ISLAM

HOW TO STUDY PROPHECY

"For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little." (Isaiah 28:10).

We must be like detectives, always on the look-out for clues which could be hidden anywhere in the Word of God, «here a little, there a little».

"The whole vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, «Read this, please»; and he says, «I cannot, for it is sealed.»" (Isaiah 29:11)

But then:

"The Lord answered me and said: «Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.»" (Habakkuk 2:2).

The Word of God states positively that prophecy may well and truly be understood!

All we need is to put into practice the counsels the Bible gives us, in order to study prophecy in an effective way.

"[The Jews from Berea] were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so." (Acts 17:11).

"Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation." (2 Peter 1:20)

Many who claim to have the gift of interpreting prophecy, yet have been proven wrong over and over again.

THE SATANIC SETUP

From Ibn Khaldun's al-Muqqadima:

"... There will come forth a man from my nation who will talk according to my Sunnah. God will send upon him rain from heaven, and the earth will sprout forth for him its blessing. The earth will be filled through him with equity and justice, as it his been filled with injustice and crime. He will direct the affairs of this nation for seven years, and he will settle in Jerusalem."

The Mahdi of Islam has many elements in his description to set them up for the greatest deceiver ever.

Tighten your seat belt, you are about to be taken on a long interpretation, but please read it and study it slowly. At first it will sound absurd, but later on, it will click, and your thinking will never be the same.

The question has always been, is anti-Christ a Jew, an Arab, or a European?

The answer for the above is "None of the above."

Most likely he will be from Southern Russia, Bosnia, Chechen, Uzbek, Kazakhstan, Girgestan ... which are all majority Muslim.

IS GOG THE ANTICHRIST?

The answer is very simple, it is as obvious as apple pie, yet everyone seems to miss it. Ezekiel 38's "Gog" whom many seem to confuse as a "separate war before Armageddon" or "a war after the millennium". Just as majority of Bible believers before Christ missed Christ in Isaiah 53, when it was so obvious, Christians miss anti-Christ in Ezekiel 38, and it too is very obvious.

Gog of Ezekiel, is the same Gog of Revelation unleashed at the world TWICE.

The Bible gives the opposing names to the true God, and attributes them to the Antichrist. Christ is called "The Truth", while Antichrist is called "The lie". Christ is called the "Holy One", while Antichrist is called "The lawless one". Christ is called "The Son of God", while Antichrist is called "The Son of Perdition". Christ is called "The Mystery of Godliness", while Antichrist is called "The Mystery of Iniquity".

God allows Satan to continue although He could destroy him. The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ will finally destroy Satan's Son of Perdition (The Antichrist) "by the brightness of His coming". Satan's main tactic to destroy God's plan is to counterfeit the biblical prophecies and present himself as the Messiah. He doesn't necessarily have to have the same name, but carry the same attributes. God gave many warnings in the Bible concerning Satan and his works:

"Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done" (Daniel 11:36). The Antichrist's will is his father's will (The Father of lies or the Devil), while Christ's will is His Father's will (The God of Truth). The mystery of God's nature is presented in the Bible as One God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit): "Behold O Israel, the Lord your God is One". The unity of God is supported in both the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament.

So Satan, "the proud one", "the devil", "Anti-Christ", "Gog", and since he will be loosed after the 1000 years he is then STILL called "Gog" and "Satan". Anti-Christ is simply the "devil incarnate", "Satan in the flesh" sort of speak.

The fact that "Gog" appears in the tribulation and after the millennium is a dead give away on whom he is. What seems a contradiction between Ezekiel and Revelation is in reality not. The Bible is 100% accurate, God was not mistaken it is we who are confused.

THE TOUCH DOWN

This Ezekiel 38 & 39 is indeed when Christ will fight Israel's enemies with Gog their leader and will be here in the flesh.

Now, look carefully at Ezekiel 38:19, the earthquake is the greatest in history and matches Zechariah 14:4. This earthquake is definitely the mark of His presence on earth at the moment of His touch down. In Zechariah we have no doubt that it is His touch down. Zech 14:3 "the Lord will go forth and fight ...", verse 4 "His feet will stand ...".

Whose feet? There is no escape of it "The Lord's feet" (verse 3). When did the Lord have feet?

This earthquake in Ezekiel 38:19 is so awesome "fish of the sea, birds of heavens, beasts of the field, ALL the creeping things, ALL the men on the face of the earth will shake at My presence".

WHOSE PRESENCE???? Major verse my friend. This "presence" can be proven further to make no doubt that Ezekiel 38 & 39 is the showdown between Christ and Anti-Christ (Gog).

In Ezekiel 39:22 "Israel will know that I AM the Lord their God from that day onward."

So it's Israel's redemption. To make this conclusive, look at Ezekiel 39:7 "the nations will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in ISRAEL". Why is the Holy one "in" Israel since the rest of Scripture says "Holy one of Israel"? Again, God will be here on earth, in Israel, and in person. Can there be any doubt?

Also, the birds that eat the armies are mentioned both in Revelation and Ezekiel 38 and 39:

Rev 19:17 "And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; 18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all [men, both] free and bond, both small and great."

Ezek 39:4 "Thou shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that [is] with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and [to] the beasts of the field to be devoured."

So we have now more confirmation that Ezekiel 38/39 is the Armageddon of Revelation.

And there is more, Ezekiel 38:17 "Are you not the one of whom I have spoken in former days, by ... the prophets of Israel.". When was this "Gog" predicted by the prophets? Which prophets?

We are unable to find any use of "Gog" in the prophets prior to Ezekiel or after, but if Gog is the anti-Christ, there is little problem finding him mentioned previous to Ezekiel: e.g. in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, Joel and David, as well as later in the New Testament: Revelation, Letters to the Thessalonians, Jude, the Gospel according to Matthew ...

The Anti-Christ was spoken of by all of them but with different nick names: "Gog", "The Assyrian", "The Anti-Christ", "Son of Perdition", "Lawless one", "Lucifer".

In the Bible, we must always pay attention to combinations.

WHY FROM SOUTHERN RUSSIA AND NOT NORTHERN?

LAND OF THE NORTH IS RUSSIA.

First we have to identify Ezekiel 38's "far north". Jeremiah predicted a great exodus of Jews from "The land of the North". In Jeremiah 16:14-15 he writes, "‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when people will no longer say, "As surely as the Lord lives, Who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt ...", but they will say, "As surely as the Lord lives, Who brought the Israelites up out of the Land of the North, and out of all the other countries where He had banished them." For I will restore them to the Land I gave their forefathers.’".

Zechariah 2:5-7 ...And the Angel said, "Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north".

The greatest exodus of Jews in history was from Russia, so we know that the "North country", the "Land of the North" is Russia. In this case then the "King of the North" is very likely Russia as well since the problem would be as to how could Anti-Christ be from the land of the North (Ezekiel 38:6) and then in Daniel 11:40-45 "And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him (Antichrist): and the king of the north (Russia) shall come against him (Anti-Christ) like a whirlwind"?

If Anti-Christ is from the North, then who is the King of the North? And how could the King of the North come against Anti-Christ if Anti-Christ is from the North?

Answer is simple - in Ezekiel Anti-Christ and Magog comes from the "remote parts of the north" (Ezekiel 38:6) and NOT from the Land of the North.

The leader of Russia is the King of the North, and Southern Russia (Muslim Magog-Anti-Christ) is south of Russia and far north of Israel. So when the Anti-Christ is attacked by the "King of the North" he is south of him. This (Southern Russia) is generally Muslim. This will fit very well if the King of the north "leader of Russia" comes against him and his territory south of Russia, yet still in the remote parts of the north.

Russia split, we have today the Commonwealth of the Independent States (C.I.S) which are mostly Islamic and ethnically not related to the Slavic Russians:

Togarmah are the Turkic peoples, Uzbekistan in Southern Russia for example are Turkic. The Macmillan Bible Atlas, Oxford Bible Atlas, The Moody Atlas of Bible Lands, and others, locate Magog, Meshech, Tubal, Gomer and Beth Togarmah in Asia Minor, not Russia. This region, called Anatolia, Asia Minor or now Turkey, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Girgestan ... was the heart of the vast Islamic Ottoman Empire for many centuries. Hesiod, "the father of Greek didactic poetry" identified Magog with the Scythians and southern Russia in the 7th century B.C. Hesiod was a contemporary of Ezekiel. Flavius Josephus records that the Magogians were called "Scythians" by the Greeks. Philo, in the 1st century, identifies Magog with southern Russia.

