Table of Contents

Introduction.................................................................................................5
CHAPTER 1 THE VISION...................................................................................................................8
End Time Prophecies.............................................................................................................8
The First Vision....................................................................................................................10
The First Beast - Egypt.........................................................................................................11
Adam: the word...............................................................................................................15
Adam: the man................................................................................................................16
The Vision and Meaning.................................................................................................17
Early History...................................................................................................................19
Hyksos.......................................................................................................................20
Joseph........................................................................................................................23
Moses.........................................................................................................................24
The Second Beast - Mesopotamia........................................................................................24
The Vision and Meaning.................................................................................................25
Early History...................................................................................................................26
Nebuchadnezzar..............................................................................................................27
The Third Beast - Media - Persia.........................................................................................27
Medes..............................................................................................................................27
Achaemenids...................................................................................................................27
The Vision and Meaning.................................................................................................28
Cyrus..........................................................................................................................29
Darius (Hystapses) I...................................................................................................29
Xerxes I......................................................................................................................29
Artaxerxes Longimanus.............................................................................................29
The Fourth Beast Greece...................................................................................................30
The Achaeans..................................................................................................................30
The Dorians.....................................................................................................................30
City-states.......................................................................................................................30
Philip of Macedon...........................................................................................................31
Alexander the Great........................................................................................................32
The Vision and Meaning.................................................................................................32
The Fourth Beast has Ten Horns................................................................................32
The Fourth Beast is not Rome....................................................................................34
The Little Horn: Rome........................................................................................................36
Rome: The Kingship......................................................................................................36
Rome: The Republic.......................................................................................................37
Punic wars..................................................................................................................37
Graeco-Roman War....................................................................................................38
The Gracchis..............................................................................................................38
Marius and Sulla and the First Triumvirate................................................................38
Cesars reforms..........................................................................................................39
Rome: The Empire..........................................................................................................39

Fall of the Roman Empire..........................................................................................41

The Byzantine Empire...............................................................................................42
Rome: The Holy Roman Empire....................................................................................43
The Merovingians......................................................................................................44
The Carolingians........................................................................................................45
Rome: According to the Prophet Daniel.....................................................................48
And he shall speak [great] words against the most High, ... .............................49
... and shall wear out the saints of the most High .... .........................................49
... and think to change times ... .........................................................................50
... and laws ........................................................................................................50
Roman Law and Influence...............................................................................50
...and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of
time.....................................................................................................................51
The Second Vision...............................................................................................................52
The Roman Catholic church.................................................................................................55
Constantine.....................................................................................................................57
The Pope.........................................................................................................................58
it cast down [some] of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon
them.........................................................................................................................59
magnified [himself] even to the prince of the host, ... ....................................60
and by him the daily [sacrifice] was taken away ..........................................61
and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. ..................................................62
... by reason of transgression..................................................................................62
The rebellion that maketh desolate........................................................................64
abomination which maketh desolate.....................................................................65
and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered. .........67
two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.".....68
The Host that is Stamped and the Rebellion..........................................................68
CHAPTER 2 THE 1260 YEARS........................................................................................................72
70 AD Begins the 1260 Years...............................................................................................72
In the time of the Maccabees...........................................................................................74
Judas..........................................................................................................................75
Jonathan ....................................................................................................................75
Simon.........................................................................................................................75
John Hyrcanus............................................................................................................75
Aristobulus.................................................................................................................76
In the time of the Herods.................................................................................................77
The Prince and High Priest..............................................................................................79
The Significance of the Temple's Destruction in 70 AD..................................................79
The 1260 Years.....................................................................................................................85
Time and times and the dividing of time.........................................................................85
The Early Christian Church.......................................................................................86
Apostolic Fathers.......................................................................................................86
Seven churches in the Book of Revelation.................................................................87
42 months........................................................................................................................90
1,260 days.......................................................................................................................92
Three and a half days......................................................................................................94
Waldenses..................................................................................................................95
Albighenses................................................................................................................96
Midst of the the week......................................................................................................97
The 1260 years end..............................................................................................................99

