[music playing] NARRATOR: For nearly 2,000
years, the "Book of Revelation" has stood as the "New
Testament's" blueprint of doom. TERRY L. COOK: The
"Book of Revelation" is really an outline for
the end of the world. LAWRENCE JOSEPH: It's the great,
gory scenario of the battle between good and evil. NARRATOR: "Revelation" foretells
the coming of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, heralding
the end of days on Earth. [music playing] NARRATOR: We will see the
arrival of an evil leader, or Antichrist. PAUL MCGUIRE: He's the
best conman there ever was. NARRATOR: Disease. PAUL MCGUIRE: Plagues will
kill a quarter of the world's population. NARRATOR: Famine. RAY GANO: People are going
to start going hungry. These will last about 25 years. NARRATOR: And global war
leading to our last judgment. PAUL MCGUIRE: The
war of Armageddon will take us to a primal world
of violence, blood, decimation, and nuclear warfare. NARRATOR: As science
and prophecy collide. ALI S. KHAN: We could have
another pandemic tomorrow. PATRICK WEBB: There are many
scenarios that could turn things bad very quickly. NARRATOR: Concerned
citizens are preparing. RAY GANO: I've got a medical/
surgical kit here, and again, the Bible talks about this. [chanting] TERRY L. COOK: Genesis
was the beginning. Revelation is the
end of the world. [music playing] NARRATOR: This is
"Countdown to Apocalypse." Every Sunday, around
the Christian world, church pews reverberate with
the dark end times prophecy of the "Book of
Revelation," the last and most explosive book
of the "New Testament." PATRICK HENRY: We
see the end of times and the revelation of John. We see the forces of evil, the
devil, and the forces of good, the creator, the sanctifier, the
giver of all life in the name of Jesus. LAWRENCE JOSEPH: The
"Book of Revelation" has a profound appeal, whether
or not you're a believer. It's the great, gory
scenario of the battle between good and evil that has
shaped everyone's consciousness about what the
end times will be. NARRATOR: The "Book
of Revelation" has introduced the world to
the concept of Armageddon, the mark of the beast, and the
word that's become synonymous with the end of
the world itself-- apocalypse. CRIS PUTNAM: The
word apocalypse, people associate it with
the end times and judgment, but really, it's a
transliteration of a Greek word that means that "The
revealing," "The revelation." KENNETH L. WATERS: The
"Book of Revelation" was written by John the
Revelator during a time of imperial persecution of
Christians in the Roman Empire, around AD 96, toward the end
of the reign of the emperor Domitian. NARRATOR: The first decades
after Jesus' crucifixion were a time of grave danger
for the early Christians. Many were forced to flee
their homes or risk death. LAWRENCE JOSEPH: John wrote
the "Book of Revelation" after he was exiled to a
cave in Patmos, Greece. He spent two years in the cave,
saw some really horry visions, put them all together. NARRATOR: While the power of
John the Revelator's vision is beyond dispute, the
writer's true intention has been forever
shrouded in mystery. KENNETH L. WATERS:
There's always been the question
of how to interpret the "Book of Revelation." Is the "Book of
Revelation" a crystal ball, or is it a magnifying
glass, or is it a mirror, or is it a window? Some would say all of the above. NARRATOR: Whether originally
meant as prophecy or allegory, to millions around
the world "Revelation" stands today as a
divinely-inspired roadmap for the end of days. [thunder] TERRY L. COOK: The "Book
of Revelation" conveys exactly what's going to
happen to the world in stages in the end times. NARRATOR: To kick off
these last days on Earth, "Revelation" states that
Jesus Christ will open a series of seals,
unleashing the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The arrival of each
of these horsemen will bring forth a unique and
horrible judgment upon mankind that few will survive. CRIS PUTNAM: There
will be destruction. There will be plagues. There will be wars. There will become a
time of tribulation like has never been before
and will never be again since. NARRATOR: And it all begins with
the arrival of the white horse. TERRY L. COOK: In "Revelation"
chapter six, the Lord himself commands from heaven
that this whole thing starts. [hoof beats] [music playing] I watched as the Lamb open
the first of the seven seals. I looked, and there before
me was a white horse. Its rider held a bow,
and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a
conqueror bent on conquest. [music playing] PAUL MCGUIRE: The rider
on the white horse represents the
Antichrist, the world charismatic political leader. TERRY L. COOK: Scripture says
he'll be the absolute deceiver, the father of all lies, and he
will deceive the entire world into thinking otherwise. PREACHER: Not everybody
who rides on a white horse is a good guy. It's not like [singing]
here comes Jesus. I don't think so. I don't think so. KENNETH L. WATERS:
The Antichrist seeks to destroy God's people
in an effort to clear the way for setting himself up as god. NARRATOR: The emerging
