February 2025 – The Regional Headquarters of the Antichrist

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P r o p h e tic Truth in the N e w s

February 2025

   Published monthly by Mike Wingfield Ministries

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(Examining Current Events in the Light of Bible Prophecy)

P.O. Box 67, Boones Mill, VA 24065

The Regional Headquarters of the Antichrist

Part 2 of 7

By Mike Wingfield

During the Tribulation Period the world will be focused upon a sinister person. This evil global dictator, called the “Antichrist,” will be in league with Satan and be empowered by him (Revelation 13:2-4). Who is he and where will he come from? The Bible indicates that his identity will not be known until after the Rapture (2 Thessalonians 2:6-10). While we will not be able to accurately identify him, there are many facts about him and his kingdom that give us a general portrait of the Antichrist. One of those biblical facts is the geographical location of the seat of his government.

While there is great confusion on this matter, I believe there is substantial evidence in the Scriptures that points to the area of the Persian Gulf as the location of the center of the Antichrist’s activities during the Tribulation Period. One of the key texts that deal with this is Revelation 17-18. These two chapters speak about the complete divine destruction of a geographical location that is connected to the Antichrist and the religion that dominates him and all the nations.

These two chapters are also perhaps the most misunderstood and debated chapters in the book of Revelation. These chapters identify the geographical location of the headquarters of the Antichrist, symbolically depicted as a beast with seven heads and 10 horns. This geographical location is also attached to the harlot that controls the political and economic government of the Antichrist. Together, the Antichrist and his false prophet will control the political, religious, economic, and commercial activities of the entire world in the last half of the Tribulation (Revelation 13:11-18).

There are three significant things that must be identified in these two chapters: the identity of the Antichrist, the identity of the false religion – the harlot, and the geographical location of their headquarters that is destroyed by the Lord at the end of the Tribulation.

Many conservative biblical scholars have examined the prophecies of Daniel and have concluded that the global empire of the Antichrist will be a revived Roman Empire. Those who hold this interpretation are looking for a future united European Union. They believe the city of Rome will be the headquarters of the Antichrist. They point to the image of the Antichrist in Revelation 17:9 and believe that this is a reference to the end-time religion that will be centered in a city on seven hills, which they believe is Rome. They believe that after the Rapture, the Roman Catholic Church will be the head of apostate Christendom that obviously was not taken in the Rapture. So, they believe the Antichrist will rule the world from a revived Roman Empire – a United Europe, and from the city of Rome in particular. Therefore, they believe that the center of the affairs of the Antichrist will be located west of Israel. This does not coincide with the details of the prophetic Scriptures.

T here are two problems with this view that must be examined. First, it is true that the Antichrist will come from the people that destroyed the Jewish temple in 70 A.D., as described in Daniel 9:26. However, it is wrong to jump to the conclusion that that points to a revived Roman Empire. When John wrote the book of Revelation about 700 years after Daniel, the Roman Empire covered a vast area of the nations of the world (see the map below that depicts the area controlled by Rome in 117 A.D.). In my opinion, it is wrong to assume that the final kingdom of the Antichrist will be centered in the same geographical area as the Roman Empire 19 centuries ago. Note that the area of the Persian Gulf was also a part of the vast Rome Empire in the first century.

When the Bible student examines the activities of the Antichrist it is apparent that his focus is not with the West, but the East, namely the Persian Gulf area. Every Bible text that mentions the Antichrist and the nations that are in his orbit of influence, indicate they are all Arab/Muslim nations. For example, see Psalm 83, which I believe refers to Armageddon. The Bible overwhelmingly points to the desert areas east of Israel as the seat of the Antichrist (Matthew 24:26). For example, when Christ returns to earth at Armageddon, He will fly from the east to the west toward Jerusalem (Matthew 24:27). As He approaches Jerusalem from the east, He will destroy the forces of the Antichrist in the east. During the closing days of the Tribulation, the forces of the Antichrist will be at Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:1-9; 14:1-3) and will surround Petra (Micah 2:12-13), where the believing Jewish remnant will be hiding from the Antichrist for the last half of the Tribulation Period. Isaiah 63:1 declares that Christ will come from Edom (the area of Petra) to Jerusalem.

The greatest evidence that the Antichrist will be a Muslim from the east is found in the Apostle John’s explanation of the symbolic meaning of the beast that represents the Antichrist. That beast has seven heads. In Revelation 17:9-11, the heads are symbolic of king-doms. The reference to these heads is compared to moun-tains and kings, all symbols of kingdoms.

