Friday 6 January 2017

The Book of Enoch is the little scroll of Revelation 10:10

Rev. 10:10 And I took the little book (the book of Enoch) out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten (digested) it, my belly was bitter.
10:11 And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy AGAIN before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings [This CLEARLY SAYS that the 'little book' the book of Enoch is for the end times for the last generation and will be MADE AVAILABLE DURING THE TIME OF THE END].

The little scroll is The Book of Enoch?!! This is why it has been fiercely hidden and kept out of the canon! And all the while, perhaps it is God's plan? I am only speculating. To this day scholars still carefully avodi  it, emphasizing "it is not canon" yet they still refer to it! To me it seems all the more reason to read The Book of Enoch.

 The book written by Enoch-[Enoch indeed wrote this complete doctrine of wisdom, (which is) praised of all men and a judge of all the earth] for all my children who shall dwell on the earth. And for the future generations who shall observe uprightness and peace.

there are many parallels with Enoch and the book of Revelation as well as other apocalypses. God inspired it and intentionally placed images and phrases from other prophets in order that we should go and examine those prophets to see the bigger picture; to unlock various prophecies. Revelation is a like a reference book explaining the bigger picture which was unclear or hidden before Jesus' revelation. it is basically for the elect in the end times

The Book of Revelation has the same message with the book of Enoch.

The end event is singular and established by Yahweh. So john and Enoch saw the end event.

So the book of Enoch corroborates perfectly with the book of revelation, along with the other prophets in the canon. but one has to dig this out for themselves and see it for themselves. if they are read together making comparisons, it can clearly be seen that Enoch is inspired.

all the prophets give us the same picture of the end times and the judgment seat. the Father authenticates and confirms His Word.



Enoch 1:9 “ And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones To execute judgement upon all, And to destroy all the ungodly: And to convict all flesh Of all the works of their ungodliness which they have ungodly committed, And of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.
.”

Revelation 19:14 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp[g] sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND
LORD OF LORDS.

ENOCH 9:3 ... Then they said to their Lord, the King, Thou art Lord of lords, God of gods,
King of kings. The throne of thy glory is for ever and ever, and for ever and ever is thy name
sanctified and glorified. Thou art blessed and glorified.


ENOCH 47:1 In that day the prayer of the holy and the righteous, and the blood of the
righteous, shall ascend from the earth into the presence of the Lord of spirits.


REV. 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost
thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

Rev 19:15 Now Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty..


ENOCH 61:4 The word of his mouth shall destroy all the sinners and all the ungodly, who shall
perish at his presence.
5 In that day shall all the kings, the princes, the exalted, and those who possess the earth, stand
up, behold, and perceive, that he is sitting on the throne of his glory; that before him the saints
shall be judged in righteousness;
6 And that nothing, which shall be spoken before him, shall be spoken in vain.
7 Trouble shall come upon them, as upon a woman in travail, whose labour is severe, when her
child comes to the mouth of the womb, and she finds it difficult to bring forth. 

compare revelation 12

8 One portion of them shall look upon another. They shall be astonished, and shall humble their
countenance;
9 And trouble shall seize them, when they shall behold this Son of woman sitting upon the throne
of his glory.


REV. 6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief
captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the
dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth
on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?


We will all partake of that cup (THE GREAT TRIBULATION) - Unless you READ the "little book" AND DO WHAT IT TOLD YOU TO DO...




The Eighth Day 2 Enoch

God shows Enoch the age of this world, its existence of seven thousand years, and the eighth thousand is the end, neither years, nor months, nor weeks, nor days
1And I appointed the eighth day also, that the eighth day should be the first-created after my work, that it should revolve in the revolution of the seventh thousand, so that the eighth thousand might be in the beginning of a time not reckoned and unending with neither years nor months nor weeks nor days nor hours like the first day of the week, so also that the eighth day of the week might return continually.




These Sabbaths will be no longer celebrated on the seventh day. They will be changed from the seventh to the eighth or first day of the week, which are the same. The "dispensation of the fullness of times" (Eph 1:10), popularly styled the Millennium, will be the antitype, or substance, of the Mosaic feast of tabernacles which was "a shadow of things to come." In this type, or pattern, Israel were to rejoice before Yahweh for seven days, beginning "on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when they had gathered the fruit of the land." In relation to the first day of the seven, the law says, "it shall be a sacred assembly: ye shall do no servile work therein." This was what we call Sunday. The regulation then continues, "on the eighth day," also Sunday, "shall be a sacred assembly unto you, and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto Yahweh: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein." Again, "on the first day shall be a Sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a Sabbath" (Lev 23:34-43).

Thus the Lord's day, the day of His resurrection from His seventh day imprisonment in the tomb, becomes the sabbath day of the future age which shall be hallowed by the priests of Israel, and be observed by all nations as a day of sacred assembly in which they shall rejoice, and do no manner of servile work at all.

This change of the sabbath from the seventh to the eighth, or first day of the week, is the full development and establishment of the observance of the Lord's day by the disciples of Jesus since the times of the apostles.

The Lord's day is the first day of the week, or day after the seventh, and therefore styled the eighth day. It is termed His day, because it is the week-day of His resurrection. Upon this day the disciples of Christ assembled to show forth His death, and to celebrate His resurrection;

The Sabbath and the 7000 Years Letter of Barnabas Chapter 15

Barnabas is chapter 15, concerning the sabbath, which says...

1 Furthermore it was written concerning the Sabbath in the ten words which he spake on Mount Sinai face to face to Moses. "Sanctify also the Sabbath of the Lord with pure hands and a pure heart."
2 And in another place he says, "If my sons keep the Sabbath, then will I bestow my mercy upon them."
3 He speaks of the Sabbath at the beginning of the Creation, "And God made in 6x days the works of his hands and on the 7th day he made an end, and rested in it and sanctified it."
4 Notice, children, what is the meaning of "He made an end in 6 days"? He means this: that the Lord will make an end of everything in 6,000 years, for a day with him means a thousand years. And he himself is my witness when he says, "Lo, the day of the Lord shall be as a thousand years." So then, children, in 6 days, that is in 6 thousand years, everything will be completed.
5 "And he rested on the 7th day." This means, when his Son comes [at the start of that day of the week] he will destroy the time of the wicked one, and will judge the godless, and will change the sun and the moon and the stars, and then he will truly rest on the 7th day [Amen].
6 Furthermore he says, "Thou shalt sanctify it with clean hands and a pure heart." If, then, anyone has at present the power to keep holy the day which God made holy, by being pure in heart, we are altogether deceived.
7 See that we shall indeed keep it holy at that time, when we enjoy true rest, when we shall be able to do so because we have been made righteous ourselves and have received the promise, when there is no more sin, but all things have been made new by the Lord  then we shall be able to keep it holy because we ourselves have first been made holy.
8 Furthermore he says to them, "Your new moons and the sabbaths I cannot endure." Do you see what he means? The present sabbaths are not acceptable to me, but that which I have made, in which I will give rest to all things and make the beginning of an eighth day, that is the beginning of another world. [the age to come
9 Wherefore we also celebrate with gladness the eighth day in which Jesus also rose from the dead, and was made manifest, and ascended into Heaven (Chapter 15)

93.3 And Enoch then began to speak from a book, and said: "I was born the seventh, in the first week, [It doesn’t give reference as to when this week actually starts, however it appears that each week is a 700 year period for all ten of them to fit into a 7,000 year period. Interestingly this is like saying a week (7,000 years) ten times of weeks (700 years)! And since it says he was “born the seventh” (and there is a second witness to this in 1:14) I am making the start date of the first week on 3993 BC at the “founding of the world” when Adam sinned as it seems to fit perfectly throughout the whole “ten part” time period (one could use 3992 when Cain was born but in this scope of time it would make little difference]

91.14) And all mankind shall look to the path of uprightness. And after that, in the ninth week, [1609AD – 2309AD] the righteous judgement shall be revealed to the whole world, [this is the time period we are now in, when the kingdom of God will be set up in the earth and righteous judgement shall be revealed to the whole world. The real “terrifiers” (Is 13) will be taken out of the way] And all the works of the godless shall vanish from all the earth, [not all of the people shall be destroyed but the work shall disappear];  And the world [the order of things or the system of things] shall be written down for destruction. [those who got the mark of the beast and worshipped it while blaspheming God and His truth are bound for Gehenna to be destroyed]; and all men [both good and evil] shall be on the watch for the path of integrity [all men, will look for the Christ and His brothers for understanding and guidance].

