Premillennialists often gain a following when military conflict escalates in the Middle East. They claim to know the particulars of how Bible prophecy is being fulfilled before our eyes. This past week, Greg Laurie wrote an article entitled, “Iran and Israel: A Bible Prophecy Update” on his Harvest.org blog. Here is his take on the war with Iran:
While some hold the theological viewpoint that the Church is now God’s chosen people, I disagree. I believe the Jewish people remain His chosen people, and that they play a key role in end times prophecy. I believe the Bible clearly foretold that Israel would be scattered and regathered—fulfilled on May 14, 1948, and that’s when the prophetic time clock began to tick. It was not just a sign, but a super sign. Scripture also predicts that in the last days, a great coalition from the north—including Persia (modern-day Iran)—will rise up against Israel (see Ezekiel 38–39).
Premillennialists like Laurie confuse what God fulfilled with ancient Israel in the Old Testament as descriptions of events involving the modern state of Israel today. But these are not the same. Jesus said the kingdom of God was taken from the Jewish people and given to those bearing fruit (Matt. 21:43). The New Testament, under which we live today, says God is no respecter of persons regarding citizenship in earthly nations (Acts 10:34-35). God does not regard physical lineage above what is in one’s heart (Rom. 2:28-29). Physical Jews are no better than Gentiles (Rom. 3:9). There is no difference between the two in God’s eyes (Rom. 10:12). Individuals, both Jew and Gentile, should be most concerned about being saved from spiritual ruin in the life to come through Jesus Christ (Rom. 6:23), but often dispensational premillennialism puts the focus on avoiding physical danger now (Matt. 10:28). The focus is on figuring out some obscure timeline of wars and world events leading up to the end of time, but this is futile for no one knows when Jesus will come back (Matt. 24:36; 25:13). His coming will be unexpected like a thief in the night; it will be a time when people are saying peace and safety not declaring the imminent doom of war
(1 Thess. 5:2, 3).
The Old Testament mentions God giving Israel land and even bringing them back to that land after their exile. God warned that if they disobeyed then they would be “plucked from off the land” (Deut. 28:63). The regathering of Israel to this land was prophesied in Deut. 30:1-10. Nehemiah, who returned to Jerusalem, mentioned in his prayer that this had been fulfilled in his day (5th century BC):
Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there. Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand (Neh. 1:8-10).
So, the Bible teaches that God’s promise to regather fleshly Israel to the land of Canaan was fulfilled almost two and half millennia ago. It does not refer to an event in modern times. This is the key problem with premillennialism which must constantly revise its interpretation of prophecies to assign meaning to whatever is happening in today’s news rather than staying with the historical context of the original audience.
Ezekiel lived during the time of the exile. In chapters 38 and 39, he gave God’s message of hope for what would happen in the “latter years.” These are not the last years before the end of time, but rather the last years of Old Testament Israel after captivity was over and they had settled back in the land. The coalition from the north fits the Seleucids under Antiochus IV in the second century BC. Daniel also lived during the exile and gave messages concerning this in Daniel 8 and 11. Antiochus lived after the close of the Old Testament, but First Maccabees 3:27-31 records how he gathered forces to threaten Israel and even went to Persia (mentioned in Ezek. 38:5) to gather tribute. Israel faced an existential threat, but according to God’s prophecy, they survived. Revelation, as it does with many Old Testament names, picks up the terminology of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38 to express God’s victory over the foes of His people in Revelation 20:7-10.
Revelation is about events that would take place soon after the letter was written, not two thousand years later (Rev. 1:1, 3; 22:6; 10). Jesus said the great tribulation would take place within the generation He taught in person (Matt. 24:1-34; Mark 13:1-30; Luke 17:20ff.; 21:5-32). Many are worried about Armageddon (Rev. 16:16), but this has already been fulfilled. It refers to the gathering place for the battle of the great day of God Almighty—the gathering of Roman forces in the Roman-Jewish war around AD 70 (Rev. 16:14). Josephus records how Titus gathered his armies before laying siege to Jerusalem (Wars 4.11.5; 5.1.1; 5.1.6).
Our aim is not to be dogmatic about the specific referent in these passages in Ezekiel and Revelation. They are admittedly among the more difficult passages in the Bible to interpret; however, an added danger exists in the premillennial misinterpretation of which we must beware. In his 2012 book Apocalyptic Fever, Richard Kyle summarizes the stance premillennialists like Chuck Missler and others have had in years past regarding the US and their support of Israel:
The United States is Israel’s primary protector and friend. Scripture says God will bless the nation that blesses Israel. So until the rapture, America serves God’s purpose in its support of Israel. In fact, Missler and others contend that when America has not supported Israel as it should, the United States has been judged. For example, he believes that because America pressured Israel into withdrawing from Gaza, it experienced Hurricane Katrina. The view that America maintains strength until the rapture rests on Ezekiel 38, which portrays Israel as peaceful and thriving in the end times. So logically, a powerful America must be supporting it.
There is no warrant to apply Scripture this way. God has already fulfilled His promises to Israel in the Old Testament. This does not mean God does not work in international affairs today. God still rules in the kingdom of men (Dan. 4:17, 25). Rulers are a terror to evil works (Rom. 13:3). God has ordained that governments use lethal force against such (Rom. 13:1, 4). This would include evildoers from within a nation’s borders as well as threats from the outside. The Bible does not give specific instruction on whether a nation should go to war in support of the political state of Israel today. This particular decision must be made by governmental leaders as they serve to punish evildoers (1 Pet. 2:14). There are reasons why the US should help their ally Israel and seek to prevent Iran from doing harm, but they are not found in the Bible’s prophecies. We should pray for world leaders and those who are in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty (1 Tim. 2:2). However, let us not confuse fulfilled Bible prophecies of the past as advice on foreign policy in the present.
–Mark Day