The 12-day war with Israel, Iran, and the United States. What it means for the Middle East in the end times. That is the topic we'll discuss today on the Christian Worldview radio program where the mission is to sharpen the biblical worldview of Christians and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I'm David Wheaton, the host. The Christian Real View is a non-profit, listener supported radio ministry. Our website is TheChristianRealView.org and the rest of our contact information will be given throughout today's program.
As always, thank you for your notes of encouragement, financial support, and lifting us up in prayer. We at the Christian Real View took two weeks off from producing new programs due to all the preparation required for the Overcomer Course for young adults. Which took place last weekend, and I'll tell you more about that later in today's program.
But God didn't take two weeks off from advancing his plans for the end times and the return of his son. As the Overcomer Course concluded on Saturday evening, June 21st, we watched with the rest of the world as United States B-2 long-range bombers executed massive strikes on three of Iran's nuclear facilities. Where Iran has been attempting to produce nuclear weapons and fulfill their open threats of death to Israel and death to America.
After 12 days of Israeli strikes in Iran culminating with American bunker-busting bombs, Iran apparently got the message and a ceasefire has ensued for now. The power structure in the Middle East has changed in a very short time with Iran and its proxies weakened and Israel empowered. Soren Kern, geopolitical analyst and managing editor of the Christian Real View Journal, joins us today to give perspective on these momentous events and how they may relate to God's end times plan.
Soren, thank you for coming on the Christian Real View Radio program today in this very important time, especially what is taking place in the Middle East. I'm just going to give you a brief timeline. Back on October 7th, 2023, this is the day that Saturday is when Hamas attacked Israel. It took hundreds of hostages. Shortly thereafter, a military campaign by Israel went into Gaza where Hamas is based. It's been a complete devastation of Gaza and Hamas since then. There's also been a degradation of Hezbollah, another Iranian proxy that is based to the north of Israel in Lebanon. We can remember the operation with the pagers exploding and the pockets around the side of members of Hezbollah in Lebanon. Also, during the last almost two years now, Israel has been able to stop an Iranian missile barrage that took place.
I think it was about six months ago. Now, you fast forward to Friday, June 23rd, 2025 is when things really changed or deepened or got more serious, even if possible. Operation Rising Lion is the name of the operation that Israel used to conduct airstrikes against Iranian nuclear facilities under the guise that intelligence that Iran was close to developing a nuclear bomb. These strikes have killed many senior military leadership in Iran. Israel has had personnel in some capacity on the ground in Iran helping these strikes, drone attacks. For itself, Iran has responded with many missile attacks against Israeli cities. That was just Friday, June 13th.
That's been going on for about two weeks. Sunday, June 22nd was also a very significant day. That would have been Saturday evening, our time, June 21st, where the United States, under the direction of President Trump, sent many B-2 bombers from bases in Missouri all the way halfway across the world to drop bunker-busting bombs on these three nuclear sites in Iran. The Trump administration has said they obliterated them.
That was the word they used. Others have said that they're set back but maybe not obliterated, so we're not quite sure of that at this point. So just with that as some background, Soren, what do you know from your sources as to the latest on this war with Iran and Israel, with the U.S. now being directly involved? Thank you for having me on your program. This is really a huge issue. In the last Christian worldview journal, I wrote specifically that the Iran nuclear program is the greatest security threat in our generation, in our time. I'm very happy that the United States and Israel finally worked together to at least push this back. At the time that we're talking right now, that we're recording this interview, the ceasefire does seem to be holding. But I think it's very important to be realistic about what a ceasefire really means, what it signifies, because Iran is committed to the destruction of the state of Israel. And that will continue with a ceasefire or without a ceasefire.
So this is in a way not really a ceasefire but a pause, a tactical pause. As long as the Islamist regime is in power in Iran, it will always be explicitly hostile to the West and to Israel in particular. And so I think that right now we can say that Israel has been very successful, essentially diminishing or degrading the nuclear program and particularly the ballistic missiles in Iran.
And they did that in 12 days in less than two weeks. So they did that without a single combat loss, without an airplane loss, without any pilots being taken captive in Iran. So it is really quite an amazing turn of events in the Middle East. I'd like to play a soundbite, Sorin, from Amir Sarfati. He is the founder and president of a ministry called Behold Israel. A Jewish believer who lives in Israel, comments often on what's going on in Israel in the Middle East. Here's what he had to say about the recent bombings of Iran. So, folks, there is a ceasefire. Iran basically surrendered. Who would imagine that after 12 days when we pound Iran, dominate their skies, have its entire nuclear program gone, its entire ballistic missile program gone, and hundreds, almost 1000 of their IRGC lunatics are dead. So all of that, we would believe that Iran eventually will sit and ask for a ceasefire and say, please, no more. This is a complete surrender and that's a total victory on Israel's side. We not only destroyed the nuclear facilities where they enrich uranium with centrifuges, but we destroyed the manufacturing assembly line of the centrifuges.
