MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

Revelation 13:2b-4, “And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?’”

Many in the Church today have been taught that most of Revelation is yet to happen in the future, but the fact of the matter is that much of what Revelation describes has already taken place and is in the process of taking place today. Although the Islamic world had been in a relative “cocoon-like” state for much of the 20th century since the Islamic Caliphate received its mortal “head wound” in 1924, a new phase in its metamorphosis is being quickly revealed as it heals. What is emerging, however, is far from beautiful …

Qur’an Sura 3:160, “If Allah helps you, none can overcome you …”

Qur’an Sura 4:141, “… never will Allah give the disbelievers over the believers a way to overcome them.”

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By Corey Charlton, Daily Mail – “The full scale of Islamic State’s influence can today be laid bare as it’s revealed dozens of terror groups worldwide have pledged their allegiance to the barbaric extremists.

From militia lurking in the jungles of the Philippines to sleeper cells training in the deserts of Libya, a vast array of groups are now claiming to be operating alongside the jihadis’ notorious black and white banner.

It is clear the groups have little in common except their desire to establish their own kingdoms governed by a traditional interpretation of Sharia law. But they are united by one other common principle – they will do anything to realise their goals.

Among the atrocities to be attributed to these groups is the use of child soldiers, suicide bombings, gangland-style warfare, kidnappings and extortion.

Frighteningly, the vast majority of them have pledged their allegiance to ISIS either this year or in 2014, suggesting the group is enjoying a rapid growth of influence.

In total, a staggering 42 international groups are believed to have offered support or pledged affiliation to ISIS and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, according to the Global Terrorism Index, published last month by the Institute for Economics and Peace.

Some, such as Saudi Arabia’s Supporters of the Islamic State in the Land of the Two Holy Mosques, may be little more than rag-tag groupings of people inspired by the ISIS banner.

But others, such as Nigeria’s Boko Haram or the Philippines’ Abu Sayyaf, have been operating independently for many years and are among multiple well-established groups to swear loyalty to the organisation.

The degree to which these groups are linked to ISIS also varies – some have made only an offer of support or symbolic association. Others are thought to have sent fighters to the Middle East, or are groups established by ISIS that essentially operate as sleeper cells.

Dr Christina Schori Liang, a senior fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, told MailOnline ISIS had simply fostered a brand which was so effective other terror groups wanted to be associated with it.” Read more.

Hadith, Muslim 1844, 1851, “Whoever gives his oath of allegiance to a leader and gives him his hand and his heart, let him obey him as much as he can … Whoever dies and did not make an oath of allegiance (to the Muslim leader) has died a death of jaahiliyyah [like an ignorant non-Muslim in pre-Islamic times]” – The “Prophet” Mohammed

Recommended: How Revelation’s Predictive Biblical Prophecy Foresaw The Beast Of Islam – “John witnessed those worshiping the Beast asking, ‘Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?’ (13:4). In addition to being guilty of murder, idolatry, sexual immorality and thievery, all who worship the Beast would also present themselves as a powerful, resolute, unbeatable force. It is the reason for which they remain unrepentant. Islamists all around the world are conditioned by Mohammed’s teachings to view their cause as one that is unassailable, a view that is only reinforced with the rise of the ISIS Caliphate, the newest and most powerful terror entity in the history of the world (formerly Al Qaeda in Iraq, or AQI). Members and supporters of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria self-identify as Mohammed’s most loyal followers who adhere to Islamic teachings as proscribed by their prophet. They ‘truly believe that they are invincible and that if they practice what they believe to be true Islam, Allah will bless them and use them to conquer the Earth to bring all people to their form of Islam under their brand of Sharia’ (Stratfor, The Islamic State’s Use of Extreme Violence by Scott Stewart).” Read more.

Here is a fantastic article on American Thinker that ties in directly with my article outlining the seals of Revelation 6. The description of the seals as revealed to John appear to be pointing to compound stages of the eschatonic Beast empire from which Antichrist arises, the empire of Islam. From the very beginning of Islam’s inception, each successive seal has been the end result of the one preceding it. The opening of the 1st seal, for instance (Mohammed’s desire to conquer through lies and deceptions), precipitates or triggers the wars and the removal of peace from the earth that John then describes in the 2nd seal, which together advance all the pestilences and plagues and famines and destruction that accompany it in the 3rd seal. Numerous wars waged in the name of “Allah” which has today spread Islam over a 1/4th part of the earth and increased its strength have created the conditions necessary for the 4th seal to give rise to Antichrist. These “four horsemen” now ride in unison as one in an effort to self-fulfill Islamic “prophecy” — the forced submission of the whole earth under the rule of “Allah” and his “prophet’s” number …

Hadith, Saheeh Muslim 2889, “Verily Allah has shown me the eastern and western part of the earth, and I saw the authority of my Ummah (Islamic nation) dominate all that I saw.”

