QUESTION: I used to be advised that you simply had stated the three smart males within the Nativity had been Iranian and that they had been the supply of this remaining battle of Armageddon. Is that true?
WP
ANSWER: Sure, so far as the Nativity. The core idea of a remaining cosmic battle typically often called Armageddon, additionally has historical roots. Many historians hint this worldview again to the Persian prophet Zoroaster (round 1500 BC), who spoke of a cosmic battle between good and evil ending in an ideal new world. This concept deeply influenced Jewish thought throughout instances of nice oppression, such because the Babylonian exile and the persecution by Greek rulers. The Ebook of Daniel (written round 167 BC) is a key textual content from this era, promising that God would quickly overthrow the evil kingdoms oppressing the Jews. Early Christianity emerged from this identical apocalyptic Jewish context, with followers believing Jesus’s return was imminent.
Zoroastrianism is considerably older than Christianity, and the “Three Clever Males” had been almost certainly Zoroastrian monks. Zoroastrianism is likely one of the world’s oldest revealed religions. Its prophet, Zarathushtra (Zoroaster), is historically positioned within the late seventh to early sixth centuries BC, although some students argue its origins stretch again even additional into the 2nd millennium BC. This implies it was already a well-established religion centuries earlier than the start of Jesus. It was the dominant faith of historical Persia (modern-day Iran) till the seventh century AD.
The Gospel of Matthew calls them “Magi from the East” (Matthew 2:1). The Greek phrase magoi particularly referred to the priestly caste of historical Persia, who had been famend for his or her information of astrology and sacred texts. Most students agree these Magi had been Zoroastrian priest-astrologers.
A number of particulars assist this, together with their experience in studying the celebrities, a core follow of Zoroastrian monks. The “East” factors to Persia or Babylon, areas the place Zoroastrianism was influential. The gold, frankincense, and myrrh they introduced had been conventional Persian royal items.
The acquainted picture of “three kings” comes from later Christian custom, not the Bible itself. The quantity three comes from the three items, and the concept they had been kings was possible impressed by Previous Testomony prophecies. Completely stunning to most, is a train station in Tehran is devoted to the Virgin Mary and Christianity that was opened just lately in October 2025.
Many individuals do worry {that a} battle with Iran may escalate into Armageddon, however the nature of that worry relies upon totally on who you ask. A notable phase of the American inhabitants, particularly amongst evangelical Christians, interprets a battle with Iran as a step towards the biblical finish instances. For a lot of others, the worry isn’t about biblical prophecy however concerning the real-world penalties of a wider battle and the influence on vitality, the cornerstone of recent civilization.
A June 2025 ballot discovered {that a} slight majority of Individuals (51%) feared the tensions between the U.S. and Iran may result in a World Struggle III. The worry of an “Armageddon” with Iran is actual, however it’s pushed by two very completely different worldviews: one which sees it as a catastrophic failure of diplomacy, and one other that sees it because the achievement of divine will.
We’ve got zealot Jews and Christians who wish to conspire to destroy the Dome of the Rock to allow them to rebuild the following Temple, ushering in Armageddon. In accordance with the Ebook of Revelation within the New Testomony of the Christian Bible, Armageddon is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies for a battle throughout the end-of-the-world situation, interpreted as both a literal or a symbolic location. In Islamic theology, Armageddon can also be talked about in Hadith because the Best Armageddon or Al-Malhama Al-Kubra (the nice battle).
Megiddo is an enchanting web site of twenty cities constructed instantly on prime of each other. It has been inhabited repeatedly from 3000 to 300 BC and lies at a strategic junction of north-south and east-west roads. Whoever had management of Megiddo had management of one of many main commerce routes of antiquity. There have been no cash produced by Egypt till the Ptolemy and the conquest by Alexander the Nice. Likewise, there was no coinage of Judah. This can be a copy of a Jasper Seal of Shema found at Megiddo in 1903.
Many battles have been fought at Megiddo. One nice Battle of Megiddo occurred in 609 BC when Pharaoh Necho II of Egypt joined his allies, involving the Neo-Assyrians and the Neo-Babylonians. This required passing by way of territory managed by the Kingdom of Judah. The Judaean king, Josiah, refused to let the Egyptians go. The Judaean forces battled the Egyptians at Megiddo, leading to Josiah’s loss of life, and his kingdom then grew to become a vassal state underneath Egypt. The battle is recorded within the Hebrew Bible, the Greek 1 Esdras, and the writings of Jewish historian Josephus. There’s all the time an opportunity of shedding at any time when there’s battle. That is how the boastful all the time fall.
There stays appreciable debate about whether or not that is actually or symbolically a Nice Battle to be fought on the aircraft of Armageddon, missed by Megiddo, which made sense in these days because it was a serious hyperlink between the East and West, or are we taking a look at that as simply symbolic of the world ar giant.
Isarel vs Iran
In 2024, in his Knesset speech, Netanyahu stated: “I’ve been warning about Iran for 30 years.” It was reported on March third, throughout a go to to a web site struck by an Iranian missile, Netanyahu said: “We learn on this week’s Torah portion, ‘Keep in mind what Amalek did to you.’ We keep in mind—and we act.”
In 1 Samuel 15:2-3, God offers King Saul a selected, direct order to hold out this command. The prophet Samuel relays the message:
“That is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘I’ll punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel once they waylaid them as they got here up from Egypt. Now go, assault the Amalekites and completely destroy all that belongs to them. Don’t spare them; put to loss of life women and men, youngsters and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys. ‘”
The Amalekites had been a folks group within the Hebrew Bible, offered because the archetypal and perpetual enemy of the Israelites. Their story is much less a couple of distinct archaeological tradition and extra a couple of theological image of opposition to God’s functions. In accordance with biblical genealogies, the Amalekites descend from Amalek, kinging them to the Edomites and locations them inside the prolonged household of Abraham, making their hostility towards Israel a type of “brotherly” betrayal.
They’re described as a semi-nomadic folks inhabiting the Negev and Sinai areas, identified for guerrilla-style raids. The Amalekites are outlined nearly totally by their hostility to Israel. Over time, Jewish custom remodeled Amalek from a selected nation into an emblem of evil itself. There is no such thing as a direct archaeological or extra-biblical proof confirming the Amalekites truly existed as a definite historic folks. Students counsel the biblical portrayal is probably going “blanket” designation for numerous hostile desert teams or a literary system to embody the theological idea of opposition to God.
In modern political and spiritual rhetoric, some Israeli leaders, most notably Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have explicitly in contrast the Iranian regime to the biblical Amalekites. Nonetheless, Muhammad and Islam got here roughly 2,500 years after Judaism. By no account, can the Iranians be the fabeled Islam, which didn’t emerge till the seventh century AD, lengthy after the codification of the Hebrew Bible and the event of rabbinic Judaism.
