“‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells” (Revelation 2:13).
Have you ever thought about why the Lord Jesus wrote personally to seven assemblies all located in Turkey? Geographically Turkey is the bridging link between the continent of Europe and the whole of the Middle East. We are told two things about Pergamum in the time of John related directly to Satan himself. Satan is described as being the one whose throne of authority is centred in Pergamum and that it is the city where he lives.
We know that the Pergamum Altar to Zeus was located in that city and that Zeus was the chief deity over all of the other deities of the Greco Roman world. We also know from Deuteronomy that the worship of idols is in fact the worship of demons (Deuteronomy 32:16-17). Behind Zeus lurked Satan and behind the deities lay the fallen spirit-beings subservient to Satan.
All of the seven assemblies existed in John’s day. However, they also have a prophetic perspective. Prophetically in the light of history and the Word of God Turkey will be the main player in world affairs in the last days. Pergamum was the city where Caesar Augustus had himself deified and was the one who primarily kick-started Emperor worship in the Roman Empire.
Today we see Recep Tayyip Erdoğan positioning Turkey to become an empire of global proportions and greater in opulence and splendour than when the former Turkish Ottoman Empire was at its zenith of power in past history; an empire that waged war against Christendom which found itself hard-pressed to stop the flood-tide of Islam swirling through much of Europe. Many Bible prophecy teachers are looking at Europe for the rise of the Antichrist and many undoubtedly see in Russia’s military manoeuvres a foretaste of the Ezekiel 38 invasion they say will be led by Russia. But are they correct? Will the Antichrist arise in Europe or in the Middle-East?
When you look at virtually all of the nations and geographical regions in the Bible related to prophecy they are all specifically named and today they are all Islamic. While all eyes at present are on Russia, behind the scenes the man from Turkey is plotting and planning to resurrect the Ottoman Empire.
At Pergamum we see direct confrontation between Satan and the assembly of New Covenant Believers and that they were staying faithful to the Lord Jesus and also that Antipas is mentioned as the faithful witness and martyr who was killed in that city where Satan lived and had his throne. Prophetically it would seem that the blessed Holy Spirit is telling the end-time Body of the Messiah corporately that they will have to face the Antichrist and his beast empire and that many New Covenant believers will be killed for their faith in the Lord Jesus as Antipas was killed because they will refuse to deny the name of the Lord Jesus. In other studies and posts we have looked at the role of Turkey in the last days and that Turkey will lead the armies to invade Israel and occupy Jerusalem.
The man from Turkey has not changed his real attitude towards Israel nor to the non-Islamic nations and neither does he have any regard for Christianity. Let’s look at some more facts about the man from Turkey.
1. The man from Turkey wants to Reshape Turkey through Islamic schools.
Back in 2018 according to a report in Reuters Erdoğan said one of his goals was to forge a “pious generation” in predominantly Muslim Turkey “that would work for the construction of a new civilisation.” His more recent speeches at that time emphasised Turkey’s Ottoman history and domestic achievements over Western ideas and influences. Erdoğan’s drive was to put religion at the heart of national life after decades of secular dominance and to establish a government programme to pump billions of dollars into religious education. Teaching the next generation about the value of Jews and Christians was not even on Erdogan’s radar. Also no way would he ever have revealed in the schools and educational institutions the Armenian Genocide which was one of the most infamous acts of the Turkish Ottoman Empire.
2. The man from Turkey wants Nuclear Weapons.
Back in October 2019 in the online publication of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Erdoğan, wanted more than control over a wide swath of Syria along his country’s border. He said at that time he wanted the Bomb. In the weeks leading up to his order to launch the military across the border to clear Kurdish areas, the man from Turkey made no secret of his larger ambition. “Some countries have missiles with nuclear warheads,” he told a meeting of his governing party in September of that same year. But the West insists “we can’t have them,” he said. “This, I cannot accept.” At present Turkey has no nuclear bomb as such but it is making moves in that direction seeking to modernise its military, air force and naval infrastructure.
3. The man from Turkey does not want Christianity to flourish in Turkey.
In April last year in a Newsweek report online it was reported that Christianity once flourished in Turkey, until the Ottoman Empire’s 1915 genocide of Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks and other Christians occurred. Now the Islamist regime of the man from Turkey and his neo-Ottoman agenda has magnified Turkey’s anti-Christian hostility. Since a failed coup attempt in 2016, the regime intensified its scapegoating of Christians, while occasionally making deceptively amiable gestures toward them.
In July 2020, Erdoğan officially declared that Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia would once again become a mosque. Erdoğan announced that this would gratify “the spirit of conquest” of Mehmet II, the Ottoman sultan who captured Constantinople from the Christian Byzantines in 1453, and turned the church of Hagia Sophia into a mosque. That, and the transformation of Istanbul’s Chora Church of the Holy Saviour, merged into a swelling stream of Turkish Christian churches being confiscated, shuttered, torn down, or converted into mosques.
