Discerning Current Headlines and Biblical Prophecy

 

I have recently become hyper-focused on the spirit of Deception as I clearly discern we are entering the Last Days. I understand that I have no idea how long it will be until the Lord returns, and that God's timeline is different than ours. But I've been given "eyes to see and ears to hear", as well as a spirit capable of receiving God's messages, whether through the Word, or what He communicates through the events of this world. 

I am sensitive to the the headlines that cross our TVs and computer screens; discerning between those that are hyperbole, obvious propaganda, outright lies, and those that actually suggest a modicum of truth that we maybe ought to take a closer look at. One such topic that caught my attention a couple of months ago was regarding the abundant energy resources necessary to support the fierce competition for AI escalation in the global economies ... specifically the resources of oil, water, land, and gas [both natural and diesel]. It's only been two months since God tapped me on the shoulder and pointed me to that information, and just this past weekend, the seriousness of His counsel went from a gentle tap on the shoulder, to a shaking of Biblical proportions. The headline read, EIGHT WEEKS TO EMPTY SHELVES. SIXTY DAYS TO FAMINE. 

If this substack by Mark A. Shryock doesn't make you sit up and pay attention, then you need to make note of Proverbs 6:9 ... How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? So, how and why does Mr. Shryock come to his ominous prognostication? His article is really long, but I suggest you read it in its entirety, because I truly believe [as he explains it] your life and the lives of your loved ones may depend on it. Please, just take the time to read it, and you will see why I find it so important. [NOTE: His information on the energy and food shortages we are facing seem well-documented, and I find them credible. But I will warn you that towards the end of his article, he presents a clear political bias regarding this Iran War and the current administration. That is not what I'm addressing in today's blog, and I'm not interested in either supporting or opposing his viewpoint. I simply want to focus on the similarities to the warnings that appear in End Times Biblical prophecy]. 

And because it is such a long and detailed article, I will try to give you the high points and then share the Scripture with you that God emphasized to me. We all connect Iran and the Middle East with the world's oil supplies and exports. That's why the spotlight is on Iran in conjunction with the Global economies. We are all experiencing higher prices at the gas pump, largely assigned to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. But there is so much more that is happening with this event. 

Consider this information that Mr. Shryock revealed in his article: On May 3, [just 9 days ago from when this article was written], a Hong Kong-flagged tanker called the New Corolla docked at the Port of Long Beach, California. It was carrying two million barrels of Iraqi crude oil loaded at the Port of Basra on February 24, four days before the United States and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury against Iran, and the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed. That tanker was the last one. The last oil shipment from the Middle East to reach American shores. It arrived, it unloaded, and now it is gone. 

So, to be abundantly clear, we are no longer in a price crisis. We are entering a physical shortage. A point where fuel stops being available at any price because there is none left to sell. 

I could give you lots of facts about the U.S. commercial petroleum inventories; production and consumption; strategic reserves; the costs and time needed to build new refineries, etc. All that is in the article. But for the purpose of this blog, I want to show you the cascading connections that lead to the dire warnings of an economic collapse.The first thing we need to understand is that Diesel runs out first. And when there's no diesel, America comes to a standstill. Here are the facts: 70% of all agricultural and food items are transported by truck. Think of every truck, every tractor, every combine harvester, every refrigerator trailer that keeps food cold on the way to your local grocery store, and every freight train hauling grain cars ... they all run on diesel.

When trucks stop moving because there's no diesel, food rots on the farms, never arrives at the processing plants or driven to the distribution centers. Your grocery store shelves are empty. And that takes only eight weeks to accomplish! But diesel is not the only fuel that we are in jeopardy of being without. Shipments of Petroleum products are stalled as Gulf exports are collapsing. This affects the raw material for plastics, solvents, and industrial chemicals. This will affect plastic packaging, medical supplies, fertilizer components, and heating fuel for homes that use propane. Can you see the beginning of crumbling supply chains? 

And finally, we cannot take our eye off the importance of water in this equation. We all know that we cannot afford droughts when it comes to providing the foods that we still need to get into the supply chain! Besides droughts, we now see another water crisis we are facing. Those data centers, which are such an important component of the afore-mentioned AI escalation, need water [for cooling] to keep all the heat that is generated by thousands of servers in a controlled environment. And the use of fresh water is surging, raising not only environmental justice concerns, but straining the aquifers that serve our communities.    

