In Isaiah 46:9-10, it is written:
“9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:”
From times immemorial and out of ALL the religions and gods to ever exist on planet earth, there has ever only been one God (The God of Israel) and one Book – the Holy Bible – that has told the end from the beginning with absolute precision. By analyzing and investigating the prophecies of the Bible, we see that not only does history confirm the Bible, but the Bible confirms history. Through God’s unique and divine Word mankind must realize that there is only one TRUE God – Jesus! Since God’s Word has been proven reliable based on the accounts of indisputable history, we can confidently put our trust in God and can be made aware of what the future holds.
This lesson breaks down the prophecies of the four winds of heaven aka the four Gentile kingdoms to rule the World before Jesus returns to setup his everlasting kingdom. These four kingdoms were established to punish and afflict the children of Israel for their disobedience (Hosea 13:6-7). Israel will thus remain in captivity and oppression until the Lord returns, subdues the fourth kingdom (Roman Empire), and re-gathers the children of Israel.
Jeremiah FORETELLS the destruction of Judah and the children of Israel by the hand of king Nebuchadnezzar:
Jeremiah 25
King James Version (KJV)
25 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon;
2 The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,
3 From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the Lord hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.
4 And the Lord hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.
5 They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the Lord hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever:
6 And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.
7 Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the Lord; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.
8 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words,
9 Behold, I will send and take all the families of the NORTH, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.
Notes: This shows us that God can and will hurt you if you do not obey his Word and preachers. Since the Bible centers around the nation and land of Israel, geographically speaking, we see that everything in the Bible is in proximity to Israel. Babylon is NORTH to Israel. The children of Israel are a black people who have been scattered throughout the world into captivity til this day.
The GOD OF ISRAEL is the one pulling the strings! He tells the kings of the Earth that he is the creator and ruler of all and that he has given the dominion of the World to king Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon:
Jeremiah 27
King James Version (KJV)
1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
2 Thus saith the Lord to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck,
3 And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah;
4 And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters;
5 I have MADE the EARTH, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by MY GREAT POWER and by my outstretched arm, and have GIVEN it UNTO WHOM it SEEMED MEET UNTO ME.
6 And now have I GIVEN ALL THESE LANDS INTO THE HAND OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR the KING of BABYLON, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.
7 And ALL NATIONS shall serve him, and his son, and his son’s son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.
Notes: God is in control of the kingdoms, rulers, and authorities of the world. He has a plan and will use both good and evil people to excuse his plan. Nebuchadnezzar was not a servant of God in a sense of righteousness but rather he served the purpose that God wanted him to serve and that purpose was for him to have worldwide rulership. The world is still under Babylonian rulership today through the Roman Empire and Catholic Church. This is however a mystery to the masses.
The time frame of Jeremiah’s and Daniel’s prophecies:
Encyclopedia Americana, page 18: “Jeremiah” – Hebrew Prophet, born about 640 BC, died about 570 BC. Jeremiah prophesied in the times of the Neo-Babylonian Empire ruled under Nebuchadnezzar II. The tiny Kingdom of Judah, which had been a vessel of Assyria, changes its allegiance first to Egypt, then to Babylonia and finally fell due to the capture of Jerusalem in 587 BC.”
Notes : Jeremiah and Daniel prophesied around the same time and they told the rise and fall of kings and kingdoms before the events took place. This is how we know that the Bible is the True Word of God!
King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the great image that represents the four gentile dynasties. The dream was interpreted by Daniel from God and revealed the future:
Daniel 2
King James Version (KJV)
1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.
2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.
3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.
4 Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation.
5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.
12 For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
13 And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.
14 Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king’s guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon:
15 He answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.
16 Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation.
17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:
18 That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
24 Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation.
25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation.
26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?
27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;
28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;
29 As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.
30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.
31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.
32 This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.
35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass HEREAFTER: and the dream is CERTAIN, and the interpretation thereof SURE.
Notes : None of the king’s so called wise men/spiritual leaders – astrologers, magicians, sorceress i.e. false prophets, could tell the king his dream because they lack the revelation of the true God. The Lord revealed the dream unto Daniel, the Israelite slave and prophet because the oracles and revelations have been bestowed unto Israel – God’s cursed yet chosen priests. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were all given Babylonian slave names when they were taken into captivity just like African Americans.
Kingdoms:
Head of Gold – Babylon
Breastplate of Silver – Medo-Persia
Belly and Thighs of Brass – Greece
Legs of Iron – Rome
10 Toes of Iron and Clay – (Revived Roman Empire/10 Kingdoms)
Stone – Jesus, will return and destroy Babylon (Revived Roman Empire)
Jeremiah reiterates the destruction of Israel by Nebuchadnezzar who was the “destroyer of the Gentiles” from the North. Nebuchadnezzar and his empire is represented by a LION.
Jeremiah 4:5-7
King James Version (KJV)
5 Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.
6 Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
7 The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.
Daniel’s dream of The Four Winds of Heaven aka the four Gentile dynasties that would rule the world. These four beasts and the Great image from King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream represents the same kingdoms.
Daniel 7
King James Version (KJV)
1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters.
2 Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.
3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.
4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.
5 And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.
6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.
7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.
17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.
