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Thursday, May 21, 2015
Prophecy unfolding: The Caliphate
There is much controversy within those who debate Christian eschatology. For generations, the consensus was that a revived Roman Empire would rise up under the Beast/antichrist and come against Israel. Now a growing number point toward another possibility–an Islamic Caliphate. The Ottoman Empire was the last to rule over most of the Middle East–far more of it than did the Roman Empire. After 624 years, it was abolished in a day, March 3, 1924 (seemingly a death blow). Certainly, the nations that comprised the Ottoman Empire include the nations that are mentioned in various prophecies about the end times. The Islamic State could be an end time foreshadowing of ancient prophecies.
End time prophecy is full of foreshadowing, partial fulfillments and precursors. Throughout history, there has been rise and fall of those who were types of the end time apocalyptic figure–what Christians call the “antichrist,” what Holy Scripture calls the “beast” or, more specifically, the “Assyrian.” This antichrist figure is alluded to as the Assyrian in Isaiah 10:5,10:24,14:25, 19:23, 30:31, 31:8, Micah 5:5-6, and Hosea 11:5. Ezekiel refers to him as Gog, chief Prince of Magog. The Lord speaks of the Assyrian or Gog in Ezekiel 38:17, “Art you he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring ye against them?”
There are an increasing number of news stories pointing to how the Islamic State is growing into a legitimate caliphate. AP reports: “Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, the group’s leader, has appealed to Muslims throughout the world to move to lands under its control – to fight, but also to work as administrators, doctors, judges, engineers and scholars, and to marry, put down roots and start families. “Every person can contribute something to the Islamic State,” a Canadian enlistee in Islamic State, Andre Poulin, says in a videotaped statement used for online recruitment.” AP reporters on five continents found people born into the Islamic faith as well as converts, adventurers, and educated professionals joining IS.
al Baghdadi claims to be a descendent of Mohammad and holds a PhD in Islamic Studies. Significantly, he was born in Samarra, Iraq, home of the al Askari Mosque, housing the 10th and 11th Imams and where the 12th Imam, the Mahdi, went into occultation, according to Islamic eschatology. Ancient Samarra was refounded by the Assyrian King Sennacherib, who is described in Isaiah 10 as a type of the antichrist and whose army was destroyed by the Angel of the Lord when it came against Judah and Jerusalem (2 Kings 19, 2 Chronicles 32). It is interesting that al Baghdadi was born in what was once a part of the Assyrian Empire and he is the declared Caliph who is taking spoil and threatening Israel. Watch and discern as the events unfold and the prophecies of the Bible come into clearer focus.
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
For God’s Glory Alone Ministries thanks Bill Wilson and www.dailyjot.com