Revelation Chapter 13 (Part 1): The Rise of Islam Foretold
In the year 622 AD, Mohammed would start a movement that would change the world, and prevent the spread of Christianity through 1260 years of persecutions.
IN ST. JOHN’S REVELATION chapter 12 we see an accurate description of history where the Woman, or Church, struggled to give birth to the “male child”, or the God-Man through her birth pains, or struggles and victory over various Christological heresies. After this point in which the Church completes the testimony of the “two witnesses” through the Seven Ecumenical Councils, the Church would then seek protection in the monastic wilderness in order to escape persecution from the Dragon and war upon her children with a great new heresy designed to sweep away the existence of the Church. This “flood” described as coming from the mouth of the Dragon in Revelation 12 is a different type of water than the “living water” described in John 4:13-14: “Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” However, this new type of “poisonous non-living water” was to come “like a flood” with fast moving armies of barbarian invaders. And this “poisonous non-living water”, which is a much different type of water with it’s strong current, would “drown” whoever fully drank from this type of water. So then, the new water described in the Apocalypse is the new heresy that the Dragon created and made to look like “authentic monotheism” as the Dragon could no longer re-introduce a new form of old school paganism to deceive the masses. As a result, this new flood successfully swept away millions of souls to Hades through their unintended worship of the Dragon with the new monotheistic creed. Revelation Chapter 13 provides more details with respect to the structure and power of this new heretical flood. Let’s begin our analysis.
The Dragon ad Beast with Seven Heads and Ten Horns
Revelation 13:1 – “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.“
In Revelation Chapter 13 we then begin with a vision of St. John standing on the seashore where he sees the same Dragon from Revelation 12 standing, acting as a witness to convey to us a new significant change in the social order of Medieval Europe which was to occur after the fall of the Western Roman Empire by the Barbarians (described in Revelation 9) and the completion of the testimony of the Seven Ecumenical Councils (described in Revelation 12). The key events described afterwards in Revelation 13 are shown to describe the rise of two new religious institutions and governmental systems over the former lands of the Roman Empire which arose from both outside an inside the former united Roman Empire. The “sea” in which John stands represents the barbarian and desert regions outside Roman civilization, or the territorial reign and influence of the Eastern and Western Roman Empire. The first beast of Revelation 13 would rise from the desert “seas” of Arabia, while the second beast would rise up from the “earth”, or the center of civilization with cultural and religious Babylon as it’s capital.
Mohammed
The beast that rises out of the sea occurred with the Little Horn of Daniel Chapter 8, which is a term used to describe a new insignificant small religious movement that began when another self-proclaimed prophet began to receive his visions. This new heresy would be proclaimed at first as a “New Christianity” mixed with a form of Arianism, where Christ is not professed to be of once essence with the father, the Son of God, but merely a creature and prophet and denial of the Holy Spirit. Thus we see why Arius is called the “forerunner of the Antichrist”, because with the impact of his heresy spreading within the Christian lands a few centuries earlier is part of the cause of the new movement. It is even rumored that Mohammed was raised by an Arian monk. Daniel’s story of the Ram and the Goat would explain to us the mystery and primary reason why this new religious movement was to spread so rapidly throughout the lands of the former great world empires. The battles of the Greeks and Persians throughout history would be brought to a climax with the Byzantine Sasanian Wars ending in 628 AD, which left both empires extremely vulnerable to attack with little troops and finances to fight off the new Islamic Jihads. Daniel goes on to explain, as a result, this Little Horn would take advantage of this weakness and arise upon the world stage to take control of the lands formerly controlled by The Byzantine Empires and Sasanian Empires with little or no resistance.
Daniel 8:9-12 – “And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land. And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them. He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down. Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered.“
It is confirmed in history with the first Islamic Jihad, that this new religion of Mohammed quickly spread to the south of the Mediterranean to Egypt all thy way to the Iberian peninsula, then to the “Glorious Land”, that is, the Holy Land through the invasion of Jerusalem in 636-637 AD by Omar II. In addition, it would spread through the former lands of the Persian Empires and beyond. A new temple structure would soon be built over His Sanctuary (i.e. the Temple Mount), and the “truth” of the New Testament was “cast down to the ground” through a newly written Gospel, called the Koran.