Antichrist's first step will be to unite the
planet under his reign. PAUL MCGUIRE: You'll see the
Antichrist taking over planet Earth, a one-world government,
a one-world economic system, a one-world religion. NARRATOR: With Europe united
and globalization reshaping our political world, are these
times already approaching? PAUL MCGUIRE: I
think it's important that people understand that this
idea of a one-world government is not far off. The one-world government and
one-world economic system is literally being assembled
before our very eyes, and you and I in
our lifetime are going to see a world currency
and a global government. TERRY L. COOK: There'll be a
one-world authoritarian system that won't look
too bad initially, but then after 3 1/2 years, the
Antichrist will reveal himself as the devil. NARRATOR: But how
is it that mankind will be so easily seduced? According to believers,
the rise of the Antichrist will be sped along
by deterioration in global conditions, leaving
us powerless to resist. TERRY L. COOK: The
Antichrist must create a need for his
appearance, and he's doing that by means
of his human agents, by crashing the global
economy, killing the dollar, making everyone desperate. Can't take no more. CROWD: Can't take no more. NARRATOR: In December,
2007, the world entered an economic spiral
that has come to be called The Great Recession. With financial calamities like
bank bailouts, housing bubbles, and the European
sovereign debt crisis, some believe the stage has
been set for the Antichrist's arrival. TERRY L. COOK: He will set the
stage with economic collapse, with food shortages, with
war and rumors of war, with every kind of disorder
and chaos imaginable. NARRATOR: And in this
time of global despair, this charismatic leader
will give people hope. PAUL MCGUIRE: The
Antichrist will have a supernatural
ability to win people over, to get people to like him. A lot of people have this
misconception of the Antichrist as being some dark
occult figure, you know, with horns
coming out of his head. None of that is true. He's the rider on
the white horse. He's a good guy. His charisma will be so powerful
that he will have people in the palm of his hands. He's the best conman
there ever was. NARRATOR: While some might
dismiss the white horse prophecy as biblical
fantasy, this would not be the first time a ruthless
tyrant has charmed his way into the seat of power during
trying times only to doom his people to destruction. PAUL MCGUIRE: We
could go out history, and we'll see that mankind
has this desperate need to be led by a powerful,
charismatic leader. There is this
desire for fascism. There's a desire for a
dictatorial, authoritarian government. [non-english speech] [chanting] NARRATOR: Adolf Hitler,
Mao Zedong, Joseph Stalin, each was revered
in his own time, and combined, these three men
were responsible for the deaths of over 100 million
civilians, but these bloodthirsty dictators
may have just been a prelude. TERRY L. COOK: The Antichrist
will make Adolf Hitler look like a choirboy. NARRATOR: In these
troubled times, could the reign of a modern
Antichrist be at hand? PAUL MCGUIRE: The reality
is that the Antichrist is most likely alive
and among us right now. TERRY L. COOK: There can be
no doubt that the Antichrist beast-man of the apocalypse is
alive today, none whatsoever. All the signs are there. NARRATOR: If the Antichrist
is already among us, life on Earth-- however long it lasts-- is about to take an ugly turn. [interposing voices] NARRATOR: In the face of
the "Book of Revelation" end-time prophecies, many are
turning to prayer to steel themselves for God's judgment,
but others, like Ray Gano, are preparing to keep
themselves alive, no matter what these
last days have in store. RAY GANO: Folks, I'm
going to break it to you. We are living in the last
days of the last days, and you know what, we are
living in perilous times. NARRATOR: Ray Gano is a former
TSA agent who 10 years ago became a born-again Christian. Inspired by the "Book
of Revelation's" doomsday scenarios, Ray began
operating a Bible prophecy website and preparing
for the worst. RAY GANO: What people
need to understand is that our environment, our
society is going downhill fast, and it ain't going
to get better. It's going to get worse. We need to have that urgency
within us to start preparing, start learning, start
doing whatever we can. So that when the
storm comes, we're able to weather that storm. NARRATOR: 2012 is a
time of great upheaval around the globe. KENNETH L. WATERS: Today
is a time of uncertainty. People are very insecure. We are experiencing
economic crisis. PAUL MCGUIRE: Everywhere
you look, this planet is being shaken violently
and sociologically and economically. NARRATOR: And according to
the "Book of Revelation" prophecy of the
white horse, times like these make us increasingly
vulnerable to the charms of an evil, charismatic
leader, or Antichrist. Throughout history,
the Antichrist label has been placed upon countless
political, religious, and business leaders. The famous prophet
