Things Are Looking Really Good...

“Because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” - Jesus (Matthew 24:12-14)

This morning I have one eye on Israel and one eye on the eastern skies. I am echoing the prayer of our brother John the Revelator: “Even so, Lord, quickly come.”

I am writing this in the immediate aftermath of the US and Israel launching a joint operation to strategically strike the nation of Iran. This is a mapped out, planned out attack on Iran’s military and government assets. Iran has retaliated by targeting civilian areas in Israel, forcing the Israelis to retreat to underground bunkers for safety. The retaliation is still ongoing. On live television, reporters can be seen reacting to missiles being intercepted over the Tel Aviv skyline. On top of the attacks on Israel, Iran has also targeted the many US naval ships stationed in the region, whether in the Red Sea or the Strait of Hormuz.

What one truly thinks about this international event is totally dependent on who he or she listens to. President Trump is framing this as an effort to protect American citizens, the sovereignty of Israel, and to pave a pathway of freedom for the Iranian citizens who have long suffered under the current regime. Trump’s naysayers argue that this is reckless, unnecessary, leading to many avoidable deaths, and could escalate into something that resembles a third world war.

The objective of this blog is not to convince you to see it one way or the other. Many of us are stuck somewhere in the middle of those two viewpoints. I am writing this because regardless of how we feel about these strikes, the biblical mandate for a time like this is not to run to our political keyboards and fight on social media with those who disagree with us. The biblical mandate is to pray, preach, and prepare.

1. Pray. Today, pray for the safety and preservation of innocent citizens in the Middle East region. Pray for civilians in Israel and Iran alike, as they are all souls who await an eternal destination when they die. Pray for world leaders involved in the situation to lead with wisdom and courage. Pray that our world’s governments would seek to live peaceably with all men, as Paul directs in Romans. Pray that the people of Iran, who have inarguably been suffering under a tyrannical regime, will finally receive their freedom. And pray that once that happens, an environment in which the Gospel can be freely shared will develop.

2. Preach. Times like these remind us that life is but a vapor. “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of the Lord endures forever” - 1 Peter 1:24-25. We have been commissioned by our Lord to go into this volatile world of ours and proclaim to them the eternal truth that Jesus saves! We have no time to fear or hesitate. We cannot afford to be dismissive or lack a sense of urgency. People are hurting. People are dying. And that is not just true of the Middle East; it is true of our neighbors. It is true of our coworkers and our family members. The news this morning is bad news. But praise God, we have good news to share!

3. Prepare. We all have differing opinions on eschatology. Eschatology is, in essence, the theology of end times. Some will see events like today’s and say that we are witnessing biblical prophecy playing out before our eyes and that end must be near. Others will see it as simple fruit of a fallen world with no real “Revelation significance.” Here is what I know: Jesus is coming back. These wars and rumors of war in the Middle East are not mile markers on the eschatological highway telling us how much further we have to go. They are instead directional markers that inform us that we are on the right path, we just have to hang in there and await further instruction. One day we will receive that instruction when the sky rolls back as a scroll, a trumpet sounds, and we finally get to go home. If Jesus is coming back, we must prepare. It isn’t as if we can ever truly be ready for His return, since don’t know exactly when it will come, but it would serve us well to be in His church, with His people, reading His Word, and praying in His name. Prepare for Jesus’s return as if it is an absolute certainty, because it absolutely, certainly, is.

The news is bad. The missiles in the skies are bad. The reaction from the Iranian ayatollah is bad. The civilians flocking to bomb shelters is bad. The black clouds hanging over the Middle East is bad. All of this is bad. Destruction, death, devastation. It’s bad - almost as if Jesus warned us that it would be just before His return.

Things are looking really good… because things are looking really bad.