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NOTE: This article or series has not been updated recently. As such, it may possibly contain some outdated information, and/or ideas and beliefs which I no longer embrace, or which have changed to some degree.



As I explain in different Endtime articles, such as 'The
Kings Of The North And The South', 'The Seven Heads', 'The
Great Tribulation And The Rapture', etc., it is my current
belief that the coming Kingdom of Darkness of the Beast may
be an Islamic Empire comprised of ten Muslim states, as well
as their evil leader, which are currently in existence in
the Middle East. This Biblical concept finds its origin in
the following verses:

"After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth
beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it
had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and
stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse
from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten
horns...And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of
the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of
that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great
things, whose look was more stout than his fellows...And the
ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall
arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be
diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings."
(Daniel 7:7, 20, 24)

"And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a
great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and
seven crowns upon his heads." (Revelation 12:3)

"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)

"So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness:
and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of
names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns...And
the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will
tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that
carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns...And
the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have
received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one
hour with the beast...And the ten horns which thou sawest
upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make
her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn
her with fire." (Revelation 17:3, 7, 12, 16)

At this current time, it is still difficult to pinpoint with
one hundred per cent accuracy, the identity of this Endtime
political and military leader known as the Beast, and the
Ten Horns which will assist him in destroying Babylon the
Great Whore. As I mention in the aforementioned articles,
based upon my current understanding of the Holy Scriptures,
my belief is that President Hafez al-Assad of Syria, and
President Saddam Hussein of Iraq, seem to be the most likely
candidates to fill this important Endtime position. It may
be for this very reason, that the U.S.A. is so intent on
removing Hussein from power. Of course; they are not about
to say that their foreign policy is based upon prophecies
found in the Bible, as they would be laughed to scorn.

Next to Assad and Hussein, I also consider the dual team of
Mohammad Khatami, the current moderate president of Iran,
and the powerful, spiritual leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei,
to be high on the list of candidates. These two would form
the perfect pair as the political Beast, and the religious
False Prophet. While it is true that Khatami is the actual
president of Iran, as I point out in 'The Seven Heads', it
is common knowledge that Khamenei is the real supreme leader
of that nation. Like his religious predecessor, Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini, Khamenei is a very charismatic leader,
who could easily encourage the Islamic masses to follow
behind the Beast, in an Islamic Jihad, or Holy War, for the
glory of Allah. We only find the False Prophet mentioned by
name, three times in the Book of Revelation; although he is
also implied in the thirteenth chapter of the same book, as
the second Beast that rises up out of the Earth and performs
lying wonders:

"And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the
mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and
out of the mouth of the false prophet."
(Revelation 16:13)

"And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet
that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived
them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that
worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake
of fire burning with brimstone." (Revelation 19:20)

"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of
fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet
are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and
ever." (Revelation 20:10)

"And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and
he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And
he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him,
and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to
worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And
he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down
from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth
them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles
which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying
to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an
image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did
live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the
beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and
cause that as many as would not worship the image of the
beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and
great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in
their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man
might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of
the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let
him that hath understanding count the number of the beast:
for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred
threescore and six." (Revelation 13:11-18)

Perhaps it is because of Khamenei's charismatic influence on
devout Muslims, even on those living outside of Iran, that
Israel fears Iran more than any other Islamic nation in the
Middle East. While Israel has been able to apply some degree
pressure to her northern enemy, Syria, by befriending the
pro-Western nation of Turkey, which is also Syria's backdoor
neighbor, this has not been the case with Iran. This Israeli
fear is augmented by the fact that Iran is in possession of
a very large, and growing, arsenal of military hardware.
Based upon news reports I have read, with the help of North
Korea, this arsenal may soon include a variety of long-range
missiles tipped with nuclear warheads; some of which will of
course be pointed at Israel.

While I cannot prove this conclusively, I suspect that it
may also be because of Iran's growing military might, that
the Clinton Administration has been hesitant to completely
remove Saddam Hussein from power. To do so would create a
political vacuum in the country; as well as a serious power
shift in the Middle Eastern arena; which might give Iran an
opportunity to dominate Iraq. In other words, if Iran is the
home of the Beast and the False Prophet, the current efforts
by U.S. President Bill Clinton to remove Hussein from power,
could be a very foolish mistake. In short, because of his
own personal desire to destroy Hussein, Clinton could very
easily facilitate the rise of the Islamic Beast; that is, of
course, if he, and the False Prophet, are really going to
arise out of Iran.

