Christian Prophetic Responses to Islam
Within days of the start of the Iran War on 28th February 2026, headlines appeared in newspapers claiming that ‘US troops were told war on Iran was “all part of God’s divine plan”’ and that the Battle of Armageddon and the return of Jesus Christ were imminent. Interpreters of Biblical prophecy were lining up to explain how passages such as Ezekiel 38 & 39 ‘describe the condition of the Middle East right now. Exactly.’ And modern-day Christian prophets were delivering urgent ‘words for the nations’ on their YouTube channels and Facebook pages.
None of this has gone unnoticed by Muslims. Al Jazeera, a media organisation based in Qatar at the heart of the current conflict, immediately picked these things up and asked, ‘Why are the US and Israel framing the ongoing conflict as a religious war?’ However, Muslims too are speculating whether these are the End Times. According to Iran International, a non-regime Iranian news source based in London, a ‘senior cleric’ in Iran reportedly suggested that ‘Trump is the one-eyed Islamic Antichrist’, the dajjal.
And these accusations, in turn, have not gone unnoticed by Christian media. Charisma magazine, a ‘leading charismatic media source’, reported that ‘Many Muslims Believe Trump Is Islam’s Antichrist and Await the Mahdi to Stop Him’. It is not difficult to see how the present conflict and the resort to prophesy and eschatological predictions is bound to have an impact on Christian and Muslim views of one another.
So, in this blog I will look at three different aspects or concepts of ‘prophecy’ and their practitioners. Firstly, there are those, both Christian (the main focus here) and Muslim, who seek to interpret parts of their scriptures and traditions in the light of current events. Secondly, there are contemporary charismatic prophets, almost exclusively Protestant Christians, who claim to receive prophecies for today directly from God. Some, but by no means all, use these revelations to pronounce on current affairs or predict future events. Finally, I will briefly mention a rather different understanding of what may constitute a prophetic voice. A later blog will then look at the related issue of ‘Christian nationalist responses to Islam’.
Interpreters of the scriptural prophets
Seeking to interpret scriptural prophecies and apply them to current and future events with respect to Muslims is not a new idea. By and large Eastern Orthodox Christians focus their interest in prophetic interpretation on the reading of historical texts some of which refer to Muslims and Islam. Studious websites such as Eschaton Vigil and The Byzantine Apocalyptic Tradition make available texts such as the Greek Apocalypse of Daniel and the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius.
Pseudo-Methodius was written shortly after the rise of Islam in the seventh century, by an anonymous Christian author writing in Syriac. It labelled the Arabs, who by then were Muslims, as the ‘sons of Ishmael’. In the Bible, Ishmael had ‘been called a wild ass’ (see Genesis 16:12) and had now ‘come out of the desert of Yathrib’ (i.e. Medina) as a ‘chastisement’ of the Church. It went on to predict that one day the Arabs will defeat Persia (modern-day Iran) before being defeated by the ‘king of the Romans’ prior to the appearance of the Son of Perdition (i.e. the Antichrist) – although the Antichrist will be ‘a man from the tribe of Dan’.[1]
There are some Roman Catholics who have similar interests, although they too are careful to refer only to prophecies that have been ‘approved’ by the Church. For instance, Mark Mallett, a ‘Roman Catholic singer/songwriter and missionary’, runs a website called ‘The Now Word’ reflecting on ‘our times’, which includes ‘credible, sound, and approved private revelation ... a collection of relevant and recent prophetic messages as well as theological teachings on the “end times” ... that carefully follows the vision of the Early Church Fathers, Popes, and Our Lord and Lady’s messages’. He makes occasional allusions to Islam and particularly some of the consequences of the current Iran War.
