Some Thoughts on Iran, Turkey, Israel, and the prophecy of Ezekiel 38-39 by Aaron Hecht

Here in Israel, everyone is in shock over the announced Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that the Trump Administration and whoever they were talking to in Iran agreed to last week. I have spent several dozen hours this week listening to podcasts, think tank seminars, news analysis shows, etc. and the analysts and "Middle East experts" and "National Security experts" are all over the place regarding what they think this MOU means and what will happen next.

Candidly, I am among those who think that it is very unlikely that everything listed in this MOU will be implemented. I could tell you my reasons for thinking so, but it would make this blog too long for most people to read, and anyway, it's beside the point. I don't believe Iran's ruling regime will get the hundreds (or even tens) of billions of dollars they think they're going to get, and I also don't think they're going to crumble and disappear the way every sane, decent person walking the earth's surface hopes they will.

The reason they survived this war, beaten and battered but still on their feet, and the reason they're going to stay on their feet no matter what President Trump does or does not do to them in the months and years ahead, is not because of any current events. It's because of something that was prophesied 2,600 years ago. I am talking, of course, about the Book of Ezekiel the Prophet, specifically chapters 38-39.

I will be the first person to admit that the events prophesied about in these chapters have been predicted to be just around the corner many times in the past.

There's a few different reasons I think this time it's actually going to happen, and they are as follows.

Iran, or Persia, is prominently mentioned in these prophetic chapters, so it MUST be part of the coalition that comes against Israel. But Iran is in the midst of a brutal, years-long drought and is rapidly heading towards water bankruptcy. This will make it impossible for this country to survive as a cohesive state. Experts are divided on their estimates of when the breaking point will come, but already late last year, the dams supplying water to the major cities of Iran, including the capital of Tehran, were holding less then 15% of their capacity, and in some cases, the level fell to as low as 5%. These are the kinds of numbers that are almost impossible for a nation to recover from.

This is just one of many reasons I believe if Iran/Persia is going to take part in a grand alliance against Israel, it needs to happen soon, otherwise there will be no Iran/Persia to speak of.

That brings us to other members of the coalition mentioned in Ezekiel 38-39.

Some of the places mentioned in this prophecy as being part of the alliance that comes against Israel from the north make up what is today the modern nation-state of Turkey. For most of modern Israeli history, Turkey was a friend and ally of Israel, but since 2003, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his AKP political faction have been ruling that country. The AKP is a political franchise of the Muslim Brotherhood. Hamas is the military wing of another franchise of the Muslim Brotherhood. There are franchises of this organization in many other countries all over the Middle East, Europe and even in the United States and Canada. They do not always agree on everything, but they have an overall, long-term strategic vision for what they want this world to look like, and Israel is not part of that vision. I could say a lot more about that, but once again I'm trying to keep this blog short.

Turkey, with it's Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated political leadership, has built alliances with the Muslim Brotherhood franchises in several other countries around the Middle East and northeastern Africa, including in places like Libya and Ethiopia, both of which are also mentioned specifically as being part of the alliance that attacks Israel in Ezekiel 38-39, as well as in other countries which include territories that are mentioned by their ancients names in this prophecy.

Finally, there's Russia, which has traditionally been identified with the prophecies about "Rosh" and "Gog, in the land of Magog" that are mentioned in this prophecy. I know that there is some argument about this, that not everyone is convinced that modern-day Russia is necessarily going to be part of this alliance that attacks Israel. I am among those who believe that it will, and there are all kinds of motivations for them joining the Turks, Iranians, and their other allies in the Middle East and northeastern Africa in coming against this country.

One motivation is that in the last four years since beginning the "special military operation" in Ukraine, Russia has turned into a country whose entire economy is based on war. If the Russia army stops fighting a war, the Russian economy will collapse. So, when the "special military operation" in Ukraine ends, as it might soon have to, one way or the other, the Kremlin will need to find a new war to fight.

