Expecting the Little Horn aka: Antichrist? Not so fast!

 The Fourth Kingdom - the Kingdom of Antichrist, the King's Image and the Beast:  

   Before the Antichrist can waltz out on the world stage and fill the role of global dictator, several things must be in place; Daniel's fourth beast kingdom must be in position of global dominance and, ten kings must rise out of this kingdom. 

   There are two prophetic portrayals of the fourth kingdom found in Daniel; the fourth beast of ten horns: Daniel 7:7-25 and the feet and toes of iron and shard clay: Daniel 2:40--45. The fourth beast, is the kingdom from where the little horn rises from - making the fourth kingdom, the antichrist kingdom. The fourth beast parallels the feet and toes of iron and shard clay, indicating that the tribulation kingdom rises in the latter days, after the time period of the legs of iron has expired. The legs of iron are skipped over, with barely a mention - 4 words in half a verse: Daniel 2:33a, which doesn't provide additional details.

   Nebuchadnezzar, ruled the entire middle east from Babylon. This kingdom was given to him by the God of heaven: Daniel 2:37-38, also Jeremiah 27:6-7. The King was plagued by a dream that haunted his waking hours and he tossed and turned in his bed. Nebuchadnezzar, the prideful king worried about the future of his kingdom and what would become of it in the latter days: Daniel 2:28,29; 4:20. The dream image reveals the answers. 

   The dream is prophetic in nature, presenting a futuristic timeline of the Babylon kingdom. The image not only foretold of two additional kingdoms, one of silver and one of brass, that would rise to rule the middle east but, it foretells the prophesied fall of Babylon, and the rise of a fourth kingdom in the latter days, the feet and toes of iron and clay. 

   There are four kingdoms but five time periods in Daniel 2, indicating that the time period (2,349 years so far) that falls between the third kingdom and the fourth kingdom, fulfill the prophecy of the fall of Babylon. The focus of the dream image revolves around the desire of the king to know what will become of his kingdom in the latter days.... placing the entire focus of Daniel 2, on Babylon. 

Babylon the Great: Rome or Babylon?

   The prophecy of Revelation 17 details a great city, metaphorically depicted as a woman, who sits in the wilderness with her companion; a beast with seven heads and ten horns. The woman, dressed in scarlet and purple is a bastion of spiritual depravity, who has kingship over the kings of the earth in the last days. She is economically corrupt, a habitation of foul spirits, regulating a religious merchant system of buying and selling. 

   During the time period of great tribulation, those who wonder after the beast: R 13:3b; 17:8b, will bow in submission before its image, its name, or the number of the name of it, and receive a mark. The mark is worn on the right hand or the forehead, granting special privileges to buy and sell: 13:15-17. Those who refuse this global ordinance will be killed. 

   The woman, that great city who rules over the kings of the earth, will be a global economic powerhouse, regulating the flow of merchandise tied to the global spiritual harlotry of buying and selling: 17:1; 18:3,11-19. And, for this harlotry, she faces judgement.

   ...  Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath: Revelation 16:19b

    John is literally in the midst of great tribulation, serving as a witness, watching it unfold,  when an Angel appears. The Angel arrives to explain why Babylon has been singled out by God for judgement. The Angel shows John the judgement of the woman arrayed in scarlet and purple, adorned with the riches of the world. Her name is Babylon the Great indicating a middle eastern location, in the heart of the ancient Babylonian kingdom. In order for a judgement to occur, there needs to be a merchant city in the land of Shinar, the land between the rivers, the ancient Babylonian kingdom. 

   The Bible details a great city which will exist in the future. But over the course of history,  Babylon has been removed from prophecy, and exchanged with Rome. Not only has Babylon been replaced with Rome, but, the entire middle east has been replaced by Europe. 

   Somewhere down the line, Babylon was replaced by Rome; removing the prophetic significance of Babylon in the last days.  

Revelation 18: Babylon the Great, The Merchant Port City

   Babylon the Great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His  fierce wrath...  

   Revelation 17 begins with an interlude; a pause from the events of the great tribulation period. One of the seven angels with one of the seven bowls took John by the spirit, into the wilderness, a barren and desolate desert to show John why Babylon was singled out for judgement: 17:1-3. Here John sees a woman dressed in scarlet and purple, adorned with the riches of the world carried upon a scarlet beast kingdom, which has seven heads and ten horns. John details that the entire kingdom is full of blasphemy - blasphemous men and women who mock the God of heaven, while worshiping a false and malicious god. 

   The woman sits upon many waters - seven world kingdoms, that belong to the beast, demonstrating her ruling power over the kings of the earth, and many peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues. She is drunk on power and the golden cup in her hands is full of vile and abominable things. The name written on her forehead is one of mystery; Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth; indicating a middle east location. 

