{"id":32982,"date":"2022-09-10T16:30:51","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/many-americans-link-u-s-military-strike-in-syria-to-end-times\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T16:30:51","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:30:51","slug":"many-americans-link-u-s-military-strike-in-syria-to-end-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/many-americans-link-u-s-military-strike-in-syria-to-end-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Many Americans link U.S. military strike in Syria to end times"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-461 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'>\n<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>  <\/div>\n<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>  <\/div>\n<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em>By Bob Smietana<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>NASHVILLE, Tenn. &#8212;<\/strong>&nbsp;The threat of airstrikes against Syria has more than a few Americans thinking about the end of the world.<\/p>\n<p>A recent poll from Nashville-based Lifeway Research found that almost one in three Americans see Syria\u2019s recent conflict as part of the Bible\u2019s plan for the end times.<\/p>\n<p>One in four think that a U.S. military strike in Syria could lead to Armageddon. One in five believes the world will end in their lifetime.<\/p>\n<p>Those results surprised Ed Stetzer, president of Lifeway Research.<\/p>\n<p>Previous U.S. military action, like the war in Afghanistan or air strikes during 1990s war in Bosnia, didn\u2019t get the same reaction, said Stetzer. But the fact that Syria shares a border with Israel, and is specifically mentioned in the Bible, has people thinking about the end times.<\/p>\n<div class='code-block code-block-1' style='margin: 8px 0;clear: both'> <\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe weren\u2019t talking about Armageddon during the air strikes on Bosnia,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Israel and the End Times<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Israel plays a major role in biblical prophecy, particularly in the Christian theology known as premillennial dispensationalism.<\/p>\n<p>That theology inspired the best-selling&nbsp;<em>Late Great Planet Earth<\/em>&nbsp;in the 1970s as well as the&nbsp;<em>Left Behind<\/em>&nbsp;book series. A big budget remake of&nbsp;<em>Left Behind&nbsp;<\/em>is currently in the works.<\/p>\n<p>Most premillennial dispensationalists believe Christians will instantly disappear from the earth during an event called the rapture, followed by seven years of war and catastrophe. After the battle of Armageddon, Jesus will return and set up his kingdom on earth.<\/p>\n<p>Stetzer said he could see why linking Bible prophecy to Syria is appealing to many Christians.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not that Christians want the world to end or want to see airstrikes, which will lead to suffering, Stetzer said. But they do want Jesus to return to set things right.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor Christians, the end of the world doesn\u2019t mean despair,\u201d he said. \u201cThe end is really a new beginning.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Differing opinions<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Lifeway Research asked three questions about Syria and the end of the world as part of a telephone survey of 1,001 Americans conducted September Sept. 6-10, 2013.<\/p>\n<p>Thirty-two percent of those polled agree with the statement, \u201cI believe the battles in Syria are all part of the prophecies of the Book of Revelation,\u201d Forty-nine percent disagree.<\/p>\n<p>Twenty-six percent of those surveyed agree with statement, \u201cI believe that U.S. military intervention in Syria might lead to the Battle of Armageddon that\u2019s spoken about in the Book of Revelation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Women (36 percent) are more likely than men (28 percent) to see a link between current events in Syria and the Bible.<\/p>\n<div style=\"clear:both;margin-top:0em;margin-bottom:1em\">\n<div class=\"centered-text-area\">\n<div class=\"centered-text\" style=\"float: left\">\n<div class=\"u8f764a33a24a7d18fbd8dc8f64725955-content\">See also&nbsp; Pastors Identify 7 Spiritual Needs for Their Life, Ministry<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ctaButton\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Those in the South (40 percent) and with household incomes under $25,000 (41 percent are more likely to see Syria\u2019s woes in the Bible. Those in the Northeast (24 percent) or with incomes over $75,000 (20 percent) are more skeptical.<\/p>\n<p>The biggest difference came when people responded to the statement, \u201cI believe the world will end in my lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Overall, 18 percent agree while 70 percent disagree.<\/p>\n<p>But 30 percent of those with under $25,000 in household income agree. By contrast, 9 percent of those in households over $75,000, agree with that statement.<\/p>\n<p>Religion and age also played in a role in how people responded to the poll.<\/p>\n<p>Those who attend worship once or twice a month are more likely to see a tie between Syria\u2019s trouble and the book of Revelation (51 percent agree), as are &nbsp;evangelical, born again, and fundamentalist Christians (58 percent agree.)<\/p>\n<p>Fewer of those who rarely (25 percent) or never attend (14 percent) agree.<\/p>\n<p>Older Americans are more likely to think U.S. airstrikes could lead to the battle of Armageddon, with 34 percent of those over 65 agreeing. Only 21 percent of those 18 to 29 agree.<\/p>\n<p>Younger Americans, however, are more likely to think the world would end in their lifetime. Twenty-four percent of those 18 to 29 agree, as opposed to only 15 percent of those over 65.<\/p>\n<p>About a third (32%) of evangelical, born-again, fundamentalist Christians believe the world will end in their lifetime.<\/p>\n<p>The Rev. Mark Hitchcock, pastor of Faith Bible Church in Edmond, Okla., believes the Bible does predict future events in the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p>But Hitchcock, who teaches about Bible prophecy at Dallas Theological Seminary\u2014an institution historically connected to dispensationalism&#8211; and authored&nbsp;<em>The End: A Complete Overview of Bible Prophecy and the End of Days<\/em>, doesn\u2019t think the trouble in Syria was predicted in the Bible.<\/p>\n<p>Hitchcock believes people want answers in troubled times. Economic hard times, political unrest and violence overseas have many Americans fearful, he said.<\/p>\n<p>That makes them more likely to see unrest in the Middle East as a sign that God is acting in the world.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey want to know that God is in charge,\u201d he said. \u201cThey want to know that someone has his hands on the wheel.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>&nbsp;High Resolution Graphics<\/h3>\n<div id='gallery-2' class='gallery galleryid-461 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'>\n<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>  <\/div>\n<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>  <\/div>\n<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class='yarpp yarpp-related yarpp-related-website yarpp-template-thumbnails'>\n<h3>Related posts:<\/h3>\n<div class=\"yarpp-thumbnails-horizontal\">  Young Adults, Including Christians, Have Complicated Relationship with Money  22 Vital Stats for Ministry in 2022  Americans Less Optimistic About Race Relations  3 Ways to Reach Non-Religious People in Your Community <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Bob Smietana NASHVILLE, Tenn. &#8212;&nbsp;The threat of airstrikes against Syria has more than a few Americans thinking about the end of the world. A recent poll from Nashville-based Lifeway Research found that almost one in three Americans see Syria\u2019s recent conflict as part of the Bible\u2019s plan for the end times. One in four &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/many-americans-link-u-s-military-strike-in-syria-to-end-times\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Many Americans link U.S. military strike in Syria to end times&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32982\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}