Aaron Shannon

Amillennialism and the Islamic

Antichrist
What will happen in the last days? Will the world be ruled by atheists as
suggested by the Left Behind series? Will Islam play a major role? The scope of this
writing is to provide evidence suggesting Islam will indeed play a large role in
fulfilling biblical prophecy.
The first task at hand is to provide a background on my millennial position.
Originally I held to the dispensational premillennial position, including the pretribulation rapture. An excellent 600+ page book on the topic is Things to Come by
J. Dwight Pentecost. He covers the major eschatological views, but he spends most
of the book explaining the dispensational position. There are definitely some major
conflicts with his position, however, the majority of Christians in America seem to
lean towards this eschatological view. There are challenges in all positions, but I
have come to hold Amillennialism as the best understanding with less conflicts in
Scripture. As further research is necessary, the primary aspect of Amillennialism to
emphasize for the purpose of this writing is the idea of the millennial kingdom not
being a literal 1,000 year reign of Christ on earth from Jerusalem, but rather, the
millennial kingdom is symbolic of the church agethe time between Christs first
coming and His second coming. Psalm 50:10 says, For every beast of the forest is
mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. What about the cattle on the rest of the hills?
Do they not belong to God? Indeed they do. The Psalm is just one of the evidences
that a thousand is symbolic and not literal.

Aaron Shannon
In addition, the binding of Satan is a present reality. Revelation 20:2 speaks of
Satan being bound for a thousand years, and Revelation 20:3 declares the purpose
of his binding is so he can no longer deceive the nations. The Bible often speaks of
Israel and the nations. Before Christ, Satan was deceiving the nations, which is why
Gods people were mostly Jews with only some Gentiles. Now that Satan is bound
and unable to deceive the nations any longer, the gospel has gone out to the world
and the Church consists of mostly Gentiles with only some Jews. The premillennial
view on Satans binding and the millennial kingdom creates a major conflict. The
millennium is described as a time when peace reigns on earth since Satan is bound.
This contradicts the doctrine of original sin. The implication is humans are only
sinful because of Satan, and without Satan, human sinfulness is very mild or
moderate. Suddenly when Satan is released from his prison, a huge army of humans
rebel as if they are just puppets of Satan. Humans are very sinful apart from Satan,
although the serpent definitely plays a serious role in how sin is carried out in
history. With this understanding of the human condition, there could not be a 1,000
year reign of peace on earth while sinful humans are still here.

Understanding

these two issues with an amillennial worldview ties the binding of Satan and the
millennial kingdom to the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The purpose of these
visions is to encourage believers to spread the gospel for Satan is bound, Christ is
with us, the dead saints are reigning with Jesus, and those who die as martyrs will
reign with Christ over this present church age.
There is no reason for a literal 1,000 year kingdom on earth. An argument
may be that the kingdom is necessary in order for God to fulfill the covenants with
Israel. The problem with such argument is the Bible teaches that the church is the
new Israel. This is not replacement theology. The church did not replace Israel, but
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rather, the church is Israel. The olive tree in Romans 11 was originally mostly Jews.
As a result of the unbelief of the Jews and their rejection of Jesus, the unbelieving
Jews were cut off from the olive tree, and many Gentiles were grafted in. The
church, therefore, is not separate from Israel, but one and the same. Believing Jews
and believing Gentiles are together the new Israel. The Abrahamic and Davidic (and
some would add Palestinian) covenants are fulfilled in the new Israel. A literal
kingdom in order to fulfill the covenants for ethnic Israel is not supported in
Scripture. The promises are fulfilled in Christ, and those who are in Christ will inherit
not a little plot of land in the Middle East, but those in Christ will inherit the whole
earth. Romans 4:13 says that Abraham will be the heir of the world. The purpose of
the millennial kingdom is to spread the gospel and build the church, and after the
millennium the new Israel will inherit the new heavens and new earth in its entirety.
The Promised Land in the Old Testament was a shadow of the true Promised Land in
the age to come, namely the eternal state.
Another challenge of the premillennial position is Gog and Magog. This army
of nations occurs before the millennium and at the end of the millennium. This does
not make much sense. The reality, according to the amillennial position, is there is
only one such war, and as we will briefly discuss later, this group is tied to Islam.
Revelation 20 speaks of one resurrection and one death. We find the first
resurrection but no mention of the second resurrection. We find the second death
but no mention of the first death.

