New article from Joel Richardson. Enjoy!

If the Euro collapses, which I certainly hope does not happen, what will this mean for the long-held view that the present European Union is that which the prophets spoke of? Will some simply claim that this was all foretold? When we look at the relevant texts that speak of the last days empire, we see that Scripture simply does not allow for this. There is no room for a revived, revived Roman Empire. Those who have held to the Roman Eschatological Paradigm will either acknowledge the error of the Euro-centric view, or they will be forced to harden their position, ultimately committing violence to the relevant biblical passages.

Consider the following: Whether it be Daniel 2, Daniel 7 or Revelation 17, each passage points to the same final empire. In Daniel 2, it is out of the legs of iron that the final antichristic empire of mixed clay and iron feet directly emerges. In Daniel 7, it is out of the fourth beast that the ten horn antichristic confederacy directly emerges. In Revelation 17, the eighth and final antichristic kingdom is simply a revival of the seventh. Many students of prophecy today, including some of my critics, hold to the following interpretation of Revelation 17:

Sixth head: Roman Empire

Seventh head: Revived Roman Empire

Eighth head: Global Empire.

The glaring problem with this of course is that it clashes with both Daniel 2 and Daniel 7. If Revelation 17 speaks of a Roman Empire, Revived Roman Empire, Global Antichristic Empire, then where in the dream of the metallic statue or the vision of the fourth beast would two distinct empires fit after the legs of iron or the fourth beast? There is simply no room.

This is one more reason to understand both the legs of iron in Daniel 2 and the fourth beast of Daniel 7 to represent the historical Islamic Caliphate. In such a view, Revelation 17 is understood in a way that makes complete sense and does not require a forcing of one’s view (eisegesis) into the text. Instead, we see that the sixth head represents the Roman Empire, the seventh head represents the Islamic Caliphate and the eighth head represents the revived Islamic Caliphate of the Antichrist. Why is Rome never included in either Daniel 2 or 7 you may ask? The answer is simply because these passages are both Babylon centric in their context. Daniel 2 was a dream given specifically to Nebuchadnezzar, king of ancient Babylon, centered in modern day Iraq. The specific subject of the vision were those kingdoms that would come after his. The fourth empire, (the legs of iron) is said to conquer all three of the other empires in the dream. History testifies to the fact that while the Islamic Caliphate did in fact conquer all of the land holdings of Babylon, Medo-Persia and the Alexandrian Greek Empires, the Roman Empire did not. In its fifteen hundred year life, the Roman Empire only reached the ruined city of Babylon for a few brief months, before withdrawing west of the Euphrates. In my new book, Mideast Beast: The Scriptural Case For an Islamic Antichrist, I thoroughly document the impossibility of the Roman-centered view on these matters.

So, as the collapse of the Euro monetary unity appears to loom over all of us, how will such an global earthquake affect the popular, but equally collapsing Euro-centered perspective on the end times? It appears as though we may find out very soon. According to comments made today by the New York Times economic columnist Paul Krugman, it could happen in months…

Here’s how Krugman puts it:

Some of us have been talking it over, and here’s what we think the end game looks like:

1. Greek euro exit, very possibly next month.

2. Huge withdrawals from Spanish and Italian banks, as depositors try to move their money to Germany.

3a. Maybe, just possibly, de facto controls, with banks forbidden to transfer deposits out of country and limits on cash withdrawals.

3b. Alternatively, or maybe in tandem, huge draws on ECB credit to keep the banks from collapsing.

4a. Germany has a choice. Accept huge indirect public claims on Italy and Spain, plus a drastic revision of strategy — basically, to give Spain in particular any hope you need both guarantees on its debt to hold borrowing costs down and a higher eurozone inflation target to make relative price adjustment possible; or:

4b. End of the euro.

And we’re talking about months, not years, for this to play out.

At least three members of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have hinted they are likely to back a Saudi plan to transform the council into a diplomatic and military union.

The London-based Al Hayat daily cited a senior GCC source who said Qatar and possibly Kuwait could join Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in announcing their intention to be part of the union core.

The UAE and Oman would join at a later stage, the source that the paper did not identify said, explaining that “the brothers have their particular situations”, and adding that “all countries have agreed on the Gulf union.”

“The union core announcement will mark the start of drawing up the details for the implementation of the union in the security, political, military and economic areas,” the source said.

The GCC countries have demonstrated a strong unity in their political and security positions on the events in Bahrain and the standoff between the UAE and Iran on the UAE islands, the source said.

“The bitter experiences in some of the GCC countries should be a strong motivation to join the union,” the source said.

In December, Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, host of the latest GCC summit, called for moving the council from the stage of cooperation to the stage of union, within a single unity.

