Outline for Biblical Eschatology Compared with that of Islam
Session Five
In order to understand fully just where Islam end-time teaching is in error, we need to know clearly what the Bible teaches. So what I want to do at this point is review what the Bible teaches concerning the last days, and the person known as the Anti-Christ in particular.
We will look at the major biblical descriptions of the last days of our history as we know it.
The first of these descriptions comes to us by way of information given to Daniel a thousand years before Jesus came. What we learn from Daniel, we will have to 'store away' in our memory banks, so that when we read what Jesus had to say about this same subject, and then what Paul had to say about it, and then what John had to say about it, we will be able to 'picture' what we have read and learned as if they were all laid side by side.
Daniel received information than was to cover a large part of history. In chapter eleven he is up to the part that concerns us. From chapter 11:21 and onward he is talking about the last few years of history before the return of Jesus. How can we be sure he is speaking about the end-time and not some other event that has already happened between then and now?
Here is the process ... we look at the verse that CLEARLY is speaking of the a day of resurrection from the dead ... and then move backward.
The verse is Daniel 12:1
Daniel 12:1 ¶ "At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book. 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Clearly this is the resurrection at the end of this age.
So now we scan backward over the previous verses of chapter 11.
We discover immediately, that Daniel is mentioning someone merely as 'He' (verses 44 and 45). We discover also that he has just described a flurry of activity between this 'he' who turns out to be labelled, 'king of the North', and other kings ... such as king of the south ... and finally an eastern power. So, because Daniel does not point out “The King of the North, Russia, will go forward with great rage ...” nor does he say, “The king of the North, the Muslim Caliph of Syria, goes forward to annihilate...”, we are left to decide that for ourselves.
So what we need to do is go backward far enough to the verse where the end-time leaders first come into the picture. And that spot (for one) is Daniel 11:21. Who enters the picture?
a) A contemptible person
b) a person who not becoming King by the rights of heredity.
c) a person who rises to power in a time of relative peace and security
d) a person who becomes leader by use of 'intrigue' or flattery.
This is not Daniel's first mention of this person. He had mentioned him in Da 7:8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.
And also in Da 8:25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
What is added to what we already listed above?
e) he is referred to as being a 'horn' on a beast.
f) He is a 'bragger'
g) He has 'answers or solutions' for economic problems.
i) He, under the guise of peace, ends up destroying a lot of people
j) Will come face to face with Jesus as some point
k) He will be broken.
If we include Daniel 8:24 ( His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; He shall destroy fearfully, And shall prosper and thrive; He shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people.) we discover that
l) His source of power is outside of himself (possessed by Satan?)
m) he will destroy as many Jews as possible.
That's quite a list ... and I am sure I left out a number of things that could have been noted.
Daniel, as I have just pointed out, has mentioned this 'anti-christ' several times. In chapter 11 he tells of 3 major (unnamed) world powers struggling for domination. Let's read from verse 21 – to verse 45. Nowhere in the rest of scripture is there such a blow by blow picture of the final couple of years to this age.
These powers are identified by leaders who are referred to as kings.
The final conflicts are identified:
Who is this 'king of the North'? North of what? Most likely north of Israel. Israel (Palestine) is God's 'centre'. Directions are measured from there.
Many bible commentators say that it will be Russia. Others are saying that, given the animosity of Arabs to Jews, and, givrn the fact that Syria and Iraq are to the north, that this anti-christ will come from there. Which is it? For now we will continue to look at what the anti-christ does, his purpose, his connection with global power etc., without specifically trying to identify his country or people of origin.
We will say the same for the King of the South. But what we want to notice very clearly, is that Daniel is describing a global conflict. It entails all of the world. It is not a relatively small conflict happening in the middle east that is of little or no significance to us in the west. The powers that are battling it out at the end are three major world powers.
I mentioned that these final conflicts are at the end of the age as we know it. How long from the first conflict until the time the anti-christ is 'broken'?
For the answer to this let's look at chapter 7 beginning with verse 23 and read to 26.
The descriptive language gives us a picture of a powerful creature very different from the ones he has just mentioned. He tells us that it has ten horns. He tells us that an eleventh horn, different from the ten, comes into power and takes out three of the other horns.
This new 'horn' will:
Someone suggested that he is different ... sexually ... that is he is homosexual. I find no reason to come to this conclusion, although that might make him different. Rather than mention all kinds of possible ways in which he will be different, I will put this idea forward.