of the Middle Ages, Nostradamus, saw a future
where humanity is menaced by a series of these figures. VICTOR BAINES: Nostradamus
wrote a lot of quatrains about individuals he
referred to as Antichrists. The first one was
Napoleon Bonaparte, the second one is Adolf
Hitler, and the third one is yet to arrive. NARRATOR: But one of the most
enduring objects of Antichrist speculation resides not
in a palace of government but at the Vatican. CRIS PUTNAM: Starting with
Martin Luther, John Calvin, all these fellas without a
doubt held that the pope was the Antichrist, that the papacy,
the institution of the papacy, really represented
the Antichrist system. If you look at the claims
of many of the popes, they put themselves
in the role of God, and this is what the Bible
predicts the Antichrist will do. It talks about, he will
exalt himself above God and claim to be God. Many popes did just that. NARRATOR: By the time the world
agrees on the Antichrist's identity, it may be too late. According to believers,
the ancient Maya, who predicted a global
cataclysm on December 21, 2012, are not alone in suggesting that
doomsday is coming in our time. [music playing] PAUL MCGUIRE: The
Bible says that we're approaching the end of the first
6,000 years of human history. Now, what will happen at the end
of 6,000 years of human history is the end of days, the end
of the age, where we will transition, until that final
1,000 year period called the Millennial Reign
of Jesus Christ. PREACHER: Watch and expect
for Jesus to return. My lord could come today. Hallelujah. Amen? This could be the day
Christ could return. NARRATOR: But according to
the "Book of Revelation," between now and
the second coming, the world is in for
unprecedented turmoil and unspeakable pain. TERRY L. COOK: Every horrific
thing you can think of is going to be started when that
white horse leaves the gate. NARRATOR: Is a modern Antichrist
ready to storm onto the scene and bring mankind to its knees? TERRY L. COOK: It'll be not
just a representative of Satan, as we've seen in the past. This man will be the
actual devil himself. NARRATOR: Unfortunately
for humanity, the arrival of the Antichrist
is just the beginning. Three more of the
"Book of Revelations'" apocalyptic horsemen
are still in the gates. Next on the scene is the
rider on the pale horse, promising to infect our world
with a global disease pandemic. PATRICK HENRY: I
looked, and there before me was a pale horse. Its rider was named
Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power
over forth the Earth to kill by sword,
famine, and plague. PAUL MCGUIRE: The
pale horse represents disease and pestilence that will
kill a quarter of the world's population. [music playing] NARRATOR: Could this
worldwide outbreak of disease promised by the
pale horse prophecy, leaving billions dead in its
wake, come to pass today? ALI S. KHAN: We're always
at a risk for pandemic. Pandemics have the potential
to kill a large portion of the population. There have been some diseases
that have been global killers. Cholera has killed
hundreds of millions. AIDS, since 1981, probably
killed about 25 million people also. RAY GANO: Biblically speaking,
we know that, in the last days, that we will see death. We will see pestilence. We will see disease rise. [music playing] NARRATOR: Perhaps, history's
most notorious pandemic was the bubonic plague, or black
death, which ravaged Europe in the mid 1300s. ALI S. KHAN: We suspect
about 100 million people died during that outbreak. Estimates about 30% to
60% of the population. NARRATOR: The plague didn't
earn the title black death just because of its mortality rate. Those stricken with the plague
experienced gruesome symptoms-- blackening of the skin due
to gangrene and swollen boils called buboes that appeared
in the neck, armpit, or groin. These were accompanied by
severe fever and stomach pain and typically claimed the
victim's life within a week. ALI S. KHAN: It took about maybe
150 years for the population to come back up again. The black death
is a great example of really how devastating
an infectious disease can be to a naive population. [music playing] NARRATOR: But as devastating as
the black death pandemic was, some fear that future disease
outbreaks could be even worse. NICK POPE: When you
look at the black death, it killed maybe one
in three Europeans. Now, this was in an era where
most people didn't travel out of their village. Imagine a plague like
that hitting now, in the days of air travel. The real problem that we
face with a global pandemic is how quickly it would
spread around the world. If you get one person infected
traveling through a major world airport, then everyone
at the airport is at risk of infection. They spread the disease to
the four corners of the world. NARRATOR: The black death
has been mostly relegated to the history books, but there
is another more common disease that has killed
millions in the past and whose worst outbreak
may still be to come. ALI S. KHAN: For
the influenza 1918 H1N1 outbreak, somewhere
