Do the prophecies in Ezekiel 38–39 mean that the U.S. should simply accept the inevitable and give up its attempts to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons?
The answer to this question is no. Even though the Bible makes it clear that Iran will join forces with Russia and attack Israel, that doesn’t mean the U.S. should sit idly by and wait for it to happen. Stopping Tehran from building or acquiring nuclear weapons is essential for the stability and security of the Middle East and the entire world.
Keep in mind that the Bible doesn’t specifically say that Iran must acquire nuclear weapons for Ezekiel’s prophecy to be fulfilled. And Iran could do a horrendous amount of damage and snuff out a horrific number of lives with a nuclear bomb before the War of Gog and Magog takes place. That’s why I believe Iran’s nuclear ambitions must be stopped. And the longer we wait, the greater the danger we face.
So what is to be done? Can the U.S. rely on sanctions and other diplomatic strategies to force Iran to desist in its efforts to become a nuclear power? Can we rely on our intelligence agencies to tell us when we’re approaching the point of no return?
Unfortunately not.
There is no question that Iran—particularly under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad—is a dangerous regime. As we have seen, Iran is currently enriching uranium. When they successfully build 50,000 centrifuges they will be able to build a nuclear bomb in sixteen days. Will we know when that day is? Or will the smoking gun be a mushroom cloud in Washington, New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles? Remember that back in 1998 India tested a nuclear weapon and in so doing completely stunned the CIA and most of the world’s intelligence agencies, who had no idea that India was so close to getting the bomb. And India is a friend. I personally have little confidence that our intelligence agencies will be able to be more precise with the Iranian nuclear program, especially with the Russians helping Tehran.
Combine that with the fact that Ahmadinejad has vowed to wipe Israel off the face of the map and has asked Muslims to envision a world without the United States. He believes that Israel is the Little Satan and the U.S. is the Great Satan. He believes the end of the world is just a few years away and that it is his mission to bring it about. Deterrence, therefore, will not work. Negotiations are not working. And the time to foment a popular uprising to overthrow Ahmadinejad and the mullahs before they go nuclear is rapidly running out.
President Bush has done an excellent job defending the U.S., and I have strongly supported the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan and Iraq in light of the 9/11 attacks. But let’s be clear: if Iran goes nuclear on President Bush’s watch, all the gains that have been made thus far in the War on Terror will be wiped out, virtually overnight.
We absolutely cannot let Iran go nuclear. To do so would put Americans and all freedom-loving people in existential danger. It is time to prepare for war. It is not my best-case scenario, but prudence demands we move before it’s too late.