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PropheZine #76
April 15, 1999
Bob Lally Publisher
Mimi Nila Senior Editor
Rick Woodcock Asst. Editor
Abraham George Asst. Editor
Lori Eldridge Asst. Editor
Bob Ippolito Asst. Editor
ARTICLES
Gary Stearman..............Will the First Century AntiChrist Reappear?
Chuck Missler...............The Coming World Leader - The Man With a Plan
Shirley Ann Miller.........Gog and Magog
Dr. Ron Rhodes......................What Happens at the Moment of Death?
COMMENTARIES
Berit Kjos.........George W. Bush, Mikhail Gorbachev, George Shultz,
Your Children, And The Balkan War - How Are They Linked
Submitted by Bill Koenig........by Henry Blackaby-
The Bible Explains Today's Headlines.
Francis Frangipane........."America, the Lord has need of you"
NEWS ITEMS FROM ISRAEL
ICEJ News.................Israeli Aid To Kosovo Continues
Sharon Talks To Russians About Balkans
And About Iran
Israel Marks Holocaust Memorial Day
POEMS, Etc.
Submitted by Richard, Head of the PropheZine Prayer Warrior Team
................................Just Checking In
Author Unknown..................Two Boxes ****************************************************************
Hello Everyone!
It is with a heavy heart I write this because of all the suffering of innocent people that occurs during a war. But then I am also encouraged since it is so apparent that Jesus will soon return. I will keep this short because this newsletter is a fairly large. I hope that it will bless you and give you greater discernment for the last days.
Matthew 24
3And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
4And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
10And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Mimi Nila
Senior Editor
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| Will the First Century AntiChrist Reappear?
| The Return of Nero
| by Gary Stearman
|
"And there are, seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space:
"And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition" (Rev.
17:10,11).
In the past, we have looked at Nero and the caesars of the first century as a treasury of clues about what the revived Roman empire of the end time might look like. After all, the future spawn of these self-deified despots is prophesied in Scripture to rise again even to control the world for a time! In the past, we have drawn some tentative conclusions about their genealogical outcomes. Now, we open the subject again, quoting certain factual elements we've drafted before, but adding a great deal of new information.
The fathers of the early church regarded Nero as the perfect model of the antichrist. Even in the first century, his disappearance from public life was thought to include aspects of the supernatural. Actually, he committed suicide, but stories arose that he was merely hiding out and would one day return to begin again his persecution of God's elect. For literally hundreds of years, rumors persisted that he would come back to carry out a satanic decree left unfinished in the first century. Obviously, they considered him much more than just an evil man.
Who was this man, and what part does he really play in the spiritual history of mankind? First and foremost, he was the cruel and unbalanced man who began the Roman persecution of Christianity. In A.D. 64, suspicion mounted that he, himself, had started the great fire of Rome, then used the already unpopular Christians as his scapegoat. In A.D. 66, the apostle Paul was beheaded by his decree. He was (and is) regarded as a raging monster an egomaniacal despot who seemed supernaturally driven to accomplish the maximum evil.
Most importantly, however, his life seems intertwined with biblical prophecy. We have examined him before. But now, there is growing evidence that he provides a major clue to an event that seems destined to unfold in the near future - the unveiling of the antichrist. If he is in the list of the seven kings of Revelation 17:10, then he is indeed significant.
A Face to Consider
If he is part of a biblical reference, we need to know as much about him as possible. Years ago, I saw his face in an encyclopedia - a photograph of a sculpted bust. At the time, I shuddered as I considered the boyish innocence that covered a callous and cold-hearted interior. I remember making a mental note to remember those features, idly speculating about what I would do if I ever ran into someone who looked like him.
His heavy, hooded eyelids, ponderous brow and prominent nose suggested an individual of a rather brazen and emotional nature. He looked like a man capable of extreme sensitivity and intuition on the one hand, and unbridled cruelty on the other. His large eyes were probably capable of a twinkling mirth, but nothing could hide their true coldness. They seemed like the eyes of an assassin.
He looked like a young man who had always been used to getting his way. The fullness in his face led me too conclude that he really enjoyed his food. Perhaps he ate too much, or was even given to gorging. As I thought about it, he clearly presented the image of a man with great appetites - even great lust.
His pouting lips exhibited an extreme and petulant arrogance. But they also seemed to characterize something of an effeminate nature. Nevertheless, there could be a fervency there. I could see those lips pursing, sneering, pressed together in a victorious smile and generally charming their audience with enthralling cadences. But it was also obvious that whining, screaming tirades could just as easily course from that twisted mouth.
And then there was the imposing chin. It brought the jutting jawline to a strong point. I could imagine it projecting forward, tilting upward - those lips pulled into a thin, downward curve - when he wanted to make a point. The word "bull-headed" came into my mind. The set of that jaw completed a picture of a man with whom one wouldn't want to spend much time. It would be impossible to stay out of trouble with him.
True, the lines of his face were soft and boyish. But that contrast only amplified the overall negative effect. Above all else, I had the impression of an incipient cruelty. Here was a fickle and unstable countenance. There could be no doubt that this was a treacherous man; a man to be avoided at all costs.
No doubt, he had a passion for control. His was the face of a born dictator. He would have been a brute who pretended to sensitivity; a tyrant who blamed everyone else for his own failures; a man controlled by his own lusts.
I wondered whether I was really seeing all these traits, or simply reading them into his face because of my familiarity with his dark history. But after thinking about it, I decided that I would still arrive at the same assessment even if I didn't know who he was.
Yes, I thought to myself at the time, if I ever see a face like this, I would do well to take note of it. Then I closed the book and let the image slip to the back of my mind for several years.
His heavy hooded eyelids, ponderous brow and prominent nose suggested an individual of a rather brazen and emotional nature. He looked like a man capable of unbridled cruelty. His large eyes were probably capable of a twinkling mirth, but nothing could hide their true coldness. They seemed like the eyes of an assassin.
Seven Roman Emperors?
But recently, I looked up that face again, it happened after I had spoken to a Baptist pastor who called with a question about the antichrist. He felt that perhaps Revelation 17, verses 8 through 11, might offer a clue to his identity:
"The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of the life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
"And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
"And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
"And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition."
The pastor with whom I spoke ventured the opinion that the seven kings mentioned in verses 10 and 11 are seven emperors of the Roman empire. He wondered aloud whether or not we might analyze the verses in question and arrive at the identity of the antichrist. It is his belief that the five fallen kings presented in these verses represent the five Roman emperors of the Julio-Claudian line: Julius Caesar, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero, the last ruler of the line.
I informed him that, in fact, this theory had been advanced in years past. Among others, Bible scholars William R. Newell and Robert Govett were of the opinion that these five Roman emperors were the five kings of Revelation 17:10. This being the case, the "one" who "is" in the same verse would be the emperor Domitian, who reigned from A.D. 81 through 96. It is generally believed that this is the time period during which John wrote Revelation.
Domitian was a fierce, suspicious and cruel tyrant. His persecutions covered everybody from Roman Senators to Christians like John.
Using this analysis of the verses in question, six Roman emperors, plus one who would come, were to provide the model for the eighth man - the ultimate antichrist. The pastor and I conversed about the possibilities of this scenario.
As we talked, the face of the cruel tyrant in the encyclopedia came into my mind once again. He was none other than the fifth fallen king of Revelation 17:10 - the emperor Nero!
What if Nero is the fifth king of Revelation 17:10? Does his life and rule give us any clue to the identity of the future antichrist?
The Twisted Boy-King
Nero was the product of palace intrigue in the royal household of Rome. His scheming mother, Agrippina, married her uncle, the emperor Claudius. With the conniving aid of the freedman Pallas, the philosopher Seneca and Burrus, the powerful commander of the praetorian guard, she promoted her son to a position in the imperial household.
Claudius was poisoned in A.D. 54, and Agrippina's allies succeeded in bringing young Nero into the royal line of succession. For the first five years of his reign all went well, apparently because Burrus and Seneca were the real rulers. But the household treachery continued, reaching a new low as Nero had his mother murdered in A.D. 59.
After that, the young emperor's megalomania created a nightmarish reign of terror. Though lacking in talent, he fancied himself an artist, musician, poet and athlete. He had a vicious and vindictive personality. To cross him was to insure retribution, and probably death.
