By Walid Shoebat
After Erdogan won his referendum to have complete control over Turkey, the first thing he did was to return and unveil the Ottoman scepter that should not have departed from the first Ottoman Sultan until Erdogan had come. Erdogan is mimicking a Messiah. To Erdogan, the Muslim messiah, he is whom this scepter rightfully belongs.
To bring and unveil the diadem of Selim I, the tenth horn of the Islamic Empire, is a significant symbol.
Allow me to explain so that a westerner comprehends the significance. According to the Daily Sabah, Erdogan’s mouthpiece in the Arab world, this scepter, in the form of a turban with a diadem, was hidden from the public eye in a museum after Fethullah Gulen attempted to smuggle it to the U.S., in order to return later to Turkey to reclaim the Caliphate for himself after the ousting of Erdogan.
The fight over the symbolic scepter ended up capturing the smugglers at the airport in Istanbul and was hidden secretly by Erdogan, awaiting the moment for his Ottoman resurrection on April 15th, 2017. He then veiled it over the tomb of Selim I and kept the matter secret. When his victory was complete, the first thing Erdogan did was rush to the tomb of Selim I and unveil the diadem (silk turban) which was positioned on the grave to signify the Ottoman resurrection from the dead.
This is very significant. Selim I was the tenth horn (king) with a diadem. Erdogan wants to proclaim that he is the rightful owner, being the eleventh (more on that later).
In the middle of the tray notice the silk crown
All this escapes the naked eye of the novice prophecy student. So lets explain it in detail.
A diadem from a biblical perspective is not exclusively a golden crown, as many who brush through the biblical text miss it. A Diadem comes from the Greek verb διαδέω which means “to tie around”, “wrap around”, or as Strong’s defines, it is the mark on a “turban or tiara, the kingly ornament for the head. Rev XII.3” A diadem in the east is understood to be “a crown made of cloth,” usually the finest of silk.
The Daily Sabah, Erdogan’s mouthpiece in the Arabic world just published the astonishing event which none mentioned it in the western media:
“Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has unveiled the Sultan of Selim I, the Kaftan [Diadem], known in Turkey as the “caftan of the caliphate” after returning it to its place at the Sultan Selim I shrine in Istanbul after its disappearance from 2005 when Fethullah Gulen attempted to smuggle it to the United States of America.
The caftan [diadem] was moved from its place in 2005 for restoration, and two members of the Gulen terrorist organization tried to smuggle the caftan to the organization’s leader Fethullah Gulen [in the U.S.] because of the great moral value the caftan carries.”
In other words, the holder of the diadem is the holder of a scepter, he becomes the successor of the Ottoman Caliphate and the Muslim world as a whole. The Daily Sabah explains that had Gulen got his hands on the Diadem, he would be successor:
Some politicians revealed that Fethullah Gulen had intended to declare himself a successor and wear the caftan himself worn by Sultan Selim I during his return from Egypt.
The article continues:
The story of the caftan [diadem] dates back to 1517 when Sultan Yawoz Selim [Selim I] fought the Mamluks in Egypt [king of the South] and managed to annex them to the territory of the Ottoman Empire and became the first successor to the Muslims of the Osman [Ottoman] family …
After the attempt to smuggle the caftan at Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul, it was restored and preserved for years by the Department of Museums and Archeology and then returned to its original place and remained hidden from view until Erdogan removed the cover, yesterday during his visit to the mosque and the shrine of Sultan Selim I in Istanbul.
So what are the significances to all this from the prophetic perspective? First of all, Selim I is dead. To unveil the diadem on the dead Sultan’s tomb is to declare Ottoman revival and that Erdogan is now the holder of this symbolic scepter. In other words, his kingdom’s revival from the dead signifies the coming threat to Christendom, which John warned of as a wounded dead beast coming back to life.
John in the Apocalypse speaks of a head that was wounded to death and it revives. The symbolism is significant once we later examine prophecy.
Selim I was also the Sultan who invaded Egypt (King of the South), which Erdogan is now hinting to return Egypt back to his Caliphate. History is simply repeating.
Erdogan is reverting back the clock to when Sultan Selim I (King of the North) of the Ottomans had just pushed back and vanquished the Safavid Persians (The biblical Bear) at the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514—and turned their full might against the Mamluks, who ruled in Syria and Egypt (The biblical kingdom of the south) to complete the Ottoman conquest of the Middle East.
WHY DO PEOPLE MISS THIS PROPHECY?
Answer: pride. Correct prophecy is revealed for only the lowly at heart. Only these will understand.
