UAE crown prince and deputy supreme commander of the armed forces Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan
(Photo from Wikipedia)
There are times when I read a current event piece and immediately my wheels begin to turn: this fits in Bible prophecy! If that ever were the case, it happened recently. I read an article posted by Reuters that announced secret talks between Israel and Saudi Arabia (and Kuwait) about the forging of a “new relationship” between the long-time, natural enemies (Psalm 83:1-18. NASB). Apparently, the Iranian nuclear threat along with Iran’s regional allies are of greater concern to the Royal Family than anti-Israeli sentiment. The article quoted Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman as saying, “For the first time there is an understanding there that the real threat is not Israel, the Jews or Zionism. It is Iran, global jihad, Lebanese Shi’ite guerrilla group, Hezbollah, and al Qaeda.” Lieberman continued, “There are contacts, there are talks, but we are very close to the stage in which within a year or 18 months it will no longer be secret, it will be conducted openly,” added Lieberman, who is a far rightist in the coalition government.
Doesn’t sound very secret anymore. When Israel’s Foreign Minister announces it to the world — either somebody can’t keep a secret or the telling of the secret was the plan all along!
Where does this fit in Bible prophecy? To this writer, it is the very crux of the book I wrote, published in November, 2011, Islam the Cloak of Antichrist. The gist of my interpretation of Scripture is that in the end-days, Shi’ah Islam, i.e, Iran, will lead an alliance of nations/groups to attack Saudi Arabia, interpreted as the harlot of Revelation 17/18. I interpret the “harlot” not as a spiritual harlot (as many interpreters do), but rather a harlotry committed against the nations/groups that comprise the “heads” of the scarlet beast upon which the harlot sits. That is, Saudi Arabia is viewed as a harlot by the ten “heads” of the scarlet beast (Revelation 17:12-13 NASB) because she has aligned herself with interests contrary to those of the scarlet beast and her ten heads (non-Muslim alignment). If we were to name the characters involved, the scarlet beast is Shi’ah Islam, i.e, principally Iran, led by the Mahdi who leads Shi’ah Islam to “bring peace” to the world through his “sword” (nuclear annihilation and removal of oil from the world markets). The ten heads that align with Mahdist Iran are ten Shi’ah or Islamist groups whose hatred of the opposition is greater than their hatred or animosity towards one another (that is, al-Qaeda, even though not Shi’ah Islam will align with Shi’ahs in their end-of-days conquest to bring the world under Islamic dominion). In my book, I interpret the opposition to be America, the Great Satan, and Saudi Arabia, having aligned with the Great Satan, is viewed as a harlot by Shi’ah Islam; therefore, Saudi Arabia is opposed by the scarlet beast, i.e., Shi’ah Islam, and attacked by her and destroyed in “one hour” (Revelation 17:16-17).
If the Reuters post is an accidental rendition of the future then I have it wrong. It is not the Saudi alignment with America that renders the birthplace of Islam a harlot but the alignment by the Saudis with Israel. That makes far more sense, actually. America is of little consequence in Bible prophecy. It is always Israel and the sons of Ishmael that matter. If Israel and the Royal Family align, no matter the definition of the alignment, the Royal Family will be considered a betrayer of Islam and an enemy that must be destroyed.
Stay tuned. The end-of-days may be fast approaching; and we haven’t even considered what is happening in the Ukraine with the nation from the remote north, Russia.
Jesus come quickly.
Blessings.
Jack
(Surah 27:82 )We shall bring out from the earth A BEAST to them, which will speak to them because mankind believed not with certainty in our Ayat.
(Rev 13:5) There was given to him [the beast] a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him.
“Saudi Arabia, having aligned with the Great Satan, is viewed as a harlot by Shi’ah Islam…It is not the Saudi alignment with America that renders the birthplace of Islam a harlot but the alignment by the Saudis with Israel.”
Actually Al Qaeda – a Sunni group – views the house of Saud as a harlot. And I find it difficult to agree that the identity of the “harlot” in Revelation 17 & 18 is explained only from the POV of Shias, i.e modern day Muslims. How do you justify changing (Jewish) St. John’s 2,000 year old vision of the harlot to a gentile sect that didn’t exist when he wrote the Book?
Hunt – are you for real? Shias are not gentle (just observe their bloodletting at the annual observance of the Day of Ashurra). They have always been violent and always been the minority sect of Islam, persecuted by Sunnis. They have adopted “quietest” roles only to survive the persecution of the majority sect, Sunnis, even to the point of concealing their Shia identity. However, the power of Shias lies in the fact that they are descendants of Muhammad through the bloodline of Ali (“ahl-al-bayt”), which is why the Sunnis have persecuted them since the Battle of Karbula, 680 AD. In fact, Shia prophecy is that the Sunni persecution will be avenged when the Mahdi (the Hidden Imam) “rises up” at the moment in time that Allah wills it; and, Shias consider their Imams to be divine, a direct fulfillment of the blasphemy criteria of Bible prophecy (Daniel 7:25). Daniel 2:43 states “they will combine with one another in the seed of men…”, which is fulfilled by Shia descent from Muhammad through Ali. Shias also annulled the first three Sunni caliphs of Islam because they were not descendants of Ali, a fulfillment of Daniel 7:8. They did this retroactively to the death of Muhammad in 632 AD after the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD (see the chart in my book, p 74, and the many sources cited therein).. Shia prophecy also states that the 12th Imam of Shiism, the Mahdi, will bring Islam under one caliph which would be a fulfillment of Revelation 17:8 (he was, he is not, and he is about to rise up, all of which are elements of the Mahdi in Shia doctrine).
