A question arising after Israel’s devastating attack Friday against Iran’s nuclear sites and its Revolutionary Guard’s leadership is how it might relate to end times Bible prophecy.
It may be that it will buy the Jewish State, and perhaps the Middle East more broadly, a season of peace, which would comport with the conditions described before the outbreak of the end times Battle of Gog and Magog recorded in the book of Ezekiel.
Since Israel traded military blows with Iran last year, there has been a lot of focus on the prophecy found in Ezekiel, chapters 38 and 39.
Writing over 2,500 years ago, the prophet foresaw — under divine inspiration, he said — that a coalition of nations would descend upon Israel in the “last days” to wipe it out. Persia (modern-day Iran) is listed by name among them, along with other territories and peoples believed by Bible scholars to include modern-day Russia and Turkey.
“They’re all present and accounted for, and Gog and Magog is unfolding right before our very eyes,” Jimmy Evans, author of several books about Bible prophecy and founder of EndTimes.com, told CBN last year.
In other words, the nations listed are aligning with each other against Israel.
In a video posted Friday, Evans characterized Israel’s strike against Iran as a “massive event.”
“It will throw prophetic pieces into place. We just have to see exactly when and where,” he asserted. Evans also said he believes it could mark another step toward the Gog and Magog battle.
“God says in Ezekiel 38 to those nations, ‘I’m going to put hooks in your jaws. I’m going to drag you down. I’m going to provoke you.’ Well, this could be a part of the provocation, or at least the beginning of that provocation. And so, in the weeks to come, we’ll see,” Evans said.
Last October, Dallas Theological Seminary professor and end times expert Mark Hitchcock saw the outbreak of a shooting war between Israel and Iran as confirming that the Gog and Magog battle is shaping up.
He noted on his weekly podcast, “Marking the End Times,” that Iran’s two direct attacks on Israel, first in April and October of 2024, were unprecedented. The Islamic nation had never directly attacked Israel in modern times.
“Israel’s response will be significant,” Hitchcock predicted. “Israel has momentum right now. I think they feel that. I think they feel the wind at their backs. And I think they are going to seize this opportunity to go on the offensive to try and once and for all get rid of Hamas, as they’ve already neutralized, Hezbollah, Iran, … [and] the Houthis down in Yemen.”
The Bible professor emphasized, “Ezekiel 38 says that when Russia, Iran, Turkey, [and] their allies come into Israel in the end times, that Israel’s going to be at rest and living securely,” which certainly is not the case right now.
He explained that he used to believe that the rest period would happen when the Antichrist makes a seven-year peace treaty with Israel that he breaks halfway through that time period, as described in the Bible’s Daniel 9.
But in light of recent events, he sees another scenario is possible, if Israel neutralizes all its surrounding enemies — Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis — and delivers such a punishing blow to Iran that it puts the country back on its heels for a season.
“It could be that there is a peace in Israel. They’re at rest and living securely before the Antichrist even comes along to maybe confirm the peace that already exists. So it’s an interesting development,” Hitchcock said.
This would also comport with end times expert Bill Salus’ view. The author of “The Future War Prophecies” told Evans on his “Tipping Point” podcast last year that he believes the current war Israel is fighting with Hamas and Hezbollah is the one described in Psalm 83, which comes before the Magog battle.
The Psalm 83 war involves Israel’s surrounding neighbors — which has certainly been the case with Hamas in Gaza to the south, and Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria to the north. Iran and the Houthi rebels in Yemen have offered support from a distance.
Israel wins the Psalm 83 war, according to the Bible, and will then dwell securely in its land, as Ezekiel describes. But the Gog and Magog battle will follow sometime thereafter, Salus said.
So the significance of Israel’s current operation against Iran could be that it ultimately creates peace for a season, when Israel is dwelling securely in its land, which is a precursor to the Magog battle.
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