91.15 And after this, matter on the tenth week [2309 - 3009AD], in the seventh part, [not “seventh day” - this seventh part being the last 100 years 2909AD-3009AD] there shall be an everlasting judgment [on the last day of the tenth week those who have died during the 1000 years will be brought out  of the grave to be judged], which shall be executed by the Watchers of the eternal heaven  [upon the archons or world rulers of this age]; the great judgment which shall come from all of the angels [the angels are the saints and the end of all that is evil will come as death itself is swallowed up forever - Amen!]


So here we have the basis of the 6,000 years of the Kingdom of Men from the founding of the world 3993 BC to the end of the world on 2309AD. The end of the Kingdom of Men in any event.

Saturday 10 January 2015

Revelation 9: The Fifth and Sixth Trumpets

Appendix: Revelation: A Futurist, Islamic Approach





Revelation 9: The Fifth and Sixth Trumpets


9:1 The key- The key to death and the grave is in Christ's hand (Rev. 1:18). This person is therefore an anti-Christ. We note how the locusts who are released from it are specifically obedient to their king-leader (9:4,11).
The bottomless pit- The idea of course is that if you're thrown into a bottomless pit which is locked, there's no way you can ever get out of it. But locusts, representing the desolators of the land, do arise out of it. The figure is similar to that of receiving a deadly wound, a wound that makes one die, and then resurrecting. This is what is said of the beast and its horn (13:3,12). The locusts are connected to that entity. We should be looking, therefore, for the entity which will finally dominate Israel to receive a wound which apparently makes it dead. This could be from Western and / or Israeli intervention against them. There would then be a brief period of worldwide relief- the "peace and safety" period of 1 Thess. 5. But the entity then revives. This scenario is possible as we see from the Western conflict against the Islamic State.
So many of Revelation’s allusions to the Old Testament are to material specifically concerning Jerusalem. One could almost argue that the prophecy could have a specific application to the latter day city of Jerusalem. The language of the bottomless pit likewise has specific reference to Jerusalem: “In the floor of the small cave (measuring about 14 feet square with a six foot ceiling) under the great foundation stone in the Dome of the Rock is round marble slab closing a well shaft known as "the well of the souls" (Bir al Arwah)… A Muslim tradition holds this is the entrance into the bottomless pit, the abyss. The souls of the dead awaiting judgment are said to be audible beneath. The Talmud claims that this is the abyss above the primeval waters of creation and of the Flood” Lambert Dolphin, Early History of the Temple Mount.
The language used here is specifically relevant to latter day Islam. Mawdudi writes of how Muhammed and his message came out of “Arabia- the Abyss of Darkness” (Abul A’la Mawdudi, Towards Understanding Islam, 8th ed. (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: National Offset Printing Press, 1986), p.63).

9:2 A smoke out of the pit- This is the same figure used in 14:11 for the destruction of the beast worshippers. But here it speaks of what they did to deserve that destruction- their actions against Israel and the land promised to Abraham is the grounds for their condemnation.
Smoke- The Hadith mentions smoke as one of the ten signs that the last day is coming: "Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) came to us all of a sudden as we were (busy in a discussion). He said: What do you discuss about? They (the Companions) said. We are discussing about the Last Hour. Thereupon he said: It will not come until you see ten signs before and (in this connection) he made a mention of the smoke, Dajjal [Antichrist], the beast, the rising of the sun from the west, the descent of Jesus son of Mary (Allah be pleased with him), the Gog and Magog, and landslidings in three places, one in the east, one in the west and one in Arabia at the end of which fire would burn forth from the Yemen, and would drive people to the place of their assembly" (Book 41.6931). Again, we see the crisis in the land in the last days foretold in terms which Moslems will relate to. Sura 44 of the Koran is entitled Al-Dukhan, ‘The Smoke’. It speaks of how painful smoke will be the punishment of God’s enemies in the last days: “But watch thou [O Muhammad] for the day when the sky will produce visible smoke that will envelop the people. This will be a painful torment. [Then they will say]: Our Lord relieve us of the torment” (Sura 44.10-12). It could be that jihadists bring smoke upon others in an attempt to judge them according to Islam. And they will be judged likewise, drinking the cup they made others to drink. This means that they will be judged as apostates within their own frames of reference.
Furnace- See on 8:7. The language of Sodom (Gen. 19:28) and Egypt. Both these places are used to describe Jerusalem under domination of her enemies as the place of particular suffering for God's people (11:8).
9:3 Locusts- The locusts of the fifth trumpet act in a very un-locust-like way. Unlike real locusts, they have a king. And, astonishing to relate, they are forbidden to touch grass or any vegetation! Once again the instruction seems to be: "Hurt not the earth, nor the trees"- only on this occasion it is given to locusts. Akrab being the Hebrew for scorpion, we may be justified in seeing here an allusion to the word 'Arab', the likely ethnicity of many of the boots on the ground of the last days. :3 The connection between these specific locusts and their place of origin is in line with how the Bible uses plant and animal imagery. "The prophets, when they used symbolical language to denote any events, commonly, at least, employed those which had a local or geographical reference; thus, in the symbols derived from the vegetable kingdom, when Judah is to be symbolized, the olive, the vine, and the fig-tree are selected; when Egypt is referred to, the reed is chosen; when Babylon, the willow. And so, in the animal kingdom, the lion is the symbol of Judah; the wild ass, of the Arabs; the crocodile, of Egypt, etc." (Elliott, Horae Apoc. i. 394-406).  Being consumed by locusts was one of the punishments upon Israel for their disobedience (Dt. 28:38,42; Ps. 78:46; Joel 1:2). Again, we are to understand this language as specifically applying to Israel.
The parallels between Joel and Revelation 8 and 9 are certainly impressive.



Joel
Revelation

1
Locusts.
1: 4
9:3.

2
Symbolic of a nation.
1:6.
9: 4, 7.

3
Teeth like lions.
1:6.
9:8.

4
Trees and pasture withered and burnt up.
1: 12, 18‑20.
8:7.

5
Destruction from the Almighty.
1: 15.
9: 11.

6
Fire.
1: 19; 2:3, 5.
8:7; 9:17.

7
Rivers of waters dried up.
1:20.
8: 10; 9:14

8
Blowing of trumpets.
2:1, 11, 15.
8:6.

9
Darkness.
2:2.
9:2.

10.
Horses.
2:4.
9:7, 9.

11.
Chariots.
2:5.
9:9.

12.
Torment.
2:6.
9:6.

13.
Earthquake.
2:10.
8: 5.

14.
Sun, moon, and stars darkened.
2:10, 31; 3:15.
8:12, 9:2.

15.
“Turn ye to me ... “
2:12.
9:20, 21.

