THE PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS - PART 6

The Beasts from Biblical prophecy in Daniel and Revelations

The Babylonian Statue

In PART 5, the Holy Roman Empire and the Holy Catholic Church became the power of Europe. The Bible prophesied the rise and fall of this empire of church and state in Daniel. The Book of Daniel was written about 600 years before the time of Christ. The entire book was written by Daniel the prophet himself except for chapter 4, which was written by King Nebuchadenezzar. The name Daniel comes from a juxtaposition of two words: Elohim, meaning God, and Dan, meaning judge. The name Daniel meands God is judge. The story of Daniel began in a tragedy. God’s people had been disobedient to God’s law and since they were stubborn and disobeyed, God had to send them adversity.

The nation of Babylon came to destroy Jerusalem and carry away some of their finest and best young people into Babylon, where they were trained in the customs, societies government, and culture of the Babylonians. Daniel was one of those who were trained to be among the wise men or magicians in Babylon. In Daniel 2, King Nebuchadnezzr of Babylon had a dream that disturbed him from his sleep and he had a sense that the dream was important but he forgot what the dream was about.

King Nebuchadnezzer called the Chaldean, the wise men of Babylon, and asked them to bring the dream back so they could interpret it. The king was asking them to read his mind, which was impossible but he pays these wise men to know things that normal people wouldn’t know. The king expected them to know the dream and its interpretation.

After some time, the king was furious to have learned that these wise men could not do what they said they could do and so he ordered the death of all the wise men in the courts of Babylon. Daniel was one of those to be put to death. When it came time for Daniel to be killed he asked why the decree was so urgent. One of the kings guards, Arioch, made it known to Daniel the reason why and so Daniel petitioned for time so that he and his Israelite friends could pray about the dream.

In Verse 19 of Daniel 2 the Bible says that God gave Daniel the dream in a night vision. So Daniel bodly met with the King to tell him what the dream was and that there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets and alone can interpret the dream. The dream was this:

King Nebushadnezzr saw a giant statue with the head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron and feet / toes partly of iron and potters clay.

Then a stone was cut out without hands and struck the statue on its feet and flushed the whole statue completely.

Then that stone became a great mountain that filled the whole earth.

So with the help of God, Daniel declares to the king what his dream was and tells the king the interpretation. Now you can find Christian books out there that will tell you that this statue is the European Union or the United Nations but what did the Bible actually say?

“Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.”

- Daniel 2:37-38

The head of gold is King Nebuchadnezzar and the Kingdom of Babylon

Then Daniel says that after the Kingdom of Babylon a Kingdom of Silver shall arise and then after that a third Kingdom of Bronze shall rule the world. Then a fourth Kingdom of Iron shall shatter them all and that fourth Kingdom shall be divided.

“After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth.

- Daniel 2:39

So what Daniel was trying to say is that this great big statue was a timeline and each metal represented a Kingdom. Daniel says that Babylon was this head of gold and that those other metals after gold represents the soon-coming world ruling empires that will conquer after Babylon. Who then was the chest and arms of silver? Who conquered Babylon?

Despite Nebuchadnezzar’s desires and ambitions, Babylon did not continue forever. It was eventually conquered by the Medo-Persian empire led by Cyrus the Great, who ruled from 539 BC to 331 BC. Medo-Persia was this chest and arms of silver.

Who conquered Medo-Persia? It was of course the Macedonian, Alexander the Great, who led the Kingdom of Greece, which ruled the world from 331 BC - 168 BC. Alexander was one of the greatest military minds of all time and his army used Greek weapons that were made out of bronze. Greece was this belly and thighs of bronze.

Who conquered Greece? On June 22nd, 168 BC, at the Battle of Pingna, the Greek Empire perished under the Iron Monarchy of Rome. In verse 40 of Daniel 2, Daniel says that this fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron:

“Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others.”

- Daniel 2:40

Iron can crush gold, silver and bronze. Rome was the greatest empire of antiquity. Jesus Christ was nailed to a Roman cross in 31 AD. Jerusalem was sacked by the Roman army in 70 AD. The legs of iron was Rome

Who conquered Rome? Daniel 2, verse 41, says that this fourth kingdom will not be conquered as much as it shall be divided. We now know that the fourth kingdom was Rome and if we go down history and find that Rome was indeed divided and not conquered, then we can’t deny the truth that the Bible declared in the past.

“Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay.”