However, fascination with prophecy and the End Times, including Islam, has been most pronounced amongst Protestants and the big names in the field are all conservative evangelical Christians. The best-known was probably Hal Lindsey (d.2024), a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary, who in 1970 published The Late Great Planet Earth. It played a major role in popularising ‘dispensational theology’ and the application of Biblical prophecy to current events, especially during the Cold War. The State of Israel, recent victors of the 1967 Six Day War, became the ticking clock of the End Times timeline. A Russian army would invade the Middle East, Christians would be taken to heaven in the Rapture, there would be Tribulation on earth, the revealing of the Antichrist and the Battle of Armageddon would take place before the Second Coming of Jesus. All this without any Muslims.
That all changed post-9/11 – suggesting how current affairs and newspaper headlines might drive this genre. In Lindsey’s 2002 book, The Everlasting Hatred: the roots of jihad, Islamic armies now join the Russians in attacking Israel, driven by a hatred of the Jews traced back, as in Pseudo-Methodius, to the prophecies in Genesis about Ishmael’s descendants. Since then, every Christian doomsday interpreter has predicted that Muslims will be at the forefront of End Times events. Not only will they take part in trying to destroy the nation of Israel but, according to Joel Richardson in his disturbing book Mideast Beast(2012), Jesus himself will come back and wage war against them ‘until the blood of slaughtered Muslim peoples will literally flow like a river’(36).[2]
In the same book, Richardson promoted the idea that Islam is ‘the greatest antichrist religion the world has ever known’ (290), an idea reflected in the title of his later book, The Islamic Antichrist (2015). Other Christian writers are also of this opinion. In End times and the Secret of the Mahdi (2016), US megachurch leader Michael Youssef, a Christian of Egyptian background, speculates that the Mahdi, the End Times messianic figure expected particularly by Shi‘a Muslims, ‘seems indistinguishable from the Antichrist. … and (Muslims) will follow him to hell itself’.[3]
However, not all Christian exponents of prophecy interpretation agree with them. For instance, David Reagan of Lion & Lamb Ministries firmly believes that there will be a ‘European Antichrist’ at the head of a revived Roman Empire (a.k.a. the European Union). He – maybe with a lack of self-awareness – warns readers to ‘beware of Lone Ranger interpretations of prophecy’ and classes Richardson’s ideas as ‘a classic example of newspaper exegesis — of reading the news headlines into the Bible rather than letting the Bible speak for itself’. Rather, Reagan believes that ‘the most likely end-time scenario for the Muslim world will be one of overwhelming defeat, first in the regional wars of Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38 and then in the world wars of Revelation 6, 8 and 9’. Dave Hunt (d.2013) of the Berean Call newsletter agreed with him, although not on everything. He said, ‘certainly the Mahdi is not the Antichrist’ but believed rather that the ‘spirit of antichrist’ was connected to the Roman Catholic Church.
The appearing of the Antichrist in these schemes is closely linked to the idea that there will be a great battle at Armageddon based on Revelation 16:16 (although no battle actually takes place in that verse[4]), Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38–39. The mysterious Gog and Magog in the latter passage are often assumed by interpreters to include Muslim nations. This passage from Facts about Israel: Truths about Our Future website gives a typically detailed interpretation:
Given the close correspondence of Philistia (Gaza) with Hamas, Tyre (Lebanon) with Hezbollah, and the Levant (Ammon, Amalek, Philistia, Tyre, Moab) and (northern) Assyria with ISIS, then Psalm 83 does indeed appear to foresee an end-time Arab-Islamic invasion of Israel. ... It seems very plausible that chapters 38 and 39 in the prophet Ezekiel refer to an invasion of Israel prior to the last battle of this age (the so-called ‘Battle of Armageddon’) and that this war involves mainly those Arab-Islamic nations surrounding Israel.
So, it is no surprise that such interpretation and interest have once again been stirred up by the start of the Iran War. On the weekend of 28th February, the day the US-Israeli attack was launched, seven planets apparently came into alignment, a very rare event. The idea that God uses celestial signs coinciding with important occasions to communicate a message has a very long history and John Hagee’s 2013 book Four Blood Moons: Something Is About to Change argues exactly that. In a sermon on 10th March 2026 responding to the Iran War, he clearly once again felt big changes were afoot and prayed that God would ‘crush the enemies of Zion (Israel) today. Crush them to pieces like a potter’s vessel’ and exhorted his congregation, ‘Let the church of Jesus Christ prepare for rapture, for we are most certainly getting ready to leave this world’. Expectations are running high.
