Chapter 5: The Push and the Whirlwind

Back in 1993, Iran asserted its authority in a territorial claim in Persian Gulf waters. The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs wrote of this incident: “Apparently the Iranians are calculating exactly how far they can push their neighbors ….”

Iran demonstrated the same pushy approach in March 2007, when it captured 15 British seamen in Iraqi waters and held them for 13 days.

On January 12, 2016, just four days before the implementation of the nuclear deal, Iran humiliated the U.S. Navy by holding some of its sailors hostage at gunpoint, parading them before the world and demanding an apology from them. It was a strong power play and an ominous message to the world: You can’t rely on America for protection and support anymore—especially in the Middle East. We are now in charge here.

That message was powerfully underscored in the summer of 2021 with America’s shameful surrender and retreat from Afghanistan.

The prophecies we have studied in this booklet point to a time when the United States is no longer a major player in the Middle East. Once America is gone, the king of the south will set its sights on another target: the king of the north.

The Push

Look again at the prophecy in Daniel 11: “And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over” (verse 40). Remember, this is an end-time prophecy. The stage is set for an Islamic group of nations led by Iran to push at a German-led European alliance.

This king of the south alliance is undoubtedly the Iran-led radical Muslims. They are strong and are pushing others around in the Middle East. Iran has a foreign policy with a lot of “push.” And it has accumulated a massive arsenal of weapons to back up its aggressive foreign policy, and that arsenal includes chemical, biological and, soon, nuclear weapons!

Soon they will push at the king of the north, the so-called “Holy” Roman Empire. Gesenius’ Lexicon says the word push means “to strike with the horn, used of horned animals,” or “to push with the horn.” It is “used figuratively of a victor, who prostrates the nations before him,” also “to wage war.” Push is a violent word!

Iran may use its control over trade routes, its nuclear weapons program and other means to enable this push. But what is the push’s end goal? It no doubt revolves around Jerusalem and biblical Judah (called Israel today)—just as the clashes in the time of the Crusades did. That city is the third-most holy city in the Islamic world. Pope John Paul ii spoke publicly of possibly moving the Roman Catholic Church headquarters there. These two great and powerful religions both passionately desire Jerusalem.

In 1990, no one could have even imagined two world powers emerging from the Middle East and Europe. But God knew exactly what would happen. No one but God could have inspired these prophecies. Everybody can see these two great powers today.

But how specifically does Iran push at Europe?

The Battle for the Red Sea

We have already examined how this push relates to Iran getting control of maritime trade routes. Iran could then cut off Europe’s access to Middle Eastern oil. In one way, Iran is already experimenting with this strategy.

After Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel counterattacked, Yemen’s Houthi rebel group responded by declaring war on the Jewish state. The Houthis began lobbing cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones toward Israel’s southern coast. They also targeted merchant vessels connected to Israel traveling through the Red Sea.

Then on December 9, the Houthis announced that all ships heading to Israel, from any nation, were now targets. Within days, several of the world’s largest shipping companies announced they were suspending all shipping through this vital choke point.

The Red Sea is one of the most important sea gates in the world. To reach the Mediterranean Sea from the Indian Ocean, a lot of seafaring trade—including much of the world’s oil—passes through the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the southern gate of the Red Sea. Clarksons, a ship broker, estimated that roughly 20 percent of all container shipping and 10 percent of all seaborne oil passed through the Red Sea in 2023! Measuring just 18 miles across, this channel is the closest point between the two landmasses of central Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. The northeastern edge of the strait is in Yemeni territory.

The strategic importance of controlling this passage is equal to controlling the Suez Canal, since both are part of the same thoroughfare.

Closing off this sea gate affects nations all over the world, particularly those in Europe. Germany in particular was upset and angry at the disruption. Four of the five largest shipping companies are European. All those commercial ships had to detour around South Africa.

The Houthis are a Shiite jihadist group. They are sponsored and directed by Iran. They would never make such a confrontational move if Iran didn’t tell them to. Evidence shows that Iran directly helped the Houthis in their attacks. The Wall Street Journal reported December 22, 2023, that an Iranian spy ship was supplying the Houthis with the intelligence needed to bomb its targets. Iranian leaders said they had nothing to do with the Houthi attacks, that the Houthis operate independently. That is a lie! Iran was preparing for this for years, and they showed just how much power they have at their command.

