THE IDENTITY OF THE ANTICHRIST
I think as believers interested in the end
time prophecies, we have missed a major clue in the identity of the antichrist.
This may be a little long, but bear with me ….it is worth it.
The scripture identifies the antichrist
several times as “the Assyrian”. I do not think that we have understood
the profoundness of this identification. I do not believe that it merely
denotes the ancient land from where he will arise from, but actually the
people he comes from.
There exists today, a group of people called
“the Assyrians”. Here are some fascinating facts about them:
·
They descend from the ancient
Assyrian civilization;
·
Like the Jews, they have kept
their identity intact for 2600 years;
·
There are currently a little
over 3 million worldwide;
·
They are made up of five sects
of orthodox Christians;
·
The majority live in the middle
east (1.9 million living in Iraq);
·
They are currently petitioning
the international community for their own state since:
1.
During WWII they fought, at
great costs, with the British to free the lands in the middle east of the
Ottoman empire and were promised then a land of their own;
2.
They have documentation stating
that the West would do this;
3.
They are pro-democracy, pro-West,
and state that the Muslims have their own land in the Middle East, the Jews have their own land, and that the Christians also need their
own land in the Middle East.
4.
They are appearing before
U.S. congress now to have part of northern Iraq split up to become their new state …. The Assyrian state.
For more information on this group, here
are a few websites that tell of their history and their call for their own
land in the Middle East
…. There is some amazing information on these sites:
www.assyriannation.com
www.nineveh.com
www.aina.org/aol
www.assyriatimes.com
Now, armed with this information, let’s
look at scripture.
The Jews will rely on the antichrist.
Can you see the nation of Israel relying on any Muslim state for support or
protection? Not likely. However, if the Assyrians are given their own
state in the Middle East,
they initially would be the Jews ally. They would be democratic, like the
Jews, and they would be Christians who worship the same Father as the Jews.
In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of the house of Jacob, will no
longer rely on him who struck them down but will truly rely on the LORD,
the Holy One of Israel. A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return
to the Mighty God. Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand by the
sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overwhelming
and righteous. The Lord, the LORD Almighty, will carry out the destruction
decreed upon the whole land. Therefore, this is what the Lord, the LORD
Almighty, says: "O my people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians,
who beat you with a rod and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did. Very soon my anger against you will end and my
wrath will be directed to their destruction." (Isaiah 10:20-25)
I
will crush the Assyrian in my land; on my mountains I will
trample him down. His yoke will be taken from my people, and his burden
removed from their shoulders." This is the plan determined for the
whole world; this is the hand stretched out over all nations. For the LORD
Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out,
and who can turn it back?
(Isaiah 14:25-27)
Woe
to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club
of my wrath! I send him against a godless nation, I dispatch him
against a people who anger me, to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to
trample them down like mud in the streets… 12 When the Lord has finished
all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, "I
will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart
and the haughty look in his eyes. …16 Therefore, the Lord, the
LORD Almighty, will send a wasting disease upon his sturdy warriors; under
his pomp a fire will be kindled like a blazing flame. The Light of Israel
will become a fire, their Holy One a flame; in a single day it will burn
and consume his thorns and his briers (Isaiah 10:5-6,12-13, 16-17).(The "King" of Assyria ... hmmm ...sounds like the leader of this
people to me.)
"Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the
horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body
destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. …"He gave me this explanation:
'The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will
be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth,
trampling it down and crushing it. The ten horns are ten kings who will
come from this kingdom. (Islamic states arising in the Middle East perhaps) After them another king will arise,
different from the earlier ones (yeah, he is different, he is not Islamic!
He is Assyrian - and Assyrians are not Muslims); he will subdue three kings (now
this is interesting, because if you read the websites, there are several
groups trying to get pieces of Iraq ... I wonder if he takes over who ever
ends up in power there -- there are over 1.5 million Assyrians in Iraq
today) .
He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change
the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a
time, times and half a time
(Daniel 7:11, 23-25).
Daniel 11: 22And
with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall
be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant (with
Israel). 23And
after the league made with him (So Israel and these people are in league together … sounds
like they have to have some things in common to be in league …democracy,
don’t worship allah, etc.) he shall work deceitfully: for he shall
come up, and shall become strong with a small
people. (Okay,
I couldn’t resist the temptation to compare this small group of people trying
to get their own state in the middle east … they are called the Assyrians
and the antichrist will be known in the world as “The Assyrian”, he starts
off in league with the nation of Israel, confirming the Holy covenant (that
God actually gave the Jews the land), but will subsequently work deceitfully
because he is power hungry.
Daniel 11:36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he
shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak
marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation
be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. 37Neither
shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard
any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. 38But in his
estate shall he honor the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew
not shall he honor with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and
pleasant things. (This guy doesn’t sound like a
Muslim to me. He doesn’t worship allah, or Jesus, or any other god …but
the god of forces. He exalts himself. At one point, I thought that it
could be the mahdi, but if the mahdi didn’t worship allah, I highly doubt
that the Muslims would follow him. No, this guy comes from a small group
of people and he will NOT worship any god, but himself)
A couple more things:
The “clash of civilizations”
that appears to be on the horizon against the west and the Muslims might
indeed be another world war – a great birth pang. However, this war would
open up the power vacuum for the real man of the hour to step on the world
stage. A great defeat of radical Islam in a third WW (possibly the Ezekiel
38 war?), would give Israel rest, and a new period (albeit small period)
of peace. Having a new ally that is not Muslim in the middle east may give
the Jews the false sense of security that scripture talks about.
When the antichrist invades
Israel, the world asks him if he did it to take goods and a spoil … it sounds
like a war over Israel’s resources and goods and not a religious hatred.
Initially, this man will give
great relief to the world to come to power in the middle east and be seen
as a moderate, especially after the world has had to deal with radical Islam.
This is the setup.
Also, one more point. The area
the Assyrians are trying to get their land is the same area of ancient Babylon.
Mystery Babylon perhaps? This area they claim as their homeland is the
only overlapping area that would encompass all of the great empires of Nebakanezer’s
dream. See the map on www.aina.org/aol for their homeland. Then
see the maps on www.science.co.il/Maps-Near-East-Empires.asp
Notice anything? The area they are claiming is on every single map of the
old empires.
I believe that the antichrist
will come from the middle east, but he will not be Islamic. He will be
Assyrian! The small people he arises from are the Assyrians. They will
come to power right were they are today – in the ancient land of Babylon.
With the U.S. overthrowing Iraq, I believe that significant event has cleared
the way for the prophecies to be fulfilled.
A final point to make … and
that is the Assyrians themselves are not the antichrist. We know that the
Assyrians are going to have an amazing destiny in store for them when the
Lord returns in the millennium reign. "In that day shall there
be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt,
and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptian shall serve with the Assyrians.
In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even
a blessing in the midst of the land:" (Isaiah 19:23-24)