The Nuclear Iran Non-Sequitur
The mullahs who drive the hatred for Israel have, through Iran’s foreign minister, warned the newly inaugurated US president, Israel’s government, and the world that any attack on Iran’s nuclear development facilities will be met with catastrophic consequences for the region and the attackers.
Iran will react immediately and decisively if its nuclear facilities come under attack, an action that could trigger an “all-out war in the region,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi warned on Friday.
Araqchi, speaking to Al Jazeera TV and quoted by Reuters, cautioned that any military strike by Israel and the United States on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure would be “one of the biggest historical mistakes the US could make.”…
Iran recently informed the IAEA of its intention to “significantly increase” its production of uranium enriched up to 60 percent.”
The Biden administration sought to return to the 2015 deal and held indirect talks with Iran on a return to compliance, but those talks failed due to Iran’s insistence on the closure of the UN nuclear watchdog’s investigations of its nuclear sites…
Top Iranian officials have become increasingly concerned that Trump might grant Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the green light to launch an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites. (“Iranian FM warns: We will react decisively if our nuclear facilities are attacked,” Israel National News, Arutz Sheva, Elad Benari, Canada)
While the radical Islamic regime continues to grow as the greatest threat for initiating all-out war in the Mideast, the Iranian government grows ever closer to Russia in setting up for hegemony over all the region. The mullahs, not the people of Iran, intend to wipe Israel from the earth. They say so almost daily.
Iran (Persia), of course, is to be one of the primary members of the invading force in attacking Israel, according to Ezekiel’s Gog-Magog prophecy (Ezekiel chapters 38–39). We believe Russia, Togarmah (Turkey), and Iran (Persia) will lead many other peoples in the assault on Israel in order to take “great spoil.”
The diplomats of the world approach the matter of Iran and its drive to develop nuclear weaponry from a totally humanistic perspective. No doubt, none among that community give much thought to Ezekiel’s prophecy. The only thing most diplomatic sorts care about is that all-out war won’t be initiated in the region. Israel—and now America, in particular, under the Trump administration—insists that Iran never gets a nuclear-weapons capability to make good on their wanting to erase the Jewish state from the world. I doubt seriously that many within the new administration give much thought to Ezekiel’s prophecy about the coming attack.
Well, Mike Huckabee, now the ambassador to Israel, certainly knows all about the Gog-Magog prophecy. He will, I hopefully presume, explain it to those in the new administration. And I have hope for the new Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. He declares without any hesitation that Jesus Christ is his Savior and Lord. That is quite heartening, to be sure. How deeply he understands the Ezekiel prophecy…another question.
Whether there is understanding by Secretary Hegseth or within the new administration, they have vowed—along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and most all of Israel’s government and military—that Iran’s getting nuclear weapons capability is not going to happen.
Thus the mullah-driven, carrot-and-stick approach. Again, Iran’s foreign minister has threatened all-out war that will be catastrophic for the world—especially for those who attack their nuclear development laboratories, etc. At the same time, Iran is slyly reaching out with the carrot, trying to “reason” with President Trump to come to the table of negotiation to assure that peace remains the order of the day. All the while, Iran feeds military assets to its proxies–such as, for example, Hamas, the terrorists who incessantly afflict the Jewish state in attacks such as those that took place on October 7, 2023.
I really am convinced that soon, Israel, led by Netanyahu, backed strongly by the new US president – both of whom have vowed there will be no nuclear Iran – and the American military in some way will destroy the nuclear weapons labs deep in the mountainous caverns of Iran. I base this on the Ezekiel 38–39 Gog-Magog prophecy.
Iran (Persia), as a major military force in the Gog-Magog coalition, apparently has no nuclear weapons in that attack. As a matter of fact, Ezekiel seems to go out of his way to present the assault as one of a conventional sort. He even uses the antiquated warfare methodology of his own time—horses, etc.—to describe the attack.
Now I know that “fire on the coastlands,” which might indicate involvement of nuclear explosions, is part of the attack, but it seems, almost certainly, that this “fire” is God’s own doing as the Gog-Magog forces invade His land.
This lack of nuclear weaponry in the attack upon Israel is why I titled this commentary “The Nuclear Iran Non-Sequitur.”
It does not follow logically. That there is a nuclear Iran (Persia, in the Ezekiel prophecy) doesn’t seem to be the case in the least.
On this premise, and on the strength represented by America’s 47th president adamantly backing an immovable Israeli prime minister, I believe it’s relatively reasonable to conclude that Iran’s nuclear program will soon be no more.
