Mark Armstrong, Al Qaeda, and Prophetic News

Flags of the Arab League and the European Union

In his weekly report last night, ICG’s Mark Armstrong wrote:

In better news, the CIA reports that al Qaeda is seriously crippled and on the run. We still face the danger of some horrific attack that would attempt to make the terrorist entity relevant, but for all the hatred and disdain directed at the Bush Administration, at least we’ve had seven years without the repeat of a 9-11 type event. But there’s still a vast sea of radical Islamic hatred against Israel and the United States, and it appears that it is so well established that it will never be quelled short of divine intervention.

Similarly, notice the following news article from BBC:

Al-Qaeda in retreat – CIA chief

The head of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has said al-Qaeda is essentially defeated in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, and on the defensive elsewhere.

Michael Hayden’s remarks, which correspondents describe as strikingly upbeat, come less than a year after the CIA warned of a resurgent al-Qaeda.

He told the Washington Post that US counter-terrorism successes extended to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

However, the CIA chief warned against complacency, which he said could halt or reverse any progress against al-Qaeda…

Just two years ago, the CIA warned that the militant Islamic group was using the US-led war in Iraq as a successful propaganda and marketing tool.

But now, Mr Hayden said, al-Qaeda was losing the battle for hearts and minds in the Islamic world.

Iranian interference

He said there was a growing public resentment toward jihadism, and described the insurgency in Iraq as “more and more a war of al-Qaeda against Iraqis”.

“Despite this ’cause celebre’ phenomenon, fundamentally no one really liked al-Qaeda’s vision of the future,” said Mr Hayden…

But he warned that progress in Iraq was being undermined by growing Iranian interference. Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7427176.stm

While peace is always a better than the alternative, the truth is that ultimately there will be a deal between Islamists (Middle Eastern and Northern African people who will support the coming King of the South) and European Catholics (who will support the coming King of the North) which will result in the destruction of the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Such an occurance is foretold in the 83rd Psalm.

Yet after the Anglo-powers are destroyed, the book of Daniel (11:40) shows that these two powers will turn against one another. And perhaps I should add that both Islamic and Catholic prophecies expect this–both even look forward to it, and both believe it is their side that will win–while the Bible does reveal which side wins that confrontation, it also shows that the “winner” will be destroyed (for details please see Who is the King of the North?).

An item in the news this morning was also of interest. Here are some extracts from a rather lengthy article:

The day of judgment

End-time thinking – the belief in a world purified by catastrophe – could once be dismissed as a harmless remnant of a more superstitious age. But with the rise of religious fundamentalism, prophets of apocalypse have become a new and very real danger, argues Ian McEwan

Saturday May 31, 2008
The Guardian …

Contemporary apocalyptic movements, Christian or Islamic, some violent, some not, all appear to share fantasies of a violent end, and they affect our politics profoundly…

In general, belief in end-time biblical prophecy, in a world purified by catastrophe and then redeemed and made entirely Christian and free of conflict by the return of Jesus in our lifetime, is stronger in the United States than anywhere on the planet and extends from marginal, ill-educated, economically deprived groups, to college-educated people in the millions, through to governing elites, to the very summits of power…

For centuries, within the Protestant tradition, the anti-Christ was identified with the Pope, or with the Catholic Church in general. In recent decades, the honour has been bestowed on the Soviet Union, the European Union, or secularism and atheists…

Even our notions of decadence contain the hopes of renewal; the religious minded, as well as the most secular, looked on the transition to the year 2000 as inescapably significant, even if all the atheists did was to party a little harder. It was inevitably a transition, the passing of an old age into the new – and who is to say now that Osama bin Laden did not disappoint, whether we mourned at the dawn of the new millennium with the bereaved among the ruins of lower Manhattan, or danced for joy, as some did, in the Gaza Strip.

Islamic eschatology from its very beginnings embraced the necessity of violently conquering the world and gathering up souls to the faith before the expected hour of judgment – a notion that has risen and fallen over the centuries, but in past decades has received new impetus from Islamist revivalist movements.

