Chapter 5

The Great Tribulation is the period of human suffering that will last six years. Within that period, there will be 1,260 days or 42 months or 3½ years for which Christians will be tested and suffer extreme persecution under the reign of the antichrist.

The tribulation is in itself serves a purpose for the good of God’s people. If we are to analyze it, the tribulation period is God’s way of bringing weakness to the lofty soul. As Paul wrote:

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor 12:9).

I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Rev 7:14).

The tribulation the period of wars, famines, plagues, diseases and Christian persecutions. It was decreed against the sinning people of God. The day of the Lord on the other hand was decreed against the sinners, the enemies of God. That is clearly stated in Isaiah’s prophecy and Jesus Christ's prophecy in the book of Matthew. The first sign is war and downfall of nations.

Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand by the sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overwhelming and righteous. The Lord, the LORD Almighty, will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land. Therefore, this is what the Lord, the LORD Almighty, says: “O my people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians, who beat you with a rod and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did. Very soon my anger against you will end and my wrath will be directed to their destruction.” (Isa 10:22-24).

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. (Matt 24:6-8)

“In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD your Redeemer.

The fall of Europe marks the end of the once formidable military power of the Western alliance. Even right now the world is witnessing that the fire is already kindled in several countries of Eastern Europe, the Middle and Near East Asia. The roots of these wars are varying from secessionist movements and rebellion, trade wars and so on but the more feared wars are those caused by religious extremism of opposing faiths— Christians and Muslims. Wars involving an issue of religion are almost always explosive and widespread. It invites sympathy among brother nations and can ignite into a full-scale world war. And that's how it is going to be! Later, we will find out that the New World order under the reign of the antichrist is founded on religion. The evil ruler shall use religion as an effective way of establishing unity among nations.

First let us bear in mind that under the confirmation of the covenant, the house of Israel should fall first, followed by Judah and then Egypt. Today, these are Europe, the nation Israel and USA, respectively. How do these nations represent the beast?

The beasts of the Daniel 7 and Rev 13, 17 represent the same strange beast although the beast of Rev 17 represents the same beast in a spiritual dimension— it has now the color of scarlet, the color of sin.

All the beasts have identical seven heads with ten horns. Rev 13:1-2 provides a more detailed description:

“And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his 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.”

Based on the four beasts of Daniel 7, it is obvious that the strange beast is the combination of the three great kingdoms mentioned earlier in the chapter— the lion, bear and the leopard kingdoms. We have already identified these beasts earlier. It means that the coming kingdom of the antichrist will defeat all the other great kingdoms and will all be put under his authority. The heads are the four heads of the leopard, the head of the lion, the bear and the head of the strange beast itself that totals seven heads in all.

“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. He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws . . . ” (Dan 7:24).

Apparently, the ten kings were already ruling particular kingdoms of their own before the coming of the antichrist and the defeat of three of these ten kings is enough to put him into great power and complete submission of the world

Since the coming world kingdoms consist of smaller kingdoms, the lion, bear and the leopard, the ten kings may come from any one, two or all of these. But it is again apparent that the ten kings particularly the three that fell are very powerful so that their defeat resulted to the eventual downfall of the whole world. Again, it is clear that the ten kings may not be necessary friendly to the “little horn” (Dan 7:8), in fact all the ten horns could be enemies to the antichrist. How?

Let us first understand what is the symbolic and biblical meaning of a "horn". Many of us think that having a horn is a sign of being evil. It is a common usage nowadays that the horn is synonymous to the devil. In the beginning, it was not so. It meant great power and strength such as the bigger the horn of cattle, it is considered more powerful and stronger for in the horn lies its strength. It is being used in many ways in the times of old. The horn is used to decorate the altar (Exodus 27:2); the Lord God is the horn to Hannah, the mother of Samuel (1Sam 2:1); and to David (Psalm 18:2); it is a sign of kingship (Psalm 132:17) and to describe Jesus Himself (Luke 1:69). Yet even sinners can have horns of strength (Psalm 75:10).

In this particular case of future kingdoms we have two sets of horns, the other wicked strength and the other three horns of good strength. How?

First, remember that there were ten kings or ten horns, of these three had fallen. The “little horn” signifies a weaker kingdom defeating three bigger horns.

“Out of one of them came another horn, which started small but grew in power to the south and to the east and toward the Beautiful Land.” (Dan 8:9).

Second, remember about the confirmation of the covenant. The House of Israel should fall first. Now, isn’t it that there are ten tribes in the House of Israel, the upper kingdom of the divided kingdom of Israel? There are actually eleven counting Ephraim and Manasseh as separate kingdoms but these two tribes are counted as one (Num 34:14, Deut 29:8, Joshua 1:12). At the time of the end, Manasseh or Egypt (eagle) shall be “torn off” from the lion (Israel) and shall be counted as entirely kingdom.

It should follow therefore that the ten horns are from the Ten Lost Tribe of Israel, now Europe. Probably, three of the most powerful member nations of the European Union will fall in the hands of the symbolic “Assyrian king” from the kingdom of the Leopard, the Middle East. This ruler or “little horn” must belong to the line of the “King of the North” from the land of old Babylon— today the nation of Iraq.

