We've all had the experience of 2020 hindsight. Let's say you find out that someone in your life had a drinking problem, or a drug problem, or maybe dementia, or maybe an affair. Prior to now you hadn't really put the pieces together, but now that you know the truth, suddenly SO MANY EVENTS from the past make so much sense. You immediately wonder "why didn't I see this coming?". Of course that would probably be your private thought. Your outside voice would proclaim … "I knew it"!
Either way, when that final piece of information presented itself, all of those little "clues" suddenly made sense.
So, what does that have to do with Bible prophecy? Simple: We know the truth already. We can enjoy hindsight in advance! We don't have to wait for Russia to invade Israel to say "ah, that's what this or that exercise or treaty or assassination or speech was leading to. We already know what it's leading to. How awesome is that? (waits for response and then assumes one) Very awesome, Paul, very awesome.
That's why I love what I call Reverse Engineering Prophecy. It's all about taking the picture presented in prophecy, and then working backward in time, asking yourself "what would need to happen first?" or "what would make it easier for this to be fulfilled?". Now instead of just watching the news looking for fulfillments of prophecy, you actually go looking for stories that might be paving the way that aren't immediately obvious.
Remember, even though the actual fulfillments of the end times prophecies are going to be post-rapture, it doesn't mean the stage is not being set today. And Jesus told us in Luke 21 "and when these things BEGIN to come to pass" we will know the end is near.