Friars and Philosophers: Michael of Cesena.................................................................100

William of Ockham.......................................................................................................101
Marsilius of Padua........................................................................................................101
John of Jandun..............................................................................................................102
The Church Out of the Wilderness.....................................................................................102
The Inquisition..............................................................................................................102
The Crusades.................................................................................................................104
The Crusades and Armageddon................................................................................105
Euphrates dries up for the Kings of the East............................................................107
The First Resurrection...................................................................................................114
The Reformation...........................................................................................................118
CHAPTER 3 THE APPOINTED TIME OF THE END........................................................................119
The Second Vision Continued............................................................................................119
The indignation..........................................................................................................120
Seventy weeks......................................................................................................127
The Western Diaspora..............................................................................................132
Ashkenazi Jews...................................................................................................133
Sephardim Jews..................................................................................................134
Mizrahi and Other Jewish Groups.......................................................................135
The Eastern Diaspora...............................................................................................136
Daniels 1,290 and 1,335 days.................................................................................136
Dreyfuss Affair....................................................................................................137
Balfour Declaration of 1917................................................................................138
Biltmore Conference...........................................................................................138
in the last end of the indignation ...............................................................................138
at the time appointed the end [shall] be.....................................................................138
And in the latter time of their kingdom,.....................................................................139
Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.............................................................139
Adolf Hitler..............................................................................................................141
World War II............................................................................................................143
The Return, Salvation and Restoration of the Remnants..........................................144
United States of America.........................................................................................150
The Nations..............................................................................................................153
Messianic Judaism...................................................................................................160
Canon..................................................................................................................162
Scriptural commentary........................................................................................162
The vision of evening and morning...........................................................................163
The Temple Mount...................................................................................................163
Church of the Holy Sepulcher..................................................................................165
Dome of the Rock....................................................................................................165
Mosque of the al-Aqsa.............................................................................................165
Implications of the temples rebuilding.........................................................................166
CHAPTER 4 THE BEASTS OF DANIEL AND JOHN........................................................................173
The Mark of the Beast and the Seal on the Foreheads of the Servants of God...................175
The False Prophet...............................................................................................................176
The Prophet Muhammad and the Qur'an.......................................................................178
Disagreements with Christians and Jews..................................................................182
Ishmael represents the Muslim.................................................................................182
End Time in Islam....................................................................................................184
Gog and Magog........................................................................................................185
Mongolian Invasion of Europe.................................................................................186

Babylon - the woman harlot...............................................................................................187

Roman Empire Revived.....................................................................................................190
European Union............................................................................................................191
United Nations Security Council...................................................................................194
The Short Period................................................................................................................200
The Final Battle of Armageddon..................................................................................211
Time Ends (Post Armageddon).....................................................................................215

1 Introduction
But you, brothers, are
darkness so that this day
surprise you like a thief. You
sons of the light and sons
day. (1 Thess 5:4-5)

not in
should
are all
of the

Remember, therefore, what you have

received and heard; obey it, and
repent. But if you do not wake up, I
will come like a thief, and you will not
know at what time I will come to you.
(Rev 3:3)