His father's corrupt ancestry and his mother's unbridled ambition had created a monster. From his early adolescence, he was bisexual. Additionally, he was given to various forms of public sexual perversion. He was foul-mouthed, foul-tempered and crude, with brutish appetites for food and wine.
History records him as mentally unstable, with a tendency to exhibitionism and self-glorification. He was unabashedly jealous of everything around him, whether popularity, rank or simply excellence of character. His vulgar self-displays became so shocking that he was soon detested by every element of Roman society. As the army, the Senate, the academicians and the populace finally turned against him, he committed suicide on June 9, A.D. 68.
Would Nero Return?
His death was accompanied by the development of a curious myth. Toward the end of the first century, the Roman historian Tacitus wrote of an event that took place in A.D. 69, during the reign of Vespasian: "About this time, Achaia and Asia were upset by a false alarm. It was rumored that Nero was on his way to them [the Roman armies]. There had been conflicting stories about his death, and so numbers of people imagined - and believed -
that he was alive."
This rumor continued into the second century and beyond. Some of the Christian faithful in the second and third centuries even believed that he would return as the antichrist. In particular, they took note of the fact that his name and title added up to the number 666, as recorded of the beast in Revelation 13.
The belief that he would rise again is referred to in Latin as the "Nero redivivus" hypothesis. In The Coming Antichrist, Walter K. Price writes, "...the most famous antichrist theory of the first century was that of "Nero redivivus." In A.D. 68, when the Roman Senate condemned Nero to death for his hideous crimes, he fled to a suburban villa and there put an end to his life. Because he died almost alone and in an obscure place, rumors began to circulate that he had fled to the Parthians from which he would come at the head of a great army to revenge himself upon the Roman world.
"The belief that Nero would return was still in existence in the fifth century A.D., for Augustine makes reference to it saying, 'Others, again suppose that he [Nero] is not even dead, but that he was concealed that he might be supposed to have been killed, and that now lives in concealment in the vigor of that same age which he had reached when he was believed to have perished, and will live until he is revealed in his own time and restored to his kingdom.'"
As the church moved into the dark ages and on toward the Reformation, the ancient belief about Nero's evil resurrection persisted. But at last he came to be perceived only as a sort of prototype - a form of the man who would arise in the latter days to rule the world. Even the secular world acknowledges these ideas. A good example is the Hollywood motion picture, "The Omen," and its three sequels. Its main character, Damien Thorn, is the spawn of demon seed. He is the child antichrist, placed in a rich and powerful foster home so that he might grow up to rule the world. A dramatic moment in the movie comes when an archeologist finds an ancient subterranean vault with a mural of the antichrist on the wall. It is a centuries-old picture of the young Damien, painted almost two thousand years ago! They recognize his face just before they perish in the cave. Where do such ideas come from?
As I pondered these things, I wondered: Was Revelation 17 trying to tell us something? Were all the seven kings Roman emperors?
Nero blamed Christians for the burning of Rome, though many suspected that he, himself, had deliberately set the fire. Rome was an overcrowded city with narrow streets. The closeness of its houses made Rome an easy prey for the fire that raged for several days. Afterward, Nero widened the streets and beautified the city.
Domitian, the Second Nero
Domitian, last of the Flavian line, was second only to Nero in his persecution of Christians. His victims were legion, including many members of his own family. One of his most ambitious goals was the complete obliteration of all the descendants of King David's lineage.
He was a vain and lazy man who selfishly sought to empower himself. Genealogically, he was a son of Vespasian and brother to Titus, who had offered to share power with him. But he refused, and when Titus day ill, he caused the royal physicians to take actions that would speed his death.
Having attained rule in this repugnant fashion, he proceeded to announce that he was a god ... not just a god, but God. He instructed the lesser regents in his retinue to address him as "Dominus et Deus Noster," Our Lord and Our God. And thus, he addressed the Senate.
Christians, who had attempted to live within the strictures of state rule, found that they could not submit themselves to the command to address Domitian as God. Their refusal to worship this despot brought torture and death upon them in unprecedented numbers.
His arrogance uncontrolled, he became increasingly bestial. He ordered that various images of himself be displayed throughout the provinces. His demonic rule became more and more grotesque. But then came a series of events that must surely have been an answer to the prayers of the saints.
Charles Ludwig, writing in Ludwig's Handbook of New Testament Rulers and Cities, tells the story:
"Since both Domitian's father and brother had been in Jerusalem, he had undoubtedly heard of the Jewish belief in the coming of the Messiah, and he had also heard of the second coming of Jesus Christ. These beliefs frightened him, and like Herod the Great, he decided to do something about it. Many Christians who refused to burn incense to Domitian were liquidated. Among these was his own nephew Flavius Clemens.
"Through Jewish prophecy, he learned that the Messiah was to be from the descendants of David. He therefore decided that he would eliminate all these descendants. Because of this determination, he arrested the grandsons of Jude. As he faced them, he demanded to know how much money they possessed. The men replied that they had a mere twenty-five acres between them. Holding up callused hands, they explained how difficult it was to scratch a living from their unproductive soil. Impressed with their seeming honesty, Domitian began to inquire about Jesus and His kingdom.
"'When asked about Christ and his kingdom - what it was like, and where it would appear - they explained that it was not of this world or anywhere on earth but angelic and in heaven, and would be established at the end of the world, when he would come in glory to judge the quick and the dead...
"'On hearing this, Domitian found no fault with them, but despising them as beneath his notice let them go free and issued orders terminating the persecution of the church. On their release they became leaders of the churches, both because they had borne testimony and because they were of the Lord's family; and thanks to the establishment of peace they lived on into Trajan's time'" [The History of the Church by Eusebius].
To his death in A.D. 96, he remained the basest of tyrants. The Senate even refused him a public funeral. But the official persecution of the church had come to an end. Years before, he was responsible for John the Apostle being boiled in oil before Rome's Latin Gate. Through a miracle, John survived, but was exiled as a slave to the stone quarries on the Isle of Patmos. In his later years, John returned to Ephesus, the city of his original arrest, where he lived out his remaining years as the elder of the church there. Domitian and John are thought to have died at about the same time.
As mentioned before, this makes Domitian, the king mentioned in Revelation 17:l0, the "one [who] is."
Down through the Church Age, this thought persisted. Walter K. Price writes,
"The Queen of France - Gerberga, wife of Louis IV - was much impressed with [the] teaching that the end of the world would come around A.D. 1000. She asked her court chaplain Adso (later abbot of the monastery of Montier-en-Der, France), to assemble all the information on this subject that he could find. He wrote a pamphlet entitled Libellus de Antichristo (little work on the Antichrist). Though the spirit of Antichrist had already appeared in such men as Antiochus, Nero, and Domitian, he said, the Antichrist himself would be a person."
Must the Seven Be Roman Emperors?
But if Domitian (known as "second Nero") is one of the seven kings, it seems almost a certainty that Nero, himself would be part of the list. And indeed, as mentioned above, the five fallen kings are usually represented as:
1. Julius Caesar
2. Tiberius
3. Caligula
4. Claudius
Added to these would be:
5. Nero
6. Domitian ["one is"]
This, of course begs two questions. First, who is Mr. Number 7? And second, are we right about the first five? We suggest a startling answer - a different view.
Following the death of Domitian, the church would never again be persecuted with the vigor that it experienced under Nero and Domitian.
Certainly there were periods of persecution that followed. All the way up to A.D. 312 and the Emperor Constantine's issuance of the "Edict of Toleration," the church saw periods of oppression. But they were never as severe as those of the first century. Constantine's edict was supposed to end all tyranny where the church was concerned. Of course, it didn't. But over the centuries, the church never saw another period of despotism as dreadful as that of the first century.
In short, there was never another candidate for that seventh position. Never, that is, until the twentieth century, and the emergence of Adolph Hitler.
Entire books have been dedicated to pointing out similarities between the biblical antichrist and the German tyrant.He summoned up the imagery of the Caesars in pomp and ceremony, modeling his entire regime after a series of ancient Roman images. Banners, wreaths, and symbols took up where the Roman rulers of the first century had left off. Like Domitian, he made it governmental policy to wipe out the descendants of King David.
Naming this enterprise "the final solution," Hitler actually believed himself to be operating under a divine mandate. As possessor of the "Spear of Destiny," and under the metaphysical unction of occult societies such as the "Society of the Golden Dawn" and the "Thule Gesellschaft," he felt ordained to establish his proposed perfect society.
