Watchman on the Wall

Announcer: Welcome to Watchman on the Wall, a daily outreach of Southwest Radio Ministries and swrc.com. Josh Davis is here, ready to share the latest headlines from the end times.

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Signs of the times continue to appear. God's plan for the ages unfolds moment by moment. How should Christians live in these crucial days? Josh Davis shares the details on today's Headlines from the End Times.

Greetings, fellow Watchmen on the Wall, and welcome to another Headlines from the End Times, helping to make sense out of all the nonsense and bring clarity to the chaos as we connect the dots of what's happening in today's world with the word of God. And friends, the most important study that a person can ever undertake is theology. It's foundational. It informs every other aspect of what we believe in all the other realms of study. You see, what you believe about God really changes the way that you see every detail of existence.

If God exists, who is he? Theology is looking to answer these kinds of crucial questions. And if this God exists, what's he like? How has he revealed himself to humanity? Is his word found in some book like the Bible, or perhaps some other religion is right about their holy book? Is God acting in the world today, or is he just some impersonal force that just seems to exist in the unknown ether of society and of the world and the universe? Does this God have some kind of a plan for the future? Does he have some kind of a will, some kind of directive for how this world is operating and how he's going to bring it to conclusion?

You see, the answers to these crucial questions shape all of our decisions that we make. And so, too, what we believe about the end times matters. I do want to solidly answer my questions before moving on because I want you to know where I stand this very day. I believe that yes, God does exist. And yes, he has revealed himself, and it's through the pages of the scriptures, the Bible, the word of God that he has given us those 66 books of our Bible to reveal himself to us. And that Jesus is God. He is the word made flesh, and he is coming back, dear friends. And we can know what he says by studying and rightly dividing the word of truth, the Bible. And we can get access to who he is.

Now, I understand the biblical worldview is not the only worldview that there is. And so when I'm talking about end times theology, I'm not just talking about exclusive to Christianity. There are other end times theologies in other religions—how things are going to work out in the end and where it's all coming. Now, why am I talking about all of this today? And you say, Josh, it seems like you're really broad in your explanation when you usually are so hyper-focused on a particular story. Why are you starting out so broadly today? It's because I believe that through my research that the war with Iran has a real theological and eschatological undercurrent to it all.

And very few are discussing this element. How does Islam's eschatology, especially in the nation of Iran, impact the decisions that they're making this very day and how that is influencing the war that's been going on? So let's consider that angle on today's Headlines from the End Times. Now, I came across an article discussing the economy and eschatology, how both of these factors are impacting Iran's decisions. But I truly believe, based on my research, that the eschatological views of people in Iran, people in power especially in Iran, seem to be motivating some of the decisions that they're making at this particular time.

According to reports, instead of focusing its strikes on Israel and US forces, the Iranian regime has attacked at least 13 different countries, including nearly all of its neighbors, in what President Trump has called the biggest surprise of the war so far. But why? Are these merely random accidents? They didn't mean to fire that and it accidentally went into that direction in a neighboring country, and it was just so much chaos going on that somebody aimed a missile in the wrong direction or whatever have you, and it was just a random accident? Or is it theologically intentional? I'm going to explain and unpack the theology behind all of this as we go through.

So hang on for that explanation. But first, who are these 13 countries that they have attacked? Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Cyprus, Azerbaijan, and Turkey. Now, those countries, and I know that's a lot to capture, but that's going to be significant, and I'll remind you of why that's significant momentarily. But one reason is that the regime is effectively a messianic Islamist death cult that might be bent on provoking all-out war. However, the mullahs do also have somewhat rational reasons for lashing out at their neighbors, even ones with whom they've had good relations before the war.

Could the regime be trying to pressure these US allies, particularly those in the Gulf, to push the US to end the war by harming both their economy and the image of the United States of America? In the same way, the regime shutting down the Strait of Hormuz and raising global energy prices could conceivably put the Trump administration under pressure from countries worldwide. So it seems that there's a geopolitical angle to this, an economic angle to it. But again, I believe that there's more of a theological undercurrent and the understanding of the end times aspect of all of this that is really going unnoticed.

