DIFFERENT LEGS IN DANIEL 2!
Excerpts of the book “The Coming Bible Prophecy Reformation” By Rodrigo Silva
(Below is a map of the Seleucid Empire (King of the North) and the area from which the Antichrist will rise)
Below is a map of the Ptolemaic Empire (King of the South) which will in the latter days be at war with the Antichrist.
These two kingdoms will exist in the last days under different names just as the nations of old have different names today such as Persia being Iran, Babylon being Iraq, Tyre being Lebanon, Philistia being Gaza and so forth. Technically we don’t have a modern official map of these two kingdoms but as we shall see, they exist and are on their way to fulfill their prophetic destinies. The book of Daniel was sealed and wouldn’t be understood until the time of the end and as we approach the end, these things will become clear to those of us who have eyes to see and ears to hear although many who claim to study biblical prophecy will remain blind to what is taking place before their very eyes, due to repeated traditional teaching. We see in Daniel 2 that the two legs of iron that will bring forth the feet of iron and clay are a continuation of the two thighs of brass, which represented the early form of the Seleucid and Ptolemaic kingdoms of the Grecian empire. (see image of the statue of Daniel 2 above) Below is a map of the Shiite (green) population of the Middle East as compared to the
Sunni (blue) population.
Now compare this map to the maps of the Seleucid and Ptolemaic kingdoms above and see that although not identical in territorial coverage, they show a major division between north and south of Israel. The territorial coverage does not have to be identical as in ancient times. The fact that the territorial coverage of today is larger than in ancient times could mean that as iron is stronger than brass as seen in the metal image of Daniel 2, the latter version of the Seleucid and Ptolemaic kingdoms could occupy larger territories as they would be stronger in the last days. If all that is being written here is true, the Seleucid and Ptolemaic kingdoms have slowly come back to life since the rise of Islam as the Sunni and Shiite division. Shiite Islam will fulfill the latter day role of the Seleucid kingdom and Sunni Islam will fulfill the latter day role of the Ptolemaic kingdom. Although Sunni Islam may cover other areas that were not under Ptolemaic rule, the areas that matter are the areas that must fulfill biblical prophecy such as Egypt, Libya and Sudan (See Daniel 11:40-45) and these were under Ptolemaic rule in the past and are under Sunni rule today. To summarize, the latter day kingdom that Daniel saw to give rise to the Antichrist would be: Seleucid Kingdom – Shiite Islam
Ptolemaic kingdom – Sunni Islam Since the Antichrist will be the last king of the north in Daniel 11 which was the Seleucid division of the Grecian empire, he might be a Shiite Muslim. If this assertion is correct (some might object to that), we shall see the Antichrist rise out of the Shiite world northeast of Israel. Both the old Seleucid empire and the Shiite world included exactly what we know today as Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Iran and if you are familiar with the beast of Revelation 13, these are the very nations hidden in the beast symbolism because the leopard represented the Grecian kingdom, more specifically the Seleucid division which is parts of Turkey, Syria and Lebanon, the bear represented Persia which is Iran and the Lion represented Babylon which is Iraq. The prophetic puzzle when put together seems to point to the Shiite division of Islam as the area where the Antichrist will rise and I personally tend to believe that the Bible pinpoints which Shiite nation will give rise to the man of sin. That nation is Iraq because in Isaiah 14:4 we read that the Antichrist will be the king of Babylon and laterin Isaiah 14 the king of Babylon is referred to as the “Assyrian” and the heart of ancientAssyria is also within the confines of modern day Iraq.
THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET Many people assume that the beast that looked like a leopard, had the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion is the person of the Antichrist. This beast does not represent a person or the antichrist as assumed by many but the kingdom or the empire that will be governed by the Antichrist. The second beast of Revelation 13 carries human attributes as mentioned above and we can assume it is a person since he performs miracles and is called the false prophet. In 2
Thessalonians 2 the man of sin also performs miracles and it appears that the false prophet of Revelation and the man of sin of 2 Thessalonians 2 are one and the same. The false prophet is also a political leader because we read in Revelation 13 that the second beast exercises the authority of the first beast which is political or civil authority over the nations of the coming empire. ‘’ And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him (political power besides spiritual power), and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.’’(Revelation 13:12) This false prophet exercise political power. Besides being a spiritual leader, he is a head of state, a governor, a king. He also exercises military power because the beast kingdom also wages war as we also read in Revelation: ‘’ Who is like unto the [first] beast (the end times empire)? who is able to make war with him?’’ (Revelation 13:4) The first beast is a confederacy of nations that will wage war and because the false prophet exercises the power of the first beast, he will also wage war. He will be a head of state, a military general and a cleric or religious leader. Daniel 11:36-39 says he will honor a god of war and promote this god, thus confirming his religious office. THE AYATOLLAH The term "Ayatollah" literally means "sign of Allah", "miracle of Allah", or "token of Allah. “It is a term given to Shiite clerics of Islam who become scholars in Islamic law. It is interesting to note that the false prophet and the man of sin will perform signs and wonders; 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...(Revelation 13:14) [Even him], whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders... (2 Thessalonians 2:9) It is only speculation and conjecture (I may be wrong) that the false prophet could be a Shiite ayatollah, given the fact that he will claim to be god. Shiites believe that the Mahdi, the awaited Islamic Messiah, will be a divine being possessing the attributes of