The Third Reich, he said, would last for a thousand years, (No doubt, he had heard of Christ's coming to set up a thousand year kingdom on earth.) He was literally a counterfeit Christ.
Many historians have expressed the opinion that, but for a few strategic missteps, Hitler could have actually brought this nightmare to reality.
And a nightmare it was, indeed. Hitler even thought of himself as being under the control of a superpower, who manifested himself as an image of the coming superman. Armed with a technologically-superior, ruthless army, and backed by the treasure of the Holy Roman Empire, Hitler felt that he was the historical "hero" who would bring the derailed Roman empire back to reality once again.
Deceived as he was, his reign lasted for only a few years. Then, like Nero and Domitian, he was gone in the disgrace of suicide.
Revelation 17:10 refers to the seventh king in this way: "... and when he cometh, he must continue a short space."
Is Hitler the seventh king? He certainly fits the model. And as the model evolves, it seems to be built upon one principle: the seven kings are infamous for persecuting the historical Judeo-Christian system. This being the case, we must remove Julius Caesar, Tiberius, Caligula and Claudius from the list. None of them ever initiated the organized, full-scale persecution of either Judaism or Christianity, later seen under Nero and Domitian.
But there were others in biblical history who were vigorous persecutors of the Jews. The first, of course, is none other than the infamous "head of gold" (Daniel 2:38), Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The Bible calls him the first of the Gentile kings. He was overthrown by the next of the Gentile rulers, Darius the Medo-Persian.
After that, came Alexander the Great, who but for the miraculous provision of God, would have exterminated the Jews. Out of his rule came a despot so important that almost the entire eleventh chapter of Daniel is devoted to a description of his historical disposition: Antiochus IV, Epiphanes. We hardly need to be reminded of what he did to the Jews. These would be our new candidates for the first four positions.
Nero and Domitian would, of course, retain their original placement on the list. We would, then, suggest a new arrangement, as follows:
1. Nebuchadnezzar
2. Darius
3. Alexander the Great
4. Antiochus IV, Epiphanes
5. Nero
6. Domitian
7. Hitler
These seven despots all have one thing in common: They were all used to wreak havoc upon God's chosen people, the Jews. Were it not for His grace and protection, the Jews would have been wiped out by any or all of these miscreants.
There is something else quite interesting in this list. From Antiochus to the present (the last four names), there is a common factor that may figure prominently in the unveiling of the final antichrist. This factor is genealogical. It arises out of the bloodline of Antiochus, who is in the line of Seleucus, Alexander's choice for the rule of Syria. The Seleucid Dynasty that is named after him spawned Antiochus IV, as well as a veritable rogue's gallery of successors who married into the dynasties of Rome.
As we search forward for the elusive antichrist (the eighth king of Revelation 17:11), we will examine this infamous bloodline.
The Seleucid Factor
Among various groups of scoffers, it has become fashionable to make sport of prophetic expositors who attempt to - in their words - "pin the tail on the antichrist." Yet the Bible, itself, gives tantalizing clues to his identity. As we shall see, it even suggests that his genealogical line may, in time, be fully traceable. As of now, we can only get close. But perhaps the full story of his lineage will become fully available as the time of his emergence nears.
Among other passages, Daniel 7 associates the antichrist with the final world empire, pictured as the "fourth beast." His close tie with this final power structure gives him a Gentile background, yet we know that latter-day citizens of the house of David will accept him as messiah, As Jesus said, "I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not; if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive" (John 5:43). Is he Jew, Gentile or (as seems the case) both? Someone, sometime, somewhere will finally put the clues together and identify this man's dual identity.
II Thessalonians 2:3 calls him the "man of sin," and suggests that he will hold sway over the world with great power, both of oratory and dark force. He will enthrone himself in a rebuilt Jewish temple, posing as God, apparently with enough false power to pull off the charade - at least for a while. It seems likely that he will have to convince the leaders of Israel that he is a Jew.
But it is in Revelation 13 that his power over the people is seen in some detail. His persona features the ability to perform miracles as he makes fire fall from heaven and gives life to an image of the beast. He even has the power to control world economics, which he accomplishes by mandating identity numbers for every man, woman and child on earth. He, himself, has a number - the infamous 666 - usually viewed as a clue to his name. From the days of Nero to the present, many believers have attempted to link that number with a contemporary name. Usually, such names are Gentile. So far, all have failed. But that doesn't mean we should quit trying, particularly in view of the fact that the Bible says, "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast ..."
(Rev, 13:17).
Daniel 11 and the Seleucid Dynasty
Perhaps the most telling evidence of the antichrist's identity is to be found in the complex history given in Daniel 11. A full exegesis of this chapter would fill a large book, since it covers the legacy of Alexander the Great - king of Macedon [Greece] from 336 B.C. to 323 B.C. - and his successors. During his brief 13-year rule, he conquered the peoples of the north, going as far as the Danube River. He also cut through Asia Minor, Phoenicia, Egypt, Syria and the great Persian empire of Darius to the east. Upon his untimely death at age 33, his conquered territories were divided among four of his generals. The original idea was that each of them establish a ruling dynasty.
Two of them - Seleucus and Ptolemy - are of particular interest, since it is their dynasties that are detailed in Daniel 11. Since it gives such an expanded view of these fourth- and third-century dynasties, many skeptics have reasoned that Daniel must have been written later, in the second or third centuries B.C. But it is virtually indisputable that Daniel wrote in the sixth century B.C. The Holy Spirit gave him a documentary foreview of the rise to power of the man who is considered the model of the antichrist. This fact alone gives it an extreme importance.
In this chapter, verses 3 through 20 give a compact but detailed account of the critical interactions between the houses of the Ptolomaic [Egyptian] and Seleucid [Syrian] rule. Most important to this study is the Seleucid dynasty, which begins in Daniel 11:5, with a reference to Seleucus I Nicator. Called "conqueror," he gained control of Syria and Cilicia. Although he was an eastern potentate, his philosophy was basically western. He tried to re-unify Greece, but was killed by Ptolemy II before he could complete his plan.
Seleucus II Callinus was called "glorious victor." In 247 B.C., he came to power, as foretold in Daniel 11:6-9, Seleucus III Soter ("savior") reigned for only two years. He is mentioned in Daniel 11:10. Finally Seleucus IV Philopater came to rule as mentioned in Daniel 11:20. He was the son of Antiochus the Great and brother of the infamous Antiochus IV Epiphanes. In the latter years of his rule, he attempted to loot the Jerusalem Temple treasury.
It is important to remember that both the Ptolemies and the Seleucids were Greeks, having descended from the royal houses of that empire.
From the Seleucids Came Antiochus
The Son of Seleucus I was Antiochus I Soter. The title "Antiochus" means "opposer" or "withstander", and was a favorite name of the Seleucid kings of Syria from 280 B.C. onward. With the death of Seleucus I in 281 B.C., Antiochus I became sole ruler of Coele-Syria. Antiochus II was his son, and reigned from 261 B.C. to 246 B.C.
Antiochus III was called "the great." He was the second son of Seleucus II. His exploits are predicted by Daniel in chapter 11, verses 15 through 18.
His third son, Antiochus IV, succeeded his brother, Seleucus IV Philopater [See Daniel 11:20,21] as king in 175 B.C. As a worshipper of Zeus, he imagined himself to be a manifestation of this great "father of the gods." He took to himself the title, "theos epiphanes," meaning "the manifest god." Daniel 11:21-35 characterizes him as "a vile person," and one who held complete contempt for the nation of Israel.
Since he considered himself to be Zeus incarnate, he ordered that all people should worship him as such. He sent 22,000 soldiers into Jerusalem on the Sabbath, plundering and burning the city. He sacked the Holy Temple and there, set up altars for Zeus, commanding Jews to offer unclean sacrifices and to eat swine's flesh. Disobedience brought death. He set himself up as a deity, and ordered that his birthday be honored as a high holy day. His infamous order was given on the 24th of Chislev, 168 B.C. Three years later to the day, on the 24th of Chislev, 165 B.C., the Jews cleansed and rededicated their Temple. They restored worship, giving birth to the festival of dedication called Chanukkah.
Antiochus IV Epiphanes was truly an evil man. He was driven by dark forces and became the greatest historical archetype of the antichrist - a man who stood up in the Temple and declared that he was a god. The final antichrist will simply repeat what he did, except on a grander scale.
