There are few places from bible where God
has left us a clue concerning the identity of Antichrist,
where he comes from. Let's start with Daniel 9:26.
Daniel 9:26 And after threescore and two
weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and
the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the
city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with
a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are
determined.
"The people of the prince to come"
Many bible scholars have explained this
verse already. In 70 AD, it was the Roman soldiers led by
general Titus destroyed the city Jerusalem. They are "the
people" of "the prince to come". "the prince to come" is
the "he" who shall confirm the covenant with many in verse
27. He is recognized as the Antichrist by many Christians
and bible scholars. He wasn't there in 70 AD when Titus
ransacked Jerusalem. "to come" means his appearance is in
future. And God is very explicit where he shall come from.
He shall come from Rome, because it was his people Roman
soldiers who destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD.
From Daniel 9:27, we learn that Antichrist
shall confirm a covenant with many nations including
Israel in one week ( 7 years). But in the middle of the 7
years, he shall cause the oblation and sacrifice to cease.
During the 7 years tribulation, Israel shall re-institute
and restore their daily sacrifice. But Antichrist shall
cause their daily sacrifice to cease. Moreover, because of
his abomination, he shall also make the land of Israel
desolate. Tragedy shall fall on Israel beginning in the
middle of 7 years tribulation. Where else can we find this
tragedy and calamity besides Daniel 9:27?
Isaiah 47:5 Sit thou silent, and get thee
into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt
no more be called, The lady of kingdoms.
6 I was wroth with my people, I have
polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand:
thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou
very heavily laid thy yoke.
Through the prophet Isaiah, God has spoken
one day He would give His people Israel and His
inheritance which is the promised land to a lady of
kingdoms. Not only that she will not show mercy to the
Jews, she shall lay a very heavy yoke on them. This
cruelty echo the act of Antichrist in Daniel 9:27, that
is, to bring tragedy and calamity to the Jews in the
middle of tribulation. According to Zechariah 13:8-9, 2/3
of the Jews shall be killed, while 1/3 shall be led
captive all over the world. To identify this lady of
kingdoms, we find some characteristic of her.
Isaiah 47:1 Come down, and sit in the dust,
O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is
no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no
more be called tender and delicate.
The traditional interpretation is these
virgin daughter of Babylon are the people from Babylon in
6 century BC. Babylon did destroy Jerusalem in 6 century
BC, but they are known for their cruelty and ferocity. God
calls these virgin daughter of Babylon tender and delicate
from their beginning. This doesn't sound right with the
cruelty of Babylonian soldiers. It is clearly understood
that God has spoken a different group of people here.
2 Take the millstones, and grind meal:
uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh,
pass over the rivers.
3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy
shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not
meet thee as a man.
God sees nakedness and shame from these
virgin daughters of Babylon. There is nothing shame about
Babylonian soldiers in 6 century BC because it was God's
purpose to give Judah to them. When God sees shame and
nakedness of a group of people, most of the time God
speaks of a run away religion, a cult, an apostate
religion. And from verse 5 and 6, God has outlined the
identity of these virgin daughters.
5 Sit thou silent, and get thee into
darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no
more be called, The lady of kingdoms.
Besides worshiping God and Jesus Christ,
Roman Catholic church also elevates mother Mary to a
co-redeemer position. She has the authority to pardon
sins. This Marian worship is worldwide and has her statue
in every Catholic church. RCC has billions of followers in
the world, and their influence is huge, even extends to
politicians, kings, and many bureaucracies. The lady of
kingdoms is RCC. Mary is "the lady" in this lady of
kingdoms.
Concerning why would God call RCC followers
the virgin daughter of Babylon, we find the clue in
Zechariah 5:5-11.
Zechariah 5:5 Then the angel that talked
with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine
eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth. 6 And I said,
What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth
forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through
all the earth. 7 And, behold, there was lifted up a talent
of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of
the ephah. 8 And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast
it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of
lead upon the mouth thereof. 9 Then lifted I up mine eyes,
and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the
wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings
of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth
and the heaven. 10 Then said I to the angel that talked
with me, Whither do these bear the ephah? 11And he said
unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar: and
it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.