16.
The locust army goes back into the abyss.
2:20.
9:1.

17.
Deliverance for the faithful remnant.
2:32.
9:4.

Locusts in Joel
Joel's prophecy is full of reference to the army of locust-horses which invade Israel in conjunction with the Palestinians (Joel 3:4), resulting in the repentance of a remnant who stand on Mount Zion (Joel 2:32), the destruction of the northern invader [another term for the locust army] after their holy war [jihad, Joel 3:9], and then the final establishment of God's Kingdom on earth. He describes the invading army in Joel 2 in terms of a locust swarm, and they come to their end as locust swarms often do in Israel- in the Dead Sea and Mediterranean. In more detail, Joel 3:2,12 speaks of a final conflict in the valley of Jehoshaphat, when the Gentiles "round about" Israel are gathered together and judged- spoken of in Revelation 16 as the battle of Armageddon (which likewise is primarily concerning the peoples "round about" Israel rather than the whole planet). The degree of damage done to the land and people of Israel was limitable- if Judah repented. Hence the frequent appeals for repentance. This prophecy could have had potential fulfilment in the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions of Judah; but the prophecy is alluded to in Revelation and in other latter day prophecies, as if it has specific and complete fulfilment in the last days. The overall context is exactly as presented in Revelation- the seal judgments appeal for Israel's repentance, the minority who respond are the symbolic 144,000 who stand on mount Zion; and then there are the trumpet and vial judgments, which are full of allusion back to Joel. The frequent appeals for repentance mention the possibility that the program of judgment and desolation can be limited- if Judah repent. And finally, Joel speaks of the establishment of God's Kingdom and physical restoration of the decimated land, into the wonder of God's Kingdom on earth at Christ's return. Joel opens by saying that the destruction of the land he was burdened to portray had no parallel in the past, and the Jews would tell their children of it and the account of it would be passed down throughout future history (Joel 1:2,3). This is another way of saying that this prophecy is about a time of trouble for Israel such as never was, and never will be in the future. And that is precisely the language of the Lord Jesus, Jeremiah and Daniel about the latter day tribulation of Israel.

The Arabs and Muhammed have a unique connection to the locust: “In the Bedoween romance Antar, the locust is introduced as the national emblem of the Ishmaelites [one of the ancestors of the Arabs –DB]. And it is a remarkable coincidence that Muslim tradition speaks of locusts having dropped into the hands of Muhammed, bearing on their wings this inscription – ‘We are the army of the Great God.’” (Albert Barnes, Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, Vol. 18).

:4 Have not the seal of God- They also don't have His seal. So perhaps we are intended to read in an elipsis: 'Have not [received] the seal of God'. The idea would then be that those who have not responded to the appeal to repent (as a result of the seal judgments) are targetted.

Not hurt the grass- There are many allusions in this section to the anatomy and style of the locust; the highlighted difference here with locusts [who usually eat up the grass] is therefore intentional. The people represented by the locusts were therefore going to be made to act uncharacteristically due to the charismatic individual controlling them. The reason for this is because these locusts have a king- which, again, locusts typically do not (see on king over them).

Keil in his commentary on Joel 2 describes the geographical origins of the locusts which descend upon Israel: "Swarms of locusts come from south, west, north, and east. Their home is not confined to the desert of Arabia, but they are found in all the sandy deserts, which form the southern boundaries of the lands that were, and to some extent still are, the seat of cultivation, viz., in the Sahara, the Libyan desert, Arabia, and Iraq; and Niebuhr saw a large tract of land, on the road from Mosul to Nisibis, completely covered with young locusts. They are also met with in the Syrian desert, from which swarms could easily be driven to Palestine by a north-east wind... Such a swarm as this might be called the tsephōnı̄, i.e., the northern one, or northerner [Joel 2:20], even if the north was not its true home". These are the very areas from where jihadist fighters are emerging in their tens of thousands, and uniting together to establish an Islamic state and destroy Israel. This geographical connection cannot be merely coincidental!
Concerning trees and vegetation, the Koran says: “When you fight the battles of the Lord… destroy no palm trees, nor burn any fields of grain. Cut down no fruit trees…” (Quoted in Barnes, op. cit).

:5 It was given- We are surely to read in the elipsis, that a commandment was given to them. And it is jihadist Islam which forbids damaging trees and plants during military campaigns.

Not kill them- As locusts don't usually cause death but rather suffering.

Tormented- The same word used about Babylon (18:7,10,15) and the beast worshippers being "tormented" (14:10). The language of torment is not, therefore, reflective of an angry God being mean to sinners. Rather will they drink the cup they gave others to drink.

Five months- It could be argued that the book of Revelation will 'come alive' during the three and a half year tribulation in the land, and it's possible that this is a literal period. In any case, it is based around the fact that the season for locusts is five months, from May to September. Five months is their lifespan, so the idea may be that at the end of it they too will come to their end.
9:6 Seek death- Sura 75:10,11 speaks in similar terms of the final judgment of the condemned: "On that day man will cry: Whither to flee! Alas! No refuge!". Islamists will therefore seek to do this to the Jews whom they believe it is their duty to condemn, and in turn they will drink the same cup, seeking death but not finding it (Rev. 9:6).
:7 Like unto horses- Clearly the locusts represent fighters charging to war. The Arab Bedouin call locusts Farras el Jundy, ‘soldiers’ horses'. The description of these horsemen from the East accurately fits the Parthians, who were massed to the East of the Roman empire. There was much angst amongst the Romans of the first century as to whether the Parthians would invade; they did not. But the similarity is explained if we accept that Revelation is open to many possible fulfilments. It could have all happened in the first century, and God moved the players into place. But due to human failure, the whole scenario was delayed to our last days.
“Like unto” continues the idea that John is seeing in outline form something he finds hard to describe, and he keeps likening the vision to things he is familiar with. Hence “As…as… like unto… as it were”. This is understandable if he saw modern military hardware.

Prepared unto battle- This is the process we see ongoing around us. The Joel allusions encourage us to see this as Joel 3:9: "Prepare war, wake up the might men". The gathering of thousands of fighters to support an Islamic State in the land promised to Abraham is surely the fulfilment of this.

Like gold- The stephanos may suggest they are victorious, for a brief period, over the land. But John saw their appearance like this. Turbans as worn by Moslems today were not used in his day. If he saw, as I suggest, hordes of latter day Moslems streaming into Israel to proclaim a radical Islamic state, then this is how he would've described them- wearing something like a stephanos. The Greek literally means something wrapped around the head. This is the picture of Moslem turbans and jihadist headgear. The Hadith records Mohammed as saying "And turbans are the crowns of Arabs". "Like gold" means he saw a yellow colour. Perhaps this group of jihadists will have yellow headgear or turbans? According to Suyuti's Commentary on the Koran, there are Hadith which make this association: "Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr: The latter was wearing a yellow turban on the day of Badr, so the angels descended wearing yellow turbans... the Prophet himself came wearing a yellow turban... The day of Badr the angels came down on piebald horses, wearing yellow turbans" [view these quotations online at http://www.sunnah.org/fiqh/islamic_dress.htm ].

:8 Hair as the hair of women- The long hair of the jihadist fighters.
Teeth of lions- The quotation from Joel 1:6 means that these forces will be a latter day Babylon or Assyria invading Israel. Lions are a common OT symbol of Babylon-Assyria, the historical prototype of Israel's latter day invader.
:9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron - Another allusion to how the locust has a firm and hard cuticle on the forepart of the breast, which serves for a shield or defence. ““Breastplates of iron” speak of the Arabs’ armor. The poem Antar makes at least four references to a warrior’s cuirass or breastplate. The Koran says, “God hath given you coats of mail to defend you in your wars” …” (Quoted in Barnes, op. cit).

