Pro-Donald Trump podcasters are pushing the idea that the president is bringing about the Second Coming with the United States and Israeli strikes on Iran.
U.S. forces launched Operation Epic Fury at the direction of Trump early Saturday morning. The goal of the operation is to “dismantle the Iranian regime’s security apparatus,” according to the U.S. Central Command. The president has claimed, without any proof, Iran was planning to attack U.S. forces.
Media Matters, a progressive nonprofit dedicated to monitoring “conservative misinformation” in the media, has compiled a list of several instances where pro-Trump podcasters have given a biblical perspective on Operation Epic Fury.
Gene Bailey, host of FlashPoint, compared Trump to the Persian conqueror Cyrus the Great in a video stream on Saturday. The Persian Empire encompassed several modern-day Middle Eastern countries, including Iran, according to National Geographic.
“When Cyrus the Great entered Babylon, he didn't crush a people. He didn't crush a people group. He liberated them. The Persians still call him Cyrus the Great because he restored dignity, honored faith, and broke the back of the oppressive regime.
“His name is etched in Persian memory, not as a tyrant but as a deliverer. So, let's fast forward 2,500 years now, many Persians see something similar to Donald Trump,” Bailey said.
Pastor Greg Laurie said in a video of him speaking at a public event, uploaded to his YouTube page Sunday, the attacks on Iran could signal the “Second Coming.”
According to theology, the Second Coming is part of the end of the world, or the “End Times,” where Jesus Christ will return to Earth.
“When we see this kind of activity in that part of the world, it reminds me of the words of Jesus who said, ‘When you see these things begin to happen, look up because your redemption is drawing near.’ As far as I can see, the next event on the prophetic calendar will be the rapture of the church,” Laurie said.
He continued: “When that event happens, all of the prophetic things that are going to take place are like dominoes closely stacked to each other. And once the first domino falls, the others will fall: the emergence of the Antichrist, the tribulation period, the battle of Armageddon, the second coming, the millennial reign of Christ, heaven and Earth become one, and somewhere in that prophetic scenario is the invasion of Magog with her ally Persia.”
Sean Feucht also mentioned the end of the world during a YouTube stream on Sunday.
Feucht said he’s had a ministry base in Iraq since “the height of ISIS” and believes “God has us positioned there for the end-time open doors of what he’s going to do in Iran when this regime is prayerfully removed and the people are able to freely worship Jesus,” Feucht said.
He added: “Pray for the president. That God would keep him safe right now.”
The U.S. and Israel have killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens of other senior Iranian figures in the strikes.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Tuesday that the “worst case” scenario with the strikes is that “somebody takes over who is as bad as the previous person.”
American Airlines gets approval to resume regular flights to Venezuela
Stranded travelers in the Middle East share their accounts of being stuck during the war
Iran-US war live: Senate fails to curb Trump’s war powers
Vigil held for Iran’s Khamenei as counter-protesters gather nearby
When is a war in Iran not a ‘war’? When it’s ‘our’ war
Noem says rumors she’s having an affair with her top aide are ‘tabloid garbage’