Pride begets selfishness. With selfishness one would tend to believe that the whole of scripture strictly relates to them. They become as though they have tunnel vision, as if it is all about the U.S. or about their favorite nation, Israel, or about their favorite hated city, Rome. They focus exclusively on a specific part of history while forgetting that prophecy spans the whole history of God’s people. Such pride and pet favorites is what made ‘pharisees’ hate messengers.
The span of prophecy is the most significant key to unlock everything. Always understand that God always aids his people (God’s people) throughout history. Apocalypse is not intended only for the end times, but for the entire history of the humble people of God. A single prophecy can include the church era and also include the ancient faithful of Israel.
For example, John in Revelation 13 includes past empires and Daniel speaks of expeditions fulfilled by Antiochus who persecutes God’s people Israel. But such prophecy is also for the Church, which endured the expeditions of the Seven Muslim Caliphates who also persecuted God’s people, the Church, for 1260 lunar years.
They also resemble the future expeditions of the Antichrist, in which he persecutes the church for only 1260 literal days as God speeds it all up “lest no flesh is saved”. This is why the Antichrist is a ‘little horn’, for he only rules for seven years after a covenant is made with him. This will take a few years from now to happen.
Daniel, for example, has multiple layers foretold in a single prophecy which is once fulfilled for Israel during Antiochus and also later on in history it is fulfilled during the church era as well.
So we can find battles that ultimately ended in the victory of the King of the North. This is not just by Antiochus, but way later by the Ottoman Selim I over Egypt’s King of the South completing the conquest of most of the Middle East by the Ottoman Empire ending the Mamluk Sultanate. The Ottoman Empire’s victory in this battle gave it control of the entire region of Syria during the Dabiq war and later into Egypt.
But this history will repeat in the near future as well, when Turkey invades Egypt to re-install the Muslim Brotherhood.
Selim I who carried out the Dabiq war is key to unlocking Daniel when on May 18, 1516 when Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri, started from Cairo, Egypt with 20,000 knights to later be killed by Selim I.
This prophecy will repeat. To Erdogan, this mimics Al-Sisi’s end. Egypt’s future will mimic this historic and eschatological event and will parallel the Turks invasion of Egypt. After the death of the Mamluk Sultan, the new Sultan, Tuman Bay (King of the South) who finally, at the doorstep of Cairo, faced Selim I who defeated Tuman Bay and hung him at the gate of Cairo.
Dabiq is why Turkey hates Egypt and is why Erdogan hates Al-Sisi of Egypt.
On April 15th, two days before Erdogan unveiled Selim I diadem, Shoebat.com explained the ten diadems pin-pointing to Selim I before Erdogan even visited the shrine:
Then the Ottoman Caliphate (1517–1924 the seventh head), founded by Selim I (10th crown) and by that he was the tenth and final horn of the seven heads.
This last one encompassed all the previous ones and is the seventh.
But when one pays close attention to Apocalypse 17:11, this “seventh” also arises as “the eighth” (in our time) as the 11th little horn. It is little because it only spans 7 years. The length of the horn is its time ruling. (to understand this click here)
Selim I was the tenth crown (diadem) and the one to come afterwards is the 11th “little horn” which we will explain later.
But Dabiq is why Erdogan sees himself as Selim I and is why he publicly read an Islamic poem that includes the lines, “the mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets, and the faithful our soldiers” and is why Erdoğan has used public funds to build more than 17,000 mosques while announcing plans to create a super-mosque overlooking Istanbul to celebrate the 560th anniversary of Istanbul’s conquest by the Ottomans. Erdoğan broke ground on a third Bosphorus Bridge linking the Asian and European sides of the city, naming it after the controversial conquering Sultan Selim I, the conqueror of Dabiq.
Erdogan is already getting close to Dabiq in Syria and plans to invade it. The western mind doesn’t get it, that in the Muslim mind the needle is stuck on the record in which the Christian crusader (General Allenby) took Jerusalem and the Christians finally brought an end to the Muslim Ottoman Caliphate in 1924. So this was the pause in this history. This is the first beast of Apocalypse 13 that was wounded. The song continues from there and the record will continue to play as soon as the electric surge is back, until the needle comes to a screeching halt when Christ comes.
THE MIDDLE EAST ANALYSIS OF ERDOGAN’S EVENT
All throughout the Middle East they are getting it. The Free Palestine Agency, excited about Erdogan’s move, explains Erdogan’s visit to the tomb of Selim I and also Mohammed al-Fateh (the conqueror) as “telling the Sultan in his grave that the days of glorious history had returned sending a clear message from [the dead] Sultan to his European enemies.”
