A Christian Response To Operation Epic Fury

Headlines say “Epic Fury.” Our hearts say, slow down and look through a kingdom lens. We unpack what it means to follow Jesus while nations rattle sabers, and we confront the reflex to cheer violence as virtue. From viral memes to pulpit soundbites, it’s easy to blend American identity with Christian identity. We pull those threads apart, sit with the early church’s witness on violence, and ask how disciples of a crucified King speak, pray, and act when missiles fly.

We revisit the first three centuries, when Christians living under Rome refused the sword not out of naivety but out of a cross-shaped conviction. Voices like Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Hippolytus, and Origen describe a community that would rather die than kill, exposing how easily empires sanctify bloodshed. Their challenge lands squarely on us: if Jesus disarmed Peter, what does that say about our celebrations of force? Along the way we consider later echoes—from Chrysostom to John Paul II—that insist war is never a triumph for humanity.

Prophecy takes center stage, too. Many cite Jeremiah 49 to claim divine approval for striking modern Iran. We walk carefully through the text: Elam’s distinct history, the likely ancient fulfillment, and the closing promise of restoration that flows straight into Pentecost, where Elamites hear the gospel in their own tongue. Good hermeneutics refuses to turn Scripture into a slogan; it lets the Bible reframe our assumptions with context, history, and hope.

Then we turn to what God may be doing right now across Iran: reports of remarkable spiritual hunger, underground house churches, and thousands exploring faith in Jesus despite danger. If the Spirit is changing hearts without a single bomb, what story do Christians tell the world when we celebrate strikes? We call the church to pray for Iranians and Israelis alike, protect the innocent with our advocacy and generosity, and guard our witness from triumphalism. Subscribe, share with a friend who’s wrestling with these questions, and leave a review to join the conversation and help others find a kingdom-first perspective.

Transcript

Welcome & Purpose Of The Stream

SPEAKER_01 0:13

All right, I think we're I think we're we're here. I think we're live. I think we're doing this. Um Instagram makes it a little difficult for you to do this, and so I'm just figuring it out. But welcome to the Mark Casto program. Today I want to talk to you about something I think is really important. Obviously, we see all that's going on with Iran, Israel, the United States, and I want to talk about Operation Epic Fury, but I want to talk about it from a Christian perspective, a kingdom perspective. And so um I'm gonna give just a few moments for people to jump on. Um, and just obviously your comments are gonna pop up. I'll do my best to kind of interact with people in the comments. This is a new format for me. So I want to, it's always been in my heart to be able to help you interpret media headlines and today's headlines through a kingdom lens, through a Christocentric lens. And so this is one of the greatest ways I know to do that. So I'm really excited to jump on here today and um and to talk you through it. And so um, yeah, I'm just excited about the opportunity to do that. So let's um let's start here and we're gonna talk about a Christian perspective on Operation Epic Fury. Okay, that's what we're talking about today. Now, guys, before I dive in, I need to warn you this is gonna be one of those streams where I probably say some things that make some of you uncomfortable. And quite honestly, I'm okay with that because I think the church right now needs to hear some things that we've been avoiding. So a few days ago, if you've not been watching the news, the United States and Israel launched a massive joint military operation against the nation of Iran. And what they're calling it Operation Epic Fury. Over a thousand targets struck, over a thousand targets were struck in just the opening 24 hours. Nuclear facilities, missile arsenals, government buildings, naval forces. And what we know of as of right now is three American service members were killed in the opening day. And guys, almost immediately I started seeing it everywhere on Christian social media. Patriots and pastors celebrating memes about God's judgment falling on Iran and people quoting Jeremiah 49 like they've cracked the prophetic code, um, like this is it, and this is prophecy being fulfilled. And I have to ask, is that the Christian response? Or is that the American response? And here's another question: are those the same thing? Because I want to take you today through what the church actually taught. I'm not talking about what modern preachers are saying, I'm not talking about what megachurch pastors are saying, not the American evangelical industrial complex, but actual church fathers, the men who built the faith that we claim to follow, the ones who are being fed to lions while we're sitting here with our flags and our fighter jets. And then, because I don't want to leave you in despair, I want to tell you what God is actually doing in Iran right now. And guys, I believe it's gonna wreck you in the best way possible. So let's get ready to jump in. Now, before I do that, I want to share with you this video that I actually watched this morning that really, really messed with me. Um, I'm gonna bring it up here on the screen here. Um, this was on Facebook earlier today. This is Secretary Hedge Hedges, and uh and he's talking about he's given an update about the war. And um, I just thought this was interesting. So let's let's take a listen.