Let’s jump back to the Revelation 13:1 text. We see the description of the beast identified as “Seven Heads and Ten Horns.” As in Daniel, we know that the word “horn” is often used as a symbol of power, and the term “beast” is typically represented by most biblical scholars to represent a great empire in world history. So what is the proper understanding of “Seven Heads and Ten Horns” described in this verse? The answer: the Seven Heads of the beast represent the Seven Caliphates of the first beast, which we will call the Islamic Beast to distinguish it from the Second Beast (a subject to be covered in a later Facebook blog post). The Caliphs were “trustees of Mohammed” having the highest religious and political power. The name is the “name of blasphemy” on the heads of the beast, for the successor of Mohammed is a trustee of delusion and blasphemy against God. The Caliphs were never crowned kings or emperors, but were merely successor and trustees of the Antichrist and thus only described as “heads” of the beast and not with “crowns.” The Ten Horns of the beast here represent the Ten Sultanate Empires which were not named successors of Mohammed, but these empires were significant and are identified as representing reigns centered around the other Seven Caliphates, while also covering the same exact territories and regions as the former Babylonian, Medo-Persian and Greek empires described in Daniel Chapter 7. We can confirm through examining history, that there were in fact Seven Caliphates and Ten Sultanate Empires that reigned in these same territories described in Daniel. Let’s review:
- 1. Rashidun Caliphate (632-661 AD)
- 2. Hasan ibn Ali’s Caliphate (661 AD)
- 3. Umayyad Caliphate (661 – 750 AD)
- 4. Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258, 1260-1517 AD)
- 5. Fantimid Caliphate (909-1171 AD)
- 6. Almohad Caliphate (1121-1269)
- 7. Ottoman Caliphate (1362 – 1924)
- 1. Saffarid Dynasty (861 – 1003)
- 2. Samanid Empire (819 – 1005)
- 3. Buyid Dynasty (934 – 1062)
- 4. Ghurid Sultanate (879 – 1215)
- 5. Ghaznavid Empire/Dynasty (977 – 1186)
- The Great Seljuk Empire (1037-1194)
- Sultanate of Rum, (1077 – 1308 – Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate)
- 7. Muzaffarid Dynasty (1314 – 1393)
- 8. Ayyubid Dynasty (Saladin-Egypt) – 1171 – 1260
- 9. Timurid Empire (1307 – 1507)
- 10. The Post-Medieval Persian Empire:
- Safavid Dynasty (1501 to 1736, or 1501 – 1838)
- Afsharid Dynasty (1736 – 1796)
- Qajar Dynasty (1789 – 1925)
- The Leopard represents the kingdom of the Greeks.
- Daniel 7:6 – “After this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it.
- The Bear represents the kingdom of the Persians
- Daniel 7:5 – “And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus to it: ‘Arise, devour much flesh!’
- The Lion represents the kingdom of Babylon
- Daniel 7:4 – “The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it”
Map images taken from “Behold The Beast” Website. http://www.beholdthebeast.com/daniels_four_beasts.htm
And so the composition of the beast shows that the power of the false prophet Mohammed was to have Persia for its feet, Greece for its body, and Babylon for its mouth an,d that it was to spread over these three ancient monarchies beginning with that of Persia. In every instance in which the Arabs or the Turks attempted to cross the boundaries of these ancient monarchies, they suffered terrible destruction and were stopped in any further advances in territory.
Revelation 13:4 – “And they worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?”
The Red Dragon is none other than the “Allah” which is viewed by Muslims as their the God of Islam. While it is true that Arabic Christians called God “Allah” prior to the rise of Mohammed, it is not the same Allah identified as the moon god through pagan Arabic tribes prior to the seventh century. This “Allah” is different and can be identified through the conquering and destructive characteristics often associated with the Red Dragon. The Revelation 13 tells us that the Red Dragon surely gave great authority to his servant, Mohammed. No empire was able to stop the voracious speed at which Islam spread through the former lands of the Byzantine and Sassanian empire. Many Christians then living under the lands of the Caliphates and Sultanates were given second class citizenship, not allowed to build new churches and had to pay taxes. Their daughters dragged away into the lustful harems and their young boys sent away to be trained as ruthless warriors to support the ever-expanding New Jihad. Many Christians eventually converted than face discrimination, persecution and death for proclaiming the Gospel. Forced conversion was through a simple act of stating one sentence to save one’s life. This simple utterance is a great blasphemy against God and his name with the words “There is only One God Allah, and one prophet of God, Mohammed“. This signifies there is only Satan and one prophet of his, Mohammed, the last and final one For after him, Satan is not allowed to raise or send out another deluder of the nations of the world.
