Greg Laurie on End Times Prophecy, North Korea Nuclear Threat: 'I Pray America Is Not Destroyed'
Pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California, has spoken out about the threat of nuclear war between the United States and North Korea, and analyzed how it all fits into End Times prophecy in the Bible.
"As you know, the conflict with this rogue nation has escalated dramatically in recent days and even hours," Laurie said in a Facebook video on Monday, referring to the hostile rhetoric of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
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Laurie argued that Kim's threat to strike the U.S. with nuclear weapons "can't be dismissed or taken lightly."
"How does this fit into the prophetic puzzle? Well, in the last days there is no mention of any nation that would resemble North Korea," the megachurch pastor offered, but said that Iran, which is present in the End Times scenario, could potentially acquire weapons from North Korea.
"Here is what concerns me. We do not find the reigning superpower on the face of the Earth anywhere in the Last Days scenario. Other nations emerge. So where is America? I pray we are not out of the picture, because we have been in some kind of nuclear conflict," Laurie added.
He urged Americans to pray for Trump, whether they voted for him or not.
The pastor looked at Timothy Chapter 2 in the Bible, which reads: "Therefore, I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence."
The passage continues: "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
Laurie noted that he will be involved in several White House initiatives surrounding the National Day of Prayer on Thursday, and said that Christians in America should be proclaiming Christ's message.
He called on believers to be praying for the nation, so that God can give wisdom to its leaders and protect its military.
"That God helps us to make the right decisions in the days and the hour ahead," he added.
Laurie has spoken out about the last book of the Bible, Revelation, on a number of occasions in the past year, and said that people will face a final judgment following death.
"The only reliable account of afterlife is the Bible," and not people who have described their alleged out-of-body experiences in various books, he said in December.
"Who will be there in the second death? "All those who have rejected God's offer of forgiveness," Laurie said, adding, "Notice, I didn't say bad people."
Roman Catholic Church leader Pope Francis also spoke out about his concerns over a possible nuclear conflict with North Korea.
"It's piecemeal but the pieces are getting larger, and are concentrated in places which were already hot," Francis told reporters over the weekend.
"Today a wider war would destroy, I won't say half of humanity, but a large part of humanity and culture. It would be terrible. I don't think humanity today could bear it," he added.
