To Protect ‘Palestine’?
According to yesterday’s article in the Israel Today online publication a headline read; “ANALYSIS: Muslim Leaders Seek ‘Islamic Army’ to Protect ‘Palestine.’” The article went on to say; “Turkish dictator Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other Muslim leaders want to create an Islamic army to ‘protect’ the Palestinian Arabs after 62 of them died last Monday during attempts to invade Israel from Gaza. Hamas and Islamic Jihad later admitted 53 of those killed during the attempted invasion of southern Israel were members of their terror organizations. Muslim leaders met in Turkey at an emergency gathering of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), during which the Erdogan regime accused Israel of “wilfully murdering” the Palestinian Arabs. Erdogan further escalated his vile rhetoric against Israel by comparing the Jewish State to Nazi Germany. “There is no difference between the atrocity faced by the Jewish people in Europe 75 years ago and the brutality that our Gaza brothers are subjected to,” Erdogan told his Muslim counterparts. “I will say openly and clearly that what Israel is doing is banditry, brutality and state terror,” he added before claiming that the people “who were subjected to all kinds of torture in the concentration camps during World War II are now attacking the Palestinians with methods similar to the Nazis.”
“A physical stance” on Israel?“
Following the OIC summit, the Turkish strongman addressed a huge crowd in the centre of Istanbul and insisted that the Muslim world must take “a physical stance” on Israel.“ The occupation of Jerusalem, the violation of the privacy of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the violation of the rights of the people of Palestine…we declare that we will not accept this,” Erdogan told the crowd, which was waving Palestinian flags along Turkish ones… The hot-headed leader then claimed that he and his country are “targeted” all the time by Israel. The Turkish despot is currently trying to mobilize more moderate Arab Muslim states like Jordan against Israel after relations between Turkey and the Jewish state hit a new low last week.”
That Man from Turkey
It would seem that the Man from Turkey is not only seeking to restore the Turkish Ottoman Empire to far exceed its former glory in becoming a global force for Islam, but also has his heart set on being the first Supreme Caliph of the revived Turkish Ottoman Caliphate. Possibly he sees himself as the prophesied Mahdi of Islam? Such an ambition fits in well with what Daniel tells us about the Antichrist to come. He will be a man of war which fits Islam to a tee and as a hand fits a glove…
Let’s just review some extracts from Daniel chapter 11 regarding the Antichrist’s militant militaristic ambitions…
(Vs 36) “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… (Vs 38) Instead of them, he will honour a god of fortresses… (Vs 39) He will attack the mightiest fortresses with the help of a foreign god and will greatly honour those who acknowledge him… (Vs 40) “At the time of the end the king of the South will engage him in battle, and the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships. He will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood. (Vs 41) He will also invade the Beautiful Land… (Vs 44) But reports from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will set out in a great rage to destroy and annihilate many. (Vs 45) He will pitch his royal tents between the seas at the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.” (From Daniel Chapter 11)
(Vs 36) “He proclaims himself to be God” which mirrors 2 Thessalonians 2:4. A man in the character of Erdogan could easily take accolades and even allow himself to be worshipped by Muslims. Some time ago some leading clerics were starting to give titles to this man from Turkey that could give him ‘deity’ status.
(Vs 38) “He honours a god of fortresses” and Islam exhibits this trait. The foreign god would be Allah, the Mesopotamian Arabic moon-god of war. Islam’s symbol is the crossed swords. It is featured in the insignia of the Muslim Brotherhood, Way back in 2012 Erdogan said; ““The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets, and the faithful our soldiers.” It is clear he still holds this philosophy today more than ever.
(Vs 39) “He greatly acknowledges those who acknowledge him.” It would seem Erdogan is positioning himself to be the military leader of an Islamic army like nothing else seen previously. Undoubtedly he sees himself as the main player in leading the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to set their sights on supposedly ‘liberating’ Israel for the so called ‘Palestinian cause.’
(Vs 40) “He is the last king of the North who will go to war with the King of the South.” This would be a war between Islam and the west. Turkey is North of Israel and when you consider the character of Antiochus Epiphanies who invaded Israel around 165 BC Erdogan well fits the character traits of this previous Seleucid despot.
(Vs 41) “He will invade Israel.” This is the plan of the Antichrist. He will do what Antiochus did in Israel and especially when the Temple is defiled. (Ezekiel 38) (Joel 2:1-11) (Zechariah 12 &14) (Matthew 24:15) (Daniel 7:25; 8:9-12; 12: 7,11-12)
(Vs 44) “He will be alarmed by reports from the east and the north”. East of Turkey is Red China and north of Turkey is Russia. Many will be destroyed by this man and he will seek to annihilate many. John saw a 200 million strong Middle-Eastern army that will destroy a third of mankind coming across the dried up Euphrates River. (Revelation 9:14-19; 15:12-16) If you take Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and the Islamic Turkic speaking southern states that were originally part of the Soviet Union an Islamic army a 200 million army of militant Muslims could be fielded. John describes them as the Kings of the east. Not one king but ‘kings’ being more than one. In other words it would be a Middle-eastern coalition of nations.
(Vs 45) “He will make his headquarters in Jerusalem” for three and a half years and come to his end in Israel.
“Banditry, Brutality and State Terror?”
We can ask ourselves the question “is Erdogan the antichrist?” Time will tell, as in all matters pertaining to Biblical prophecy, but ‘the Man from Turkey’ certainly fits the bill scripturally. (Revelation 2:13) We will just wait and see but is the ‘emergency’ meeting of the OIC a foreshadow of Ezekiel 38? Keeping this in mind we must not discount the Psalm 83 war which may well be prophetic, a war that would see Israel defeat its immediate Islamic neighbours. The Man from Turkey may spew out violent and militant rhetoric while pointing the finger at Israel and calling them a regime of “banditry, brutality and state terror” but in finger pointing there are three fingers pointing back at himself.
Still here.
P.S Some Christians may think that identifying the Antichrist will not be an issue for the Church because it will have been raptured out before the Antichrist comes. However, no such thinking was in Paul’s writing. According to 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 Paul writes that faithful belivers will not be gathered to meet the Lord Jesus in the air until they know who the man of sin (Antichrist) is. If this was not the case then who was Paul writing to if the faithful Church was no longer to be here on earth? I guess he did not have access to a ‘left-behind’ money-making franchise of books and videos.