SPEAKER_00 4:39

If you kill Americans, if you threaten Americans anywhere on earth, we will hunt you down without apology and without hesitation, and we will kill you. It took the 40 seconds.

Early Church On Violence

Martyrs Who Refused The Sword

Later Voices Against War

Revival Reports From Iran

Rethinking Jeremiah 49 And Elam

SPEAKER_01 4:52

This is so so this is what we're dealing with. Um this is this is what we're dealing with, guys. Um that is the witness that the world has of what we as Americans are, and we we call ourselves a Christian nation. So I want to talk about this. So so first, let's just lay out some facts, okay? Let's just lay out some some truths here, okay? And I want to do this without edit like doing the whole editing thing, because I think a lot of people are watching this unfold through social media and getting very incomplete information. Okay, so here's the facts. On February 28th, 2026, the United States and Israel launched a joint military operation striking hundreds of targets across Iran, including the compound of the Supreme Leader Khamani's office. Okay. They struck government ministry buildings, military facilities stretching from Tehran all the way to the southern coast, okay? And their stated their stated objectives were this: we're going to eliminate Iran's nuclear threat. We're going to destroy its ballistic missile arsenal, degrade proxy terror terror networks, and cripple its naval forces. And over a thousand targets were struck in the opening 24 hours. Three American service members were killed. Okay. Now, I'm not here to do foreign policy analysis. I'm not going to tell you whether this was strategically wise or not. What I want to talk about is this. How should a follower of Jesus Christ think about what's happening in Iran? Not how should an American think about it? How should a Christian, a Christ follower, think about it? Because those two things, and I know this is going to ruffle some feathers here. American and Christian are not the same thing. And we have spent decades in this country confusing the two, and it's costing the church its soul. Okay? So here's what American thinking about war tends to look like. Okay. Our enemies deserve to be destroyed. Military strength is a virtue. God is on our side. Death to our enemies is justice. And here's the thing: that's not unique to America. Every nation in history has thought those things. The Romans thought it. The Assyrians thought it. Every empire that ever existed has wrapped its violence in the language of virtue and divine approval. But here's what makes Christianity different, or at least what's supposed to make Christianity different. Our founder was tortured and executed by the state. And instead of calling down fire on his enemies, he said, Father, forgive them. And then his first followers, not centuries later, not after they got comfortable and powerful, his first followers living under Roman occupation, being persecuted and killed, they refused to take up the sword, not because they were cowards, but because they understood something about the kingdom of God that we have largely as Americans forgotten. And let me show you what they said. Okay. I want to walk you through a series of quotes from the early church and beyond. And these are not fringe figures either. These are the men who shaped Christian theology, who died for the faith, and whose writings that many people still read today. So let's look at the first three centuries of the early church, and this is before Constantine. Okay, the early church's position on violence was remarkably consistent. Before Christianity became the religion of the empire, before the church had political power to protect, the followers of Jesus were virtually unanimous. Justin the Martyr in 155 A.D., he wrote this We who formally used to murder one another not only do not make war upon our enemies, but willingly die confessing Christ. See, Justin Martyr was writing to the Roman Emperor defending Christians. He wasn't describing a strategy, he was describing a transformation. We used to be like you. This is essentially what Justin Martyr was saying to the Roman Emperor. We used to be like you, but we don't do that anymore. Then I think about Athanagarius of Athens, and he wrote, We cannot endure to see a man put to death, even justly. Even justly, even when it's legally sanctioned, even when it's deserved. The early Christians were disturbed by death, they never celebrated it. Then you have Arrhenius of Lyons, okay? The new covenant converts swords and lances into instruments of peace, and they know not how to fight. Tertullian said, the Lord, in disarming Peter, disarmed every soldier. Now I want you to think about that for a second, okay? When Jesus told Peter to put away his sword in the garden, Tertullian said that that wasn't just a word to one man in one moment, it was a statement about the kingdom. The kingdom of God does not advance by the sword. Then you have Hippolytus of Rome that wrote in the Apostolic Tradition in 215 A.D. A soldier of the civil authority must be taught not to kill men and to refuse to do so if he is ordered. This was actual church instruction for new believers. If you're in the military and they tell you to kill, refuse. That's what early church fathers said. Origen in 248 A.D. said, We no longer take up sword against nation, nor do we learn war anymore, having