A California pastor has suggested that the Hamas terror attacks in Israel that killed more than 1,000 people, including 14 Americans, were foretold by scripture.
Greg Laurie, the head of California megachurch Harvest Christian Fellowship, made the allegations in a sermon he delivered on Sunday.
‘Interesting how it always comes back to Jerusalem. The Bible predicted thousands of years ago that the End Times events would revolve around Jerusalem,’ he said. “Not San Francisco. Not Los Angeles. Not Moscow. Not Paris.’
‘But Jerusalem, this tiny city, in this small piece of land, will play a key role in the events of the last days. This is the focal point of End Time events,’ he added, quoting Zechariah 12:3, saying: ‘On that day I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves.’
Laurie has ties to former President Donald Trump and attended the Rose Garden ceremony to nominate eventual Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
Greg Laurie, the head of California megachurch Harvest Christian Fellowship, made the allegations in a sermon he delivered on Sunday
He then criticized current President Joe Biden for unfreezing $6 billion in funds to Iran, saying “what a bad move.”
Laurie added that this is a ‘super sign’ that the ‘prophetic clock ticking is the re-gathering of the nation of Israel in their homeland’.
“On the heels of the Holocaust, who would have ever imagined that these Jewish people who lost 6 million of their people to the Nazis would somehow be reunited in their homeland?” he said.
‘But it happened against all odds. And on May 14, 1948, Israel became a nation. I am proud to say the United States was the first nation to recognize this.’
He then quoted chapters 37 and 38 of Ezekiel, which were thought by Bible scholars to be about Russia – named ‘Magog’ – invading Israel, according to Christian Post.
‘Why would Russia ever want to invade Israel? Well, there is something else the Bible says about Magog, if she is indeed Russia, and that one of her allies that will march with her is Persia,” he said, noting that Persia is an old name for Iran.
“So the Bible predicted hundreds of years ago that this great power from the north of Israel would attack her after she was gathered again, and one of the allies that would attack Israel with mother Russia or Magog, whoever it is, would be Iran be, or Persia.’
He backtracked somewhat, saying that he wasn’t claiming that this scenario would happen, but that it was “very interesting.”
Laurie has ties to former President Donald Trump and attended the Rose Garden ceremony to nominate eventual Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett
Laurie added that this attack was a ‘super sign’ that the ‘prophetic clock ticking is the re-gathering of the nation of Israel in their homeland’
“You see how Bible prophecy is fulfilled in your lifetime, in real time before your eyes.”
Israel stormed the Gaza Strip on Tuesday with the fiercest airstrikes in its 75-year conflict with the Palestinians, reducing districts to dust despite a threat from Hamas militants to execute a prisoner for every house hit.
Biden addressed the nation after holding his third phone call in four days with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“I told him, ‘If the United States experiences what you experience, our response will be decisive and overwhelming quickly,'” Biden said during his remarks Tuesday afternoon.
He said they discussed how democracies around the world are ‘safer if we act according to the rule of law’.
A day earlier, the White House said it expected to meet additional security requests from Israel as quickly as possible.
Biden notably skipped mentioning Iran explicitly during his speech, but warned hostile actors to ‘take advantage’ of the situation
People mourn at the grave of Eden Guez, who was killed in a festival attack by Hamas gunmen that left at least 260 dead, at her funeral in Ashkelon, southern Israel
Rockets fired from Gaza City (R) are intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system (L) on October 10, 2023
The president noted that Israel has the ‘right to respond – indeed a duty to respond’ to these vicious attacks and the US is already assisting the nation, including by providing Iron Dome interceptors and munitions.
In his remarks, Biden said the US had ‘enhanced our military power posture in the region to strengthen our deterrence’.
‘The Department of Defense has moved the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to the eastern Mediterranean and strengthened our fighter jet presence. And we stand ready to move in additional assets as needed.’
Biden notably skipped mentioning Iran explicitly during his speech, but warned hostile actors to “take advantage” of the situation.
“Let me say again, any country, any organization that thinks to take advantage of the situation? I have one word, don’t.’
The White House has been wary of directly blaming Iran for the attack that killed more than 1,000 Israelis.
Israeli soldiers remove the body of a compatriot killed during an attack by Hamas terrorists in Kfar Aza on Tuesday
A baby seat and child’s dress are seen in the aftermath of a bloodied Hamas attack
A day earlier, White House national security spokesman John Kirby went so far as to say Iran was “complicit” in Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel.
The United States does not plan to put American military forces on the ground, Kirby also told reporters.
Biden went on to say he plans to ask Congress to quickly approve additional funding for the security of America’s allies.
“When Congress returns, we’re going to ask them to take urgent action to fund the national security requirements of our critical partners,” Biden said.
‘It’s not about party or politics. This is about the security of our world, the security of the United States of America.’
This question may be more challenging than usual, as the House of Representatives just ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and a power vacuum remains. Infighting within the GOP could drag out the process of confirming a new House leader for days.
And the House cannot move any legislation to the floor without a speaker in place.
Biden also confirmed that there are Americans being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.
“We now know that American citizens are among those being held by Hamas,” he said, without providing additional details.
Immediately following Biden’s comments, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan revealed to reporters that there are at least 20 Americans who remain missing in Israel.
“We don’t know their condition, and we can’t confirm an exact number of American citizens,” he said.
He noted that this did not mean that they were all captured by Hamas, and that they were just not accounted for.
Israel called up an unprecedented 300,000 of its own reservists.
Biden and Netanyahu, despite differences over the way forward in the Middle East, were thrust into a wartime partnership after the multiple attacks by Hamas militants from Gaza to Israel.
Israel’s embassy in Washington said the death toll from Hamas’ weekend attacks exceeded 1,000, dwarfing all modern Islamist attacks on the West since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
Biden also addresses the potential of threats in the US and says additional security measures, especially at houses of worship, are being introduced.
“We are also taking action at home, in cities across the United States of America. Police departments have stepped up security around centers of Jewish life,’ he said.
“The Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are working closely with state and local law enforcement and Jewish community partners to identify and disrupt any domestic threat that may arise in connection with these horrific attacks,” the president continued.
Immediately following the president’s speech, the State Department revealed that Secretary of State Antony Blinken would travel to Israel “in the coming days” to engage directly with Israeli partners.
“The secretary looks forward to meeting with senior leaders in the Israeli government and continuing the discussions he and the president have been having with them since the initial attacks on Saturday,” spokesman Matthew Miller said during a press conference on Tuesday. briefing said.