Gomer is the founder of the Cimmerians who settled originally on the shores of the Caspian Sea. The Assyrians referred to them as the Gimirraya. Esarhaddon (681-668 BC) records his defeat of the Gimirrai; whilst King Ashurbanipal tells us in his records of the Cimmerian invasion of Lydia in the days of the Lydian king Gugu (Gygez) around the year 660 BC. This is the name perhaps preserved in Scripture as Gog (Ezek. 38:2). Herodotus gave us a more detailed account of the Kimmeri. In IV.11 he states the following:

"... The wandering Scythians once dwelt in Asia, and there warred with the Massagetae, but with ill success; they therefore quitted their homes, crossed the Araxes, and entered the land of Kimmeria. For the land which is now inhabited by the Scyths was formerly the country of the Kimmerians." (Herodotus IV.11)

Magog is the region of Gog, the second of the "sons" of Japheth, Ge 10:2, 1Ch 1:5. In Ezekiel 38:2 and 39:6 it is the name of a nation, probably some Scythian or Tartar tribe descended from Japheth. They are described as skilled horsemen, and expert in the use of the bow. The Latin father Jerome says that this word denotes "Scythian nations, fierce and innumerable, who live beyond the Caucasus and the Lake Maeotis, and near the Caspian Sea, and spread out even onward to India." Perhaps the name "represents the Assyrian Mat Gugi, or 'country of Gugu,' the Gyges of the Greeks" (Sayce's Races, etc.).

The Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, citing ancient Assyrian writings, places the location of Magog in the land mass between ancient Armenia and Media - in short, the Republics south of Russia and north of Israel, comprised of Azerbajian, Afghanistan, Turkestan, Chechnya, Turkey, Iran and Dagestan. Significantly, all of them are Muslim nations.

The Russians of the far north (Moscow) are unrelated to the southern parts of the today's C.I.S which are mostly Turkic. In reality the Russians of today are Scandinavians (The Vikings in History. Totowa, NJ: Barnes & Noble Books, 1994). The Vikings' ventures into Eastern Europe were to a great extent trade related. They established trade routes along the Great Russian rivers, such as Volga and Dnieper, and, since some of the major Russian cities were located on those rivers, they came into the direct contact with the Slavs living there. Despite the controversy on the question of the Russian origins, the sources seem to point out "that Russia had its origin in the Rus who were Scandinavians" (Logan, p. 186). Rurik settled in Novgorod and the other two (Sineus and Truvor) settled in Beloozero and Izborsk (Roesdahl, p. 279). It is apparent that the Kievan dynasty was of a Viking origin. Oleg (Helgi), Igor (Inguar) and his wife Olga (Helga) were of Scandinavian descent. "Igor and Olga's son Sviatoslav (957-73) was the first ruler to have a Slav name. In 998 AD his son Vladimir adopted Orthodox Christianity ... In the reign of his son Yaroslav the Wise (1014-54) the connection with Scandinavia was sealed by royal marriages" (Roesdahl, p. 279).

In the 7th century B.C., nomadic Scythians migrated north into fertile Russian territories. Herodotus the Greek, who visited southern Russia in the 5th century B.C., observed that "Some tribes cultivated the land; the builders of the Parthenon would have gone hungry without Russian wheat; but the ruling element remained nomads, living in tents, yet not altogether eschewing the arts of civilization." These people also began trading furs and honey with Constantinople; eventually, the merchants acted as middlemen between other settlements in the far north (inhabited by Finnish tribes) and the Roman Empire. As these early Slavic people began to cultivate the land, villages and towns sprang up, protected by wooden citadels, or kremlins, cut from the abundant forest timber. The inhabitants gradually occupied an area from St. Petersburg to Kiev and spoke a language (originating from Greek) quite similar to modern Russian.

The numerous tribes were united in the 8th and 9th centuries, when the Scandinavians, Vikings known as Varangians, migrated south and began establishing trade settlements with the Slavs, along with their own strongholds. Many of these settlements were situated along the Neva River and Lake Ladoga. When the Norseman Rurik defeated the strongest Slavic settlement, Novgorod, in A.D. 862, the Varangians became the rulers of northern Russia. In the south, the Slavic Prince Kii had formed the Kievan territory. In 880, Rurik's successor, Oleg, conquered the Slavic-ruled Kiev and made the city his capital two years later. With the two areas united, the State of Rus (its name derived from the Viking word ruotsi, meaning "oarsman") became one of the largest kingdoms in the world.

In fact the Bible even gives the names of the peoples who will contribute in destroying the Islamic confederacy - MENE, ARARAT, ASHKENAZ (Jeremiah 51:27-28).

Armenia is MENE and ARARAT, while Ashkenaz are the Europeans, and Russians.

One could ask as how did we conclude that "MENE" and "ARARAT" are Armenia?

Take for example the prominent city of Van, on the eastern lakeshore of beautiful, scenic and sacred Lake Van in the heart of Armenia, was the capital of the exalted and powerful Araratian Kingdom. (See http://www.armenianhighland.com/van/chronicle240.html)

The land or the kingdom of Ararat (fl. c.9th-7th cent. B.C.), called in Assyrian Urartu, was situated between the river Araks and the lakes Van and Rezaiyeh. It included all the land later called Armenia. (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, sixth edition).

This is not to confuse "Mount Ararat" (in Turkey) with the Kingdom of Ararat (Armenia).

The Armenians were the only people who cooperated with and aided the Crusaders. When the Crusaders withdrew, Armenia was invaded by the Caliphs of Baghdad, the Sultans of Egypt, the Khans of Tartar, the Shahs of Persia and the Ottoman Turks. For fourteen centuries, the Persians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Mamelukes, Seljuk Turks and the Mongols under Tamerlane, subjugated Greater Armenia and often massacred much of her population.

The Muslim Turks massacred 1.5 million Armenians at once by the order of Tal'at Pasha on September 16^th 1915. Finally God's vengeances will be carried out using the Armenians.

In fact, Russian and Armenian forces have recently had joint military work:

"JOINT RUSSO-ARMENIAN MILITARY EXERCISE UNDER WAY. Russian and Armenian forces began joint tactical exercises on 19 September, Russian and Western media reported. The exercises involve troops, warplanes and armored vehicles and are taking place near the Turkish border in Armavir. The exercises were originally to be held from 23-27 September but were pulled forward to effectively coincide with the Armenian presidential election. Last March the two sides undertook similar exercises for the first time." – (Lowell Bezanis Open Media Research Institute's Daily Digest., Part I, Spetember 1996)

Ashkenaz, means "a man as sprinkled: fire as scattered". He settled first in Armenia, migrating thence to Bithynia, the northern islands of Europe and European west coast: Germany, Scandinavia and Denmark. Further evidence is that Jews from Europe are called "Askenazim".

WHO IS THIS CHITTIM?

In Daniel (11:30) the "Ships of Chittim come against Him" (Anti-Christ).

Balaam foretold (Num. 24:24) "that ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and afflict Eber." Daniel prophesied (11:30) that the ships of Chittim would come against the king of the north. It probably denotes Cyprus (Josephus), whose ancient capital was called Kition by the Greeks, and also extendeds to include lands west of Syria (the whole of Greece, as far as Illyricum and Italy which is not Muslim). The name originally designated the Phoenician port of Citium in Cyprus, the term appeared in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and was used of the Romans. So, if it refers to the Romans this would means that the supposed Anti-Christ territory is in fact fighting itself?

In general, Chittim (Kittim) is used of all the islands and various settlements on the sea-coasts which they had occupied, and then of the people who succeeded them when the Phoenician power decayed. Hence it designates generally the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean and the races that inhabit them. The Dodanim who were leaders of a race descended from Javan (Gen. 10:4). They are known in profane history as the Dardani, originally inhabiting Illyricum. They were a semi-Pelasgic race, and in the ethnographical table (Gen. 10) they are grouped with the Chittim (q.v.). In 1 Chr. 1:7, and are called Rodanim. The LXX. and the Samaritan Version also read Rhodii, whence some have concluded that the Rhodians, the inhabitants of the island of Rhodes, are meant.

In Genesis 10:4 the word "Chittim" is applied to the descendants of Javan, and indicates, therefore, the Greek-Latin races, whose territory extended along the coasts of the Mediterranean, and included its islands. By the side of Kittim are mentioned Elisha, Tarshish, and Dodanim ( = Rodanim of 1 Chronicles 1:7), generally explained respectively as Sicily with Southern Italy, Spain and Rhodes. The statement of Josephus, that "all islands, and the greatest part of the sea-coast, are called Chethim ( = Kittim) by the Hebrews," on the other hand, must be taken as the testimony of one well acquainted with the opinions of the learned world in his time. (New International Standard Bible Encyclopedia).

The Septuagint literally uses the word "Romans" for Daniel 11:30.

SELUECID EMPIRE OR DYNASTY?