I can even imagine them framing this as another "special military operation" to "protect the Russian-speaking population of Israel" against the "fascists" in the Israeli government who are persecuting them. This ludicrously absurd narrative is precisely what Vladimir Putin used to justify his invas...er, I mean, his "special military operation" in Ukraine. It would not surprise me at all if he tries to pull the same nonsense when he launches a similar "special military operation" against Israel, in support of his pals in Ankara and Tehran.

So, brothers and sisters, this is how I see things going. I won't try to put a date on when all of this will happen, but I believe it will happen soon, and it certainly can start very quickly and with very little warning. As it is, right now, at this very moment, the only thing holding this back from happening is America, and as we are already finding out, the Americans, in both major political parties, are losing interest in helping Israel.

So, God will get all the glory for the miraculous deliverance of Israel from all these invading armies coming from all directions.

It's difficult to know how to end a blog like this, so I'll just say thanks for reading it, and I hope it blessed your life.

Eitan Bar: "When I was a Messianic, Catholics were pagans who will burn forever in hell"

I've written before about Eitan Bar, the Israeli evangelist who was fired from his role at One for Israel for having a romantic relationship with an employee under him. Since that time, Bar has written books and posts that run against the grain of the Messianic world, particularly against Christian sexuality, Calvinism, the doctrine of hell as eternal torment, and even Messianic Judaism itself.

On Facebook today, Bar wrote about the Messianic movement and its negative view of Catholicism.

It spurred comments from Jews and Christians, including some well-known Israeli Messianic Jewish leaders like Ron Cantor and Dan Juster.

He starts off with,

When I was part of the Messianic movement, a highly fundamentalist form of Evangelicalism, the message about Catholics was clear: they were pagans, God despises them, and they would burn forever in hell. We were discouraged from associating with Catholics, and the few who did often found themselves marginalized or boycotted.

My parents were both part of the Catholic Church and left it before I was born, so this post piqued my interest. Are Messianics too negative on Catholics and other Christian groups?

I grew up in the Messianic movement and can confirm the movement has a general negative feeling towards Catholicism. I haven't personally heard the extremes of Catholics burning in hell forever. But the core is probably true: Messianic believers generally view Catholicism negatively.

There are reasons for that. Catholic faith requires believing in a co-redeemer, Mary, alongside Jesus. It requires the prayer to saints, not just to God. It requires affirming Papal ex cathedra rulings as infallible. Some of that is dangerously close to idolatry. I admire many Catholics and have Catholic friends and consider them brothers in faith. Some significant parts of their theology are foreign to the New Testament and the original Jewish followers of Jesus. I am convinced it will be foreign when Jesus returns to Jerusalem as the Jewish Messiah. But it doesn't preclude salvation or fellowship.

How should we in the Messianic movement look at groups outside of our own? I believe two very important measures for that are salvation and fellowship. I say those two measures because they are two issues addressed in the early church in the New Testament (e.g. Acts 15 and Romans 10). Salvation and fellowship are still relevant for today.

Salvation: when you die, will you be with God?

Fellowship: can we spend time with you in religious settings? Are we family in God?

For Catholics, I answer yes to both questions:

• Salvation: This is up to God, and not me, but the New Testament says, "If you believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, and that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Catholics believe this; it's a core part of Catholic faith. 
• Fellowship: Since Catholics are part of the family of God, they're fellow Christians and I can (and have!) learned from them. I could fellowship with them in religious settings, despite significant theological differences.

Even early Protestants, including Luther himself, did not advocate for a schism where Protestants could no longer fellowship with Catholics. That wall of division developed later through escalation, war, torture, and all sorts of horrible things committed by both sides in the last 600 years. I think that wall is a mistake.

I've long advocated for a big tent faith: expand your tent to allow many in. Better to have many with varying beliefs, than a tiny few with uniform beliefs. Yes, I think megachurches are superior to tiny, closed sectarian groups. Especially in light of the reality that every religious group is almost certainly wrong about something; no one has theology that perfectly aligns with heaven's reality. Better to love many, as love covers a multitude of sins.

But.

There's a limit to big tent theology.

