This is a bold statement indeed. Over the coming posts I will show why I believe that the Anti Christ will rise out of America, and who I believe meets enough of the requirements to be the Anti Christ spoken of in revelation's end time prophecies (though it may seem obvious). We will begin with...
The statue in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, as it was interpreted by Daniel.
The statue in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, as it was interpreted by Daniel.
“Its head was composed of gold, its chest and arms of silver, its stomach and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, and its feet of a mix of iron and clay (Dan 2:31-33).”
This is the statue as interpreted by Daniel. Most of it has been figured out on a consensus amongst scholars, but the final piece is missing or is at least up to debate.
First the Head of Gold is a reference to Babylon. The scripture is clear that this is Nebuchadnezzar himself, and by extension the Kingdom of Babylon.
The Chest and Arms of silver contain two distinct, but related parts. These are a reference to Media and Persia. Cyrus the Great of Persia defeated the Babylonians, and that initiated the next "Beast" or "Ant-Christ" kingdom. I will take this opportunity to note that anti-christ is a reference to anyone who opposes Christ, or the Christian view. The Bible does explicitly direct attention to the final Beast, which is what is referred to as "The Anti-Christ," however others in history before would have had the same satanic influence and were therefore "Beast" kingdoms.
The third beast kingdom was the kingdom of Greece, and Alexander the Great, the stomach of bronze. Alexander was the one who conquered the far reaching Persia.
The legs of iron are the fourth beast empire, and they represent the mighty Rome, the victors over their predecessors, the Greeks.
The final Beast kingdom is the feet mixed of Iron and Clay. To follow the successive lines of defeat to issue in the coming of the next kingdom, we find that Germanic tribes brought Rome to its feet, meaning the next beast kingdom would rise from Germany. We see this happen with Hitler's rise to power with the Third Reich. Of course it was the United States of America that would be the one's to enter the Great War and finally topple the German globe conquering ambitions.
I do not completely agree with this however, as the feet of Iron and Clay show a cooperation between the two final beasts. While other theories present the cooperation between the States and Germany through past influences of Eugenics, and purging of impure genetics I do not find this to be enough evidence and does seem to be stretching things a bit too much for the benefits of the argument. Though I have no reason to completely dismiss this, I will provide an alternative view. This is where I would like to introduce the fact that the end times are marked by the rise of TWO beasts, not just one.
The Beast from the Sea
1 And he stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast
coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and
upon his horns were ten crowns, and upon his heads were names
of blasphemy. 2And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and
his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth was like the mouth
of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and
great authority. 3And one of his heads was as slain unto death, and
his mortal wound was healed. And the whole earth marveled after
the beast, 4 and worshiped the dragon, because he gave authorityto the
beast, and worshiped the beast saying, “Who is like the beast,
and who is able to wage war with him?”
5 and it was given to him a mouth to speak great things and
blasphemies, and it was given to him to exercise authority for
forty-two months. 6And he opened his mouth in blasphemies
against God, to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle, namely,
those who dwell in heaven. 7And it was given to him to make war
with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every
tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. 8And
all those who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names
are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world.
This beast in Revelations is comprised of the first four kingdoms referred to way back in Daniel, both in the statue, and four literal beasts shown to Daniel. Some explanations pulled from here.
"The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings; I beheld till its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man; and a man's heart was given to it" (Dan. 7:4)"
Nebuchadnezzar is referred to as a Lion in Jeremiah 4:7, as well as references to eagles wings.
"And behold, another beast, a second like a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between its teeth; and they said unto it, Arise, devour much flesh" (Dan. 7:5)
This second beast, the bear, is the reference to the Medo-Persia empire, and the arms and chest of silver in the statue. We saw that the arms and chest were Media and Persia, but the now bear is carrying three ribs. Babylon (539 B.C) Lydia (546 B.C) fell to Cyrus, and Egypt was acquired by Cam (525 B.C). These three nations captured by Media-Persia, are the three ribs captured by the Bear.
"After this I beheld, and, lo, another, like a leopard, which had upon its back four wings of a fowl; the beast had also FOUR HEADS, and dominion was given to it" (Dan. 7:6)
The third beast is the four headed leopard with 4 wings. Following their victory over the Persians at Salamis, the union of Greek states was headed by FOUR different states in succession, namely Athens (477-404 B.C.), Sparta (404-376), Thebes (371-362) and finally Macedonia after 360 B.C. Alexander the Great died in 323 B.C. at the age of 33, his four generals, CASSANDER (Macedonia), LYSIMACHUS (Thrace), SELEUCHUS NICATOR (Syria) and PTOLEMY (Egypt) took over the empire and divided it into four parts. "The first king ... being broken ... four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation" (Dan. 8:21-22). This is amazing. In 553 B.C. Daniel predicted that over two hundred years later the Greek Empire would be divided into four sections. But it gets even more amazing. Greece had conquered the world in only 13 years, hence the wings of swiftness on a swift leopard. It should also be noted, that Alexander the Great rode his horse with a saddle made from leopard skin.
