[Applause] to thy 600 years ago ezekiel prophesied "Gog of the land of Magog Persia Kush and Put will be with them." Ezekiel 38-25 persia is modern-day Iran the prophet foresaw this exact war now erupting in the Middle East at this very moment missiles are streaking across the skies israel and Iran have been in direct conflict for 5 days over 224 dead nuclear facilities bombed and 600 foreign nationals fleeing in panic daniel warned about the time of the end when there will be a time of distress such as has never occurred daniel 12:1 and Jesus said "When you hear of wars do not be alarmed such things must happen." Mark 13:7 prophecies are being fulfilled before our very eyes iran is just weeks away from nuclear weapons oil prices are surging and nations are aligning exactly as Ezekiel foretold this isn't just another conflict it's the beginning of the final prophetic events before we can understand the current war between Iran and Israel we need to go back to the very beginning the Bible tells us exactly how this ancient hatred started and it all begins with a single family after a great flood that changed everything when Noah stepped off the ark with his three sons he had no idea that his blessing and curse would shape world history forever as Genesis chapter 9 tells us Noah blessed his sons Shem and Japheth but cursed Canaan the son of Ham blessed be the Lord the God of Shem may Canaan be the slave of Shem may God extend Japheth's territory may Japheth live in the tents of Shem and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth these words would echo through thousands of years of conflict the Bible gives us a detailed picture of how the nations spread across the earth genesis 10 shows us that from Shem came the Semitic peoples the genealogy is clear shem was the father of all the sons of Ebber the sons of Shem Elilam Asher Arfaxad Lud and Aram from this line would come Abraham Isaac Jacob and eventually the entire Jewish nation but notice something important elilum is listed as one of Shem's sons this region would later become part of the Persian Empire in what is now Iran from Shem's son Afacad came a long line of descendants genesis 11 traces this carefully when Afacad had lived 35 years he became the father of Shayla and after he became the father of Shayla Afacad lived 43 years and had other sons and daughters this line continues through Shayla Eber Pelleg Ru Sug Nahor and finally to Terara who became the father of Abraham but Japheth's descendants took a different path entirely genesis chapter 10 tells us about Japheth's sons the sons of Japheth GMA Magog Madai Javan Tubal Meshek and Tas these names would become important later in prophecy madai became the Mes who joined with the Persians to form the great Maido Persian Empire mog would appear again in Ezekiel's prophecies about the end times these peoples spread north and west becoming what historians call the Indo-Uropean peoples including the ancestors of modern Iran the real tension begins when God calls Abraham he was living in Er of the Calaldanss a great city in ancient Mesopotamia very close to what is now Iran genesis 12 records one of the most important moments in human history the Lord had said to Abram "Go from your country your people and your father's household to the land I will show you i will make you into a great nation and I will bless you i will make your name great and you will be a blessing i will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." Abraham obeyed and traveled to Canaan but he didn't stay there famine forced him to go to Egypt where he made a mistake that would have consequences for thousands of years genesis 16 tells us the story now Sarai Abrams wife had borne him no children but she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar so she said to Abram "The Lord has kept me from having children go sleep with my slave perhaps I can build a family through her." Abram agreed to what Sarai said when Hagar became pregnant tension filled Abraham's household sarah became jealous and Hagar ran away into the desert but God had a plan for this child too in Genesis 16 an angel found Hagar by a spring and told her "You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son you shall name him Ishmael for the Lord has heard of your misery he will be a wild donkey of a man his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers." Years later when Abraham was 100 years old Sarah finally had the son God had promised genesis 21 records Isaac's birth now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age at the very time God had promised him but the presence of both boys in the same household created problems at Isaac's weaning celebration Sarah saw Ishmael mocking Isaac she demanded that Abraham send Hagar and Ishmael away abraham was troubled but God told him in Genesis 21 "Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman listen to whatever Sarah tells you because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned i will make the son of the slave into a nation also because he is your offspring god made specific promises to both sons to Isaac came the covenant promises the land of Canaan the blessing of being father to the chosen people and the promise that through his descendants all nations would be blessed but God also blessed Ishmael genesis chapter 17 records God's promise and as for Ishmael I have heard you i will surely bless him i will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers he will be the father of 12 rulers and I will make him into a great nation two sons two promises two