When Christ returns does He fight European nations or Middle Eastern nations?
Excerpt taken from Walid Shoebat’s book God’s War on Terror, pp. 185-187.
Messiah in Person Defeats Muslims Led by the Mahdi
To this point, we have clearly seen Islam as anti-Christian but is it really the Antichrist religion? More shocking facts are yet to come. Previously, we have presented much circumstantial evidence. In part III we will examine hard-hittingDNA-conclusive arguments to support our theory.
When comparing Old Testament heroes with Messiah, it is common to focus on Joseph as the suffering Messiah and David as King Messiah. Joseph’s rejection by his brothers signifies Israel’s rejection of Christ. David is a type of King Messiah because Christ’s kingdom will be established in Jerusalem. But the one character in the Bible, that is virtually never focused upon when searching for types of Christ is Gideon – the warrior Messiah. Gideon is crucial if we want to understand what the Messiah will do during his war expeditions after He sets foot on the Mount of Olives to fight for the Battle of Jerusalem. While it is rarely discussed, Christ, like Gideon will fight against “Midian.” The Bible refers to Midian as Ishmaelites (Judges 8:22). They are the descendants of Abraham’s fourth son with his concubine Keturah.
Like Gideon, the Bible portrays Christ as fighting against the inhabitants of Arabia: “God came from Teman, The Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth. His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden” (Habakkuk 3:3-4). Jesus in person is returning from battle out of Teman in Arabia. How often is this discussed in churches? Jesus will physically return and will judge not only the inhabitants of Arabia, but also Cush, which includes the modern day Islamist nations of Sudan and Somalia: “I saw the tents of Cushan in distress, the dwellings of Midian in anguish” (Habakkuk 3:5-6).
Midian refers to the regions east of the Jordan River and southwards on into modern Saudi Arabia. This is the heart of Islamic territory. Portrayals of battles like this, with Christ fighting against Muslim nations, are actually found throughout the Old Testament. The enemies that come against Christ are described as this: “They come for violence; their faces are set like the east wind. They gather captives like sand. They scoff at kings, and princes are scorned by them” (Habakkuk 1:9-10). The enemies like the east wind are the locusts of Arabia the Kings of the East.
In case someone thinks that this is simply one minor war expedition by Messiah against Muslims and that the real showdown is with a European Antichrist, consider the context of Habakkuk. It is the final battle of Messiah against the Antichrist who is described as, “the most proud,” (Habakkuk 2:4) who breaks the peace treaty and proclaims war in the name of his god. “Then his mind changes and he transgresses; He commits offense, ascribing this power to his God” (Habakkuk 1:11). He breaks the treaty claiming this is not an offense; for such has been sanctioned by his false God promotes violence – exactly what Islam permits in it’s Hudna (see below for definition). The context of the Habakkuk’s vision is for the End-Times: “For the vision [is] yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry” (Habakkuk 2:3). Antichrist always changes his mind and cannot be trusted. He also uses wine (oil) to pressure the nations (Habakkuk 2:5).
Though Antichrist is strong, his weapons will not help him, because God will allow his missiles to be used against him for his own destruction: “You thrust through with his own arrows the head of his villages. They come out like a whirlwind to scatter me; their rejoicing was like feasting on the poor in secret” (Habakkuk 3:14). Like Daniel, Habakkuk is asked to write this vision for an appointed time (Habakkuk 2:3), which is in the End-Times, at the coming of the Messiah.
But in case you’re still not convinced that Christ wars with Muslims, or that this passage is only a minor passage out of so many others, the Book of Numbers, in one of the earliest, clearest and most direct Messianic prophecies in the Bible, also speaks about the coming of the Messiah to specifically destroy and conquer the same peoples. This prophecy was made Balam and was given to Balak, the King of the Midianites: “A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the sons of Sheth. Edom will be conquered; Seir, his enemy, will be conquered, but Israel will grow strong. A ruler will come out of Jacob and destroy the survivors of the city” (Numbers 24:17-19). The Messiah is portrayed as to descending from Jacob and possessing the “scepter ” – a clear reference to his future rule over Israel. But what is it he will accomplish when he rules over Israel? He will utterly destroy his enemies which consequently are also the enemies of Israel. These three names Moab, Edom, and Seir are all referring to the same general people in the same general region. The peoples lived to the east and southeast of Israel. Is Europe located immediately to the southeast of Israel? Or is this the location of Arabia?
Ezekiel 35 speaks of the judgment of Mount Seir. (v. 1) and connects it with Edom: “As you rejoiced because the inheritance of the house of Israel was desolate, so I will do to you; you shall be desolate, O Mount Seir, As well as all of Edom – all of it! Then they shall know that I am the Lord” (v. 15). Greater Edom encompasses the land from Teman to Dedan which is today is from Yemen to Saudi Arabia.
When Jesus returns to take hold of his scepter and destroy “his enemies,” who are they? They are the Arab peoples to the east of Israel. In Isaiah, the theme is repeated, “[The Lord] will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. Jehovah has spoken” (Isaiah 25:8).
Has this happened yet or is this referring to the period after Christ has returned? Unless death has already been swallowed up and I have missed it, this is clearly about the return of Christ. “The hand of Jehovah will rest on his mountain (Zion); but Moab will be trampled under him as straw is trampled down in the manure” (Isaiah 25:10). God doesn’t seem too worried about using polite or politically correct language here. Once again, the Messiah comes back to trample Moab.
For those who hold to the European Antichrist paradigm, why does God specifically mention Moab and not any nations from Europe? Atface-value, which interpretation is more reasonable? Either this passage is pointing to the final End-Time defeat of the modern day physical and spiritual descendants of Moab or it is allegorically pointing us to Europe. Let’s get real here. The Bible simply does not teach a European Antichrist paradigm.
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The question in the title, in so many words, is what prompted me to start researching for myself whether these things are true. It was posed to me like this:
Can you name any nation that Christ does battle with upon His return that is not currently located in the Middle East?
And, after years of study, I can’t because there isn’t any.
I consider this book essential Christian reading. Take advantage of the current special and order God’s War on Terror: Islam, Prophecy and the Bible + The Case for Islamophobia: Jihad by the Sword; America’s Final Warning
Or just order God’s War on Terror: Islam, Prophecy and the Bible.
Jon
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Hudna – In the Muslim mind, Hudna is an Arabic term for a truce meant to produce a period of calm with an enemy in order to gain concessions, regroup, rearm, and re-attack at the appropriate time. This has been its purpose throughout Muslim history. Based on Islam’s understanding of Mohammed’s use of it, a Hudna could last as long as ten years.
~ God’s War on Terror, Walid Shoebat, p. 117.
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