Then comes the argument that Anti-Christ comes from the Seleucid Dynasty versus the original land mass of the Selucid Empire. "Kittim" has applied in history to all Seleucid mercenaries since Menelaus was first installed as high priest in Jerusalem with the aid of Antiochus Epiphanes and was accompanied by them. Here in Daniel 11:30 we have the Seleucid's (Greeks) attacking the Anti-Christ which eliminates the place of Seleucid's origin and forces the position of the Empire he controlled to be the likely candidate. This is more plausible since no text in Scripture mandates lineage but control. First Maccabees 1:1, written perhaps around 110 BCE, uses Kittim for the land of origin of Alexander, suggesting that Kittim was at that time related to the belligerent Macedonians, the people from whom the Seleucids came.

THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION

In Daniel 9:26, the prophet said that a future ruler over the land of Israel would destroy Jerusalem and the Temple. Daniel said this would happen after an anointed one (messiah) is "cut off," which means "rejected" or "killed." A few centuries later, the Romans had taken control of the land of Israel, Jesus announced himself as the Messiah, and the Romans crucified him. Forty years after Jesus was crucified, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple.

Christ Himself ends the arguments. In Matthew 24:15 we read "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand)". In Daniel 11:21 the man who develops as the Antichrist comes on the scene in the north while many interpret the man as Antiochus Epiphanes since the Jewish writer of the Maccabees, the Roman Catholic Jerome, Scofield, Ryrie, and 10,000 other writers believed so.

But Daniel didn't say it, and Jesus in Matthew 24:15 placed Daniel 11:31 into the future pointing to the Antichrist as this "abomination of desolation" before His second coming and not in Maccabean period. Daniel 11:5-20 is a broad sketch of post-Grecian Empire history [Daniel 11:2-4] which leads right up to the time of the Antichrist ("Little Horn") in Daniel 11:21.

Christ by this shows to a certain degree that many prophecies of the Bible have multiple fulfillments since Antiochus indeed fulfilled a major portion. By this, we must revisit other supposedly fully fulfilled prophecies such as Jeremiah 49, 50, and 51.

Secondly, confirmation of Jesus' simple scheme for the future is found in Daniel. Here we follow Jesus' instructions carefully. The abomination of desolation is the one described by Daniel (Matt. 24:15). The precise expression "abomination of desolation" occurs in Daniel 11:31 with a further reference to its appearance in the holy place in Daniel 12:11. Daniel 9:27 contains a third slightly less direct reference. In all three cases (cf. also Dan. 8:13) Daniel describes a final evil ruler, King of the North (from the region of Mesopotamia), who sets himself (or his image) up as "the abomination of desolation" and puts an end to temple sacrifices (Dan. 11:31). It is crucially important to see that in Daniel 12:11 about three and a half years will elapse between the appearance of the abomination of desolation and the end of the age. Jesus is merely elaborating (in Matt. 24) what was already laid out by Daniel: abomination of desolation (Dan. 11:31; Matt. 24:15); tribulation for 3 1/2 years (Matt. 24:21; Dan. 12:1, 7, 11); resurrection (Dan. 12:2). The whole of Daniel 11:5ff. and 12 must be read as one connected story and the Daniel passage must be kept in mind as the background to Jesus' discourse in Matthew 24. 3

Breaking the connection between Matthew 24:15 and Daniel 11:31 (12:11) is the one single factor leading to mistaken systems of prophecy. The link is established by Jesus' own words: "Let the reader understand that I am referring to the book of Daniel" (see Matt. 24:15).4 Daniel 9:27 speaks also of an abominable person on the rampage (desolating) in Jerusalem for 3 1/2 years. Daniel 8:13, 14 give more information. All these verses form the background to Matthew 24:15-31 and harmonize with it. Remember the one key to Matthew 24: The tribulation of which Jesus spoke is to be followed immediately by cosmic signs and the second coming. And the tribulation is to be triggered by the abomination of desolation already prophesied by Daniel 11:31. When these facts are held together they build up a composite picture of events destined to happen just before Jesus arrives.

So, in accordance to Matthew 24, we must conclude that Anti-Christ as the Bible states in Daniel 8:9 "From one of the prominent horns came a small horn whose power grew very great. It extended toward the south and the east and toward the glorious land of Israel" must come from the Grecian Empire, and since He is going south, he must be coming from the north parts, exactly as specified in Ezekiel 38. Antiochus in Daniel 8 is the forerunner of the final Antichrist linking him to the Grecian Empire rather then the "Prince to come" in Daniel 9:26. We MUST then conclude that since "The prince who is to come" in Daniel 11 was NEVER referred to by any other prophecy, so it must be crucial to accept that Anti-Christ MUST come from the Grecian dominion as predicted by Christ Himself. Daniel 9:26 69 weeks is completely fulfilled with no connection in the passage or chapter to this "prince to come" to the final remanding week since it was preserved by Christ for the little horn referred to in Daniel 8 and 11.

Also, in Daniel and Matthew the Temple is desecrated not destroyed, yet the Daniel 9 it's completely destroyed as predicted by Christ in Matthew 24. So the "prince" of Daniel 9, is NOT the same as the "little horn" of Daniel 8 and 11. When armies surround Jerusalem again, the Temple will be saved, after all the Messiah MUST enter it: "Then He brought me back to the outer gate which faces toward the east, but it was shut. And the Lord said to me, This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter by it, because the Lord God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut. (Eze 44:1-3) Now see Ezekiel 43:1 "Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate that faces toward the east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east". And in chapter 43: verse 4; "And the glory of the Lord came into the temple by the way of the gate which faces toward the east." This is referring to the beautiful Eastern or Golden Gate, located 1,035 feet north of the Southeast corner of Al-Harm or Temple Mount area, on which Muslim Khaleefeh Abdel-Malek bin-Marwan built the Dome of the Rock in A.D 691. The gate had already been sealed. It has been sealed almost a thousand years ago.

So to sum it up:

So Ezekiel 38 covers Persia, Sudan (Cush), Northern Africa (Phut, Lybia, Morroco, Tunisia, Algeria) which will soon be allies with the C.I.S. nations against Israel. These nations are all in Ezekiel 38.

These today are the main part of the Ottoman Muslim Empire and covers the ancient Grecian Empire as well. The Ottoman Empire was a beast that replaced the Roman Empire after defeating the Eastern Roman Empire. The Ottomon Empire was the wounded beast which the world will marvel since the wound was "healed".

So, it is not a revived Roman Empire, but a confederacy resembling the ancient Grecian Empire. Daniel's image only includes the revived confederacy of end-times. The image is regarding end-times. Notice that the stone that smote the image at the feet will break it and the gold, silver, iron, iron and clay is all smashed AT THE SAME TIME.

In fact Scripture fully supports that the old 3 empires must be included together to make the 4th End-Time confederacy:

"The head of the statue was made of GOLD, its chest and arms of SILVER, its belly and thighs of BRONZE, its legs of IRON, its feet partly of IRON and partly of baked CLAY. While you were watching, a ROCK was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the IRON, the CLAY, the BRONZE, the SILVER and the GOLD were broken to pieces AT THE SAME TIME and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the ROCK that struck the statue became a huge MOUNTAIN and filled the whole earth."

How could Daniel's image be a sequence of all world empires, if these empires here are destroyed AT THE SAME TIME? Especially when we have more then 4 empires.

Also, Daniel 19:8 clearly states:

"And he said, "Look, I am making known to you what shall happen in the latter time of the indignation; for at the appointed time the end shall be."

Do not the phrases "the appointed time", "latter time", "the latter time of the indignation" rather, indicate that "the appointed time" is yet to be seen? That this image is a picture of specific empires revived in a combination for a future time? Is there no curiosity about the times of the end of the years which bring this "great army, etc." down upon Israel when the Glory of the LORD should reappear? Daniel is made to understand only "what should befall his people in the latter days, because the vision was yet for [the] days."

Now, in Daniel 2, it also says: "The Great God has shown the king what will take place IN THE FUTURE. The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy." Daniel 7 is not a summary of world empires but confederacy from revived empires of the past and all at once to die all at the same time. Also: "The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth."

When Daniel wrote these words, two of the kingdoms had already arisen, these four kingdoms must arise in the future.

The Grecian Empire is also supported in Scripture:

"When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man. And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south. The LORD of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar. And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land. [Zech 9:13-16]

Look at "Against thy sons O Greece". This passage is also regarding Messiah's second coming.

Revelation 13:2 seems to narrow the scope to a Grecian Empire which already encompassed the Babylonian and Medo-Persian empires:

"And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority."

Obviously the leopard is the Grecian empire (Daniel 7:6) and exactly as Gabriel interpreted it in Daniel 8 where the vision of the ram and goat is given as foretelling the struggle between Media-Persia and Alexander's Greece. The Lion is Babylon, and the Bear is Medo-Persia which already was part of the Leopard (Greece).