The union, which would provide a strategic bulwark against rival Iran, would have centralized diplomatic and military arms while leaving domestic governance largely in the hands of its individual member states.

Bahrain has since repeatedly said that it supported the call and that it looked for its formal announcement in Manama by the end of the year when it hosts the next annual summit.

Reports at least three members are leaning towards Abdullah’s plan came as leaders of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE will meet for one day in the Saudi capital Riyadh to discuss the latest developments in the region.

An ad-hoc GCC committee created to guide the 31-year-old alliance towards union is also expected to deliver its first report.

Saudi Arabia – at dagger-points with Tehran as they vie for hegemony over the Persian Gulf region – has been extolling the merits of the union as a vital necessity to confront security threats, and meet emerging political and economic challenges.

The six Sunni Arab monarchies of the GCC have charged that Shiite Persian Iran has sought to destabilize their regimes by provoking their indigenous Shiite communities to revolution during the Arab Spring.

The call for union by Riyadh has been coupled with GCC moves to tighten relations with NATO, which plans to build a regional operations center in Kuwait City, and to expand the union to include all eight Sunni monarchies.

In addition to eyeing Morocco and Jordan for membership – with Amman already in integration talks with the GCC – the council has considered inviting Egypt, the world’s most popular Arab country, to join the union.

Doing so would place the GCC – most of whose members have technically been at war with Israel since its inception in 1948 – on the borders of the Jewish state.

How such a development would affect Jerusalem’s treaties with Amman and Cairo, or its security outlook with an Arab super state to the south and east, remains unknown.

Egypt’s Islamists aim to install a global Islamic caliphate with its capital in Jerusalem, a radical Muslim preacher told thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters in a clip released Monday.

“We can see how the dream of the Islamic caliphate is being realized, God willing, by Dr. Mohamed Mursi,” Safwat Higazi told thousands of Brotherhood supporters at a Cairo soccer stadium as Mursi – the movement’s presidential candidate – and other Brotherhood officials nodded in agreement.

“The capital of the caliphate – the capital of the United States of the Arabs – will be Jerusalem, God willing,” Higazi said. “Our capital shall not be in Cairo, Mecca or Medina,” he said, before leading the crowd in chants of “Millions of martyrs march toward Jerusalem.”

Higazi is an unaffiliated Islamist who is barred from the United Kingdom for making statements endorsing terror attacks against Israelis. The clip, from Egypt’s Islamist-oriented Al-Nas television station, was aired last week and uploaded to YouTube on Monday by the Middle East Media Research Institute.

Members of the crowd carried banners emblazoned with slogans related to next week’s “Nakba Day,” when Palestinians and other Arabs mourn Israel’s creation in 1948.

“Tomorrow, Mursi will liberate Gaza,” an unidentified man cheers in the video before leading the crowd in chants of “Allah Akbar.”

“Banish the sleep from the eyes of all Jews,” the man repeats, accompanied by drumming. “Come on, you lovers of martyrdom, you are all Hamas… Forget about the whole world, forget about conferences. Brandish your weapons, say your prayers and pray to the Lord.”

Returning to the stage, Mursi vowed to pray in Jerusalem. “Yes, Jerusalem is our goal. We shall pray in Jerusalem, or die as martyrs on its threshold.”

Raymond Stock, an American translator and academic who spent two decades in Egypt, said the clip should come as a surprise to no one.

“This is what the Muslim Brotherhood really stands for: the extermination of Israel – and Jews everywhere – as well as the spread and control of radical Islam over the world,” he told The Jerusalem Post.

“How anyone can fail to see this boggles the mind – yet its denial is virtual dogma in the global mainstream media, US government and Western academia today,” said Stock, who has translated a number of books by the Nobel Prize-winning Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz.

The Brotherhood won about half of Egypt’s parliamentary seats, but its main candidate Khairat al-Shater was disqualified last month from running for president and Mursi has struggled to win wide support.

Hard-line Salafi Islamists were parliamentary elections’ biggest surprise, taking around 25% of seats.

Instead, the two front-runners are Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh – a former Brotherhood figure who has won the backing of a broad range of voters from liberals to Salafis – and Amr Moussa, a former foreign minister and Arab League chief.

A presidential election, which starts on May 23-24, will choose a replacement for Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled in February last year.

Poll numbers released Monday by the state-run Al-Ahram Center show Moussa leading the field with 39%, followed by Abol Fotouh with 24%, former Mubarak premier Ahmed Shafiq with 17% and Mursi in fourth with just 7%.

Stock said Amr Moussa has a significant chance of replacing Mubarak.

