As the study began, Netanyahu said, “Ben-Gurion and Begin believed that the Bible should be the heritage of the entire nation—secular and religious, young and old, men and women. The Bible is the foundation of our existence. It unites the Jewish people, as it has throughout the generations. It also serves not only as a foundation but also as a map and compass. . . . The Bible is always relevant vis-à-vis today’s problems and challenges. It inspires; it is a source of life for our people, and I think that it is important to expand Bible study and love of the Bible among all parts of the nation. This is also the goal of this circle.”125
Where Is Israel Heading?
The prime minister was right. The Bible is our map and compass as we move into the future. Now, more than ever, Israelis—and all of us—need to be turning to the Bible as darkness descends around us and the way forward becomes more difficult to navigate.
As King David famously wrote, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105, KJV). David asked the Lord to “open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Your law” (Psalm 119:18).
What’s more, King David knew that studying and internalizing and obeying God’s Word was Israel’s only hope against her enemies. “O how I love Your law!” he wrote. “It is my meditation all the day. Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies. . . . I have more insight than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation. . . . How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:97-99, 103).
In this context, I have been repeatedly asked in recent months how the current crisis with Iran might set the stage for Bible prophecies to come to pass in the years ahead. Let me share some thoughts on this important question.
There is no Bible prophecy that clearly and definitively speaks of an Israeli first strike on Iran. However, there are two significant passages of Scripture that deal with Iran being defeated in major Mideast clashes in the “last days” of history.
The first important passage about the future of Iran is found in Jeremiah 49:34-39. This is known as the “Prophecy concerning Elam.” Elam was an ancient name for the region we now call Iran.
Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, I am going to break the bow of Elam, the finest of their might. I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four ends of heaven, and will scatter them to all these winds; and there will be no nation to which the outcasts of Elam will not go. So I will shatter Elam before their enemies and before those who seek their lives; and I will bring calamity upon them, even My fierce anger,” declares the LORD, “And I will send out the sword after them until I have consumed them. Then I will set My throne in Elam and destroy out of it king and princes,” declares the LORD. “But it will come about in the last days that I will restore the fortunes of Elam,” declares the LORD.
Allow me to draw out several key points from this passage:
Verse 39 tells us that these events are going to happen in “the last days.”
The passage tells us that God will scatter the people of Iran all over the earth (verse 36). This actually happened during the Iranian Revolution in 1979. For the first time in history, Iranians were scattered all over the globe. Today, an estimated five million Iranians live outside their home country.
God says he is going to “break” the current structure of Iran (verse 35).
God says he will “shatter Elam [Iran] before their enemies” (verse 37).
God says he will bring his “fierce anger” against the leaders of Iran (verse 37).
God says, “I will send out the sword after them until I have consumed them” (verse 37).
God says he will “destroy” Iran’s “king and princes” (verse 38).
Despite all this terrible judgment, God specifically promises to “set My throne in Elam”—that is, be the God and King of the people of Iran (verse 38).
God also promises to “restore the fortunes of Elam” (verse 39).
The Bible thus clearly indicates that God is going to bring judgment upon Iran’s leaders and military in the End Times, but it’s also clear that he is going to bless and liberate the people of Iran in a very dramatic way. One view of the promise in verse 39 to “restore the fortunes” of Iran is that after judging Iran’s leaders and military, God will allow the people of Iran to become politically peaceful and economically prosperous. That may be the case. I, however, lean more toward the view held by many Iranian Christians who believe that God means he will bless the people of Iran spiritually.
In some ways, this has already begun. In 1979, there were only about five hundred known Shia Muslim converts to Christianity in all of Iran. Today, all the Iranian Christian leaders I have interviewed (more than forty) say there are more than one million Shia converts to Christianity in Iran. Iranian followers of Jesus Christ believe that as we get closer to the second coming of Christ, God is going to pour out his love and forgiveness and his Holy Spirit on the people of Iran in an even more dramatic way, opening the eyes and hearts of even more Muslims and helping them to see clearly that Jesus Christ is the only Savior of the world and that only through faith in him can they know and experience God’s love and plan for their lives. They also believe that Iran will soon become a “sending country,” a base camp, as it were, from which thousands—perhaps tens of thousands—of Iranian followers of Christ will fan out throughout the epicenter, preaching the gospel, making disciples, and planting churches in the last days.126
Could these prophecies be set into motion by an Israeli first strike against Iran such as the one being currently contemplated by Netanyahu? Theoretically, yes, they could. In verse 37, God says, “I will send out the sword after them [the leaders of Iran] until I have consumed them.” Could God use Israel to “send out the sword”? Yes, he could. But we must also consider other possibilities. For one, God could use countries other than Israel to bring judgment on Iran’s leaders. For another, God could supernaturally bring judgment upon Iran’s leaders without involving the Israeli military or the militaries of other countries at all.
Indeed, it is possible that the prophecies of Jeremiah 49 will be fulfilled during the prophetic “War of Gog and Magog.”