Talking about the power of belief, the Gulf countries fighting alongside Israel and the US are surely exploited in Iranian propaganda, which also has the potential to re-energize the Islamist fight against the unbelieving Emirates, those who side with the Jewish people instead of their fellow Muslims, as they have long claimed. We have to reiterate that this is a regime of fanatical ideologues and true believers in what Khamenei has proclaimed and his doctrine and his dogma. Remember that even in the Iranian constitution, the Mahdi, which is the Shia Messiah, is the head of state, and the Supreme Leader is his placeholder on Earth.

And so you can't underestimate the earnestness of these kinds of beliefs. Now, according to reports, we can't rule out the possibility that at least some of the clerics and military officials in Iran are bent on destroying the region, going down in what could be considered a blaze of glory and paving the way for the Mahdi to come and to save and redeem them. Who is the Mahdi in Islam? That's really the question that's probably on many people's minds. The Mahdi, which is Arabic for "the guided one," is a messianic figure in Islamic belief. He's comparable on some levels to the Christian concept of the second coming of Jesus or the Jewish concept of this first coming of what they would say the Mashiach ben David, the son of David, the Messiah, the son of David to rule on the throne.

So the Mahdi is said to be a descendant of Muhammad and is supposed to appear at the end of times shortly before the return of Jesus. Now, that's according to Islamic belief—shortly before Jesus returns to rid the world of evil and injustice. And the Mahdi is mentioned in several compilations of the Hadith, but he is absent from the Quran. In other words, again let me reiterate, there's no mention of this Mahdi in the Quran. It comes in later writings of Islam. Now, there are two main branches of Islam operating in the world today. You have the Sunni branch and the Shia branch.

Sunni Islam is practiced in countries like Saudi Arabia in large portion, whereas Shia Islam or Shiite Islam is practiced in places like Iran. And Iran's going to play a role, so I'm going somewhere with this, and I appreciate you following and connecting these dots because this is all building a case for how theology and how this Muslim, especially Shia Muslim eschatology, end times beliefs could be influencing the current war that we've been witnessing. And so the Mahdi is mentioned several times outside of the Quran, never in the Quran. And so he plays only a marginal role in Sunni Islam, and some of the Sunni theologians have even questioned the concept of the Mahdi altogether. Does the Mahdi even exist? Does he play a role? That's according to Sunni Islam.

But when it comes to Shia Islam, the Mahdi plays a very significant role. And this shows you some of the difference between these two branches of Islam. What's considered to be the Twelver Shias believe that the Mahdi is Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi, the 12th Imam and son of the 11th Imam, who was Hassan al-Askari, who died in 874 AD and is said to be in occultation, that is in hiding by divine will. Now, I'm going to unpack that a little bit more for you. But that leads us to another question: So what is this Twelver Shiism, and what does that have to do with Iran? Well, Twelver Shiism is the largest branch of Shia Islam.

Twelver Shias believe that there are 12 Imams who were divinely appointed as both spiritual and political successors to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, that they possess some special knowledge and authority to guide the Muslim community. And according to this Twelver theology, the 12 Imams are exemplary human individuals. In fact, they were considered to be sinless, that they never sinned in their entire lives, and that they were given rule over the Muslim community, the ummah, with justice. And they're the ones who can preserve and interpret the Islamic law, the Sharia law, and the meaning of the Quran.

These 12 Imams succeeded Muhammad for about a 250-year period starting in the 7th century following right after Muhammad. And the 12th Imam was Muhammad al-Mahdi, born around 869 AD. Shia Islam holds that this man did not die but was hidden by Allah, and he is the eschatological Mahdi. He is the one who will emerge from hiding in the end times. He will be revealed, and he will come to restore peace and justice. This is a very important point that I want to make here when it comes to what we believe about God and why that makes such a difference.

You see, I have solid historical evidence to back up my belief in who Jesus is, in what he said, in the claims that he made, and how he backed up those claims with solid evidence, with facts that are historically verifiable, that Jesus is who he claimed to be and that our faith is built not in fancy or in fanciful dreams but in historical reality. Now, contrast that to what we know about this 12th Imam. It's important to point out that this 12th Imam was the alleged son of the 11th Imam. The 11th Imam, I mentioned him a few moments ago, Hassan al-Askari, died in AD 874 by poisoning.