In the first year of King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, the Lord tells Jeremiah that Israel will be destroyed by king Nebuchadnezzar and that Israel would go into captivity for 70 years as a result of their stiff-necks and disobedience!
Jeremiah 25
King James Version (KJV)
1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon;
2 The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,
3 From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the Lord hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.
4 And the Lord hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.
5 They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the Lord hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever:
6 And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.
7 Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the Lord; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.
8 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words,
9 Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.
10 Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.
11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
12 And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.
Notes: The Lord warned Israel that he would send them into captivity if they did not obey his voice. The God of Israel is just and fair but there are consequences for not obeying him.
King Nebuchadnezzar’s siege of Jerusalem as FORETOLD by God seven years before:
2 Chronicles 36
King James Version (KJV)
5 Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God.
6 Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.
7 Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.
11 Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
12 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord.
13 And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord God of Israel.
14 Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.
15 And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:
16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy.
17 Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.
18 And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon.
19 And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.
20 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:
Notes: The Bible is not in chronological order. The book of Chronicles is before the book of Jeremiah but there are certain parts of each book that account for the same time period.
Zedekiah swore by the Lord that he would govern Judah on the terms of Nebuchadnezzar, but he broke the agreement. When we break covenants with men under an oath, then we have broken a covenant with God, not man!
Not only was the King of Israel evil, but the chief priests and common people were also evil because they all transgressed against God!
The King of Babylon and his siege of Jerusalem:
Funk & Wagnals Encyclopedia, page 196, “Nebuchadnezzar” – Reigned 605 – 562 BC. “In 605 BC he invaded Syria and defeated Necho II (King of Egypt). He became king of Babylon in the same year. King Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and took king Jehoiakim and the Jews into captivity in 597 BC. Zedekiah led a revolt against King Nebuchadnezzar in 588 BC and as a result the King laid siege to Jerusalem again.”
World Scope Encyclopedia, “Babylonia” – “The name of a country on the lower Euphrates, known today as Iraq. King Nebuchadnezzar was its greatest king and through him, the kingdom reached a height that it had never attained. He reigned from 604-561BC. He conquered Jerusalem and carried the king and common folks into captivity and destroyed the Jewish capital. The kingdom would last until 538 BC and its last king was Belshazzar. He reigned until his kingdom was conquered by Cyrus, the Great of Persia.”
The Lord tells Israel how to live in Babylon during their seventy year captivity:
Jeremiah 29
King James Version (KJV)
1 Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon;
4 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon;
5 Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;
6 Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.
7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
8 For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.
9 For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the Lord.
10 For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
Notes: Israel has always had false prophets among them. The Lord has warned every generation about false prophets that come in his name, speaking lies.
The Lord determined the end of the Babylonian empire and the beginning of the Medo-Persian empire.
Daniel 5
King James Version (KJV)
1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.
2 Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.
3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.
4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
5 In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
6 Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.
7 The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.
8 Then came in all the king’s wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof.
9 Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonied.
10 Now the queen by reason of the words of the king and his lords came into the banquet house: and the queen spake and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed:
11 There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;
12 Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation.
17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation.
18 O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour:
19 And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down.
20 But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:
21 And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will.
22 And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this;
23 But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:
24 Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written.
25 And this is the writing that was written, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.
26 This is the interpretation of the thing: Mene; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
27 Tekel; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
28 Peres; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the MEDES and PERSIAN.
29 Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
30 In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.
31 And DARIUS the MEDIAN took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.
The Medo-Persian Empire:
Daniel 7:5
King James Version (KJV)
5 And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.
The succession of the Medo-Persian Empire:
Universal Standard Encyclopedia, Volume 6, Page 2188, “Cyrus the Great” (600-529BC),king of persia. He overthrew the Median Empire in 550 BC and named himself the king of Persia. He ruled the territory extending from the Hales river in Asia Minor (Eastern border of Lydia) to the Babylonian Empire of the South and East. Babylon, Lydia, and the city-state Sparta in Greece combined to curve the power of Cyrus but in 546 BC, the Persians added Lydia to their realm and in 539BC the kingdom of Babylon fell to Cyrus. The persian Empire was thenceforth the most powerful state in the world until its conquest by Alexander, the Great two centuries later.”
Cyrus was an able and merciful ruler. Significant amongst his deeds was his granting of permission to the Jews to return from their exile in Babylon, to their native land of Israel.
Daniel understands the 70 years of Israel’s captivity written by the prophet Jeremiah:
Daniel 9:1-2
King James Version (KJV)
1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;
2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
The fulfillment of Israel’s seventy year prophecy. Cyrus allows the Jews to return to their land:
2 Chronicles 36
King James Version (KJV)
20 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:
21 To fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
23 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The Lord his God be with him, and let him go up.
Notes: Cyrus understood the power and order of the God of Israel!
Ezra 1
King James Version (KJV)
1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
2 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
3 Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem.
4 And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.
5 Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem.
6 And all they that were about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, beside all that was willingly offered.
7 Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the house of his gods;
Notes: The Lord always keeps his promises. He told Israel when they returned unto their land that he would do good unto them and they returned with goods, riches, and livestock. This is how the children of Israel came out of Egypt.