IS IT THE EUROPEAN UNION?

Could that be correct? That a 10 nation confederacy be the EU? Are the EU all western today (besides Russia which joined and was never part of ROME) only parts of Southern Russia was part of Rome.

Are we saying that the southern independent republics of Russia will join the EU?

1. But all the EU are western, besides Russia. Turkey was rejected entry, so it's looking to the east for support, away from the EU. How does Turkey which was the seat of the Eastern Roman Empire fit in this recent equation? Also, more recently, on January 1, 1995, Austria, Finland, and Sweden were added to the European Union, bringing the current total to 15, and making this interpretation unlikely. So for this interpretation to fit, a major shuffle must occur to eliminate 10 nations from the West and include 5 new ones from the east. Let's not forget, that most of the modern Bible prophecy interpreters were wrong about prophecy. Take Hal Lindsey for example. Lindsey took the fig tree as a symbol of Israel (so did many of the modern interpreters, Jeffrey, Van-Impe, Chuck Smith...), and identified it's rebudding with the founding of Israel in 1948, measured a generation as forty years, and deduced that the Second Coming would surely happen no later than 1988. Since he believed that the rapture of the church would predate the Second Coming by seven years, he implied that the rapture would occur by at least 1981. But, of course, there was no rapture in 1981. Nor has it occurred in any year since 1981. Jeffery also predicted 1993 to be a significant date, and was wrong as well. So much for date setting. Pat Robertson told the viewers of his "700 Club" television show that the confrontation with Iraq, coupled with recriminations against Israel over the shooting at the Temple Mount, point to fulfillment of Bible prophecies that the nations of the world are going to come against Israel.

2. Jack Van Impe told his national TV audience that four major prophecies in the Bible pinpoint Iraq and the Persian Gulf as the prelude to the Battle of Armageddon, a conflict he says will begin at the Euphrates River in Iraq. Van Impe believes that Iraq is modern Babylon.

3. Ken Fleming, a professor at Emmaus Bible College, Dubuque, Iowa, identifies Iraq as the prophetic Babylon of Scripture. He wrote, "Prophetically, in the future Babylon will once again be a great nation. The Bible foresees that it will prostitute its political and religious and commercial power in association with a world leader called The Beast (Rev. 14:8-9; 17:11-12) ... Likewise we note things of interest in Iraq (Babylon) which may have a bearing on the approach of the events surrounding the Second Coming."

4. Dr. Spiros Zodhiates, Editor-in-Chief of Pulpit Helps, advertises a cassette of his entitled, "Iraq in Prophecy." The ad states, "These lessons provide the biblical information to identify Iraq as the modern Babylon."

JEREMIAH 50, 51
Jeremiah's prophecy has Babylon invaded by great nations from the north (50:9).

Ken Flemming said, "Jeremiah's prophetic vision of Babylon is clearly linked to John's in Revelation 17 and 18 regarding events that take place during the great tribulation.

Saudi Arabia is even mentioned in Jeremiah 49:33 (Kedar and Hazor) by NAME which will suffer this destruction. Iran (Persia or Elam) will suffer destruction as well with her (Jeremiah 49:34-39) which fits perfectly with the Gog of Ezekiel 38 since Persia is included. As well as Isaiah 13 fits Jeremiah's prophecies.

Revelation 18:3: "For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies".

Through the abundance of Oil ALL the nations prospered.

Jeremiah 51:9 – "We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country".

All laborers in Saudi Arabia are IMPORTED and have no right to obtain citizenship, so they will flea each "into his own country".

Revelation 18:7: "How much she hath glorified herself, and lived in luxury".

No one on earth lives as luxurious as the Saudis – golden shower handles, castles, and great wealth.

Isaiah 47:8 "Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures". They enjoy so much pleasures, gambling in Vegas and Monte Carlo, and even the King of Saudi Arabia has a private 747 Jumbo Jet with all the facilities in it.

Isaiah 47:10 – "For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me.". The Saudis commit sins and live in pleasures and lusts, yet they think that since it is all hidden, that it is ok, but God sees them.

This cannot be New York since sin is out on the open. This city is sinning in "secret".

Revelation 18:9... And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning.

They will cry for Oil and is no more, since the Oil was the reason they all prosper.

Revelation 18:11 - "And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore"

Saudi Arabia and the Islamic world will no longer import the products that the West makes.

Isaiah 47:15 - Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee.

All the export companies will take off from Saudi. Saudi lives TOTALLY by imports.

Yet what are the most things Saudi imports:

Revelation 18:12 – "The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones"

Go to Saudi and see for yourself the bazzars, what are they selling? Gold, silver, and diamonds.

"and of pearls"

They buy tons of pearls from other Arab countries and from Japan.

"and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet"

They love fine silks in Saudi.

"and all thine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass"

They love to buy expensive decorations, even ivory is sold in Saudi for expensive swords and dagger handles. All sorts of wood work is also bought to decorate their castles, brass art works and copper tables and decorations is well known amongst the rich Arabs.

"and iron, and marble"

Iron for construction and marble for the flooring and exterior. Who else uses so much marble in houses like the Arabs of Saudi? They import marble from Turkey and Italy.

18:13 – "And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense"

Spices, perfumes, and frankincense are well known in Saudi.

" and wine"

Most of the rich Saudis drink in secret.

"and oil, and fine flour, and wheat"

They import ALL their foods.

"and beasts, and sheep, and horses"

Arabs love sheep (lamb) meat more then any other. This cannot be the West which is famous for cattle. They also race horses and all of these rich Saudis love Arab horses.

"and chariots"

Chariots? They import ALL there cars.

"and slaves"

Aha ... slaves? All workers are imported from all over the world, they even literally have slaves.

"and souls of men."

Souls of men ??? !!! They corrupt the souls with Islam. Who else fits that bill more then Mecca which tries to Islamize the world? Saudi Arabia funds almost EVERY Islamic movement to Islamize the world.

18:15 "The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing"

Yes indeed, all the companies that export to Saudi will suffer a loss.

18:16 "And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! "

decked with gold? They use the simplest things made of gold. Even the faucets are made of pure gold for the rich Saudis. How can anybody miss that?

18:17a... "For in one hour so great riches is come to nought."

Good riddense.

Also precesion bombing will even be the method of destruction: "their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain."

Not one rocket is lost. This is exactly what we see these days.

Revelation 18:19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

Saudi was unique in that she imported/exported most of her trade via the sea.

Revelation 18:23b ... for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

Who deals with building Saudi but the greatest nations? All the nations were deceived with Islam (sorceries).

Babylon is NOT America as many say, how else will God muster "nations from the ends of the earth" to destroy her? What nations? And where is this "ends of the earth"?

GRECIAN EMPIRE?

Yes, after the death of Alexander the Great in the night of 10/11 June 323 BCE, his empire was divided by his generals. One of the successors was his friend Seleucus, who became king of the eastern provinces - more or less modern Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, together with parts of Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. His kingdom had two capitals, which he founded c.300: Antioch in Syria and Seleucia in Iraq. Babylon was a third important city. The empire was, like the empire of Alexander, actually the continuation of the empires before: Persia, Babylonia and Assyria."

(Refer to: "Alexander the Great" <http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander00.html>)

THE SEVENTH KING

Now, to the mystery. Regarding Antichrist, in Chapter 17 of the Book of the Revelation we are provided with some key information which is generally overlooked. In that chapter, Antichrist is referred to as the beast. In verse 3 we are told the beast has seven heads and ten horns (verse 3). Fortunately, verses 9-10 give some indication of what this means. "The seven heads are ... seven kings ..." Then we get a further explanation of these kings:

Then we learn from verse 11 that the end-time beast "an eighth" is also "one of the seven." That is to say, he will be a repeat of one of the seven.

If, on the other hand, kings refers to world empires and/or their rulers (i.e., Alexander/Greece, Caesar/Rome, Hitler/Germany, etc.) then we have the following picture:

five (empires) have fallen: One is (the Roman), another (the seventh) that will come and remain only a little while is the Islamic Empire that took over the Roman. Remember that the Roman Empire ceased to exist in the West and moved to the east (Byzantium in Turkey).

"And the beast which was, and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction". Do you see the "WAS" above? Do you see the "and IS NOT"?

At the time John wrote Revelation The Roman Empire was ruling, yet John specifically says "is not". This rules out the Revived Roman Empire theory.

Some say that this beast is Satan who will be shot and revived, so he is not at the time when John was writing, and we ask: was Satan ruling before and stopped at the time of John, and later he will take control again? It will not fit in this context at all. This indeed sounds absurd, Scripture specifically qualifies this beast as "The BEAST which was and is not" verse 11.