And the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle - Alluding to the noise made by locust swarms. They are similar to chariot horses in that the locust's head is similar to that of a horse. The locusts of Joel 1 which invade Israel are also described as war horses in Joel 2:4-6: "Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses they run. As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle". The similarity with locusts is in the springing motion of chariots on mountain paths. This was surely the first century way of trying to express helicopter gunships and other modern military technology advancing into the land promised to Abraham in final judgment. Joel 2:8 speaks of how this locust army will not be deterred by weaponry: "they fall headlong through weapons [shelach means literally a missile], and do not cut themselves in pieces". The greatest missiles and military technology of the IDF and the West will be unable to restrain their ever forward march into the land. Currently, it is superior weaponry that enables Israel to survive and the West to control the jihadists. But the picture of the locust swarm is that absolutely no weapon can stand in their way. Perhaps it is by sheer force of suicidal numbers that the jihadists win- and thousands of Moslems are already flocking to Syria and Iraq to enlist in this great army. In Joel 2, the locust army attacks because Judah failed to respond to the call to repent made in Joel 1. But even at that late stage there is the possibility of repentance: "Yet even now, is the saying of Jehovah, turn ye to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning" (Joel 2:12). This fits the context of the trumpets admirably. The seal judgments in Revelation 6 appealed for repentance; those few who respond, the symbolic 144,000, are sealed and stand on Mount Zion; and then the trumpet judgments come. But even then there is the chance of repentance, so that God would leave behind a blessing, i.e. the harvest-produce which could be used for a meat offering and drink offering (Joel 2:14)- even though this had "all" been destroyed by the locusts (Joel 1:9, 13). And as a result of this, a remnant of repentant Jews are likewise pictured by Joel standing on Mount Zion (Joel 2:32).

Chariots- The reference is also to the language of the cherubim chariots; Ez. 10:5 is the only other place in the Bible where we read of the sound of wings as chariots are in motion. The invaders will be led by the Angels, just as the locust army of Joel 2 is described in terms of the irresistible march of the Angels. But there may also be the hint that the invaders see themselves as a cherubic system, continuing the theme of the anti-Christ being an imitation Christ.

:10 Tails like unto scorpions… stings in their tails- At first blush, this appears to not be true to the figure of locusts. But Smith's “Bible Dictionary” gives a picture of "a species of locust, the Acridium Lineola, a species commonly sold for food in the markets of Baghdad, which has a sting in the tail". We may infer that these symbolic locusts come from Iraq, specifically from the area of the Euphrates. This is in harmony with the later picture within this same chapter of hordes of attackers swarming into the land promised to Abraham from the same area- the Euphrates. The only other reference to a “tail” in the NT is in Rev. 12:4, where the dragon uses his tail to cast down one third of the stars. It could be that we are being shown part of the same process here.
To hurt men- Significantly, the same word is used in Lk. 10:19 about how those who are preaching the Lord Jesus will not be hurt by scorpions. This is the context here- these trumpets are part of the judgments which will be restrained from falling upon those who have responded to the seal judgments, the symbolic 144,000. The same word is used in 7:2,3 of how the 144,000 will not be “hurt”. And chapters 10-15 teach that the resistant believers at this time will be engaged in witnessing to Jesus.
Five months- See on :5.

:11 They had a king over them- Prov. 30:27 observes that locusts have no king. The picture presented is of an unusual and uncharacteristic unity of the locusts under the leadership of a "king" or caliph. This is what students of latter day prophecy are taught by the image's toes of Daniel 2. The components of the final entity to abuse Israel are divided, but uncharacteristically united in their domination of Israel. This will be brought about by the locusts having a king- just as the disparate materials of the image are united in the form of a man, a latter day Nebuchadnezzar.

The Angel of the bottomless pit- This presumably is the same as the fifth Angel, who opened the pit at the beginning of this section. As in Daniel, so here, the Angel refers both to an Angel in the court of Heaven, and to the person on earth whom that Angel represents before God. Again we see how that even the terrible individual on earth spoken of here is in fact represented in the court of Heaven and under the control of God’s Angel. The allusion is to the destroying Angel of the Passover deliverance (Ex. 12:23; 1 Cor. 10:10). The Angel comes in judgment upon the Egyptians and also upon any unfaithful Israelites who would not trust in the blood of the Lamb; hence all the allusions to the plagues on Egypt here in the trumpet judgments. The locusts unleased by the destroyer Angel therefore come forth to punish people for what they did to God’s people Israel, and also to punish those of Israel who will not trust in the blood of the Lamb / Jesus.
In Hebrew... Greek- The two languages are perhaps mentioned because both Jews and non-Jews in the land suffer from this invasion.
Apollyon- This is the noun from the verb apollumi. Lk. 21:18 says that not a hair of the faithful will be apollumi in the latter day tribulation, and this is clearly what the Apollyon Angel is responsible for.
:12 One woe is past; behold there come two woes more- This could seem relatively pointless information, until we perceive that the idea is to appeal for repentance, even now at a time when the window for repentance provided by the six seals and sealing process of chapter 7 has already passed. I have mentioned earlier that the third of the three woes never seems to happen- perhaps because there is repentance, or because God's mercy is such that He restrains the final destruction. Or perhaps the third woe is the pouring out of the bowls of final destruction upon the beast and impenitent.

:13 A voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God- This is the incense altar, and the voice suggests that the combined prayers of the faithful bring forward the execution of God's purpose, causing Angels in Heaven to sound and do things on the earth / land. The words / voice of those prayers really is "before God". This an attempt to relay the degree to which human words in prayer really are rehearsed before God's very presence, and result in a word of command appropriate to the word of those prayers.

:14 Saying to the sixth Angel- The voice of prayer is effectively a voice of command to Angels resulting in dramatic action upon the earth / land, and in this case, the loosing of restraining Angels.

Loose the four Angels- See chapter 4, The Significance of the Euphrates http://islamicstate.info/4.html
:15 Prepared for an hour and a day and a month and a year- Vine correctly observes: "This rendering is wrong, since it conveys the idea that the four periods mentioned are to be combined as representing the length of the preparation or of the continuance of the plague. But it is to be noted that neither the article nor the preposition are repeated before day and month and year. The meaning is that the angels are prepared unto the hour appointed by God, and that this hour shall fall in its appointed day and month and year". The parallel is with how the locust-horses are "prepared" [s.w.] unto the final battle. It is this specific battle which is the final date in view here in :15. The way of the kings from the East is likewise "prepared" (16:12 s.w.).
To slay the third part of men- This 'slaying' could be understood as a ritual slaughter [apokteino]. The fact it is done at a particular hour on a particular date and year may mean that there is some kind of religious relevance of the exact time of their slaughter; and that the men are slain at the same "hour", suggesting a specific ritual, organized slaughter rather than the gradual killing of people in the process of war or domination of the land. This kind of thing is imaginable in an Islamic state.

:16 I heard the number of them- The very words used about the 144,000 in 7:4. The contrast is made between the sealed 144,000 and this far larger group of their opponents, 200,000,000. The figures are surely not to be taken literally, rather is the idea that the opponents of the faithful are far more, and are as it were a fake imitation of the faithful, just as the anti-Christ is a fake imitation of the true Christ. This concept fits admirably with Islamist theology, as they consider themselves as the descendants of Ishmael to be the true seed of Abraham, and Isaac to be as the Bible presents Ishmael [the roles of Isaac and Ishmael are switched around in the Koran; Moslems believe that it was Jewish scribes who switched the roles to how they are in the Hebrew Bible].

