Will They or Won't They?
As I’m sure you’re aware, the fighting in the Middle East between Israel and Iranian terrorist proxies Hamas and Hezbollah continues to mount and intensify, and the nations of the world are looking on with increasingly bated breath as the situation continues to spiral toward frightening new levels—levels that were all but unthinkable until recently and that are evoking images and warnings concerning the potential congealing of a World War III scenario.
As I wrote in a recent Commentary entry some pundits are opining that there
seems to be no end in sight, and that this conflict between Israel and her
enemies is shaping up to be a “forever war.” As I pointed out in
those same remarks, however, as prophetically aware believers, we know this is
not the case. We know this is not a “forever war,” and indeed have a
pretty good idea where all this is heading based on a knowledge of God’s
prophetic Word.
Many of those who study end-time
prophecy are convinced this escalating conflict is heading toward the
fulfillment of Ezekiel 38–39, in which a coalition of nations including Russia,
Iran, Turkey, and several Northern African countries gather to descend upon
Israel to wipe the Jewish nation off the map once and for all. But before they
can lay a finger on Israel, they are decimated by the mighty hand of a God who
fights for His people and who is about to turn His face back to them.
Well, yeah, but what
about... If you happen to be a sharp student of Scripture who is
thinking along the lines of “Wait a second, I thought according to Ezekiel
38:11–14 that Israel had to be in a state of rest or at peace when Gog-Magog
went down...and it sure doesn’t look like they’re at rest or at peace,”
see this for a little something
that may not have occurred to you. And although I presented the idea I describe
in that article as a possibility, it’s beginning to look more and more like the
real deal.
Now, there are some outstanding Bible
teachers (the venerable Mark Hitchcock for one) who see the Gog-Magog scenario
working out a bit differently, and believe the attack Ezekiel describes comes after
the launching of the Tribulation (primarily for the reason I refer to in the
preceding paragraph). But as I have discussed in the past, I am reasonably well
convinced Gog-Magog must occur before the launching of the Tribulation
because I believe that it sets the stage for the scenario that will lead to the
treaty of Daniel 9:27 that gets the Tribulation underway in the first place.
And the view of
Gog-Magog as setting the stage for the Tribulation provides the backdrop for
the ideas I want to discuss in this article.
Following Israel’s recent devastating
blows to Iran’s terrorist proxy Hezbollah, there has been increased buzz about
the possibility of Israel taking it to the limit, so to speak, and carrying out
strategic strikes directly against certain elements of Iran’s nuclear weapons
program. Iran is either a matter of weeks (according to some) or a matter of
months (according to others) away from being the proud owners of a nuclear
weapon, and Israel has publicly stated in no uncertain terms that they are
fully committed to doing whatever is necessary to prevent that from ever
happening.
A look at a variety of news sources
reveals that the buzz over Israel’s potential strike against Iran’s nuclear
facilities ranges from...
“Oh no, they’ll never
do that...it’s way too dangerous and it’ll never work! Besides, it could
drag the U.S. into World War III, and Prezident Harris wouldn’t like that one
little bit, no sirree!”
all the way to...
“All systems
go...next stop, Natanz! VA-ROOOM!!”
Discussions run the gamut from how
politically disastrous the whole idea is and how it could drag the world
kicking and screaming into a World War III scenario, to how logistically
feasible it is and how it’s Israel’s only sensible option. In other words, it’s
anything from one extreme to the other:
“Don’t you dare!” or “Just do it!”
Many have forgotten that Israel has
done it before (Iraq, 1981), and many believe they will have to do it again. So
that’s the $64,000 question:
Q. Will Israel actually
carry out one or more strikes on any of Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities in
the near future?
Also, note that such a strike may not
necessarily be the next move on Israel’s military agenda. It could come at some
point after other forms of retaliation, at a time when it is a bit less
expected. Just saying.
Reasons why I think
they will
In the above question, I added the
words “in the near future” because if they do, it is a
virtual certainty that it will be relatively soon. As I said, experts place
Iran within a matter of weeks or perhaps several months of being in possession
of a nuclear weapon—so any way you slice it, Israel knows full well Iran is
getting very close to their nuclear finish line.
