Here are three of today's major signs of the soon return of Jesus Christ:
1. Israel is a nation again after over 2,000 years with their own government, monetary system and military.
2. The third Jewish Temple is soon to be built on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
3. The Middle East nations are lining up for the appearance of the Antichrist.
PART II
We begin Part II of our teaching on Islam and The Antichrist in Daniel 2:37-44 by examining the Jewish prophet Daniel's interpretation of king Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the Image of the head of gold, the chest and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of bronze and the legs of iron, with feet of iron and clay, showing how it relates to current events in the Middle East.
Part of verses 37 and 38:
Thou, O king...art this head of gold. 39. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. 40. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. 41. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potter's clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. 42. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. 43. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. 44. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall not be left to other people, bu it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Daniel 2:37-44.
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The head of gold is the old Babylonian Empire.
The chest and arms of silver are the old Mede/Persian Empire.
The belly and thighs are the old Greek Empire.
The legs of iron, with feet of iron and clay is not the Revived Roman Empire but the coming Revived Islamic Caliphate. (A Caliphate means all the Islamic nations will be under one ruler, the caliph, or their Mahdi, or Messiah, which will be the Antichrist.) |
The first three kingdoms are the old empires of Babylon, Mede/Persian, and Greek, but the last one is the last days empire of Islam. The two iron legs could not be the Roman Empire, as has been taught for centuries, which states that the empire was divided into eastern and western, with the western leg capitol being Rome and the eastern leg capitol being Constantinople. This could not be since the western Roman Empire was officially established by the Senate in 27 BC and only lasted until 476 AD. The eastern leg of the Roman Empire was only established in 330 AD and lasted until 1453 AD when Islam took it over. That means that there was only less than half a left leg of iron (27BC to 476AD) regarding the western empire and no leg on the eastern empire from 27 BC until 330 AD. The only thing that makes sense regarding the iron legs and feet of iron and clay is Islam with the legs representing the two separate divisions of the Sunnis and Shi'ites which we will explain as we progress.
The division of the Sunnis and Shi'ites came in 632 AD, after Muhammad's death. The Sunnis believed that Abu Bakr, the father of Muhammad's wife Aisha was to take over, while the Shi'ites thought they should rule since Muhammad ordained his cousin and son-in-law to rule according to Allah's command. There has been war between the two ever since. Daniel 2:40 says that the fourth kingdom breaks in pieces and bruises (crushes) other empires. Rome never crushed the other empires it conquered. The people were able to keep their own language, culture and religion under Roman rule, but Islam completely fits verse 40 because it has crushed every empire it has conquered by changing the religion to Islam, the language, for the most part, to Arabic, the culture to Arabic and the law to sharia law. Those who have not adhered to their geo-policical religious beliefs have been killed or treated as second class people and made to pay a tax. We see this today with ISIS and the evil they are carrying out in the Middle East. Islam is not a religion of peace! The Koran states very clearly in various suras that those who are not Muslims, or will not convert to Islam, are infidels and should be killed, especially Jews and Christians. It is interesting that verses 41 and 42 of Daniel 2 tell us the kingdom will be divided and will also be partly of iron and partly of clay and will not adhere to one another. Verse 43 says, "...they will mingle themselves with the seed of men: but will not cleave to one another. The word mingle is the Aramaic word arab which is what happens when Islam tries to mix with other peoples. They will not adhere to one another.
Daniel's Vision of the Four Beasts
Now, let us begin to put all of the pieces together regarding the legs of iron, the feet of iron and clay and the 10 toes regarding Islam by studying Daniel, chapters 7, 8,12 and Revelation, chapter 6.
Daniel has a vision in Babylon while under the rule of the Babylonian Empire. In Daniels vision, chapter 7 speaks of four beasts which will arise in the last days before Jesus returns.
1. The lion with eagle's wings
2. The bear with three ribs in its mouth
3. The leopard with four heads and four wings of a bird
4. The fourth beast that is different from the others
Verse 1. In the first year of Belshazzar King of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matters. 2. Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. (the sea represents humanity; emphasis mine) 3. And four great beasts came up from the sea diverse one from another. 4. The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. 5. And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. 6. After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads and dominion was given to it. 7. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly: and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. 8. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. Daniel 7:1-8.
The little horn that comes up is the Antichrist who will be the leader of the fourth beast that is unlike the other three beasts. The lion, bear and leopard are predatorial animals who hunt their prey in different ways. Each of these animals represents a certain modern nation, or nations, and how they act in times of war. I will explain this later in greater detail.
We skip down to verses 15 through 17 and see something very interesting that tells us these four kingdoms are not the old Babylonian, Mede/Persian, Greek and Roman Empires which has been taught down through the centuries, but something totally different. Let's read.
Daniel 7:15-17:
15. I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. 16. I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me; and made me know the interpretation of the things. 17. These great beasts, which are four; are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. 18. But the saints of the most high shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever; even for ever and ever.