Revelation 13:5 – “The beast was given a mouth to speak arrogant and blasphemous words, and authority to act for forty-two months.”
“Forty-two months” here represents 1260 years, applying the traditional Day-Year Principle of prophetic interpretation used by historicists since the 12th century. The calculation of the number of days is determined as 42 month x 30 days/month = 1260 “days”. This is also the same duration spoken about in Daniel 12:7, i.e, “Time, Times and a Half of Time” also represents 1260 “days”/years. The variation of 1260 day measurement can be determined with consideration of using three calendars for use in our computation, the traditional “biblical” calendar, the “solar” calendar of 365.25 days/year, and the “lunar” calendar of 354 days/year.
- 1260 years = 3.5 x “Biblical” 360 days/year [i.e. Father, 360 degrees in a circle]
- 1279 years = 3.5 x “Solar” 365.25 days/year [i.e. Son/”Sun of Righteousness”]
- 1240 years = 3.5 x “Lunar” 354 days/year [i.e. Moon/Church calendar]
Caliph Omar invaded Jerusalem in 637 A.D. We are given a significant clue for the starting point of measurement by Sophronius, who was the Patriarch of Jerusalem when Omar invaded Jerusalem with his armies. When Sophronius saw the Caliph Omar on the temple mount he announced these prophetic words:
“This is the Abomination of Desolation announced by the Prophet Daniel, and now stands from this point on holy ground.”
This would be to fulfill what was spoken about in Daniel Chapter 9 and by Jesus:
Matthew 24:15 – “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination of desolation,’ described by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand)”
It is obvious that the year 637-638 invasion of Jerusalem is a significant event in identifying the prophesied “Antichrist” and “Man of Perdition,” and it thus can be used to calculate the exact reign and duration based on subtle mathematical equations and riddles provided in scripture such as “forty-two months” and “1260 days”. If 637 is of important significance in identifying the Antichrist, then certainly other significant dates around the life of the same beast should also be considered? The answer is yes, it can be demonstrated that a pattern emerges of a so-called “parallel of times” which are based on the rise and fall of the empires of the Islamic Beast. We also can observe that dates involved around construction of the abomination also confirms the middle of Daniel’ 70 week. These dates confirm the authenticity of the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation as we confirm that the time between the destruction and rebuilding of the temples arrive at the exact years for the end of Gentile/Islamic rule in Jerusalem.
- 622 AD = Mohammed begins his prophetship, flight to Medina, Hegira
- 632 AD = Death of Mohammed
- 637 AD = Caliph Omar invades Jerusalem
- 656 = Koran was compiled/completed
- 688-692 AD = Dome of the Rock Construction and Completion
- 705-to-712 AD = Al Asqa Mosque Construction and Completion
So using these three calendars, we are able to measure the “1260 days” and “forty-two months” from Omar’s invasion of Jerusalem, the Dome of the Rock construction and Al Asqa Mosque construction.
- 622 + 1260 = 1882 (Aliyah Jewish Immigration from the Land of Israel)
- 638 + 1240 = 1878 (Petah Tivka settlement)
- 637 + 1260 = 1897 (Zionism Movement for establishment of home in Palestine)
- 622 + 1290 = 1912 (First Balkan War)
- 638 + 1279 = 1917 (Balfour Declaration)
- 632 + 1290 = 1922 (Death of Mohammed until death and fall of Turkish Empire)
- 656 + 1260 = 1916 (approx 1 year Balfour Declaration)
- 656 + 1240 = 1896 (approx 1 year before 1897 Zionist Movement)
- 688 + 1260 = 1948 (Modern Nation of Israel)
- 688 + 1279 = 1967 (Jerusalem captured by Israel in Six-Day War)
- 708 + 1240 = 1948 (Modern Nation of Israel)
- 707 + 1260 = 1967 (Jerusalem captured by Israel in Six-Day War
Identifying the Abomination of Desolation in Daniel Chapter 9
The Abomination of Desolation with the 2300 “days” in Daniel Chapter 8
Revelation 13:6 – “And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.”
