“Do you believe the time for the Rapture, the Tribulation period, the nations encircling Israel and the Battle of Armageddon are close at hand because of Israel’s attacking Iran?”
As with every question on the End Times,
The answer is “Only God knows.”
For sure, those who adhere to Darby Dispensationalism—which was made quite popular by Cyrus I. Scofield in the early 1900’s—the answer is a resounding “Yes:” for they base the countdown on Israel’s return to her homeland in 1948.
In this view, the Rapture of the Church will occur before the seven-year Great Tribulation. Next, there’ll be the 1,000-year reign, where Jesus will rule over the earth in His Peaceable Kingdom. And, this will be followed by the final showdown between Christ and the forces of evil in the Battle of Armageddon.
Included in this view is the belief that Russia and her leader will be “Gog and Magog.” Likewise, Turkey will be a part of this final “Axis of Evil,” which will include China as the “great army of the East,” which marches across the Euphrates River on dry ground.
While all of this is titillating (to say the last), the fact remains that only God the Father knows when Jesus will return.
Thus, we’d do well to refrain from “spiritual speculation” and trusting more in our “eschatology” (study of the End Times) than we do in Christ’s words of warning (Mt. 24:3-25:13; Acts 1:6-7):
Because, when it’s all said and done, no one’s going to Heaven saying “You should have bought my book”—no one, i.e., except for Jesus.
