THE WEEK IN BRIEF

TOP STORY

Iran, Hezbollah, and Israel are again converging on a dangerous northern front.

Israel announced this week that its forces had cleared Hezbollah fighters from a major underground complex beneath the Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon.

The strategic high ground overlooks important roads and territory in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah had constructed an extensive underground complex there containing command facilities, weapons storage and living areas.

But what makes this more than another Israel-Hezbollah battle is Iran.

Iran warned the United States that it would respond forcefully if Israel launched a major attack against the position. Regional sources also reported that members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had been embedded with Hezbollah forces there.

Iran was not merely supporting Hezbollah from a distance.

It was directly warning against an Israeli operation against a Hezbollah stronghold near Israel's northern frontier.

Ezekiel names Persia among the nations that will someday participate in a great invasion of Israel:

Ancient Persia corresponds substantially to modern Iran. That identification is historically strong.

But the conclusion must remain equally clear:

This is not evidence that Ezekiel 38 is being fulfilled now.

Ezekiel describes a particular coalition, a particular invasion and a supernatural intervention by God.

What we can say is simpler.

A nation explicitly named in Ezekiel's future coalition remains openly hostile toward Israel and continues supporting military forces surrounding it.

That makes Iran worth watching.

Watch the alignment. Do not declare the fulfillment.

WATCH THE ARC

Turkey made one of the week's most interesting geopolitical moves.

After attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Turkey would consider becoming a full member.

That deserves attention.

The SCO is led principally by China and Russia. Its members also include Iran, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus.

Turkey remains a member of NATO, and Erdoğan insisted that closer relations with the SCO do not mean abandoning the West.

But Turkey is increasingly positioning itself between competing geopolitical worlds.

It remains in NATO.

It maintains extensive relations with Russia.

It is expanding cooperation with China.

It interacts with Iran simultaneously as both a competitor and a partner.

And its relationship with Israel has deteriorated dramatically.

An Israeli official recently described Turkey as a “rival state,” while communication intended to prevent Israeli and Turkish forces from colliding in Syria has reportedly weakened.

Ezekiel 38 names Meshech, Tubal, Gomer and Beth Togarmah among the peoples associated with Gog's coalition.

The ancient geographical evidence places several of those peoples in or around Anatolia, the territory comprising much of modern Turkey.

The exact relationship between those ancient peoples and today's political borders is debated. We should therefore resist simplistic equations such as “Turkey equals Togarmah.”

But the geography is significant.

A country occupying much of ancient Anatolia is becoming increasingly hostile toward Israel while exploring deeper cooperation with an organization containing Russia and Iran.

That does not make Turkey part of Ezekiel's coalition today.

But it makes Turkey one of the most important countries on our Northern & Northeastern Arc Around Israel watch.

SYRIA WATCH

For months there have been signs that something extraordinary might happen between Israel and Syria.

The two governments have participated in U.S.-mediated negotiations aimed at reducing tensions and establishing a security arrangement.

This week, those efforts appear to have stalled.

A senior Israeli official said attempts to reach a security agreement had failed, with a major disagreement involving Israel's refusal to withdraw from the buffer zone it considers necessary for its security.

Yet Syria's foreign minister has continued saying Damascus wants a diplomatic solution with Israel.

That leaves Syria at a crossroads.

And its geography makes the outcome important.

Turkey is expanding its influence from the north.

Israel is determined to prevent hostile military forces from establishing themselves near its border.

Iran has spent years building networks inside Syria.

Russia retains longstanding strategic interests there.

Interestingly, Syria is not named among the nations in the coalition in Ezekiel 38.

Neither are Israel's immediate historic neighbors Egypt and Jordan.

We should be cautious about making too much of an absence. But prophecy watchers should notice what Scripture says—and what it does not say.

For now, Syria's future alignment remains unsettled.

Will Damascus move toward accommodation with Israel?

Will Turkey become the dominant outside power?

Will Iran rebuild its influence?

Or will something entirely different emerge?

We don't know.

So we watch.

