It’s no secret that the United States’ ongoing war of words with North Korea is intensifying, with the spat between Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump taking some startling rhetorical twists and turns.
Trump warned this week that North Korea “best not make any more threats to the United States,” saying the country “will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.” North Korea responded by warning that it would carry out preemptive strikes against U.S. lands.
These developments follow other hostile moments earlier this year — events that captured the attention of Pastor Greg Laurie, founder of the Harvest Crusades and senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside and Irvine, California. He posted a Facebook video back on May 1 that covered eschatology (study of the end times) and how current events play into the biblical paradigm.
And in light of this week’s events, it’s worth revisiting.
“As you know, this conflict with this rogue nation has escalated dramatically in recent days and even hours,” Laurie said in the video. “The leader of North Korea Kim Jong Un has threatened to strike America with nuclear weapons.”
The preacher then tied the ongoing stalemate between North Korea and the U.S. back to scripture and explained that he knows some people are wondering how all of these events “fit into the prophetic puzzle.”
“Well, in the last days there is no mention of any nation that would resemble North Korea. However, the Bible does speak of Iran in the end-times scenario,” Laurie said, going on to say that there’s a real-life “alignment” unfolding between North Korea and Iran.
He also offered up what he sees as the most concerning element surrounding the study of the biblical end times and the current state of affairs: He doesn’t see the U.S. represented in scripture.
“We do not find the reigning superpower on the face of the earth anywhere in the last days scenario,” he continued. “Other nations emerge, so where is America? I pray we’re not out of the picture because we’ve been in some kind of nuclear conflict.”
Watch Laurie’s video below:
Laurie concluded by imploring Americans to pray for President Donald Trump, regardless of what they think about the commander-in-chief.
As Faithwire previously reported, PRRI found that 49 percent of Americans believe that severe natural disasters are evidence of the biblical end times (52 percent of Republicans versus 48 percent of Democrats believe this is the case). Read more about it here.