The mouth of the beast is the false prophet Mohammed development of his teachings through the Koran. His imams – the mouth of the beast – blaspheme the name of God by proclaiming that God is a barren god, that he did not beget a Son, co-eternal and co-ruling. The first dogma of Islam is blasphemy against His tabernacle, against the God of heaven, and blasphemy against the saints born of God through Jesus Christ, the first-fruits of those before them.
The inscriptions on the walls of the “Dome of the Rock” confirm the Abomination and Blaspheming of God the Father, Jesus His Son, and the Holy Spirit.
“In the name of God, the Merciful the Compassionate. There is no god but God. He is One. He has no associate.”
“People of the Book! Do not exaggerate in your religion nor utter aught concerning God save the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a Messenger of God, and His Word which He conveyed unto Mary, and a spirit from Him. So believe in God and His messengers, and say not ‘Three’ – Cease!“
These inscriptions on the temple mount confirm the warnings and identification by the John and Paul with respect to a coming new major Christological heresy of the Church:
John 2:22 – “Who is the liar, if it is not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son.
1 John 4:3- “And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.”
2 Thessalonians 2:4 – “He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.”
Mohammed claims he is the last and greatest of all of the prophets and greater than (the God-Man) Jesus, which is proclaimed in the Islamic Creed: “There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed Is his Messenger”. His glory, honor and worship was confirmed on the ruins of the second temple through the “Abomination of Desolation” that is, the “Dome of the Rock“ was constructed in the seventh century.
Revelation 13:7 – “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.”
This beast was able to kill and subjugate whoever he desired, he granted life to whoever he lusted and desired, and taxed others whoever he chose to, wielding great and absolute power. Power was “given to him over all kindreds and tongues and nations.” The Islamic Beast subdued not only the Christians in the Middle East and East, but all of the peoples of Asia and Africa, and many others in Eastern Europe and Slavic nations.
Daniel 7-25: “He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.”
Both Daniel and Revelation confirm the reign of the beast for 1260 years, measured from the first caliphate to the last. The traditional Protestant Historicists have long used these verses to identify the Pope as the Antichrist, claiming the Pope changed the “times and the laws”. Historically, there is no comparison on who made a greater impact to changing the “times” and “traditions”of Christianity. Who is the greater of the two beasts? The evidence is clear:
- Mohammed altered the times (chronology) and God’s law with the development of a “new” testament/bible = the Koran, claiming that the Apostles corrupted the texts of the Bible.
- He thus adopted the lunar month of 28 days, the lunar year of 13 months,
- The time of day was not countable from sunrise to sunset
- The year 622 A.D. as the beginning of chronology Hegira calendar with the aim of highlighting more importance to counting years from Mohammed instead of the Birth of Jesus Christ.
- He brought back into force the Jewish circumcision which Christ abolished.
- He rejected the Christian worship on Sunday and the Jews Sabbath, and adopted Friday as the day of rest.
- History confirms that Islam “made war with the saints and defeated them”… with the many invasions into Egypt, Syria and beyond… with forced conversions of Jews and Christians to Islam.
Revelation 13:9 – “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
The Christians who left the faith, who worshiped Allah and converted to Islam were removed from the Book of Life and lead into Perdition according to Revelation 13-8.
Revelation 13:10 – “He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.“
Similar to the persecutions of the early Christians, those who maintained the faith would be lead into slavery, taxation, persecution an death for an extended period of history totaling 1260 years. Christ asks us for patience and endurance through these trying times, because the Gates of Hell would not prevail. And similarly in the manner in which the Islamic Beast subjugated an killed the Christians throughout the centuries, this Beast will suffer the same fate with it’s final destruction at the Battle of Armageddon.
The rest of Revelation Chapter 13 will be continued in the next blog post.
“LET THE READER UNDERSTAND” !!!
© 2018 by Jonathan Photius
Set Apart names for the The Most high Father and His Son: AHAYAH & YASHAYA
Deception of False God & False Christ Name: A Warning to All Religions, The Word the Scriptures and The Law/Torah/Gospel was created not Religions, Religion is Philosophy Origin of Religion Lesson
The Origin of Religion and The Rebellion Empire Lesson
Truth Understanding Religion Lesson
GOD's Enemies and Judgement Lesson