Why would anyone want to seal up the book of Revelation?

Unfortunately, that’s what some students of Scripture and even Bible teachers have done to varying degrees; even though keeping Revelation unsealed is a direct decree to the author, John.

Writes John in the last chapter of Revelation: “Then he instructed me, ‘Do not seal up the prophetic words in this book, for the time is near’” (Revelation 22:10).

Many believers to all intents and purposes have inadvertently sealed the book of Revelation by seldom reading it and rarely studying it. They consider much of it to be unknowable, to be sparingly discussed … compared to say, the Gospels or Epistles. When, in fact, Revelation is the only book that promises a special blessing to those who listen to and obey it … intently scrutinize, passionately pursue, long to learn (Revelation 1:3 & 22:7).

Proportionally, most pastors/teachers, commentators, and believers in general spend much more time and space on other books of the Bible. Fortunately, for the most part, prophecy pundits actively have sealed only portions of two chapters … Revelation 13 & 17.

Why would the angel even tell John not to seal up the words in this book? What does it mean to “seal up” (conversely, not to seal up)?

That question can best be answered by examining a similar instruction to another prophet some 600 years before Revelation was written. However, that directive was in reverse; one that believers are more familiar with than the one in Revelation.

“But you, Daniel, keep this prophecy a secret; seal up the book until the time of the end, when many will rush here and there, and knowledge will increase” (Daniel 12:4).

*Note: Whatever generation would experience the Day of the Lord (beginning with the Rapture) would be the one with the cutting-edge advancements in knowledge, transportation, and communication. That could have applied to virtually any period (age, generation) since Jesus ascended back to heaven.

Here is an excerpt from my book, Out of the Abyss (in italics):

For sure the rushing around and increase in knowledge has taken on a whole new meaning in our age of rapid transportation and computerized communication. But there was also a good deal of movement in the first century facilitated by the remarkable Roman highways. So, too, had knowledge dramatically increased hundreds of years after Daniel’s prophecy, precipitated by and attributed to Greek, Roman, and Jewish thinkers. Every generation could have made claim to this verse in Daniel regarding the “latest” technology, or the most contemporary possession and display of arts, science, literature, and knowledge in general (Page 277).

This same instruction is given again, with slightly different words:

Daniel and Revelation are the only books of Scripture in which the authors are told to: (1) seal up the book; (2) don’t seal the book.

Eye of Prophecy Post: The Seal of Approval

That former article was published 11-15-14 and was only the 14^th in the category of Antichrist, with a total of 68 articles at that time posted in the five categories of Eye of Prophecy website (total of 281 articles to date). Because there have been an additional 40 articles in the category of Antichrist since then, today’s post is a revisit review of that significant statement to John and its relevance to the persuasive premise that the identity of Antichrist can be known. In fact, it was known by early (1^st – 5^th century) Christians!

Today’s post includes a few verbatim quotes from that previous article, but also substantial revisions (deletions, additions, modifications) to the content. Plus, pictorials not present in the original article. For that reason, only the first three paragraphs of Seal of Approval will be italicized, which is done if I include excerpts from prior Eye of Prophecy articles in the current post for that week. Any subsequent excerpts will not be italicized, to ensure continuity and to maintain a stand-alone status for this week’s post.

Let’s begin with that excerpt:

It’s time to once again declassify and decode the identity of Antichrist. To once again lift the veil of secrecy and mystery that modern-day students of prophecy have imposed on this infamous figure; called a ruler and king by the prophet Daniel, the man of lawlessness by the apostle Paul, Antichrist by the apostle John, and a beast by John, the author of Revelation.

Although volumes have been written about this notorious tyrant, the prevailing premise is that the identity of the man who would dare be anti-Christ cannot be known until after the Rapture, at the outset of the seven-year Great Tribulation… Some scholars have dismissed and even ridiculed the notion that the Antichrist’s identity was meant to be known before the Rapture with the statement: “If anyone thinks they know the identity of Antichrist, then they have missed the Rapture!”

But we can know … we should know! Why can I make such a bold assertion? Because Scripture not only encourages such a discovery, it challenges us to figure out who the prophets and apostles are referring to. That he was not just a future tense despot to the prophet Daniel, but a present tense ruler during the Apostle Paul’s lifetime and a past tense monarch shortly before the book of Revelation was penned.

One of the most well-known verses sometimes quoted in my past writings on the beast of Revelation (as well as by many students of prophecy), but one that bears repeating: “Wisdom is needed here. Let the one with understanding solve the meaning of the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is 666” (Revelation 13:18).

In ancient Greek manuscripts the number 666 is written out … six hundred, sixty-six. Which is essential to accurately calculate the number (therefore, identity) of the Antichrist beast, i.e. through Hebrew Gematria—counting by the alphabet.

Are you thinking what John and 1^st century believers were undoubtedly asking themselves? Is the angel suggesting that we can know (solve) the meaning of the beast’s number? He’s not only suggesting it; he’s saying that it could and should be done—with a good dose of wisdom and understanding. By whom? By the believers of that time! And, by believers (or even unbelievers) thereafter … to this very day!

A rhetorical question: Are there any restrictions identified or conditions imposed on the reader, whether someone reading it in the first century or in this current generation, that directly state or remotely imply that discernment of the meaning of the number applies only to those left behind at the Rapture? The verse unambiguously encourages the reader of that time to, “solve the meaning of the number of the beast.” And when that is unscrambled, the identity of the beast will be revealed; because, “It’s the number of a man.” Not man in general, but “a” man.

Think about it: There would be no reason whatsoever to decipher the number of this man after the Rapture. Early in the Tribulation his globally broadcasted name and physical appearance to the whole world will be enough to know who he is, especially after he orchestrates the seven-year treaty. Right?!

The only deliberation necessary for those left behind is whether to take his name or his number on their forehead or right hand.

(Many forget that the “mark of the beast” is not just the “number representing his name”; but also, “the name of the beast” … Revelation 13:17)

As further evidence and incentive that the identity of Antichrist was meant to be known by first century believers and all believers thereafter, an extraordinary command was given by one of the angels at the very end of the spectacular series of visions witnessed by John. We’ve already looked at the angel’s instruction to John:

Do not seal up the prophetic words in this book, for the time is near (Revelation 22:10).

Which is in direct contrast to:

The “Sealing” of Daniel’s Prophecies

Daniel was told to seal his book because some of his prophecies weren’t germane to his generation, nor to several generations afterward.

Obviously, the sealing of Daniel’s book wasn’t meant to be a literal fastening commonly used in those days, especially by kings and officials who wanted their documents to be tightly guarded for both privacy and safety until they were to be unsealed (opened) and read. For one thing, much of Daniel’s book was a journalistic record of past and present events that occurred during his decade’s long exile in Babylon.

Paraphrasing, Daniel was told to: Place his prophecies in storage.

Whereas, John was instructed to do just the opposite. First century Christians, especially Jewish Messianic believers who were well-versed in the writings of the Old Testament prophets, would have immediately made the connection of the angel’s caution to John as a striking contrast to the admonition given to Daniel.

Bible scholars have accurately explained that the instruction to Daniel was necessary because fulfillment of (many of) Daniel’s visions wouldn’t take place until the time of the end.

Likewise, several students of prophecy correctly place the beginning of the time of the end as the birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Messiah Jesus, i.e. the New Covenant that birthed the Church. The Covenant of Grace, whose mediator (Messiah Jesus) fulfilled the Old Covenant of Law, hence the end of that Covenant. And the end times beginning with the New Covenant, which will culminate in the Day of the Lord commencing with the Rapture. Then the reappearance of Antichrist, the Tribulation, Second Coming of Christ, followed by the Millennium.

“The time of the end” phrase used by Daniel is often transposed by modern Bible scholars (including me) to the end-times. That would certainly and preeminently include the glorious return of Messiah Jesus which was ardently anticipated by 1^st century believers, including the Apostles. Hence, the imminent return of Christ. Early believers fully expected that Jesus would rapture his church in their lifetime. And, he very well could have.

The full details of why he has delayed his return for 2,000 years is known only to our Lord. However, the Apostle Peter gives us the most important of those reasons:

Paraphrasing: The Lord wants more people (born) to be born again—saved.

In the context of the passing of 2,000 years as pertains to the book of Revelation, here is another excerpt from Out of the Abyss:

The passage of some 2000 years is essentially irrelevant to the prophecies of Revelation. If the lapse of time was relevant, then the angel would have told John the same thing Daniel had been told. “Seal up the book until the time of the end…” But the angel didn’t say that; he said just the opposite. The time of the end (last days) began with Messiah’s birth in Bethlehem. We are now living in the last of the last days of the time of the end (Page 278).

Similarly, this delay has no bearing whatsoever on the mystery unveiled to John … that the Antichrist was born, lived, and died in the 1^st century before Revelation was even written. We’ll see that soon in another passage concerning the Antichrist, one that I’ve quoted often—in my book Out of the Abyss and in several Eye of Prophecy articles … Revelation 17:7-8. It is the springboard passage more than any other (but one that must be combined will ALL other Biblical passages about the Antichrist, then compared to 1^st century history) that catapults us to this incredible, but nevertheless cogent conclusion: The Antichrist will not be a man born in the last generation before the Rapture—our generation … the Omega Generation.

He was and will be upon his return: The Ruler of Daniel whose armies would destroy the rebuilt Temple, the Man of Lawlessness of the Apostle Paul’s time, and the Beast of Revelation who would reappear from the Abyss. He is the Antichrist … the Roman Emperor, NERO.

To emphasize that the entire book of Revelation was meant to be understood (unsealed) in terms of the players involved and the chronology of events in both the first century and immediately preceding, during, and following the Tribulation, we need to look at:

Prophetic Events in the Book of Daniel

Most have come to pass; some (Tribulation events) are still awaiting fulfillment. Of paramount significance: among those fulfilled are events that took place in the first century.

At the end of these itemized prophecies in Daniel, I’ll give you the number (count) of those already completed and those awaiting fulfillment. Except for the succession (number) of specific details in Daniel 11:5-20 (treated as a whole in the context of the Seleucid/Ptolemaic dynasties), the component parts of the prophetic passages will be included in this count.

Prophecy (Daniel Chapter 2): Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a colossal statue in four parts followed by Daniel’s God-given interpretation that these segments are four mighty kingdoms. The feet and toes (extension of the iron legs—Rome) of that statue represent the kingdoms in existence at the outset of the Tribulation. See Eye of Prophecy article, Brexit … What’s It All About? (Posted June 2016, providing a detailed analysis of this statue, in the context of England’s still-pending exit from the European Union).

Also, the Kingdom of God on earth (Millennial Reign of Messiah) is described in Chapter 2, then later in Chapter 7.

Fulfillment: Babylonian, Media/Persian, Grecian, and Roman Empires. Dates of those kingdoms listed in the below pictorial.

Prophecy (Chapter 4): Another dream of Nebuchadnezzar; a tree, “…growing very tall and strong, reaching high into the heavens for all the world to see” (Verse 20). The tree directly depicted Nebuchadnezzar and indirectly Babylon; however, the tree would be cut down with only the stump and roots left.

Fulfillment: During Nebuchadnezzar’s lifetime when, because of his pride in taking sole credit for Babylon’s rise to power, he became insane and lived among the animals for seven years. God restored him to the throne when the king acknowledged God as the one whose, “…rule is everlasting, and his kingdom is eternal. All the people of the earth are nothing compared to him” (Daniel 4:34-35).

Prophecy (Chapter 5): The finger of God writing on the wall of King Belshazzar’s palace. Once again, only Daniel knew the meaning of this prophecy, i.e. the imminent destruction of Babylon.

Fulfilment: That very night, Babylon was conquered by the Persian Empire.

Prophecy (Chapter 7): Daniel’s dream of four beasts … another prophetic vision of the four Gentile kingdoms. With, however, the main emphasis that of the fourth empire (Rome) producing a ruler who would reign over ten kings and their kingdoms after suddenly appearing among those kings. The ruler would not arise from a Revived Roman Empire, because there is no such empire in Scripture, either in Daniel or Revelation. Rather, this ruler would come directly from the original Roman Empire and he would “…try to change their (the Jews) sacred festivals and laws…” (Verse 25).

Fulfillment: Same four kingdoms as in Daniel Chapter 2. However, Daniel 7:8, 11, 20-22, & 24-26 refer directly to the Tribulation period, thus still awaiting fulfillment.

Prophecy (Chapter 7): A short but spectacular interlude that describes the return of Messiah Jesus to heaven, found in verses 13 & 14.

Fulfillment: After Jesus ascended from the Mount of Olives, 40 days after his resurrection. See Eye of Prophecy article: Messiah’s Ascension & Coronation … Seen Long Before It Happened! Posted 5-27-17.

Prophecy (Chapter 8): Daniel’s vision of the clash between the ram and goat. The large horn of the goat is a mighty king. When he passed from the scene, his kingdom would be split into four regions, “…but none as great as the first” (Verse 22). One of these four kingdoms would produce a king who would wreak havoc with God’s people. Chapter 11 then provides even more details about this ruler … which history clearly shows is Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

Fulfillment: The angel who explains this vision to Daniel gets quite specific. He identifies the nations involved: Greece is the kingdom represented by the goat and Media/Persia the kingdom symbolized by the two-horned ram. History bears this out when Alexander the Great conquered Persia some 225 years after the prophecy. Chapter 8 also records the first instruction concerning the sealing of the book when Daniel is told: “…But none of these things will happen for a long time, so keep this vision a secret” (Daniel 8:26).

Prophecy (Chapter 9): This is, arguably, the most stunning of Daniel’s prophecies. Like Chapter 7, it is a combination of what would transpire during the 1^st century Roman Empire; plus, the Tribulation period. The prophecies are: The beginning of Israel’s atonement and final restoration; the exact time when Messiah would appear (483 years from the time the command would be given to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls—with this command also future tense—to the time of Messiah’s arrival); the death of Messiah; the rise of a ruler whose armies would destroy Jerusalem and the Temple (which hadn’t even been rebuilt yet!). Then fast forwarding to the Tribulation period—the subsequent treaty orchestrated by that same ruler to include breaking the treaty by canceling the Jewish sacrifices and offerings, as Daniel 7 said this ruler would do.

Fulfillment: The command to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem issued by Persian King Artaxerxes in 445 B.C.; Messiah Jesus’s triumphant entrance into Jerusalem in 32 A.D. exactly 173,880 days (483 Jewish calendar years) later; Jesus’s death on the cross providing individual atonement through his once for all substitutionary sacrifice; the Roman ruler (Nero) born shortly thereafter in 37 A.D., then ruling as Caesar 54-68 A.D.; Israel’s final redemptive restoration as a nation that began with the miraculous rebirth of Israel in 1948, but not complete until the Great Tribulation ends. See Eye of Prophecy articles: The Most Panoramic Prophecy in the Bible I & II (Published 1-13 & 1-20-18).

Prophecy (Chapter 11): Detailed prediction of the political intrigue and wars between two of the four divisions of Alexander’s kingdom. Specifically, the Seleucid and Ptolemy dynasties, with primary focus on Antiochus IV and his deplorable exploits in Israel (Verses 1-32). Then beginning in verse 36 to the end of the chapter (with verses 33-35 a transition period), portrayal of an even greater tyrant who would do some of the same things as Antiochus but on a global scale and not until the very last days of the end times, i.e. Antichrist.

Fulfillment: Alliances and wars between Syria and Egypt, culminating in Antiochus IV’s invasion of Israel, desecration of the rebuilt Temple, then opposition from some of God’s people who would resist this megalomaniac (Verse 32). Those who resisted and went on to defeat Antiochus and his superior army in the 160s B.C. were the Maccabees and their faithful Jewish followers.

(Antichrist Nero will also, “set up a sacrilegious object that causes desecration” … Daniel 9:27)

Prophecy (Chapter 12): Three more predictions, all related to the Tribulation. Time/space does not permit elaboration (as has been done in my book Out of the Abyss and a few Eye of Prophecy articles).

Final Tally for the Book of Daniel:

Prophecies fulfilled by 70 A.D (destruction of the Temple) … Ten.

Prophecies Remaining to be fulfilled during the Tribulation … Eight.

Recap: After the Roman destruction of the Temple, Daniel’s prophecies were effectively unsealed, because many of them (eight of the ten after Daniel’s time) had already taken place before or during the 1^st century when Revelation was written. Even the predictions in Daniel that hadn’t yet occurred could now be understood by 1^st century believers because the main focus of those still pending prophecies was on the ruler who would arise from the Roman Empire (the 1^st century ruler who had already lived and died) would be the SAME ruler who would suddenly reappear from the Abyss, arrange a seven-year treaty, and take control of a ten-nation confederation, i.e. the ten Tribulation kings of Daniel 7, Revelation 13 & 17.

Plus, all the pending (Tribulation) prophecies of Daniel were revisited and then amplified in the book of Revelation.

Thus, the book of Revelation was also effectively unsealed and should be kept that way. Among other things, to seal Revelation would be to disregard and even discard the clear challenge to unravel the compelling clues given by the angel to John; thereby, identifying the Antichrist.

Why Seal Daniel’s Visions and Not John’s … More Verification

The striking significance for the need not to seal (withhold, keep to himself, temporarily set aside, or postpone for a later time) ANY PART of the book of Revelation is that all the revelations given to John were immediately relevant to the believers of that day. In fact, we can with a great deal of assurance and authority carry this a step further and state: The revelations were applicable first and foremost to believers of the first century. There’s more to that statement than just the obvious. The early Christians knew that if Jesus should imminently take his bride (the Church) to heaven, then the remaining end-time Biblical prophecies would begin to unfold immediately thereafter.

With, however, John’s encrypted references to the Antichrist intended to protect Christians from further persecution and death; hence, the encoding of the beast’s identity by a number through Hebrew Gematria … counting by the Hebrew alphabet. Likewise, to partially obscure the identity of the beast (by name … Nero) in Revelation 17, via the (then) present-day recent history and current events reference to the seven kings (Roman Emperors). Five of whom had already fallen, one reigning, one soon to rule (briefly), then an eighth king—the beast himself—who was one of the seven kings (Revelation 17:9-11). Which like Revelation 13:18 begins with: “This calls for a mind with understanding.”

A prophetic puzzle solved by any 1^st century Christian who kept abreast of the first two Roman Dynasties … Claudian and Flavian.

(Caesars of the Claudian Dynasty, From Left to Right: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero)

(Please see Eye of Prophecy articles: Exposing Antichrist’s Identity … More Compelling Evidence Part I & II (Posted March 2017). Which provide extensive Biblical and secular evidence (even more so in my book, Out of the Abyss) to match the five kings fallen, one reigning, one soon to come, all the way through Emperor Domitian in the 90s A.D)

That is why the angel told John not to seal up the prophecies of Revelation. Unlike the prophecies of Daniel which were mostly for the distant future: (1) the centuries leading to and including the first advent of Messiah Jesus; (2) those exclusively for the Tribulation; that, however, could have begun in the 1^st century.

