It’s no secret that the United States’ ongoing tensions with North Korea are intensifying, with the spat between Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump taking some startling rhetorical twists and turns over the past 11 months.
And on Tuesday, North Korea launched what CNN called its “most potent missile test yet,” putting pressure on politicians — and most notably U.S. President Donald Trump, who has taken a hardline on the East Asian country.
“I will only tell you that we will take care of it,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday. “It is a situation that we will handle.”
The latest missile launch — the longest and and highest yet — comes after Trump designated North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism, returning the country to the list after its removal back in 2008 by former president George W. Bush.
Trump’s response to North Korea’s move was measured, considering his earlier boisterous reactions to Kim Jong Un. As you might recall, the president warned earlier this year 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.
As Faithwire previously reported, hostilities between North Korea and the U.S. have 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 in May that covered eschatology (study of the end times) and how current events play into the biblical paradigm.
“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.