Christian Nationalists And Right-Wing Media Hail War As Sign Of 'End Times'
Christian nationalists and several right-wing media figures have embraced the war between Israel and Hamas as a sign of the End Times, claimed “the role of Christians is to convert the Jews,” and asserted that Christians must support Israel because “God has a covenant plan as part of the End Times."
Hamas launched its attack against Israel on October 7, with militants from the Gaza Strip targeting both civilians and Israeli military personnel. Israel has since pledged to eradicate Hamas, leading the Israeli military to target Gaza in an ongoing conflict that has reportedly left more than 1,400 Israelis and more than 8,000 Palestinians dead. Right-wing media have spewed misinformation and hate about the conflict, spreading anti-Islamic bigotry and antisemitic conspiracy theories, defending the thousands of civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip, and even calling for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
Right-wing evangelical support for Israel has long been connected to end-time beliefs and Christian Zionism. In a recent MSNBC op-ed, columnist Sarah Posner spotlighted this phenomenon in light of the war between Israel and Hamas:
For many “Christians Zionists,” and particularly for popular evangelists with significant clout within the Republican Party, their support for Israel is rooted in its role in the supposed end times: Jesus’ return to Earth, a bloody final battle at Armageddon, and Jesus ruling the world from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. In this scenario, war is not something to be avoided, but something inevitable, desired by God, and celebratory.
Amid the Hamas-Israel war, right-wing and Christian nationalist media outlets and figures have connected the war to biblical End Times prophecy:
- Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk hosted Christian nationalist pastor Jack Hibbs on his Salem Media radio show, where Hibbs connected the war to biblical prophecy of the End Times and urged listeners to convert Jews to Christianity. Hibbs claimed, “The government of Israel has been brought together by the will of God.” Kirk himself later noted that “when we start to see war and rumors of war break out … that is something that Christ our lord said explicitly in regard to the end of time.” Kirk also asked Hibbs to explain why Christians should support Israel even though it is not “a godly nation.” In response, Hibbs declared, “The Christian is commanded to provoke the Jew to jealousy,” and that Christians “need to look past the sins of Israel and the sins of the Jew and give them the hope of Jesus.”
- BlazeTV founder Glenn Beck, who began claiming the End Times were imminent at least a decade ago, cited the ongoing war and claimed, “I know everybody's been saying that forever, but it's kinda looking like, you know, Jesus might be coming.” His guest, Daily Wire host Andrew Klavan, agreed that the End Times are near and asserted that “Jews are the theater in which God plays out his relationship with man.” Earlier in the week, Beck posted on X (formerly Twitter) that “the growing unrest around the world signals that end times are approaching.”
- At an October 26 event attended by Republican members of congress and Israeli diplomats, right-wing pastor John Hagee — who has blamed Catholics for the Holocaust and called Hitler a “half-breed Jew” — cited End Times prophecy and called for military support for Israel and U.S. strikes on Iran. Hagee later echoed a similar message on Mark Levin’s Fox News program, declaring that Iran was behind Hamas’ attack and that God has a “covenant with [Jewish people] that they should own this land forever.” Levin praised Hagee and his group, Christians United for Israel, saying that it “doesn't get the attention that it deserves, you have millions of people who support this effort.”
- At the outbreak of the war, Jenna Ellis, a host for Salem Media and former Trump lawyer who pleaded guilty to charges related to former President Donald Trump’s scheme to subvert the results of the 2020 election, told her audience, “When we see what's going on in Israel, it is very possible that this is setting the stage for the End Times, or the end of all things, to begin happening.” She warned that “biblical prophecy has been fulfilled so that the rapture literally could happen at any moment” and that Christians “will return with [Jesus] on white horses.” Ellis elaborated that because of the events in Israel, people “need to be prepared with the knowledge of God, with the hope of salvation, and with trusting in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to know that if the rapture happens today, or if you die today, you know that you will meet your creator.” Two weeks later, Ellis hosted Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) on her American Family Radio program, where Jordan declared that Christians should support Israel for both geopolitical and "scriptural reasons.”
- On his radio show, self-described “Christian nationalist” Lance Wallnau said that Christians should “be encouraged” by the war, claiming that “God is going to have a harvest of nations and people, and you're going to live to see how this circumstance … is going to work out for that very purpose.” Wallnau expanded: “Only Christians can look at these events and see the patterns from the past, see them in the present, and weave them into the fulfillment of the Feast of Israel. Because I really believe we're watching the end-time feast. It will not be interrupted. It will not be stopped. Remember what the Lord said. He said, he said he's going to shake all the nations so that the glory comes where he wants it to go.”
- On the Christian nationalist program FlashPoint, where Wallnau serves as a contributor and Republican politicians, including Trump, have been interviewed, he again cited the war as part of the End Times and said “the good part” of the war is that it will cause Jews in Israel to “realize how dependent they are on God.” Warning about a potential alliance uniting Russia, China, and Iran, Wallnau also said, “When you put Persia, Russia, and China together … you’ve got an End Time — the formation of the early phase of the beast. When you have that kind of starting to consolidate against Israel, you've got end-time stuff.”
- Steve Strang, founder of the right-wing Christian outlet Charisma News, cited the war as a potential sign of the End Times and coming “tribulation.” Strang claimed that as part of the end of times “tribulation,” half the world's population could die. Strang also said that even though “most of the Israelis don’t acknowledge God,” Christians should support Israel because “God blesses those who bless Israel,” and “God has a covenant plan as part of the End Times.” Notably, Charisma News is a top corporate sponsor of the ReAwaken America tour, which Media Matters previously documented as having repeatedly featured antisemitic speakers who have praised or defended Adolf Hitler.
- Several other right-wing Christian outlets also linked the war to biblical prophecy and covered the outbreak of the war as a sign of the End Times, including Trinity Broadcasting Network and Christian Broadcasting Network.
- “Doomsday prophet” Jonathan Cahn, who posts so-called “prophetic updates” on YouTube, used the war to promote his “guide for the End Times.”
- Christian nationalist singer and right-wing media figure Sean Feucht posted on social media that “this a prophetic hour and Christians everywhere must stand with Israel,” asserting that “a covenant keeping God never backs down from keeping his promises (Genesis 12). A two state solution will never be the answer for peace.” Feucht has been connected to high profile Republican politicians and has traveled the country promoting “Biblical moral law” on a joint tour with Turning Point USA.
- Right-wing host of The Absolute Truth, Emerald Robinson, posted on X that, amid the war, “the role of Christians is to convert the Jews by preaching the Gospel to them.” She declared, “That’s what Jesus Christ commanded us to do.”
For years, prominent evangelical leaders and various right-wing media figures have warned that the End Times are either here or imminent, citing various conflicts in Israel. In 2011 on Fox News, Glenn Beck invoked “Gog and Magog,” as “a huge, huge sign,” of the End Times. (According to Britannica, in the Bible, “the names Gog and Magog are applied to the evil forces that will join with Satan in the great struggle at the end of time.”) In 2023, Beck is still invoking “Gog and Magog” as evidence of an imminent return of Jesus Christ, declaring last week, “We’ve got Gog and Magog for the very first time conspiring against Israel.”
Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.
