Will God Bless and Prosper America for Destroying the Iranian Threat on behalf of Israel?
- Brandon Dawson
- 1 hour ago
- 7 min read
Many Christians today believe that if the United States confronts Iran militarily to defend Israel, God will bless and prosper America in return. The logic seems simple: a nation that protects Israel is bound to receive divine favor. If a nation stands against Israel’s enemies, it must surely have God’s blessing.
But Scripture sets a much higher bar.
The prophet Jeremiah records God’s judgment against Babylon, showing why that empire was ultimately destroyed. In Jeremiah 50 and 51, the main reason isn’t military aggression. The real issue runs deeper: Babylon became wealthy through the suffering of God’s people.
That’s a detail many people overlook.
In Jeremiah 50:11 the Word says,
“Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, you destroyers of My heritage, because you have grown fat like a heifer threshing grain, and you bellow like bulls.”
The language here is economic. Babylon prospered while Israel suffered. The empire enriched itself during Israel’s calamity and captivity. Instead of showing humility or restraint, Babylon celebrated its advantage and grew powerful by exploiting the crisis that struck God’s people.
What provoked God’s judgment wasn’t just hostility toward Israel—it was exploitation.
Babylon profited from Israel’s suffering.
So Jeremiah’s warning raises an uncomfortable question—one we might think we already know the answer to.
Will God bless a nation simply because that nation claims to defend Israel?
Jeremiah’s prophecy points to a different answer. A nation that gains wealth and power through Israel’s suffering risks repeating the same mistakes that brought Babylon under judgment.
When we look at modern history through this lens, the parallels are hard to ignore.
The Rise of the Dollar During the Crisis of the Jewish People
The first major example comes during the upheaval of World War II. As Europe descended into chaos, the Jewish people faced one of the darkest chapters in their history. Entire communities across the continent were targeted for extermination in the Holocaust.
At the same time, the global financial system was undergoing a profound transformation.
As war engulfed Europe, vast amounts of gold—an estimated $13 billion between 1939 and 1945—were transferred into the United States as nations desperately sought a stable place to protect their reserves. Major central banks and private financial institutions funneled their holdings to New York and Fort Knox. For example, by 1945, the U.S. held roughly two-thirds of the world's official gold reserves. Financial institutions and governments saw America as the safest haven for wealth, as the European continent descended into chaos.
This movement of gold strengthened the position of the United States within the international monetary system.
In July 1944, representatives from forty-four nations gathered in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to establish the Bretton Woods Agreement. This summit set up the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, and—most critically—created a new global financial framework where the U.S. dollar became the world’s central reserve currency, officially pegged at $35 per ounce of gold.
Under this system, the dollar was directly tied to gold while other currencies were pegged to the dollar.
The arrangement placed the United States at the center of global finance. International trade, reconstruction, and economic recovery after the war increasingly revolved around the American currency.
We can’t ignore the timing of this shift.
While the Jewish people faced near extinction in Europe, the global monetary system was reorganizing around the dollar—dramatically expanding America’s financial influence worldwide.
The crisis of Israel’s people coincided with the rise of the United States as the dominant financial power in the modern era.
The Oil Crisis and the Creation of the Petro Dollar
A second transformation occurred during the geopolitical turmoil surrounding Israel in the late twentieth century. The wars involving Israel in 1967 and again in 1973 triggered a powerful reaction among several Middle Eastern nations that opposed American support for the Jewish state.
Arab oil producing nations launched a boycott against the United States and other Western countries that had supported Israel during the conflict.
The result was a severe global energy crisis.
Oil prices rose dramatically. Fuel shortages appeared across Western economies. Inflation surged while economic growth slowed. At the same time, the United States had recently abandoned the gold standard in 1971, leaving the dollar without the gold backing that had previously anchored the global monetary system.
The American currency faced instability and uncertainty.
In response, the United States struck a pivotal deal with Saudi Arabia and other OPEC nations: starting in the mid-1970s, all oil sales would be conducted in U.S. dollars. In exchange, the U.S. offered military protection and arms deals—Saudi Arabia alone would purchase more than $100 billion in U.S. weapons over the following decades. This “petrodollar” arrangement meant every country now needed dollars to buy oil, boosting worldwide demand for the U.S. currency.
This arrangement became known as the petro dollar system.
Because every nation required oil to sustain its economy, every nation now required dollars in order to purchase energy. Demand for the American currency expanded across the world as countries accumulated dollar reserves to participate in energy markets.
The energy markets that power the modern world became tied directly to the dollar.
The geopolitical crisis surrounding Israel ultimately produced a financial system that strengthened American economic dominance across global trade.
The Abraham Accords and Strategic Realignment
A major turning point came with the Abraham Accords in 2020. These agreements normalized relations between Israel and several Arab nations, paving the way for new economic partnerships, technology exchanges, and military cooperation.
