Opening

Well, it appears the tenuous ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran has come to an inevitable end.

As of this writing, the United States has expanded its military campaign against Iran’s IRGC. This go-round, the Strait of Hormuz, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Iran’s underground nuclear program are simultaneously in play. Consequently, the geopolitical situation revolving around this conflict is hastening. But for those of us who read the headlines through the lens of Yeshua-focused Torah Living, the pace of these events should not produce panic. It should produce within us a very specific kind of sobriety and reality. It is the sobriety and reality of someone who recognizes that we are living inside a developing story we’ve already read.

Allow me, beloved, to state my case by briefly tapping a portion of the prophetic texts.

The Isolation of the modern nation of Israel Is a Prophetic Certainty

To truly understand the geopolitical situation taking shape around the Jewish state of Yerushalayim, truth seekers must consume and understand Zechariah 12. For it is one of the most geopolitically precise prophetic texts in the whole of the Tanach. Here, the prophet describes one of the final phases of history in which Yerushalayim becomes “a cup of trembling” for all its surrounding nations and “a burdensome stone for all peoples” (Zech. 12:2–3). This cup of trembling, aka the cup of drunkenness, is symbolic of the divine judgment that Abba Yah will bring upon His and His people’s enemies. Yehovah’s judgment reduces the enemies to what can only be described as “a state of helplessness and misery similar to that of a drunken, staggering, intoxicated man.”^[1] The mention of her in addition being “a burdensome stone or heavily weighted stone for all peoples” “describes a stone that injures those who try to lift it. Those nations that attempt to attack Yerushalayim will find the task too difficult and will end up injured.^[2]

But this text is certainly not describing an Israel that is popular among the civilized Western and Middle Eastern nations. It is for all intents and purposes describing an isolated Israel that is surrounded, pressured, cut off from any would be allies, including the United States. Yet she is miraculously preserved by the strong and irresistible arm of YHVH.

So, what we are presumably seeing with the U.S.–Iran military escalation, combined with the ongoing international pressure to divide the covenant land, is the early formation of exactly that prophetic landscape described by the prophet some 2,500 years ago. American guarantees of an unbreakable alliance are uncertain and unreliable. The so-called Iran deal or MOU/Memorandum of Understanding has, for all intents and purposes, miserably collapsed. All the while, Hezbollah, entrenched in Lebanon, remains armed to the teeth in the north. The surrounding nations seem to be on the move in one form or another.

All things considered, Israel is being forced to learn that its security rests not in its own power or wherewithal to sustain itself; nor by any alliance-based provisions she may receive. But in the covenant faithfulness of the Ahloah of Avraham, Yitschaq, and Ya’achov.

Persia in the Prophets — This Is Not New Conflict

The conflict between Israel and Persia (modern Iran) is not a 21st-century invention. Ezekiel 38 describes a great coalition forming against Israel in the “latter years” (Ezek. 38:8) — led by a figure called Gog, from the land of Magog, drawing in allies including Persia (Ezek. 38:5). The text is explicit: Persia is listed by its ancient name among the enemies of Israel in the end-time alignment.

I am not claiming that what we are watching today is the final fulfillment of Gog and Magog. Theological humility requires that we hold prophetic application loosely. But we would be negligent not to notice that the prophetic framework — Persia opposing Israel, a northern power gathering force, international coalitions forming — is precisely the shape that current events are taking.

Daniel 8 adds another layer: the vision of the ram (Persia/Media) and the goat (Greece) — a vision about the collision of great powers, their pride, and their ultimate subjugation to the purposes of the God of heaven. What Daniel saw in vision, we see unfolding in the news cycle. Every empire that has set itself against Israel has eventually broken. The God who said “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who dishonor you” (Gen. 12:3) has not changed His posture.

Jeremiah’s Word — Saved, But Not Without Cost

Jeremiah 30 pairs well with Zechariah 12. But it also strongly stands on its own merits as an all-consuming prophecy of what’s ahead for national Yisra’el. And what’s ahead for Yisra’el according to YHVH through the pen of the prophet Jeremiah is nothing short of miraculous. But despite Yah effecting the final redemption of Yasharal, the nation will endure a time of trouble. Speaking of what Yah through the Prophet calls “the time of Jacob’s trouble.” But in the same breath, Yah sends comforting words to the nation by declaring: “Fear not, O Jacob my servant… For I am with you to save you… I will make a full end of all the nations among whom I scattered you, but of you I will not make a full end.” (Jer. 30:10–11)

Despite the braggadocios and threatening talk of the nations, Yasharal/Yisra’el will remain. She will not be destroyed. But she’s going to have to endure a time of hardship and discomfort before she reaches her final redemption while in the Land of Promise. Indeed, she will be isolated. Her military will be tested. Politically, she will be abandoned. In fact, all that the nation state of Israel is presently experiencing is part of her correction and refining. Contrary to the hopeful lies believed and spread by the anti-God and antisemitic souls of this modern world, Yah has not nor will he ever abandon His Covenant children.