The second death is obviously spiritual, so it

seems best to interpret the first resurrection as spiritual. The verse does not make
much sense if it says, Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first [physical]
resurrection! Over such the second [spiritual] death has no power. If the latter is
spiritual, the former should be as well. What does a spiritual resurrection mean? Are
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not Christians already born-again when they exercise repentance and faith? How
can there be two spiritual births? The answer is found in understanding the spiritual
nature of the resurrection and death. Verse 14 says the lake of fire is the second
death. Unbelievers are already spiritually dead, so the second death is a different
kind of spiritual death which completely severs them from the grace of God. In the
same way, believers are already spiritually resurrected, so the first resurrection is a
different kind of spiritual resurrection which completely unites them to the grace of
God. This can be defined as a translation to heaven after death.
Additionally, the words for first and second in Greek can be interpreted as
chronological order or as different kinds. 1 The First Adam and the Second Adam
do not have anything to do with chronological order, but rather, two kinds of Adams
are being spoken of. The First Adam is the kind of Adam who imputed sin to his
physical offspring. The Second Adam is a different kind of Adam who imputed
righteousness to His spiritual offspring. In Revelation 20, the evidence suggests that
first and second should be interpreted as different kinds. The first and second
resurrections cannot be of the same kind, and thus the first is obviously spiritual in
nature according to the context. The first and second death cannot be of the same
kind, and thus the second death is obviously spiritual in nature. Once a person
physically dies, they cannot physically die again, so unbelievers being thrown into
the Lake of Fire cannot be a second physical death, but it must be a kind of spiritual
death.
Going into great depth on other very interesting matters related to eschatology are
beyond the scope of this writing. Examples are the Olivet Discourse, further
1 Riddlebarger, K. (2003). Revelation 20:1-10. In A case for Amillennialism:
Understanding the end times (pp. 195-226). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
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exegesis of Romans 11, the 70 weeks of Daniel, the most holy place in the temple,
the Feast of Tabernacles, other Old Testament shadows, and the rest of the book of
Revelation except what is covered below.
What role may Islam play in biblical eschatology? We will identify and discuss
the beast of Revelation as the Islamic Mahdi, the false prophet of Revelation as the
Muslim Jesus, and Jesus Christ of the Bible as the Dajjal. Other relative aspects of
Islam will be discussed as well. All of the quotes from Islamic tradition and Muslim
scholars will come from the book The Islamic Antichrist by Joel Richardson. The
following three sections of the three characters will largely be quotes from Islamic
tradition and Muslim scholars. Afterwards, a comparison will be undertaken in the
context of Amillennialism.

The Mahdi
Who is the Islamic Mahdi? When will he arrive? What will he accomplish?
What do the Islamic sources and scholars teach about the Mahdi?
The Mahdi can be described as the messiah of Islam. There are a few groups
which deny the Mahdi, but the majority believe in him. According to a Muslim
scholar,
The coming of the Mahdi is established doctrine for both
Sunni and Shia Muslims, and indeed for all humanity.
The Mahdi will be of the family of Muhammad. As it is written,
The world will not come to pass until a man from among my
family, whose name will be my name, rules over the Arabs and