The ten horns are also the same ten toes of Daniel 2 representing ten subkingdoms that shall come from the new world government ruled by antichrist. After the defeat of three kings of Europe, the rest would simply submit to the invader. Read in Rev 17:12-13:

“The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast.”

The fall of the first three nations shall have a domino effect to the rest of Europe and the world. Nations weak and strong will fall one by one in complete submission. Their kings will become helpless followers of the antichrist. Perhaps, as a gesture of gratitude for making the victory easier for him, he will reward the ten horns with new kingdoms but only for a brief period and not after matter-of-course they had passed the test of loyalty.

The world shall be subdivided into ten regions . . . a region for each “horn”. Thus, the ten horns become the ten toes representing all the ten regions of the world. One hour in the above verse represents the proportional time in a day-for-a-year principle in prophecies given that one day is equal to one year in prophetic “one week” or “one seven”. One day has twenty-four hours so if we divide one year into 24, the “one hour” should be equal to fifteen (15) days using the Hebrew 30-days a month calendar. Therefore, the ten horns shall rule only for a brief period of 15 days. That brief 15-day period shall be the bloodiest massacre in all history of mankind but “…but for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened" Matt 24:24). After which the Day of the Lord begins. Meanwhile, read further:

“He (the antichrist) will attack the mightiest fortresses with the help of a foreign god and will greatly honor those who acknowledge him. He will make them rulers over many people and will distribute the land at a price (in some manuscripts, for a reward).” (Dan 11:39, in parenthesis, mine)

Then many will ask: Is it not rather inappropriate or absurd that the kings from the Ten Lost Tribe of Israel will turn against God's own people? Is it not a big mistake on the author's part for interpreting the prophecy this way?

Well, read about the lives of the prophets and even how Jesus and his disciples were persecuted and understand that the worst persecutor of God's people in the bible are not the Gentiles but those belonging to the same race as the prophets-- the Hebrews themselves.

Of course we know that there is no foreign god besides our Lord God who could win wars for a nation. This verse simply means that the future great war against Europe is a Holy War or a “Jihad”. Its help simply comes not from their god but supports in any form from fellow Muslim nations. But the author believes that the real factor for his victory is not the help coming from his brother nations but simply a plain cowardice on the part of God’s own people . . . that is to fulfill the prophecy on Israel if they continue to sin.

“...`They will run as though fleeing from the sword, and they will fall, even though no one is pursuing them. They will stumble over one another as though fleeing from the sword, even though no one is pursuing them. So you will not be able to stand before your enemies.” (Lev 26:36-37).

The “little horn” defeating three kings from Europe. The fall of these kings will result to the downfall of seven other kings and eventually all of Europe.

They will simply tremble in submission and surrender but in return, the antichrist will reward the kings with lands to govern but only for fifteen days, close to the coming of the Lord as stated in Rev. 17:12-13. However, that reward will be conditional— they must have in one purpose with the antichrist— to destroy the Christian faith by all means.

What are the lands to be distributed among the ten traitor kings? In Rev 13:7, it says that every tribe, people, language, and nations are under the authority of the antichrist, meaning the whole world.

He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation (Rev 13:7).

It is just reasonable that such a very large area should be first subdivided into smaller and more manageable government units. Accordingly, the world will be subdivided into ten regions as we normally divide it today with original political boundaries of individual nations removed (Isaiah 10:13). Each of these shall be ruled in one hour or fifteen days by the ten horns or kings before God will smash them off to pieces (Dan 2:44).

The fall of Europe signals a new wave of terror that is sweeping through the entire world. Tiny Judah too (now Israel) shall fall. Now it is too late, the opportunity of America was completely lost (Jer 46:17). America had a great chance earlier in the past two Gulf Wars to wipe out the leaders of Iraq completely but now it might be too late. Yet, America shall still engage him into battle (Dan 11:40) but now with the fall of Europe and the enemy’s alliance with Satan, coupled probably with domestic civil war, USA shall finally collapse.

He will extend his power over many countries; Egypt will not escape. He will gain control of the treasures of gold and silver and all the riches of Egypt . . . (Dan 11:42-43).

Revelation 17 provides us the brief overview on the coming “Jihad” or Holy War. It is about the great prostitute sitting on a scarlet beast with seven heads and ten horns.

“One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. With her, the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.” Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. This title was written on her forehead:

MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished.” (Rev 17:1-6).

The story of the great prostitute does not only concern about the reign of the antichrist. It also involves the false religions that had victimized nations and caused souls to sin because of misleading doctrines claiming to be the truth. It is also a war between the false church and the true Church of our Lord Jesus.

The great prostitute is the false church, the ornaments of gold and purple robes mean that this counterfeit church used religion simply to gain wealth for herself and also gain control or influence over many kings and nations. The Seven Woes on the Pharisees by Jesus Christ (Matt 23:13-29) truly applies to them.

What is this false religion? The seven heads of the beast provided us a clue. The heads have dual meaning. These are the spiritual and physical sufferings.