So they cannot manufacture the centrifuges and they cannot use those that they had. What you need to do is make sure they're deterred, that they make sure that whatever they have, they are not going to ever use it because they know exactly what's going to come upon them. We're going to preemptively strike when needed. And this will be part of the new tactics in the Middle East, in this new Middle East. Soren, from the reports you're getting, is it consistent with what Amir Sarfati just said there about the devastation of Iran's nuclear facilities? And I would think that if they had bombed these sites, there would be reports of radiation leakage. What do you know about the devastation or the degree of devastation of these strikes?
Well, I think it's impossible to know. I like Amir, but I think that it's impossible for him or anyone else at this point to have a complete picture of the level of destruction of the nuclear infrastructure. There is a lot of disagreement among the intelligence agencies. For example, there was a leak from the Defense Intelligence Agency a couple of days ago saying that the destruction was not really all that great. The IAEA, International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors the nuclear infrastructure of all the countries that are signatories to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, Iran being one of them, says it cannot know exactly for sure until it had access.
Human inspectors can actually go there. Obviously, President Trump is very triumphant, as is Israel. I think it's very premature to make a definitive assessment of that. One of the problems with the United States intelligence is that they're wrong on a lot of things. The United States is very strong with what's called signals intelligence, using satellites and listening devices to monitor communications. But it's not very good at what's called human, which is human intelligence, having spies on the ground. That's where Israel really is much better. So, presumably, Israel has quite a number of people in Iran on the ground right now.
And I suppose they will be able to make an assessment. The problem in the United States also is that the intelligence agencies, as well as the FBI and the justice system, have become very politicized. So, when you have leaks like this to the press, like the DIA report, it's immediately cast suspicions on who's doing the leaking and what are the motives behind the leak. Before President Trump sent the B-2 bombers to attack the Iranian infrastructure, a lot of the mainstream media, left-wing news outlets, were saying that Iran was not even close to having a bomb, that it would be years away. And all of a sudden, they're parroting the idea that Trump's mission wasn't really that successful after all, and that Iran is only a couple of months away from rebuilding its nuclear infrastructure. So, you can see that somebody's lying, and there's a lot of politics behind it. And I think that there are elements within the U.S. government and the intelligence agencies that are trying to take away this victory for President Trump based on politics. I talked to somebody in Jerusalem this morning.
It's a very good contact. And I think that the number one concern in Israel among the security people is what happened to the enriched uranium that Iran already possesses. So, my understanding is that between 300 and 400 kilos of highly enriched uranium is uranium that, with a little bit more enrichment, could be used for nuclear weapons. It's not clear where that material is. If Iran was able to get that out of the weapons facilities before the United States and Israel bombed them, or if they're stuck in there, I suppose at some point, if they're in there, like you mentioned, there would be radiation detection, and you can easily detect that from satellites.
As far as I can tell, there's been no detection of that. So, a lot of speculation right now, and it's going to take a long time to really see the true level of success of the Israeli and the U.S. bombings of these nuclear weapons sites. Soren Kern with us today here on the Christian Royal View, a geopolitical analyst and the managing editor of the Christian Royal View Journal. Soren, the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission put out a quote this morning saying, we assess that the American strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities combined with Israeli strikes and other elements of Iran's military nuclear program has set back Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons by many years. The achievement can continue indefinitely if Iran does not get access to nuclear material, unquote. So, whether Iran's been set back four to six months or even four to six years, they're not going to give up on this.
They have what you could call a genetic hatred toward the Jews. This has been going on for centuries and millennia. They're going to try to rebuild at this point. So, at some point, they're going to do it covertly, of course, if they can, and try to deceive any sort of inspectors and so forth, like they've been doing in the past. Why do you think Israel has been able to operate in these strikes for the last couple of weeks, almost with impunity? I mean, I know Iran's been shooting some missiles over. They have killed a number of Israelis through these missile strikes to residential areas in Israel. But how has the Israeli military been able to operate against Iran so effectively, considering Iran has allies with nations who have very first-rate militaries like China and Russia, and Iran itself is a very large country with a very significant military?