- Daniel 2:41

So was Rome conquered or was Rome divided? Rome was in fact not conquered from without but was divided from within. By 285 AD, the Roman Empire had grown so vast that it was no longer feasible to govern all the provinces from the central seat or Rome. From 350 AD to 476 AD, Rome was picked apart and divided by 10 barbarian tribes, which became ten countries in Europe. Divided Rome is the feet partly of iron and partly of potter clay.

It is interesting that Rome was divided into ten countries at the feet era of this prophecy. Is it a coincidence that feet have ten toes?

Who are these ten tribes?

• Alemanni - Germans

• Burgundians - Swiss

• Franks - French

• Lombards - Italians

• Saxons - English

• Suevi - Portuguese

• Visigoths - Spanish

• Heruli - Extinct

• Ostrogoths - Extinct

• Vandals - Extinct

All of these barbarian tribes form divided Rome or what we not call Europe. This is the feet and toes partly of iron and partly of potters clay. Instead of destroying the ancient culture of the Greeks and Romans, the Germanic warriors cultivated this legacy. With the help and continuation of the Roman Catholic Church, this ancient culture would help shape Europe and eventually the whole world.

In Daniel 7, verse 17, it used the term ‘beasts’ to describe the 4 kingdoms of the statue: Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome:

‘The four great beasts are four kings that will rise from the earth.”

- Daniel 7:17

In Bible prophecy a king and a kingdom are used synonymously. In Daniel 7 it describes how the 4th Kingdom, Rome, will have 10 horns:

“After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.”

- Daniel 7:7

What do horns represent? They represented the 10 kingdoms that formed after the fall of the Western Roman Empire:

“The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings.”

So in Daniel 2 we have 4 metals in the statue representing the same kingdoms that were mentioned as beasts in Daniel 7. The iron and clay feet kingdom = the beast kingdom with 10 horns = Rome / Roman Catholic Church / Europe.

The Potter’s Clay

In Bible prophecy, potter’s clay represents the church. The potter’s clay in Daniel’ prophecy is at the feet era of the statue above, which is the pagan Roman era, so it represents the New Testament Christian Church. This came after the resurrection of Jesus Christ when Rome was in power.

In Daniel 2, verse 41, Daniel writes that the iron kingdom, which is pagan Rome, will be divided and that this same potter’s clay in the pagan Roman era, will begin to mix with iron. Remember the iron in this prophecy represents the political power of Rome, which means that the Christian Church will begin to mix with the Roman States. Not only will the Christian Church begin to mix with the political power of Rome but the church will also begin to mix with the pagan beliefs of Rome.

How do we know? Well every kingdom represented by each metal in this prophecy have been pagan kingdoms: Babylon, Persia, Greece were all pagan kingdoms. Not only will the divided Rome be a union of church and state but it will also be a union of Christianity and Roman paganism. Daniel says that this will be the ruling power in the feet era of the statue, the Church of Rome.

Is this accurate in history? Did the Christian Church begin to mingle with not only the Roman State, but also Roman paganism? Yes it did through the Roman Catholic Church.

In Daniel, the Roman Catholic Church is known as the ‘little horn’ that is part of the 10 horns of the 4th beast:

“While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully.”

- Daniel 7:8

The characteristics of the ‘little horn’ in the bible are:

1. Little Kingdom - The Vatican is one of the smallest kingdoms in the world

2. Come up among 10 kingdoms - The Vatican came up among divided Rome or Europe. It was established in Rome, Italy.

3. Come up after Rome is divided into 10 kingdoms - The Vatican established its power and its authority in 538 AD, which was shortly after 476 AD, the year the Western Roman Empire fell:

   “The [Roman Church-State] power became supreme in Christendom in 538 AD. Due to a letter of the Roman Letter Justinian, known as Justinian’s Decree, which is set up and acknowledged the Bishop of Rome as the head of all churches.”

   - The History of the Christian Church, Vol 3, pg. 327

4. Uproot 3 tribal kingdoms - The Vandals, the Heruli, and the Ostrogoths were the three of the ten tribes that divided Rome. They denied the teachings of the Church of Rome and the Bishop of Rome called upon Justinian to get rid of those three tribes. Those three tribes are now extinct.