The number of the Jews who returned from captivity – 42, 360:
Ezra 2
King James Version (KJV)
1 Now these are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity, of those which had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away unto Babylon, and came again unto Jerusalem and Judah, every one unto his city;
64 The whole congregation together was forty and two thousand three hundred and threescore,
The return of Israel from Babylonian Captivity:
New Standard Encyclopedia, Volume 1, “Babylonian Captivity” – In 605 BC Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and carried off many prisoners. In 597 BC, the siege was renewed and the Hebrew king, with 10,000 jews were carried off to Babylon. In 586 BC the destruction of the city and the temple was completed and the remaining inhabitants were massacred or carried off to Babylon. Here, they worked and wept for two generations until 536 BC, Cyrus captured Babylon and gave the Jews permission to go home and rebuild their city. It is said that 43,000 men, women, and children took up the long march across the Euphrates. The Jews had been settled as colonists, rather than slaves, like the pilgrims in Holland, they had maintained their language, family, government, and forms of worships.”
Daniel’s prophecy of Alexander the Great and the Greek’s succeeding the Medo-Persian Empire:
Daniel 8
King James Version (KJV)
1 In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first.
2 And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.
3 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.
4 I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.
5 And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.
6 And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power.
7 And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.
8 Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.
15 And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.
16 And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.
17 So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.
18 Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright.
19 And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.
20 The ram which thou sawest having TWO HORNS are the KINGS of MEDIA and PERSIA.
21 And the rough GOAT is the KING of GRECIA: and the GREAT HORN that is between his eyes is the FIRST KING.
22 Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.
Notes: Horns represents kings. Ram with two horns – Medes and Persians. The Persians horn was longer and came up last because they were greater than the Medes. Hence, there is more history about them. The goat represents the Greek empire. The notable horn on the Goat was Alexander the Great, the first King of Grecia. Verse 22 explains and foretells Alexander’s four generals that would succeed after him.
The Greek Empire : (The four horns on the he goat and the four heads on the leopard both represent Alexander’s four generals that divided the Greek empire into four nations.)
Daniel 7:6
King James Version (KJV)
6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.
Daniel prophesied about the Four Kings of Persia as well. The last king, would be the richest and would stir up the Greeks which would cause the Greeks to succeed the Medo-Persian Empire.
Daniel 11
King James Version (KJV)
1 Also I in the first year of DARIUS the MEDE, even I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him.
2 And now will I shew thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in PERSIA; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of GRECIA.
3 And a MIGHTY KING shall stand up, that shall RULE with GREAT DOMINION, and do according to his will.
4 And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the FOUR WINDS of HEAVEN; and NOT to his POSTERITY, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those.
Notes: Mighty king – Alexander, the Great. Alexander did not have any children and died at an early age therefore his posterity did not inherit his kingdom. Rather, his kingdom was divided amongst his four generals. Daniel also reveals that the Greek Empire will be plucked up by Rome.
The Fall of the last Persian King that stirred up the Grecians:
World Scope Encyclopedia, Volume 4 : “Daniel III” – Surnamed Codamenus, the 12th and last king of Persia. He was the great grandson of Darius II. His reign began in 336 BC and ended with his death in 330 BC. At the time he ascended to the throne, his kingdom was greatly disturbed by the tyranny and luxury of his predecessors and was soon overwhelmed by the Macedonians (aka Greeks). His army was defeated on the banks of the River Granicus in Asia Minor. Soon after he organized an army of 400,000 to intercept the advance of Alexander, the Great in the mountains of Silca but was defeated a second time in the battle near the Issus in 333 BC. When his family fell in the hands of Alexander, he collected another army and met the Macedonians in 331 BC but was again defeated. Shortly after Alexander captured Silca, the capital and made all Persia subject to Greece. Darius III was slain as a result of conspiracy in 330 BC and with his death, the Persian Empire came to a close. His daughter Satara became a wife of Alexander.”
The Legacy of the GREAT HORN – ALEXANDER THE GREAT:
The Last Two Million Years, pg. 103-104: “After freeing Ionia from Persian rule, Alexander and his army swept on to occupy Syria and Phonecia. In 332 BC he captured the island city of Tyre, by building a dyke from the mainland; the dyke has survived through the centuries and, strengthen by accumulations of silt, now joins Tyre permanently to the coast. Egypt was the best country to fall to the young conqueror, and Alexander was proclaimed pharaoh. His astoundingly successful 11-year campaign brought the whole Persian Empire, including lands as far afield as India, into Greek hands. When Alexander died in 323 BC – at the age of only 32 – the immense territories he the age of only 32 – the immense territories he had conquered were divided among his generals.”
The FOUR HORNS of the GOAT/HEADS on the LEOPARD – Alexander’s FOUR GENERALS:
Encyclopedia Americana, Volume 5, pg 766: “Cassander” – 350-298BC was a leading statesmen after the break up of Alexander the great. In 316 BC, Cassander seized and executed Olympius, mother of Alexander the Great. He also took into custody, Alexander’s widow, Roxanne and infant son, Alexander IV, both of whom he put to death. He challenged the ambition of Antigonus and prevented him from establishing the Greek empire who was killed in 301 BC at the Battle Ipsis. Cassander, like allies, Ptolemy, Selecus, and Lysimachus took the title of king.”
