Hi John and Doves,
Hi Matt K. I have been following with interest your debate with Donna Danna
and the Watchman, regarding the Islamic Beast Empire vs. Roman Empire of
the “last days”.
I have previously written material on this
subject and will shortly be posting a complete booklet about the Beast and
False Prophet of Rev. 13.
You appear to think there is only one
beast mentioned in Rev. 13 – I quote from your
post of 30 Sept. 2006 in reply to Dave’s –
“That
being said, I believe you make a crucial error when you discuss the beast
of Revelation 17 upon which Mystery Babylon sits. This beast is a person, not an empire. It is the
same beast we are introduced to in Rev. 13. We know it is a man, because
Rev. 13:18 tells us so.”
Rev. 13 clearly states there are two
beasts – one rises out of the sea – the other out of the land.
The first is an empire because it is derived from the three
old Empires of Lion (Babylon), Bear (Persia), and Leopard (Greece/Macedonian) Empires. These figures are clearly
represented in Daniel 7 as Kingdoms or Empires - Dan. 7:23.
The 1st Beast Empire is given
a “mouth” i.e. “spokesman” or “political head”. The second beast
is a man who exercises all the power of
the first Beast Empire (Rev. 13:12). In Rev. 19:20 both of these “personages”
are thrown into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. I believe therefore
that there are two men – one that we could call “The Mouth” and the other
called “666”. You are right about this 2nd beast, we
are told he is a man, the number of his name is
666. (Rev. 13:17-18). He is later called the False
Prophet in Rev. 16:13, 19:20 and 20:10.
It is obvious that it is the Beast
Empire on which the woman of Revelation 17 sits. Although she is
in some sense keeping the Beast subdued, it is also obvious that there is
some sort of “alliance” between the Beast and the woman, until the Beast
Empire and 10 horns (leaders with power) turn on her to destroy her.
As time progresses, I am increasingly coming
to the conclusion that the Whore – Mystery Babylon – is represented by “apostate
Europe” – i.e., Rome, Constantinople, The Crusades, the Inquisition, The
Holocaust, etc. when the Jews “O. T. saints” and “prophets” blood was shed.
At the present moment, the Islamic World is eyeing the old Ottoman Empire
territory, and hopes to reclaim it – Eurabia is
within their sights. The Book “Eurabia – The
Euro-Arab Axis” by Bat Ye’or sheds quite a lot
of light on this subject.
The Roman Empire:
I believe the Roman Empire as an
Empire is finished. The “last manifestation” or “end-descendent”
of the 4th “dreadful and terrible” Roman Beast
of (Daniel 7:7) was to be destroyed at some point in the future according
to Daniel 7:11 “I beheld then because of
the voice of the great words which the horn spake;
I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given
to the burning flame.”
See my post http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/sep2006/ear919-2.htm
However, Daniel 7:12 explains that the other three beast Empires described by him - Lion,
Bear and Leopard – (Daniel 7:4-6) have a future purpose - “As concerning the rest of the beasts, they
had their dominion taken away; yet their lives were prolonged for a season
and time.”
These same three beasts reappear in Revelation
13:1-2 in a new configuration as a “composite beast” made up from
all three; and their dominion is obviously restored by the dragon (Satan)
-
“...and saw a beast rise up out of
the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns,
and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 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 gave
him his power, and his seat, and great authority.”
This end time Empire is the last of seven
previous Empires which arose out of the same area. It is described in Rev.
17:11 as “the beast that was, and is not, even he is
the eighth, and is OF the seven...” The three previous
Beast Empires all based their operations in Babylon, and made it their Capital.
It is this composite “Grecian/Persian/Babylonian”
Beast Empire which will “make war with the saints”, and will “overcome them”
for 42 months (Rev. 13:5-7). This Beast lies in quite separate territory
from Rome/Europe, but has a lot to do with the old Babylonian, Persian and
Grecian Empires territory, which were the underlying foundation for the
ten modern Nations of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Libya – all Islamic countries.
The 1st Beast Empire is accompanied
by a “man” – the 2nd Beast (Rev. 13:11-18) - who exercises all
the power of the composite 1st beast Empire, and both are empowered
by the Dragon (Rev. 13:2).
This is the “Unholy Trinity” which will
plague the World during the 42 month period during which it has again been
given dominion – i.e. the Dragon (Satan) the 1st Beast (Islamic
Empire) and the 2nd Beast (False Prophet - 666).
In Christ, EAR