Sure. I think that the Israeli mission operation against Iran has been in planning for many, many, many years. And there must have been thousands of people involved in the planning of this, down to the minute detail. I think that Israel simply has superior aerial capabilities, superior munitions, superior fighters. It's technology in the end. It also has superior intelligence.
A lot of this obviously comes from the United States. I'm talking about the military technology. Iran does have a large military, but its military doctrine has always been to use irregular warfare, that's terrorism. And so, as you mentioned in the opening of this program, October 7th, 2023, when the Hamas, they're backed by Iran, when they attacked Israel, that really spelled the beginning of the end of the Iranian proxy system, because Iran has always tried to avoid a direct conflict with Israel by having the proxies, having a conflict with Hamas and with Lebanon, with Hezbollah and with Houthis in Yemen. And those are all gone.
Those are all destroyed. And so now Iran was left really without any level of protection. And I think that you mentioned in the opening about the missile barrage about six months ago when President Biden was still in office. At that point, Israel destroyed a lot of the air defense systems of Iran. And it seems like during all this time, Iran has been unable to rebuild that system.
So in warfare, air dominance is everything. So Israel was thankfully able to achieve that very early on. I am quite curious that Russia and China did not come to Iran's aid. I wouldn't really consider Russia a first-rate military. Russia has been bogged down in a conflict with Ukraine for almost three years. So there's obviously serious problems with the Russian military, with the technology, with the command and control, because Russia has never achieved air dominance in Ukraine.
And that's why it's not succeeding. The Chinese, I think they're very dependent on Iranian oil. And they did not want to get involved, in my opinion, because they didn't want any destruction coming to the petroleum facilities within Iran.
And they don't want anything to happen to the Strait of Hormuz, where just large amounts of oil goes to China, as well as to Europe and the rest of the world. So it's kind of very interesting that in the end of it, Iran was all by itself and was completely humiliated by Israel. So as I mentioned in the earlier section, as long as the Islamic leadership is in power, they're going to try to rebuild and they're going to try to seek revenge on Israel. The last couple days before the ceasefire took place, Israel attacked many facilities and strategic sites belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Basij paramilitaries, all sorts of very important infrastructure that the regime needs to maintain internal stability and to prevent overthrow of the regime. So the regime is now very weakened.
It's probably at its weakest point in 40 years. And it's not really clear how much longer they can just maintain control over 90 million Iranians. But as I mentioned earlier, the ceasefire really keeps the regime in place and it allows it to regroup. And I personally would have liked Israel to have had a few more days to destroy other strategic sites that keeps the Iranian regime in power. That's a good segue into my next question, Soren, is that Israel early on was targeting incredibly effectively the leaders of the military. I mean, just with precision, you show these videos or pictures of penthouses and high rises and you see the top penthouses blown out where their military leaders live.
I mean, just incredible precision. Dozens and dozens, as you mentioned, also scientists and other experts in Iran's nuclear program were killed as well. But one notable person that Israel didn't go after was the supreme leader. This would be Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He's been in that position as the highest religious and political leader in Iran since June 4th, 1989.
So that's a long time. Why don't you think, as you talk about whether this regime will be able to stay in place, why didn't they go after him and really try to enact regime change? Because that really at the core is the problem. It's the worldview of the leaders that wants to destroy, you know, death to America, death to Israel.
Why not go after them? But I'm sure doing regime change is like letting feathers out of a pillow. You just never know what direction the whole thing's going to go. Yeah, it's very difficult to understand the Israeli thinking. I imagine eventually there will be books written about this and all the secret documents will be made public and we'll know. My hunch is that President Trump told Bibi Netanyahu that that was a red line, that they cannot kill the Iranian leader. Because for President Trump, the objective was the destruction of the nuclear program, not regime change.
Regime change goes to the whole core of the imbroglio that the United States had in Afghanistan and in Iraq. And I think that in exchange for U.S. commitment to destroying these sites that the Israelis did not have the technological capacity to do, President Trump, I suppose, said that the assassination of the supreme leader was off limits. Of course, I'm not completely sure.
We will know eventually. What I do know is that this guy is 86 years old. He was spending a lot of the last 12 days in a underground shelter, apparently afraid of being assassinated. It's not completely clear there are rumors coming out of Iran that he's very ill or that he's already dead. It's not completely clear what is the stability of the Islamic regime at this particular point. I should also point out that there's the son of the late Shah of Iran. His name is Reza Pahlavi. He lives in London, and he's been very active in the last couple of weeks to try to get the Iranian public to come behind his plan to bring democracy to Iran. He's committed to I think it's a 100 day plan if you were to take office to completely change the governing system of Iran from a theocracy to a democracy. And so we really do hope that he succeeds in that.