"A fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly ... had great iron teeth (cp. "legs of iron" -- Dan. 2:33); it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet; and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it, and it had TEN HORNS" (Dan. 7:7). Revelation 12:3 defines this beast as a "great RED DRAGON ... having TEN HORNS."
This beast is Rome, and reference to the legs of Iron on the statue.Its IRON teeth and BRONZE nails (Dan.7:19) indicate that it occupied both Roman and Greek territory. The Roman legions marched under the red dragon standard and may have appeared like a long red snake as they marched off to war in long, winding columns. By 46 B.C. Julius Caesar ruled the Roman world. Rome was in fact the fourth empire and it was also the DRAGON which tried to devour Mary's "(Christ) child" (12:4). first using Herod in the reign of Augustus Caesar and second using Pilate in the reign of Tiberius. The empire was divided into two parts in 292 A.D. by Diocletian with Rome and Constantinople as the two capitals. In 476 A.D., the barbarian tribes who had settled in Italy revolted under their leader Odoacer and forced the last Roman Emperor to abdicate.
The beast from the sea in Revelations, maintaining all the qualities of the four earlier beasts will receive power to rule.
Revelation of Jesus Christ 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as [the feet] of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority
.
This beast is non other than the Anti Christ. Just as the first four beasts referred to the previous 4 beast empires, (head, arms/chest, waist, legs), this beast is the feet of Iron mixed with clay, with ten toes. The significance of the clay and iron together will come later, but for now recognize that the clay is this beast from the sea and the other is the Beast from the Earth. The sea represents the people, multitudes of languages and nations. It is power given unto the beast but not by his own doing. This is a democratically elected power, albeit through deception. This is a crucial piece in the puzzle for recognizing the beast will rise from the Americas. The bible states that "The whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one." And the Bible identifies him, saying: "The one called Devil and Satan . . . is misleading the entire inhabited earth."—1 John 5:19; Revelation 12:9. If you refer back to the original quote I have placed at the start of the Beast of the Sea section, it claims very clearly that the dragon gave it great authority, and his throne. As Satan is the ruler of the Earth, for all intents and purposes, he is the one giving the Anti Christ his power. Satan is often referred to as the dragon. Notice it says, the dragon, "that ancient serpent" an obvious allusion to the serpent back in the Garden of Eden that deceived Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, as he was non other than the Devil. We will return to the significance of the ten horns that offer power to the beast in a later entry.
Next entry.. The Beast out of the Earth
When you talk about the Anti-Christ, I feel you haven't addressed the most fundamental issue regarding the only scriptural references. That is the idea of multiple antichrists, and not as a figure of ultimate doom.
ReplyDeleteUnless you can theologically explain why 1 and 2 John's completely human antichrist's need to be inflated to an almost deified bearer of doom, you cannot relate it to any other Scripture without losing the significance of what it says about itself.
1st John 5:19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
ReplyDeleteRev. 13:11 Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon.
12 He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed.
13 And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men.
14 Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 16 He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, 17 so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.
I will go into much more detail when I finish the next section on the second beast, and then subsequent entries. I am not sure exactly what you mean, or what you disagree with. The Bible is clear however there will be an Anti Christ who will gain ultimate power and claim to be the messiah himself, then turn on Israel at which time Christ will return again to defend it, when there is no one left to defend it on Earth.
It is impossible to know when Christ will return, all we can do is relate scriptural prophecies to real world events that do have a direct chronology. There are signs to follow, and inscribe a "best-guess" theory. The most important thing is to recognize that we are in the "end-times", trying to pin point the rest will be irrelevant to Christians, but it is something of great interest to follow.
All you've done is eisegete two seperate scripture, neither of which talk about the antichrist, setting yourself up with a false parallel.
ReplyDeleteYou need to actually engage with the content and explain why they are related.
Well again I will disagree with you...
ReplyDeleteThe first post I have made starts from the beginning of the statue in the dream Daniel interpreted in order to have a beginning basis for subsequent posts that will deal with Anti Christ prophecies rather than simply jumping into the middle of the story so to speak... I do not see false parallel's anywhere, it is all valid interpretation, and you aren't really adding anything to the discussion, providing no examples of your point... but thanks for taking the time to read anyways.
The order of the Bible doesn't necessarilly represent a chronological, nor theological order.
ReplyDeleteIf you think it is a jump to start at the only reference of the word antichrist because it is in the new testament, you have already presumed a link between the term, and the book of Daniel. Additionally, along side that presumed link you've also presumed the apocalypticism in Revelation is interchangeable with the antichrist. You haven't explained why the beast and antichrist should be synonymous.