Now that Iran controls Yemen, it can virtually close or open the spigot on Middle East oil bound for Europe.

It is easy to see how this could factor into the push of Daniel 11:40. We need to watch the situation closely.

But we also need to recognize that attacking Europe’s trade routes is not the main goal.

Conquering Jerusalem

The most precious jewel of Iran’s plan is to conquer Jerusalem. This would then galvanize more of the Islamic world behind Iran and spread radical Muslim influence to many countries outside of the Middle East. It could lead to dangerous rioting and terror in Europe, Asia and even America.

But Iran is on the other side of the Middle East from Israel. How would it conquer Jerusalem?

Zechariah 14 contains an important related prophecy. It begins, “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh …” (Zechariah 14:1). The “day of the Lord” is the final year of that 3½-year period of tribulation that will close the curtain on the present evil world.

Verses 3 and 4 describe when Christ returns to the Mount of Olives in glory. They show that massive military coalitions will be there to fight against Him. This is corroborated by many other scriptures that we will study later in this chapter.

Now, considering this context, notice carefully verse 2: “For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.”

There are three phases to the crisis described in this verse, all linked and closely associated. The verse begins by describing Christ’s war against foreign armies, which, as prophecies like Revelation 11:15-18, 16:14 and elsewhere demonstrate, occurs at Christ’s return. Then there is a semicolon, after which it describes the city being taken, houses rifled and women ravished. This is only the first stage of Jerusalem’s total destruction. After another semicolon, it then says that half of Jerusalem goes into captivity.

East Jerusalem today is inhabited mostly by Palestinians, but they don’t control it. The Palestinians, backed by Iran, will almost certainly attack and overrun that area.

The push by the king of the south will probably be directly related to half of Jerusalem falling. It could well be the Arabs, incited by Iran, conquering half the city! The Palestinians could—and I believe will—conquer the Temple Mount and refuse access to anybody else. This would rapidly unite Europe and the Israeli Jews against them.

But although Iran will go far in its ambition, it will never fully conquer Jerusalem.

How could I possibly know this? If Iran or radical Islam were to conquer Jerusalem, then we would look very ignorant. But your Bible says it will not happen. However, the Bible also states that another specific power will conquer Jerusalem.

Such statements should motivate you to prove why we can make these prophetic statements and watch them come to pass exactly as we said. You need to prove what we say—while there is time!

The blatantly bold and aggressive foreign policy of Iran must lead to war. It will either conquer or be conquered. Bible prophecy makes it clear that Iran will be conquered.

Think seriously about the fact that this will not occur at the hands of America or Britain. These nations aren’t even involved in this prophesied war! That is because they are going to fall into social and economic ruin before this prophecy is even fulfilled! The time when Britain and America were superpowers, or kings, is history.

A new superpower is rising in the European Union. The Bible calls this conglomerate the king of the north. It takes one king to topple another king.

Can we see this new European superpower rising on the world scene now? Yes, we can. Believe it or not, God is raising up that European power to punish America and Britain. (To understand why and how, request our free booklet Germany and the Holy Roman Empire.)

The Whirlwind

After the push, the king of the north will come at the king of the south “like a whirlwind” (Daniel 11:40). We have seen how the king of the south could push at the king of the north. When that occurs, Germany responds with a “whirlwind” attack. This one word prophesies how the German-led clash with Iran will unfold. It reveals in detail what is about to happen in the Middle East—and in Africa and Europe.

The Germans are excellent war strategists and warriors. They are savvy enough to realize that they will never have peace with Iran. They know that sooner or later, their two religions—their two civilizations—will clash.

This scripture describes a time when Germany’s Catholic empire will wage all-out war, throwing everything it has at radical Islam—and dominating it like a violent flood pouring in!

Here is the question we need to focus on: How could Germany do this so easily, so effectively and so quickly?