1. The Spiritual Suffering
In the same chapter, it says that they represent the seven hills on which the woman sits (v. 9). It is no other than Rome. History books refer to Rome as “The City of Seven Hills”. Seven kings ruled Rome in succession atop seven different hills from 753 BC to 509 BC. These hills are the Capitoline, Palatine, the Avantine, the Caelian, Esquiline, Viminal, and Quirinal hills. Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome along with Remus served as its first kings. For more reference on the City of Rome, click here.

The Basilica of St. Peter, Vatican City is the center of Catholicism, the official Roman religion that had progressed tremendously to this day so as to fulfill the prophecies

But what is actually being implied is the religion associated with Rome that is the Roman Catholic religion. The Roman Catholic ‘church’ today constitutes the majority of “Christians” the world over with an estimated membership of over 800 million. Its organization is deeply rooted within government affairs in many nations so that they interact freely in almost any aspect of a nation and world’s policies and decisions. The Roman Catholic Church or the Roman Religion is a centralized institution with its headquarters in Vatican City, Rome, an independent city-state. It enjoys many government privileges in many nations. Their income generated from its members runs into huge sums bigger than any average country.

The history of Roman Religion has its beginning in the middle ages when the Roman Empire through Constantine the Great legalized Christianity in the empire ending Christian persecutions through the Edict of Milan in 313 BC but it was Theodosius I who made Roman Catholicism as the official religion of the Roman Empire in 380 BC. The reign of Popes as its designated “successor” of Peter, the Apostle is clouded with dark secrets and mystery that defies the true spirit of Christianity. The church’s official holidays likewise, have mixtures of paganism. Their doctrines on sacraments have also dubious impressions that virtually negate Christ’s death with faith in Him as the only way to salvation. Graven images in expensive robes adorn their huge, palatial houses of worships. Marian devotion, their Queen of Heaven, an abomination of the Lord (read Jer 7:18; 44:17-19) is a must in every service gathering.

However, let no one be so quick to judge. If we judge, let us first check the beam in our own eye. Bear in mind that many practices of the Roman Religion have seeped through even the most conservative Christian religions. Who can deny that majority still sticks with the 8th day, Sunday as the Sabbath day of rest? Moreover the Sabbath day was renamed Saturday in the Gregorian calendar after the Roman god, Saturn. Almost all Christians do not notice that we are following the Roman tradition of worshipping on the 8th day instead of on the Sabbath day not speaking of other manmade “holidays”. Nowhere in the Bible did God authorize His disciples to shift the Sabbath to the 8th day nor get rid of it altogether except to observe the Sabbath with spirit and better judgment. God so hates the violation of the Sabbath rest, so much so that this great sin had cost His nation Israel to disappear from their land. This is only one of the many wrongs Protestants inherited from Roman Religion. Almost everybody is as guilty.

Regardless anyway of the false doctrines or religions, the followers of the false churches are still called Christians to the unbelieving nations and whose God is the same Lord, Jehovah. They bear name of Christ. They are the people “called by my name” says the Lord (Read 2Chr 7:14, Isaiah 43:7). The name of Jesus Christ is at stake and in constant mockery.

This is the real message of Revelation 17 and the tribulation. The misled followers of the great prostitute cannot be held fully responsible to the wrong doctrines infused in them-- Orthodox, Catholics, Protestants and all Christians alike. The priests, pastors and leaders of the respective sects are even more guilty of greater sins against God and He is bound to punish them all. That is why God is giving them all the chance through tribulations to repent and know the truth.

“... the elders and prominent men are the head, the prophets who teach lies are the tail. Those who guide this people mislead them, and those who are guided are led astray. Therefore the Lord will take no pleasure in the young men, nor will he pity the fatherless and widows, for everyone is ungodly and wicked, every mouth speaks vileness. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.” (Isa 9:15-17).

“And these also stagger from wine and reel from beer: Priests and prophets stagger from beer and are befuddled with wine; they reel from beer, they stagger when seeing visions, they stumble when rendering decisions.” (Isaiah 28:7).

Demonstrators in the Iraqi city of Basra burn a pope effigy as an al Qaeda linked militant group vowed a war against the "worshippers of the cross" in response to the pope's speech about Islam in September 16, 2006.
“The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.” (Rev 17:16)
Source: CNN

2. The Physical Suffering
The second meaning is that the seven heads are "Seven Kings".

“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.” (Rev 17:10).

Just like the false religion, the "Seven Kings" mentioned here should also be responsible to the sufferings of God’s chosen people— the false religion being spiritual suffering, and the wicked kings, their physical sufferings. The verse consists of a time element. In order to fully understand this passage, we need to determine the time settings when the prophecy was written.

Let us turn to the inspired writer, John the Apostle who wrote the entire Book of Revelation based on the visions that he saw way back sometime in 60 to 70 AD in the island of Patmos, Greece. John was taken by the Spirit of God way ahead in the future . . . the time setting of that future is the “Lord’s Day” or the “Day of the Lord”.

“On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, . . . ” (Rev 1:10).

At that particular time John wrote every vision he saw as if he were a part of the event and time setting. The Lord’s Day is the seventh year of the last seven years. The Book of Revelation is actually an account of the Lord’s works in the span of one year during which He exacts vengeance against His enemies and destroys the Earth. There were many time periods in the last days John saw in particular, in different locations even getting as close as to the very throne of God (Rev 4).