One thing that all generals, tyrants, aggressive and conquering leaders have had in common is their country. They conquer in the name of their country. The Caesars fought to bring their conquered lands under the thumb of Rome. Alexander the Great fought to bring his known world under the domination of Greece. Perhaps this last leader is different from the others in that he has no country for which he is fighting. Say, for example, we are talking about the leader of ISIS. Isis is a force, a belief system, a conglomeration of people that are not from one country. They want to take over the world ... in their own name. They are placing potential fighters in countries all around the world. These fighters, at the right time, hope to fight locally ... at home, wherever that is. The end result would be to bring the whole world under Islam ... not under a country such as Iran or Iraq. But where would they set up a final headquarters?
Da 11:16 "But he who comes against him shall do according to his own will, and no one shall stand against him. He shall stand in the Glorious Land with destruction in his power.
Da 11:41 "He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many [countries] shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon.
Da 11:45 "And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him.
Between the Mediterranean and the Dead Seas ... is the glorious Holy mountain ... Jerusalem, the place of God's temple. The anti-christ will seek to rule from there. In a later study we will see that both Jesus and the apostle Paul state this quite clearly.
The final ruling location will be Jerusalem. This is a place that is just as holy to Muslims as it is to Jews. It is from the dome of the Rock in Jerusalem that Muhammad claims he ascended heaven one night. According to him he was taken from his house in Medina to the rock, and then from there on horseback up to heaven. Once he was up there Allah told him to go back and tell his people to pray 50 times a day. On the way back he passed Moses who asked him what Allah had just said. He told Muhammad that it was way too much ... and to go back and ask for a reduction. He did this. Several times, because each time he passed Moses, he was told that it was still too much. After God reduced to 5 times a day, Moses told him to go back one more time. Muhammad refused on grounds that he was embarrassed to back again. Allah told Muhammad later that if his people would pray 5 times a day, he would still reward them as if it were 50.3 Muhammad was back in bed that same night.
Daniel, as I mentioned earlier, has referred to this last world leader as a horn.
The picture is of a goat type creature with a huge horn that is broken ... four horns come up in its place ... then a small horn appears and removes three, and the small horn becomes the one remaining horn after the other three are gone. What does all this mean?
Let's read 8:21 -
The goat is Greece.
The four horns are a result of what happened when Alexander the great died. They represent Egypt, Asia, Macedonia and Syria.4
Daniel 8:8-11 states: The goat became very great, but at the height of his power his large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up towards the four winds of heaven.
9 Out of one of them came another horn, which started small but grew in power to the south and to the east and towards the Beautiful Land.
10 It grew until it reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them.
11 It set itself up to be as great as the Prince of the host; it took away the daily sacrifice from him, and the place of his sanctuary was brought low.
I am discovering that this last 'little' horn comes out of the Syria horn, and is a prophecy that skips ahead all the way to the end-time.
I will conclude this brief study of the Anti-Christ in Daniel with us looking at this verse”
Da 9:27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven’. In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him." NIV
This person, who forms a 7 year covenant, then breaks it half way through (after 3 1/2 years) and sets up 'an abomination' in the temple is the future anti-christ. It is not Antiochus Epiphanes who lived 2nd century BC. Otherwise Jesus would not have referred to this verse as being future from his own time on earth.
So summarizing: We are looking at a Syrian leader who will become incredibly powerful, make a covenant (with the Jews?) for seven years, making the economy very prosperous, but in the middle of his agreement, defile the temple and begin killing Jews and saints..
Next we will look at
THE KING OF THE NORTH, THE ASSYRIAN, AND PAUL’S VIEW OF THE ANTICHRIST
1Da 12:11 "And from the time [that] the daily [sacrifice] is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.
2Re 12:6 The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
Re 12:14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach.
Re 13:5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months.
3http://answering-islam.org/Gilchrist/Vol1/3d.html
4See note by commentator John Gill regarding Daniel 8:22
Session Five
In order to understand fully just where Islam end-time teaching is in error, we need to know clearly what the Bible teaches. So what I want to do at this point is review what the Bible teaches concerning the last days, and the person known as the Anti-Christ in particular.
We will look at the major biblical descriptions of the last days of our history as we know it.
