God's War on Terror: Islam, Prophecy and the Bible
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Do you see my point? There are numerous examples like this throughout the Bible.
Let’s return to the passage in Zechariah 12 and read it in its full context. “I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves,” (Zechariah 12:2-3).
Who does this passage specifically say will attack Jerusalem? The answer is, “The surrounding peoples.” Today, the nations that encircle Israel on every side are Muslim. The Prophet Joel confirms this, as well. Speaking of the final attack against Jerusalem, Joel prophesied, “I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; and they have divided up My land… Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations… for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations,” (Joel 3:2, 4, 9-12).
Once again, Joel, like Zechariah, specifies just who the nations are. Who are these “surrounding nations”? Does this include New Zealand, Canada, Greenland and Papua New Guinea? Or is this prophecy speaking about the sea of Islamic nations that surround Jerusalem on every side—exactly how it is today? The verse actually specifies at least two of the guilty parties involved. It says, “What are you to Me, O Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? If you do recompense Me, swiftly and speedily I will return your recompense on your head.” Tyre, Sidon, and Philistia are references to the regions of Lebanon and the Gaza Territories. Certainly these qualify as the peoples that surround Israel. In fact, this pattern is found quite extensively through the prophets.
Ezekiel, for instance, also specifies who the nations are that will attack Israel and incur God’s judgment at the end of the age. “O mountains of Israel, This is what Jehovah the Sovereign says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, to the desolate ruins and the deserted towns that have been plundered and ridiculed by the rest of the nations around you—this is what Jehovah the Sovereign says: In my burning zeal I have spoken against the rest of the nations, against all Edom, for with glee and with malice in their hearts they made my land their own possession so that they might plunder its pastureland.’… Then the nations that are left round about you will know that I, Jehovah, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate; I, Jehovah, have spoken and will do it,” (Ezekiel 36:4, 5).
Notice the pattern. First, there is specific mention of “the nations around you.” Then one of them is named: Edom. While Edom is used as a general term referring to the enemies of the Jews who lived to the east of Israel, today this would most specifically be Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The Bible makes every effort to clarify the nation’s roundabout: “And render unto our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord,” (Psalm 79:12). Do Israel’s “neighbors” include Sweden?
“Thus Says Jehovah against all mine evil neighbors that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit,” (Jeremiah 12:14). The neighbors are all Muslim.
“When I gather the people of Israel from the nations where they have been scattered, I will show myself holy among them in the sight of the nations. Then they will live in their own land, which I gave to my servant Jacob. They will live there in safety and will build houses and plant vineyards; they will live in safety when I inflict punishment on all their neighbors who maligned them. Then they will know that I am Jehovah their God,” (Ezekiel 28:25).
NATIONS ATTACK ANTICHRIST
Another reason the position that every nation will fall to Antichrist is impossible, is the fact that some will resist the Antichrist and attack him. “Many countries will fall, but Edom, Moab and the leaders of Ammon will be delivered from his hand,” (Daniel 11:40-45). The Bible says “many countries,” not “all”. Elsewhere, we read that Chittim will come against him. Daniel 11:30 says that ships of Kittim (often translated as “out of the west”) will come against the King of the North (Antichrist). “For the ships of Kittim shall come against him.” Chittim refers to the islands and coastline of the Mediterranean and in a wider sense, the Roman legions, or Europe. In Numbers 24:24, Balaam foretold, “that ships shall come from the coast of Kittim, and afflict Eber.” Josephus identifies Kittim as Cyprus, whose ancient capital was called Kition by the Greeks. Cyprus also extended to include lands west of Syria, all of Greece, and as far as Illyricum and Italy. Note that none of these lands are Muslim. The name was first used to identify the Phoenician port of Citium in Cyprus. In fact, Kittim actually appears in the Dead Sea Scrolls and is even translated as “Romans” in the Septuagint.1
In general, the term Kittim was used to refer to all the islands and settlements along the seacoasts, as well as to the people who succeeded them when the Phoenician power decayed. Thus, Kittim generally refers to the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean and the races that inhabit those areas.
If the Antichrist were to come from the Western Roman Empire of Europe, the ships of Kittim would not come against him.
To answer the question, are any European nations mentioned in the Bible? Yes. The ships of Chittim in the Septuagint are literally the European nations from Cyprus to Italy to Spain. According to the prophecy of Daniel 11 they attacked Antiochus who was a foreshadow of the Antichrist, as such, this passage could very well involve a dual fulfillment, and we could have a prophecy about a European attack against the forces of the Antichrist.
Consider Turkey’s army. It supersedes the combined forces of Britain, Italy and France. Yet Turkey is no match for Rome’s fleet (ships). “Our fleet cannot, perhaps, compare with the fleet of Italy, but our army is mighty,” explains Zia Pasha, Turkey’s ambassador to the United States. Turkey’s army is stronger, but Italy’s fleet can defeat Turkey.2
No European country is featured in End-Times prophecy as receiving a judgment of wrath. Rome is mentioned several times, and Spain twice, without a single reference to judgments.