So, taking all this into account, is there Scripture that we can turn to in order to see God's perspective and how this could have an impact on the survival of man? God pointed out Jeremiah 14 to me, titled Famine, Sword, and Pestilence, and I hope you will take the time to hear the voice of God through His Word:

"The Word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:

 Judah mourns, and her gates languish; her people lament on the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem goes up. Her nobles send their servants for water; they come to the cisterns; they find no water; they return with their vessels empty; they are ashamed and confounded and cover their heads. Because of the ground that is dismayed, since there is no rain on the land, the farmers are ashamed; they cover their heads. Even the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn because there is no grass. The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights; they pant for air like jackals; their eyes fail because there is no vegetation.

Though our iniquities testify against us, act, O LORD, for your name's sake; for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against you. O, you hope of Israel, its savior in time of trouble, why should you be like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night? Why should you be like a man confused, like a mighty warrior who cannot save? Yet you, O LORD are in the midst of us, and we are called by your name; do not leave us.

Thus says the LORD concerning this people: They have loved to wander thus; they have not restrained their feet; therefore the LORD does not accept them; now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins."

The LORD said to me: Do not pray for the welfare of this people. Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence."

Lying Prophets

Then I said, "Ah, LORD GOD, behold, the prophets say to them, 'You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.' " And the LORD said to me: "The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds. Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name although I did not send them, and who say, 'Sword and famine shall not come upon this land': By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed. And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and word, with none to bury them -- them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out their evil upon them.

"You shall say to them this word: 'Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people is shattered with a great wound, with a very grievous blow. If I go out into the field, behold, those pierced by the sword! And if I enter the city, behold, the diseases of famine! For both prophet and priest ply their trade throughout the land and have no knowledge.' " 

Have you utterly rejected Judah? Does your soul loathe Zion? Why have you struck us down so that there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, but no good came; for a time of healing, but behold, terror. We acknowledge our wickedness, O LORD, and the iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against you. Do not spurn us, for your name's sake; do not dishonor your glorious throne; remember and do not break your covenant with us. Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are you not he, O LORD our God? We set our hope on you, for you do all these things.

What I have written today is just a small picture of how the world is going to impact every man, woman, and child on the earth. I just wanted you to understand that things are beginning to happen very fast, and we must be diligent to seek the Lord for His instruction on how we are to discern the times and how to stand as a  representative of God's power and authority; a witness to testify that Jesus Christ's Kingdom on earth is alive and active, and it will exist for eternity. 

So, my friends, remember this: The Lord is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. The things He spoke to Jeremiah, in his day, about the sins and iniquities of His people, He still speaks and upholds today for us. He also withholds rain; He brings the sword, and He brings pestilence when the people deserve judgment. When the lying prophets misrepresent Him, He will cast them out from His presence and His mercy. And I believe He has been showing us since the dawn of this century that Jesus's prophecy of wars and rumors of wars, famine, and pestilence are coming. Pray and ask Him for wisdom and counsel; for strength and peace; and for protection from the Lawlessness coming upon the earth.We serve a Mighty God and praise His Holy Name! We will be Saved from our Enemy!

Jeremiah 23:20.    The anger of the LORD will not turn back until He has executed and accomplished the intents of His heart. In the latter days you will understand it clearly. 

        

  

The War in Iran, and the Competition to Feed AI's Energy Consumption -- PART TWO

 As I wrote in Part One of this two-part analysis of the current war in Iran, the growth of the "AI economy" plays a vital part in this clash of civilizations and the battle over Iran's valuable natural resources. These natural resources are a huge prize for the victor(s) of this warfare. As we move forward in history, new battle lines are being drawn in the global economy.

I would wager that to most citizens of the world, this war is measured in terms of the  following goals: 1) the hope for regime change in Iran (yet to be determined); 2) the termination of Iran's buildup of missile and nuclear weapons programs; and 3) destroying Iran's connections to their proxies in the region, i.e. Hamas and  Hezbollah; and the Shiites, their religious partners [within Iran] who carry out the coercive commands of their Shiite clerics. 