As I mention in the series 'The Seven Heads', pro-Western
Turkey also offers a possibility of being the home of the
Beast. One of the reasons for this, is because the 'kings of
the east' mentioned in the Book of Revelation, might pertain
to the military leaders of Turkey. This is because one of
the former names of Turkey, is Anatolia. This is the very
same Greek word which is used in the phrase 'kings of the
east'. In other words, 'kings of the east' could really be a
reference to the kings of Anatolia; that is, the kings, or
military leaders, of Turkey, who cross over the Euphrates
River in northeastern Syria, on their way to invade Israel
via the Golan Heights. Consider the following verse:

"And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great
river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that
the way of the kings of the east might be prepared."
(Revelation 16:12)

Allow me to remind you again, that while Turkey is currently
warming up to Israel via their military alliance, we mustn't
forget that the Middle East is an extremely volatile area of
the world. Conditions are constantly changing; and loyalties
may only be a matter of convenience, as long as the desired
benefits are being derived from them. Like other leaders of
the world, Middle Eastern leaders really only look out for
themselves; thus, the current military alliance between the
U.S.A., Turkey and Israel, does possess the potential for
changing dramatically overnight. If Muslim fundamentalists,
such as former Turkish president, Necmettin Erbakan, were
somehow able to regain control of the secular government,
and revert it to a more Islamic-centered system, such as
existed before the days of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, after whom
modern Turkey is named, it is obvious that Israel would not
only lose her ally, and thus her current advantage over her
enemy, Syria, but she would also gain a very powerful enemy.
So as you can see, Turkey is a key player in the Endtime
scenario of the Middle East.

As I also mention in some of the aforementioned articles,
geographically-speaking, because they are situated to the
north and to the northeast of Israel, Syria and Iraq are
both potential 'kings of the north'; that is, the home of
the Beast. This, of course, applies to Turkey as well. This
possibility is strengthened by the fact that all three of
these countries occupy territory which was formerly the
northern and eastern regions of the divided Grecian Empire.
Please refer to the article 'The Kings Of The North And The
South' for a more in-depth explanation regarding this issue.
The importance of their geographical position becomes quite
apparent when we read the following verse from the Book of
Daniel which describes the expansion of the Beast's Empire:

"And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which
waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the
east, and toward the pleasant land." (Daniel 8:9)

As a quick glance at a map of the Middle East will verify,
all three of the previously-named countries are capable of
expanding in the three directions mentioned by the Prophet
Daniel; albeit, to varying degrees. In the case of Saddam
Hussein, he could easily expand from Baghdad, eastward into
Iran, southward into Saudia Arabia, Kuwait and the other
Gulf States, and westward towards Israel, referred to here
as 'the pleasant land', through either Jordan and/or Syria.
Let us not forget that Hussein has already demonstrated his
ability to fight a protracted war, through the long and
bloody eight-year war with Iran; in which it is said that
both chemical and biological weapons were used, in addition
to conventional warfare. Of course, this could only happen
if he possessed sufficient military might; which it seems
that he doesn't at this current time, due to extended United
Nations sanctions, and heavy aerial bombardments by the
United States of America and her allies in 1991, as well as
in December of 1998. At the same time, let us not forget the
following verses:

"And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and
his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered
after the beast...And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth
by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in
the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the
earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which
had the wound by a sword, and did live."
(Revelation 13:3, 14)

In the case of President Suleyman Demirel of Turkey, he
could also move eastward through Armenia into some of the
former Soviet republics, southward towards Syria, Jordan,
and eventually into Saudi Arabia, southeastward into Iraq
and Iran, and south-southwestward into Israel and Lebanon.
If you have been paying close attention to the news, then
you might already know that Turkey has been making advances
into northwestern Iraq, in order to punish the Kurds; who
not only desire their own homeland, but who would also like
to see the military government of Turkey replaced with an
Islamic form of government. This has already become a point
of contention between Turkey and Iraq; and it is also one of
the reasons why the American government has claimed that it
has set up a no-fly zone in northern Iraq; that is, in order
to protect the Kurds from attacks by the forces of Saddam
Hussein. As a matter of fact, CNN, the American Cable News
Network, recently reported the following:

