This brings us to the discussion about the eighth kingdom, for although the scarlet beast in John’s vision had only seven heads, the angel told us that the beast himself was also an eighth kingdom, and that his kingdom would emerge from the seven that preceded it. So which kingdom succeeded the Sasanian Empire? In the year 610 AD the prophet Mohammed introduced Islam into the earth. Just forty years later the Sasanian Empire ceased to exist when it fell to Muslim conquest of the land in the year 650 AD[1]. It was in that conquest that whatever remained of the city of Babylon was finally swept away and in time was buried beneath the sands.[2] Islam has been in control of that geographic region from 650 AD even until today. It is important to note that the map of the Islamic Empire shown below incorporates the geographic location of the city of Babylon. And so we see that the eighth kingdom is in fact the kingdom of Islam, and the seven kingdoms plus the eighth kingdom of Islam are all linked to the same geographic region of the ancient city of Babylon.
Map of the extent of Islam (650 AD – present)
So why did the Lord Jesus deem it necessary to show His church the composition of the eight kingdoms as seen in John’s vision? The answer is in identifying the person of the anti-Christ and his kingdom, for as I have already mentioned, the scarlet beast in John’s vision is in fact the person of the anti-Christ. The angel confirms that truth to us when he tells us that “the beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.” As we will see later in this teaching, it is the anti-Christ that was, and is not, and is going to perdition. And so we can clearly see from this section that the anti-Christ will arise from the Islamic faith. We have also seen in this section that all seven preceding kingdoms were eventually replaced after a period of time, but that the kingdom of Islam still remains after nearly fourteen hundred years, and in fact continues to grow in the earth. The reason for that is because the Islamic kingdom is the kingdom from which the anti-Christ will emerge and over which he will rein. And so the Islamic kingdom will only be replaced when the Lord Jesus returns and destroys the kingdom of the anti-Christ.
I will close off this section by recounting a dream that the Lord gave to me in 2014. In my dream I found myself talking to a Muslim woman. As I spoke to her the Lord revealed to me that she used to be one of His children. I questioned her about this and she said that she no longer followed Jesus. I knew by the revelation of the Holy Spirit that she had once been born again, filled with the Spirit and had operated in the gifts of the Spirit. I also knew that she had been a Christian for several years. When I realized that she was now lost for all eternity, because she had turned her back on Jesus I wept. Because I knew that she could no longer come back to Jesus I told her that because of what she had done, that Jesus would never take her back. This did not seem to bother her at all. In my dream she then disappeared and I found a young man standing in front of me. This man had also accepted the Muslim faith and he too had been a Christian at one time. When I questioned him about this, he also informed me that he too had once been born again, filled with the Spirit and operated in the gifts of the Spirit, and he had been taught God’s word. I was shocked to hear what he told me. I then told him that because of his denying the Lord Jesus and accepting another faith, that he would suffer eternal damnation. He too was not in the least bit bothered with what I said. I then said to someone who was with me (I do not know who this person was) that this must be the last days, because in just one day I had now met two people who had fallen away from following Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. I then looked off to one side and there stood four believers in the Lord. They were mocking these two who had denied their faith in Jesus. In my dream I walked up to them and said to them that they should not mock but rather fear, because if the Lord had rejected these who had denied Him, it was only by His grace that they were His children. My dream ended there. As I have already stated, the Lord gave me this dream in 2014. Although I did not understand the full significance at the time, I knew that there must be some significance in that both individuals in my dream had accepted the Muslim faith. It was only in the early part of 2016 however, that the Lord gave me understanding in the two visions that Daniel had, and how they relate to the fourth kingdom being the Muslim faith. The bible talks of a time when the whole world will marvel and follow the beast. It is not impossible that some Christians will be deceived into following him in that day. We must all be vigilant in these last days, for our Lord told us to see that we are not deceived. The onus is on us to prevent that from happening. But the point remains clear, i.e. the fourth kingdom has already been manifested in the earth and that kingdom is Islam
Michael E.B. Maher
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashidun_Caliphate
[2] https://www.ancient.eu/babylon/
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