¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” ¹⁵ And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner, ¹⁶ saying, “A hand upon the throne of the Lord! The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation” (Ex. 17:14-16).

Today is the first day of Purim, the holiday that remembers the amazing story recorded in Esther about how Haman, a descendant of Amalek, sought to wipe the Jews off the face of the earth. That plan backfired on him and he was hanged on the gallows he had built for Mordecai, the Jew, because Mordecai wouldn’t bow to him.

Given significant recent historical and global events, and with a little eye-opening observation I had over the weekend, and given the name of the altar Moses built after the battle with the Amalekites, I can’t help but write what I write for this Purim. I want to first preface this with saying I am not a prophetess and I will never claim to be a prophetess unless God has different plans for me. I do have the spiritual gift of teaching, and I hope that with that gift I have also been given some discernment. I can’t imagine God giving me the gift of teaching without also giving me some discernment.

I just happened to be looking at the Iranian flag in a news post this weekend, and the flag suddenly hit me in a way I never thought of before. In the middle is a red emblem that replaced the lion and sun 47 years ago. What is it, anyway? Britannica seems to think it’s the world or an artistic rendition of the name Allah or two crescents or something like that. In other words, there are guesses or assumptions, but no explicit explanation for it. Do you know what I saw when I looked at it this time? I saw a red dragon. Look at it for yourself. Can’t you see a red dragon looking at you face on with two horns on its head and two partially open, partially folded wings? And at the bottom is its tail.

Now the Bible talks about a red dragon, and there is only one place in the Bible the color red and the dragon are together. It’s Revelation chapter 12 in one of John’s visions. Check it out:

12 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. ² She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. ³ And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. ⁴ His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. ⁵ She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, ⁶ and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.

The dragon is Satan, the devil (Rev. 12:9). The woman is Israel, and the child is Jesus. Satan tried to destroy Jesus at His birth. See Matthew chapter two for the details of how Satan used Herod to try to kill Him. When we see things happening on earth, things are also happening in the heavenly or spiritual realm. The dragon waiting to devour Jesus in Bethlehem is what happened on earth. Now look at what comes next, as the pictures pans to the heavenly scene.

⁷ Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, ⁸ but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. ⁹ And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. ¹⁰ And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. ¹¹ And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. ¹² Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

Next, the scene pans back to earth.

¹³ And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. ¹⁴ But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. ¹⁵ The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. ¹⁶ But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. ¹⁷ Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.

When the dragon could not devour the child (Jesus), he decided to pursue Israel. God protected Israel. The dragon decided to drown Israel with a river from it’s mouth, but the earth came to Israel’s aid. After the dragon had been thrown down and its attacks upon Israel were all thwarted, he went to make war on the rest of her offspring, that is, Christians. Christians are the offspring of Israel in that faith in Jesus is founded in Judaism. Christianity is all about salvation in a Savior Who is Jewish. He is the Son of David, the Lion of Judah (Rev. 5:5).

Iran’s regime, since the outset of the ayatollah, has had the core mission to destroy the Jews and Israel off the face of the earth just like Haman did. It also fundamentally calls for the death of America, the primary modern symbol of religious freedom and faith. With a post-Christian Europe, America is the most prominent nation that identifies itself with the One True God. It’s in our pledge. It’s on our money. And our current president has brought back Christian faith in an explicit way (Just check out whitehouse.gov right now, or watch a replay of his inaugural speech or his latest State of the Union speech, just to name a few). I’m not saying Trump is a model Christian or even truly a Christian himself (because he said he doesn’t think he will get into heaven, or if he can, it will be because of what good he has done and hopes to do). What I am saying is he has helped redirect America back to its Christian heritage and identity. So Iran is the manifest example of the red dragon who has tried to destroy the woman and her children (Israel and America). It looks like Iran is in the middle of getting thrown down right now in poetic justic by the very ones it vowed destruction upon: Israel and America. It was also the number one sponsor of October 7, also known as Al Aqsa Flood. Yes, flood. The dragon tried to pour a flood out upon Israel but he was stopped. The earth stopped it. Israel has its greatest ally with the United States. European countries stepped in to defend Israel during America’s Operation Midnight Hammer and Israel’s Operation Rising Lion last year. Arab countries like Saudi Arabia vow retaliation on Iran for its tirade. NATO, the UAE, Qatar, Germany, and many other countries are coming out and condemning Iran’s actions and supporting what the US and Israel are doing. Even France is sending a token ship to the theatre, even France. It looks like the earth is rising up to stop the dragon, in this sense. Just like the king of ancient Persia said the Jews had the right to defend themselves on the day Haman planned to destroy them, so most of the modern world has spoken up in either symbolic or practical support of Israel’s right to defend itself by a preemptive strike right before Iran planned to attack them. It’s even going on in Iran, the setting of the book of Esther. The true Persian king supported the Jews. The imposter who wanted to be like the Persian king sought to destroy the Jews. So today, the crown prince of Persia wants to enact Cyrus Accords with Israel, while what many would see as the imposter, the ayatollah, has from its very inception schemed evil plots against Israel, just like Haman did, the descendant of Amalek.