Germany will not be able to overwhelm Iran in the near future unless it is working on a special strategy right now.

Think about the key word in Daniel 11:40. This verse describes an attack from the king of the north, but the emphasis is on the strategy of this military attack.

If you are in a whirlwind, it whirls all around you. Even now, we can see that the German strategy is to surround Iran and its allies.

The Iranians are so focused on conquering their own objectives that they don’t see what the Germans are doing. They don’t recognize how Germany is planning for the bigger war to come!

Germany has expected to clash with Iran, and it has been working on a strategy for years now. That strategy is almost complete. Germany has surrounded Iran.

“Whirlwind” in this verse is a very revealing word. It means “to sweep away in a storm,” according to Gesenius’ Lexicon. It can mean “to bristle with terror.” It can also mean terror-stricken, or shivering with fear, invoking the creeping of the skin of one who is terrorized.

This word has an unusual emphasis on terror! Will this terrifying whirlwind be nuclear? It certainly will be terrorizing! And it is about to explode in the Middle East. Finally the terrorists themselves will be terrorized!

James Moffatt translates this verse, “When the end arrives, the king of the South shall butt at him, but the king of the North shall storm at him like a whirlwind, with chariots and cavalry and a large fleet, invading his lands and flooding into them.” Soncino says “the king of the north … will swoop down ….” This isn’t simply a straight-on assault. It is a storm that whirls around and around, invading the land and flooding into it!

If you study what is happening in the territory surrounding Iran today, you already see Germany all over it.

Surrounding Iran

How exactly has the king of the north surrounded the king of the south? Its troops haven’t encircled Tehran. It doesn’t have bases and aircraft carriers dotting Iran’s borders. But it has made some intelligent, strategic deployments and deals that give it a presence all the way around Iran’s sphere of influence.

Much of the whirlwind’s development involves working with countries that overlap with the Psalm 83 alliance. We have already discussed how Germany has resumed arms exports to countries like Turkey and Saudi Arabia. These countries oppose Iran’s expansion and would almost certainly get involved on Germany’s side if it declared war on Iran.

But the Psalm 83 alliance is not Germany’s only investment in countering Iran. For Germany to surround Iran and its allies in Egypt, Libya and Ethiopia like a whirlwind, it needs to have a presence all over the Middle East and the surrounding areas.

Germany has several footholds in the Middle East and Africa via the United Nations. It contributes heavily to the UN’s peacekeeping efforts; as of 2025, it gave $372 million out of the UN’s $6.1 billion peacekeeping budget, making Germany its fourth-biggest donor. Germany has 161 soldiers under the UN mandate over Lebanon. It has a handful of personnel contributing to UN missions in places like South Sudan, Western Sahara and Cyprus. While these forces are small, they give Germany an opening to expand farther into these regions.

Outside the UN, Germany also contributes peacekeepers to Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina in Europe’s south. Germany contributes to EU-led naval missions in Libya and the Red Sea. The Libyan mission is to enforce a UN arms embargo on the country. The EU mission is to counter attacks from Iran’s Houthi proxies. Through these EU missions, Germany is already pushing back at Iran and Libya.

In 2024, Germany also expanded its footprint in the Caucasus on Iran’s northern border. During the Munich Security Conference in February that year, Germany hosted the first meeting between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan since a 2020 war between the two countries. Germany and Armenia signed several defense cooperation agreements during the ila Berlin Air Show defense conference.

Until recently, Germany and France were literally fighting radical Islam in West Africa. Former French colonies like Mali and Niger have for years struggled to fight off Islamist insurgencies and relied on thousands of European peacekeepers to fight off the rebels. However, most of the countries France and Germany have worked with experienced coups that empowered new anti-Europe leaders or had other political developments aimed at kicking Europe out. We will have to monitor the situation to see if West Africa becomes a major battleground between Germany and Iran. Considering several of the countries Iran and Germany fight over in Daniel 11:40-43 are in Africa, this traditionally Muslim part of the world could become very important soon.