Now, when John wrote the prophecy on the Great Prostitute, notice that the passage indicates a time that the ten kings have not yet received a kingdom (v. 12). Meaning to say, John is at the different time setting this time much earlier than the Lord’s Day since the Lord’s Day will come after the designated 1,260-day reign of the antichrist. So at that particular point, John was a part of the time when the “Assyrian King,” the would-be antichrist has just conquered Europe and about to invade Israel and USA, meaning the antichrist is just about to start with his global reign of 1,260 days.

Having known the surrounding side events, the “one is” or the sixth king therefore is no other than the would-be antichrist, the one that shall rise from Iraq.

The five fallen kings are the rulers who had inflicted the worst physical sufferings on God’s chosen people, the Hebrews and the Jews. Scan the Bible and recent histories for they are the kings of the past. The Bible gives us no clue in regard to their identities but this writer could only name probable suspects based on their unmatched biblical and historical cruelty against the Hebrews, three before the birth of Jesus (BC) and two in Anno Domini (AD). They are:

The sixth belongs to our own generation waiting for the appointed time for his great vengeance. Who will be the seventh? In verse 11 it says there is still the eighth king. Who are these? Meanwhile, let us first proceed with the “Jihad”. In Rev 17:16, please note:

“The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.”

This is the verse that prophesied the Islamic Jihad. Is it rather ironic that both the enemies of God are fighting against each other? But read again and think about it. This time what is involved is religion. The last of the "Seven Kings" is at war with the "City of Seven Hills". Remember that the antichrist shall come from the Kingdom of the Leopard, from the Arab nations. Their religion is Islam and is traditionally the worst enemy of Christianity. They saw the threat of the Vatican Religion as well as all other Christian sects, true Christians or not as a potential threat to global solidarity and so they must be destroyed by all means in preparation to the New World Order.

The world as divided into 12 political regions today. The coming New World Order will have only ten regions under ten governors not counting the US mainland which shall be ruled directly by the antichrist (Isa 19:4) and the island of Greenland, the chosen’s place of refuge (Chapter 6.)

The world shall be headed by a single ruler coming from the Middle East and for a very brief period, with ten appointed governors of as many world regional units. Governing the world effectively in a homogeneous society can initially be achieved only if the antichrist can get rid of the world of other religions. This can be done through a bloody Jihad of the Muslims against Christian nations, the world's most dominant religion. The world shall see the dawn of Islam. Christianity and other religions will be banned and all peoples shall be forced at the point of death to worship the antichrist.

“He (antichrist) will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause astounding devastation and will succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy the mighty men and the holy people.” (Dan 8:24).

This topic is very important to give the readers ample warnings in order that the elect will not be swayed in faith when the time has come.

The antichrist will have enormous power to consummate all his plans, yes, even to destroy the elect. He will indeed succeed in everything he does. He shall obtain black power or power from the devil. Pretty soon the antichrist will declare himself to be god and shall dictate to all to worship him. Yes, even the elect are in danger of believing in him. Be careful and be alert that all these shall bound to happen so as only to fulfill the prophecies:

As I watched, this horn was waging war against the saints and defeating them, (Dan 7:21)

“…The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time...” (Dan 7:25)

“One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed . . . “ (Rev 13:3).

Here we see the same strange beast of Daniel 7 whose one of the heads is fatally wounded and yet healed. Obviously, in the manner of writing, the antichrist is the wounded head. What does it mean and why is it so important that this wound shall be written down in Scriptures repeatedly? It should have an important meaning for all of us to understand!

Look, we had known about the fall of Europe and that is under the hands of the symbolic “Assyrian King”. And yet we are not supposed to be so much in fear with the “Assyrian King” who was predestined to conquer the continental Europe. The greater threat to Christians is the fall of Israel and USA under the symbolic “Babylonian King” and later as the cruel “Pharaoh” ruling America and the entire world. Remember that the antichrist will rule the world as Babylonian King and at the time close to the end as symbolic Pharaoh to Israel and the Christians to fulfill the confirmation of the covenant. Only when the ruler steps on American soil that he will be about to complete his evil mission or the start of 1,260 days. After that, Jesus will come.

This draws parallel with the original Assyrian king, King Sennacherib. King Sennacherib was an evil king who had planned to attack Jerusalem after taking over the other cities of Judah. He insulted the God of Judah and made mockery of their defenses. Through God’s intervention, his army was annihilated by an Angel by night within their own encampment and Jerusalem was spared (2Chron 32:1-22). We may never know how will it happen this time but certainly, The antichrist will be stopped by divine power upon his next attempt to conquer the heart of Israel after the fall of Europe. Such a defeat will be only temporary. This temporary setback shall be his fatal wound.

Iraq today is still isolated from the rest of the world through the US-led economic sanctions but the world is watching Saddam Hussein’s country inching up again to become a real great threat to world peace. Who can stop Saddam? Is he the one to become the king of the New World Order? Right now we only know one thing sure... his wrath is waxing hot for retribution and the antichrist shall come from his own country.