from 50 to 130 million deaths worldwide. Given our population now
which is about three-fold, it would be somewhere
between 150 million to 450 million deaths. NARRATOR: And the
next big flu outbreak can happen at any time
with deadly consequences straight out of
"Revelation's" dark prophecy. ALI S. KHAN: Flu viruses don't
go, OK, well, two years ago, we had a pandemic. We can sort of wait
another 10 to 20 years. So we could have another
pandemic tomorrow, or we could have another
pandemic in another 20 years. It's completely unknown. NARRATOR: While modern science
has improved our defense against some
infectious diseases, new vulnerabilities
have emerged. ALI S. KHAN: There's no
doubt that globalization is a key factor, and
thanks to globalization, somebody could develop
a novel disease, and within 18 to
24 hours, it could be anywhere else in the world. NICK POPE: Ironically,
the most lethal disease would be one where it doesn't
kill you straight away, where actually the incubation
period is quite slow. Because you'd be infected,
and you wouldn't realize it, and you'd be walking around
perfectly healthy for days. And it's that period where
you might be taking a trip, might be getting on an airplane. You could infect millions
of people in that way, before you even
knew you were sick. NARRATOR: An insidious
infection festers undetected, until it has spread to the
four corners of the globe, resulting in the
deaths of billions. A single unchecked
sneeze could be all it takes for "Revelation's"
grim prophecy to become a reality, but the
horror doesn't end there. With the countdown to
apocalypse underway, born-again prepper Ray Gano
has begun stockpiling medicine for when the "Book
of Revelation's" pale horse prophecy comes to pass. RAY GANO: The swine flu came
through a couple of years ago and literally
shut our town down, and so we learned in a pandemic
the medicines and everything came off the
shelves pretty fast. Everything was just bought up. We've used these emergency
situations to learn from. I've got a wound treatment-- I've got a medical/ surgical
kit here, and again, the Bible talks about this. I mean, there's crazy
illnesses coming about. Biblically speaking, we
know that in the last days that we will see death. We will see pestilence. We will see disease rise. NARRATOR: According to the "Book
of Revelation's" four horsemen prophecy, that pale
rider of pestilence is set to spread a lethal
plague across the globe. But while some people
believe this outbreak will be an especially virulent
strain of the flu, others look to a more
sinister scenario. PAUL MCGUIRE: I am absolutely
convinced that the disease and pestilence associated
with the pale horse is man-made, biological warfare. ALI S. KHAN: There is a long
history of biologic warfare. When you think about the
phrase "Poisoning the well," the first episodes
of biological warfare probably refer to
retreating armies that threw something in wells to
make sure that people couldn't use that water afterwards. JONATHAN D. MORENO: Even during
the French and Indian War, there were attempts
to get blankets that had been used by soldiers
who died of smallpox to Native Americans. Biological weapons
got to be, I, think of more interest toward the
late 19th, early 20th century. NARRATOR: One of the most
notorious uses of biowarfare was at the hands of Japanese
unit 731 during World War II. Stationed and
occupied Manchuria, unit 731 purposely infected both
local civilians and prisoners of war with cholera,
anthrax, and the plague through forced injections,
distributing infected candy, and spreading plague-infected
fleas that killed thousands. And threats of another
bioweapons attack are still very much alive
today through the work of international terror groups. ALI S. KHAN: There are
all sorts of threats from biological terrorism. They could be anthrax. It could be botulism. It could be smallpox. It could be almost
any biologic agent. Since many of the agents are
available within the atmosphere and the environment, somebody
could take these organisms, produce them, and then
disseminate them in a community and cause deliberate illness. PAUL MCGUIRE: The prospects of
biological warfare are eminent. I believe that that
biological virus has already been designed, and
it's already here. The question is which
one will they use? NARRATOR: If the United
States does fall victim to a major bioterror
attack, how will we respond? In 2001, the US government ran
an exercise called Dark Winter simulating the effect
of a smallpox attack on Oklahoma City. The test revealed that the
American government and health system were insufficiently
prepared to handle such an outbreak and had
only enough vaccine to protect 5% of the public. It's estimated that one
million Americans would have died within weeks. This apocalyptic world promised
by the "Book of Revelation" has now suffered
both the arrival of the Antichrist and
devastating disease, or bioterror, but the
pain doesn't end there. Yet another harbinger of doom
promises desperation and slow death-- the rider on the black horse. [horse neighing] PATRICK HENRY: When the
