As many as 8 Islamists, either affliated with or else inspired by ISIS, armed with automatic rifles and clothed in black, simultaneously attacked two different locations in Russia’s Dagestan. In Derbent, the gunmen fired at a synagogue and then burned it down with a molotov cocktail, before attacking an Orthodox church, setting an icon alight and killing the priest and the security guard that were there. In Makhachkala, other gunmen attacked a police station, and another Orthodox church. Gun battles went on for hours and into the night. In all, 15 policemen and 5 civilians were killed, and 45 others were wounded. Eventually, 6 gunmen were shot dead, and 2 were captured alive. Russia is classifying this as a “terrorist” attack (ref. 1).
Remarkably, 2 of the 8 gunmen were sons of a local official, Magomed Omarov (ref. 2). He has now been dismissed from his office, and is under investigation.
While there might be aspects of terrorism in this attack, it seems to me that this was also an insurgency of sorts, an attempted uprising to make the province of Dagestan entirely or properly Islamic.
The Bible prophesies that this sort of thing will happen in these last days. Daniel 7 reads that at the time of the Assyrian and the fourth beast, much of this world is going to be devoured and broken into pieces. This means, some nations will break apart, and enclaves of Islamic rule will form.
Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
Daniel 7:23
Today, in Europe, already some Muslim majority suburbs have been described as “no-go zones”. In England, there is Luton. In Australia, Lakemba in Western Sydney comes to mind.
This coming caliphate, an empire of the Assyrian, will be different from all other empires before it. Besides having the strength of “iron”, ie. the supernatural power of demons, it will not be contiguous. Its borders will be like that because there are Islamists almost everywhere across the world, and the fundamental mission of Islam is to take the entire world by the sword.
After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.
Daniel 7:7
But in the end, all of it will be destroyed, and everyone who fought for the Assyrian or even pledged allegiance to him in these last days will be killed and then sent to the prison of hell. This explains why the Bible says, his name is Death and Hell followed with him.
And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
Revelation 6:8
To avoid this fate, a person who is currently a Muslim must renounce the god of Islam, and not follow or pledge allegiance (ba’yah) to the forthcoming caliph.
Of course, the Assyrian and his jihadis will think that they are invincible and that Islam will be victorious.
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?
Revelation 13:4
They will not realise that their empire will only last for 3.5 years.
So, this is a question of faith in the word of God. And remember, ultimately one is always saved by faith.
References:
1. Guy Faulconbridge (25 June 2024), “Death toll rises to 20 after gunmen attack Russia’s Dagestan”, reuters.com
2. Eva Hartog (24 June 2024), “Dagestani official sacked after sons implicated in Sunday’s deadly attacks”, politico.eu