----- Begin Quote -----

U.S. SENDING PATRIOT MISSILE BATTERY TO TURKEY

"The United States is sending a Patriot missile battery to
Turkey as a possible defense against missile attacks from
neighboring Iraq, U.S. officials confirmed Friday. The
Turkish government requested the Patriot unit. It will be
sent to Incirlik Air Base in south-central Turkey, from
which U.S. and British planes are enforcing a no-fly zone
over northern Iraq."

----- End Of Quote -----

If Hafez al-Assad were to expand from Damascus, he could
also move eastward towards Iraq, and eventually, even into
Iran, directly southward towards Jordan, and from there into
Saudi Arabia, and southwestward into Israel. If we take into
consideration the current weakened state of the forces of
Saddam Hussein, this may be an even stronger indication that
Hafez al-Assad, or perhaps one of his successors, may be the
infamous Beast spoken of by Daniel and John, and not Saddam
Hussein; but again, we can't ignore the truth that the Beast
will suffer military defeat, that is, be wounded by a sword,
and yet he will experience a miraculous comeback which will
take the world by surprise.

If we take into consideration the country of Iran, she could
expand eastward into some of the former Soviet republics, as
well as into Afghanistan and Pakistan, southwestward across
the Persian Gulf into the Gulf States, as well as into Iraq,
and westward through Saudi Arabia, on her way to the state
of Israel; which of course is her ultimate prize.

In all four cases, if any of these countries were to invade
Israel, it would most likely be from the northeast through
the strategic Golan Heights; a small elevated area of land,
which as of this writing, is still a point of bitter dispute
between Israel and Syria. It is because the Golan Heights is
Israel's most vulnerable point on her northeastern border,
that she refuses to return it to Syria; who may end up going
to war in order to get it back. As of this date, Assad still
refuses to make peace with Israel; in spite of the pressure
being placed upon him by the U.S.-Israel-Turkey military
alliance.

At this point in time, it is rather difficult for me to see
how any of the aforementioned countries could possibly carry
out such a massive invasion and conquest, as is described in
the prophecies of the Books of Daniel and Revelation. While
there have been news leaks of the possible covert formation
of an Arab Alliance, similar to the Western NATO Alliance,
as of this time, the Arab world is still very much divided
in its politics. If Western news sources are to be believed,
it seems that some Arab leaders must muster all of their
strength and political savvy, and even resort to brutality
and oppression, just to remain in power. For some of us,
such a tale of widespread war and conquest which engulfs so
many nations, seems like a thing of the past; at least to
the days of Hitler's Germany. To even envision a conquering
empire like Assyria, Babylonia, Medo-Persia, Greece or Rome
in our modern day, seems totally foreign to us.

Despite this difficulty on our part to imagine such an event
happening in our current day, as Christians, we know that it
will indeed happen, simply because God's Word says that it
will happen. No matter how impossible it may appear to us at
this current time, in the Lord's chosen time, ten Islamic
nations known as the Ten Horns, are eventually going to
unite their power under the Beast, and invade Israel. There
is going to be a powerful leader in the Middle East who will
accomplish everything which has been prophesied concerning
him. God's Word assures us of this; and as we all know, He
cannot lie. Consider the following verses which I've shared
on other occasions:

"God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of
man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not
do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?"
(Numbers 23:19)

"I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever:
nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and
God doeth it, that men should fear before him. That which
hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been;
and God requireth that which is past."
(Ecclesiastes 3:14-15)

"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there
is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring
the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the
things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall
stand, and I will do all my pleasure:" (Isaiah 46:9-10)

"God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as
it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy
sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged."
(Romans 3:4)

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness:" (2 Timothy 3:16)

"In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie,
promised before the world began;" (Titus 1:2)

"We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do
well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a
dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in
your hearts:...For the prophecy came not in old time by the
will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by
the Holy Ghost." (2 Peter 1:19, 21)

