According to a report in reputable online news publication it stated that on Saturday (Oct 28 2023) Addressing a pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made an impassioned speech to thousands of his supporters that “Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip was a product of the West, adding that Israel could not take any steps without its support.,” He called Israel an “occupier and invader.” He also said; “Our hearts are wrenching for what is happening in Gaza,” also adding; “Gaza was an inseparable part of our homeland in the past,” he then stated that Turkey would never allow another Gaza catastrophe.
The Turkish President further sharpened his attack on the West by saying that Western countries were trying to legitimise the murders of women and children. He also called Israel a war criminal when he said; “We will introduce Israel as a war criminal. But Western leaders are not responding- not even calling for a ceasefire. I want to ask how many women, how many children are to die further,” he said at the rally. Erdogan called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a terrorist and that Hamas was not a terrorist outfit.
Earlier last week Erdogan had condemned Israeli civilian deaths caused by Hamas’s October 7 rampage through southern Israel, but this week called the militant group “Palestinian freedom fighters”. He also criticised some Western nations’ unconditional support for Jerusalem, drawing sharp rebukes from Italy and Israel. Erdogan said during a speech at the presidential palace last Thursday; “All the Western countries are giving unconditional support to the attacks rather than calling Israel to return to common sense as if they have agreed to say the same thing.”
Watching the man from Turkey speaking to the huge crowd was just like watching the black and white footage of Adolph Hitler addressing the German masses at the Nazi rallies held in Berlin and in other parts of Germany prior to WW2 where it was clear that Hitler had it in for the Jewish people big time! The same vitriol, the bitterly harsh or caustic language or criticism levelled at Israel by Adolph Hitler was being repeated by the President of Turkey at the Istanbul rally last Saturday.
Now in the Book of Daniel we are told about the coming Antichrist. We are told that this “little horn” starts from obscurity but grows in power spreading out to the south and to the east and toward the Holy land, being Israel (Daniel 8:9). When you look at the rise of Adolph Hitler he came out of obscurity into the world of German politics. He managed to fool the Prime Minister of England Neville Chamberlain who came back from Germany waving a note signed by the German Fuhrer that he would not start a war. Chamberlain declared to the press; “Peace in our time!” Soon after that Hitler kick started WW2 when he invaded Poland. Throughout the 1930’s, Winston Churchill spoke out concerning German rearmament, Britain’s lack of comparable military strength, and Adolf Hitler. The rest of course is history.
While the primary focus of the mainstream media has been on Israel, Gaza, Hezbollah, Syria, Iran, Russia, and China, we see Erdogan of Turkey calling on the Islamic world to unite against Israel, to distance themselves as Muslims from the western democracies, and that Jerusalem must be liberated from what he and others of his ilk are calling the “occupation of Palestine” by the Jews.
Clearly Erdogan is for war against Israel and has in reality already sided with Hamas in this growing war between Israel and Hamas which is accelerating and expanding as I write this Newsbite. Of course behind his rise to power in the Middle East is his deep desire to see the Resurrection of the Turkish Ottoman Empire of his forebears especially in admiration of the reign of Suleiman I, commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the West and Suleiman the Lawgiver in his realm, the longest-reigning sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1520 until his death in 1566. Under his administration, the Ottoman Empire ruled over at least 25 million people.
Now the prophet Daniel also tells us that this “little horn” rises in power “to reach the hosts of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them” (Daniel 8:10). In both Testaments “stars” represent believers (Genesis 26:4) (Philippians 2:15). In the Book of revelation we see Satan the huge red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven royal crowns on his head and with His tail sweep a third of the stars from the sky, tossing them to the earth (Revelation 12:3-4). Some believe this was the angels that fell with Satan but this may well refer to the final apostasy or falling away from the faith of the majority of professing Christians, because of the increase of wickedness causing their love for God the Father, God the Son and for God the Spirit and for the Word of God to grow cold. Only those who have endured to the end will ultimately be saved! (Matthew 24:10-13). The apostasy will pave the way for the revealing of the Antichrist also called the man of sin or the son of perdition (2 Thessalonians 2: 3-4).
While persecution continues unabated in China, Russia, North Korea and I might add is also coming to the western democracies, it is Islam that is persecuting the saints of the Most High God today in every Muslim country, a persecution that will mark the beast empire of the Antichrist for three and a half years at the end of this present age (Daniel 12:7b) (Revelation 13:5-7). The target of this persecution will be Jews and Christians who have refused to comply with the dictates of the beast empire of the Antichrist.