:17 Fire... jacinth and brimstone- These are to be connected with the three methods by which the third part of men are killed in :18, fire, smoke and brimstone. The third of men are perhaps divided into thirds, and each killed by a different method. Or it may be that the third part of men are killed by a combination of these three factors. I suggested on :15 that this may be a ritual slaughter, performed at a specific "hour" on a carefully chosen specific date of religious significance. "Jacinth" means 'deep blue'; there may be some specific means by which fire, deep blue and sulphur [brimstone] are used in the destruction process. We are therefore to expect some form of technology which uses these three elements or appearances in order to effect the mass destruction of a large number of people in one hour. The way Babylon's destruction likewise comes in "one hour" would therefore match this; Babylon must drink the cup she gave others to drink.
Another approach is to recall that the fire and jacinth come out of the breastplates of these fighters; and yet jacinth [hyacinth] is also one of the stones on the priestly breastplate. In this case we are invited to see these fighters acting as fake High Priests, which would connect with the undoubted theme of 'anti-Christ'- the Islamic fighters acting as if they are the true Israel of God. We note that in the last day, God will put on the breastplate of judgment against His enemies (Is. 59:17). Sulphur and fire have associations with Divine judgment; these people will therefore believe that they are executing God's judgments for Him. This is precisely the spirit of radical Islam.

:20 Yet repented not- Again we note that even now at the time of the trumpet judgments, there is the desperate desire that some still repent; even though after the seal judgments, there was a sealing of those who had responded and a shielding of them from the judgments which were to come upon the impenitent.

Idols of gold, silver, brass, stone and wood- The allusion is clearly to Dan. 5:4,23, where the very same materials are mentioned as being the idols of Babylon. In the context, the final king of Babylon has been asked to repent in that he had been asked to learn the lesson of his father Nebuchadnezzar, who was smitten with madness and turned into an animal. But Nebuchadnezzar revived from that deadly wound, as it were. It could be that the final leader of the entity known as Babylon is intended to repent because the previous leader was struck down by God, as Nebuchadnezzar had been. But because he didn't repent, he was judged. The appeal of Daniel to him in the very last minutes of his life is therefore to be seen as the equivalent of this final appeal to the leader of Babylon through the trumpet judgments. The 'division' of his kingdom in judgment (Dan. 5:28) perhaps recalls the divided state of the toes of the image just before Christ comes to destroy them. The fifth trumpet began with mention of the opening of a bottomless pit, which I suggested is parallel to the deadly wound of the beast. The reason for this is so that the deadly wounding will be an opportunity for repentance- this deep Divine desire for human repentance, even amongst His worst enemies, is so clearly portrayed in the structure of this apocalyptic. Nebuchadnezzar’s ‘wound’ was intended to elicit repentance in the final king of Babylon. Hence the allusion to that scenario here in the sixth trumpet.

Which can neither see, hear nor walk- This again is a quotation from Dan. 5:28. The similarity with the fall of Babylon is clearly intended. And what was particularly obnoxious about the king of Babylon at that time was that he was using the temple vessels in a drunken idol ritual; this in outline terms is the same as placing an abomination on the temple mount, which will be the reason for his desolation. The reference to "sorceries" (:21) is likewise an allusion to the practices of the historical Babylon and Assyria (Is. 47:9,12; Nah. 3:4). Such things were the calling card of Jezebel, the prototype of the whore who rides the beast (2 Kings 9:22). Note she was from Tyre, in modern day Lebanon. We may well enquire how idol worship and sorcery could be part of a radical Islamic state, seeing they are passionately against such things. The point is that this latter day entity is being cast in terms of the historical Babylon; and for all Islam's protest against idolatry and sorcery, from God's viewpoint, these are the very things they are guilty of.
:21 Murders... fornication... thefts- This sounds very much the behaviour of jihadist fighters, murdering and thieving, and sexually abusing those whom they conquer (witness the Islamic State's treatment of Yezidi and Christian women whom they captured and declared as their 'spoils of war').

We observe that both the people being judged, as well as those judging them, can easily be interpreted as radical Islamist fighters. But this turning upon themselves is what we expect, both from Bible prophecy (e.g. regarding the divided state of the toes of the image in Daniel 2) and from Divine historical precedent. For His preferred method of destroying Israel's enemies has been through making them turn upon each other, rather than direct bolts from Heaven.


Sorceries- We only meet this word again in Rev. 18:23, speaking of the sorceries of latter day Babylon. This trumpet therefore speaks of the judgment upon latter day Babylon. The LXX uses the word not only of Babylon (Is. 47:9,12) but also of Egypt at the time of the plagues (Ex. 7:22). And the trumpet judgments are full of reference to the plagues upon Egypt.

Chapter 12: Speculations about Bible Prophecy

 Chapter 12: Speculations about Bible Prophecy

The Formation of Three Groups

The Hadith often mention “the three” from Syria. The Assyrian army was split up under three leaders, Tartan, Rabsaris and Rabshakeh.  These names all have religious meanings, just as do the names of the leaders of the various Islamic brigades today- e.g. "Tartan" is related to the Assyrian god Tartak (2 Kings 17:31). The subdivision of the Arab invader into three groups, as in the original Assyrian battle plan, may also be thus foreseen in the last days, seeing that some previous Arab invasions may have had this feature too:


-  "The spoilers of the Philistines (raided Israel) in three companies" (1 Sam. 13:17).
-  The Israelites fought their Ammonite enemies "in three companies", perhaps because there were three groups of Ammonites (1 Sam. 11:11).
-  The account of Gideon's victory over Midian, a clear type of the latter-day Arab destruction, has a triple emphasis on Israel attacking them in "three companies" (Jud. 7:16,20,22) - perhaps for the same reason.
-  The "great city" of Babylon/Assyria will be "divided into three parts" for its destruction (Rev. 16:19).
-  The Chaldeans (Babylonians/Assyrians) attacked Job, symbolic of faithless Israel, in  three bands (Job 1:17)
-  Is there some reference to this in the enigmatic three frog like spirits of Rev. 16?
-  Rev. 9:14-18 describes how in the last days, 200,000,000 horsemen came from the Euphrates (i.e. Babylon/Assyria), using "fire and smoke and brimstone" to punish God's apostate people just before Christ returns. "By these three was the third part of men killed" might suggest that this invading army has three aspects to its work.   The huge number of horsemen must allude to the "great company" of horsemen of Ez. 38:4, which we have shown to be rooted in the Assyrian invasion.  The 200,000,000 horsemen of Rev. 9:16 may correspond to the fact that the strength of the Assyrian army which came against Jerusalem is claimed in some inscriptions to have been 200,000 men.

The Koran has interpretations attached to it called the Hadith, written by various Imams [Moslem pastors and teachers]. These are considered by many Moslems to be of similar authority to the Koran itself, and there is a conscious striving by jihadists to fulfill the predictions made in them. One of them is most significant in our context: “Abdulla Ibn Hawala, the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “You will be split up into groups of armies. An army will be in Al-shaam, an army in Iraq, and an army in Yemen”. Here we have it- three groups of armies coming against Israel, one of them being from A-Sham! And much support for the IS comes from Yemen and the Arabian peninsular. This teaching is now being appropriated by the Islamist factions who are coming to power in Syria- just search for these sentences on the internet and you’ll see how common they now are!

We might therefore watch out for three separate military entities forming, which make a three pronged attack upon Israel.


