Laurie regularly addresses the idea of world events being signs of the end times. He posted some thoughts on the topic when Hamas attacked Israel in 2023 and when Russia attacked Ukraine in 2022.
After Israel attacked Iran on June 13, Laurie said that “Bible students should be paying close attention” and that the war was “biblical foreshadowing.”
The pastor used the term “foreshadowing” again in his “Gog and Magog” video, saying, “Is this a fulfillment of Bible prophecy? I would say it’s maybe more of a foreshadowing than a fulfillment.”
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According to Laurie, the Bible says “Magog” is a country to the north of Israel and that Persia will attack Israel. “Many believe Magog is Russia,” he said, and “Persia’s the name of Iran.”
“Regardless of who Magog is, we know Persia will one day march against Israel. That has not happened exactly,” said Laurie, “but we see the alignment of Russia and Persia. We see the ongoing hostility between Iran and Israel. So it’s a cause for great prayer.”
Notably, not all Bible teachers are inclined to see current events as a sign of the end times. Hank Hanegraaff, who is president and chairman of the board of the Christian Research Institute and who is known as the “Bible Answer Man,” addressed this perspective in 2022 following Russia’s invasion into Ukraine.
“If we misunderstand the history of the Bible, we can come up with all kinds of sensationalistic scenarios,” said Hanegraaff, who believes that certain Ezekiel passages some take to be not yet fulfilled actually were fulfilled during the time of Nehemiah.
“We need to understand the principles of biblical interpretation so that our modern-day imaginations don’t go wild,” Hanegraaff said.