become sons of peace for the sake of Jesus. Then Origen says again, Christians could slay their enemies, but they prefer to die rather than kill. Guys, Origen was responding to a pagan critic who said Christians were useless to society because they wouldn't fight. And Origen said, You're right, we won't fight. We'd rather die than kill. That's the point. Then you have, I'm probably screwing these names up, Cyprian of Carthage, who wrote in 252 AD, the world is wet with mutual blood and murder, which is admitted to be a crime in the case of an individual, is called a virtue when committed wholesale. So Cyprian is saying, one man, one man kills one man, and that's murder. But a nation kills thousands and that's victory. Cyprian saw through, like I really believe he saw through the double standard. And guys, the logic hasn't changed in 1800 years. Another early church father said, when men commit homicide singly, it's a crime. But when they do it collectively, it's called a virtue. Guys, here's where it gets real. These weren't just theologians making abstract arguments. These were men who were executed for refusing to serve in the military. You have Markellus of Tangier. He said, I'm a Christian and may not serve in the armies of this world. This was a Roman centurion, an officer who threw down his weapons in the middle of a pagan military celebration and declared he was a Christian. And guess what? He was executed. He chose death over war. Then you have Maximilian of Tibesus. And he said, I cannot serve as a soldier. I cannot do evil. Maximilian was 21 years old. He was drafted and refused. He told the proconsul that I cannot fight because I'm a Christian. And he was beheaded. He was only 21 years old. Then you have Martin of Tours who said, I'm a soldier of Christ, therefore I cannot fight. And then later voices, when you get into the ages of like medieval to modern, the tradition doesn't end with the early church. Listen to how this thread runs throughout church history. John Chrysostom said, To destroy one's enemies is not the act of a Christian, but of a barbarian. I hope you guys are listening to this. Like Gregory of Nisa, he said, the murderer's hands are defiled, even if he kills in war. Thomas Merton, who was an amazing Catholic uh voice and writer, he said, war is totally incompatible with the teaching of Jesus Christ. Jacques Elul wrote that war is the ultimate idolatry of the state. Stanley Orris said that Jesus' refusal of violence is not incidental to his message. It is the message. And then we have John Paul II who said war is always a defeat for humanity. And guys, then we can even jump into the Reformation. The clearest continuation of early church pacifism came through the Anabaptists in the 16th century, and they paid for it with their lives, killed by both Catholics and Protestants. Conrad Grabel said, true Christians use neither worldly sword nor war. Michael Sattler in his Confessions of 1527 said the gospel and its adherents are not to be protected by the sword. Then you have Michael Sattler, who was burned at the stake. Listen, the guy that I just quoted, he was burned at the stake for six weeks, like at the stake, six weeks after writing that very quote that I just gave to you. His wife was drowned because they meant what they said. Then you have Mino Simmons, who was the wrote the foundation of Christian doctrine. He said the regenerated do not go to war, nor engage in strife. Now, I realize what some of you are thinking. That's too extreme, Mark. What about just war theory? What about protecting the innocent? And guys, those are real questions worth having. But here's what I want you to set with the earliest followers of Jesus, the ones closest to him, the ones being persecuted by the Roman state, they were overwhelmingly pacifists. Not because they were naive, but because they had a theology of the cross. Guys, so I I really hope that you sit with this. I really hope that some of you like take some of these quotes that I just shared with you, and that you'll really like take a moment and realize that to be a Christ follower means that we think differently than what we do as Americans. And guys, the reality is this: like, I love my country. I love being a citizen of the United States of America. But I am not an American Christian. I am a Christian who is a citizen of the United States of America. This is where the change comes from. So I'm gonna jump into some of the things of like what God is doing in Iran. Um I'm gonna jump into some Bible prophecy stuff that I see kind of swirling around. And again, we're we're talking about a Christian perspective on the Operation Epic Fury. Okay. So I hope I hope you have enjoyed this. If you have, make sure you put some notes in the comments below because I believe that um this is really challenging the way some of us think. So, what is God actually doing in Iran? Okay. Well, I need you to hear this before I talk about prophecy and politics because I think it reframes everything. While we've been debating whether God wants us to bomb Iran, God has been moving in Iran in one of the greatest spiritual revivals in modern history. Listen to this. I've found these statistics online in multiple places. More than 2,000 Iranians are coming to faith in Jesus Christ every single day. Iranian Christian leaders have reported over 100,000 contacts with people seeking Christ, describing, and