I have not changed St John’s prophecy whatsoever. The Shias were never gentle and the fact that they did not exist at the time of the writing of St John’s prophecy has nothing to do with whether they fulfill it. If this were the proper interpretation of Bible prophecy then how could Cyrus in Isaiah 44:28 and 45:1, who did not exist until 538 BC ever fulfill the prophecy that was written some 160 years prior in 701BC? There are many other prophecies that are fulfilled by countries and kings not in existence when the prophecy was written. Daniel 2, 7, 9, and 11 are all prophecies that will be fulfilled by those not living at the time they were written.
I find it such an offense when a new idea comes up to fulfill Bible prophecy and it is written off as if it were an absurdity. The Islamic paradigm is being fulfilled on an almost daily basis. The amazing thing to me is that you refute Shiah’s Islam’s fulfillment of Bible prophecy simply because you consider it “gentle.” Iran, in the modern day, is Shiah. It is anything but gentle. By your own words, your analysis fails.
Jack! I said GENTILE, not gentle. Of course many radical Shia are violent. Your interpretation of the fourth beast as Shia is unique. Re Dan. 2:43, respected Bible commentators have said for centuries that it was Rome. And I did not cast aside your interpretation. I said it was difficult to agree with. That is different from refuting it or rejecting it. Also, you missed my point about POV. Rev 17:18 says the woman is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth. That was the angel’s description of her to St. John. Not the Shia’s description or that of any another (Gentile) people in antiquity or modern times. Where or what is that great city? Could be Rome, could be Babylon restored, could be figurative Sodom, could be Jerusalem, could be Mecca. There is little agreement among interpreters and commentators about the identity of the “great city”. Please note that this does not refute your interpretation.
Oops. Sorry about that Hunter. Apparently I did misread what you said. “Gentile” and “gentle” are very different words and to put one in place of the other causes a completely different interpretation.
I agree about the lack of consensus on the meaning of “great city”; but remember that Babylon in the OT represented the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians as a whole, not the capital city, Babylon (Ezekiel 26:7). Applying the same interpretive method means that the great city is not limited to a literal city but rather could include a kingdom. The spiritual “kingdom” of Islam is a “different” kingdom within the meaning of Daniel 7:7, i.e., not political. It also fits precisely within the meaning of Rev 17 and Rev 12:17 since it makes war against the saints. The Shia sect is not defined by Revelation but by Daniel 2 and 7. The only verse of Rev 17 that leads us to Shiism is 17:8, the 8th head “was, is not, and is about to rise up,” which is the fufillment of the Shia definition of Muhammad al-Mahdi (as opposed to the Sunni version).
Just as the God of the Bible will reveal the “New Jerusalem” that is shaped like a cube, there is a satanic copy…the kaaba. The kaaba is the pagan, square box that was Islamized by Muhammad, who used to frequent it as a pagan before Islam formally began and that for its entire history has been a center of pagan idolatry.
The holy Son of God is the cornerstone of the Christian faith, yet Islam again has its own cornerstone, the idolatrous Black Stone, located on the corner of the kaaba.
The phrase “allahu akbar” means “god is greater” and in the bible, satan is the “great dragon” (Rev 12:9) but the God of the Bible said…(Joh 10:29) “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all;…”.
From these examples and others, a trend can be seen that shows satan using the same or similar terms deceptively to exalt his kingdom in an attempt to usurp influence away from God’s kingdom.
Consistent with this interpretive model, the “great city” of Rev 11:8 may be the satanic antithesis of the “holy city”, the “new Jerusalem”, which are descriptive terms for the Christian faith.
Per Rev 11:8, the “great city” is being associated with sin, spiritual adultery and unbelief. Sodom would of course represent sexual immorality. Egypt would represent enslavement and in context, enslavement to sin. The reference to Jerusalem in this very negative context would represent unbelief.
This verse is showing that the two witnesses (two, representative of the church being so few in number by that time) will be killed amid a culture of sexual immorality, enslavement to sin and unbelief…that which significantly defines Islam. Not many cities can boast of having a culture where Christians are killed for preaching the gospel in its streets, for if a Christian would be found in Mecca today, they would likely be mobbed and torn apart.
Physically, the “great city” may Mecca, the birthplace of Islam. Spiritually, it is the Islamic faith that sits on, or claims authority over the region. If the “great city” is the meta-center of all things Muslim, which meets the biblical criteria for being antichrist, then it is describing Islam. The text clearly says that the whore is the great city.
(Rev 17:18) “The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.”
The “holy city”( Rev 21:9-10) of the Christian faith thus finds its antithesis in the “great city” (Rev 11:8), the spiritual whore of Islam.