But it's really too early to say. I'm quite surprised that with what Israel has done to destroy and humiliate the Iranian regime to such a point that there hasn't been more of a public uprising within Iran. I think it's difficult when you don't have weapons, and I'm sure probably most of the Iranian populace doesn't have the weapons to be able to enact such a regime change. But from what I hear, it seems like there are many, many, maybe a high percentage of Iranians, Persians who do not like the Islamic leadership in Iran. Soren Kern with us today here on the Christian worldview, talking about the war between Israel and Iran. We'll take a short break for some ministry updates, but next we'll discuss how this war restructures power in the Middle East. And if there is biblical prophecy significance to it all.
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I'm David Wheaton. Be sure to visit thechristianrealview.org where you can sign up for our weekly email, the Christian worldview journal, monthly print publication, order resources for adults and children, and support the ministry. Our topic today is the 12-day war with Israel, Iran, and the U.S. and what it means for the Middle East in the end times. And our guest is Soren Kern, geopolitical analyst and managing editor of the Christian worldview journal. Soren, let's talk about President Trump's support or decision making that he had always been a person that talked about being averse to starting wars and indirect military involvement by the United States.
And there's been a big division in his support base, in the mega support base. There are those that are America first and they don't want involvement in any more Middle East wars after they've seen what took place in Iraq and Afghanistan. They see like, why are we supporting Israel?
This is not our neighborhood. And let's focus on the major problems we have in this country, like the huge debt we're in, the illegal immigration, all that you're getting our business inflations out of control. Let's get those things under control and not get involved in the Middle East. That's part of his base. And there's another part of his base that believes America should be involved around the world because we're a superpower and we need to bring a stability to the world.
We can't let Iran get a nuclear weapon and then use it against Israel or even use it against America in some way, if that were even possible. What do you know about the calculation that took Trump from being war averse to doing this massive military bombing campaign with B2 bombers out of this country over in Iran? And what do you think that's going to do to his political support going forward?
I think it's very difficult at this point to really understand all of the decision making criteria. When the Israelis first began bombing, Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, explicitly said that the United States was not involved. And after it was clear that Israel was having quite a bit of success, Trump began actually taking credit for on social media. He started using the word we as in Israel and the United States together. So it's very difficult to know his motives. I think that he was probably persuaded by senior military people that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. He may also saw this as an opportunity to silence his critics. I know that in the days leading up to the Israeli attacks, there was this mocking of Trump called taco. Trump always chickens out.
And that is something that must have really graded him, must have really annoyed him, knowing his perception of himself. I think that's very interesting that this has really exposed the divisions within Trump's base. And so it's really clearly a great division between the interventionists and the non-interventionists. And I think Trump showed a lot of these MAGA social media influencers that the president is in charge and not them. And so I think this was a very important secondary effect of Trump's decision to show that he's the one in charge.
And it's not a bunch of social media people like Tucker Carlson or Candace Owens or some of these other people who are very influential in the conservative movement. Looking at it from the big picture, it was a really big victory that Trump had against the isolationist wing because he fulfilled his promise that Iran would not be going nuclear. And he also fulfilled his promise that he would end wars. And when he bombed the nuclear sites in Iran, that essentially ended the 12-day war. So the reason why he had that outburst against Israel is that he made it very clear to the Israelis that he's not willing to risk the achievement that he garnered by essentially bringing a ceasefire into place.
Soren Kern with us today on the Christian worldview, a geopolitical analyst, managing editor of the Christian worldview journal. Benjamin Netanyahu said or CNN reported that he claimed that Iran had in recent years produced enough highly enriched uranium for nine nuclear weapons, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He wrote, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time. It could be a year.
It could be within a few months, he said. This is a clear and present danger to Israel's survival. And we've been hearing about this for many, many years that Iran's close and they can't have a nuclear weapon. My question is, and I've been reading this online some too, is that there are many countries, including some with very bad actors, like top of the list is North Korea, who has many nuclear weapons. Countries like Pakistan have nuclear weapons. China, terribly bad actor in the world.
Russia, they all have nuclear weapons. Why the graver concern with Iran, part one of the question, part two is the International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA, are they a reliable source to know how close Iran is getting to a nuclear weapon? Of course, they quote unquote do inspections, but Iran can't be just an honest host when these inspections are being done. So I think this whole decision by the Israelis to attack began with the IAEA report from May 31, 2025. And basically that was the first time it's a very detailed report.