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By Mike Konrad, American Thinker – “When one thinks of mass murder, Hitler comes to mind. If not Hitler, then Tojo, Stalin, or Mao. Credit is given to the 20th-century totalitarians as the worst species of tyranny to have ever arisen. However, the alarming truth is that Islam has killed more than any of these, and may surpass all of them combined in numbers and cruelty.

The enormity of the slaughters of the ‘religion of peace’ are so far beyond comprehension that even honest historians overlook the scale. When one looks beyond our myopic focus, Islam is the greatest killing machine in the history of mankind, bar none.

The Islamic conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. — Will Durant, as quoted on Daniel Pipes site.

Conservative estimates place the number at 80 million dead Indians.

According to some calculations, the Indian (subcontinent) population decreased by 80 million between 1000 (conquest of Afghanistan) and 1525 (end of Delhi Sultanate). — Koenrad Elst as quoted on Daniel Pipes site

80 Million?! The conquistadors’ crimes pale into insignificance at that number. No wonder Hitler admired Islam as a fighting religion. He stood in awe of Islam, whose butchery even he did not surpass.

Over 110 Million Blacks were killed by Islam.

… a minumum of 28 Million African were enslaved in the Muslim Middle East.  Since, at least, 80 percent of those captured by Muslim slave traders were calculated to have died before reaching the slave market, it is believed that the death toll from 1400 years of Arab and Muslim slave raids into Africa could have been as high as 112 Millions.  When added to the number of those sold in the slave markets, the total number of African victims of the trans-Saharan and East African slave trade could be significantly higher than 140 Million people. — John Allembillah Azumah, author ofThe Legacy of Arab-Islam in Africa: A Quest for Inter-religious Dialogue

Add just those two numbers alone together, and Islam has surpassed the victims of 20th-century totalitarianism. However, it does not end there

The Muslim world has been, and will continue to be, deceived. But the elect of God will never be …

Qur’an Sura 3:54, “… Allah is the best of the deceivers.”

Revelation 19:20, 20:10, “And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet… These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur… and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

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By Leo Hohmann, WND – “It’s not only evangelical Christians who are sensing that something has changed in the world, and that we may be entering the very last days.

Muslims are also eagerly awaiting their messiah.

In the latest evidence of this messianic fervor, a mainstream Sunni Muslim website has decreed that the Islamic messiah, called the Mahdi, will appear this year or in 2016 and that the Muslim Jesus will return in 2022 to conquer the world for Islam.

DiscoveringIslam.org and the End Times Research Center have calculated that the ‘first phase’ of the end of time will begin soon and lead to the ‘Day of Judgment’ in seven years.

The estimates were derived from ‘the latest research’ into numerical analysis of the Quran, Hadith, Arabic words and historical events,’ according to DiscoveringIslam.org.

‘The Messenger of Allah [sallallahu ‘alayhi wa-sallam] informed the Companions of everything that would occur until the Day of Resurrection,’ the website reports.

‘Based on our numerical analysis of the Quran and Hadith, the official beginning of the End of Time and the coming of the Imam Mahdi will most likely be in 2015 (or 2016) and Jesus Christ (p) will come down from Heaven to Earth in 2022, in-sha Allah (if Allah is willing),’ the website reported.

The Quran and the Bible put forth end-times narratives that are similar but opposite. The Bible’s antichrist, for instance, resembles Islam’s messiah while Muslims view the Jesus of the Bible as their antichrist or ‘Dajjal.’ The Quran teaches that Jesus returns to earth but for a very different purpose – to ‘break the cross’ and convert the world’s Christians to Islam.

Bible teacher Joel Richardson underscores the inverted end-time views of the two faiths in his New York Times-best-selling book, ‘The Islamic Antichrist,’ and his documentary film, ‘End Times Eyewitness.’

Richardson is an expert in eschatology, or the order of end-times events, as presented in Christianity, Judaism and Islam. He points to Jesus’ warnings in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 that false teachers and false prophets would arise in the last days to deceive many.