Lamb opened the third seal, I looked, and there before
me was a black horse. Its rider was holding a
pair of scales in his hand. Then, I heard what sounded like
a quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of
barley for a day's wages. The black horse essentially
represents famine and food shortages. And it's going to result
in the deaths of hundreds of millions of people. NARRATOR: Famine has
proven devastating to even the sturdiest civilizations,
such as ancient Rome and the Maya. Even with the advance
of technology, it continues to menace our
planet in more recent times. PATRICK WEBB: You go back
to the Irish potato famine, early 1800s, when maybe
a million people died. But another million people
emigrated, were forced out of their homes and the
country, because the situation was so bad. The Chinese famine, maybe
as many as 40 million people dying. In the mid '80s, Ethiopia
faced a large scale famine, multiple year drought, maybe
a million people died there. NARRATOR: As lethal as these
regionalized famines were, ominous signs today suggest
that the future will produce a famine that grips
the entire globe. PATRICK WEBB: The number of
countries today experiencing food shortages is definitely
higher than it was just a couple of decades ago. TERRY L. COOK: We're looking
at a global famine unparalleled in world history. PATRICK WEBB: Up to 20%
of the world's population is unable to get enough
food on a daily basis. NARRATOR: At today's
population levels, that places the number of hungry
people at over one billion, and that many hungry
people could turn the world into a powder keg. PATRICK WEBB: Once you start
talking about roughly one billion people unable or unsure
of where in their next meal is going to come from, it's
the fear factor that kicks in, and fear is irrational. So you get a breakdown of
all the norms of behavior, whether it involves hoarding,
looting, attacking, and killing other people. There are many scenarios that
could turn things bad very quickly. Government systems are
unable to prevent it. It doesn't matter what
they say on the TV. It doesn't matter how many
police you put on the streets. The scale will overwhelm them. [sirens] NARRATOR: But could the
black horse of famine spread its terror on
American soil as well? It may be hard to
imagine, but as we'll see, when the end times
are under way, and the four horsemen are out of
the gate, nobody will be safe. [music playing] NARRATOR: The "Book
of Revelation" tells of Four Horsemen
of the Apocalypse heralding the end
of days on Earth. The white horse represents
an evil, charismatic leader, or Antichrist, the pale
horse, global disease, the black horseman of famine
is charging with them, choking the world's food supply
and causing societal collapse under the weight of
starving desperation. But how will this nightmare
scenario become a reality? The "Book of Revelation"
holds the answer. PATRICK HENRY: A quart of
wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of
barley for a day's wages. TERRY L. COOK: Food will be so
precious in those final years, that a man will work
in the entire day just for enough to
buy a little barley and enough to buy
a little wheat. NARRATOR: This prophecy of
famine caused by a drastic rise in the price of food
provides yet another parallel between the "Book of Revelation"
and the daily reality of our current age. [music playing] PATRICK WEBB: Today,
projections are that food grown around the
world will be a record. It will be the greatest amount
of food ever grown in history, but at the same time,
food prices globally are still extremely high. NARRATOR: During the global
food crisis of 2005 to 2008, the price of corn and wheat
tripled, while the cost of rice increased by 500%, setting
off food riots in over 20 countries. While the financial
collapse of 2008 slowed this trend somewhat,
the next food shock may not be far away. Today, record-setting
temperatures and droughts are ruining harvests in the
North American heartland on an unprecedented scale. If this crucial source of
corn and wheat is compromised, billions will go hungry. America will see a domino
effect of economic devastation starting with its farmers. PATRICK WEBB: Certainty for
Americans, if their crop fails, maybe they have some savings,
but those savings are going to be worth very little,
if the price of food jumps up, doubles,
triples over a few months. And if the government
isn't capable of dealing with that large
scale, then things go bad very, very quickly. NARRATOR: With American crops
in jeopardy and food prices at an all-time high, is this
evidence of the black horse prophecy coming to fruition? [music playing] PATRICK WEBB: We have global
population increasing very quickly, and the demand
for food over the long run is certainly likely to
increase very significantly in the next couple of decades. That poses a serious threat,
because it in many cases, if we then have natural
disasters or wars or government instability, that can really