Encyclopedia Britannica, page 324: “Hellenistic Age” – Outline of political history – the struggle of Alexander’s successors. Alexander’s empire, reaching from Macedonia to the .. became after his death, the scene of a long struggle among his marshals (general). Some of whom, among his army try to preserve the unity of the empire (Antigonus). Most of the generals of Alexander however aimed at breaking up the empire and created realms of their own. (This strategy had four phases) In following the third phase Antigonus could not keep the empire together. Demetrius, was defeated by Ptolemy at Gaza. Selecus who was previously expelled by Antigonus regained Babylon. All attempts of reunifying the Greek empire became impossible. Four powers remained, Cassander, Lysimacus, Ptolemy, and Selects”
The fourth empire to rule the world, Rome:
Daniel 2:40-43
King James Version (KJV)
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
Notes: The legs and feet of the great statute represent the great and terrible beast. However, the TEN TOES and TEN HORNS are NOT the same.
Daniel 7
King James Version (KJV)
7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.
The Fall of Greece:
World Scope Encyclopedia, Volume 6: “Greece” – In 432BC, the Spartans began a general war to conquer Athens after 27 years and establish Spartan supremacy. The oppression that followed resulted in an alliance between a number of states and the persian king and in 321 led to the defeat of the Spartans. Greece attained its height and military power during the Macedonian supremacy, particularly under Alexander the Great, son of Phillip the Barbarian of Macedon who reigned in 336-323 BC. This great leader, defeated Darius, overthrew the Persian Empire, annexed large parts of Asia and Africa and among other cities founders Alexandria, Egypt. The brief reign of Alexander was followed by internal dissensions and invasions by the Gauls in 279 BC and the nation was threatened by the States that rose in the West and all of Greece, became a Roman province after the capture of Corinth in 146 BC”
The Last Two Million Years, page 105: “The Shadow of Rome”: The great struggle between Rome and Carthage which dominated the west Mediterranean during much of the Hellenistic Age came to an end in 146 BC with a total victory for the Romans. With the destruction of Carthagem Rome was free to turn her attention to the eastern Mediterranean. Mainland Greece soon became a Roman protectorate, and during the 1st century BC Rome gradually absorbed Asia Minor, Syria, Judea and nearly all the remnants of Alexander’s eastern empire.”
The ten horns on the fourth (great and terrible) beast, represent 10 temporal leaders that would try to reunite the Roman Empire after it “fell” in 476 A.D. Among these 10 horns came another little horn that came into its religio-political power after the three horns got plucked up (eliminated from History) after trying to restore the Roman Empire on their own terms. This little horn is a priest-king (like the Babylonian priest-kings of old) and represents the anti-Christ office of the papacy. He is the ruler that is responsible for the emperorship of the 7 horns/kings that have tried to and that will reunite the Roman Empire. Every pope presides over his sovereign city-state (Vatican City) and speaks great blasphemies against the God of Israel:
Daniel 7
King James Version (KJV)
8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were THREE of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be DIVERSE from ALL KINGDOMS, and shall devour the WHOLE EARTH, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are TEN KINGS that shall arise: and ANOTHER shall rise after them; and he shall be DIVERSE from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
Notes: The fourth kingdom/Roman Empire is diverse from all the empires before it because it did not only conquer and rule on economic and militarist grounds, but it also has an overwhelming spiritual aspect to its dominion through religio-political control that has been given to them by Satan. Through their satanic false religion, they have devoured the whole earth.
The pope is the one who changed the times and laws of the Bible. God’s days start at the evening, but the pope’s days start at midnight. God commanded us to keep his laws, but the pope has changed them (i.e. Sunday, Graven Images) and have given the world paganism and false doctrine, including the rapture, born again, and communion.
Times, time, and dividing of time – 3.5 year great tribulations.
The Three horns (Germanic tribes) that tried to rule Rome but got plucked up by the roots (2 of 3 by Justinian):
Pictorial History of the Italian People, page 63-65:
“Barbarian Rulers” – After 455 AD, West Central government remained in Italy for eighty years in the hands of German mercenary troops or of Germanic tribes that settled in the country and lived, exploiting the docile, servile Christian Roman population. The Vandals remained in Italy for a short time. They appointed and dismissed emperors in the empire for 16 years. Another general, Orestes, possibly a Roman and not a Barbarian, nominated his teenage son, Romulus Agustulus emperor in 475 AD. In the following year, Odoacer the Herulian and his troops deposed Romulus Agustulus. 476 AD is the year that marks the end of the Roman state in Italy.”
(Odoacer governed Italy nominally as representative of the Roman emperor in the East. In reality he acted as an independent ruler, and inefficiently. In 488, the Ostrogoths, authorized since around 450 by the government in Constantinople to settle on the right bank of the middle Danube, were led into Italy by their leader, King Theodoric II. Besieged in Ravenna, Odoacer surrendered and was assassinated in 493. The Herulians were never heard of again.”
(Not only did Justinian pluck up 2 of the three horns, he is also the fourth horn which tried to restore the Roman Empire.)
In 535 the Roman emperor in the East, the able Justinian, bent on reestablishing the unity of the Empire, sent an expeditionary force to Italy. In his eyes, as in the eyes of all native Italians, Italy was still very much an integral part of the Roman State. Surprised initially by the attack, the Goths soon rallied behind their leaders. While most Italians looked on, a ferocious war was fought for nearly two decades between the armies of the Gothic kings and those of the legitimate ruler, the emperor. Finally defeated, the Ostrogoths disappeared from the pages of history.
