WHY THE ANTICHRIST WILL PROBABLY BE A MUSLIM (PART ONE).

WHY THE ANTICHRIST WILL PROBABLY COME FROM "ASSYRIA" AND BE A MUSLIM (by Neville Stephens).

Ever since I was saved under “Second Coming Teaching” back in the mid seventies, eschatology, the Second Advent of Yeshua, the Rapture of the Church to Glory, and the general end times scenarios have always been close to my heart, as well as providing a very useful tool to witness, and to warn people of events to come on this earth.

However, the one area of “the last days” doctrine I was always uneasy with was the almost universally held belief amongst Bible Prophecy scholars and students that the Antichrist will come from the Revived Roman Empire, and that he would become a WORLD dictator and leader.

What emphatic evidence do they have to base such an argument? I think you will find that if you approach this issue with an open mind, and let Scripture speak for itself, you will find the evidence is very flimsy indeed!

Have we ever had a “world leader” in the past, despite the Bible giving the impression that dictators such as the Pharaohs of Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Darius the Mede, Cyrus the Persian, Alexander the Great of Greece, and the Caesars of Rome all held sway for vast sways of our ancient history?

None of these despots actually conquered all of the known world at their various points in history, and one by one, all of these great empires of seemingly invincible power, crumbled and were overtaken.

What they do have in common is that they all conquered Jerusalem, Israel, and the surrounding territories, and this is very important to remember. The Bible is Jerusalem-centric, and from the heavenly vantage point of Almighty God, all things revealed in the Scriptures relate to His ancient Jewish covenant people and the land promised to them.

Everything revolves around them in the eyes of the Lord, and also the countries which come into contact with them. Blessings on countries which help and bless Israel, and curses upon countries which attack them, physically, spiritually, and verbally (Genesis 12:3).

The Bible does not mention countries such as China, India, Russia, America, The Commonwealth countries of Britain, Canada, Australia, South Africa etc (and many other illustrious nations), simply because they had no direct involvement with Palestine and The Holy Land In Bible times.

If this was the case in the Old Testament, it stands to reason that the same consistent principle must apply to the New Testament, and in particular to the events prophesied to end at Armageddon and the Second Coming of Jesus. After all, He comes back to Jerusalem, and to Israel, not to Rome, London, or New York.

Before He returns in glory and judgement, however, he is preceded by this “man of sin”, and I will try and convince you in this short series of articles that there is far more Scripturally based evidence for claiming that the Antichrist will be a Muslim, an Islamist, possibly descending from Israel, but probably more likely to be a descendant of the former “Assyrian” Empire of the ancient prophets.

After all, one of his thirteen Biblical titles is “The Assyrian” (Micah 5:5), but this name of the beast (another name for the Antichrist) is nearly always overlooked by most prophecy buffs as they strive to endorse their view that he must come from “Rome and its subsidiaries, in the newly revived empire of modern days”.

Although very much in the minority, I have always tended to favour the viewpoint put forward by the likes of Bullinger, Welch, Allen, and others that this man will indeed be an Assyrian, as the Bible states, and it is always best to let the Bible be its own interpreter.

The Tim LaHaye “Left Behind” books, and the Christian television prophecy pundits with large audiences such as David Reagan, Ed Hindson, Hal Lindsey, Jack Van Impe, Perry Stone, Grant Jeffrey, and others have always maintained that this “beast” of Revelation 13 will come from Rome and its cohorts.

But with the emergence of the teachings from the Joseph Farah inspired World News Daily expositors and other excellent writers such as Joel Richardson, Walid Shoebat, Simon Altaf, and others, they are now making Christians sit up worldwide to re-evaluate their opinion! In particular, I would like to give an awful lot of credit to Richardson after reading his exciting books titled “The Islamic Antichrist”, and “The Mid East Beast”. Even great men such as Chuck Missler, Ron Matsen, and John MacArthur have been influenced by these splendid works, and have changed camps following several interchanges with these men, on television, at conferences, and at other Christian gatherings.   

