Is the Iran war the Biblical end times?

From Jewish street-corner preachers, to Christian high-ranking officials, many believe the conflict has been prophesized
The war between Israel, the US and Iran is raging. Throughout these days I’m woken to the sounds of emergency alerts on my phone, air raid sirens ringing, or the boom-boom in the skies above me as missiles are being intercepted. I have this song by the band REM looping in my head. You know the one. It goes, It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine. Yes, a classic.
As it’s playing non-stop in my mind, I’m accosted while walking on Jaffa Street in Jerusalem. A guy invites me to look at the art in his gallery, but within minutes starts to tell me how this war was prophesized. His eyes wide as he says he has to tell me the truth. His sheer self-belief in what he’s saying strikes me, and like any journalist who loves to go down a rabbit hole, I head home, fire up the laptop and wow… what a rabbit hole indeed.
You only have to type in the words, ‘Iran war Israel prophecy’ and the results come flooding in. There is a whole section of the internet dedicated to how the war unfolding between Israel, the US and Iran is fulfilling an ancient Biblical prophecy. The Book of Revelation is airing. Get your popcorn out.
But let’s start back on February 28, when Israel and the US launched what they described as ‘pre-emptive attacks on Iran’. Israel’s prime minister took to the airwaves to explain why. Weaved into his message was a not-so-subtle reference to the Jewish festival of Purim, celebrated a few days later on March 2-3. Benjamin Netanyahu stated:
Two and a half thousand years ago, in ancient Persia, a tyrant rose against us with the very same goal: to destroy our people completely. But Mordechai the Jew and Queen Esther, through their courage and resourcefulness, saved our people. In those days of Purim, the lot fell, and the wicked Haman fell with it…. Today as well, on Purim, the lot has fallen, and the evil regime’s end will also come.
In that story, Esther, who hides her Jewish identity, marries the king of Persia. Haman, a court official, persuades the king to obliterate a ‘rebellious people’ in the empire. You can read Jews here. Esther risks her own life, revealing she is Jewish to the king and Haman’s plot. Haman is killed and Jews are given the right to defend themselves.
Purim, which celebrates this, has now essentially become the Jewish Halloween. Kids dress up in costume and a lot of fun is had. This war with Iran is being dressed up as a modern Purim, though fun is not being had. In an in the Jerusalem Post, Donald Trump is described as being a modern day Achashverosh, that Persian king, writing:
They are lovers of power – and beautiful women – and both ultimately granted the Jews a free hand in attacking the enemy with devastating force.
The author continues:
With God’s continuing helping hand, we will triumph in this latest, most consequential battle, and we shall bring to our people and to the world at large Purim’s prophetic promise: light and gladness, hope and joy.
Light, gladness, hope and joy. These are also things Christians believe will be brought to the world during the Second Coming of the Messiah. Jews are still waiting for the First Coming.
Dr. Erez Soref, a self-proclaimed Messianic Jew, dedicates an entire to how Yeshua (Jesus) and his coming is the only way there can be lasting peace on earth. With conviction he states:
I believe that God has positioned us for such a time as this.
He also references the Book of Esther. Another drama unfolding with the same players – The Jewish people and the violent madmen in the leadership of the Persian/Iranian people… No small thing that this has happened around Purim,’ he says. Adding, ‘Just as in Ester’s day we may be living in a defining hour of history.
That defin