peoples who would struggle for thousands of years this division would play out again and again throughout history including in the conflict we see today between Israel and the nations around them the Persian Empire enters our story much later but when it does it changes everything for the Jewish people after years of rebellion against God the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and took the Jews away as prisoners it looked like God's promises had completely failed the temple was rubble the city was empty and God's people were slaves in a foreign land but then something amazing happened cyrus the great of Persia conquered Babylon and instead of keeping the Jews as prisoners he sent them home this wasn't just a political decision it was God moving in history in 2 Chronicles 36 we read these incredible words in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing this is what Cyrus king of Persia says "The Lord the God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord the God of Israel the God who is in Jerusalem and may their God be with them can you imagine a Persian king who worshiped different gods suddenly decides to rebuild the Jewish temple and send God's people home this wasn't Cyrus's idea it was God working through him the prophet Isaiah had actually predicted this would happen and he used an amazing word to describe Cyrus in Isaiah 45 God calls Cyrus his anointed one the same Hebrew word Mashiach that we translate as Messiah isaiah 45 records God's words about Cyrus this is what the Lord says to his anointed to Cyrus whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut i will go before you and will level the mountains i will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron i will give you hidden treasures riches stored in secret places so that you may know that I am the Lord the God of Israel who summons you by name then God says something even more amazing i summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor though you do not acknowledge me i am the Lord and there is no other apart from me there is no God i will strengthen you though you have not acknowledged me so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting people may know there is none besides me god was using a Persian king who didn't even know him to fulfill his promises to Israel this shows us something important about how God works in history he can use anyone even enemies of his people to accomplish his purposes during this Persian period a young Jewish man named Daniel served in the royal court daniel had been taken to Babylon as a teenager when Jerusalem fell and he lived through the rise of the Persian Empire god gave Daniel visions that showed him exactly what would happen to world empires in the future and many of these visions involved Persia directly in Daniel chapter 2 Daniel interpreted King Nebuchadnezzar's dream about a giant statue made of different metals the head was gold representing Babylon but the chest and arms were silver and Daniel explained "After you another kingdom will arise inferior to yours." This was the Meo Persian Empire that would conquer Babylon later in Daniel 8 God gave Daniel an even clearer vision about Persia's future in the third year of King Belshazzar's reign I Daniel had a vision after the one that had already appeared to me in my vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa in the province of Ilam in the vision I was beside the Uli Canal i looked up and there before me was a ram with two horns standing beside the canal the horns were long but one was longer than the other and the longer one came up last i watched the ram as it charged toward the west and the north and the south no animal could stand against it and none could rescue from its power it did what it pleased and became great then Daniel saw something else as I was thinking about this suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between its eyes came from the west crossing the whole earth without touching the ground it came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and charged at it in great rage i saw it attack the ram furiously striking the ram and shattering its two horns the ram was powerless to stand against it the goat knocked it to the ground and trampled on it and none could rescue the ram from its power daniel was confused by this vision but the angel Gabriel explained it to him the two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia the shaggy goat is the king of Greece and the large horn between its eyes is the first king the broken horn and the four horns that replaced it represent four kingdoms that will emerge from his nation but will not have the same power daniel was seeing the future how Alexander the Great would destroy the Persian Empire and how his kingdom would be divided after his death but more importantly he was seeing that Persia would always be part of God's plan even into the end times two most dramatic story of the Persian period involves a young Jewish woman named Esther the Persian king Aasueras was looking for a new queen after banishing Queen Vashi for disobedience esther was chosen but she kept her Jewish identity secret on the advice of her cousin Morai who had raised her meanwhile a man named Hmon had risen to power in the Persian court he hated the Jews especially Mordei who refused to bow down to him hmon decided to destroy not just Mori but every Jew in the entire Persian Empire the book of Esther chapter 3 tells us that Hmon cast lots to choose the day for this genocide in the 12th year of King Xerxes in the first month