'Fasten your seat belt': Pastor Greg Laurie talks potential fulfillment of Bible prophecy in Israel-Hamas war
Author, evangelist says Jerusalem is the 'focal point of End Times events'
Does the ongoing bloodshed in Israel point to a potential fulfillment of Bible prophecy?
Greg Laurie, author, evangelist and pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Southern California, delivered a sermon last weekend in which he said the attacks on Israel by Iranian-backed terror group Hamas might be the start of a series of events predicted centuries ago in Scripture.
In his message, Laurie noted this latest attack comes exactly 50 years to the day of the anniversary of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, when Egypt, Syria and other nations also attacked Israel.
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This war, however, said Laurie, is very different.
Is this attack on Israel by the terrorist organization, Hamas, which is funded by Iran a fulfillment of Bible Prophecy? I answer that here. We also “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” as Scripture tells us to. (Ps. 122:6) Join me. pic.twitter.com/c6ONMomWi4
— Greg Laurie (@greglaurie) October 9, 2023
“Thousands of rockets rained on Israel from multiple directions, and Hamas gunmen invaded by land, sea and sky,” he said. “ ... They went literally home to home and door to door, looking for the young and for the elderly.”
Noting Iran’s stated objective of destroying the state of Israel, Laurie pointed to a quote from one Iranian military official who spoke of the ultimate objective of “the liberation of Palestine in Jerusalem.”
He noted how all of Bible prophecy is focused on one city — Jerusalem.
“Interesting how it always comes back to Jerusalem. The Bible predicted, thousands of years ago, that the End Time events would revolve around Jerusalem,” he said. “Not San Francisco. Not Los Angeles. Not Moscow. Not Paris.
“But Jerusalem, this tiny little city, in this tiny sliver of land, will play a key role in the events of the last days. It’s the focal point of End Times events.”
Laurie quoted how roughly 2,500 years ago, the prophet Zechariah foretold how God would use the city of Jerusalem to bring His judgment upon the world: “ … On that day I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves,” (Zechariah 12:3).
“Now the irony of this is the Biden administration and the United States of America just gave $6 billion to Iran,” he said. “What a bad move that is.”
While the Church is often divided over topics involving Bible prophecy, Laurie said there is no question that the “super-sign” which set the “prophetic clock ticking is the re-gathering of the nation Israel into their homeland.”
“On the heels of the Holocaust, who would have ever thought that these Jewish people who lost 6 million of their people to the Nazis would somehow re-gather in their homeland?” he said. “But it happened against all odds. And on May 14, 1948, Israel became a nation. I'm proud to say the United States was the first nation to acknowledge that.”
It’s this regathering, said Laurie, that was foretold by Ezekiel in Chapters 37 and 38 in what will ultimately lead to an invasion from the north by “Magog” — long speculated by many Bible scholars to be Russia and her allies — on the land of Israel.
“Why would Russia ever want to invade Israel? Well, there's another thing the Bible says about Magog, if she is indeed Russia, and that one of her allies that will march with her is Persia,” he explained.
Persia, noted Laurie, is the ancient name for what is known as modern-day Iran.
“So the Bible predicted hundreds of years ago that this large force from the north of Israel would attack her after she was regathered, and one of the allies that would attack Israel with mother Russia or Magog, whoever it is, would be Iran, or Persia.”
While it’s still unclear where exactly the current conflict will lead, Laurie said if Israel were to attack Iran — as many have already speculated even prior to Hamas' attack — we could be on the cusp of the series of events foretold in Ezekiel 37 and 38.
“I'm not saying this is going to lead to [that] scenario,” he said. “But I'm saying it's very interesting. If you get up in the morning and read this headline: ‘Russia attacks Israel,’ fasten your seat belt.
“You're seeing Bible prophecy fulfilled in your lifetime, in real-time before your very eyes.”
Ian M. Giatti is a reporter for The Christian Post and the author of BACKWARDS DAD: a children's book for grownups. He can be reached at: ian.giatti@christianpost.com.
