The Story of Persia, King Cyrus, and Israel
The following interview is a conversation with Vahid, an underground Iranian disciple-maker, Mike CEO of GCM and Jose Maranatha Collective Director.
Jose: We want to give real insight to what is going on, not just in Israel, but also in Iran. We know the biblical significance and importance of Israel. We are mindful of that during all this. We are aware of Psalm 122 and pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
We have Isaiah 19, and we know that God is going to one day reconcile Ishmael and Isaac. This tension, as crazy as it seems, is only pushing the world to that time when Jews, Arabs, and Persians are all going to be reconciled.
There will be much glory to come out of this pressure and this tension. We need to make sure that not only do we know the truth, but that we operate with the right spirit. It is not our job or responsibility to be political. We are here to proclaim the kingdom of God; the kingdom of Jesus.
I want to say this from the beginning: Our stance is that Jesus is the answer. Jesus is the solution. And the plumb line for this moment is Maranatha. We need the Lord to come.
Teams in Israel, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Jordan
We have teams in Israel, we have teams in Lebanon, in Iraq, in Iran, and in Jordan. We have teams in so many places.
Amid all of this, we know Biblically the centrality of Israel in the biblical storyline. There is this tension that we must walk in with believers in the Middle East, believers in the Arab world but the importance of walking in that tension. What does that tension look like-still holding onto God’s biblical promises for the nation of Israel, but also not negating or overlooking our brothers and sisters in the Arab and Persian world? This is vital, especially right now when things are about to become even more polarizing.
The most pro-Israel thing that we can do in the world is see Muslims and Arabs come to Jesus. I mean, nothing is better for Israel’s security than to see Muslims come to Jesus.
When a Muslim background believer comes to Jesus, their heart towards Israel and the people of Israel is always transformed and changed. It is important that we are reminded that amid all the tension, our hope is not in armies or politicians, our hope is not in the IDF or this or that; our hope is in the gospel. Our hope is in Jesus. Our desire is to see people come to Jesus.
What Is Happening In Iran?
Vahid: My wife and I are both founders of Reaching the Nations Ministries. This is our heart: sharing the gospel with Muslims and equipping churches to reach out to the Muslims.
I was a Muslim. I met Jesus 18 years ago and my life changed. He completely turned me just as the first miracle He did, changing water to wine. That is what happened to me.
I confess to Jesus, that I need him. He came into my life. The first thing He did was He changed my heart. He changed my heart. Today I love to glorify the Lord, and to share with you. There is a lot of world news, but we want to talk about what God is doing even midst of this situation in Iran.
45 years ago, before this Islamic regime came to Iran, we had over 500 believers in Iran. Now, after 45 years, we have over 7 million Iranian believers in Iran.
You hear this news, this is the kingdom news, that Iran is the fastest growing church right now in the world.
Dreams and Visions
A lot of people coming to Christ through dreams and visions, and we have people in Iran; they are smuggling the Bible illegally to Iran. So many Iranians coming to Christ. One of the things you mentioned about Muslims-they are zealous for God, but they do not know who God is.
Imagine Paul, he had zeal for God, but he did not know who he was or what God’s plan was. When he met Jesus, his heart changed, and he became one of the great apostles for the gospel.
Imagine how God changed his character, his heart. He wrote the best letter of love in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. I believe, when one Muslim come to Christ, you can bring the generation to Christ, because when they come to God’s kingdom. When the Lord opens their eyes, they cannot be quiet.
They must share the gospel. This is what happening in Iran. When people come to Christ, they know the truth.
The Bible is Illegal
In Iran, the Bible is illegal. And when Iranians or any Muslims receive the Bible, when they hear it or read it, they begin to understand. They realize, “Oh, what was God’s plan, actually?” And they begin to pray for Israel.
Death to Israel and America
I remember when I was in Iran, I was in school. Seven years old. I learned how to speak death. They were teaching the children how to say, “Death to Israel and America.”
I was asking my friend, “Do you know where Israel is? Do you know where America is? Why should we walk on the flag of this nation? We do not even know where they are.”
When I came to Christ, I began to read the Bible and I noticed, “Wow, that’s the power of the darkness over this country.”
Love Israel
That is how they are using the mouth of children to declare death over God’s nation. So, when I came to Christ, I learned how I should love Israel, how I should support Israel. I learned that I should share the peace of the gospel with my nation, Iran. So, when they come to Christ, it is like Samaritan woman.