I've read it. And so, yes, it's a very reliable organization. They're there to basically preserve the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and to ensure that every ounce of highly enriched uranium is accounted for. And so in their report on May 31, they warned that the nuclear breakout from Iran was down to within two or three days. They show very clearly that it's stock of the 60 percent of highly enriched uranium at Fordow, which is the one that President Trump bombed. Within three weeks, they would have enough highly enriched uranium or weapons-grade uranium for nine nuclear bombs.
And with Fordow and the tons, that's another site that was bombed. There'll be enough weapons-grade uranium for 11 bombs in a month. And then there's a whole scale up to 22 bombs by within five months. With this combined with Trump's 60-day deadline to reach a deal, it was very clear at the end that the Iranians were stalling for time and they were stringing the Trump administration along. That the Israelis and the Trump administration decided now is the time. We're running out of time.
And if they wait any longer, it might be too late. And then Trump will be blamed for allowing Iran to go nuclear. Why the grave concern with Iran getting nuclear weapons over countries who already have them that are very bad actors? The nature of the Iranian regime is completely different. It's an Islamic regime. It's a Shiite regime.
It's a messianic regime. They would have no problems using nuclear weapons against Israel, even if it resulted in their own suicide. There are other bad actors, particularly Pakistan, North Korea. Pakistan was the first country to have the Islamic bomb. And they got that from help with China and also by stealing blueprints from the Netherlands. So, you know, they've been basically a nuclear weapons state since 1998. And then North Korea received help from Pakistan and from the Soviet Union at the time. And they declared themselves to be a nuclear weapons state in 2022.
But I don't think that Pakistan and North Korea are suicidal in the same way that the Iranian regime would be. Because, you know, it's tied up with this idea of the Mahdi, the coming of the Islamic Messiah. And that Messiah is going to come when there's a lot of chaos in the world and suppose particularly in Jerusalem. And so by unleashing a nuclear bomb on Israel, they would be ushering in the coming of the Islamic Mahdi. And so the theology is a really important aspect of why Iran is different. We're going to get to how this relates to biblical prophecy in just a second.
Soren Kern is our guest here on the Christian worldview. How do you think if this ceasefire holds and there's not a continuing engagement back and forth between Israel and Iran, for a time at least, how does this alter the power structure in the Middle East? You've mentioned that Iran is Shia Muslim.
They're struggling. Their proxies have been really decimated. What does this mean for Turkey, who's Sunni Muslim and is an ascending power in the Middle East? And what does this do to the Abraham Accords, the agreement that Trump is trying to get signed between the Arab and Muslim nations and Israel to normalize relations and trade? This clearly shows that Israel at this point is a hegemon in the Middle East, not Iran. Iran has always been an ally, not so much an ally with Turkey. So I think for Turkey, it's sort of bittersweet because Turkey will now seek to replace Iran as a hegemon.
Turkey will not accept Israel being the hegemon and nor will Iran. So I think that this is going to just lead to really military buildup on the part of both Turkey and Iran to bring a balance of power with Israel. I think that Turkey and Iran cooperate on a lot of stuff, but they're also rivals and they have competing interests. So Turkey definitely has benefited from Iran's defeat in Syria. We wrote about that in the December issue of the Christian World View Journal about the implications for the demise of the Assad regime and how this really benefits Turkey in a great way.
Turkey's also had a lot of conflict with Iran and the Caucasus and Iraq, particularly with Kurdistan and their attempts to create an independent Turkish state. This really is a really big boost, I think, for Turkey and its hegemonic ambitions. What does this mean for the Abraham Accords? Well, I think that this is going to possibly lead to a period of unparalleled peace in the Middle East.
As we mentioned, Iran's proxies are destroyed in Gaza, in Lebanon, in Syria, and in Yemen for the most part. And so I think that this really potentially opens the door for expanding the Abraham Accords. There are rumors that Lebanon and Syria are about to sign soon.
The situation with Saudi Arabia signing is still uncertain. We mentioned in a previous radio broadcast that there was a United Nations conference on Palestine that was set for June of this year to debate the creation of a Palestinian state. And that was postponed because of the war between Israel and Iran. So I suspect that will be back on the agenda. Let me just say that Bibi Netanyahu made a misstatement on June 24.
I think that was yesterday or the day before. He said, with the destruction of the Iranian axis of evil, we will open a path of peace and prosperity for the nations of the region. We are working on that vigorously, and the time will also come to reveal our activity. So basically, this seems to be a revival of the deal of the century and the peace to prosperity initiative that President Trump announced in his first term. That is basically to bring some kind of a two state solution, and through this piece to bring prosperity to the Middle East. Of course, the Middle East is the Middle East, and a lot of things can change, but it does seem to me that this is setting the stage for a period of peace in the Middle East.