But again: Will they or won’t they?
That’s the burning question before us. Obviously, I don’t know—but I will go
ahead and admit to you straight up that I am inclined to think Israel will
carry out such an attack at some point. What I want to do is go over a few
reasons why I believe this will be the case, and those reasons generally tie in
logically with what we can garner from Scripture about the attack of Gog-Magog.
Carved in stone: The prophecies given in
God’s Word will be fulfilled to the letter no matter what Israel does or
doesn’t do—no matter what any nation on earth does or doesn’t do. Ezekiel 38–39
will be precisely fulfilled whether Israel ever launches an attack on Iran’s
nuclear weapons facilities or not. That’s carved in stone, and not even up for
discussion.
Now, if it turns out that Israel doesn’t
attack any of Iran’s nuclear facilities, all it means is that my opinion is
simply wrong—as it has been known to be from time to time, just like
everyone else’s. Get over it? I already am.
But what’s infinitely more important
is this:
All that means is that
God’s inerrant Word will be fulfilled just as precisely in some different
manner that we (I) might not be anticipating.
Until it happens, that is.
1. Follow the leader.
If you have been following events in
the Middle East to any degree at all over the last several years, you are fully
aware of two fundamental facts:
1. Iran is
the country that has been leading the ongoing attacks on Israel, primarily
through their proxies Hamas and Hezbollah. Iran is the country
that has been stomping and shouting and singing and dancing about how they seek
to destroy Israel, the Little Satan. Iran is the country that has
been at the forefront of the maniacal drive to destroy the Jewish nation.
Iran...not Russia.
And Iran
is the country that has all but openly advertised the fact that they are racing
toward a nuclear weapon that will enable them to do just that.
2. Russia has pretty much
kept their nose out of Iran’s drive to destroy Israel, presumably because they
are preoccupied with their ongoing war with Ukraine. In other words, you might
say Russia has better things to do right now.
In a sense, these two facts succinctly sum up the
current situation.
Now, consider: If Iran actually does
successfully reach the nuclear finish line in the next couple of months, as
many are convinced they are on track to do, then what exactly do we make of the
following passage of Scripture?
1And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2Son
of man, set your face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech
and Tubal, and prophesy against him [a careful study of this verse points straight
to the region of modern-day Russia (not Iran)], 3And
say, Thus said the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the chief prince
of Meshech and Tubal: 4And I will turn you back, and put
hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you forth, and all your army, horses and
horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armor, even a great company
with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: 5Persia
[OK, there’s Iran, following the leader], Ethiopia [BTW,
not the same as modern Ethiopia, according to some commentators], and Libya with them;
all of them with shield and helmet: 6Gomer, and all his
bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many
people with you.
(Ezekiel
38:1–6 AKJV / emphasis & [comments] added)
In other words, God’s Word makes it
completely clear that Russia is the leader of this group of
nations that attack Israel, a group that includes Iran (aka Persia) as a
member.
Yeah, yeah...you already knew that,
OK. But I said all that in order to get you to stop and consider one
fundamental question that doesn’t really have an easy or obvious answer if Iran
does in fact succeed in reaching their goal of possessing one or more nuclear
weapons:
If Iran goes on to complete a nuclear weapon
as planned, why do we
see them merely tagging
along with a group of
nations led by Russia?
I mean, help me out here. Whatever
happened to Iran’s Big Plan, i.e. their plan to annihilate the nation of Israel
with their shiny new nuclear weapons? Why do we see them in Ezekiel’s prophecy
taking a back seat and following the leader of the pack in the form of Russia
in the big drive to wipe Israel out of existence? In other words...
What happened to Iran’s
big nuclear weapons program that was going to enable them to destroy Israel all
by themselves??
(Uhm...maybe we should ask
the IDF, ya think?) Of
course, if Israel does strike Iran’s nuclear weapons program and
does at least enough damage to set it back a year or two (and leave Iran with
little reason to believe Israel couldn’t or wouldn’t do it again in the
future), suddenly the fact that Iran is not the nation leading
the way in the attack of Gog-Magog and instead is just one member of a pack of
nations led by Russia and is merely playing a supporting role in that attack
suddenly makes perfect sense.