So without unity between Turkey and Europe, the western interpreters of prophecy who adhere to a revival of a Roman Empire can no longer make their case since the Roman Empire’s eastern leg is split from its western leg. This would mean they wait longer or go back to the drawing board.
We warned that the latter will happen. And so here we have it, Erdogan was so excited about the symbolism of reviving the dead and wounded head of the Ottoman empire that he literally went on a quick expedition to speak to the dead Ottomans and the souls of their recent dead heroes who recently tried to revive it but failed. The FPA explains:
“Today, the Turkish president visited graves of leaders who tried to change the constitution: Nejaduddin Erbakan, the prime minister in the 1990s, Erdogan’s spiritual father and the most prominent leader of the political Islam movement. He also visited the tomb of Adnan Menderes, the prime minister executed by the army in the 1960s. In addition to the former president Turgut Ozal.”
All these “tried to change the constitution” and Erdogan is telling their souls that he finally succeeded. And by this Erdogan qualifies to be the one who succeeded to “change set laws” (Daniel 7:25).
The article continues even further exposing Erdogan’s significant moves:
But what sparked the international newspapers was the visit of the Sultan’s tomb, “Muhammad the Conqueror”, the “Islamic Prince” and the famous religious symbol of the Muslims. He also went to the burial place of Sultan Selim I, the ninth Ottoman sultan, and the first to carry the title of Prince “Amir” of the Ottomans … Some see President Erdogan’s visit to the tomb of Sultan Selim I, a reference to the title of the Sultan once again. Selim is the first to take the title of Prince of the Faithful from the Osman [Ottoman] family. Erdogan has long chanted the sultan’s slogans in front of his crowds. Does Erdogan really want to become the first?
In Islam, the one who gets the title of “Prince” becomes the man, the Caliph, the holder of the scepter to rule the Muslim world.
It is this type of prophecy that reveals the multiple facets in fulfillment where God covers the whole history of His people. This is key. Scripture strictly stated: “The people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary” (Daniel 9:26) was thought to have been Titus.
But to someone who was Muslim like myself, “Prince” in Islam is significant for a Caliph is titled “the prince of the faithful”.
And it wasn’t Titus who ordered the destruction of the Jewish Temple after all. It was his army, the mob, that, plus the Roman general, Titus, in 70 AD was never called a “prince”.
However he is a type of prince, as he does in a way fulfill the verse, for he was adopted by the emperor. But ultimately this “prince” is in regards to the Antichrist.
One needs to re-read a prophetic verse several times to see the multiple facets, eras and historic timeframe it is fulfilled. It is sort of like the Shroud of Turin where we find the face and the skull on one single sheet. The shroud is not simply a ‘painting’ but a set of information.
God is an amazing author. So when He constructs a prophecy, at face value it sound ridiculous to the scoffer, it is loaded to the wise and it kills multiple beasts with one stone.
In other words “the people [hegemony] of the prince [the Antichrist] that shall come [two millennia or so later]” these will be the ones who will destroy the temple in 70 A.D.
It can legitimately also be read as “the people of the prince [Titus] that shall come. These will be the ones who will destroy the temple.”
Both are perfectly legitimate interpretations. One as a warning for God’s people at Israel’s fall, while the other is a warning for God’s people at the Church’s fall (the falling away).
It can also be examined like this “the people [hegemony] of the prince [the Antichrist] that shall come [two millennia or so later] to destroy the [Christian] temple”, that is, the body of the believer, by defiling it with the mark of the beast. The believer is also a temple. One must read the text from the new perspective, the Church’s, as the book of Hebrews had a different plan from Israel’s sacrificial system in a temple building to a temple that consumes the bread of sacrifice.
So in other words, Antichrist comes from the same hegemony from the legion which under Titus it destroyed the Temple. This would be Legion X Fretensis. Josephus reveals this army as from “The greatest part of the Roman garrison was raised out of Syria”. Syria in ancient times expanded into Asia Minor, Turkey.
In other words, the people of the Antichrist will be the same people who sacked Jerusalem under Titus, namely Turks, Syrians and Arabs and he will be called “the Prince”.
And now we have Erdogan who wants to be titled as “Prince” and as a revived Selim I and Suleiman the Conqueror.
The multiple facets of reviewing prophecy is key. Without this key there erupts so many disagreements. So that when John writes of “seven mountains” which are “seven kingdoms” and “ten horns”, we find multiple interpretations, none of which completely fit perfectly unless we understand, there are multiple fulfillments.
We had the primitive church looking at ten pagan Roman emperors. In a way they are right. God warns his people all the time. But as a type.