2. Accept Islam!

Initially, the Assyrians demanded that Israel pay them tribute and accepted their religion. One could well imagine 'Assyria' of the last days stipulating Israel's acceptance of Islam as a condition for military help and mercy. God was Israel's father (Jer. 3:19: 31:9; Mal. 1:6;  2:10) and master (Mal. 1:6;  Deut. 32:36);  both these concepts were well understood by Israel.   For king Ahaz to say to Tiglath-Pileser, "I am thy servant and thy son" (2 Kings 16:7) was therefore a conscious rejection of Yahweh as Master and Father.   For this reason Isaiah, prophesying in this period, stresses the fact that God claims Israel as His servant (e.g. Is. 44:1,2,21).   The historical account sadly records how not only Ahaz but Hoshea (2 Kings 17:3) and Jehoiakim (2 Kings 24:1) also became 'servants' of their Arab dominators - doubtless thinking that they could serve two masters.  Note in passing how 'Islam' is a call to 'submit'. This conscious rejection of Yahweh worship is further shown by Ahaz cutting off "the borders of the bases" of the laver (2 Kings 16:17), i.e. the cherubic faces which were on the wheels. These would have been a distinctive part of Yahweh worship. 2 Kings 16:10,11 records how after meeting Tiglath-pileser at Damascus, Ahaz ordered a replica altar to one which he had seen there. Ez. 23:7 confirms that Judah were forced to accept Assyria's religion: " She committed her whoredoms with... the chosen men of Assyria (i.e. the Assyrian diplomats with whom Ahaz's messengers negotiated)... with all their idols she defiled herself".


During the final invasion, the Assyrian commander Rabshakeh demanded: "Make an agreement with me... and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree... until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey" (2 Kings 18:31-32).   The repetition of the word "land" and the evident allusions to the description of the promised land Israel would have if they were faithful (e.g. Deut. 8:7,8), show that Rabshakeh was offering the Jews a fake kingdom of God.   The reference to each man eating his own vine and fig tree is alluding to Mic. 4:4, a prophecy which was uttered during this period, and doubtless repeated by the prophets within Jerusalem: "They shall sit every man under his vine and... fig tree". These conscious allusions by Rabshakeh again show that there was a strong religious element in his reasoning - as if to say, "Make a deal with us, and we can offer you something better than the kingdom your prophets tell you will soon come and is worth suffering for".  The Islamist demand of the last days may run along similar lines: "Become Muslims, and then you will be the real children of Abraham and have hope of being in a real paradise". The language of vines, oil, corn, honey etc. are prominent in the Islamic concept of 'paradise', their equivalent to the Kingdom of God.

Chapter 9: The Defeat of Israel and Fall of Jerusalem

Chapter 9: The Defeat of Israel and Fall of Jerusalem




Let’s not get caught up with the idea that Israel shall survive and defeat the invaders in her own strength. The beast must dominate Israel. Jerusalem will be taken.

“For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two… And it shall come to pass in all the Land (Israel), says the Lord, that two-thirds of it shall be cut off and die, but one-third shall be left in it: I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as gold is tested. They will call on My Name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'This is My people'; and each one will say, 'the LORD is my God.'" (Zechariah 13:8-9)

"Alas! for that Day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's (Israel’s) Trouble,     but he shall be saved out of it." (Jeremiah 30:7)

"At that time Michael (the Archangel) shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the  sons of your people (Israel); and there shall be a time of Trouble (Tribulation), such as never was    since there was a nation"  (Daniel 12:1)

"For there will be Great Tribulation (Trouble) such has not been since the beginning of the world      until this time no, nor ever shall be. And UNLESS those days were shortened NO flesh (living thing on Earth) would be saved" (Matthew 24:21-22)

  "And to wait for His Son from Heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivers us
from the Wrath to come." (1 Thessalonians 1:10)

"For God did NOT appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who  died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing." (1 Thessalonians 5:9-11)

"Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the Earth." "Behold, I come quickly!" (Suddenly) (Revelation 3:10-11)

"Gather yourselves together, Yes, gather together O undesirable nation. Before the decree is issued, Before the day passes like chaff, Before the Lord's fierce anger comes upon you, Before the day of the Lord's anger comes upon you! Seek the Lord, all you meek of the Earth… Seek righteousness,     Seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger." (Zephaniah 2:1-7)

 Chapter 10: The Antichrist in Bible Prophecy

The various prophecies of the last days all feature a distinct personal leader of the invaders of Israel. Daniel speaks of a little horn who speaks great things, the whole image of Daniel 2 is in the form of an individual man; Daniel 11 speaks of a “king of the north”; Ezekiel 38 has the invasion led by a rosh, a leader and price; Daniel 8 speaks of a king of fierce countenance; Revelation has a whore riding the beast, a false prophet, and a specific ‘satan’ individual. The "king of the North" throughout Daniel 11 refers to the King of Syria- so the latter day King of the North who attacks Israel and is destroyed at Christ's return, as detailed at the end of Daniel 11 and the start of Daniel 12, must refer to an individual based upon a King of Syria. Such an individual could easily be the leader of ISIS, who are taking power in Syria. We can therefore look to the, or an, Islamic State taking power in Syria and the IS leader becoming as it were the king of Syria.

The Emir of the Islamic State
The IS clearly see huge significance in their leader. And they connect him to their passion for holy war: “There is no jihad without an Emir, a leader and Imam”. So quoted ISIS spokesman  Uthman bin abd al-Rahman al-Tamimi in “Informing the People About the Birth of the Islamic State of Iraq” on January 7, 2007. The significance is that Islam has not had a caliph, a leader of an Islamic state since 1924 when the Ottoman caliphate was dissolved by Ataturk. It has not a caliph since that time as well. And perhaps we could say that the first antichrist was also from Assyria- Nimrod "the mighty hunter against the Lord" (Gen. 10:9, Hebrew). The Hebrew for 'mighty one' is related to 'Gibbor', the title of Christ used in Is. 9:6. Nimrod appears to be a prototype anti-God and anti-Christ, and for this he was well known even then. We note that Mic. 5:6 speaks of the latter day invader as an Assyrian individual: “And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he [Christ] deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders”. The leader of historical Assyria was Sennacherib- Sîn-ahhī-erība – The man of sin. The behaviour of the blasphemous little horn and 'Prince' of Daniel 7 and 8 is based upon the historical blasphemies of the various Kings recorded in the narrative sections of the book of Daniel. This latter day entity is to have the characteristics of previous kings of Babylon and Persia. Just as the final form of the beast is the embodiment of previous beasts who have persecuted Israel.


Article eight of the Hamas Covenant states something which the IS also state in their agenda and self-perception: “Allah is its target, the Prophet is its model”. The entire shape of the intended conflict with Israel is based around a man- the prophet Mohammed. This fits with how the final entity which dominates Israel before Christ comes is presented in terms of a man, the statue of Daniel chapter 2. Rev. 16:13; 19:20 and 20:10 speak of an individual known as “the false prophet” who will be upheld by the beast of the last days. Clearly enough, Mohammed is the false prophet of the last days, upon whom the entire conflict with Israel and the Jews is to be ‘modelled’. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple (2 Thess. 2:4). So an Islamic Caliph matches the Biblical mandate for Antichrist. Antichrist is called “The Prince who is to come” in Daniel 9 and the Caliph has the title “The Prince of the Faithful”.