“Many people want Islamist values but are afraid that Islamist control of the presidency in addition to parliament could be bad for tourism and foreign investment. Others simply like Moussa,” he said. “He is a radical nationalist with a pragmatic streak, and from a Western point of view is the best we can hope for now that Omar Suleiman has been excluded.”

“But we can’t rule out Mohamed Mursi yet – the Brotherhood machine is extremely formidable, and nearly everyone has underestimated them before,” he said, adding that “the Salafis remain wild cards, as ever.”

“THE CHURCH IS MOSTLY IN THE DEVILS POCKET AND HE IS DETERMINED THAT THIS WORLD DOES NOT LEARN THE TRUTH ABOUT HIS ANTICHRIST. Satan’s purpose is to fool the church and the world about this beastly man that he is very close to revealing. The “Emergent Churches” are foolish enough to completely ignore “Bible Prophecy”. They hate Fundamental truths and are damning their mega-flocks of people. By keeping them illiterate of the Book of Revelation and the coming rapture with judgment to follow, these big time preachers are in the drivers seat. A First Testament Prophet called them, “DUMB DOGS, THAT CANNOT BARK; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.” (Isaiah 56:10)

Apostle John saw this Antichrist actually rise from the Mediterranean Sea so no one could doubt his actual existence or his Middle Eastern origin. “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.” (Revelation 13:1) The blasphemy coming from the Antichrist’s mouth will be unbearable. This will not be the blasphemy of the ugly, but the blasphemy of the distorted beautiful. The entire religious world is already glorying in statues, icons, and art forms of different expressions. The choreographed dance is one of the church world’s darkest deceptions. Statues that are proclaimed as anointed, especially where grace is reportedly connected, have already been accepted in Charismatic circles. Millions follow apparitions of Mary. Some writers are describing visions and dreams of incredible creatures and experiences. All kinds of extra Biblical occurrences are preparing the way for religious blasphemy. To assign anything to God that is clearly occultic is blasphemy. To claim to be God is the worst form of blasphemy. To imitate the Son of God is a dark hideous form of blasphemy.

This Beastly Assyrian Antichrist will be the most vicious man that has ever been known. His lineage from the Assyrians could not be more fitting. They were evil and they enjoyed being evil. They treated their enemies or captives in the vilest fashion that our human imagination could think. The ruins of their ancient palaces are filled with grotesque carvings in stone as a testimony to the evil ingeniousness of their character. They were in life and in battle a foretaste of what the Antichrist will be as the final dictator for Satan. The prophets have made it clear that the Antichrist will be an Assyrian. He is so real that the world will worship him. “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Revelation 13:8)

Prophet Isaiah spoke of this future beast that attacked and destroyed the Northern kingdom of Israel. “O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.” (Isaiah 10:5-6). Then, Isaiah gave another part of the prophecy that is yet to be fulfilled. “That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.” (Isaiah 14:25). This has never been fulfilled, so we know it is about the future Antichrist. He spoke of this Assyrian in clear end time chronology to leave no doubt as to His meaning. “And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones. For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.” (Isaiah 30:30-31). The final Antichrist of this thirteenth chapter must be that Assyrian. Even Micah spoke of his death in the gate of Nimrod, which is none other than Ancient Babylon being revisited at this very hour.

To add to the prophetic miracles that are occurring all over the world this Assyrian beast represents an unspeakable mystery that can finally be understood. Except for a few historians and the people of Assyrian lineage, nobody in prophetic literature even considered that there were Assyrian people alive right up to this very time in history. Almost as mysterious as the Jews, but completely off the radar, the Assyrians as a distinct people have survived the centuries with clear unmistakable identity. Living mostly in their own conclaves, they have survived great odds to now surface in Northern Iraq and other nations where they have fled. For them to presently be involved in uniting their own culture and to be a voice in the new Iraq government cannot be less than perfect planning on the part of our Creator.

There are very distinct, positive plans for the future of the Assyrians in the Bible. Indeed they will produce the Antichrist, but this should not and does not indict the present Assyrian people as bad themselves. The Antichrist must arise from a culture and a people that pledge allegiance to the God of the Bible which the Assyrians do and have done since the day of Jesus Christ. Daniel said, “Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.” (Daniel 11:37). But, a much greater future awaits this ancient culture. During the Millennium, there will only be three nations in the Middle East. Assyria will be one of them. This would suggest that at some point the Northern part of Iraq and Iran, may be much of the Southern part of Turkey, Syria, and at least part of Jordan, will be the Assyrian nation. “In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land.” (Isaiah 19:24).

Much bigger and broader than the ancient lineage is the connection of the coming Antichrist to Satan. He will be the slickest masquerader ever produced by Lucifer. The making of this evil character has been centuries in Satan’s planning. He is not a flash in the pan but a well prepared imitation. He will have a partner in the False Prophet that will probably imitate all the works of the Holy Spirit. He should be called the false anointing. Under Satan’s tutorage, these two personalities will finalize a “one world religion” that cleverly unites all religions together.

