“Israel, Iran, the U.S., and the Bible”

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

Saturday’s news that the US had already bombed targets in Iran has heightened everyone’s attention to the world stage. Iran is on a short list of the world’s most dangerous countries, and so it’s a time a to watch their movements (and those of their national friends) very closely. Couple this reality with Israel’s war against Iran, and it seems that this is one of the most volatile times our country has faced in several decades.

I know no more than anyone else about how things like this will turn out. I just try to remember the words of the Holy Spirit for guidance in how to think about such times. So, here are a few reminders:

1. In a passage that is often quoted by premillennialist thinkers to make many people alarmed by supposed world-ending scenarios, what Jesus actually says is, “you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed…” (Mt. 24:6) He goes on to say in the same context: “...the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Words from this passage are often quoted in a way that unnerves many because of the purported ‘signs of the end.’ But the Lord’s words are meant to have exactly the opposite effect. He spoke these things to quiet our hearts and redouble our discipleship commitments; not make us fearful of some kind of cosmic come-apart.
2. In Romans 9-11, Paul explains in no shortage of words that God does not hold himself under any obligation to the nation of Israel or to any Jewish ethnicity. He has fulfilled his promises to them, and he has embraced the Gentiles, grafting them into his kingdom as wild olive branches grafted onto the roots of a cultivated olive tree. By his own word, he has no further promises to keep to that nation. Should their nation be expanded or destroyed, I believe that God has no more or less pleasure in that than he does in the success or any other nation on his footstool.
3. In one the closing paragraphs of his letter to Rome, Paul asked his brothers to pray for his safety as he went into hostile territory (Rm. 15:30-31). As is always the case with such a heavy military presence in our area, we’re likely to know friends, neighbors, or church members who are directed toward involvement in world conflicts. Pray for them. Pray for them by name. Pray that God will deliver them from harm. Pray that their objectives will be successful if they be righteous. Pray that they will keep faith in God through whatever rigors and horrors of war they must face. Pray for them.
4. “I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Tim. 2:1-2). Pray for our national leaders and military leaders. Give thanks for them. Pray that they will lead in a way that a peaceful, quiet life can be preserved for as many people as possible.
5. Remember the Lord’s command, both the prohibitive side and the affirmative one: “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mt. 10:28). There are some things that are absolute constants for us because of our belief in Jesus Christ. No matter how much the sandy ground of this life may seem to shift, we stand on bedrock truth that he has overcome the world, that he will overcome the world, and that he cares for us.

“I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rm. 8:38-39)

- Dan Lankford, minister

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