Every examination of prophecy about the very end of the Church Age that deals with the nations and their individual and collective fates/destinies must begin and end with Israel. Therefore, we continue looking at details of modern Israel as juxtaposed against all nations–thus to determine how the minute elements of ongoing developments in geopolitics are setting the prophetic stage for Christ’s return.

Previously, we looked at how Israel and Jerusalem are at ground zero for the diplomatic world. The international community correctly sees this as the place on earth most likely to be the ignition point for World War III. It is intriguing to dissect with the scalpel of Bible prophecy each and every layer of development in the geopolitical issues and events of our time that involve the modern Jewish state. Iran is a most fascinating case in point.

Persia, as we have looked at many times, is listed as a key player that assaults Israel in the Ezekiel 38-39 Gog-Magog prophecy. Modern Iran is at the center of what was ancient Persia, as we know.

With Iranian Shah Mohammed Rezā Pahlavi being in power through most of the 1970s, Israel didn’t have to be overly concerned about neighbors to that section of its north. One reason was because America’s military, particularly the U.S. Air Force, worked closely with the Shah’s air force in training and maintenance missions. I can report this from more-or-less personal secondhand information, because my own father-in-law was in charge of all aircraft maintenance for American-made military aircraft in Iran’s arsenal through 1976. The shah was America’s friend, even if sometimes being beastly in treatment of his own people, and looking down his nose at Israel to his south.

Point is, Bible prophecy students were hard pressed to see how the Gog-Magog force could ever be formed, with this arrangement in place. We know what happened, as we think on how quickly things have fallen in place one event after the other since the shah’s fall in 1979.

America, under the Carter administration, was run out of town, literally, with the coming of the Iranian Revolution, as the Islamists came to power under the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Iran became increasingly bellicose against the West, and, of course, became blood-lust determined to erase Israel and every Jew off the map.

Russia and the present Iranian regime have become working partners at many levels, the most troubling at the nuclear level. The Gog-Magog nucleus has formed between Russia, Iran (Persia), and Turkey (Togarmah) within less than two years.

It’s also prophetically amazing to watch a most-asked question among prophecy students in process of being answered by the flood of developing issues and events. Why is America not mentioned in Bible prophecy? It is the most powerful nation ever to exist… Again, it is intriguing to consider that America was instrumental in all of these developments–as one would expect the most powerful nation ever to exist to be, I suppose.

America “defeated” the Soviet Union” through tactics involving cold war attrition–and the heart of that antagonist became again “Russia.” This territorial rearrangement aligns almost precisely with the ancient geographical area called “Rosh,” the leader of which the prophet Ezekiel foretold will be “Gog” of the Gog-Magog war against Israel.

The United States has slipped from its ultimate superpower status since that time of the Reagan-led peaceful defeat of the Soviet Union. Under the Obama Administration, America’s economic standing, thus its fiscal hegemony over the other nations of the world, has declined, some say precipitously. Prophecy students of the premillennial, pretrib perspective can point with a certain amount of credibility to the fact that America’s slippage coincides closely with this nation’s bringing pressure on the Israeli government to give in to demands that they give up land for peace with their Islamist neighbors.

At the same time, China, which most students of the premill, pretrib viewpoint of Bible prophecy believe is the chief nation that will make up the “kings-of-the-east” force that will one day kill one-third of the world’s population, is draining U.S. economic power while buying up American assets. America is, in effect, funding the development of the awesome military force predicted in Revelation 9:16 This would have been flabbergasting to even consider during those Reagan years, and that hasn’t been that many years ago. China! Of all nations on earth–China has answered the question: Why is America not mentioned in Bible prophecy? The United States can also be seen as instrumental in the details of developing Bible prophecy regarding the region that is foretold to spawn the world’s most despicable dictator.

Daniel the prophet said that this “prince that shall come” will emerge from the people that “destroy the city and sanctuary.” Most premill, pretrib students of Bible prophecy view this to mean that Antichrist will come from the area of Rome–from Europe, in general—as the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple in A.D. 70. Again, the viewpoint is important to recognize, because the premill, pretrib view–in almost every instance of examination of prophecy yet future–provides logical placement, thus explanation, of what we have watched develop in world headlines–especially since Israel became a nation again May 14, 1948.

America’s influence has been absolutely profound in bringing the modern Jewish state into prominence. My book, The American Apocalypse: Is the United States in Bible Prophecy?, details the intricacies of America’s part in that rebirth. The United States’ influence in bringing modern Europe into prophetic configuration is only slightly less profound. Next time, Lord willing, we will continue looking at the many facets of those and other developments toward fulfillment of the final prophecies leading up to Christ’s Second Advent.