And it was only after his death that his loyal followers claimed that he had secretly had a son some years before, and the son had been kept in hiding so that he would not be killed. No one ever really saw this son, the 12th Imam. No one ever heard him speak. He never wrote anything. And so many people question: Does he even exist? Was he ever born, or was this just something they created to continue what they wanted to be true? There's no verified historical or empirical evidence for the existence of the 12th Imam as a person in history.

Now globally, when you're talking about Shia Islam, it's very influential in the world today. And this is where we're getting back to the war and the points that we're making. Globally, there are about 170 to estimated upwards of 255 million people who follow this belief in the 12 Imams. These include most of the inhabitants of Iran, Iraq, and other Muslim countries in the Middle East, sizeable minorities in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. Now I've mentioned a lot of these countries, and there are others, including Lebanon and Bahrain, where there are people who have this viewpoint that are living.

Now this is where it gets interesting, friends, so continue following where I'm going, please. And this is where we turn a corner and connect some of these dots. Who are the 13 countries that Iran has been striking? There's a similar overlap to where followers of Shia Islam live and the countries who have been included in this war: the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Cyprus, Turkey, among others, have been attacked in this war. And I don't think it's by random accident that they have been attacked and that they have been pulled into this.

Here's a major clue in all of this theological underpinnings. Did you know that Iran is the only country in the world where Twelver Shiism is the state religion? That's right, it's the state religion of Iran. This viewpoint of the 12 Imams is the state religion of Iran. Now, should we be surprised when they appoint leaders from Shia Islam to continue running the country of Iran? No, we shouldn't. You see, beliefs guide behaviors. In other words, what you believe guides how you act, and it guides the decisions that you make. Theology and eschatology—and I'm talking about from the Muslim perspective—are playing a key role in this conflict.

Could they be trying to force people to join this fight to bring in this 12th Imam that will supposedly return and bring in justice and peace through Sharia law and through Islam into this world? Could this be part of what is guiding Iran to act the way that it is? Friends, what we believe about God, what we believe about his plans and purposes in this world today have a crucial role in what we're seeing happening in this world. And that's why we as Bible-believing Christians have to stand firm in what we know is true in this world today. I'll have more to say about that in just a moment, but let me give you a chance to catch your breath as I've connected a lot of dots there for you and given you a lot to really chew on as we're seeing not just some random accidents guiding what's happening in Iran and the nations it's choosing to try to bring into this conflict, and their theological and misguided eschatological beliefs.

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Now, of course, you can do the exact same thing from our website swrc.com. Again, that's swrc.com. We do want to invite you to come to our Kansas conference. We're going to be in the Wichita, Kansas, area at the Sunrise Christian Academy. Dr. Rob Lindsted, Mark Lindsted, a host of others will be speaking there, including myself. It's going to be Friday and Saturday, May 1st and 2nd. That's Friday and Saturday, May 1st and 2nd. Registration is free. Yes, I said registration is free. But we want to know that you're coming so that we can be sure to bring enough resources. So please register today by giving us a call at 1-800-652-1144. That's 1-800-652-1144. And just say that you'd like to come to the Kansas conference May 1st and 2nd.

We've got some other conferences coming up, so be sure to ask about that when you call. We'll be in Minnesota in September, and we'll be in the Tri-Cities area of Tennessee in October for a very unique conference. We'll be telling you more as we get closer to that date. But friends, check all that out at swrc.com as well. And don't forget we have an Israel tour coming up November 1st through the 12th. I would love for you to join me on this Israel tour November 1st through the 12th, 2026. Registration is open now for that. Reach out to our ministry for more information about the Israel tour 2026.

Now, as I said before the break, Bible-believing Christians have to stand firm in this day. We've got to be like the Bereans in the book of Acts. They searched the scriptures to ensure that they were taught the truth. In other words, there in the book of Acts, it tells us that when the apostle Paul—I mean of all people, you've got the expert right there—the apostle Paul is teaching them, what was their reaction? Just to take it in as if he's telling them 100% truth? I do not doubt that he was, but he was so impressed over the fact that they went to search the scriptures to understand: Is there a biblical basis to what we're being taught? Is this man rightly describing what is written in the pages of God's word?