Allah, hence the "miracle or sign of Allah" (Ayatollah). The idea that the Shiite Mahdi will be a divine person is even disputed by a Sunni leader who writes: ‘’The Shia are those who elevate the status of Imam Ali (and his descendant Imams) similar to Christians who elevate the status of prophet Jesus and worship him. . .The Shia believe Imam Ali and his descendants were sinless, similar to the prophets. They believe the Imams have a divine mission to rule the Muslims and be God’s representative on Earth. They believe Imams receive divine revelations, similar to prophets. Shia believe their Imams have extra-ordinary abilities and attributes." He continues: "The Imams have full knowledge of the past, present and future. Before being sent to earth, the Shia Imams used to be made of light. . . . Shia are waiting for their 12th Imam called Al-Mahdi whom they expect will appear before the day of judgment and will bring the original Quran. Shia believe that Imam Mahdi will kill Sunni scholars, persecute the Sunnis, and will resurrect what they perceive as their enemies such as Prophet Muhammad’s companions and Caliphs, Abu Bakr and Omar, and Prophet Muhammad’s wife, Aisha, and will punish them severely.’’ It may not be a coincidence that both the Shia version of the Islamic Mahdi and the false prophet of revelation claim to be divine and perform miracles. In his knowledge of prophetic scriptures, Satan may have twisted the prophecies concerning be false prophet/antichrist of the Bible so Shiite Muslims will be victims of a strong delusion and believe that their Imam Al-Mahdi is on the good side. Notice the Muslim author says that the Shia Imam Al-Mahdi will persecute and kill Sunnis. This might explain why the antichrist wages war against his neighboring Sunni countries such as Egypt, Libya and Ethiopia as seen in Daniel 11:40-45. He will be waging war against the nations that don't accept his beliefs and denomination. As we read Daniel 11:21-45,we learn that the future king of the Seleucid Shiite region of the Middle East will enter the stage as someone who had been denied any political power but who will come in PEACEABLY or PROSPEROUS and obtain the kingdom by flatteries (false promises) vs 21. In verse 22 we read that with the ARMS of a flood shall they (his opposition) be overflown from before him. The Hebrew word for arms (Strong’s H2220) refers to political and military strength. In other words, he will enter the stage in his country with a political and military force that offers his country peace and stability from the rebels when come to the full (nearly consume themselves through war) as seen in Daniel 8:23. Then he will enter into a league of some kind, perhaps a
political agreement with those of the opposition in his country and will become strong and popular with a small people (not many supporters as he advances politically) vs 23. Then he will play the socialist leader by distributing the wealth among his supporters and will fiercely face the opposition in vs 24. In vs 25 we see that the ancient wars that took place between the former kings of north and south will again take place, as he starts to wage war against the Sunnis in the south, who will not be able to stand against his military might and will be destroyed. In vs 27 he will sit with the leader of the Sunni world and both will speak lies to each other and it is at that time that his heart will turn against the holy covenant of the Jews in Israel. As time goes by, he will again wage war against the Sunnis in the south but ships of Chittim (Western navies) will oppose him. This will cause him to become furious and will turn his fury against the newly rebuilt Jewish sanctuary in Jerusalem. In the following verses we read about his indignation against the Jews in Jerusalem and will send an army to capture the city and pollute the Jewish sanctuary, promote his god of war (Allah) and demand to be worshiped as god (Allah come in the flesh). As we mentioned above, the Shiite Messiah known as Imam Al- Mahdi is believed by Shiites to have divine attributes as Allah does and knowing this, the Antichrist will demand to be worshiped as Allah, as he promotes the religion of Allah (Shiite Islam). WHERE ARE WE NOW? Those of us who have been given eyes to see and ears to hear will start to realize that the Seleucid and Ptolemaic kingdoms exist today under different political and religious banners. The Shiite division of Islam covers the main regions of the Seleucid empire and the Sunni division of Islam covers the main regions of the Ptolemaic empires and Daniel 8 says that in the latter times of their kingdom, meaning the last days, a king of fierce countenance will arise, wage war against his Sunni counterpart and later destroy the mighty and the holy people. There are those who insist this passage refers to the ancient Greek king Antiochus Epiphanies, who ruled the Seleucid kingdom but the passage clearly points to the time of the end, when this wicked king will stand up against the Prince of Princes, Jesus Christ himself at his second coming. If a Shiite leader is what the Bible refers to as the Antichrist, we will witness the rise of a radical Ayatollah who will be both a Muslim cleric and a political leader from the Shiite sect of Islam, enter the political stage in in the Middle East by making false promises to obtain the kingdom (political rule) by flatteries and become strong politically and militarily soon after. He will revive the ancient wars between the north and the south, the Seleucids and the Ptolemaics, only this time it will be wars between the Shiites and the Sunnis. As he faces opposition from the West, Israel who is an ally of the West will
face the consequences of his fury as he sends an army to capture Jerusalem and pollute the newly rebuilt Jewish sanctuary (Temple?) on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This will be the beginning of the next world war. Shiite Muslims are expecting the return of Imam Al-Mahdi and they believe he will appear in Iraq and will make Iraq the center ofhis Islamic government. Watch a video entitled The Coming is Upon Us produced bythe Iranian government and learn what Shiite Muslims expect in the coming years. As we saw in a previous chapter, the Antichrist will make Iraq (Babylon) the capital of hisgovernment. I don’t think there is a coincidence that both the Antichrist and the IslamicMessiah will choose Iraq as the center of their government. The expected IslamicMessiah might be a religious leader from the Shiite region of the Middle East, Northand East of Israel and will cause the beginning of the next world war as prophesied inthe Bible. I would just like to add that I could be wrong about the antichrist being a Shiite Muslim and that he could end up being a Sunni Muslim but either way he will be a Muslim. "If the antichrist turns out to be a Shiite Muslim in the person of Imam Al-Mahdi awaited by Shia Muslims, as we have proposed in this chapter, he will most likely set up an Imamate, not a Caliphate. This Imamate may rule over a previously established Sunni Caliphate which will cause the Sunni-Shia wars of the tribulation period, as the Shia King of the north wages war against the Sunni king of the south."