The World Beyond Iran

The next world superpowers

Some so-called prophecy experts are claiming that the dreaded Antichrist will be Islamic and he will come from a nation such as Turkey. They cite the rise of Islam's influence throughout western Europe and North America as proof that it will only be a matter of time before Islam dominates the world and establishes a global caliphate.

Certainly, when you consider the current political and religious climate throughout the western world, that seems plausible. Christianity's influence has been steadily eroding in Europe over the past three centuries since the French Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment. Many European churches are practically empty on Sundays except for a few old souls who remain loyal to the end. Although Christianity is much stronger in North America, its influence there has been declining over the past 50 years. Since the 1950s, America has lost approximately 8,000 churches and American denominations have lost over 10 million members. Many of those churches have now become mosques and some of those former Christians have converted to Islam.

Nevertheless, there is no mention in biblical prophecy of an end-time global religion called Islam. Instead, the Bible reveals that the global religion of the last days will be a counterfeit form of Christianity that will be centered in Rome (Revelation 17) and headed by the Antichrist who will in fact be embraced by much of the world as Jesus Christ when he appears.

How then, does this counterfeit Christianity overtake Islam as the dominate global religion? Two ways: (1) By supernatural signs and wonders that will influence millions to follow this movement and (2) when the United States attacks Iran and destroys the Persian nation's nuclear facilities. Iran is the epicenter of global Islamic terrorism and fundamentalism. The Iranians fund terror groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood and al Qaeda. They have sworn to annihilate Israel; exterminate all Jewish life from the earth and wipe out Christianity. If they succeed in acquiring nuclear weapons, they will attempt to accomplish these goals.

But God is going to use the United States to overthrow the Persian nation and prevent the Iranian mullahs from achieving those goals. (Daniel 8) After the Iranian Islamic regime is overthrown, the Russians will very likely move in and install a puppet government that will answer to Moscow. The United States, still smarting from its experience in Iraq after deposing Saddam Hussein from power, will want nothing to do with creating a new government in Iran. And the Russians will be more than happy to accomplish that.

So what does this mean in terms of the coming world government and the major players on the world scene in the last days? The Bible clearly tells us that Russia will be the dominant superpower of an end-time global government. (Daniel 11, Ezekiel 38-39) The Bible also reveals that nations such as Turkey, (Meshech-Tubal) Ethiopia, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, (Cush) and Iran (Persia) will be part of this Russian confederacy that will eventually invade Israel in an event the Bible identifies as Armageddon.(Ezekiel 38-39) Iran's inclusion in this group indicates that it will be a follower rather than a leader among world nations in the end times. That's prophetic.

A world beyond Iran may seem peaceful in the short run and beneficial to Israel and the entire Middle East. But in the long run, more trouble is coming--this time from Russia that has her own aspirations for world dominance. The Russians aim to gain control of the world--by force if necessary. And that's a very bad thing.