I want you to hear this phrase, a supernatural hunger in the people of Iran for the true God. Out of approximately 75,000 mosques in Iran, an estimated 55,000 have closed. Guys, a there's a secular Dutch research group that surveyed 50,000 Iranians and found that 1.5% are identifying as Christian. So if you extrapolate that across Iran's population, and you're what you're looking at is about over a little over a million converts in a country where converting from Islam is punishable by death, this is happening through satellite TV, encrypted messaging apps, underground house churches, and the internet. The guys, the reality is the Iranian government can't stop it. They've tried, but they cannot stop it. So I want to ask you something. If God is winning the hearts of the Iranian people without a single bomb, if the gospel is advancing through love and suffering and witness, what does military action do to that? Does it help? Does it make Iranians think, wow, these Christians really love us? Or does it confirm what the Iranian the Iranian government has been telling its people for over 40 years, that America and Christianity are the same enemy? Now, I'm not saying military decisions are simple. I'm not saying that at all. I'm saying that before you celebrate, before you post that meme, before you tell me this is God's judgment, I want you to ask yourself whether you've prayed for the Iranian people. I know you've prayed for Israel, but have you prayed for the Iranian people? Ask yourself if you even knew this revival was happening in Iran. Okay. Now, let's jump into the Bible prophecy part. So people are claiming that Iran is found in Bible prophecy in Jeremiah 49. And um, I think this is something that we need to talk about because this is being shared everywhere right now. And I think it sir it it deserves a more serious response. So the claim is if you look in your Bibles, Jeremiah 49, chapter 49, verse 34 through 39, is a prophecy about God's end times judgment on modern Iran. That's the claim. And people are pointing to these strikes, what's happening in Iran right now, as prophetic fulfillment. So let me read the passage to you. Okay. This is what it says: the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the mainstay of their might. I will bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven and scatter them to all these winds. And there shall be no nation to which those driven out of Elam shall not come. I will bring disaster upon them, my fierce anger, declares the Lord. Okay. Now let's walk through this. Problem number one, ready? Elam is not Iran. Okay, Elam is not Iran. Elam was a separate ancient kingdom located along the Persian Gulf, northwest of the Persian heartland. It is not simply another name for Persia or modern Iran. Elam had its own language, its own culture, its own history, and it was conquered and absorbed by Persian. Centuries before Christ, the Elamite people were scattered and as a distinct ethnic and national group, they ceased to exist over 2,500 years ago. So when people say that Elam equals Iran, they're collapsing a conquered people into their conquerors. That's like saying the Aztecs equal Mexico or the Anglo-Saxons equal England. It's related, overlapping geography, but not the same people. Okay. Problem number two: the prophecy was already fulfilled. Here's what biblical scholars, not liberals, not skeptics, but evangelical scholars point this out. Because I know if I if I point out somebody that you think is liberal or whatever, I'll just point to the conservative evangelical scholars. Jeremiah gave this prophecy around 597 BC. Okay. The Assyrian king had already devastated Elam around 647 to 646 BC. Then the Medes conquered it. Then Babylon attacked it around 596 BC. Then in 539 BC, the Persian Empire conquered and absorbed what remained. So the prophecy, I will scatter them to all winds, and there shall be no nation which those driven out of Elam shall not come, describes exactly what happened to the Elamite people historically. They were already scattered. They ceased to be a nation. They were absorbed into Persia. Now, this isn't me reading liberalism into the text. This is historical record. The prophecy had a historical fulfillment. The problem number three with this whole claim is the restoration promise. Okay. And here's something that nobody mentions when they're using this passage to justify bombing Iran. I want you to look at verse 39 of Jeremiah 49, 39. Okay. Now listen to this. But in the latter days, I will restore the fortunes of Elam, declares the Lord. Okay. So even if you insist this passage is about modern Iran, even if you take the maximalist prophetic reading, the passage ends with restoration, not annihilation. It ends with God saying, I will bring them back. And notice what we see in Acts chapter 2, verse 9. On the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit falls, there's a list of nations present. Elamites are on that list. The people of Elam were among the first to hear the gospel in their own language. Guys, the restoration of Elam began at Pentecost. So the bottom line of Elam, and I'm giving you some different ways to look at this, okay? To use Jeremiah 49 to spiritually justify military strikes on Iran, you have to number one, ignore that Elam and Persia slash Iran are not the same people. You got to ignore that. Number two, then you have to ignore