The Antichrist Kingdom

Over the years I have been told by prophecy teachers that the antichrist will come from the Roman empire, a religious, military and political leader. The Pope was often suggested as a possibility. We have presently the most antichrist and anti-semitic group of nations ever, rising out of the middle east with a ready made "anti" Christ religion (Allah had no son) with political influence and military power.
One of the main prophetic reasons for interpreting a Roman empire antichrist is Daniel 9:26, "...and the people of the prince to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary...." The Roman empire under the rule of Titus destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 A.D. That would seem to settle the issue. However, a closer look into the historical record of those times indicates that the actual military troops that comprised the Roman legions that destroyed the Temple were Arab, Syrian and some Egyptian. This information is gleaned from the Histories of Tacitus and from the writings of Josephus. This might seem like a stretch in interpretation and maybe it is, but an antichrist from a country now under Islamic control or influence is more logical in world circumstances, but more importantly, more consistent with the rest of the Biblical record.
The prophecies about a war against Israel in Ezekiel 38 and 39 describe an invasion by a coalition of nations that can be traced to areas that are now under Islamic influence. When God intervenes to rescue Israel in Ezekiel the result will be that God's name will no longer be profaned and He will be sanctified before the nations. This sounds like what we have called Armegeddon because if it is not Armageddon the antichrist would come into power after this and would definitely profane the name of the Lord.
The identifiable territories described in the Biblical account of those who directly come against Israel include Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Sudan, Iran, and Iraq. They are described in the Bible with such names as Persia, Assyria, Babylon and Cush. The areas that the Messiah will destroy when he returns such as Edom and Bozrah are located in modern Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The thematic conflict of the ages described in the Bible is between the descendants of Isaac and the descendants of Ishmael which makes the main theme of the Bible consistent with this end of the age clash.
In Micah 5 the Messiah who is born in Bethlehem will defeat the "Assyrian" who invades the land. Assyria takes in much of the modern Muslim world. This "Assyrian" is a definite possibility of the identity of the antichrist.
Events in the Middle East are rapidly leading toward the development of a renewed caliphate or ruling leader/city over the muslim world. This was abandoned in 1924 after a long rule in the area of the Ottoman empire.
In the description of the end-time kingdom that makes up the kingdom of the beast in Revelation 17:10 John writes that there are seven kings (Kingdoms/mountains) five have fallen those are historically identifiable, one is, that would be Rome (at the time of John's writing) and one is to come, and we know historically the Ottoman empire controlled this territory later. Then there will be an eighth which will be one of the seven that will rise as the beast. This could very well be the Islamic/Ottoman empire. That would make sense since Biblically when the Lord returns the nations that we know specifically that He will judge are present Islamic nations.
From the Ezekiel description of Gog of Magog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal and the Micah reference of the Assyrian it would seem reasonable to expect the beast kingdom to arise out of the middle east and it's ruler to be from one of these muslim nations. Something to think about. We could be very near to these events culminating. If so, expect a peace treaty to come between the Jews and the Muslim world. The territory of Turkey seems to be very significant in the prophetic writings. A ruler from Turkey would be a likely peace treaty initiator.
Here is something that came to my mind once, its not anywhere in the Bible that I know of, but wouldn't it be interesting if the Muslim world offered to help Israel rebuild "the Temple" as a term of peace. That treaty would definitely be broken and would likely lead to the Muslim leader seating himself in the temple of God declaring himself as being God (see II Thess. 2).
With most of the Church looking for an antichrist figure to arise from a revived Roman empire, most could be blindsided by the arising of an Islamic leader who definitely wants to capture Jerusalem and is set on the destruction of the Jewish people. I guess this sounds like Islamic hate speech, but it is not. God loves Muslims, but some vocal Islamic leaders are set on the desruction of Israel and I believe that is what the Bible says will be the heart of the conflict. In Ezekiel 39:25 it says the Lord will finally arise and defeat the enemies of Israel because of Jealousy for His holy Name. Zechariah 14 tells us when Israel is under a horrendous siege that the Lord Himself will set His foot on the Mt. of Olives and take over Jerusalem and rescue His people.
Who is more dead set against the Jews than Islamic jihadists? And this is not a new contention. Problems began between Isaac and Ishmael, Sarah and Hagar and have never been truly resolved. Should you see an Islamic kingdom arise again in the Middle East, remember these words and open your Bibles. If the common teaching about the antichrist kingdom is wrong and the common teaching about the pre-trib rapture is wrong, a lot of the Church could be set up for a great delusion, perhaps a great falling away! Just be alert. Watch and Pray!!!