The Man in the Image
The face of the image is emphasized in Dan. 2:31. The AV reads "His brightness was excellent", but the Chaldee word translated "brightness" is the same word translated "face" in describing how the face of the ruler of Babylon was 'changed' as the sequence of empires had its fulfilment (Dan. 4:36; 5:6,9,10). The entity represented by the entire image is focused upon the face of the man heading it up. That face was notable and awesome, just as the fourth beast entity was "strong exceedingly" (Dan. 7:7,19 s.w. "excellent"). The entire image stood "before you", i.e. Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 2:31). The Hebrew idea of q'bel suggests that the image stood there opposite Nebuchadnezzar 'on his behalf', as a reflection of himself. The image is of course a person; the entity represented by it in its complete form is a reflection of a person, modelled after the king of Babylon. This all suggests that the entity which the image represents will be a personification of someone. That individual would be the caliph or prince which governs it, to whom the IS swears loyalty. And the IS insists that loyalty be sworn to their caliph, who in turn is seen as the incarnation of the [false] prophet Mohammed. It is this individual who is the antiChrist of the last days. The appearance of the image of the man was "terrible" (Dan. 2:31), it struck fear into the heart of the viewers. And this is the effect of the IS on those beholding them. But we can expect more emphasis to be given to their leader, with greater prominence accorded to loyalty to him and an aura of fearfulness emanating from him. The same word translated "terrible" is used of how all nations "trembled and feared" before Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 5:19), and of how uniquely and unsurpassedly "terrible" was the fourth beast (Dan. 7:7,19) whose leader is an embodiment of it. The Chaldee word resh used for the "head" of the image is also translated 'the sum'. The head, the man whose face was on the image, was the sum of the image, he was the embodiment of it in a person.


The head was of "fine gold", and the equivalent Hebrew words are found in Gen. 2:12, where we read that "the gold of that land was good ['fine']". Which land? "Havilah", according to Gen. 2:11. Perhaps the leader of the entity will therefore be from Havilah. But there are various options in seeking to identify this area. Keil and Delitzsch in their commentary on Genesis opt for a location in the Caucasus mountains- and many of the IS fighters are from there, especially from Chechnaya. Other arguments would place it in Yemen or Saudi Arabia, which is where much of the financial and logistical support for the IS is currently coming from, seeing they too are Sunni Moslems. Another line of enquiry is suggested by the way that "fine gold" is used to describe what was used in Yahweh's temple (2 Chron. 3:5,8; Lam. 4:1). And where did Solomon get that from? Solomon constructed the finer details of the temple from materials prepared by his father David (1 Chron. 22:14). And David received that fine gold as a present from Tou, king of Hamath (1 Chron. 18:9,10). Hamath is in Syria. Perhaps Syria is another possible source of origin for the head of the IS image. The true Christ will be "more precious than fine gold" (Is. 13:12); He will thus stand in opposition at the last day to the head of "fine gold" which heads up the IS. The manifestation of God in Christ is presented in visual form in Daniel 10:6 "His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude". This vision has outline similarities with the image of a man explained in Daniel 2. The two 'men' will face off against each other in the last days; and Jesus wins. That, in the end, is the simple message of all prophecy, especially the book of Revelation.


The "head" of the image uses the same equivalent Hebrew word rosh as we find in the Ezekiel 38 description of ten nations being lead against Israel by a rosh, a leader, a prince, what the Arabs would call a caliph. Again and again, we find a specific figure being identified as the leader of the latter day invaders.


The interpretation that Nebuchadnezzar was a "king of kings" (Dan. 2:37) was surely understood by him to mean that he was in some sense king over the other kings which featured in the image. Perhaps God graciously inserted this element in order to preserve Daniel's life before the king. But it will come true in the final erection of the image upon earth, in that the component nations of the image will be headed up by an individual who is effectively a Nebuchadnezzar-like figure for them all, Babylon personified in a single man.


The Beasts Embodied
The entire vision of the beasts of Daniel 7 is summed up in Dan. 7:1: "the rosh of the words" (AV "sum of the matter"). And the rosh surely refers to the individual of Ezekiel 38:2 who will lead the latter day armies against Israel. The whole system of beasts is summed up in an individual rosh or leader, just as the metals of the image in Daniel 2 are in the form of a man with the face of Nebuchadnezzar.


The first beast, representing Babylon, had "the heart of a man" (Dan. 7:4). It was the emobodiment of an individual person- Nebuchadnezzar. The latter day Babylon likewise will be centered around a person- the antiChrist figure of the last days, who in turn will profess to be the incarnation or embodiment of the false prophet Mohammed. Nebuchadnezzar in his madness became as a beast- with a body like a beast, hair like an eagle, and nails like those of a beast (Dan. 4:33). This language is all used about the beasts in the later prophetic parts of Daniel's prophecy. They had features of eagles (Dan. 7:4), bodies of beasts (Dan. 7:11), and remarkable nails or claws (Dan. 7:19). Nebuchadnezzar became like such a beast because the latter day beast would be the embodiment of him, just as the image of Daniel 2 had the face of Nebuchadnezzar and was in the form of a man.


A Fake Kingdom of God
The dream of Daniel 2 ascribes to Nebuchadnezzar "the Kingdom, power, strength and glory" (Dan. 2:37), but this is exactly the language of God's kingdom. The emphasis of passages like 1 Chron. 29:11 is that Yours is the Kingdom, power, strength and glory (as in Ps. 145:11; Mt. 6:13). Nebuchadnezzar is thus presented as an anti-Christ and the Kingdoms of men as a fake imitation of God's Kingdom.


The animals and birds were even under Babylon's control according to Dan. 2:38. But it is the beasts and birds of the sky who later are prophesied as feasting upon Babylon (Rev. 19:17). This is the equivalent of the horns on the beast hating the whore of Babylon who rides it (Rev. 17:16); the destruction of the Babylon system will ultimately be more by Moslem infighting than direct bolts of destruction from God. Indeed, this was historically God's preferred method of destroying Israel's invaders in Old Testament times.


Article 5 of the Hamas Covenant presents the envisaged Moslem state of Palestine in terms which the Bible uses about the Kingdom of God which is to be established in the same area: “…it extends to the depth of the earth and reaches out to the heaven. "Dost thou not see how Allah putteth forth a parable; representing a good word, as a good tree, whose root is firmly fixed in the earth, and whose branches reach unto heaven; which bringeth forth its fruit in all seasons, by the will of its Lord? Allah propoundeth parables unto men, that they may be instructed." (Abraham - verses 24-25)”. The envisaged Moslem state is therefore a fake, imitation Kingdom of God- just as the Assyrian empire was described by Rabshakeh in the very language of contemporary prophecies of God’s Kingdom on earth.

The King of Daniel 8
This manifestation of a Kingdom in its leader is to be found in the way the antiChrist is called "the king of fierce countenance" in Dan. 8:23. But the entire nation or entity which persecute Israel in the last days is a "nation of fierce countenance" (the same words are used- Dt. 28:50). Their leader is an embodiment of them. The fierce king of Dan. 8:25 "by peace shall destroy many". This certainly sounds like the result of jihadist Islam, the [supposed] religion of peace. The Semitic consonants S-L-M are at the root of the words Islam and also Shalom, Salaam [Hebrew and Arabic for 'peace']. There were no vowels in ancient Hebrew and Arabic. The connection is in that peace ['salaam' in Arabic] is believed to come from 'islam', submission. Moslem apologists frequently justify their religion by claiming that Islam is a religion of peace [even if they believe in murdering anyone who disagrees]. As we survey the attrocities being performed in the name of Islam today in the territory of the IS... we are seeing this being fulfilled. By peace / salaam / islam, many are being destroyed. What however we are still waiting to see is more focus upon the leader of the IS. The Biblical prophecies focus upon 'kings' and 'horns' [kings] more than more abstract 'kingdoms'. This may partly be because God attaches much importance to the responsiblities of leaders, but also because there must arise prominent leaders, especially an antiChrist figure who is the "fierce king" orchestrating this destruction of many by his religion of 'peace'.


