“He will also invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood. He will also invade the Beautiful Land” (Daniel 11:40b-41a)”
According to an online article just over a week ago it was reported; “In Syria, the United States, Turkey, and even in Russia, fears are mounting that Turkey could launch a full-scale military operation on its embattled neighbour at any moment. On Nov. 27, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar told military commanders on the Iraqi border that Turkey was ready to “complete the tasks” of his government’s operation against the People’s Defence Units (YPG) in Syria, indicating Turkey’s readiness to launch a ground offensive in Syria. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan himself said his forces would “come down hard on the terrorists from land at the most convenient time,” reiterating his conviction to building a “security corridor” in Syria along the Turkish border—something he specifically mentioned in a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month.
Tensions turned to escalation on Nov. 13 when a bombing on Istanbul’s Istiklal Street, a popular shopping area, killed six people and reportedly injured 81 individuals. The Turkish government blamed the bombing on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group and live streamed the arrest of the Syrian woman responsible for the attack; the PKK, for its part, denied involvement in the bombing. One week later, Turkey launched Operation Claw-Sword, a series of missile attacks on Kurdish bases across northern Syria and Iraq. The following week saw violent retaliation from both sides that killed dozens of people. On Nov. 23, Erdogan described Turkey’s strikes on Kurdish targets as “just the beginning” of a larger operation, suggesting that a full-scale invasion of Syria could be imminent. “(End of extract)
The Kurdish people have always been a spanner in the works for Turkey in that the geographical region of Kurdistan overlaps the borders of Syria, Iraq and Iran and borders Turkey. Behind the ongoing conflict that Turkey has with the Kurds is Erdogan’s desire to control that whole Middle-Eastern region and he most definitely has the whole of Syria in view with the intention of extending his vision for a resurrected Ottoman Empire.
Now Assad is a problem for Erdogan in that Assad still has his independent regime in Syria over which he rules with a tight grip and is still a deterrent to Turkish domination in Syria. Although Iran is fighting a proxy war against Israel from Iranian forces stationed in Syria, the Iranian regime would join Turkey if Syria came under Turkish control because of Iran and Turkey’s common hatred of Israel and that an attack on Israel would be possible over the Golan Heights by a sheer weight of numbers.
In Daniel Chapter 11 we are told that this military minded man Daniel describes will be the last king of the north. Like Antiochus Epiphanes the Seleucid Greek commander and despot who came out of Syria in past history, this last king of the north coming out of Syria will wage a final war with the last king of the south located in Egypt. This commander from the north, like Antiochus Epiphanes, will do as he pleases and exult himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods…He will not regard any God but will exult himself above them all. He will honour a god of fortresses…He will attack the mightiest of fortresses with the help of his foreign god honouring those who acknowledge him making them rulers over many people and distributing land for a price (Daniel 11:36-40).
The character of this man will be the same as the character of Antiochus Epiphanies whose name meant “god manifest” who came out of Syria with a vast army and on his way to fight Egypt he also invaded Israel. He took the shortest route from Syria to Egypt which included passing through Israel.
We are also told in Daniel Chapter 11 that many countries will fall to the military might of this last king of the north but also that the Arabs living in Edom (southern Jordan), Moab (central Jordan) and Ammon (northern Jordan) will support him and so escape his wrath. We are also told he will amass great wealth from Egypt, Libya and the Sudan (Daniel 11: 41-43). He will also be alarmed at reports from the east and the north and in a great fit of rage up the ante on his military conquests to maintain his hold over his the territories he has conquered including Israel (Daniel 11:44).
If Erdogan is this king who exults himself above all other gods his ultimate goal will be to set up his headquarters at Jerusalem and there defile the temple with an image of himself and his beast empire, stop the sacrifices, forbid the reading of Torah and kill all who will not bow down to him to receive worship as god in the rebuilt Jewish temple structure. This man and his character described in Daniel Chapter 11:36 mirrors the character of the man of sin we see described in 2 Thessalonians 2:4. They are describing the one and the same man.
In Daniel Chapter 11 between verse 35 and verse 36 there is a time leap in the original text and a switch in focus from Antiochus’ rule and military conquests in past history to the military conquests of this last king of the north at the end of this present age. Like Antiochus this man of sin will come out of Syria and with the help of his foreign god (Allah) attack the mightiest of fortresses and invade Israel, and there, after he has made his headquarters at Jerusalem, meet his total demise and that of his armed forces, not by human hands, but by the Lord Jesus Himself at the command coming forth from His mouth (Daniel 11:45) (2 Thessalonians 2:8).