From Antiochus to the Royal House of Rome
The eleventh chapter of Daniel, verses 36 through 45, closes with the prophecy of the "willful king." Clearly, he will be the antichrist of the latter days. But if one simply reads this chapter through, its clear intention is that there is hardly a break between Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the latter-day "king who shall do according to his will" (v.36).
In other words, Daniel seems to be telling us that the Seleucid dynasty will continue on into the latter days! If this is true, then the bloodline of the antichrist can possibly be traced. A bit later, we'll speculate on where the full record of his genetic heritage might be found.
After the horrific reign of Antiochus IV, the Seleucid line continued under the same title, with Antiochus V VI, VII, VIII, IX, X and XIII all continuing the reign of their fathers. In 69 B.C., following his defeat of Tigranes of Armenia, Lucullus of Rome awarded Antiochus XIII the rule over Syria. In 63 B.C., Pompey came to Syria and commanded that from that time forward, it would be a Roman province. This date effectively marks the end of the Seleucid dynasty and the beginning of Roman rule.
But descendants of the Seleucids continued in positions of importance long after Syria became a Roman province. For example, following the death of Nero in A.D. 68, Rome entered into a time of chaos. The year 69 A.D. was known as "the year of four emperors," as various contenders fought for control. Two of the contenders, each of whom spent a few months as emperor, were Otho and Vitellius.
According to Charles Ludwig, Vitellius, formerly a Senator, who had "arranged with the Senate to legalize the marriage between his [Nero's] mother and Claudius, was a former governor of Syria."
Here is a possible connection between the Seleucid Dynasty and the house of Nero! Why would Vitellius work to bring about the marriage of Agrippina to Claudius unless there was something in it for him? Maybe Agrippina, mother of Nero, was related to him. Why else would he take up her cause?
In "The Histories" of Tacitus, we happen across an interesting note about a group of soldiers belonging to Vitellius that may connect him to the Selucid dynasty. The event happened during the first battle of Cremona: "This delay gave the Vitellians a chance to retreat to a vineyard where a complex network of trellised vines impeded movement. There was a small wood close by, too. From this they ventured to stage a counter-attack, and in so doing managed to kill the most eager of the pretorian troopers. Among the wounded was Prince Epiphanes, who was eagerly leading his men into battle on Otho's side."
Here, we find a "Prince Epiphanes" in the first battle of Cremona, in northern Italy. He was none other than the son of Antiochus IV, King of Commagene, located on the West Bank of the Upper Euphrates. His official title was Antiochus Epiphanes, in honor of the originator of that name ... the man who had desecrated the Temple in 167 B.C., about 237 years before! And he was a loyalist in the army of Otho! Young Epiphanes had, for a time, been engaged to marry Drusilla, the youngest daughter of Herod Agrippa I. But because he refused to embrace Judaism, it was never consummated.
This tells us that by the time of Christ, the Seleucids had become intertwined with both the Herodians and the royal houses of Rome. Elsewhere, Tacitus describes the accession to power of Vespasian, following the death of Vitellius:
"By 15 July [A.D. 69] the whole of Syria had taken the oath of allegiance to Vespasian. He had also gained the adhesion of Sohaemus and his kingdom, whose resources were not to be despised, and that of Antiochus, who had great inherited wealth and was the richest client-king of all. Then Agrippa (Herod Agrippa II) arrived after a fast voyage from Rome, where secret emissaries from his people had brought him news which recalled him home while Vitellius was still in the dark. Equal enthusiasm marked the support given to the cause by Queen Berenice.
She was in her best years and at the height of her beauty, while even the elderly Vespasian appreciated her generosity."
In this historical moment, Vespasian, Herod Agrippa II, Berenice [his sister and consort, mentioned in Acts 25:13] and Antiochus IV, King of Commagene are seen conspiring together as close confidants.
It is a historical fact that the sons and daughters of the Seleucids merged into the royal families of Rome, as did the Herodians. Josephus, in Antiquities xiii, 5.8, mentions a letter from the Roman senate, which reads in part, "As to ourselves, although we have had many wars that have compassed us around, by reason of the covetousness of our neighbors, yet did not we determine to be troublesome either to you or to others that were related to us; but since we have now overcome our enemies, and have occasion to send Numenius, the son of Antiochus, and Antipater, the son of Jason, who are both honourable men belonging to our senate, to the Romans, we gave them this epistle to you also, that they might renew that friendship which is between us."
This "Numenius" is of the Seleucid dynasty who preceded Antiochus IV, king of Commagene. But he is also a member of the Roman senate, once again demonstrating the closeness between the offspring of Antiochus IV Epiphanes and Roman royalty.
This should not come as a surprise, Daniel 9:26 mentions the antichrist as coming from the royal Roman bloodline:
"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."
In this passage, the coming prince is the antichrist, His "people" are the emperor Vespasian and his son Titus - in other words, the royalty of Rome who ordered the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. It is made quite clear that " ... the prince that shall come ... " is a Roman. This is the definite intention of the verse, and it is amply augmented by the Seleucid history in Daniel 11.
The Pages of History
This begs the question: What became of the Seleucid offspring? Very simply, the sons and daughters of Rome's Seleucid client kings disappeared into the family trees of Roman royalty. As mentioned at the beginning of this discussion, some of their genealogies may be dying in a dusty library to this day. The Vatican records are both voluminous and very ancient.
As pointed out in J. R. Church's book, "Guardians of the Grail," there many advocates of the theory that the world's final great leader will emerge from the dynastic lineage of king Merovee.
This so-called "Merovingian Dynasty" began with Merovee's rule, which occupied the years from 447 to 458 A.D. This ruling house is known to be preoccupied with the occult. Some even blasphemously say that it is descended from Jesus Christ! Of course, this cannot be true. But it is interesting that the belief is held, at all.
This ruling dynasty comes down to us in the present day as the House of Habsburg, which has genetic ties to virtually every ruling house in Europe. Most important among its luminaries are Otto von Habsburg of Austria and his son Karl, as well as King Juan Carlos I of Spain and his son Felipe. This is not to say that we absolutely know them to be the families of the antichrist.
What is missing is the genealogical connection between Antiochus IV, king of Commagene, and the dynasty of king Merovee. This time period runs roughly from the reign of Vespasian, beginning in 69 A.D. to the reign of Merovee, beginning in 447 A.D. Within this 378-year period, it is quite possible that documents exist somewhere that will validate on a secular level, that which is implied in Daniel 11. Will the antichrist one day be able to produce credentials - perhaps even a genealogy - giving him unquestioned credibility? It appears so. But at present, that information lies just beyond our reach.
The Eighth King
This brings us once again to Revelation 17:11:
"And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven and goeth into perdition."
This is the ultimate antichrist, He is said to be " ... of the seven." That is, he shares a common thread with the seven men who precede him:
1.Nebuchadnezzar,
2. Darius,
3. Alexander,
4. Antiochus IV Epiphanes,
5. Nero,
6. Domitian, and
7. Hitler.
These seven men provide us with a composite picture of the final antichrist. He will command wealth and power.He will no doubt be quite charismatic, persuasive gifted with high intelligence and drive. He will have a sense of historical destiny. He will see the Jews as a barrier to the establishment of his kingdom. Finally, he will be inhabited by an evil spirit, as was each and every man on this list.
And, as seen in the historical precedent provided by these men, society must be prepared for his arrival. The eighth man on the list cannot come forth in his fullness until society is prepared to believe in him. Who, after all, would accept a new Nebuchadnezzar, or Antiochus, or Nero as a messiah-like figure?
Perhaps this riddle is best explained in the words of II Thessalonians 2:7-12:
"For the mystery of iniquity doth already work; only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
"And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
"Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
"And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
"And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
"That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
Among Bible-believing Christians, it is widely held that the antichrist is alive today. It is likely that even he doesn't know who he is. As it stands today, the revealing of this wicked man is being delayed by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
In short, the "spirit of antichrist" (I John 4:3) has not yet been allowed to enter this man, whoever he may be. But thanks to the Bible, we know that before he enters in power, the world must be prepared to believe the big lie.
Furthermore, we know that the world's controlling forces must be subject to a kind of insanity - the same insanity that wracked the royal houses of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome.
Paul wrote to Timothy, "This know also , that in the last days, perilous times shall come. (II Timothy 3:1) We have noted before that the word "perilous" can be translated from the original Greek New Testament as "ragingly insane."
On every horizon, there are discernible signs of a gathering evil. Some of the signs are large, some are small. But they are there.