This is the particular instant of the “one is, the other has not yet come”, Rev 13:10, stated above when the Assyrian King had been “killed by an Angel” after he conquered Europe and about to invade Israel and USA.

The original Assyrian King actually died. Will the antichrist die also from the divine intervention? Yes. Read this prophecy in Revelation 17:8:

“The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come.”

The “Abyss” is another term for a “Bottomless Pit”, a symbol meaning grave or death. The grave or death is eternal darkness— which is why it is termed as "Bottomless Pit."

It is clear from the above verse that the antichrist shall enter the Abyss or die but shall resurrect "...and yet will come." His resurrection shall become like an imitation of Christ's resurrection-- possessing a body that will supposedly not die anymore. Be be rest assured however that his resurrection will only be short and temporary "...and go to his destruction." It is because this life of antichrist after death shall come from Satan himself, the origin of sin and death. But can you imagine multitudes drawn to him because of his reward of “eternal life” to those who believes in and follow him? Only those whose name were not written in the Book of Life are destined to fall as written. The Book of Isaiah tells us of the antichrist’s and his follower’s power over death. Read (in parenthesis mine):

You (antichrist and followers) boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death, with the grave we have made an agreement. When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us, for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.” (Isa 28:15).

This tells us that the antichrist will actually die of divine intervention but shall be resurrected because of Satan’s power over death; after all, death is the product of sin and Satan, the father of sin.

Sure enough, he shall claim to be the real “Messiah” because he "resurrected" and can no longer die. Then he shall promise eternal physical life to those who follow him. Beware of this power! Those who will be deceived shall not die indeed but later, those followers shall seek death but will never find it (Rev 9: 6).

During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.

So the evil king shall come back from the dead and his resurrection is the healing of the wound (Rev 13:3). The world thought he was finished but ...

“...When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power.” (Dan 8:25).

He has reason to believe he can defeat even the angels. He was “killed” by divine power but resurrected. It is now Satan living in the body of the “dead” mortal antichrist — it shall exercise the full power of the devil. Even the world will think that he is greater than God and therefore they worship and love him, in fact they shall all believe he is the real "God", the true "Messiah" who gives hope and everlasting life. The world shall be lost by this powerful deception. Again, be very very careful! The bible has adequate warning for all Christians.

And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. (Rev 13:13).

There shall be a tremendous deception for the devil knows he has but a little time. Perhaps many of the borderline Christians will turn away from faith as Jesus Christ Himself warned “...if that were possible" (Matt 24:24). He will draw great multitudes to him in guise of “good” deeds, miracles and promise of "everlasting life."

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 astonished and followed the beast. Men worshipped the dragon (devil) because he had given authority to the beast (antichrist), and they also worshipped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?” (Rev 13:3-4).

Conquest of the rest of continents will be sweeping. Perhaps the antichrist will not need wars to conquer nations leaving the most economies and infrastructures intact. Many shall simply submit to him.

The antichrist will not hesitate to use weapons of mass destruction to annihilate cities and nations that are opposed to him
Source: Wikipedia Encyclopedia

As one reaches into a nest, so my hand reached for the wealth of the nations; as men gather abandoned eggs, so I gathered all the countries; not one flapped a wing, or opened its mouth to chirp.'" (Isaiah 10:14)

However, he will not hesitate to use weapons of mass destruction against the nations who refuse to submit to him as the bible says, he will make places a desert. There shall be wars and destruction that is unequalled from the beginning of time.

...the man who made the world a desert, who overthrew its cities... (Isaiah 14:17)

He will push through with his occupation of Israel, America and the rest of the world with ease. Armed with the devil’s power over death, the antichrist presumed he can defeat even God. America, the eagle is now alone and how can a sinful nation defeat the father of sin and whose soldiers will not die?

The evil ruler shall have an evil prophet speaking in his behalf proclaiming to the world to worship him. He shall perform miraculous signs like fire coming from heaven in full view of all men. Read Rev 13:11-18. The Bible does not reveal where this false prophet will come from but one thing sure is he will also come from the ancestry of Edom, from one of the Arab nations. His work will involve spiritual ministry, promoting Islam all over the world with an iron hand. He shall work in partnership with the evil world ruler with the ultimate goal of destroying the world physically and spiritually. The author believes this False Prophet is already with us today living in flesh, small but prophesied to grow in power and none from the Christian world and the Western nation with all their military might can be able to stop him from his destined work.

Note that the prophecies on the False Prophet are simply the reminiscence of King Nebuchadnezzar’s order setting up an image for all his constituents to worship (read Dan 3). This time it is even more forceful. The image itself has its own power to see and speak and monitor those who do not pay allegiance to the king. Those who did not shall be killed immediately. No one can buy or sell and do business unless you are a registered citizen, meaning a follower of the antichrist. It requires having a number of the beast printed or planted permanently on or in the forehead. In the age of lasers and computers that is actually coming to reality. Every man is identified and known by his number. A computer scanner may soon monitor every man by the number on his hand or on the forehead. Non-compliance means death.

This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number. His number is 666. (Rev 13:18).

Why the number ‘666’? Many theologians scour books for clues and present many convincing research claims but the answer is just in the Bible, in the book of Revelation itself.

“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.” (Read also v.8.)