the month of Nissan the purr that is the lot was cast in the presence of Hmon to select a day and month and the lot fell on the 12th month the month of Adar ammon then went to the king with his plan there is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate their customs are different from those of all other people and they do not obey the king's laws it is not in the king's best interest to tolerate them if it pleases the king let a decree be issued to destroy them and I will give 10,000 talants of silver to the king's administrators for the royal treasury the king agreed and letters were sent throughout the empire ordering the destruction of all Jews on a specific day but God had placed Esther in the palace for exactly this moment when Mori learned of the plot he sent word to Esther challenging her with these famous words from Esther 4 do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape for if you remain silent at this time relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place but you and your father's family will perish and who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this esther risked her life to approach the king without being summoned which could have meant death but God gave her favor and she invited the king and Hmon to a banquet at the second banquet she revealed both her identity and Hmon's plot esther chapter 7 records her words if I have found favor with you your majesty and if it pleases you grant me my life this is my petition and spare my people this is my request for I and my people have been sold to be destroyed killed and annihilated the king was furious when he learned what Hmon had done hmon was executed on the very gallows he had built for Morai but the law calling for the destruction of the Jews couldn't be changed persian law was permanent so the king issued another decree giving the Jews permission to defend themselves esther chapter 9 records what happened on the 13th day of the 12th month the month of Adar the edict commanded by the king was to be carried out on this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them but now the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand over those who hated them the Jews assembled in their cities in all the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those determined to destroy them no one could stand against them because the people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them this wasn't just a historical event it established a pattern that continues today throughout history enemies have tried to completely destroy the Jewish people but God has always intervened to save them the Jews still celebrate this victory every year in a festival called Purim reading the entire book of Esther and remembering how God turned their sorrow into joy but the prophets saw something else coming ezekiel writing during the Babylonian exile had a vision about the very end of time that specifically mentions Persia in Ezekiel 38 God showed him a great war that would happen when Israel was back in their land the word of the Lord came to me son of man set your face against Gog of the land of Magog the chief prince of Meek and Tubal prophesy against him and say "This is what the sovereign Lord says i am against you Gog chief prince of Mess and Tubal i will turn you around put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army your horses your horsemen fully armed and a great horde with large and small shields all of them brandishing their swords then God lists the nations that will join this final attack persia Kush and Put will be with them all with shields and helmets also GMA with all its troops and Beth Toggama from the far north with all its troops the many nations with you notice that word Persia the Hebrew word is paras the exact same word used throughout the Old Testament for the Persian Empire ezekiel was seeing that in the last days the land we now call Iran would be part of a massive coalition trying to destroy Israel this prophecy becomes even more significant when we realize that Ezekiel wrote it while Israel was scattered among the nations with no homeland and no hope of return ezekiel 38 continues "This is what the sovereign Lord says in that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme you will say I will invade a land of unwalled villages i will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people all of them living without walls and without gates and bars i will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations rich in livestock and goods living at the center of the land this describes Israel exactly as it is today a nation that has been reathered from among the nations living in relative peace and prosperity at the center of world attention the prophecy says this attack will come from the far north which from Israel's perspective points directly to Russia and Iran daniel also saw the end times but his visions focused on something else the exact timing of when the Messiah would come and what would happen to Jerusalem in Daniel chapter 9 while Daniel was praying and confessing the sins of his people the angel Gabriel appeared to him with one of the most precise prophecies in the entire Bible gabriel told Daniel "77s are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression to put an end to sin to atone for wickedness to bring in everlasting righteousness to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place." Know and understand this from the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the anointed one the ruler comes there will be seven