Blog : Prophecy author says, Russia will not invade Isreal -- look for an Islamic Antichrist.

Prophecy author says, Russia will not invade Isreal -- look for an Islamic Antichrist.

9/23/2009 1:21 pm

Last Read:
9/23/2009 3:48 pm

Ten to fifteen years ago I would of never considered such an idea, but with the rise of Islam I am thinking Islam will be playing more of an end time role than I ever thought before.
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New spin of Ezekiel's wheel: Russia will not invade Israel
Prophecy author has new interpretation of identities of Bible's Gog and Magog

Posted: September 06, 2009
8:53 pm Eastern © 2009 WorldNetDaily

The author of a best-selling Bible prophecy book has a new spin on the old interpretation of two chapters of Ezekiel that most pre-millennial scholars believe suggests a last-days invasion of Israel and the Middle East by a coalition of nations led by Russia.

Joel Richardson, author of "The Islamic Antichrist," says Ezekiel 38 and 39 have been misinterpreted to point a finger at Russia a notion widely popularized during the Cold War days of the old Soviet Union.

"Gog is not a present or future leader from Russia," writes Richardson in a commentary today in WND. "Russia is not spoken of in biblical prophecy. Despite all of the hype and discussion that has been devoted in recent years to casting Russia as the leader of a soon-coming invasion of Israel, the Bible nowhere expresses any such thing. No doubt, I will not make very many friends in my own community by doing so. I may even get a few e-mails accusing me of secretly working for Vladimir Putin himself. But my calling involves the exposition and teaching of what the Bible teaches, not what the consensus is among my contemporary colleagues."

On many points, Richardson agrees with conventional Christian thinking on the endtimes. Like other prophecy teachers, he agrees that the Bible clearly predicts just prior to the return of Christ that the nation of Israel will enter into a comprehensive peace treaty or "covenant" with surrounding nations. He agrees that the covenant will be mediated by the man who Christians call "the Antichrist." The result, he says, will be a false sense of peace and security for the Jewish nation. Three and a half years after this peace treaty is established, the Beast of Revelation will violate the treaty and invade the land of Israel, Richardson writes. Jesus will return during Israel's darkest hour "the time of Jacob's trouble" to save the nation and re-establish the throne of King David on Mount. Zion, ruling over the world with "a rod of iron," he agrees.

But most pre-millennial prophecy teachers have held that Israel will be invaded by another powerful enemy some years before these climactic events. They interpret passages from Ezekiel 38 and 39 as describing this separate war led by a leader known as "Gog from the land of Magog."

Richardson, however, says this invasion is the very same war known as "the battle of Armageddon" and "Gog" is simply another name for the Antichrist.

"But here’s the kicker God Himself directly addresses 'Gog,'" he writes. "And speaking to Gog, God says that he is the same evil last days invader that all of the former prophets spoke about. In fact, it would have been difficult for God to be any clearer."

That passage is Ezekiel 38:17: "Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?"

"So here's the question that needs to be asked: If Gog is Russia, and if all of the former prophets spoke about Russia, then why is there not one single passage anywhere in the Bible that speaks about Russia?" Richardson asks rhetorically. "In fact, I challenge anyone who teaches that Gog is Russia to come forth with a single verse outside of Ezekiel that speaks of Russia. And although I am no prophet myself, I can confidently predict that no one will rise to the challenge, simply because there are no passages to bring forward."

Further, Richardson points out, that following the defeat of Gog and Magog, Ezekiel 39:22 predicts, from that day forward, Israel will turn to God and know Him an event most other pre-millennialists agree happens only after the defeat of the Antichrist.

"So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward."

Again, Richardson asks: "If these events take place a few years before the emergence of the Antichrist, then how could God say that His name would no longer be profaned? The Bible is clear, after all, that the Antichrist will be the leader of the greatest and most blasphemous religious movement that the world has ever or will ever know."

Richardson's book is turning the prophecy world upside down.

The first edition of his book has sold out and is now into its second printing after release only one month after its release, where it debuted at the top of the top of the religious charts at Amazon and among all books at Scribd an online e-booker retailer.

The student of Islam and the Middle East says that after decades of reading popular prophecy books and even best-selling fiction like the "Left Behind" series, millions of evangelical Christians around the world are expecting the Antichrist to emerge from a revived Roman Empire, which many have assumed is associated with the Roman Catholic Church and the European Union.