5. Diverse Kingdom - The Vatican is a union of church and state and encompasses the entire Earth.

6. Has a man as a figure-head - The Pope is the papacy’s figurehead.

7. Blaspheme God - The Papacy claims to have the authority of God. This is blasphemy.

   1. The head of the Vatican claims to be God on Earth. The Archbishop of Venice, prior to becoming Pope, Pius X said:

      ”The Bishop of Rome is not only then representative of Jesus Christ but he is Jesus Christ himself hidden under the veil of the flesh. Does the [Bishop of Rome] speak? It is Jesus Christ who speaks.”

   2. The Vatican claims to rule for God on Earth. It says in The Great Encyclical Letters to Leo XIII, pg. 304:

      “We hold upon this Earth the place of God Almighty”

   3. The Vatican claims to have the power to forgive sin. In Dignity and Duties of the Priest, pg. 34:

      “Were the redeemer [Jesus Christ] to descent into a church, and sit in a confessional to administer the sacrament of penance, and a priest to sit in a confessional, Jesus would say over each penitent: ‘EGO TE ABSOLVE'; [Latin for ‘I forgive you’] The priest would likewise say over each of his penitents, ‘EGO TE ABSOLVE’, and the penitents of each would be equally absolved.”

8. Persecute and make war with the saints - The Roman Church State has shed more Christian blood than any other entity that has ever existed on Earth via the Inquisition. Over 100 million Christians were killed by the Papacy during a period called the Dark Ages. The reason it is called the Dark Ages was because the Bible was illegal. If the Papacy caught you with a Bible in your hands, you would be convicted of heresy, and then tortured and killed.

9. Think to change prophecy and law of God -

   1. Jesuit Priest Francisco Ribera came up with a futurist view of interpretation, which tells us that these prophecies will be fulfilled way in the future. He said the antichrist will be a man from the middle east.

   2. Jesuit Priest Louis de Alcazar claimed that the antichrist already came when Nero began persecuting Christians in 70 AD.

   3. The Papacy tried to change the law of God. In the Lucius Ferraris Prompta Bibliotheca Article: ‘Papa’ II, Vol. VI, pg. 29:

      “The [Bishop of Rome] is of so great authority and power that he can modify, explain, or interpret even divine laws… The [Bishop of Rome] can modify divine law, since his power is not of man, but of God, and he acts as vicegerent [representative] of God upon Earth.”

10. Rule for 1260 years - The Papacy officially received the power of Rome in the year 538 AD. In 1798 AD, Napoleon ended the Holy Roman Empire, which took away the Papacy’s power away from the state. 1798 - 538 = 1260 years

Characteristics of Daniel 7’s little horn fit only one entity in this world and would be the papacy.

The Two Beasts in Revelations

The Book of Revelation is very interesting book of the Bible. This book was written by John and he describes the visions he had while being visited by the Lord at the island of Patmos in his exile. In Revelation 13, John saw a vision of a beast that rises out of the sea. This beast had seven heads and ten horns and John says that all the world wondered after this particular beast.:

“The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast.”

- Revelation 13:1-3

This Beast in Revelations matches exactly with the beast described in Daniel 7. In oder to make this connection and unlock the keys, we need to decipher specific words and meanings in the Bible.

Symbols and Keys

• Beast - Political Power | Kingdom | Nation | Super Power

• Waters / Sea - People | Densely populated area

  “Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.”

  - Revelation 17:15

• Horn - King | Kingdom | Power

• Blasphemy - Claim to be God | Claim to have power to forgive sin

• Time, Times, Dividing of Time / 42 Months / 1260 Days - 1260 Literal Years

  “The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months.”

  - Revelation 13:5

• Dragon - Satan | Pagan Rome

  “The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.”

  - Revelation 12:9

• Sword - Bible | Civil Power

  “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”

  - Ephesians 6:17

• Image - Likeness

• Worship - To bow down and prostrate in submission and obedience

Starting from Revelation 13, verse 1, we’re going to apply these keys and we will see that the first beast of Revelation 13 has very similar descriptions to the entity that was prophesied in Daniel 2 and 7.

“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

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.

And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.”

- Revelation 13:1-10

This superpower will come out of a densely populated area, claim to be God on Earth, claim to have the power to forgive sin, pagan Rome gave him his great authority, they worshipped the Beast / religious system who was able to make war with the Beast / political system ( union of church and state), reigned for forty and two months / 1260 days, which is 1260 years in prophecy and made war with the saints during the Dark Ages.

