We are going to review Revelation to observe what it says about the three beasts of the last days. They are the Dragon, the Antichrist and the False Prophet. We call this the Unholy Trinity for this reason. While Orthodox Christians believe the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one in the same God, the three beasts of Revelation are not one in the same, but three separate entities. The Dragon will empower both the Antichrist and False Prophet.

The Dragon (Satan)

Revelation 12:3-4a “And another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven, and threw them to the earth.”

Revelation 12:7-9 “And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. And the dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”

Revelation 13:1 “And he stood on the sand of the seashore. And I saw a beast (dragon) coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names.”

Revelation 17:9 “The seven heads are seven mountains on which the Woman sits”. Based on the following verses, we see that the seven mountains are representative of kingdoms, and the horns are the kings.

Revelation 17:18 “And the Woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.”

Revelation 16:19 “And the great city (Woman) was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And Babylon the great (Woman) was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.”

Revelation 13:2-4 “And the dragon gave him (Antichrist) his power and his throne and great authority. And I saw one of his (dragon’s ) heads (kingdom/Antichrist) as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast (Antichrist); and they worshiped the beast (Antichrist), saying ‘Who is like the beast (Antichrist), and who is able to wage war with him?’ And he (Antichrist) opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name…”

Revelation 13:7 “And it was given to him (Antichrist) to make war with the saints and to overcome them; and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation (sea) was given to him. And all who dwell on the earth will worship him (Antichrist), everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.”

Revelation 17:8 “The beast (Antichrist) that you saw was and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and to go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth will wonder, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come.”

Revelation 11:7 (Regarding the two witnesses) “And when they have finished their testimony, the beast (Antichrist) that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them.”

Revelation 9:2 “And he opened the bottomless pit;…” Verse 11 then states, “They have a king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon.” If you compare this to Revelation 17:8, we see that the Antichrist is about to come up out of the abyss and to go to destruction. Abaddon is Hebrew (from the root Abraam – Abraham) and means a destroying angel. Apollyon is Greek and means a destroyer (i.e. Satan).

Revelation 13:11-13 “And I saw another beast (false prophet) coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb (Jesus is called the Lamb of God), and he spoke as a dragon (Satan). And he exercises all the authority of the first beast (Antichrist) in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast (Antichrist), whose fatal wound was healed. And he performs great signs…”

Revelation 13:16-18 “And he (false prophet) causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand, or on their forehead, and he provides that no one should be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast (Antichrist) or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six. (see codex symbols below under "false prophet"). This is also known as the mark of the beast.

Based on many sources, including the book, “What Is the Antichrist-Islam Connection”, which outlines the prophecy of Daniel and King Nebukadnezar’s dream (the king of Babylon), and the testimony of converted PLO Muslim terrorist, Walid Shoebat, we are going to look at Islam and how it aligns with the prophecies of the three beasts of Revelation. I'm not purposefully trying to attack Islam, but if you want more information, observe current events in my hub, "UN 2009: Israel and Iran Heat Up!": http://hubpages.com/hub/UN_2009_Israel_and_Iran_Heats_Up. Moving forward:

The Dragon (Nations)

We know that the dragon comes up from the sea of peoples, nations, tribes and tongues. Because the Woman sits upon this beast with seven heads and ten horns, and is representative of the great city of Babylon, we get an idea where the location of these kingdoms are. Looking at the map here, know that the countries of Islam include various peoples, nations, tribes and tongues, all who share the same religion.

In Revelation 13:1 we read that on the heads of this dragon were blasphemous names. The Allah of Islam is described in the Qur'an as “the lord of the dawn”, “the lord of the worlds (this world and the underworld)”, the “greatest of all deceivers”, and so many more! The antitheses of the Qur'an will take another hub to address more fully.

Let’s just look at how the Bible refutes these blasphemous Muslim names of God for a minute:

“Lord of the Dawn” Q.3.54

Isaiah 14:12 “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the dawn! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!”

“Lord of the worlds (this world and the underworld)” Q.20.14

2 Corinthians 4:4 “In whom the god of this world [Satan] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

Revelation 9:11 “And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit (underworld), whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.”