In John chapter four, we see that. As soon as the Samaritan woman hears the word of God and something is happening in her heart, she goes and share the gospel with her town. This is what happening in Iran.
One Muslim comes to Christ and shares the great news with their whole towns and families. And this is how God is moving in Iran.
There are a lot of underground churches coming up and we see the harvest now is plenty, but the workers…we are now praying for workers. We pray, “Lord, bring people so they can pray. So, they can work in this land.”
Iranians Pray for Israel
It is so important in this time to pray for Israel and Iran. Many people, when I go to different churches and share my story, come to me, they say, “I repent.”
I never prayed for Iran. I did not know why I never prayed for Iran. What I am trying to say in this, if we really believe that our battle is not with flesh and blood, then why we are not praying for Iran? We must pray.
We must pray, bringing God’s kingdom and declaring God’s kingdom over this land. If we do not pray, it is not going to work. We must win this battle through prayers.
Politicized Spirit
Jose: There is a day coming that Israel and Iran are going to be friends and it is important that we pray for the Muslim world right now. We cannot allow some of the politicized spirit that comes in with a lot of Israel support to allow us to take debate. We must not begin to view the Muslim world as our enemy. There is darkness in the Muslim world. I mean, Vahid, you know this. You know there is darkness, there are groups like ISIS, Hezbollah, Hamas.
These are evil, wicked terrorist organizations but they are also still souls that Jesus died for. These are still people that God was willing to allow His son to shed His blood for and we cannot lose that perspective when viewing the Muslim world, even amid all of this. We must pray for places like Iran, Gaza, and Lebanon.
We are praying for Jesus to be revealed, for Jesus to come in visions, for Jesus to come in dreams. Could you imagine if a whole wave of Hezbollah encountered Jesus right now? Could you really imagine? It would flip the world upside down if all these leaders in Hamas began to encounter Jesus. This is what we are contending for.
How do we set aside some of our political stances and partner with the Lord through prayer?
Mike: There are these spiritual battles going on, so we need people to partner in prayer. The frustrating part is that our response is not to protest; we will not be holding up signs.
We look at our responses to things like George Floyd, we put a black box on our social media and hoping that means something huge. For sex trafficking, we will put a red X on our hand as though that really changes and transforms things. We do the very bare minimum, and I am speaking to believers really, but God is calling us to be on the altar.
We place our lives on the altar, everything we have, everything about us. And we have these beautiful little ones, right? Not the celebrities but the little ones who are right now making disciples in ISIS camps and putting their lives on the line because they have had a transformation. They have met the Lord, and their life has never been the same. They have counted the cost and decided it is worth it.
The Noise
It is difficult right now in a Western context to drown out the noise and there will be a lot of noise coming. As believers, we unify around what the Lord is doing now. Seek that. This would be my challenge to believers.
King Cyrus
Vahid: When you look in the Bible in a time when Israel was captive by Babylonians, King Cyrus came. The Persian king came, the anointed one to set them free to go back to their land and to build the temple. This is a time where we can believe in such things again. I am praying for this.
This is a time for Israel to help Iran gain freedom from this regime. That is what people are hoping for. Because in Iran, people do not have power. In America we have God and if something is going on, people come out and can have their voices heard. There is equal power, right? But in Iran, it is not like that.
As you have seen, many protesters came out. They speak up about freedom for women. The government comes, and they kill them easily. So, we pray for this time to come because Iran needs to be free. Iran needs to be free.
Freedom Through Jesus
We know that freedom only comes through the Jesus. As Jesus says, “When you know the truth, truth sets you free.” But I want to say, this is a time when the church of Iran is getting prepared for the truth that Jesus wants share with them through the gospel.
I am hoping when Iran gets free, many missionaries can go to Iran and share the gospel with them. I believe that this will happen.
Rockets Heard During Church
Today was our internet church in Iran. As soon as we started having a conversation and they were hearing the rockets, they were very afraid. But they began to pray. Can you imagine? There are people in Iran praying, “Lord, bring your kingdom in this country, which we are longing for.”
Jose: This is bigger than politics. This is Jesus’s narrative. This is bigger than Netanyahu. This is bigger than IDF. This is bigger than politics. This is bigger than Donald Trump or Kamala Harris.