Many have written about the end of time and referred to events
that have involved persons, peoples, institutions and nations in ancient
past and how they will be in the future in relation to the prophet Daniels
vision of a little horn. Nothing however, has so far been
comprehensively written that clearly and unequivocally identifies all the
characters by the role(s) they assume. Furthermore, a comprehensive
and consistent explanation of the exact beginning and end of a particular
segment of end time prophecy found in the Book of Daniel and its
relationship in time with the apocalyptic prophecies found in the Book of
Revelation, first and foremost, as well as other books of the Bible, has yet
to be published. This study humbly aims to provide a timeline by clearly
defining the exegesis of said visions not by the letter that killeth but by
the spirit that giveth life (2 Cor 3:6 AV). True, the exegesis of the
scriptures continues and shall continue it is believed, to the very end;
more so, if one relies primarily on a secular approach to rationalize them.
Beasts are referred to in both the Book of Daniel and the Book of
Revelation, for example, but have so far been interpreted differently and
very often inconsistent with interpretations of other apocalyptic visions
limiting the visions to a section of the whole picture that are oftentimes
mired in puzzles of the very few extant historical records available. The
times given in terms of time or days or weeks or sevens or
evening and morning where a day is equivalent to a year, and a
seven is equivalent to a week are some of the seals that lock the
visions. The times covering 1260 years and their interpretation have
opened up what the visions of Daniel and John mean concerning the end.
Contrary to the common belief of the meaning of the scriptures in
Matthew 24:36, 42; Luke 12:39; and 2 Peter 3:10 that the Lord will come
like a thief in the night so we can throw concern away, it cautions us to
1

stay awake as only those who are asleep will not know when the thief
comes (1 Thess 5:4), that it may not surprise us (Rev 3:3) and to be
clothed as not to be shamefully exposed in our ignorance of the Lord, our
Masters coming (Rev 16:15). For the Lord told Noah when it was time
(Gen 7:1), but of two men in the field, two in bed and two women
grinding, one of each was taken up, the others left (Matt 24:40-41; Luke
17:34-36). Furthermore, the parable of the fig tree spoken of by Jesus
when asked about the end of age (time) implies that clear recurring signs
like the seasons will show the time of its coming (Matt 24:32-33; Mark
13:28-29; Luke 21:29-31). Why does the Book of Daniel refer to time in
terms of days, weeks, sevens and evenings and mornings? What
does the Book of Revelation reveal? Why would the Lord speak of the end
of time and not reveal it? The times spoken of prescribe a time for Israels
journey as a people of the covenant; from the time it is given, her
struggles to comply with it, her failures, her punishments and reduction
to a remnant, her redemption and restoration to her true state and place.
It is the purpose of this study that by presenting an historical
approach to prophecy, logical and concrete proofs will result that will
show the followers of the three great faiths with its roots in Abraham
given through their respective covenants thousands of years ago, where
they are headed. Never have these faiths influence been stronger as the
end draws to a close, drawing the world to its center as all the worlds
ideologies have fallen to it; in the end, the three will face off each other.
Though both Daniel and John were admonished to seal the vision, the end
that is being prophesied is no longer the distant future (Rev 22:10). In
fact, the events spoken of which mark the beginning and end of these
days, because of their historicity, can no longer escape cursory scrutiny
and by simple inference will bring any student of Bible history to the
conclusion that only a handful of these events spoken of by Daniel and
John in their visions remain unfulfilled. The visions were sealed for the
simple reason that behind the scenes are two thirds of the loyal angels
and host of heaven battling with a third of the fallen angels and former
host of heaven led by the rebel, Satan. G-ds plans cannot be thwarted by
leaking them to the enemy. For the same reason, Jesus spoke in parables.
He cannot die before his mission was accomplished nor compromise the
elect. However, as most of the missions of the prophets and Jesus have
already come to completion (the fullness of the Gentiles) and a few

