Who is Daesh?

Last Friday I'd planned to sit down and finish this French book I've been reading that's been taking forever. I was wrapping things up online first when I saw there was a series of terrorist attacks underway in Paris. I still haven't finished that book.

It was weird. While the situation was still ongoing, Obama immediately came forward saying not to jump to conclusions about who was behind the attacks. I assume he also worked behind the scenes to block NATO's involvement. It would turn out that Daesh(pronounced dah esh) was behind it. They had a busy week. Paris. The Russian airliner. Lebanon. They make about $1mil a day in black market oil revenue. They can fund a lot of terrorism.

Before NATO didn't get involved and before Hollande requested EU involvement, I pondered what would happen next. The conclusion was that France had to go to war. Not a few bombs dropped but a real war with troops on the group. Daesh has its own country. The maps on that page are from last year, but they convey the general idea. They're tied down. They can be invaded and defeated. Not invading their country would be the end of France, whose existence is already at risk.

I thought about the Gog and Magog war and the Psalm 83 war and the destruction of Damascus in Isaiah 17. They're all waiting in the wings and look a lot closer. Some people think WWIII has already started. Hmm. I'm not willing to go there. It depends on who helps Daesh and who is helping them behind the scenes. Who funded their rise to power until they could seize the oil fields? If there's an invasion, will Muslim countries ally with Daesh and fight the EU?

I had more interesting thoughts than WWIII. When Daesh first declared a caliphate, I thought of Revelation 16:10:

And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,

The anti-Christ will have his own kingdom. Caliphate is another word for a kingdom. Assuming the anti-Christ has a Muslim father(too big a topic for this blog), it's reasonable to think that the caliphate is being prepared for him to rule. If that's true, then Daesh cannot be defeated. Somehow in some way, events will conspire to ensure the continued existence of the caliphate. So far nothing's been able to stop them. Their country is small, but it keeps existing, when it would be easy to wipe out.

Who is Daesh? Are we witnessing the rise of the kingdom in Revelation 16:10? We'll have to keep watching and see how it all plays out. Even if their leaders are defeated in a war and removed from power, the caliphate could still survive. That's what I want to know, whether the caliphate survives and becomes more than a group of desert barbarians. I want to see if a peacemaker emerges to rule the caliphate.