Added to the planetary alignment, Monday 2nd March 2026 was the start of the Jewish festival of Purim, when Jews remember how God raised up Esther to rescue the Jewish community in Persia from the attempts of Haman to destroy it. Many prophetic websites picked up on the apparent significance of this.[5] Persia was the forerunner of modern-day Iran and once again, in the eyes of some Christians and Jews, Iran represents an existential threat to the Jewish nation. So, the fact that the launch of Iran War coincided with Purim seemed loaded with prophetic portent.
The application of the Esther-Haman story becomes even more detailed in some interpretations. In Esther 9:7-10, we read that Haman had 10 sons who were all killed. One article on The Elijah List, on 7th March, reported that there had been 11 Iranian warships in the Gulf of Oman but that they were all sunk. ‘Haman plus his ten sons equal eleven. This article shows that it was eleven Iranian ships that were taken out’ claimed the writer, somehow as proof of God’s involvement in once again protecting Israel.
Such interpretations are a reminder just how central Israel is to these prophetic interpretations and how Muslim nations are seen as enemies of the Jews and an existential threat to God’s ‘first nation’.[6] For such interpreters, the current war represents a chance to remove that threat once and for all.
Contemporary charismatic prophets
The last reference is from the Glory of Zion International Ministries website founded by Chuck Pierce, a leader ‘known for his accurate prophetic gifting, which helps direct nations, cities, churches, and individuals in understanding the times and seasons in which we live’. This introduces us to a rather different sort of prophet and the concept of both contemporary prophecies and spiritual warfare. In 1991, George Otis Jr, a Christian researcher who founded the Sentinel Group, wrote The Last of the Giants: Lifting the Veil on Islam and the End Times in which, through interpretations of the Bible such as those above, he pictures Islam as the last major spiritual ‘giant’ opposing Christian mission and the spread of the Gospel. This theme of spiritual warfare becomes very strong amongst some charismatic Christians.
In the Book of Daniel, when the Archangel Michael comes in answer to Daniel’s prayer, he says that the ‘Prince of Persia’ resisted him for 21 days (Daniel 10:13). This prince is taken by some Christians, such as Peter Wagner (d.2016), to be a ‘territorial spirit’ over Persia/Iran. In February 2025, well-known US pastor Dutch Sheets called for urgent prayer and wrote on the Elijah List:
when thinking of Iran's government and its evils (not Iranians in general), don't forget that they are ancient Persia, and are controlled by the principality mentioned in Daniel 10. He is one of the spirits that has ruled this region for a millennia, ... and was the spirit behind Haman's attempt to destroy the Jewish people in the book of Esther. This spirit is still alive and active today in the region.
In other words, there is still a demon over Iran opposing Israel. The implication is that physical warfare is needed to defeat the Iranian army but spiritual warfare, with its accompanying prophetic words, is necessary to defeat this evil spirit. This will then open the way for other events to happen and to usher in the Second Coming of Jesus.
For those outside of the community the idea that God might speak prophetic words through modern-day prophets might seem bizarre, but for millions of charismatic Christians it is not at all unusual. One of the best-known prophets is Cindy Jacobs who leads a ministry called Generals International. For instance, in April 2024 she claimed to have received a ‘word of the Lord for the nations‘ whilst on a flight to Canada. This warned of a conspiracy – a common theme in such prophecies – amongst ‘insurrectionists in Paris, London, and other European cities, as well as in Australia, and Latin America’ to turn the USA into an ‘Islamic state’. The Palestinian State that some protestors were misguidedly agitating for at that time will actually be ‘part of a larger alliance of Iran as the head, with a Caliphate of Iraq, Syria, and Yemen’ along with other Muslim nations. However, repentance is still possible as ‘the Hand of God is waiting to cover those nations who are on their face in repentance and holiness’.