remain; and in our time, the fact that Israels remnants have been
gathered home after serving the time for
G-ds wrath, her restoration
underway, and her shepherd Jesus Christ and His might and power
firmly established; the Lord is in a hurry (2 Peter 3:8-9) for those who
were slain for the Word of G-d (Rev 6:9-11), then the end must
necessarily be at hand. That events that are already history have
repeated, and will repeat themselves, and are significant as they serve as
blueprints for the final events to follow. They will again guide the elect to
the path leading to the end of time, during it and out of it, as a corporate
body. It is the lesson in the parable of the seasonality of figs spoken of by
Jesus. The events related to the migration of the people of Israel and
Judah, first to Egypt until the Exodus to the land of promise; the
occupation of their land; the desolation of their cities and sanctuary; and
their return from captivity in Babylon to rebuild the temple of Solomon
and the walls of Jerusalem; then their subsequent subjection under the
Persians; then the Greeks; and finally the Romans, under whose reign the
temple was finally destroyed are lessons in theological types and antitypes. As the abomination which maketh desolate is set up in the
temple, the omen is raised for hard and difficult times and a sign of
danger for the elect (Dan 9:27, 11:31 and 12:11; Matt 24:15; Mark
13:14). The significance of the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD under the
Roman general Titus cannot be understated for it marked the end of the
daily sacrifice (the oblation to cease) in the temple beginning the
prophetic period referred to as the time, times and half a time and the
2300 days. The former referring to the 1260 years of the church in
the wildernesses. Within this period: the conversion of the Roman
emperor Constantine the Great; the adoption of the early Christian
church by the empire as the Roman Catholic church and this faith to
become the state religion; the fall of the Roman empire in the west and
its schism with Byzantium; and the rise of the bishop of Rome as the only
power that can unify the empire and return it to its former glory. Along
with the power to confirm the emperor-elect of the revived Roman empire
that has become the Holy Roman empire, he causes the giving of the
mark of the beast in Roman Catholic baptism to all the subjects of the
empire, by force. The decline of his power beginning with the Investiture
Controversy and end in 1330 after the rebellion of the German princes,
Franciscan friars, and philosophers who advocated the separation of the
church and state abrogated the popes authority to confirm the emperor2

elect leading to the Declaration of Rense in 1338, forever instituting this

reform. This controversy, the Inquisition, and the Crusades the trio of
notorious applications of this church policy on matters of the state,
eventually led to the German princes expulsion of the pope and church
from politics thereby ending the 1260 years. The year 1330 is significant
as the year of the last major conflict between the church and the empire
that ended in their final separation. It is the year Frederick the Fair, rival
of the anti-pope Louis IV to the crown of the Holy Roman empire died,
leaving the latters claim uncontested. Louis authority was firmly
established with the support of a number of German princes who
advocated the separation of the church and state espoused by the
philosophers Marsilius of Padua and John Jandun in the Defensor pacis,
and the theology of poverty by Franciscan friars Michael of Cesena and
William of Ockham in the Gravi qua premor, who otherwise would have
perished at the stakes under the Inquisition but were now protected at
the emperors court in Munich. It is the end of the 1260 years and the
powers and authorities of the dragon, Satan; his representative - the first
beast (of Revelation); and the false prophet who misleads the
descendants of Ishmael. The year 1330 marked the beginning of the
Millennium a thousand-year imprisonment in the bottomless Abyss for
the dragon, Satan. This beast and the false prophet are thrown alive into
the lake of burning sulfur which is the second death and eternal
condemnation. It is the year the saints given over (AV: given unto is
hand; Dan 7:25) to the Roman Catholic church are released and
resurrected with Christ and reigns as this church loses its power over the
state to implement its notorious policies. They will all serve the wrath of
G-d when Israels punishment is complete in the order of their
appearance in the beasts of Daniel. After this time is over in 2330 the
world will see the final revival of the Roman empire in the European
Union and in the short time of 40 years, it will become politically
dominant over a debt-ridden Israel and her allies mired in the
numerous wars waged at Armageddon against what Revelation 16:12
described as the kings east of the river Euphrates - Muslims comprising
the tan countries (whose names end in -tan) that were former
satellites of the Soviet Union and the Mongolian hordes of the Muslims
Genghis Khan and Tamerlane hidden deep in the bowels of China. It is
the time for Gog and Magog to be released (Rev 20:7; Sura 18:98-99). By
sowing intrigues to fuel the wars and providing finance for the rebuilding

of the ancient ruins of Israel including the temple of Solomon, these trio
of anti-types: the President of the EU as the emperor of the revived
Roman empire; the pope, who revives and sets up the former as a true
image of the empire, against the violent opposition of a great Muslim
priest-king (the false prophet), will install their representative(s) and
claim everything that is of G-d by again setting up the abomination
which maketh desolate in the rebuilt temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. In
2370, or 2300 days (prophetic days of years) from the time of the
destruction of the temple in 70 AD, as the temple is rededicated by this
abomination, Jesus, the eternal temple comes in a blinding glory of truth
and defeats Satan (Dan 8:14).