push things over the edge. [horse neighing] NARRATOR: With the
black horse of famine charging out of the gate,
Ray Gano and his family aren't taking any chances. RAY GANO: Historically
and prophetically, biblically, we know
that famine is here. There's many places in the world
that are suffering from famine. Like it or not, people are
going to start going hungry. I believe that it is Bible
prophecy coming to pass. So what you can do is
start preparing now and start stocking up your food. These are my long-term
storage grains. These are all freeze dried. These will last about 25 years. Eventually, our food stores
are going to run out. So we are going to have
to know how to garden. We're going to have to know
how to raise livestock. We're going to have to know
how to harvest the wild edibles from the land. These are all good skills
that you need to learn. This is one of our
fresh water sources. This is actually spring-fed. We have turtles,
frogs, bass, perch. We have a food and water
source all right here. When Noah was told by God
that a flood was coming, he began that
preparation process. And so when the flood
came, all those people that told him he
was crazy perished, and he got on the ark. And that's kind of what we
equate modern-day prepping to be. RAY GANO: By preparing,
by building your ark, is your own family's insurance. And so your food, your food
preps, your medical preps, your everyday preps is your ark. If you've done everything
you can and having done all, then the rest is up to God. [music playing] NARRATOR: If the "Book of
Revelation" is truly prophetic, the world of our future will
be sick, hungry, and extremely vulnerable. But the ultimate end of days
scenario is still to come, one that promises fire,
brimstone, and hell on Earth, the battle of Armageddon. This war to end all wars
is ushered in by the rider on a horse the color of blood. [horse neighing] NARRATOR: The red horse
of the apocalypse. PATRICK HENRY: Then
another horse came out, a fiery, red one. Its rider was given power
to take peace from the Earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword. Armageddon represents the
final conflict between Christ and Antichrist, the final
war between good and evil. [marching] [music playing] NARRATOR: The "Book
of Revelation" foretells four horsemen who
will bring God's final judgment upon our world-- the white horse
of the Antichrist, the pale horse of pestilence,
the black horse of famine, and the red horse of war. The appearance of the
rider on the red horse promises to pit mankind in the
crossfire between the forces of good and evil in the
battle of Armageddon. But where and how will this war
of biblical proportions begin? PAUL MCGUIRE: In the
war of Armageddon, there is called the
war of Gog and Magog. KENNETH L. WATERS: Gog
and Magog are nations who are hostile to the saints
of Christ who at the time are dwelling in the beloved
city, the city of Jerusalem. The key players in the
war of Gog and Magog, it talks about Russia, and it
talks about Persia which is modern-day Iran and Syria and
it is literally Satan mobilizing the armies of Russia and
Iran and these Middle Eastern nations to come against Israel
in an attempt to destroy them in the last days. NARRATOR: This vision of future
conflict in the Middle East predicted in the Bible
a millennium ago proves eerily accurate today. PAUL MCGUIRE: Russia
and Iran, they're already military and scientific
partners and business partners. NARRATOR: The red
horsemen foretells that, with Russia
and Iran aligned, humanity will be thrown
into a gruesome global war. The signs of this conflict
are already visible today. PAUL MCGUIRE: Armageddon,
I mean, here we are, approximately 150,000 troops
surrounding the Middle East. TERRY L. COOK: We are on
the very edge of World War III in the Middle East. [music playing] PAUL MCGUIRE: What
could easily happen is Russia and Iran get
together, and they decide to invade Israel, along with
some other Middle Eastern nations. And then you have all
the US military ships in the Strait of Hormuz. You have Israel with its
powerful nuclear weaponry and computer-guided
missile systems. So with the slightest adjustment
of geopolitical circumstances, every piece is in place
for World War III, and World War III in the
last days becomes Armageddon. NARRATOR: Armageddon is holy
battle between good and evil, but what exactly
is to be expected when the red horseman of war
wreaks havoc on our world? PAUL MCGUIRE: Picture
all the armies of the Earth converging
on Jerusalem, launching nukes and ICBMs. This is the conflict. It'll end the world, and
it'll never be repeated again. NARRATOR: While some may
be skeptical of the end times foretold by the
"Book of Revelation," the threat of nuclear
doom is far from fantasy. TERRY L. COOK:
Thermonuclear threat, a thermonuclear
disaster, a cataclysm just over the horizon,
it's possible. It's probable. These end time
events could happen. [music playing] There is a real
risk of nuclear war. People think that
risk has gone away with the end of the Cold War
and the collapse of the Soviet Union.