Zechariah saw a woman move to Shinar, builds
a house there, and sets there as her own base. Shinar is
Babylon, modern day Iraq. God calls this woman wickedness.
This woman is the same woman who rides the beast in
Revelation 17. While in Zechariah 5:8 God calls this woman
wickedness, in Revelation 17 God calls her a whore. This
woman is RCC. The reason God calls her wickedness and
whore because RCC shall become an apostate religion and
leads many astray in the 7 years tribulation.They already
gone astray by believing salvation is not good enough. To
get saved, they have added "work" which is against Paul's
teaching. They also believe in purgatory which is
nonsense, because once we leave our body, we are presence
with our Lord Jesus.
When RCC moves their church to Babylon, God
changes their title and starts calling them the virgin
daughters of Babylon. They seem tender and delicate
because RCC always speaks of peace and love.
Concerning the timing of their move, I place
the move during the first half of tribulation based on
Daniel 11:28.
Now that we identify the lady of kingdoms
is RCC, we can conclude that Antichrist shall come from
RCC, and lays a very heavy yoke against Israelis in
middle of tribulation. God has also spoken of the sin of
RCC which leads to her subsequent judgment from God.
Isaiah 47:7 And thou saidst, I shall be a
lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things
to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of
it. 8 Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to
pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in
thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not
sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of
children:
"I shall be a lady for ever"
This time God has changed the focus to the
leader of lady of kingdoms/RCC.
AC thinks himself to be so great, and
nothing can bring him down.
"I am, and none else besides me"
He thinks he is in a supreme position, and
none else can sit equal as him.
"I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall
I know the loss of children"
To explain this verse, we need to know
that Catholic priests practice celibacy. They don't
marry nor bear any children, so that they would not
suffer the loss of children, nor become a widower. But
God says they shall suffer the pain as the loss of
children, as a widower does, in one day.
9 But these two things shall come to thee
in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and
widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection
for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great
abundance of thine enchantments.
"in a moment, in one day", their judgment
shall come.
What kind of judgment shall God unleash on
them?
14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the
fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves
from the power of the flame.
God shall consume them with a fire, which
occurs in a moment, in one day. We also find this
judgment on the city Babylon where the whore dwells in
Revelation 18.
Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice
from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye
be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of
her plagues. 5 For her sins have reached unto heaven,
and God hath remembered her iniquities. 6 Reward her
even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double
according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled
fill to her double. 7 How much she hath glorified
herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and
sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a
queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. 8
Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and
mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned
with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
"Therefore shall her plagues come in one
day", "and she shall be utterly burned with fire".
The whore receives the same judgement from
God, in one day, utterly burned with fire. This is the
same judgment upon the lady of kingdoms. Basically, the
whore in Revelation 17,18 "is" the lady of kingdoms in
Isaiah 47. Dave Hunt used to have a book "The woman
rides the beast" in which he identifies the woman as
RCC.
Let's do a parallel of the sin of the
woman in Revelation 17-18 and the lady of kingdoms in
Isaiah 47.
Revelation 18:7 for she saith in her
heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no
sorrow.
This is the same sin we find in Isaiah
47:7 and 8.
Isaiah 47:7-8 I shall be a lady forever, I
am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow,
neither shall I know the loss of children:
"I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall
see no sorrow" In Revelation 18:7 is the same sin as "I
shall be a lady forever, I am, and none else beside me;
I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the
loss of children" in Isaiah 47:7 and 8. They both point
to the pride and haughtiness of the Pope from RCC.
My summary. Some Christians who go by the
traditional interpretation, believe the lady of kingdoms
is the Babylonian army who captured Jerusalem in 6th
century BC. But when we examine the characters God has
spoken regarding the lady of kingdoms, we find
discrepancy between Babylonian soldiers and the virgin
daughters of Babylon . We also find the same sin and
same judgment on the lady of kingdoms in Isaiah 47 when
we compare to the woman who rides the beast in
Revelation 17,18. Isaiah 47 is a prophecy against the
lady of kingdoms which is RCC. Antichrist shall come
from RCC. Together with his organization the lady of
kingdoms, Antichrist shall lay a very heavy yoke on
Israel, beginning in the middle of tribulation.
Ray