I think I’ve shared my reluctancy to be a “prophecy teacher.” I cringe when introduced at events as such because I just want to be a pastor seeking to rightly divide the whole counsel of God. Prophecy is a third of the Bible so we can’t avoid it and, in these crazy times we live in, we need to look to Scripture, especially prophecy, to navigate them.
What amazes me within the study of Bible prophecy is how much can be known. The title of this article seems to warn that I will be speculating with a best guesstimate on the location of the Antichrist’s empire — I won’t. I encourage you to read on and see what can be known about what lies ahead especially the location of the Antichrist’s empire.
When we read through the Old Testament prophets, we encounter much about geopolitics. Many nations are mentioned — almost all of which are Israel and her neighbors. The temptation is to assume that was the only world the biblical writers knew, therefore that’s why those nations were mentioned. Before we make that assumption, we should first give the Holy Spirit more geographical credit. What if we assumed centerstage for the end of the age events was actually the Middle East and that the neighbors of Israel are the intended nations to be judged at the end of the age? What if we started with that in mind and let that lay a foundation for end time geopolitics? What if God specified those locations on purpose? I believe He did.
With this foundation in mind, let’s jump to the passage I believe to be the lynchpin to knowing the identity of this final empire. Before looking at Revelation 17, let’s go to Daniel 2. In Daniel 2, we read of Daniel interpreting King Nebuchadnezzar’s statue. In the interpretation, Daniel tells the king that the statue with its five divisions represents a succession of empires that would rule over the land of Babylon. The statue serves as timeline of sorts, running from King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign to the reign of the Messiah.
First, in Daniel 2, we’re told the head of gold represents the Babylonian Empire. In Daniel 8, we see that the chest and arms of silver represents the Mede and Persian empire. In that same chapter, we see that the belly and thighs of bronze points to the Grecian empire. Unfortunately, we’re not given the fourth empire, which is pictured by the legs of iron. We’re not given the fifth either, but it is expressed to be a revival of the fourth. The fourth has been divided up and reassembled — revived. Most have assumed this fourth and the revival of it is the Roman Empire, but there’s not any biblical support for that.
In a parallel vision in Daniel 7, we’re shown that the final empire of the succession will be the one of the Antichrist — the Little Horn.
Though Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 fail to identify the final empire’s location, we do learn that it will be a revival of the fourth.
Another parallel vision from Daniel 2 appears in Revelation 17. There’s a lot going on in the passage, but in Rev. 17:10-11 we get the greatest clue into the location of this final kingdom: “They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while. The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction” (Rev. 17:10-11 NIV).
This passage is much like the statue in Daniel 2. It lays out a succession of empires stretching throughout history until the end of the age. King Nebuchadnezzar’s statue had the common denominator of the land of Babylon, while the passage seems to be a succession of foreign gentile nations that would rule over Jerusalem, but just like Daniel 2 this passage shows that the final kingdom will be a revival of the previous one.
John the apostle is told that there will be eight kingdoms. The eighth would be a revival of the seventh. He’s told that at his lifetime five of these empires had come and gone. One of the seven was currently in existence. During John’s life the Roman empire’s flag flew over Jerusalem. He’s then told one more kingdom is to come, it will rule for a while, go away and come back.
Do you see why this passage is the key?
If we know the kingdom that would follow the one ruling over Jerusalem in the time of John, then we could know the empire of the Antichrist.
And we do.
For after the Roman empire it was the Ottoman Empire or Islamic Caliphate ruled from modern day Turkey over Jerusalem.
This Islamic State would rule from 1453 until it was dissolved following World War I. At that time, it was divided up into many different nations — resulting in the Middle East today.
Revelation 17:10-11 isn’t the only evidence of the Antichrist’s empire possibly being a revived Ottoman Empire, but it may be the clearest.
Jake is available for revivals and preaching learn more at standfirmministries.com.
