Author and pastor Greg Laurie says events in the Middle East lead him to believe that biblical prophecy is being “fulfilled before our very eyes” and that Christians must not only support Israel but pray for peace in the region.
The pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship and one of the subjects of the hit movie Jesus Revolution, Laurie, said he believes events in Russia, Iran, and Israel all seem to allude to events predicted in Scripture.
“This is the one book that dares to predict the future, not once, not twice, but hundreds of times with 100 percent accuracy. The Bible tells us in the last days, certain things are going to happen. And friends, we're seeing those things happen before our very eyes,” Laurie said in a new video posted on his social media accounts.
The prophetic “time clock,” he said, began ticking in 1948 when the modern nation of Israel was formed.
“The Bible says that the Jewish people, who are God's chosen people, would be scattered to the four corners of the earth,” he said. “... The Bible said that that same group of people, Jews, who would be scattered would be regathered. And on May 14, 1948, Bible prophecy was fulfilled before our very eyes.”
Ezekiel 37-38, Laurie said, describes enemies of Israel as gathering from the north and attacking the Holy Land. One of those enemies is “Gog and Magog,” which many Bible experts believe to reference Russia.
“I just read an article that said the Wagner Group, a Russian state-funded army, is providing Hezbollah with sophisticated anti-aircraft weapons,” Laurie said, referencing a Wall Street Journal story that claimed Wagner will give Hezbollah the Pantsir-S1 antiaircraft system. Hezbollah is a militant group and political party within Lebanon, to Israel’s north.
“Ezekiel 38 [also] talks about Magog attacking her [and] one of the allies of Magog is called Persia. In 1935, Persia changed her name to Iran,” Laurie said. “... Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran have all openly said they want the complete destruction of Israel.
“So after this force known as Magog, which could be Russia, attacks with her ally, Persia, which is Iran, the Bible says that God is going to destroy the majority of this army and He's going to pour His spirit out on the people of Israel. So a great spiritual awakening is coming for the Jewish people.”
In the meantime, Laurie said, Christians must “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” while trying to “understand what's happening in that part of the world.”
Hatred of the Jewish people, Laurie said, is prominent around the world.
“There was a march on the White House just the other day of 100,000 people chanting slogans like ‘Death to Israel’ and ‘From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free.’ Understand what that means. What they're saying is that ‘We want a Palestine,’ if you will, that ‘has no Israel, that has no Jewish people.’ This is antisemitism at its very worst.”
Christians must stand for Israel, he added.
"We as Christians need to understand that the Bible tells us that the Jews are God's chosen people,” he said. “We as Christians need to understand that God gave the so-called land of Palestine, to the Jewish people, to Israel, which they have occupied in perpetuity for 3,000 years -- not always ruling it, but they've been there in that land that God gave them. And we need to understand that we should be praying for them because God gave us the Bible through the Jews. God gave us our Messiah, as a Jewish man. …”
“God is at work, friends. We are seeing Bible prophecy fulfilled before our very eyes.”
The Bible is the one book that dares to predict the future. Not once or twice, but hundreds times with 100% accuracy. That is because it is the very word of God. All that is happening with Israel and the Middle East right now? It was all spoken of thousands of years ago by the… pic.twitter.com/sveZTfudFD
— Greg Laurie (@greglaurie) November 7, 2023
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Photo Courtesy: ©Getty Images/David McNew / Staff
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.