Therefore, the disclosures to John of Patmos were applicable to his readers then and there.

Why?

Once again: because Jesus could rapture his Church at any moment! Which would be an instant catalyst to the Great Tribulation and reappearance of the beast.

Satan has no clue exactly when the Rapture would take place, any more than we (people) do.

Consequently, there’s no way that Satan would have time to select his man of sin on the spur of the moment. Nor would or did Satan try to prepare a tyrant from every generation since the first century, as some suggest. For several reasons, with time/space limited in today’s article to just one reason. However, it is the most obvious: Satan’s choices are extremely limited. He would have to choose a man who had already been confined to the Abyss!

Moreover, in all of Scripture, there’s only one man who has been banished to the Abyss, unlike all other unbelievers who end up in Hell after they die. The Abyss and Hell are two totally separate places in Scripture.

Satan will not have to choose someone, then groom that man to become the Antichrist immediately after the Rapture. Satan already knows who the Antichrist is. He has known since the first century, because it was Satan who energized Nero to be his anti-Christ.

The following is another excerpt from Out of the Abyss (after providing examples of how Satan throughout history has acted immediately concerning anything related to Israel, Messiah, and the Church. Such as his temptation of Jesus in the wilderness to turn the true Messiah into Satan’s messiah right then and there).

Satan wanted to crush Christianity as soon as he could. Why would he wait for an unknown, unspecified, interminable length of time for the Christian church to flourish? Revelation hadn’t been written yet, so Satan didn’t know the rest of the story. His arrogant ambition and pernicious pattern are always now. That’s why he selected Nero to be the king prophesied by Daniel.

Alas, the rebellion abruptly ended; rudely interrupted when Satan’s superman left the scene before all the terrible things Satan wanted to do could be completed! Satan must have been furious at Nero, at the Roman Empire, at the Church, and at Christ… (Page 226).

Messiah Jesus could have chosen to Rapture the believers at any moment after his ascension back to heaven, especially after Revelation had been written. If he had done so, then the prophetic events of the last days would have begun to unfold rapidly … within days or weeks. Thus, the Antichrist MUST HAVE ALREADY BEEN ON THE SCENE. Indeed, he has been waiting since the first century, albeit confined to the Abyss!

All the devil needs do is to wait for his man of lawlessness to be released from the Abyss and ascend from the sea (Abyss); which is exactly what Scripture tells us will happen (Revelation 12:18, 13:1, 17:8). And could have happened in the first century, or second, or third….

Ultimate Evidence That the Antichrist Will Not Be a Modern-Day Man

Now for the passage mentioned in the beginning of today’s article; the one that convincingly confirms that the Antichrist beast seen by John was already past tense! But would become future tense at the outset of the Tribulation.

Said the angel to John: “Why are you so amazed?… I will tell you the mystery of this woman and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns on which she sits. The beast you saw was once alive but isn’t now. And yet he will soon come up out of the bottomless pit and go to eternal destruction. And the people who belong to this world … will be amazed at the reappearance of this beast who had died” (Revelation 17:7-8, italics for emphasis). The Greek word for soon means momentarily, but more so it means abruptly or suddenly.

All of John’s visions, including this one, took place in the present (time) … on a Sunday from the Isle of Patmos in the 1^st century A.D.

(Depiction of John on Patmos; Shows open scrolls … fitting for today’s article!)

In this second vision of the beast, the angel revealed the full “mystery” of the beast to John. It was another extraordinary disclosure of the beast’s identity to go along with his number presented earlier in Revelation Chapter 13. Both revelations would mesh perfectly with Daniel’s prophecies of a ruler who would arise (shortly) after Messiah was killed and whose armies would destroy the Temple (Daniel 9). As well as Paul’s reminder to the Thessalonians that this man of lawlessness and the secrecy of that lawlessness (plot to kill Nero’s step-father Claudius, making way for Nero to succeed Claudius as Caesar), was already being (temporarily) held in check. II Thessalonians was written 2-3 years before Nero lawlessly became Emperor.

The identity of the beast could and should be known by any generation. The Christians of the first century had the Biblical tools coupled with recent and current events to solve the clues and ascertain the identity of Antichrist BEFORE the Rapture, not afterward. As have all generations since, including ours!

Nowhere in Revelation does John state or even imply that the identity of the beast could not be known until after the Rapture. That is an assumption made by contemporary prophecy students (including me at one time) who cannot let go of the premise that the Antichrist must be a modern-day born man like all rulers before him in their time. One of several problems with that is the fact that the Antichrist beast will (re)appear from the Abyss, something no man has ever done before. Nor will he be killed during the Tribulation, because he had already lived and died before Revelation was even written.

Nero’s reappearance from the Abyss is just one of several supernatural (apocalyptic) events that will supersede the natural order of things during the Day of the Lord, including the otherwise normal birth of a modern-day Antichrist.

The words of Revelation 17 are unmistakable, and their meaning plain: “The beast you saw was once alive but isn’t now.”

It will be Nero’s miraculous (in the eyes of the world) reappearance 2,000 years later that will stun those left behind at the Rapture (Revelation 17:8; Revelation 13:3-4).

Summary

In the first chapter of Revelation, Jesus told John to: “Write down what you have seen—both the things that are now happening and the things that will happen” (Revelation 1:19).

The “things that are now happening” when John saw his visions also included some recent events in his life and the lives of first century believers.

The Lord wanted John, all first century Christians, and those thereafter to understand beyond doubt that Revelation was not restricted just to future events. Other than the first three chapters of Revelation including the letters to the seven churches, most believers and even Bible scholars think in terms of the remainder of Revelation applying exclusively to future events. NOT SO.

There are several present and past tense occurrences in Revelation, such as the seven kings—five of whom had already fallen (died). The (Antichrist) beast was one of these seven kings; one of the five who had died.

Then in the last chapter of Revelation, the angel instructed John not to withhold or postpone the writing and distribution of Revelation (all part of “sealing” a book). In fact, ALL of Revelation was immediately relevant to believers.. Nothing in the book was hidden from meaning (with wisdom and understanding) and none of the mysteries were left unsolved.

Both secular and Church historians of the 1^st through 5^th centuries recorded that many Christians of their time believed that Nero would return as the beast of Revelation. Also, many Romans believed Nero either hadn’t died or would somehow return from “a distant region” and resume the throne as Caesar. This phenomenon was even given a name: Nero Redivivus Legend.

All I’m doing is refitting the prophetic puzzle that had been correctly assembled by the early Church but disassembled and inaccurately pieced together in our generation. I’m not reinventing the wheel. Rather it’s the same wheels of prophecy used by the early believers in their journey through the annals of Biblical events relating to the last days. We are currently in the last of the end-times last days.

“Indeed, the Sovereign Lord never does anything until he reveals his plans to his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7).

Revelation’s prophet is John.

The early Christians understood John’s prophecies were meant for them. They weren’t thinking about future generations any more than we would if we fully expected something to happen in our lifetime. Via Paul, they understood that Nero was the man of lawlessness. However, not until Revelation was penned would they match the man of lawlessness with the beast, realizing they were one and the same.

Nor could they conclusively correlate the ruler (book of Daniel) to Nero until he died, and his armies demolished Jerusalem and the Temple. While alive, Nero had personally dispatched Roman Generals Vespasian and Titus to crush the Jewish rebellion that began in 66 A.D. Once all those things happened, then the Christians knew!

Things to Ponder

When our great and glorious Messiah/Savior Jesus makes his final descent from heaven to vanquish Satan, Antichrist, the False Prophet, and their massive armies, we believers will ride with him (Revelation 17:14 & 19:14)!

If you don’t know the Lord and are among those left behind at the Rapture, you’ll soon know who this man of sin is. My hope and prayer for you is that you will not be shocked at Antichrist’s identity when you see that it is Nero. That this, along with all the other prophetic events developing before your eyes, will instead direct your amazement toward God’s Word the Bible and to the Living Word of God—Messiah Jesus.

All these things were, indeed, foretold long ago.

But why wait for the greatest calamity of all time to unfold to choose the true Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth? A terrible time of tribulation in which believers will experience horrendous persecution … most will be killed. Or, you may die before the Rapture.

Call upon the name of the Lord and you will be saved. Today is the day of salvation. Choose Messiah Jesus now as your Savior and go up with other believers to heaven when Jesus takes us home at the Rapture. Then you can ride down with him from heaven and be part of the tremendous victory over Satan and his anti-Christ.

Some of us won’t be the least bit surprised when we see who the beast is, especially the early Christians! Even more so, the thousands of believers who were put to death by Nero in the first century. They will appreciate Jesus’s resounding Armageddon victory over and eternal destruction of this evil man as much or more than anyone.

The book of Daniel has been unsealed and Revelation remains unsealed. These open prophecies include EVERYTHING written in them—in all of Scripture. Don’t seal up a few by thinking they (the basics of them) cannot be known, including the identity of Antichrist.

There are only two passages in the New Testament in which the reader is issued a challenge to comprehend. Both pertain directly to Antichrist and his identity (Revelation 13:18 & Revelation 17:7-11).

The early Christians knew, and so can we.

Above all: We know that the true Messiah is Jesus–Son of God, Son of David, Son of Man.

He is: KING of all kings … LORD of all lords!

What does the past have to do with the future Antichrist?

After all, isn’t the Antichrist a component of end-times prophecy that includes the Rapture; his appearance at the outset of the seven-year Tribulation; defeat at Armageddon by the true Messiah; then thrown into the Lake of Fire? Don’t the predictions about his arrival as found in Daniel 7, 9, and 11; Zechariah 11; II Thessalonians 2; Revelation 11, 13, 16, 17, & 19 apply to the future, by the very definition of that which is prophetic?

Yes and no.

Webster’s Dictionary defines prophecy (noun) as: “the inspired declaration of divine will and purpose; an inspired utterance of a prophet; a prediction of something to come.”

That definition accurately reflects the dual dynamic of Biblical prophecies: (1) Forthtelling—telling it like it is in the context of blessings for trusting and obeying the Lord and (contrasted to) warnings for distrust and disobedience. (2) Foretelling the future.

Scripture contains an abundance of both.

The verb form prophesy (prophesying or prophesied) is similar, but with more of an emphasis on: “to make a prediction.”

Old Testament prophets and John, the prophet of Revelation, certainly prophesied the future, but they also professed and refreshed God’s sovereign plan for the present and past.

God is timeless; therefore, the past, present, and future are simultaneous to him. For humanity, time is linear … unfolding one moment to the next. In the context of future tense prophecies, a reminder of the present and past was sometimes included as a backdrop to better understand the full scope of the prophesied event. A more panoramic perspective as it were.

Will the Antichrist (logically) be a modern-day man? If so, then no one would know anything about his pre-Antichrist life until he becomes Antichrist. But what if Bible prophecies about this evil man also speak of him in the past tense before he appears on the Tribulation scene? If they do, then he wouldn’t be born in the Omega (final) generation of the last days … The Day of the Lord.

Borrowing the title of the blockbuster movie, fasten your prophetic seat belt as we ride the high-octane vehicle of Biblical prophecy and go Back to the Future.

Prophecies Applying to Select People

There are only a handful of Biblical prophecies that apply directly to individuals chosen by God in advance for an express reason to accomplish His plans for Israel and all humanity. For example: Samson … to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines; John the Baptist … to prepare the way for the coming Messiah.

For a few, the Lord instructed the parent(s) to give the child a name that God had selected, e.g. Ishmael, Isaac, John (the Baptist), and Jesus.

God revealed the name of Cyrus to the prophet Isaiah, as the ruler who would issue a decree for the Jews to return from Babylonian captivity and rebuild the Temple (Isaiah 44 & 45). This was some 150 years before the Persian King Cyrus was born and named!

By far, the prophets foretold of the Messiah more than any other person, with several titles ascribed to him such as Prince of Peace and Immanuel. Yet, it was not until the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, when Messiah would be given his Incarnate name of Jesus. It was an awesome announcement that would propel into motion God’s magnificent plan of redemption—the New Covenant prophesied by Jeremiah (Chapter 31).

Said Gabriel to Mary: “You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever. His Kingdom will never end!” (Luke 1:31-33).

Then later to Joseph—who had decided to break his engagement with Mary because of her “unfaithfulness” to him—an angel explained what really had happened and what Joseph must do.

“…Joseph, son of David … do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: ‘Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means God is with us’” (Matthew 1:20-23, quoting Isaiah 7:14).

The prophecy of Messiah Jesus given to Joseph relates to God’s plan of redemption—to the Jew first, but also to the Gentiles (Romans 1:16). Concerning Mary, the prediction pertains to Jesus’s rule and reign over the Kingdom of God on earth … fulfilled upon his glorious return.

There’s another feature of Messianic predictions fulfilled by Jesus of Nazareth that is unique in the annals of prophecy. At that time, he was the only person prophesied who had a past long before he arrived on the earth as the Messiah. Several passages in Scripture testify to this. We’ll look at just two: one in the Old Testament, one in the New Testament.

“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you, one whose origins are from the distant past” (Micah 5:2).

Then, the Jewish Apostle John tells us that Jesus’s existence stretched beyond even the distant past.

Jesus existed with his Father (and the Holy Spirit) before time began. That’s as far back as anyone can be! But, then, Jesus is also God.

The Prophecy of One Other Man Who Also Had A Past

One other prophesied person in Scripture also has a past (tense). No suspense here, as he (his designation) is identified in the title of this week’s Eye of Prophecy article. It is this past that will enable him to mesmerize billions left behind at the Rapture; to be worshiped as Christ even though he is Anti-Christ.

He is also referred to as the little horn (Daniel 7); prince/ruler (Daniel 9); king (Daniel 7, Revelation 17); worthless shepherd (Zechariah 11); man of lawlessness (II Thessalonians 2); the beast (Revelation … all chapters previous cited). Each of these titles relate to specific things this depraved man would do; even more importantly, when he would do them. As Roman Emperor from 54 – 68 A.D; then as the Antichrist beast who returns from the Abyss (Revelation 17) at the commencement of the Great Tribulation.

Please see Eye of Prophecy trilogy: A Beast by Any Name…. Posted 3-14, 3-21, & 3-28-15.

Those articles provide extensive Biblical and other historical evidence and rationale to show that each of the labels assigned to Antichrist (the most common reference to this evil man) is for a special reason. Not the least of which is to ascertain his identity, which is also to understand that he had a past long before his (short) future will begin again in the (near) future.

No secret here either, as my second book, Out of the Abyss along with many of the 54 Eye of Prophecy articles (to date) in the category of Antichrist, document in detail. The Antichrist is none other than the Roman Emperor Nero.

The reason for the prevailing presumption (logical and reasonable, but not what the Bible is telling us) that the Antichrist will be a modern-day born man is because we’ve missed this very fact: He has a past. One that was already past tense when the book of Revelation was written!

When he comes up out of the Abyss and arrives on the scene at the outset of the Tribulation, it will NOT be his first appearance on earth.

However, Nero’s past is nothing like the true Messiah, i.e. from the very beginning of time.

Obviously, the appellation of Antichrist (found only in I John) means the exact opposite of Christ. He will claim to be both Messiah and God when he reappears from the Abyss. Just like he declared during his 14-year reign as the fifth Roman Emperor—designating himself as both God and Savior. When, in fact, he is everything that Messiah Jesus isn’t: evil, ruthless, deceitful, ungodly, unholy, lawless, and other characteristics of all that is “anti” Christ.

Antichrist is also a term and characteristic that signifies one who will mimic the true Messiah, but in a cruel counterfeit way. In a way that will be allowed by God because that is what/who most people left behind at the Rapture will want. They want a messiah, but not the Messiah. (See Eye of Prophecy article, The World Wants A Messiah … But It Needs (The) Messiah. Published 1-28-17).

I, too, was (once) among those mainstream Bible scholars, teachers, and students who subscribed to a modern-day born Antichrist. What or who else could he be? Although I’ve studied Biblical prophecy for several decades, it wasn’t until November 2008 that the Lord gave me some mind boggling insight. I wrote about the details of this discernment in Out of the Abyss, published February 2011.

This disclosure (I call it that because it was a dramatic departure from contemporary conceptions about the Antichrist) was staggering in its implication.

It was a passage in Revelation Chapter 17 that riveted my attention, that launched my journey into a deeper study of all other passages on the Antichrist. As captioned on the back cover of Out of the Abyss:

On an unforgettable voyage to the ancient Roman world, to the very origin and lair of the beast, to the first-century church, to the Abyss and back again, to the pre-emptive death and eternal destruction of Antichrist, to the mesmerizing visions of John, Daniel, and Zechariah, and to high-level heavenly counsels. Out of the Abyss will expose and declassify that which has been concealed and classified: the secret of the beast presumed to be confidential until the body of Christ is taken from the earth.

The Book of Revelation

Bible teachers, students, and commentators who are familiar with the book of Revelation to some extent or another, easily recognize that the first three chapters of Revelation are a present tense record of what John witnessed. In real-time he saw the majestic risen Christ, who told him what to write to the seven churches—all of which existed at that time in John’s life.

However, Revelation Chapter 4 begins with: “…Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.” Instantly, John was taken to heaven “in the Spirit” (Revelation 4:1-2).

Without doubt, nearly all of what John heard and saw thereafter would take place in the future, which is still our (soon to come) future nearly 2,000 years later. Please see Eye of Prophecy article, End of the World Events … In Chronological Order! (Posted 2-25-17). Also, Stunning Catastrophes of the Tribulation / Their Timing and Purpose (11-14-17).

But not everything that John saw from then on was exclusively future. As previously indicated, some Biblical predictions include past and present conditions for clearer context and better comprehension of what was to come.

For example, Revelation 12:1: John states, “Then I witnessed in heaven an event of great significance…” Yet, the first part of what he saw included images that represented what had already taken place, i.e. out of Israel the birth of the Jewish Messiah just a few decades earlier; also, Satan and one-third of the angels cast out of heaven (in ancient times).

Please refer to Eye of Prophecy article, A Mysterious Sign in Virgo … What Does It Mean? (9-13-17). Which among other things, examines Revelation 12 in more detail.

Another partly past tense passage is Revelation Chapter 18, which describes the astonishing annihilation of Babylon (Rome). As a build-up to this future catastrophe, much of the chapter depicts Rome’s notorious past and present, which obviously included the 1^st century in which Revelation was written … when the Roman Empire was arguably at its peak. But also, a back to the future panorama of Rome (the woman) morphing from a secular empire to a religious one. Summarized by: “For her sins are piled as high as heaven, and God remembers her evil deeds” (Revelation 18:5).

Three of a few Eye of Prophecy articles on that subject are: Shameful Saga of the Great City (Revelation 17); Cunning Makeover of the Great City (Revelation 17); Humiliating End of the Great City (Revelation 17). Posted 5-26, 6-2, & 6-9-18, as a trilogy.

