“But reports from the east and the north will alarm him.” (Daniel 11:44)
Today I was reading online about China’s global investments. The Chinese Communist Government is investing in many countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe the Middle east and in Oceania. China has started to flex its military ‘muscles’ in relation to the nations surrounding the South China Sea. We also see China investing in smaller Island countries in the South Pacific region.
What we are seeing in Hong Kong is a picture of China’s true intentions globally. It seems clear that China is on the move with its expansionist agenda to be the No1 global super, economic and military power. It comes at a time when America is inundated with internal conflict, political unrest and working overtime to maintain damage control related to the Coronavirus which undoubtedly came from China. Australia is now moving towards upgrading an expanding its entire armed forces in view of a potential threat from China. There is no doubt the Chinse Communist party want to see Communism spread across the globe.
Russia’s influence across the world is far-reaching and important. Russia might display a foreign policy approach in which it doesn’t appear to want to “interfere” in the domestic affairs of other nations or to see regime change; In January this year in his State of the Nation address, President Vladimir Putin insisted that “we don’t want to impose our point of view on anyone.” Nonetheless, similarly to other superpowers like the U.S. and China, Russia has spread its economic and geopolitical influence by supporting and propping up rulers and regimes, like Syria’s Bashar Assad, or ploughing money into infrastructure projects such as energy infrastructure in Europe and by giving both tacit and overt military and economic support to other states around the world, as seen in Venezuela. It matters where Russia chooses to intervene, invest, “interfere” and even annex because its influence is a direct challenge to the West, or more specifically, the U.S. It is also a way to allay the humiliation of the past, experts say.
The U.S. and China it seems are competing for economic dominance; meanwhile, Russia is asserting its role on the geopolitical stage, where it wants to compete on a par with the U.S. Russia has invested in Europe, and has strong ties with Latin American, countries such as Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba, as well as Brazil and Argentina. Another of Russia’s foreign policy proprieties is to foster closer economic ties with Africa.
Russia has fostered closer ties with India and China which are economic rivals to Russia but cooperative in terms of trade, defence and energy. In the Middle east Russia has cleverly managed it’s relationships with Iran, Saudi Arabia and Syria. For both China and Russia global expansionism and economic sovereignty and military superiority are on the agenda for these super powers. There is no doubt that these nations are also on the move militarily.
Having said this there is another ‘nation’ on the move for world domination and it has no fixed borders but is in almost every country today. It is the empire of Islam that historically toppled the Roman Empire. The Turkish Ottoman Empire was one of the mightiest and longest-lasting dynasties in world history. This Islamic-run superpower ruled large areas of the Middle East, Eastern Europe and North Africa for 600 years up until the start of WW1. Now during the war the Turks fought fiercely and successfully defended the Gallipoli Peninsula against a massive Allied invasion in 1915-1916, but by 1918 defeat by invading British and Russian forces and an Arab revolt had combined to destroy the Ottoman economy and devastate its land, leaving some six million people dead and millions more starving.
The Turkish Ottoman Empire received a seemingly mortal wound at the hands of the British forces under General Allenby that also saw Jerusalem liberated from Turkish Ottoman Rule. Today this beast empire is being resurrected and it would seem its deadly wound healed and its power becoming a global threat. (Revelation Chapter 13) President Erdogan of Turkey is seeking to resurrect the Turkish Ottoman Empire and rally the whole Islamic world to his battle standard.
In the Book of Daniel chapter 11:36-45 we have described the military conquests of the man of sin and his Islamic army. We are told in verse 1 that “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.” (Daniel 11:26) The Apostle Paul also mentions the same man. “He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:4) In Daniel chapter 11:36ff we see the Middle-Eastern military campaign of this man’s armed forces and the countries he invades (Vss.41-43). With the help of his foreign ‘god’ his forces will engage the forces of other nations. His ‘god’ is the god of war and fortresses (Vss.38-40). The emblem of Islam is the crossed swords pointing upwards signifying conquest by the sword which is the main thrust of Islamic ideology. Islam is the religion of the sword.
We are also told concerning this man of sin; “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.44) This end-time Islamic army will be led by Turkey and the man of sin’s ultimate goal will be to occupy Jerusalem, to sit in God’s Temple to proclaim himself God and to be worshipped because Satan will be living in him. The man of sin will be entirely frustrated in his military campaign as God will use the armies of other nations to resist him. In a fit of rage he will seek to annihilate many but his efforts will be futile. It is at Jerusalem he will be captured and his army annihilated on the mountains of Israel. (Daniel 11:45) (Ezekiel 38:1-6) (Zechariah 12:2-5; 14:12-13) (Revelation 19:17-21)
Now we are told “But reports from the east and the north will alarm him.” What two nations are east and north of Turkey today that have the capacity to resist its military expansionism? Well, east of Turkey is China and north of Turkey is Russia. I would like to suggest that it will be these two super powers that will threaten Turkey and its Islamic army as it makes its way across the dried up Euphrates River and heads towards Jerusalem. It will be a demonically controlled Islamic army of 200 million mobile armoured vehicles. (Revelation 9:13-19; 15:12-14)
At the centre of this conflict will be Israel. God will have engineered this conflict centred in the Middle-East for five reasons; Firstly; to bring Israel as a nation back to Himself and secondly to judge a rebellious and unbelieving and unrepentant world. Thirdly; to give the unsaved people one last chance to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus whose atoning blood has been shed for their sin. Fourthly; to spiritually purify the Church and fifthly; to show the nations of the world who is the real KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS and the ruler over the kings of the earth. (Revelation 19:16) (Revelation 1:5)
Ultimately at the siege of Jerusalem after three and a half years of its occupation, God will actually bring the armies of all the nations that have gathered against Israel and persecuted His saints into “the valley of decision” and there He will enter into judgement with them there. (Joel 3:1-3) When the final dust of battle settles on the mountains of Israel and on the plain of Megiddo the only commander left standing on the battle field will be the Messiah our Lord Jesus, the armies of heaven, the remnant of Israel and the glorified saints of the Most High God. It will be at that time that the saints inherit the Kingdom. (Daniel 7:18, 22, 27)
Kingdom Dominion is coming for the saints of God but only after the Lord Jesus has come back, destroyed all of His enemies who have rebelled against Him and have persecuted and afflicted His people. (2 Thessalonians 1:4-9) Yes the man of sin and his army will be resisted, scripture is clear. (Ezekiel 28:6-10) (Micah 5:5-6) “Reports from the east and the north will alarm him” and I am persuaded these will be the armies of China and Russia heading towards Jerusalem as an economic power grab for the natural gas and oil resources that will have made the Jewish nation a leading economic power globally. (Ezekiel 38:7-12)
The fact that there are reports from the east (China) and the north (Russia) will frustrate the man of sin. The only thing that will ultimately terminate his rage against God and his reign at Jerusalem will be his total defeat at the hands of the Messiah and the armies of heaven. (Isaiah 63:1-6) (Revelation 19: 11-21) The Messiah will deal decisively with this man of sin that had presumed to sit as God in God’s temple demanding to be worshipped as God. (Daniel 11:45)
