NW’s full original article recently appeared at the gospelintheendtimes blog here.
I quote just part of his long and insightful commentary below; read on for how events in Turkey this month could be very relevant:
“A common question is will the Antichrist claim to be God himself. Many believe he will. Is this belief accurate?
Does Antichrist claim to be God?
This belief is based on Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians.
The man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. (2 Thess. 2:3-4)
This passage is a further explanation of Daniel’s prophecy about the Antichrist:
He will show no regard for the gods (literally “God”) of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will magnify himself above them all. But instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold, silver, costly stones and treasures. He will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god. (Dan. 11:37-39)
(DM adds: Take note of Daniel’s warning: “He will take action against (America?) the strongest of fortresses with the help of (Allah?) a foreign god.”)
“These two interrelated passages are the basis of our understanding of what exactly Antichrist will or will not do in this regard. Let’s look at each passage individually and see what it really says. We will start with Daniel since the passage in 2 Thessalonians references Daniel.
God and other “gods”
The passage in Daniel is clear that Antichrist will “magnify himself above them all” (other gods). That should end the discussion but it doesn’t. Immediately after this statement it says he honors a “god of fortresses” and later receives help from a “foreign god.” This certainly doesn’t seem like he magnifies himself above every god, rather it seems there is one god that he honors…”
“…So if the Antichrist is Muslim, how would this be possible that YHWH was God of his fathers? The “fathers” of the Muslim people are Ishmael and Esau, both of whom worshiped YHWH initially during their lives. So this makes complete sense.
Next, we find a very unusual and confusing statement: the Antichrist will show no regard for the “desire of women.” This has led many to believe he will be a homosexual (and he may be). However, it is very unlikely that this phrase carries that meaning here. This entire passage is about the religion and spirituality of Antichrist NOT his sexuality. This phrase then should be referring to a God who was the “desire of women.”
In the days prior to the birth of Jesus, Jewish women desired to give birth to Messiah. The “desire of women” therefore was giving birth to the coming Messiah, who we now know is Jesus.
If we assemble this entire phrase together we get the following statement of whom the Antichrist will and will not honor. He will not honor God the Father, Jesus, or any false god worshiped by other nations:
He will show no regard for the gods (ELOHE, meaning YHWH) of his fathers or for the desire of women (Jesus), nor will he show regard for any other god (ELOWAH); for he will magnify himself above them all. But instead he will honor a god (ELOWAH) of fortresses, a god (ELOWAH) whom his fathers did not know.
…
Summary
The question this article attempts to answer is will the Antichrist claim to be God or at least claim to be the one and only god (false god.) I think the answer to this is clearly “no” as the Antichrist will honor a “foreign god” who will outrank him.
However, it is not clear that the Antichrist doesn’t claim to be a divine being himself or demand worship himself. If the Antichrist appears to have recovered from a fatal head wound, he may appear then to be a divine being; and appear worthy of worship…
What is my personal belief? I personally think that the man, the Antichrist, will deceive the world by appearing to recover from a fatal head wound. At that point, I personally believe he will claim to be an historic figure come back to life. Most likely this may be Mohammed, and as such he would demand honor and worship…”
NW makes a strong case for an Islamic Antichrist, but doesn’t try to tie in recent events in Turkey.
I (David Montaigne) encourage you to read Nelson Walters’ full article linked above, as he raises and explains many good points. Books like “Islamic Antichrist” are also very insightful.
But I find this extremely relevant now, as I have long expected the Antichrist to take the spotlight in mid-2016 – and Erdogan is purging at least 50,000 potential opposition leaders in Turkey right now, cementing his dictatorship at the site of the previous Islamic Caliphate – extremely important to end times Bible prophecy.
Ever since the apparently fake/staged “Turkish coup” last week, America’s Incirlik Air Base in Turkey – home to many US servicemen and bombers with 50 nuclear weapons – has been shut down and quarantined. No missions to bomb the Islamic Caliphate (ISIS) in Syria, and no one leaves the base. Which brings to mind this passage from Daniel, as discussed in Antichrist 2016-2019:
“Would he also be willing to sacrifice American armies in the Middle East? Daniel 11:11 “The king of the South will be enraged and go forth and fight with the king of the North. Then the latter will raise a great multitude, but that multitude will be given into the hand of the former. When the multitude is carried away, his heart will be lifted up, and he will cause tens of thousands to fall; yet he will not prevail.” It is not clear at all whether the King of the North is the Antichrist leader of Mystery Babylon or not, but in this particular verse it sounds like the King of the North will lose tens of thousands of troops to his “enemy” and be happy about it! This sounds like a traitorous leader who wants the other side to win. What might explain this? One possibility is a president who is secretly a member of a certain religion, who in his heart, thinks his nation has been a rogue monster that needs to be brought down.”
Will Erdogan take over a US air base under the pretense that traitors who tried to overthrow him (Turkish opposition and CIA backers) dwell inside? What would Obama do in response, if anything? If Obama would not choose to counterattack, then a strong Islamic dictator who supports the Islamic Caliphate will have defected from NATO and joined radical Islam while humiliating a very weak-looking America and taking US servicemen hostage along with approximately 50 nuclear weapons and bombers from us. Ask yourself if Obama seems to promote American power and influence over the Middle East, or if he might WANT to empower an Islamic Caliphate…
Unfortunately, this seems to be a very real possibility.
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