As previously mentioned, some have taken this as a literal reference to a city on seven hills. However, this is a symbolic reference, not to be interpreted literally, but figuratively. In comparison, Revelation 17:1states that the false religion sits “upon many waters.” This too must be viewed as being symbolic. In Revelation 17:15, John reveals that these waters represent “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”

Furthermore, In Revelation 17:10-11, John gives additional identification of the seven heads that represent the Antichrist. Five of these kingdoms historically preceded John: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. The one that was present in John’s time was the Roman Empire. This was the sixth head. The seventh head was in the future and would exist, continue for a while, then pass off the scene and be revived in the last days. That kingdom identified as the 7^th head was the Islamic Empire that ruled the Middle East, including Israel, until 1917. After 1917, Islam lost its dominance and influence in the Middle East and other parts of the world. However, in the last 50 years the world has been witnessing a resurgence of Islam, which has great influence in the United Nations and threatens to establish a global Islamic kingdom.

We are witnessing the revival of the 7^th head of the beast. According to this understanding, the focus is not upon the 6^th head of the beast, the Roman Empire. The Antichrist is to be identified with the 7^th head of the beast – Islam.

According to the Bible, when the end of days comes, the neighboring nations of Israel will be at war with Israel over the Promised Land. Both Isaiah (chapters 13-23) and Ezekiel (chapters 25-35) wrote about God’s judgment of Israel’s neighboring nations. A close examination of these chapters will reveal that these prophets spoke about historical judgments that have already been fulfilled concerning these nations. However, at the same time, they spoke about the final judgments these nations would face at the end of this age at the time of Christ’s return to earth at His revelation. Ezekiel wrote that when the Jewish remnant returns to their Promised Land in the final days of the end times, the Arab nations around Israel, as in the Old Testament days, would be aggressively opposed to the Jewish people. They would ignore and reject God’s everlasting covenant concerning the land given to God’s chosen people. (Genesis 13:15).

According to Ezekiel 28:24, these neighboring nations have continually “despised” the Jewish people. God has promised that He will “execute judgments upon all those that despise them round about them” (Ezekiel 28:26). In Ezekiel 36:1-7, the Lord gave a detailed prophecy concerning “the mountains of Israel” [a biblical designation of the mountainous region of Judea and Samaria – which the world calls “The West Bank”]. Think about this! More than 2,600 years ago, the Bible predicted that the people living around Israel would be at war with the Jewish people over the land to which God caused them to return (Ezekiel 36:24). The conflict would revolve around “the mountains of Israel” – the West Bank!

The Spirit of God said that these nations “have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a [plunder]” (Ezekiel 36:5). They would make the claim that the places of worship [the ancient high places] would be their “possession” (Ezekiel 36:2). It is not an accident that since 1948, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem has been the epicenter of the war between Israel and its Islamic neighbors. God has promised that He would defeat their efforts and that these nations would “bear their shame” (Ezekiel 36:7). In all the wars with Israel since its founding in 1948, the Arab Islamic nations have suffered humiliating defeats. In recent months we have witnessed Israel’s stunning defeat of Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon, and the radical terrorist elements within its own borders. Added to this will be the defeat of Iran. God has specifically promised His people, “they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought” (Isaiah 41:12).

The Spirit of God caused the prophets to be riveted upon God’s judgments upon the enemy nations that surround Israel. Ultimately, God will take possession of these nations and make them a part of the Promised Land as He declared 4,000 years ago. God told Abraham in 2000 B.C., “Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates” (Genesis 15:18). This land was to become “an everlasting possession” (Genesis 17:8). [See the map below of this Promised Land that will be inhabited by Israel during the Millennial Kingdom (Ezekiel 45-48)].

While examining the map of the territory of the Promised Land during the Millennial Kingdom, notice that a small part of Egypt, the northern part of Jordan, the western portion of Iraq, a portion of Syria, and all of Lebanon will be absorbed into the Promised Land. An examination of the Scriptures that speak about God’s final judgment upon these nations indicates that all these nations will suffer a temporary destruction at the Revelation of Christ. The Bible also indicates that a remnant of the people living in these nations will be converted and survive the Tribulation destruction by fleeing from their country before it is destroyed. These former enemy nations will honor and serve Israel during the Millennial Kingdom (Isaiah 60:3-18).