The Lord Jesus is called "Messiah the Prince" in Dan. 9:25 in order to contrast with how the anti-Christ, the fake Christ, is also called "the prince of the host" in Dan. 8:11. "It became great, even as great as the Prince of the host" (ESV). This prince "shall stand up against the Prince of princes", the Lord Jesus (Dan. 8:25). There will be a final showdown between these two princes, and their respective followers and Kingdoms.


The Little Horn
The little horn seeks "to change times and laws"; but we go straight on to read that God's people are given into his power for "a time and times and the dividing of time" (Dan. 7:25). It could therefore be that the time period of time, times and half a time [three and a half years?] is in fact defined and chosen by the little horn, as part of him seeking to establish "times". This could explain why there is some variableness in this period- Daniel 12 mentions 1260,1290 and 1335 days. If Israel repent, or other preconditions are met, then the time of intended abuse is changed. It may be that the little horn power or ruler decrees a time of abuse for the remaining Jews.

The IS Will Treat Jesus Christ as AntiChrist
In Islam, Masih ad-Dajjal (the False messiah in Islam) is an evil figure (similar to the Christian concept of Antichrist), who will appear to deceive humanity before the second coming of Jesus . Islam believes that the antiChrist will be a false Jewish Messiah, one falsely claiming to be the Messiah of Israel. They call him "the deceiving Messiah", literally- so when Islam observes Jesus returned and claiming to be Messiah, they will immediately identify Him with the antiChrist, the false claimant to be the Jewish Messiah. According to the Hadith, Mohammed claimed: "While I was sleeping, I saw myself (in a dream) performing Tawaf  around the Ka’ba. Behold, I saw a reddish-white man with lank hair, and water was dropping from his head. I asked, "Who is this?' They replied, 'The son of Mary.'- Collected by Muhammad al-Bukhari Sahih al-Bukhari Sahih al-Bukhari, 9:88:242 .  He will travel the whole world preaching his falsehood- Sahih al-Bukhari, 3:30:105 – and this will have been fulfilled by the Gospel of the Kingdom going into all the world before the end comes. “the Dajjal will gather an army of 70,000 Jews… and lead them in a war against …  an army of the righteous, along with Imam Mahdi” . The leader of the Islamic State claims to be such a Mahdi.

Chapter 7-1: Daniel 8

 Chapter 7-1: Daniel 8




Daniel 8 gives more detailed information about the kingdom of Greece. Their great leader, Alexander the great, was “the great horn” on the goat (Dan. 8:21); this was broken, and four kingdoms arose out of that (Dan. 8:22). But out of them arose “a king of fierce countenance” who was to be “broken without hand” (Dan. 8:25). This is the very language of the entire image being broken by the stone cut out without hands, which speaks of the return of Christ to earth (Dan. 2:44). But at first blush, this seems out of chronological sequence- that a fierce king arising out of the breakup of the Greek empire [surely referring to Antiochus in its historical sense of fulfilment] should be broken by the second coming of Christ- many centuries later. But the problem is solved once we understand that the image stands erect and complete in the last days, in the sense that elements of all the previous empires and leaders would be incorporated in the final entity which shall be destroyed “without hand” by the return of the Lord Jesus.

Chapter 8: The Beasts of Revelation

The beasts of Revelation are built upon the beasts of Daniel. The various beasts are perhaps pictures of various aspects of the final beast. The beast of Rev. 13:2 was "like a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion". Here we see the elements of the various beasts of Dan. 7 and therefore the metals of the image of Dan. 2 all incorporated into this latter day beast. It is the equivalent of the image standing complete in the last days. It has "seven heads and ten horns" (Rev. 13:1)- which is the total number of heads and horns of the four beasts of Dan. 7. In harmony with this, Hos. 13:7 describes Israel’s latter day invader as a lion, bear, leopard and wild beast. All elements of the beasts are brought together in the final latter day invasion. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the first self-proclaimed caliph of the Islamic State, said that Muslims should unite to capture Rome in order to "own the world". The significance of this is that the ten horn entity, the Islamic State, is seeking to incorporate an element of the previous metals / beast systems, i.e. Rome. This is what we would expect if the image is to stand erect in the last days.  Source: McElory, Damien. "Rome will be conquered next, says leader of 'Islamic State'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 3 July 2014.

Revelation 13:2 is the key: "And the beast which I saw was like unto a Leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a Bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a Lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority". The beasts of Daniel represented empires, but this beastly empire in Revelation is a composite Leopard-Bear-Lion. It isn't just one of Daniel's three empires. It's all three empires rolled into one. In other words, this new empire is composed of the descendants of those earlier empires, in the same geographic location. Looking back at the history of the Middle East, we can now identify this new empire as the various powers that have
controlled the Holy Land whilst the Jews were established within it.

One feature of the presentation of the beasts is that both John and "the world" wonder at it and at the whore riding it (Rev. 13:3; 17:6,7). This matches with the stress in Daniel 7 that the fourth beast is strikingly different from all the other beasts. The world will be in shock and awe at the entity which will suddenly develop- and we see the beginnings of that with the awe and fear inspired by the IS. This speaks not only of the fear inspired by the entity in its enemies on the ground, but implies a watching world onlooking in awe and fear, unable to do anything against it: "Who is like unto the beast? And who is able to make war with him?" (Rev. 13:4). This in turn is based upon the prototype of Goliath the Philistine / Palestinian, who likewise had a mouth speaking great things against Israel and Israel's God. That similarity is continued by the description of the small, finally repentant remnant of Jews who overthrow the beast as being like David (Zech. 12:8). This is not to say that there will not initially be opposition to the beast- the horn recovers amazingly from a "deadly wound" which could likely refer to some form of Western operation against this entity (Rev. 13:3). Likewise the beast was, is not, and yet will be [Rev. 17:8- i.e. it will be revived after apparent destruction]. But the final picture is of the beast having free reign in the earth / land promised to Abraham. We must look, therefore, to Zion being forsaken of all her lovers, America particularly pulling out of supporting Israel. We already can see the beginnings of such a situation developing. The West will either collapse, perhaps financially, and become impotent; or will come to a policy position which refuses to support Israel nor get involved in on the ground operations within the land promised to Abraham. Their impotence is however described in terms of their 'worshipping' the beast and therefore fearing to make war with it (Rev. 13:4). The Greek for 'worship' can mean to cower or fawn before a person; the West may be forced to this position by Islamic elements within their own nations, by an oil and energy embargo, or something similar. Another option is that the 'world' spoken of in Rev. 13 is specifically the world around Israel; but in our days of a global village, that would still require that the West is left impotent to intervene. It has been their background support of Israel which has kept the current situation in balance so far. But Rev. 9:14 speaks of the hordes of enemies being bound at the Euphrates river, and then being released by Angelic action. This restraint which is released could well refer to an Angelically-orchestrated removal of the West's restraining power. With no such power broker in the region, the forces of Islamic jihad will without doubt burst forth over the Euphrates, the boundary of the land promised to Abraham, and surge towards Israel. Rev. 13:10 speaks of the final desolation of Israel by the beast in terms of 'leading into captivity', associated with the beast having power over "all kindreds, tongues and nations" in the earth / land promised to Abraham. The remaining Jews will be taken into captivity in those areas; and the attitude of the IS, ever seeking as they are to incarnate Israel's historical enemies, is such that this scenario is now quite imaginable.