It is partly a mirror image of the Protestant Christian tradition (a world made entirely Islamic, with Jesus as Mohammed’s lieutenant), partly a fantasy of the inevitable return of “sacred space”, the Caliphate, that includes most of Spain, parts of France, the entire Middle East, right up to the borders of China. As with the Christian scheme, Islam foretells of the destruction or conversion of the Jews…

Thirty years ago, we might have been able to convince ourselves that contemporary religious apocalyptic thought was a harmless remnant of a more credulous, superstitious, pre-scientific age, now safely behind us. But today prophecy belief, particularly within the Christian and Islamic traditions, is a force in our contemporary history, a medieval engine driving our modern moral, geopolitical, and military concerns. The various jealous sky-gods – and they are certainly not one and the same god – who in the past directly addressed Abraham, Paul, or Mohammed, among others, now indirectly address us through the daily television news. These different gods have wound themselves inextricably around our politics and our political differences…

In Jamkaran, a village not far from the holy city of Qum, a small mosque is undergoing a $20m-expansion, driven forward by Ahmadinejad’s office. Within the Shi’ite apocalyptic tradition, the Twelfth Imam, the Mahdi, who disappeared in the ninth century, is expected to reappear in a well behind the mosque.

His re-emergence will signify the beginning of the end days. He will lead the battle against the Dajjal, the Islamic version of the anti-Christ, and with Jesus as his follower, will establish the global Dar el Salaam, the dominion of peace, under Islam. Ahmadinejad is extending the mosque to receive the Mahdi, and already pilgrims by the thousands are visiting the shrine, for the president has reportedly told his cabinet that he expects the visitation within two years…

According to tradition, and of particular interest to various controversial groups, including the Temple Institute, the Messiah, when he comes at last, will occupy the Third Temple. But that cannot be built, and therefore the Messiah will not come, without the sacrifice of a perfectly unblemished red calf.

For Muslims of course, the Mount is the site of the Dome of the Rock, built over the location of the two temples and enclosing the very spot from which Mohammed departed on his Night Journey to heaven – leaving as his horse stepped upwards a revered hoofprint in the rock. In the prophetic tradition, the Dajjal will be a Jew who leads a devastating war against Islam…

If we do destroy ourselves, we can assume that the general reaction will be terror, and grief at the pointlessness of it all, rather than rapture.

Source: http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2283072,00.html and http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2283101,00.html

So, even secular sources realize that both the Islamists and professing Christians have ideas about the end and various battles associated with it.

Interestingly, however, while it did mention the European Union, the Guardian article failed to mention anything about Catholic prophecies. And specifically failed to mention that many Catholics are looking forward to one we in the Living Church of God would call the Beast of Revelation, also known as the future King of the North. And that the one we in the Living Church of God call Jesus, they seem to feel will be the final Antichrist (see also Do Certain Catholic Prophecies About Antichrist Warn Against Jesus?).

As prophecy is starting to be in the news, knowing what really is happening is a very good idea. On several occasions, Jesus told His followers to watch. And many world events know do need to be watched–as well as understood.

Those interested in learning more, may wish to study the following articles:

Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”?
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin?
Is There A Future King of the South? Some no longer believe there needs to be. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? What does the Bible say?
The Arab World In the Bible, History, and Prophecy The Bible discusses the origins of the Arab world and discusses the Middle East in prophecy. What is ahead for the Middle East and those who follow Islam?
Some Doctrines of Antichrist Are there any doctrines taught outside the Churches of God which can be considered as doctrines of antichrist? This article suggests at least three. It also provides information on 666 and the identity of “the false prophet”. Plus it shows that several Catholic writers seem to warn about an ecumenical antipope that will support heresy.
Do Certain Catholic Prophecies About Antichrist Warn Against Jesus? Will the final “Anti-Christ” be Jewish, insist on Saturday, be opposed to the trinity, and bring in the millennium? Catholic writings indicate this, but what does the Bible show?
End of Mayan Calendar 2012–Might 2012 Mean Something? There is a Mayan calendar prediction for change in 2012. 2012 changes were also centuries ago predicted by the Hopi Native Americans and the Hindu Indians (who were not even on the same continent). Do these Mayan/Hindu/Hopi prophecies have any value? Why might Satan have inspired this date? Does the Dresden codex show destruction of the earth by flood? Can the great tribulation start before 2012?
Two Horned Beast of Revelation and 666 This article explains how the LCG views this, and compares this to Ellen White.