It was reported in the Jerusalem Post on Sunday and on Arutz Sheva7 news network yesterday that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that his country will oppose anyone who supports Israel. Erdogan made the comments while addressing senior provincial officials from his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Ankara. He was quoted by Iran’s Press TV. “Whoever is on the side of Israel, let everyone know that we are against them,” stated Erdogan. Erdogan added that Turkey will continue to promote the Palestinian cause regardless of efforts to undermine it mainly by supporters of the Israeli regime. “We do not approve of silence on the state terror that Israel blatantly carries out in Palestine,” said the Turkish president, according to Press TV. His comments followed last week’s demolition by Israel of illegal Palestinian Arab buildings on the outskirts Jerusalem.
There are those who think that President Erdogan has gone quiet since losing the Mayoral elections yet again. However, even though it seems he has taken a back step as it were out of the political spotlight in Turkey, he is still very much in control of the finances, political leadership and the armed forces of Turkey. They are in Syria right now and are seeking to depose Assad if the truth be known. Iran and Turkey are bedfellows in their unflinching agenda to bring about a Jihad against Israel and against any nation that supports Israel including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates who are at present aligned with America and very wary of Iran. Added to this President Erdogan is an ardent supporter of the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood which fits like a hand in a glove as far as establishing a revived Turkish Ottoman Caliphate. The Creed of the Muslim Brotherhood states; ‘Allah is our objective; the Prophet is our leader; the Quran is our law; Jihad is our way; dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.”
In the Book of Revelation we have two beasts mentioned. In Bible prophecy Beasts represent empires and horns rulers over those empires. This is clear from the apocalyptic language used by the prophet Daniel which the apostle John also uses in the Book of Revelation. While there are varying interpretations as to the identity of these two beasts we need to look at them in light of current events today keeping in mind that the Book of Revelation historically applies to three time frames. Firstly, it applies to John’s time. Secondly it can apply to Church History and thirdly it can apply to the last days.
The first beast empire in Revelation 13:1-10 comes up out of the sea.
In the Bible the roaring and the tossing of the sea represents the nations in turmoil. (Luke 21:25) The sea represents; “peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.” (Revelation 17:15) There is no doubt this tossing of the nations in the storm of anxiety with no one really knowing the way out, is very evident today in our world especially as we see nations once again starting to exercise their military muscles on the international scene. There is no doubt that the major players in this global scenario are Japan, China, Russia, America, Turkey and Iran. Today the empire that is rising up out of the tumultuous tossing sea of nations is the empire of Islam. This was the empire known as the Turkish Ottoman Empire that toppled the last Bastian of the Eastern leg of the Roman Empire. The Ottoman Turks were the fourth beast empire mentioned in the Book of Daniel that could not assimilate with any of the previous empires before it namely Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. It crushed and devoured and trampled down everything in its path (Daniel 7:19).
The apostle John tells us that this first beast empire had received a seemingly mortal wound but its wound had been healed. (Revelation 13:3) In 1917 at the end of WW1 the allies defeated the Ottoman Turks and the caliphate was abolished in 1924 after several hundred years of dominating the Middle-East. Today the beast is being revived once again. Its deadly wound, that seemed to be mortal, has been healed and we see the immergence of the Empire of Islam once again with a revived Turkish Ottoman Caliphate with a global agenda in line with the creed and ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood. If President Erdogan has his way in the Muslim world at large then the Turkish Ottoman Empire will be resurrected from the dead.
The second beast empire in Revelation 13:11-18 comes up out of the earth.
This points to a resurrection of the first beast empire and its allegiance is to the first beast empire because they are the one and the same empire. (Revelation 13:12-17) I am persuaded that the Turkish Ottoman Empire will arise again and that the man of sin will arise from Turkey. (Revelation 2:12-13) It may well prove that President Erdogan is the man of sin or someone waiting in the wings in Turkey but President Erdogan is not going to go away anytime soon and it is crystal clear that his agenda is to destroy Israel and the Jewish people and liberate Jerusalem for the Palestinian Arabs. If he could achieve this then the whole Muslim world would follow him as their Caliph.
