October 17, 2025 | Messianic World Update | Israel insight, global alliances, and Trump’s Peace Plan

Shalom, everyone, I’m Monte Judah with Lion and Lamb Ministries, bringing you the latest Messianic World Update. Today’s date is October 17, 2025.

This week, we continue to watch the prophetic landscape unfold before our eyes. The developments in Israel, the shifting alliances in the Middle East, and the ongoing moral decay within Western nations are not random — they are pieces of a much larger puzzle that the prophets of old told us would take shape before the return of the Messiah.

Great Joy, Great Sadness, and Questions Looming as Phase One of the Trump Peace Plan is Implemented

It's been two years since it started, but finally 20 live hostages have returned to Israel, being released by Gaza as a result of the Trump peace plan. They returned amidst joyous celebration. It's almost like people coming back from their own personal holocaust. These people were living in dungeons, digging their own graves, being tortured, starved to death, and finally, life has been given back to them, still waiting for the dead hostages to be returned; 19 of them still remain to be returned.

Hamas is complaining that they can't find the bodies because of all the destruction that's taken place in Gaza. However, Israel has some intel and they passed that on to the mediators, saying this is where some of those bodies are at. So they've gone back to Hamas and said that the bodies are in these different locations. Hamas is essentially playing games with this. There's no reason why they can't go in and get them. Now. They're complaining that certain commanders, certain Hamas commanders, were in charge of those particular hostages, and knew where they were buried. Those commanders were killed by the IDF, and now Hamas claims they don’t know where the other bodies are located.

At the same time the hostages were being released, the IDF did withdraw to what is called the Yellow Line. That's a line on a map that was used in the negotiations. And so they pulled back to essentially where Israel is only controlling about 53% of the Gaza. The interior parts are now open for the Palestinians. After the IDF withdrew, Hamas decided to come out onto the streets with their weapons, to promote the fact that they're still in charge for the Palestinians. There was another faction of Palestinians that was dealing with Hamas. They got rounded up by the Hamas operatives, taken out into the street, and publicly shot and executed.

Obviously this is not in line with what the peace agreement was. And President Trump, when he heard about this report, said that's got to stop. That's not part of the peace agreement. Israel was also told that they had to open the Rafah crossing down into Egypt. They did not do it immediately because of what they saw, how Hamas came out in the street violently. But they've now since opened it, and the about half of the aid trucks have entered into Gaza that were promised. Also at the start of the ceasefire, Trump is telling everybody and operating like peace has come to the Middle East.

Phase Two Has Begun

Phase two of the negotiations have begun as a part of the peace plan. They require Hamas to disarm. The question is, who's going to go in and disarm Hamas? Originally the plan was that some civil authority Palestinians would begin to take responsibility and oversight for Gaza. They have no ability to go in and force Hamas to do any such thing. Hamas wants to hang on to their weapons for their own defense and to assert themselves. They never have really, truly agreed to it. The first phase agreement didn't require them to disarm. That's part of the negotiation, the second phase. And the only the only entity over there that could possibly disarm would be, of course, Israel.

Israel at the Center of Prophecy

As always, the eyes of the world are fixed on Israel. In the past few weeks, tensions have escalated along multiple fronts — not just militarily, but politically and spiritually. The continued pressure from international powers to divide or compromise the Land is a direct challenge to the covenant God made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The nations may not understand it, but we, as believers, must. When leaders propose “peace plans” that ignore God’s promises, they set themselves against the Almighty.

This week, the Knesset introduced a bill to annex Judea and Samaria. This has been talked about in Israel for many weeks recently, and now there is a formal piece of legislation before Israel’s governing body. President Trump has said he “will not allow it;” however, a majority of the people of Israel are in favor of the annexation. Prime Minister Netanyahu will probably follow President Trump’s lead, but we will continue to watch the situation carefully and pray that it goes through.

The latest polls show that Likud, the political party for Benjamin Netanyahu, is even stronger than they were before. If they held elections again, they would win even more seats in the Knesset. Not enough to take the full majority, but they're even stronger than they are now. So Netanyahu is in a strong position and probably will continue to follow Trump's lead and whatever Trump wants to do in the Middle East.

Final Thoughts

We must also stand in prayer for the peace of Jerusalem, for the safety of believers worldwide, and for the strength of our families. The prophetic clock is ticking, and each event reminds us that our redemption draws near.

Friends, as we witness these prophetic signs unfold, let us take heart. The darkness of the world cannot overcome the light of Messiah. Stand firm in your faith, keep your eyes on Israel, and continue to live according to God’s commandments. The King is coming soon, and we must be ready to meet Him.

Shabbat Shalom to all of you.