By Greg Laurie

I woke up Saturday morning, and I was shocked to read the headline: “Israel Is at War.”

It is almost 50 years to the day the last time Israel was officially at war in what is known as the Yom Kippur War back in 1973 when she was attacked by Egypt, Syria, and others. But this is a different kind of war.

Thousands of rockets rained on Israel from multiple directions, and Hamas gunmen invaded by land, sea and sky. Now, hundreds of people have been murdered and kidnapped, and they were using what we might describe as Isis-like methods: targeting young women and young children, launching massive indiscriminate rocket fire towards civilian population centers, as well as terrorist infiltration of cities and settlements close to the Gaza border.

They went literally home to home, door to door, looking for the young and for the elderly. They’ve taken hostages. Old women, little children, young women—they specifically targeted civilians in this attack. Some of the women they took as hostages were survivors of the Holocaust. To date, and this number tragically will only get larger, there are 1,300 dead and 2,000 wounded. This attack is simply without precedent, causing Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, to say, “We are at war.”

Israel’s Enemies

Who is Hamas? They’re a terrorist organization funded by Iran. That’s not a secret.

A spokesman for Iran, Gahzi Hamad, told the BBC that terrorist group had received funding for the attack, according to the Wall Street Journal.

And Iran has for a long time stated that their objective is to destroy Israel. They have also signaled that they are developing a nuclear weapon. In the past they have threatened to, in their own words, wipe Israel off the face of the Earth.

One leader of Iran said, “They ask, ‘Is it possible for us to witness a world without America and Zionism?’ But you had best know that this slogan and this goal are altogether attainable, and surely can be achieved. The regime that is occupying Jerusalem must be wiped off the map.” (1)

Interesting how it always comes back to Jerusalem. The Bible predicted, thousands of years ago, that the end time events would revolve around Jerusalem. Not San Francisco. Not Los Angeles. Not Moscow. Not Paris.

But Jerusalem, this tiny little city, in this tiny sliver of land, will play a key role in the events of the last days. It’s the focal point of end times events. It’s amazing when you think about it, because in Zechariah 12:3–4 God says, “I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah. On that day I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves” (NLT).

Pay Careful Attention

Now, the irony of all this is that the United States of America through the Biden administration just gave six billion dollars to Iran. What a bad move it is to give any money to a nation that sponsors terrorism around the world.

But here’s where students of Bible prophecy should pay attention. The Bible tells us in the end times that Israel would be scattered and regathered. This has happened, and this really was the sign that set the prophetic clock ticking.

On the heels of the Holocaust, who would have ever thought that these Jewish people who lost six million lives to the Nazis would somehow regather in their homeland, but it happened, against all odds. And on May 14, 1948, Israel became a nation. I’m proud to say the United States was the first nation to acknowledge that.

But after Israel was regathered, the Lord said she would come under attack. Specifically in Ezekiel 37 and 38, the Bible speaks of the regathering of Israel, and then it speaks of a large force from her north attacking her. That force is identified as Magog. Who is Magog? Listen, no one can say with absolute certainty.

But many Bible students and prophecy teachers believe it’s modern-day Russia. I think you can make a very good case for that. If you get out a map of the Middle East and look to the north of Israel, you will find Russia. Why would Russia ever want to invade Israel? Well, there’s another thing the Bible says about Magog, if she is indeed Russia, and that one of her allies that will march with her is Persia.

Persia is the ancient name for modern Iran. So the Bible predicted hundreds of years ago that this large force from the north of Israel would attack her after she was regathered, and one of the allies that would attack Israel with Russia or Magog, whoever it is, would be Iran or Persia.

Not once in the past 2,500 years has Russia formed a military alliance with Persia, Iran, but they have recently developed a special connection. Russia has signed billion dollar deals to sell missiles to Iran, and the Iranians have helped the Russians, providing them with drones, weaponized drones to use in the Ukraine war.

Bible Prophecy Before Our Very Eyes

How do you even stop something like this? Let’s just say, for the sake of a point, that Israel decided to strike out at Iran, specifically, because they’re funding all of this.

What would that produce? Well, it could produce a conflict we read about in Ezekiel 38. The Bible says that Magog will come against her will; the Bible describes hooks in her jaws, pulling her forward almost as though Magog is coming in reluctantly along with her ally, Persia (or Iran).

Am I saying with absolutely certainty this is the scenario that will play out? No. But if you get up in the morning and read this headline, “Russia Attacks Israel,” fasten your seatbelt because you’re seeing Bible prophecy fulfilled in your lifetime before your very eyes.

What should Christians be doing in the light of all this? Two things.

Jesus said, “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:28 NKJV). That’s what we need to be doing, looking for the soon return of Jesus Christ.  

But we also need to pray. The Bible tells us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6). We want to pray that they arrive at some kind of peace. We want to pray that this horrific terrorism stops, and that they’re able to get their hostages back. And we want to pray that God places His hand of protection on the nation of Israel during this unprecedented war.

(1) Quoted in Iran: The Coming Crisis by Mark Hitchcock (Multnomah, 2010). 

The above article was originally published at Greg’s Blog and published with permission at Think Eternity.

Greg Laurie is the senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship with campuses in California and Hawaii. He began his pastoral ministry at the age of 19 by leading a Bible study of 30 people…

…In 2020 and in partnership with Kingdom Story Company, Laurie premiered his first-ever cinematic crusade, A Rush of Hope, viewed by over 2 million people in its opening weekend…

…In February 2023, Kingdom Story Company and Lionsgate released Jesus Revolution, which is the story of Greg and Cathe’s life and the Jesus Movement of the 1960s and ’70s. It stars Kelsey Grammer and Jonathan Roumie and is based on Greg’s book of the same title…

Read Laurie’s complete bio on the Harvest website here: About Greg Laurie (harvest.org)