Grolier Encyclopedia:
“Justinian’s aim was the restoration of the earlier Roman Empire by reconquest of areas lost to the Germanic tribes. With the help of his general Belisarius, he regained North Africa from the Vandals (533-34) and, after a lengthy war (535-54), Italy from the Ostrogoths (see Goths). Justinian also acquired southeastern Spain. Repeated wars with the Sassanian Persians, however, usually ended with the Byzantines buying peace; and the Slavs occupied much of the Balkan Peninsula.
The seven horns/kings on the fourth Beast – The Israel of God, “How will the World End”:
“Once again you see world history lines up with the scripture. All three of these Germanic tribes were defeated. As its states in the Book of Daniel these three were plucked up by the roots. After the Last Roman Cesar was defeat by these Germanic Tribes there were seven kings left. These kings all had a common purpose, and that was to restore the Ancient Roman Empire. We will name six of the kings the seven is yet to come. Now let’s return to the scripture.”
Revelation 17:10 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.
These seven kings are the remaining horns on the beast in Daniel 7:7. Each one of these kings had the blessing of the Pope. The first is Justinian, the quote below is from Reader’s Digest (THE LAST 2 MILLION YEARS PAGES 123,121.)
“One of the greatest of the Byzantine emperors came to the throne in 527. He was Justinian I, whose 38-year reign was distinguished by three major achievements. He reconquered much of the old Western Empire; he modernized Roman Law; and built hundreds of churches, including the magnificent Hagia Sophia, the church of the holy wisdom, in Constantinople. He devoted his long reign to trying recreate the old Roman Empire as it was when dominated the Mediterranean throughout the centuries before the barbarian invasion. He succeeded in driving the Vandals from Africa and the Ostrogoths from Italy.
The magnificent Hagia Sophia, the church of the holy wisdom, was completed by Justinian in 537 and became the focus of religious life in Constantinople. Processions filed in an out of its doors on the frequent saints days, and most Byzantine emperors after Justinian were crowned in the church. More than 10,000 people worked on the building of Hgaia Sophia; when it was finished, Justinian is said to have exclaimed, Solomon I have out done the.”
The next was Charlemagne. This Quote is from “The Pictorial History Of Italian People” page 81.:
Charlemagne himself remained ever after a major figure of Italian lore as did, with modified names, the English monk Alcuin (Charle-magne’s trusted adviser for many years) and the gallant knight Roland. All Italians certainly took pride in the revived title of Roman emperor and in the great ceremony at which Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne in the old Basilica of Saint Peter’s in Rome, on Christmas Day of the year 800; There had been no emperor of the West since 476: now Italy seemed again to be the leading Western nation.
Quote from Funk and Wagnall’s online encyclopedia, under Holy Roman Empire.
On December 25, 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor. This act established both a precedent and a political structure that were destined to figure decisively in the affairs of central Europe. The precedent established the papal claim to the right to select, crown, and even depose emperors that was asserted, at least in theory, for nearly 700 years. In its primary stage, the resurrected Western Empire endured as an effective political entity for less than 25 years after the death of Charlemagne in 814. The reign of his son and successor, Louis I, was marked by feudal and fratricidal strife that climaxed in 843 in partition of the empire. For an account of the growth, vicissitudes, and final dissolution of the Frankish realm, see FRANCE.
The third was Otto the great. Quote from Funk and Wagnall’s online encyclopedia, under Holy Roman Empire:
Despite the dissension within the newly created Western Empire, the popes maintained the imperial organization and the imperial title, mainly within the Carolingian dynasty, for most of the 9th century. The emperors exercised little authority beyond the confines of their dominions, however. After the reign (905-24) of Berengar I of Friuli (850- 924), also styled as king of Italy or ruler of Lombardy, who was crowned emperor by Pope John X, the imperial throne remained vacant for nearly four decades. The East Frankish kingdom, or Germany, capably led by Henry I and Otto I, emerged as the strongest power in Europe during this period. Besides being a capable and ambitious sovereign, Otto I was an ardent friend of the Roman Catholic church, as revealed by his appointment of clerics to high office, by his missionary activities east of the Elbe River, and finally by his military campaigns, at the behest of Pope John XII, against Berengar II (900- 66), king of Italy. In 962, in recognition of Otto’s services, John XII awarded him the imperial crown and title.
The 4th Charles V Quoted from Grolier Encyclopedia:
Charles V, Holy Roman emperor (1519-56) and Ñas Charles IÑking of Spain (1516-56), dominated the politics of Europe for 40 years. Charles was born in Ghent, in present-day Belgium, on Feb. 24, 1500, the eldest son of the Habsburg Philip the Handsome (later Philip I) and Joan the Mad of Castile. From his father, who died in 1506, he inherited the Netherlands (including most of the modern Netherlands and Belgium) and Franche Comt? (a French-speaking province that bordered eastern France but belonged to the Holy Roman Empire). After the death (1516) of his maternal grandfather, Ferdinand II of Aragon, Charles became ruler of the kingdoms of Spain and the Spanish dependencies in ItalyÑthe kingdoms of Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia. The Habsburg possessions of Austria and several smaller south German lordships came to him on the death (1519) of his paternal grandfather, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, as did hereditary claims to the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia. The latter were made good by his younger brother Ferdinand (later Emperor Ferdinand I) in 1526, after the last independent king of Hungary, Louis II, was killed by the Turks in the Battle of Moh‡cs. Meanwhile, in 1519, Charles had been elected German king and Holy Roman emperor in succession to his grandfather Maximilian.