Chapter 1 The Vision

The identity of this little horn and the prophecies written about it in the
Book of Daniel of the Hebrew Tanakh or Old Testament Christian Bible has
been the subject of controversy between the Roman Catholic church,
Protestant churches, Orthodox Judaism, and to date, Islam which
contains in the Quran an end time prophecy. By Protestant churches
here is meant to include not only the Christian churches of the
Reformation, but other Christian churches such as the earlier Coptic
churches, the Church of England, and other churches that are a reaction
from the Roman Catholic church and its orthodoxy and do not recognize
the primacy of the bishop of Rome. Protestants of the Reformation are of
the firm belief that the little horn refers to Rome and its
transformations, and rebuttals from defenders of the Roman Catholic
church have at best been mere denials that have not been able to
espouse a more palpable interpretation of the little horn and other
prophecies in the vision of Daniel and inferences concerning it from the
Book of Revelation. Orthodox Judaism on the one hand, is obstinate and
nettlesome, propounding several messiahs but continue to deny the
Christ. The Muslim, the other significant party, is the least understood,
yet possesses in the Quran, a strong force that confirms both the Law (of
5

Moses) and the Gospel (of Jesus) which despite its divergence, is
undergoing an upheaval to determine the canons of its faith and will
eventually evolve over time into a finer form, as the Tanakh and Christian
Bible have undergone. It is believed to eventually become a guide for
Nebaoith, Kedar, and descendants of Ishmael to the complete fulfillment
of the promises of G-d to Abrahams first-born by Hagar and the end of
time. The beasts and horns of Daniel are figures representative of
kingdoms and kings in ancient history who, if they were not outright
enemies of Israels Hebrews or Jews or of her G-d, were her masters at
various times in her history.
6

In Daniel 8:21 horns are interpreted as kings:

{8:21} And the rough goat [is] the king of Grecia: and the great horn that [is]
between his eyes [is] the first king. (AV)

They may also mean kingdoms as in Daniel 8:22:

{8:22} Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms
shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. (AV)

End Time Prophecies. Prophecies concerning the end of time form part
of apocalyptic literature found in the Christian Bible, the Jews Tanakh,
and Muslims Quran revealing the final end, given through a symbolic
vision of the future. It narrates the final confrontation between a mighty
G-d and the evil powers led by the rebel Satan, once His most trusted
angel. The war is fought in heaven and earth culminating in a
catastrophic end where a messianic figure is responsible for the triumph
over evil and the salvation of the faithful. In this humble study, I will
endeavor to give all my insights and opinions on the exegesis of
eschatological subject matters supported by secular facts, as well as
those of well known theologians from ancient and contemporary times
who have exhaustively made studies of apocalyptic prophesies from the
Book of Daniel of the Old Testament, the Book of Revelation of the New
Testament, and the Quran. Israel, home of the Hebrews or Jews plays
the central role in end time prophecies because it is the people and
nation chosen by G-d to manifest Himself. The Bible is, for the most part,
the story of Israel and of her people. Without them, there would be no
Bible. Israel plays the principal role in a stage set by the Great Sea,
where we will find the Old Testament prophet Daniels four beasts and the