Those are certainly consequential arguments for the war, but there is another objective that is becoming increasingly important to the global economies... the exponential growth of artificial intelligence. The average, every-day user of the internet has no idea how much energy that data centers require. In fact, I doubt many can even define what a data center is. So, in order to comprehend why they are an important factor in the war with Iran, let's start with this fact ... A data center is a facility "composed of networked computers, storage systems and computing infrastructure that organizations and businesses use to assemble, process, store and disseminate large amounts of data." It is the heart of data storage.

As of early 2026, there are approximately 5,427 data centers in the US. Due to the immense demand of needed storage space by online companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Meta, these companies are rapidly building data centers to serve the AI escalation in the world. In addition, the tech competition between the United States and China is intensifying, and the need to secure reliable and abundant energy resources is just as important as securing our trade routes (think Strait of Hormuz) or maintaining our military partnerships.

This challenge becomes crystal clear when you take into account that North America data center capacity reached a record 8,155 megawatts in early 2025 -- an increase of more than 43% compared to the previous year. A standard AI-focused hyperscale data center can consume as much electricity annually as 100,000 households in America. The next generation of facilities that are under construction today are speculated to consume 20 times that amount! By 2030 that figure is projected to increase more than 130% -- that's less than 4 years from now! 

So how do those facts translate to this conflict in Iran, and how does it all affect the U.S. economy? We (in the U.S.) are already stretching the limits our existing electrical grids can sustain. With the forecast expansion of AI and its associated energy needs, we must answer the question of how and where we can support that technological boom. India is a possibility, but there seems to be some doubt about how quickly their infrastructure can accommodate the needs. So, that turns our attention to the Gulf States (Saudia Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Iran). They possess the critical energy resources (oil, water, the land, and natural gas) that are readily available to underpin the energy consumption in the next generation of global AI data centers.

And I said GLOBAL data centers, because as we all know, the competition between the U.S. and China for superiority in the global economy (including the data centers) is dependent on the ability to feed AI (and its massive energy needs). It should be obvious to everyone that the race is on to see which country can secure Iran's significant oil and natural gas reserves that could potentially support the needed energy for AI and data centers. So that's where the real reason (and consequence) of this conflict becomes clear. The last 9 presidents (from Joe Biden all the way back to Jimmy Carter) have chosen to avoid war with Iran by letting them continue with their secret and stealthy development of nuclear capacities -- until it has become clear that whoever wins the race to Iran's energy resources will be the first to "claim" AI and reign as #1 in the global economy. 

Now comes the biggest obstacle for the U.S. to claim that spot ... It's no secret that China backs Iran. Our hope to secure those resources will be determined by destroying the nuclear sites in Iran that can destroy the data infrastructure that is being built. These data centers are sensitive technological systems. A single strike by Iran can destroy delicate hardware, disrupt network architecture, and cause cascading failures across entire digital ecosystems. When an Amazon Web Services (AWS) facility in the United Arab Emirates was struck, it affected banking networks, payment systems, and an array of digital services across the globe. Nations increasingly share a common dependence on uninterrupted energy flows, stable shipping corridors, and reliable, universal supply chains. And now Iran stands as the biggest spoiler to the U.S. strategy to "own" the AI sector in the global economy. 

Yes, the security of Israel and the Middle East is also a factor in taking this wartime plan of action. But it's also about protecting and establishing a rapidly emerging technological system that produces both economic and national security for our nation. This battle is crucial and hugely consequential. I advise us all to seek the Lord for His will in this time of history. AI will eventually impact us all as it is integrated into every aspect of our digital lives. It is reshaping the world, and it is apparent that it is becoming a convenient tool to lead us down the tempting and deceptive path to the Beast System. Please pray for divine wisdom and discernment!  The Lord will hear your prayers! Trust Him in all His ways!

My knowledge of Artificial Intelligence, its infrastructure and energy needs is dependent on the knowledge of those in the field who have the ability to write informed and insightful articles. I am thankful to Vikrant Bahadur Singh and his article for the information that informed this post.

Psalm 33.    The LORD looks down from heaven; He sees all the children of man; from where He sits enthroned He looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, He who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.