The 5th was Napoleon Bonaparte, Quoted from Grolier Encyclopedia:
“With peace restored, Bonaparte extended French influence into Holland (the Batavian Republic), Switzerland (the Helvetic Republic), and Savoy-Piedmont, which was annexed to France; he played the major role in the Imperial Recess (1803), by which the free cities and minor states of the Holy Roman Empire were consolidated; and he attempted to extend the French colonial empire, principally by recovering Haiti (see Louisiana Purchase). As a result of these policies and his refusal to grant trade concessions to Britain, war was renewed in 1803. In the wake of these events, which revived royalist hostility, the Senate petitioned Bonaparte to establish a hereditary dynasty. On Dec. 2, 1804, therefore, Napoleon crowned himself emperor in a ceremony presided over by Pope Pius VII. Napoleon created a titled court that included many of his statesmen and generals as well as ex-royalists. Believing that family ties were more durable than treaties, in the next few years he placed members of his family on the thrones of several satellite statesÑNaples, Holland, Westphalia, and SpainÑand married his relatives to some of the most distinguished families in Europe.”
The 6th was Benito Mussolini Quoted from Grolier Encyclopedia:
“On Mar. 23, 1919, Mussolini and other war veterans founded in Milan a revolutionary, nationalistic group called the Fasci di Combattimento, named for the ancient Roman symbol of power, the fasces. His Fascist movement developed into a powerful “radicalism of the right,” gaining the support of many landowners in the lower Po valley, industrialists, and army officers. Fascist black shirt squads carried on local civil war against Socialists, Communists, Catholics, and Liberals.
fas’-eez : In ancient Rome, fasces were rods of elm or birch tied together with leather thongs around an ax with projecting blade, used as a symbol of authority. They were carried by lictors (guards) walking in advance of public officials including praetors, consuls, proconsuls, victorious generals, dictators, and emperors. The Italian Fascist party adopted the fasces as its emblem and took its name from them.”
Quote from Reader Digest “THE LAST 2 MILLION YEARS PAGE 409.
“With its uniform of black shirts and slogan, no discussion only obedience, the fascist party came to power. Mussolini ordered his followers to march on Rome in 1922; the king gave way before this show of force and called on Mussolini to form a government. Mussolini gradually transformed Italy into a dictatorship, basing his policies on the idea of corporative state. Under his rule, the Fascist attempted to control every major aspect of Italian life. He took the title of Il Duce (the leader) and suppressed parliament, retaining the monarchy as a figure-head. The Duce had grandiose ambition of reviving the glories of Ancient Rome and making the Italians once again a conquering, militaristic people. These ambition, strengthen by the memory of humiliating defeat the Italians had suffered at Adowa in Ethiopia in 1896, led him to attack and conquer Ethiopia in 1935-6.”
As we have seen above each one of these Leaders tried to restore the Ancient Roman Empire and failed. Notice also how the Papacy played a major role in each of these leaders reign. Prophecy cannot be broken, keep your eye on Europe, the 7th king i.e. 10th horn of the great and terrible beast will show himself soon and do what the 9 horns before him could not do; REVIVE the ROMAN EMPIRE.
The Revived Roman Empire:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wzkZairGeE
Revelation 13
King James Version (KJV)
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
2 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.
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were WOUNDED to death; and his deadly wound was HEALED: and all the world wondered after the beast.
4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
This composite beast we have just read in Revelation 13 has all the traits of the empires in Daniel 7. It represents the supreme unification of all the various Gentile kingdoms that ruled in the place of the first world kingdom, Babylon. All of the kings that succeeded Babylon still took on the title of king of Babylon (for e.g. Ezra 5:13 ) because the territory of their empires expanded over the same land that king Nebuchadnezzar seized and controlled.
This is why king Nebuchadnezzar saw ONE great image which represented the entire Gentile Dynasty. The ten horns on this composite beast represents the ten nation alliance that make up the European Common Market – it may not be made up of 10 now, but its final state will consist of 10 nations. All nations that join the European Common Market must sign the Treaties of Rome. The final 10 nations will come together as one and give their power to “the beast” aka the temporal leader/10th horn in order to restore the Roman Empire. These horns are not the same horns on the great and dreadful beast, however they represent the 10 toes of the great statute.
Unlike the 9 horns that did just enough to keep the Roman Empire alive, The 10th and final horn will actually revive the Roman Empire completely. That is when its deadly wound will be HEALED. However, the will have to submit to the Pope – the little horn – 666 anti-Christ – speaking blasphemies against the most high. He will continue 42 months (3.5 years) according to the prophecy of Daniel 7:25 which is the great tribulation whereby he will claim to be God and enforce the mark of the Beast. If one does not take the mark, they will not be able to buy or sell which indicated that the Revived Roman Empire will have economic control. Hence, in 2002 Europe introduced the Euro, a single currency for the continent which has not been used since the days of the old Roman Empire. History is repeating itself because the Roman Empire is still around.
