Events have escalated since Neil completed this paper last Friday but his thesis holds well. I note references
to a TRIPLE 47!

• the Shiite ‘twelver’ regime has been in power since 1979 = 47 years
• no US presidents decided to bring it down until Trump = 47th POTUS
• I was born in 1947.

Neil writes,

IRAN: EYES TO SEE AND EARS TO HEAR

PART 1

Without a working knowledge of the End-times prophetic scriptures, you might come to the conclusion that the things happening around the world are random. You might further think that: a). there is no God or; b). that there is a God, but He is not in control of events.

Nothing could be further from the truth. God’s ways are not our ways. I am convinced that He is shaking and positioning things, and advancing His plans that will culminate in the return of Jesus. What no one knows is how near that return might be.
Recently, the Lord popped into my head the question: “If you had been a disciple at the time of Jesus, would you have prayed for Him not to be crucified?”
I recognise that to have done so, would have been to pray against the fulfilment of a huge swathe of biblical prophecy; and, of course, we can now understand the essential nature of Jesus’ crucifixion in God’s plan for the redemption of mankind.
Moving swiftly forward, we need to have “eyes to see and ears to hear” as we study Old and New Testament prophecy, and to do our utmost not to pray against the fulfilment of God-given prophecy.
There are challenges!
For example, it is clear in Ezekiel that Persia (Iran) is one of the key players in the group of nations that come against Israel in the final “Gog Magog” battle (see Ezekiel 39). That battle culminates in the return of Jesus. So, praying for regime change in Iran may not be appropriate. It all depends on where we are on the time-line of God’s end-times plan!
From listening to, and watching, various news reports on the Iran war, my personal (amateur) assessment is that: The United States and Israel’s plan, to remove the existential threat posed by Iran and its proxy terrorist militias, is proving more difficult to achieve than expected, particularly for President Trump. As US economic and domestic anti-war pressures build, Mr Trump has wavered in his determination to finish what he started. His apparent (real?) fixation about negotiating deals has been exploited by the Iranian leadership. The US President, in the negotiated MOU, seemed to have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Iran appeared to be controlling (manipulating) the narrative but, as history has shown over and over again was, in reality, paying lip service to agreements that it had no intention of keeping.
The “axis of evil”, i.e., Russia, China, Turkey and North Korea (plus other smaller players), have been watching with interest. To all intents and purposes, Iran is their proxy for testing the will and capability of the US!
If Iran remains a threat, after some phoney deal, and that is still a possibility, the Iranian regime will appear, to the Middle East nations, and to the “axis of evil” in particular, to have rebuffed and humiliated the mighty United States of America. The deterrence factor of military strength and apparent US invincibility, will be severely undermined. In other words, the “axis of evil” may well be emboldened and push forward with its own agenda.
So, the recent Trump rhetoric that the ceasefire is holding and Iran is on its knees and desperate for a deal, is not reflected by reality. Once again, the fundamental aspects of Shia ideology were being ignored. The regime is willing to sacrifice everything, its people, its economy, its land and even itself, in its fervent certainty that the 12^th Imam, also known as the Mahdi, will return to rescue them, and lead them to victory in the final battle. The destruction of both the USA and Israel are an ideological obligation which is non-negotiable; and the fundamentalists make no bones about shouting: “death to Trump, death to America and death to Israel” in the streets of Tehran!

Where does all that leave us? In simple terms, we may be nearer to the “Gog, Magog” war (Ezekiel 39) than appeared to be the case a few weeks ago. If the evil regime in Tehran survives, America leaves the battlefield humiliated and disillusioned, and the European nations continue to refuse to take a stand in support of Israel, the “axis of evil” may see it as an opportunity to mount a multi-national assault on Israel.

On the other hand, Ezekiel 38:10-11 indicates that when the Gog/Magog alliance come against Israel, the people will be living at peace in unwalled villages. Those conditions seem unlikely to be achieved in the short term.

Other scriptures that may support our taking a longer view, include Zechariah 9:5 “Gaza will writhe in agony” (ongoing) and Zephania 2:1-7, which says that Gaza and the coastlands will be abandoned and become pastureland and belong to the remnant of Judah. Again, not something that is likely to happen quickly.

Returning to the main point: in my view it is essential to study the End-times biblical scriptures if we are to have any chance of understanding their relationship to current world events.

The good news is that God knows the end from the beginning, is never caught by surprise, and His plans will not be thwarted. Jesus will return and will sit on David’s throne in Jerusalem as King of the Jews and, from there, He will rule the world. In the meantime, we need to study the End-times prophetic scriptures very carefully and pray for their fulfilment.

The time draws near – Watch and pray.
PART 2

The Iranian Regime’s current strategy appears to be to politically emasculate President Trump and undermine the financial support his administration needs to continue to wage war. By continuing to attack shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the IRGC is destabilising the global economy; i.e., it will continue to cause oil and petrol prices to increase and have a negative effect on world stock markets.

Mr Trump sought to minimise political and economic difficulties he faced by negotiating a “Memorandum of Understanding” (MOU) that was far too generous to the Iranian Regime.

Yet again, the Western rational mindset (logic) that expected the Regime to recognise that it was in its best interest to accept this very generous deal, totally misunderstood the apocalyptic Shia ideology (see IRAN Part 1).

The MOU was seen as a sign of weakness, by the Iranian Regime. They would much rather force Mr Trump to have to intensify military action and, in consequence, weaken his administration’s support at home. If the IRGC can hang on until the mid-term elections in America, there is a distinct possibility that Mr Trump’s difficulties will worsen.

Furthermore, if the evil regime survives to the next presidential election, there is every likelihood that the next administration will not support Israel, and will allow the evil Iranian Regime to lie and cheat its way to a nuclear war fighting capability. That would be an absolute disaster!

President Trump needs to do his utmost to convince the American people that the IRGC must be eliminated, and to push back against the fundamentalist Muslim influencers who are gaining so much ground in the USA.

Pray, pray and pray again against the demonic onslaught that is influencing and seeking to corrupt all walks of life in all parts of the world.

NAM 9 & 17 July 2026
RB FOOTNOTE re Gog-Magog Alliance:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/iran-strikes-on-cia-facilities-in-gulf-prompt-questions-about-possible-russian-role-sources/