The Beast is and always has been a world government with a king, or a government with many kings. In verse 10 "AND THEY ARE (the seven heads, mountains) seven kings, FIVE HAVE FALLEN, one IS, the OTHER has NOT YET COME, he must remain a little while". Do you see "AND THEY ARE"?

Rome, the idea many have of it being the city of "seven hills", and it may have been built on seven hills, but the word in the Greek in that verse is "OROS" which means mountain. This is distinct from "BOUNOS", which is the Greek word for hill.

IT ALL ORIGINATED IN BABYLON

Revelation 17 gives a snapshot of the entire Babylonian influence were man sinned and were disbursed. This includes all the empires with their "Babylonian" false religions. Islam's crescent moon in reality stems from Babylonia. The moon god was worshipped even in Roman times (see http://www.geocities.com/mandaeans/Sabians6.html)

Even a coin depicting Hadrian and the moon-god on it can be seen in fig #18.

In 217 AD Emperor Caracala was killed after he was returning from visiting the temple of the moon god in Harran. In 363 AD Emperor Julian paid his respects to the temple of Sin. In the Doctrine of Addai, the author writes of the moon god at Harran. Jacob of Serug also writes of the god Sin, the moon god of Harran.

The "Mystery Babylon" stemmed from Babylon and lived throughout history in every empire in the east. It will end up being destroyed when Islam falls.

The problem with many interpretations rose because many interpreters failed to see what "beast" fully meant. They implied only one meaning or an "either or", yet ignoring that in all Scripture "beast" has been written in both contexts being a man, also an empire, and man-with-empire (Kingdom & King). In Daniel we see it clearly:

"These great BEASTS are four in number ARE four KINGS who WILL arise from the earth". Here "Beasts" are kings.

Mountains/Heads/Kings are also symbols of beasts, kings and kingdoms:

"Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings".

Here the seven heads are seven mountains (verse 9) AND THEY ARE seven kings.

So, the heads are "Mountains (kingdoms/empires)" and "kings (seven kings)".

Now verse 10:

- "AND THEY ARE (the seven heads, mountains, empires/kingdoms and kings) seven kings, FIVE HAVE FALLEN, one IS, the OTHER has NOT YET COME, he must remain a little while". The usage of "AND THEY ARE" is significant since this combines all of them together. The BIBLE clearly is the authority and it gives the interpretation already.

Also they are FALLEN IN THE PAST. What KINGS have FALLEN IN THE PAST when John wrote Revelations? Jeremiah also confirms that a "Mountain" is an "Empire", as he addressed end-times Mystery Babylon:

"And I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all the evil they have done in Zion in your sight," says the LORD. "Behold, I am against you, O destroying MOUNTAIN, Who destroys all the earth," says the LORD. "And I will stretch out My hand against you, roll you down from the rocks, and make you a burnt mountain. They shall not take from you a stone for a corner nor a stone for a foundation, but you shall be desolate forever," says the LORD. (Jer.51:25,26)

He calls Babylon a mountain. It can be clearly seen from these scriptures that mountains, prophetically speaking, refer to kingdoms/empires. With this in mind, let us take a close look at what John is actually saying:

"So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven MOUNTAINS on which the woman sits. (Revelation 17: 3, 9).

The seven Mountains here ties with the 10 kings. So the angel is clearly referring to 7 kingdoms that occur over a span of time: past, present and future. At the time the angel was speaking this to John, he says that 5 of the kingdoms had "fallen". These are kingdoms that had arisen and fallen before John's time. The angel says that one is. In other words, the sixth kingdom the angel is referring to is in power in John's time, even as the angel is saying this to John. Then the angel says "the other has not yet come", telling John that the 7th kingdom is a future kingdom.

Finally, the angel directly addresses the identity and kingdom ancestry of the last-days Beast power. The angel says that the seventh "is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven". What does this mean?

The first empire to control the Middle East was the Old Babylonian Empire.
The second empire to control the Middle East was the Assyrian Empire.
The third empire to control the Middle East was the New Babylonian Empire.
The fourth empire to control the Middle East was the Persian Empire.
The fifth empire to control the area of the Middle East was the Grecian Empire.

These five empires are the "five (that) have fallen" at the time of John.

The sixth empire to control the area of the Middle East was the Roman Empire (as clearly identified by the angel in Revelation), which during John's time (approximately 100 A.D.) was at the height of it's power.

The seventh empire to control the area of the Middle East was the Arab Muslim Empire which the angel told John, "the other has not yet come".

Yet, Scripture even offers an interpretation. With all this in mind, let us take another look at Revelation 17:7-11:

"But the angel said to me, "Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. 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. Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. 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. And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.

The beast the woman rides is all the Empires past, present, and future. The 7th empire being the Muslim Empire.

Ezekiel 38 could very well include Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Sudan, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, Chechneya, Azerbezian, Girgistan, Uzbekstan, Turkmenstan, Bosnia, and Psalm 83 which is a continuation of the Arab Israeli wars could include Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Iraq. Psalm 83 started in the Arab-Israeli wars and is not completed, since verse 18 "Let them know that you, whose name is the LORD - that you alone are the Most High over all the earth" has not been fulfilled.

BUT ROME NEVER FELL

I could already hear the critiques that ROME NEVER FELL". Is that true?

The Western Roman Empire died in 410 A.D. when the barbarians sacked the city of Rome. Zeno safely held the Roman imperial throne at Constantinople. Yes, Constantinople, a city a thousand miles east of Rome, which is now known as Istanbul.

You must also realize that the Roman world was not centered in the Italian peninsula. The Roman Empire was built on the Hellenic culture of the eastern Mediterranean. Daniel's prophecy does not at all speak about the Roman power which overcame Greece and conquered much of the pagan world. The Roman Legions left no ethnic marks upon the lands of Nebuchadnezzar's first dominion such as Greece did. But the Grecian influence within the nation of Israel worked its leaven to the point where even the Holy Scriptures which contain the "good news" were caused to be written in the language of the Greeks. Is it not obvious that the New Testament Scriptures, like the LXX translation of the Old Testament documents were written in Greek and not in Latin - to say nothing of the other Greek customs or traditions which influenced the east.

The Hellenic culture had its origins in the region of the Hellespont, in the eastern Balkans on the Sea of Marmara. Constantinople stands on the shore of that sea. It remained the imperial Fortress City of the Christianized Roman world for a thousand years. Rome moved eastward, not westward. This is very important for understanding end times prophecy. Eventually, the Ottoman Turks held the throne of the Caliph. The Ottomans were able to build an army of a quarter of a million warriors. This army finally breached the walls of Constantinople and captured the city in 1453 A.D and by that it ENDED the Roman Empire. The Bible MUST agree with history and history MUST agree with the Bible.

The Ottoman Empire at its zenith extended from Venice and the borders of Germany to Persia and from Poland to the north of Africa, from Egypt to Morocco. This is no small time, they even took the holy land. This conquest marks the death of the true imperial throne of Rome. Its scepter was broken forever. The sixth king was finally slain one thousand years later than most western historians - and students of prophecy - realize.

And it was slain by an entirely different "king" than they realize. It should be obvious though. It was slain by the throne that had taken the Promised Land centuries earlier. The drying-up of the Islamic Turkish Empire and the decline of Mohammedanism has been the progress of the Zionist Movement when Israel was created. The beast finally had to get a great wound in order for the Jews to come back to the land as prophesied in the Bible long ago. The Islamic Empire ruled the east until 1918 when the Ottoman Empire fell against the British Empire.

This issue is critical for a clear and right understanding of end-times prophecy. Without it, your expectations will be misplaced and you will not be able to see the prophetic events that are occurring right now before your eyes. You will be blinded by looking for events that will never happen.

Do you understand how no other king could have fulfilled the prophecy of the seventh king? It has to be the Islamic Caliphate which started in the Hashemite Dynasty and ending in the Ottoman Empire.

This "seventh king" continued to hold the Promised Land until the last year of World War I. Let's not forget that a Hashemite Dynasty STILL hold control over the Temple Mount. King Abdullah of Jordan is a decendant of Muhammad. It is still called the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Yet, "an eighth" king must come from the seventh. How is this possible, unless it's one of the same, Islamic.

A question could arise that the British Empire is the eight, so how can we

God uses conundrum in his prophetic testimony throughout the scriptures. For example, how could the Messiah be born in Bethlehem, be called out of Egypt, and be from Galilee? They cannot possibly be describing one person, can they?

Before Christ's coming you would argue that Messiah is from Galilee, others would say that he is from Bethlehem, and others would say that he is an Egyptian. Yet all are true. Always keep in mind that many characters are described in combinations and different wording.

