Pseudo Christianity and Islam the holy war continues
By Don Koenig
There has never been any love lost between the Islamic nations and the nations of the West. It all goes back to the time of the crusades when the Catholic Church and Islam were fighting for ideology and control of the known world. Today nothing really has changed between pseudo Christianity and Islam except for the weapons of warfare.
In recent times the West with its vastly superior military has dictated policy to these nations but now that there are Islamic nuclear weapons, the Islamic nations will try to force a change.
Islamic countries for the most part will unite against the West over hatred of Israel, western interventionism in the Middle-East and western values. Many also believe that war against (what they call) the infidels is the will of Allah. The West with its need for oil will try to retain control over the area. The clash between the two civilizations will help bring to power the man who is commonly known as the Antichrist but this prophetic figure will not be the same Mahdi figure of Shiite Muslim fantasy as some now believe.
Is Allah the Creator?
Some say that saying "Allah" equates to saying "God" in the Arabic language. That might seem reasonable in the thinking of some but it is not really the name that we put on God that is important anyway. What is important is that the God we confess by any name must be the God who actually revealed Himself and the one that exists. He must be the God who created the universe. Any other god is not God at all.
Many in ancient times thought Baal was the most high God but the attributes they assigned to this non-existent god were not those of the Creator. We see in scripture that the real God of creation took serious issue with those who worshiped this counterfeit. With that in mind we will see that there simply is no Creator in heaven that has the attributes of the God displayed in the Qur'an and Islam.
There were many demon gods being worshiped in the Middle East prior to Mohammed. He taught that the moon god (Allah) was the most high god. Today as proof we still see the moon displayed on most Islamic flags, but how do we know the moon god of Mohammed is not the Creator?
What is the proof that the real Almighty God is not the Allah of Islam?
God in the Bible has a Son --- Allah has no Son
+ God is knowable (Joh 17:3) --- Allah is unknowable
(Think this is not true? find me one Islamic radio station that plays songs about Allah's follower's loving relationship with their God? Christianity has many thousands of such songs for their God. In Christianity God is known through the loving nature of God's Son. Since Islam denies the Son of God, it also denies the God that the Son is the express image of. If Jesus is the express image of God like the Bible declares (Heb 1:3), and the Son created all things like the Bible declares (Eph 3:9) then the true God cannot be known to man through the teachings of Islam because God's attributes revealed in His Son are denied by Islam to be those of God.)
+ God is spoken of as a personal being --- Allah is not understood as a person.
+ God is a Trinity (1 Jo 5:7) --- The Quran explicitly denies the Trinity.
+ God is trustworthy (Psa 62 : 8) --- Allah is not trustworthy (he is capricious).
+ God loves His creatures (Joh 3:16) --- Allah does not.
+ God became flesh (in Jesus) (Php 2:7) --- Allah has yet to become flesh.
+ God exhibits grace (2 Co 8:9) --- Allah does not.
+ (These bullet statements are from the from the book "The Islamic Invasion", by Dr. Robert Morey, the comment in Italics parenthesis is mine.)Many Arab and Moslem states will unite against the West and against Israel
There are at least three separate wars in the end times against Israel. The details are given in Psalm 83, Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39, and the gathering of all nations against Israel described in the book of Revelation and by many Bible prophets. The war in Psalm 83 and the war in Ezekiel involve mainly what are now Moslem countries. They are not the same war because different tribal nations are mentioned in each. Which war comes first is open to debate.
The likelihood is that the West will now continue to help Iraq develop their huge oil reserves and that Iraq will become a very wealthy country. In my opinion, the rebuilding of Iraq is necessary for literal prophecies about Babylon in the last days to be fulfilled.Damascus will be destroyed
Scripture says that Damascus will be uninhabited and a heap of rubble. This has never happened in all of history but this probably will be fulfilled in the near future by a nuclear response from Israel or a massive earthquake. It is interesting that Syria is not mentioned in the Ezekiel war. She probably has been destroyed before that war. It seems like the Psalm 83 war will occur before the Ezekiel 38-39 war because the names of the tribes that come against Israel in the Psalm 83 war are tribes that immediately surround Israel, but the tribes mentioned in the Ezekiel 38-39 war are only more distant tribes.
Ezekiel names the nations that come against Israel in the latter days
The nations that come against Israel are named by tribe in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39. They include a great power from the far North from tribes which settled in Russia and areas around Russia. The rest of the nations that come with this northern leader are all Islamic nations today. Arabia and possibly Iraq are not identified with them unless Iraq is identified by Ezekiel as being part of Persia. It is more probable that Iraq will not be one of the nations that comes against Israel during this war. Arabia is specifically mentioned as not being part of this invasion. Arabia, known as Sheba in Ezekiel is Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The most likely reason that these oil rich nations will not take part, is that the West that purchases most of their oil will be opposed to this invasion and will still maintain troops in those nations (Tarshish and her young lions in Ezekiel).