Richardson believes Muhammad is one of those false prophets. But the religion he founded, Islam, must be taken seriously because 1.4 billion people believe in its teachings, which are apocalyptic and getting more so, Richardson said. In fact, it’s impossible to understand what inspires and motivates Islamic radicals such as ISIS or al-Qaida if you aren’t familiar with their eschatology.

But it’s not just the radicals who believe in the Islamic teachings about the apocalypse, he said.

‘It is frequently claimed that those who believe these things are but the tiny minority of radicals,’ Richardson told WND. ‘But what the (Discovering Islam) article reveals, is that even many mainstream Muslims now believe that the last days are upon us.'” Read more.

Matthew 24:24-28, “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect–if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time. So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.”

Flashback: Apocalyptic Islamic ‘Prophecies’ Are Fueling The Rise Of The ISIS Caliphate – “REBELS of the moderate Free Syrian Army were mystified in August when rival Islamic State militants suddenly took aim at a seemingly unimportant string of villages in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo. As the extremist group’s propaganda and fighters on the ground quickly made clear, what fuelled their offensive was one ­village in particular, Dabiq. The village appears in sayings attributed to the Prophet Muham­mad as the site of an end-of-days drama in which a Muslim army is to defeat its ­enemies, ­including a foreign army …” Read more.

Flashback: ISIS Jihadist: ‘This Is The War Muhammad Promised Us, The War Of The Great Tribulation’ – “These fighters who gather in Iraq and Syria are not there for the primary goal to fight Maliki and Assad. Abu Omar, a Sunni jihadist fighting in Aleppo said, ‘If you think that all these mujahideen came from around the world to fight Assad, you are mistaken. All of them came here as it was foretold and promised by the Prophet. It is the war He promised us; the war of The Great Tribulation.’ The Jihadists have a set of belief that one third of the Muslims in the world will be killed.” Read more.

Revelation 9:21, “And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries [“φαρμακεία” – idolatry] or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”

They did not, and they will not, repent. After all, why should they change their minds about something they believe is commanded by “Allah” and his “perfect man” Mohammed? …

Revelation 13:18, “This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate [ψηφίζω – “reckon”] the number [ἀριθμός – “multitude” of people] of the beast, for it is the number of a man …”

Egyptian Journalist and TV Host Ibrahim Issa, Egyptian TV, 2/3/2015: “Whenever ISIS carries out an act of barbarity, such as decapitations, throat slitting, or the burning of a person alive, as they did today, various sheiks will tell you — if they even bother to say anything — that this has nothing to do with Islam, that Islam is not to blame, and whatever. But the people of ISIS perpetrate slaughter, murder, rape, immolation, and all those barbaric crimes, they say that they are relying on the shari’a. They say this is based on a certain hadith, on a certain Quranic chapter, on a certain saying of Ibn Taymiyyah, or on some historical event. To tell you the truth, everything that ISIS says is correct. This should not come as a surprise to anyone … and anyone who says otherwise is lying.” Listen to more.

Qur’an Sura 24:35, “Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth… Allah doth guide whom He will to His light…”

2 Corinthians 11:14-15, “… for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.”

Revelation 13,4; 20:10, “… And they worshiped the dragon [Satan], for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast … and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

There will one day be a “crushing response” and “destructive thunderbolts” alright, but it will not come by the wicked hand of Israel’s enemies. It will come by the righteous hand of Israel’s Deliverer …

Matthew 24:27, “For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”

Habakkuk 3:3, 6, 11-13, “His brightness was like the light; He had rays flashing from His hand, And there His power was hidden… He stood and measured the earth; He looked and startled the nations. And the everlasting mountains were scattered, The perpetual hills bowed… The sun and moon stood still in their habitation; At the light of Your arrows they went, At the shining of Your glittering spear. You marched through the land in indignation; You trampled the nations in anger. You went forth for the salvation of Your people, For salvation with Your Anointed. You struck the head from the house of the wicked, By laying bare from foundation to neck.”

Romans 11:26, “And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob …'”

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Lt.-Gen. Hossein Salami (2014)

The Times of Israel – “Iran has threatened to attack Israel from the West Bank, in retaliation for an alleged Israeli airstrike in Syria on Sunday that left 12 Iranian and Hezbollah operatives dead. The airstrike has been attributed to Israel and though Jerusalem has not officially confirmed it, anonymous government sources have admitted as much.