In November 2024, Chuck Pierce gave this prophecy about Iran: ‘and I say to Iran today, in the next 10 months, get ready, for I will send wind after wind to you to change you, and I will give you an opportunity to be changed. And I say, if you will not change, I will come down on you. And if you will not repent, I will cause you to suffer.’ In January 2026, ‘Bishop’ Jane Harmon prophesied that ‘the dirt of the evil agenda of Islam in the nations is being exposed. People are waking up to the plans and strategies of the enemy to take nations captive through this demonic push. We will see a further disempowering of the prince of Persia spirit that has held nations captive.’ Some Christians will undoubtedly believe current events to be a fulfilment of these prophecies. Others will say that the situation had been building for a long time and was fairly easy to predict.
Interestingly, not all charismatic prophets are as convinced of the longevity of Islam as the biblical interpreters above, although they are just as adversarial. In January 2026, Hank Kunneman, a pastor in Nebraska, had a prophetic word in which ‘the Spirit of the Lord revealed His redemptive plan to liberate and restore nations that have been under the demonic oppressive spirit of Islam’. And ‘the Lord’ went on to say, ‘I have come to the nations at this time to show that I am the Lord God of the earth. Therefore, pay attention; I speak even of Islam. It is not going to have the grip that many think that it shall have, for this too shall fall.’
Dreams are another medium by which charismatic prophets claim to receive revelation. In December 2025, someone on the Elijah List reported a dream about the US president featuring a man called Ishmael who ‘represent(ed) much of the Muslim peoples’:
Suddenly, I knew by revelation that Ishmael realized Donald Trump was being backed by Heaven. Ishmael then bowed very low to show honor and respect and backed away without any further incident. He remained bowed down, and Trump put his hand upon Ishmael's head as if to say, "I'm not against you and will help you."
In other words, he believes that Muslims are going to pay homage to the US president. Trump’s status as a messianic figure for some American Christians will come up in a following blog about ‘Christian nationalist responses to Islam’.
Enough has been said to give a flavour of both how biblical interpreters and modern-day prophets paint Islam in a very negative, even demonic, light. That said, it should be noted that some of these prophets attempt to soften their statements by distinguishing between Islam as a system and Muslims as people. Dutch Sheets said, ‘I speak, of course, of the Iranian government, not the majority of the Iranian citizens’. However, it is a very short step from a ‘territorial spirit’ oppressing a nation to people themselves being seen as demonic. The language of these prophecies has the potential to dehumanise, especially in the context of a war in which Muslims are being killed by bombs dropped apparently as part of God’s End Times plans.
Prophets of justice
There is another type of Christian prophet. One who is not obsessed with speculation about the end of the world but rather a proclaimer of truth and God’s standards. One who is prepared to speak truth to power and criticise injustice and evil. Walter Brueggemann’s book The Prophetic Imagination traces how the Old Testament prophets in Israel were raised up as a counterbalance to the power of the monarchy. They publicly lamented evil in public life and courageously spoke out against injustice and greed. This leads Brueggemann to suggest that “the task of prophetic ministry is to nurture, nourish, and evoke a consciousness and perception alternative to the consciousness and perception of the dominant culture around us.”[7]
Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Bishop of Washington, angered Donald Trump when she asked him in a sermon to ‘have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared ... (as) the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals ... they are faithful members of our churches, mosques and synagogues, gurdwara, and temples’. Pope Leo has so far been cautious but has spoken of the ‘fears ... generated by people who are against immigration and trying to keep out people’ and urged people to be ‘less fearful and look for ways of promoting authentic dialogue and respect’ between Christians and Muslims.