But if Iran’s got ‘em,
it really doesn’t make sense.
So...that begs the question:
2. Who’s got ‘em?
Some people might argue as follows:
Well, who says Gog-Magog
has to involve nuclear weapons?
In other words, some might
argue that the Gog-Magog coalition could just be a huge group of forces armed
with conventional weapons that’s all set to pounce on Israel. Isn’t that scary
enough? So that’s the question:
Who says the attack of Gog-Magog
has to involve nuclear
weapons?
Would you believe the Author of Scripture?
As I discuss in more
detail here, in Ezekiel 39:9–16 the
prophet describes events that occur in the aftermath of the failed attack of
Gog-Magog, and several verses make it sound for all the world as though there
is a nuclear cleanup being carried out. For example:
12And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them,
that they may cleanse the land. [The Hebrew word translated “cleanse”
here (a form of taher) is often used in a ceremonial sense, but it
can also be used in a more literal sense.] 13Yes, all the people of the land shall bury
them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, said
the Lord GOD. 14And they shall sever out men of continual
employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers [those
passing through; travelers] those that remain on the face of the earth, to cleanse it:
after the end of seven months shall they search. 15And the
passengers that pass through the land, when any sees a man’s bone [or the
remains of a dead body], then shall he set up a sign [a
visible marker of some sort] by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of
Hamongog.
(Ezekiel
39:12–15 AKJV / emphasis & [comments] added)
I mean, if this isn’t
describing a nuclear cleanup, then I have no clue what it’s describing.
Not only that, but after the failed attack, Israel will burn the weapons with
fire for seven years, thus using them as a source of energy:
9And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and
shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the
bows and the arrows, and the hand staves, and the spears, and they shall
burn them with fire seven years:
(Ezekiel
39:9 AKJV / emphasis added)
And please note that it is
an established fact that unused nuclear weapons can
be used as a source of fuel.
And I’m going to assume
the prophet Ezekiel didn’t know that.
So the plain text of
Scripture itself makes it reasonably clear that nuclear weapons do
in fact come into play in the attack of Gog-Magog in some manner, although
precisely how they come into play is open to speculation. A nuclear
boo-boo triggered by the hand of God, perhaps? Who knows. But any way you look
at it, it’s difficult to read the above passage and fail to see that it speaks
to the presence of nuclear weapons.
But the point is that if
Israel effectively eliminates Iran’s nuclear weapons program from the equation,
then whose are they? Who provides those nuclear weapons? Who’s got ‘em?
See no. 1 above:
The leader of the pack,
that’s who.
3. Got a favor to ask...
So, Russia is the leader in the attack
of Gog-Magog—Scripture makes this 100 percent clear. But as I said, Iran has
obviously been the primary driving force in the drive to wipe out Israel, not
Russia, who has been busy with Ukraine. And that begs the question:
What makes Iran let
Russia step up and take the lead in their Big Plan?
My point is that if things were to continue more or less the way they are now and Iran does in fact come into possession of a nuclear weapon, they would have no obvious need or reason to let Russia take the lead in their plan to wipe out Israel. They have made it crystal clear that they are planning to do it themselves with a shiny new nuclear weapon that is nearing completion, and they are perfectly content to use their terrorist proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah to get the IDF stretched out and fully engaged in order to help them get the job done. In other words, this is Iran’s thing...not Russia’s.
So...why would Iran suddenly step down and let Russia lead the charge? Why would Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian give Russian President Vladimir Putin a call one fine morning and say:
“Hey Vlad, got a
favor to ask...”
Why indeed. Well, consider: Most
experts agree that it would be virtually impossible for Israel to completely
destroy Iran’s nuclear weapons program—and based on what I’ve read, I suspect
they’re right. They argue that such a feat would require a full-on invasion,
and most are of the opinion that such an invasion is probably not in the cards
at this point for a variety of reasons.
Not only that, but the important
elements of Iran’s nuclear program are fully backed up, and virtually any
aspect of the program could be quickly restarted.
