from the January 11, 2016 eNews issue

You must realize, however that in the last days difficult times will come. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, unfeeling, uncooperative, slanderous, degenerate, brutal, hateful of what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited, and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. They will hold to an outward form of godliness but deny its power. Stay away from such people. … But evil people and impostors will go from bad to worse as they deceive others and are themselves deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and found to be true, because you know from whom you learned it. From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures that are able to give you the wisdom you need for salvation through faith in the Messiah Jesus.

— 2 Timothy 3:1–15 (ISV)

In the last eNews article for 2015, we talked about two ways of looking into the future: one from the perspective of the historian and one from the perspective of the scientist. Each has its problems.

For those of us who put our trust in Jesus, we can take solace in Him. The future did not trouble Jesus, nor was He preoccupied with what might happen. The Gospels make it clear that Jesus, more than anyone else who ever walked this planet, knew what the future held, both for Himself personally and for the world at large.

The past, present and future are in God’s control. The Bible holds many references to the future and judgment. Daniel’s prophecy outlines the succession of world empires, and this prophecy involved judgments (Dan. 2:28–29). The nations will face a time of doom in the future (Ezek. 30:3; Dan. 8:17, 19). Israel will also suffer in “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30:7). During that time many will fall (Matt. 24:10). Nations as well as individuals will face the future time of judgment (Ps. 81:15; Jer. 10:15). In fact, the demons realize that they will face a time of torment in the future (Matt. 8:29).

We at the Koinonia Institute do not date-set nor try to predict the future; we do, however, look at current events through a Biblical lens. We look at what is going on in the world and try to provide some analysis as to where the world is in the Biblical timeline.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the 12 strategic trends that the Institute tracks and see what could be in store for them in 2016.

1. Israel

There have been two overarching principles in the Israel-U.S. alliance. It could be summed up as “No daylight” and “No surprises.” The “no daylight” principle meant that there was to be no variance between Israel’s strategic security aims for the country and that of the United States. The “no surprises” principle meant that any major foreign policy change affecting either nation would be run by the other country before it was publicly announced.

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