The Middle East is clearly the geographical center of the rising Antichrist. The United Nations of Europe will slowly connect with the Middle East as the revived Roman Empire regains its footing in the needed order. Iraq had to become a democracy in its own unique style because the Antichrist will begin by flatteries, not by military powers, “And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries:” (Daniel 11:32a). The Antichrist, as an Assyrian by nationality, will be connected to the ancient city of Babylon and that nation. Rising out of the sea as he appears certainly ties him closely to the Mediterranean Sea and the political powers within its vicinity. He quickly unites the political powers and becomes the leader of the emerging Roman Empire, but especially its ancient Eastern wing. His rise to power and his coalition of political partners will be blasphemous in nature and will bear a decidedly anti-Israel and Antichrist tone

Satan especially blasphemes everything that is heavenly about God, the Father. When the Father and the Lamb sent angels to cast him out of the midair, he lost all ability to travel in the stratosphere of God’s domain. Notice that he blasphemes God, His name, His heavenly tabernacle, and those that dwell in heaven. He certainly hates the Father because he is now forbidden to appear in His presence. He is the Sovereign God, and Satan has sought to replace God with himself. He has totally failed and nothing but hatred can now find expression in his disappointed heart. The tabernacle of God is the grandest location in the entire universal system. It is glorious, even beyond words. Paul saw it and was left speechless. Satan has visited it at every opportunity the Father allowed, but now it can only be a distant dream to Satan; and he blasphemes it with vileness. He blasphemes everyone that dwells in this matchless place.

“Here is wisdom … it is the number of a man.” (Revelation 13:18) Nothing reveals the Antichrist better than this statement. Unbridled flesh, the raw appetite of the adamic nature, and the wildest possible life of sin is what the “mark” of the Antichrist will represent. The land will be full of pedophiles, animalistic sexual exploits, sado-masochism, and deeper and deeper vileness will continue until human flesh is worse than the worst beast. It will all be manifest with complete religious acceptance. To take the mark will be like becoming a human animal. The Antichrist and the false prophet will give the devil his masterpiece of deception. Satan knows he has but a short time, so it will be an all out war. When this deception is complete, it will then turn on its head and God will expose and judge. Satan always over plays his hand. He is an idiot god and will finally be cast into the bottomless pit but destined for the Lake of Fire. His two beasts will go directly to the Lake of Fire at the end of the seven years that Jesus called,”The Great Tribulation.”

Joel Richardson article. Awesome read. His new book is called the MidEast Beast. Keep looking up.

Obama Administration Getting Behind Coming Turkish Caliphate

May 2, 2012 in Updates

Joel Richardson

In 2004, in my book The Islamic Antichrist, I made the following prediction:

“While presently, there is not any pressing reason to see Turkey as the leader of an imminent world empire, this is nevertheless, what Ezekiel prophesied… Today the Islamic world is awaiting the restoration of that Caliphate. The Bible teaches that someday soon the Turkish Empire will be revived.”

In 2005, the National Intelligence Council produced a report called, “Mapping the Global Future: Project 2020.” According to this report, within the next several years, we may expect to see the emergence of a fledgling caliphate, or revived Islamic empire.
For those unfamiliar with the NIC, below is a self-description from its website:

The NIC is a center of strategic thinking within the U.S. Government, reporting to the Director of National Intelligence and providing the president and senior policymakers with analyses of foreign-policy issues that have been reviewed and coordinated throughout the Intelligence Community. Our work ranges from brief analyses of current issues to “over the horizon” estimates of broader trends at work in the world.

Looking back, what is interesting about the NIC’s “over the horizon” assessment is that the coming caliphate would not be built on acts of terrorism, but instead would be established through more political means. According to the NIC report, by claiming to provide the Middle East with stability, peace and security, the emergence of the coming caliphate would be viewed positively by much of the world.

In 2009, long before the Arab Spring was even faintly on anyone’s radar, in an article titled, “Will Turkey Lead a Revised Islamic Empire?” I continued to discuss the merging of geopolitical trends with Biblical prophecy pointing to the coming emergence of Turkish regional leadership in the Middle East. At that time, I made the following statement:

“For over 500 years, the Turkish Ottomans ruled the Middle East, and, in the years to come, they will arise once again as a regional superpower. And much of the world will welcome this as a positive development.”

In 2011, on the very first day the riots began in Egypt, I made the following prediction:

As the present era of Arab dictators comes to an end, the model that will be looked to is Turkey. And Turkey will be all too willing to lend its support in the establishment of these new Islamic democracies. The Obama administration will also fully support Turkey in her regional endeavors to this end.