Okay, let's get to really the culminating question of the day, because we want to know how this figures into what God is doing as he brings the world to his end times plan, which has been planned before all history. This is going to be ascendant in the Middle East with America's help, as long as Trump is in power. And this will lead to Israel, just as you just said, feeling peace and safety and security and being prosperous with trade, as Netanyahu was just saying in that quote, coming through Israel after potentially signing the Abraham Accords because of the fact that Israel's biggest enemy, Iran and its proxies are been pushed back on. But Israel's current rejection of her Messiah, its godlessness as a nation, very similar to the United States in that way, its lack of repentance and turning to its God, Yahweh, and its pride will be shattered with the future attack from the armies of Gog and Magog. And whether you've written about recently in the journal, and then making a treaty with the Antichrist, so correct my little sentence there to you this morning, if there's anything wrong with it or expand on it as to how you see this impacting the future of biblical prophecy. Sure, I think that this is very important issue.
I am in agreement with your peer assessment. I think it's important to understand that this war, this 12 day war between Israel and Iran was not the Gog and Magog war. We wrote an essay of two parts about that in February and March issue of the Christian worldview journal, very, very detailed, and very clearly the Bible shows that Iran, which is called Persia in the Bible, is a key player in the Gog and Magog invasion that is recorded in Ezekiel 38 and 39. So it seems to me that by leaving the Islamic regime in place through the ceasefire, and by ending this war, possibly so much prematurely, it will give the Islamic regime the opportunity to rebuild, and that it will ally at some point with Turkey to stage an invasion of Israel. We can really remember First Thessalonians 5-3, when Paul warned that while people are seeing peace and safety, then sudden destruction will come on them.
So you know that's kind of a warning that we should be alert to, you know, false sense of security. And Daniel 9-27 also tells us that the Antichrist will come as a man of peace and it will broker a covenant with Israel. So, as I've mentioned before, if this is going to happen in our lifetimes, and very clearly the Abraham Accords are a framework for that peace deal that the Antichrist is going to either expand upon or make greater. I think the other thing that really came to light is how many Christians are anti-Israel. So you have basically anti-Semitism spiraling across the world, and it's largely from the political left, through the Islamists, and through evangelicals, through the Christian right.
And what I saw on social media over the last two weeks is sickening. We can have our disagreements in terms of eschatology as Christians. You know that covenant theology holds that all the promises that God gave to Israel in Genesis to Abraham no longer belong to Israel, but they belong to the church, called replacement theology. That the modern state of Israel is not a fulfillment of Bible prophecy, that everything now that God is doing is through the church. I mean, this is basically completely erroneous if you take a literal grammatical hermeneutic of the Bible. What a lot of covenant theologians do is they interpret the entire Bible literally, but then when they get to any mention of Israel in the Old Testament, they immediately replace it or allegorize it with the word church. And so if there was really a consistent hermeneutic of the Old and New Testaments, it would lead you to dispensational theology.
I mean, it's completely clear. I think it's really sad to see how many of these Reformed people, this covenant theologians were really attacking Christians who are pro-Israel, and how much antisemitism and true, I won't say hatred, but disgust for Israel there is among so-called evangelical Christians. Very, very sad. Yeah, I think many of these Christians you're talking about have a different difficulty in holding two tensions in their minds. One tension is looking at the modern-day state of Israel, the Jewish nation, and seeing the godlessness, the enemies of the gospel, the rejection of Christ, the desire for prosperity to dominate the Middle East. And yet, on the other side, realizing that God clearly in the Bible has a plan of blessing, a plan of actually consequence for the rejection, but eventually a plan of blessing. And you have to hold those two tensions, I think, in your mind that it doesn't mean you need to support everything Benjamin Netanyahu ever does.
He's not a believing man. And yet, for Christians, according to the Bible, we're called to bless those who bless you, according to Abraham. And so we need to be general supporters of the existence of the Jewish state, their existence in the land that God gave them.
And I think we can do that if we hold two tensions in place in our minds. What are your thoughts on that, Zoran? I think we did a really good job of explaining that. In the April issue of the Christian World Review Journal, there was an article in there called Why Christians Should Support Israel. So I really encourage listeners, if they have not been able to get their hands on the February and March issue and the April issue of the journal, there's a lot of very good information there that is directly related to what we've just seen over the last few days in the war with Iran and Israel.