sevens and 627s it will be rebuilt with streets and a trench but in times of trouble this prophecy was incredibly specific about Jerusalem and its future but then Daniel received a troubling addition after the 627s the anointed one will be put to death and will have nothing the people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary the end will come like a flood war will continue until the end and desolations have been decreed daniel was seeing that Jerusalem would be destroyed again after the Messiah came and that wars would continue until the very end of time the focus of world attention and conflict would always come back to this one city when the Jews finally returned from Persia to rebuild Jerusalem these ancient tensions came alive again nemiah who had served as cupbearer to the Persian king got permission to return and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem but from the moment he arrived he faced opposition from the surrounding peoples nehemiah chapter 2 tells us that when San Balat the Horonite Tobaya the Ammonite and Gisham the Arab heard about Nehemiah's plans they were very much disturbed that someone had come to promote the welfare of the Israelites these weren't just political disputes they were the continuation of ancient hatred against God's people as the work progressed the opposition grew stronger nehemiah 4 records "But when Sunbalat Tobaya the Arabs the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem's walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed they were very angry they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it the same peoples who oppose Israel today were causing problems then but Nemiah didn't give up he organized the workers for both building and defense from that day on half of my men did the work while the other half were equipped with spears shields bows and armor the officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah who were building the wall those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked this picture of Jews building with tools in one hand and weapons in the other could describe Israel today a nation trying to build and develop while constantly defending against enemies who want to destroy them ezra worked alongside Nehemiah to restore not just the physical city but the spiritual life of the people he brought the law of Moses back to the center of Jewish life and worked to purify the people from foreign influences but even this spiritual renewal faced opposition from the surrounding nations who preferred to see Israel weak and scattered finally the prophet Jeremiah spoke directly about the region we now call Iran in Jeremiah chapter 49 he prophesied specifically against Elilum which was in the heart of ancient Persia this is what the Lord Almighty says see I will break the bow of Elim the mainstay of their might i will bring against Elum the four winds from the four quarters of heaven i will scatter them to the four winds and there will not be a nation where Elilum's exiles do not go i will shatter Elam before their foes before those who want to kill them i will bring disaster on them even my fierce anger declares the Lord i will pursue them with the sword until I have made an end of them this was a prophecy of complete judgment against Elilum but then Jeremiah adds something that points to the future yet I will restore the fortunes of Elum in days to come declares the Lord this prophecy has two parts judgment followed by restoration some of this happened in ancient times when various empires conquered Ilam and scattered its people but the phrase days to come or latter days in Hebrew suggests something still future something connected to the end times what makes this prophecy especially interesting is that Elilum was known for its archers the bow of Elam was famous throughout the ancient world today Iran is known for its missiles which are basically modern arrows shot from modern bows could Jeremiah have been seeing Iran's modern military capabilities being broken in the last days everything we see happening between Iran and Israel today has roots that go back thousands of years from the division of Noah's sons after the flood to the promises made to Abraham's children from Daniel's visions in the Persian court to Ezekiel's prophecies about the last days the Bible has been telling us this story all along the ancient hatred between the descendants of Isaac and the Persian peoples isn't just politics or competition for resources it's the continuation of a spiritual battle that started in the very beginning and will only end when God himself intervenes in human history now that we've seen how this conflict began thousands of years ago in the pages of scripture we need to look at what's been happening in recent times the ancient prophecies we just studied didn't stay locked in the past they started coming alive in the modern world in ways that would shock even the prophets who wrote them everything changed on May 14th 1948 after nearly 2,000 years of being scattered across the world the Jewish people did something that seemed impossible they came back to their ancient homeland and declared the rebirth of Israel this wasn't just a political event this was the literal fulfillment of one of the most dramatic prophecies in the entire Bible the prophet Ezekiel had seen this day coming in Ezekiel chapter 37 God showed him a vision that seemed crazy at the time the hand of the Lord was on me and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley it was full of bones he led me back and forth among them