While the world celebrated these accords as a diplomatic breakthrough—promising peace and stability—they also brought major economic benefits to the U.S. For example, trade between Israel and the United Arab Emirates surpassed $2.5 billion in the first two years after normalization, with projections for much higher volumes as new agreements rolled out. American industries and markets gained lucrative new opportunities through expanded deals in defense technology, energy, cybersecurity, and infrastructure. Financial flows tied to these agreements moved through U.S. banks and investment houses, further strengthening America’s economic reach.
The military landscape shifted as well. Israel, which had long operated under the European Command (which included NATO and allied European military leadership), was moved under the authority of U.S. Central Command after the accords. This realignment put Israel’s regional military coordination directly under American oversight and increased Washington’s strategic influence in the Middle East.
The Financial Frameworks Emerging From Davos
More recently, international discussions about governing and rebuilding Gaza have added another layer to this pattern. At the 2024 World Economic Forum in Davos, global leaders—including representatives from the U.S., EU, Gulf states, and the Palestinian Authority—announced more than $5 billion in new pledges for Gaza’s reconstruction. The EU committed $1.2 billion, the U.S. $800 million, and Gulf states collectively promised $2 billion. Much of this funding is set to be managed through multinational trust funds or coordinated by institutions like the World Bank and IMF, ensuring transparency but also concentrating decision-making power among the major donors. Participation in these frameworks often comes with strings attached: economic reforms, anti-corruption measures, and political conditions imposed on recipient authorities. As WEF President Børge Brende remarked in 2024, “International reconstruction in Gaza must be coupled with robust governance and accountability to ensure lasting stability and opportunity for all people in the region.” These arrangements not only shape Gaza’s future but also reinforce the U.S. and its allies’ central role in determining the region’s economic and political direction.
Once again, the United States finds itself at the center—shaping the financial and political negotiations that will determine the region's future.
Looking back over the decades, it’s hard to miss the pattern: whenever there’s a crisis involving Israel, new economic systems seem to emerge that expand American financial influence.
Jeremiah’s Warning About Profiting From Israel’s Misfortune
Jeremiah’s prophecy casts a sobering light on this pattern. Babylon wasn’t judged just for being a powerful empire—judgment came because it rejoiced over Israel’s suffering and enriched itself during their crisis.
Babylon thrived while God’s people struggled. It took advantage of Israel’s misfortune, and that exploitation led to its downfall.
As God declared in Jeremiah 51:24: “I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all the evil they have done in Zion in your sight.”
This principle challenges today’s assumptions about alliances and divine blessing. Supporting Israel isn’t a free pass to blessing—especially when that support is leveraged for geopolitical gain or financial profit. As theologian Walter Brueggemann writes, “The prophetic tradition consistently warns against the temptation to use divine relationships for national self-interest.”
Babylon thought its power and prosperity made it untouchable. Jeremiah reveals that the very system that made Babylon rich would ultimately collapse under God’s judgment.
The Sudden Collapse of Babylon’s Wealth
Jeremiah’s prophecy paints a vivid picture of how Babylon’s wealth and security—built on injustice and exploitation—could vanish in an instant. The collapse of Babylon was more than a military conquest; it was an economic disaster that shocked the world. Ancient Babylon was the commercial heart of its era, controlling trade routes, banking systems, and vast reserves of gold and goods. At its height, the city’s wealth seemed invincible.
But as Jeremiah 51:8 declares, “Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed.” The abruptness of Babylon’s downfall is echoed again in Jeremiah 51:13 and in Revelation 18:17-19, where merchants and kings mourn: “In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!”
This rapid collapse stunned those who depended on Babylon’s prosperity. Markets crashed, fortunes evaporated, and international trade was thrown into chaos. The parallels to modern times are striking: during the 2008 global financial crisis, over $2 trillion in equity value disappeared in a single week, showing how quickly even the mightiest economic systems can fall.
The cause of Babylon’s collapse, Scripture makes clear, was not simply external attack—it was the pride, greed, and exploitation at the heart of its empire. As theologian N.T. Wright observes, “Babylon’s sudden fall is a warning to all systems that rest on injustice—their collapse, when it comes, will be both total and unexpected.”
The message is unmistakable: economic and political power built on exploitation, no matter how secure it seems, stands on dangerously unstable ground.
The Question America Must Face
Jeremiah’s prophecy raises a pressing question for our time:
Does simply defending Israel guarantee a nation God’s blessing?
The warnings in Jeremiah 50 and 51 point to something deeper. God judges nations that profit from Israel’s suffering instead of responding with righteousness.
Babylon believed its power and prosperity made it secure. The empire celebrated its gains while Israel suffered, and that exploitation led to its downfall.
This prophetic message forces us to confront a hard truth:
If a nation grows rich from the crises surrounding Israel, is it following the path of blessing—or repeating Babylon’s mistake?
Jeremiah gives us the answer.
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