Germany also has a strong relationship with Pakistan, Iran’s nuclear neighbor to the east. West Germany and Pakistan had strong relations since the 1950s out of a mutual hostility toward the Soviet Union. Germany is Pakistan’s largest trade partner within the EU. German arms exports to Pakistan are worth tens of millions of euros each year, with over €247 million worth of military licenses to Pakistan from January 2017 to July 2019 alone. The military hardware sent to Pakistan in 2018 included torpedo bombers, helicopters, other types of military aircraft and radar systems. Pakistan at the time was among the top 10 export markets for German arms.

The king of the north also has a strong presence to Iran’s west. In the Mediterranean lies Cyprus, a strategic military and intelligence asset. The terms that Germany dictated for Cyprus’s economic bailout in April 2013 basically gave the EU control of this island. For 17 years, German troops have been stationed in Cyprus as part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. After Russia invaded Ukraine, Cyprus looked to Germany for security. On May 3, 2022, Cyprus and Germany signed their first Bilateral Defense Cooperation Program, which includes joint military exercises.

Why is Germany so involved, stretching its presence over the Middle East and much of the world? It is preparing for a whirlwind of destruction.

Germany is surrounding Iran and radical Islam, just as God prophesied it would. Soon that whirlwind will start rotating and whirling against the king of the south with increasing speed, like a well-armed—probably nuclear-armed—vortex!

This whirlwind strategy is about to explode into all-out war. In fact, it will spark World War iii!

The Last Crusade

This prophesied warfare is nothing less than a repeat of the Medieval Crusades, a series of Roman Catholic “holy” wars to wrest control of the Holy Land from Muslims. They produced some of the bloodiest battles in history.

Did you ever wonder how the Catholics reconcile that “holy” slaughter with the Bible, which states, “Thou shalt not kill”? Or how they can read the Sermon on the Mount and still lead the religious world in spilling rivers of blood?

They are called the Christian Crusades. That label itself is a deception. They were primarily Catholic crusades. Other Christian denominations have their problems, but let’s not blame them for what the Catholics did—and will do. Some background will help us understand.

In a.d. 622, Catholics fought and were defeated in a crusade against the Persians and the Jews. Some 60,000 Catholics were killed, and 35,000 enslaved. The fall of Jerusalem left the Catholic world shocked and mourning.

This war left Catholics bitter against the Jews for the role they played in their defeat. Much more anti-Semitism began because of it.

Some historians consider this the first crusade. But the Crusades we best remember came later, beginning in the 11th century.

Pope Urban ii unleashed a savage Catholic army and started these later Crusades. This “righteous” army marched 3,000 miles to conquer the Holy Land.

Terry Jones and Alan Ereira write in their book Crusades, which became a bbc television series: “By summoning an army under the banner of the cross, the pope was extending the church’s mantle over all Christendom. This was the idea at the very heart of the revolutionary papacy; in place of separate local churches at the center of discreet communities, there was to be one overarching church, ruled by one overarching pope. The crusade was to be its expression and its instrument” (emphasis mine throughout).

They state that this thinking was at the heart of the papacy. The popes wanted to rule any church called Christian. Through the Holy Roman Empire, they also tried repeatedly to extend their authority over nations. They have succeeded six times and are about to succeed again for the last time, according to Bible prophecy. (Request our free book The Holy Roman Empire in Prophecy.)

The Protestant churches are prophesied to be brought back into the Catholic Church (Isaiah 47). This will mostly be done through bloodshed in the near future. Remember, this wish to rule all Christianity is “at the very heart of the revolutionary papacy.” That means this philosophy has motivated the Catholic Church for nearly 2,000 years. And it still believes violent and bloody crusades are righteous. Has it ever truly repented of its condemning history? The answer is no. The best it has managed are some vague apologies.

History proves the Catholic Church to be one of the most militant institutions ever created. It does not believe in a democratic philosophy. It has routinely and often “converted” people by the sword. Yet this world is unwilling to hold it accountable for its war crimes.

Modern historians have recorded how closely the Vatican worked with the Nazis. It was through the Catholic Church that most of the leading Nazis escaped after World War ii. That history is well documented. No one should doubt it. (Read The Unholy Trinity, by Mark Aarons and John Loftus, available at bookstores.)