Let us again imagine the strange beast vividly. The beast has seven heads and each of the heads is a beast itself. In short there are seven beasts combined into one big beast. The beast means a kingdom and each of the heads of the beast is represented by a king, so there are supposed to be only seven kings for seven beasts since a kingdom can not have more than one king at any given time. Five of those kings (heads) and their kingdoms had already fallen as mentioned above. One, during the time of invasion of Europe (or the lost Israel) is already reigning at the time of the start of the fulfillment of prophecy (one is)— he is Saddam Hussein as this author believes, the sixth representing Assyria or King Shalmaneser. The fatal wound (Read also Rev 13:3 referring to one of the heads of the beast) stopped him for a while (once was, and now is not) but he shall return, this time representing Babylon and shall assume the role of King Nebuchadnezzar and shall invade Judah, now Israel. So the king of Babylon is the same Assyrian king healed from the fatal wound. He is the sixth and also the seventh. Now, there’s still the last and the eighth king who will finally perish. How come when there are supposed to be only seven heads or kings? He is the beast “who once was and now is not”. This is still referring to the Assyrian King who once was alive and now fatally wounded but will rise again. Becoming the eighth king means to depict a different role— as an Egyptian Pharaoh, the supreme evil, the great oppressor now ruling over Egypt (now USA) and the world. Now take note— he still belongs to the seven. Did you get it? The sixth, the seventh and the eighth king are one and the same person. Should there had been another king the ‘“other” of verse 11 would have been plural to complete the total of eighth. They are the same sixth king, the Assyrian King, wounded by the sword. He is the sixth king reigning in three successions, the 6th, 6th (7th), and 6th (8th). He is the Assyrian king, Babylonian king, and the Egyptian Pharaoh ruling in succession. In short the ‘666’.

The number “6” is a man’s number since the first man, Adam was created on the sixth day, the last of all creations, in the same way as "7" is God's number, the Sabbath. Six means finality, completion of God’s work. The sixth day is the day before the Sabbath, the Lord’s day of rest. Adam was created to fulfill God’s plan, take care of the earth and multiply. This time it will be the opposite. The beast shall come in a charge to destroy God’s plan, destroy the earth and annihilate many just before the “Day of the Lord,” the seventh or Sabbath year.

Many wondered about the many prophecies about Tyre, an island (Ezek 27:32) port city of the Phoenicians, heavily fortified and was the center of trade of the ancient world. It was also the biggest seaport during those times.

Tyre was located along the coast of Palestine facing the Mediterranean Sea. It was close and adjacent to the kingdom of Israel. It’s neighboring city, Sidon was also considered an important seaport due to its strategic location. King Nebuchadnezzar conquered these port cities along with Judah and Egypt. Both the old Tyre and Sidon had never recovered from its destruction as a major seaport ever since its destruction at the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar. But like the old Tyre and Sidon, it shall rise again according to the prophecies to serve its old role as the marketplace of nations.

The physical meaning of the prostitute riding on the beast is about the kings who had brought great physical suffering to the nation Israel— three of them ruled before the birth of Christ and three after His physical death. They are (from top to bottom L-R) Pharaoh Rameses II of Egypt, King Shalmaneser V of Assyria, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, King Nero of the Roman Empire, Adolf Hitler of Germany and finally the last days king from Iraq. The last shall rule in three successions in three different roles as depicted in this picture, completing the “666”.

The prophecy on Tyre and Sidon would provide us clues to the site of throne of antichrist since he shall be himself the king of the last days “Tyre”. To save space, read for yourself the whole prophecy on Tyre in Ezekiel 27 and 28.

Consider now also these prophecies about the fall of Babylon in the book of Revelation:

Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry: “`Woe! Woe, O great city, O Babylon, city of power! In one hour your doom has come!’ "The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more— cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; . . .” (Rev 18:10-12).

Notice in these passages that the future Babylon is now referred to as a city, not a kingdom since the capital or center of ancient Kingdom of Babylon is also named the City of Babylon. It is now confined to a smaller place, a capital city, the seat itself of the antichrist. With this in mind, we will be able to identify the future city of the antichrist. We know the country as the modern Egypt, the USA ... but what particular place in the USA? Also, notice about an important clue here. The city of Babylon is a marketplace of nations where traders ply through seas. The prophecies on the characteristics of the city of Babylon of Revelation 18 have very peculiar similarities with the port city of Tyre in Ezek 27, 28 and Isaiah 23. This is simply because the last day Tyre is the last day city of Babylon, the seat of the antichrist and the capital city of the future world Babylonian kingdom. Read further about their second destruction. About the city of Babylon it is written:

`In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!’ “Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, `Was there ever a city like this great city?’ They will throw dust on their heads and with weeping and mourning cry out: “`Woe! Woe, O great city, where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth! In one hour she has been brought to ruin!” (Rev 18:17-19:).

“Your wealth, merchandise and wares, your mariners, seamen and shipwrights, your merchants and all your soldiers, and everyone else on board will sink into the heart of the sea on the day of your shipwreck. The shorelands will quake when your seamen cry out.

