The Fall of Islam THE FALL OF ISLAM by a Christian The following by Ellis Skolfield is only a short explanation of his views of the verses in the Bible that predict the fall of Islam during this generation. It is only intended as an overview. For a complete analysis of the subject, please read his e-book, "The False Prophet," the Q&As and the letters and essays on this site. All are free downloads. First of all, we need to learn what some of the figurative words in Revelation, like "beast," actually mean. The definition for "beast" can be found in an Old Testament book of the prophet Daniel. In Daniel 7, the figurative word "beast" was defined as world empires that existed during and after Daniel’s time. 1. The first beast in Daniel 7 was a Lion. History shows this Lion beast to be a figurative picture of the Babylonian empire. (Babylon controlled the Holy Land from 606 to 536 B.C.) 2. The next beast in his vision was a Bear. History shows this Bear to be a figurative picture of the Medo-Persian empire. (Medo-Persia controlled the Holy Land from 536 B.C. to 332 B.C.) 3. The third beast was a Leopard. History shows this Leopard to be a figurative picture of the Greek empire (Grecian rulers controlled the Holy Land from 332 B.C. to 65 B.C. when Rome took control). So unless God changes the definition of "beast" later in Scripture, visionary beasts should always be understood as empires. Babylon the Lion, Medo-Persia the Bear and Greece the Leopard. Each of these empires controlled the whole known world, from India to Greece, the Holy Land, and even into North Africa. In other words, the whole Middle East. Now lets pan forward to 95 A.D., when John, a New Testament prophet, foretells the future of the Middle East during the Christian Era. In his visions, guess what John sees? Three more beasts: the Leopard-Bear-Lion "beast," a Two Horned "beast" and a Scarlet "beast". These three "beasts" are not real beasts because we now know that "beast" means something other than a wild animal: Revelation 13:2 "And the beast which I saw was like unto a Leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a Bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a Lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority." Beasts = Empires, but this beastly empire in Revelation is a composite Leopard-Bear-Lion so it isn’t just one of Daniel’s three empires. It’s all three empires rolled into one. In other words, this new empire is composed of the descendants of those earlier empires, in the same geographic location. Looking back at the history of the Middle East, we can now identify this new empire as the various Islamic powers that have controlled the Holy Land, and particularly Jerusalem since the 1st Jihad (which began in 639 A.D.) Some might claim that the Islamic states in the Middle East do not constitute a real "empire" because they are not united under one central government, but the God of the Bible is far more concerned with the spiritual realities in a land than He is with how many earthly governments it may have. The reality is this: All Middle Eastern states are united under one religion, Islam, and all Moslems have one central goal: world conquest for their religion. So how should Revelation 13 be understood? Quoted below is part of the chapter, with a few of my words inserted (in parenthesis) to explain the figures . . . Revelation 13:1-5 "And I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast (an empire) rise up out of the sea (of people Rev 17:15), having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns (various Islamic rulers in the Middle East who controlled the Holy Land), and upon his heads the name of blasphemy (this empire stands against the God of the Bible). And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion (Leopard-Bear-Lion gives the reader a positive ID; it's the Middle East): and the dragon (Satan) gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads (governments) as it were wounded to death (the first Jihad was defeated at the battle of Tours and the battle of Vienna); and his deadly wound was healed (the rise of Islam today and the new Jihad): and all the world wondered after the beast (this Islamic empire). And they (the people of the Middle East) worshipped the dragon (Satan) which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast (the Islamic empire), saying, Who is like unto the beast, who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue (controlling Jerusalem) forty and two months." Those 42 months is how the above interpretation can be proven. 42 months is 1278.34 days. Construction of the Islamic Dome of the Rock began in Jerusalem in 688 A.D.. Jerusalem was freed of Islamic control in 1967 A.D.. Applying the prophetic days of Ezekiel 4:5-6 . . . 