And doesn’t that crime reveal that the Catholics were deeply involved with the Nazi war machine? Just a little evidence of logic should teach us that!

This subject is too important to let our emotions stand in the way, because the worst is yet to come! The last crusade will be the supreme inquisition of all history. It is time we understand the bloody history of the Crusades and let it be a warning!

The world seems almost unaware of these monstrous crimes.

Jones and Ereira continue, “Urban’s army would also rescue Jerusalem, the spiritual (and therefore the physical) center of the universe. He hoped that the redeemed Jerusalem would be directly ruled by the church.

“Every man who enrolled for the struggle must mark himself out by wearing a cross and, most important, vow to continue on his way until he reached Jerusalem.

“Urban’s method of raising this army was completely original; as well as pay, he could offer paradise [much like the Islamic terrorists]—anyone who took part had all their sins forgiven. ‘Whoever for devotion alone, not to gain honor or money, goes to Jerusalem to liberate the church of God can substitute this journey for all penance.’”

Any Bible student ought to know that only God can forgive sins and offer paradise. But that is the big problem with most Christians: They don’t believe and obey the Bible!

The whole world, including the religious world, is deceived (Revelation 12:9). Enormous problems like the Crusades will continue until we confront our own self-deception.

Jones and Ereira conclude, “By saying that carrying out a military/political enterprise would make you a better person, wiping out past sins, Urban had invented a way by which every person could internalize papal policy. Fighting in the pope’s cause was not only an obligation, it made you righteous. With that one idea, mass political action was launched. With that one idea, ideology was born. With that one idea, the Crusade was set in motion. Urban did not understand what he had done.”

Perhaps this pope did not know what he had done. But what he began led to a number of indescribably brutal wars between Catholics and Muslims.

The real tragedy is that the world, like Pope Urban, still does not understand what he did nor what the Catholic Church continues to do. Its real beliefs surface when it gains power. Today, it is building the greatest power it has ever had. If you understand its history, its future is very predictable—far more than most historians believe. Add Bible prophecy to that equation, and you will see that this world faces a frightening specter prior to its final defeat.

Fighting on Both Sides

The Crusades created rivers of blood. And it was all done in the name of God. Of course, the Muslims responded with massive slaughters against the Crusaders, also in the name of God. Does it make any sense for God to be fighting on both sides? Or are these warring factions just giving our God of love a bloody reputation?

Jerusalem is considered a holy place by both religions. It is indeed considered the “center of the universe” by the Catholics. They believe conquering Jerusalem makes them righteous. That has been their ideology from the beginning. It still is today. The fruits are there to prove it. The Bible says that “by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20). They believe in war as an instrument to achieve their religious goals.

Jones and Ereira recount an incident after the Catholic army had taken Jerusalem: “The following morning the Crusaders reentered the al-Aqsa Mosque and slaughtered every Muslim sheltering there. No one knows how many died; the Muslim chronicler reports 70,000. One of the Crusaders reports picking his way through a mess of blood and bodies more than knee-deep.” This is only one episode of many. Many people have seen pictures of this very mosque.

How many Muslims still remember the history of this mosque being knee-deep in Muslim blood? And all of this savagery supposedly made Catholics righteous! A warrior who burned Muslim babies in the Crusade was considered worthy of glory for all eternity! Does this really make sense to a sound mind?

“[K]illing, the pope now declared, need not be a sin after all. It depended on who you killed. In fact, if you killed the enemies of Christ, killing did not require penance—it was the penance. Holy slaughter could be as effective a devotional activity as prayer or fasting or pilgrimage” (ibid).

The pope said, “Now we are proposing that you should fight wars which contain the glorious reward of martyrdom, in which you can gain the title of present and eternal glory.”

“The pope had also pointed out the importance of rescuing Jerusalem from the infidel. He seems to have suggested that ‘rescue’ meant ‘seize and keep’” (ibid).

The pope also said, “Take the road to the Holy Sepulcher, rescue that land from a dreadful race and rule over it yourselves.”

Muslim and Jewish inhabitants of Jerusalem were slaughtered like pigs. And all of this was done by Catholics who presumably became more righteous in the process.

