The Strait of Hormuz and the “Gates of Your Enemies”

On February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel attacked Iran to prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons and to force regime change. In response to this attack, Iran shut down shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which affects roughly 20 percent of the world’s total oil supply. Since that time, the waterway has been opened for brief periods. At the time of this writing, the Strait is once again closed, but that could easily change.

The Strait of Hormuz is a vital “choke point” in the world economy. Many nations, especially Australia and those in Southeast Asia, depend on shipping through this narrow maritime passageway. The Philippines recently declared a national state of emergency since the nation imports 98 percent of its oil from ships traveling out of the Persian Gulf. It is difficult to say with any certainty what the short-term results of the Iran War will be for the Philippines or other nations.

What can be known with certainty is that the events in Iran—and specifically the trouble now afflicting the Strait of Hormuz—showcase ancient prophecies coming to pass in our day. As strange as it would seem to most modern commentators, to truly understand these events we must turn to the Bible and the promises made to the Hebrew patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Approximately 4,000 years ago, God began working with Abraham, giving many promises to him and to his descendants, the Israelites. And while the Israelites would ultimately fail to live up to God’s desire that they become a model nation, He nevertheless gave them many irrevocable promises due to the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Some of those promises have been fulfilled by the rise and fall of Great Britain and the United States, while others remain to be filled.

Tomorrow’s World has warned for many years that although Abraham’s descendants would “possess the gate of their enemies” (Genesis 22:17), these ports and waterways would later fall out of their control as they began to disobey and turn against their Creator.

For nearly 200 years, the United States and Britain controlled these “sea gates” as a very specific fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Between the United States and Great Britain, vital shipping passageways were opened and integrated into a global economy that has produced the most wealth in human history. The Panama Canal, the Suez Canal, Gibraltar, Singapore, the Falklands, and the Strait of Hormuz are all “sea gates” once controlled by the descendants of the tribes of Israel.

The British specifically controlled the Strait of Hormuz after the Allies invaded Iran during World War II. While Iran stayed officially neutral in that war, the Allies wanted to ensure that its oil fields would not fall into Axis hands and that Iran could serve as a corridor to supply the Soviet Union, which was an ally against the Nazis. In fact, one of the major meetings between Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin took place in Tehran in 1943. For decades after World War II ended, British and American influence ensured the Strait of Hormuz remained open.

But like so many other sea gates, the Strait of Hormuz was removed from British control. While there are many modern analyses that try to explain such losses, they tend to focus on today’s leaders, political forces, and economic concerns. These factors should be analyzed, but the most important analysis gets overlooked: the spiritual health (or lack thereof) of America and Britain.

The Bible indeed warns that the nations God has blessed can lose the many blessings He has given (Deuteronomy 28:1–2, 15, 52, 55; Leviticus 26:17–18). Instead of respecting God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and obedience to God’s law as the source of national greatness, America and Britain often claim they are solely responsible for their national prosperity. Instead of aiming to increase in obedience to God’s commands, America and Britain have led the way into carnal hedonism that flies in the face of biblical morality.

Despite the United States’ current military superiority over Iran, it has not been able to successfully keep the Strait of Hormuz open. It remains to be seen if God will grant America a victory or a loss in this current war. However, the last few weeks have shown how God has removed one of His key blessings to the tribes of Israel: They no longer control the gates of their enemies. Moreover, the Bible reveals that this is a consequence of the national sins of America and Britain. It seems unlikely that these nations as a whole will repent at this time, but the opportunity remains for you to individually recognize how God is fulfilling His promises, and to repent.

---

You can learn more of the truth behind the rise—and imminent fall—of the United States and Britain by reading or listening to The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy, a study guide made freely available by Tomorrow’s World and the Living Church of God.