The Roman Empire did not fall completely in 476 AD as conventional history would have us believe. Daniel revealed that it was diverse from the others and the spiritual aspect which made it diverse is also part and parcel as to how, through political intrigue, the empire managed to survive. This is why in v. 3 the beast representing the Revived Roman empire is WOUNDED and not dead:
From, The Four Winds of Heaven:
“From the time of Constantine, the Roman empire looked upon Byzantine emperors as the head of the Christian Church, but disputes over doctrine weakened Byzantine authority, and in 800 AD., Pope Leo III head of the Church in Rome, crowned Charles, King of the Franks, as emperor of the Holy Roman empire, Charles was later called Charlemagne. The crowning of Charlemagne was a big ceremony. The Italians were proud because there had been no Emperor in the West since 476.”
The Last Two Million Years: Page 217, “An empire created by the pope” – In 800, in return for Charlemagne’s intervention to protect him against his rival, Adrian, Pope Leo III revived an old title and crowned him Emperor of the Roman Empire in the West. Charlemagne had no wish to appear to owe his title to Leo, and would have preferred to crown himself; but the pope took him by surprise in St. Peter’s on Christmas Day, 800, and placed the crown on his head before Charlemagne could prevent it. So originated the idea of the Holy Roman Empire, a creation of the papacy which was to rival the popes and which survived until the 19th century.”
Benito Mussolini, the 9th horn on the dreadful beast played a big role to help keep the Roman Empire alive:
Encyclopedia Americana, Volume 16, “The Lateran Treaty” “Treaty between Vatican City and Roman State” (Also, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/331566/Lateran-Treaty):
Lateran Treaty, also called Lateran Pact of 1929, treaty (effective June 7, 1929, to June 3, 1985) between Italy and the Vatican. It was signed by Benito Mussolini for the Italian government and by cardinal secretary of state Pietro Gasparri for the papacy and confirmed by the Italian constitution of 1948.
Upon ratification of the Lateran Treaty, the papacy recognized the state of Italy, with Rome as its capital. Italy in return recognized papal sovereignty over the Vatican City, a minute territory of 44 hectares (109 acres), and secured full independence for the pope. A number of additional measures were agreed upon. Article 1, for example, gave the city of Rome a special character as the “centre of the Catholic world and place of pilgrimage.” Article 20 stated that all bishops were to take an oath of loyalty to the state and had to be Italian subjects speaking the Italian language.
By article 34 the state recognized the validity of Catholic marriage and its subjection to the provisions of canon law; nullity cases were therefore reserved to the ecclesiastical courts, and there could be no divorce.
The state agreed by article 36 of the concordat to permit religious instruction in the public primary and secondary schools and conceded to the bishops the right to appoint or dismiss those who imparted such instruction and to approve the textbooks that they used.
With the signing of the concordat of 1985, Roman Catholicism was no longer the state religion of Italy. This change in status brought about a number of alterations in Italian society. Perhaps the most significant of these was the end to compulsory religious education in public schools. The new concordat also affected such diverse areas as tax exemptions for religious institutions and ownership of the Jewish catacombs.
From Funk and Wagnall’s Encyclopedia. (Treaty of Rome):
“In June 1955 the foreign ministers of the six nations in the ECSC agreed to examine the possibilities for further economic integration. This new effort resulted in the two Treaties of Rome of March 1957, which created the European Economic Community (EEC, often referred to as the Common Market) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). The latter organization has proved of little importance because the national governments have kept control of their own nuclear power programs. In June 1997, the EU reached agreement on the Amsterdam Treaty, a revision of the existing treaty negotiated in Maastricht. Under the Amsterdam Treaty, EU countries adopting the Euro as their common currency are obligated to pay heavy fines if they incur excessive budget deficits. EUROPEAN UNION, (EU), supranational organization founded on Nov. 1, 1993, as the successor to the European Community (EC). In addition to taking over the economic responsibilities of the EC (see below), the EU was also charged with forging a Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and creating closer cooperation among the EU member states in the areas of justice, home affairs, and social policy. At the time of its creation, the EU had 12 members: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain. Norwegian voters declined EU membership in a national referendum in November 1994, but Austria, Finland, and Sweden were admitted as of Jan. 1, 1995. In the late 1990s, many other nations, including those of Eastern Europe, were actively seeking EU membership.”
Funk & Wagnals, pg 264-26, “European Common Market” – “European Economic Community, or Common Market. Customs Union known also as the ECC. An outgrowth of the European Coal and Steel Community, the Common Market was established by the Treaty of Rome on March 25,1957. The stated purpose of the Common Market is to combine member states’ total economic resources in an economic union where internal tariffs and quotas would be abolished in a single external tariff will be established for goods imported from outside.
By 1961, all quota restrictions on internal trade were abolished and by 1965, internal tariffs were reduced by 80%. The Common Market boasted a 67% rise in industrial production and a 51% increase in the gross product of its original six member by 1986.
Fearing virtual exclusion from the continental market, Great Britain, the Republic of Ireland, Denmark, and Norway, applied for full membership in the Common Market in 1961.
