(Daniel 7: 8) “While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts.”
Right now the nation of Turkey is involved in military conflicts in the Middle-East. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is working hard to resurrect the Turkish Ottoman Empire. It is clear he is positioning himself to be the supreme caliph of the Islamic world. One could say that the man from Turkey is ‘the rising star’ in the arena of Middle-Eastern politics. Turkey’s military involvement in the Middle-East is growing every day. Currently, Turkey finds itself at odds with Egypt, the UAE, the EU and Greece to name a few. The man from Turkey has made his ambition very clear that he wants to be the leader in the Eastern Mediterranean region, in the Middle East and in North Africa. Turkey’s new strategic direction continues to be conducted with arrogance and rhetoric as the man from Turkey envisions Turkey’s role beyond a regional power to a “global one”.
In the Book of Daniel “horns” represent kings or rulers over empires. “Beasts” in Bible Prophecy represent those empires, but can also be applied to the leaders over those empires. More specifically these leaders or kings are also referred to as “horns.” Now in the prophet Daniel we see a little horn that arises out of obscurity. (Daniel 7:8) It starts small but grows in power. (Daniel 8:9) It is clear that the empire of the little horn starts as a regional power but expands to become a global threat to the other non-Islamic nations, a power block we see forming today spearheaded by Erdoğan of Turkey.
The rise of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in many ways mirrors the rise of Adolph Hitler who himself was a past master at speaking about peace and war out of both sides of his mouth. Hitler’s rise to power had its opposition and at times he was blocked and frustrated in his endeavours to promote and establish his 1000 Year Reich and even did some gaol time. However, after eliminating his political rivals and destroying all opposition in German political circles he came to power and started WW2. His ability to get the people of Germany mesmerised by his rhetoric and ideology was not a natural ability but one empowered by a demonic spirit or principality that worked through him. Adolph Hitler arose out of obscurity. He was a failed artist and not a very prominent figure even when he started to arise in German politics.
However, possibly when he was in prison writing Mein Kampf (My struggle or my fight), something happened when a demonic principality empowered him to the point where he could lead the German masses in to a war that would see the death of millions and the systematic extermination of six million Jewish people, men, women and children. It is clear that in his book he was radically anti-Semitic. It is abundantly clear the man from Turkey is another that is coming with the same character traits that marked the character and rise of Adolph Hitler onto the world’s stage.
If Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is the man of sin then the time will come when Satan will personally enter into him and then the whole world will be plunged into a nightmare far worse than the one that happened in 1939-45. The prophet Daniel and Jeremiah and the Lord Jesus all spoke about this time of tribulation unequalled in past history and never to be equalled again. (Daniel 12:1-2) (Jeremiah 30:4-7) (Matthew 24:21-22). When you consider the nuclear arsenal of the Islamic world the stakes are much higher today than they were in the Second World War. Hitler confronted Europe and Erdoğan will inevitably confront Europe as did his Turkish Ottoman forbears. Already the leaders of the EU are scrambling to deal with the growing tension between Turkey and Greece in the Eastern Mediterranean region.
Now what else are we told in the Bible about this little horn?
#1) The little horn will arise out of a ten nation Middle-Eastern Confederacy of Islamic nations. When he has the power he will uproot three of them but who they are we are not told (Daniel 7:8a). These are also represented by the ten toes on Nebuchadnezzars statue (Daniel 2:42) this confederation of ten Islamic nations will be the ten kings that give their allegiance to the Antichrist and his beast empire. (Revelation 17: 12-13) I would like to propose they will be ten Islamic countries that may well form this coalition and align themselves with Turkey. I would suggest they could be Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. We know from Ezekiel chapter 38 that most definitely Iran, Libya and Sudan will be three of them. (Ezekiel 38:1-6)
#2) The little horn will possess eyes like the eyes of a man and yet have supernatural insight and a mouth that makes great boasts. He will also be one who understands dark sentences, a practitioner of the occult. His wisdom will not be from himself or from God but from Satan himself. (Daniel 7:8b, 11) (Daniel 8:23)
#3) The little horn will be more imposing than the other ten horns or kings (Daniel 7:20). Because he understands dark secrets or sentences and has mesmerising rhetoric he will have supernatural drawing power much the same as Adolph Hitler had. Those Islamic nations under the little horn’s control and governance will follow him as the German populace followed Adolph Hitler.