Not so, argues Richardson. His book makes the case that the biblical Antichrist is one and the same as the Quran's Muslim Mahdi.

"The Bible abounds with proofs that the Antichrist's empire will consist only of nations that are, today, Islamic," says Richardson. "Despite the numerous prevailing arguments for the emergence of a revived European Roman empire as the Antichrist's power base, the specific nations the Bible identifies as comprising his empire are today all Muslim."

Richardson believes the key error of many previous prophecy scholars involves the misinterpretation of a prediction by Daniel to Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel describes the rise and fall of empires of the future, leading to the endtimes. Western Christians have viewed one of those empires as Rome, when, claims Richardson, Rome never actually conquered Babylon and was thus disqualified as a possibility.

It had to be another empire that rose and fell and rose again that would lead to rule of this "man of sin," described in the Bible. That empire, he says, is the Islamic Empire, which did conquer Babylon and, in fact, rules over it even today.

Many evangelical Christians believe the Bible predicts a charismatic ruler, the Antichrist, will arise in the last days, before the return of Jesus. The Quran also predicts that a man, called the Mahdi, will rise up to lead the nations, pledging to usher in an era of peace. Richardson makes the case these two men are, in fact, one in the same.

... for love covers a multitude of sins. 1 Pet. 4:8 NLT

thecrosssaysit

9/23/2009 3:14 pm

Tom, I agree that it's not Russia but the end times experts always miss this important fact: Babylon is more. Read Jeremiah chapters 50 and on. Babylon was prophesied for destruction. It was to be no more and only a place for desert animals etc.
There is no Babylon. When the people of Babylon transferred to their new home of Seleucia, years after the Roman emperor too conqered that city and took it out of it's misery.
There was a new type of Babylon called Csesiphon or something like that but it wasn't a new transfer from the former. Babylonians and the Greeks who made up the original great city populations of babylon and seleucia served in the Roman armies so the only thing that was left was a nick name for the fertile crescent. We see that fact in the Jewish Babylonian Talmud of later centuries even up to the fifth century.
Then there is name again in Revelation 17 but there is clue to what it means. It's the great city that reigns over the kings of the earth. How does it reign? Through it's sorcery and fornication with the nations on earth. It sits upon many waters meaning people, tongues, and nations. It's a worldwide thing. In Jeremiah she is talked about as making the nations mad. And then prophecy says all that came against Israel will be slain in Babylon. God will look for those nations who took Israel captive.
She rides the beasts. It seems like the 7 heads include Persia, Greece, Assyria, Babylonia, and maybe Hammurabi's empire or Egypt. Those kingdoms were under the sway of Babylon. And one is. Who could that be. She sits on seven mountains. That could be Rome. Though the Romans didn't occupy the fertile crescent for long, the Romans included the Greeks who were under the sway of Babylon. The Byzantines were centered in Greek culture.
How could Rome be babylon if Rome wasn't part of persia, assyria, or even babylonia. The key is that Babylon is called the mother of harlots. In other words Babylon, the great city has daughters. Could that mean daughter cities. Rome did sit on seven hills and they did persecute the saints as the beast with 7 heads was suppose to do. So Rome could be the incarnation of Babylon the Great. The great city was in fornication with Babylon. Roman Emperors for that reason tried to conquer Persia for the sake of trade for instance.
The antichrist as Daniel's prophecies clearly indicates was to come out of the Roman Empire, but it would be diverse from the first. The Roman Empire is the 4th beast that will crumble and engulf all the world. It did. Even Russia which is millions of miles from Rome has a Roman religion and that's the Easter Orthodox which was born in Constantinople.
Prophecy says 10 nations will come out of Rome, or the Roman Empire and it seems that happened when the western side of the empire fell. And then the little horn which is the antichrist will cause three of the 10 kings to fall. But all this is in the context of the Roman Empire, so the antichrist is definitely a Roman abominable person.
He sits in the temple of God saying he is God. The mystery of iniquity was already at work. The caesars were making bold claims. Nero was their worst. Even Constantine littered the empire with his statues. Constantine and his successors too persecuted the Donatists who were protesting those who denied Christ during the persecution. The apostates were given free reign of a newly state church and then the emperors persecuted all those who didn't approve of the apostates.
Many of the original churches didn't believe in a Trinity either. The Goths were a major foe to the emperors and even the vandals didn't believe the Trinity. There is book I read that says that through the Pope's power, 50 million Christians were killed. How do you deal this type of antichrist. Could he be the one prophesied.

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