doing a lot of good teaching as well as commentary. We have others like our friend Larry Stam who comes on and talks about the Jewish roots of Christianity. I talk about biblical history and archaeology and these things are in the news. Bible prophecy, there's always a new find in the land of Israel archaeologically. So we get to talk about things that are going on today. And that's very key that we need to be informed and enlightened on what's happening in the world and how does that connect with God's word.

And we know here at Southwest Radio Ministries, we are dedicated to sharing God's word with people. And this is something that I've said timelessly, Clayton, is that we want to further God's truth as far and as wide as we possibly can while we have this window of opportunity open. And we're trying to do that as we step forward by faith. As a matter of fact, we came onto a new Christian television network just at the beginning of this year and as the Lord continues to provide, we want to continue expanding that reach for the Prophecy in the News television show.

And friends, if you've never checked it out, I encourage you please go watch an episode today. A new 30-minute weekly episode is released every single Sunday and you can watch it on our website swrc.com. You can also check us out on YouTube and places like that. Also, our free SWRC mobile app has the television show that you can watch every single week. Just go to your App Store, type in these four letters, S-W-R-C, and you can download the mobile app. Not only can you listen to the episodes of Watchman on the Wall, but you can watch every weekly episode of the Prophecy in the News television show. It's also available on several Christian television networks and we're trying our best to expand that reach with this high-quality Prophecy in the News television show. Clayton, do you have any closing thoughts as we wrap up this segment together today?

Clayton Van Huss: I do. With such a choice out there of content, why should people choose Prophecy in the News TV? And I would say one of the great things is not only are they going to get a varied and balanced report and commentary, but also we're going to be avoiding the sensationalism. You see on so many programs, it's just sensationalism, sensationalism. You've got to say something big, you've got to have a big thing. No, what this is about is the world around us, how it pertains to us, and how we should react. So I definitely encourage our listeners to view Prophecy in the News TV for that balanced and nonsensational approach to the end times.

Josh Davis: Amen. That's a good word. Thank you for sharing that with us, Clayton. And thank you for joining me in the studio today.

Clayton Van Huss: Thank you.

Southwest Radio Ministries: Prophecy in the News television is made possible by your prayers and financial gifts. Thank you friends for your continued support. To learn more, visit swrc.com. Remember friends, we have resources specifically designed to equip you with the information you need on the end times. The DVDs has "The Church Replaced Israel", "The Reality of Hell", "Beware of False Christs in the Last Days", and "God's Order of Events", all by Don Perkins, and they're all available right now. Order your copies by calling 1-800-652-1144. Tomorrow, JB Hixson examines today's antisemitism. Watchman on the Wall is a production of Southwest Radio Ministries and is supported by faithful friends like you. Visit swrc.com.