Because of the nature of this prophetic riddle, we should be able to see who the eighth king is when we know the seventh king. This is unique, because none of the previous kings can be identified by the king that came before them, yet we see the Seventh becoming the Eighth through Islamism which is exploding forth throughout the Islamic world. The non-Arab Muslims to the north of Israel are on the verge of giving rebirth to the Caliphate. The Caliphate is the only title of authority over all Islam, yet we see the call for it throughout the Islamic world. The Muslims are slaying over a million of non-Muslims already with the west giving a deaf ear.

THE COMBINATION CONFEDERACY

Now, the end times confederacy of nations must be a combination of ancient empires.

In Daniel 7 the three ancient empires are referred to as a "mouth of a lion" (Babylonian religion), "feet of a bear" (Persian) and a "body of a leopard (Grecian)".

So, in Revelation 13:2 the last-days Beast is described looking back to these ancient empires as being a composite of a leopard (Grecian), bear (Medo-Persian/Iran) and a lion (Babylonian). In what way is the last-days Beast Empire a composite of these three ancient empires? Today these are all Muslim. Islam is simply a revival of a Babylonian religion. Also, if we examine the geography of these three ancient empires. They had one thing in common, all three were Middle Eastern empires. All of which were under the Grecian Empire.

The last-days Beast is identical with the fourth beast described in Daniel 7. Many prophetic interpreters consider the fourth beast of Daniel 7 to be the Roman Empire. As a result of this faulty assumption they incorrectly conclude that the last-days beast in Revelation is the "revived" Roman Empire. This supposed "Revived Roman Empire" will in theory consist of 10 of the Common Market nations of Europe, united under the authority of the Antichrist. This failed, there are 15 and ALL are in the West far away from anything mentioned in the Bible.

Sir Robert Anderson, one of the greatest authorities on interpretation of prophecy stated:

"It has been confidently urged by some that as the ten kingdoms were symbolised by the ten toes of Nebuchadnezzar's image, -five on either foot, -five of these kingdoms must be developed in the East, and five in the West. The argument is plausible, and possibly just; but its chief force depends upon forgetting that in the prophet's view the Levant and not the Adriatic, Jerusalem and not Rome, is the centre of the world." (Sir Robert Anderson, The Ten Kingdoms)

Even Sir Robert finds problems in "European" empire.

BUT HE MUST BE JEWISH?

If most of the Christian scholars were correct how come then that most modern-day witers say (without Biblical support) that he will be a Jew? Especially when they rely on a mistranslation of "He will not honor the God of his fathers (since Jews believe in one God) when the original Hebrew states "gods (plural) of his fathers" (multiple gods)? Zola Levitt sums up the issue:

"The scriptural sanction for this theory is Daniel 11:37. "Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all." (King James Version). It is rendered this way in a different translation. "He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the one desired by women, nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all." (New International Version). The second translation is the accurate one. The Hebrew word used for God is not Elohim, but elohai. The difference is crucial. Elohai means "gods" in the sense of idols. The verse states that the Antichrist will not worship the idols his father worshipped. The King James translators, living in particularly anti-Semitic times in England, must have fallen into temptation to use the ancient Jewish expression "God of his fathers." This indictment of the Antichrist being Jewish has persisted for all these centuries. (The King James translators' aversion to Judaism is obvious again in Acts 12:4 where they substitute Easter for Passover. The idea that the Antichrist is a Gentile is easier to support. All Biblical persecutors of the Jews were Gentiles from the pharaohs to the foreign kings to the Caesars. Also, Israel undertakes a formal covenant with the Antichrist. If he were one of their own, they probably would not have to actually sign a document. The policies of Prime Ministers Rabin, Peres or Netanyahu were accepted by their fellow Jews without the necessity of signing formal documents. But dealings with Gentile powers like the U.S., the Arabs, or the Oslo peace accords themselves were contractual matters more like the Antichrist's upcoming covenant. And finally, there is the lack of logic in assuming that this major anti-Semite will persecute his own people. It really is difficult to imagine a Jewish person blaspheming to the extent of claiming to be the God of Israel. But on the matter of just who among the world's Gentiles the Antichrist may be, I just don't know. And that is how I answer that question in the churches." (Levitt Letter, volume 21, 1999)

KING OF BABYLON/ASSYRIAN

In Isaiah 14, the "king of Babylon," is defined as Satan "O shining star, son of the morning! How you have fallen from heaven", and to him the Bible says "You shall be cast from your grave," and, "You shall not be united with them [the other kings of the earth] in burial, because you ruined your land and you have slain your people" (Isaiah 14:19-20). This harmonizes perfectly with Revelation 19 where we see the anti-Christ thrown alive into the Lake of Fire. It is the embodiment of Satan in the Anti-Christ (Satan in the flesh) (False Messiah).

So, the Babylonian king is not Nebuchadnezzar, or any other ruler, of ancient Babylon. In Isaiah 14 all the way to verse 23 its about Satan, then suddenly verse 24 and 25 come out with the following end-time terminology:

"As I have purposed, it shall rise; to break Assyria in My land, and on My mountains I will trample him ... this is the purpose that is purposed on all the earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out on all the nations.". Same in Micah 5:5 "Assyrian".

The text suddenly goes from describing the anti-Christ's destruction to describing the destruction of "Assyria" without any apparent break in the subject. Now, to the rest of the prophets:

In Isaiah the king of Assyria spoken of is very descriptive of the anti-Christ. Isaiah 30 proves the above quite clearly: "YHWH will make the majesty of his voice heard; the lowering of his arm he will show, with raging anger, and a consuming flame; cloudburst and storm and hailstones. For by the voice of YHWH, Assyria is crushed" (Isaiah 30:30-31).

It's that unmistakable terminology signifying the Day of the LORD, where "his arm" is, as is the case throughout Isaiah (e.g. Isa. 53:1), referring to Jesus. This is not the Assyria of the day but an end-time "Assyria" which is destroyed at the fiery coming of Jesus on dark and tempestuous clouds, when He destroys Satan by a "breath of His mouth", "Sword out of His mouth". It all fits together.

Also, MICAH 5:

"Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. And this man shall be the peace, when the ASSYRIAN shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men. And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the ASSYRIAN, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders."

Amazing. Many read Micah 5 as the prophecy of Messiah. While that is indeed correct, they forget to continue and see what the rest of the passages are saying.

Also, in Isaiah 31 the text emphasis on Assyria and that "The Lord will come down to fight for Mount Zion" (31:4), and in verse 8 directly on account of this coming, we again see "Assyria shall fall by a sword not of man". Jesus clearly never fought battles against Assyria in His first coming.

Then we have: "Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger! And my fury is the staff in their hand. I will send him against an ungodly nation, and against the people of my wrath. I will command him to plunder plunder, and to strip off spoil and to trample them like the mud in the streets ... And it shall be in that day, the remnant of Israel ... shall not any more lean on him who struck him. But they will truly lean on YHWH, the Holy One of Israel. The remnant shall return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God ... And a shoot [David] goes out from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch [Yeshua] will bear fruit out of his roots ... and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth ... and the wolf shall live with the lamb ..." (Isaiah 10:5, 6, 20, 21; 11:1, 4).

Is this ancient Assyria or future end times Assyria? When will the wolf lay with the lamb?

The Millennial restoration of Israel is a direct result of the defeat of "Mystery Babylon", "Assyria".

Mystery Babylon is also Islam, of course mixed with Christendom's harlots The great Whore, whom the Muslims will do away with. So the much-promoted idea that the anti-Christ will be a "Roman dictator" is wrong and more likely a Southern Russia – Gog, Nimrod, The Assyrian, The Babylonian. Since the Anti-Christ holds Babylon and Assyria he is rightfully called "King of Assyria" and "King of Babylon".

So the problem is solved, it's simply titles and nick-names given in the Bible to Satan.

LITTLE HORN?

Now, in chapter 8 and 11 of Daniel, the anti-Christ is seen rising up in one of the four kingdoms formed by the splintering of the Alexander's Greek empire (little horn). These four kingdoms were:

1. The Greek/Macedonian region Ruled by Cassander. (Macedonia is Muslim)

2. The Thracia/Turkey region (Bulgaria and Turkey today). Ruled by Lysimachus. Later called the Byzantine Empire. (Today Muslim)

3. The Babylonian/Persian region, including Southern Russia (today Muslim), Afghanistan (Muslim), Iran (Muslim), Syria (Muslim), Lebanon (Muslim), and all the coastland to the city of Tyre.

Also known as the Seleucid Dynasty and ruled by Seleucus. (All today Muslim)

4. The whole of Egypt (which in prophecy includes Libya and the Nubians). Also known as the Ptolemies. (Today Muslim).

Antiochus Ephiphanes from the Seleucid came to the scene as a foreshadow to the Anti-Christ.