(The Vatican in Rome)

A little later, we’ll examine the past tense verses of Revelation 17, which will help refine and even revise the otherwise reasonable assumption that the Antichrist must be a modern-day born man.

We need to wrap our minds around another highly significant feature of Revelation. One that is obvious, but one that we tend to neglect (not think about) because everything from Revelation 4 onward is viewed from the perspective of being exclusively future.

We need to remember that John saw all these visions in the PRESENT TENSE; on the Isle of Patmos on the Lord’s Day—Sunday. Most of what John sees concerns the (still future) Day of the Lord, particularly what will take place during the Great Tribulation and thereafter. If the present tense reality of John’s visions is overlooked, then it’s easy to forget that some of what he sees has already happened. This is especially true for Revelation 17 after his 2^nd observation of the beast; the angel does something different after this vision. He tells John, “…I will tell you the mystery of this woman and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns on which she sits” (Revelation 17:7).

The main reason that the angel called John’s second vision of the beast a mystery (this time with a woman sitting on the beast) is because the beast, in fact, was past tense—in addition to the future tense of the Antichrist during the Tribulation. Unless the angel had explained the reality of the beast’s past, we wouldn’t be able to accurately identify the beast and his origin (which the angel challenges us to do in Revelation 13:18 and again in Revelation 17:9).

Revelation Chapter 13

From books, articles and commentaries I’ve read, and messages heard about the Antichrist beast, Revelation 13 is the passage referred to and discussed most often. In and of itself, there’s obviously nothing wrong with this.

However, a problem arises when we don’t carefully correlate Revelation 13 with ALL other passages on the Antichrist, especially Revelation 17. Then, to compare these Scriptural references to first century church and secular history. Especially that of the Roman Empire and the Caesars—the seven heads of Revelation 13 & 17 who are seven kings just as Revelation 17 says they are. That and three misapplications that many (including myself in the past) mistakenly make in Revelation 13.

(1) Misperceived Profile of the Antichrist:

The primary premise is that Antichrist will attract a world-wide following because he is a political, economic, and military genius. Yet, that conclusion is reached via a circular argument. Which is: he must be a genius (no one else could do what he will do) because he’s able to galvanize global allegiance to himself. But that is not how Scripture profiles him nor the Biblical reason why so many will follow him. In Daniel 7 & 11 and Revelation 13, we are told that he is a tyrant who comes out with both barrels blazing blasphemies against God.

For example, neither Adolph Hitler nor Antiochus Epiphanes IV (the Biblical prototype forerunner of Antichrist … Daniel 11) were considered genius as such. Both were cunning and charismatically compelling because of their oratory and boasting, but they weren’t necessarily brilliant. Hitler not only ill-advisedly assumed direct logistical command of the Third Reich armed forces, he made several strategic blunders to the dismay of some authentically intelligent German generals.

(Hitler and some of his generals … He often wore a military-style hat)

However, nowhere in Scripture do we find a direct or even indirect description of the Antichrist as a great orator, a consummate politician, a brilliant military strategist, or even a charismatic leader. A despotic boastful blasphemer of God, yes.

In fact, the subsequent miracles that will compel many to take the mark of the beast or his name on their forehead or right hand will be performed by the False Prophet, not Antichrist (Revelation 13:11-16). It’s also quite evident in that passage that the False Prophet does most of the speaking for the beast.

There is one and only one reason (will be considered a miracle) that billions left behind at the Rapture will worship the Antichrist. I’ve commented on this in some prior articles and in Out of the Abyss.

The reason is plainly stated: “I saw that one of the heads of the beast seemed wounded beyond recovery—but the fatal wound was healed! The whole world marveled at this miracle and gave allegiance to the beast. They worshiped the dragon (Satan) for giving the beast such power, and they also worshiped the beast. ‘Who is as great as the beast?’ they exclaimed. ‘Who is able to fight against him?’” (Revelation 13:3-4).

How can anyone (those who may want to oppose the beast) fight or kill someone who has already been killed and come back to life?! Not three days after he was died, but 2,000 years later!

There is no other reason given for this sudden world-wide devotion to a man many will believe is both God and Messiah. Or at least a messiah who will usher in a utopia.

(2) Misunderstood Time of Antichrist’s Death:

The prevalent presumption is that Antichrist will be killed during (most say half-way through) the Tribulation, then come back to life. Again, this stems from portrayal of the Antichrist as contemporary man born a few decades before the Rapture will take place.

First, a reminder that it is Jesus, himself, who kills the man of lawlessness. Only the Apostle Paul refers to him by that term.

“Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, but the Lord Jesus will kill him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming” (II Thessalonians 2:8).

It’s important to know that the beast will be killed as the man of lawlessness. To explain that, I’ll refer to an excerpt from my book, Out of the Abyss. As follows (in italics):

Expressing it another way: Jesus did not kill the beast; he killed the man of lawlessness. Although the man of lawlessness and the beast are one and the same (Nero), this is not a contradiction. Why … because the Holy Spirit, through Paul, is telling us when the beast would be killed. The beast would be killed by Christ while the beast was the man of lawlessness, before he reappeared as the beast! As the beast, Nero will be cast into the Lake of Fire, alive. (Note: Lake of Fire is fulfillment of the second part of II Thessalonians 2:8).

According to the prevailing view, the Antichrist is murdered like millions of people have been murdered in the course of history. Many scholars speculate that he is killed at the hand(s) of a Jew, or maybe a member of Antichrist’s inner circle, or whomever. This same impression maintains that when he comes back from the dead, Antichrist is completely possessed by Satan, displays his true colors, begins his blasphemy against God, and leads the world to total destruction.

Again, I repeat: It’s the Lord who slays this man of lawlessness. And again, I would ask: What reason would the Lord have in killing Antichrist at this point, or any point in the beast’s tribulation reign? Why wouldn’t the beast simply be allowed to run his seven-year antichrist course?

…Of equal significance: If, in fact, a modern-day Antichrist is murdered during the seven-year tribulation, why would Jesus imprison him in the Abyss? Why wouldn’t the man follow the path of all the unsaved before him and travel to hell? (Page 206).

The Lord hadn’t revealed to Paul that the man of lawlessness would later be called Antichrist and beast. Those labels came after Paul died.

(Depiction of the Apostle Peter crucified upside down. The Apostle Paul was beheaded. Both executions took place during Nero’s reign)

In Out of the Abyss and a couple of Eye of Prophecy articles, I explain why Jesus killed the man of lawlessness (Nero) before John’s visions even took place. Time/space does not permit elaboration in this week’s article.

In Revelation 13, John sees (first vision of the beast) the beast rising from the sea, which is where the Abyss is located. The very next thing he observes is the deadly wound that had been healed, which generated world-wide awe. He says nothing about the beast being killed during the vision (meaning during the Tribulation).

When John first saw the beast, its deadly wound had already been healed. I’m convinced that if the beast was killed after he (re)appeared on the Tribulation scene, the Lord would have revealed this to John. Just like John describes the world’s reaction of glee over the death of the two witnesses (Revelation 11); he certainly would have seen and recorded the world mourning over the beast’s death. If that is, the beast dies during the Tribulation—which he won’t.

The sequence of events in Revelation 13 and the compelling rationale presented above makes for a strong argument that the beast is not killed during his Tribulation tenure. However, Revelation 17 provides a stronger case, one that complements Chapter 13 and greatly enhances our understanding that the beast died long before he reappears shortly after the Rapture. Indeed, one that is watertight and makes any deductive reasoning that the beast will not be killed during the era of the Tribulation a moot point. We’ll get to Revelation 17 in a moment.

(3) Presupposition That Antichrist’s Identity Can Only Be Known After the Rapture:

This widely disseminated hypothesis has been stated in several ways. Such as: “If you think you know the identity of the Antichrist, then (unfortunately) you have missed the Rapture.”

This conjecture is tendered despite the crystal-clear statement of the angel to John, which was more in the form of a stimulating challenge … albeit one that required a healthy dose of wisdom.

“Wisdom is needed here. Let the one with understanding solve the meaning of the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is 666 (six hundred and sixty-six)” (Revelation 13:18, parenthesis mine).

As found in other translations, it reads (as directly from the Greek): six hundred, sixty-six. Which is the key to solving the number of the beast.

If first century Christians and all believers right up to the Rapture were not meant to know the identity of the Antichrist, then the angel would have made this clear to John. If his identity couldn’t or shouldn’t be known until after the Rapture, then why urge the early Church and subsequent believers to exercise wisdom and find out? Why even mention the number of the beast, let alone stipulating that it could be solved? Soon after the Rapture, everyone would know anyway.

In fact, near the end of Revelation the angel told John: not to seal up the prophetic words in this book, for the time is near (Revelation 22:10). Contrasted to Daniel’s prophecies that couldn’t be fully understood until Messiah arrived, followed by more end-times prophecies, many of which came from Jesus, himself. Such as:

Thus, we are meant to understand the essentials of Revelation, INCLUDING the identity of the Antichrist beast. In Revelation 13, the specific criterion was the number of the beast. It just so happens that Nero’s name matches Hebrew gematria (that’s how Jews counted back then) of Nero’s name in Greek—the language of which the New Testament is written. And, as indicated, there are other persuasive passages in Scripture to match Nero to the ruler prophesied by Daniel, the man of lawlessness described by Paul, and certainly the beast of Revelation—whose (Tribulation) future is intricately linked to his past tense existence in a back to the future phenomenon.

Now let’s look at the passage that rocked my understanding, one that prompted a refitting of the prophetic puzzle concerning the Antichrist and a handful of other prophecies. However, with my restated respectful acknowledgment of other prophecy scholars who have skillfully and accurately assembled most of the prophetic puzzle; but not all pieces—including those pertaining to Antichrist. Not what he will do upon his reappearance, for that is understood by most students of prophecy. Rather, who he is. AND, who he was.

Revelation Chapter 17

John had just witnessed his (2^nd) vision of the beast, along with the first introduction to the woman. Once again of paramount importance: we need to realize that John’s vision is over … ended. He’s already seen the beast and (this time) the angel tells John not to be so amazed, because the mystery of the beast (and the woman) would be explained to him.

“Why are you so amazed? the angel asked. I will tell you the mystery of this woman and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns on which she sits. The beast you saw was once alive but isn’t now. And yet he will soon (abruptly, at any time) come up out of the bottomless pit (Abyss) and go to eternal destruction. And the people who belong to this world, whose names were not written in the Book of Life before the world was made, will be amazed at the reappearance of this beast who had died” (Revelation 17:7-8, italics for emphasis, parenthesis mine).

Please read again just the first set of italicized words, then I’ll ask you a couple of easy questions.

Question: When is the now of the verse?

If you’ve never thought about it before, now you know the obvious answer. The now is right then and there at that precise point in time in the first-century A.D. The wording is unambiguous and the meaning irrefutable: The beast had already lived and died! Once alive but isn’t now.

The life and death of the beast also had to be in the first century, not long before John saw the visions recorded in Revelation. Which is confirmed by more of the mystery unveiled by the angel.

To wit: “This calls for a mind with understanding (same challenge as in Revelation 13): The seven heads of the beast represent the seven hills (of Rome) where the woman rules. They also represent seven kings (a totally different Greek word than kingdoms). Five kings have already fallen (died), the sixth now reigns (at that very time when John saw the vision), and the seventh is yet to come, but his reign will be brief (all seven kings were Roman Emperors). The scarlet beast that was, but is no longer (more validation that the beast is past tense), is the eighth king. He is like (Greek word is ek, meaning of, out of, from, one of, like) the other seven…” (Revelation 17:9-10, parenthesis mine for additional commentary).

What had John witnessed? Answer: He had prophetically witnessed the same thing those left-behind at the Rapture will see and be utterly amazed at (still in the future … beginning of the Tribulation).

What will amaze them? Answer: the reappearance of this beast (Antichrist) who had (already) died. Or, as phrased in Revelation 13: they will marvel at the miracle of the beast whose fatal wound had been healed.

It is a back to the future spectacle that will mesmerize the world’s attention and capture their loyalty like no other since the resurrection of the true Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.

Summary

Once a secret is revealed, it is no longer a secret. When the angel explained the mystery of John’s second vision of the beast, it would clarify and confirm John’s first vision; the beast was one of the seven heads, also the composite beast (man) as a whole. Also, to dispel any doubt as to when the fatal wound was inflicted. The solved mystery would provide insight to the very origin of the beast—one that also corroborates Daniel’s disclosure that the little horn (Antichrist) comes directly from the fourth Gentile Kingdom—the Roman Empire.

Not from a (7^th kingdom) Revived Roman Empire, because there is no such empire identified in Scripture.

I repeat for emphasis: no such kingdom because there are only four Gentile kingdoms designated by Daniel—known to be Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. The kings of Revelation are just that: kings … seven Roman Caesars. Of which Nero was one of the five who had died before John saw him in the symbolic form of a beast. The ten kingdoms are those that belong to the ten kings in existence during the Tribulation; they will yield their kingdoms to the beast who reappears from the Abyss. Thus, the past tense (seven heads) and future tense (ten horns) unveiling of the mystery.

For sheer emphasis, here is an excerpt from the last portion of Out of the Abyss (in italics):

The beast had already died before John received this revelation. How else can this passage be understood? Is there any other way to see or read this verse? If some can’t let go of a contemporary Antichrist, then what will they do with this verse … and all the other passages that help refit the prophetic puzzle?

John didn’t see the vision in the future; he saw it in the present—that hour of that day. The beast is past tense … no longer alive when John saw the vision. The beast isn’t born and doesn’t die in the future; he’s already dead. When will the beast become future tense? Correct: When he reappears from the Abyss. At the beginning of the Tribulation, the world will be amazed at the reappearance of the beast who had died. Will the beast die during the Tribulation? No, he died even before John saw him from Patmos (Page 271).

Things to Ponder

As said before, I believe that the longer-term purpose and benefit of identifying (correctly) the Antichrist is for those who will have missed the Rapture. That some left behind will quickly realize the awesome accuracy of God’s Word the Bible. That there will be some unbelievers who will not be so amazed at the reappearance of the beast who had died long ago.

Just like John’s amazement ended when the angel revealed to him the mystery of the beast’s and woman’s identity, without naming names to protect believers in the first century from even more Roman retaliation. The names are: Nero and Rome, the beast and the woman, respectively.

Also, for believers and unbelievers alive now. For those of us whose loved ones still have not decided to believe and receive Messiah Jesus as personal Savior. With love and concern, we eagerly want them to make that decision, NOW. So, they don’t have to experience the horror of the Great Tribulation. But if they are left behind, perhaps they won’t be so amazed at this evil man when he abruptly reappears from the Abyss.

Instead, they will choose the true Messiah, Jesus … even on pain of death.

“He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon!’

“Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20).

Now that will be truly amazing!

Words of Warning / Also of Hope

Listen to Messiah Jesus as he summarily describes the terrible devastation of the Great Tribulation, which the signs of our generation show to be so very near:

“For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again. In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God’s chosen ones” (Matthew 24:21-22).

Then Jesus declares what will happen to bring an end to this horrendous period of destruction and judgment: “…And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Verse 30).

Mainly from the Book of Revelation, but also from the books of Daniel, II Thessalonians, I John, Zechariah, and the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke this unparalleled time of trouble—immediately after the Rapture of believers to heaven—includes but is not limited to:

Reappearance of the Antichrist beast from the abyss; an unheard of 7-year treaty orchestrated by Antichrist Nero between Israel and other nations; a brief semblance of global peace; devastating wars, famines, and diseases; the disastrous Gog/Magog invasion of Israel headed by Russia, Iran, and Turkey (disastrous for those nations, not for Israel); Antichrist’s breach of the treaty after 3 ½ years; twenty-one cataclysmic judgments from God through natural and supernatural disasters; global defiance and cursing of God himself; two mighty prophets (Moses and Elijah) who will, “strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish”; Antichrist’s coalition of ten nations joining forces with the Kings of the East to arrogantly do battle with the King of all kings; the crushing defeat of Satan, Antichrist, the False Prophet, and their armies at Armageddon.

(Valley of Megiddo in Israel, Site of the Final Battle of the Ages)

(Many Eye of Prophecy articles have been written about these events and others. I’ll cite just three: Shocking Statistics of the Great Tribulation, posted 6-6-15; End of the World Events … In Chronological Order, posted 2-25-17; Stunning Catastrophes of the Tribulation / Their Timing and Purpose, 11-4-17)

And one other incredible occurrence portrayed by John in Revelation as the woman sitting on the beast. In keeping with the theme of this week’s final article of the trilogy that began two weeks ago: Shameful Saga of the Great City (Revelation 17) and last week’s Cunning Makeover of the Great City (Revelation 17), we’re going to examine the fateful finale (justifiably deserved) of this woman.

An Unholy Union

One of the most intriguing expressions in the English language is one of several two-part English words; a phrase that conveys both a literal and metaphorical meaning: Bed-fellow.

Webster’s Dictionary defines this thought-provoking term as, “one who shares a bed with another.” (Hello … of course). Yet this term also bears a meaning that is, by far, the most contemporary application which Webster defines as, “a close associate: Ally (political).” The idea of bed-fellows has come to mean two or more political, national, social, or religious entities that are at odds with each other, but who are willing to “share the same bed” to accomplish their respective agendas.

Scripture uses a similar analogy to convey the decadent relationship between “the great prostitute” and “the kings of the world.” But the Bible uses more explicit and harsher words than bed-fellows to paint a politically and religiously sordid picture of the Woman who sits on the Beast. Said the angel to John:

“…Come with me … and I will show you the judgment that is going to come on the great prostitute, who rules over many waters. The kings of the world have committed adultery with her, and the people who belong to this world have been made drunk by the wine of her immorality” (Revelation 17:1-2).

Prostitute, kings, adultery, drunk, immorality; stronger words to illustrate the same kind of image created by bed-fellows. That’s exactly what you will find when comparing the interactive political chronicles of the kings/queens of Europe, Great Britain, and Asia Minor alongside the religious history of the Roman Catholic Church, including popes and high-ranking officials of The Holy See.

The Holy See

Simply stated, The Holy See is the episcopal (governance by bishops) dominion of the Roman Catholic Church in and from Rome. The Bishop of Rome is the Pope—the universal leader of the Catholic Church—also held to be the infallible representative (Vicar) of Christ on the earth. Although the Vatican or Vatican State is not technically the same entity as the Holy See, for all practical purposes they are inseparable. Think of the Holy See as the organism of the Roman Catholic Church and the Vatican as the location where the brain and heart of the body reside and from which they function.

(The Vatican, No Coincidence That It’s Called Vatican City … that “great city”)

The designation of See is derived from the Latin term “sedes” meaning seat, which embodies the Episcopal throne or the “Diocese of Rome.” The Vatican State was created from the Lateran Treaty in 1929 (June 7^th, day before yesterday 89 years ago) to: “ensure the absolute and visible independence of the Holy See.”

