What Does the Bible Say about War in the Last Days?
You know we are living in prophetic times when Breaking News is catching up with ancient Scriptures.
Israel is God’s epicenter for the last days events. With the eruptions of war with Hamas and Iran, many people question if and how these hostilities factor into Bible prophecy.
Isaiah 46:9-10
For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying “My purpose will be established.”
God is sovereign over all, and He is moving nations, leaders, and events according to His good purposes. Every detail and insight He determined essential for us to know, He provided through the prophets. These insights become signposts, indicators, of where we are on the road to the Lord’s return.
Let’s explore God’s prophetic calendar.
Israel in End Time Prophecy
The rebirth of Israel in 1948 and Jerusalem’s return to Jewish sovereignty in 1967 were signposts the size of advertising blimps! Both events were prophesied, both came about miraculously, and both needed to happen prior to Jesus’s return. Prophecy students went on high alert, scooched to the edge of their seats, and scanned east then west for more signposts.
Every war Israel engages in captures the attention of Bible students, and for good reason.
We’re familiar with the prophecies of wars. But Ezekiel briefly described a time of peace for Israel prior to Jesus’s return—a notable peace—that will precede an end time war.
It’s too soon to tell the broad effects of the 12-day Israel-Iran war. Will the ceasefire hold? Will there be a leadership change within Iran that could result in an ideological shift toward peace with Israel, the US, and the West? And will Hamas in Gaza and other Iranian militant proxies have their supply chains cut and lose their ability to terrorize Israel? Let’s pray so!
Could we be entering Ezekiel’s prophesied season of peace for Israel? What does the Bible say about Iran and Gaza and their connections to Israel in the last days?
IRAN, HISTORICALLY
Let’s look back before we look forward. When we read about Elam and Persia in the Old Testament it’s referring to the general region that is today Iran.
In the 8th century BCE, Elam was feared in battle because of their exceptional archers. Isaiah recorded that Elam joined Assyria’s unsuccessful attempt to conquer Jerusalem (Is. 22:6). The next time we hear of Elam, God pronounced a judgment upon them. Could it be for their attempt to annihilate Jerusalem?
The word of the Lord to Jeremiah concerning Elam: “I will break the bow of Elam, the finest of their might.” (Jer. 49:35-39)
The prophecy describes a severe punishment but one that ends with hope. In verses 38–39, the Lord declared that God will set up His throne (authority) in Elam and in the last days their fortunes will be restored. Elam’s destruction came in the 7th century BCE, but a restoration in the last days appears to remain. Interesting!
The Persian Kings in the Bible
Later, Persian King Cyrus conquered Babylon (539 BCE) where the Jewish people had lived in exile for seventy years. One of his first acts was to decree the release of all the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city and the temple of God. Cyrus secured their freedom, paid for their travel, and supplied them with materials for the rebuilding.
In the days of Queen Esther (473 BCE), Persia’s King Ahasuerus wrote two decrees regarding the Jewish people. The first, spurred by Haman’s wicked jealousy, legalized the annihilation of all the Jews throughout the entire Persian kingdom to be enacted on a specific day (Esther 3:12–15). The king’s second decree came by the provision of God and Esther’s course-altering courage. It authorized the Jewish people to defend themselves on the day of their planned annihilation (Esther 8:9). The Jewish people were saved and flourished.
Interestingly, King Ahasuerus’s second decree permitting the Jewish people to defend their lives was written on 23 Sivan, on the Hebrew calendar. This year, 23 Sivan corresponded with June 19—the exact time of Israel’s 12-day war against Iran’s Islamic regime and their bold, repeated promise to annihilate Israel. Surely, there was no coincidence.
Finally,in 445 BCE, King Artaxerxes of Persia granted his Jewish cupbearer, Nehemiah, permission and decreed a full provision to go and complete the work, started ninety years before, of rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls and restoring the gates.
God moved these godless Persian kings to decree His purposes for the Jewish people: release from exile, safe return to their homeland, to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem and restore and secure the city.
Iran in the Modern Age
For centuries, the Persian and Jewish people enjoyed peaceful relations and cultural respect, until the Islamic Revolution overthrew Iran’s monarchy in 1979. Iran became the world’s leading sponsor of terror, directed first at Israel. Shouts of “Death to Israel!” and “Death to America!” have reverberated from the mosques for forty-six years.
The Lord instructed the prophet Ezekiel to wail for Elam “who instilled their terror in the land of the living” and were then confined in the nether world, the pit, or Sheol, and who bore their disgrace. In this passage, the Lord calls out Elam’s terror activity and their disgrace twice. He wants it noted. Terrorism has marked Elam. (Ezek. 32:24-25)
Yet, Jeremiah prophesied God’s authority and restoration for Elam in the last days, as we saw above. With ancient Elam confined to the pit, Jeremiah’s prophecy must ultimately point to Iran. Could Jeremiah’s prophecy be speaking of a revival and spiritual awakening in Iran?
Could that revival be happening right now?
