Reflecting on my life, I can recount a series of wars that have transpired. I was born during the Vietnam conflict and came of age in the Cold War. In fact, my own initial training in the Air Force was focused on the great Soviet threat, and my POW training was based on the American experience in Vietnam.
While I was in high school, America first became embroiled in the Middle East unrest fomented by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Then, I watched as small conflicts erupted closer to home in Panama and even Grenada. Other skirmishes followed in places like Libya, Kosovo, and Somalia. By the early 1990s, even as the Cold War cooled, the focus turned once again to the Middle East, with multiple wars centered on Iraq and then Afghanistan. My own combat experience came over the deserts and mountains of both of those forlorn nations.
The point is that wars and rumors of wars have been the rule rather than the exception—even as the ramifications of those wars have grown increasingly consequential with the advent of nuclear weapons, cyberattacks, and bioterrorism. Far from the tranquil “New World Order” advocated by globalists 30 years ago, threats and dangers seem to be multiplying all around us.
Peace, Peace
As a man trained for war, I can tell you that I long for peace. Every sane person does. But not a peace imposed at the end of a bayonet or following an unconditional surrender of cherished truths and freedoms. And not a false “peace in our time” that really leads to inevitable war and even greater devastation. Surely humanity should have learned that lesson from the 1930s.
The current conflict with Iran is indicative of the dilemma we face. Although the conflict with Iran has churned up new risks and tremendous disruptions (not just in oil prices and supply chains, but to livelihoods and even innocent lives subject to indiscriminate Iranian attacks), it seeks to eliminate a far greater threat: a nuclear-armed Iran. There is little doubt that if the ayatollahs, mullahs, and radicalized militants of Iran possessed a nuclear weapon, they would unleash it on Israel and American forces throughout the region.
Scoffers and anti-American agitators (including some in Congress) would ask why any nation—including a despotic regime in Iran—would utilize a weapon that would certainly lead to their own nation’s utter destruction. There are two reasons for their fanaticism, and both are urgent to our contemporary situation, reflective of a timeless struggle, and omens of another war that will soon rage in the heavens. Those reasons are:
- Iran’s Shiite Muslim leaders are dedicated to an eschatology that anticipates a Muslim messiah.
- Since Daniel’s day, Iran (then known as Persia) has been under the oversight of a powerful demon who serves the will of his infernal master, Satan.
Let’s break down these two dynamics.
The Supposed Twelfth Mahdi
Many Americans, and even most Christians, have a hard time distinguishing between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. And they tend to think that Muslims throughout the Middle East are Arab. Both are gravely mistaken.
In a nutshell, Sunni Muslims (who are dominant in most Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan) insist that the line of succession from Mohammed rightfully falls to exalted leaders (called Caliphs) who demonstrate their merit. Shias believe that Islamic leaders (Imams) must trace their lineage to Mohammed himself. This divergence alone traces back to shortly after Mohammed’s death in the 7th century.
More importantly, Shia Muslims believe that the 12th Imam (Mahdi) in the line of succession was uniquely gifted. They assert that he did not die but went into hiding, awaiting a moment in human history when an existential crisis will force his reemergence to usher in a final Muslim Khilāfah (Caliphate) over a global Muslim community (or Ummah). The fervency of this belief has motivated Shiite Muslims to extreme acts of terror and chaos in the belief that they are accelerating the chaos necessary to cause the Mahdi to return.
Tellingly, the radical clerics who have controlled Iran for 47 years are willing to attack their Muslim neighbors and even impoverish or destroy their own people in pursuit of this warped ideology. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad often spoke in apocalyptic terms about the Iranian motivation regarding the Mahdi when he addressed the United Nations (from 2005-13). In his very first address in 2005, he said he felt a spiritual presence encompassing him and rendering the assembled delegates spellbound during his 28-minute speech. Although ridiculed by contemporary politicians, Ahmadinejad revealed something quite factual—and diabolical.
The Unseen Hand Behind It All
Behind the murderous ideology of radicalized Muslims, an unseen hand is at work in the spiritual realm. The angelic messenger sent to reveal heavenly mysteries to Daniel (in response to his prayers) was delayed for 21 days, as the “prince of Persia” opposed him in the spiritual realm. Only when Michael, the archangel given charge over the House of Israel (according to Daniel 10:13), came to help overcome the demon overseeing Persia was the messenger angel able to proceed.
Why would Persia’s demonic prince seek to thwart a message of encouragement coming to a Jewish prophet? Because Satan has been trying to undermine God’s plan, destroy His people, and deceive even the elect. His modus operandi (grand scheme and standard ploy) is to oppose every effort and emissary of the Almighty. At times, it appears he has the upper hand, but we know that he cannot really stop God’s prophetic plans from coming to pass.
So, even as Persia now self-identifies as Iran, the same evil spirit still holds sway over that ancient land. And that nefarious being still answers to the chief prince of the powers of the air, the ruler of this age and claimant to the kingdoms of man—Satan.
