Learn how to discern the signs of the times with guest Bill Koenig on television’s “Christ in Prophecy”!
Air Date: August 1, 2021
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Transcript
Tim Moore: Scripture is filled with amazing people called of God from obscurity to fulfill His purpose and plan. Amos was a shepherd, Nehemiah was a cup-bearer, and David was a shepherd and a king. The Lord has inspired prophetic voices throughout the ages from across the spectrum of humanity. Today we’re going to hear from a very powerful prophetic voice whose early education and career offered no indication of the mighty work God would call him to. Stay tuned!
Part 1
Tim Moore: I’m Tim Moore, and I am coming to you from the outskirts of Washington D.C. I am here with the founder and editor of World Watch Daily, Bill Koenig. You know some of you may not know much about Bill Koenig, but before he was an inspired prophetic teacher he was a successful commercial real estate broker. As a matter of fact, he was also a nominal Christian who kind of went through the motions. But in the 1980’s he studied a Bible study called “Priority Living,” and it convinced him that there much more to the faith. He soon engaged in a transformative faith in Jesus Christ and dedicated his life to serving the Lord. He had no idea what God had in store for him.
Well, in a time, Bill founded what was known as Koenig International News. And then eventually he was inspired to start a prophetic ministry of sharing news from right here in Washington D.C. He launched Koenig’s Eye View from the White House, and relocated to the center of political power here in Washington. Well, the rest is history. And so, today I’ve come to the outskirts of Washington D.C. to Great Falls, Virginia to the headquarters of World Watch Daily. And Bill I am delighted to be here and glad we could sit down together. Thank you for having me.
Bill Koenig: Thank you, Tim. Great to be with you. Thank you.
Tim Moore: Well, Bill I told a little bit about your bio, but would you have ever believed what the Lord would have instore for you when you decided to launch a little news service to tell people what was going on in the world, and then specifically here in Washington D.C.?
Bill Koenig: So, true Tim. You know growing up in Arizona, I went to church every Sunday, as an Episcopalian. And basically, when we had a Bible study it was more of a history lesson then it was personal intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.
Tim Moore: I know what that’s all about.
Bill Koenig: And fortunately, I moved to Dallas right after college. I was in commercial real estate and started attending these Priority Living breakfasts.
Tim Moore: Oh, breakfasts.
Bill Koenig: I was doing a lot of reading at the time, and personal development, a lot of those kinds of things. But the Priority Living, I go to one of my friends and I said, “This is fantastic information. Is this his?” He goes, “No, this is from the Bible.” I said, “You’ve got to be kidding, this is really insightful.” And so, I started this incredible path. I started reading books over and over again. I was spending time in two weekly Bible studies. And I couldn’t read enough. I couldn’t find out enough. I never had this opportunity. And they got involved with Dallas Theological Seminaries President’s Council, and we had a wonderful Bible teacher Bill Lawrence. And just the excitement of every week when Bill was teaching the Scriptures was so contagious, and I wanted to know more, and more, and more. And as you know Dallas Theological Seminary is one of the great universities when it comes to Bible prophecy as the Scripture’s has written. And with Dr. Walvoord, and Dr. Pentecost, and other members of the incredible DTS staff, I developed this incredible interest in what was taking place in that tiny little country called Israel.
Tim Moore: Well, I find it fascinating as we think about Israel, but that foundations of passion were studying God’s Word, and then having other believers who were steeped in God’s Word share their excitement. And you said it was contagious because they were insightful.
Bill Koenig: Oh, absolutely.
Tim Moore: But they were just sharing the Word of God, and it rubbed off on you and inspired you to show your own interest.
Well, without a doubt. And what was so interesting at that time the commercial real estate business was done for about five or six years, it was history. And my accountant said, “You need to do something else for now.” And what do I do? I started going to Christian conferences when they come through Dallas. And I ended up reading over 300 books on Christianity, Christian counseling. And then I loved Tozer, and Spurgeon, and Oswald Chambers and some of these great men of God. And just really, really caught fire.
Tim Moore: So, basically as God closed one door with commercial real estate He was opening another and sparking a passion in your own heart.