The War of Gog and Magog
The second major set of prophecies about the future of Iran is found in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39. These are prophecies describing a coming event that many Bible scholars call the “War of Gog and Magog.” I wrote about these prophecies in detail in my 2006 book, Epicenter: Why the Current Rumblings in the Middle East Will Change Your Future. I have also spoken often about these prophecies at churches and conferences and have posted my sermon notes on my blog.
Here’s the short version:
A dictator (Gog) will emerge in Russia (Magog) in the “last days” of history (Ezekiel 38:16).
This Russian dictator will build a military alliance with many nations. The first such nation mentioned in the biblical list is “Persia,” the nation we now know as Iran (Ezekiel 38:5).
Other countries that will join the Russian-Iranian alliance against Israel will be Libya (referred to in the text as “Put”), Sudan and Ethiopia (“Cush”), Turkey (“Gomer”), and a group of other Middle Eastern countries (Ezekiel 38:5-6).
Together, this Russian-Iranian coalition will seek to attack, destroy, and take over Israel after Israel has been prophetically reborn as a nation, the Jews have begun to return to the Holy Land after centuries of exile, and the Jews—with God’s help—have started to rebuild the ancient ruins and make the deserts bloom (see Ezekiel 36 and 37).
The Russian forces (and possibly others) will attack Israel from the north, suggesting they will come through Lebanon and Syria, though neither country is mentioned in the text (Ezekiel 38:15, 39:2).
Egypt is not mentioned as part of the coalition against Israel.
Iraq is not mentioned as part of the coalition against Israel either.
Before the attack can happen, Israel must be “living securely” in the land (Ezekiel 38:
8, 11).
Before the attack, Israel must experience a significant degree of financial prosperity that will seem to other nations to be one of the reasons for the coalition to attack Israel (Ezekiel 38:12-13).
The text indicates that not a single nation will come to Israel’s defense when this Russian-Iranian coalition surrounds them and prepares to attack.
We would have to conclude then that either the U.S. has imploded and is no longer able to defend Israel or that its leaders have made a political decision to ignore, abandon, or side against Israel.
Just when all hope appears to be lost and Israel looks like it will be destroyed, the text indicates that the God of Israel will supernaturally intervene to judge these enemies of Israel. A massive earthquake will occur that will shatter the enemy forces. Terrible diseases will be unleashed among the enemy forces. The enemies will turn on one another and attack one another. Fire will rain down from heaven on Israel’s enemies, consuming them (Ezekiel 38:18-23).
The text also indicates that fire will fall from heaven on some of the enemies’ home countries, suggesting their governments and military may be nearly or completely destroyed or shattered during this event (Ezekiel 39:1-6).
The Bible indicates that God will not only physically save his people—Israel—but will spiritually save them as well. “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name. . . . I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel’” (Ezekiel 39:25, 29).
Could these prophecies be set into motion by an Israeli first strike against Iran such as the one currently being contemplated by Netanyahu? No, not immediately—at least not under current circumstances.
First, in Ezekiel 38–39, Iran is not the lead aggressor; Russia is. Currently, we see a Russian-Iranian political and military alliance emerging for the first time since Ezekiel wrote the prophecy more than twenty-five hundred years ago, and Vladimir Putin is emerging as a dictator in Russia. But as of this writing, neither Putin nor any other leader from Russia is taking the lead in mobilizing a military force against the Jewish State.
Second, in Ezekiel 38–39, Iran is part of a broad coalition of nations that takes the military offensive against Israel. That’s not the case in the current environment. Iran’s only allies in this present showdown with Israel are the Hezbollah terrorist forces in Lebanon, the Hamas terrorist forces in Gaza, and the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad (which is currently imploding).
Third, in Ezekiel 38–39, there is no indication that Israel launches a preemptive strike against Iran or against any of the coalition members. Indeed, there is no indication that Israel uses its military at all in the War of Gog and Magog. To the contrary, the God of Israel supernaturally intervenes to save Israel and defeat her enemies. This seems to preclude an Israeli first strike in the immediate context of the prophecy.
That said, there are several ways the current crisis could potentially set the stage for such prophecies to come to pass.
First, an Israeli strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities could be so successful that Iran is neutralized for several years to come. Israel could find itself feeling more secure than ever. It has recently discovered massive amounts of natural gas offshore. This gas should come online soon and could bring enormous wealth to Israel in a short period of time. An Israeli natural-gas boom could also infuriate Russia, which is one of the world’s leading exporters of natural gas. Such developments could set into motion the War of Gog and Magog in the not-too-distant future.
Second, Russia could dramatically intervene and somehow persuade Iran to give up its nuclear program. That could give Israel short-term security. In turn, however, Russia could go to the U.N. Security Council and demand that Israel disclose, dismantle, and destroy its nuclear weapons. Israel would resist. Russia might then begin to build a military coalition to force Israel to disarm, and this could set into motion a showdown that fulfills the prophecies regarding the War of Gog and Magog. I used a premise like this in my 2005 novel, The Ezekiel Option.
