Since the war in Iran began, Christians have been searching Scripture for prophetic context, and one prominent pastor believes several ancient passages speak directly to the moment. CBN News spoke with prophecy expert Pastor Jack Hibbs, who pointed to several specific biblical prophecies he believes are unfolding in real time across the Middle East.

Hibbs grounded his analysis in the words of Christ, citing Matthew 24:6:

"You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come."

For Hibbs, the significance isn't just geopolitical. It's theological. He points out that events relating to Israel carry unique weight because God calls Israel "the apple of My eye." What happens in and around the Jewish state, in his reading, is not incidental to prophecy. It is central.

Jeremiah, Elam, and the Iranian Diaspora

The heart of Hibbs' argument centers on Jeremiah 49:34-39, a passage that references "Elam," the ancient name for the region now known as Iran. The text reads:

"'But it shall come to pass in the latter days,' the last days, end times, 'that I will bring back the captives of Elam, says the Lord.'"

Hibbs connects this directly to the modern Iranian diaspora. After the brutal Islamic Revolution in 1979, more than a million Persians fled the country. They scattered across the globe, becoming, in a very literal sense, captives driven from their homeland by a revolutionary regime. CBN reported.

Hibbs posed the question plainly:

"Is it possible that we're watching the fulfillment of Jeremiah 49:34-39, where God now is destroying the king and his princes, that's his descendants, and He's going to bring back all those that were driven out?"

He interprets the "destruction of the king and princes" as the destruction of the current Iranian regime. Whether or not one shares his prophetic framework, the regime in Tehran has spent four decades brutalizing its own people, exporting terror through proxies, and suffocating the Persian cultural identity under theocratic rule. The idea that its collapse could open the door for a diaspora return is not, on its face, outlandish.

A Growing Underground Church

One of the more striking claims Hibbs raises involves an underground spiritual movement inside Iran itself. He references a reported finding that the CIA detected a massive download of Bibles and Christian material in Iran. The claim lacks a specific date or sourced document, but it aligns with widely reported accounts of Iran's underground church growing at extraordinary speed despite severe persecution.

Hibbs suggests the possibility of an evangelical awakening across the ancient Persian Empire. If even a fraction of that is true, the irony is staggering: the regime that built its identity on Islamic revolution may be presiding over a quiet Christian one.

During Trump's first administration and the pandemic, this underground movement reportedly accelerated. Faith, it turns out, thrives under pressure. Totalitarian governments have never managed to stamp it out, and Tehran appears to be no exception.

Damascus, Ezekiel 38, and the Bigger Picture

Hibbs isn't looking at Iran in isolation. He urged vigilance on multiple prophetic fronts, telling CBN News to "always keep your eye on Isaiah 17," a passage that references the destruction of Damascus. He also speculates about whether current conditions might set the stage for the events described in Ezekiel 38, a passage many prophecy scholars associate with a future coalition attack against Israel.

The Jewish state has already been forced to degrade and destroy Hamas and Hezbollah, two of Iran's most significant proxy forces. With those arms weakened or severed, the strategic landscape in the Middle East is shifting in ways that would have seemed improbable even a few years ago. Hibbs sees this not as a coincidence but as alignment with a prophetic timeline.

He also emphasizes the spiritual dimension, referencing Daniel 10:13, which describes a supernatural conflict behind earthly events. For Hibbs, what plays out on the battlefield is only the visible layer of a deeper contest.

The Theological Engine Behind Iran's Aggression

Hibbs contends that Iran's attacks are not merely political but theological. He explains that the regime's leadership is motivated by apocalyptic beliefs about the Mahdi, and he speculates they might attack holy sites like the Dome of the Rock to hasten that return. The regime, in other words, isn't operating on a purely rational geopolitical calculus. It is driven by its own eschatology.

This is a point that Western foreign policy establishments have historically struggled to absorb. Secular analysts model state behavior around economic incentives and security interests. But Tehran's revolutionary government has never been a normal state actor. Its founding ideology is messianic. Treating it as just another government pursuing national interests misreads the threat at its core.

Hibbs also contends that the collapse of the regime could trigger what he describes as the collapse of Islam in the region, opening the door for mass conversions. That is a bold claim. But the underground church movement, the diaspora yearning for return, and the regime's increasing fragility all point in a direction that demands attention.

Prophecy as a Lens, Not a Prediction

Whether one reads these events through a strictly prophetic lens or a geopolitical one, the convergence is hard to ignore. A regime born in revolution is showing cracks. A scattered people may be on the verge of return. A faith is spreading underground in a country that made its suppression a matter of state policy.

Hibbs cited Christ's words from John 14:29:

"Jesus said in John 14:29, 'I've told you these things in advance that when they come to pass you might believe that I Am He' (the Messiah)."

For millions of believers watching events unfold in the Middle East, that verse is not abstract theology. It is an invitation to pay attention. The ancient words describe a world that looks increasingly like the one outside the window.