Islamic Antichrist? Three Strikes and You're Out! - By Chris Schang - http://www.raptureready.com/soap2/schang3.html
As things continue to spiral downhill in the Middle East, there seems to be all kinds of prophetic questions being asked out there in the Bible prophecy community. One such questions deals with the idea of an "Islamic Antichrist". This idea gains a little traction every time the Middle East region starts to get heated, such as the case with the current Israel-Hamas war.
The proponents of the "Islamic Antichrist" theory basically stake their claims on three main points, which I will show is nothing more than an unsound prophetic house of cards that will fall flat with even the slightest blow of serious inquiry and discernment.
Strike #1
The first point that Islamic Antichrist proponents try to argue in order to make their case is that they say that the Roman armies used "local" soldiers in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70A.D. They claim that as a result of the alleged using of "local" people to help with the destruction of the city and temple, therefore, the Antichrist could be from the Middle East. This point is absolutely false. We have shown time and time again that the soldiers involved in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70A.D. were ALL Roman soldiers. This was highlighted in a previous post on our forums:
"The Antichrist cannot be Islamic. Period. He will come from the same genetic stock as his prophetic forerunner, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, a Macedonian-Greek European. His ethnicity will be in exact fulfillment of Daniel 9:26b. Everybody knows that the Roman legions which destroyed the 2nd Temple and the city of Jerusalem were Legio X Fretensis (from the Straits of Messina between the Italian mainland and Sicily), Legio V Macedonica (which obviously was from Macedonia), and Legio XV Apollinaris which was stationed on the Danube River near what is present day Austria and Slovenia. These Roman legions were all staffed by Roman (European) citizen soldiers from the lowest all the way up the chain of command to General Titus Flavius Vespasianus."
As we can see here the REAL Romans were involved with the destruction of the city and temple in 70A.D. Any attempts to say otherwise is simply rubbish and contrary to the historical record. It's time for the Islamic Antichrist community to quit perpetuating falsehoods in order to promote false and unsound theology to the students of Bible prophecy. I have found that the majority of those pushing the Islamic Antichrist theory are simply nothing more than "booksellers" trying to promote unsound theology for their own profit and gain. There is nothing sound and biblical about an Islamic antichrist.
Strike #2
Another idea and point that the Islamic Antichrist promoters push is that they believe that the Roman Empire has both a "Western" and "Eastern" component to the empire. While this is true at one point in the existence of the Roman Empire, it was NOT true at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70A.D. The emergence of the "Eastern" leg of the Roman Empire was long after the destruction of the city and temple mentioned in the Bible. As a result, once again we see that the "soldiers" involved in the destruction of the temple and city were ALL Roman soldiers from around the area of Europe, not the Middle East. No Islamic soldiers took part in this destruction. God is clear in telling us the origin and where to look for the coming "Antichrist" as spoken of in Daniel. We need to trust God, not "newspaper prophets" who are trying to sell their latest book.
The Islamic Antichrist promoters will also try to say that beheadings were the preferred method of punishment by Islamics today. But little do they remember, this was also a method of punishment by the Roman Empire for people who did not bow down to the authority of the Pope. In fact, beheading has been used all over Europe in the past as well. France is a famous place for beheadings with the use of the guillotine during the French Revolution. Beheading has always been around in Europe. While yes it is true the Islamics are fond of this sort of punishment, it is not exclusive to them by any means. Once more we need to pay attention to the Bible and the historical records, rather than the "newspaper prophets" that have sprung up here and there.
Strike #3
Another major point that the Islamic Antichrist proponents try to argue is that they believe the Antichrist is referred to as the "Assyrian" in the Bible. They frequently point to such verses as those found in Micah 5, Isaiah 30, Isaiah 10, and Isaiah 14. Despite their best attempts to "shoe-horn" the Antichrist in these verses, the truth of the matter is that these prophecies were fulfilled in the past. They are not prophecies referring to the end times. With the exception of Micah 5 which will be fulfilled in the Millennial Kingdom, the other prophecies were fulfilled in the past.
In fact, I have not found one verse that when read in the proper context, supports the notion of an Islamic Antichrist using the "Assyrian" title. I have a book in my house that is written by the esteemed Dr. John Walvoord and the book is entitled "Every Prophecy of the Bible". As its name suggests, it covers all the Bible prophecies that are found in the Bible. When looking up these verses from Isaiah we see that these when read in historical context are speaking of prophecies that have been fulfilled in the past. They are not prophecies of the future and they certainly do not refer to the Antichrist either.
...And You're Outta There!
Just as the baseball umpire announces the "Out" to a batter, so too have we call this "Islamic Antichrist" theory "Outta Here!" in the world of Bible prophecy. There are a few other arguments that the Islamic Antichrist crowd likes to throw out trying to justify their bankrupt theology. For example, they like to say that the "Mahdi" from Islamic eschatology is the Antichrist despite the fact that the Mahdi comes conquering in war-like fashion, while the Antichrist of the Bible comes conquering in peace. While there are even more bogus detours and side streets that these people like to run folks down in supporting their theories, I won't bother with them today as they are all unsound and unbiblical as well. They are not worth our time in this article or in any other.
The bottom line is that there is no one iota of proof or support for an "Islamic Antichrist" in the Bible. This whole Islamic Antichrist theory is just the results of men who will not take the Bible for its word. They are men who while they may intend well, they are clearly on the wrong side of the Bible and History. Many of these so called "teachers" have also left the pre-trib rapture camp as well, which has been promoted since the 1st Century church. But all of this is not surprising as the Bible tells us that in the end times that people while fall away from sound doctrine and theology and instead embrace lies and doctrines of devils. My hope is that people will not get pulled into these "crazy" theories and in turn leave other sound interpretations by people who declare that they have some "new revelation" that the rest of us missed. The Bible is not for private interpretation, so I call on people to stick with the sound and time-tested theology taught by sound and conservative teachers.
I encourage all believers to keep the armor of God on to resist the tricks of the devil who comes along in these last days trying to snare people away from sound and biblical teachings. As we see these things taking place, know that our blessed hope and redemption is drawing nigh!
God bless.
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