As I took at the picture of Nero's bust, I try to imagine who will ultimately be written into the eighth position on that list of the world's most infamous men. From history, I know that he will be persuasive, passionate, arrogant, a performer, and one who says he is coming to bring peace. Ultimately, he will be indwelt by the same evil spirit who inhabited the bodies of seven other men. These were men who, but for the grace of God, would have wiped out the Jews. Once and for all time, each of them would have permanently overthrown God's redemptive plan, under the Messiah.
Today, such a man waits in the wings. One day, he will receive that unclean spirit. Like Nero, Domitian, and Hitler, he will want to be received as a god. And as ghastly as it sounds, he will be. Who is he? The time of his arrival draws near.
Questions or Comments: JR Church jerryc@icon.net
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|
| The Coming World Leader
| The Man With a Plan - The Genealogy of the Antichrist
| by Chuck Missler
|
Is he about to appear on the scene?
Will he be the next Pope...the Messiah of Israel...the 12th Imam of Islam?
Is he anything to fear?
Alexander the Great, during his 13-year rule, (336 B.C. to 323 B.C.) conquered most of the known world. His empire reached as far north as the Danube River and included Asia Minor, Phoenicia, Egypt, Syria, the great empire of Persia, and reached as far east as India.
Daniel 7, 8, and 11 describe the career of Alexander the Great and his successors so vividly they constitute some of the most remarkable prophecies in the Bible. We also find that Alexander's four generals--
Lysimachus, Cassander, Ptolemy, and Seleucus
--divided the empire after his death just as the passages indicated.'
As Israel is sandwiched between the subsequent tensions from Ptolemy (Egypt) to the south and Seleucus (Syria) to the north, it is impressive to note the precision with which Daniel records their respective successors in Chapter 11.2
Exposition of Daniel 11
Chapter 11 chronicles 150 years of warfare between the Ptolemies and the Seleucids. (Verses 2-20 have past; verses 36-45 are clearly future; verses 2 1-35 apparently have elements of both.)
The continued attempts by Bible critics to "late date" this passage is a testimony to its accuracy. The lineage of the infamous Antiochus Epiphanes may possibly extend to Titus Vespasian and even to our present day.
The angel (of Chapter 10) announces three kings: Cyrus, Cambyses, and Darius Hystapes (Smerdis)3 [He helped establish Darius as king in the first year of his reign.]
2]The fourth king, Xerxes, would instigate trouble with the Greeks (486-465B.c.). [He appears to be Ahasureus ofEzra 4:6, Esther 1:1-12.] He instituted tax reforms, became very powerful, trained over 2 million warriors for 4 years, built special barges, and attacked Greece in 480 B.C. He crossed the Hellespont in 7 days. This attack laid the basis for the vendetta that Alexander ex-
ploited later.
3]The rise of the Greeks, under Alexander the Great, was detailed in Chapter 8.
4]Alexander died without a qualified heir. His half-brother, Philip Arrhidaeus, was mentally defective. His two sons (illegitimate Hercules, by Basina the daughter of Darius, and Young Alexander, posthumously by Roxana) were murdered within 13 years after their father's death. After 22 years of fighting, Alexander's four generals divided up the Empire:
Cassander: Greece & Macedonia.
Lysimachus: Thrace & Bithynia (AsiaMinor).
Seleucus: Syria, Babylonia (to India!).
Ptolemy: Egypt, Palestine, Arabia, Petrea.
5]Ptolemy I Soter taking Egypt and Seleucus Nicator taking Syria led to 150 years of warfare and repeated trampling through
Israel. Chapter 11 chronicles this warfare between the "King of the South" (Egypt) and the "King of the North" (Syria), which continued until Rome marched east and the conquests of Pompey established Roman rule over the area.
Ptolemy Soter I Soter (323-285 B.C.) was one of Alexander's wisest and most capable generals and grew very powerful, but Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-245 B.C.) grew even more powerful. It was under Ptolemy II's rule that the great library was established at Alexandria and the translation of the Old Testament into Greek (the "Septuagint" translation) was commissioned. The famed mathematician Euclid taught geometry in Ptolemy's court.
Ptolemy I captured Jerusalem in 321B.C. on the Sabbath day without resistances However, in 316 B.C. Israel was lost to Ptolemy's rival, Antigonus. After the Battle of Gaza in 312 B.C., Ptolemy reclaimed it. Seleucus I Nicator, "Conqueror" (312-281 B.C.), who cooperated with Ptolemy, made himself the master of Babylon and established the Seleucid Empire, ruling from Antioch. He was killed by Ptolemy II. His son was Antiochus I Soter. ("Antiochus" means "Opposer" or "Withstander," and was a favorite name of the Seleucid kings from 280 B.C. onward. Antiochus II Theos, his son, reigned from 262 to 246 B.C.
6]"end ofyears" = after a lapse of several years (2 Chr 18:2; Dan 11:8, 13). A political marriage was arranged between Antiochus II and Ptolemy II Philadelphus's daughter, Bernice. Antiochus was required to divorce his own wife, Laodiceia, to facilitate this arrangement. Bernice was unable to prevail against her rival Laodiceia, who poisoned Antiochus, murdered Bernice, and set her elder son, Seleucus II Callinicus, on the throne ("Glorious Victor"). His successor, Seleucus III Soter ("Savior") reigned for only two years. [Note: This occurs after the Septuagint translation of the OT (285-270 B.C.), which included the book of Daniel!]
7]Ptolemy III Euergetes (245-221 B.C.), the brother of murdered Bernice, invaded Syria, seized the port of Antioch, and overran Seleucus' empire as far as Babylon.
8]His spoils for Egypt included 4000 talents of gold, 40,000 talents of silver, and 2500 idols. These included some carried from Egypt by Cambyses 280 years earlier. He continued more years than his rival: 24 years vs. 20.
9]After two years Seleucus reorganized and marched south against Egypt, got clobbered, and returned to Antioch with only a small remnant of his army.
10]The sons of Seleucus II were Seleucus III Ceraunus (226-223 B.C.), who was murdered during a campaign in Asia Minor, and Antiochus III ("The Great"; 223-187 B.C.), who recovered the fortress of Seleucia the province of Coele-Syria, Tyre, and then resumed the war with Egypt.6
In 312 B.C. a large Egyptian army, led by Ptolemy IV Philopator (221-203 B.C.), marched through Judea until it was met in Lebanon by Antiochus, who routed it and captured many Judean cities both west and east of the Jordan.
Initially, the army of Ptolemy IV was larger than that of Antiochus III. In the spring of 219 B.C., at the battle at Raphia (20 miles S of Gaza), Antiochus commanded 60,000 men and Ptolemy, 70,000. Antiochus was defeated with a loss of 10,000 infantry and 300 cavalry. Ptolemy, indolent and dissolute, signed a peace treaty with Antiochus III.
Ptolemy IV celebrated his victory by touring the eastern Mediterranean provinces, including Jerusalem. He was prevented from entering the Holy of Holies by paralysis. Returning to Egypt, he took out his chagrin and humiliation by persecuting the Egyptian Jews.
13]After the death of Ptolemy IV, his son, only four years old, succeeded him as PtolemyV Epiphanes (203-181B.C.). Twelve years after the Battle of Raphia, Antiochus III set out with a greater army than before for the conquest of Egyptian territory.
14]The many that stood up against the King of the South included Antiochus and his ally, Philip of Macedon, as well as risings among the vassals of Egypt. In 200 B.C., an Egyptian mercenary named Scopas attempted to wrest Judea from Antiochus. After a temporary success, he was defeated by 100,000 troops at Sidon in 198 B.C. None were able to stand against Antiochus III
("The Great").
16]"The glorious land" is Judea (cf. Daniel 8:9; Jeremiah 3:19.)
17]In 197 B.C. Antiochus III set out with a fleet to attack Cilicia, Lycia, and Caria, which were under Egyptian control. However, he encountered a disastrous defeat by an upstart power rising on the banks of the Tiber--Rome.
Antiochus' daughter, Cleopatra, was given in a political marriage to Ptolemy (arranged in 197 B.C., consummated in 193 B.C., the groom being 10 years old) along with Coele-Syria, Phoenicia, and Judea as dowry, in hopes that he could eventually annex Egypt. He was disappointed, however, as she became a devoted wife instead and sided with Egypt (and her new ally, Rome).