As stated, the main purpose of creating the Vatican was for the Holy See to continue in Rome as a recognizable autonomous sovereignty and member-state in the global community. In fact, the Holy See maintains diplomatic relations with at least 180 individual nation states, with the European Union, and even with the Palestine Liberation Organization. Vatican City is also a member of or observer in multiple international organizations such as: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), World Trade Organization (WTO), UNESCO, United Nations General Assembly, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

In short, the Vatican City-State interacts dynamically with many governments and NGOs of the world.

Formation of the Vatican State was also a desperate measure to revive and then actively reinstate the Holy See to international prominence; to restore and maintain diplomatic influence that had greatly diminished for the preceding 200 years or so. There were several reasons for this demise, such as the Protestant Reformation (beginning with Martin Luther and his 95 Theses in 1517), rise of democratic and parliamentary governments, and scientific discoveries that began to undermine Catholic dogma with a more secular view of the world. Hence, the Roman Catholic Church wanted to return to the glory days in which she and her predecessor (ancient Rome) “…rules over the kings of the world” (Revelation 17:18).

Continuation of this rulership before, during, and after the fall of the Roman Empire was achieved by a cunning makeover (form and substance) of the woman … the great city.

This period of “bed-fellow” relationships with European governments lasted off and on for hundreds of years. One that continues in the 21^st century but in a more limited capacity, yet also in a more global context. Those limitations will be largely lifted when Roman Catholicism (along side of Islam) soars once again to preeminence led by “his eminence” the Pope shortly after the Rapture of true believers in Messiah Jesus.

So, what about the Holy part of the Holy See? Or the Holy Roman Empire? Or the Holy Roman Church?

The word holy in Hebrew (kadosh) and its counterpart in Greek (hageeadzo) primarily means: set apart or consecrated for a special purpose. It does not mean perfect or flawlessly pure, unless the term applies to God, himself. When the Lord said to the Hebrews, “You shall be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45), he was referring to his deliverance of the Jews from Egypt for the express purpose of making them a distinct, unique people separated from the pagan nations of the earth; destined to serve God and be a light to the Gentiles, as eventually accomplished through Jesus, the Messiah.

Yet, when examining the history of the Roman Catholic Church, applied to both the concept and implication contained in the term Holy See, there is one unmistakable connotation: Divine excellence that purportedly qualifies the Holy See to exercise God-like authority and influence in all things pertaining to religion and state. It is the supposed sovereign right of rule allegedly based on divinely granted holiness that supersedes heads of state and all religious groups. It is usurping that definitive component of Holy that belongs only to God, not to sinful man and certainly not to any organization no matter how holy it claims to be.

Thus, the Pope is essentially considered to be infallible. When the Pope issues a decree, even if it’s plainly unbiblical such as granting indulgences or infant baptism or the doctrine of papal infallibility, the edict is, for all practical purposes, also flawless. In turn, all those who disseminate and defend papal decrees are not to be questioned, even if the proclamation is a blatant contradiction of or a doctrinally false addition to Scripture itself.

Biblical Salvation vs. the Holy See (or any other religious order)

God’s righteousness is imputed to every person who personally believes and receives Jesus Christ as Savior (II Corinthians 5:21). This accreditation (justification) applies exclusively to each believer in Christ as individuals. Believers are then set apart (sanctification) to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ and to live for him (I Corinthians 1:2; II Peter 3:18). Our final purification (glorification) won’t take place until the Rapture, when believers are given new immortal bodies (I Corinthians 15). Then, the true Church (body of Christ) will be presented spotless and blameless before God (Ephesians 5:25-27).

Justification, sanctification, and glorification—all beginning with and part of true redemption by the grace of God through faith in Christ alone.

Said Jesus: “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life” (John 5:24, italics to emphasize the immediate present tense possession of eternal life the moment we accept Messiah Jesus as personal Savior).

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, italics with the same emphasis).

The Holy See & Monarchs Divine Right of Rule … Historical Examples

Inherent in this “divine right of rule” was belief that the Pope—based on apostolic succession that retroactively began with the first Pope designated by the Catholic Church (the apostle Peter)—possessed divine authority over both church and state. It took some time for nation states to fill the power vacuum left by the fall of Rome, but by the 9th century several states or regions saw the rise of monarchs who began to challenge the sometimes subtle, but nonetheless pervasive influence of the Roman Catholic Church in the “affairs of state.”

For several hundred years there was a cyclical waxing and waning of Catholic dominance over governments, kings, and of course the church (as defined by Catholicism) itself. Sometimes kings would prevail; other times the Pope would come out on top. Sometimes there was direct confrontation; other times geopolitical negotiations, diplomatic maneuvers, reluctant compromises, and outright concessions ruled the day. There were unscrupulous tactics including but not limited to: false accusations, imprisonment, torture, and murder. There were scandalous escapades that would lend literal meaning to the Bible’s spiritual analogy of adultery, prostitution and obscenities between the kings of the world and the woman on the beast.

In a moment, we’ll examine just three of dozens of historical highlights (lowlights) that reveal the Roman Catholic Church’s embedded association in and collusive or confrontational relationship with the kingdoms of the world. Which is the exact opposite of what Christ intended for his church. While on trial, what did Jesus say when Pontius Pilate asked him if he was the King of the Jews?

“Jesus answered, ‘My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world’” (John 18:36).

How ironic that the term ecclesiastical is mostly identified with the Catholic Church; when, in fact, the word ecclesia means “called out” (from the world and worldly systems). Again, listen to the words of Jesus: “…And the world hates them (his true followers) because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world … They do not belong to this world any more than I do” (John 17:14-16, parenthesis mine). Jesus was specifically referring to his disciples and generally to all believers, then and now.

If Peter was, in fact, the apostolic rock on which the Catholic church would be built, why didn’t he assume that role and assert himself as the first Vicar on earth? If Peter had chased such an ambition, you can rest assured that Paul and John and other apostles would have confronted Peter and reminded him that Christ was the only Head of the Church, both in Heaven and on the earth. All believers are said to be ambassadors for Jesus; but nowhere in Scripture does Jesus (or the Apostles) command that his (a) substitute (and an infallible one at that) be appointed to wield ultimate control over the body of Christ—the true Church. And most assuredly not to form alliances with earthly kings and kingdoms, nor to exert “ecclesiastical” authority over them.

Yet, the Roman Catholic Church has not only pursued alliances with heads of state but also created and imposed its own divine government with the misguided, non-Scriptural notion of establishing a tangible Kingdom of God on the earth. Rather than acknowledging that (until Christ himself returns to set up the Kingdom of God), the Kingdom of Heaven lies within the hearts of born-again believers on this earth.

First Example: Collusion & Cooperation / Between the Pope and King

In 800 AD, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne (Charles the Great) who was already King of the Franks (Germanic tribes) as “Roman Emperor” which provided the papacy with a foothold in asserting sovereign rights over subsequent Holy Roman Emperors. This demonstrated conclusively that there was a movement to restore the ideal and fabric of the fallen Roman Empire. Both the Holy See and monarchs had the same basic objective; it’s just that they often disagreed on who should oversee this devious design.

(Portrait of Charlemagne)

(Extent of Charlemagne’s Holy Roman Empire During His Reign)

Second Example: Confrontation … Pope/Church Prevailing over the King/State

Pope Gregory VII had ex-communicated King Henry IV of the Holy Roman Empire, because Henry would not yield to Gregory’s insistence that only the Church had the right to appoint local church officials, particularly bishops. In 1077 this conflict came to a head when Henry began to fear local rebellion of his subjects. He travelled a long distance only to wait outside in bitter cold for three days before Pope Gregory finally agreed to see the King. Henry begged for mercy and the pope repealed Henry’s excommunication.

Third Example: Confrontation … Monarchy Triumphing Over the Papacy

In 1534, Henry VIII, King of England, revolted against The Holy See and Pope Clement VII by making himself the Supreme Head of the “Church of England.” Ironically, Henry VIII still followed Roman Catholic doctrine, but would not accept the Pope’s refusal to annul Henry’s marriage to Catherine. Henry didn’t wait for ex-communication; he struck first by establishing a completely different church. This took place not long after Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses in 1517, proclaiming justification (salvation) by faith in Christ alone. Not by being a member of the Catholic Church; which blindly adhered to non-Scriptural (or misinterpreted) sacraments and extra-biblical catechism such as the purchasing of indulgences to reduce or eliminate time in Purgatory, a place that doesn’t exist (try finding it in Scripture).

This conflict of the ages (at that time) precipitated a gradual decline of the Holy See’s influence regarding its supremacy over heads of state

In case anyone thinks that I am isolating the Roman Catholic Church as the only religious system that has perverted the Gospel of Jesus Christ by changing and channeling the truth of this Good News into a man-made, governmental-type Kingdom of Heaven on earth, I am not. For example, the Church of England that broke away from Roman Catholic domination and later morphed into the Anglican Church wielded a great deal of influence over both the religious and political affairs of England, as well as individual groups of Christians. It was for this reason that the Puritans sailed to America and founded the first real colony in the New Land. Following the same principles of freedom from religious and state monopoly, the colonies rebelled against England which led to the Revolutionary War.

What I am saying is that the Roman Catholic Church for all the reasons presented in this article and the previous two, precisely matches the characteristics ascribed to the woman of Revelation Chapter 17.

The Woman Identified by Her Clothing

I never cease to be amazed by the meticulous historical and prophetic detail found in so much of the Bible. Most of three full chapters (Revelation 17, 18, & 19) talk about the Beast who reappears from the Abyss at the outset of the Great Tribulation and the Woman who sits on the Beast. As we’ve seen in this trilogy of Eye of Prophecy articles (and prior articles in the category of Antichrist), the Beast is Nero and the Woman is both ancient Rome and the subsequent Holy See.

One of these astonishing features conveys the actual clothing worn by the woman in John’s vision. Let’s see how this apparel corresponds to the attire of the Roman Catholic Church … figuratively and literally.

“The woman wore purple and scarlet clothing and beautiful jewelry made of gold and precious gems and pearls….” (Revelation 17:4a).

Why would the vision given to John include a description of the woman’s attire? Answer: For the same reason that most of the visions in Revelation provide precise portrayals of people, places, and things (past, present, and mostly future)—to explain what to look for and what will happen during the unfolding of the last days, including the Great Tribulation.

For example: “The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses” (Revelation 19:14).

The “him” of this verse is Messiah Jesus; the “armies” are all believers in heaven who will accompany Jesus during the final battle of Armageddon. White linen represents purity and the good deeds of believers (Revelation 19:8)—cleansed by the blood of Christ that results in doing good things for our Lord—but the color white is also literal in Revelation 19 and other passages in the Bible. Same thing with the woman on the beast: The colors purple and scarlet literally adorn the woman; also, they represent royalty and power respectively.

Notice the sequence of the colors in Revelation 17:4: purple first, then scarlet. That’s not just a random order. Only the Roman Emperors were permitted to wear the “trabea” which was a deep purple toga, because purple was the color of both royalty and divinity in the Roman Empire and later with other nations/monarchs. Purple was considered an enhancement over blue; which also was a royal color in the ancient world—one that began with God’s people, the Jews, as found in the Torah. In fact, to eliminate competition on who and what was considered divine, the Romans outlawed Jews (and Jewish Christians) from extracting the blue dye (from snails) that was used in consecrated Jewish clothing, including the tzitzit (tassels of the Jewish tallit—prayer shawl).

Subsequently, scarlet would be the predominate religious royal color of choice by the Roman Catholic Church.

(Israel’s Flag … Hebrew word for blue is “tekhelet”, found 49 times in the Torah–Old Testament)

The preeminent color of the Roman Catholic Church is still red or scarlet; even though there are four main hues used in Catholicism—white, purple, red, and green—depending on the specific celebration, occasion, or rank of papal officials.

The Roman Empire was recognized for its vast wealth. So was and still is (less overt display in our times) the Roman Catholic Church known for its opulence and lavish display of precious metals in/on clothing, edifices, artifacts, and instruments involved in the sacraments. “The woman wore purple and scarlet clothing and beautiful jewelry made of gold and precious gems and pearls…” (Revelation 17:4a).

Not until the Roman Catholic Church began to consolidate authority over individual churches did purple and scarlet begin to replace white as the prevailing liturgical colors.

The Woman Identified by Her Coat of Arms

For those not familiar with Coat of Arms, it’s an insignia normally in the shape of a shield worn (as clothing) or carried on flags or banners by kings/queens, nobility, and soldiers to herald the sovereign identity of a nation or kingdom.

Webster’s Dictionary defines heraldry as, “the practice of devising, blazoning, and granting armorial insignia…”

Not long after kings and kingdoms began using (more frequently) emblems in the middle Ages, the Holy See followed with its Coat of Arms. For the last 800 years or so, each Pope has designed his own coat of arms in addition to the traditional symbols found on the Apostolic See’s Coat of Arms, such as two crossed keys … one gold and the other silver. Again, this demonstrates a pattern throughout Roman Catholic Church history to rival and exceed the authority of kings, whether these kings endorsed Catholic dogma or not.

The current Pontiff is Pope Francis who in 2013 succeeded Pope Benedict XVI (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger), who inexplicably and suddenly resigned. In keeping with previous popes, Benedict chose a coat of arms displaying symbols that represented what was important to him—traditionally, theologically, and personally. The three emblems on the front of Benedict’s shield (Moor’s head, bear, and a scallop shell) have a strange, enigmatic history. The dominant color of the shield is red/scarlet, with gold as a strong second color.

What we need to focus on is the shape of the shield itself, which is the most universal motif in Roman Catholic heraldry: a chalice. Synonyms for chalice are: cup, vessel, and goblet. Many know about the Holy Grail, from King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. The legend of this grail (the cup that Jesus drank from at the Last Supper) began some 1500 years ago; though the actual cup used by Jesus has no literal or symbolic importance in Scripture whatsoever. It’s the wine in the cup that bears profound significance.

“After supper he (Jesus) took another cup of wine and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood (represented by the wine) which is poured out as a sacrifice for you’” (Luke 22:20, italics for emphasis, parenthesis mine).

The Catholic Church attaches great importance to this relic (cup) itself; thus, the composite chalice shape of the Coat of Arms is not a coincidence. There is an unmistakable connection between the chalice imagery of Roman Catholicism and the golden goblet held in the hand of the woman on the beast. It’s one of several identifying features of the woman of Revelation 17&18 that can be seen explicitly throughout Roman Catholic history and in the modern-day world.

(“Scarlet” Priest and “Golden” Cup … Goblet)

The Woman Identified by Her (lack of) Morality

“…In her hand she held a gold goblet full of obscenities and the impurities of her immorality” (Revelation 17:4b).

The Greek word for obscenities (abominations as found in other Bible translations) is: bdelgma, pronounced bdel-oog-mah. It means foul or detestable. Since we’ve already touched on this subject, and because the primary purpose of these articles is to disclose and document the two-part (ancient Rome + religious makeover to the Holy See) identity of the woman who sits on the beast, there is no purpose in elaborating on some very questionable (understatement) episodes throughout the history of the Roman Catholic Church.

Except to say that several past and contemporary incidents involving the Catholic Church can only be construed as abhorrent and immoral, not the least of which is the ongoing world-wide scandal of Catholic priests and the abuse of children. Both social and religious leaders attribute this abuse primarily to the vow of celibacy required for all Catholic priests. Nowhere in the New Testament does it command that church leaders take a vow of celibacy for any purpose whatsoever, other than personal preference … which doesn’t require a vow. Even the so-called (first) Pope of the Catholic Church, Peter, had a wife!

Regrettably, there also have been some distasteful dishonors involving Protestant and even Evangelical church leaders, but nothing approaching the enormity of disgraceful incidents throughout Catholic Church history. This is not just a comparison based on the number of offenses; rather, it’s a matter of matching the historical development and record of the Catholic Church to prophetic passages found in the book of Revelation.

The Woman Identified by Her Persecution of Jews and Believers (Jewish or Gentile)

“I could see that she was drunk—drunk with the blood of God’s holy people who were witnesses for Jesus. I stared at her in complete amazement” (Revelation 17:6).

The legacy of the Catholic Church is repulsively replete with periods of repression, deprivation, torture, and killing of those classified as heretics, dissident, unorthodox, or even non-conforming trouble-makers. Who hasn’t heard or read something about the Crusades, Joan of Arc, or the Spanish Inquisition; just to mention a few major incidents of oppression against anyone who would dare defy the Supreme Pontiff and Roman Catholic divine right of rule. Wars (both cold and hot) were fought between Catholics and Protestants, between the Papacy and Monarchs, between the Roman Catholic Church and Islam, and within the Catholic Church itself.

Nowhere in Scripture do we find that the Kingdom of Heaven on this earth (currently in the hearts of individual believers) is to be established, defended, or extended by force, i.e. overt or covert persecution, suppression, or by warfare. Only when Christ returns will there be the need to conquer the enemies of Christ, of Israel, and of tribulation saints.

“Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war” (Revelation 19:11).

As Scripture states: this will be a just and righteous campaign … contrary to the unjust and unrighteous subjugation of dissenters to the Catholic Church (or to Islam).

The Inglorious Future of the Woman

Although the comprehensive influence of the Catholic Church has somewhat declined in the last 200 years or so—more so in the political and economic arenas—she will once again rise to power during the Great Tribulation. After all, the Catholic Church claims around 1.3 billion members in today’s world, an imposing force by sheer numbers. And, we have seen a resurgence of interest in and world attention to recent popes, particularly the previous two (Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI) and certainly the current Pope Francis. Not long after ascending to the pinnacle of the Vatican, Pope Francis reached the number one position in a poll of the most “talked-about” person in the world.

Soon after the Rapture followed by reappearance of the beast (Nero), the woman will sit on the beast for both support and control. However, what so often happens to incompatible bedfellows, especially with unholy alliances, will also happen to the woman as graphically depicted in Revelation.

“The scarlet beast and his ten horns all hate the prostitute. They will strip her naked, eat her flesh, and burn her remains with fire” (Revelation 17:16).

These are exceptionally strong words/images that declare the demise of the Woman. But there’s more:

“How terrible, how terrible for that great city! She was clothed in finest purple and scarlet linens, decked out with gold and precious stones and pearls! In a single moment all the wealth of the city is gone! And all the captains of the merchant ships and their passengers and sailors and crews will stand at a distance. They will cry out as they watch the smoke ascend, and they will say, ‘Where is another city as great as this?’ And they will weep and throw dust on their heads to show their grief…” (Revelation 18:16-19).

Although Rome is inland from the Mediterranean Sea, if even a portion of the city went up in flames, the smoke could be seen by those on ships near the Mediterranean coast. Not so with Babylon (Iraq). Just another passage to validate that the woman (the great city) is Rome and all that Rome contains, including the Vatican.

