We are also fish that follow our master.
Antichrist finally loses his grip on his fish: “And I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land into the hand of the wicked: and I will make the land waste, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I the LORD have spoken it.” (Ezekiel 30:12).
Interpretation: I will make the land empty of people (the dry river) and wicked strangers will destroy them.
Now review the passage from Daniel: “And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed,” (Daniel 7:14). Compare this with the passage from Psalm 72:8: “He Shall Have Dominion Also From Sea to Sea, and From the River Unto the Ends of the earth.” These two passages carry the same message. However, the passage from Psalms refers to peoples, nations, and tongues as waters, seas, and rivers.
8. A STONE OR ROCK IS MESSIAH
This needs no explanation. In Daniel 2, a stone strikes the statue structure at the feet of iron and clay. This stone is none other than King Messiah. He is also called “The Rock of All Ages” and the “Chief cornerstone that the builders rejected.” The expression of Him being a rock is well known in Christian history. Much tradition recognizes this symbol. In Bethlehem, it is common when one begins building the foundation of a home to slaughter a lamb and pour its blood on the bedrock. Sometimes families even bury the lamb in the foundation. No one can build a solid home unless it’s built on solid rock and the blood of an innocent lamb is shed.
9. TREES AND BIRDS ARE FALLEN ANGELS
Allegoric trees and birds in the Bible, with the exception of olive trees, often correlate to fallen angels. One example: “Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of a high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs. The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field,” (Ezekiel 31:3-4).
Interpretation: The Assyrian (Satan) was made the greatest among all the angels (a great cedar tree of beauty and importance), and the peoples and nations made him great, and they streamed to worship him and sent out ambassadors to serve him (waters, rivers running round about, little rivers).
10. STARS AS ANGELS
In Revelation 12:4, Satan and his fallen angels are cast out; the dragon, “drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.” This is also clear in Daniel 8:10, where the stars are the fallen angels: “And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.” These “stars” (fallen angels) are cast down to earth. So when the Bible addresses Lucifer in Isaiah 14:12 as the son of the morning [star]—he is an angel. This fallen angel is described as possessing a man (v. 16); it is clear that the Antichrist will be a man with Satan dwelling in him.
Obadiah 1:4 is a prophecy concerning Petra in the land of Edom; with a long-term fulfillment, “Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, Says the LORD.” Also “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God,” (Isaiah 14:13).
Satan set his nest amongst the stars (angels). As we know from Scripture, Satan took pride in his own wisdom and exalted himself as God, rebelling against the hosts of heaven. When he was cast down from heaven (a fallen angel), he took one third of the angels with him. This passage from Obadiah refers to the height of his pride—“nest among the stars [angels]”—and to his destruction: “Thence I will bring thee down.”
11. DRAGON IS SATAN
I shall start with the simple examples: “Michael and his angels fought against the dragon,” (Revelation 12:7). A war between Michael and Satan in which Michael the Archangel is victorious.
“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Revelation 12:9). Obviously, Satan is cast out of heaven to dwell in the body of the Antichrist, who is called the dragon as well.” I am against thee, Pharaoh King of Egypt, the great dragon that lays in the midst of his rivers,” (Ezekiel 29:3). This is Satan dwelling in the Antichrist; he is called “the dragon.” When he rules Egypt, God gives him a nickname: “Pharaoh.” At this point, he is Satan in the flesh. Then he sets himself against Israel: “And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.” (Revelation 12:3).
Now that we know and understand the keys to unlock the meaning of this, let’s delve into and unlock some important allegoric end time prophecies.
Section V
Unlocking Allegories Revelation and Daniel (Rome or Islam)
65
Unlocking Allegories The Seven Heads Are Not Rome
In the Book of Revelation, the Apostle John gives us a very vivid description of an End-Times beast: “There I saw…a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns,” (Revelation 17:3). The seven heads are seven empires that have existed throughout history, yet re-arising all at once in the end.
As usual, whenever a Biblical prophecy contains symbolism, the Bible clarifies and explains the passage for us: “This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while. The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction,” (Revelation 17:9-11).
There are several reasons why Revelation 17 cannot be referring to Rome or Europe, but rather to the Islamic Empire.
The seven heads are not Rome or the Vatican. They are seven heads and are called seven mountains and seven kings. Mountains as we have seen are symbolic of kingdoms or empires. The correlation between Kings and Kingdoms makes seeing the hills—more literally as “mountains” or “mounts”—as kingdoms or empires as the most natural interpretation, rather than trying to find a literal reference here to hills.
Although this passage has been widely interpreted as a reference to Rome, “the city on seven hills,” the actual context does not allow for such an interpretation. How could Rome be situated on seven hills that are also seven kings, each with a name of blasphemy on it? That simply doesn’t make any sense. An attempt to find in this passage a reference to Rome is founded on irresponsible hermeneutics.