Aaron Shannon
The Prophet said: The Mahdi will be of my family, of the
descendants of Fatimah [Muhammads daughter].
The Mahdi is the final caliph to come into the world. A caliph is a vice regent of
Allah. As it is written,
If you see him, go and give him your allegiance, even if you
have to crawl over ice, because he is the Vice-regent [Khalifa]
of Allah, the Mahdi and He will pave the way for and
establish the government of the family [or community] of
MuhammadEvery believer will be obligated to support him.
He will be the ruler of the world. According to Muslim scholars,
The Mahdi will establish right and justice in the world and
eliminate evil and corruption. He will fight against the enemies
of the Muslims who would be victorious.
And,
He will reappear on the appointed day, and then he will fight
against the forces of evil, lead a world revolution, and set up a
new world order based on justice, righteousness, and virtue
ultimately the righteous will take the world administration in
their hands and Islam will be victorious over all the religions.
And,
He is the precursor of the victory of the Truth and the fall of
all tyrants. He heralds the end of injustice and oppression and
the beginning of the final rising of the sun of Islam which will
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never again set and which will ensure happiness and the
elevation of mankindThe Mahdi is one of Allahs clear signs
which will soon be made evident to everyone.
The traditions [hadith] and scholars speak of an army with black flags, which are
flags of jihad carried by Muslim armies. We see radical Islamic groups such as alQaeda and ISIS carrying black flags. According to a scholar,
Hadith indicate that black flags coming from the area of
Khorasan will signify the appearance of the Mahdi is nigh.
Khorasan is in todays Iran, and some scholars have said that
this hadith means when the black flags appear from Central
Asia, i.e., in the direction of Khorasan, then the appearance of
the Mahdi is imminent.
According to tradition,
The Messenger of Allah said: The black banners will come
from the East and their hearts will be as firm as iron. Whoever
hears of them should join them and give allegiance, even if it
means crawling across snow.
The Mahdi and his army will conquer and rule from Jerusalem. As it is written,
Rasulullah [Muhammad] said: Armies carrying black flags will
come from Khurasan. No power will be able to stop them and
they will finally reach Eela [Baitul Maqdas in Jerusalem] where
they will erect their flags.
A Muslim scholar states,
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The Mahdi will be victorious and eradicate those pigs and
dogs and the idols of this time so that there will once more be
a caliphate based on prophethood as the hadith states
Jerusalem will be the location of the rightly guided caliphate
and the center of Islamic rule, which will be headed by Imam
al-MahdiThat will abolish the leadership of the Jewsand put
an end to the domination of the Satans who spit evil into
people and cause corruption in the earth, making them slaves
of false idols and ruling the world by laws other than the
Sharia [Islamic law] of the Lord of the worlds.
According to tradition,
The Prophet saidthe last hour would not come unless
the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would
kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone
or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or the
servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him.
The Mahdi will be loved by Muslims. As it is written,
In the last days of my ummah [universal Islamic community],
the Mahdi will appear. Allah will give him power over the wind
and the rain and the earth will bring forth its foliage. He will
give away wealth profusely, flocks will be in abundance, and
the ummah will be large and honored.
And,

Aaron Shannon
In those years my community will enjoy a time of happiness
such as they have never experienced before. Heaven will send
rain upon them in torrents, the earth will not withhold any of
its plants, and wealth will be available to all. A man will stand
and say, Give to me, Mahdi! and he will say, Take.
And,
Allah will sow love of him in the hearts of all people.
And,
Al Mahdi appears; everyone only talks about Him, drinks the
love of Him, and never talks about anything other than Him.
The following quotes are very interesting regarding the Mahdis reign:
Rasulullah [Muhammad] said: There will be four peace
agreements between you and the Romans [Christians]. The
fourth agreement will be mediated through a person who will
be from the progeny of Hadrat Haroon [Honorable Aaron
Mosess brother] and will be upheld for seven years.
And,
The Prophet saidHe will divide the property, and will govern
the people by the Sunnah of their Prophet and establish Islam
on Earth. He will remain seven years, then die, and the
Muslims will pray over him.
And,