I find it hard to see where you can possibly disagree with me when I haven't placed any of my own positions on the board. You've advertised this blog as an educated discussion, and all I've done is question the relationships you have between scripture in a very appropriate theological and academic way.
I have only asked you to explain why you would say these terms should be related, instead of making the presumption that they are.
If what you mean by "order of the Bible" is the order in which it was written like it was a novel, then you are not thinking on the same page as me.
ReplyDeleteRevelations is fairly specific in terms of the chronology of the end times, and the order of things that will take place.
If your question is why I am linking Revelations, to the beasts of Daniel then I will explain the connection as thus;
The statue was representative of 4 kingdoms, 3 of which had yet to rise to power and each one came after the other, following a historical chronology. The visions of beasts that Daniel had correspond to each of those kingdoms, by looking at Empires that rose to power then comparing them with prophetic descriptions. For example, the leopard with four heads referred the Greece, whose kingdom would be separated into 4 sections. Further proof, or evidence if you'd rather, comes from the fact that each empire that is posited to refer to each of the sections of the statue, had come to power by defeated the empire before it. Somewhat of a coincidence maybe? Daniel explicitly mentions that the head of gold is Nebuchadnezzar, meaning that the next kingdom with arms and chest of silver should be the kingdom that eventually toppled Babylon. The fact it has 2 parts is a further clue, and is reference to Media-Persia. Now following the example of the leopard meaning Greece, in order for that to make sense it would of had to be Greece that defeated Persia; and we see this with the conquests of Alexander the Great.
So if you can agree, or at least understand the rational thought I have, relating each of those beasts to each of those kingdoms, surely you can see the connection to the beast of revelations.
Revelation of Jesus Christ 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as [the feet] of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority
The same four beasts, (lion, Bear, Leopard, dragon) are mentioned specifically here, and the final beast is to contain the qualities of each of the four previously described beasts. What is key to remember is that Daniels visions were prophetic of the future. The statue had four beasts, however the final piece, the feet of clay mixed with iron has not yet happened. Therefore if the final piece of the statue has yet to be linked to an empire, and there is a final beast in revelations that is called the anti-Christ containing the qualities of the 4 other beasts, I find it more than reasonable to assume this beast of end times, is the final empire that is of the statue described, as no other empires were said to come after it, given that the feet were the final piece of the statue. Further in revelations it says, to paraphrase, that the beast will rule and no other will replace him until the Lord Jesus Christ returns and destroys him. In the statue of David's interpretation there was another part I did not mention, and that was the stone that comes and destroys the statue. Many times throughout the Bible rocks symbolism is used to describe sturdiness, and the foundation of which the church of God is to be built on. This rock is God, who will come and destroy the Anti-Christ, just as the rock destroyed the statue.
Just as another note of mention towards the chronology of prophecies (not chronologies of the written word) we have already seen the prophecies concerning Israel come to pass, which was to happen before the end times. The Jewish people were the only people in history (unless you can prove that wrong) to maintain an identity without a nation. Since however, we have not only seen the prophecy of Israel returning as a nation, we have seen the prophecies of mass amounts of Jews returning to the Holy Land that God promised them with Israel's Law of Return, giving anyone who is a Jew, a Jewish convert, or is ancestrally Jewish to return to Israel and gain citizenship.
ReplyDeleteHosea 3:4-5 - "For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or idol. Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to his blessings in the last days."
Hosea 6:1 - "Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds."
Ezekiel 20:34 - "I will bring you from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered -- with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath."
Isaiah 11:11-12 NIV - "In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea. He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth."
http://www.therefinersfire.org/jews_return_to_israel.htm
This blog is meant to contain many posts linking everything together so in due time as I present the rest the relativity of it all will come together. This is just the first post. I do appreciate your criticism however, that is exactly what I was hoping for.
I would agree that there is a level of certainty about the apocalypticism of Revelation. The myriad of interpretations however beg to disagree. Which is why it is important for anyone even attempting to provide a context for it that they need to do so in a thorough way. Like for example, not presenting an assumption that beast means antichrist.
ReplyDeleteI follow your thinking. I haven't even disagreed with it. I stress again, I'm pointing out where you have made presumptions.
In terms of the order of the Bible I'll try to elaborate. I'm not talking about the meta-narrative presented to us in the order in which the Bible is printed. I'm talking about rules for scriptural relationship. For example, Paul's letters are arranged from largest to smallest. Reading them as they are presented is not the best way to get at Paul's theology. Additionally, when reading the prophecies of Isaiah, a Christians thinks of the eschatology presented in Jesus. So the NT informs the OT in that example.
In terms of your specific blog, you've said you're working towards the name of the Antichrist, but you haven't started at those scripture, you've started at a different set of scripture and presumed links where you haven't shown any even exist.