There is. And I know in the upcoming July issue, you're going to be writing much more in depth about our conversation today and what this war between Israel and Iran and now the U.S. involvement in it and this potential ceasefire right now, what it all means for the Middle East and for biblical prophecy. And we always look forward to your articles every month, Zoran. We're so glad to have you working with the Ministry of the Christian World Review. Thank you for coming on the program today. All of God's best to you and your family.
Thank you very much. Now, when Soren talks about those who are reformed in their beliefs, he's referring to the doctrines that came out of the Protestant Reformation back in the 1500s that greatly changed not only the church, but the world. People like Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, Zwingli. These reformers recovered the true gospel out of the works gospel of the Roman Catholic Church. The true gospel being justification by God's grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
This was the major important thing that came out of the Reformation. But when it came to eschatology or the end times beliefs, these reformers were still influenced by the Roman Catholic Church belief that the church has replaced Israel as God's object of affection and blessing. And so many Christians today who are reformed in their soteriology, their view of salvation, justification by grace through faith, are also reformed in their eschatology, believing that the church has replaced Israel. Now we at the Christian Real View understand the Bible to teach justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone for sure, and yet we also read Romans 9-11 and other places in Scripture that the promises of God regarding Israel have not been abrogated or repealed, even considering Israel's current rebellion and rejection of Christ. God will judge Israel for that, but in the end God will keep His promises of blessing to His chosen people, the Jews. So in the meantime, Christians need to pray for Israel, for the Jews and their repentance, and turning to their Messiah.
We need to support their existence in the land that God gave them, and yet without blindly supporting the godlessness of their society, just like we don't support the godlessness in our country as well. That being said, I have a sense that what has just taken place in the Middle East over the last two years, and especially in this 12-day war with the decimation of Iran's military by Israel and the U.S., Israel's chief enemy being Iran, and the latest reports are that Iran has been set back years, not months, from nuclear ambitions. This new dynamic looks like it could pave the way for peace and prosperity, particularly with Israel. That may sound good, but Israel hasn't repented and turned to God to any large degree, and success and prosperity without giving glory to God leads to pride and destruction. The Bible says there is an invasion of Israel coming someday, which will debilitate them, causing them to sign a peace agreement with the Antichrist.
One wonders whether the current ascendancy of Israel is the precursor to this, so we need to pay close attention. We'll pause for two minutes to tell you about some ministry resources. Coming up in the last segment, a brief recap of the Overcomer Course for Young Adults, which took place last weekend when all this was going on in the Middle East. I'm David Wheaton, and you are listening to the Christian Worldview Radio Program. The Christian Worldview Journal is our monthly 12-page full-color print publication designed to sharpen your biblical worldview on current events and issues of the faith. The journal is anchored each month with three columns, including one by Christian geopolitical and prophecy analyst Soren Kern. You will also find details on radio programs, upcoming events, resources for adults and children, ministry updates, and more. The journal is mailed to all Christian worldview partners who support the ministry at $10 or more per month, or $120 or more per year. Plus, when you become a Christian worldview partner, you will be sent a complimentary copy of my hardcover book, My Boy Ben, a Story of Love, Loss, and Grace.
To become a Christian worldview partner and receive the journal, go to thechristianworldview.org or call 1-888-646-2233 or write to Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota 55331. You see, ideas have consequences, and bad ideas have victims. The culture of death that we're in today is not coincidental.
It's not an accident. It was intentionally created by a set of Marxist, socialist, totalitarian revolutionaries who were engaging in a proxy war attack against Christianity and the American family here in the States. That was Seth Gruber, executive producer of the 1916 Project film, which details how our culture of depravity and death arose from Margaret Sanger, Alfred Kinsey, and many more.
The 1916 Project DVD is 76 minutes and retails for $20. You can order it for a donation of any amount to The Christian Worldview and it will be shipped to you in the month of May. To order, go to thechristianworldview.org or call 1-888-646-2233 or write to Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota 55331. Welcome back to The Christian Worldview. I'm David Wheaton.
Be sure to visit thechristianworldview.org where you can sign up for our weekly email, The Christian Worldview Journal monthly print publication, order resources for adults and children, and support the ministry. In the final segment today, I just wanted to give a short recap of the Overcomer Course for Young Adults, which took place this past weekend, Friday and Saturday, June 20th and 21st at Stonehouse Farm in Jordan, Minnesota, which is just outside the southwest metro of the Twin Cities. This course is a major undertaking for us. We had to take two weeks off from the radio program in preparation. Every staff member of The Christian Worldview is involved, from Brody to Kelly to Alicia, Rich and Rosie, and a volunteer team as well.
