Persia’s Gog-Magog Motivation?

Most observers of Bible prophecy and developments toward eventual fulfillment—from the pre-Trib perspective—believe a motivation for the Gog-Magog attack of Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 will involve economics. It seems, as a matter of fact, that perhaps the primary motivation will be monetary.

The scriptural basis for this presumption derives from the following:

“Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee. Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land” (Ezekiel 38:9-12).

Of course, the real motivation, the impetus for this future attack, comes from Satan. He wants the Jewish nation of Israel destroyed. If he can cause God’s promise—for Israel to be a nation forever—to fail, he doubtless believes he can avoid his own promised punishment, which is to burn throughout eternity in the lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

The “evil thought” in this Ezekiel prophecy, though, will have at its root in the mind of the Gog spirit indwelling the leader of this satanic coalition the dark idea of stealing all the riches Israel is blessed with.

This motivation, it more and more appears, will be not only from just the desire to take Israel’s riches, but also from the determination to turn around all the coalition members’ (Gog-Magog nations’) abject, dismal economic conditions.

And this monetary-fiscal failure is ever more evident within the economic conditions of these major players that will lead the Gog-Magog assault, according to today’s news cycles.

Russia is in dire stress economically, and many observers believe this is one reason Vladimir Putin keeps feeding the youth and now even the older soldiers of Russia into the deadly machinery of war in the bloody battles against Ukraine. He must distract from the increasingly horrendous economy and living conditions suffered by the Russian people to preserve his position of power.

This has often been the strategy of the likes of Josef Stalin and subsequent dictators of the Soviet Union and around the world.

But we’re looking here at the Gog-Magog coalition member called “Persia.”

This, of course, is the area now called “Iran.”

Here are some news tidbits about that nation’s dismal fiscal condition:

• Iranians use internet connectivity to fight hated regime: Iran’s latest wave of unrest began with the kind of trigger that regimes fear because it spreads through every class: money. Shopkeepers in Tehran’s large mobile phone market shuttered their stores, and the anger pulled in students and more cities as the rial [Iran currency] kept sliding and prices kept climbing. The protests did not reach the scale of the 2022 uprising, yet the tone shifted quickly, and the content online sharpened.

• Why Iranians are calling for the return of the Pahlavis and their monarchy: Protesters took to the streets of Iran this week, amid chants of anger against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and fury over an economy in free fall, a slogan once considered politically unutterable returned, and the sounds of crowds chanting it filled the air. “Javid Shah” – Long Live the Shah.

• Regime Change Here? Protesters Call for the Death of Ayatollah Khamenei As Violence Erupts All over Iran: Is this the end for the tyrannical regime of Ayatollah Khamenei and his minions? During the fifth day of protests in Iran, violence erupted in multiple major cities, and protesters were shouting for Khamenei to be killed. But I wouldn’t get too excited yet. Demanding regime change is easy. Bringing it about is something else altogether. Khamenei and his minions have a lot more guns than the protesters do, and the current regime will never step aside willingly. So those that are desperately hoping for regime change in Iran should not count their chickens before they hatch. (Rapture Ready News, January 2, 2026)

The stories of Iran’s radical Muslim regime coming under assault by the Iranian people continue to mount. And it is reported that the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini has made arrangements to go into exile in Moscow at any moment.

But it is reasonable to wonder if this will happen because of Islam’s absolute dedication to establishing the rule of Allah no matter the opposition. War in the cause of Allah—even to the extent of murdering all people who oppose the Islamic law and rule—is justified, and there is to be no quarter given.

Like in the case of Putin and Russia, the Islamic dictatorship will not be deterred. Anything and everything will be done, if history is an indicator, to forge ahead with satanic-directed hegemony. Therefore, Bible prophecy and its fulfillment could well be in play in light of the dire economic conditions and resultant rage by the Iranian people.

It’s easy to postulate that the wrathful unrest of the people who now occupy the land of ancient Persia will cause Iran’s evil leaders to eagerly join with Russia, Turkey, and the rest of the Gog-Magog force in the assault against God’s chosen nation and people.

The “evil thought” of the one called “Gog” will almost certainly center around deflecting the anger and rage of the millions of people under these regimes’ dictatorships.

We are perhaps witnessing now the buildup toward solidifying that coalition Ezekiel spoke of thousands of years ago.

Money—the love of which, God’s Word tells us, is the root of all sorts of evil—certainly is at the nucleus of much of what’s going on in our world today. Whether considering the hatred surrounding the Israel-Muslim world, the blood-drenched Russia-Ukraine war, or the US action against the drug cartels of oil-rich but citizen-destitute Venezuela, economics are surely a prime motivating factor in the drive toward global dictatorship that will one day be attempted by Antichrist.