Aaron Shannon
The Prophet said: The Mahdiwill fill the earth with equity
and justice as it was filled with oppression and tyranny, and he
will rule for seven years.
A few traditions mention the Mahdis reign as eight or nine years, but seven
years is the most common tradition. This is very interesting in light of the prophecy
in Daniel 9:25-27 about the seven year covenant with Israel. Premillennials believe
the antichrist makes this seven year treaty with Israel. Amillennials do not believe
the passage speaks of the antichrist at all, but rather, it is the Anointed One who
makes the seven year treaty with Israel. In-depth discussion of this passage is
beyond the scope of this writing. One possibility, assuming the Amillennial position
is correct, is that the Mahdi also makes a seven year treaty with Israel, since Satan
is clearly involved in a unholy trinity (dragon, beast, false prophet) to mimic the
Holy Trinitys work, it makes sense for the antichrist to make a seven year treaty
with Israel just as the Anointed One has done.
Also, in regard to the most recent quote, the equity and justice established by
the Mahdi will be for the Muslims only. There will be no equity and justice for the
non-Muslims. In addition, the oppression and tyranny is referring to the Muslims as
throughout history Muslims like to claim they are victims of oppression and tyranny.
Islamic groups today complain about the crusaders and the West who they believe
hate and fight Islam. We shall not be fooled into thinking the traditions are referring
to Islam as a peaceful religion, for Islam is only a peaceful religion for Muslims.
I will not elaborate much on the last two aspects of the Mahdi, but some
Muslims interpret the rider on a white horse in the Bibles book of Revelation as the
Mahdi, and some traditions say that the Mahdi will rediscover some Bible scrolls and

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the Ark of the Covenant and will convince some Jews and Christians to convert to
Islam by these so-called uncorrupted scriptures.
In our discussion we do not have time to go into the Holy Scriptures and
evaluate every passage, but one interesting point is the antichrist will try to change
the laws and the times (Daniel 7:25). Islam has Sharia Law and uses the Islamic
calendar. Since the goal of Islam is to dominate the world, it makes sense that the
Mahdi will attempt to change the law to Sharia and change from the Gregorian
calendar to the Islamic calendar.

The Muslim Jesus

Now we will discuss what Islamic tradition and scholars say about the Muslim
Jesus. Who is this man and what will he do? As with the previous discussion on the
Mahdi, this section will contain many quotes which largely speak for themselves.
Jesus will return outside of Damascus. As it is written,
At this very time Allah would send Christ, son of Mary, and he
will descend at the white minaret in the eastern side of
Damascus wearing two garments lightly dyed with saffron and
placing his hands on the wings of two angels. When he would
lower his head, there would fall beads of perspiration from his
head, and when he would raise it up, beads like pearls would
scatter from it.
And,
The Messenger of Allah said: A section of my people will not
cease fighting for the truth and will prevail until the day of
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resurrection. He said: Jesus son of Mary would then descend
and their [Muslims] commander [the Mahdi] would invite him
to come and lead them in prayer, but he would say: No, some
amongst you are commanders over some.
According to scholars,
Jesus Christ will decline the offer and invitation of Imam
Mahdi to come and lead the Muslims in prayer, and say his
prayer behind Imam Mahdi.
And,
Jesus (peace be upon him) will come and will perform the
obligatory prayers behind the Mahdi and follow him.
And,
[Jesus] will be following the Mahdi, the master of the time,
and that is why he will be offering his prayers behind him.
Jesus will perform the pilgrimage to Mecca as all Muslims are required to do at least
once in their lifetime, if possible. As it is written,
The Prophet said: Verily Isa Ibn Maryam [Jesus] shall descend
as an equitable judge and fair ruler. He shall tread his path on
the way to hajj [pilgrimage] and come to my grave to greet me,
and I shall certainly answer him!
Jesus will be a leader judging according to Islamic Law. As it is written,