But these prophecies also do fit in other various forms for we have 1. The Egyptian Empire with the first horn 2. The Assyrian Empire with the second horn. 3. The Babylonian Empire with the third horn. 4. The Persian Empire with the fourth horn. 5. The Greek Empire with the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th horns since after Alexander the Great it was divided to four. John then says and “one is”, at his time, this is number 6, the Roman Empire with the 9th horn. The 7th head (mountain) is then what took the mantle from the Roman. All historians would agree this would be the Ottoman Empire which would make Muhammad II as the 10th horn of this model.
This is why when we examine the primitive interpretation pointing 1. Augustus 2. Tiberius 3. Gaius 4. Caligula 5. Claudius, 6. Nero, 7. Titus, 8. Domitian … but no matter how they shuffled these it never completely fits.
While these are types, the prophecy must fit, like a glove, but this will only happen at the ultimate fulfillment. The prophecy repeats. While no one can draw the final outcome with precision until it happens, what we do know is that there is only one beast (threat) that fits John’s “seven mountains [kingdoms]” as well as Daniel’s Four Kingdoms, as well as the Two Legs of Daniel’s image and the Two Horns of the “lamb with two horns that speaks like a dragon”; all in one beast: the Islamic Caliphate.
No other history fits these prophecies combined except this one.
Let me explain in simple fashion. First of all, whoever persecuted the church throughout history must be the beast (the threat) mentioned in scripture. Nothing in history so perfectly fits like these seven heads and ten crowns. Anyone who disagrees must answer: where else would anyone find a beast that persecuted the woman (the church and the seed of Mary) like these seven Islamic dynasties?
Islam is four main caliphates:
In this image, history gladly shares the Muslim FOUR Dynasties
Here Muslims gladly share their SEVEN Dynasties. If in doubt, show this to a historian. There are four main caliphates (Rashidun, Umayyad, Abasid and Ottoman) with the other three within this same timeframe (Fatimid, Ayyubid and Al-Mohad) adding to seven caliphates (heads).
The Islamic caliphate also fits the two legs of Daniel for we have the Shiite and the Sunni divide. It fits John’s Leopard (Greece/Turkey) and Bear (Persia) in Revelation 13. It is also the one that brought down all kingdoms, the gold (Babylon/Iraq) the silver (Persia) the bronze (Greece) and the Iron (Byzantium, Roman) which Daniel insists that this beast take down all others. Rome never defeated Persia. Rome can never completely fit “the iron”, yet it does, in a way.
This one encompasses all. So when John says of the seven headed beast that “five [mountains/empires] have fallen” (Rev 17:10) these are pre-church that pertain to ancient Israel which we mentioned above (1. The Egyptian Empire with the first horn 2. The Assyrian Empire with the second horn. 3. The Babylonian Empire with the third horn. 4. The Persian Empire with the fourth horn. 5. The Greek Empire with the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th horns).
Then he says “one is” (the sixth, at John’s time) is the Roman, during the primitive church, the 9th horn and diadem. Then we have “the other that is not yet” which will be the seventh. This is the Ottoman Empire with Selim I, the 10th horn with a diadem.
It is here after the fall of this Ottoman Empire, the seventh head which was mortally wounded, where we have a break. When this empire received a mortal wound on its head it fell into the abyss, the earth, and died. This is why we have a break. This is why we have two beasts. The church age suffers two beasts (two massive threats) as clearly described by John; one comes as a “seven headed beast” which its seventh head is wounded to also come again as the second beast (in the end of days) described as “a lamb with two horns” which finally resurrects out of the grave (earth) and is why Erdogan is so fascinated with the dead Ottomans. So here is the prophecy starting with the first beast, the longest threat to God’s people:
“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast [first beast] rise up out of the [Mediterranean] sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten diadems, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. [denies Father and Son (Trinity), see 1 John 2:22]”
And there was seen another sign in heaven: and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads, and ten horns: and on his head seven diadems (Apocalypse 12:3)
This seven headed (7 caliphates) beast from 1. Rashidun to 7. Ottoman was controlled spiritually by the Arabian harlot city, Mecca and it made war with the church specifically at the Mediterranean region (the Sea): “it was given unto him to make war with the saints,” and “to overcome them” and it ruled “over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations”.
The red dots below presented on the Mediterranean sea are all the battles against the Church. Where were they fought? The Mediterranean sea. When scripture speaks of the “sea” its always the Mediterranean sea.
Each of these red dots is a war or battle between Christians and Muslims.
And Daniel gives us the same kingdoms, but as “Four Beasts” in Daniel chapter 7 arise out of “the Great Sea” (Daniel 7:2) because Islam has four main caliphates. And sure, the Four Beasts were history past for Greece, but they are also future: the Four Muslim Caliphates.