and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley bones that were very dry he asked me "Son of man can these bones live?" My eye said "Sovereign Lord you alone know." Then God told Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones then he said to me "Prophesy to these bones and say to them," Dry bones hear the word of the Lord this is what the sovereign Lord says to these bones i will make breath enter you and you will come to life i will attach tendons to you and make flesh come on you and cover you with skin i will put breath in you and you will come to life then you will know that I am the Lord as Ezekiel watched something amazing happened so I prophesied as I was commanded and as I was prophesying there was a noise a rattling sound and the bones came together bone to bone i looked and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them but there was no breath in them god wasn't finished he told Ezekiel to prophesy again then he said to me "Prophesy to the breath prophecy son of man and say to it this is what the sovereign Lord says "Come breath from the four winds and breathe into these slain that they may live." So I prophesied as he commanded me and breath entered them they came to life and stood up on their feet a vast army then God explained what this vision meant then he said to me "Son of man these bones of the people of Israel." They say "Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone we are cut off." Therefore prophesy and say to them "This is what the E sovereign Lord says my people i'm going to open your graves and bring you up from them i will bring you back to the land of Israel." For centuries this prophecy seemed impossible the Jewish people were scattered across the world persecuted often forbidden from even entering their ancient homeland but in 1948 after the horror of the Holocaust the world watched as these dry bones came back to life jews from every nation on earth began returning to Israel speaking Hebrew again building cities again making the desert bloom again when Israel declared independence the reaction was immediate and violent every Arab nation around Israel attacked at once determined to destroy the new country before it could even get started but something strange happened israel not only survived they won against all odds this tiny nation defeated much larger armies but Iran's reaction was completely different at that time Iran was ruled by Sha Muhammad Resa Palavi and he actually recognized Israel and established diplomatic relations iran and Israel became allies they shared intelligence iran sold oil to Israel and Israeli experts helped Iran with agriculture and technology for nearly 30 years these two nations worked together this friendship made sense from a strategic perspective both Israel and Iran were surrounded by Arab nations that often opposed them iran wasn't Arab they were Persian with their own language culture and interests the sha saw Israel as a potential partner against their common Arab rivals iranian officers trained in Israel and Israeli advisers worked in Iran trade between the two countries flourished many Iranian Jews moved to Israel but others stayed in Iran and lived peacefully the Sha's government protected Jewish communities and maintained good relations with Israel's leaders but this partnership was built on politics not prophecy the Bible had already told us that Persia would eventually turn against Israel in the last days and in 1979 everything changed in a way that shocked the entire world the Iranian revolution of 1979 was like an earthquake that changed the entire Middle East the Sha America's close ally was overthrown by Islamic revolutionaries led by Ayatollah Ruhulah Kumeni almost overnight Iran went from being Israel's friend to being its most dangerous enemy kmeni brought a completely different worldview to power where the sha had been secular and focused on modernizing Iran Kmeni was a religious extremist who wanted to spread Islamic revolution across the world and at the center of his ideology was a burning hatred for Israel kmeni declared that Israel had no right to exist he called it a cancerous tumor that had to be removed from the Middle East he said that Jerusalem belonged to Muslims and that every Muslim had a duty to fight to destroy Israel this wasn't just political opposition this was religious warfare the new Iranian government immediately cut all ties with Israel they kicked out Israeli diplomats canceled all agreements and began funding Israel's enemies instead iranian leaders started calling for Israel's complete destruction and they meant it literally kmeni's followers believed they were fighting a holy war that would prepare the world for the return of the hidden Imam a messianic figure in Shia Islam they saw the destruction of Israel as a necessary step in this divine plan this religious motivation made Iran much more dangerous than other enemies Israel had faced instead of attacking Israel directly Iran developed a clever but deadly strategy they would build a network of terrorist groups to fight Israel for them this way Iran could attack Israel while avoiding direct retaliation they called this the Axis of resistance and it would become Israel's worst nightmare the first and most dangerous group Iran created was Hezbollah in Lebanon in 1985 Hezbollah officially announced their existence with a manifesto that read like something from a horror movie we are the sons of the Ummah Muslim community the party of God Hisb Allah whose vanguard God made victorious in Iran our struggle will end only when this entity