Two months later, after discussing these things in some depth on the two documentaries, Rumors of War Part I & II, produced by Glenn Beck’s Mercury Radio Arts, the far-left wing smear outfit, Media Matters, launched a predictable offensive against both Beck and I with the headline: “Beck Echoes Joel Richardson: Warns Of Antichrist, Caliphate Led By Turkey.” In standard form, Media Matters whined:

In addition to endorsing author and anti-Muslim activist Joel Richardson’s attempts to link Islam to the Antichrist, Glenn Beck also echoed Richardson’s views linking Turkey to a purported future Islamic caliphate.

In a follow up headline, the faux-indignation continued: “Beck Warns Of Sunni-Shiite Unification, New Islamic Empire Based In Turkey.” There Beck was quoted as saying, “Turkey is setting itself up as the home of the caliphate” and “they’re starting to get in bed with the Muslim Brotherhood, deeply.”

Now here we are in 2012. This past week, precisely as I have been predicting since 2004, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu made the following statement:

We will manage the wave of change in the Middle East. Just as the ideal we have in our minds about Turkey, we have an ideal of a new Middle East. We will be the leader and the spokesperson of a new peaceful order, no matter what they say.

And again, precisely as predicted, on our side, Vice President Joe Biden, on behalf of the Obama administration, came out and openly expressed support for a neo-Ottoman era of Turkish dominance in the Middle East.

At a fund raising event for the Obama reelection campaign, Biden addressed a group of roughly 200 influential members of the Turkish-American community. In speaking of the Obama administration’s view of Turkey’s reassertion of power in the region, Biden said:

“We’re looking for Turkish leadership in the rest of that entire region.”

Biden continued to speak of what a wonderful “model” Turkey is for other Islamic nations:

“It’s a model as to how you can have an Islamic population, an Islamic state and a democracy, something the rest of the region is groping to figure out how to do.”

Speaking of American cooperation with Turkey in the region, Biden said:

“There’s nothing we do, that we don’t coordinate.”

Biden also lashed out at Europe for not welcoming Turkey into the ranks of the European Union.

According to Neil Munro of the Daily Caller:

Biden offered Turkey’s Islamist government a leading role in the Middle East, despite its recent crackdown on dissidents, expansion of Islamic culture and education, and regional conflicts with Greece and Israel… Biden said the U.S. would expand its cooperation with Turkey’s Islamic government, partly because the region’s Arab Spring revolutions have boosted the role and power of Islamist groups that aim to impose traditional Islamic laws and beliefs on people in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco and other countries in the region.

Noting the success of Turkey’s Islamist Justice and Development Party in terms of their growing political capital not only regionally, but also abroad, the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood has now begun modeling itself after the party of Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan.

This is no surprise, of course. Since Obama became President, Erdoğan has been a frequent visitor to the White House and speaks to Obama frequently on the phone. From Obama’s perspective, the two men have truly become close friends.

All this, despite Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan’s radical turn in recent years to a more overt anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism, (causing him to rise to the role of most popular leader in the Middle East).

This should be highly instructive for the leaders of Iran. For while the Islamist leaders of both Iran and Turkey seek precisely the same thing, namely regional dominance, while Ahmadinejad and Khamenei receive only sanctions, threats and isolation from the US, Prime Minister Erdoğan, who has employed a much more dissimulative approach, is regularly welcomed by Obama with hugs, laudations, and an ever-increasing measure of political capitol and power.

President Obama continues to treat Erdoğan with only the greatest measure of respect:

“I just want to say how much I appreciate the opportunity to once again meet with my friend and colleague, Prime Minister Erdoğan. … [He is] an outstanding partner and an outstanding friend on a wide range of issues,” Obama said on March 25 of this year.”

The naysayers can flail and shout all they want, but there is no denying that it’s all unfolding exactly as the Bible intones. In the years ahead, the inevitable emergence of Turkey as the most powerful nation in the region will only continue to become more and more apparent. As all eyes are presently on Iran, don’t forget to keep one eye on Turkey.