This passage gives us an insight into the fact that before Jesus returns, there will actually have been a total of eight “Beast” empires. The eighth empire will be ruled by the Antichrist, the beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king.
How can this passage help us gain insight into the identification of the final Antichrist Empire? First, we see that at the time that it was written, five of the empires had already fallen. This is seen in the phrase, “five have fallen.” These empires are:
1. The Egyptian Empire
2. The Assyrian Empire
3. The Babylonian Empire
4. The Persian Empire
5. The Greek Empire
After these five, the angel tells John that one mountain (empire) “is.” At the time that John wrote the Book of Revelation, this was the Roman Empire. It ruled the Middle East, Northern Africa and much of Europe.
6. The Roman Empire
The purpose of this prophecy is to give the composite of the last empire and the sequence of kingdoms up until the seventh, in order to pinpoint exactly this empire and it’s revival as the eighth under the Antichrist. This is basically the summary of a prophetic riddle.
So the seventh empire is the one we need to identify.
According to the verse above, the eighth empire will be a resurrection or a revived version of the seven
th empire. “The beast who once was, and is not, is an eighth king.” Let me just paraphrase this portion for clarity:
“The seventh beast (empire) that will come into existence, and then ceases to exist, will come back as the eighth and final empire.”
During John’s day, the seventh empire did not yet exist. This would dismiss the empire that John was under: the Roman Empire.
The seventh Empire must sprout from the Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian or Grecian Empires, yet encompasses all; the seventh will include them. So will the eighth, which is a revival of the seventh.
So, if we are now waiting for the final eighth empire, then what was the seventh? What empire followed Rome?
The most common belief, held almost universally by Bible teachers, is that the Antichrist Empire will be a revived Roman Empire. There are some glaring problems with this theory:
First, Rome was the sixth empire. If Rome was the sixth, and it comes again as the seventh, then what do we do with the eighth? Do we have three revivals of the Roman Empire?
This theory has a gaping hole. Is Rome the sixth, seventh and also the eighth empires? Neither Scripture nor history nor common sense supports this notion. Yet many prophecy teachers ignore this glaring problem.
Secondly, every one of the previous six empires ruled the Middle East, including Jerusalem. This is very important. We must always remember that the Bible is thoroughly Jerusalem-centric. It is not America-centric, nor is it Euro-centric. In the Biblical view of things, Jerusalem is the center of the earth. This is in fact the overarching context of Scripture. This point cannot be underscored enough. Any theory that revolves around a revived Roman Empire based in Europe—for instance on the European Common Market—is a foreign concept to the Bible.
The third crucial point is that if we look at the first six empires, by and large, each succeeding empire either destroyed or absorbed the empire that preceded it. There is a very natural succession. If we look at each empire, we see that they all fulfill these two characteristics: they ruled over Jerusalem and they defeated or absorbed their predecessor.
The Egyptian Empire ruled all of Egypt and Israel, as well. The Assyrian Empire defeated the Egyptian Empire and likewise ruled over a vast portion of the Middle East, including Israel. After this, the Babylonian Empire defeated the Assyrian Empire and became even larger than its predecessor, again, ruling over Israel. Such is the pattern with each successive empire: The Medo-Persian Empire succeeded the Babylonian Empire only to be succeeded by the Greek Empire. The Greek Empire was in turn succeeded by the Roman Empire—which leads us to the seventh empire.
Who overcame the Roman Empire? This is what we need to find out.
66
The Fall Of The Roman Empire
In 395 A.D., The Roman Empire was divided into two portions, the eastern and the western. The Eastern portion became known as the Byzantine Empire. “From its early days as a monarchy, through the Republic and the Roman Empire, Rome lasted a millennium…or two. Those who opt for two millennia date Rome’s fall to 1453 when the Ottoman Turks took Byzantium (Constantinople). Those who opt for one millennium, agree with Roman historian Edward Gibbon. Edward Gibbon dated the fall to September 4, A.D. 476 when a so-called barbarian named Odoacer (a Germanic leader in the Roman army), deposed the last western Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus, who was probably partly of Germanic ancestry. Odoacer considered Romulus so paltry a threat he didn’t even bother to assassinate him, but sent him into retirement.”1
Some argue that Rome did not fall and that it still exists, but the majority of historians agree that Rome is long gone. The great historian Edward Gibbons, in The Fall of Rome, describes the end of the Roman Empire in the East: “I have now deduced from Trajan to Constantine, from Constantine to Heraclius, the regular series of the Roman emperors; and faithfully exposed the prosperous and adverse fortunes of their reigns. Five centuries of the decline and fall of the empire have already elapsed; but a period of more than eight hundred years still separates me from the term of my labors, the taking of Constantinople by the Turks…I have already noticed the first appearance of the Turks; and the names of the fathers, of Seljuk and Othman, discriminate the two successive dynasties of the nation, which emerged in the eleventh century from the Scythian wilderness. The former established a splendid and potent kingdom from the banks of the Oxus to Antioch and Nice; and the first crusade was provoked by the violation of Jerusalem and the danger of Constantinople. From a humble origin, the Ottomans arose, the scourge and terror of Christendom. Constantinople was besieged and taken by Mahomet II. and his triumph annihilates the remnant, the image, the title, of the Roman empire in the East… In the East, the victorious Turks had spread, from Persia to the Hellespont, the reign of the Koran and the Crescent: the West was invaded by the adventurous valor of the Normans; and, in the moments of peace, the Danube poured forth new swarms, who had gained, in the science of war, what they had lost in the ferociousness of manners.”2 According to the Bible, any fall is initiated by the loss of the horn. From that perspective, The Roman Empire didn’t actually completely fall until the eastern portion of the Empire finally collapsed in 1453 A.D. to the Muslim Turks led by Mehemet II.