In sharp contrast to the nations that suffer temporary destruction, the Old Testament prophets spoke frequently about three areas that would suffer a perpetual fiery devastation that would endure for 1,000 years. When the Apostle John wrote about the fiery destruction of the regional headquarters of the Antichrist, he consistently referenced these same passages about these three areas. Without question, this points to these geographical areas as the future headquarters of the Antichrist that will be destroyed. That area today is called the Persian Gulf area.

These three geographical areas are along Israel’s millennial eastern and southeastern borders. It is apparent that Satan has chosen to use these areas and their inhabitants for thousands of years to oppose and thwart God’s eternal plan for His chosen people. How clever for the devil to place his opposition to God along the borders of the land from which Messiah will rule over the nations for 1,000 years. Let us examine the prophecies about these areas.

There is no question in my mind that when the Apostle John wrote about the destruction of the Antichrist’s regional headquarters in Revelation 17-18, he understood this was the same area mentioned by the prophets that would suffer a complete fiery judgment at the end of this age. John quoted from and alluded to these prophecies about the geographical area of the former ancient Babylonian Empire in Isaiah 13-14; 34; 47; Ezekiel 35; andObadiah. More specifically, these areas today include eastern Iraq [east of the Euphrates River] (Jeremiah 50-51), southern Jordan and the areas known as Edom or Idumea (Jeremiah 49:17-18), and northern Saudi Arabia (Jeremiah 49:28-33).

In Revelation 18:2, the Apostle John refers to a dual fulfillment of prophecy with the words, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen.” The words “is fallen, is fallen,” indicate there was a historical fulfillment in Old Testament days, and another prophetic fulfillment in the last days. The destruction in Revelation 18 is an exact fulfillment of the passages that speak about the geographical areas mentioned above.

These areas will suffer perpetual destruction at the end of the Tribulation Period. This destruction will take place during “the day of the Lord” (Isaiah 13:6, 9), a reference to the Tribulation. It will be at a time when supernatural celestial disturbances will take place (Isaiah 13:10, 13), and massive global earthquakes will occur (Isaiah 13:13-14). The first destruction of Babylon in the Old Testament was not a complete and final destruction as demanded by many prophetic Scriptures. Obviously, these ancient areas are still occupied today. Many of the remains of ancient Babylon have been archaeologically uncovered.

The future destruction of these areas will make them desolate and uninhabited until the earth passes away at the end of the kingdom. The destruction will obliterate everything, like Sodom and Gomorrah (Isaiah 13:19; Jeremiah 49:17-18; 50:40). Isaiah 13:20 states, “It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there.” Isaiah wrote that the area of “the land of Idumea [same as Edom]” (Isaiah 34:6) would become a “burning pitch” (Isaiah 34:9). This means the Lord will set the oil fields of the Persian Gulf on fire for 1,000 years. John wrote that the smoke from this destruction will rise “for ever and ever” (Revelation 19:3). Compare this to Isaiah 34:10. This area of ancient Babylon will “be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all” (Revelation 18:21). Compare Jeremiah 51:62-64 with the analogy given to John by the Holy Spirit in Revelation 18:21.

Many Scriptures indicate that this area targeted for divine destruction will become a habitation for demons (Isaiah 13:21-22; Isaiah 34:13-15; Jeremiah 50:39-40). The unique animals that inhabit this area are thought to be references to demons. Revelation 18:2 states that this area will become a prison for demons during the Kingdom Age. The picture above is a photo of an ancient wall in Babylon, uncovered by archeologists decades ago. It features a mystical image of a dragon that was associated with religious deities (demons). Daniel and the children of Israel must have seen this wall and many other depictions of the demons that controlled ancient Babylon.

It is also interesting to note the connection in the Bible to the Euphrates River and demons. At the middle of the Tribulation, an army of 200 million demons will be released from the Euphrates River (Revelation 9:15-16). At the end of the Tribulation, demons will deceive the kings of the nations to attack Israel at Armageddon. This is connected to the drying up of the Euphrates River. Therefore, while Satan will be bound and cast into the abyss for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:1-3), the demons will be confined to the desolate burning areas of eastern Iraq, southern Jordan, and northern Saudi Arabia.

This divine judgment of sudden destruction will occur at the time of Christ’s return to earth at the end of the Tribulation. It will be sudden (Isaiah 47:9; Revelation 18:8, 10, 17, 19). God’s judgment upon these areas will be because of their hatred for God, His land, His temple, and His people. (See Isaiah 34:8; Jeremiah 50:22-24, 28; Ezekiel 35:5; 10-13; Joel 3:19; Obadiah 9-14). While the people of these ancient lands have disappeared, it is evident that the people who live in these same areas are motivated by their religion, Islam, to despise the Jewish people and the land that God has given them. The late John Philips, wrote, “Let the Arab and Muslim nations that surround Israel today beware. These sons of Ishmael stand in Edom’s shoes and are robed with Edom’s mantle. Although they are blood kin, they hate the Jews with a passion equaled only by that of Edom of old. These antisemitic nations make alliances with one another, … and will even side with the antichrist against Israel. They do not understand that their bitter hatred of the Jews will bring them to grief” (John Phillips, Exploring the Minor Prophets, p. 126).