Were these killers true Christians? A true Christian is one who follows Christ. If we look in the Gospels, Christ tells us to love our enemies, even die for them—not kill them!

The memory of such horrendous massacres still lives in the minds of many Muslims.

Those memories have provoked Arabs and Jews to massacre Catholics throughout history in retribution—all in the name of religion.

King Peter’s Crusade

The little Mediterranean island of Cyprus was captured by Catholic Crusaders during the Third Crusade. In the 14th century, King Peter i of Cyprus sought to reclaim Catholic control of Jerusalem. Steven Runciman wrote about this in A History of the Crusades: “King Peter arrived at Rhodes early in the month, and on the 25th the whole Cypriot fleet sailed into the harbor, 108 vessels in all, galleys, transports, merchant ships and light skiffs. With the great galleys of the Venetians and those provided by the Hospital, the armada numbered 165 ships. They carried a full complement of men, with ample horses, provisions and arms. Not since the Third Crusade had a proportionate expedition set out for the Holy War ….

“During the Friday night there was a fierce Muslim counterattack through one of the southern gates, which the Christians in their excitement had burned down. It was beaten off; and by the Saturday afternoon, all Alexandria was in the Crusaders’ hands.

“The victory was celebrated with unparalleled savagery. Two and a half centuries of holy warfare had taught the Crusaders nothing of humanity. The massacres were only equalled by those of Jerusalem in 1099 and Constantinople in 1204. The Muslims had not been so ferocious at Antioch or at Acre. Alexandria’s wealth had been phenomenal; and the victors were maddened at the sight of so much booty. They spared no one. The native Christians and the Jews suffered as much as the Muslims; and even the European merchants settled in the city saw their factories and storehouses ruthlessly looted. Mosques and tombs were raided and their ornaments stolen or destroyed; churches too were sacked, though a gallant crippled Coptic lady managed to save some of the treasures of her sect at the sacrifice of her private fortune. Houses were entered, and householders who did not immediately hand over all their possessions were slaughtered with their families. Some 5,000 prisoners, Christians and Jews as well as Muslims, were taken to be sold as slaves. A long line of horses, asses and camels carried the loot to the ships in the harbor and there having performed their task were killed. The whole city stank with the odor of human and animal corpses.”

Runciman said, “The Crusades were the pope’s work.” The Crusade philosophy has made Catholic popes the bloodiest religious leaders ever!

Still, most people try to hide from this frightening reality. That is the main reason why the worst Catholic crusade is yet to come. Mankind refuses to believe the truth and believe God.

The world so quickly forgets. Hence, the massive bloodshed continues. The Catholics committed these appalling, despicable deeds before the world. But has anyone heard them repent before the world?

There is good news: Jesus Christ will personally stop the next crusade! Sadly, however, that will only occur after the worst suffering ever on this Earth (Daniel 12:1; Matthew 24:21-22).

Cyprus

More than one crusade has been launched from Cyprus. Will we see the last crusade launched from there as well? Is history about to repeat itself?

Turkey, just north of Cyprus, has been a strong member of nato for many years. Yet a German-led European Union has rejected it from joining the EU, even though it has been applying since 1963, when there were only six members!

Cyprus, on the other hand, joined the EU in 2004.

Why has the EU consistently rejected Turkey? Is it because Turkey is predominantly Islamic?

The EU is prophesied to be ultimately comprised of 10 nations, or groups of nations, dominated by Catholicism. Already the EU is being called the Holy Roman Empire, traditionally the enemy of the Muslims.

And why did the EU want tiny Cyprus as a member? Is it already thinking about Cyprus as a launchpad from which to protect its Jerusalem interests?

You can be certain that the EU is thinking about how to protect the holy places in and around Jerusalem. Europe has thought on this for almost 2,000 years!

At the time Cyprus was accepted into the EU, some people feared a war between Greece and Turkey, which have influence over different portions of the island. Greece became the 10th member state of the EU in 1981, and Russia sold missiles to Greece, whose intention was to bully Turkey with them.

