The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been going on for more than a month. It’s still on the hearts and tongues of everyone worldwide. Many people have wondered what’s going through Russian President Vladimir Putin’s mind regarding the invasion. Now, one pastor is comparing Putin to Hitler.

An evangelical pastor in Texas recently preached a sermon on Bible prophecy in which he declared that Putin is “the new Hitler on a rampage.” Pastor Jimmy Evans, the founder and apostolic elder of the multi-site Trinity Fellowship Church in Texas, appeared as a guest preacher last Sunday at Ed Young’s Fellowship Church. He preached the finale of a four-part sermon series on End Times prophecy.

During the March 13 sermon, titled “What in The World is Going on?” the 66-year-old pastor and founder of XO Marriage discussed the apocalyptic belief that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could be part of the End Times prophecy being fulfilled. Evans said, referencing the figure mentioned in Ezekiel 38, “Today, I would say that Vladimir Putin is Gog. Now, if this is going to happen years in the future, Gog could be somewhere else. But now we have a leader in Russia who is a very evil man.”

He said Russia “is bombing women and children, bombing nursing homes, bombed a mosque this week and killed the people in it that were hiding there.” Evans thinks that Putin wants to reunite the Soviet Union, a collection of communist governments dominated by Russia that collapsed in 1991. The pastor asserted that Ukraine isn’t his end game. Evans added, “This is a new Hilter on a rampage. This is the most aggressive military action that has taken place since World War II.” He believes that Putin will also try to conquer other parts of Europe.

While some evangelical pastors and biblical scholars believe that Ezekiel 38’s mention of Gog and Magog joining other nations in attacking Israel is modern-day Russia, other scholars disagree. Using a map to show Ukraine’s position to the far north of Israel, Evans cites Ezekiel 38:1-6 to speculate that all nations mentioned in the Scripture as going to attack Israel are “politically and militarily aligned.” He said, “Rosh is Russia at the top of the map. You’ll notice Ukraine is there to the left. Ukraine, biblically, could be part of Rosh, especially East Ukraine, which is historically Russian. So, Ukraine could be part of that Magog. Ezekiel 38 mentions Magog.”

According to Evans, the End Times was “the most prophesied about period in human history,” adding, “The Bible tells us exactly what’s going to happen in the End Times, and it is happening right before our very eyes. Just about every generation of Christians since Jesus has believed they were living in the End Times.” Many people have compared Vladimir Putin to a tyrant or Hitler since the invasion of Ukraine started. However, pastor Evans is one of the first to compare Russia’s attack to the End Times. Hopefully, Russia and Ukraine can compromise soon, and this invasion will end.