Bible Prophecy, Signs of the Times and Gog and Magog Updates with Articles in the News
Scientists reset the Doomsday Clock to 85 seconds before midnight. But God, not man, controls the end.
Humanity stands 85 seconds from annihilation, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which moved the infamous Doomsday Clock forward by four seconds on Tuesday—the closest it has been to midnight in its nearly 80-year history. The group of scientists cited nuclear proliferation, climate change, biotechnology risks, and artificial intelligence as accelerating threats. Alexandra Bell, president and CEO of the Bulletin, declared: “The risks we face from nuclear weapons, climate change and disruptive technologies are all growing. Every second counts and we are running out of time.”
The scientists blamed what they called a “failure of leadership” worldwide, noting that Russia, China, the United States, and other major powers have become “increasingly aggressive, adversarial, and nationalistic” rather than reversing course toward cooperation. The Bulletin proposed solutions including cooling the nuclear arms race, addressing biosecurity threats, pushing for renewable energy, and regulating AI in military systems.
The Doomsday Clock, established in 1947 by researchers who participated in the Manhattan Project, serves as a metaphor warning the public about catastrophic threats from unchecked technological advances. Midnight represents Earth’s total destruction. The clock began at seven minutes to midnight in 1947 and has been adjusted 24 times—eight times backward, 16 times forward. The furthest from midnight was 17 minutes in 1991. Since 2007, the clock has incorporated climate change alongside nuclear weapons. It reached 90 seconds to midnight in January 2023, largely due to Russia’s war on Ukraine, and remained there in 2024, citing the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack on Israel and the war in Gaza.
Israel365 News spoke to Rabbi Yitzchak Batsri, a noted Kabbalist from Jerusalem, who dismissed the global threats driving the scientists’ calculations. “While the world exists, it is through God’s mercy and not because of our merit. Therefore, until God’s mercy ends, the world cannot end, no matter what men do. Men simply do not have the power to destroy God’s creation against His will,” he said.
Rabbi Batsri addressed what Jewish sources teach about the end of the world. “The Rambam writes that the world will never be destroyed. But the Talmud says in Tractate Sanhedrin that the world will exist for 6,000 years, and in the 7,000th year it will be destroyed, as prophesied in Isaiah 2:11, ‘And the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day’.”
The rabbi explained the apparent contradiction. “The Rambam explains that in the 7,000th year, there will be only a partial destruction of the world, that evil will be destroyed and only good will remain. Other sages understand this to mean that there will be complete destruction. According to all opinions, until the year 7,000 by the Hebrew calendar, there can be no total destruction, only in certain countries or regions.”
“And even when the world ends, the souls of those who follow God will remain here, flying above the earth, as it is written in Isaiah 40:31, ‘But they that wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles’ (Isaiah 40:31),” Rabbi Batsri said. “So even when this world is destroyed, there will be a place above the earth, a different kind of existence.”
Rabbi Yosef Berger, whose family traces its lineage to King David and who serves as a member of the nascent Sanhedrin—an attempt to reestablish the Biblically mandated court of 71 elders—was skeptical of the scientists’ assessment.
“The scientists are trying to figure out what the sages and the Bible already wrote about,” Rabbi Berger said. “But the scientists are getting it all wrong. They think they have the power to destroy the world and the power to stop the end of the world from coming. They have neither.”
“God created the world and he will bring the Messiah in its proper time,” he pointed out.
The rabbi cited Talmudic descriptions of conditions preceding the end of days. “The Bible says that in the sixth year of the Shemittah (sabbatical cycle) voices will cry out to warn the Messiah is coming,” Rabbi Berger said. “This will presage wars and when the Shemittah ends, the Messiah will reveal himself.”
“The world will certainly end, and in this they are correct,” Rabbi Berger said. “But the problem with this scientific clock is that it does not take into account Man’s relationship with God, which is an essential element to the end-of-days. How it happens and exactly when is dependent on our teshuva (repentance).”
“If the last possible date for Moshiach (Messiah) arrives with only the righteous praying, it will come as the scientists said; with a horrible bang,” Rabbi Berger elaborated.
“God created the world, and He will choose when to end it. We are partners in this process but not the masters.”
“This is what the scientists are sensing. They haven’t done any experiments or have any empirical data, so they don’t really ‘know’ what they are talking about. But any person who is in touch with his neshama (soul) can tell that the Messiah is imminent. So many rabbis and hidden mystics are, to an unprecedented degree, saying so, and world events just confirm what we can sense and what we know if we connect current events to what we know from the Bible.”
“But there is one thing the scientists have never said, and that is how to prepare for the end that they are predicting,” he remarked. “The Bible did write about this as well and it is very simple. Any person who believes in the prophecies as they are written in the Bible will begin preparing now by increasing in charity and acts of lovingkindness. The Prophets make it clear that the focus will be on Jerusalem and Israel.”
The scientists offer technical solutions—nuclear dialogue, biosecurity agreements, renewable energy investments, AI regulation. The Sages offer something else entirely: teshuva, prayer, and recognition that the Master of the Universe, not man’s technology, determines when the clock strikes midnight.
Israel could strike Iran before US, says retired IDF general
Iran is preparing its proxy forces for new war with Israel, forcing the IDF to face threats on multiple fronts if the US strikes Iran, former IDF general warns.
Israel may strike Iran before the United States, a retired senior Israeli military officer said this week, warning that Iranian proxy forces will likely be used to attack Israel from multiple fronts if and when a war does break out between Israel and Iran.
On Wednesday, Brigadier General (Res.) Amir Avivi, the head of the Habithonistim security advocacy group, took part in a conference hosted by the Israel Hayom newspaper on the future of northern Israel.
During the conference, Avivi said that while media attention has focused on the possibility of a war sparked by an American attack on Iran, Israel could also deliver the first blow.
“There could be a preemptive Iranian strike. We see the government and the security brass warning Iran,” Avivi said. “It is possible that we will launch an attack before the Americans do.”
Israel, he continued, is concerned by Iranian efforts to rebuild its proxy forces, including Hezbollah, and may strike if it feels that time is on Iran’s side.
In the event that war breaks out in the region, either as a result of strikes by Israel, the United States, or as due to an Iranian attack, Israel will likely face another multi-front conflict,” Avivi added.
“Iran is moving its proxies to ensure they do not face us alone. We hear in the discourse that they are weighing this option. Therefore, the probability of a major attack in Iran coinciding with fire from additional sectors is very high. The IDF is not attacking in Lebanon constantly for no reason.”
However, should war break out and Hezbollah join in against Israel, the IDF will respond with overwhelming force “until they collapse,” Avivi claimed.