Bill Koenig: Exactly, what was so interesting my background in college at Arizona State my background was communications, but I went into commercial real estate because it was a lucrative field. But I already had that communications background. Well, what was also interesting is that growing up in Arizona, I always loved Dallas because my grandfather was from Austin. And I always loved Washington D.C., in many ways I thought I would get involved in politics. I even had a nickname in high school, the governor, because I was class president for three years, student body president, and I had great interest in it. But it was so fascinating, Tim, when I look back how God prepared me with that interest in living in Texas, especially in Dallas where there are so many wonderful Christians, and then also having that interest in D.C. So, when the Lord put my heart in right after George W. Bush was elected in 2000 to move here, everything fell right in place for me to move here to a city that I already enjoyed being in and being around.
Tim Moore: Isn’t it amazing that some of the things that we don’t understand how this could fit together into any purpose God is using to prepare us for that to which He has called us.
Bill Koenig: Absolutely.
Tim Moore: I feel that same exact way with some of the things in my own background. Well, you mentioned Israel. How did you have a love for Israel sparked in your heart? And tell us how you began to discover that God has not washed His hands of the Jewish people.
Bill Koenig: Well, you know it is so interesting, and I love the people that teach the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
Tim Moore: Yes.
Bill Koenig: You don’t cut and paste and take the Bible prophecy out and say that is allegorical, and not literal, which is 27% of our Bible. So, fortunately, and I give the Lord the credit, is that I fully understood that the Bible from the beginning to end is His Word. And for some reason, I got to give the Lord the credit, I just had a real interest in Bible prophecy. And from being a person that followed the news, watched the news closely, to see a lot of things taking place. I was very informed, and very informed, and I started seeing things that could fit with what Isaiah was saying, or what Jeremiah was saying, or what Jesus said at the Olivet Discourse. I’m going wow, we are living in these days. Or even things in the book of Revelation were all playing out. And I loved the Jewish prophets of the Old Testament. Even my Jewish friends who studied the Torah come to me, correspondents at the White House would say, “Where are we today? What is going on? What’s happening with Israel and these countries? What about Iran?” They would come to me because I understood the prophetic Scriptures of the Jews in the Old Testament and then I could compliment that with the teaching of Jesus Christ.
Tim Moore: What is fascinating I think too many people focus first and foremost on the news and on the swirl of events in contemporary history, and then maybe they’ll turn to Scripture. But you did it just the opposite. You had an interest in politics, in the news per se, but you made sure you were grounded in Scripture and then all the revelation of the patterns, we talked about earlier, began to be evident in what is happening in current events because of your understanding of Scripture and Bible prophecy.
Bill Koenig: Absolutely. What was interesting is that I started noticing when we are putting pressure on the State of Israel to divide the land that God gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their descendants in Genesis 15:18, I would notice that there were catastrophic things, or events, things would become disruptive, catastrophic events, things would not go well for a president. And even international leaders when they were involved in attempting to create an Arab State in Judea and Samaria, things were not going well. Or even before that, trying to force an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. And I just started noticing this pattern. Which I’ve always loved patterns, following patterns because it gives you great understanding. And that’s when I thought, whoa, I already knew what it said in Genesis 12:3 about blessing and curse.
Tim Moore: Oh, yes.
Bill Koenig: You know about blessing the Jewish people and their descendants you are going to be blessed, but if you don’t you will be cursed. So, it fit that pattern, Tim, and what I found is the greater the pressure on Israel to divide their covenant land of Judea and Samaria, and Jerusalem, the greater the corresponding catastrophes that I documented in my books. And it was extraordinary.
Tim Moore: Well, as a matter of fact your first primary book was Eye to Eye and it talks about the consequences of dividing Israel, dividing the land of Israel specifically, but just being opposed to Israel and the Jewish people coming back to their covenantal homeland. And you wisely heeded the advice of your wife Claudia even for the title Eye to Eye, I love this story because she was inspired to offer that title from Matthew Henry’s commentary on Isaiah 52:8. So, I am going to read what you wrote regarding Matthew Henry’s commentary. You quote him as saying, “They, the watchmen, shall see an exact agreement and correspondence between the prophecy and the events. The promise and the performance they shall see how they look upon another eye to eye and be satisfied that the same God spoke the one and did the other.” So, first of all you were wise enough to follow the advice of your wife.
Bill Koenig: Absolutely.
Tim Moore: And second of all you obviously harken to what Scripture was laying out even as you studied the swirl of events leading to consequences for turning our back on Israel or seeking to divide the land. And Jesus also said that there would be signs that would be obvious to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. So, does that mean that the unbelieving world looks at this same evidence that you cite and discerns nothing? I mean do they even recognize some of the things you point out?