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Ibn Qayyim mentioned in Manar al-munif that the leaderis
the Mahdi who will request Jesus to lead the Muslims in prayer.
Jesus will remain on the earth, not as a prophet, but as one of
the community [ummah] of Prophet Muhammad. Muslims will
follow him as their leader. According to Shalabi, the Mahdi will
lead the Muslims in prayer, and Jesus will rule the Muslims
according to the divine law [shariah].
And,
Jesus, the son of Mary will descend and will lead them judging
amongst them according to the holy Quran and the Sunnah of
the Prophet Muhammad.
As it is written in the Quran,
There is not one of the People of the Scripture [Christians and
Jews] but will believe in him before his death, and on the Day
of Resurrection he will be a witness against them. (Sura
4:159)
In regard to this verse, scholars have said,
Like

all

prophets,

Prophet

Jesus

came

with the

divine

message of surrender to God Almighty, which is Islam. This

verse shows that when Jesus returns he will personally correct
the misrepresentations and misinterpretations about himself.
He will affirm the true message that he brought in his time as a
prophet, and that he never claimed to be the Son of God.

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Furthermore, he will reaffirm in his second coming what he
prophesied in his first coming bearing witness to the seal of
the Messenger, Prophet Muhammad. In his second coming
many non-Muslims will accept Jesus as a servant of Allah
Almighty, as a Muslim and a member of the community of
Muhammad.
And,
Jesus will descend from heaven and espouse the cause of the
Mahdi. The Christians and the Jews will see him and recognize
his true status. The Christians will abandon their faith in his
godhead [sic].
As it is written,
The Prophet said: There is no prophet between me and him,
that is, Jesus. He will descent [sic] [to the earth]He will break
the cross, kill swine, and abolish jizyah. Allah will perish all
religions except Islam.
And,
Jesus, the son of Mary will soon descend among the Muslims
as a just judgeJesus will, therefore, judge according to the
law of Islamall people will be required to embrace Islam and
there will be no other alternative.
And,

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[T]he time and the place for [the poll tax] is before the final
descent of Jesus (upon whom be peace). After his final coming,
nothing but Islam will be accepted from them, for taking the
poll tax is only effective until Jesus descent (upon him and our
Prophet be peace)
Jizya is a tax for non-Muslims living under Islamic rule. When the Muslim Jesus
arrives, the tax will no longer be accepted. Convert to Islam or die.
The Muslim Jesus will fight the Dajjal, whom we will discuss soon. As it is written,
The Yahudis [Jews] of Isfahaan will be his [the Dajjals] main
followers. Apart from having mainly Yahudi followers, he will
have a great number of women followers as well.
And,
His followers the Yahudis, will number seventy thousand
[Then] Hadrat Isa [Honorable Jesus] kills the Dajjal at the Gate
of Hudd, near an Israeli airport, in the valley of Ifiq. The final
war between the Yahudis will ensue, and the Muslims will be
victorious.
Jesus will have a family and finish his life on earth. As it is written,
The Prophet said: There is no prophet between me and him,
that is, JesusHe will destroy the Antichrist [Dajjal] and will
live on the earth for forty years and then he will die. The
Muslims will pray over him.
And,
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After his descention [sic] on earth, Jesus will marry. He will
have children, and he will remain on the earth nineteen years
after marriage. He will pass away and Muslims will perform his
funeral prayer and bury him next to the Prophet Muhammad.

Dajjal
The last character we will cover is the Dajjal. He is the antichrist in Islam. He
will be a great deceiver. According to scholars,
The Prophet was warning us that in the last days there would
be someone who would deceive all of humanity. The Dajjal will
possess power over this word. Thus, Muslims must be careful
not to have the love of the world in their hearts so they wont
leave their religion and follow him. He will be able to heal the
sick by wiping his hand on them, like Jesus did, but with this
deceit the Dajjal will lead people down the path to hell. Thus
the Dajjal is the false Messiah, or Anti-Christ [Massih adDajjal]. He will pretend to be the Messiah, and deceive people
by showing them amazing powers.
He will be blind in one eye. Some traditions say the left eye, others say the
right eye. It is quite possible there is no contradiction but only a different viewpoint,
namely the Dajjals right or the right of the person facing the Dajjal. As it is written,
Allahs Messenger made a mention of Dajjal in the present of
the people and said: Allah is not one-eyed and behold that