(Rome is only 16 miles from the Mediterranean, and is significantly elevated in places … the seven hills of Rome)

Note: There are two main visions of the beast given to John as recorded in Revelation. In Chapter 13, the image is of a beast but in Chapter 17 it is that of a scarlet beast. The reason is clearly evident: the bedfellow relationship between the Antichrist beast and the woman who wears scarlet and purple clothing.

Summary

The liaison between the woman on the beast and the kings of the earth will reach its climatic zenith during the Great Tribulation. The Roman Catholic Church (and other ecclesiastical systems with false creeds including Islam) will seek an alliance with the Beast (Nero) who reappears from the Abyss, and his ten-kingdom coalition. (See Eye of Prophecy article, The Vatican and Islam … A Perfect Match for Antichrist. Posted 6-4-16)

For a short time, this unholy union will succeed; but with great indignation and fury the Beast will turn on the woman and destroy her. God himself will orchestrate first the destruction of Babylon the Great (Rome), then total victory over the Beast and all nations who would dare oppose Messiah Jesus. “For God has put a plan into their minds, a plan that will carry out his purposes. They will agree to give their authority to the scarlet beast, and so the words of God will be fulfilled. And this woman you saw in your vision represents the great city that rules over the kings of the world” (Revelation 17:17-18).

Many left behind at the Rapture will yield their allegiance and even worship of the beast who (miraculously) reappears from the Abyss, which means that the woman on the beast will have no alternative but to go along with the ride.

It will be Antichrist (Nero) and his ten-nation confederation who will annihilate the (modern-day) woman characterized as the prostitute, as we read earlier in Revelation 17:16. This is a direct reference to the Holy See or the Vatican—the city within the great city of Rome. This will most likely take place at or just past the mid-point of the Tribulation, when Nero breaks the treaty with Israel. Near the end of the Tribulation the Lord himself will destroy the rest of Rome as dramatically detailed in Revelation 18, which takes place during the last and most awesome of God’s judgments of the earth.

“…And a great earthquake struck—the worst since people were placed on the earth. The great city of Babylon (Rome) split into three sections, and the cities of many nations fell into heaps of rubble. So God remembered all of Babylon’s sins, and he made her drink the cup that was filled with the wine of his fierce wrath” (Revelation 16:18-19).

Note: I trust the word “cup” didn’t escape your attention!

With both events summarized as follows:

“…Praise the Lord! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God. His judgments are true and just. He has punished the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the murder of his servants … Praise the Lord! The smoke from that city ascends forever and ever!” (Revelation 19:1-3).

After the Vatican and then the rest of Rome is demolished, Messiah Jesus returns to do battle with Antichrist and his armies who have joined forces with the kings of the east.

“Then I saw the beast and the kings of the world and their armies gathered together to fight against the one sitting on the horse and his army. And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet … Both the beast and his false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur” (Revelation 19:19-20).

(See Eye of Prophecy article: Armageddon & Messiah’s Return … An Amazing Sequence of Events. Posted 2-3-18)

Thus, Satan’s two-front war consisting of hostile elimination of believers in Christ through kings and governments along with Satan’s subtle strategy of infiltration through a religious system that distorts the truth of the Gospel and seeks to capture and destroy the very souls of men and woman, will be utterly defeated by the King of all kings (empires) and the Lord of all lords (ecclesiastical).

Things to Ponder

Unfortunately, many who hold membership in the Catholic Church and other organizations like it will miss the Rapture and suffer through The Great Tribulation. Unless, that is, they call upon the name of the Lord to be saved (Joel 2:32)—by the grace of God alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone! Nothing else is needed, certainly not a baptismal entrance to and membership in any formal religious system. Baptism is like the wedding ring. The ring doesn’t marry us, it only shows that we are married.

The Holy See (the woman … the city within the great city) will be ignobly humiliated and decisively crushed during the Tribulation. As will all the religious and secular “isms” that exert powerful influence and control over much of the world’s population. In fact, when Messiah Jesus gloriously returns (just in time) at the end of this global conflagration, all religions and world philosophies will cease to exist.

“And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day there will be one Lord—his name alone will be worshipped” (Zechariah 14:9).

Hallelujah and Amen!

Whatever happened to reading a good book next to a fireplace?

Or reading The Good Book anytime, anywhere?

Communication in today’s make-it-quick world has been radically reduced to brief Bytes, terse Twitters, fleeting Facebook images, and immediate Instagrams. Does anyone read an article of 3,000 words any more, let alone a 300-page book? Are sweeping stories and milestone movies like Ben-Hur, The Ten Commandments, and Gone With The Wind an endangered species?

Fortunately, some understand that certain things are important enough to spend more than just a few minutes chewing and digesting. Why am I here? What’s life all about? Will evil in the world continue indefinitely? Is there really one man who can make all things right, who can bring justice and peace to this planet? And such things as one’s redemption and eternal destiny.

The Bible is an epic book commencing with the classic creation of all things including time itself.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1).

“Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!” (Genesis 1:31).

Scripture continues with one sweeping saga after another, providing a panoramic picture of the marathon battle between good and evil, between life and death—all the way to the blockbuster finale of this age, an end that is more imminent than ever before.

Between the beginning and the end, more extraordinary epics are portrayed in the Bible:

Mankind’s disobedience which brought the disease of sin and death to humanity; God’s Covenants with Noah, Abraham, Moses, and King David; the Lord’s abandonment of Israel because they broke the Mosaic Covenant of the Law; the marvelous New Covenant God promised to Israel through the prophet Jeremiah and implemented through God’s very Son, Messiah Jesus, also extended to the Gentiles; a plethora of prophecies announcing God’s promise to unilaterally restore the Jews to Israel as a people and as a nation; the formation of the body of Christ—the true Church, composed of those who have believed and received Jesus as personal Savior; Satan’s schemes to destroy Israel and the Church. First by force, then by distortion and deceit through false religions and philosophies. Not the least of which is the woman sitting on the beast and John’s reaction: “…I stared at her in complete amazement” (Revelation 17:6).

The Metamorphosis of the Woman as a City Within the Great City

Note: I encourage you to read last week’s Eye of Prophecy article, which began the shameful saga of the woman sitting on the beast as dramatically depicted in Revelation 17. Next week’s article will finalize the saga of this woman as continued in this week’s post. To wit: The transformation of the woman from the mighty city of Rome and its Caesars ruling over kings and kingdoms to the subsequent form and substance of the woman beginning in the 4^th-5^th centuries and continuing to this very day. Described as, the prostitute ruling over people of every nation and language (Revelation 17:15).

Throughout the chronicles of mankind, a handful of happenings have changed the course of history. The greatest of these events took place when the Son of God became the Son of Man. He came for one purpose: To die for our sins and deliver all who would believe in him from an eternity separated from God; to purchase our pardon and restore us back to our Creator. That’s as epic as it gets.

All other historic markers as well as the day-to-day features of the human story fit within and are universally and eternally affected one way or another by the phenomenal Virgin Birth of Jesus, his profound teaching and spectacular miracles, his once for all atoning sacrificial death, and his miraculous resurrection from the dead.

Although secular historians have marginalized the significance of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, his impact on the world is irrefutable. His birth changed the recording of time itself (BC to AD). His death and resurrection separated the Old (Covenant of Law) from the New (Covenant of Grace); whereby, we now have the awesome position and privilege to access directly the very presence of God.

Soon after Jesus arose from the dead and returned to his Father in heaven, Satan went to work again. He launched a cruel campaign against Christians intended to stop the church cold in its tracks. Since he had failed miserably to prevent Messiah Jesus from accomplishing God’s magnificent plan of salvation, Satan took it upon himself to select the ruler prophesied by Daniel. To mentor this ruler called the man of lawlessness by Paul and unleash this “little horn” of Daniel to wreak havoc on both Jews and Christians in the first century.

Little did Satan realize that his man, Nero, would be preemptively killed by Christ, revived, then banished to the Abyss. Satan would have to wait nearly two thousand years for his protegé to reappear as the beast-king of Revelation … released by God from the Abyss to give Satan one last chance to accomplish his warped devilish plans.

When he couldn’t crush Christianity through the sadistic suffering initiated by Nero and to a lesser extent perpetuated by subsequent Roman Emperors, Satan switched to a strategy of infiltration. Sadly, this plan has caused more disruption and damage to the Christian faith than Rome’s brutal repression (including murder) of thousands of Christians in the first three centuries. This vicious vendetta against true believers in Messiah Jesus continued off and on until another world-changing event occurred.

Constantine the Great

With an incredible turnabout and in short-order fashion, the Roman Empire stopped its ruthless campaign to suppress and even eradicate Christians. Beyond the wildest imaginations of both believers and unbelievers, the Roman Emperor Constantine (reigned from 306-337 AD) not only put an end to persecution of Christians; he became an advocate for and patron of the Christian faith. In his Edict of Milan (313 AD), Constantine proclaimed, “that it was proper that the Christians and all others should have liberty to follow that mode of religion which to each of them appeared best…”

This exceptional edict guaranteed religious freedom to all Christians, much like we have in the United States today—even more so. America had to fight the British to preserve our “inalienable rights” including worship of God, when and where we chose. The 4th century Christians were handed this liberty virtually overnight.

(Sculpture of Constantine the Great)

Constantine replaced the Roman Emperor Diocletian who was the last in a succession of Caesars to promote persecution of Christians that began with Nero—the first Emperor to initiate such wide-scale oppression, with unparalleled savagery. Among other appalling activities, Diocletian ordered the demolition of Christian homes, burning of their sacred books, arrest, torture, starvation, and more death in the arena. Although co-emperor Galerius first granted Christians the right to practice their faith, it was Constantine who made this privilege official … the law of the land. Suddenly, it was politically correct to be a Christian!

Time/space does not permit elaboration, nor do historians agree on whether Constantine’s “conversion” to Christ was real or politically convenient. Nevertheless, Constantine’s approval of the Christians was a remarkable reversal of the status-quo harassment and killing of believers. The historian Eusebius records a great celebration and euphoria within the Christian community of the Roman Empire.

Constantine supported the Church politically and financially—providing funds to erect basilicas, exempting churches from certain taxes, returning confiscated property to Christians, offering land grants, and promoting Christians (especially those designated bishops) to high-ranking offices. He also abolished crucifixion and replaced it with hanging … a much more humane way of execution. It’s the thought that counts!

For all practical purposes it was a State-sponsored endorsement of the Church; followed by a rise of some Christians (both real and in name only) to positions of power within the Empire. But in reciprocal fashion (herein is the rub), the appointment of non-believers to high positions within the Church. Although unbelievers had infiltrated the assembly of believers in several cities throughout the Roman Empire, by and large their intent to distort the true Gospel of Christ Jesus and deceive his true followers was unsuccessful during the Apostle Paul’s time and for several decades thereafter.

Constantine’s and successive emperors’ placement of their unbelieving constituents within what became rather swiftly a State Church (bordering on Church State) was a blatant contradiction of New Testament principles that tell true born-again believers: We are in the world but not of the world.

(See Eye of Prophecy articles, Separation of Church and State … For or Against? Part I & II posted 4-2 & 4-9-16)

This was the beginning of Satan’s back-up plan, i.e. sabotage and corruption of the truth of the Gospel by redefining salvation and remodeling the Church, internally and externally. One result of these stealth tactics was a precedent setting policy for a “Christian” Emperor to interact extensively with church officials. Although the Emperor did not make or interpret doctrine—only the bishops could do that—Constantine enforced doctrinal declarations, ferreted out heresy, and fostered ecclesiastical harmony.

Said the Apostle Paul:

“Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said:

‘I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God and they will be my people. Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them…’” (II Corinthians 6:14-17).

Theology & Definitions

It’s imperative that we define Biblical truths and principles in the context of Scripture. Not through extra-Biblical decrees or dogma cleverly crafted and arbitrarily imposed by leaders of cultic counterfeits of the Christian faith nor by an ecclesiastical hierarchy that claims (whatever fits the times and situation) superiority over the Bible, the very Word of God.

What is the definition of “The Church,” both then and now? Why is it even necessary to define precepts of the Christian faith? To answer that question let’s first look at the definition of definition!

Webster’s’ Dictionary states that definition is: “the action or the power of describing, explaining, or making definite and clear.” Also, “distinctness of outline or detail.” Think of the blueprint and foundation of a skyscraper or even a modest house. Proper definition is to truth and reality as design and foundation is to the shape, support, distinctness, and structural integrity of a well-built building.

There’s a disturbing trend in both secular and religious circles to minimize and/or mock theology and all things doctrinal.

“Don’t bother me with all those theological terms,” is the mantra of many, even by some who claim to be believers. Yet there are some things that must be delineated. Otherwise, which Jesus do we follow? The Jesus who claims to be the Son of God and the only way to God, or the non-Divine Jesus that (for many) is only a great humanitarian and accomplished teacher. To which church do we belong? The church building on the corner that bears the name of a certain denomination; the Catholic church that purports to be the universal church; the “Latter-Day Saints” church that contends the Book of Mormon (supposedly God’s final revelation) supersedes the Bible.

Or, to the Church explained in the Bible: Those who have placed their personal trust in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus and are, thereby, called “children of God”; those who are “called out” from the world; who comprise the “body of Christ”; who are “in Christ.”

Said Paul to the believers at Corinth, some of whom were seriously listening to false teachers:

“But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed” (II Corinthians 11:3-4).

Jesus Christ is the only head of the church. For sure, evangelists, pastors/teachers, elders, deacons, and apostles were given as a functional gift to believers; to preach the gospel and help believers grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. *Note: The apostles were only for the early Church. Why? The main qualification for being an apostle was that of having been with or having seen the risen Messiah—Jesus.

However, the New Testament is very clear: All who accept Christ as personal Savior become priests. “And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God” (I Peter 2: 5).

According to this incredible passage, each believer is not only a priest (direct access to God anytime, anywhere), but also “living stones” in the real temple (church) of God.

Essentially, then, believers don’t need a church building and certainly not a consolidated, centralized national or international forum whose administration determines what rules and rituals must be followed, or what extra-Biblical edicts they must obey to earn salvation and avoid potential excommunication. There’s nothing wrong with a church building, as many local Christian congregations are too large to meet in homes. The problem is when the building (organization) becomes (displaces or replaces) the true church … the body of Christ.

From Triumph to Tragedy

What should have been one of the greatest achievements of the Christian faith—Roman Emperor Constantine’s protection of Christians … an abrupt turnaround of state sanctioned persecution of believers—turned out to be one of the most tragic episodes of the early Church. So disastrous that it led to a thousand-year period of gloom and obscurity which historians now refer to as The Dark Ages. Even in our more enlightened age we are still experiencing the fall-out of the woman’s (the great city) transformation (Revelation 17). This transmutation has directly affected and infected true Christianity like nothing else before or since.

What could have been a triumphant explosion of freedom to intensify the spread of the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ, heretically morphed into what is commonly called Christendom, with its governmental hierarchy of ecclesiastical councils; commencing with a state church of the Roman Empire by edict in 380 AD.

Nowhere in the New Testament do we find any evidence whatsoever that Jesus needed a seat of government, permission from a king, or endorsement by ruling officials or religious leaders to fulfill his mission on earth. Just the opposite occurred. He was rejected by the religious leaders and then by the greater populace because they assumed the Messiah would rule and reign from Jerusalem and deliver Israel from Gentile oppression. That will, in fact, happen one day (soon) when Christ returns to this earth.

But the Old Testament was crystal clear: The Messiah must first suffer and die to liberate mankind from its worst enemy … from tyrannical enslavement to sin. Which is, after all, what produces the unjust, criminal conquest of rulers and nations against each other. And just as disastrously: the disruption and devastation of individual lives resulting from pride, greed, jealousy, lust, theft, immorality, sorcery, lying, and murder.

Nor do we find any indication in Scripture or early church history that believers were commissioned to establish a centralized system of administration that would unite all individual “churches” into an authoritarian hierarchy. Which, in turn, would produce layers of ecclesiastical officials ruling in various capacities over individual believers.

Early Christians met in their homes and were so identified in Paul’s epistles as (for example), “God’s holy people in the city of Colossae.” Or the “church of God which is at Corinth.” But never (for example) to the “church of Rome.” When Jesus addressed each of the seven churches in Revelation 2 & 3, he referred to “the church in Ephesus, the church in Thyatira, the church in Philadelphia” and so on.

This is much more than just semantics, i.e. in or at versus of. This distinction constitutes the very essence, identity, and definition of the church. It is the breathing vibrant church of God and of Christ; all true believers are, “…living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple…” (I Peter 2:5).

Not a structure or system or seat of centralized, ecumenical power that claims ultimate authority over all who belong to that system; and that compels admission to and membership in (beginning with baptism, including infants) as a fundamental requirement for salvation and, thus, qualifies its’ members to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Or, at least, places the members in good standing and gives them a head-start toward heaven, if they remain in a state of grace. A state the hierarchy defines (sort of), through regulated rituals and crafted catechisms that are ambiguous, at best.

Jesus emphatically contradicted this misdirected avenue of salvation (entrance to, affiliation with, and inclusion in any religious order) by declaring:

The man to whom Jesus spoke was, of course, Nicodemus; a member of the elite Jewish Sanhedrin, whose every colleague was thought to be securely connected to God. And, thereby, would qualify for the Kingdom of God. Instead, Jesus said that a spiritual rebirth—made possible only by personally believing and receiving him as God’s Savior to mankind—was the ONLY way anyone would ever see the Kingdom of God.

No one is saved by becoming a member of a religious order. Rather, we become a member (child) of God’s family when we are saved.

And how are we saved?

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

“But to all who believed him (Messiah Jesus) and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God” (John 1:12-13).

*Note: Although the book of Galatians is written to the “churches of Galatia”, the word of is needed because there were several congregations (plural) in the region of Galatia. When writing to believers in a specific city, Paul always uses the functional preposition in or at. Thus, the church was so identified by the presence of believers in or at a certain location. Not by a structure or centralized organization that exercised a governmental-type regulation over believers. The highest degree of administration over any individual church should be no more than the church board, normally composed of pastors and elders.

Transformation of the Woman

It’s time to officially identify the woman (the great city) and why/how she picked up where the ancient city of Rome left off; thereby, changing her appearance to accomplish Satan’s plan of subversion from within. Obviously, I’m not the first to make this connection.

It’s undoubtedly safer to be politically correct. But in today’s world PC is virtually the same thing as not telling the whole truth, or suppressing it, or changing it. Yet, I, and untold thousands of believers the world over, believe God’s truth is eternal; not fashionably relative to whatever any society or religious group decides is relevant at any given time. Thus, many would say, “what’s true for you, may not be true for me. So, let’s not make such a big deal over things like Jesus claiming to be: the only way, truth, and life and that no one can come to God except through him” (John 14:6).

Although most who are reading this article (or perhaps last week’s Eye of Prophecy post) already know or suspect, I’m still compelled to confirm the altered identity of the woman sitting on the beast—the one that has deluded the nations since the 4th century. To attain by deception what the Roman Empire couldn’t accomplish by force. Only for the old woman to be united (for a brief period) with the new woman when Nero Caesar (who returns at the outset of the Tribulation) aligns his political and military forces with the political and religious position of this altered-state woman.