This is the foundational word that the chosen and elect of Yehovah, watching and praying through current world events involving Yisra’el, need to be firmly cognizant of: Yehovah Sabaoth has not taken His strong and mighty hand off Israel. Because you see, beloved, our God is not afraid of Iran, nor is He surprised by any stunts they may pull. He is certainly not alarmed by Iran’s foolish acts over the Strait of Hormuz. You see, beloved, Abba Yah is accomplishing His divinely appointed purposes that are beyond the understanding of the legacy media. Indeed, our God declared through the mouth and pen of the prophet: “For just as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and they do not return there except they have watered the earth thoroughly and cause it to bring forth and sprout, and give seed to the sower and bread to the earter, so shall be My word that goes out from My mouth. It shall not return to Me without success (or it shall not return to Me void) but shall accomplish what I desire and be successful in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55.9-10; LEB)

What Messianic Believers Must Do Right Now

The Messianic-Hebraic-Netsari community is uniquely positioned for this moment in time. As the redeemed of the Most High Ahlohim through Yehoshua Messiah, we are emissaries of the Kingdom of God—the Malchut Elohim. Thus, we are by default privileged to be faithful witnesses for the Kingdom. So, here is what this moment in time requires of each of us:

First, it is incumbent upon us that we pray for Yisra’el with full covenant understanding and bearing. Consequently, our prayers and petitions on behalf of Yisra’el must not be that of mere political sympathies. The command to pray for the peace of Yerushalayim (Ps. 122:6) has intentionality attached to it. That intentionality comes from it being a covenantal obligation rooted in our engrafting into the Commonwealth of Yasharal (Romans 11:17).

Second, let us read the prophets again and again so that their words resonate within us and we as the righteous remnant of Yasharal, live by our Faith (Habakkuk 2.4). Indeed, the headlines of legacy media unwittingly serve as a commentary on the words of the holy prophets. There’s wisdom in letting the scriptures interpret the headlines, not the other way around. Our Master, when confronted by the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to test Him declared to Him: “When evening comes you say, ‘It will be fair weather because the sky is red,’ and early in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy weather, because the sky is red and darkening.’ You know how to evaluate correctly the appearance of the sky, but you are not able to evaluate the signs of the times. And evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, and a sign will not be given to it except the sign of Yonah!” (Matthew 16.2-4; LEB) So, let us not be like the erring Jewish religious leaders of Yeshua’s day. Instead, let us learn how to discern the signs of the times through the writings of the prophets of old.

Third, let us resist the temptation to set dates or make doctrinal prophetic claims about the events we see transpiring around us. Let us learn to be humble in our assessment of the signs of the times. Wise in our interpretations and not put ourselves in positions to fail by making sensational claims. We must learn to testify to the prophetic framework in scripture and in our heart, but we leave the specific timing of things and events to the very capable hand of God Almighty.

And fourth, allow Yah to provide the means to speak to your communities via our congregations; our online platforms; and even around our Shabbat tables about what the God of Avraham, Yitschaq, and Ya’achov is doing. The nations are in confusion, but the Body of Mashiyach should not be.

Yah is shaking the world at large because the world must know that He is Yehovah, Creator of the Universe. But we who are the redeemed of the Most High should not be shaken.

Closing

Indeed, we are meant to be witnesses and intercessors for this moment in human history. We are called to read the times with prophetic discernment, to hold the covenant promises with both hands, and to speak with clarity when the nations are in chaos.

The present iteration of the U.S.–Iran conflict is not the end. But it may be part of the beginning of the end. Maybe a form of birth-pangs that will precede the final restoration of Yisra’el and the advent of the coming Malchut haShammayim (aka the Kingdom of the Heavens).

Indeed, beloved: That day cometh upon creation as an ocean torrent slams against an open beachhead. Until it does, let us as a Body and as individuals watch, pray, and speak the Words that will change the lives and souls of the lost of this world.

Shabbat Shalom.

^[1] Walter C. Kaiser and Lloyd J. Ogilvie, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, vol. 23, The Preacher’s Commentary Series (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1992), 415.

^[2] John D. Barry, Douglas Mangum, et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Zec 12:3.