Third, I could imagine a scenario in which the U.S. makes a series of promises to Israel to neutralize Iran, causing Netanyahu to hold off a preemptive strike. But the U.S. could later renege on those promises or find that its attempts to neutralize Iran fell short. Israel would then have missed its opportunity, and Iran would be in the “zone of immunity.” Russia could then see an opportunity to join forces with a nuclear-armed Iran and start building a larger coalition to attack Israel.
These are just a few possibilities. There are other scenarios that could unfold too. The important thing for students and teachers of Scripture to do now is to study these prophecies very carefully and pray faithfully for the Lord to provide his wisdom and discernment.
The Destruction of Damascus
In the spring of 2012, a prominent member of Congress asked to meet with me in Washington, D.C. I thought the topic was going to be the possible coming war between Israel and Iran. Instead, the official asked, “What are your thoughts on Isaiah 17?” For much of the next hour, we discussed the coming judgment of Damascus according to Bible prophecy and how this scenario could possibly unfold in the near future in relation to other Bible prophecies and current geopolitical trends in the Middle East. Given that this prophecy is a significant theme in my forthcoming novel, Damascus Countdown, it is one I have studied carefully.
There are actually two key biblical prophecies that explain that at an unspecified time in the future, the city of Damascus will be completely destroyed—judged by God—and will not be inhabited again.
Isaiah 17:1-3: “The oracle concerning Damascus. ‘Behold, Damascus is about to be removed from being a city and will become a fallen ruin. The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they will be for flocks to lie down in, and there will be no one to frighten them. The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, and sovereignty from Damascus.’”
Jeremiah 49:23-27: “Concerning Damascus. ‘Hamath and Arpad are put to shame, for they have heard bad news; they are disheartened. There is anxiety by the sea, it cannot be calmed. Damascus has become helpless; she has turned away to flee, and panic has gripped her; distress and pangs have taken hold of her like a woman in childbirth. How the city of praise has not been deserted, the town of My joy! Therefore, her young men will fall in her streets, and all the men of war will be silenced in that day,’ declares the LORD of hosts. ‘I will set fire to the wall of Damascus, and it will devour the fortified towers of Ben-hadad.’”
These prophecies have not yet been fulfilled. Damascus is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on earth. It has been attacked, besieged, and conquered. But Damascus has never been completely destroyed and left uninhabited. Yet that is exactly what the Bible says will happen.
How exactly will Damascus be destroyed? When will it happen? What will that look like, and what will be the implications for the rest of Syria, for Israel, and for the region? The honest answer is that the Bible does not say. In Damascus Countdown, I consider one possible scenario of how these prophecies could come to pass in the context of an Israeli first strike against Iran and a massive retaliation by Iran, Syria, and their allies. In the meantime, I am tracking events in Damascus and Syria very closely. I am also praying much for the Lord Jesus Christ to have mercy on the people of that great city.
How Should Christians Respond?
When I look at the prospect of traumatic events coming to pass, I feel compelled as a follower of Jesus Christ not simply to write about such things but to take practical action to care for those in need and to mobilize others to do the same.
The Joshua Fund is the nonprofit Christian aid organization that I started with my wife, Lynn, in 2006. Our mission is “to mobilize Christians to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus, according to Genesis 12:1-3.” These are the famous verses in which God said he would bless those who bless Israel and c
urse those who curse Israel. We take that passage very seriously. But we also know that Jesus commanded his followers to “love your neighbor” and to “love your enemies.” Thus, while we feel a special calling to bless Israel, we also are honored to find ways to bless the Palestinians and others in the region, as God directs us.
In the current geopolitical environment, our operating principle is very simple: Pray for peace but prepare for war.
In Psalm 122:6, God tells us to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” Like millions of other Christians around the world, I’m praying for the peace of Jerusalem. I know that we serve a prayer-hearing and prayer-answering God, a wonder-working God. I believe that God has heard our prayers in recent years, and I’m grateful that an Israeli-Iranian war that has seemed in the past few years like it might break out at any moment has been forestalled time and time again.
That said, the Bible is clear that sometimes God allows wars to happen. In Matthew 24 and Luke 21, Christ taught that in the last days, we will see a rise of wars, rumors of wars, revolutions, violence, and lawlessness. I don’t want Iran to get the Bomb, but I don’t want war either. I am asking the Lord to neutralize the Iran threat, remove the evil regime in Iran (and Syria and Egypt and Lebanon and elsewhere), and liberate the people currently trapped by such wicked leaders—and to do so without making war necessary. I believe this is the right way to pray. We are, after all, commanded in Scripture to pray for peace, and Jesus himself said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). Still, sometimes God says no to our prayers. Sometimes he allows war. We don’t always know why. We can’t always see what he sees. His ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. We simply need to trust that he is sovereign and that he will accomplish his perfect plans. What man plans for evil, God can turn for good.