But what Israel can do
is carry out strategic precision strikes that would set Iran’s progress
back—perhaps a year, maybe two. And in all likelihood they could do it again
in another year, maybe two. In other words, it is not inconceivable that Israel
could repeat such strikes on an as-needed basis in order to keep Iran from ever
reaching that nuclear finish line.
Israel has pledged to do
just that, and personally I have seen nothing that would indicate that they’re
anything less than deadly serious.
Consider: The leaders of Iran may be
demonically oppressed, but they’re not mentally challenged. They know full well
that if Israel were to muster the chutzpah to carry out one or more precision
strikes to damage one or more of their nuclear weapons facilities and as a
result set their progress back a year or two, it is entirely possible that
Iranian leaders would read the proverbial handwriting on the proverbial wall.
In other words:
The Iranians might be
pushed to admit they could use some help.
And that help would only be a phone
call to Moscow away.
In addition, something tells me that
Iran’s demonically fueled desire to see the Jewish nation completely
obliterated and every Jewish person dead would probably outweigh any perceived
need to save face or maintain their image as the Destroyer of the Little Satan.
I believe the prospect
of seeing the Jewish nation wiped off the face of the earth would go a long way
in helping them get over a little loss of face.
Did somebody say
“chutzpah”? I read a news article not long ago that said the Israelis were
brimming with chutzpah these days. Well, after a stunning intelligence coup involving the
simultaneous explosion of 5,000 pagers recently purchased by Hezbollah from an
obscure company that was most likely a front set up by Israeli intelligence
agency Mossad, not to mention the even more stunning elimination of the entire
upper echelon of Hezbollah’s command structure through pinpoint missile
strikes, I think it’s safe to say that article is right: There is no shortage
of chutzpah in Israel right now.
4. Strategic partners.
Over the last several decades, cooperation between Russia and Iran has been growing and expanding, and over just the last two or three years their military cooperation in particular has been growing like gangbusters. For example, just recently Russia promised to provide Iran with advanced S-400 air defense systems (although they have yet to be delivered), and Iran has been sending Russia close-range ballistic missiles (CRBMs).
I might also mention that both Masoud Pezeshkian and Vladimir Putin are planning to sign their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement before the end of October 2024. So it is quite clear that the military cooperation between these two countries is set to continue and to flourish.
My point is simply that
Russia and Iran have become quite the military bedfellows in recent years, and
that relationship appears to be growing and deepening at a rate that is causing
concern not just to Israel, but to major Western powers as well.
One question that occurs
to me, however, is this:
Q. What kind of fruit
would this deepening military cooperation bear if Israel were to carry out a
strike against Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities as we have been discussing?
On one hand, you’ve got
Iran, where the leaders loathe and desire to utterly destroy Israel and the
Jewish people primarily for religious reasons because they suffer from a case
of satanically induced IDS (Israel Derangement Syndrome). On the other hand,
you’ve got Russia, which was a friend of Israel up until the current conflict
in Ukraine.
What’ve you done for me
lately: I’ve touched on this in the past, but before
the current war in Ukraine got started in February 2022, Russia and Israel had
been on comparatively friendly terms since Israel’s re-establishment as a
nation in 1948. But Ukraine changed everything.
As the mainstream media
wasted no time in turning the conflict into an excuse to condemn the big, bad
Russian bullies and support the poor, heroic Ukrainian underdogs, the Israelis
found themselves between a rock and a hard place:
• If they were to openly support Russia,
they would face even more intense international condemnation (which would
certainly lead to the further collapse of much-needed support from America).
• On the other hand, if they were to openly
support Ukraine like everyone else, they risked turning a reliable old friend
into a powerful new enemy. They did their best to straddle the fence, offering
token humanitarian support to Ukraine, but not the weapons Zelenskyy desperately
pleaded for.
But Israel’s reluctance to
openly support Russia wasn’t lost on Vladimir Putin, who, if nothing else, is a
man who puts great stock in loyalty. Putin viewed it as nothing less than a
stab in the back, and as a result the relationship between Russia and Israel
has been in a death spiral for the last two and a half years and is now pretty
much dead and buried.