Bill Koenig: Well, that is a great question because, yes, they don’t. Even people who attend church. The evangelical born again believer can see this. A few might be skeptical at first. But after they start watching when I tell them, “When we have a major catastrophic event in the America find out what we were doing with Israel at the time of the event.” And even some of the great skeptics, and scholars they would start seeing this pattern and they became believers. But I really think that is the key, is to have the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit living in us that gives us that discernment and understanding and confirmation. Because those who don’t have the Lord in their life, and I believe the born again is very critical to see this, they don’t see it, Tim, I mean they just can’t. I’ve got one friend I’ve shown him over and over again, I said, “You are a business guy, how could you not see the law of probability being here? The odds of these things happening over and over again when we are putting pressure on Israel to divide their land in these record setting catastrophes. I mean these are the biggest in the history of our country. When these are happening, I mean the odds of this are astronomical.”
Tim Moore: Well, and I think it is foundational that sadly sometimes it is people within the church who scoff the most loudly, regardless of the type of signs we are talking about. When we talk about signs of the times that are fulfilling Bible prophecy the world doesn’t even care, they are not even watching or paying attention, and certainly sometimes don’t listen to us. But within the Church believers scoff loudest to say, “Ah, where is the sign of His coming? These things have always been going on.” In fulfillment of what Peter declared about scoffers in the end times scoffing. But to turn our attention even to what is starting to be evident with the swirl of activity in Washington. We know that politics always consumes the nation’s capital. And we as a people sometimes are inward focused on America. Christians sometimes get caught up in that dynamic in some of the trauma that has descended upon our nation. But how can they understand the significance of what is happening in Israel and our relationship as a nation to Israel? How can we communicate its relevance to the average Christian?
Bill Koenig: Well, I like what W.A. Criswell used to say down there at First Baptist of Dallas, he said, “If you want to know where things are standing watch what is taking place with the city of Jerusalem; God’s time clock.” And you can even expand that to the State of Israel. And that is what I share with my Jewish and Christian friends, is watch what they are attempting to do with Jerusalem. And virtually every leader in the world has wanted to divide that city. And it’s very biblical. And even the Arabs have said that there is no peace without the division of Jerusalem. So, it is becoming that burdensome stone as mentioned in Zechariah 12:3, and that whole Zechariah 12 is very relevant to where we are living right now. And I think that’s what is, and I say watch the key nations. Watch what Russia, and Turkey and Iran and Syria are doing, and even Egypt. Watch what they are doing right now. Watch what their leaders are doing and saying. Watch what Israel is doing in response. And I think some people right now think that, depending on the biblical scholar, that Gog-Magog may be the next conflict that could be coming.
Tim Moore: Well, it is amazing to me, looking into our recent political history under the Obama Administration, the president himself on down scoffed at the idea that Russia would ever reascend to be a power or a threat, and yet today in 2021 Russia is on the northern border of Israel, of course Turkey is reasserting itself. And so, the Gog and Magog powers are coming back into the fore, and so, we see it happening with our very eyes. One question I am going to turn to just regarding the Church. Many churches today preach some form of Replacement Theology, the idea that God’s promises to the Jewish people have been transferred to the largely Gentile church, and that certainly there is no prophetic provision for a Jewish State called Israel. How would you respond to that thinking within the Church itself?
Bill Koenig: Well, what is so amazing is there is probably, and this is what the Lord put on my heart in 2004, is add up the membership of the Replacement Theology church, that is a 100 million members in 2004, it is probably similar to that today. There 100 million American church attendees that attend Replacement Theology churches, that have no biblical understanding because they don’t study prophecy, they believe it is allegorical and literal. It goes all the way back to 2nd and 3rd centuries, Origen, Clement, and the influence of Constantine, Augustine, Martin Luther, John Wesley, John Calvin, great men of the faith but they believe that Bible prophecy is not relevant. So, today we have a large percentage of people that attend church in America that have no biblical understanding of the significance of what is taking place in Israel now. That’s why we as evangelicals that study Genesis to Revelation have a really good understanding that these are incredibly significant biblical times.
Tim Moore: I certainly agree with you, absolutely. And I would observe that this dangerous tendency of American churches in general to tolerate, or even embrace a form of Replacement Theology is basically a symptom of their dismissal of God’s prophetic Word. And too often even in Evangelical churches the prophetic Word is kind of minimized. I hear from people all the time who say, “We never have messages or teaching about Revelation, or about some of the prophecies that seem to be fulfilled right in our own day and age. And so, you mentioned already there are approximately 100 million American church members who have little understanding of Bible prophecy, so how can the average Christian overcome that ignorance?