And friends, that needs to guide our churches today, that we need to keep our noses in the word of God. We need to understand what it says. We need to learn how to handle it properly, not mishandle it, but handle it properly. We've got to learn to follow the scripture. There are a host of people who are experts on this and on that when it comes to the end times, when it comes to Bible prophecy, when it comes to scripture in general. And one person will say one thing, and another will say another, and then there becomes a division: Well, I'm going to follow this teacher, I'm going to follow that teacher. And that's what happened to the Corinthian church. Do you remember? Paul wrote to them in 1 Corinthians saying, some of you are saying you follow me, some of you are saying you follow Apollos, and some of you say that you're super spiritual and you say that I'm just going to follow Jesus and I'm going to follow what Jesus said.

And he said, this division doesn't need to be among you. We need to look to the Lord, we need to rightly handle his word. And he said that I came before you wanting to know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified. He said, that was my central message to you was the cross of Jesus Christ. Friends, the point that I'm making is that the Bible will never lead us astray. It's the trustworthy source that we've got to follow, and we need to learn to rightly divide the word of truth because what we believe about the end times impacts how we live today.

As we have seen in the story about Iran and how that they seem to be using their Shia eschatology to influence how they're acting in this war today, well, different churches who have different views on the end times are going to logically act differently and tell their people to live a different life. Let me give you a "for instance". If I believe that the rapture is coming at the end of the tribulation period, and I'm a pastor of a local church, what would I be trying to get my people to do when I see the signs of the times, when I see the dots connecting prophetically speaking? Shouldn't I be trying to warn them to get ready for that tribulation?

Shouldn't our church be focused on setting money aside to help our people survive the coming tribulation storm? Shouldn't we be gathering supplies? Shouldn't we be building bunkers? Shouldn't we be having safe places? Shouldn't we be building communications networks for when the grid goes down and everything begins to unravel in the world and that we can survive without the mark of the beast and without taking those kinds of things? Shouldn't the church be collecting medicine and storing up supplies that it needs to help people survive at least seven years? Shouldn't that be the mindset if I believe the rapture is coming at the end of the tribulation?

By the way, I do not hold that view. I believe the rapture occurs before the tribulation. And I believe that the church has an urgent message to get out the gospel of Jesus Christ. Do you see how different beliefs influence how you behave in this world? Some argue that the timing of the end times doesn't really matter that much, and I'm not making it a salvation doctrine, but it really does have a practical difference in how you're living your life this very day. My viewpoint is getting out the gospel, getting as many people to heaven with me as I possibly can so that they don't have to face the tribulation, so that they don't have to go through those things.

Because God has not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation, to be delivered from what is to come in that wrath in the day of the Lord, the day of God's judgment, the day of the tribulation, as 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 tells us so very clearly. There's a different ministry mindset to those who believe in the pre-tribulation rapture of the church as our ministry does and as I do. And I believe that we have the gospel focus, that we're focused on getting the good news of Jesus Christ to as many people while we still have this window of opportunity. I'm not storing supplies so that I can survive the tribulation period. I'm not telling my church to quit supporting missionaries so that we can hoard up beans and bullets and build bunkers. No. We are here to get out the gospel while we have time to save souls.

And friends, if you do not know Jesus as your savior, this is an urgent day that you need to get right with God. And if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have an urgent and important message: the gospel of Jesus Christ, which really is good news for our generation today. Let's get it out while we still have opportunity.

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I want to personally invite you to join us for a life-changing pilgrimage to Israel with Southwest Radio Ministries host Josh Davis. Explore ancient Jerusalem, worship at the Mount of Olives, and reflect by the Sea of Galilee. A transformative journey of faith awaits: November 1st through the 11th of this year. Get all the details and reserve your spot today. Visit swrc.com and click on the Israel tour banner on the homepage, or just give us a call: 1-800-652-1144.

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