Did you know that over the past twenty years the fastest growing church in the world has been the underground church in Iran? Multiple millions have given their lives to Jesus! Persecution under Islam’s harsh rule has propelled the gospel. Imagine if the Islamic oppressors fall and religious freedom is granted. Many Jewish and gentile believers are eager to carry the gospel to the Iranians and ignite a Gospel Revolution in Iran!
The Iranian people are precious in God’s eyes and their restoration in the last days is a prophetic certainty spoken by the mouth of the Lord! It will happen—it may very well be happening today.
Beloved Iranian believers, we pray for you and long to hear your voices! Arise into freedom and in the power of the Messiah!
IRAN, PROPHETICALLY
We find Persia mentioned again in Ezekiel 38 where they are included in a coalition of nations who will come against Israel—in the last days.
According to the prophecy, at the time of the invasion the Jewish people will have been regathered from their worldwide dispersion and live securely, enjoying unwalled cities, and resting on their restored land. (Ezekiel 38:11)
The Jewish people have returned, and the land of Israel is flourishing, but has there been this level of security?
Prior to the October 7 Hamas terror invasion, Israel may have described their level of security in this way, but the devastation of that day reminds us of Israel’s vulnerability despite their strength. It turns out, Israel was not dwelling “securely, all of them, without walls.”
Peace for Israel and Iran?
Iran is known as the head of the terror octopus with its militant proxies (Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, et al) acting as its arms. Could it be, if it has its radical Islamist head removed, that their proxies will lose their ability to inflict terror as they have over the past several decades?
If that happens, it’s very possible Israel could enter a season of unprecedented peace with an expansion of Middle East peace and trade agreements. One way or another, though, Israel’s season of peace will come—it must, for the Lord has spoken it. So, whether or not war with Iran is part of Bible prophecy, the peaceful aftermath certainly is.
At that time of peace, in the last days (Ezek 38:16), a confederation of nations, including Iran, will be summoned by God to invade Israel. They’ll envision a great plunder in carrying off Israel’s riches, but there, on the mountains of Israel, the Lord will instead judge the nations (Ezek. 38:19-23).
He will set His glory among the nations and the whole world will see His hand—and the house of Israel will know that He is the Lord their God from that day onward (Ezek. 39:21-22).
There will be a notable peace, a coalition of nations coming for war, and a revelation of God’s hand of protection and judgment. Could we be on the cusp of peace? Time will tell.
GAZA, HISTORICALLY AND PROPHETICALLY
Gaza, one of the five Philistine coastal cities, has mostly been a launchpad for violence against God’s people. It was true in Joshua’s day, Samson’s, David’s, King Hezekiah’s . . . even into the modern era, including today with Hamas.
It is land promised to Abraham and his descendants; Gaza was part of King Solomon’s dominion; but the land has been soaked in blood and wickedness and the Lord pronounced judgment over Gaza.
Israel, Gaza, and the Nations
In 605 BCE, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah and God instructed the prophet to take the cup of the wine of wrath from His hand and cause all the nations to whom He would send him to drink. (Jer. 25:15-16)
The list of nations marked for God’s wrath was long, and topping it was Jerusalem because she too had wickedness bound up within her at that time. Many nations were named, including Gaza and Elam. The prophetic message expanded to include all the kingdoms of the earth (Jer. 25:26).
We understand that Jeremiah was given a word that stretched prophetically to the last days when Jesus will return, gather His family of faith unto Himself, and judge the world for their sin.
Jer. 25:30-31, 38
The Lord will roar from on high . . . He will shout like those who tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. . . . Because the Lord has a controversy with the nations. . . . He has left His hiding place like a lion.
The prophet Zephaniah received similar words concerning the day of the Lord, a day of the Lord’s wrath upon the earth, in the last days.
Zeph. 2:4, 5, 7
For Gaza will be abandoned . . . woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast . . . and the coast will be for the remnant of the house of Judah, they will pasture on it . . . For the Lord their God will care for them and restore their fortune.
Could we be seeing the earliest signs of Gaza’s abandonment? Time will tell. According to this word, Gaza will be returned to the Jewish people.
Israel Wars are Setting the Stage
Amid the pronouncement of judgment, Zephaniah also received this invitation of grace for all people:
Zeph. 2:2-3
Before the burning anger of the Lord comes upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you. Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth who have carried out His ordinances; seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger.
The Lord’s mercy triumphs over judgment and He is so good to make a way for all to come to repentance and salvation. It’s His will that none would perish in judgment. It’s true for Gaza; it’s true for Iran; it’s true for Israel, and for every nation and people.
These are significant days, and you were born for such a time as this. The Lord invites each of us to pray for the nations, to ask Him about the things to come concerning His sons and daughters (Is. 45:11), and to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Is. 62; Ps. 122:6).
As the world’s anti-God voices spin the news and twist the truth, let’s be people of the Word who will speak up and stand for righteousness and truth no matter the cost.
Keep your eye on the Middle East. The current conflicts and shifts are necessary in setting the stage for the Lord’s return—when the kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Messiah; and He will reign forever and ever. (Rev. 11:15)
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