(Daniel 8:23b-24a) “A king will arise, Insolent (stern-faced) and skilled in intrigue (ambiguous speech and one who understands dark sentences). “His power will be mighty, but not by his own power”

According to the online publication Gatestone Institute on Thursday a headline read; “Turkey: Erdoğan’s Hoax Charm Offensive.” According to the report it states… The Turkish lira has lost more than half its value against major Western currencies in just the past three months. “The problem with the narrative is there is no evidence Ankara wants better ties or is willing to do anything in which Israel benefits… Ankara thus wants ‘reconciliation’ without actually doing anything… Erdoğan’s charm offensive to win hearts and minds in Washington, however, is not limited to changing his aggressive course against Israel or unfriendly Gulf states. U.S. President Joe Biden has persistently encouraged Turkey to normalize diplomatic relations with Armenia….

What is the hoax here? Erdoğan’s move to pretend that Turkey is now taking steps for normalization is fake. He will start a process that he intends never to complete just in case other efforts might have gone unnoticed in Washington. The ailing Turkish economy is forcing Erdoğan to reconcile with adversaries, and reconciliation means these adversaries will demand that Erdoğan stop supporting Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. That will be the case “in the short-term.” At the first opportunity, however, Erdoğan will abandon the reconciliation and resume his support for these terrorist groups.

Erdoğan’s pragmatist-self has only appeared after 12 or so years, as he prepares to fight for his political survival in the 2023 elections. If he feels Gulf money and some kind of U.S. political support has bolstered the Turkish economy sufficiently for him to win in 2023, he will take off his reconciliatory mask and put his usual Islamist shirt back on.”

In Daniel Chapter 8: 23b-24a we are told several things about the character of the man of sin also called Antichrist…

#1. He will be a king over a vast empire.

He will have a kingdom over which he rules. This kingdom will be a widespread kingdom of global proportions but will have fixed borders or boundaries to his empire, as vast as it will be. Within the realm of his kingdom or empire he will have absolute authority over all of his subjects and enforce his will throughout his kingdom. He will also seek to be worshipped and have total allegiance of his subjects to the ideology and laws of his government which he will enforce with tyrannical totalitarianism.

Prophetically speaking in the Bible the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar was a major type of the future Antichrist. He made an image of gold and demanded everyone within the boundaries of his empire worship it on pain of death. We are told that he “made a decree and commanded, peoples, nations, and languages, that when they heard the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, that they must fall down and worship the gold image that the King had set up; and that whoever did not fall down and worship would be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.” (Daniel 2:4-6). The “peoples, nations and languages” were not referring to every nation on earth but only to those differing nationalities already living within the boundaries of the Babylonian Empire.

Now in the Book of Revelation Chapter 13 we read concerning the Antichrist and his beast empire that “the whole world was astonished and followed the beast” (Vs. 3b) and again we are told that “he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation and that all of the inhabitants of the earth will worship him and obey the dictates of his empire” (Vs.8a). In the Greek text the same word for “world” and “earth” is used. The Greek word can apply to the earth or to the world but can also apply to a world or earthly kingdom with fixed boundaries or borders. In other words the Antichrist will not have absolute power over everyone in the world.

God has never in the past and never will in the future give the whole world into the hands of any man and neither will he give it to the man of sin also called Antichrist even though this man’s empire will be so vast and powerful that no empire will be able to equal it on earth at that time (Revelation 13:4b). So then he will be a king over a vast kingdom with fixed boundaries which will have been set in place by God (Acts 17:26).

#2. He will be  insolent (stern-faced) and skilled in intrigue (ambiguous speech and one who understands dark sentences).

Several things to notice is that he will be insolent or stern-faced man, a totalitarian tyrant whose insolence is implacable against all who oppose him even though he will be able to project a veneer of compliance and servility with the political leaders of other nations. His skill in intrigue will prove him to be a past master of ambiguous speech which will convey one meaning but having a more hidden and malevolent intention behind his words.

In a time of Jihad a Muslim is permitted by their ‘god’ Allah to give disinformation to the enemy with whom they are waging Jihad against and to even lie to save their life if necessary. This is a feature of a practice called “Kitmān” related to “Taqyyia.” We are also told about the man of sin also called Antichrist that “by peace or pretending to offer peace, he will destroy many” (Daniel 8:25). Another translation of “intrigue” can be of one “who understands dark sentences” (KJV) In other words he will be under occult power and able to persuade and deceive those with whom he is dealing with. This is a typical Islamic practice to show subservience to those who have power over them until they gain the upper hand through subterfuge and then strike out with the rapidity of a poisonous serpent.

#3. “His power will be mighty, but not by his own power.”

Clearly we are told that the man of sin will not only be one under the power of the occult but be one under the direct control of Satan himself. In 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2 in one translation he is called “the son of perdition” (2 Thessalonians 2:3) (KJV) The only other person given this title in the Bible was Judas Iscariot of whom we read “Satan entered him” when Judas went out into the night to betray the Lord Jesus (John 13:27; 17:12). We are also told all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders will precede the coming of the man of sin (2 Thessalonians 2:9). The apostasy within wider Christendom will pave the way for Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2:3).

We are also told in 2nd Thessalonians that he will sit in God’s temple and proclaim himself to be God (2 Thessalonians 2:4). We see this same man in Daniel 11:36-38 where he exults himself above all other ‘gods’ and all that is called ‘god’ and that he is a man of war and his ‘god’ the ‘god’ of fortresses. On almost every Islamic banner and flag you have the crossed scimitars pointing upwards denoting conquest by the sword. Islam is the ideology and empire of the sword of which religion is a component. With the help of his foreign ‘god’ the man of sin also called Antichrist will attack the mightiest of fortresses.

Now while the man from Turkey is seemingly seeking to curry favour with those nations whom he might engage in relation to economic power, it would seem his allegiance to the ideology of Islam is still brooding under the surface of his outward demeanour of seeking peaceful negotiations especially with Israel. The questions remain; “Will the man from Turkey stop supporting Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood? Will he abandon their creed for a global Islamic world? Possibly, at least outwardly, this will seem to be the case “in the short-term” especially if he is the one skilled in intrigue and subterfuge. However, in the long term he will never discard the creed of the Muslim Brotherhood which he adheres to that states; “Allah is our goal, the Prophet is the Model, the Qur’an its constitution, Jihad its path, and death for the sake of Allah its most sublime belief.”

The writer of this article is right on the mark when he says concerning Turkey’s support for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood; “At the first opportunity, however, Erdoğan will abandon the reconciliation and resume his support for these terrorist groups.” One thing we always need to remember is after three and a half years of Tyrannical rule the man of sin also called Antichrist will meet His demise at Jerusalem and that not by human hands! He will come to his end with no one to help him! (Daniel 2:44-45; 7:26; 11:45)