This final defeat is elsewhere described in both Testaments when this Islamic antichrist from Turkey and his armies will be swept into the winepress of the wrath of God when the Messiah returns to earth at His Second Coming (Joel 3:13) (Ezekiel 38:14-23; 39:1-6) (Isaiah 63:1-6) (Joel 3:2:20) (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10; 2:8) (Revelation 14:17-20; 19:11-16). These texts are all linked.
There is no doubt that the man from Turkey is on a mission to establish the last and final Ottoman Caliphate. The first beast empire of Islam has been resurrected from the dead in the second beast empire John describes in Revelation Chapter 13. The first beast empire receives a seemingly deadly wound but its wound is healed and it comes to life again in the second beast empire. (Revelation 13:11-13). Both beast empires represent the one and the same Islamic empire.
Islam is well entrenched in every western democracy today. America, Great Britain, Europe and spreading like gangrene across Africa. The Islamic Trojan Horse in the western democracies will open the flood gates for the invasion of the west by Islam. The invasion has already started through immigration and today throughout Europe and the UK there are more Mosques being built than churches. China and Russia are flexing their military might on the international scene. China is east of Turkey and Russia is north of Turkey and these two nations will never submit to Islam and in the future they will threaten the resurrected Islamic Ottoman Empire of Turkey. (Daniel 11:44).
The main war that will see a third of mankind perish by fire power unprecedented in past history and surpassing even that of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, will be in the Middle east when the Islamic armies of the Antichrist assemble at the Euphrates river to wreak murder and mayhem on all who oppose them. Only combined Islamic nations could produce a 200 million strong army. I would like to suggest that the four angels or principalities that have been bound at the River Euphrates would be the fallen spiritual entities or principalities controlling Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria (Revelation 9:13-19) It will be God’s judgement on a Messiah hating, Messiah rejecting world that has turned away from God, spurned His Word, persecuted His saints and had the audacity to play at being God! (Revelation 9:20-21).
After God has used these armies to fulfil His purposes He will destroy them all and they will all go down into the pit in wholesale lots. These will be Islamic armies. They are mentioned by name in the Bible (Ezekiel 7-32) See also (Joel 2:18-20). When the dust of battle settles the Messiah our Lord Jesus, the King of Israel and of the Jews will reign supreme over the surviving nations as He co-reigns with His bride, being the raptured and resurrected saints of all the ages. In that day on earth there will only be one flock under one shepherd (John 10:16). Together the shepherd and his flock will co-rule the surviving nations with a rod of iron (Revelation 2:27; 12:5).
To encourage us all as God’s elect saints at this time let’s keep in mind what the Lord Jesus said to us as His bride. He told us that when we see ‘the birth pains’ of wars, famines, pestilence, earthquakes, apostasy, spiritual deception and society within nations spiralling out of control and beginning to escalate in frequency and intensity not to focus on the contractions, but to focus on ‘the birth’ of the coming kingdom of God .
He told us not to be alarmed but to stand up straight and not to buckle over at the knees in fear, but to lift up our heads heavenwards with expectancy because our complete redemption and deliverance out of this present evil age is about to come! He also told us to not be enslaved to the things of this world and weighed down by the anxieties of this world’s lifestyles, pleasures, ambitions and pursuits, but to stay watchful and prayerful that we might escape the wrath coming upon the world. (Luke 21:25-28, 34-36).
As the author of Hebrews writes; “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For, “In just a little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay.” And, “But My righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved” (Hebrews 10:35-39).
Always remember dear brothers and sisters that no matter what will happen we need to keep walking by faith in the Triune God and through that faith we will be pleasing children of God and be richly rewarded by Him (Hebrews 11:6).
As the Lord Jesus has said, “Let the unrighteous continue to be unrighteous, and the vile continue to be vile; let the righteous continue to practice righteousness, and the holy continue to be holy.” “Behold, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me, to give to each one according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (Revelation 22:11-13).
As the author of Hebrews writes, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (Hebrews 12:2-3).
The Lord Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith, and the spiritual work He has started in us He fully intends to finish, and He will bring it to completion on the day He returns for His bride, because she will have made herself ready for Him (Philippians 1:6) (Revelation 19:7-8).
As it has been said “It is not how we start, but how we finish that counts!”