After the defeat of these armies by God, Iraq (Babylon) may become the major player in the Middle-East and may become the site of the world government headquarters. Several years after the Ezekiel war, Iraq (Babylon) may play her own role in a great war against Israel. Her final destruction is spoken of in Isaiah, Jeremiah and the book of The Revelation.
There will be a war between the West and Islam
The US has begun a war on terrorism due to the 9/11 attack on the twin towers. There may be some initial successes in this war on terrorism but this limited operation cannot possibly address the root causes of terrorism and it will continue. The root cause is the hatred of Israel, Christianity, western values, and all religion that does not worship Allah. Christianity is not tolerated in Islamic nations and hatred against Israel and the West is taught in homes and in schools. Islamic people will never be content with Israel's existence in the Middle-East and with a world that is controlled by the "infidel" West. It is obvious that sooner or later a spark will kindle the fires of a "holy war". It does not really matter if the West does all it can to avoid a "holy war" with Islam by politically correct speeches of appeasement, because in the end Islam will bring the "holy war" to the West by those who follow what their religion actually teaches. The intolerance this religion has for anyone that is not Moslem is displayed in all countries where Islam is in control.
A study of demographics should also make it clear that Moslems will grow in numbers in the world because of their much higher birth rate and their taking over territory by conquest. Even many western countries will see a huge increase in the followers of Islam. A third of all school children in some western European nations are now Moslems. Think about what conditions will be like in Europe when all these Muslim kids grow up. It is a reality that most Moslems will not assimilate into the populations of Western nations and this is already causing a right wing backlash against Middle-Easterners in Europe (i.e. France is for the French). All of this is a formula for a time bomb that appeasement will not defuse.
What role will Iraq (Babylon) play in these end times?
At least part of Iraq will play a role in the early war of Psalms 83 and that war is most likely before the Ezekiel chapter 38-39 war but exactly how this will impact Iraq as the end time fulfillment of Babylon is anyone's guess at this point.
After a great war against the more radical states in Islam I think that the United States, Europe, and the UN will help Iraq prosper. They will make Iraq a show place in the Middle-East by giving Iraq many billions of dollars from a coalition of many nations to rebuild its infrastructure and oil producing capabilities. Once the oil is pumping, the wealth will come from sales of oil to the West. Under this alliance, a peace agreement will be made between Israel, Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia and oil money will bring in many multinational corporations that will pour huge resources into Iraq. Oil will flow through pipelines in Israel and most of the elite in Iraq will not want anyone to upset this apple-cart and they will deal harshly with the radical elements who try. Terrorism and the support of radical Islamic fundamentalism will be outlawed in these nations. Iraq sits on a sea of oil with reserves that are probably larger than Saudi Arabia. This oil will bring prosperity in Iraq that will set the stage for the fulfillment of scripture about Babylon's (Iraq's) end time role.
(Some prophecy teachers think that only the United States has the prosperity, shipping ports, and influence to fulfill the prophecies in the Bible about Babylon. The problem with this erroneous teaching is that the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah make it abundantly clear that these end time events will happen in the same land of ancient Babylon). I speak much more about this in chapter 18 of my Revelation Commentary.
A scenario for Russia to move into the Middle-East:
At a time when many Christians disappear from the earth (rapture) and/or when the United States is especially devastated by the loss of many people and leaders with infrastructure disruptions (i.e. no electrical power, financial collapse and riots), at a time when Europe has internal and external trouble because of Islam, an idea will come into the mind of the leader of Russia that this is a good time to align with the non Arabian alliance. Russia will then move against Israel to take a spoil and fulfill their dream of warm water ports and an end to Western influence over the Middle-East oil fields. The Moslem nations that come with Russia are all mentioned by tribe in Ezekiel. It is likely that Iraq, Jordan and Arabia will remain under the influence of the West and will not join in this Russian and Islamic invasion against Israel. This war will end with divine intervention by God to protect Israel.
This divine intervention will be a witness to the whole world that there is a God protecting Israel. It will start a worldwide movement where all religion with monotheistic beliefs unite on the philosophy that there is only one Almighty God. The leadership for this movement will be led by the Vatican in Rome. This world religion will help a world dictator rise to power who will later fulfill the role of the Beast and the Antichrist. This world movement will end fundamentalism and replace it with an all inclusive pluralist religion that includes the teaching of Judaism, Islam, Christianity and other religions under the philosophy that many paths lead to the same God. The religion is likely to preach an all inclusive brotherhood of man under a one God concept.
All this will set the stage for the prophetic seven-year covenant that the leader in Europe will make with Israel. At that time two prophets will come with much power to preach the coming Kingdom of the Jews under Jesus. Power also will be given to 144,000 Jews who will preach the gospel of the Jewish Kingdom to the whole world as a witness. Much of the world will reject the teaching of any Jewish Kingdom that would put them under God's laws and under Jesus. We are told in scripture that the seven-year covenant with Israel will be broken at the mid-point when the world leader becomes incarnated by Satan, gets filled with pride, enters the completed third Jewish temple and claims to be God. By killing the two prophets of the God of Heaven, this Antichrist, will prove to himself and all those that hate God that he is above anything called God.