We are praying for God to protect innocent lives in Israel, in Lebanon, in Iran, in Gaza. We are followers of Jesus. We are not for innocent lives being killed. We are praying for protection.
Maranatha
We are praying for God to have mercy, but above everything, we are praying, “God, come. Oh Lord, come.” We are praying “Maranatha” because we know that no solution, no peace treaty-none of it is eternal. It does not have the power to bring the healing and restoration promised in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. The promises that are all throughout the prophets. It is only Jesus.
This is why that Maranatha cry is so important. I want to encourage communities to begin to worship during this time. Sometimes people ask, “Well, what do I do? This feels so massive.”
It feels overwhelming. It is sometimes hard to wrap our brains around the complexities of these issues. And this is why worship is so essential right now. It is the importance of worshiping Jesus during the storm, of worshiping Jesus amid the battle. We worship Him in the middle of everything that is going on. This is our responsibility as the priesthood of God.
Enthrone Jesus
We want to enthrone Jesus in our worship.
Worship brings peace to the worshiper. Secondly, it deals with principalities and powers in the atmosphere over cities and regions. I believe worship in this moment can be like a bulldozer, preparing Jerusalem, preparing Tel Aviv, preparing Beirut, preparing Damascus, preparing Mosul, preparing Tehran, preparing Mecca and Medina. It is preparing these cities across the Middle East for the Man in White to come in visions and in dreams.
Gather Your Church
I encourage you to gather with your teams at your church and in your community and pray for these nations. Pray that Jesus would come in visions and dreams to Hamas members. Pray that Jesus would come in visions and dreams in Hezbollah. Believe that Jesus would come in visions and dreams to the IDF.
Hezbollah and Hamas need Jesus. The IDF needs Jesus. The nation of Israel needs Jesus.
Let us begin to pray that Jesus would visit the Ayatollah of Iran in visions and dreams. We are putting all our stock in Jesus right now. We are putting all our stock in His ability to transform the human heart like nobody else can.
The Lord Will Come Again
Mike:
“The Lord has come.” But how it is broken out is “The Lord will come again,” right? So, it has a dual meaning. It means the Lord has come and He’s coming again, and “O Lord, come.”
Why is this significant?
It is only significant if your life is on the altar, because if we look back at the early church, they did not look to the empty tomb for encouragement as they were being lit on fire in Rome.
They looked to the return of the Lord. They were always wondering, “Lord, when are you going to come back?”
When you hear Maranatha cry, this is the cry of the people. It is the groaning of the people who are saying, “Lord, I have had enough of this age. When are you going to return?”
That is the voice. That is the cry of the persecuted church. The anthem of the underground church.
We see in Revelation 6, “How long, O Lord, until you avenge the blood…”
Justice Cry
When you look at what happened in 2020 with the people taking to the streets, they are screaming and crying, “justice, peace and equality”. They are screaming Maranatha from the streets, and they do not even know it.
The noise that I was talking about earlier is that we are so opinionated as a church and so self-centered that we missed the people crying Maranatha for the return of Jesus. They are crying out for Jesus, and we are just offended. Whether it is the LGBTQ community taking to the streets or whether it is Black Lives Matter taking to the streets or whatever the protests are, they are screaming these things. And we are just so offended by who they are and what they do that we are missing the message of the time. There’s power in the Maranatha cry.
Live Out Mission
Vahid: I agree with what you shared. This is a time for us as a church to live out our mission, what Jesus taught us to do. We must share. We must pray for the nations who never had a chance to hear the word of God.
We need to stand together and bring in God’s kingdom by declaring His word and by worship. We carry God’s presence through the worship to these nations, not knowing who God is.
I have a verse for this time to share with you. In Isaiah 62:6-7, “I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem. They will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.”
I have another verse: Psalm 122:6. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May those who love you be secure. I pray for peace of Jerusalem”
I pray for peace can come through Jesus because this is his promise for me.
18 years ago, the Lord told me, “If you come to me, I will give you peace. I will give you rest.” I pray that this peace come to Jerusalem, come to Iran and which we are longing for.
We are praying for God’s peace to come to this nation. And the peace comes through His word, Jesus. And we pray that God will continue to do the work in Iran and in Israel, so we can see his glory more in this nation.
Set our heart to pray for Israel and Iran. Let us declare freedom over this land.
Reaching The Nations
rtnministries.org – Equipping churches to reach out to the Muslims.
Be the Underground Church