CHURCH WATCH

Not every development we watch happens in Jerusalem or the Middle East.

Some happen behind pulpits.

A recent sermon by United Methodist pastor Paul Purdue provides an example. While preaching from Romans 12 on peace and loving one's enemies, Purdue objected to Paul's teaching on God's vengeance and suggested that Paul “ignores or obscures” Jesus' teaching about loving enemies.

But read Romans 12.

Paul tells believers:

He commands Christians not to take revenge and to feed their enemies when they are hungry.

Then he concludes:

Paul plainly teaches believers to love their enemies.

What Paul does not do is eliminate God's justice.

And Paul did not invent those words. He was quoting Deuteronomy 32:35.

The problem is larger than one sermon.

When we decide what God should be like and then judge Scripture by that standard, something has reversed.

We are no longer allowing God to reveal Himself to us.

We are creating God in our image.

There is an opposite-looking error that reaches the same dangerous destination: elevating claimed spiritual authority above biblical examination.

Self-described Apostle Kathryn Krick, for example, has made extraordinary claims involving apostleship, anointing, spiritual covering and supernatural authority.

The New Testament tells Christians what to do with such claims.

Test them.

A title does not place a teacher above examination. A claimed anointing does not make someone's teaching authoritative.

Scripture examines the claimed apostle.

The two examples look very different, but they raise the same fundamental question:

Not the pastor. Not the claimed apostle. Not our culture, our feelings, or our preferred conception of God.

God does—and He has spoken in Scripture.

Notice the direction:

BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY

A small copper-alloy ring is providing another glimpse into the world of the New Testament.

The roughly 2,000-year-old ring was excavated decades ago at Herodium, Herod the Great's fortress southeast of Jerusalem.

Its inscription has been debated for years.

Now UCLA scholar Catherine Bonesho has offered a new analysis of the Greek letters ΠΙΛΑΤΟ.

Bonesho argues that they represent the Latin PILATO written in Greek letters—meaning “to Pilate” or “for Pilate.”

The obvious historical figure is Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor who ordered Jesus' crucifixion.

But there is an important distinction.

Researchers are not claiming Pilate personally wore the ring.

Its inexpensive construction makes that unlikely. Bonesho proposes that it may instead have belonged to an enslaved or formerly enslaved administrative worker who used the ring to seal materials being sent to Pilate or people associated with his government.

That restraint makes the discovery more credible—not less interesting.

The Gospels place Jesus in a real historical world.

They name kings.

Governors.

Cities.

Villages.

Political offices.

And people.

That governor was Pontius Pilate.

The ring does not prove the trial or crucifixion of Jesus.

It does not need to.

It gives us another physical glimpse into the administrative world in which the Gospels place those events.

The stones do not replace Scripture.

They remind us that Scripture happened in history.

RESPOND

Watch without sensationalism.

Iran matters because Ezekiel names Persia. Turkey matters because several ancient peoples named by Ezekiel were associated with Anatolia. Syria matters because of its strategic position immediately north of Israel.

But none of that gives us permission to declare fulfillment where Scripture has not.

Know the Word.

The Christian who knows Scripture is harder to deceive—whether the claim comes from a prophecy teacher interpreting international events or a pastor interpreting God.

Test those who claim to speak for God.

Popularity does not establish truth.

A theological degree does not establish truth.

A claimed miracle does not establish truth.

A claimed anointing does not establish truth.

God's Word establishes the standard.

And finally:

Keep your eyes on Christ.

Biblical prophecy is not ultimately about Russia, Iran, Turkey, Israel, wars, temples or political alliances.

It points toward the sovereign God who knows the end from the beginning—and toward the return of Jesus Christ.

The purpose of watching is not fear.

It is faithfulness.

PRAY

A WATCHMAN’S WORD

The Issachar Watch exists to help Christians understand the times through Scripture—and live ready for Christ.

SOURCES

Iran / Hezbollah / Israel

Turkey / Shanghai Cooperation Organization

Syria / Israel

Church Watch

Biblical Archaeology — Pilate Ring