Islam wants to conquer Rome.
Ezekiel 28 also confirms that the most powerful nations on earth will attack Antichrist. “Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness,” (Ezekiel 28:7). The term “terrible” implies “very powerful.”3
God will rise up several nations to attack the Antichrist. Therefore, it cannot be true that every nation of the earth will fall to the Antichrist and attack Israel. There have always been attempts to establish a One-World Government, yet they have never succeeded.
Far too many in the West fail to remember the actual context of the Bible. Too many Westerners read the Bible narcissistically. Many books have been written that revolve around the West and interpret history through a Western-centric lens. When I opened the Bible for the first time, I read about the places where I grew up. I read about Bethlehem and Jericho. Far too many Westerners have missed the obvious fact that the Bible is thoroughly Middle Eastern. In the Biblical worldview, Jerusalem is the center of the earth, not Europe or America. The biblical prophecies about the End-Times are no different.
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Western Misconceptions And The Challenge
Speaking to a Western audience of several prominent prophecy authors in Dallas, Texas, I asked a Jesus-style question: “Besides the argument over whether Magog is Russia, can you cite any literal reference to a nation that God destroys in the End-Times that is not Muslim?”
I waited and waited. No one responded. I then asked, “Why are you not raising your hands? Is it because you cannot find any? Or is it because you have written all these books which you cannot recant?”
I have asked the same question to thousands in churches throughout the U.S., Canada, and England. Yet, to this day, no one has dis
agreed with me that there are no literal references to non-Muslim nations that God destroys in End-Times anywhere in the Bible.
SHIPS OF TARSHISH
Many teachers of Bible prophecy claim that the European Union is the Antichrist’s dominion. They claim the Biblical Tarshish is Spain or Britain, but do not support this notion Biblically. They claim that the “merchants of Tarshish and all the young lions thereof” (Ezekiel 38:13) are other European countries. It is important to distinguish between “ships of Tarshish” and the “merchants of Tarshish” as nations that simply traded with Tyre. For example: “The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them,” (Isaiah 23:1). In this verse, “Ships of Tarshish” points to Tyre (Lebanon). Here, the Bible ends speculation that “Ships of Tarshish” is any European entity.
Tarshish is cited in several passages. Many writers point to Ezekiel 27:12, noting that since only Britain or Spain manufactured tin, and because Britain still manufactures tin, then it must be Tarshish. But this theory has several serious flaws.
For this to be true, Britain and Spain must also manufacture silver, lead and iron. “Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs.” (Ezekiel 27:12) Only Turkey was renowned for its production of silver, iron, tin and lead altogether.
For the next argument we turn to Jonah who in attempting to flee to Tarshish from Israel boarded a ship at the port of Joppa (Israel) on the Mediterranean coast. (Jonah 1:3). This would indicate that Tarshish lies to the west. This is true, but the ships could also sail westward to Turkey and Lebanon. Even so, many modern authors are divided between Tartessos in Iberia (Spain) and Tarsus in Cilicia (Turkey). Cilicia was the ancient name of southern Turkey. Göltepe in Turkey was associated with tin mining; Kestel, located in the central Taurus Mountains of Turkey, also produced tin. Josephus cites “Tharsus” in Turkey “Tharsus to the Tharsians, for so was Cilicia of old called; the sign of which is this, that the noblest city they have, and a metropolis also is Tarsus.”4 Josephus, citing from the Hebrew Bible, notes that Tarshish is a descendant of Japheth (Greek: Iapetos/Japetus) and Javan (Hebrew: Javan), associated with the Greek Ionia, a province in modern western Turkey.
The ancient Greek historian Athendorus, a citizen of Tarsus, traces the genealogy of Japetus, the ancestor of Javan, for Tarsus: “Athendorus, the Tarsian, said that the city was originally called Parthenia, from Parthenius, son of Cydnus, the grandson of Anchiale, daughter of Japetus…”5
Charles F. Pfeiffer, editor of The Biblical World, a Dictionary of Biblical Archaeology, states, “Ancient Anatolia was famous for its metals, which were carried in Phoenician ships as trade items to other parts of the ancient Near Eastern world. Phoenician inscriptions have been found at Karatepe, in Cilicia.” Silver heads the list of precious metals associated with Tarshish, and ancient Assyrian sources noted that the Taurus Mountains above Tarsus were referred to as the Silver Mountains. In fact, modern metallurgy maps indicate that every single metal associated with Tarshish can be found in the Taurus Mountains. “Silver beaten into plates is brought from Tarshish,” (Jeremiah 10:9).
The Bible itself indicates that Tarshish was a producer of silver. This cannot be Britain or Spain.