I’m not saying what began over the weekend is the all-encompassing fulfillment of John’s vision. What I am saying is there are a lot of commonalities here, and we need to pay attention to the pattern. I have two main points: 1) there is ultimately a spiritual battle going on against the Jews and Christians that manifests itself in the physical world, and 2) though nations rise and fall, the demons and angels who vie for the nations do not die at all, and believers need to be incredibly vigilant through prayer and discernment to where the enemy will show himself next.

I’m not saying it’s certain the regime will fall. What I am saying is that even if it does, the enemy that is behind that regime who manifested himself on their flag, is still present on the earth no matter what happens in this present military theater. And He wants to destroy the woman and all her children (Jews and Christians) will all his being. He is furious with God’s chosen and believers.

After the dragon is thwarted, and he furiously goes to stand on the sand of the sea, and as a part of making war against the woman’s children (Christians), he raises a beast out of the water. Now the sea can be a symbol of chaos or primordial origins of something. Now here is what happens after he gives the beast his power and authority:

⁵ And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. ⁶ It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling,^[a] that is, those who dwell in heaven. ⁷ Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them.^[b] And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, ⁸ and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain (Rev. 13:5-8).

There it is. Instead of letting the child (Jesus) rule the nations, the dragon sets up his own guy who will rule the nations. The worldly manifestation of the dragon’s war against the woman’s children is the beast, a global ruler or power who will crush Christians with his rules, laws, policies, and political and military power. For how long? Forty-two months. That’s three and a half years. How long is Israel to be nourished? 1,260 days, or “a time, and times, and half a time” (Rev. 12:14), that is, three and a half years. I’m not going to get into whether this is a literal three and a half years or not. That’s not my point. What I’m trying to point out is that the time God is protecting Israel is the same Christians are delivered into the hands of the enemy, Satan. Why am I bringing this up with Purim and the current conflict with Iran? Believers need to be ready for the dragon’s war.

How can we be ready? Revelation tells us:

[t]hey have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death…Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints. (Rev. 12:11; 13:10).

If the Lord is your Banner as He was for Israel on the day Amelek ambushed them on the way to the Promised Land, you will endure no matter what happens in this physical world. But if the dragon is your banner, then this is what the Bible has to say:

“[T]he devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire…And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:10, 15).

This matches with Jesus’ words about judgement day concerning unbelievers:

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Mt. 25:41).

Notice that Jesus said He doesn’t intend this destiny for people. Hell, the lake of fire, the eternal fire, is not prepared for people. It’s prepared for Satan and his angels who fell with him from heaven. But if you follow the dragon as your banner, you will consequently follow him there. But if you follow the Lord as your Banner like Moses did, like the Israelites did, like the children of the woman of Revelation 12 do, then He will care for you. If you love Him more than your life (see Rev. 12:11), then He gives you eternal life. Jesus is the Messiah. He died for the sins of the world so that by faith in Him the world may be saved from their sins. If you trust in Him, believe in Him, repent, and live for Him, He gives His life to you, not just in this current physical realm, but in the eternal world to come. Just like Haman, the dragon will be defeated, and God will preserve His people. Happy Purim. Until next time, God bless.

Sources

The Bible. English Standard Version. Biblegateway.com. Accessed 2 Mar. 2026.

“flag of Iran.” britannica.com. Accessed 1 Mar. 2026.