Early in the morning on Friday, June 13^th the state of Israel launched a dramatic attack on one of the primary nuclear reactors in Iran. In addition, a number of key Iranian military leaders and nuclear officials were targeted and killed after it was confirmed that Iran had likely reached the capacity to produce nuclear warheads.

Based on repeated public threats from the Iranian leadership, it is well established that they planned to destroy Israel and, potentially, other key nations and cities in the Arab world and the west with these weapons.

Israel titled its mission (which is ongoing) “Operation Rising Lion.” The lion of Judah is a biblical symbol drawn from Genesis 49:9. And is used in a number of places in scripture to refer both to the tribe of Judah, as well as to the ultimate descendant of that tribe, Jesus Christ (Revelation 5:5).

Indeed, while the state of Israel, which actually consists primarily of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi, may leap like a lion in the days leading up to the second coming of Jesus Christ, it is Christ Himself who will give the final roar to world events.

It is interesting to note the relationship that the Jews have historically had with the Persian Empire (what we, today, call “Iran”), and specifically with the Persian Emperor Cyrus (reign: 559-530 B.C.), who granted the freedom to return home to the Jews who had been taken captive by the Babylonians 70 years before (Ezra 1, 2 Chronicles 36:22-23, Jeremiah 25 and 29). It was through his edict, an event that was prophesied nearly two hundred years earlier by the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 44 and 45), that a small remnant of Judah and some of the Levitical priestly families were allowed to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple of God.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel issued a statement late on Friday, June 13^th acknowledging this debt to the Iranian people and encouraging to them to throw off their oppressive leaders: “The nation of Iran and the nation of Israel have been friends since the days of Cyrus the Great. The time has come for the Iranian people to unite around its flag and its historic legacy, by standing up for your freedom from the evil and oppressive regime.”

In due time we will see what the ultimate outcome of this recent action by Israel against Iran’s nuclear weapons program will be, but we can know with certainty that it is all part of the staging of events that will ultimately lead to the return of Jesus Christ. The empires and nations of the past have by no means disappeared into the fog of history, they are the same players now, but with different names.

Be watchful, be vigilant (1 Peter 5:8)—it is an exciting and sobering time to be alive and watch these events unfold, but it is more exciting to anticipate the complete transformation and reclamation of humanity that will occur as the government of Jesus Christ ushers in a new era of history!

-Amanda Stiver, with Randy Stiver