Establishment Of Mahdi Antichrist’s Great Caliphate
After the Antichrist conquers Egypt the initial ten Islamic countries that supported him will be quickly joined by a multiplicity of Islamic nations. His great Caliphate will include Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, all the countries that make up the Saudi Arabian Peninsula, Israel north of Beersheba, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, many of the southern states of the former Soviet Union with large Arab populations, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Having gone to military schools, lived among, worked with, and trained those of the Islamic faith as a much younger man, plus being familiar with prophecy since my youth, I have not only been waiting for many years for the true Messiah, Jesus Christ, but I have also been waiting for the arrival of the 12th Imam on the scene prior to the arrival of Jesus. I have long believed the 12th Imam Mahdi will be the 11th horn of Daniel 7, and the first beast of John’s Revelation 13. His coming is the great hope of all Islam. The Iranian President is a fanatical believer of his coming, and believes Mahdi will cause universal acceptance of Allah. For more than three years, with the Suez Canal under his control, he will gain worldwide recognition and acclaim in his capital city of Cairo. Israel will be trapped in the Negev for more than three years and stability will have come to the troubled Middle East. He will supposedly have done what all nations say they are seeking, that is, brought stability to the Middle East. But, during last year of his rule as Caliph, something will cause him to quickly head for Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 38:13 – Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? Hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? To carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
Verse 13 mentions three other descendants which were not mentioned previously as being among the horde that attacked Israel, namely, Sheba, Dedan, and Tarshish. Sheba and Dedan settled in the land we know as Saudi Arabia, later colonizing across the Red Sea in the horn we know today as Ethiopia. Tarshish is much harder to nail down to a specific location. The descendants of Tarshish were sea merchants who became the peoples of the Mediterranean Sea coast. The headquarters of the descendants of Tarshish is now generally accepted by most biblical authorities as a district in the south of Spain where the city of Tartessus once existed. The merchants of Tarshish scattered their descendants in village settlements along most of Europe’s coastal sections. I am persuaded that Europe represents the descendant offspring of Tarshish. It is quite possible that God may look upon the rest of Western Civilization as being the offspring (descendants) of Europe (“the young lions thereof”). The countries of the New World became the “melting pot” of Europe. It is very interesting what Saudi Arabia, Europe, and the rest of Western Civilization have to say to Gog about his attack on Israel: “Art thou come to take a spoil? Hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? To carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?” This is no more or less than the perfect description of a diplomatic protest to Gog’s actions. When the anti-Christ and his armies roar south into Israel in a blitzkrieg lightning strike, the rest of the free world will protest, protest, protest – and do nothing about it. The antichrist will take Jerusalem within five days of his initial strike in the north, and within three weeks most of Israel will have fled into the Negev south of Beersheba, where she will remain for some three and one-half years. Jerusalem will fall and only one-third of Israel’s population will make it safely into the Negev.
Zechariah 13:8 to 14:2 – And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. [9] And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. [2] For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Ezekiel 38:14 – Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord God; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it? The question of verse 14 is directed personally by God to Gog. It is a question to which both know the answer, as attested by “shalt thou not know it?” Gog will be well aware of it, because he will have made the agreement allowing Israel to dwell in safety. And this will be one of the reasons the anti-Christ’s blitzkrieg attack will be so successful. It will catch them by surprise.
Ezekiel 38:15 – And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army.
Two Revelation Beasts Are Islamic: The date of John’s writing of Revelation has been placed by most at some point in time between 79 and 100 A.D., so it would be safe to say the Islamic Prophet Muhammad wrote the Koran more than 500 years after Revelation was completed. By 750 A.D. the Islamic Umayyad Caliphate or Empire had expanded out of Mecca and Medina to extend into, or to engulf, the territories now occupied by France, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Yemen, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Afghanistan, and India. Eventually the last Caliphate, the old Ottoman Empire, engulfed most of southeastern Europe, but then died as “the old sick man of Europe.” I believe we are watching the revival of Islam in the Jihad movement. I believe the seventh and eighth empires of the Antichrist are the same in that both are Islamic. I believe the seventh is now reviving from the grave of an old Islamic Caliphate, which will become the eighth when its ruler is directly empowered by the Devil himself. The Antichrist’s Caliphate will cover more area than did each individual Empire of the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Grecians, and Romans. It’s now arising as the seventh empire, and will reach its maximum size as the eighth, and last, empire before the Second Advent.
This information from Pastor Tom McElmurry.
His website: www.TribulationPeriod.com