Harper’s Bible Dictionary describes Tarsus: “Tarsus, the capital of Cilicia…The city was built on the banks of the swift Cydnus River, 10 miles from the Mediterranean and 30 miles south of the Taurus (“Silver”) mountains, which were veined with lead and silver. “Archaeologists found evidence of smelters in the vicinity of Tarsus in antiquity,” as noted by MacQueen. The final shaping into tools and weapons was done locally, and areas devoted to this have been found at Bogazkoy and Tarsus marked by the presence of large quantities of slag. Tarsus also produced a clay crucible with bronze adhering to it.”6
Since Bronze is an alloy of tin and copper, the natives of ancient Tarsus had to have had access to tin in order to make the bronze. Hodges notes that the Assyrians were interested in controlling the tin resources of Eastern Anatolia (Turkey). There can be little doubt that Sargon’s chief concern in this enterprise was to control the sources of supply of his raw materials. One is tempted, therefore, to suppose that much of the tin required for bronze making came from the mountains of Syria and Turkey. No later than the Early Bronze Age, Anatolian bronze objects were utilizing tin. The Larousse Encyclopedia of Prehistoric describes bronze production: “It seems certain that bronze and bronze working originated in the Middle East, where Anatolia and Armenia were mining regions…between 2300-2000 BC…the quantity of the bronze with an already remarkably high tin content is impressive.”7
Aslihan Yener, assistant professor at the university of Chicago’s Oriental Institute, discovered an Early Bronze Age tin mine, 60 miles north of Tarsus. Aslihan Yener believes that a mine and ancient mining village she has found in the central Taurus mountains of Turkey shows that tin mining was a well developed industry in the area as early as 2870 BC…the mine at a site called Kestel—some 60 miles north of Tarsus, on the Mediterranean coast—has two miles of tunnels…nearby stands the mining village of Goltepe, which was probably occupied by 500 to 1,000 persons more or less continuously between 3290 and 1840 BC…the site contains no evidence of copper metallurgy…it did not produce bronze; instead it produced tin for export…Yener and her colleagues have analyzed tin-rich slag from 50 crucibles discovered at Goltepe. Within the total one metric ton of metallurgical debris in the form of crucible and vitrified materials, she has excavated some that have 30 percent tin content (a high percentage) still intact in the crucible.8
If the peoples of Cilicia were capable of mining tin in the Early Bronze Age, they certainly did not need to sail to Spain to get tin to make it. Ezekiel 38:13 describes merchants of Tarshish: “Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages will say to you, ‘Have you come to capture spoil? Have you assembled your company to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to capture great spoil?’”
While this does not conclude which side Sheba, Dedan, and the Merchants of Tarshish are on, it is clear that grabbing booty is an Islamic trait that these nations might enjoy copying. Isaiah, however, tells us about the judgment of the ships of Tarshish, “The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them. Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished,” (Isaiah 23:10). So while the judgment is against “the ships of Tarshish”, it is revealed from the land of Chittim (Rome, Europe).
Isaiah 23:6 says, “Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle.” This place is somewhat related to Tarshish and is in close proximity to her in order to “pass over” to her. If Tarshish is Spain, how is Tyre to pass over such a far place? There are some who claim that Tarshish is Europe, noting a prophecy in Isaiah 60 that seems to hint to western ships that carried immigrant Jews to Israel.
“Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.” (Isaiah 60:9)
However, this will be fulfilled in the Messianic Kingdom, when all the nations that hated Israel will participate in bringing the exiled Jewish captives back to their land: “The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall show forth the praises of the LORD. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory,” (Isaiah 60:6-7). They will even flock from Saudi Arabia to worship the real God—the Holy One of Israel!
Here, Tarshish, Pul, Lud, Tubal and Javan are thrown together in one “that draws the bow,” and all these are in Turkey. Why should only Tarshish be identified as Spain or England?
THE ETHIOPIA QUESTION
Ezekiel 38 mentions Ethiopia, which many Westerners interpret as modern day Ethiopia, a predominately Christian nation. So does that mean Christian Ethiopia will join the Islamic coalition against Israel? This interpretation poses several problems. According to the Encyclopedia of the Orient, Cush is the “Ancient kingdom of Nubia in today’s northern Sudan, whose rulers conquered southern Egypt in the 8th century BC and established a capital at Napata.”
The Sudan is one of the most strident, fundamentalist Islamic states. Two million Christians have been slaughtered or starved in the last twenty years there in a Christian holocaust carried out by the Arab Muslims—all in the name of Islam. Even though Sudan is prominently Catholic, Muslims see no difference between Protestants and Catholics. Yet, the Catholics are accused of being part of the Harlot of Revelation. A study of Scripture shows this to be pure conjecture based on an old interpretation that depended on the animosity between Protestants and Catholics.