Bill Koenig: Well, I still to this day think, Tim that it is very important to be born again.
Tim Moore: Hear, hear.
Bill Koenig: That just seems, you know with the receiving of the Holy Spirit, you could be convinced, but not converted. As my wife would say, “convinced but conferted.”
Tim Moore: There you go.
Bill Koenig: And that’s conformed but not transformed, and that’s what it takes, you have to have that biblical, personal intimate relationship with the Lord, and again it depends on the church you attend. And I just am so blessed to have attended churches and Bible studies of people that study and have a great love and passion for Bible prophecy. And I think the Lord put this in my heart best is we are living in the most important time in biblical history with the least amount of interest in the Church.
Tim Moore: That is just a shame.
Bill Koenig: It is.
Tim Moore: It really is. I would submit there is one other thing the average Christian can do, and for those of us who know this I would proclaim this anytime. And those of you viewing, as Bill demonstrates personally if you simply start studying the Word of God, the entire Word of God.
Bill Koenig: That’s right.
Tim Moore: If you embrace teachers, and folks who have done so and are sharing the entire Word of God. And goodness knows there are plenty out there who are sound in their teaching, just like you found at Dallas Theological.
Bill Koenig: Oh, yes. Absolutely.
Tim Moore: You will grow in understanding, and quite frankly the Lord will spark a passion in your heart for what He is revealing in our own day and age. You know, Bill we’ve been talking about how Christians need to be aware of what is going on in the world from a scriptural and prophetic perspective. And so, I want to turn our attention back to some relatively recent history. You wrote a book focused on the Obama Administration and some of the tragedies that occurred as we turned our back on Israel, and we may be poised to re-enter that kind of an era. But in your book, Revealed, which you have even rereleased you document the ways that American secularism and paganism increased during the Obama Administration. And the President’s then tendency to embrace Islam, and belittle Israel had grave consequences. You even said this in your introduction, you said, “It is hard to fully comprehend and extrapolate the extent of present and long-term damage that has and will come from the eight years under President Barack Obama. It will be much worse than God fearing, Bible believing Christians would ever have imaged.” Now, we are entering a new era with the Vice President during the Obama administration who has brought back into his administration, the Biden Administration, many of the folks who were engaged during those eight years. Where do you see our nation going? And have we learned any lessons from those eight years?
Bill Koenig: You know what is interesting, Tim as I have studied this so closely for 20-24 years, to see how God uses our American presidents. Of all the leaders in the world the significance of our American president’s relationship and how God uses them to fulfill biblical prophecy, Bible prophecy. When you look in Eye to Eye the Lord put on my heart one day, go back and look at the relationship with presidents all the way back to Woodrow Wilson and their relationship with the Jewish people, and then eventually the Jewish State. How God used Harry Truman.
Tim Moore: Yes, He did.
Bill Koenig: You know, FDR, he told the king of Saudi Arabia, “If Israel wants to become a state I’ll let you know immediately.” Seven days later he died in office replaced by Harry Truman. You know John Kennedy was putting a tremendous amount of pressure on Israel to not go nuclear. He and Robert appreciated the Jewish people, but he put a lot of pressure on them. And tragically he lost his life, replaced by Lyndon Johnson who at that time, for many years was the best friend Israel ever had in the Oval Office, who was in a really critical position in 1967 when he moved a big aircraft carrier around when Russia was about to enter into the fray of the Six Day War, and started moving it toward Israel and that stopped the Russians from moving in. Or Nixon’s mother believed that there would be an opportunity one day as a strong believer, a Quaker as far as I know, believed that her son would have an opportunity to be there for Israel.
Tim Moore: And in 1973 the airlift known as Operation Nickel Grass, which I have written about, provided the relief Israel needed in a critical hour during the Yom Kippur War.
Bill Koenig: Exactly. Richard Nixon and Alexander Haig who made sure those weapons got to Israel, which was a very key thing for Israel. And then Kissinger was involved in negotiations of a peace deal. And Ronald Reagan loved Bible prophecy. Jimmy Carter, you know the Camp David Accords, kind of pushed the acceleration of Iran into a position of influence, the way he handled Iran.
Tim Moore: Yes.