Because the course is two full days from about 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. with three meals during the day, and so it's an intensive couple days. 32 young adults attended, about half men and half women. All of them came to hear how God's Word applies to core issues that they are facing in their lives. The first day was on the foundations of the faith, from the importance of the gospel and the importance of salvation, to the foundation of our life on Scripture, to God's sovereignty, to the pursuit of sanctification, which leads into the second day and the practical application. In other words, one must be saved, Scripture must be our authority, we must be trusting God's sovereignty and pursuing sanctification for us to have a renewed mind and empowered through the indwelling Holy Spirit to be then good stewards of our time, work, and money, to follow God's plan for singleness and marriage, to engage God's design in the local church, and to overcome temptation.
Those were the topics of day two. Now the course is not the be all and end all, because really the local church should be the discipling center for Christians week after week. But we do believe the course can make an impact.
It's a nudge in the right direction. And in a future program we will play some of the audio from the sessions at the course, but in the meantime you can get a sense of what the course is like by going to our Facebook page or Twitter page, xaccount, for the Christian Real View to see photos and so forth. A special thank you to Mark Stoneman for doing all the audio visual setup in the North Barn at the farm. We actually had an FM transmitter on site so that all the staff and volunteers who weren't in the teaching room in the barn could hear the course over FM radio within about a quarter mile from the barn. Thanks also to Daniel Conroy from Grace Church in Greeley, Colorado, which is where Travis Allen pastors, for volunteering to coordinate all the activities between sessions. Beyond the teaching, one of the positive things of the course is for young adults of like mind to connect with each other.
We had record heat that weekend, but somehow we managed to endure and get through it. So again, thank you for praying for this. Thank you to all our staff and volunteers for all the hard work they did and for the young adults who came. We include a feedback page at the end of each attendees notebook and I have a bunch of them in front of me right here.
I'm not going to read all of them. I'm just going to read a sampling of what the feedback was from the young adults in no particular order. Which elements of the Overcomer Course would you like the most? The familial atmosphere and the very sound biblical teaching. This one was, what was the most impactful part of the Overcomer Course?
Being able to meet like-minded young adults with a similar worldview. Were there any surprises or unexpected aspects of the course? I love that we had time to ask questions after every session.
This is a time of discussion after all the eight teaching sessions. And not only that, the one on singleness and marriage, we break into a group of men and a group of women separately because there are different issues to discuss based on male versus female and a lot of the attendees mention that they really like that part of the course. What was your biggest takeaway from the course? How to live a life glorifying to Christ in every aspect of life that God places us in. What elements of the course did you like the most? I love the ample time for fellowship, the solid foundational Bible teaching and the discussion time at the end of each session. My biggest takeaway from the Overcomer Course was that it is the Holy Spirit and the Word which enable us to overcome. Well, this attendee got the point of the course. Repentance and reliance on Christ is the power that chases away our dry seasons.
I am so thankful for this weekend. So we were very encouraged by not only the course but the feedback from so many of the young adults. Thank you for joining us today in the Christian Worldview and for your support of this non-profit radio ministry which allows us to broadcast week after week, host events like the Overcomer Course for young adults, produce the monthly print publication, the Christian Worldview Journal. By the way, you should have received the June issue by now. The issue went to our entire mailing list and not just Christian Worldview partners who are the regular recipients of the journal. The July issue is already in the works with Soren writing in more depth of what we discussed today about Iran and Israel in the Middle East. There will be another article on the issue of mental health in light of our recent interview with Greg Gifford. When you become a Christian Worldview partner of $10 or more per month, you will receive the journal.
Just get in contact with us the usual ways and our contact information will be given immediately following today's program. The world may seem out of control but just know that God is working his plan. The Bible says, the Lord has established his throne in the heavens and his sovereignty rules over all. That's Psalm 103 verse 19.
Until next time, think biblically, live accordingly and stand firm. The mission of the Christian Worldview is to sharpen the biblical worldview of Christians and to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. We hope today's broadcast encouraged you toward that end. To hear a replay of today's program, order a transcript or find out, What Must I Do to Be Saved, go to thechristianworldview.org or call toll-free 1-888-646-2233. The Christian Worldview is a listener-supported non-profit radio ministry furnished by the Overcomer Foundation. To make a donation, become a Christian Worldview partner, order resources, subscribe to our free newsletter or contact us, visit thechristianworldview.org, call 1-888-646-2233 or write to Box 401 Excelsior, Minnesota 55331. That's Box 401 Excelsior, Minnesota 55331. Thanks for listening to the Christian Worldview.
