Remember when we wrote a few months ago about America building a Christian army? Well, at least one U.S. military commander is willing to take matters even further. Following the recent strikes in Iran, a combat commander reportedly told his troops that the war was "all part of God's divine plan," citing the Book of Revelation about Armageddon and the "imminent" return of Jesus Christ.
Another commander also allegedly told non-commissioned officers that President Trump was “anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth.”
The commander “had a big grin on his face when he said all of this which made his message seem even more crazy,” the complaint added.
Now, members of the military across the faith spectrum are sounding the alarm and questioning why major military decisions are being justified with Scripture.
Is Jesus Returning Soon?
The joint attack by the United States and Israel killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei in a strike which set off a wave of unrest across the Middle East. At least six U.S. soldiers have died so far in retaliatory strikes, and many more have been injured.
But reports are now coming in about commanders framing the recent attacks less as "foreign policy incident" and more as "fulfillment of biblical prophecy."
At least 40 units across 30 different military installations, representing all military branches, received similar justifications for the strike. The incident has resulted in more than 110 individual complaints to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), a group seeking to maintain separation of church and state in the armed forces.
Some soldiers reported that the messages actually damaged unit morale, particularly for non-Christian soldiers who aren't particularly eager to die in a Christian crusade.
The New Christian Army
That all tracks with reporting about how Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has remade the military since President Trump took office for a second term just over a year ago. Recent recruitment ads have leaned heavily on biblical imagery and quoted scripture to encourage enlistment.
Hegseth frequently hosts voluntary prayer sessions in the Pentagon (sometimes with a controversial pastor who believes women shouldn’t have the right to vote). And Hegseth has repeatedly closed speeches and official military gatherings with a prayer, regardless of whether the event was religious in nature or not.
Is This Christian Zionism in Action?
From recruitment to deployment, military leaders are pushing an explicitly Christian narrative to troops. But the message that the president is anointed by God and that a new war in the Middle East will bring about Armageddon has roots in Christian Zionism, the belief that Israel’s expansion represents the fulfillment of a biblical prophecy which will ultimately lead to the return of Jesus.
RELATED: What Is Christian Zionism, and What Does It Actually Believe?
It’s a movement which has gained significant traction in evangelical circles in recent decades, and which has some pretty prominent believers. Megachurch pastor John Hagee recently explained the attack to his congregation in biblical terms – complete with a slick video inferring that we’re approaching the end times.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee even ignited a diplomatic incident shortly before the strike in Iran during an interview with Tucker Carlson, where he said Israel had the divine right to land in much of the Middle East, encompassing modern-day Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and parts of Saudi Arabia.
Huckabee ultimately walked back his claims that Israel should “take it all” following international backlash, but following the attack on Iran, it’s clear that those beliefs inform a significant part of the White House’s foreign policy with regards to the Middle East.
Christian Troops Aren't Sold
It’s worth noting that not all Christians are on board with the "Jesusification" of the military, nor do they endorse a potential war in Iran.
After all, we only know about the faith-based strike justifications because soldiers reported it, many of whom were Christians themselves but who felt uncomfortable with impending Armageddon being pitched as their motivation.
Mikey Weinstein, president of the MRFF, noted that it's especially disturbing because the chain of command doesn't allow service members to push back against their commanding officers.
“If you’re being proselytized to by your superior, you can’t say, ‘Get out of my face.’ Under the military’s criminal code of justice, insubordination is considered a felony,” he said.
Meanwhile, major Christian leaders outside the armed services have waded into the debate. Pope Leo, for example, recently weighed in on what Jesus might want – and according to him, it certainty isn’t war. “I’m deeply concerned,” the pontiff said during a recent address. “We must pray much for peace, live in unity, and reject the temptation to harm others; violence is never the right choice.”
The End is Nigh?
So… is Armageddon imminent? For now, there are no signs of Jesus's return (if you're feeling confident, though, you can bet on Jesus returning in online prediction markets).
As for war in Iran, President Trump and his allies have given various responses when asked how long the conflict will end, ranging from a few days, to four to five weeks, to “far longer than that.”
And military religious watchdog Mikey Weinstein just sent a letter to the Department of Defense, encouraging prosecution for anyone who [“took] advantage of their subordinates by advancing their blood-soaked, Christian nationalist wet dreams.”
For now, though, it seems nearly impossible to predict how it will all unfold. What do you think? Are we heading towards Armageddon? And should the military really be framing lethal strikes on foreign leaders in overtly biblical terms?
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