that the prophecy had a clear historical fulfillment 2,500 years ago. Number three, then you have to cherry pick the judgment verses while ignoring the restoration promise in verse 39. And then fourthly, you ignore Pentecost, where Elamites were present at the birth of the church. Guys, that's not Bible interpretation. That's confirmation bias with a concordance. Okay. So I want to just kind of close with this, okay? I know this has been probably a heavy live stream. You've got probably more questions now than you even did before. I get it. I understand it. Um, but I want to be clear about what I'm not saying, okay? I'm not saying that the Iranian the Iranian government is good. It's not. It has been one of the most oppressive, violent governments on earth. It's funded terrorism, it's murdered its own people, it's persecuted Christians, the very Christians I just told you about who are meeting in secret right now and risking their lives to follow Jesus. I'm not saying America has no right to defend itself or its allies. What I am saying is this the church's job is not to cheerlead for empire. The church's job is to be the church. John Paul II said it plainly. War is always a defeat for humanity. Always, even when it may be necessary, it is a defeat, not a triumph, not something to celebrate with flag emojis. And here's what I want to leave you with. In Iran right now, there are people, maybe 2,000 today, maybe 2,000 tomorrow, who are choosing Jesus over everything, over their safety, over their family's approval, over their freedom and their lives. They are becoming Christians in a country where that can get you killed. And the question that I want you to carry with you in your heart today is not, is the strike justified? The question is, am I praying for the people of Iran the way that God loves them? Because God loves the people of Iran. That is not in question. The revival happening there is the proof. God is moving. And the church, the global church, should be leaning into that movement with prayer and with love, not posting celebration celebration memes. William Law, who wrote the book A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, he had this quote I thought was fascinating. There is but one way of destroying an enemy, and that is by loving him. So I want to take a moment and just pray. Father, I just thank you today for your people. I thank you for the people that are present on this live stream. God, I want to thank you for what you're doing in the nation of Iran. God, I want to thank you for the move of the spirit that we are seeing happen in Iran. And today, I'm asking for war to cease. I'm asking for peace in the Middle East. I'm asking for you to unite the Middle East together, that the sons of Abraham could walk together again. Father, I'm asking for that revival to continue to spread all over Iran. God, I ask for you to raise up Iran's apostles and prophets, their evangelists, their pastors and their teachers to begin to equip the saints, God, in that nation and that a perfect man begin to rise up out of the nation of Iran. Father, I just pray protection over them today. Father, I pray for protection over innocent lives. I pray for protection over lives, period, today. And God, I pray that you begin to change the nations of the earth through your peace. God, let your kingdom come, let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And Father, we're going to pray this prayer until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our God and you are Christ. Father, I pray that the knowledge of the glory of the Lord would cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. And God, I pray for America. I pray for the church in America right now. God, if we're going to claim to be a Christian nation, then let's be a Christian nation. I pray for the a Jesus revolution to begin to hit the United States of America like never before. Father, I thank you for your word. I thank you for a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of you. And God, I pray that today this program helps people continue to receive a more Christological lens to begin to see the world through. And it starts with this today. Father, we thank you for it in the mighty name of Jesus. And everybody that's with me said amen. Hey guys, if this stream meant something to you, please share it. Not because I need views, but because I think the church needs this conversation. Okay. We need to be able to distinguish between American values and kingdom values. And guys, sometimes they overlap, okay? And then other times they diverge. So we need the wisdom to know the difference. Um, drop your thoughts in the comments. I want to hear from you, especially if you disagree with me. Tell me why. I want to have this conversation. And I'll put a link in the description for you guys to connect further. Listen, if this is the type of content you believe the world needs to hear, consider becoming a partner. All you have to do is go to markcasto.co backslash donate and jump in. And every partner gives us the ability every month to plan ahead. That's that's what I love about monthly recurring giving is it lets us know how much money for sure is coming in for the month so that we can steward it, make investments, and do the things that we know that we're called to do. So God bless you guys. Thanks for being here. Grace and peace to you all. Have a great day.