A few weeks ago on a
Sunday morning, I addressed some current events that may give a glimmer of
light to us as to how the sequence of events may practically play out in the
return of Jesus in the Rapture and in His second Coming.
Last year I had Walid Shoebat
minister at our church. Walid is a form Muslim turned Christian and has written
and excellent book, God’s War on Terror
in which he reveals a belief that Islam and its Jihad ideology may be a key player in bringing the events spoken of
in Revelation to fruition.
I also read a book
entitled The Islamic Anti-Christ by
Joel Richardson which again reveals an eerie parallel between the coming
Islamic leader called the Mahdi and
the Anti-Christ reveal as the arch-enemy of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of
God. I encourage your reading of both of these books.
As I was studying in the
spring of 2010, I saw some things that I had not seen before. I saw that the
book of Daniel mentions a “reviving” of the old Roman Empire prior to Jesus
return. Most Eschatology (the study of end-times) teachers believe strongly
that the Western Roman Empire will “revive” before the return of Jesus, and
that the Anti-Christ will come from that region of the world.
But as I studied and
refreshed myself in world history, some things began to change for me. I saw
that the Western Roman Empire lost its power just prior to 500 AD. But the
Roman Empire continued as the Byzantine Roman Empire through Constantinople in
modern Turkey for almost a thousand years.
Now follow me here for
just a moment in a short history lesson. Islam was founded by the prophet
Mohammed in the 600 A.D.’s and shortly afterwards was pushing through the
Middle East and Europe in a world conquest. The Ottoman Empire (Islamic)
toppled the Byzantine Roman Empire in Constantinople by 1453 A.D., and changed the
city’s name to Istanbul.
The former Catholic
cathedrals in Constantinople (now Istanbul) were transformed into mosques and for
almost 500 years Islam and the Islamic Caliphate (rule) dominated the Middle
East. After World War II, the Ottoman Empire lost its control of the Middle East
to other nations. Its’ Islamic influence ruled Israel and the Middle East, and
was a force to be reckoned with by other nations. One stanza of our Marine Hymn reads: From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli, we will fight our
country’s battles, on the land and on the sea, and is actually speaking of the battles engaged by Marines from the
newly formed USA in the early 1800’s against the Muslim pirate ships of the
coast of Northern Africa that hindered free trade.
The Islamic Caliphate
dissolved in Turkey in the 1920’s and was replaced by a secular government. No
longer did Islam play a major role in the governing of that nation, until
recently! The current government of Turkey has been turning towards to
re-emergence of a combination of Islamic rule with the government of that
nation. There is a striking and possible parallel with this development found
in Revelation 17.
Notice Revelation 17:8-11 :The beast that you saw was, and is not, and
will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell
on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from
the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and
yet is. (9) "Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven
mountains on which the woman sits. (10) There are also seven kings. Five have
fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must
continue a short time. (11) The beast
that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is
going to perdition.
In short, here’s what the
above verses from Revelation reveal: The woman mentioned is a false religious
system that will be utterly defeated at Jesus’ Second Coming (Islam?). The
Anti-Christ will be affiliated with this false religion. The seven heads are
kings or leaders, and the seven mountains are seven empires that have ruled
over Israel since its inception as a nation. From history, we know that the
first six of these empires that ruled over Israel are Egyptian Empire, the Assyrian
Empire, the Babylonian Empire, the Persian Empire, the Greek Empire, and the Roman
Empire.
The Empire mentioned as
the seventh (the one in verse 10 which has not yet come) was not yet an empire
at the time of the writing of the New Testament. But notice that if you follow
history, the next Empire to rule over Israel and the Middle East after the
Byzantine Roman Empire is the Ottoman Empire, an Islamic Empire. That could
easily be the seventh Empire mentioned!
Then, notice that verse 11
states: The beast that was, and is not,
is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition. The beast is the anti-Christ and his kingdom.
This verse says that the eighth kingdom to rule over Israel is from the seventh kingdom, and will be
destroyed by Jesus (is going to perdition) at His return.
Let simply state it again.
The last empire to rule over Israel before the Second Coming of Christ will
come from the Seventh kingdom that ruled over Israel. The exact match from history is the Ottoman (Islamic) empire that
ceased to exist in the 1920’s after World War II. That empire is now
re-emerging as a huge player in the Middle East through Turkey, where the seat
of Middle Eastern power was for almost 500 years. Could it be that the emerging
of Turkey as a strong Middle Eastern influence with its increasing Islamic lean
be the emerging of an eighth empire, an Islamic Empire, that will eventually
rule over Israel? Time will tell, but it is very possible!
Now let’s talk about the most
interesting part of this whole scenario. Recep Erdogen, the Turkish Prime Minister,
is becoming a huge player in rallying the Arabic nations into a political unity.
He is involved in talks with the leader of the Palestinians, Mahmoud Abbas, and
is encouraging him to make peace with Israel. Turkey carries a lot of political
clout in the Middle East and is the one nation that may be able to bring the
different factions of Muslims together reaching for a common goal of unity
among the Islamic nations in the Middle East and Northern Africa, then complete
domination of Israel.
Turkey has the 2nd
largest army in NATO, and is re-emerging as a key player in the Middle East.
Keep watching as this nation is mentioned more and more.
The turmoil in Tunisia,
Libya, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and other nations there will eventuate into
radical Islam being integrated and Sharia law being integrated into the fabric of
these nation’s governments. The eventual end of this will be these nations uniting
under the rule of the anti-Christ and attacking Israel.
Jesus will come back in
His blazing Glory to defeat these nations at the battle of Armageddon (Ezekiel
38-39, Revelation 19). I’m sharing these things to show you that world
conditions are ripening to the soon return of Jesus.
Joel prophesied that a
huge revival with encompass the earth at the same time that the anti-Christ
comes to power (see Joel 2:28-32). This is a day for you and me to really get
serious about Jesus in our lives. It’s
time to be through with compromise and lukewarm living. The day of Jesus
return is shorter than you may realize. It’s time to wake up! World condition
are quickly lining up with prophetic revelation from the Bible!
I’ll leave you with Paul’s
comments on the day:
This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it
is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we
first believed. (12) The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon
be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining
armor of right living. (13) Because we belong to the day, we must live decent
lives for all to see. Don't participate in the darkness of wild parties and
drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and
jealousy. (14) Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And don't let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires (Romans 13:11-14 –NLT).
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