In 196 B.C., Antiochus turned west in Greece, Asia Minor, and crossed the Hellespont to seize part of Thrace. It was Hannibal, the Carthaginian general, who encouraged Antiochus III to fight the Romans. In 191 B.C. Antiochus was defeated by the Romans at Thermopylae. In 190 B.C. his army of 80,000 suffered an ignominious defeat in a decisive battle near Smyrna where the Roman commander, Lucius Scipio, forced him to renounce all claims in Europe and Asia Minor.7 He had to surrender all territory west of the Taurus Mountains and pay a heavy tribute of 15,000 talents (over 30 million dollars). He was ruined.
19]Antiochus took it out on the northeastern part of his kingdom, plundering the temples in his realm.
20]Seleucus IV Philopater (187-175 B.C.) succeeded Antiochus III, giving his son Demetrius as a hostage in the place of his brother Antiochus and, to meet heavy Roman tribute, oppressed Israel through taxation.8 After 12 years of rule, he was murdered by his treasurer, Heliodorus, who hoped to take over but was out-intrigued by Antiochus IV ("Epiphanes"; 175-164 B.C.).
21]Legitimate candidates might have included Demetrius, the son of the Seleucus IV, held as a hostage in Rome, or the younger son, also named Antiochus, who was still a baby in Syria. Antiochus IVwas the brother of Seleucus IV, who had also been a hostage for his father in Rome for 14 years. Just prior to the murder of his brother by Heliodorus, he had been recalled to Antioch. His brother died before he reached the capital and, with the help ofthe king ofPergamos and posing as the guardian of young Antiochus who was in Syria, Antiochus IV, with numerous intrigues, gained the throne.
22]"Prince of the covenant" refers to the murder of Onias III, High Priest in 171B.C.9
23]Unlike his fathers, Antiochus IV robbed the richest places of the country under his control. He attacked his enemies when they least expected it. There was a power contest between Antiochus' two nephews, Ptolemy VI Philometer (181-145 B.C.) and Ptolemy VII Euergetes (Physicon), for control of Egypt.
25]After the death ofhis mother, Cleopatra, Ptolemy IV Philometer received bad advice regarding Antiochus IV, who swept over his army. When Antiochus conquered Ptolemy Philopater, the Alexandrians brought his brother Ptolemy Physcon to the Egyptian throne.
26]Antiochus took Philometer under his protection. As uncle and nephew they ate together at one table and, with lies, discussed policy with one another.
27]Antiochus returned from his first Egyptian campaign with great riches and turned his attention to despoiling the Temple in Jerusalem.10
28]In his second campaign against Egypt, Antiochus was less successful and failed to take Alexandria. Furthermore, he encountered the Roman navy.
29]Chittim, or Kittim, is found in the Dead Sea Scrolls as a general reference to the people of the Mediterranean--Cyprus in particular. The Roman fleet of Caius Popillius Laenas sailed to Egypt after a stunning Roman victory over Perseus of Macedon near Pydna, S. of Thessalonica.11 The intimidation of the Romans caused Antiochus to return in humiliation to Syria and, looking for someone to take it out on, he then focussed on oppressing the Jews. He sent 22,000 soldiers into Jerusalem on the Sabbath, outlawed the Torah and other Jewish practices, and plundered the city.
30]The famed "Abomination of Desolation" now takes place.12 He ordered a sow sacrificed on the Holy Altar in the Temple and, on his birthday, ordered an idol of Zeus set up in the Holy of Holies.
31]The consequent outrage led to the famed Maccabbean revolt, which successively threw off the yoke of the Greek rulers and ushered in the Hasmonean period of Israel's history. On the third anniversary of the desecration of the Temple, on the 25th of Kislev, 165 B.C., the Temple was rededicated. This rededication is celebrated to this very day as Hanukkah.
This historical event took on additional prophetic significance two centuries later when four disciples received a private briefing by Jesus Himself on the Second Coming, in which Jesus alluded to a future reoccurrence of a similar desecration as the key to all end-time prophecy.14
This repetition of the "Abomination of Desolation" is the central milestone in the middle ofthe climactic seven-year period comprisingthe "Seventieth Week" of Daniel 9.15 This prophetic event requires the rebuilding of the Temple, the preparations for which have already begun.
[Inverses 1-35, approximately 135 prophetic statements have been counted.]
The Willful King of the Future
The remainder of the chapter, verses 36-45, has yielded a number of diverse views. Some have attempted to restrict the passage to the historical Antiochus IV, and while his meglamania lends itself to such views, the language seems to go far beyond that. The "Willful King" has been identified by Ibn-Ezra with Constantine the Great; Rashi and Calvin understood him to represent the Roman Empire; Jerome, Theodoret, Luther, J.N.Darby and most "Pre-trib" scholars see him as the Antichrist.
However, as so often occurs in Biblical prophecy, many times the immediate, local application of a passage clearly transcends the immediate context to yield a glimpse of a larger, more climactic application.16 The similarity to other prophetic passages is striking, cf. 2 Thess 2, etc. Verses 40-45 outline the "Armageddon Scenario" of the final conflict climaxing in Rev. 16, 19, etc. Daniel Chapter 12 continues with a clear description of the Tribulation period.
The Line Continues
After the horrible reign of Antiochus IV, the Seleucid line continued under the same title, with Antiochus V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, and XIII. The Seleucid dynasty came to an end in 63 B.C. when Pompey declared that Syria would become a Roman province.
However, the descendants of the Seleucids continued in importance and became intertwined with the Herodians and the royal houses of Rome. Following the death of Nero in 68 A.D., Rome entered a time of upheaval as various contenders fought for control. In The Histories of Tacitus, we find "Prince Epiphanies," the son ofAntiochus IV, King of Commagene (located on the West Bank of the Upper Euphrates) fighting on behalf of Otho, one of the contenders, in the first battle of Cremona. This son is carrying an official title in honor of the man who had desecrated the Temple 238 years before.
Tacitus also portrays Vespasian, Herod Agrippa II and Queen Bernice as close confidants.
Josephus mentions that Numenius, the son of Antiochus, was a member of the Roman senate, demonstrating the closeness of the the offspring of the Seleucid dynasty with Roman royalty.17
The Prince That Shall Come
The Coming World Leader--commonly known as "the Antichrist"--has 33 titles in the Old Testament and 13 in the New Testament. One of these, "The Prince That Shall Come," comes from Daniel 9:26-27 in which "the people of the Prince that shall come'' would destroy the city and the sanctuary. The fulfillment occurred in history when the Roman legions under Titus Vespasian, son of the Emperor Vespasian, destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in 70A.D.18 This reflexive reference to the Romans in Daniel 9:26 is one of the several reasons that most Bible scholars view the future "Prince that shall come" as a Roman or European.
A Continuous Genealogy?
A genealogical link between the original Antiochus Epiphanes and Titus Vespasian would not be surprising, and yet it is very provocative. But there may be more.
In the 5th century the royal line of the Franks intermarried with the Merovingian dynasty, which ultimately links the family trees of the Habsburgs, the House of Lorraine, Plantard, Luxembourg, Pont6zat, Montesquieu, Sinclair, Stuarts, and most of the royal families of Europe. Among contemporary luminaries are Otto von Habsburg of Austria19 and his son, Karl, and King Juan Carlos I of Spain and his son, Felipe.
(It is from this type of background that some consider King Juan Carlos of Spain and his son, Felipe, potential candidates. The lineage of the son includes 2 German emperors, 8 kings of Denmark, 5 kings of Sweden, 7 Czars of Russia, 1 king and 1 queen of Norway, 1 queen of England and 5 kings of Greece.)
The Magdalene Blasphemy
There are a number of occultic groups that hold to the outrageous suggestion that the Merovingian line is directly linked to offspring from Jesus and Mary Magdalen&0 While obviously a blasphemous lie, it is interesting that there are people who take this seriously. Could this Satanic delusion have an end-time purpose?
A Candidate on the Horizon?
History is littered with speculations as to the identity of this final Coming World Leader. While there still remains a 378-year void in the span between Vespasian (69A.D.) and the reign of Merovee (beginning in 447 A.D.), there may be dusty documents lying in some library that might validate the implied linkage. Let's watch and see.
Judas Reincarnated?