Israel is obliterated iran poured money weapons and training into Hezbollah they gave them rockets missiles explosives and military advisers iranian revolutionary guards established bases in Lebanon's Bakar Valley to train Hezbollah fighters within a few years Hezbollah became one of the most powerful terrorist organizations in the world hezbollah wasn't just another militia they were essentially an Iranian army stationed on Israel's northern border they built a vast network of tunnels bunkers and weapons depots throughout southern Lebanon iran gave them increasingly sophisticated weapons including rockets that could reach deep into Israel but Hezbollah wasn't Iran's only proxy they also began supporting Palestinian terrorist groups especially Hamas in Gaza hamas had been founded during the first Palestinian uprising in 1987 but Iran saw an opportunity to turn them into another weapon against Israel hamas leaders traveled to Iran for training and funding iran taught them how to build better weapons plan more effective attacks and organize their military wing iranian money flowed to Hamas through a complex network of banks charities and front organizations iran also supported other Palestinian groups like Islamic Jihad the popular front for the liberation of Palestine and various smaller factions each group received weapons training and money based on their willingness to attack Israel iran was essentially building an army of proxies that surrounded Israel on multiple borders this proxy strategy was brilliant from Iran's perspective when these groups attacked Israel Iran could deny direct responsibility when Israel retaliated against the proxies Iran could claim to be defending oppressed Muslims and when the proxies were destroyed Iran could simply rebuild them or create new ones but Iran's most dangerous project was something that terrified not just Israel but the entire world their nuclear program iran claimed they only wanted nuclear power for electricity but their actions told a different story iran began enriching uranium far beyond what was needed for power plants they built secret nuclear facilities in mountains and underground bunkers they refused to cooperate fully with international inspectors and their leaders kept making threats about wiping Israel off the map iranian President Mammud Armadinad shocked the world in 2005 when he said Israel should be wiped off the map he called the Holocaust a myth and said Israel would soon disappear these weren't empty words iran was actively working to make this happen israel watched Iran's nuclear program with growing alarm israeli leaders knew their history they had seen what happened when the world ignored threats against the Jewish people they weren't going to wait for Iran to finish building nuclear weapons before taking action the international community imposed harsh sanctions on Iran trying to force them to abandon their nuclear program but Iran kept advancing getting closer and closer to being able to build nuclear weapons various agreements were made and broken iran would promise to limit their program then secretly continue working on it for Israel this wasn't just a political issue it was an existential threat iran's leaders had repeatedly promised to destroy Israel and now they were building the weapons to do it israeli military planners began preparing for the possibility of attacking Iran's nuclear facilities before it was too late the proxy war between Iran and Israel exploded into open conflict multiple times in 2006 Hezbollah launched a massive attack against Israel kidnapping Israeli soldiers and firing rockets into Israeli cities israel responded with a full-scale war in Lebanon trying to destroy Hezbollah's military capabilities the war lasted 34 days and showed how much Hezbollah had grown under Iranian support they had thousands of rockets and missiles sophisticated anti-tank weapons and well-trained fighters they had turned southern Lebanon into a fortress designed to fight Israel although Israel inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah they couldn't completely destroy the organization iran immediately began rebuilding Hezbollah's arsenal giving them even more advanced weapons than before the 2006 war was just a preview of what Iran was preparing for the future meanwhile in Gaza Hamas was building its own military capabilities with Iranian help they dug tunnels into Israel smuggled in weapons and learned how to build rockets that could reach Israeli cities every few years tension would explode into war as Hamas launched rocket attacks and Israel responded with military operations iran's fingerprints were on every major attack against Israel when Hamas fired rockets they were often Iranian designed weapons when Hezbollah launched anti-tank missiles they came from Iran when terrorist attacks happened in Israel or against Jewish targets around the world Iranian intelligence was often involved but Iran wasn't content to fight Israel only through proxies they began establishing their own military presence throughout the region especially in Syria the Syrian civil war that began in 2011 gave Iran the perfect opportunity to move their forces closer to Israel's border iran sent thousands of revolutionary guard troops to Syria officially to help the Assad government fight rebels but they also began building permanent military bases weapons factories and missile storage facilities their real goal was to create a land bridge from Iran through Iraq and Syria to Lebanon allowing them to move weapons and fighters directly to Israel's border