Michael Evans: Jesus, ISIS, and the End Times

When the topic of Jesus and the end times is introduced, one would expect it to originate with evangelical Christians. It is, rather, coming from ISIS.

The music emanating from the flute of the ISIS snake charmer is prophecy, the end times and Jesus. 

The House of Islam, ISIS, has raised its black apocalyptic banner of the caliphate in Dabiq, Syria, while awaiting the arrival of the “Crusader armies.” Recruits are joining from Tunisia, Russia, Jordan, Morocco, France, Turkey, Lebanon, Germany, Libya, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, the Philippines, Somalia, Yemen, virtually the known world, and not surprisingly, from Saudi Arabia.

The birth process for ISIS has created and unleashed a Frankenstein-type monster. Its architects have totally lost control of the beast. Gulf State corporations, loosely called “countries,” have employed oil-produced revenues to pay off Islamic fundamentalists, while extorting the more moderate Muslims in an attempt to keep the ogre at bay. ISIS claims that all emirate groups, states, and organizations are illegitimate, while it wants to conquer the world and usher in the final battle of the apocalypse.

The ISIS appeal is for the purification of Islam. It considers all other branches of Islam to be apostate. No other movement has emphasized apocalyptism— the idea that civilization will soon come to a tumultuous end due to ISIS ties to Wahhabism which was birthed in Saudi Arabia and continues to flourish there. This sect believes that the arrival of the one known as the Mahdi is near. Of great significance to the ISIS horde is the large Syrian village of Dabiq.

An article in The Daily Mail newspaper clarified the prophecy:

“The 1,300-year-old hadith, which is a report of the deeds, teachings and sayings of the Prophet Mohammed, refers to the ‘horde’ flying 80 banners as they take on a Muslim army in the Syrian town of Dabiq.”

It may seem more like fiction than reality, but the truth is: ISIS controls portions of Iraq and Syria, an area with a population of eight million. The lives of the inhabitants under ISIS control are a living hell. According to Bernard Haykel, a Princeton scholar, “Slavery, crucifixion, and beheadings are not something that freakish [jihadists] are cherry-picking from the medieval tradition. [They are] bringing it wholesale into the present day.”

Not only are crusaders targeted, ISIS terrorists readily behead Muslims as was the case with 15-year old Ayham Hussein. He was caught in Mosul, Iraq by a faithful ISIS follower and held captive by other members of the death cult. Ayham was hauled before a Sharia court, beaten and judged guilty. He was then dragged into the town square and beheaded. His crime: listening to Western music. No one is safe from the barbarism of ISIS.

With the capture of Dabiq, the Islamic State is living out its version of the Christian battle of Armageddon. Shockingly, over half of all Muslims in North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia are awaiting the imminent appearance of the Mahdi, the Islamic Messiah. 

Its members believe the Day of Judgment will come only after Muslims defeat Rome—the so-called Crusaders—at Dabiq and Al-a’maq, two villages near the Syrian border with Turkey. The Islamic State is so focused on the prophecy regarding Dabiq that it has given that name to its stylish, glossy, and artistically designed magazine. To maximize its reach, the publication is translated into a number of languages which include English. 

Even more astounding, Isis teaches that Jesus will return to fight against the crusaders alongside Muslims. As is written in the Bible, Jesus will return to take the faithful to heaven. Afterward, ISIS warriors believe they will hand their black flag to Jesus who will then join in the battle against Jews, Christians and the Antichrist—the deceiver who claims to be the Messiah. This teaching is a huge selling-point in recruiting foreign jihadists to join the final battle of the apocalypse.

Current political conditions in the post-Arab Spring climate, and especially in hypocritical, oil-rich, family-owned corporations called countries only feeds and fuels the narrative in the minds of the unemployed, impoverished youth. In the past countries such as Saudi Arabia could export terror and use social welfare and bribery to dumb-down the rhetoric being taught in mosques and madrassas by the mullahs.

Now, thanks to the oil crisis, those dollars have disappeared.

Dr. Michael D. Evans is an award-winning journalist and is considered one of the world’s leading experts on Israel and the Middle East. He has spoken in thousands of churches and appeared on hundreds of network television and radio shows, including Good Morning America, Crossfire, and Nightline and multiple appearances on the 700 Club.