I couldn't have a big tent with Hindus, for example. Hindus worship Krisna, Ganesh, and a plethora of false gods. The reason I can't welcome them into my tent of faith should be obvious: it would compromise core parts of my own faith. The Torah is jam packed with prohibitions on idolatry, with explicit commandments to destroy idols, to avoid supporting or defending idolaters, even commandments to burn idolatrous cities in Israel. Embracing people who worship other gods is a tent too big. What unity can God's people have with people who reject the one true God or worship other gods?

One commenter on Bar's post said in support of Bar's newfound love for Catholics,

I was taught and believe, "If you love Jesus you are part of the family".

I responded, "That sounds nice, but it would mean we must consider Muslims part of the family. They love Jesus and consider him an important prophet."

I can't take Muslims into my big tent of faith. They fail the salvation test and the fellowship test:

• Salvation: Muslims don't believe Jesus is Lord, they believe him a prophet. They don't believe God raised Jesus from the dead; they believe Jesus wasn't crucified at all.
• Fellowship: Muslims believe Christians and Jews are to be subservient to Muslims and must pay a special tax in any Muslim-controlled land. Those Christians and Jews who resist this were (and still are, in some parts of the world) put to death. 

Dan Juster, a leader in the Messianic Jewish movement, commented on Bar's post, suggesting that allegiance to Jesus is the most important matter:

There is a book by Matthew Bates, Salvation by Allegiance Alone. A great book argues that it does not matter what denomination one is part of, Catholic, Proestand, Orthodox, Messianic Jew, Pentecostal. In each stream allegiance is the central issue. Then we add, Jews who come to faith are the saved remnant of Israel, the sanctifying first fruits (Rom. 11:5, 11:16)

I replied to Juster, "Allegiance is important, but I wonder to what extent theology matters for salvation and fellowship. For example, Mormons hold allegiance to Jesus, but consider him one of many gods, alongside the Heavenly Mother, Satan and millions of others. Additionally, they are preaching a second gospel, the Book of Mormon."

Are Mormons saved? Can we have fellowship with them?

• Salvation: This is up to God, but I suspect God will save them because they believe Jesus is Lord and God raised him from the dead.
• Fellowship: Much murkier. I personally have no qualms hanging out with Mormons in a non-religious context; they tend to be morally upright and genuine people. But I couldn't fellowship with them in a religious context because of the idolatry in their faith. According to Joseph Smith, only Mormons are Christians. Mormons don't consider Christians to be true Christians. It's difficult to call them part of the family of God when they don't consider you the family of God.

Israeli Messianic leader Ron Cantor also chimed in, saying how he really has fought to maintain good relationships with Catholics and others outside of Messianic Judaism.

But all this newfound love and togetherness strikes me as false and shallow. 

For years, Juster and others have issued papers and spoke at conferences and urged their followers to avoid fellowshipping with Messianics of slightly different stripes. One Law Messianics, Two House Messianics, Hebrew Roots folks and others were blacklisted from Messianic events. Musicians who performed at One Law congregations were blacklisted. I personally had a leading Messianic Jewish congregation in Minnesota tell his congregants not to associate with me because I adhered to a different ecclesiology as he did. I had one Messianic rabbi, who is not Jewish, telling the IAMCS Rabbis forum to avoid associating with me at a Messianic music event because he affiliated me as a Messianic with a different stripe.

Heck, just a few years ago, I wrote about how one Messianic pastor in Israel labeled all forms of Torah observance as heresy. 🤪

I'm not bitter about that, and I forgive them and give it to the Lord. I only raise it to show that Messianic folks have likely been far too small-tent. I would welcome a change for big tent Messianic faith, even if it meant building bridges to Catholics and other Christian groups.

As for Eitan Bar, I don't know him or his situation personally. I've only read about it from him and from people tangential to the situation, so I could be misreading this. But it seems to me he's resentful of the Messianic movement because it called out his sexual sin. This is a game that has played out so many times in the Evangelical world Bar now rejects; there's even memes about it!

When an Evangelical pastor rebukes a member for adultery, pornography, homosexuality or other sexual sin, the member leaves and complains about church hurt. In reality, they're in denial about sin. I kind of wonder if that's playing a role in Bar's own distancing from the Evangelical and Messianic world. From my outside perspective, that's what it looks like. I suppose Bar knows the truth, as does the Lord.