All of this and the Elam prophecy that a powerful destruction of some sort in the mountainous area where Iran’s nuclear facilities are located gives backing to this likely scenario. The Iranian nuclear weapons development will somehow be brought to a halt.
And all of this prophetic progression means Christ’s call to the Church into the clouds of Glory must be very near indeed.
“For when you see all these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your head, for your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).
Tell all the people you know about how near is the coming of Christ. Witness to them the saving power that’s only found in the Lord Jesus Christ and what He did on the old rugged cross at Calvary.
Tell those that God gives you the opportunity to witness to the following:
“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
The Necessity of an Eternal Perspective
In America, it’s easy to live as though this life is all that we have. Even those of us who believe in the pre-Tribulation Rapture at times lose the perspective that Jesus could dramatically intervene in our lives at any moment.
In his devotional book, New Morning Mercies, pastor and counselor Paul David Tripp refers to our tendency to forget about what lies ahead for us as “eternity amnesia.” He describes it in this way:
“We say we believe in the hereafter. We say that this moment in time is not all there is. We say that we are hardwired for forever. But often we live with the compulsion, anxiety, and drivenness of eternity amnesiacs. We get so focused on the opportunities, responsibilities, needs, and desires of the here and now that we lose sight of what is to come.” (February 11 entry)
An eternal perspective not only keeps us from becoming overly consumed with everyday life, but it’s also a necessity for other reasons as well.
We Cannot Make Sense of this Life Without It
Tripp also wrote, “The fact is that you cannot make sense of life unless you look at it from the vantage point of eternity.” This is so true whether we are attempting to understand world affairs or the ups and downs of our spiritual journey. Scripture alone provides us with hope during life’s mysteries.
Apart from my belief that the Lord will someday radically intervene in human affairs, I would go crazy. We live in a world where many government leaders prosper at the expense of the ones they govern (as has been demonstrated by recent reports of spending in the US). The wicked not only succeed at times, but they also amass wealth beyond what we can imagine. When overwhelmed by such thoughts, I read through Psalm 37 and recognize that soon its words will reach their full fulfillment as the judgments of Revelation chapters 6-18 sweep over the earth. We live on the edge of eternity.
As New Testament Saints, we look forward to the moment we meet Jesus in the air and He gives us our “imperishable” and “immortal bodies” (1 Corinthians 15:50-55). Our lives as followers of Jesus are not a random, disconnected series of blessings and adversities. The Lord carefully manages all our experiences, weaving them together in preparation for the day we inherit the kingdom in resurrection bodies. In eternity it will all make sense, but now we trust Jesus.
It Honors Jesus
When we forget about eternity, we not only lose a true perspective on life, but we also lose sight of the essence of our hope, Jesus. Watching for His appearing is not just a matter of obeying what He taught us to do in Matthew 24:42-25:13, but it’s also a matter of making Him the focus of our lives rather than our own aspirations and the things that absorb so much of our attentions.
Notice the apostle’s emphasis in Philippians 3:20-21:
“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”
We see an identical focus in Titus 2:13, “… waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” When we make Jesus the sole object of our hope, we exalt His place within our souls.
Of course, it’s wise to plan and prepare for our future. However, we honor our Lord when we consider that He may appear at any moment to take us home to glory. We temper our earthly aspirations via a two-world perspective that values eternal realities over our temporal aspirations (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).
It Prepares Us to Serve Him in a Broken-Down World
Understanding the stark difference between now and the hereafter uniquely prepares us to serve our Master. Notice the encouragement that Paul gives to us as His summation writing about the Lord’s appearing and His gift to us of glorious, resurrected bodies:
“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).
After the Rapture, Jesus will reward our faithful service. He will not overlook anything but will perfectly acknowledge all that we have done in serving Him with our various spiritual gifts that He entrusts to us (read Romans 12:3-8).
Living with an eternal perspective not only preserves our sanity in a broken-down world but also prompts us to serve the Lord as we watch for His glorious appearing. Regardless of our lot in life, we know that a wonderful day is coming, perhaps today, when we will stand before Him clothed in perfect righteousness with imperishable resurrection bodies that will never grow old, get sick, or suffer pain of any kind.
I will conclude with the words of Paul David Tripp:
“Let the values of eternity be the values that shape your living today, and keep telling yourself that the difficulties of today will someday completely pass away.”
Living with an eternal perspective doesn’t mean we forget about this life but that we always keep in mind that a much better day awaits us. Jesus will come to take us to the place He’s preparing for us (John 14:1-3). Count on it.
-Jonathan