Deputy head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Lt.-Gen. Hossein Salami vowed Saturday to ‘open new fronts [against Israel] and change the balance of power.’ In an excerpt of an interview with Salami, the IRGC’s number two said that Iran and Hezbollah would provide a ‘special reprisal’ to the strike, according to the Tasnim News Agency, adding that opening a new front in the West Bank was in the works.

‘Opening up a new front across the West Bank, which is a major section of our dear Palestine, will be certainly on the agenda, and this is part of a new reality that will gradually emerge,’ Salami said in the inteview with Iran’s Arabic-language news channel al-Alam.

Iran and Hezbollah have issued a series of threats since the strike earlier this week, warning of a ‘crushing response,’ and ‘destructive thunderbolts.’ The dead included an Iranian general and senior Hezbollah commanders, Muhammad Issa and Jihad Mughniyeh, son of slain terror mastermind Imad Mughniyeh.” Read more.

Flashback: Islamists Could Come From West Bank To Rape And Plunder East Jerusalem – “… in the Old City of east Jerusalem — which was built around 1000 BC and was the entire city of Jerusalem up until 1860 where the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and al Aqsa Mosque all reside — we’re seeing an entirely different situation develop. Jews, Christians and Muslims all reside within the Old City, but Muslims — increasingly ‘radicalized’ and lawless — now make up the overwhelming number of residents. And this, my friends, is prophetic. According to Zechariah 14:1-3, the world will one day witness an ‘intifada’ unlike any other, an uprising that could be sparked by a triggering event to rouse the Muslim population to obligatory jihad, possibly strengthened by other Islamist elements coming from or through the West Bank to take over much of east Jerusalem. The homes of Jews and Christians will be plundered, non-Muslim women will be raped as the ‘spoils of war.'” Read more.

Flashback: Iranian Official Calls For ‘Islamic Awakening’ To Destroy Israel, PA Ambassador: Annihilate The ‘Zionist Regime’ – “Following the destruction of 70 AD, the Jewish people were dispersed and exiled into captivity again for over 1800 years. In 1948, however, God began restoring the nation of Israel after 2/3 of all Jews in Europe were killed during the Holocaust of WWII. But, as before [in 70 AD], the very same peoples that surrounded the tiny new Jewish State of Israel wanted nothing more than to eradicate the Jews and divide the land for gain. Unfortunately for the surrounding nations, however, this time the Jews of Israel are not going anywhere. After God brought His people back to the land again the second time the Prophet Joel tells us that He would also then gather the surrounding nations for judgment ‘on account of My people, My heritage Israel’ who would never again be uprooted and scattered. And no matter how hard the Islamic nations surrounding Israel today fight to ‘liberate’ the land and eliminate the Jews, when God makes a promise, it’s a promise He intends to keep …” Read more.

According to many Shia Islamic scholars, “Abdullah’s death will mark the beginning of a chain of great events that will shock the world.” In 2011, an Iranian-produced documentary outlining Islamic end-times theology revealed how the Ayatollahs in Iran believed that the death of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah would be a major sign preceding the imminent arrival of an Islamic “messiah” figure, known as the Mahdi, and the destruction of the State of Israel. Now that King Abdullah has died, expect to hear even more eschatological pronouncements out of Iran at any moment … along with efforts to press toward the fulfillment of their false Islamic “prophecies.” Stay tuned …

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By Nancy Yousseff, Daily Beast – “What’s left of the Middle East’s stability was suddenly thrown into question as the kingdom’s longtime ruler was pronounced dead.

Saudi King and longtime U.S. ally Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud died Friday morning, local time, Saudi television announced. His passing, at 90, marks the end of one the strongest U.S. allies in the region and puts oil prices and the politics of the region in question.

Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, 80, was declared king, the Royal Court announced in a statement; Prince Muqrin, the Crown Prince and royal heir. Salman has served as defense minister for nearly three years; before that he was the governor of Riyadh province for nearly a half-century. That the kingdom announced his ascension so quickly appeared to be an effort to assuage fears that the oil-rich country would become unstable in the wake of the king’s death.

‘His Highness Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and all members of the family and the nation mourn the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, who passed away at exactly 1 a.m. this morning,’ said the statement.

