In a population survey by Statista Research Department Online of the Muslim population of Europe in 2016 it was estimated that at least 25,640.000 Muslims were living there. Of course since those statistics the Muslim population of Europe has mushroomed. The open migration policy engineered primarily by the Merkel Government of Germany back in 2015 opened the gate to further the islamization of Europe . Today the emphasis on migrants in Germany must be skilled workers. However, the damage was done back in 2015. In an article in Israel Today it was reported that Germany now has four million Muslims.
In a report appearing recently on a German news channel, it was revealed that about 60,000 young Muslims had come to Germany to seek work and asylum in recent years. Local Salafist mosques quickly entice these young Muslims and brainwash them to join the jihad against non-Muslims. European societies have not addressed the root of the problem.
According to a report last year published by Statista Research Department on August 9 2019 stated that in 2018 the United Kingdom suffered 60 terrorist attacks, the highest of any country in the European Union. This was still fewer than the previous year, which included the Manchester Arena Bombings on the 22 May, and the London Bridge attack on June 11 the two deadliest terrorist attacks in the UK since the London 7/7 attacks in 2005. In 2018, France had the second highest number of terrorist attacks at 30, followed by Italy which had 13.
Today most Bible prophecy teachers are telling us that the Ancient Roman Empire will be revived and that the Antichrist will come from Europe but are they correct? Today the nations of Europe are fractured and more so since the COVID-19 outbreak. The Roman Empire began in Rome in 753 BC. Rome controlled over two million square miles stretching from the Rhine River to Egypt and from Britain to Asia Minor. Its timeline goes from 753 BC to 27 BC and then from 64 AD to 1453 AD.
In 285 AD, Emperor Diocletian decided that the Roman Empire was too big to manage. He divided the Empire into two parts, the Eastern Roman Empire and the Western Roman Empire. Over the next hundred years or so, Rome would be reunited, split into three parts, and split in two again. The Capital of the western leg of the empire was of course the city of Rome and the capital of the eastern leg of the empire was Constantinople (Istanbul) located in modern day Turkey. It was called the Byzantine Empire. In 476 C.E.
Romulus, the last of the Roman emperors in the west, was overthrown by the Germanic leader Odoacer, who became the first Barbarian to rule in Rome. The order that the Roman Empire had brought to Western Europe for 1000 years was no more. Then around a thousand years after Rome fell to the Barbarians Constantinople fell to the Turkish Ottoman Empire of Islam in 1453 AD. For the next 600 years Islam decimated the Eastern Church ruled the Middle-East and spread into much of Europe. In 1922 it was disbanded when it was replaced by the Turkish Republic after Turkey had been defeated in WWI by the British.
Today Islam is back with a vengeance and the European nations that were part of the Ancient Roman Empire are once again being invaded by Islam. According to the Bible the Antichrist will not come from Europe but from the Middle-East. In the Book of Daniel in chapter 11:36ff we are told that “The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods…. nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all.” (Daniel 11:36-37)
He will be a man of war whose armies will arise in the Middle-east and will honour the god of fortresses. (Daniel 11:38-40) This is the same guy that the apostle Paul writes about in his second letter to the believers at Thessalonica. He writes; “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, proclaiming himself to be God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:4) His ultimate ambition will be to take Israel and he will make his headquarters in Jerusalem but also there at Jerusalem he will come to his end when the Lord Jesus comes back. (Daniel 11:45)
President Erdogan of turkey has his sights set on resurrecting the Turkish Ottoman Caliphate with himself as the caliph. The Turkish Ottoman Empire’s cultural, political, and economic power reached its zenith under Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent I who reigned from 1520–66. His son Selim II reigned from 1566–74, and his grandson Murad III reigned from 1574–95 and they all ruled from the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul in Turkey. The Ottoman Empire at its height under Süleyman expanded into the Balkans and Hungary, and reached the gates of Vienna. The man from Turkey wants to revive this empire.
The whole Islamic world is fragmented at present but Islamic globalization has been well under way for many years. The Islamic ‘Trojan Horse’ is ensconced in every western democracy today. When the man of sin arises scripture indicates that he will be a Muslim but will not only conquer the Middle-East and Egypt but his armed forces will sweep into much of Europe and the Muslims already living there will ‘open the gates’ for the invasion. Possibly Europe will see another war between Islam and the west. It will primarily be urban warfare.
Satan has a conspiracy going and his strategy is to see his man ruling over an empire of global proportions. He has been trying to bring his man on the scene since Nimrod and the Tower of Babel Satan he has not succeeded. However it would seem things are going to change. The COVID-19 is one of the means Satan is using to weaken the nations. The Chinese Communist party is merely the tool in Satan’s hand. Today the whole Islamic world is waiting for the Mahdi to come and to lead the whole Muslim world in a Jihad that will far exceed in its extent and power than Süleyman’s empire ever did. Erdogan of Turkey may well be the one to resurrect the Turkish Ottoman Caliphate. He wants Turkey to become a member of the European Union and behind this is the strategy to take Europe for Islam. Whether the man from Turkey is the Antichrist and the Mahdi of Islam remains to be seen.
Having said this, the apostle John wrote seven letters to seven churches located in modern day Turkey. While they were seven literal churches that existed in John’s time they can represent the Church corporately and the fact that they were located in Turkey may well be the Holy Spirit telling us prophetically that in the last days the Church will have to face a Turkish Islamic Antichrist. Already we see what Islam is doing to faithful Christians all over the world in Muslim countries. Down through history we have seen how Islam has decimated the Eastern Church. Countries that were once bastions of Christianity in the Middle-East in the past are Islamic enclaves today.
Pergamum was the location of one of the Churches. In this city was the Pergamum Altar of Zeus constructed on a terrace of the acropolis overlooking the ancient city of Pergamum. It was at Pergamum that emperor worship really kicked in with the Roman Emperor Augustus having himself deified as a god. John wrote that Pergamum was the city “where Satan has his throne… and… the city where Satan lives”, also the martyrdom of Antipas is mentioned. (Revelation 2:12-13) The Antichrist may not come from literal Pergamum but Satan had direct control over this city, but it seems that Turkey is the seat of the future Antichrist. He will not arise out of Europe but out of the Middle-East.
The Antichrist will not just be a Middle-Eastern Potentate or a European Potentate, he will be both! He will come out of the Middle-East exhibiting the same character traits as that of Antiochus Epiphanies, a major type of the Antichrist in scripture. The Book of Daniel prophetically and historically is not European centric but Middle-Eastern centric. All of the nations and geographical regions mentioned in the Bible related to Prophecy are all Islamic today!
While we see the rise of China there is the possibility of a war with America but I am not saying this will happen, but many nations right now are really angry with the Chinese Communist Party. While to whole world is focused on China and COVID-19 we must not ignore the rise of Islam. We are going to see the king “who will do as he pleases, exulting and magnifying himself above every god and saying unheard-of things against the God of gods, disregarding any other god and exulting himself above them all.” “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, proclaiming himself to be God.” Having said this we must not forget what the apostle Paul also writes; “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of His mouth and destroy by the splendour of Hs coming.” (2 Thessalonians 2:8) In the end the Rider on the White Horse wins! (Isaiah 63:1-6) (Revelation 19:11-21) (Psalm 45:3-5)
As an added thought, if a pre-tribulation rapture was in Paul’s eschatology then why would he have even bothered to tell the believers at Thessalonica to keep an eye out for the man of sin if the faithful Church was no longer on earth? Selah!
Click here to read the whole article