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Dajjal is blind of the right eye and his eye would be like a
floating grape.
And,
Allahs Messenger said: Dajjal is blind of left eye with thick
hair and there would be a garden and fire with him and his fire
would be a garden and his garden would be fire.
The Dajjal is said to have the word kaafir which means infidel written
between his eyes. As it is written,
Allahs Messenger said: Dajjal is blind of one eye and there is
written between his eyes the word kaffir [unbeliever/infidel].
He then spelled the word as k. f. r., which every Muslim would
be able to read.
And according to a scholar,
Very important is that this word kaafir will be readable only
by the believer, literate or illiterate. Non-believer: let him be
educated from Oxford or Harvard will not be able to read
it.
He will be a false miracle worker. According to scholars,
The Dajjal will have powers of the devil. He will terrorize the
Muslims into following him, converting them into unbelief. He
will conceal the truth and bring forth falsehood. The prophet
said that the Dajjal will have the power to show the image of
ones dead ancestors on his hand, like a television screen. The
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relative will say, Oh my son! This man is correct. I am in
Paradise because I was good and I believed in him. In reality
that relative is in hell. If the relative says, Believe in this man,
I am in hell because I didnt believe, one must say to the
Dajjal, No, he is in Paradise. This is false.
And, according to hadith,
The Prophet said: the Dajjal will say to a Bedouin Arab, What
will you think if I bring your father and mother back to life for
you? Will you bear witness that I am your lord? The Bedouin
will say, Yes. So two devils will assume the appearance of his
father and mother, and say, O my son, follow him for he is
your lord.
The Dajjal will be unable to enter three cities. Muslims are encouraged to take
refuge from the Dajjal in these locations. As it is written,
The Prophet said, Ad-Dajjal will come to Medina and find the
angels guarding it. So Allah willing, neither Ad-Dajjal nor
plague will be able to come near it.
And, according to scholars,
The coming of the Antichrist [Dajjal] must occur in the Last
Days. This dreadful event is approaching, and in that time only
three

cities

will

be

safe:

Makka,

Madina,

and

Sham

[Damascus]. If anyone wants safety in that time he will have to

run to one of these three cities.

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Muslims can also protect themselves from the Dajjal by reciting a specific portion of
the Quran. As it is written,
If the Dajjal comes upon someone who has memorized the
first ten verses of Surat al Kahf [Chapter of the Cow] he cannot
harm him. And whoever memorizes the last verses of Surat alKahf will have light on the day of Judgement.
The Muslim Jesus will kill the Dajjal. As it is written,
Allahs Messenger said: the time of prayer shall come and
then Jesus son of Mary would descend and would lead them in
prayer. When the enemy of Allah [Dajjal] would see himAllah
would kill them by his [Jesus;] hand and he would show them
their blood on his lance [the lance of Jesus Christ].
Lastly, although there are no specific traditions, scholars have come to
conclude the Dajjal will be Jewish and will claim to be divine.

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Comparison
Three characters have been introduced: Mahdi, Muslim Jesus, and Dajjal. As
pointed out near the beginning, the Mahdi is the beast of Revelation, the Muslim
Jesus is the false prophet of Revelation, and the Dajjal is the Jesus Christ of the
Bible. Presently, Satan is bound in the bottomless pit, so he is unable to deceive the
nations during this present millennium as described in Revelation 20. As a result,
the gospel is going forth to the nations, and many are coming to Christ from all
ethnicities around the world.
The spirit of antichrist is present throughout this millennial age. There are
many antichrists, but this age will end with a final antichrist who will achieve world
domination. This antichrist is the Mahdi. He cannot arrive until Satan is released or
is about to be released.

