Shiites appear to be reviving the Seleucid territory of Daniel 11
The beast of Revelation 13 looks like a leopard, has the feet of a bear and has the mouth of a lion. The lion, bear and leopard are the first three empires of Daniel 7. They represent the Babylonian, Medo-Persian and Grecian empires. The fourth beast of Daniel 7 which Daniel could not describe had 10 horns. The leopard-bear-lion beast of Revelation 13 also has 10 horns. This means the fourth beast of Daniel is the same beast of Revelation 13. It is a political and geographical conglomeration of the first three empires of Daniel 7.
According to Daniel 11, the Seleucid (ancient Syria-Lebanon territory) division of the Grecian empire is the geographic region where the antichrist rises as the last “king of the north.” The symbolism of Revelation 13 seems to primarily point to a political and geographical alliance between Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Iran. This alliance covers basically the area dominated by the ancient Seleucid empire whose territory is revived in the last days (See yellow Seleucid map below).
In comparing all the maps included, we realize that the beast empire of the last days is primarily Shiite in nature. (see green & blue map)
Since the beast has ten horns, it must include 6 other nations that are not Shiite. That is where the nations south of Israel come into focus.
The Antichrist as the “king of the north” wages war against the “king of the south” and according to Daniel 11:40-45, the southern nations to be conquered by him are the Sunni nations of Egypt, Sudan, and Libya. Daniel 8 says the little horn also wages war toward the “east” which could refer to the Sunni nations of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The symbolism of Revelation 13 seems to be primarily pointing to a northern alliance of Shiite nations that will wage war against their Sunni counterparts, thus conquering them and bringing a total of 10 nations under the rule of the Antichrist.
According to Shiite eschatology, the Mahdi will appear as a Shiite leader who will persecute Sunnis to vindicate the Shiite doctrine which states that the true Caliph of Islam must be a descendant of Mohammed through his cousin Ali who married Mohammed’s daughter Fatima.
Another belief of Shiites is that when the Mahdi appears, he will make Kufa in Southern Iraq the capital of his Islamic Caliphate. The city of Karbala in Southern Iraq will be his religious equivalent of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. It is interesting to note that both Kufa and Karbala are located in the area of ancient Babylon. Another interesting fact about the Shiite Mahdi is that he was born in the city of Samara, Iraq which in biblical times was ancient Assyrian territory.
The Shiite Mahdi who was born in ancient Assyrian territory supposedly returns to rule from ancient Babylonian territory. This is very interesting in light of Micah 5 where we read that the Antichrist will be an “Assyrian” who will be associated with the “land of Nimrod”. According to Genesis 10:9-11, the land of Nimrod are the cities he built called Babel (Babylon) and Nineveh in the land of Shinar among others. This is known as Mesopotamia located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers within the borders of modern day Iraq.
With the current political and geographical alliance being formed between the Shiite governments of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, we can positively say that we are approaching the time of the end mentioned in Daniel 11:40 where the “king of the north” wars against the “king of the south” which culminates with the tribulation period addressed in Daniel 12 which is a continuation of the subject addressed in chapter 11. This is all covered in great detail in our book entitled The Coming Bible Prophecy Reformation. Get your copy today to learn more.