In Daniel 8 the Anti-Christ comes from one of the four Greek factions "little horn," being that "the vision is for the time of the end" (8:17). Yet many commentators conclude that the activities of the little horn unmistakably point to Antiochus IV Epiphanes. That can't be Antiochus as the sole little horn while the little horn of chapter 7 is the end-time anti-Christ. The man mentioned here causes 1/3 of the angels to fall – "And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and some of the host and of the stars it cast down to the ground, and trampled upon them. Yea, it magnified itself, even to the prince of the host; and from him the continual burnt-offering was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down." (Daniel 8:10).

How is this Antiochus casting down heavenly stars (angels) and in verse 25 "And through his cunning he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and in time of security shall he destroy many; he shall also stand up against the prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.". This is a showdown between Messiah and Satan "stand up against the prince of princes".

This also concludes that the Anti-Christ comes from the Grecian Empire - Asia, not Syria, verse 9 confirms it: "And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the beauteous land".

The "little horn" of chapter 8 is the eleventh king, and cannot be Antiochos Epiphinise since he has major attributes that only fits Satan himself (The Anti-Christ). Daniel 8 does not reveal which of the four splinter kingdoms the anti-Christ will rise from. Yet Central Asia seems plausible since it too was part of the Grecian Seleucid Empire:

"Seleucus, who became king of the eastern provinces - more or less modern Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, together with parts of Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. His kingdom had two capitals, which he founded c.300: Antioch in Syria and Seleucia in Iraq. Babylon was a third important city. The empire was, like the empire of Alexander, actually the continuation of the empires before: Persia, Babylonia and Assyria. (chronological research by Bert van der Spek 'New Evidence from the Babylonian Astronomical Diaries Concerning Seleucid and Arsacid History' in: Archiv für Orientforschung 44/45 (1997-1998) 167-175.)

This covers the image of Daniel, the 3 Empires plucked by the root, and the land of Gog from the north (Central Asia).

Regarding the image of Daniel, Sir Robert Anderson a leading prophecy scholar stated that the rise of all the four kingdoms is future, including the head of the lion: "Verse 7 appears definite that the rise of all these kingdoms was future."

"In the history of Babylonia there is nothing to correspond with the predicted course of the first Beast, for it is scarcely legitimate to suppose that the vision was a prophecy of the career of Nebuchadnezzar"

"Neither is there in the history of Persia anything answering to the bear-like beast with that precision and fulness which prophecy demands. The language of the English version suggests a reference to Persia and Media but the true rendering appears to be: "It made for itself one dominion," instead of "It raised up itself on one side."

"While the symbolism of the sixth verse seems at first sight to point definitely to the Grecian Empire, it will appear upon a closer examination that at its advent the leopard had four wings and four heads. This was its primary and normal condition, and it was in this condition that dominion was given to it." This surely is very different from what Dan. viii. 8 describes, and what the history of Alexander's Empire realised, viz., the rise of a single power, which in its decadence continued to exist in a divided state."

Then, Sir Robert Anderson concludes: "Each of the three first empires of the second chapter (Babylon, Persia, and Greece) was in turn destroyed and engulphed by its successor; but the kingdoms of the seventh chapter all continued together upon the scene, though "the dominion, was with the fourth (Dan. vii. 12). Verse seems to imply that the four beasts came up together, and at all events there is nothing to suggest a series of empires, each destroying its predecessor, though the symbolism of the vision was (in contrast with that of chap. ii) admirably adapted to represent this. Compare the language of the next vision (Dan. viii. 3-6)."

Then he finally concludes that even Rome is not mentioned:

"While the fourth beast is unquestionably Rome, the language of the seventh and twenty-third verses leaves no doubt that it is the Roman Empire in its revived and future phase. Without endorsing the views of Maitland, Browne, etc., it must be owned that there was nothing in the history of ancient Rome to correspond with the main characteristic of this beast unless the symbolism used is to be very loosely interpreted. To "devour the earth," "tread it down and break it in pieces," is fairly descriptive of other empires, but Ancient Rome was precisely the one power which added government to conquest, and instead of treading down and breaking in pieces the nations it subdued, sought rather to mould them to its own civilization and polity. All this - and more might be added - suggests that the entire vision of the seventh chapter may have a future reference."

Sir Robert Anderson concludes that Daniel 7 is STRICTLY speaking of the end-times empires that come at once.

He amazingly even stated that the Middle East will be the main conflict:

"Now Dan. vii. 2 expressly names the Mediterranean (" the Great Sea") as the scene of the conflict between the four beasts."

WHAT ABOUT THE EXPERTS

Commentators generally fashion their interpretations of Daniel, Chapter 11, upon the historical basis (following the death of Alexander, the Great) of the Seleucid and Ptolemaic kings who became the leaders of Syria and Egypt. The two portions of Macedonia and Thrace/Asia Minor are disregarded as having no significance, yet Gog comes from Asia. How could they miss this?

Even such luminaries as Jonathan Edwards, Martin Luther, and Isaac Newton made solemn declarations about the fulfillment of prophecy that now appear foolish. Yet millions still follow and quote them. Yet I see that many interpret the Anti-Christ religious system as the Roman Catholic Church. How could that be when in fact Romanism teaches that God did come in the flesh?

"He who denied that Christ (God) came in the flesh IS THE ANTI-CHRIST."

Islam denies that God came in the flesh. Indeed that is the main creed they advocate and Roman Catholics don't.

Also, "they have a king over them, who is the [fallen] angel of the bottomless pit -- whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue has his name Apollyon" (alias 'Destroyer')" The Deity of Islam in the Quran is also called the Destroyer, especially when the real influence behind Mohammad and Islam -- is Satan himself. Now he comes in person as the destroyer. Allah is called also "The God of the worlds" in the Quran "Maliki rab Al-Alameen" (Fatiha). Satan tried to be like God. Indeed, he pretends to be that Deity called Allah. Yet he remains only the Destroyer. It is significant that the Geneva Bible here calls 'the angel of the bottomless pit' in Revelation 9:11 -- "Satan's ambassador."

Strikingly, Allah is sometimes described by Muslims themselves as: "the One Who brings damage"; or "the One Who leads astray"; or "the Bringer-down"; or "the Tyrant." As such, this Muslim concept of Allah is really that of a great idol opposing the true Triune God, which matches perfectly a denier of the Father and of the Son.

Let's keep in mind that the combination beast (Bear, Leopard, Lion) will have "the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority." So the final beast is not political but religious.

Also, the Anti-Christ changes times. Islam changed A.D. into Hijrah:

"He will speak against the Most High and oppress the saints and try to change set times and the laws." (Dan 7:25).

Who else changes laws as soon they control a government? Islam invokes the Sharia laws and changes the dating system to A.H from A.D. The beast that was wounded then healed. Islam was wounded, now it is rising again. Who else kills Christians and Jews thinking that they do God a service? You could say that this is the Catholics. But remember, that he will be using the beheading system. Beheading is an Islamic law, Papal law was burning and other. Jihad seems the best candidate. The Encyclopedia Britannica has this to say about the Ottomans:

"The Ottoman Empire, one of the most powerful states in the world during the 15th and 16th centuries, spanned more than 600 years and came to an end only in 1922, when it was replaced by the Turkish Republic and various successor states in southeastern Europe and the Middle East. At its height it included most of southeastern Europe to the gates of Vienna, including modern Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia, Romania, Greece, and Ukraine; Iraq, Syria, Israel, and Egypt; North Africa as far west as Algeria; and most of the Arabian Peninsula. (Vo.28, p.945).

The Turks also ruled what is today, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Crimea, regions north of the Black Sea, and part of Iran.

"Atrocities that shocked the world, including massacres estimated to have caused the death of 200,000 Armenians in 1896 alone ... Armenia became the battleground for Russian and Turkish armies during World War I ... As World War I continued, Turkish atrocities against Armenians increased, and the reports of the atrocities finally led the government of the United States to send a formal note of protest to Turkey on Feb.17, 1916. The massacres continued, however, and privations and famine added to the death list, which reached an estimated total of 800,000 Armenians during the war period. (Funk & Wagnalls New Ency. V. 2, p. 287)

All Islamic nations have persecuted and killed Christians, the killing continues even now.

"Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshipped the Beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands." (Revelation 20:4)

It is also important to notice that no other modern movement, legal system or nation condones beheading as a form of punishment. The Shariah law, however, requires it for many specified offenses.

Those who imagine that the Beast power is going to arise out of the European Community should wake up and use some common sense and logic. In modern Europe, even spanking your kids when they misbehave is considered brutal. In many European nations, corporal punishment is actually a crime.