That an 80-year-old with health issues of his own — he reportedly suffers from dementia — is now taking over means Abdullah’s grandsons could soon be jostling over who should be the long term successor. In the meantime, Salman is expected to maintain the kingdom’s alliance with the United States. But how exactly he will put his stamp on the kingdom creates great uncertainty for the U.S., the Middle East and the world’s oil markets, largely defined by Saudi Arabia.

Most importantly for the United States will be how Salman reacts to U.S. efforts to strike a deal with Iran.” Read more.

Flashback: Iran: Death Of King Abdullah Means Islamic Messiah Is Near, A Final Grand War Against Islam’s Enemies Will Culminate With Israel’s Destruction – “The Iranian government has produced a bone-chilling documentary that claims that Ayatollah Khamenei, President Ahmadinejad, and Hassan Nasrallah are talked about in Islamic prophecy as leaders who will wage war to bring about the arrival of the Hidden Imam, which the film says is ‘very close’ to happening… The purpose of the film is to make the case that Iran is prophetically destined to lead the war against Islam’s enemies, which is as a prelude to the appearance of the Hidden Imam, also called the Mahdi, who brings the final victory for Islam and reigns over the whole world… the death of Saudi King Abdullah will be a major sign that the destruction of Israel and arrival of the Mahdi are imminent.” Read more.

Flashback: Shiite Hadiths Link Saudi King’s Death To End-Times – “According to Shiite hadiths, after the death of a king named Abdullah in the Hijaz — a western region of present-day Saudi Arabia — no successor to the throne would be accepted, and disagreements would escalate and persist until the rise of Imam Mahdi. The Shiites believe that divine Imams are heirs to the political and religious Ummah, or Islamic nation. These 12 imams are successors to the Prophet Muhammad and to the head of the caliphate, with Mahdi being the final Imam who disappeared, or went into occultation. Mahdi will be revealed only in the end-times, along with Jesus, to deliver peace to the world. According to the book ‘250 Signs Until the Appearance of Imam Mahdi,’ Prophet Muhammad said: ‘On doomsday, a man who is carrying the name of an animal ascends to the throne, after which a man named Abdullah comes to the power. Whoever informs me of his death, I will inform him of the rise [of Mahdi]. After Abdullah passes away, for several days and months, the government will appear.'” Read more.

Not surprising. After all, the US Secretary of State himself even admitted that America is not at war with ISIS. Even though the US-led effort may be blunting the expansion of ISIS in Iraq for the time being, it’s a miserable failure on the part of the Obama Administration’s efforts to “degrade and destroy” ISIS. And it isn’t difficult to see where this is eventually leading ...

Flashback: US Secretary Of State Kerry Suggests Iran Could Lead Fight Against ISIS If US ‘Fails Miserably’

Daniel 8:4, 17, 20, “I saw the ram pushing westward, northward, and southward, so that no animal could withstand him; nor was there any that could deliver from his hand, but he did according to his will and became great… ‘Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time of the end… The ram which you saw, having the two horns — they are the kings of Media and Persia [Iran].”

By Flora Drury, MailOnline – “ISIS has almost doubled the land it controls in Syria since the US-led coalition began airstrikes against the extremist group in the summer, a new map has revealed.

The extremist group has continued to expand its ‘caliphate’, despite more than 800 airstrikes hitting targets in ISIS-controlled areas since last summer.

The map, created by the Coalition for a Democratic Syria (CDS), shows just how much land has fallen to ISIS – which now has a third of the country under its control.

Before the summer, the militants controlled just half that.

‘Assessing the map, ISIS has almost doubled its territorial control in Syria. But more importantly, the number of people who now live under ISIS control has also increased substantially,’ CDS political adviser Mouaz Moustafa told The Daily Beast.

It is thought a million more Syrians came under ISIS’s terrifying regime within the first two months of the bombing campaign.” Read more.

Report: Obama Overruled ‘Best Military Advice’ On Ground Troops To Fight ISIS – “The Washington Post reports today that when the president tasked military leaders with devising the best strategy to defeat ISIS, the Pentagon presented a plan that involved a limited number of combat “boots on the ground.” … ‘Such a mission was not the U.S. military’s preferred option. Responding to a White House request for options to confront the Islamic State, Gen. Lloyd Austin, the top commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, said that his best military advice was to send a modest contingent of American troops, principally Special Operations forces… The recommendation, conveyed to the White House by Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was cast aside in favor of options that did not involve U.S. ground forces in a front-line role …” Read more.