#4) The little horn’s power will expand towards the south (Egypt) and towards the east (Iran) and towards the beautiful land (Israel). The little horn’s military forces will come out of Syria as Antiochus Epiphanies military forces did in past history, Today Turkey has military forces in Syria but Erdoğan must first overthrow the Assad regime to gain complete control and power in that region of the Middle-East. Saddam Hussein has gone, Muammar Gaddafi has gone and the only one left is Bashar Assad. Once the Assad regime is gone the man from Turkey will have absolute power in the whole region.
The last obstacle to the man from Turkey gaining absolute power in the region is the current crisis with Christian Armenia fighting against Islamic Azerbaijan. Turkey has fighters on the ground in Azerbaijan supporting the Islamic forces fighting against Armenia. Turkey’s past record of the Armenian genocide is well documented. Once Erdoğan has supreme power with all opposition to his leadership removed or subjugated, he will become a threat to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain but more so to Israel.
Any Arab nation that aligns itself with Israel will be targeted by Turkey and its allies. Already we have seen the peace accord signed between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain and with the Saudis likely to join. Iran will most likely take out Mecca whom the Ayatollahs of Iran consider to be the harlot of Islam. (Isaiah 21:1-2) (Revelation 17:16-18) Right now Turkish forces are also fighting in Libya. Added to this, Turkey supports Hamas and Hezbollah in their aggression towards Israel. Erdoğan is also seeking to champion the so called ‘Palestinian’ Arabs in their ambitions to have a Palestinian State. He would like nothing better than to take the Temple Mount for Islam. If he can do this he more than likely will be hailed as the Mahdi throughout the whole of the fundamentalist Islamic world.
Clearly throughout the Middle-East region he is shoring up a revived Turkish Ottoman Empire. Over the past many years he has visited many countries globally. He could be titled “The Globetrotting Caliph.” Earlier this month Erdoğan visited Qatar as they share a common agenda concerning the war in Libya. Whether Qatar seeks to join the peace accord with Israel remains to be seen.
#5) The little horn will oppose the Lord Jesus and persecute faithful Jews and Christians. He will orchestrate this persecution for three and a half years by the Jewish calendar but come to his end in Israel. (Daniel 11:45) While Satan will seek to destroy Israel at this time God will preserve a Jewish remnant. (Daniel 7:21, 25) (Daniel 8:10-12, 24) (Daniel 12:1-6, 13-17) (Revelation 13:7) Already we have seen Erdoğan re-convert the Hagia Sofia Christian Basilica back into a mosque as well as the Church of The Holy Saviour clearly showing his disdain for Christianity.
Now for a time it will seem the man of sin will succeed in his endeavours to eliminate Israel and the faithful Church but he will never succeed. For the sake of God’s elect people and for the survival of the world God will cut those days short much like a swift and sudden cutting off of a dog’s tail with a very sharp sword (The Greek language describes this sudden and swift stroke). (Matthew 24:21-22) While it seems we see the little horn rising with the man from Turkey as he seeks to build and ultimately resurrect the Turkish Ottoman Empire, he will never succeed. At the height of his power this little horn that has grown in power and prominence, will be broken off, not by any human agency, but by the Son of God Himself when He returns to set up His Messianic kingdom on earth. (Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45) (Daniel 7:22, 26)
Indeed Paul writes about this in his second letter to the Assembly of believers at Thessalonica who were suffering severe persecution. He writes; “For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marvelled at among all who have believed -for our testimony to you was believed.” (2 Thessalonians 2:6-10)
It may well seem that faithful Jewish and Gentile believers in the Messiah are at present suffering terribly at the hands of Satan and it will come its ultimate climax under the reign of the Islamic Antichrist and his beast kingdom. However, when the Lord Jesus comes back He will be glorified in and through His faithful followers for the whole world and the universe to see and that for all of eternity. If you are reading this and have been saved by faith and born again by the Spirit of God and washed in the blood of the Messiah, you will be among those whom will shine with the glory of God in your eternal resurrected body.
So then to sum up, the little horn will arise and grow in power but at the height of his power he will be broken off and that without remedy! The Messiah Himself will see to it personally! At that time the saints will inherit the Kingdom! (Daniel 7:22, 27)