Meanwhile, in early 1962, president John Fitzgerald Kennedy of the United States, stressed the urgency of negotiations to expand U.S. trade with the Common Market before the Lateran developed its own production to replace U.S. imports.”
Notes: The Italian State was supposed to have fallen in 476 AD by the Ostrogoths but through religio-political intrigue, the State has survived. This means that although the Roman empire has been weakened and fragmented, it is still surviving. Hence, God has accurately foretold that this empire would be wounded (Revelations 17:8) and thus around to be revived shortly before the coming of the Lord.
The whole world has been deceived by this wounded beast i.e. Roman Empire (through the false doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church) and once it is healed, it will destroy the saints through another inquisition and cause many to go straight to the lake of fire through the acceptance of the Mark of the Beast.
Revelation 17:1-9
King James Version (KJV)
1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
5 And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Harlots And Abominations Of The Earth.
6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
8 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 life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
Notes: Great Whore – The Roman Catholic Church professes to be the wife of Christ but is not because Israel is the Wife of Christ and his true Church. The Catholic Church is a satanic apostate church! This whore has slept with every false god (spiritual), therefore the Lord does not want her. This Church is the woman that rides the beast, which means she is the one that has control over the empire and we have seen that God foretold this religio-politico relationship through the prophet Daniel.
“Many Waters” – People
“Mother of Harlots” – The Roman Catholic Church is the head of all mainstream “Christian” denominations.
Blood of the saints – Roman Catholic Inquisitions for undermining the authority of “The Mother Church.”
“The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition… and yet is” -The Roman Empire “was” the last great empire the rule the world. It “is not” currently the greatest empire in the world, and “yet is” still alive because the empire did not completely fall in 476 AD, rather it has survived with shrewd collusion between the pope and leaders of the world.
Names not written in the Book of Life – For disobeying God and taking the mark of the Beast.
“Seven Mountains” – Seven Hills of Rome
World Scope Encyclopedia, “Rome” : Rome, called the eternal city, the capital of Italy. Formerly the capital of the Roman Kingdom, Republic, and Empire. Located in the province of Rome, it is situated on the Tiber River, about 15 miles from the sea being partly on a plain and partly on the slopes of the famous seven hills.
Pictorial History of Italian People page 30-31, “Rome Rebuilt”
Because of military pressure, or because they were bought off, the vitreous Guals of 390 BC left Rome after a few months. The inhabitants returned and the city was rebuilt. The Republic was re-organized. When the enemy left was nothing more than a fairly big township covering an area no less that four hundred square miles as it had been under the first two kings. About twelve miles from the sea, from the left bank of the Tiber, was a small island facilitated the building of a wooden bridge. A stone wall, parts of which may have been built under Servius in the 6th century enclosed all (or part) of seven smart hills and the plain in between. Romans were now confident in their own strength. When, after over thirty years of nearly continual fighting, this round of wars ended, the small independent township centered on the seven hills had become a state embracing most of what is today’s Latium and parts of Umbria.
Quote from Grolier Encyclopedia below.
The Seven Hills of Rome are the hills on which the ancient city was built. Of volcanic origin and situated on the east bank of the Tiber River, they consist of the Palatine, which lies at approximately the center of the hills, the Capitoline in the northwest, and the Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, Caelian, and Aventine in the southwest. According to tradition, Romulus, the city’s legendary founder, established the original settlement on the Palatine Hill, which, during the Roman Empire, was the site of the emperors’ palaces. The other hills were incorporated as parts of Rome by a succession of early kings. The Servian Wall, which surrounded the seven hills, was built in the 4th century ©; parts of it still survive.
The Revived Roman Empire will make war with Jesus at his second coming:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICsVWGq_rWU
Revelation 17
King James Version (KJV)
10 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.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
Notes (See Four Winds of Heaven pg. 41-45)
“Seven Kings” represent the 7 kings/ horns that was left on the fourth beast after 3 were plucked up.
The Revived Roman Empire is the 8th Beast or 8th kingdom of the Gentile dynasty that will be restored by the 7th king or last horn on the great and terrible beast. He will co-rule with the pope like the six kings before him.
The ten horns or ten kings/leaders of ten nations within represent the European Common Market that will come together to help revive the Roman Empire by electing the 7th king.
One Mind – These nations will comprise of the military might of the Revived Roman Empire by giving their power to the 7th king – The 7th king will be a king of kings like King Nebuchadnezzar.
Strength unto the Beast – The Economic Common Market which is pulling resources together to consolidate the Roman Empire and will end up making war with Russia and her allies during Armageddon but ultimately will make war with the Lamb – Jesus.
Jesus’ invasion of the Revived Roman Empire, Judgement Day (Great White Throne), and the establishment of God’s Everlasting Kingdom!:
Daniel 7
King James Version (KJV)
8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.
9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.
10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.
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.
12 As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.
13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.
27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
28 Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.
Thank you for reading and it is hoped that the eyes of your understanding have been enlighten in Jesus’ name!
Supplemental Information:
Purchase the IOG’s book, The Four Winds of Heaven, here.
Watch this Amazing Lesson for a simple breakdown of this topic!
Teacher: Brother Elijah
Church: Israel, The Church of Jesus
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