Only after the dragon is released can he deceive the

nations and unite them together to achieve world domination. The Islamic caliphate
will arise, most likely being centered in modern-day Turkey. The evidence for this is
beyond the scope of this writing, but it is sufficient to say that Gog and Magog of
Ezekiel and Revelation is tied to the nations which today are mostly Islamic nations,
including Turkey which used to be the Islamic caliphate of the Ottoman Empire.
Premillennialism would require two Gog and Magog armies, one before the future
millennium and one near the end of the future millennium. In reality, Amillennialism
understands there is only one Gog and Magog at the end of this present millennial
age. Only after Satan is released can this final empire emergethe new Islamic
caliphate with the Mahdi as its highest leader.
The Muslim Jesus will come on the scene and follow the Mahdi. He will
support the Mahdi with miraculous signs and wonders. They will carry out the tasks,
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more or less, as described in the Islamic traditions covered earlier. Obviously some
of the predictions are not accurate as ultimately the Mahdi and his followers will
lose the battle to Jesus Christ and the Church. What we see in these traditions is the
plan of Satan. The angel which spoke to Muhammad was not the angel Gabriel, but
Satan or some other fallen angel pretending to be Gabriel. Muhammad received the
Quran and many of his traditions from Satan and his angels. The idea that Satans
plan is revealed through Islam definitely holds weight.
During the rule of the beast and false prophet, Christians and Jews will face
heavy persecution. What we have seen throughout the church age, especially in
regard to Islamic persecution against Jews and Christians, is a microcosm of what is
to come. Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab, ISIS, and many others have massacred Jews and
Christians. What prevents such activity from becoming universal is the binding of
Satan. After the release of Satan, this persecution against Jews and Christians will
become worldwide on a massive scale. Jews and Christians will only have two
options: convert to Islam, or die. Revelation speaks of beheading as the form of
death, and beheading is one of the favorite means we see used by Islamic radical
groups.
During this time it is likely we will see or have already seen the conversion of
many Jews to Christianity as prophesied by the Apostle Paul, Apostle John, and other
parts of Holy Scripture. Despite no future millennium, the restoration of modern
Israel may play a major role in this future conversion of many Jews. Israel today also
strongly reveals to the world the anti-Semitic spirit of Muslims, both moderates and
radicals. According to Here Comes Ishmael by Faisal Malick, he explains how all
Muslims are spiritual descendants of Abrahams disowned son Ishmael, and how
radical Muslims are spiritual descendants of Jacobs brother Esau. The spirit of Esau
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is a hostility toward Jacob and all Israel. In fact, Esau married one of the daughters
of Ishmael (Genesis 28:9). There is a close spiritual intimacy between Esau and
Ishmael and between moderate Muslims and radical Muslims. The hostility of Esau
will last throughout this millennial age and culminate in the universal persecution by
the Islamic Caliphate in the last days.
Eventually, from an Islamic point of view, the Dajjal will arrive to lead the
people astray, claim to be divine, and fight against the Mahdi, Muslim Jesus, and the
Muslim army. The Scripture speaks of Gog and Magog surrounding Jerusalem. This
revelation from God can have two meanings, and the answer is probably both-and
rather than and-or. Jerusalem can be the literal city, it can represent the Church (Jew
and Gentile), or it can be both. Most likely, the Muslim army will attack the literal
city (ethnic Jews) and the spiritual city (believing ethnic Jews and believing
Gentiles). Hebrews 22 and the surrounding context, including other scriptures, teach
that the Church is Mount Zion, the city of the living God, and the heavenly
Jerusalem. This is the same Jerusalem which Revelation says will come down from
heaven with streets of gold and the size of a perfect cube. The image is not literal,
but is tied to the Most Holy Place in the Old Testament Temple. The Holy of Holies
was a perfect cube, just as the heavenly Jerusalem. The furniture was overlaid in
gold, just as the streets of the heavenly Jerusalem. God dwelled in the Most Holy