Bill Koenig: And then to go to through it quickly is George Herbert Walker Bush, he started the land for peace process. This was kind of his heart, and he got that going. But when he started pushing on Israel to divide their land, he went from having the highest approval rating in history to being out of office shortly thereafter. And then that lead to Bill Clinton who pushed the prophetic marker further. George W. Bush came up with the Two State Plan, something that his dad would never have done, or ever utter. And Barack Obama’s Iran Deal. Getting into the Obama Administration now, the Iran Deal basically created an opportunity for Israel to develop relations with Sunni Arab countries because they couldn’t trust Obama and were very concerned. And so, one of my good friends in the Israeli government said, “Who would have ever thought that our allies now in the Middle East are these Arab countries?”
Tim Moore: I would have never dreamed, but you are exactly right.
Bill Koenig: The Iran Deal did that. So, with all that said, Iran during Obama’s time in office birthed Trump. And we certainly appreciate all of the wonderful things he did for the State of Israel, it is remarkable, Tim.
Tim Moore: Well, I think that is very important to understand because Christians who would be so caught up in the moment of what is happening politically in this nation, need to keep in mind that the Lord weaves everything together. And what we see as a catastrophe can be God’s opportunity to bring to fruition prophecies that He declared ages ago and will come to pass. And so, God is not flaunted in terms of His will, His will weaves through all these circumstances. And too often if we focus on the circumstances we will despair. But if we focus on the proclamation of the Lord God, and on understanding that His will will be done not only in our lives but throughout the world, then we do not get as anxious or wrapped up in the current events.
Bill Koenig: Absolutely. When you think about the last 12 months, Tim.
Tim Moore: Oh, my yes.
Bill Koenig: I mean when you think about what has happened in the last 12 months, and the great thing about it, despite all these challenges of COVID and all the political fighting, this has been God’s revelation to us of things to watch. We have been hearing about one world financial order for a long time, we have been hearing about one world currency. We have been hearing about the Great World Economic Forum Reset that fits that pattern. We are talking about now like the Mark of the Beast, when you look at Revelation 13, we are moving into implants right now that will confirm whether you have taken a vaccine or not. I mean all of these things that we have been writing about, and reading about, and hearing about for all these years we have seen an incredible download of significant, biblical, final day occurrences and happenings in the last 12 months that were accelerated by this corona virus pandemic that not only affected the United States, it has affected the entire world. And God has used that in that process to reveal to us a confirmation of things that are written of in the Scriptures, and what to watch for going forward.
Tim Moore: Well, speaking of what to watch for going forward, tell our viewers how they can follow your ministry, and your watch as you provide a World Watch Daily to those who would want to have eyes to see and ears to hear.
Bill Koenig: Well, thank you, Tim, we post news at our website, 365 days out of the year. Our website address is watch.org, that is w-a-t-c-h.org. And every Friday I put out a news report “The Koenig’s Eye View from the White House,” that focuses on world news that week that was biblically relevant. And that’s the way we keep our brothers and sisters informed on the biblical significance of these days.
Tim Moore: Well, Bill I appreciate your prophetic voice to America that continues to sound into the wilderness, and those again who have ears to hear will listen to all of these warnings that are coming from the Word of God, but through prophetic voices like yours. And so, keep up that good work, my friend, I truly encourage you to do so.
Bill Koenig: Thank you, Tim. God bless you.
Part 2
Tim Moore: As a prophetic voice to America Bill Koenig has a gift for connecting the dots as God withdraws His blessing from nations that turn against His chosen people. Even those nations allowed to execute divine judgment when Israel and Judah went astray were in turn judged for their callous treatment of the Jews.
We get so caught up with the geopolitical maneuvering of nations and world leaders that we often forget that “He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them.” Why? Because their evil schemes and ungodly acts will not thwart God’s eternal plan.
Right now, the Biden Administration is pursuing peace at all costs with Iran. It is transferring untold millions to the terrorist hotbed in Gaza and supporting a so-called two-state solution to divide the land of Israel. As Bill Koenig has documented, God’s blessing will not flow on those who turn against His Chosen people, Israel. And nations such as ours who ought to know better are held to an even higher standard.
What can you do? Contact your elected officials. Tell them to reject the lie of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism. Seek opportunities to bless Jewish people, both in Israel and here at home. And pray for the peace of Israel in general and Jerusalem in particular, realizing that peace will only rain down when the Prince of Peace reigns. Until He comes this is Tim Moore for Lamb & Lion Ministries saying, Godspeed!
Christ in Prophecy is made possible through the faithful and generous support of viewers like you. Please consider making a donation to Lamb & Lion Ministries so that we can continue broadcasting the message of Jesus’ soon return. Thank you and God bless you.
End of Program