The first of these descriptions comes to us by way of information given to Daniel a thousand years before Jesus came. What we learn from Daniel, we will have to 'store away' in our memory banks, so that when we read what Jesus had to say about this same subject, and then what Paul had to say about it, and then what John had to say about it, we will be able to 'picture' what we have read and learned as if they were all laid side by side.
Daniel received information than was to cover a large part of history. In chapter eleven he is up to the part that concerns us. From chapter 11:21 and onward he is talking about the last few years of history before the return of Jesus. How can we be sure he is speaking about the end-time and not some other event that has already happened between then and now?
Here is the process ... we look at the verse that CLEARLY is speaking of the a day of resurrection from the dead ... and then move backward.
The verse is Daniel 12:1
Daniel 12:1 ¶ "At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book. 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Clearly this is the resurrection at the end of this age.
So now we scan backward over the previous verses of chapter 11.
We discover immediately, that Daniel is mentioning someone merely as 'He' (verses 44 and 45). We discover also that he has just described a flurry of activity between this 'he' who turns out to be labelled, 'king of the North', and other kings ... such as king of the south ... and finally an eastern power. So, because Daniel does not point out “The King of the North, Russia, will go forward with great rage ...” nor does he say, “The king of the North, the Muslim Caliph of Syria, goes forward to annihilate...”, we are left to decide that for ourselves.
So what we need to do is go backward far enough to the verse where the end-time leaders first come into the picture. And that spot (for one) is Daniel 11:21. Who enters the picture?
a) A contemptible person
b) a person who not becoming King by the rights of heredity.
c) a person who rises to power in a time of relative peace and security
d) a person who becomes leader by use of 'intrigue' or flattery.
This is not Daniel's first mention of this person. He had mentioned him in Da 7:8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.
And also in Da 8:25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
What is added to what we already listed above?
e) he is referred to as being a 'horn' on a beast.
f) He is a 'bragger'
g) He has 'answers or solutions' for economic problems.
i) He, under the guise of peace, ends up destroying a lot of people
j) Will come face to face with Jesus as some point
k) He will be broken.
If we include Daniel 8:24 ( His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; He shall destroy fearfully, And shall prosper and thrive; He shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people.) we discover that
l) His source of power is outside of himself (possessed by Satan?)
m) he will destroy as many Jews as possible.
That's quite a list ... and I am sure I left out a number of things that could have been noted.
Daniel, as I have just pointed out, has mentioned this 'anti-christ' several times. In chapter 11 he tells of 3 major (unnamed) world powers struggling for domination. Let's read from verse 21 – to verse 45. Nowhere in the rest of scripture is there such a blow by blow picture of the final couple of years to this age.
These powers are identified by leaders who are referred to as kings.
- King of the North
- King of the south
- Eastern powers posing a threat
The final conflicts are identified:
- King of the North vs King of the South. King of the North is the decided 'winner'
- King of the North vs King of the south. King of the south wins to the extent of limiting the overall agenda of the King of the North.
- King of the South vs King of the North. King of the North (with many additional alliances)
utterly destroys King of the South. - Eastern powers encroach upon the newly established control centre of the King of the North.
- The angel, Michael steps in to deliver God's people from the total devastation that will shortly hit the kingdoms of this world.
Who is this 'king of the North'? North of what? Most likely north of Israel. Israel (Palestine) is God's 'centre'. Directions are measured from there.
Many bible commentators say that it will be Russia. Others are saying that, given the animosity of Arabs to Jews, and, givrn the fact that Syria and Iraq are to the north, that this anti-christ will come from there. Which is it? For now we will continue to look at what the anti-christ does, his purpose, his connection with global power etc., without specifically trying to identify his country or people of origin.
We will say the same for the King of the South. But what we want to notice very clearly, is that Daniel is describing a global conflict. It entails all of the world. It is not a relatively small conflict happening in the middle east that is of little or no significance to us in the west. The powers that are battling it out at the end are three major world powers.
I mentioned that these final conflicts are at the end of the age as we know it. How long from the first conflict until the time the anti-christ is 'broken'?
For the answer to this let's look at chapter 7 beginning with verse 23 and read to 26.
The descriptive language gives us a picture of a powerful creature very different from the ones he has just mentioned. He tells us that it has ten horns. He tells us that an eleventh horn, different from the ten, comes into power and takes out three of the other horns.
This new 'horn' will:
- Speak against the Most high (he is anti or against Christ) v25
- He will target 'the Saints' and persecute them.