If Islam is going to be the primary vehicle which Satan will use to fulfil his final rebellion against God, it is the Bible that must be the primary litmus test. What does the Bible say about the nature and the composition of the Antichrist’s empire? The fact that the Antichrist is “an Assyrian” is very important, and this geographical element will play a major part in our discussion in this series. It is a very vital ingredient for discovering where this “man of lawlessness” originates. But for now, I would like to concentrate on why this “son of perdition” does not come from Rome, Strasbourg, Brussels, Paris, London, or any other leading European country.

The Bible abounds with proofs that this Satanic Empire will consist only of nations that today are all Islamic! Despite numerous prevailing arguments for the emergence of a revived Roman Empire as the Antichrist’s power base, the specific nations that the Bible identifies as comprising this empire are today all Muslim.

The Old Testament lists the nations of this final empire quite specifically, as Ezekiel prophesies the future attack of the Antichrist against Israel. The prophet describes how an alliance of Gog, Magog, Meshech, Tubal, Persia, Cush, Put, Gomer, and Togarmah form an unbeatable alliance to defeat their ancient common foe, namely the chosen and covenant people of Israel (Ezek.38:1-7).

Gog is a title, such as a Pharaoh in Egypt or a Caesar in Rome, and this titled being is recorded here in Ezekiel chapter 38, and with his people of Magog  they appear here in Ezekiel, and again in the New Testament in the Book of Revelation. After Satan is released from his one thousand year imprisonment after the Millennial Reign Of Christ, he appears to resurrect Gog and Magog again for another final and decisive battle against the Holy One Of God (Rev 20.7-10).

So as we attempt to identify the eight nations mentioned in this ancient Biblical prophecy which is yet to be fulfilled, we are indebted to Joel Richardson for such a concise summary. Seven of these nations are mentioned in the book of Genesis as descendants of Noah and his three sons.

Bible scholars and historians can trace the names of Noah’s sons to certain people groups and regions, and thus identify them with modern nations. While the identification of some of these people groups is somewhat debatable, there is a general measure of agreement among Bible scholars as to their identification.

MESHECH AND TUBAL:  Modern day prophecy buffs such as Hal Lindsey, Jack Van Impe, and their counterparts quickly jump to the false conclusion that these two identities are Moscow and Tobolsk, because of their false premise that these enemies “come from the north” of Israel, and that their names fit in with their incorrect scenario that the northern enemy is Russia, rather than Turkey. Please remember that when Ezekiel  penned his words, Russia did not exist, and that the enemies of the Jewish nation were always the countries that encompassed their territory then, AND NOW! They were always Arabic and Islamic, not European, and certainly not Russian!

A modern day American scholar who does not fall into this false teaching, is Dr. Mark Hitchcock from Oklahoma, who has written many best selling prophecy books worldwide. In his impressive book “The Coming Islamic Invasion Of Israel”, he  points out that Ezekiel 27:13 describes Meshech and Tubal as trading partners with ancient Tyre, in what is today Lebanon. Hitchcock says “that it is highly doubtful that ancient Tyre was trading with people as far north as Moscow and Tobolsk”.

In fact it is even questionable whether or not these areas were even very well populated in Ezekiel’s day. Hitchcock concludes this section by stating that these ancient peoples dwelt in the area around, and primarily south of, the Black and Caspian Seas in Ezekiel’s day, and that these nations today are in the modern country of Turkey, and also possibly parts of Southern Russia and Northern Iran.

We need to keep a watchful eye on Turkey in these last days of Bible Prophecy, for they often fall under the radar of watchful eyes for some strange unknown reason. This former great country ruled Palestine and the Middle East area for centuries following the collapse of the Roman Empire, and they are making strenuous efforts today to revive their former Caliphate status for this critical region in world affairs. A former friend of Israel, they have now shown their true colours by returning strongly to their Islamic roots, and have sided with the many other Muslim countries in their sworn defiance of the newly formed Zionist state in Israel.

MAGOG: The identity of this people group has also led many people astray, mainly because “the easily led sheep-like” commentators of our western culture have followed the false premise laid down by Cyrus Schofield in 1909 in his now infamous “Schofield Reference Bible”, and also the similarly inaccurate teachings of Matthew Henry in his “Complete Commentary On The Whole Bible”.