While this coming takeover of the Middle East by the Beast
may catch the world by surprise, as faithful students of His
Word, we should not be surprised by such an event; we should
be expecting it; and we should be looking forward to it as
yet another sign that the End of this current age of man is
drawing near. While the Beast will undoubtedly receive some
help from his Arab friends, and possibly even from Russia,
we need to recognize that, aside from the fact that these
things are ordained of God, he will be directly inspired, as
well as empowered, by none other than Satan himself. This is
why what may now seem impossible, is really going to happen;
because it will be by the power of Satan, and not just by
human military might and political savvy. Allow me to remind
you of a few verses I share in other Endtime articles:

"And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his
feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth
of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat,
and great authority." (Revelation 13:2)

"And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:
and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and
practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people."
(Daniel 8:24)

With this review of some of the information which is found
in my other articles, perhaps you can now see why it is not
an easy task to say with any degree of certainty, who the
Beast might be at this current time. It is simply too early
to make a positive determination; but that may change soon.
It it my belief that once a Middle East agreement is signed,
which will include certain clauses which will guarantee the
safety of Israel, and thus make possible the construction of
the Third Temple in Jerusalem, not only will we know that we
have entered the beginning of the Last Seven Years, but we
should also then be able to fully recognize who the Beast
is, as well as the Ten Horns who will eventually give their
power to him.

Assuming for the moment that Hafez al-Assad of Syria is the
Beast, or 'the king of the north' as Daniel calls him, let's
take a closer look into the mind of this Arab leader. As I
make clear in quite a few of my Endtime articles, the coming
seven-year peace accord with Israel will be broken by the
Beast after being in effect for only three and a half years.
This will occur, because the Beast's heart will be against
the Holy Covenant from the very beginning; and he will only
be using it as a vehicle in order to achieve his personal
objectives. Please consider once again the following verses:

"Then shall he return into his land with great riches; and
his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall
do exploits, and return to his own land...For the ships of
Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be
grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy
covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have
intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant...And
such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by
flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be
strong, and do exploits." (Daniel 11:28, 30, 32)

So as you can see, while the world at large may possibly be
surprised by this sudden obstacle in the Middle East peace
process, it seems that it will have been a strategic move
planned in advance by the Beast. In the Middle East, it is
common knowledge that President Assad's personal vision for
Syria extends beyond just re-acquiring the Golan Heights in
northeastern Israel. His goal is to reclaim the power of the
ancient Assyrian Empire; which included the northern half of
modern-day Iraq, possibly a small part of Turkey, Lebanon,
and northern Israel. In fact, I believe that Assad has an
interest in conquering Egypt as well; based upon what is
written in the prophecies of Daniel.

If Syria chooses to go to war against Israel over the issue
of the Golan Heights, as has happened in the past, Israel's
other three neighbors, Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan, are going
to have to decide which side of the fence they are on; for
as the old adage states, there are no neutrals. In other
words, everyone shows their true colors when the heat is on.
While these three Arab nations have sided with Syria in past
conflicts against the state of Israel, since that time, they
have all negotiated various peace initiatives with Israel;
and in some cases, these are full-fledged agreements.

The first to do this was the nation of Egypt. In September
of 1978, Egyptian President, Muhammad Anwar al-Sadat, and
Israeli Prime Minister, Menachem Begin, signed the historic
Camp David Accords, in the presence of American President,
Jimmy Carter. As a result of his peace overtures with the
state of Israel, Anwar Sadat was assassinated not too long
after that. I can only wonder why Hosni Mubarak, the current
president of Egypt, hasn't yet met with the same fate as his
predecessor. Even as I write this, there are fundamentalist
Islamic elements in Egypt, whose objective is to overthrow
Mubarak's government; and this same Islamic tide has begun
to sweep other Arab and non-Arab nations of the world as
well; including the United States of America.

