Strikes on Iran: The Reality of the Moment

The American bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities on June 22, 2025 is perhaps the most significant military action mounted since the D-Day invasion of France in June 1944. B-2 Spirit stealth bombers flew from America to Iran, dropped bunker buster bombs on key targets and returned with no loss of personnel or planes. No other current world power can mount such an attack, this one setting back a clear and present danger to Israel and the United States—and world security.

Since the Iranian revolution of 1979 the Islamic regime has consistently proclaimed “death to America,” calling it “the great Satan.” Leader after leader has clearly stated the aim to push the Jewish state of Israel off its land and into the sea. Iran developed long-range missiles to deliver nuclear payloads to far targets. Iran and its proxies abroad have shouted the most public, virulent statements of antisemitism since the Nazi Holocaust.

The aim of such attack is theologically based in the belief among Iran’s theocratic leadership that global conflagration will trigger the appearance of the mysterious hidden 12th imam of Shiite Muslim tradition as the Mahdi, who will unite Muslims and impose Islamic order on the entire world. No treaty or agreement on nuclear development will stop Iran’s ruling clerics from this mission. Clear-eyed observers understand the grave threat Iran poses to world peace and order.

Iran is linked with Russia and China in seeking to replace America’s position as the top world power. Some observers have referred to the last few years of world conflict as “World War III.” It’s certainly a period of major consequences. America’s position is being tested. For the moment its power holds. Are we viewing a resurgence of the Pax Americana, or is U.S. preeminence over? Such matters should draw our attention.

Russia’s threat

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing war have tested Europe and America’s commitment to the NATO pact. President Donald Trump, critical of European nations relying on America’s power to keep the peace, has pushed them to increase defense spending, which they are slowly beginning to do. At current rates they are years away from standing on their own. Russia’s threat is a wake-up call. America will not abandon Europe in this battle. Too much is at stake.

Russia’s efforts to become the preeminent world power will fail, as it runs counter to what God reveals in Bible prophecy. But the push to rearm Europe could well have unintended consequences in line with end-time Bible prophecy. It shows that a revived Roman Empire will remarkably emerge as the dominant power: “And all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?’” (Revelation 13.3-4).

Europe is not there yet. But history has a way of speeding up when God’s timing is involved.

Where’s China?

China is the other part of the current equation. It has been cautiously eyeing the outcome of the Middle East and European conflicts. Are China’s interests not fully aligned with their so-called partners? Are they waiting for their moment to strike and test America’s will and commitment? China has the world’s largest military, and its threat to take Taiwan and assert control over the Pacific region is well known. China is America’s biggest rival in virtually every category of power.

China has its own internal challenges, even as it asserts itself militarily. Some feel the communist hold on the people is always tenuous, tied to economic performance. The tense battle of tariffs with Washington could trigger domestic problems that divert its attention from world conquest. China, despite its size and long history, has never gained global preeminence. Its language, religion and culture have not shaped the modern world in the wake of influencing whole periods of history. Its Great Wall, built to keep out its enemies, is a symbol of a closeted culture.

China will be among those peoples the Bible foretells will come against the unwalled cities of Israel (as explained in our free study guide Russia and Bible Prophecy). But for now it looms as a giant power, uncertain how to act with its chosen allies.

Understanding events through a biblical lens

The world is being reshaped through large and dramatic actions by the United States and the state of Israel. The Middle East has been reset for the time being. World leaders are recalibrating their approach to America. The world has been made safer by this action. Of course, danger remains for these two nations—especially on their domestic fronts. But no one else can do what they have recently done to reshape an entire region.

How should we understand this moment? How does it fit with what the Bible tells us about prophecy and the course of great powers? Such defining events transcend politics and personalities. They are connected to biblical markers given by God to guide us to faith in Him as the sovereign God of nations who guides history to His purpose.

We have been watching the themes of the prophetic book of Daniel take shape in a modern setting. God here touches on the Israelites in national captivity. The Babylonian captivity of Daniel’s time was the result of great national sins. The people of Judah, the last remaining Israelites in the Promised Land at that time, were enslaved.

God reveals in Scripture what’s behind the ages-long violence against the people He has called into covenant with Him. The descendants of Abraham through his son Isaac and grandson Jacob are targeted for attack by Satan and the world powers he uses to counter the purpose of God.

Daniel 11 is a minutely detailed prophecy laying out not only events in the ancient world—the struggle between the Greek-ruled Syrian and Egyptian kingdoms known as the king of the North and king of the South—but also the spiritual hatred toward the people God chose to bear a promise based on a covenant made with Abraham and his descendants through Jacob. These powers sought to harm and destroy the remnant Jewish state in the land (verses 27-28), as their successors will later do.

One king, Antiochus Epiphanes, rose in fury to defile the Jerusalem temple with what Scripture calls an “abomination of desolation” (Daniel 11:31). History shows this involved pagan defilement and the sacrifice of pigs, unclean animals forbidden in God’s sacrificial system, on the holy altar. This wicked ruler raged against the “holy covenant” (Daniel 11:30). This was all predecessor to a future abomination of desolation leading into the Great Tribulation of the last days (Matthew 24:15, Matthew 24:21-22).

A key takeaway from this is the enduring hostility toward the people given the covenant of God. Satan knows where and how God works among the nations. He hates that work. When today we see a major power like

Iran arise and for more than four dec-ades scream “death to America and the Jews,” we should ask just exactly what that means. What’s behind it, and why do we see such hatred and animosity against these peoples?

The answer is that both America and the state of Israel are visible evidence of the promises of the God of the Bible and His faithfulness through the ages. These nations in the modern world are signs of God’s enduring faithfulness. There are signs telling us God will give to all nations the ultimate promise of spiritual salvation through Jesus Christ. That truth is, and always has been, hated among nations, and we see it being acted out in world events today.

God chose a man named Abraham to become the father of many nations, by which God’s eternal purpose would be carried among the nations through time. His grandson Jacob was given the name Israel, meaning “prevailer with God.” This name, which passed to his descendants as the nation of Israel, will persist ultimately in the truth that man will prevail with God and live with Him forever in a city with gates named after the tribes of Israel (Revelation 21:10-12, Revelation 21:22-27).

Israel is a name that tells the story of God and His purpose.

We see in the calls of “death to America” and “death to the Jews” the ancient hatred for God and His rule over man. We are seeing a spiritual battle of the ages before our eyes. For a moment, at this time, the powers of Israel have asserted their will against this hatred.

Is this part of God’s providential design? We should not dismiss this lightly. We should not relegate it to the realm of “politics” and discount it as having no part in the gospel of God. It matters, and we need to keep it in focus!