A growing number of Bible prophecy watchers are focusing their attention on Sept. 23, a date that coincides with the Jewish feast of Rosh Hashanah and a week of high-stakes diplomatic meetings at the United Nations. The timing feels loaded with prophetic potential, possibly marking the rapture, the start of the tribulation or the signing of the Daniel 9:27 covenant.
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Tom Cote, host of the Watchman River podcast, said, “I’ve never seen the Watchman community so on fire for a time period of what’s happening right now in the world and where it’s leading.”
He pointed to the UN’s push for a two-state solution with Israel as one of the key developments in play. “We know that Sept. 23 is part of the week where these meetings are happening at the United Nations where they’re going to try to twist Israel’s arm into accepting a two-state solution,” he said.
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While some speculate that this period will mark the beginning of the seven-year tribulation, Cote believes another critical event must occur first: a major Middle East war that clears the way for Israel to rebuild the Temple. “Do you think right now… they would give Israel permission to build a third temple?” he asked. “I believe personally it is a serious war. I believe it’s probably the Psalm 83 war.”
Cote rejects the idea that Psalm 83 was fulfilled in 1948 or that it is merely a prayer. “If they were confounded and dismayed forever, why did they all come back? I just can’t see that,” he said, pointing to the ongoing hostility from groups like Hezbollah and Hamas.
He envisions a scenario where “Iran is going to gather up their proxies… and I think God’s going to step in and eliminate” the immediate ring of enemies, paving the way for a peace deal and Temple construction.
Even so, Cote stops short of setting a date. “Am I saying it is the year? I can’t say that. I don’t have the authority to,” he said. “It might be next year. Might be the year after. But man, I’ve never seen the perfect storm of all storms like it is right now.”
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He closed with a reminder that watchfulness must be balanced with humility. “I’m looking up right now every day… I’m not trying to pinpoint a day or an hour,” Cote said. That approach echoes Jesus’ own words in Matthew 24:36 that “about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
James Lasher is staff writer for Charisma Media.