israel couldn't allow this to happen they began launching air strikes against Iranian positions in Syria trying to prevent Iran from establishing a permanent military presence there these attacks happened regularly sometimes multiple times per week russia's involvement in Syria complicated everything russia was supporting the Assad government and didn't want Israel's attacks to interfere with their operations but Russia also had good relations with Israel and didn't want to see the conflict spiral out of control they tried to mediate between Israel and Iran while pursuing their own interests in Syria the situation became a three-way chess game iran tried to build up their forces in Syria israel tried to stop them with air strikes russia tried to balance between their Iranian allies and their need to avoid confrontation with Israel sometimes these competing interests led to dangerous incidents that could have triggered a much larger war as Iran built their axis of resistance Israel worked to build relationships with Arab countries that were also worried about Iranian expansion this led to one of the most surprising diplomatic developments in Middle Eastern history the Abraham Accords in 2020 Israel signed peace agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain followed by Morocco and Sudan these agreements normalized relations between Israel and these Arab countries for the first time the driving force behind these deals was shared concern about Iran's growing power and aggressive behavior saudi Arabia though not officially part of the Abraham Accords began secretly cooperating with Israel against Iran other Arab countries started viewing Israel as a potential partner rather than an enemy iran's aggressive policies had actually pushed Arab nations toward Israel instead of away from it iran responded to these developments with fury they had spent decades trying to unite the Muslim world against Israel and now they were seeing Arab countries making peace with Israel instead iranian leaders called these agreements a betrayal of the Palestinian cause and threatened retaliation against any country that normalized relations with Israel the Abraham Accords represented a fundamental shift in Middle Eastern politics instead of the old ArabIsraeli conflict the region was now divided between countries that wanted peace and prosperity versus those that wanted conflict and destruction iran found itself increasingly isolated as more countries chose the path of peace but Iran doubled down on their aggressive strategy they increased support for their proxy groups advanced their nuclear program faster and began launching more direct attacks against Israel and its allies the proxy war was gradually becoming a real war as we look at all these developments we can see biblical prophecy unfolding before our eyes the prophet Ezekiel's vision in chapter 38 described exactly what we're seeing today persia leading a coalition of nations in the last days to attack Israel when they had returned to their land the nations Ezekiel mentioned are aligning exactly as he predicted russia Mog is working with Iran persia Turkey toarma is moving away from its NATO allies and closer to Russia and Iran the stage is being set for the final confrontation that Ezekiel saw over 2,500 years ago israel has become the center of world attention just as the Bible predicted every major power has an opinion about Israel every conflict in the Middle East somehow involves Israel the world's media focuses on this tiny country more than any other nation on Earth the reathering of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland is nearly complete israel has become a technological powerhouse making the desert bloom exactly as Isaiah prophesied jerusalem has become a cup of trembling for all nations just as Zechariah predicted in chapter 12 i am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling the alignment of nations we see today matches biblical prophecy with stunning accuracy iran is leading an alliance of Israel's enemies while simultaneously advancing toward nuclear weapons capability russia is involved in Middle Eastern affairs in ways not seen since the Cold War arab nations are choosing sides based on their view of Iran's threat even more significant is the spiritual dimension of this conflict this isn't just about politics or territory it's about competing world views and religious beliefs iran's leaders openly talk about preparing the world for their version of the Messiah by destroying Israel they see this as a holy war that will bring about the end times israel meanwhile has returned to their ancient homeland after nearly 2,000 years of exile just as the prophet said they would they are surrounded by enemies who want to destroy them just as the Bible predicted and they are looking for their Messiah to come and save them from their enemies the stage is set for the final fulfillment of biblical prophecy the ancient hatred between the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael has evolved into a modern conflict between Iran and Israel that threatens to engulf the entire world the weapons are more powerful the stakes are higher but the spiritual battle remains the same we are living in the generation that may see the final chapters of human history unfold the conflict between Iran and Israel isn't just about middle Eastern politics it's about the fulfillment of God's plan for the ages the ancient prophecies are coming to life before our eyes and the world is about to discover that the Bible has been telling us the truth all along