“The EU has maneuvered itself into a position where it may soon have to take a bitterly divided island, with a propensity for violence and even war, into its bosom,” Christopher Lockwood wrote in the Daily Telegraph. “It has poisoned relations with Turkey, a crucial nato ally; made a solution to the Cyprus problem harder to achieve than ever …” (March 30, 1998).

Why did Europe risk such serious problems, even warfare, over this tiny island? Even EU leaders don’t fully understand what is happening. There is a spirit and force behind these events that the world does not see.

“And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, 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 forty and two months” (Revelation 13:3-5).

If the people of the world truly understood what is happening in Europe, they would be trembling in fear.

Does this great evil spirit being, Satan the devil, have plans for Cyprus? Will a final crusade be launched into the Middle East from there? Satan knows Bible prophecy and what the future holds.

The beast will hold power for 3½ years, and then Christ will destroy that evil empire forever! We are entering the worst times ever, but they will lead into the best news we could ever receive!

Final Crusade Prophesied

One of the main tourist attractions in Jordan is the Crusader castles. The Catholics built most of them to war against the Muslims and control Jerusalem. These castles are stark reminders of the bloody past—and a far bloodier future!

The Jews have Jerusalem now. But not for long. Both Muslims and Catholics have designs on Jerusalem. These two great powers are about to clash again in the final crusade over Jerusalem!

In 1997, Iran conducted major war games—involving between 150,000 and 500,000 soldiers—code-named “Road to Jerusalem.” What could be more provocative? Iran was advertising its end goal and strategy to the world.

In 2010, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad emphasized the global significance of Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day—Iran’s annual display of support for the Palestinian cause and the “liberation of Jerusalem.” The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center reported that “according to Ahmadinejad, the issue of Jerusalem is not limited to one geographic area; it is not just a Palestinian issue, and it is, in fact, ‘even greater than the issue of Islam’” (Sept. 12, 2010).

Few people understand this Muslim passion for Jerusalem and its holy sites! It is the kind of passion that causes war!

The world continues to talk about peace. But Iran and radical Islam don’t want peace, and words won’t deter them.

Joseph de Courcy wrote in the Islamic Affairs Analyst: “Subscribers should be in absolutely no doubt about this. From Iran’s support for subversion in Bahrain, through its improving ties with Egypt, its support for Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Islamist revolutionaries in Khartoum, to its close strategic alliance with Moscow, everything has the same ultimate purpose: the liberation of Jerusalem from under the Zionist yoke.”

In 1996, the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said, “We know but one word: struggle, struggle. Jihad, jihad, jihad. When we stop our intifada, when we stop our revolution, we go to the greater jihad, the jihad of the independent Palestinian state with its capital Jerusalem.”

Jihad is the Arabic cry for holy war. They will get their war. But it will not be holy. It will lead to the worst suffering this planet has ever experienced!

Meanwhile, Europe is experiencing a push for a revival of the Holy Roman Empire. These two powers are on a collision course!

‘Revive Your Roots’

Pope John Paul ii worked for years to revive Europe’s Catholic history. Early in his papacy, November 9, 1981, he said: “It can be said that the European identity is not understandable without Christianity and that it is precisely in Christianity that are found those common roots by which the Continent has seen its civilization mature: its culture, its dynamism, its activity, its capacity for constructive expansion in other continents as well; in a word, all that makes up its glory. …

“Find yourself again. Be yourself. Discover your origins; revive your roots. Return to those authentic values which made your history a glorious one and your presence so beneficent in the other continents.”

Many historians have tried to estimate the number of innocent people killed in the name of “Christianity” by the Catholic Church and the Holy Roman Empire. Conservative estimates put the figure at 50 million! That’s right—50 million! The “origins” and “roots” and that “history” to which John Paul referred caused tens of millions of people to be slaughtered!

Pope Benedict xvi repeated that same message: Discover your origins; revive your roots. In 2006, at a conference in Rome of the EU’s largest and most influential conservative group, the European People’s Party, Pope Benedict was the headline speaker. “Your support for Christian heritage,” he told the politicians, “can contribute significantly to the defeat of a culture that is now fairly widespread in Europe, which relegates [religion] to the private and subjective sphere.” When he visited his native Bavaria later that year, he urged Europeans to reject secularism and embrace religion. That message must be understood in light of the Catholic Church’s history of dominating the public sphere in dangerous ways.

