In the waters of the Persian Gulf, the fate of Western civilization is being decided. The United States and Israel have unleashed an offensive of shock and awe on Iran. From the opening salvo of missiles and airstrikes on February 28, a hailstorm of fire has rained down on Tehran, destroying key infrastructure and military targets. Complete air superiority has been achieved. Decapitation strikes have wiped out the top tiers of leadership, yet the regime maintains control.

But these outstanding military successes have not deprived Iran of its most important strategic asset: control of the Strait of Hormuz.

When the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced the closure of Hormuz to all seaborne traffic on March 2, the most decisive phase of the Iran war began. As long as Iran controls this vital sea gate, it will threaten the stability of the entire world. As long as it has Hormuz, it has power.

The stage is being set for the most important struggle for a sea gate in the 21st century. It is a small rogue terrorist state against the world’s superpower and most powerful navy. The stakes are high: The loser will suffer a death blow to its prestige and influence, and the outcome could reshape the world.

It has been 70 years since the Suez Crisis of 1956. That was a geopolitical tipping point signaling the death of an empire. Will the struggle for Hormuz be another tipping point?

Bible prophecy points to this region being the spark of World War iii. Sea gates play a central role in these prophecies. While this conflict is not the start of the next world war, it is creating the conditions for a clash that will engulf the entire world in nuclear war.

The Geography of the Strait of Hormuz

The Strait of Hormuz is a 21-mile-wide waterway that bridges the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. Iran controls the northern shore of the strait, while the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) and Oman share the southern shore. This vital sea gate is the passageway for 20 million barrels of oil per day (20 percent of the world’s global oil consumption) and 20 percent of liquified natural gas. Most of the energy resources produced by Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, U.A.E., Qatar, Bahrain and Iran go through this route. This especially affects energy markets in Europe and Asia.

The strait itself is narrow with several islands, making it difficult for large ships to maneuver. Iran has several opportunities to harass and stop maritime traffic.

Ships passing through Hormuz are in range of Iranian ballistic missiles, antiship missiles and other ordnance. Iran has attacked ships with drones and mines, and used small boats to commandeer oil tankers. These are real threats, even to the sophisticated military power of the U.S.

Since closing the strait, several tankers have been destroyed. Defenseless maritime traffic needs a naval escort or a campaign to eliminate Iranian threats. Oil prices worldwide have increased, forcing Western nations to release enormous amounts of oil from their strategic reserves to alleviate prices. Major maritime insurance brokers have refused coverage in the region, and President Donald Trump has covered with American resources. This has shaken confidence in stock markets and economic stability.

This illustrates an important truth Sir Walter Raleigh explained in the 1600s: “Whosoever commands the sea commands the trade. Whosoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches of the world, and consequently the world itself.”

America, Britain and Europe do not control the sea gates that secure their national and economic security. Nearly every major sea gate is controlled, officially or not, by the enemies of the West. How have we found ourselves in this position of weakness?

Bible prophecy reveals how we have arrived at this crisis.

Bible Prophecy and World Power

One of the great feats of history was Britain and America’s possession of every major sea gate across the globe. Starting around 1800, these sea gates gave the British Empire and America unparalleled power. Yet the feat was not a human undertaking—it was the result of God’s miraculous blessings.

These sea gates were given to America and Britain because they are the descendants of the patriarch Abraham, the father of the faithful. God promised unconditional blessings to Abraham’s descendants. This is all explained and proved in the late Herbert W. Armstrong’s book The United States and Britain in Prophecy.

One of these promises can be found in Genesis 22:17: “That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies.” Mr. Armstrong wrote:

As explained before, since the birthright pertains to nations, the “gate” of our enemies would be such passes as Gibraltar, Suez, Singapore, the Panama Canal, etc.

Britain and America came into possession of every such major “gate” in this world! So we must be modern Israel. World War ii hinged on these “gates.” They had become not only strategic passes, but the world’s greatest fortifications.

This prophecy was primarily fulfilled by the British Empire. When Britannia ruled the waves, the Royal Navy dominated these sea gates and ushered in a century of peace on the high seas.

The great battles of the 19th and 20th century revolved around these sea gates. Britain and America once recognized how important they were and had the will to fight for them. By World War i, this willpower was brutally tested.

Dardanelles Campaign

“All the great struggles of history have been won by superior willpower wresting victory in the teeth of odds or upon the narrowest of margins,” Sir Winston Churchill wrote in the third volume of his World War ii memoirs. This warrior-statesman learned this truth through bitter experience.

As first lord of the Admiralty at the outset of World War i, Churchill conceived of the Dardanelles campaign as an alternative to the trench warfare in France. By using the Royal Navy to take control of the Dardanelles and Bosphorus Straits, which connect the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea, Churchill believed Britain could compel the Ottoman Empire to drop out of the war. The capital of Constantinople, or Istanbul, would be at the mercy of the guns of the Royal Navy.

