Chris Mulder (8 Oct 2004)
"The Antichrist - Islam Possibility"

There has been good thought provoking discussion on the subject of where the antichrist may arise from lately.  In my letters of Sept 28 & 30 I've suggested that he may arise from within Islam in the area of the northern Middle East.  I'd like to expand on the reasons I believe this may be so.  Now this is not a definitive belief on my part, as there are other good possibilities that have been presented as well.  However, I do think there is enough scriptural evidence to support Islam and the Middle East as the most probable possibility when considering the progression of history and current events.  As new events unfold in our future, we will be able to get a better grasp on how God's prophetic word is being fulfilled.

We know from the book of Daniel that there is a progression of Empires which exert control over the land of Israel.  They are presented as an image of a great statue and several beasts, and Daniel also includes many descriptive details.  When compared to history we can easily see what the image and beasts represented.  Following is the most widely accepted interpretation of which empires they represented:

When we add the details provided in Revelation 13 & 17, we see that the antichrist is associated with the 4 empires above through the beastly traits of the Lion, Bear, Leopard and 10 Horns.  This helps us identify the land mass that the antichrist will arise from/through.  By looking at the overlap of the empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome, we find that today it is generally the territory of the following countries: Iraq, Iran, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, the south eastern portion of Turkey, and the northern portion of Saudi Arabia.  All of them being Islamic territories.  One could conclude that there is a possibility that the antichrist rises from Islam at this point alone, but there is much more to the picture.

Going back to Daniel we see that there are other details given for the antichrist.  Dan 8:9 "And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land." [NKJV]  The little horn also represents the antichrist.  Considering the territory we just identified, perhaps with the exception of parts of Turkey, Syria and Lebanon, his actions in this verse are consistent with the antichrist being located in the general direction north east to east of Israel, where the balance of these countries are located.

Lets look at another passage: Dan 11:37 "He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all. 38 But in their place he shall honor a god of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things. 39 Thus he shall act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god, which he shall acknowledge, and advance its glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the land for gain". [NKJV]  Here we see that the antichrist has no regard for the God of his fathers.  If he is of Islam, this makes perfect sense because Muslims from this region believe they are descendants of Abraham through Ishmael.  So the God of their fathers is the one true God.  But they no longer follow the one true God, they follow Allah.  Islam persecutes and is very prejudiced against women and all other religions, especially Christianity and Judaism [nor the desire of women, nor regard any god].  Also, Islam does honor a "god" of fortresses [also translated strength or forces].  The lands controlled by Islam are known as "Dar al-Islam" which literally means "House of Submission", while lands not controlled by Islam are known as "Dar al-Harb" meaning "house of war", the home of the infidels.  Sure sounds like they believe in a god of fortresses, strength or forces to me.  Moreover, their fathers were aware of the gods which the people around them worshipped I'm sure, just as we do today.  But Daniel says the antichrist will honor a god which his fathers did not know.  Why did they not know?  Because Allah had no followers in the days of Abraham and Ishmael.  Islam rose much later in human history.

The above passage in Daniel 11 is also consistent with other passages describing how the antichrist will exalt or magnify himself above every god [Dan 11:36; 2 Thess 2:4; Rev 13:6].  With verse 38 adding the detail that in their place he honors a god of fortresses and then acts with this foreign god, and advances this foreign god's glory [I.E. Allah aka Satan's glory].  You see, if the antichrist does arise from Islam, he will likely be the Messiah of Islam in a sense.  He would claim to be "God" in the flesh, just as Yeshua really was [I.E. he will be Anti - Christ because Allah is NOT the one true God].  Allah would be proclaimed to be the one true God, incarnate in the person of the antichrist, exalting himself above all gods; which of necessity would make all others false gods in his followers eyes, hence the severe persecution of Christians and Jews who would deny his claims to be God.  This would also explain the blasphemy against the one true God.

Then we have his method of enforcement/punishment; beheading.  Beheading is the most fundamental form of execution for Islam, especially Arab Islamic states.  Many of these states actually have laws whereby the punishment for certain offenses is death by beheading!  What have we been seeing in Iraq lately?  It is a very logical conclusion that if the antichrist rises from Islam his primary execution method will be beheading [Rev 20:4].

Many people also believe that the passages referring to the Assyrian in Isaiah and Micah have a dual fulfillment/meaning, whereby the Assyrian is a type or foreshadowing of the antichrist [Is 10:24-34; Is 14:24-32; Mic 5:1-6].  Assyria was also located in the same area that was occupied by Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome, in the very same northern Middle East area we are discussing.

As you can see, many of the passages of scripture which describe the antichrist seem to be very consistent with an interpretation that he will arise from Islam in the northern Middle East.  In today's world, no other nation, region, people or religion fit all these descriptions as well as Islam in the northern Middle East does.  Consider how Islam is the one entity hell bent on the destruction of Israel, and is the cause of the whole world's involvement in Israel just as the Bible prophesied [Zech 12:3].  Then consider world events and the possible scenarios in my recent letters.  Following is a related excerpt:

"There is currently a power vacuum in Iraq because of our overthrow of Saddam.  Syria harbors terrorists and Iran is seeking nuclear weapons.  If the interpretation that the antichrist rises from this general area is correct, then he will have to take control of it somehow.  We know from Daniel 11:21-24 that one of the characteristics of the antichrist is that he enters peaceably.  He obtains the kingdom by flattery, including the fattest places of the province.  The Hebrew word translated to "fattest places" is "Mashman" [strongs 08080]; it means: fatness, fat piece, fertile place, richly prepared food a) fat, fatness, fat pieces b) OIL, olive OIL."

Again, these additional details about the antichrist in Daniel are consistent with both an interpretation that the antichrist will arise from Islam in the northern Middle East, and current events in the world.  Of course it is possible that Islam will fall from power due to the "War on Terror", our efforts to democratize the Middle East, or some yet to occur event.  But until world events start moving in another direction, I believe the greater probability is as I have presented in this letter; based upon scripture.

YBIC, Chris aka Prophbuff