Colin Chapman, a British Anglican clergyman and teacher, has for many years spoken out on behalf of the Palestinian people – Christian and Muslim – and has not been afraid to criticise Israel. His book Whose Promised Land is in its fifth edition and takes an alternative view on prophecy to those above. Chapman sees much of prophecy in Bible books such as Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah or Revelation as having been fulfilled in historical events and the person of Jesus. Along with other Christian authors on the topic of Israel-Palestine, such as Gary Burge and Don Wagner, he sees justice as God’s overriding priority in the face of conflict.
Then there are Christians, such as those at Sojourners in the USA, who are concerned more generally with ‘human rights, dignity, and justice—racial, gender, economic, and environmental’ – including for Muslims. Jim Wallis, who founded Sojourners in the 1970s, consistently speaks out for Muslim rights and against war. For instance, he believed the Iraq War to be ‘wrong: intellectually, politically, strategically, theologically, and above all, morally’[8] and his most recent podcasts are critical of the Iran War too.
Likewise, the Red Letter Christians, a ‘network for people who want to take Jesus’ words seriously’ seek to ‘respond to poverty, injustice and exclusion with compassion and action’ and could also be considered prophets by Brueggemann’s description. Its co-founder Shane Claiborne is another who is not afraid to speak truth to power. He recently wrote on his Facebook account:
Let’s be very clear.
Killing people is wrong.
Attacking Iran is terribly wrong.
We will never build a better world by killing other people’s children.
Violence only begets more violence.
When we live by the sword, we die by the sword.
Two wrongs never make a right.
It is impossible to love our enemies as Christ commands and simultaneously prepare to kill them.
War no more.
No more.
No.
Of course, whether or not various Christians who are speaking out against war, injustice and oppression are considered ‘prophets’ of this type will depend on one’s politics. Almost certainly, the Christians mentioned in the two categories above would not see these people as legitimate prophets or proclaimers of God’s word. They would probably see them as liberal, woke or even traitors.
Conclusion
The point of this blog is not to decide how to interpret biblical prophecy or to condemn particular approaches. Neither is it to dismiss all charismatic prophecy. There are many charismatic Christians who report having supernatural revelations, but who do not make pronouncements and predictions about geopolitical events and the End Times.
Rather this blog is to help us think about the impact that the interpretation or pronouncement of prophecies may have on Christian-Muslim relations. It must be hard for Christians who are praying for God to crush Muslims – in this or a future war –to have normal relations with their Muslim neighbours and colleagues. If Christians have in mind prophetic warnings about Islamic conspiracies to take over their nations, then it would not be surprising if they became fearful of all Muslims.
The flip side of this is that Muslims are aware of Christian prophetic interpretations and pronouncements. An image of ‘Christian pastors praying over Trump’ in the Oval Office accompanied the March 2026 Al Jazeera headline, ‘The US-Israel war on Iran is shaped by religion as much as strategy’. Such images, prophecies and interpretations must affect how Muslims view and relate to Christians and the Christian Gospel.
The article goes on to point out that ‘Christian nationalism, as distinct from mainstream religious conservatism, seeks the subordination of all other religions and cultural systems to Christian supremacy’. This will be the t
[1] See pp 37, 39, 47 and 135.
[2] Joel Richardson. 2012. Mideast Beast: the scriptural case for an Islamic antichrist, Washington, D.C., WND Books, 36.
[3] Michael Youssef. 2016. End times and the Secret of the Mahdi: unlocking the mystery of Revelation and the Antichrist, Franklin, TN, Worthy Publishing, 80.
[4] See Ian Paul ‘Is the war in Iran the start of Armageddon?’ Psephizo. 6 March 2026.
[5] See for instance, https://www.issacharpeople.org/Articles/735438/When_Purim_and.aspx or https://www.hiskingdomprophecy.com/the-haman-spirit-is-being-toppled-push-in-this-purim-portal.
[6] See the CMCS Blog on Muslims, Christians and Antisemitism for a discussion of how some Christians view Islam and Muslims as being antisemitic.
[7] Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination, 2nd ed. (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001), 3.
[8] Wallis 2013 151