Both of these great men of God have helped an enormous number of Christians along the pilgrim pathway, and also helped to bring sinners to saints at the foot of the Cross. We do not belittle their overall Christian efforts one iota. But sadly, like a lot of great men of God down through the ages, they have got their theology slightly wrong in places, and this is such a case.

Schofield and Henry base their perspective from the ancient writings of the Jewish Historian Flavius Josephus, who claimed that Magog founded the Magogians, who the Greeks called Sythians, and based in modern day Southern Russia.

Mark Hitchcock, however, claims that the Sythians were a great nomadic tribe who inhabited the ancient territory from central Asia all across the southern part of ancient Russia. He states that the descendants of Magog were the original inhabitants of the plateau of central Asia, therefore today the land of Magog is inhabited by the former Soviet Republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and possibly even northern parts of Afghanistan.

Walid Shoebat in his book “Islam And The Final Beast” agrees with this scenario, but adds that “the location of Magog is the land mass between ancient Armenia and Media, namely the Republics south of Russia and north of Israel, comprised of Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Turkestan, Chechnya, Turkey, Iran, and Dagestan”.

There is a third school of thought that Magog could include the country of Syria, but even if this was the case, we are still left with an Islamic nation. Thus, while the specific nations that comprise Magog may be partially in question, the same general area is agreed upon. We are dealing with Asia Minor, and possibly parts of central Asia, and some of the southern regions of the former Soviet Union. Please note that despite small differences of opinion, these countries and regions are all ISLAMIC, and not European!

Of the other countries mentioned in Ezekiel’s prophecy, Persia is obvious to everyone, the ancient country from Biblical times which only changed its name to Iran in 1935. There is no dispute over this identity amongst prophecy students.

Cush is also relatively easy to identify. Some scholars just claim that this is the modern country of Ethiopia, but to be more accurate it also encompasses the modern state of Sudan, and you will find it hard today to find a more sworn enemy of Israel and Christianity than this ultra radical Muslim Islamic state!

Put is the region west of Egypt, normally today called Libya, but again to be more accurate to the ancient terminology, most scholars would include what we would today call Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia (starting place of the Arab Spring Uprising of 2011)! Either way, we have another entirely Islamic region or nation.

Gomer, scholars seem to almost universally agree refers to the Celtic Cimmerians of Crim-Tartary of north central Asia Minor. Therefore Gomer is Gimarra, which is Cimmeria, which is Cappadocia. Cappadocia is simply central Turkey, and another Islamic region.

Togarmah is a descendant of Noah through Japheth, then Gomer (Gen.10:1-3). He is known to Assyrian records as Tilgarimmu in Asia Minor, which is a city state in Eastern Anatolia, more specifically the South Eastern part of Turkey, near the Syrian border.

You do not need to be an Einstein to work out from this, that all of these countries, states, or regions come from the north of Israel, that is the Turkish, Assyrian, Syrian, and the Muslim “istan” states of the former Soviet Union (as mentioned above), and every single one of them is ISLAMIC!!

Thus, in the final assessment, five of the eight nations mentioned by Ezekiel, occupy modern day Turkey, and possibly some parts of the Southern Russian regions near the Caucasus Mountains, as well as some of the Turkic nations of central Asia. Obviously the Lord directed Ezekiel to significantly highlight Turkey. The other three mentioned, Libya, Sudan and Iran, together with Turkey, form a perfect circle around Israel.

Turkey covers Israel’s entire northern horizon, while Iran (which has sworn to wipe Israel off the face of the earth) covers the eastern flank, with Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Israel finds herself surrounded on all four sides by ISLAMIC nations of the Antichrist’s Empire, and all desiring the downfall of the Jewish state! Therefore, in my opinion, the coming invasion of the Holy Land from the north with its confederacy of assisting nations will be Islamic, led by Turkey from the north, and not European led by Russia, from further north.

Neville Stephens.

Part Two To Follow Shortly.