They will raise their voice and cry bitterly over you; they will sprinkle dust on their heads and roll in ashes. They will shave their heads because of you and will put on sackcloth. They will weep over you with anguish of soul and with bitter mourning. As they wail and mourn over you, they will take up a lament concerning you: “Who was ever silenced like Tyre , surrounded by the sea?” (Ezek 27:27,30-32).

This is how the port of Tyre looks like today, hardly a busy seaport to conform with the prophecy being the end-time marketplace of nations.
Source: http://www.middleeast.com/tyre.htm

“By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching.”

It is very clear therefore that this Babylon City is the big seaport of Tyre. The seaport should be big enough in order that it could now be considered as the world’s trade center, the largest seaport in modern times. This world’s largest seaport should be located inside the USA if the prophecy is to be credible since we had identified America as the site of the throne of antichrist.

In prophecies, it is important to understand that names of places as well as peoples are usually used as symbols and figures of speech for a purpose already taken in Chapter 4. Their real identities are known by wisdom and the help of other prophecies or by their “fruits”— the seed should produce the same fruit. In this case, Tyre was used only as a symbol, a sign of its last days counterpart. What are the signs or fruits? Based on the above biblical passages these are:

Besides, Isaiah 23:7 prophesied that Tyre is now far away, resettled somewhere, distant from its original location:

“Is this your city of revelry, the old, old city (Tyre), whose feet have taken her to settle in far-off lands?”

The city will be resettled to far-off lands, time yet a distant future of Isaiah’s time and now in the lands still adjacent to God’s own people, Israel all with a different name.

We have learned that the antichrist shall establish his throne in the nation of Manasseh, the USA ruling as Pharaoh, being the “eighth” king. Going now to statistics based on the signs stated above, let us trace where this large seaport is. Confining on the seaports of America, the largest seaport according to the Guinness Book of Records, 1994 is no other than the port of New York and New Jersey. According to the Guinness Book of Records, the port has a navigable waterfront of 755 miles (295 miles in New Jersey), stretching over 92 miles. A total of 261 general cargo berths and 130 other piers gives a total berthing capacity of 391 ships at any one time. The total warehousing floor space is 422.4 acres. Today, that record is still unbroken.

Accordingly, the port of New York is not only the biggest in USA but is also in the entire world as well. Just like the old Tyre, New York harbor is an island seaport facing the Atlantic Ocean. Today, the port cities of New York and New Jersey are the modern Tyre and Sidon. Both of them are located along the coastline of USA, part nation of lost Israel.

The Wikipedia Encyclopedia says that the economy of New York City is one of the largest regional economies in the United States. The city is a global center for business and commerce and one of the main cities that control world finance along with London, Paris and Tokyo. It is considered by many to be the financial capital of the world. Read more...

New York is also great city of entertainment next only to Hollywood, the world's biggest. Greatest musicians who wish to make a big name in the international music scene and the music charts always try hard to make fortune in New York. And most often, those who wish to be successful in business, arts and entertainment, etc. settle for New York earning its name as the Big Apple. It is a city that has practically no evening. New York under the evil ruler shall even be more grandiose... or worse.

“The music of harpists and musicians, flute players and trumpeters, will never be heard in you again. No workman of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again. The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world’s great men. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray. In her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the earth.” (Rev 18:22-24).

This passage mean more than standing on the shore. It should have significant meaning otherwise the antichrist standing on the shore does not deserved to be written at all in the prophecies if it has no meaning. During the time of the prophecy, the antichrist is waging against all Christians (Rev 12:17) and he can control the world within the confines of his throne... on the shore of the sea, meaning a seaside. Time indeed will come when New York City will fulfill the prophecy on Tyre to become the seat of the antichrist.

There is another reason why the future world ruler would crave for New York as an ideal site for a New World government headquarters. Aside from being the center of world trade and commerce, New York is also the site of the United Nations central headquarters. The UN was a brainchild of the West and with the blessings from God, it was established to promote peace and cooperation among nations. Its seal is the earth surrounded by laurel leaves against a sky-blue background symbolizing peace among nations. This time it shall be used as a headquarters of war and terror. It is the most unlikely place for the purpose since it is an institution for peace. Now we can understand the message from Mark 13:14 (emphasis, mine) that says:

"When you see `the abomination that causes desolation' standing where it does not belong-- let the reader understand- then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains."

Likewise, it shall be an ideal site for war headquarters. Facilities are already in place to govern the world and monitor worldwide activities. Besides, it would deal him a perfect chance to get even with the UN since Iraq was badly and “unfairly” persecuted by the international body. It is responsible for his defeat in his own country, Iraq— at the hands of UN alliance of nations, the Operation Desert Storm and the second War in Iraq both led by the United States. Find time reading the papers every day and discern that many events now in the Middle East and Europe are leading to that direction.

Interestingly, there is a town in New York named Babylon. According to its history, it was named Babylon by the Conklin family way back in 1803 when the place was still very remote and lonely. Below is an excerpt from the website http://www.townofbabylon.com about how the town got its name Babylon:

They say that Mrs. Conklin, probably with the peace of the inland hills fixed in her mind, was not happy in a spot where her grandchildren would be brought up with a posting tavern as their neighbor, and compared their lonely lot to that of the Babylon captivity of the exiled Judeans.

