THE DREAM OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR (Daniel 2:1): “In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, he dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him”. (Daniel 2-19): “”Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision . . . what we desired of thee”. Daniel had the keenest awareness that everything going on in Babylon including anything going on with Nebuchadnezzar, was under the perfect control of Almighty God. (Daniel 2:29): “As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter, and he had revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass . . . Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image”. God gave the dream to Nebuchadnezzar and he saw a great statue of a man. It was both excellent and terrible, and foretold the sequence of coming world empires and events. Its gold head represented the current Babylonian Empire (at the time of Daniel 2). It’s silver breast and arms represented the successor Medo-Persian Empire (today’s Iran). Brass thighs prophesied of Greece, (compare to the Image of the Beast in Revelation 13) and the iron legs foresaw the Roman Empire; iron and clay feet, the Holy Roman Empire. The feet represent an empire with a dual nature: religion and politics (church and state). (Daniel 2:44-45): “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. For inasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure”. HISTORY: The politics of the defunct Roman Empire revived under the manipulation of the Roman Catholic Church was eventually was renamed “The Holy Roman Empire”, which we are seeing revived today. The Medes and Persians fell under the domination of the neo-Assyrian empire based in Mesopotamia. Ancient Assyria is modern Iraq. These are the empires that have successively dominated the Euro-Asian Mid-east region for 2500 years. These empires have had dramatic effects on the dispersed Jews that descended from ancient Israel. These are the empires that have most affected the people and/or land of Israel since ancient times. As you can see, all this history is showing how the strength of the Roman Empire is making a comeback. It has exerted powerful influence on German politics, with the German Kaisers deriving their names from the Roman Caesars. We also see that Europe is seemingly trying to put in its bid for power. The Holy Roman Empire has been built upon ancient Roman law. Even in modern times, many believe that Pope Pius XII was complicit with Adolph Hitler’s Third Reich. Today, Roman Catholicism is still seen as exercising its influence in high political places. More is said about this later in this text. THE BEASTS THAT ARISE FROM THE SEA (Revelation 13:1): “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten hors, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy”. [New World Order]. (Rev. 13:2) The Beasts had the appearance of a Leopard, a Bear and a Lion. These are symbols which Daniel used to describe World Powers. The fourth beast that had eagle’s wings is believed to be a symbol of the United States, when the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 – fulfilling a 2,300-year-old prophecy. (Daniel 7:2-3): “Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first was like a lion, and had eagles wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a mans heart was given to it”. (Daniel 7:4) Prophecy scholars have agreed, as the Bible has stated, the beasts are nations. The symbol of Great Britain is a lion. The bear is the symbol of Russia. Lastly, the leopard is an old foe whom we have seen before – its symbol of the four-headed leopard depicts the Fourth Reich (or subsequent kingdoms) of Germany. The symbol of the United States of America is the American Eagle. Many have been confused regarding the “beasts”. The beasts described more fully in the following verses are configured in two ways: (1) The two beasts are nations conspiring together as allies to rule the world; (2) The actual Lamb-Beast (who is the false prophet) and the Leopard-Beast (who is the antichrist). We must keep these two beasts, the false prophet and the antichrist separate in our minds. However, there is a third entity, who is called the Dragon (that is Satan himself). At some point, Satan takes possession of the Leopard-Beast, who then takes the position that he is God (the Almighty God of the Universe). Satan gave him his power, seat and great authority. (Rev. 13:2-5): “And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon [Satan] gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast [antichrist]. 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? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and a power was given unto him to continue forty and two months”. (vv.7-9): “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear”. THE BEAST THAT ARISES FROM THE EARTH (Revelation 13:11-18): “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a Lamb, and he spake as a Dragon [false prophet]. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast [antichrist] before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast [antichrist], whose deadly wound was healed. And he [false prophet] doeth great wonders so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast [antichrist], which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. HERE IS WISDOM: Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six (666)”.
Posted on: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 19:56:17 +0000
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