This resurrected Turkish Ottoman Empire would surpass any previous Islamic empire before it including that of Suleiman, popularly known as “the Magnificent” or “the Lawmaker.” The Ottoman Empire reached the zenith of its military and political power. Suleiman’s armies conquered Hungary, over which the Ottomans maintained control for over 150 years, and they advanced as far west as Vienna, threatening the Habsburgs. To the east, the Ottoman forces wrested control of Iraq from the Safavids of Iran. In the Mediterranean, their navy captured all the principal North African ports, and for a time the Ottoman fleet completely dominated the sea. By the end of Suleiman’s reign, Ottoman hegemony extended over a great portion of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Erdogan wants an empire greater in glory and power than the one established by Suleiman the Magnificent and chances are he may will achieve it and capture the hearts and minds of the whole Muslim world.
Erdogan’s ‘passion’ to liberate Jerusalem for the Arabs is still the main agenda on his radar big time and if he can achieve this then he would virtually be worshipped throughout the entire Islamic world and this would see the Caliphate reborn. There is no doubt that the Turkish armed forces now in Syria will eventually overthrow the Assad regime so that Turkey and Iran can have complete control of Syria, Iraq and Lebanon and rally other Islamic countries to their cause such as Pakistan and the Turkic speaking southern states that were previously part of the former Soviet Union which are all Islamic today. Turkey and Iran’s agenda is to take back the Golan Heights so that they can invade Israel. The only obstacle to a revived Turkish Ottoman Empire in the Middle-east region is the Assad regime backed by Russia.
Historically for a span of roughly 350 years the Russians and the Turks fought each other in contests for imperial dominance over the Balkans, the Black Sea, the Caucasus, and the straits of the Bosporus and Dardanelles. Turkey is aware of the Russians backing the Syrian regime but this will change when the Assad regime falls to Turkey and Russia stays her hand from retaliation against Turkey. At present Turkey is doing a deal with Russia over the S-400 advanced Russian-made air defence system but it is strictly a business deal. Once Turkey has this missile system in place it made turn out to be a different story in the end between Turkey and Russia’s relationship. As in all matters related to biblical prophecy time will tell.
Now according to Ezekiel chapter 38 Turkey will lead the invasion of Israel by the armies of Islam and will also be joined by many nations. (Ezekiel 38: 1-6) All the Islamic world needs is their prophesied Mahdi to lead Islam in a great Jihad of global proportions. When you look at the two crossed swords emblem on Islamic flags and banners they are pointed upwards signifying conquest and that by the sword which is the thrust of Islamic theology and the creed of the Muslim Brotherhood and the pattern of Islam from the time of Mohammad. It seems that the first beast empire of revelation chapter thirteen has been resurrected in the second beast empire and is well on the way towards a Jihad against Israel, America and the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates, a war like nothing has ever happened before. This war will see a 200 million man army sweep across the River Euphrates. It will be a war that will draw into its mesh other nations and the devastation wrought will see a third of mankind wiped out. (Daniel 11:36-45) (Revelation 9:13-21)
In the light of history and scripture I am persuaded that the two beast empires of Revelation chapter thirteen are in reality the one and the same Islamic empire resurrected and being re-established in the world today. It is a global beast empire springing up even within many nations. Islam is entrenched in almost every nation today. “The beast wounded by the sword yet lives.” It is ‘a Trojan Horse’ within the western democracies. It is interesting that virtually all of the nations and geographical regions mentioned in Bible prophecy are all Islamic today. The demise of this resurrected beast empire and its leader will only come about at the hands of the Messiah when He comes back. Their power will be broken but not by human agency. (Daniel 2:32-35; 44-45; 11:45)
