While the MAGA coalition is currently fracturing over the prospect that President Donald Trump might join Israel in taking military action against Iran, religious-right activists have been nearly unanimous in their demand that the Trump administration lend its full support to Israel in the growing conflict.
The reason for this is that Trump's evangelical base believes that the Bible commands them to support Israel in order to bring about the return of Jesus Christ and the End Times, as former Rep. Michele Bachmann explained during a recent "World Prayer Network" program.
"This is the one thing a president can't get wrong according to the Bible, according to Joel 3," Bachmann said. "A president can't get Israel wrong. They can't. This is the one most decisive issue that will either take down a presidency or it will lift up and create great promise for a presidency."
"This is a spiritual battle," she continued. "Israel's at her greatest hour of need right now, every nation on Earth should thank Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu. We should all kiss the ground and be so grateful that Benjamin Netanyahu is prime minister and that he had the guts to take on this greatest evil terror state that has defined plans. And so the United States, in my opinion, we need to be decisive. This is not a negotiation. It can never be a negotiation."
Bachmann is joined in that view by MAGA pastor Shane Vaughn, who recently declared that Netanyahu is "a foreshadowing of the true lion that is getting ready to rise in the land of Israel."
"That lion that is soon to come of the tribe of Judah, Jesus Christ, Yeshua the Messiah, the Bible said when he returns that his vesture will be dipped in blood. He is not coming back to play, he is coming back to bring the rod of correction over the enemies of Israel," Vaughn proclaimed. "What you're seeing right now tonight my friends is not, hear me well, flesh and blood warfare. The missiles that flew on Friday the 13th were not just iron missiles but they were spiritual projectiles."
Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council used a recent episode of his "Washington Watch" program to assert that "America needs Israel more than Israel needs America."
"By standing with Israel, we unlock the blessings of God," Perkins said. "This is a prophetic declaration that includes all modern nations, including the United States. Now, let me be unequivocal: For those who say we cannot afford to support Israel, I say we cannot afford not to. If we abandon our support for Israel, we will soon discover that the account of God's blessing on America is overdrawn. We've long benefited from the undeserved favor of God. This is more than geopolitical, it is about biblical truth."
On Wednesday, Perkins brought Christian nationalist pastor Jack Hibbs on to his program to discuss the theological significance of the conflict, which Hibbs excitedly predicted is a precursor to the war of Gog and Magog prophesied in Ezekiel 38 that will bring about the End Times.
As Hibbs sees it, Israel will defeat Iran, thereby creating a fall sense of peace and prosperity throughout the Middle East that will prompt Israel to grow complacent, thereby setting the stage for the Ezekiel 38 battle.
The crux of Hibbs' support for Israel is rooted in his own antisemitism and his belief that the End Times will trigger a mass conversion of Jews to Christianity.
On Sunday, Hibbs delivered an entire sermon about the conflict, gloating that "Jews are waking up to the realization [that] something's up."
"God is stirring them up to think," Hibbs preached. "God is stirring them up to read the scriptures for themselves. My Jewish friends, if you just read your Old Testament—all of it, not just the parts the rabbis say you can read and the parts the rabbis tell you you cannot read—why would you have a rabbi to tell you there's certain parts of your Old Testament you shouldn't read? You want to know why? Spoiler alert. Here's the reason why: If you read all of the Old Testament, you're going to find out that the Messiah is none other than the Lord himself."
"The great scholars throughout history say the Rapture will happen in the proximity of Ezekiel 38," Hibbs added. "If this is not Ezekiel 38, this is a huge step toward Ezekiel 38. If it is the opening assemblage and the putting together of Ezekiel 38, you are ... on the threshold of history. ... This is a big deal."