Place in all of His fullness, and God will dwell in the New Jerusalem in all of His
fullness. The Church is the Temple of God and the New Jerusalem. Interpreting
scripture with scripture is a better hermeneutic than a literal interpretation. A good
example is the apocalyptic descriptions of the sun, moon, and stars being darkened
or turning blood red in reference to the judgement in the end of days. How is this to
be interpreted? Literally? Probably not. Isaiah 13 describes the prophecy against
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Babylon in which the Medo-Persians will destroy Babylon. In this prophecy is found
the apocalyptic language of the sun, moon, and stars. Obviously this heavenly
phenomena did not literally occur in those days, and thus neither is it likely such
phenomena will literally occur at any point in the future. The Mahdi and his army
attacking Jerusalem, therefore, probably refers to both the literal city of Jerusalem
and the universal church.
Finally, the true Jesus Christ of the Bible will return at the end of the
millennium to proclaim the new Jubilee. Prophet Daniel speaks of the 70 weeks, or
seventy sevens, which is 490 years. After 49 years was a jubilee according to
Mosaic Law. This means there are ten jubilees (490 divided by 49 equals 10). When
Jesus returns after the 70th week, the final and eternal jubilee consummates the
kingdom of God, bringing about the new heavens and new earth. Before the
reformation of creation, however, Christ must first destroy the Mahdi, the Muslim
Jesus, and the Muslim army, as well as every other unbeliever from the Muslim to
the atheist. Additionally, the Church (Jew and Gentile) will be raptured and the dead
in Christ (Old Testament and New Testament saints) will be resurrected. The
unbelievers will also be resurrected to face the Great White Throne Judgment, and
none of them will have their names in the book of Life but will be condemned to the
Lake of Fire forever. God will dwell with His people in the new heavens and new
earth forever and ever. Everyone but the unbelievers will live happily ever after. The
beginning [as opposed to the end]!
This writing has come to a conclusion, but there is much more material and
research to be done on the complementary theories of Amillennialism and the
Islamic antichrist. As with all eschatological theories, there are difficulties to work
through related to the Islamic antichrist. I have provided an overview of the theory
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by focusing on the three characters of Mahdi, Muslim Jesus, and Dajjal. The book I
largely quoted from contains more important information, and there are many
specific passages in scripture to be examined in great depth which none of the
material I am aware of on this subject has been able to tackle as of yet. God willing,
I hope to tackle many of these on my own, but I hope for insight from others as they
do the same. It is hard to imagine a bunch of atheists ruling the world as in the Left
Behind series, but an Islamic domination of the world seems very feasible. Muslims
are likely to outnumber Christians in the not so distant future. Muslims are
spreading through Europe and the radicals are creating problems including their
proclamation that Islam will dominate the world. It is only a matter of time.
None of the evidence presented is implying the end of the world is coming
any time soon. Perhaps a single or many major natural disasters, wars, famines, or
plagues will wipe out a major portion of the Muslim population, extending this
present age another several thousand years. What the evidence presented does
suggest is that the Church should continue to allocate more resources and recruit
more laborers to reach Muslims since they are still largely unreached. Satan is
bound. The time is now.

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Bibliography
Crossway Bibles. (2007). ESV: Study Bible: English standard version. Wheaton, IL: Author.
Malick, F. (2007). Here comes Ishmael: The Kairos moment for the Muslim people. Belleville:
Guardian Books.
Pentecost, J. D. (1964). Things to come: A study in biblical eschatology. Grand Rapids, MI:
Academie Books.
Richardson, J., & Richardson, J. (2009). The Islamic Antichrist: The shocking truth about the
real nature of the Beast. Los Angeles, CA: WND Books.
Riddlebarger, K. (2003). A case for Amillennialism: Understanding the end times. Grand
Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

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