Secularists and postmodern talking heads may scoff and sneer, but Paul tells us that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). As Jesus warned His apostles when they asked for signs pointing to His return and the end of the age, “See to it that no one misleads you” (Matthew 24:5).
Once again, there is much more than meets the eye. And the millennia-old spiritual battle evident in Iran is a telling precursor of a much larger battle to come.
In Heaven, as It Is on Earth
We look forward to a day when Jesus Christ exerts His authority and extends His reign on Earth, “just as it is in Heaven.” That will occur following His glorious Second Coming, when He sets up His Millennial Kingdom on the earth. For 1,000 years, Satan will be bound, and peace, righteousness, and holiness will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.
But before that glorious age—when glorified Church Age saints reign alongside Jesus on Earth—another cataclysmic war is coming. In addition to the wars outlined in Psalm 83, Ezekiel 38–39, and Revelation 16 and 19 (the infamous War of Armageddon) that will take place on the earth, Satan will launch one last-ditch attempt to seize God’s throne in Heaven. The endless wars he has fomented on Earth will be matched by a war in Heaven, as described in Revelation 12:7-13. When that happens, he and his demonic hordes (which are called the “sons of God” in the Old Testament) will be expelled from Heaven once and for all.
I know what you’re thinking. Hasn’t Satan already been cast down from Heaven?!? The answer is: yes, and not completely. Lest you think such an answer is contradictory, that is exactly what the Word of God describes. You see, Lucifer was first cast out of Heaven when he swelled with pride and jealousy and coveted the worship and glory reserved only for God Himself, and when that happened, one-third of the heavenly host who joined in Lucifer’s rebellion were cast down to Earth (see Isaiah 14; Ezekiel 28; Revelation 12). But Job also reveals that Satan continued to have access to the throne room of God (Job 1:6).
I don’t claim to fully understand that mysterious dynamic, but I believe it’s true because that’s what the Bible describes. In fact, it was God who pointed out Job to Satan when he came before the Lord with the other “sons of God.”
But Scripture also says that when Satan makes one final assault on God’s throne, he will be banished altogether. Based on the description in Revelation 12, I expect this final heavenly war to take place about halfway through the Tribulation. Satan will be so enraged at his inglorious expulsion that he will return to the earth filled with rage. He will then indwell the Antichrist personally and pour out his fury on the Jewish people. The Antichrist will attempt to kill and destroy every post-Rapture follower of Christ during the second half of the Tribulation. Still, the satanic ferocity of his renewed hatred of the Jews will result in two-thirds of them being killed.
This period will be so disastrous that it is referred to in the Old Testament as the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble.” We know it better as the Great Tribulation. And Jesus Himself said that if this period of horror (when God’s outpoured wrath commingles in supernatural fury with Satan’s unrestrained rage) were not cut short, no life would remain on the earth.
You absolutely, positively DO NOT want to be here then!
A Fate Worse Than Death
If you think, “Wow. That sounds awful!” it’s because it is. God’s revelation of this coming time of horror is meant to shock your sensibilities—not because He’s merely trying to scare you to death, but because He wants to warn you before it’s too late.
The average person who goes about their life oblivious of all that is happening in the spiritual realm gets a rude and tragic awakening when they pass from this life. During the Tribulation, people will become intimately familiar with spiritual forces as God pours out His wrath and the Antichrist seeks to annihilate Christ-followers who come to their senses, repent of their sins, and believe on Jesus unto salvation. But most will buy into the widespread deception that locks them into their hell-bound fate.
The pain and suffering they endure in their mortal bodies—as horrible as it will be—will pale in comparison to the eternal suffering they will experience in Hell, “where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48). That is the eternal fate worse than death. If we really understood the horrors that await those who step into eternity without Christ, we would urge our worst enemy (let alone our neighbors and complete strangers) to flee from the wrath to come.
In Wrath, Mercy
“In wrath, remember mercy” (Habakkuk 3:2). That is why God sent Jesus Christ into the world. It is why the Father has delayed sending the Son. And it is why the Lord God has revealed in advance what “must soon take place” (Revelation 1:1). Plainly stated, He does not wish any to perish but for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Jesus came to Earth and died so that “whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
If that is the heart of God, and we all aspire to be men and women after God’s own heart (as I often hear when people cite King David as their favorite biblical exemplar), then surely we should join the fight for souls right now. We should be filled with compassion and eager to extend mercy to fellow creatures who are on the road to perdition (“eternal damnation or the condition of being spiritually ruined and condemned to hell”).
Satan, “red in tooth and claw,” will fight against us throughout this life. But his defeat is already guaranteed. The question is whether we will fight as though souls hang in the balance.
That battle is raging all around us right now. Our Commander is calling us to arms. Will you take up the Armor of God and join the fray?