The Location of the Antichrist’s Empire – Part 5

Ample Evidence

The evidence has been heard and it’s consistent. Shouldn’t that be what we expect from the Bible—consistency? From the Law, the Prophets, the Poets, and the New Testament the location of this final empire is the same. All Scriptural evidence points to modern-day Turkey and a revival of the former Ottoman Empire which was the Islamic Caliphate or Islamic State.

Prophecies describe the Antichrist’s Empire as being a neighbor of Israel, north of Israel, and from the former Assyrian Empire. Ezekiel pinpoints it as Magog. John the Apostle in Revelation wrote that it would be the empire to hold Jerusalem after Rome. All these tell the same narrative and pinpoint the same location.

Daniel

Surely, the jury would be satisfied with the ample evidence! But there’s still one other passage I’d like to enter into the argument.

Daniel chapter 8 may tell us the next prophetic event that will occur and reaffirms Turkey as the location of the capital of the Antichrist’s Empire. In this chapter, Daniel receives a vision of a goat and ram, then the angel Gabriel comes and interprets the dream to Daniel. The vision deals with two nations rising and going to war. One nation prevails and from it eventually comes the king that would war with the Prince of Peace. The Prince of Peace is the Messiah—Jesus. Therefore, the king to war with Him must be the Antichrist’s. There also are other clues within the passage that point to this king being the Antichrist. Clues like the ending of the sacrifice, him coming against the Beautiful Land (Israel), and this king’s rise matches the Antichrist’s rise from Daniel 7, Daniel 11, and Revelation 17.

The Location of the Antichrist’s Empire Is Javan

Therefore, if this king is the Antichrist, then the location he comes from within the vision would identify the location of the Antichrist’s empire. In the vision, the Antichrist comes from the “Goat Kingdom” which English versions typically translate as Greece, but the original word is Javan. According to the passage, Javan is the location of the final empire.

The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between its eyes is the first king. – Daniel 8:20-21 (NIV)

Notice the NIV translates Javan as Greece. All major English versions do this. The exceptions are the Literal Standard Version and Young’s Literal Translation which keep Javan.

And the young male goat, the hairy one, [is] the king of Javan; and the great horn that [is] between its eyes is the first king; – Daniel 8:21 (LSV)

The LSV and YLT keep the translation Javan because that matches the same method of interpretation as done in the previous verse. For Media and Persia appear in the original Hebrew. While in Daniel 8:21 Javan appears in the Hebrew not the word Greece.

The Location of the Antichrist’s Empire Is Turkey

The argument made in commentaries is that Javan was the Hebrew word for Greece, but that’s not necessarily true. The word Javan was likely used to speak of peoples in western Asia Minor, which is modern-day Turkey to eastern Greece, even the Macedonian region. According to the Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, Javan is linguistically associated with Ionia, a region in westernmost Asia Minor that was colonized by Greeks so by extension Javan came to be applied to Greece itself.

The original location for this name was western Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey.

John Calvin wrote, “By the word “Javan” the Hebrews designate not only the Greeks but the Macedonians, and the whole of that tract, which is divided by the Hellespont, from Asia Minor as far as Illyricum.”

Those who interpret the passage as purely historical make the assumption that Daniel intended on this being Alexander’s Empire. Yet, twice in the passage Gabriel says that his will happen at a later time possibly signaling the end of the age. Regardless of that debate, this is one more passage pointing to modern-day Turkey as the location of the Antichrist’s Empire. The evidence seems conclusive.

The location of the Antichrist will be modern-day Turkey and there will be a revival of the Ottoman Empire.

We Should Be Watching

That’s good to know, but why did I spend five articles on the subject? I did because it’s there in Scripture. The Lord guided His prophets and the Biblical writers to talk about this last empire in detail, therefore, we should take notice and be prepared.

If we’re watching for the fulfillment of these prophecies, then Turkey should be the focal point with the Middle Eastern Muslim world in tow. We should be watching for a renewed desire and surge of action to spread Islam and form an Islamic State. This surge would look much like the Arab Spring in 2011 and its current repercussions. Or even more like the dream of Turkey President Erdogan to reinstate the Ottoman Empire in 2023.

This article first appeared in Jake’s syndicated column Stand Firm & Live Epic as published in The Baptist Trumpet and other publications. After three months the articles are adapted and published here. To read the articles at release subscribe here.

Jake McCandless

Executive Director of Stand Firm and lead pastor of Epic Church NWA in Springdale, AR and multiple award-winning author, Jake has a B.A. in Bible and Pastoral Studies from Central Baptist College, and an Advanced Masters of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Former regular contributor to the Baptist Press and WND News with popular conservative voices such as Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter, Ben Carson, Chuck Norris, Greg Laurie, Ben Schapiro, Joel Richardson, and others. He now is a weekly contributor for Israel, Islam, and the End Times and Armageddon News. He has authored books such as the, award-winning Spiritual Prepper from WND Books. Award-winning devotional books, Invincibleand For Uncertain Times, he authored the ground-breaking children’s book, Jesus and His White Horse from CrossLink Publishing. He is also a regular guest on national and international radio and streaming web shows, along with hosting his weekly live streaming program Talking Stand Firm and weekly podcast Stand Firm Parents.