There are some who expect the Coming World Leader to be Judas Iscariot reincarnated: Ps 55:11-14; Death & Hell: Isa 28:18, Rev 6:8; Mt 12:41-43; Jn 17:12; Jn 6:7; 2 Thess 2:3; Acts 1:25, with Rev 11:7. He emerges out of the Abousso, Rev 11:7
[For a provocative description of the Antichrist's rise to infamy, read David Breese's poem, The Man With A Plan. For information, contact David Breese at: Christian Destiny, Inc., P0 Box C, Hillsboro, KS, 67063, (316) 947-2345.]
Bibliography (Recommended):
Missler, Chuck, The Coming World Leader, Koinonia House, 1995.
Missler, Chuck, Expositional Commentary on Daniel, (16 Tape cassettes plus extensive notes), Koinonia House,1994.
Pink, Arthur W., The Antichrist, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI, 1988.Stearman, Gary, The Bloodline of the Antichrist, Prophecy in the News.
Bibliography (No Recommendation):
Baigent, Michael; Leigh, Richard; & Lincoln, Henry; The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, Corgi Books, London, UK, 1988.
Church, JR., Guardians of the Grail, Prophecy Publications, Oklahoma City, OK.
Taylor, Charles R., The Antichrist King - Juan Carlos?,Bible Prophecy for Today, Huntington Beach, CA, 1994.
Notes:
1.Daniel 7:6; 8:8, 22; 11:4; et al.
2.See our expositional commentary on Daniel for details.
3.Herodotus III. 89-97.
4.Josephus, Antiquities, Xliii.
5.Polybius, Histories, V. 38.
6.Polybius, Histories, II. 7 in Histories 1.
7.Appian, Roman History: The Syrian Wars, XI.I.5; vii.38.
8.2 Maccabees 3:1-12, 24-31.
9.2 Maccabees 4:30-35.
10.1 Maccabees 1:16-29.
11.Livy's Annales, XLIV.37.
12.2 Maccabees 5:11-18; 6:1-11. Josephus, Antiquities, XII.ii.6.
13.The Holy Spirit includes an allusion to Hanukkah in the New Testament: Jn 10:22
14.Matthew 24-25; Mark 13-14; Luke 21-22.
15.The Seventy Weeks of Daniel are the principal foundation in understanding all end-time prophecy. This passage also includes the most amazing prophecy in the entire Bible. See our briefing package Daniel's 70 Weeks.
16.The references to the origin and career of Satan in Isaiah 14: 12-17 and Ezekiel 28:12-19 arewell-known examples. The allusions toAntiochus Epiphanes are another.
17.Antiquities, xiii, 5.8.
18.Some confuse the destruction of the Temple with Jesus' prediction that it would receive the idol in the Holy of Holies (the "Abomination of Desolation"). During the ferocious siege of 70 AD., the Temple caught fire and was subsequently dismantled to retrieve the gold. There was no opportunity to establish the desecration fitting the Biblical specifications.
19.For background on Otto von Habsburg in his present role as a member of the European Parliament and his comments over lunch last year, see the briefing package Iron Mixed With Clay.
20.The Prieur6 de Sion is among the elusive secret societies that traces its interests from the Knights Templar and is believed to have global government ambitions.
21.Matthew 24:24.
22.2 Thess 2. See our From Here to Eternity briefing package for a more complete discussion.
23.2 Corinthians 2:11.
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| GOG AND MAGOG
| by Shirley Ann Miller
|
--"And they went up upon the breadth of the earth, and compassed
the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city" Apocalypse of John
Who, or what is Gog or Magog? David in various Psalms, Joel (Ch. 3), Habakkuk (Ch. 3), Zechariah (Ch 8 and 14) and Micah (Ch 7), all allude to the great army of Gog coming against the land of Israel. The Apostle John only mentions the name briefly in Revelation 20:8, but Gog and Magog also appear in the text by Ezekiel (38 and 39). Does the fire mentioned in Revelation (20:9) consume only Gog and Magog, who encompassed the camp of the saints and the New Jerusalem, or does it consume the entire world?
When John, in the Book of Revelation, refers to Gog and Magog he associates "them" with many peoples from many nations who reside "in the four quarters (or corners) of the earth. John also refers to the time-period after 1,000 years (known as the Millennium). John then informs us that these people of Gog and Magog "went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city" (20:9). Interestingly, in the Revelation of John, this occurs after the 1,000 years, and the "saints" are considered to be "believers in the Messiah, Jesus Christ," and the "beloved city" could none other be than "Jerusalem." To the Jewish nation, Jerusalem is forever the eternal capital of Israel. All the nations surrounding Jerusalem desire the same: The Palestinians want to make Jerusalem their Palestinian capital; an Islamic city to Islam; a Roman Catholic/Christian city to the Pope; and the U.N. basically rejects Jerusalem as the capital of any one nation and wants to make it an international city belonging to all (see article on THE NEW WORLD ORDER here).
THE FOUR CORNERS
Is our earth, on whose surface we dwell, peradventure some square or oblong, with right, acute, or obtuse angles?
Is it not certainly a sphere or almost perfect globe, whose diameter from one pole to the other is found a little less than that from east to west, drawn through at the equator?
IBN EZRA, 1812
If you read the article on THE COVENANT A PROMISE WRITTEN IN THE STARS, you will certainly be aware of the four-square shape configuration for the 12 tribes of Israel during the Exodus, the four-square shape of the land for their inheritance in the Promised Land, the four-square shape for the city of Jerusalem, and lastly, the four-square shape of the New Jerusalem of Revelation. Therefore, it should be rather easy to understand what John meant by "the four corners" of the earth. What corners are these? John refers to the four corners of the earth with Jerusalem as the center!
As an example, if you were standing in the center of Jerusalem and drew two lines which cut or cross one another under your feet, one from east to west, another from north to south, you would have drawn four right angles, each of ninety degrees. This is what John
efers to as "the four corners" of the earth; i.e., Gog and Magog,
nd would include all of the "then known" nations as well as any
uture undiscovered ones. Gog and Magog are all of the nations in the world that surround Jerusalem.
THE FAMILY OF NOAH
To understand further who these nations comprise we can find further evidence in the descendants of the family of Noah where in Genesis Magog is the second son of Japhet--but no evidence of Gog here. Gog isn't mentioned until you read of him in Ezekiel 38 and the 20th chapter of Revelation. Although, there is one further somewhat obscure reference to Gog in Chronicles 5:4, the grandson of Reuben. Could it be that the Gog of Revelation and Ezekiel (38:6) are none other than the same person known as Gomer, the elder brother of Magog, the first of the seven sons of Japhet?
According to Josephus, Noah's ark came to rest at the mountain of the Corydaeans in Armenia (Josephus, Whiston, Ch II). The sons of Japhet include: "Gomer, Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras." The sons of Japhet were referred to in Genesis 10:5, as the Gentiles and later the forerunners to the European nations. "By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations." Beginning in the mountains of Taurus (Turkey) and Amanus then migrating throughout Armenia, Asia, Caucasus, Greece, and Europe, these were in part the nations comprising the early descendants of the children of Japhet: Galatians or Galls/Gauls (France); Gomerites or Cimmerians (Turkey); and other countries including Belgium, Britain, Spain (Iberians), Germany, Switzerland, and Netherlands; the Scythians/Magogites (Goths, Huns, Moschis, Russians, Siberians); Romanians (early Dacians); Medes (Madai or Persians); Cappadocians (Parthians/Armenians); Thracians (Bulgarians, No. Greece, Athenians, No. Turkey); Rheginians (So. Italy); Paphlagonians (No. Asia Minor bordering the Black Sea, No.Turkey); Phrygians (Balkans/Turkey); Tharsians of Tarsus (SE Asia Minor/Antiochia); Cyprians of Cyprus (Alashiya); etc. (Wiseman, 1849).
Interestingly, in a book entitled, "Science and Revealed Religion," (1849) the author indicated the Scythians (Magogites), mentioned by Aristotle in his classification of the human races, were the Germanic tribes, which were found scattered over the whole of Scythia. They were first mentioned in Julius Caesar's "Commentaries," and Tacitus' book on "Germany," where he describes these early Indo-European people as "barbarian" giants with one pleasing quality, "...they are content with one wife." This country, as described by Herodotus, is unlike the Scythia of Ptolemy, in its confinement to Northern Asia, but also comprised "Dacia, Moesia, and all of the country north of Thrace." All the inhabitants of this region were Germanic. This can be documented from various monuments and descriptions given by Ovid in his exile in Scythia when he writes of the Scythians as fair haired (i.e., yellow or light-colored) with blue eyes. ("Hic mea cui recitem nisi flavis scripta Corallis, Quasque alias gentes barbarus Ister habet Corringius, Frankfert, 1727, trans. Wiseman). Adamantius and Polemon, both followers of Aristotle, gave similar descriptions to the inhabitants of the north as being the Scythians, "homoapheticus," or of the lineage of Japheth. NOTE: During the horrible appendage of the Hitler regime, one must be reminded of one of Hitler's goals in his attempts to annihilate the Jewish race as being of inferior progeny: Hitler purposely produced a Japheticus-type, cloning of "his super breed of humans" consisting of blonde, blue-eyed German children.
