Is there anything Prophetic about ISIS?

The world is reeling with the horrifying spectacle of the recent stunning success of the Sunni Islam, ISIS, (Islamic Society of Syria and Iraq),which in the past two weeks has taken over most of Iraq, and is currently encircling Baghdad. The group has become the richest terror organization in the world after plundering banks in Mosul(Biblical Ninevah), and as a prize has taken Fallujah and Tikrit, places the United States,Britain and their coalition spent billions in treasure and thousands of our finest young lives to “liberate”.

What are the Biblical implications of this sudden development? It is my view that anything that happens in this region these days has such implications due to the nearness of our Lord’s Parousia, and our gathering together unto Him!

First of all, ISIS has taken the entire area around Baghdad, including the area we call Babylon. Geographical Babylon has yet to experience the prophesied fate,

And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.  It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.(Isaiah 13:19-20)

Babylon was overthrown by the Medes and Persians in the days of Daniel the Prophet(539 BC), but it was never rendered uninhabitable. Currently Babylon has become the possession of an aggressive,violent offshoot of Al Qaeda,  under the leadership of a man Obama set free(Perhaps he took up yoga or knitting).

This conflict must be interpreted through the Sunni Shiite prism. Islam, the religion of the false prophet Mohammed, is divided into two major sects, Sunni and Shia. The Islamic world is about 85 percent Sunni, and 15 percent Shia. The Shia are concentrated in Iran, southern Iraq, southern Lebanon and a minority in Syria.

Iraq has been ruled by Sunni, until the US led elections, in which a Shia took power, and immediately began disenfranchising the Sunnis. In the center of Baghdad is a crowded slum (Sadr city), containing millions of Shia. There are cities in Southern Iraq which are considered holy places to the Shia.

The schism came about after Mohammed’s death, over the issue of who would be the successor Caliph(Leader). The Shia favored Mohammed’s nephew Ali Hussein, whereas the Sunni wanted Mohammed’s general to succeed Him. There was a battle in Karbala,Iraq, in which Mohammed’s nephew and six month old grandson were slaughtered.

The Sunni and Shia hate each other on a level which is hard to a westerner to fathom. All throughout our occupation of Iraq, there were bus bombings, suicide and otherwise of Shia religious processions, and even funerals, by Sunni fanatics, and vice versa.Islam cannot bring any kind of Peace, obviously.

There is the possibility that ISIS will bring about the renewal of the Caliphate, which is one of their stated goals. The Caliphate was a central Sunni religious governing body, which was dissolved after World War One,when Attaturk modernized Turkey. In that case we could consider the Teaching in Revelation 13 about the Beast which had a deadly wound, but which was healed…”

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.(Revelation 13:3)

Another aspect of this development is that the Shia are alarmed at a vicious Sunni army so near, and so bent on destroying the Shiites in Iraq and then moving on possibly to Iran.

So also, the Kurds are on full alert and have secured for themselves the oil center city of Kirkuk. Of all of Iraq, it is the Kurds who benefitted most from US Aid, and have built for themselves an enclave in the Northeastern section of Iraq, and are warily arming themselves in view of ISIS. The Kurds are believed to be the Biblical Medes, which in the light of the unfulfilled portion of Isaiah 13;

Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.  Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eyes shall not spare children. And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.(Isaiah 13:19-21)

We know also that an invasion of Israel is prophesied in Psalm 83, which will involve Arabs from all of Israel’s near neighbors, including Iraq.

I have reproduced (in bold print) an article I published a few years ago to bring anyone who is interested in the Biblical background and prophetic analysis of the Arab(Muslim) world. Unfortunately the humanists, Atheists, and perhaps even Satanists who currently govern the so-called civilized world, do not think spiritually and cannot really comprehend the nature of the struggle the world is in, because of the age old struggle between Jacob and Esau, Ishmael and Isaac.