   John also witnessed a plot of vengeance, a conspiracy, against the woman, organized by ten horns / ten kings who rise from the head of Daniel's fourth beast; placing the fourth beast into the tribulation period. Daniel's fourth beast is an amalgamation of three previous beast kingdoms which ruled the middle east: the lion, the bear and the leopard: Daniel 7:7,19; Revelation 13:2a. The angel identifies the woman, Babylon the Great, as that great city, who rules over the kings of the earth in verse 18. 

   After John is shown all these things, a second angel comes down from heaven having great power and, lightens the earth with his glory:18:1. John isn't taken in the spirit, when the second angel arrives, indicating that John and the first angel, are still in the wilderness, where the beast, and the woman are located: 17:3. 

The Image and the Mark: Revelation 13:11-17

   Which comes first, the baby or the birth pains? Any mother will tell you, that birth pains arrive before the baby does. What we are witnessing, is the rise of global birth pains; wars and threats of wars, famines and earthquakes, the beginning of sorrows - the birth pains that precede the baby's arrival. The baby represents the birth of a new era; the second coming of Christ Jesus. 

   The same logic applies to the image and the mark. You can not have the mark without the image. The image must be in existence before the mark is enforced. Just as the birth pains come before the baby, the image comes before the mark. 

   So, where is it? 

   We often hear about how this or that is the 'mark of the beast.' It's a barcode, a jab, A.I., a microchip, digital I.D., Sunday law, a fingerprint, an eye scan, our cell phones, a brain implant, an electronic pill.... If 'this and that' is the 'mark of the beast', then, where is the image? What is it and, when was submission to an image required to make everyday purchases? 

Idols of Gold and Silver: Revelation 9:20-21

   And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

 

   These two verses sum up the events following the sixth trumpet judgement, focusing on the unrepentant state of a godless population. The two-thirds 2/3 who are still alive after one-third 1/3 of the population is killed: (Rev 9:13-19), flock to the altar of self-indulgence to worship the Babylon gods of gold, silver, brass, wood and stone. 

   Mankind has turned primal; driven to madness by the demons they worship. They commit mass murders, and are addicted to potions of mind-altering drugs. They remain unrepentant of their evil works: murders, wicked acts of fornication, thefts and sorceries. Sorceries is a translation from the Greek word; pharmakōn - drugs: toxins and poisons used with spirit channeling, demon summoning and spell-binding. Wickedness rules a world where lawlessness abounds.  

Revelation 13 Rise of the False Prophet

Beast Out of the Earth: The False Prophet: 

   The beast out of the earth represents the religion or, religious system of the first beast; the beast out of the sea.  

   The beast out of the sea is a kingdom, specifically recognized by ten kings, and the eleventh king; the little horn or, antichrist. The beast out of the earth is the religion or religious system of the first beast, recognized by its 'king'; the false prophet. The beast out of the earth has the same power of the first beast: the beast out of the sea.

   During the tribulation period, the beast kingdom (iron) is regulated by its religious system (clay). This religious system  is governed by the sorcerer, the false prophet. This is the religious system that attacks Israel and those who have the testimony of Christ Jesus. 

   False prophet is from the Greek: ψευδοπροφητης which means: to prophesize falsely, a medium. This should come as no surprise, as the beast out of the earth, speaks the words of the red dragon: the murderer, the father of lies: John 8:44. The false prophet works as a religious cheerleader, promoting the kingdom of darkness and its king; the little horn. 

   The false prophet is a high priest, a sorcerer, the master magician who rules in the kings court, performing great signs and wonders, deceiving those who dwell upon the earth. These signs and wonders are nothing new, as they have been practiced by sorcerers and magicians for thousands of years, throughout the post-flood Mesopotamia. The courts of the Kings, along with the palaces of the Pharaohs, were filled with false prophets: magicians, sorcerers, seers, diviners, enchanters and necromancers; working in service to their kings. 

   This is what the false prophet represents; a master magician working in service to the king. 

Hermeneutics - Bible Interpretation 101

Bible Interpretation 101:

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” – Proverbs 27:17

   I recently watched an outstanding teaching by Mondo Gonzales from Prophecy Watchers entitled "Walking into the Antichrist's Trap." While I listened, I noticed a consistent pattern of Hermeneutics concerning Israel, the future covenant and the role of antichrist in the end days. He flawlessly weaved prophecy together in harmony with scripture; intertwining Daniel with Revelation in unity. This is how interpretive scripture works.

   I had done an independent study on the 'principles of Hermeneutics' eons ago, so I dug out those old notes, and walked down memory lane. These principles had guided my studies of prophecy, which has been ongoing for nearly four decades. I investigate, analyze and scrutinize prophetic scripture, always have, always will. The most amazing thing with this method of interpretation is, the more you analyze and scrutinize, the more the Bible reveals. 

   When studying prophecy, “I think" or, "I believe" is a great way to begin a brainstorming session or, in-depth study but, they are not proper biblical hermeneutical principles.

  Hermeneutics is a big word for a simple principle; it is the theory and methodology of interpretation; the 'how' of interpretation. It is based upon scripture and methodical interpretation; not assumptions or general beliefs that lack proof or scriptural support - scripture interprets scripture.