It is apparent that the Holy One of Israel has brought about the resurrection of His people to their ancient homeland. At the same time, He has also orchestrated the revival of the ancient alliances of the enemies of the Jewish people in these last days. In His holy justice, the Lord will exact upon these ancient and modern enemies of Israel a final fitting destruction. They will fall and never rise again!

It is amazing that during the Millennial Kingdom that the borders of the Holy Land will continue to exhibit to Israel and the nations the horrific price that is paid by those who will oppose God and His sovereign plans. While the Holy Land and the world will be a place of beauty and will look like a paradise, next to this land will exist a place of perpetual ruin, death, fire, and demonic imprisonment. This is highlighted by two great chapters in Isaiah. In Isaiah 34, the Bible speaks about the great destruction and death that will be visible in the land of Edom (southern Jordan today). It will be a place filled with dead bodies. It will become a region of complete desolation and fire. However, in Isaiah 35 we have a sharp contrasting picture. Just across the border from ancient Edom, in the Arava Desert, the Lord will turn this barren land into a beautiful garden, with pools of water and beautiful flowers. Only God can do that!

In Isaiah’s final words of his prophecy, he closes his prophetic book with a view of the glorious Millennial Kingdom of God. In the final verse, God reminds us that during the kingdom, the Lord will allow the inhabitants of His kingdom to view the horrors of those who rebelled against Him and opposed His chosen people. Isaiah 66:24 states, “And they shall go forth, and look upon the [carcasses] of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.” While we cannot be sure, perhaps the Lord will allow the bodies of those who died in the destruction of the Antichrist’s regional headquarters to be uniquely preserved for the generations to see. Perhaps it will be like the bodies of those that perished in the destruction of Pompey.

How stunning would it be for the Lord to allow the Jewish fathers to take their children to look across the eastern and southeastern borders of Israel to show them what happens to those who oppose God. This will be a wonderful way to remind the children of that day that they need to worship and obey the King of Israel, who is sitting upon the Throne of David in the city of Jerusalem. The fathers will no doubt remind their children that the Lord is looking for people to “tremble” at His word (Isaiah 66:2).

Friends, we cannot begin to image the immense pain and suffering that has been forced upon Jews and Christians by the people of the region that has been and will occupy the headquarters of the Antichrist. History demonstrates that this area has seen numerous wars and evil tyrants that have been empowered by the murderer, Satan. Revelation 9:11 calls Satan the destroyer. Since the beginning of time, Satan has roamed this earth, looking for those who hate God and all that God loves. This region in the Persian Gulf has a horrific history of demonic possession.

Therefore, it should not surprise us that when the end comes, Satan will use an evil person and empower him in the same region where many antichrists have carried out Satan’s agenda in history. The final verse of Revelation 18 states, “And in her [this region and its evil religions] was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.”

As a result of the destruction of this region and all its wicked inhabitants, all of heaven will erupt with praise to the One who has avenged their blood upon the enemy of God and His land and people. At the destruction of the Antichrist’s headquarters, John wrote, “And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever” (Revelation 19:1-3).

Friends, the destruction mentioned in Revelation 18 represents a very significant conclusion to the end of the war between God and Satan. After the flood, Satan began his mission to defeat God and establish his own one-world government. Satan united all the people of the world and brought them to one location and caused them to build a tower to chart and worship the stars and planets. About 1,500 years later, God raised up Isaiah to rebuke this evil agenda at Babel (See Isaiah 47). Isaiah recognized that it was at Babel that Satan began his effort to defeat God. In Isaiah 47:7-15, Isaiah proclaimed the ultimate destruction and desolation of this area.

That demonic effort began in the east at a plain “in the land of Shinar” (Genesis 11:2). That area is located along the banks of the Euphrates River in Iraq.

How fitting that the war between God and Satan began and will end in the Persian Gulf area! For years I have taught that what God began in Genesis, He will end in the book of Revelation. Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. Our God is an eternal God of justice. He has declared, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay” (Romans 12:19).