The act of sacrilege for the Eastern Orthodox Christendom occurred when Erdoğan sat in the Hagia Sofia and led the prayers in the Church that had been converted into a Mosque. This foreshadowed what the Antichrist will do when he sits in God’s Temple at Jerusalem and proclaims himself to be God incarnate (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4) (Daniel 11:36).
4. The man from Turkey has said that Jerusalem belongs to the Turks.
Almost two years ago on October 3rd 2020 it was reported in the news media that he opened the Turkish parliament’s legislative session with a long speech that addressed the city of Jerusalem and the Arabs in Israel in which he stated: “Jerusalem is our city.” Erdoğan was referring to the Ottoman Empire’s rule over Jerusalem, which lasted four centuries (1517-1917), to justify his claim. He also stated at the time “In this city, which we had to leave in tears during the First World War, it is still possible to come across traces of the Ottoman resistance. So Jerusalem is our city, a city from us,” he said.
Erdoğan mentioned that Jerusalem’s walls that still stand today, as well as the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem’s Old City, were reconstructed and restored by Suleiman the Magnificent, who reigned over the Ottoman Empire from 1520 until his death in 1566. “The issue of Jerusalem is not an ordinary geopolitical problem for us,” Erdoğan said. “First of all, the current appearance of the Old City, which is the heart of Jerusalem, was built by Suleiman the Magnificent, with its walls, bazaar, and many buildings. Our ancestors showed their respect for centuries by keeping this city in high esteem.”
5. The man from Turkey now wants reconciliation with Israel?
Now we see the man from Turkey supposedly “singing a different song!” Last week in the online publication of Aljazeera a headline and sub-header read; Israel and Turkey hail new era in relations, but divisions remain. The countries agree to rebuild their relationship after years of tensions, as Isaac Herzog became the first Israeli president to visit Turkey in 14 years. Appearing before cameras following the talks, Erdoğan described Israeli president’s visit as “historic” and “a turning point” in Turkish-Israeli relations.
He said Turkey was ready to cooperate with Israel in the energy sector, adding that the Turkish foreign and energy ministers would soon visit Israel for more talks on increased cooperation. “Our common goal is to revitalise political dialogue between our countries based on common interests and respect for mutual sensitivities,” Erdoğan said. Both leaders conceded, however, that differences remain — not least on the issue of the Palestinians.
There is no doubt that Babylon is rising, not the original Babylonian empire, but the ‘Babylonian’ empire of Islam which has its religious roots in the original Babylon of Nimrod. The crescent moon and the star seen on the Turkish flag and on other Islamic flags and banners are symbols of Nimrod and his wife of whom it has been said was also his mother. Islam itself is the ideology of the sword and the crossed scimitars pointing upwards signify conquest by the sword, a tenant of the Muslim Brotherhood’s creed which Erdoğan agrees with and will seek to emulate when he has the upper hand to do so. Undoubtedly he is a past master at the art of taqiyyah, the Islamic art of giving disinformation to and protecting oneself from an enemy in a time of Jihad. Muslims will show subservience outwardly until they have the upper hand and then suddenly strike with the swiftness of a deadly adder.
The leaders of Israel should know better than to even deal with the man from Turkey who has not changed his attitude towards the Jewish people and his desires to have Jerusalem for Islam. The crusades in past history affirm this continuous ambition for Muslims. If Erdoğan is the man of sin the time will come when he will set up his throne initially in Turkey with the tentacles of his empire reaching into Europe, the whole Middle-East and into North Africa, not necessarily will he have his throne at Pergamum, but this remains to be seen.
Ultimately the man of sin will make his headquarters at Jerusalem sitting in God’s Temple proclaiming himself to be God and it is there he will meet his demise with no one to help him (Daniel 11:45). In the day when the man of sin rules for three and a half years at the end of this present age there will be many like Antipas who will be faithful witnesses for the Lord Jesus even unto death and receive the crown of life He has promised!
As the Apostle James writes; “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him (James 1:12).
The man of sin and his beast empire are coming, but so is the Messiah our Lord Jesus coming back with great power and splendour and backed by the armies of heaven, the glorified saints and the surviving remnant of Israel. His retribution will be swift and final! (2 Thessalonians 2:8).
The man from Turkey has nailed his colours to the mast where he really stands concerning Israel as well as Christendom, but do the leaders in Israel and the wider international community in the western democracies realise who they might be dealing with? Do those within wider Christendom into ecumenism and interfaith realise what they are dealing with concerning the real nature of Islamic ideology? As we see the Day of the Lord and the end of this age rapidly approaching may we all be ready for that day when it comes!