- He will make some notable change in the present times and laws.
- He will have the ability or freedom to persecute saints for time, times and half a time. (3 1/2 years) In another place Daniel says this another way1. Apostle John says it three different ways2.
- He will be destroyed forever.
Someone suggested that he is different ... sexually ... that is he is homosexual. I find no reason to come to this conclusion, although that might make him different. Rather than mention all kinds of possible ways in which he will be different, I will put this idea forward.
One thing that all generals, tyrants, aggressive and conquering leaders have had in common is their country. They conquer in the name of their country. The Caesars fought to bring their conquered lands under the thumb of Rome. Alexander the Great fought to bring his known world under the domination of Greece. Perhaps this last leader is different from the others in that he has no country for which he is fighting. Say, for example, we are talking about the leader of ISIS. Isis is a force, a belief system, a conglomeration of people that are not from one country. They want to take over the world ... in their own name. They are placing potential fighters in countries all around the world. These fighters, at the right time, hope to fight locally ... at home, wherever that is. The end result would be to bring the whole world under Islam ... not under a country such as Iran or Iraq. But where would they set up a final headquarters?
Da 11:16 "But he who comes against him shall do according to his own will, and no one shall stand against him. He shall stand in the Glorious Land with destruction in his power.
Da 11:41 "He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many [countries] shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon.
Da 11:45 "And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him.
Between the Mediterranean and the Dead Seas ... is the glorious Holy mountain ... Jerusalem, the place of God's temple. The anti-christ will seek to rule from there. In a later study we will see that both Jesus and the apostle Paul state this quite clearly.
The final ruling location will be Jerusalem. This is a place that is just as holy to Muslims as it is to Jews. It is from the dome of the Rock in Jerusalem that Muhammad claims he ascended heaven one night. According to him he was taken from his house in Medina to the rock, and then from there on horseback up to heaven. Once he was up there Allah told him to go back and tell his people to pray 50 times a day. On the way back he passed Moses who asked him what Allah had just said. He told Muhammad that it was way too much ... and to go back and ask for a reduction. He did this. Several times, because each time he passed Moses, he was told that it was still too much. After God reduced to 5 times a day, Moses told him to go back one more time. Muhammad refused on grounds that he was embarrassed to back again. Allah told Muhammad later that if his people would pray 5 times a day, he would still reward them as if it were 50.3 Muhammad was back in bed that same night.
Daniel, as I mentioned earlier, has referred to this last world leader as a horn.
The picture is of a goat type creature with a huge horn that is broken ... four horns come up in its place ... then a small horn appears and removes three, and the small horn becomes the one remaining horn after the other three are gone. What does all this mean?
Let's read 8:21 -
The goat is Greece.
The four horns are a result of what happened when Alexander the great died. They represent Egypt, Asia, Macedonia and Syria.4
Daniel 8:8-11 states: The goat became very great, but at the height of his power his large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up towards the four winds of heaven.
9 Out of one of them came another horn, which started small but grew in power to the south and to the east and towards the Beautiful Land.
10 It grew until it reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them.
11 It set itself up to be as great as the Prince of the host; it took away the daily sacrifice from him, and the place of his sanctuary was brought low.
I am discovering that this last 'little' horn comes out of the Syria horn, and is a prophecy that skips ahead all the way to the end-time.
I will conclude this brief study of the Anti-Christ in Daniel with us looking at this verse”
Da 9:27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven’. In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him." NIV
This person, who forms a 7 year covenant, then breaks it half way through (after 3 1/2 years) and sets up 'an abomination' in the temple is the future anti-christ. It is not Antiochus Epiphanes who lived 2nd century BC. Otherwise Jesus would not have referred to this verse as being future from his own time on earth.
So summarizing: We are looking at a Syrian leader who will become incredibly powerful, make a covenant (with the Jews?) for seven years, making the economy very prosperous, but in the middle of his agreement, defile the temple and begin killing Jews and saints..
Next we will look at
THE KING OF THE NORTH, THE ASSYRIAN, AND PAUL’S VIEW OF THE ANTICHRIST
1Da 12:11 "And from the time [that] the daily [sacrifice] is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.
2Re 12:6 The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
Re 12:14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach.
Re 13:5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months.
3http://answering-islam.org/Gilchrist/Vol1/3d.html
4See note by commentator John Gill regarding Daniel 8:22