Who or what is this woman in today’s world? When and why did she alter her appearance and change her tactics from military dominance over kings of the world at the height of the Roman Empire to subtler, but equally destructive, schemes that include: political intrigue, corruption, greed, power, opulence, manipulation through intimidation—all of which are rooted in a devious plan that is diametrically opposed to the basic tenet of the true Christian faith?

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9, NASB).

The woman transformed herself from the military might of the Roman Empire to the most dominant religious system in the history of mankind. It became a city within a city but is still the great city itself. Flaunting a distinctive kind of supremacy, it still represents and reflects the man-made glory of the Roman Empire, attempting to achieve its ungodly agenda through a seditious strategy of acquisition and authority. This woman of Revelation 17 has unwittingly (or deliberately … take your pick) accomplished Satan’s plan to preserve and perpetuate Rome’s conquest of the secular world and of the true Church by the shrewd introduction of a prefix.

That prefix is Holy, as in Holy See. Which is interchangeable with Holy Roman Empire or Holy Roman Church.

I am referring to: THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.

Summary

In next week’s final article of this trilogy we will focus on The Holy See, also known as The Vatican or Vatican City State, and how it has prolonged the legacy of the ancient Roman Empire. We’ll also look more closely at Revelation Chapter 18, which foretells the demise of Babylon—both the city itself (Rome) and the false religions and philosophies of “Babylon the Great.”

“Come away from her, my people. Do not take part in her sins, or you will be punished with her. For her sins are piled as high as heaven, and God remembers her evil deeds” (Revelation 18:4-5).

This (corporeal and corporate) punishment is dramatically detailed in Chapter 18. The sins of Babylon listed in Revelation 17 & 18 are those corporately committed by the, “Mother of All Prostitutes and Obscenities in the World” (Revelation 17:5).

Sin is sin. Although God’s final Great White Throne judgment (Revelation 20) is for every individual who has refused God’s saving grace through Messiah Jesus, he punishes false religions, deceptive ideologies, and corrupt political systems collectively for their sins and evil deeds. God’s divine retribution against such entities have been administered throughout history (such as the complete destruction of the ancient city of Babylon or like the Roman Empire’s total demise); or will be dispensed during the Great Tribulation, e.g. the catastrophic ruin of the 21^st century Holy Roman Empire.

These verses are saying that there are some believers in Christ within (corporately) this counterfeit system, called “Babylon the Great.” Individually, they have been born-again (John 3), yet they remain in this ecclesiastical pyramid mainly because they hold on to “church membership” as an (possible) entrance into heaven or they fear ex-communication. However, Revelation 18 is also challenging just how genuine the faith is of those who claim salvation by trusting in Christ alone (thereby, spurning all additional non-Biblical requirements imposed by Catholicism, Mormonism, or any other “ism”). Those who have sincerely and exclusively placed their trust in Messiah Jesus as personal Savior will see the night and day difference, and they will “come away from her.”

“Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine… (II Corinthians 13:5).

The Lord fully understands that the real problem is the sin nature and the innate rebellion within each human heart.

Unless our heart is supernaturally changed by believing in Christ, there can be no forgiveness for and freedom from the enslavement of sin. It’s the inherited disease of sin that must be dealt with, not the symptoms which are individual transgressions that every man, woman, and child has committed. What doctor on the planet would only treat the symptoms of cancer if a known cure had been discovered? Thus, Biblical salvation is not reforming someone from the outside in; it is total regeneration (new birth) of the heart and spirit from the inside out.

Jesus did warn individuals that their unbelief in and rejection of him as the only One who could forgive and take away their sins would result in judgment, but he didn’t condemn them for their individual sins, as such. All of us were born sinners; for those who reject Christ as Savior, they are already judged … they condemn themselves.

Nevertheless, Christ blasted the religious leaders of Israel as the blind leading the blind. Telling them that they would, “…die in your sins; for unless you believe that I AM who I claim to be, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24). *Note– Jesus didn’t say they would die because of their sins; instead they would die in their sins. They would die (spiritual death or eternal separation from God) because they refused to “believe that I AM who I claim to be…”

Scripture is clear, both Old and New Testament: God is extremely harsh on those in position of religious leadership who are part of and promote any system that claims salvation or a right relationship with God or the path to Heaven is available only through keeping the law of Moses, or membership in the church—be it Catholic, Mormon, or even Protestant. God’s judgement will be exceptionally severe against those who assert that their religious hierarchy is the ultimate go-between God and members of its organization.

In the “Woe unto you” (King James Version) indictments against the Jewish religious leaders (extended to all future religious leaders who have legalistically distorted and rejected God’s truth of Biblical salvation), Jesus says in the first of these accusations:

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either” (Matthew 23:13).

When religious leaders are blind, how can we expect their followers to see?

“For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time” (I Timothy 2:5-6).

Things to Ponder

When it comes to defining things like right and wrong, good and evil, doesn’t it all begin with the definition of truth? What is true and what is not true? The Bible often talks about God’s truth and his revelation of that truth to mankind. Amazingly, however, Scripture doesn’t really define truth with a dictionary-style set of synonyms or concepts.

Instead, truth is defined as and in a Person! That person is none other than Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Son of Man. Jesus said, “I AM the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

“In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).

When we match universal truth and reality to the very source and embodiment of truth (Messiah Jesus), then we will also find the only way to God and the very meaning of life, now and forever more.

An Unusual Introduction to This Week’s Article

Once before it was necessary to repost a prior Eye of Prophecy article, due to the sudden demise of my laptop hard drive. The time it took to start all over again that week with a brand new engine prevented writing of a new article. Still, the repost included pictures and captions not part of the original article.

Well, it has happened again. Not because my computer hard drive dropped dead, but because my left eye began flashing little bolts of light, surrounded by mysterious shadows. This is not metaphorical!

These were the opening lines of Eye of Prophecy article, To Be or Not to Be in Heaven (A Revisit), posted 5-6-17.

*(My eyesight has stabilized, and the articles have continued … thank you, Lord!)

The first repost referenced above was, Why the Rapture? (A Revisit), posted 11-5-16.

Of the 253 Eye of Prophecy articles to date (one each Saturday), those are the only two published a second time, albeit with some modifications.

Although there is no emergency reason, this week’s article plus the next two are reproductions of sorts. But with substantially revised form and content of the original six-series Eye of Prophecy entitled, The Woman and the Beast, posted 10-12-13 through 11-16-13.

Reasons for reopening this six-article set: Visitors during the first year or so of Eye of Prophecy were significantly fewer than those of subsequent articles (to be expected for any new website). However, readership was disproportionately low, for that very reason—six parts … too many! Nevertheless, there is some good stuff in those articles. But, then, I would say that as the author!

Sometimes in my articles, excerpts from previous Eye of Prophecy posts are included… in italics or quotations marks. However, because of the extensive makeover, there will be no excerpt quotes from the original six articles, as it would disrupt the continuity of this week’s post, as well as the next two. Rather, previous contents will be blended in with the new material. Technically, I think this is permissible (no plagiarism or failure to acknowledge), as I am the author of all Eye of Prophecy articles. Trust that meets with your approval!

So, let’s begin by restarting the engine of a six-cylinder vehicle originally produced as, The Woman and the Beast.

Enjoy the ride! But be sure to get out of the car before it plunges over a precipice that will spell the end of the woman part way through the Tribulation and final fate of the beast (who had returned from the Abyss) at the end of the Great Tribulation. You will escape this fatal destiny-altering crash if you have believed and received Messiah Jesus as personal Savior (John 3:16). He is the one who will, “…defeat them because he is Lord of all lords and King of all kings. And his called and chosen and faithful ones will be with him” (Revelation 17:14).

Revelation Chapter 17 … Where It All Began

A year or so after my first book—O Israel … the end is the beginning for those left behind—a novel published in 2007, I began a sequel. After writing just a few chapters, the Lord dramatically interrupted this project one night in November 2008. He did so with a dazzling disclosure (discernment) that the Antichrist beast of Revelation had already lived and died before John’s visions of the beast as recorded in Revelation 13 & 17.

The pivotal passage is: “…I will tell you (reveal to you) the mystery of this woman and of the beast… The beast you saw was once alive but isn’t now. And yet he will soon come up out of the bottomless pit and go to eternal destruction. And the people … will be amazed at the reappearance of this beast who had died” (Revelation 17:7-8, parenthesis mine).

Immediately, I stopped writing the sequel and embarked on a stirring literary voyage, “…to the ancient Roman world, to the very origin and lair of the beast, to the first-century church, to the abyss and back again, to the pre-emptive death and eternal destruction of the Antichrist, to the mesmerizing visions of John, Daniel, and Zechariah.” To, “expose and declassify that which has been concealed and classified; the secret of the beast presumed to be confidential until the body of Christ is taken from the earth.”

The above quote is taken from the back cover of my second (non-fictional) book: Out of the Abyss … can the number of the beast be solved, 666? Published in February 2011. Followed by the inception of Eye of Prophecy website in July 2013.

To say that the Book of Revelation contains some of the most apocalyptic events known to man would be the proverbial understatement. One of the most captivating is John’s amazing vision of a woman sitting on a scarlet beast. Moreover, it is one of only two revelations in which an angel explicitly explains the mystery of what John had just witnessed. As said in a previous article or two: a mystery revealed is no longer a mystery.

In this current trilogy, we’re going to identify and examine the woman and the beast upon which she sits. Considerably more attention will be given to the woman, as several Eye of Prophecy articles have dealt extensively, even exclusively, with the Antichrist Beast.

“So the angel took me in the Spirit into the wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that had seven heads and ten horns, and blasphemies against God were written all over it. The woman wore purple and scarlet clothing and beautiful jewelry made of gold and precious gems and pearls. In her hand she held a gold goblet full of obscenities and the impurities of her immorality. A mysterious name was written on her forehead: ‘Babylon the Great, Mother of All Prostitutes and Obscenities in the World.’ I could see that she was drunk—drunk with the blood of God’s holy people who were witnesses for Jesus. I stared at her in complete amazement” (Revelation 17:3-6).

Who is the Beast?

My book, Out of the Abyss provides ample evidence to answer that question. As do parts or the whole of 50 Eye of Prophecy articles posted to date in the category of Antichrist. The beast is Nero!

If you find that conclusion to be incredible or inconceivable, then I encourage you to read the book and/or some of the articles. You will find Biblical documentation, historical evidence, and sound reasoning to support this astonishing identification: The early Christians knew and so, too, can we know. The number and name of Antichrist has been solved!

(Regarding both Christian and secular Roman views about Nero particularly prevalent in the first four centuries (A.D.), see Eye of Prophecy article, The Legendary Return of Nero, posted 4-4-15. Also, Reappearance of the Beast, posted 9-21-13).

Who, Then, is the Woman?

Let’s get right to the answer. In the angel’s explanation of the woman and the beast to John—with a qualification that understanding and wisdom were needed to fully grasp this clarification (Revelation 13:18 & 17:9)—he discloses the identity of the woman: “And this woman you saw in your vision represents the great city that rules over the kings of the world” (Revelation 17:18, italics for emphasis).

Which begs another question: Which city is the great city. It’s not as hard as you might think, because there are only two viable choices: Babylon and Rome. Although it’s conceivable that Antichrist Nero upon his return will maintain an office in Brussels, Belgium (headquarters of the European Union), his command center will be in and his loyalty to “the great city.”

Babylon

A common if not prevailing view—held, for example, by the authors of the Left Behind anthology, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins—is that the ancient (supposedly restored in the last days) city of Babylon is the proper choice. With the following rationale:

• The wording in Revelation 17:5: “A mysterious name was written on her forehead: ‘Babylon the Great…’”
• The entire 18th Chapter of Revelation that describes in graphic detail the utter destruction of Babylon, beginning with verse 2: “Babylon is fallen—that great city is fallen!”
• Some Old Testament prophecies announcing the destruction of Babylon, particularly Isaiah 21:9 which also reads, “…Babylon is fallen, fallen!”
• The attempt of Saddam Hussein to rebuild Babylon during his dictatorship in Iraq. Which came to a screeching halt with the capture, trial, conviction, and execution of this evil tyrant.

(Hussein fancied himself as the reincarnated Nebuchadnezzar)

Let’s test the validity of Babylon as the choice.

First, the mysterious name of Babylon the Great does not tell us that the woman (the great city) is, in fact, Babylon. Rather, it states that Babylon the Great was written (symbolically of course) on the woman’s forehead. So, what or who is Babylon the Great? Revelation 17 also answers that question: “Mother of All Prostitutes and Obscenities in the World.” In other words, Babylon the Great is not actually a city at all in the context of the woman being the “great city that rules over the kings of the world” (Revelation 17:18).

Rather, Babylon the Great is the mother that would bear children who would seek to “prostitute” the eternal existence and imperishable Word of the true and living God and of his Messiah. This corruption and distortion of God’s everlasting truth is the core foundation of all non-Christian world religions, religious organizations that are Christian in name only including cults, and anti-religious systems such as the occult New Age movement or communism or even globalism.

Through graphic description and by contextual implication, the great city of Revelation 17 would be the dwelling place of the worst of her children, as also vividly depicted in Revelation Chapter 18. Thus, when the great city is crushed (during the tribulation), Mother Babylon which birthed the woman sitting on the beast is also destroyed.

Another passage in Isaiah refutes the idea that a renovated modern-day Babylon is the great city symbolized by the woman:

“Babylon, the most glorious of kingdoms, the flower of Chaldean pride, will be devastated like Sodom and Gomorrah when God destroyed them. Babylon will never be inhabited again. It will remain empty for generation after generation…” (Isaiah 13:19-20). Then the last verse of that chapter tells us, “Babylon’s days are numbered; its time of destruction will soon arrive.”

About 170 years later Babylon was annihilated by the Medes-Persians … beyond recognition.

Today’s Babylon is a virtual wasteland compared to the glory of ancient Babylon. In fact, just two verses earlier in Isaiah 13, we read: “Look, I will stir up the Medes against Babylon…” (Verse 17). This emphatically places Isaiah’s prophecy of Babylon’s destruction (once for all time) in the context of what is now historical fact that the Mede-Persian empire destroyed Babylon.

Both Isaiah and the angel of Revelation foretold the obliteration of Babylon; with, as indicated, Isaiah’s prophecy coming to pass (in 539 B.C. to be exact). However, neither Isaiah nor the angel of Revelation are saying that Babylon will twice be destroyed. They repeat the stunning prediction for dramatic emphasis, but the angel of Revelation repeats it for another reason.

Consequently, when the angel announces that, “Babylon is fallen—that great city is fallen!” (Revelation 18:2), the fall (that takes place during the Tribulation) includes both the great city itself—symbolized by the woman, not by the ancient city of Babylon—AND Satanic systems that seek to replace the everlasting truth of the true and living God. Systems such as occult astrology, pantheism, or polytheism that were promoted by and flourished in the ancient Babylonian kingdom. Then continued by Rome during the glory days of the Roman Empire. And continuing to this very day, but in vastly different way and form … as we shall see in this trilogy of articles.

Thus, the angel’s repetition of Babylon’s fall applies: (1) Tangibly to “the great city” destroyed during the Tribulation. (2) Intangibly to “Babylon the Great, Mother of all Prostitutes and Obscenities in the World” (Revelation 17:5).

ROME (Roma)

Why is Rome the only feasible choice as the great city of Revelation Chapter 17? Let’s begin the answer with a few more questions.

What realm had conquered most of the known world when the book of Revelation was written? Easy answer: The Roman Empire. What city was the political, cultural, economic, and military center of this great empire? An even easier answer: Rome. And what would happen to Christians if a newly written scroll that contained some of the most astounding revelations ever witnessed and recorded had mentioned Rome as the “Mother of All Prostitutes, holding a goblet full of obscenities and the impurities of her immorality, drunk with the blood of God’s holy people who were witnesses for Jesus…” (Revelation 17:4-6)?

Or conversely, a city “hated by the scarlet beast and the ten horns (kings) who would strip her naked, eat her flesh, and burn her remains with fire” (Revelation 17:16)? For Roman citizens, Roman Generals and Roman Legions, but especially to Caesar: had Rome been identified by name, these would have been defamatory words of disrespect and even treason. In short order, many more Christians would have been rounded up and executed. Thus, it was necessary to disguise the great city of Rome as the woman and Babylon. The Christians were also protected in Revelation Chapter 13 when the angel and John encoded the identity of the Beast (Nero, the Antichrist) within the number six hundred sixty-six; then encouraged believers to solve the mystery of this number (Revelation 13:18).

Returning to Revelation 17:18: “And this woman you saw in your vision represents the great city that rules over the kings of the world” (italics for emphasis).

The word (rules) is obviously a present tense verb. With the clear connotation that this great city was ruling over other kings and their nations, as Rome did, when Revelation was written. As discussed in several prior articles, the beast (Nero Caesar) had already died, but the woman who sits on the beast was still thriving—Rome. At the beginning of the tribulation period, the beast will reappear from the Abyss and, with the allegiance given to him by ten kings who will have risen to power (Revelation 17:12), the beast would eventually turn on the woman and annihilate her.

Babylon (the ancient city, itself) could not possibly be the woman of Revelation 17, for at least two reasons: (1) it had already been destroyed and, according to Isaiah, would never return to any form of greatness, whatsoever. (2) When Revelation was written, Rome was the only city “that rules over the kings of the world.” This present tense verb “rules” would extend to the end times, as the woman (great city) would be alive and well during the onset of the Great Tribulation and will be, at first, in collaboration with the beast.

However, the Roman Empire was destroyed in the 5th century AD.

How, then, could Rome (the heart of the Roman Empire) qualify as the great city, with an ongoing relevance through the Dark Ages, through the political and military prominence of European kings/queens, during the Protestant movement and ensuing Renaissance, right up to the present time? How can the present tense “rules” be extended to the Great Tribulation? The answer to that question resides in the answer to another question: Since the fall of the Roman Empire, What did and also what will the woman (the great city) look like, signify, represent, or characterize during the end-times?

I’m not suggesting a Revived Roman Empire, because I firmly believe there is no such thing in Scripture. In my book Out of the Abyss (Chapters 15 & 16) and several Eye of Prophecy articles such as, Exposing Antichrist’s Identity … More Compelling Evidence Part I & II (Posted 3-18 & 3-25, 2017), significant evidence is presented to demonstrate that the seven heads of the beast are kings, not kingdoms (Revelation 17:9-11). Instead, there will be a Revived Roman Emperor. A man (Nero) who had already lived and died even before John first saw visions of him as the Antichrist beast; who would suddenly reappear from the Abyss at the outset of the Great Tribulation (Revelation 17:7-8).