RUSSIA FROM THE TIME OF CHRIST TO WORLD WAR I
Before the modern-day Russian people inhabited what we now know as Russia, they migrated from their original home in Asia.
The Slavic people came into the Southern area of Russia during the time of Christ establishing various settlements and outposts. The first kingdom was settled by Rurik, a Northman, and by the Seventh Century a number of cities were established before the Byzantine
mpire and later Tartar invasions. The first Czar was Ivan the Terrible, who began building a mighty empire, but it was Peter the Great (1672-1725), who brought the progress of western civilization to the area. He encouraged and brought great strides in education, industrial pursuits, commerce, great ship building projects, and military advancements, including the establishment of
a new army. Peter the Great brought civilization and identity to the Russian people, including his promotion to the leadership of the Orthodox church.
The next few hundred years Russia was at odds with Sweden, Poland (who was essentially blotted off the map through successive Territorial divisions), and as part of the first opposing coalition against Napoleon Bonaparte (France), who later defeated the Russians at Friedland during the Winter of 1806-07. This war ended with the Russian Czar and Napoleon signing of the Peace of Tilsit which excluded Russian-British commerce and the recognition of French control over Italy. At the time, the Czar had not realized how this move would greatly hinder Russian commerce. As a result, he later reconsidered and reopened Russian ports to trade with Britain. Angered at Russia's defiance, Napoleon gathered together a great army and entered Russian territory. He defeated the Russian army at Borodino with heavy losses and temporarily occupied the ravaged and mostly destroyed city of Moscow.
Later, after Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo, European maps had to be redrawn. Countries, including Russia, sent delegations to The Congress of Vienna, and as a result of the Congress, Russia gained two territories: Warsaw and Finland. The Quadruple Alliance in 1815, finalized an agreement between nations to stabilize Europe and maintain the renewed boundaries of the European nations. This honorable system, unfortunately, did not work and various nations found themselves being encroached upon, and at the time, Russia became one of the bad-boys while seeking expansion in the Far East in efforts to extend the Trans-Siberian railway in the direction of the Pacific thereby gaining access to Port Arthur (1903). This aggressive action brought about the Russian-Japanese War (1904-5), where a defeated Russia retreated from its recent attempted acquisition of Chinese territory.
During the later economic revolution, many drastic socialistic ideals were adopted promoting radicalism and defeating capitalism.
Governments slowly seized power and control of economic Production. Russia adopted the theories of Karl Marx' (1818-83) Socialism in efforts to sway its system of private capitalism to governmental control.
Another problem which has carried over into the current crisis in the Balkans is that Russia's long-held "...historical mission was to gain economic, political and religious control of Constantinople and the straits of Bosphorus and Dardanelles" (Fielders, 1931).
Constantinople became Emperor Constantine's capital for the New Rome of A.D. 330, "a city enthroned on seven hills," until A.D. 1453 when Constantinople was converted into the capital of the Ottoman Empire, Istanbul. The straits of Bosphorus brought Istanbul wealth from the revenues obtained from fishing boats and the tolls paid by ships passing though the Bosphorus.
"Another factor was Turkey. Her Mongolian people were Mohammedans in religion [Muslim]...A third factor was Turkey's Christian subject states: Serbia, Rumania, Greece, Bulgaria and Montenegro, all of whom had fought for and gained their European independence by 1908" (Clarke, 1932). (3) When the Russian Czar demanded control of the Russian subjects located in Turkey, it began the Crimean War (1853-1856). Seeing what was taking place in their midst, other countries entered into the conflict: "France, to gain a foothold on the Catholic Holy Places and England in opposition to Russia" (4). The Russians were defeated at Sevastopol and also observed the neutralization of previously protected territory. The Treaty of Paris (1856) essentially was organized to stop Russia from advancing into Turkey. This matter
nfortunately wouldn't remain settled for long.
Twenty years later, Turkey crushes the Bosnian/Bulgarian revolts (1875) and defeats Serbia and Montenegro which results in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877. In this war, Russia again becomes allied with Montenegro, and also Serbia, fighting against Turkey with one intended purpose: the annexation of the provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Russian control. The Russo-Turkish War left Turkey defeated (1878) with lost territory surrendered to her enemies (The Treaty of San Stefano). These decisions were later revised at The Congress of Berlin Treaty where Austria gained control of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Austria completed this annexation in 1908), and England standing in opposition to any further advancements by Russia into Asia Minor. Bulgaria then deparated and declared independence from Turkey. Turkey then went to war with Italy over Tripoli which then led to the Balkan Wars (1912-13) leaving Turkey with another defeat. Now enters Germany who proposes peaceful relations and trade with Turkey - but in reality desired its control in order to open a railroad route between Berlin and Baghdad - that angered Russia, among other nations, and later brought war with Germany. All of this going on around the same time-period and while Russia scrambled to build a vast army to gain a foothold over Constantinople.
It was all of these simultaneous events occurring all at once that brought about the tensions at the onslaught of WWI. Sidney Bradshaw Fay in "The Origins of the World War I," claim the newspaper press as the underlying cause, and this in conjunction with a murder in Bosnia. On June 28, 1914, the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian Crown, was murdered by a pro-Serb sympathizer in Bosnia. On July 23, the Austrian government forwarded a letter of ultimatum demanding restitution or penalty.
When the Serbian's didn't respond satisfactorily, Austria declared war on July 28, 1914. "Russian mobilization caused Germany to
eclare war on Russia, August 1, and this was followed by similar declaration on France, August 3. In order to attack France, German troops entered Belgium, an act which brought England into the war." (5) And so the story goes.... After a number of defeats, Russia withdrew from the war in 1917, the same year the United States entered the campaign. World War I ended on November 11, 1918.
This series presented in conjunction with ATHID LAVO, "The Coming Age" and the betrothal of the Bride.
To Be Continued May 1999
- Part Ii Will Include
(1)Are Gog And Magog The Same?
(2)Old Rome Or Constantinople - "The City Enthroned On Seven Hills?"
(3)Why Does Ezekiel Refer Only Once To Magog But Eleven Times In Reference To Gog?
(4)Where Did Anyone Get The Idea Of Only
Russia" In This Configuration Of Nations?
(5)And Much More Surprising Information!!!!!
Shirley Ann Miller Lampholder Publications http://www.hsv.tis.net/~sammie/page2/html sammie@traveller.com
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| What Happens at the Moment of Death?
| By Dr. Ron Rhodes
|
Modern science would tell us that death involves the "cessation of all life (metabolic) processes." But seen in such terms, death is strictly a physical, material event. It does not give recognition to the nonmaterial (spiritual) part of man.
From a biblical perspective, human beings are made up of both a material part (the physical body) and an immaterial part (the soul or spirit). When a human being physically dies, his or her immaterial part departs from the material body.
The New Testament Greek word for "death" literally means separation. At the moment of death, man's spirit or soul separates or departs from his body. This is why, when Stephen was being put to death by stoning, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (Acts 7:59). Verses such as this indicate that death for the believer involves his or her spirit departing from the physical body and immediately going into the presence of the Lord in heaven. Death for the believer is thus an event that leads to a supremely blissful existence.
For the unbeliever, however, death holds grim prospects. Indeed, at death the immaterial part (soul or spirit) departs from the material body and goes not to heaven but to a place of horrific suffering (Luke 16:19-31).
Both believers and unbelievers remain in a disembodied state until the future day of resurrection (see 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). And what a glorious day that will be! God will reunite believers' spirits with their resurrected physical bodies. These bodies will be specially suited to dwelling in heaven in the direct presence of God -- the perishable will be made imperishable and the mortal will be made immortal (1 Corinthians 15:53). Unbelievers, too, will be resurrected, but they will spend eternity apart from God (Revelation 20:11-15).
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