ISLAM IN CHRISTIAN ESCHATOLOGY Part 2 Other interpreters have tried to include Islam in the 7 heads and 10 horns of the Beast in Revelation 13:1. We have already noted that one interpretation is that the seven heads which John says are both seven hills and seven kings i.e. seven Roman emperors, five in the past, one in John’s time and one to come. Another interpretation says the kings are ancient pagan empires including Rome. There is also an eighth king which Leon Morris thinks is the Roman Emperor Domitian who is another Nero. All of this is disputed. However, another interpretation is that the 7 heads are the seven main empires which have ruled or dominated Jerusalem: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece (all of which had fallen by John’s time), Rome, and later the (Muslim) Ottoman Empire which ruled over the Holy Land from 1516 to 1917. Some think that nations controlled or significantly influenced by Islam may unite under one leader (perhaps the Antichrist), thinking that he is the Mahdi (‘The rightly guided one,’ a messianic spiritual and political world leader who will establish righteousness in the End Times). They think there will be a revived caliphate (which has a modern ring to it because the Islamic State – ex-ISIS – are seeking to do just that). The caliphate – an Islamic empire ruled over by a caliph - a supreme religious and political leader - existed from the 7th century until it was abolished by Ataturk in 1924. The caliphate covered the territory which was controlled in the past by the Babylonian, Persian, and Greek empires.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 11:47:39 +0000
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