This is what happened when Antiochus invaded Israel around 160 years before the birth of the Messiah our Lord Jesus (Daniel 11: 33-35). Antiochus was a major type of the end-time Antichrist to come. What Antiochus did in Israel, the Antichrist will also do when he invades the Holy Land, however his defeat and demise will also come at Jerusalem (Daniel 11:45). Daniel also tells us that the Antichrist will set himself up to be “as great as the Prince of the Host” being the Messiah, the head of His Body the faithful Israel of God (Daniel 11:36-37) (2 Thessalonians 2:4). Like Antiochus Epiphanies did, whose name meant “god manifest,” the Antichrist will stop the temple sacrifices in Jerusalem and desecrate the temple in Jerusalem as Antiochus did and oppress the saints and seek to change Jewish laws and customs (Daniel 8:11-12) (Daniel 7:21, 25).
Having said this we see how things will end. In Daniel 7:8-13 we see what happens to this “little horn” that “has the eyes of a man and a mouth that speaks boastfully.” We are told that “thrones were set in place” in God’s Law court in heaven. The thrones were put into place for the judges, and the major throne, greater than of the other thrones, was also set in place at the centre of the other thrones and the court was now in session.
The Ancient of Days, the eternal Son of God who is the fullness of God, and one with God, and who is God, took His seat on the central throne surrounded by His Heavenly Council. His brilliance and glory was brighter than the sun shining in its full strength and thousands upon thousands attended Him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him ready to do His bidding. The court was now seated and the books were opened and judgement pronounced in favour of the Most High Saints who will co-reign with the Messiah in the Messianic Kingdom in the age to come (Daniel 7:21-22, 26-27) (Revelation 20:11-15).
The Ancient of Days, the Triune God with the Lamb at the centre of the throne was the same one Ezekiel and the apostle John saw in their vision of the Ancient of Days (Ezekiel 1:26-28) (Revelation 1:8-18; Chapters 4 & 5). Daniel also tells us that once the thrones in Heaven’s law court have been set in place and the Ancient of Days seated with his heavenly council of judges that “the little horn” the Antichrist will be slain before the judges and its body destroyed and thrown into the lake of fire. The other beast empires remained for a while, stripped of their authority and allowed to exist for a time to await their final sentencing (Daniel 7:11-12) (Revelation 19:19-21) (Isaiah 14:1-12).
The man from Turkey it would seem is seeking to rally the whole Islamic world to follow him as the Supreme caliph of the Islamic world. Conquering Jerusalem for Islam would elevate him to prominence and power in the minds of Muslims around the world and I am sure he is aware of this. If he is “the little horn that grows in power” then the time will come when Satan will enter Him and once this happens we may well see the start of WW3 by which a third of mankind will perish. The current war Israel is fighting at present with Hamas may well be the harbinger of a major conflict to come when the nations of the world will be drawn into this conflict. This was the pattern of WW1 and WW2. History does have a way of repeating itself. It would seem that fallen man has not as yet learnt this lesson! (Revelation 9:13-19; 16:12-16).
Dear brothers and sisters in the Messiah beloved of God and of our Lord Jesus, even though we see the end of days approaching let us by faith see the Lamb that was slain and raised to life forever sitting on the throne with everything in the whole universe under His control. This is the one who is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power, who, when He had made purification of our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:3).
He who because He lives forever, has a permanent priesthood, the one who saves completely those who by faith draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them (Hebrews 7:24-25). If our Triune God through His Son upholds all things in the universe by the Word of His Power, then He most certainly can uphold us day by day in all the changing circumstances of our life and to ultimately keep us in and through that hour of trial that is to come upon the whole world at the end of this present age (Revelation 3:10).
Let us by faith see the thrones being set in place and the Lamb of God taking His seat as the Triune Ancient of Days, and the judgement being pronounced on God’s enemies in favour of the saints of the Most High, who, by the blood of His eternal Son redeemed them for all of eternity and sealed them forever with His Spirit for the day of redemption (Revelation 7:9-17) (Ephesians 4:30).
Once the Antichrist has come to power his reign will be only for three and a half years and then terminated by the Rider on the White Horse, the Word of God Himself with His robe stained with the blood of His enemies, accompanied by His powerful angels and by the redeemed Israel of God also riding on white horses, dressed in white linen bright and clean, a bride who has made herself ready for her husband, the white linen that stands for the righteous acts of the saints! (Isaiah 63:1-6) (Revelation 19:6-8, 11-16).
At the sound of the seventh and last trumpet the heavenly hosts will shout announcing to the whole world that the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and that He will reign forever and ever! (Revelation 11:15) If we are still alive on earth then when we hear that last trumpet blast we will all be changed in the twinkling of an eye and be clothed with immortal bodies that are imperishable and caught up into the air to meet Him at His coming and after that to live with the Ancient of Days forever and ever! (1 Corinthians 15:51-53) (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).