Mr. Conklin was not as troubled at the prospect here as was his mother. It is reported that he replied to her wailing comment: "Oh, no Mother! It will be a New Babylon" and gave evidence of his faith in his new home by placing a stone tablet in the chimney front of the house inscribed:

NEW BABYLON THIS HOUSE BUILT BY NATE CONKLIN 1803

Has the boy simply spoke words of comfort or was divinely inspired to fix the name Babylon for their place in history and to fulfill the prophecies?
Map Source: USGS

The abomination that causes desolation was written many times in the book of Daniel and even spoken of by Jesus Christ Himself (Read Daniel 9:27, Daniel 11:31, Daniel 12:11, Matt 24:15 and Mark 13:14). As the term implies, it is something evil that can be physically set up or installed in one or many places to cause evil devastation. This points to the same image that the antichrist will put up for all men to worship in the end times. Read Rev 13:14-15:

“... He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 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.”

Note that the image is singular— just one image to be set up supposedly in a very central and strategic location. At most, it can only be transferred from one location to another. Unlike God, Satan is not omnipotent, he cannot be at anywhere at any given time. The devil is living in the image according to the verse since it can speak and kill. The author suspects that this will be the Statue of Liberty changed into the antichrist’s image.

If the antichrist can cause desolation through only one image, how could he purge the entire world of Christians?

The bird's eye view of Manhattan Island, New York, America's business and trade center and the world's most admired city, the "City That Never Sleeps." "When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, "Was there ever a city like this great city?" (Rev 18:18). Click here to see the city's 360 degree panoramic view
Source: Wikipedia Encyclopedia

Daniel says the abomination shall be put up “on a wing of the Temple” (Dan 9:27). Of course, the Holy Temple of God made of stone is no longer existing. It was destroyed by the Romans in the year 70 AD. The Vatican Roman Catholic headquarters cannot be the site as many claim nor in any other stationary structure. In the New Covenant, the temple is no longer made of stone and wood. The new temple is our own body being the new temples of the Holy Spirit (1Cor 13:16).

Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?

“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, 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.”

Now this is the other method of purging the world of those who refuse to worship the beast. All peoples will receive the mark of the beast or the number of his name on his right hand or on his forehead as a license to do business, buy or sell. Sounds very effective means of screening the world of “misfits” because it is still a matter of human survival. What is this number of the beast used as a seal? We know it already as ‘666’as a clue of identifying the beast but it cannot be that number per se for reason it becomes already obvious. It is something people will not be aware of as an omen and will be readily accepted as a way of life and daily survival.

Even today we are already using the number . . . in products and labels We now call it the Universal Product Code (UPC) or bar coding. It is a series of vertical parallel lines with varying thickness. The product information and identification are known through the UPC. Mary Stewart Relfe in her book, The New Money System, accurately identified the number ‘666’ in the first, last, and center vertical lines of the UPC. UPC can also be read manually.

The "hidden" 666 in the Barcode. Notice the three "guard bars" (colored RED) at the beginning, middle and end. Now, notice the same bar pattern ("bar-space-bar" or "101") for the number 6 (colored BLUE).

Since we are the new temples of God, then we are the other “site” in Daniel 9:27 wherein the abomination that causes desolation is supposed to be set up. Again, take note that there two ways by which the desolation that causes desolation can be set up. First, as a speaking image that can kill with no specific location and second, the sign or the number of the beast on the right hand and on the forehead— both of which are abominations that cause desolation. Now, the one “set on the wing of the temple” is the latter for it can be applied or “set up” many times to all temples or human beings. The wing here is a figure of speech, man’s arms because the original Temple of Solomon has right and left wings serving as cells for priests. Your hand and forehead normally do not wear any gear or clothing and always exposed. Therefore, “the abomination that causes desolation (seal or number) is set up on the right hand or on the forehead. Every person will be computer scanned and monitored whenever they transact business, buy or sell. Those found to have no seal can be summarily executed or be given a chance to receive the seal as an identity or mark of loyalty-- the “mark of the beast”. Ever noticed passing through a shopping mall security scanner and you hear that warning sound indicating there's an unpaid item with that person passing through that scanner? Soon many of those gadgets will just be overhead us, everywhere, unseen, unnoticed and the next thing we know, we are caught for sure death if we do not have the mark.

The computer is considered as man's ultimate machine. Later on, they shall be utilized as tools of destruction. With the vast capabilities of computer, it is now possible for one man to govern the entire world. The world wide web, the information superhighway or Internet is capable of monitoring simultaneous events and transmitting vast amounts of information between two points no matter how remote the other end is. We have already the capability and it will be more sophisticated as knowledge increases (Dan 12:4). Information technology is the fastest growing industry nowadays. Endless possibilities in the application of computers are coming out year after year.

Furthermore, many have also computed the number of the computer as the number of the beast, ‘666’. By assigning a number for every letter of the alphabet as 6 to A, 12 to B 18 to C and so on, we can compute the summation of the respective number of the letters of the word “computer” and come up with the total of 666. This is of course just playing with letters and numbers, but again, I simply know one thing sure... the coming world ruler would rely in computers to govern the world with an iron rod.