As a clear sign of how far Egypt has strayed from the inner
core of Arab thought, due to American financial and military
aid, consider the fact that following the bombing raids on
Iraq this past December by the United States of America and
Great Britain, President Mubarak openly criticized Saddam
Hussein; stating that Hussein had brought these things upon
himself. Since Mubarak made his comments, Iraqi Deputy Prime
Minister, Tariq Aziz, has had nothing good to say about the
Egyptian president. In fact, as will be clearly seen by the
following newsclip taken from CNN, the Arab countries are
beginning to polarize as they take clear sides regarding the
politics of Saddam Hussein; and as can be expected, those
nations which receive American aid in some form, are coming
out against the Iraqi leader:

----- Begin Quote -----

SAUDIS, EGYPTIANS CALL FOR OVERTHROW OF HUSSEIN

"The official Saudi Arabian news agency on Sunday urged
Iraqis to overthrow President Saddam Hussein, saying he had
killed and tortured thousands of his people. Egyptian
Foreign Minister Amr Moussa echoed that call, saying that
Hussein is "shaming the entire Arab region through his
politics." His comments are to be published Monday in The
Berliner Kurier newspaper."

----- End Quote -----

In the case of Lebanon, the country of King Hiram, who was a
friend of King David, Israel has publicly declared that it
makes no claims to Lebanese land or resources; and that its
primary concern revolves around the security of its northern
border. In the early nineties, bilateral talks were being
held between the two countries, but those negotiations have
been stalled since February of 1994. Two years later, in
April of 1996, Israel initiated 'Operation Grapes of Wrath';
which was aimed at neutralizing the Iranian-backed Hizbullah
resistance which operates from within Lebanon. On April 26,
1996, the United States of America brokered a document which
it was hoped, would achieve a lasting peace between Israel
and Lebanon; but as we have now seen, in recent weeks, there
have again been some serious confrontations, resulting in
casualities, in the security zone which acts as a buffer
area between the Lebanese and the Israeli forces.

Concerning King Hussein of Jordan, as per clauses included
in the Camp David Accords of 1978, fifteen years later, on
September 14, 1993, one day after Israel, Jordan and Egypt
signed the Declaration of Principles in Washington, D.C.,
Jordan also negotiated an interim agreement with the state
of Israel referred to as the Israel-Jordan Common Agenda.
Among other terms, by means of this document, the two sides
agreed to not use conventional or non-conventional weapons
of mass destruction against each other. Following is a
portion of the actual document:

----- Begin Quote -----

2. Security:

a. Refraining from actions or activities by either side that
may adversely affect the security of the other or may
prejudge the final outcome of negotiations.

b. Threats to security resulting from all kinds of
terrorism.

i. Mutual commitment not to threaten each other by any use
of force and not to use weapons by one side against the
other including conventional and non-conventional mass
destruction weapons.

ii. Mutual commitment, as a matter of priority and as soon
as possible, to work towards a Middle East free from weapons
of mass destruction, conventional and non-conventional
weapons; this goal is to be achieved in the context of a
comprehensive, lasting and stable peace characterized by the
renunciation of the use of force, reconciliation and
openness. Note: The above (item c-ii) may be revised in
accordance with relevant agreements to be reached in the
Multilateral Working Group on Arms Control and Regional
Security.

----- End Of Quote -----

This interim agreement between Israel and Jordan was
followed by another document referred to as the Washington
Declaration, which was signed by the two parties on July 25,
1994. The purpose of this interim treaty was to declare 'the
termination of the state of belligerency' between the two
nations. Two months later, Israel and Jordan signed their
full-fledged peace treaty, which is officially referred to
as the Treaty Of Peace Between The State Of Israel And The
Hashemite Kingdom Of Jordan. This treaty was signed by the
two nations on October 26, 1994.

As I explain in the article 'Yasser Arafat's Ultimatum: Why
May 4, 1994?', what is truly sad regarding these various
peace initiatives which have been agreed upon between Israel
Egypt and Jordan, is that the resolution of the Palestinian
refugee problem was supposed to be an integral part of the
peace process between these three nations. A full twenty
years have now passed since the signing of the Camp David
Accords, and yet the displaced Palestinian Arabs still find
themselves without a homeland. They are merely a floating
population of some two million people who find their primary
residence in Jordan, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.

In the final half of this article, we will leave behind
recent events in the Middle East peace process, and take a
look at what the Bible indicates will be the future of some
of the nations of the Middle East as they fall to the forces
of the Beast. This will include a discussion on such topics
as the three broken horns, prophetic peaks and valleys,
Egypt Libya And Ethiopia, the Libya question, the Endtime
seals being removed, the wise shall understand, watching and
praying, and keeping busy for Jesus. I trust that you will
join me.

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