As Seventh-day Adventists, we take a different approach, a Christ-centered approach, in which the focus of prophecy is no longer on a single geographic location in the Middle East and whatever military conflicts unfold there. Instead, we view the prophecies through the lens of the great controversy between Christ and Satan—a world-wide spiritual struggle that will climax when God’s people, Jew and Gentile (see Rev. 12:17, Rev. 14:12) face the final crisis, which centers on worshiping the Creator (see Rev. 14:7), as opposed to the beast and his image.

A key element in understanding these last-day prophecies is Daniel 2, which contains not only the historical outline of the prophecies but the interpretive key to unlocking their meanings, as well.