So under the
circumstances, it is certainly not difficult to envision Russia stepping up to
offer military assistance to Iran to avenge such a dastardly attack being
carried out by Israel—and hey, take a spoil while they’re at it, since their
former friend’s gigantic deposits of natural gas would represent Russia’s
ticket to even greater wealth and regional power.
Although some of the
subtleties and nuances of these complex geopolitical relationships are
admittedly a bit on the stratospheric side for my taste, one thing shines
through to me with blazing clarity:
If Israel were to attack
Iran’s nuclear facilities, it is extremely likely that Russia would be quick to
offer strong military support to their “strategic partner” against
their now former friend.
And those strategic partners would be
ready for a date with Ezekiel 38–39.
Soup’s on
As you can see, the point of this
article is speculative in nature. Although I generally tend to go easy on the
speculative aspect of things, I made an exception in this case because this is
a genuinely pressing issue. I say that because if Israel does in fact launch
some kind of attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities at some point after I post
this article, then at least I can bask in the satisfaction of having called it.
I’m kidding, but just
barely. =;)
Seriously...in reality this topic has
great potential importance for every believer out there, because if Israel does
attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, it could very easily blow the lid off the
boiling pot the Middle East has become in the last few years. It would be far
more than a mere step forward in the sequence of events that lead up to the
fulfillment of Ezekiel 38–39:
It would be a staggering
lunge toward that fulfillment.
And why does that have “great
potential importance for every believer out there”? Here’s why:
I am convinced from Scripture that the
Rapture occurs prior to the climax of Gog-Magog. Although I refrain from
dogmatically ruling out the possibility that it occurs very shortly after that
climax, Scripture seems to point to it being prior to it. This is due to the
fact that the prophet Ezekiel makes it clear that God uses His miraculous
intervention to thwart this existential attack on His people to turn His face
back to them, and begin the process of pouring His Spirit out on them and
drawing them back into a relationship with Him, and ultimately with His Son,
the promised Messiah Israel rejected and crucified two thousand years ago. As
God states in the final verse of Ezekiel 39:
39Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have
poured out my spirit on the house of Israel, said the Lord GOD.
(Ezekiel
39:29 AKJV)
Throughout Scripture, God typically
deals with Israel and the Church separately, as Paul clearly indicates in his
letter to the Romans:
25For I would not, brothers, that you should be ignorant of this
mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in
part is happened to Israel, [this is part and parcel of God hiding His face
from them] until
the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. [That is, until the Church
is removed via the Rapture].
(Romans
11:25 AKJV / emphasis & [comments] added)
In other words, Paul is effectively
telling us point blank that it is the Rapture itself that demarcates God’s
dealings with the Church from the resumption of His dealings with His people
Israel.
And that’s exactly why watching the current
brewing of events in the
Middle East should
have all prophetically
aware believers on the
edge of their spiritual
seats right about now.
Bottom line: Look up!
One result of this is that now, in the
closing days of the Church Age as the rumblings and grumblings of the
Tribulation are growing louder and we watch the Middle East congeal into the
condition God’s Word says it will be in during the run-up to the Tribulation,
it effectively gives us a barometer to help us judge the potential nearness of
the Rapture. Certainly not its precise timing, of course, but at least a rough
sense of how little time we may have left before that great and glorious day
dawns bright and eternal.
So the point is that as we see the
ingredients of one of God’s house specialties known as Stew à la Gog-Magog
stirring in the pot and beginning to simmer, we can contemplate the question of
“Will they or won’t they?” and know for certain that before that pot
has a chance to boil over, we’re going to hear the Master Chef shout out those
words we are so hungrily waiting to hear:
Soup’s on!
And there is certainly no
need to ask “Will He or won’t He?” for this one, because His Word
shouts it out with thundering clarity:
HE WILL!
From Greg Lauer @ A Little Strength—OCT '24
Great analysis Greg!
ReplyDeleteI certainly believe that current events point in the direction that you've penned.
Thanks you for the encouragement. We could see any day (maybe today) what Israel has planned for Iran. I know that God is with Israel and I pray that many people in Iran and throughout the world will see God's hand in protecting Israel and that He wants the world to believe in His Son before it is too late. The clock is certainly ticking...