THE CHURCH IS MOSTLY IN THE DEVILS POCKET AND HE IS DETERMINED THAT THIS WORLD DOES NOT LEARN THE TRUTH ABOUT HIS ANTICHRIST. Satan’s purpose is to fool the church and the world about this beastly man that he is very close to revealing. The “Emergent Churches” are foolish enough to completely ignore “Bible Prophecy”. They hate Fundamental truths and are damning their mega-flocks of people. By keeping them illiterate of the Book of Revelation and the coming rapture with judgment to follow, these big time preachers are in the driver’s seat. A First Testament Prophet called them, “DUMB DOGS, THAT CANNOT BARK; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.” (Isaiah 56:10)

Apostle John saw this Antichrist actually rise from the Mediterranean Sea so no one could doubt his actual existence or his Middle Eastern origin. “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.” (Revelation 13:1) The blasphemy coming from the Antichrist’s mouth will be unbearable. This will not be the blasphemy of the ugly, but the blasphemy of the distorted beautiful. The entire religious world is already glorying in statues, icons, and art forms of different expressions. The choreographed dance is one of the church world’s darkest deceptions. Statues that are proclaimed as anointed, especially where grace is reportedly connected, have already been accepted in Charismatic circles. Millions follow apparitions of Mary. Some writers are describing visions and dreams of incredible creatures and experiences. All kinds of extra Biblical occurrences are preparing the way for religious blasphemy. To assign anything to God that is clearly occultic is blasphemy. To claim to be God is the worst form of blasphemy. To imitate the Son of God is a dark hideous form of blasphemy.

This Beastly Assyrian Antichrist will be the most vicious man that has ever been known. His lineage from the Assyrians could not be more fitting. They were evil and they enjoyed being evil. They treated their enemies or captives in the vilest fashion that our human imagination could think. The ruins of their ancient palaces are filled with grotesque carvings in stone as a testimony to the evil ingeniousness of their character. They were in life and in battle a foretaste of what the Antichrist will be as the final dictator for Satan. The prophets have made it clear that the Antichrist will be an Assyrian. He is so real that the world will worship him. “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Revelation 13:8)

Prophet Isaiah spoke of this future beast that attacked and destroyed the Northern kingdom of Israel. “O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.” (Isaiah 10:5-6). Then, Isaiah gave another part of the prophecy that is yet to be fulfilled. “That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.” (Isaiah 14:25). This has never been fulfilled, so we know it is about the future Antichrist. He spoke of this Assyrian in clear end time chronology to leave no doubt as to His meaning. “And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones. For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.” (Isaiah 30:30-31). The final Antichrist of this thirteenth chapter must be that Assyrian. Even Micah spoke of his death in the gate of Nimrod, which is none other than Ancient Babylon being revisited at this very hour.

To add to the prophetic miracles that are occurring all over the world this Assyrian beast represents an unspeakable mystery that can finally be understood. Except for a few historians and the people of Assyrian lineage, nobody in prophetic literature even considered that there were Assyrian people alive right up to this very time in history. Almost as mysterious as the Jews, but completely off the radar, the Assyrians as a distinct people have survived the centuries with clear unmistakable identity. Living mostly in their own conclaves, they have survived great odds to now surface in Northern Iraq and other nations where they have fled. For them to presently be involved in uniting their own culture and to be a voice in the new Iraq government cannot be less than perfect planning on the part of our Creator.

There are very distinct, positive plans for the future of the Assyrians in the Bible. Indeed they will produce the Antichrist, but this should not and does not indict the present Assyrian people as bad themselves. The Antichrist must arise from a culture and a people that pledge allegiance to the God of the Bible which the Assyrians do and have done since the day of Jesus Christ. Daniel said, “Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.” (Daniel 11:37). But, a much greater future awaits this ancient culture. During the Millennium, there will only be three nations in the Middle East. Assyria will be one of them. This would suggest that at some point the Northern part of Iraq and Iran, may be much of the Southern part of Turkey, Syria, and at least part of Jordan, will be the Assyrian nation. “In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land.” (Isaiah 19:24).

Much bigger and broader than the ancient lineage is the connection of the coming Antichrist to Satan. He will be the slickest masquerader ever produced by Lucifer. The making of this evil character has been centuries in Satan’s planning. He is not a flash in the pan but a well prepared imitation. He will have a partner in the False Prophet that will probably imitate all the works of the Holy Spirit. He should be called the false anointing. Under Satan’s tutorage, these two personalities will finalize a “one world religion” that cleverly unites all religions together.

The Middle East is clearly the geographical center of the rising Antichrist. The United Nations of Europe will slowly connect with the Middle East as the revived Roman Empire regains its footing in the needed order. Iraq had to become a democracy in its own unique style because the Antichrist will begin by flatteries, not by military powers, “And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries:” (Daniel 11:32a). The Antichrist, as an Assyrian by nationality, will be connected to the ancient city of Babylon and that nation. Rising out of the sea as he appears certainly ties him closely to the Mediterranean Sea and the political powers within its vicinity. He quickly unites the political powers and becomes the leader of the emerging Roman Empire, but especially its ancient Eastern wing. His rise to power and his coalition of political partners will be blasphemous in nature and will bear a decidedly anti-Israel and Antichrist tone