"Who is a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son." (I John 4:3)

"And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land." (Daniel 8:9)

"yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service". (John 16:2)

In fact Muslims are awaiting such person who brings peace:

From Ibn Khaldun's al-Muqqadima:

"... There will come forth a man from my nation who will talk according to my Sunnah. God will send upon him rain from heaven, and the earth will sprout forth for him its blessing. The earth will be filled through him with equity and justice, as it his been filled with injustice and crime. He will direct the affairs of this nation for seven years, and he will settle in Jerusalem."

The Mahdi of Islam has many elements in his description to set Muslims up for the greatest deceiver ever - Gog.

THE WHOLE EARTH?

In Daniel 4 we have Nebuchadenezzar's dream, Daniel's interpretation and then it's fulfilment. If you notice in verse 20 the tree (as it was before it was cut down) was "visible to the whole earth". What does this mean ? Does it mean that Neb *literally* and *actually* ruled over every square mile of inhabited space on the earth? Is there evidence that he actually rules all of India and all of China, for instance? If that was the case BEFORE Neb's sanity then how it be said AFTER his restoration that he had "become even greater than before"(verse 36)?

I think the best way to explain this is to say that Neb *could have* literally ruled every square mile of inhabited earth only IF he had wanted to take it.

"How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! How is Babylon become a desolation among the nations! (Jer 50:23)"

Same thing could apply to the so-called "Revived Roman Empire".

WHY WILL GOG ATTACK?

In the Middle East and North Africa, deserts are gobbling up land once used for livestock grazing or cultivation. Overgrazing can strip land of vegetation, and climate changes such as drought can kill off plants.

Land turned to desert can't easily be returned to agriculture even if, say, a drought ends and normal rainfall resumes. This irreversibility may be linked to the patterns that the vegetation adopts as the land becomes arid and semi-arid, Jost von Hardenberg of Ben Gurion University and colleagues propose. (nature, science update, oct 29, 2001)

APPENDIX

Summary of nations addressed in end-times:

Psalm 83 - includes all, Syria and Iraq "Assyria", Jordan "Edom, Moab, Ammon", Arabia "Ishmaelites, Hagarites", Lebanon "People of Tyre" since Tyre was destroyed (Ezekiel 26). This was partly fulfilled in the Arab Israeli wars since these armies are a "confederacy" (v. 5), "consult together with one voice" (v. 3). All these are Muslim.

Ezekiel 30 - the nations of North Africa, including Egypt and Sudan in the time of the "Day of the Lord" - a clear reference to the end time destruction of Islamic nations.

Amos 1 - Syria (vs. 1-5), Gaza (v. 6), Lebanon (v. 9), Jordan "Teman" (v. 11), Iraq "Bozrah", Amman Jordan "Rabbah" (v. 14), "Gaza" (v. 6).

Amos 2 - Jordan "Moab"

Joel 3 - This is Armageddon (v. 2) which includes Egypt and Jordan (v. 19), Lebanon (v. 4). Why does Armageddon have Muslim nations by name?

Jeremiah 6 - Jeremiah speaks of Sheba (probably the area of modern Yemen.

Jeremiah 9 - Egypt, Edom, and Ammon

Jeremiah 25 - Moab

Jeremiah 48 - Moab and others.

Jeremiah 49-51 - The destruction of Babylonia, today's Arab world - Jordan, Syria "Damascus", Iraq "Bozrah", Saudi Arabia "Kedar", this includes past as well as a future outlook in end-times. Iran "Elam" (49 v. 37).

Obadiah 1 - "For the day of the LORD [is] near upon all the heathen" "Esau" "Edom" "Teman" - Jordan and the Arabs.

Ezekiel 25 - Jordan "Moab", Saudi Arabia "Teman, Dedan (v. 13)".

Ezekiel 27 - Lebanon "Tyre, Zidon, Gebal" (v. 9), Iran "Persia" and he adds Libya "Lud", and Phut (North Africa). This takes in middle Asia and North Africa (chapter 27:10,21), just as Ezekiel predicted in chapter 38.

Ezekiel 30 - The fall of the nations of North Africa, including Egypt, in the time of the "Day of the Lord" - a clear reference to the end time.

Ezekiel 35:12-15 (Edom, Jordan)

Daniel 11 - Egypt (verse 40)

Habbakuk 3 - "Teman" and "Paran" "Midian" are Saudi Arabia (center of Islam), and "Cushan" is Sudan (Cush). "God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise." This is definitely Messianic pertaining to the second coming.

3:3-7, 12-16 ["He beheld, and drove asunder the nations [Midian]; and the everlasting hills [nations] did bow" (v. 6), "Thou didst thresh the heathen in anger" (v. 12)

Isaiah 11:14 - Jordan "Edom, Moab"

Isaiah 13 - "Behold, the day of the LORD cometh" (v. 9), For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light" (v. 10), is end-times and includes Babylon (Iraq, Arabia, all Muslim).

Isaiah 14:24-27 - ("I will break the Assyrian [Iraq] in My land, and tread him underfoot"). Here Satan (Lucifer) is addressed as a man "They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, [and] consider thee, [saying, Is] this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms" (Isaiah 14:16)

Isaiah 14:28-32 - (Philistia, Gaza) Muslim

Isaiah 15-16 - (Moab/Jordan) Muslim

Isaiah 17 - (Damascus, Syria) Muslim

Isaiah 18 - (Punishment of Sudan), 18:6 matches the birds feeding on the dead in Ezekiel 38/39 after the Sudanese (Cush Ezekiel 38:5).

Isaiah 19 - "Egypt will fear Judah" (v17), then Egypt will be healed.

Isaiah 21 - against Arabia (Kedar, Tema, and Dumah) The curses on Arabia "burden of the desert of the sea" (v. 1). Dumah is in Saudi Arabia near Yathrib in verse 11, today called "Dumat el-Jandal", also Kedar in verse 17. These prophecies find both historical and future fulfillment as well. "The glory of Kedar shall fail" (11-17). What other then Mecca and Islam could the "glory of Kedar" be?

Isaiah 31 - "shall the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof" is the end when Messiah fights "The Assyrian", "The Egyptians".

Isaiah 34:2-8 - (Edom, Jordan) note "it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion" (v. 8).

Isaiah 63:1-6 - ("Who is this who comes from Edom (Jordan), with dyed [blood-stained] garments from Bozrah (Iraq)." This is definitely second coming of Messiah and these nations are Muslim.

Zechariah 9:1,2 - (Syria, Lebanon) Muslim, Lebanon is the heart of Hezbullah.

Zechariah 9:5 - (Gaza) Gaza is a Muslim city and the heart of Hammas.

Zechariah 10 - Syria, Iraq and Egypt's armies destroyed in Lebanon (v. 10)

Zechariah 12:2 - "I will make Jerusalem and Judah like an intoxicating drink to all the nearby nations that send their armies to besiege Jerusalem". All the nations "round about" (RSV) or "near by nations" (NTL) "peoples around" (NASB), "surrounding peoples" (NKJV) Israel are all Muslim, regardless of which translation of the text one uses. Some say that the entire world's nations are around Israel for the use of the term "round about" only pertains to the fact that they surround the borders. Yet the verse is clearer when we see the usage in the continuation of the verse "that send their armies to besiege Jerusalem". So this understanding is flawed since it doesn't make sense that "surrounding armies" send "armies" to surround Jerusalem. The correct rendering of the verse then must be that these nations are nearby (round about) and send there armies to lay siege on Jerusalem. The Old Testament references to the nations "round about" are widespread, with over 50 references to these entities between Deuteronomy 6:14 and Zechariah 14:4. In passages where these are identified by name (e.g., Psalm 83), they are Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, the "Palestinians" of Gaza, the Bedouin PLO within Israel, Jordan (Moab/Edom/Ammon[the ancient name which Amman the capital of Jordan is derived from]) and Saudi Arabia.

Micah 5:1-6 - agrees with Isaiah 14 (Satan, Anti-Christ) in which the destruction of "the Assyrian" upon Israel's mountains is foretold, and that "(Israel) shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword" (v. 6).

The whole of Scripture regarding end-times with minor and major prophets speak on none else than the Islamic world.

Apart from the all the details that are given regarding these countries individually and about their relationship today, many of which have been discussed in this article, these two observations alone are amazing:

Besides the huge geographical distances between them, at the time these prophecies were given (some 500 years before Christ), all these nations mentioned had many different religions and many of them no political connection. Only over a thousand years later they all became Muslim (religiously) and were unified politically in the Islamic Empire.

That Biblical prophecy, more than two-thousand years ago, binds together exactly the Muslim nations and not the non-Muslim countries neighboring to them, should give everyone -- including Muslims -- every reason to take biblical prophecy very seriously.

Articles by Walid
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