It hasn't. The risk now is as bad
as it has ever been. We came very close,
dangerously close, to the brink with the
Cuban Missile Crisis. Now, people have taken
their eye off the ball. Everyone thinks that
danger has gone away. Well, it's just moved. It's gone somewhere else. [non-english singing] NICK POPE: The potential trigger
points for a nuclear holocaust include, of course, Iran. Iran seems to be
desperate to get the bomb. Israel and America
may act militarily to stop Iran getting the bomb,
and that itself could trigger war. NARRATOR: Nine countries
around the world currently have nuclear weapons,
and according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, the
fastest-growing arsenal is in politically-unstable
Pakistan. NICK POPE: The new danger
is from rogue states and terrorist organizations
wanting to get the bomb. You've got countries, like India
and Pakistan, neighbors who hate each other, nuclear armed. You've got terrorist groups
desperate to get their hands on a weapon. All this makes the world a
much more dangerous place than it was in the
days of the Cold War, when ironically,
mutually-assured destruction probably kept us from war. NARRATOR: In 2012, the
Bulletin of Atomic Scientists set their doomsday clock,
a symbolic barometer of our proximity to nuclear
destruction, at five minutes to midnight, bringing the
global war foretold by the "Book of Revelation" perilously
close to becoming reality. [music playing] NICK POPE: It's very easy to
talk about a small exchange of nuclear weapons, but in
reality, once the first one goes off, there's going
to be a chain reaction, and all the constraints are
going to go out of the window. NARRATOR: If such weapons
were put to use today, the initial blast would be
the least of our worries. The after effects of
nuclear Armageddon would be catastrophic
and long term. NICK POPE: If a nuclear
war were to break out, it's easy to see that
civilization as we know it would come to an end. JONATHAN D. MORENO:
A nuclear war, if it doesn't destroy
everyone, will send us back a couple
of thousand years and would take thousands
of years to recover. [music playing] NARRATOR: In the aftermath
of a nuclear holocaust, there are some who would seek
refuge in long-term survival shelters, but they would only
be confirming the prophecy of the red horsemen. What's interesting
is that when you read the "Book
of Revelation," it talks about how the
wealthy and the elite are hiding in the caves
and in underground bases. And if you look at whether it's
Russia and their evil mountain, as it's called, or all the
vast military underground bases in the United States and
throughout the world, our military and our elite are
ready at a moment's notice-- should World War III
or Armageddon erupt-- to protect themselves in
massive underground bases. NARRATOR: While privileged few
with access to military bunkers may feel protected,
the horrid truth is that if the "Book of
Revelation" comes to pass, no one will be safe. Is the world as we know
it rapidly approaching its expiration date? Some believe the
"Book of Revelation" is merely an allegory that
bears little relevance to modern times. Others, like Ray Gano, see
current events as confirmation of the book's prophecies
and are preparing to face the divine fury of God Himself. RAY GANO: The world is in
need for a major wake-up call, and not a day goes by where on
the front page of any newspaper that is not something biblical
in perspective taking place. Events are getting closer and
closer and harder and harder and more severe
and more painful, and Bible prophecy is coming to
fruition right before our eyes. And people have
forgotten a lot of this, because a lot of people just
don't read the Bible anymore, and yet it's right there
in black and white, right in front of our face. And so we shouldn't be surprised
that events are taking place in today's world, because
scripture already told us that it would happen. You have a chance
still to prepare and be ready for the coming
storm, and that's what you need to be doing. [music playing] NARRATOR: With the specter
of world war looming over the Middle East, the
potential for global plague hiding behind every
unchecked sneeze and famine at an all-time
high, the parallels between current events and
the "Book of Revelation" could send a shiver down even
the strongest skeptic's spine. Should these modern trends
lead to a cataclysmic event, be it biblical or otherwise,
Ray Gano is prepared to face it. Are you? [horse neighing]