All in the world who did not love the truth of the kingdom of Jesus will rejoice and be deceived by him and his false prophet. He will be embraced by many of what are today Muslim people because the God they worshiped (Allah) has the same attributes as Satan as described in the Bible. They may even believe that this man is the incarnation of their Allah but this man will actually claim to be above every name called God. All people on earth who do not worship Jesus/YHWH will believe that this man is God, not just those who may or may not still be called Muslims at this point. This man will then move the seat of his power from Rome to Babylon (Iraq) where a temple will be built for him and a city of gold (Zec 5:11, Isa 14:4).
Where all pagan worship began in the first place under Nimrod it will all end. Babylon is where people began worshiping the created in place of the Creator. This will also be the place where all worship of the created will end (Satan was created). The followers of Jesus/Jehovah will not comply with the counterfeit god who has the desire to be worshiped as God. With the help of lying deception and great wonders from his false prophet he will launch a worldwide persecution against all who will not worship him and take his 666 initiation mark. He will gather all nations for war against the God of Israel (YHWH/Jesus) and the descendants of Israel. Jesus will defeat him and all who worship him at the time appointed for Jesus to return in the clouds of heaven in great power and glory. The blood of the army that was gathered against Israel will flow the entire length of Israel. Scripture indicates that after this happens much of Jordan and Iraq will become perpetual uninhabited wastelands.
How the "holy war" with Islam will bring in the Antichrist?
There are now large Islamic populations in most European countries and among these populations are those trained in terrorism. When the war between the West and Islam does occur it will be totally necessary to isolate Islamic peoples in Europe in concentration camps. In order for this round-up to be successful these states will have to become police states. This police state will get out of control and ultimately bring about the Beast Antichrist government and system. Hitler's reign was a foreshadow of how this could come about but instead of a national socialist movement there will be a world pseudo Christian dominionist socialist movement. When the satanically possessed European dictator comes on the scene he will somehow appease Islam and they will join with the one world church movement. Later, the dictator is killed and becomes incarnated by Satan. At that time he will claim to be God. He will move the world government headquarters to Babylon and he will turn on and destroy the harlot world church. He will be easily accepted by many Moslems as their concept of "God" because he has the same nature as their Allah. He will seek to kill all those who will not worship him as God.
Islam is setting the foundation for the Antichrist Beast world system
Islam now totally controls or has major influence over more than forty nations in the world. In most other nations Islam is a rising force. Islam controls the masses by force and when it has control it does not tolerate other religions or those who do not adhere to its dictates. Islam in reality worships the god of this world and his name is Satan. When the god of this world becomes incarnate in the man we call the Antichrist he will be recognized by those in Islam as Allah. I am not saying that the Antichrist is Islamic. I tend to think the Antichrist figure when incarnated by Satan will claim to be Zeus and will have supernatural help from fallen angels. The Beast with its Antichrist and kingdom will be more of a "New Age" concept that any existing monotheist religious concept.
My point is that the demonic leaders of Islam will recognize him as their own concept of God and the followers of this counterfeit god will use the world network already in place in Islam to rapidly bring in the forced world religion and political system of the Antichrist (It will not be Islam, it will identifiable with New Age beliefs and spiritualism). We get a strong signal from the book of Revelation about the power base of the Antichrist because like the Islamic fascists of today they also behead their enemies.
Signs of the time
The Arab/Islamic nations are at most a decade away from becoming militarily powerful enough to be a major threat to world peace and prosperity.
Islam is a rising force in the world with a "God" who has all the characteristics of Satan. Many that follow this religion think Allah wants them to sacrifice the lives of their sons to oppose the people that the real God of creation said would dwell in His land forever (Israel).
We see the stage being set for events to happen precisely as recorded in the scriptures. The peace process now ongoing over Israel and Jerusalem is being played out on cue. Scripture says that Jerusalem will be a burdensome stone to all the nations and all that trouble themselves over her will be cut to pieces.
Iraq's (Babylon's) role will be at the very end of the age. Iraq will become a major world financial power through oil and the influence of the Antichrist. Other events of the tribulation such as the war that Ezekiel saw will begin several years before the final role of Babylon. All the pieces will be in place for this to start to play out in a decade or two.
After the first series of wars, the Beast that rises out of Europe will enforce an agreement with many nations in the area for seven-years but the treaty with Israel will be broken after just three and one-half years. Today we see a final peace agreement over Jerusalem being worked out. It will at some point fail and lead to the wars of Psalm 83 and the brokered peace of the Antichrist. If we can see a peace agreement being worked out over Jerusalem today to try to prevent this war, then how close are we to this war? I believe it will certainly happen in this generation.
For more information on the truth about Islam:
The Cult of the Moon God, from www.biblebelievers.org.au
Islam's Split Personality, by Jack Kinsella (why two different world views originate from the Koran)
Selected scripture References 1:
Selected scripture References 2:The next article is on Greenpeace and the green counterculture movement
The Prophetic Years | Bible prophecy and end time worldviews