What is the only entity in the world that fit these descriptions? Who is the first Beast in Revelations? It is once again the Papacy / the Beast of the Sea. So this prophecy is the same as the prophecies in Daniel 2. God gave us a timeline, which is the basis of the prophecy in Daniel 7.

After the 1260 years of Papacy power as head of Church and State they received a mortal wound but they still remained. While the Papacy was on its way down, John sees another Beast that comes out of the Earth.

“And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

- Revelation 13:11

Who is this new Beast that comes out of the Earth? What is the only Christian based superpower that rose up in the late 1700s in a sparsely populated area in the Western Hemisphere, who acknowledges church and state and the separation thereof. It is none other than the United States of America, the Beast of the Earth.

Characteristics of the Second Beast

1. Superpower - The United States of America is the most influential superpower in the world since the Papacy.

2. Rises up in late 1700 - 1776 was the Declaration of Independence. 1783 was the end of the Revolutionary War against Great Britain. 1787 was the framing of the US Constitution. 1789 to 1797 George Washington served as the 1st President of the US. While the Papacy was going down in 1798, the United States was quietly establishing its power and dominance

3. Rises up in Western Hemisphere | New World - The US is located in the Western Hemisphere and on the back of the $1 Bill is the phrase 'NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM’, the ‘New World Order for the Ages’.

4. Rise up out of the Earth | Sparsely Populated Area - When the New World was founded it was known to the explorers that it was very sparsely populated.

5. Acknowledge separation of church and state - The US Constitution protects the separation of church and state. The Founding Fathers wanted to found a nation that had nothing to do with the church.

The Continuation of Ancient Rome

The roots of modern day Europe can be seen in Ancient Greece and Rome:

• Marathons

• Theatre

• Sports

• Government

• Court of Law

• Architecture

• Empire

Now verse 43 of Daniel 2 says that divided Rome will try to adhere or unite to another but will not be successful, just as iron does not mix with clay:

“And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.”

- Daniel 2:43

Have there been efforts to unite Europe? There have been at least 5 who tried to outsmart God’s prophecy:

• King Charlemagne (768 - 814 AD) tried to recreate Ancient Rome through the Holy Roman Empire. He was unsuccessful.

• Charles V of Spain (1519 - 1556 AD) was unsuccessful.

• Louis XIV of France (1643 - 1715 AD) was unsuccessful.

• Napoleon Bonaparte (1804 - 1814 AD) was unsuccessful.

• Adolf Hitler (1934 - 1945 AD) was unsuccessful.

European Emperors and Dictators invoke Caesar’s name from Roman times up until 20th century. His successors, the ‘Caesars’, became ‘Kaisers’ and ‘Czars.’ Charlemagne, Ivan the Terrible, Napolean Bonaparte, Emperor Wilhelm II, Benito Mussolini, etc. Napolean was known to where the same crown that Roman Emperors used to where, the Civic Crown.

The chaplet Crown woven by oak leaves worn by Roman Emperors is called the Civic Crown. This crown can be seen surrounding the logo of the United Nations.

The Imperial Aquila, otherwise known as the Eagle, is massively symbolic of the most powerful nation on Earth, the United States.

The Flag of the European Union includes 12 stars, which represents the ancient mystery religion of Babylon. The 12 constellations, Sun and Moon worship of the Antiquity world.

The modern day world was built from European Roots. North America was conquered by the Spanish, French and Britains. South America was conquered by the Spanish, Portuguese and French. Africa was conquered by Britain, France and Belgium. Australia was conquered by Britain. And Asia has been very heavily influenced by all of Europe. This all happened prior to World War I during the age of exploration and imperialism.

Even though today the world is full of countries and different cultures, they all have central banks and are part of the United Nations. Central Banks and the United Nations were formed from Europe. Basically the whole world is part of European culture and the 10 tribes that split from Ancient Rome. It is still part of a massive global empire.

The 1st Dome / Obelisk combo was St. Peters Basilica and the Obelisk at the center of St. Peter’s Square. The Vatican Headquarters was completed in 1626 AD but the Obelisk was originally created in 30 BC in Alexandra and moved to that location.

The 2nd Dome and Obelisk combination created was the Pantheon and fountain Obelisk located in front of it, the Fontana del Pantheon. The Pantheon was created in 126 AD and the Obelisk was relocated to the front in 1711 AD. The obelisk was originally created in 1250 BC by Ramesses II.

This majority of this thread was an overview of this amazing video by School For Prophets on YouTube.

Continued in PART 7 ...