1967A.D. - 1278.34 years = 688.66 A. D. An exact historic fit; so the interpretation is correct. But to continue on... Revelation 13:6-9 "And he (the Leopard-Bear-Lion) opened his mouth in blasphemy against God (by saying "God forbid that He should have a Son"), to blaspheme his name (by trying to change the name of the true God from I AM, to that of a local Arab deity), and his tabernacle (God’s temple mount in Jerusalem), and them that dwell in heaven (Believers are presently seated in heaven with Christ, Eph 2:6). And it was given unto him (the Islamic empire) to make war with the saints (the Christians and Jews), and to overcome them (during the 1st Jihad): and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations (of the Middle East). And all that dwell upon the earth (the known world at the time of John) shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb (Jesus, the Son of God) slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear." Not many can hear, but it is now apparent that 1.3 billion people are being terribly deceived by Satan. The God of the Bible and the god of Islam are not the same being because the God of the Bible said, "they worship the dragon" (Satan). What’s more, the God of the Bible and the god of Islam are totally different in nature; they have different values and teach people to behave differently . . . The Quran states: "O ye who believe! fight the unbelievers ... " (Sura 9:123). The God of the Bible says: "Love your enemies." The Quran states: "But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them and lie in wait (ambush) for them in every stratagem (of war)" (Sura 9:5). The God of the Bible says: "Bless them that curse you." The Quran states: "Fight those who believe not in God [Allah] and his apostle [Muhammad], nor acknowledge the religion of truth [even if they are] of the people of the book [i.e. Jews and Christians], until they pay jizya [humiliating tax] with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued [enslaved]" (Sura 9:29). The God of the Bible says: "Do good to them that hate you." The Quran states: "Therefore when ye meet the unbelievers [in fight] smite at their necks; at length, when ye have thoroughly subdued them, bind a bond firmly [on them]" (Sura 47:4). The God of the Bible says: "Pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." So you see, the Bible and the Quran teach different thoughts and a different morality. In 1984, Ayatollah Khomeini declared to the entire world: "In order to achieve the victory of Islam in the world, we need to provoke repeated crises, restored value to the idea of death and martyrdom. The important thing is to engulf the world in crises." The God of the Bible goes on to say: Be ye kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." The point being, the God of the Bible and Allah are not the same being because One teaches man to do good and the other teaches man to do evil. One teaches love and peace, the other teaches war and hatred. One is really the Creator of the Universe and one is not. So which is a god worthy of worship? The One who teaches man to do good or the one who teaches man to do evil? The Quran states: "God forbid that he should have a son." Jesus declared He is the Son of God and in saying, "Before Abraham was, I AM" declared Himself to be God. Jesus also said: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." We should pray for Moslems, not hate them. If they do not turn to Jesus, their eventual fate could be the greatest tragedy in all human history. Revelation 13:16 "And he (the Leopard-Bear-Lion) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the (Islamic) beast, or the number of his name." Like the rest of the church, I used to teach that above verse was a worldwide prophecy, but that doesn’t fit context. The Leopard-Bear-Lion prophecy is about the Middle East and the Islamic control of the Holy Land and nowhere else. Contextually, the mark of the beast is given by the Leopard-Bear-Lion, the Islamic empire. There are 1.3 billion Muslims in the world now, but do you see that mark on a forehead of any of the servants of the Leopard-Bear-Lion? No? Then that mark must be an invisible Satanic mark, on the forehead of Moslems, seen only in the spiritual world. That "no man might buy or sell" is not about China, Europe or the Americas, it’s about conditions that have existed for Christians and Jews in Islamic countries ever since the 1st Jihad. One only needs to watch the nightly news or read a about the latest beheading to see how accurate that prophecy is. Revelation 14:9-1 ". . . If any man worship the (Islamic) beast and his image (some eschatologists believe that image to be the Kaaba stone in Mecca), and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand (man thinks evil thoughts in his mind and with his hands he does them), the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb (Jesus): And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the (Leopard-Bear-Lion) beast and his image (the Kaaba stone?), and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." So will Islam fall? The God of the Bible says so. As written earlier, it