The Beast Awakens
As of today, this author has written five opinion articles on this blog page regarding Babylon the Great, and one article regarding the ten toes/ten kings; both being major players in end-time prophecies. But this will be the first article here regarding the Beast, popularly known as the Antichrist.
Those who are closest to me know that for a couple of years I have been calling attention to the nation of Turkey and its President, Recep Tayib Erdogan. Turkey literally is where Europe and Asia meet. The capital of Muslim’s Ottoman Empire was in that nation until it was partitioned by allied western nations at the end of World War 1. The Ottoman Empire ruled the Middle East and parts of Europe and Africa for 600 years previous to that time. Erdogan has made no secret of his desire to see this empire resurrected under his leadership. Interestingly, two thousand years ago Jesus noted that Satan’s power center was there (Rev. 2:13). Perhaps that Dragon still rules from there, now using his end-time Beast agent to do his bidding (Revelation 12:9-13:4).
This author believes that the 4th beast/kingdom of Daniel chapter 2, which is equivalent to the 7th head of Revelation 13, was not Rome as has been taught by many Bible scholars throughout the years. Rather, according to other scholars, it was the Arab Caliphate ending with the Ottoman Empire’s rule of six hundred years. The Roman Empire’s rule over Jerusalem was short-lived by comparison. All of the gentile kingdoms represented in the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation were significant because of their connection to and ruler-ship of the Jews in Jerusalem. It is generally known that at the time of the writing of the book of Revelation, “Babylon” was probably code for Rome which was ruling at the time. This author believes that Rome/Babylon has migrated from Europe to the United States of America. The description of end-time Babylon in Revelation 18 fits the U.S. to a tee.
Please note in Revelation 17 and 18 that the Beast, who will be in league with a confederation of ten kings, will hate Babylon the Great (the woman harlot riding the Beast) and ultimately destroy her. These are two empires at odds with each other, a classic West vs. East scenario. After successfully bringing Babylon to her knees, they even fight the returning Christ…who of course defeats them. (Rev. 18:14, Rev. 19). This harkens us back to Daniel chapter two where a “stone cut out without hands” destroys the last rebellious human government of 10 toes/kings. God then rules visibly through His Messiah/Son Jesus of Nazareth.
Significantly, Turkey is the only Arab nation to have membership in the Western military alliance of NATO. It has the largest military in that organization with the exception of the U.S. If the U.S. should ever pull out of NATO, which President Trump has threatened to do, Turkey would be the logical ally in the group to fill that vacuum of strength. President Trump has had a good relationship with President Erdogan, however, Turkey has been at growing odds with its western “allies”. It has flirted with membership opportunities in eastern-based organizations such as BRICS+ and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, both of which seek to establish a new world order in both the economic and political sense, replacing the U.S. hegemony which has been in place for around one hundred years. It is also setting itself up as a major hub for energy production and distribution to Europe and Asia, and is the major refiner and exporter of wheat in the world. BRICS+ has plans to establish a Grain Exchange this year of 2025, which if successfully implemented will take control of the world’s grain market from the U.S. Turkey has straddled the fence between supporting both Ukraine and Russian in different ways, and has increasingly opposed western interests while supporting terrorist groups like Hamas against Israel. President Erdogan is recently in trouble in his nation due to some repressive moves against his political opponents.
Paradoxically, however, Erdogan wants desperately to be in the good graces of the U.S. in order to take advantage of important military weapons contracts. Because of this and the renewed strength of the United States in the world generally, this author believes that the leadership style of President Trump can and will bring President Erdogan into compliance with U.S. interests. If he can make a more “reliable” ally out of Turkey, Trump might also be more comfortable with leaving NATO if the European Union continues its slide into authoritarianism and its apparent obsession with war. Turkey would have to make some major concessions such as concerning its opposition to Israel and the Kurds in Syria, along with its unwavering ties to militant Arab organizations. And given the past shape-shifting nature of its president, we could expect any concessions to likely be disingenuous and only expedient for the moment.
This kind of deal-making with Turkey could further awaken a Beast whose true hatred for all things West and Israel would eventually become a world-shocking reality of destruction in prophecy. Deception is the name of the game for Satan and his end time human agent of power. Remember, too, that Turkey is the primary backer of the new regime in Syria, which claims to supposedly be a kinder and gentler Muslim leadership (formerly with Al-Qaeda and ISIS connections). It is no coincidence that the prophet Isaiah refers to the one who fights against the Messiah as “the Assyrian” (10:24). Note that the apostle Paul uses the same language as Isaiah 11:1-5 (concerning this Assyrian) in his prophesy of the “man of lawlessness” whom the returning Jesus slays in 2 Thess. 2:8. The geographical area of Syria and its leadership factors into this end-time scenario. Turkey and Syria may become indistinguishable from each other in terms of what finally plays out.
