We’ve been looking at where Islam came from, its’ history, how it operates in the world today and its’ cultural beliefs. We’ve noted how it is dedicated to taking the whole world – by force if necessary. Today, we’ll introduce its’ end times theology. We’ll begin to introduce the Mahdi, the Islamic Messiah and compare him to what the Bible has to say about the Antichrist. Now, there is a starting point. Over the years, Christian scholars have come to a view that the Antichrist will be a European, coming from the revived Roman Empire manifesting itself in modern times in the form of the European Union. In recent years however, some scholars are giving this belief a fresh look. They’ve noted the incredible similarities between the character and the actions of the Biblical Antichrist and the predicted Islamic end times Messiah, called the Mahdi.
We must start with the concept of the 12th Imam, the “last of the imams (teacher) of Shiism who went into ‘grand occultation’ in 941.” That “12th Imam” is the one-day returning Islamic Messiah, the Mahdi, the “true Sovereign of the World.” While generally all Muslims believe in the coming Mahdi, not all hold to the Twelver belief system, which is central Shia beliefs. Iran is the foremost Twelver state. And they have often been seen to be in preparation for his soon return, even on a national / political level.
This Mahdi, or ‘Guided One’, is to appear suddenly during a great time of struggle between the forces of good and evil. At the end of history, he will lead the Islamic forces to victory over the unbelieving Christians and Jews. At that time, the whole world will become Muslim. During this Islamic revival, the ‘Prophet Jesus’ will come back to earth, and the two will proceed to Jerusalem, where Jesus will publicly deny that he is the Son of God. Then together they will forcibly destroy both Christians and Jews.[i]
Of course the similarity between the Islamic Mahdi and the Christian Antichrist is remarkable, as is that between the Muslim’s ‘Prophet Jesus’ and the False Prophet of Revelation. Passages from the Islamic commentaries, the Hadith point to even more similarities between the two sets of prophecy. The Hadith says, “Imam Mahdi will…do battle with the forces of evil in one final apocalyptic battle….After the Imam Mahdi has reigned for several years, Jesus Christ will return.” In a companion passage we are told of the Mahdi: “He will rule for seven years”.[ii] This directly corresponds with the length of the reign of the Antichrist as prophesied in Daniel and Revelation.
Iran’s support of terror groups in the region and its’ general promotion of policies that create regional chaos is a product of the belief that the Mahdi can only come in such a time of disorder. Iran has translated their beliefs into power politics. It is what is behind their support of Hamas and Hezbollah and other terror proxies in the Middle East.
WHO DAT MAN ?
“Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, ‘Come and see.’ And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.” (Revelation 6:1-2)
Islamic tradition is very revealing. The Great Mahdi, is predicted to make his appearance riding a white horse. Even Islamic scholars will grant that this is one area where the Bible has not been corrupted. To their way of thinking, the Mahdi will return following the opening of the 1st seal judgment described in Revelation 6:1.[iii] Arab leaders in the Middle East are taking their own prophecies very seriously indeed. Many are said to have white horses on hand, in case they are selected as ‘the One’. Forward thinking indeed!
There is much to read into that short passage of Revelation quoted above. Notice the rider will be on a “white horse,” have a “bow” and a “crown” and go out “conquering and to conquer.” Hal Lindsey helps us break that passage down. The first seal, he points out, is broken near the beginning of Daniel’s 70th week, shortly after the believing Church has been raptured. That is when both the Mahdi and the Antichrist are expected to come on the scene. Secondly, the white horse and the bow without arrows are symbolic of his entre’ as a man of peace. Coming out of a time of turmoil, Daniel 8:25 confirms of the Antichrist: That “by peace he shall destroy many.” Even the Greek word for crown used in the passage denotes the crown of a conqueror not royalty. This Prince is a usurper. Then there is this. Lindsey sees a clue to the identity of the rider in Genesis 21:20. The first man with a bow mentioned in Scripture is identified there as Ishmael. Now Ishmael is the son of Abraham through Hagar, his servant girl; – and is the father of the Arab race. Interestingly this returning 12th Mahdi is the direct descendant of Mohammed, who is the direct descendant of Kedar, the second son of Ishmael.[iv] There is some scriptural support for the notion that the Antichrist will be indeed be an Arab. Micah 5:5-6 identifies him as “the Assyrian” from the “land of Nimrod.” Now Assyria encompasses what is now Iran and Iraq and Nimrod, whose name means “rebel”, ruled his empire from Babylon itself, – the very symbol of mankind’s end-time rebellion.[v] Babylon is of course in Iraq. Revelation clearly identifies Babylon as the seat of Man’s end times anti-God rebellion. [The question is: Is this Babylon physical – or does it represent the World System in rebellion to God? Or is it both?] Scripture tells us that in the end, it will be destroyed.
The long-held objection to the notion of an Islamic Antichrist has been the clear understanding that he must come from the revived Roman Empire. Daniel 9:26 tells us that he shall be of “the people of the prince who is to come [who] Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.” It was the Roman Army that destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in AD 70. The general interpretation has been that the Antichrist would come from the European Union, which occupies the territory of what was the Western part of the Roman Empire. In Daniel 2, God gave Daniel a clear understanding of the general outline of history. He showed him King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a large statue, representing the 5 world empires that would rule over Israel: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Alexander’s Greece, Rome, and in the last days, a revived Rome. In fact the legs of the statue represented the Roman Empire. This accurately portrayed the split in the Empire between its Eastern and Western halves. Many forget that there even was an Eastern Roman Empire, ruled from Constantinople, (modern Istanbul, Turkey), that outlasted the West by about a thousand years. This Eastern leg took in all of the Middle East including the territories now occupied by Syria, Iran and Iraq. This certainly opens up the possibility of an Arab / Islamic Antichrist and comports with Micah 5, quoted above.
Now according to Islamic tradition, when the Mahdi comes, he is to initiate a war that will result in the destruction of one-fourth of mankind.[vi] Again, just look at what Scripture has to say. The opening of the Second Seal produces “Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.” Along with the riders of the next two horses, “power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.” (Revelation 6:4,8) It is instructive that Islamic tradition again agrees with the Bible here, telling us that the war which the Mahdi will wage will kill a fourth of mankind. With that by way of introduction, next time, we’ll take a comparative look at what Islam and Christianity teach about their respective Messiahs.
[i] Summary of Islamic beliefs taken from; Jerry Robinson, Calling Al Mahdi,
Understanding The Antichrist – Part II, WIR
[ii] Quotes from the Hadith taken from; Jerry Robinson, Calling Al Mahdi,
Understanding The Antichrist – Part II, WIR
[iii] Jack Kinsella, Mahdi Rising…, Omega Letter, April 6, 2006
[iv] Hal Lindsey, The 4 Horsemen, al Mahdi, and the Magnetic Polar Reversal, Oracle,
March 14, 2006
[v] Chuck Missler, The Return of Nimrod, Personal Update News Journal, October 2002
[vi] Jack Kinsella, Mahdi Rising…, Omega Letter, April 6, 2006
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