“The Best of Deceivers” S.3.54; cf. 8.30

Revelation 12:9 “And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”

In Revelation 12:14-17, we see the dragon (who comes up out of the sea , the Islamic nations) go after the woman (Jews) who gave birth to a son (Jesus Christ), a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child (Jesus) was caught up to God and to His throne (Rev 12:5).

Verse 14: “And the two wings of the great eagle (I believe this to represent the United States of America) were given to the woman (Israel), in order that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time (3 ½ years), from the presence of the serpent.

Verse 17 “And the dragon (Islamic nations) was enraged with the woman (Jews), and went off to make war with the rest of her offspring (believers), who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”

In the Qu’ran, Muslims are expecting their 12^th Imam, who they call their Mahdi (the guided one). He is to be of the same name as "Muhammad". In the video below, you will see that he was and is not and will come. Looking at the definition of Abaddon, and the fact that the root comes from Abraham, note that Islam claims to come from Abraham, through his son Ishmael.

Daniel 11:37-38 states of the Antichrist, “He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will magnify himself above them all. But instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold, silver, costly stones and treasures.”

It is no secret that Muslims do not honor women. They worship the god of fortresses (war or Jihad), and seek to destroy (Abaddon/Apollyon) Jews and Christians, the saints. The Antichrist is given power (by the dragon) to overcome and kill the two witnesses and persecute the saints.

Because Walid Shoebat revealed that the all the nations God judges in the Old Testament are Islamic ones, and that the Mahdi supposedly was born in 869 AD, do we now understand John's comment in 1 John 4:2-3 “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.”

Interestingly enough, Muslims also predict that Jesus (Isa), will come back with the Mahdi to "pray behind him". Just as the Bible predicts the reign of the Antichrist with the false prophet for seven years, the Qur'an predicts the Mahdi and Jesus (Isa) will also reign for seven years. If their Jesus is aligned with the biblical false prophet, he will force all to “be given” the mark of the beast.

Walid Shoebat, when studying the codex, discovered something shocking about the symbols of the mark of the beast, which the majority of Christians have interpreted to mean numerals 666. When he saw the symbols, he recognized them! They are Islamic symbols used today and are interpreted from right to left as “In the name of” / “Allah” and the third symbol represents the two swords of jihad (Islam/war)!

Furthermore, I read a forum post dated September 14, 2007 made by Gaborone, Botswana, a Muslim and is quoted (ref web link http://www.topix.com/forum/religion/islam/TR7C7J1NI25ANTKL5) as follows:

“Great Job meat popsicle . You really discovered the hidden mystery of Book of revelation .This book is written by Satan , not by any one else . 666 is a holly number relates with Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon them ), the chosen people of GOD . Satan tried to create bad impression on whom 666 is to be found . As Satan knows that both Jesus' and Muhammad's names will be related with 666 , hence he refered 666 as the mark of beast in Bible .”

Regarding this mark on the right hand or forehead, it may very well be as simple as being given a headband. Muslims wear headbands with symbols, names, and causes. We don’t know what type of mark would involve the right hand, but again Revelation is prophetic.

If you are interested in hearing the personal testimony of how Jesus appeared to a Muslim, click here!  http://www.muslimjourneytohope.com/testimonies/testimony_afshin.wmv

2 Thessalonians 2:3 states, “Let no one in any way deceive you, for it (the Day of the Lord) will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction (destroying angel/Antichrist), who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.”

Believers, at least we know where to look, and just as Islam nations eagerly seek the coming of their 12^th Imam, their Mahdi along with their prophet called Jesus (Isa), we will also be comforted that the Day of the Lord is at hand, when the real Messiah (the King of kings and Lord of Lords, Yeshua Ha'Mashiach [Jesus, the Messiah]) will come to rule these nations with a rod of iron, defeating all evil, and set up His kingdom where we will reign with Him throughout the millennia and enjoy eternity going in and out of the New Jerusalem, established in the New Heaven and New Earth. Come, Lord Jesus, Come!