Bar blasts Evangelical fundamentalism, but honestly, they're one of the few groups actually calling out sin. And calling out sin is a very Biblical thing to do.

Bar has one thing right, though: the Messianic movement has been too closed and too sectarian, too quickly condemning other Christians as unsaved and fit for hellfire. But Catholics are not going burn forever in eternal torment. That's just not what the original reformers had in mind, and frankly, contrary to the New Testament.

While Juster and Cantor and other Messianic Jewish leaders seem to agree and desire an more open Messianic Judaism, they need to start in their own camp: an openness to Messianic believers who have ever-so-slightly different ecclesiology, nomology, soteriology. 

A Review of "Masters of the Universe" by Aaron Hecht

(Masters of the Universe Official Movie poster, from Wikipedia)

I usually don't do movie reviews on this blog, and if I do, it's for movies that have some kind of Biblical theme. It feels almost sacrilegious to be doing a review of "Masters of the Universe" on this blog. I know there's a lot going on in the world and I AM going to share my thoughts on current events regarding Israel, Iran, Hezbollah and all the rest soon. But this movie actually had some things to say which I found worthy of comment.

By the way, I saw it kind of by accident because my wife wanted to go to the movies and see something else but the movie she wanted had been bumped up by a few days so this is the movie we chose as an alternative. I don't think I'd have gone out of my way to see this movie, and I don't go to the movies very often anymore.

In fact, I am so out of touch with popular culture that I hadn't even known this movie was available until an hour or so before we went in to see it. I had no expectations whatsoever, but as soon as the opening credits started rolling and I saw the the toy company Mattel was involved in its production, I somehow had a feeling that it was going to be something I'd enjoy. I have no idea why, but that just kind of reassured me somehow.

So with that in mind, let's get into the review.

The first thing I'll say about this movie is that if you didn't watch the He-Man cartoons back in the 1980s, there are a lot of inside jokes and Easter eggs which will go right past you. Also, if you didn't watch the last He-Man movie with Dolph Lundgren playing the protagonist you might also miss a few things, including the cameo Dolph has in this film.

This movie actually reminded me a lot of TOP GUN Maverick and also the Cobra Kai series on Netflix, in that it is trying to use whimsical humor and 80s nostalgia to tackle some of the more absurd elements of "woke" nonsense that have failed so miserably to address the legitimate issues of "toxic masculinity" and over the top macho nonsense that the Feminist movement has raised and, in truth, has come to define itself as being against. 

Aside from that, this movie actually has a lot of very positive messages, including the fact that masculinity is not necessarily toxic, that a "real man" uses violence only to protect the innocent from the evil (and that evil DOES exist, it's not a joke or a metaphor) and that a "real man" has to be ready to do that when "dialogue" has failed, although there's no harm in TRYING dialogue because sometimes it can be useful and helpful. This movie also has a lot of positive things to say about fatherhood and father figures, for both men and women.

Above all, this movie is not "woke" and it's also not "MAGA".

It actually makes a very brave and even noble attempt at a sensible, common sense, cultural middle ground, and these days that's pretty much exactly where I'm at.

I can't fail to mention that it also makes some REALLY profound philosophical statements for a movie based on a cartoon.

One such statement that the movie makes, although not explicitly, is that both men and women have lost the plot, forgotten who they are and also who they aren't, and this confusion is causing everything to be out of balance, allowing evil actors to do tremendous damage to the world we all have to live in. In order to overcome that evil, we've got to "get behind ourselves and stop putting up a false front" as the movie's moral compass character very specifically tells the protagonist early in the film.

That's some good advice for all of us, even if it's not particularly Scriptural.

Another comment I heard a comedian make about this film is that "it teaches us that there's nothing wrong with America in 2026 that can't be solved by re-watching the TV shows we were watching in 1986."

I'm not sure that's true, but it's definitely a point worthy of contemplation. 

In any case, I give "Masters' of the Universe" five stars. I enjoyed it immensely and I'm sure you will too, especially if you watched the cartoons back in the day. You can still enjoy it if you didn't watch the cartoons, but it helps if you did.