Satan especially blasphemes everything that is heavenly about God, the Father. When the Father and the Lamb sent angels to cast him out of the midair, he lost all ability to travel in the stratosphere of God’s domain. Notice that he blasphemes God, His name, His heavenly tabernacle, and those that dwell in heaven. He certainly hates the Father because he is now forbidden to appear in His presence. He is the Sovereign God, and Satan has sought to replace God with himself. He has totally failed and nothing but hatred can now find expression in his disappointed heart. The tabernacle of God is the grandest location in the entire universal system. It is glorious, even beyond words. Paul saw it and was left speechless. Satan has visited it at every opportunity the Father allowed, but now it can only be a distant dream to Satan; and he blasphemes it with vileness. He blasphemes everyone that dwells in this matchless place.

“Here is wisdom … it is the number of a man.” (Revelation 13:18) Nothing reveals the Antichrist better than this statement. Unbridled flesh, the raw appetite of the adamic nature, and the wildest possible life of sin is what the “mark” of the Antichrist will represent. The land will be full of pedophiles, animalistic sexual exploits, sado-masochism, and deeper and deeper vileness will continue until human flesh is worse than the worst beast. It will all be manifest with complete religious acceptance. To take the mark will be like becoming a human animal. The Antichrist and the false prophet will give the devil his masterpiece of deception. Satan knows he has but a short time, so it will be an all out war. When this deception is complete, it will then turn on its head and God will expose and judge. Satan always over plays his hand. He is an idiot god and will finally be cast into the bottomless pit but destined for the Lake of Fire. His two beasts will go directly to the Lake of Fire at the end of the seven years that Jesus called, “The Great Tribulation.”

IRAQ REBUILDING ITS MILITARY, EVEN AS THEY REBUILD BABYLON: Prophetic significance? – Joel C. Rosenberg – http://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/

Bible prophecy indicates that in the End Times, the nation we know today as the Republic of Iraq — known variously in Scripture as Babel, Babylon, Babylonia, Mesopotamia and Shinar — will emerge as the global center of wealth, power and terrible evil. Eventually Iraq will pose a direct and existential threat to the State of Israel, particularly during the Tribulation.

Since the fall of Saddam Hussein and his regime in 2003, Iraq has not been a regional threat, much less a danger to Israel. Some have assumed, therefore, that Iraq would no longer play a major role in Middle Eastern or global affairs in the future. But such a conclusion would be a mistake. As I wrote about in my first non-fiction book, Epicenter, those who read, understand and believe Bible prophecy have been watching for Iraq to: 1) begin rebuilding its offensive military capability; 2) begin rebuilding its economy; 3) continue rebuilding the ancient city of Babylon into a major center of commerce and tourism.

Interestingly, all three developments are currently underway.

IRAQ IS REBUILDING ITS MILITARY

 Now that the Iraqi government has forced the American military out of their country, they have embarked on a dramatic arms build-up, including the purchase of American weapons systems that could be used for offensive purposes in the future. Examples:

•The Iraqis are buying 140 state-of-the-art American M1A1 combat tanks. “The Government of Iraq has purchased 140 tanks from the United States, all of which have arrived in Iraq,” reports an Iraqi business website. “131 of those tanks are already in the possession of the Iraqi Army. The nine remaining tanks are in Iraq, but in U.S. possession.”

•The Iraqis are buying 36 advanced American F-16 fighter jets. “Israel is monitoring Iraq’s rearmament program, particularly Bahgdad’s acquisition of 36 Lockheed Martin F-16s, with some disquiet amid intelligence reports Iran is consolidating its influence in Iraq following the U.S. military withdrawal,” reports UPI. “Baghdad ordered the F-16 Block 52 multi-role Fighting Falcon jets — enough to equip the Iraqi air force’s first two fighter squadrons — in two 18-plane batches in 2011 at an estimated total cost of $7 billion.”

•In 2010, the Iraqis embarked on a $13 billion weapons spending spree. “Iraq is preparing to buy as much as $13 billion in American arms and military equipment, a huge order of tanks, ships and hardware that U.S. officials say shows Iraqi-U.S. military ties will be tight for years to come,” reported USA Today. “‘It helps to build their capabilities, first and foremost; and second, it builds our strategic relationship for the future,’ said Army Lt. Gen. Michael Barbero, the ranking U.S. officer responsible for training and advising Iraq forces.”

IRAQ IS REBUILDING ITS ECONOMY

Now that the war of liberation is over and most of Iraq has been pacified and stabilized from the terrorist insurgency, Iraq’s economy is not only growing but is poised for hyper-growth. Analysts expect Iraq’s GDP to grow by more than 9% annually for the next few years, and expect Iraq’s oil production to nearly triple by 2017.