“The Great Sea” is the Mediterranean region, not the entire globe. That with all the literal nations of end-times encompasses only the Middle East and Asia Minor. If the first beast (Babylon), second beast (Medo-Persia) and third beast (Greece) all were out within the “Great Sea” (Mediterranean) then the fourth beast of Daniel 7 could only pertain to the Mediterranean Sea as well and it too has four dynasties.
To make the Antichrist rule the globe, many western interpreters today allegorize “The Great Sea” as “the sea of humanity.” In so doing, we lose the meaning and the intent of the prophecy. This reference to “The Great Sea” cannot be an allegory pertaining to the “sea of humanity” since every verse in the Bible refers to “The Great Sea” as the Mediterranean Sea (see Num 34:6-7, Jos 1:4, Jos 9:1, Jos 15:12, Jos 15:47, Jos 23:4, Ezek 47:10, 15, 19, 20, Ezek 48: 28).
Our analysis becomes crystal clear when we examine John:
“And the beast which was [Greco-Roman], and is not [at John’s time]: the same also is the eighth [the coming Antichrist], and is of the seven [the seventh], and goeth into destruction.” (Revelation 17:11)
So the two beasts John spoke of, one with seven heads, the first one, which finally got a mortal wound, this deadly wound, has to be on its seventh head, the last head, the Ottoman, and then the one which “looks like a lamb” is the eighth, the final one and “is of the seven” as the text strictly mandates.
This is crucial. So what fell in 1924, which was the Ottoman, must revive, most likely after 100 years in 2023-2024. All the biblical text that mention the literal names of nations involving the end-times match this Ottoman geographical composition to exact. If in doubt examine history in light of all nations in Ezekiel, Isaiah, Amos, Joel, Zechariah, Galatians … they all follow this model.
Therefore, understanding that God does not instruct only a select group helps tremendously in understanding these prophecies. Church history has already endured the first beast (which will revive again) as the second beast with two horns encompassing the two legs of Daniel. This is why when one continues reading John then ‘pop’, we have yet another beast, the ends of days beast:
“And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth [from the grave after being wounded to death]; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon and it exercises all the power of the first beast [which went to the grave] before him … whose deadly wound was healed [coming out of the grave of the dead].”
Is Erdogan’s actions making sense now? The first beast comes out of “the sea,” which are multitudes of nations, tribes and different tongues within the Mediterranean region then is “swallowed by the earth” (Rev 12:16). This is the same as when the seventh head (Ottoman Caliphate) which was wounded to death and John explicitly tells us “is also the eighth”.
This “also” makes it clear. Its the same empire: the Ottoman.
This is the “seventh,” which is also coming back as the “eighth” and is also “the second beast” resembling “the first beast” and the “four heads” which comes out of “the earth” after it was “swallowed by the earth” having received the deadly wound coming back again with two divisions: Turkey (leopard/Greece/Turkey) and Persia (Iran).
It all fits. Like a glove. I know that this a big load to fathom, but keep in mind “it exercises all the power of the first beast”. Scripture several times makes this point.
So it must be the same type of empire.
Some still even today allude to Rome as this beast. But this is impossible. Rome did not expand throughout church history as a persecutor of the church unless the Cathars were the real Christians and we are all confused. For Rome to fit, one must show how it persecuted the saints throughout the ages. This is impossible to do. While some allude to the Cathar wars, these were no saints and no sound Protestant today would agree with their heretical theology (examined here).
It is this model which we followed for two decades and so far, it is happening, perfectly.
What we have been saying for a while now has become obvious to all in the Middle East from Morocco to Israel but not to the West, yet. Elwehda Moroccan newspaper explains:
It seems to some that what is happening in Turkey today is merely a political and ideological rivalry between two opposing fronts, one clinging to the Ataturkian model and the other defending the Erbakan model. But a little bit of reflection suggests that the bets of the model led by Erdogan have roots in the the global organization of the Muslim Brotherhood Founded by Hasan al-Banna [in Egypt], which aims to restore the model of Islamic caliphate. Erdogan’s ambition remains not only to establish the authorities in his hands as president of Turkey, but also to legitimize the launching of the series of rebuilding the Islamic caliphate state that has revived in our contemporary history the Muslim Brotherhood based in Turkey.
And the Muslim Brotherhood, which under Erdogan is now ruling the second most powerful army in NATO after the U.S., will be soon heading towards their homeland of Egypt and is why Daniel speaks of the king of the North (Turkey) going towards the king of the south (Egypt).
Any doubting Thomasses please read our previous critics first to see their folly.