Nathan Jones: Good question, Joe. Islam's future is a huge question in Bible prophecy right now. Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. The Catholic Church in Europe a few years ago stated that the adherents to Islam have now surpassed the membership of the Catholic Church. We with some trepidation see that Islam is taking over countries by jihad, but not as well as Islamic immigration is doing. For instance, France is expected to become an Islamic country just due to Islamic immigration by 2050. Clearly Islam is a player right now in the world, and people want to know how Islam fits into Bible prophecy.
Do I believe that the two legs of the statue from Daniel 2 represent modern day Europe and modern day Islam? Probably not. Clearly the advent of the two legs was fulfilled when the Roman Empire split. The Roman Empire then had an eastern and a western leg. Historically, the eastern leg lived a lot longer through Constantinople, that is until the Turkish armies of Islam in the 1400s came marching through and destroyed the Byzantine Empire.
The two legs of the Roman Empire have continued going down to today. Then there are of course the ten toes which are the Ten Kings of the Tribulation. They have yet to come. They are future.
So, where does Islam fit into the world of the two legs? I believe the answer to that is three-fold. There are certain prophetic wars that are coming which I believe will destroy Islam as a world religion just as the Tribulation begins.
Psalm 83 War
The first prophetic war which will become a factor is Islam's downfall is the Psalm 83 War, when Israel finally has to subdue the nations that surround them. We are talking about the immediate border nations such as Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Gaza, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. All those nations present a direct threat to Israel, because Islam believes that any nation conquered for Allah must stay with Allah, and since they lost Israel to the Jews, it's a Muslim's sworn duty to get Israel back as a nation under Islam again. So, not matter what kind of peace plan or anything that we have today, true peace will never happen because according to the Koran Muslims believe that they must take Israel back. Israel is going to have to deal with those nations, and that seems to be a fulfillment of Psalm 83.
Gog-Magog Battle
The second prophetic war which will break Islam's hold comes from the Gog-Magog Battle of Ezekiel 38-39. This battle involves an outer ring from Israel of Islamic nations like Turkey, Iran, the 'Stan countries, and Libya. All will have come together against Israel with Russia, led by their leader designated Gog, but to no avail. God supernaturally destroys their armies with fire and infighting and storms. So, it seems a definite when you read the Bible that prophetically Islam as a belief system is crushed during that time period before the Tribulation.
Conventional War of the Antichrist
The third prophetic war involves the many remaining Muslims living in Indonesia, in India, and other places in Asia. What about them? Well, we read about the Conventional War of the Antichrist in the beginning of the Tribulation when a quarter of the world's population is killed. The Antichrist in order to have the world worship him, he must stamp out all competing ideologies, especially all the ones that believe in a monotheistic system. We know that he continually persecutes the Jews and Christians during the Tribulation, and Israel is constantly under attack. Islam would be another competing religion that just can't be allowed to exist along with the Antichrist as he rises out of the European Union, the revived Roman Empire.
So, in summary, I believe those three wars will stomp out Islam before or just at the beginning of the Tribulation. The world will be a very different place when the Antichrist takes over.
Do I believe that the two legs of the statue from Daniel 2 represent modern day Europe and modern day Islam? Probably not. Clearly the advent of the two legs was fulfilled when the Roman Empire split. The Roman Empire then had an eastern and a western leg. Historically, the eastern leg lived a lot longer through Constantinople, that is until the Turkish armies of Islam in the 1400s came marching through and destroyed the Byzantine Empire.
The two legs of the Roman Empire have continued going down to today. Then there are of course the ten toes which are the Ten Kings of the Tribulation. They have yet to come. They are future.
So, where does Islam fit into the world of the two legs? I believe the answer to that is three-fold. There are certain prophetic wars that are coming which I believe will destroy Islam as a world religion just as the Tribulation begins.
Psalm 83 War
The first prophetic war which will become a factor is Islam's downfall is the Psalm 83 War, when Israel finally has to subdue the nations that surround them. We are talking about the immediate border nations such as Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Gaza, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. All those nations present a direct threat to Israel, because Islam believes that any nation conquered for Allah must stay with Allah, and since they lost Israel to the Jews, it's a Muslim's sworn duty to get Israel back as a nation under Islam again. So, not matter what kind of peace plan or anything that we have today, true peace will never happen because according to the Koran Muslims believe that they must take Israel back. Israel is going to have to deal with those nations, and that seems to be a fulfillment of Psalm 83.
Gog-Magog Battle
The second prophetic war which will break Islam's hold comes from the Gog-Magog Battle of Ezekiel 38-39. This battle involves an outer ring from Israel of Islamic nations like Turkey, Iran, the 'Stan countries, and Libya. All will have come together against Israel with Russia, led by their leader designated Gog, but to no avail. God supernaturally destroys their armies with fire and infighting and storms. So, it seems a definite when you read the Bible that prophetically Islam as a belief system is crushed during that time period before the Tribulation.
Conventional War of the Antichrist
The third prophetic war involves the many remaining Muslims living in Indonesia, in India, and other places in Asia. What about them? Well, we read about the Conventional War of the Antichrist in the beginning of the Tribulation when a quarter of the world's population is killed. The Antichrist in order to have the world worship him, he must stamp out all competing ideologies, especially all the ones that believe in a monotheistic system. We know that he continually persecutes the Jews and Christians during the Tribulation, and Israel is constantly under attack. Islam would be another competing religion that just can't be allowed to exist along with the Antichrist as he rises out of the European Union, the revived Roman Empire.
So, in summary, I believe those three wars will stomp out Islam before or just at the beginning of the Tribulation. The world will be a very different place when the Antichrist takes over.