will be a spiritual tragedy of unimaginable proportions, and it will happen because the followers of the Leopard-Bear-Lion have been deceived into rejecting the Son of God who sacrificed Himself for all mankind on the Cross of Calvary. Scripture goes on to say: Revelation 13:18 "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the (Leopard-Bear-Lion) beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six," i.e., 666. Many books have been written about that number, all speculative, but [the truth is that many of those who read Arabic believe that 666 stands for the Koran. Actually, there are several] Islamic sites on the Internet claiming 666 to be the number of the Koran. . . . We can now see the verse in a new light: Rev 13:18 "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the (Leopard-Bear-Lion) beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred threescore and six." The number of a man! [Not one verse in the Koran is written by anyone other than Muhammed, who claims that he received every word from God! And, pray tell me, what other "man" has led a billion and a half people away from the Savior of the world? Or, what man said, "God forbid that he should have a son." Is that not Muhammad, the prophet of the Leopard-Bear-Lion? Of course it is; and according to the Bible, the end for him and his followers will be grim indeed:] Revelation 19:20 "And the (Leopard-Bear-Lion) beast was taken, and with him the false prophet (Muhammad) that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image (the Ka’aba stone?). These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone." May our beloved God, who sacrificed His only begotten Son for all mankind, take the blindness from their eyes while there is still time. Copyright 2006 EllisSkolfield.com   CLOSING COMMENTS by Jim M. Roane, PhD Insight into the sequence of end time events is only revealed to certain people (Ref: Dan. 12:10); so it is not surprising that there are differences of opinion on the matter.  However, for the benefit of those that believe in a Rapture (as I do) most of the outline of the sequence of events given by Ellis Skolfield does not exclude the rapture (although, Skolfield, himself, does not personally believe in a Rapture that is distinctly different from the Resurrection).  It is interesting to note, in reference to end time events, that the angel says to Daniel: "But go thou thy way till the end [be]: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days." ( Dan. 12:13)    To "stand in thy lot" does not preclude an earlier resurrection for Daniel at the time of the Crucifixion. It seems reasonable to assume that this “First Fruits” resurrection should include Daniel in that body of resurrected saints that took place at the Crucifixion of Our Lord. In reference to this, the Scripture reads: "At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. " NIV   Therefore, the resurrection of Daniel need not necessarily be at the time of the Rapture, or even the Second Coming of Our Lord. I believe that these Old Testament Saints, including Daniel were part of the "last days events" that are continuing; and will climax when the resurrected saints—past and future—will receive their rewards (i.e., “standing in their lot’ at “the end of these things”).  So, the countdown was already in effect at the death of Christ, having begun at the end of the Sacrifices of Daniels reference, and continued through the death of Jesus, Our Lord, and through the setting up of the Abomination of Desolation under the Caliph Abd el Malik ibn Marwan, who build the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Court of the Gentiles, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. (Ref: 2Ch 3:1) Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. Jerry Landay[1] records that when Khalifah Omar entered Jerusalem in 639AD, he was met by Sophronius, Bishop of the Jerusalem Church, who showed him around the city. Seeing the temple mount (then in rubble), Omar declared that he was going to build a memorial to Muhammad on the original site of the temple of God. Sophronius exclaimed in horror, "Verily, this is the Abomination of Desolation as spoken of by Daniel the prophet, and it now stands in the holy place." Though Sophronius was a very old man of about 80, Khalifah Omar put him in prison and to forced labor, the severities of which killed him. The Dome of the Rock being the Abomination that maketh Desolate is not a new theology. It’s a truth that’s been with the Church for over 1300 years, but somehow we have managed to forget the prophetic words of Sophronius, Bishop of the Jerusalem Church. It should be noted also, the the abomination "maketh" desolate; that is, because of the anti-Christ mosque there the Temple can not be build, therefore its' presence "maketh" the site "desolate," of any Godly or Temple presence. The countdown has already begun, and continues!   [1] The Dome of the Rock (Newsweek, New York, NY, 1972) p. 18,