Remember that as this whirlwind breaks all around us, and death and destruction break out in places usually secure, Scripture assures us, that whosoever will call upon the name of the LORD will be saved! If you seek me you will find me , if you seek for me with all of your heart! Break off of your sins, I beg you, turn to Jesus who died for you, and who rose again, His nature is to forgive and to save sinners

 

 

We have been discussing recent events in the Arab world . Tunisia, Egypt, Libya,Yemen, Jordan ,Saudi Arabia, Dubai,among others are being shaken by massive, violent, popular demonstrations.

There is a twofold commonality in all of these nations, 1) ethnically they are Arab and 2) They are Muslim, in the midst of a revival of fundamentalist Islam. That is why the so-called “democratic” aspect of these upheavals is meaningless. Islamists will win the elections, the populations of these nations are not upset with their respective governments for being too Islamic, they are upset with them for being too secular!

There is a spiritual dimension to these events, as well. The prophets of the Bible foretold in great detail, the origin and final end of the Arab people. The sons of Abraham, Ishmael and of Esau play a prominent role in the Last Days scenario.

From Genesis, we learn that much of the Arab nation came from the first-born son of Abraham, Ishmael. He was not the child of the promise,nor was he born of Sarah Abraham’s wife. Ishmael was the son of Abraham through his bondslave, the Egyptian woman,Hagar.

But Ishmael is of such significance, that like Samson, Jesus and the John the Baptist, an Angel spoke of his future before he was even born.

And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(Genesis 16:11-12)

The character of the Arab people is here prophetically described, in the first book of the Bible;

* The divinely assigned name,Ishmael – means either “God hears” or “He will hear God”. Not all Arabs are the physical descendants of Ishmael, but through Islam they are in spiritual affinity with Ishmael’s disenfranchisement from Abraham.

*A Wild Ass of a man – The literal rendering of KJV’s “Wild man”. This is not meant to be taken as an insult, for to a desert dwelling people, the wild ass represents toughness, virility, fierce independence, and unbrokenness. All of the qualities one would require to survive in a harsh and unforgiving environment.

* His hand will be against every man and every man’s against him – Ishmael would be warlike, he would not submit to others who try to dominate him, and he would dominate others.

* He will dwell in the presence of his brothers – This is the prediction that Ishmael would not only be at war with all other nations, but that he would be unable to have peace even with his own brothers. This passage can be interpreted as “He will dwell in the face of his brothers”.

Arab would be at war with Arab, when not fighting outsiders. Ishmael would also persecute his brother Isaac, hating him and making his life miserable, until Abraham was forced to put he and his mother Hagar the bondslave out of the house.

* The Arabs would be a powerful, populous people – The Angel who appeared to Hagar in the desert , prophesying Ishmael’s birth, also predicted that the Ishmaelites would be an exceedingly numerous people. He shall ever live ‘in the face of his brothers’.

And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.(Genesis 16:10)

History has proven this prophecy to be true, the Arabs are the independent, fierce, unbroken survivors that the Angel said they would be. They have also multiplied into a great nation, there are hundreds of millions of Arabs, there are 22 Arab nations in the middle east and North Africa, and through Islam, Arab culture is predominant in 57 nations of the world.

But also true is the Muslim/ Arab inability to live in peace. Contrary to contemporary “wisdom” there is no place on earth where Islam has ever wrought any kind of peace, other than the peace of the dead! When the Arabs are not at war with the rest of the world, they are fighting among themselves. Arab against Arab, and Muslim against Muslim is the rule and not the exception.

And the Muslim/Arabs have a fierce, unyielding hatred for their younger brother Jacob(ie Israel).

Not all Arabs are the physical descendants of Ishmael, but through Islam they are in spiritual affinity with Ishmael’s disenfranchisement from Abraham in favor of the second son of Abraham,Isaac, the child of God’s promise. Islam nurtures the original grievance Ishmael and Hagar his equally disenfranchised mother.

The scripture calls this hatred, “the perpetual hatred”, and predicts that this hatred of Ishmael for Isaac, Esau for Jacob, will be the catalyst for the final judgments to come down upon the whole world.

Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end:Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee.(Ezekiel 35:5-6)

An Excerpt from “A Sword On The Land;the Muslim World In Bible Prophecy” or you can get a Kindle edition at  Kindle Sword On the Land