Concerning the woman, you will see that it’s the same woman, but she has taken on a new appearance after the fall of the Roman Empire. At the beginning of the Tribulation, the woman will be in alliance with and gain support from the beast-king but will also attempt to influence him. Just like this same woman’s adultery (spiritual and political) with the kings of the earth to manipulate them and control the people of their kingdoms since the fall of Rome (Revelation 17:2).

Can you find another verse in Revelation Chapter 17 that also conveys the rule of the woman in the (ongoing) present tense? If you can locate this verse, you will find more evidence that the woman (both the ancient version and the modern version—because “rules” is present tense throughout) is Rome. A strong hint: What city was built on how many hills?

The Rise & Fall of the Mighty Roman Empire

Invincible! Such was the mindset of the Caesars, the Roman Legions, the Roman Senate, and most Roman citizens during the zenith of the Roman Empire. Moreover, nearly all the peoples and nations conquered by Rome felt the same way. Who could stand against such a powerful empire? Who could consistently defeat the Romans in battle? Who would dare oppose such a massive domain that, by the end of the 1st century dominated much of the civilized world and civilized, by ruthless force if necessary, parts of the uncivilized world? How could Rome ever fall from glory?

But fall she did, exactly like the Prophet Daniel predicted one thousand years earlier: “I continued to watch because I could hear the little horn’s boastful speech. I kept watching until the fourth beast was killed and its body was destroyed by fire” (Daniel 7:11).

The little horn was Daniel’s description of the ruler who would later be called the man of lawlessness by Paul, the beast of Revelation, and the Antichrist in I John 4. The Roman Empire would become the “beast” of Daniel’s prophecy, the fourth and final Gentile kingdom (directly pertaining to God’s plan for Israel and the Messiah). Though it was the mightiest and most terrible of the four kingdoms, it would one day cease to exist.

For nearly six hundred years, the woman (the great city) that John saw in his vision would “…rule over the kings of the world” (Revelation 17:18). For most of those six centuries Rome was the largest city in the world. Historians place the demise of the centralized Roman Empire at 476 A.D. However, the eastern portion of the empire continued for hundreds of years with its capital of Constantinople (now called Istanbul). No other nation on the face of the earth, including the United States of America, has ever attained the pinnacle of supremacy like the Roman Empire. But one by one the Roman emperors fell; piece by piece the colossus crumbled from within, until European barbarians dismantled her beyond recognition.

The woman continues to rule but in a far different way. Before we explore the transformation of the woman from a ruler “over the kings of the world” (Revelation 17:18) to “the great prostitute, who rules over many waters” and with whom, “the kings of the world have committed adultery” and by whom, “the people who belong to this world have been made drunk by the wine of her immorality (Revelation 17:1-2), let’s examine the strategy of the one who is behind the formation of Godless empires and ungodly world systems. Whose degenerate plan is to depose and displace the true God and His Messiah.

Satan’s Tactics

Because Satan cannot see into the future, he is forced to react to human events the same way we do … in the linear unfolding of time, from day-to-day. But throughout Biblical and secular history we see two distinct patterns of Satan’s designs and operations. (1) An immediate attempt to destroy by external power whoever or whatever stands in his way and interferes with his evil schemes for mankind. (2) When sheer force doesn’t work, he resorts to attacking from within. He does so through a sinister agenda of perverting God’s truth—by deceit, distortion, lies, counterfeit imitation, compromise, immorality, apathy—with the predictable result of rebellion against God and substitution of God’s eternal Word with false man-made beliefs and ideas.

The historical and contemporary evidence is incontrovertible: The evil that men do—including unjust wars or atrocities initiated by one nation against another, one ethnic group against another, or one race against another—begins with a belief system. Thus, the Third Reich sought to annihilate the entire Jewish race, because Hitler harbored the depraved idea of Aryan supremacy which led to a shocking view that Jews were sub-human. This ungodly, immoral, racial hatred comes straight from hell.

Conquest by Force

The following is an excerpt from my second book, Out of the Abyss. It provides an overview of Satan’s plots to eliminate all those who would dare oppose him and his ultimate plan for world domination by vainly trying to usurp God’s universal authority; his warped and unattainable goal of being like the Most High God. In italics:

Satan wanted to crush Christianity as soon as he could…. If you examine Scripture, you will find this preemptive strategy and pattern of Satan in every situation that involves the promised Messiah or Israel as the racial ancestry of the Messiah. You only need to look at the historical proximity between the prophesied event or person and the timing of Satan’s preemptive attack.

It began with Cain’s murder of Abel, who Satan thought was the direct progenitor (seed) of the Messiah … He acts on what he thinks is going to happen next, meaning soon. He tried to preempt Moses from his role as deliver of Israel; thereby, holding Israel under Egyptian bondage and keeping them from the Promised Land. He tried to exterminate Israel through the powerful, but wicked Persian official Haman. In the same pattern as Moses, Satan stirred Herod to kill all the newborn children in Bethlehem. He tried to get Jesus to sin in the wilderness, thereby, discrediting Christ from being a perfect sacrifice. He was instrumental in killing Jesus by crucifixion, hoping that Jesus could not arise from the dead. And now, he was diabolically obsessed with the destruction of the early Christian Church by means of killing all the Christians.

This blueprint continued throughout history, culminating with the Holocaust—a depraved attempt to exterminate all Jews, which would prevent them from returning to Israel, which in turn would prevent Yeshua from returning to Jerusalem to establish Messiah’s kingdom. Satan knows the signs of the end times. He knew that Palestine had been declared a two-state region by Lord Balfour; it would be just a matter of time before the Jews would, in great numbers, fulfill hundreds of Old Testament prophecies that the Jewish exiles would return home. On and on we could go in demonstrating that Satan launches his attack as soon as he realizes that there is yet another event that could destroy his plan for the human race.

And don’t forget what happened right after Israel miraculously became a state in 1948. Not in a year, or a month, or even a week—the very next day Arab nations attacked the Jews with the express intent of destroying Israel. That is as now as it gets!

Do you see this? Satan never waited before. Why would he wait for an unknown, unspecified, interminable length of time for the Christian church to flourish and usher in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth? Revelation hadn’t been written yet, so Satan didn’t know the rest of the story. His arrogant ambition and pernicious pattern is always now. That’s why he selected Nero to be the king prophesied by Daniel.

Alas, the rebellion abruptly ended; rudely interrupted when Satan’s superman (Nero) left the scene before all the terrible things Satan wanted to do could be completed! Satan must have been furious a Nero, at the Roman Empire, at the Church, and at Christ. Satan never learns or doesn’t care that evil feeds on itself and ultimately self-destructs. In fact, except for the intervention of Messiah, the world would self-destruct during the Great Tribulation. (Pages 225-226).

Not until the Lord revived Nero and imprisoned him in the Abyss, then the book of Revelation was written, did Satan realize that he would be given one last chance during the end times to establish his kingdom of pure evil on the earth. Though he knows that God always wins, he’s wickedly vain enough to still try; to take as many people with him to their fate in the Lake of Fire as he can. This last desperate attempt will itself bring about his end. As God will for the second time in human history respond by judging the entire world because of the global defiance of God and Messiah Jesus—instigated by Satan, Antichrist Nero, and the False Prophet.

Internal Conquest by Infiltration and Subversion

When force doesn’t work, when Satan’s best laid plans are foiled by God, then Satan reverts to his Plan B to defeat God and God’s people, whether the people are Jews of the Old Covenant of Law or the new man (Jew and Gentile … one in Messiah Jesus) under the New Covenant of Grace.

An early Biblical and well-known example of this strategy is the idolatrous golden calf made by the Israelites who grew impatient for Moses to return from Mt. Sinai. Many of these same people who had witnessed God’s powerful and persuasive miracles of the Egyptian plagues, yielded to the voice of a rebellious few within the Israelite camp … wanting a god they could see and worship visibly.

This happened just a few weeks after their miraculous deliverance from Egypt and the stunning rescue of the Jews from annihilation when their backs were to the Red Sea. You remember: God parted the waters and his people walked across the sea on dry land! And what happened to the Egyptians? They had the audacity and arrogance to ignore this stupendous miracle and pursued the Jews. As a result, the Egyptians drowned when God caused the walls of water to collapse on them. Did Pharaoh and his army seriously think that God would deliver the Israelites by supernaturally parting the waters, only to allow them to be massacred on the other side? If he had carefully contemplated the whole thing, Pharaoh would have stayed on his side of the sea!

Satan couldn’t destroy God’s people by force, so he reverted to discord and disgrace from within the ranks. Hence, the golden calf and subsequent apathy, complaints, and rebellions from a discontented few.

So, stop trusting in God to get you to the Promised Land. Devise and implement a plan, an idea … someone, something (money, power, prestige, flattery) to get you where you want to go or be. But whatever it takes or whatever you do, be sure to leave God and His message to humanity (the Bible) out of it. In the proverbial nutshell that’s Satan’s lie to the world and even to the people of God.

“Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God” (II Corinthians 4:4).

“For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones” (Matthew 24:24).

Satan’s switch to Plan B doesn’t mean that he abandons his diabolical determination to literally destroy Jews and Christians whenever possible. He does this oblivious to the historical reality that the harsher the persecution of Jews or Christians, the greater the good that came out of even the most horrendous hate and vicious brutality. Hence, the exponential growth of believers during their persecution by the Roman Empire. Or the unthinkable horror of the Holocaust precipitating the prophetic rebirth of the state of Israel and the massive return of Jews from the four corners of the earth.

In today’s world, there is increasing oppression of true believers in Christ Jesus, including atrocities committed by Muslims in several African nations, as well as some Arab countries. As well as a reprehensible return (rise) of Anti-Semitism.

As developed in next week’s article, we’ll see that it was internal subversion of the true Gospel of Messiah Jesus through an ecclesiastical hierarchy that caused far more damage than external persecution by those who hated the (true) Christians.

Things to Ponder

As seen, the woman (great city … Rome) was ruling over the kings of the world when Revelation was written. This same woman would also be in existence during the Tribulation as clearly shown in Revelation 17:12-17, which says, for example:

This transformation from ancient Rome with its Caesars that ruled over kings and kingdoms to the subsequent form and substance of the woman beginning in the 4^th to 5^th centuries and continuing to this very day will be developed in more detail in the next two articles.

The only other thing to ponder is to not miss those articles!

That and the infinitely more important near-future reality: “Then the sovereignty, power, and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be given to the holy people of the Most High. His (Messiah Jesus) kingdom will last forever, and all rulers will serve and obey him” (Daniel 7:27, parenthesis mine).

For those not all that familiar with the word panoramic, it is the adjective form of the noun, panorama. From the Greek word, horama (which means “sight”), Webster’s Dictionary defines panorama as, “…2a: an unobstructed or complete view of a region in every direction; b: comprehensive presentation of a subject; c: range; 3: a mental picture of a series of images or events.”

Picture a helicopter circling over the Grand Canyon, with a panoramic 360 degree vista. Standing on Mount Everest with a wide-angle camera lens, shooting a spectacular scene that … seems to go on forever. Or reading four verses in the book of Daniel that bear a breathtaking bird’s eye (let’s make it an eagle) view of the two most influential men and significant events in mankind’s history and destiny. One man of light, life, salvation, and all that is good; the other for darkness, death, judgment, and all that is evil.

There are no greater prophecies in Scripture than those of Messiah’s coming to the earth that he created, not once but twice—commonly referred to by theologians as the First and Second Advent of Christ. Though the far greater majority of people on earth, past and present, have not accepted Messiah Jesus as their personal Savior; a vast number of people from every race, religion, and nation recognize the name of Jesus Christ.

(One of My Favorite Passages in All of Scripture … The 1st & 2nd Advent of Jesus in Two Verses)

So, too, have billions of people on this planet heard, seen, or read about the evil antithesis of Messiah Jesus. This corrupt counterfeit of Christ bears several names in the Bible: ruler, king, little horn, man of lawlessness, and beast. But he is most commonly referred to as: Antichrist.

As a student of Scripture, I have intently studied Bible prophecy since the 1970s. Yet it wasn’t until November, 2008, when I realized that some of the pieces of the prophetic puzzle on the Antichrist were not accurately assembled. It began with a dramatic disclosure from the Lord (proper discernment and application of two verses in Revelation 17) that the Antichrist had already lived and died before John even saw him (in the form of a beast) and wrote about him. The implication was staggering, to the extent that it changes and corrects the conception of a modern-day man rising to power as the Antichrist during the soon to come Great Tribulation.

After seeing the astounding vision of a woman (a great city, which is Rome … see the six-part Eye of Prophecy series, The Woman and the Beast, posted 10-12 through 11-16-13) sitting on a beast with seven heads and ten horns (this is the same beast depicted in Revelation 13), the angel explains the mystery, beginning with the beast. Said the angel to John:

“Why are you so amazed? …I will tell you the mystery of this woman and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns on which she sits. The beast you saw was once alive but isn’t now. And yet he will soon (abruptly, suddenly) come up out of the bottomless pit … And the people who belong to this world (the unsaved during the Tribulation) … will be amazed at the reappearance of this beast who had died” (Revelation 17:7-8; italics for emphasis, parenthesis mine).

There is absolutely no ambiguity with regard to what the angel told John. This beast (man) had already lived and died before John first saw it (him) in the first century.

Antichrist passages explored extensively in Out of the Abyss and several prior Eye of Prophecy articles are: II Thessalonians 2 (man of lawlessness); Daniel 7 (sudden appearance of the little horn, king to lead a ten-nation confederation); Daniel 11, Revelation 16 & 19 (Antichrist’s final advance on the Middle East and attack on Israel—Armageddon); Zechariah 11 (worthless shepherd); Revelation 13 (the Hebrew gematria number of the beast matching Nero Caesar and the fact that the world will be amazed at the miracle of his reappearance); Revelation 17 (the Antichrist had already lived and died but would return from the Abyss, to continue on a global scale what he began in the first century). And a panoramic passage which is the main focus of this week’s and next week’s article.

These riveting passages provide evidence of the geopolitical and biographical origin of the Antichrist—none other than the Roman Emperor Nero. With Revelation 17:7-8 presenting the foundational fact that the Antichrist’s appearance during the Tribulation is not that of a modern-day man born in that (our) generation. Whereas, the other Biblical references listed above (including the rest of Revelation 17) relay more specific details to narrow down the Antichrist “candidates” to one man.

*Note: As stated before in a few Eye of Prophecy articles, my identification of Nero as the Antichrist is neither a Preterist View (as they subscribe to the exceptionally erroneous conjecture that the Tribulation took place in the 1^st century) nor is it new in the sense of being revelatory. Rather it is discernment from the Lord to revive the clear understanding of the early church (1^st through 4^th centuries) that Nero was, indeed, the beast of Revelation. For example, see Eye of Prophecy article: The Legendary Return of Nero, posted 4-4-15.

The first mention of the Antichrist (designation of king and little horn) is found in Daniel Chapter 7, which is Daniel’s dream vision of the four beasts—world kingdoms. Chapter 7 primarily confines the introduction to and exposure of Antichrist in the context of his sudden unexpected appearance (reappearance as Revelation 13 & 17 tells us some 600 years later) at the outset of the Great Tribulation.

(Beasts Symbolizing From Left to Right in Order … Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome)

However, there is one passage in Scripture (in just four verses) which panoramically juxtaposes and correlates the first and second coming of Messiah alongside of the initial appearance and then reappearance of the Antichrist. This passage is nothing short of astonishing, to include the precise amount of elapsed time until Jesus would be hailed as the Messiah in Israel—one week before his crucifixion and resurrection. It is also the passage that, more than all the others in Scripture, confirms that the Antichrist would be and was (as fulfilled some 600 years later in the 1^st century) the Roman Emperor Nero—the man of lawlessness, the ruler, the little horn, and the king. This wicked man has been kept alive in the Abyss for some 2,000 years and will return as the Antichrist beast of Revelation.

This most sweeping of all Biblical prophetic passages is found in:

Daniel 9:24-27 (Vision of Daniel in 539 B.C.)

Let’s briefly look at the setting.

Daniel had been taken captive to Babylon during Nebuchadnezzar’s first attack against Judah in 605 B.C. Ezekiel was exiled to Babylon in the 2^nd campaign of 597 B.C., with the third (and final) most destructive onslaught occurring in 586 B.C. when Jerusalem and Solomon’s Temple were destroyed. Jeremiah was also a contemporary (older than Daniel and Ezekiel); however, he was never deported to Babylon.

In 539 B.C. right after Persia had conquered Babylon, Daniel read Jeremiah’s prophecy, “…that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years” (as quoted by Daniel in Chapter 9, verse 2).

That had been the warning given by God through Jeremiah to the two southern tribes of Israel—Judah and Benjamin. If God’s people persisted in worshipping false gods (idols) and refused to return to him, the prophecies given to Moses long before would come to pass—the final and most devastating of which was the inconceivable exile to foreign nations.

Daniel then proceeded to offer one of the most poignant and powerful prayers recorded in all of Scripture, acknowledging the unrepentant sins of the people and God’s perfect justice in judging them. Then pleading with the Lord to be merciful to him and his people. It was tantamount to asking the Lord to please remember his promise to limit the punishment to seventy years (Daniel 9:4-19).

Daniel had barely begun praying when God sent the angel Gabriel to him, but not just to answer Daniel’s prayer, as it was already a foregone conclusion that the Babylonia captivity would last for only 70 years. Rather, the Lord would give to Daniel an astounding panoramic prophecy concerning Israel’s future that would encompass the New Covenant of salvation and Israel’s ultimate physical and spiritual restoration; also times of great turmoil caused by both the first and second appearance of the anti-Messiah. And other phenomenal events that we’ll get to later in this and next week’s article.

Before we read the four verses of this powerful prophecy, let’s pick it up with Gabriel’s first words to Daniel:

“…Daniel, I have come here to give you insight and understanding. The moment you began praying, a command was given. And now I am here to tell you what it was, for you are very precious to God. Listen carefully so that you can understand the meaning of your vision” (Daniel 9:22-23).

(Depiction of Gabriel Appearing to Daniel, Who Would Have Been in His Early Eighties By This Time)

Here is Gabriel’s stunning revelation to Daniel, quoted in its entirety. However, for purpose of easier referencing later on, each verse will be cited individually.

“A period of seventy sets of seven has been decreed for your people and your holy city to finish their rebellion, to put an end to their sin, to atone for their guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to confirm the prophetic vision, and to anoint the Most Holy Place” (Daniel 9:24)

“Now listen and understand! Seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until a ruler—the Anointed One—comes. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and strong defenses, despite the perilous times” (Verse 25).

“After this period of sixty-two sets of seven, the Anointed One will be killed, appearing to have accomplished nothing, and a ruler will arise whose armies will destroy the city and the Temple. The end will come with a flood, and war its miseries are decreed from that time to the very end” (Verse 26).