In that regard, we can see where President Dwight Eisenhower had it right in his warning against the military-industrial complex. The munitions industry it takes to foment and carry out war continues to create wealth for the producers and the merchants of weaponry.

All this we see developing points to the truth that Christ’s call to the Church is drawing near.

Speaking of motivation: Seeing that glorious moment drawing ever nearer, how motivated should we be to be about our Father’s business in carrying out the Great Commission?

Here again is the heart of that gospel to use in our mission to reach the lost:

“That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and will believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

—Terry

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A Time Like No Other

I often hear statements such as, “Today is no different than any other time in history; look at what happened in the last century with its deadly wars and oppression.” Others point to New Testament times when immorality across the Roman Empire rivaled that of our day, as if to say there’s nothing new about our day.

How do we answer such objections? Is our day truly unique in we live in the season of Jesus’ imminent appearing?

The most telling difference between today and no other time in all of Church history is this: since 1948, Israel has existed as an independent nation capable of entering into the covenant with antichrist that will start Daniel’s seventieth week. The extensive preparations for another temple and animal sacrifices also tell us that we live in the shadow of the rapidly approaching Tribulation period.

Beyond what we see happening with Israel, I believe there’s something else that demonstrates we live at a time like no other: It’s the intensity of what we see.

The worldwide death toll from abortion now exceeds one billion, which alone puts today in a category all its own in terms of violence and immorality. And at no other time since John wrote the book of Revelation have we witnessed so many world developments pointing to the nearness of the seals of Revelation 6, which have progressed to the point where many errantly say they have already begun.

Perilous Times on Steroids

There have always been people who fit Paul’s vivid characteristics of the last days in 2 Timothy 3:1-9. However, what we see today is nothing less than “perilous times on steroids.”

The headlines of the past twelve months show that we live at a time like no other when people “are lovers of money.” We recently learned that estimates of the fraud from fake childcare centers in Minnesota has risen to eight billion dollars. In a recent statement, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently said that as much as ten percent of the U.S. budget, somewhere between $300 and $600 billion, is stolen every year. Is that not mind-boggling? Power and corruption have always existed, but the scope of today’s greed and dishonesty have reached new heights.

Just a cursory glance at the apostle’s list tells me that much has changed in just the past sixty years. People have always been “lovers of self,” but has this not reached epidemic proportions with the advent of cell phones with built-in cameras? Many were “arrogant,” and “brutal” back in the 1960s, but what we see today is a whole new ballgame.

The Scoffing

The books of Jude and 2 Peter depict the last days as a time of scoffing. When Jude wrote about it, he referred to “the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus” concerning the latter day mocking (Jude 17-18). Notice that the reference is plural; it wasn’t just Peter who had this to say about the mocking:

“Knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation’” (2 Peter 3:3-4).

Today, the ridicule of our belief in the Rapture has reached new heights.

I recently began recording podcasts again for my YouTube channel, and before this past weekend, they had attracted a few hundred views with several positive comments. My most recent post, “Daniel’s Seventieth Week, Israel, and the Rapture,” however, resulted in many more viewers along with a firestorm of comments mocking the Rapture and our belief in the future restoration of Israel.

The response reminded me that scoffing is indeed a sign of the last days. But more than that, it’s the intensity of the ridicule that points us to the nearing of the midnight hour.

The Reprobate Mentality

Though not typically regarded as a prophetic text, I believe that Romans 1:28-32 also depicts the intensity of today’s rebellion against God. I say that because these verses aptly describe the reprobate mindset that will lead to the killing of a multitude of Tribulation saints as well as a great many Jews after antichrist’s desecration of their temple. Because of the momentum that this God-hating mentality has already gained in our day, it’s easy to see how the attributes described in these verses will lead to the horrific bloodshed of the Tribulation period:

“And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them” (Romans 1:28-32).

Today is different; we live at a time like no other in the history of the Church. We see the more obvious ones in Israel’s existence, the ongoing warfare against the nation, and advanced planning for the third temple. But as the age of grace nears its end, we also note the greatly increased pervasiveness of what the Bible says about the perilous times, scoffing, and along with it the brutal mentality of the last days. As for the violence, despite the horrific massacre of many thousands of protestors in Iran, some nations are urging America to refrain from getting involved to stop the bloodshed.

If you are like me, you wonder how much closer can we get to the time when the Lord says enough, takes us home to glory, and responds to the violence and wickedness of our day?

-Jonathan