Likewise, it was the Islamic Caliphate of Umar Ibn al-Khattab that took Jerusalem in 637. Thus, we see that it was the Islamic Empire—culminating with the Ottoman Empire—that succeeded the Roman Empire and ruled over the entire Middle East, beginning with Jerusalem, for over thirteen hundred years and continued right up until 1924.
In 1453, the Muslim Turks introduced the use of gunpowder in warfare, brought their cannons to the gate of Constantinople and stormed the Christian capital after a siege. The Greek Emperor was killed; the great church of St. Sophia was plundered of its treasure and turned into a mosque.
Mehmet II renamed the city Istanbul. To further glorify the city, he built mosques, palaces, monuments and a system of aqueducts. The city was now officially claimed for Islam. New rules and regulations came about for the conquered. The Greeks formed communities within the empire called milets. The Christians were still allowed to practice their religion, but had to dress in distinguishing attire and could not bear arms, and so came the end to the great city of Constantinople and the Roman Empire.3
It is noteworthy to mention that it was the struggle with Islam that caused Europe’s loss of access to the Black Sea, depriving her of a land route to India. The search for a new sea route brought about the discovery of the New World, and, as such, America was born.
Because American commerce in the Mediterranean was being destroyed by Muslim pirates, the Continental Congress agreed in 1784 to negotiate treaties with the four Barbary States. Congress appointed a special commission consisting of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin, to oversee the negotiations.
Lacking the ability to protect its merchant ships in the Mediterranean, the new American government tried to appease the Muslim slavers by agreeing to pay tribute (Jizyah) and ransoms in order to retrieve seized American ships and buy the freedom of enslaved sailors.
Adams argued in favor of paying tribute as the cheapest way to get American commerce in the Mediterranean moving again. Jefferson opposed. He believed there would be no end to the demands for tribute and wanted matters settled “through the medium of war.” He proposed a league of trading nations to force an end to Muslim piracy.
In 1786, Jefferson, then the American ambassador to France, and Adams, then the American ambassador to Britain, met in London with Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja, the ambassador to Britain.
The Americans wanted to negotiate a peace treaty based on Congress’ vote to appease. During the meeting Jefferson and Adams asked the ambassador why Muslims held so much hostility towards America, a nation with which they had no previous contacts.
In a later meeting with the American Congress, the two future presidents reported that Ambassador Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja had answered that Islam “was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it w
as written in their Qur’an that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every Musselman (Muslim) who should be slain in Battle was sure to go to Paradise.”
For the following 15 years, the American government paid the Muslims millions of dollars for the safe passage of American ships or the return of American hostages. Most Americans do not know that the payments in ransom and Jizyah tribute amounted to 20 percent of United States government annual revenues in 1800.
Not long after Jefferson’s inauguration as president in 1801, he dispatched a group of frigates to defend American interests in the Mediterranean, and informed Congress.
Declaring that America was going to spend “millions for defense but not one cent for tribute,” Jefferson pressed the issue by deploying American Marines and many of America’s best warships to the Muslim Barbary Coast.
The USS Constitution, USS Constellation, USS Philadelphia, USS Chesapeake, USS Argus, USS Syren and USS Intrepid all fought.
In 1805, American Marines marched across the dessert from Egypt into Tripolitania, forcing the surrender of Tripoli and the freeing of all American slaves.
During the Jefferson administration, the Muslim Barbary States, crumbled as a result of intense American naval bombardment and on shore raids by Marines. They finally agreed officially to abandon slavery and piracy. Jefferson’s victory over the Muslims lives on today in the Marine Hymn with the line “From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli, we will fight our country’s battles on the land as on the sea.” It wasn’t until 1815 that the problem was fully settled by the total defeat of all the Muslim slave trading pirates.4
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