It was a bold strategy. The Dardanelles was narrow and full of minefields, with Turkish forts and heavy guns on the cliffs dominating the water below. It would require an iron will and expected losses to Britain’s fleet. The risk was high, but so was the reward for victory.

When the naval bombardment began in February 1915, the British and French ships began to mount losses, mainly due to minefields. These losses unnerved the British war cabinet and public. By April, an amphibious assault was planned to work in tandem with the fleet. Yet the land campaign in Gallipoli was poorly handled by the local commander, who lacked decisiveness and urgency and sat idly on the beachhead for days, giving the Turks a chance to organize a fierce defense. After repeated attempts to force the Dardanelles and land assaults to take out the Ottoman forts, the attack was abandoned in January 1916. The 11-month battle ended in disaster.

The reason for the loss was a failure of willpower. After the war, it became known that most of the forts dominating the Dardanelles had exhausted their heavy ammunition, some having only a handful of armor-piercing shells left. If the British had persevered at this critical juncture, they may have succeeded. There is an important lesson for President Trump today.

In both world wars, the Royal Navy was pushed to its limits. Britannia still ruled the waves. But that was to change after victory in 1945.

Suez Crisis: The Beginning of the End

Seventy years ago, a crisis over one the world’s most important sea gates changed the world forever. Since the 19th century, Britain had maintained de facto control over Egypt, controlling the Suez Canal through a financial ownership agreement. This sea gate was vital for trade with Asia, moving military vessels between theaters, and Middle East oil. (Ironically, Churchill’s decision to switch the Royal Navy from coal to oil before World War i is what made the Persian Gulf so important.)

After World War ii, Egyptian opposition to British presence grew until in 1952, a military coup forced King Farouk to abdicate and an anti-British government seized all European-owned assets. In July 1956, President Nassar nationalized the Suez. This threatened the national security of Europe.

Britain, France and Israel carried out a bold and successful military operation to take back control of the Suez, while Israel gained control over the Sinai Peninsula. This was a show of will to hold onto the blessings God had given them. Yet in the end, Britain backed down due to pressure from President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who used economic coercion to force Britain to give the Suez to Egypt, saying it was the end of the time of empires.

We won the battle but surrendered control. This was a watershed event that changed the world. Prophetically, this was the beginning of the end of Britain and America controlling the sea gates.

In the late 1960s, Britain still controlled the Persian Gulf and guaranteed security to some Gulf states. But after severe economic issues, Britain withdrew in 1971, and the Iranian Navy seized control of Hormuz. No one foresaw the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

There is a direct connection between the decline of the British Empire and America and the current naval situation in Iran. This long, sad decline is not really about strategy, geopolitics or military power; it is about biblical morality. Just as God gave these blessings to our nations because of Abraham’s obedience, He is taking them away because of our disobedience.

The Battle of Hormuz in Prophecy

President Trump does not seem keen on using American power to keep Hormuz open. He has called upon France, Britain, South Korea, Japan and China to send naval assets. France has one of the world’s largest navies; President Emmanuel Macron had pledged to send French naval power to keep the strait open but has since withdrawn this initiative.

Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has identified Iran’s strategy of gaining a chokehold over the trade route from the Suez Canal to Hormuz. Iran’s control of these sea gates could contribute to the start of World War iii.

“Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz, and via its Islamic allies in Egypt is fast gaining decisive influence over the Suez Canal,” writes Mr. Flurry in Libya and Ethiopia in Prophecy. “When it eventually gains influence over Ethiopia and Eritrea, Iran will control the Red Sea. When that happens, Iran will have the power to lock down virtually the entire Middle East!” Daniel 11 reveals Egypt will soon be allied with Iran, giving it even more control over the Suez.

Iran is displaying some of this power now but is still showing restraint. What would happen if Iran closed the Persian Gulf and Red Sea?

Mr. Flurry writes in Germany’s Secret Strategy to Destroy Iran:

Now rather suddenly, Iran—the world’s greatest state sponsor of terrorism—has basically become the gatekeeper to this strategic asset. This really does threaten the peace of the world! …

It is not farfetched to see Iran using its power to control the flow of oil out of the Middle East. …

Daniel 11:40 shows that the United States won’t be a factor as these events play out! It is Europe that Iran is going to push against. And it is Europe that will respond. …

It may be that this push could take place in the very area of Yemen or the Gulf of Aden.

These prophecies reveal the outcome of this battle in Hormuz. Iran will retain control of these sea gates. The U.S. looks powerful today, but soon it will no longer be a factor in the Middle East. The “push” that provokes a German-led European whirlwind attack may be triggered by control of these sea gates. This attack begins World War iii.

These are world-altering events, and it is all taking place in the waters of the Persian Gulf right now. The course of Western civilization is being decided. This struggle over Hormuz and your personal morality are intimately connected to these future prophecies.

Request free copies of The United States and Britain in Prophecy and Germany’s Secret Strategy to Destroy Iran.