•“Iraq’s gross domestic product is expected to grow by an average rate of at least 9.4 percent annually between 2012 and 2016 as the oil-producing country benefits from larger windfalls in oil revenues, a senior central bank official said [in February],” reports Reuters. ”Iraq, which has the fourth-biggest oil reserves in the world, is currently producing around 2.9 million barrels per day (bpd). Iraq’s oil minister said last year he expected production to reach between 8-8.5 million bpd by 2017.”

•Some analysts within the Iraqi Planning Ministry believe Iraq could reach a 47% growth rate by 2017, once the oil starts flowing fast and furious.

•More and more major international companies are signing deals to do business in Iraq — see this intriguing list published by Reuters, published in December 2011.

•In 2011, ExxonMobil — the world’s largest oil company — signed a major deal to help develop the oil industry in Iraq’s northern region of Kurdistan. Despite the fact being mired in some political controversy, the deal is likely to be fully ratified in the not-too-distant future.

•Also in 2011, Royal Dutch Shell signed a $17 billion deal to help Iraq develop its enormous lucrative oil industry in its southern regions.

•In 2010, the Iraqi government ratified four other major oil deals.

IRAQ IS REBUILDING THE CITY OF BABYLON

Largely overlooked by Westerners is the fact that the government of Iraq is moving forward with plans to protect the archaeological remains of the ancient City of Babylon, in preparation for building a modern city of Babylon. As I wrote in 2009, the project — originally started by the late Saddam Hussein — is aimed eventually at attracting scores of “cultural tourists” from all over the world to see the glories of Mesopotamia’s most famous city. What’s more, the Obama Administration has actually helped contribute U.S. taxpayer dollars to “The Future of Babylon Project” through the State Department’s budget. Read more at the World Monuments Fund website for the rebuilding Babylon project.- http://www.wmf.org/project/future-babylon

In 2011, I noted that the New York Times had published an intriguing article on Iraqi efforts to preserve, protect, restore and then rebuild the ancient city of Babylon and make it a draw for tourists, with U.S. taxpayer assistance. The Times reports that a modern Babylon museum will open later this month. Times’ reporter Steven Lee Myers also posted a fascinating four minute video walking through some of the rebuilt ruins of Babylon, and explaining Iraqi efforts to protect and restore numerous Biblical sites.

“The Babylon project is Iraq’s biggest and most ambitious by far, a reflection of the ancient city’s fame and its resonance in Iraq’s modern political and cultural heritage,” the Times reported, noting that “in November, the State Department announced a new $2 million grant to begin work to preserve the site’s most impressive surviving ruins. They include the foundation of the Ishtar Gate, built in the sixth century B.C. by Nebuchadnezzar’s father, Nabopolassar, and adorned with brick reliefs of the Babylonian gods Marduk and Adad.”

“The American reconstruction team has refurbished a modern museum on the site, as well as a model of the Ishtar Gate that for decades served as a visitors’ entrance. Inside the museum is one of the site’s most valuable relics: a glazed brick relief of a lion, one of 120 that once lined the processional way into the city. The museum, with three galleries, is scheduled to open this month, receiving its first visitors since 2003. And with new security installed, talks are under way to return ancient Babylonian artifacts from the National Museum in Baghdad. The fate of Babylon is already being disputed by Iraqi leaders, with antiquities officials clashing with local authorities over when to open it to visitors and how to exploit the site for tourism that, for the most part, remains a goal more than a reality. Even now they are clashing over whether the admission fee should go to the antiquities board or the provincial government.”

The Hashemite’s of Jordan are the only Kings in the Middle East directly descended from Muhammed. They are excellent candidates for the Anitichrist.

Jordan‘s Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah, 18, held a secret visit to Temple Mount in Jerusalem escorted by Israeli security forces. He arrived at the site via the Mughrabi Bridge.

A Palestinian official told Ynet that the prince will also be visiting the Cave of Patriarchs later on Wednesday. He said that the visit had been coordinated and initiated by Israel and that consequently Prince Hussein will be visiting the cave’s Israeli side.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ordered the national planning and construction committee to readdress a plan to expand the women’s section at the Western Wall. The plan also aims to replace the temporary bridge leading to the Temple Mount’s Mughrabi Bridge.

Four months ago, the controversial bridge was sealed off following an order by the Jerusalem city engineer who warned of safety hazards. It was reopened two days later after pressure from Jordan and other Arab states.

Prince Hussein is King Abdullah’s eldest son and was declared crown prince in 2009. King Abdullah and Queen Rania have one other son and two daughters. According to Jordan’s constitution, the king has a right to appoint his brother as crown prince, over his son.