“The ruler will make a treaty with the people for a period of one set of seven, but after half this time, he will put an end to the sacrifices and offerings. And as a climax to all his terrible deeds, he will set up a sacrilegious object that causes desecration, until the fate decreed for this defiler is finally poured out on him” (Daniel 9:27).

In just four verses, the angel Gabriel revealed a total of seven (once again illustrating the striking significance of the divine number seven) distinct components to this amazing prophecy. Some of the seven are well-known and sufficiently grasped by students of Bible prophecy; others have been misunderstood or misapplied, especially verse 26.

*Note: You may want to print the above portion of today’s article that quotes the four verses of Daniel Chapter 9, for easier reference as we proceed.

(1) The Seventy Weeks of Daniel

In Hebrew, the 70 weeks represent 490 actual years (one week equals seven years) of time that began with the Persian King Artaxerxes’s decree in 445 B.C.—recorded later in Nehemiah Chapter 2—allowing Nehemiah to return to Israel and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. However, the 70 weeks (particularly the sweeping events depicted in verse 24), would also prophetically span the interlude between the first 69 weeks of this era and the remaining (70^th) week.

Sixty-nine of these weeks (483 years) would end with the triumphant ride of Jesus on the back of a donkey (as foretold by Zechariah) into Jerusalem on what we now call Palm Sunday. Seven days later, Messiah Jesus would arise from the dead to seal the New Covenant of Salvation through faith in God’s grace … the substitutionary sacrificial gift of His Son. That is the (once for all) atonement spoken of in verse 24.

The 70^th week would not commence until: “The end will come…” (verse 26) at which time the Antichrist would make a seven-year treaty with Israel (verse 27). From which we get the duration of the Great Tribulation, beginning with believers taken from the earth in the Rapture (I Thessalonians 4 & I Corinthians 15).

Take special note that the same ruler (Antichrist) introduced earlier in verse 26 is the one who orchestrates this seven-year treaty with Israel; separated by a (long) period of time before the 70^th week would begin, as clearly conveyed in the last half of verse 26: “…The end will come…” Which perfectly matches with Nero’s first time/tenure on earth as a Roman Emperor to his return from the Abyss at the outset of the Tribulation.

At the end of that 70^th week (seven years) when Messiah returns triumphantly to earth to set up his Millennial Reign, other of Daniel’s predictions in verse 24 will come to pass. Israel’s rebellion (their persistent refusal by the majority of Jews to accept Jesus as their Messiah) is finally ended when the remnant left at the end of the Tribulation embraces Jesus as their Messiah. First they will mourn for Jesus because they (and their ancestors) had denied him as their Messiah Savior (Zechariah 12:10-14). Everlasting righteousness will be established in the Kingdom of God, and the Most Holy Place (the 3rd Temple) will be divinely “anointed” or set apart for worship and prayer during the Millennium.

At that point the entire scope of the prophetic vision will have been confirmed … completed.

These 70 weeks would comprehensively comprise everything pertaining to Israel’s redemption (individually then nationally) and their ultimate physical and spiritual restoration to the Promised Land. In between the 69^th and 70^th week, the times of the Gentile domination would continue over Israel, which finally ended in 1967.

(2) Sixty-Nine Weeks to Messiah’s Arrival on Earth

Daniel gives us the starting point of that phenomenally precise prediction, and the Gospels tell us exactly when Messiah Jesus (“the Anointed One comes” … Daniel 9:25) fulfilled the prophecy as foretold in the following well-known passage:

“Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on donkey—riding on a donkey’s colt” (Zechariah 9:9).

Not until the appointed time during his marvelous and miraculous ministry on earth did Jesus allow Israel to “officially” acknowledge him as the long-awaited Messiah; even though his profound teaching and his powerful miracles that no one had ever done before proved that he was the Son of God … exactly who King David said the Messiah would be (Psalm 2 & Psalm 110).

Read with me from Matthew’s Gospel: “The two disciples did as Jesus commanded. They brought the donkey and the colt to him and threw their garments over the colt, and he sat on it. Most of the crowds spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting.

‘Praise God for the Son of David (all Jews knew that term was equivalent to the Messiah)! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise God in highest heaven!’

“The entire city of Jerusalem was in an uproar as he entered. ‘Who is this?’ they asked. And the crowds replied, ‘It’s Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee’” (Matthew 21:6-11; italics for emphasis, parenthesis mine).

Although mentioned in subsequent Eye of Prophecy articles, here is an excerpt from an older article, An Incredible Prophecy Time-Lapse Prophecy (Posted 1-18-14). That article was all about the amazing discovery (disclosure) given to Sir Robert Anderson, published in 1894 in his book, The Coming Prince.

Once again, time/space prohibits extensive review of what he found, so I will highly condense his amazing discovery: Sir Robert Anderson calculated (with partial assistance from the Royal Observatory, Greenwich) the Julian date of King Artaxerxes edict to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem to have been March 14th, 445 BC. Furthermore, the Julian date for Jesus’s magnificent ride into Jerusalem was April 6th, 32 AD. By employing the Hebrew calendar, Sir Robert Anderson tallied 173,880 days had elapsed which is exactly 483 Jewish years!! Absolutely astounding! I repeat for emphasis: Incredible!!

Sir Robert Anderson factored in leap years and the 24 days from March 14th to April 6th. Some mathematicians/scholars determined that Anderson was two days off or so; but whether they’re right or Sir Robert was right, doesn’t matter all that much. The fact is: to calculate within two days, or two weeks, or two months, or even two years is remarkable. When you’re talking about 483 years, even a gap of two years still gives significant validation to the prophecy. Meaning that it’s not the God-given prophecy that’s a little off; rather, it might just be a slight miscalculation of what is a fairly complex system of balancing two calendars over such a long period of time.

Unless God, himself, directly inspires someone (such as the prophet Daniel), there’s absolutely no way for a man or woman to predict either the decree of Artaxerxes (some 95 years after Daniel’s vision) or the coming of the Messiah (some 483 years—Jewish calendar) years later to the year and the very day! Or, for that matter to predict anything, with or without a definitive time-frame of fulfillment, on an error-free, 100% standard of accuracy….

*Foot Note: Sir Robert Anderson recognized that Daniel’s prophecy was one (of a very few) Biblical prediction based on an actual calendar time-lapse projection … in this case regarding Messiah’s first coming. The insight given to me comes from the “hidden” gem of prophecy found in Leviticus Chapter 26, pertaining to the Lord’s second coming during the generation that would see the end of Gentile domination of the Jews in 1967. It also is based on a precise period of time, in this case the four phases of seven times over representing the actual historical time-line of God’s uninterrupted discipline of Israel.

(Sir Robert Anderson … 1841-1918)

See Eye of Prophecy articles, Seven Times Seven (to the 4^th Power) Parts I, II, III; followed by The Omega Generation—published 1-25-14 through 2-15-14. Also refer to articles: Jubilee and Messiah … They Go Together! (1-25-16) & Double Israel’s Trouble and Double Her Blessings! (8-13-16).

Whether coincidental or not: Sir Robert Anderson was an Investigator for Scotland Yard and my profession was principally that of an Insurance Investigator.

(3) Messiah’s Death

“After this period of sixty-two sets of seven (69 sets of seven in all or 483 years—173,880 days), the Anointed One will be killed…” (Daniel 9:26a, parenthesis mine).

In Verse 25 the angel Gabriel describes (breaks down) the 69 weeks by saying, “seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven.” There could be two reasons for this: (1) sometimes the way in which the Hebrew language would (poetically) emphasize periods of time. But not just in Bible times. Do you remember a famous U.S. President who used the same kind of expression? “Four score and seven years ago…!”

(2) Gabriel is indirectly but nonetheless prophetically underscoring the time (seven weeks or 49 years) that would pass from the time of the Jerusalem walls decree to the 400-year period of silence when the Lord did not speak to his people through prophets, which is the last 400 years of B.C. time. Forty-nine years from 445 B.C. would lead to the year 396 B.C. which very well could have been the year when Malachi’s prophecies ended. Personally, I lean towards option 2.

Equally astonishing in Daniel’s Chapter 9 prophecy: Not only was Messiah’s arrival on Planet Earth (prophetically earmarked in time by thousands in Israel hailing him as Messiah exactly 173,880 days after the Artaxerxes decree) precisely foretold, so is the fact that he would be killed and that his death would occur BEFORE the 2^nd Temple was destroyed (Verse 26). The implication of that fact is stunningly significant, in that there’s no other time for Messiah to (first) arrive other than before the temple was destroyed.

Here is an excerpt from Eye of Prophecy article: Where is Messiah … Is He Already Here? Posted 6-25-16. (In italics):

Daniel’s prophecy is unambiguously clear: The Messiah would appear before the destruction of the Temple, which took place in 70 AD. And that’s exactly what occurred … Jesus birth, life, death, and resurrection some 40 years before the Romans sacked Jerusalem, which irrefutably validates the accuracy of Daniel’s prophecy.

Whereas, the religious leaders and people of Jesus’s time scorned him for the reasons given thus far—most prominent of which was ignoring the plain evidence for the time of Messiah’s appearance and marginalizing or outright rejecting his teachings and miracles—all those who deny that he is Messiah after the Temple was destroyed have no grounds whatsoever to refute the Messiahship of Jesus.

Why?

Because they have the 20/20 hindsight of history, right up to the present day. The Messiah would come at the end of 483 years, exactly when Jesus rode on a donkey into Jerusalem … hailed by the people as the Son of David, the Messiah.

Then the Messiah would be killed BEFORE the Temple was destroyed by the armies of a ruler who would arise (shortly) AFTER Messiah arrived and was killed.

According to the time-line of Daniel’s prophecy, there is no way that the Messiah could (first advent) arrive on the scene of history AFTER the Temple was destroyed.

Daniel’s prophecy confirms prior predictions of Messiah’s death as found, for example, in Isaiah Chapter 53. Right up to this present day, the suffering of the Jewish Messiah is a source of consternation and bewilderment to many Jews, especially the observant among them. It is such a paradox that several Rabbis endorse the theory that there are two Messiahs, not just one. See Eye of Prophecy article, More Than One Messiah (12-5-15) and a companion article, Messiah’s Arrival … On Whose Authority? (11-25-15).

Or they continue to maintain that the personal pronouns applied to the Messiah (a man) speak of Israel as a nation in Isaiah 53. Which is impossible because no nation can be “an offering for sin” or “bear all their sins” or “had done no wrong” (Isaiah 53). The nation of Israel certainly couldn’t or wouldn’t be, “…buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave” (Isaiah 53:9).

(If I counted correctly, there are 36 personal pronouns of he, him, or his; plus “a man of sorrows” for a total of 37 references to an individual man–the Messiah–in Isaiah 53, a chapter with 12 verses)

I respect and admire and love the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. But with tough love I must say that for anyone, scholar or otherwise, to allege that the personal pronouns describing a man (the Messiah) in Isaiah 53 apply to Israel as a nation is a grammatically ignorant and/or deliberate contextual distortion of the passage.

For that matter, how could Messiah victoriously, but also humbly, enter Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt while at the same time appearing to Israel as their conquering King, liberating them from their enemies? In Biblical times, a king entering a city on a donkey was a gesture of redemptive-like resolution and peace, without the need for armed conflict. As opposed to a king riding into a city on a horse, symbolizing triumphant conquest in war. In fact, immediately after the verse quoted earlier from Zechariah (Messiah riding into Jerusalem on a donkey) we read:

“…I will destroy all the weapons used in battle, and your king will bring peace to the nations. His realm will stretch from sea to sea … to the ends of the earth. Because of the covenant I made with you, sealed with blood, I will free your prisoners…” (Zechariah 9:10-11).

The only possible explanation is that Messiah came first as Israel’s Sacrificial Redeemer to establish the New Covenant (sealed with his blood) prophesied by Jeremiah (Chapter 31), then will return as King of all kings to establish the Kingdom of God from Jerusalem.

Even before Isaiah 53, we read this in the preceding chapter:

“See, my servant will prosper; he will be highly exalted (which is the only prophetic image most Jews have of Messiah). But many were amazed when they saw him (Isaiah is switching to the past tense to emphasize what must come first, even though the entire passage in prophetically future). His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, and from his appearance one would scarcely know he was a man” (Isaiah 52:13-14, parenthesis mine).

The Gospels vividly tell us that Jesus was struck about his face, part of his beard pulled out, beaten on his head with a rod, a crown of thorns placed on his head, and mercilessly flogged with a lead-tipped whip. Combine that with long nails driven through his wrists and feet on the cross and you get a graphic picture of Isaiah’s prophecy—that Jesus could hardly be recognized as a man.

But then immediately switching back to the future (return of Messiah), Isaiah states, “And he will startle many nations. Kings will stand speechless in his presence…” (Isaiah 52:15).

One day soon all of Israel will recognize beyond any doubt that Jesus is the Messiah when he returns to the Mount of Olives (from which he ascended back to heaven) and rescues the Jews from annihilation at the hands of Antichrist (Nero). Then and only then will their redemption as a nation be complete.

(4) Soon After Messiah’s Death, a Ruler (Antichrist) Would Arise

In amplification of Daniel Chapter 7 which deals primarily with the activities of the Antichrist during the Great Tribulation (although Chapter 7 does identify that this ruler would come from the 4^th World Kingdom—Rome), Daniel 9 informs us when and from where the Antichrist would first appear as further supported by Revelation Chapter 17.

Long before the book of Revelation was written telling us that the Antichrist beast of the Great Tribulation had already lived and died in the 1^st century (but would return from the Abyss), Daniel Chapter 9 paints a clear picture that this evil man would arise (soon) after Messiah’s birth, life, death, and resurrection.

We know that this ruler would appear soon after Messiah’s death, because of the qualifying language in Daniel 9:26. Beginning with:

“…the Anointed One will be killed, appearing to have accomplished nothing, and a ruler will arise whose armies will destroy the city and the Temple…” (Daniel 9:26a, italics for emphasis).

Here is an excerpt from my book, Out of the Abyss (in italics):

Another convincing reason to assign contemporary status, correlation, and connection between the ruler (Nero) and the Roman Legions of 70 AD relates to the ruler arising after the Anointed One (Messiah) is killed, “appearing to have accomplished nothing…” (Daniel 9:26).

If the ruler is a modern-day man, then this verse doesn’t fit. Worse, the first part of the verse is simply inaccurate. What am I saying? I am saying that, as this book is written, we can look back some 2000 years and clearly see the monumentally astounding accomplishments of Christianity. Yet Daniel 9:26 effectively tells us that the ruler will sequentially rise to power during the time that Messiah’s death “appears” to have accomplished nothing. In other words, the ruler would arise fairly soon after Messiah is killed.

Nero was born just three to four years after Christ died, and he ruled as Emperor just two-three decades after Christ’s resurrection and return to heaven. Christianity was still in its infancy. To the populace of Israel, the Roman Empire and world at large, the tragic death of Jesus of Nazareth seemed to have accomplished very little. To Jewish Zealots, Jesus’s death accomplished absolutely nothing … It took several centuries for Christians and the secular world to comprehend the increasing influence that the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ had exerted on the world (Pages 256-257).

(Busts of the First Five Roman Caesars …. Left to Right: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero)

The next paragraph after the above excerpt reads:

“Stating it bluntly: the Roman Legions of 70 AD could not be of, from, or belong to a ruler born some two thousand years later. This would stretch the chain that binds the Roman Legions of 70 AD to a modern-day man to the breaking point. Remember again: this ruler or king originates directly from the fourth world power (Roman Empire) of Daniel Chapter 7. The ruler does not come from a future 7^th empire, because there is no such empire in the book of Daniel, as there are not seven heads to the beast of Daniel, only the ten horns (tribulation kings)” (Out of the Abyss, page 257).

Which leads us to the next remarkable feature of this four-verse passage in Daniel Chapter 9, as hinted at in the preceding paragraph just quoted. But one that will need to wait until next week’s Part II article!

That next point is:

(5) The Armies (Roman Legions) That Destroyed the 2^nd Temple Belonged to Nero Caesar

As opposed to the impractical notion of these Roman legions belonging to a ruler who wouldn’t be born for another 2,000 years.

Points 6 & 7 will also follow in next week’s article, to, among other things, further demonstrate that Nero is the Antichrist, because the same ruler whose armies destroyed the Temple will initiate the seven-year treaty with Israel (at the outset of the Tribulation).

Things to Ponder

As with other visions seen by Daniel, I’m sure he was overwhelmed at the magnitude of all that Gabriel was telling him, particularly because the breadth of it was comprehensively condensed to a few sentences.

All of the seven component prophecies explained to him by Gabriel as recorded in Daniel 9:24-27 were astounding. But I think the one which probably stunned him the most was the fact that the Temple would be rebuilt. And then destroyed yet again! By a ruler who would arise shortly after Messiah was killed, which he already knew would happen by virtue of Isaiah and King David’s prophecies of Messiah’s death. Yet Daniel didn’t need to wait long to see the unfolding of the rebuilt Temple facet of these seven prophecies.

Less than a year later, the Persian King Cyrus, in his very first year of reign after conquering Babylon, issued a decree that the Jews could return to Israel and rebuild the Temple (See Ezra Chapter 1)!

Although Jeremiah had prophesied that the Babylonian Captivity would last only 70 years, God had not disclosed to him that the Temple would be rebuilt. In fact, it was the year when the Temple was finally finished (516 B.C.) which completed the 70 year-exile of the Jews, after Solomon’s Temple was demolished in 586 B.C.

Do you see how graciously the Lord answered Daniel’s prayer for mercy on and forgiveness of Daniel’s people, the Jews? Not only would the Jews return to Israel (some of them, as not all agreed to go back), the Temple itself would be rebuilt! That’s grace and mercy that only the Lord God can express in real time and in concrete ways. And then the Lord gave Daniel a condensed but nevertheless panoramic view of Israel’s future and destiny like virtually no other found in Scripture. One, however, that we can understand even better than Daniel, if we eagerly and thoroughly compare Scripture with Scripture and also history … particularly the 1^st century

(Depiction of The Third Temple Superimposed on Temple Mount Next to the Dome of the Rock)

“Indeed, the Sovereign Lord never does anything until he reveals his plans to his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7).

“The time has come, says the Lord, when the grain and grapes will grow faster than they can be harvested. Then the terraced vineyards on the hills of Israel will drip with sweet wine! I will bring my exiled people of Israel back from distant lands, and they will rebuild their ruined cities and live in them again … I will firmly plant them there in their own land. They will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them, says the Lord your God” (Amos 8:13-15).

To the Gentile believers in Rome, the Jewish Apostle Paul wrote:

“Did God’s people stumble and fall beyond recovery? Of course not! They were disobedient, so God made salvation available to the Gentiles. But he wanted his own people to become jealous and claim it for themselves. Now if the Gentiles were enriched because the people of Israel turned down God’s offer of salvation, think how much greater a blessing the world will share when they finally accept it” (Romans 11:11-12).

Long live Israel!

Long live Messiah Yeshua!