Notice that these four kingdoms are futuristic and are here when Jesus Christ returns, according to verse 18 when the saints possess the kingdom. Remember, Daniel was in Babylon when he had the visions, which eliminates Babylon as one of the four empires, and verse 17 is very clear that these four kings will arise in the future. This will be clarified even more when we examine Daniel, chapter 8 later. We also remember from Part I of this series that Daniel's visions were "shut up", which is the Hebrew word catham and means "to keep secret" until the last days: then in Daniel 12:4, he is told to "shut up" or "keep secret" and "seal" the book until the time of the end, or last days. The word "seal" here, in Hebrew, is "chatham" which means "to close up as sealing a scroll." So again, Daniels visions could not be understood until the days we are living in, due to the fact that the four kingdoms involved in Daniel 7 and 8 would be futuristic last days kingdoms. Only today do we see these kingdoms being manifested.
These four beasts represent modern nations located in or near the Middle East. Of the four beasts the only one that is part of Nebuchadnezzar's Image of gold, silver, bronze, and iron are the legs of iron and feet of iron and clay that represent the fourth beast in Daniel 7 which will be the Revived Islamic Caliphate with their caliph (their Mahdi, messiah--the Antichrist).
The other three beasts -- the lion, bear and leopard -- represent today's Iraq (the old Babylonian kingdom), Iran (Mede-Persia), and Greece which in Aramaic is Yavan (Daniel, chapter 7 was written in Aramaic). Yavan was one of Japheth's sons (Japheth was a son of Noah), whose descendants migrated and settled around the Greek Peninsula, the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula, Crete and the western coast of what is today Turkey. According to Mark Davidson's book, Daniel Revisited, the third beast (the leopard) will probably be made up of four of today's nations; Turkey, Albania, Syria and Egypt. The leopard has four heads, representing those nations.
Before explaining the four beasts, we must go to Daniel, chapter 8, where Daniel has other visions and tie them together with Daniel, chapter 7 in order to see the correlation regarding his visions.
In Daniel, chapter 8, Daniel has a vision of a ram and a he goat:
Verse 1. In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me...after that which appeared unto me at the first. 2. And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan (Susa) in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai. 3. Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw and behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. 4. I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great. Daniel 8:1-4.
We notice four things in these verses that are of utmost importance. First, Daniel is in Shushan which today is in southwestern Iran on the Persian Gulf. Second, the ram has two horns, one of which was higher than the other. Three, the higher horn came up last. Four, this beast pushes westward, northward, and southward and none of the other beasts can stop it. We will go into further detail regarding these four points later as we connect this chapter with chapter 7 of Daniel.
Next, Daniels vision continues as he sees a goat coming from the west, not touching the ground, with a notable horn between his eyes. The goat then defeats the ram. The goat becomes great, then his horn is broken and four other horns replace it. Out of the four horns come forth a little horn which will be the Antichrist.
Verse 5. And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. 6. And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power. 7. And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns; and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out if his hand. 8. Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven. 9. And out of them came forth a little horn (Antichrist), which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land (Israel). Daniel 8:5-9, emphasis mine.
Verses 10 through 12 tell us this little horn--the Antichrist--will commit the abomination of desolation in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, Israel (see also II Thessalonians 2:1-4). In verse 15 Daniel asked the angel the meaning of the vision.
Verse 15. And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man. 16. And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision. 17. So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision...19. And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be...26. And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true; wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days. Daniel 8:15-17, 19, 26.
As in Daniel 7:17, verses 17, 19 and 26 of Daniel, chapter 8 tell us Daniel's visions will be fulfilled in the last days before Jesus Christ returns. The Bible commentators and prophecy teachers have tried to ignore these verses because they do not fit with their theology of Daniel 7 and 8 as being the past kingdoms of Babylon, Mede-Persia, Greek, and the Roman Empire. Again, the Scriptures are very clear that Daniel 7 and 8 are referring to last days nations and their leaders. Now, let us tie together the four beasts of Daniel 7 with the ram and he goat of Daniel 8.
The Four Beasts and the Ram and He Goat
In Daniel 7, of the four beasts, the lion, bear, leopard and fourth beast, only the lion has no counterpart in Daniel 8. The lion stands alone and is the present day nation of Iraq as I stated earlier. The bear in Daniel 7 is the same as the ram in Daniel 8, both of which represent present day Iran: the leopard in Daniel 7 and the he goat in Daniel 8, both represent a coalition of four nations--the four horns, and the fourth beast in Daniel 7 is the same as the kingdom of the little horn (Antichrist) which comes out of the four horns of the he goat. It will be the Revived Islamic Caliphate.
All of this will begin to come together in greater detail and be more fully understood in Part III of Islam and the Islamic Antichrist. For those of you who have been teaching or sitting under the teaching of a Revived Roman Empire with a European Antichrist, bear with us until we have completed this series, then you can decide whether what we are teaching is scriptural or whether you will stay with what has been handed down through the centuries. Jesus said in John 8:32, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free." |