In Revelation 17, God paints a vivid picture of a great church as a lavishly dressed harlot, holding sway over the nations. God sees things as they truly are! Let’s look at God’s view: “And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration” (Revelation 17:6). God sees this whore “drunken” on the blood of the saints! Is killing God’s saints “glorious”?

The Holy Roman Empire will come at the king of the south like a whirlwind. Will it be a surprise attack from Cyprus? Will we see the final crusade launched from there? A whirlwind arises suddenly. So it doesn’t appear the attack will be launched all the way from Europe.

We must understand the Holy Roman Empire and the Crusades to understand the Catholic passion for Jerusalem. They have a long history of spilling rivers of blood over Jerusalem.

Notice what their first action is after their victory: “He shall enter also into the glorious land …” (Daniel 11:41). They “enter” into the glorious land, or the Holy Land. The Hebrew indicates this is a peaceful entry—not forced.

The Jews appear to invite them in as peacekeepers. After war explodes in the Middle East, there will probably be a thunderous call for a peacekeeper in Jerusalem. The king of the north will no doubt take the job. But it leads to a great double cross, prophesied in Ezekiel 23. (Request our free book Ezekiel—The End-Time Prophet to learn about this.)

The Jews should remember the history of the violence and bloodshed by the Crusaders. Then perhaps they would not invite the enemy into Jerusalem.

The Good News

At that point in prophecy, the Holy Roman Empire will face disaster. “But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many” (Daniel 11:44). The Russians and Chinese will prepare for war with Europe, striking fear in the king of the north. The Europeans will see it coming and strike first.

The king of the north will then be defeated. “And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him” (verse 45). Here we see a great religious leader moving his headquarters—“the tabernacles of his palace”—to Jerusalem. Why? This is not just for protection. He could go to many other cities that would be safer. But this will be a religious act of faith. This religious leader considers Jerusalem to be the most holy place on Earth—the “center of the universe.” Still, he will be defeated and come to a most ignominious end. Nobody will be there to help him.

There should be no chapter break between Daniel 11 and 12. The story flow continues to illustrate that this religious war will trigger a nuclear World War iii.

“And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book” (Daniel 12:1). There has never before been trouble like this. God promises to protect His people physically. Otherwise, they would perish in a nuclear nightmare.

As bad as this news is, it leads to the best news this world has ever heard! “And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days” (verse 11). The daily sacrifice is referring to God’s Work. That Work will be taken away—removed when God takes His people to a place of safety (Matthew 24:15-16; Luke 21:20-21). That must happen because the king of the north, which backs that abomination of desolation, is going to conquer America and Britain. When that happens, you will be able to start counting days to the return of Jesus Christ. He will end these “holy wars” forever.

Any child should understand that the fruits of these “holy wars” have been diabolical! There is no excuse for America and Britain not knowing the truth. God has been sending forth His message in power to the nations for over 70 years! They have rejected it repeatedly. That is why they must now suffer so intensely. Finally, God will get their attention and lead them to peace, full joy and abundance.

In 1994, Pope John Paul ii made this statement: “We trust that with the approach of the year 2000, Jerusalem will become the city of peace for the entire world and that all the people will be able to meet there, in particular the believers in the religions that find their birthright in the faith of Abraham.”

The pope was very accurate in this statement: “Jerusalem will become the city of peace for the entire world,” but not the way he believed.

Jesus Christ will return in the very near future. And He will bring peace to the entire world! That is one big reason there is so much violence over Jerusalem in this end time. Satan knows that God is going to rule the world, and even the universe, from Jerusalem. The Bible says we are about to see a religious clash that will stagger the world! This prophecy is yet to be fulfilled.

Of course, Satan hates this prophecy because at Christ’s return he will be cast into a bottomless pit (Revelation 20:1‑3).

What a glorious future man has. And all of that glory is going to emanate from Jerusalem!