New Testament apostle Johns red dragon, the first beast with ten horns,
the second beast with two horns, the harlot, and the false prophet.
The story of Israel answers the great question of who G-d is. There is no
G-d of record that is deeply involved with His people and whose
chronicles are the oldest. Who G-d is and what He does is only
obtainable from the story of Israel and portrays what G-d wants in His
relationship with man, which Israel is to exemplify. It is also about fickle
man torn between this great love and the world held hostage by a rebel.
Like a great love story it has a tragic near-end, save for a Messiah who
has come to redeem Israel and the whole of mankind before the
appointed time of the end. Man has always come short of G-ds
expectation which is nothing short of perfection. Since the aftermath of
the great flood up to the time of David, Israels greatest king, G-d had
been generous in his grace and mercy for mans shortcomings. However,
after Solomon, Davids son, G-d deemed it fit to punish Israel making
others instruments of His wrath, and after this is done, a greater
punishment for the instruments who gloated over this task followed by
the complacent world who does not know the one true G-d. It is a
punishment that lasted 2,730 years and in its aftermath a world in awe
of G-ds might and of the tragedies which befell a beloved people that He
is jealous for.
In the books of the major prophets in the Old Testament: Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Ezekiel, and Daniel, are primarily found the prophecies concerning the
destiny of Israel as a chosen people and nation, the ordinances they were
to follow, their struggles, their few successes, their many failures, their
rejection of the covenant and consequent punishment, their redemption,
and restoration. The books prescribe the time Israel and Judah will be
punished by the sword, by disease, famine and removed from their land
for their disobedience, the land laid desolate and come to the possession
of her punishers. Judah will be taken into captivity to Babylon and Israel
will be conquered by the Assyrians and scattered into the four corners of
the world until the Messiah, their Redeemer, gathers them back home. Of
the end-time prophecies, these are the books that describe the events
and give their exact periods that are turning points not only in Israels
history, but of the world itself. For this reason, many publications have
gone out to give meaning to the little horn of Daniel. Essential to

understanding the figures of the dragon, the first beast, the second
beast,
Babylon the harlot, and the false prophet in the Book of
Revelation are the visions in the Book of Daniel. Any understanding of
these characters must first come to an understanding of the little horn
of Daniel.
For purposes of this study, as I would like to refer to this writing, I have
focused on the visions of the prophet Daniel of a little horn rising above
four beasts before it and pursued its implications to the beasts that
appear in the Book of Revelation. This little horn is first referred to in
Chapters 7 and 8 of the Book of Daniel. In Chapter 7 Daniel first dreams
of four beasts. I will thus call these visions pertaining to the beasts as the
first and second visions, as they occurred to Daniel.
The First Vision:
In his first vision, Daniel spoke thus:
{7:2} Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the
four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. {7:3} And four great beasts
came up from the sea, diverse one from another. {7:4} The first [was] like a
lion, and had eagles wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it
was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a
mans heart was given to it. {7:5} And behold another beast, a second, like to a
bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and [it had] three ribs in the mouth of
it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.
{7:6} After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the
back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion
was given to it. {7:7} After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth
beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron
teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of
it: and it [was] diverse from all the beasts that [were] before it; and it had ten
horns. {7:8} I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them
another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up
by the roots: and, behold, in this horn [were] eyes like the eyes of man, and a
mouth speaking great things. {7:9} I beheld till the thrones were cast down,
and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment [was] white as snow, and the
hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne [was like] the fiery flame, [and]
his wheels [as] burning fire. {7:10} A fiery stream issued and came forth from
before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times
ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were
opened. {7:11} I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the
horn spake: I beheld [even] till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed,
and given to the burning flame. {7:12} As concerning the rest of the beasts,
they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a
season and time. {7:13} I saw in the night visions, and, behold, [one] like the

Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days,
and they brought him near before him. {7:14} 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. (Dan 7:2-14
AV)

The angel in his vision explained to him:

{7:23} Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon
earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole
earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. {7:24} And the ten horns
out of this kingdom [are] ten kings [that] shall arise: and another shall rise
after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three
kings. {7:25} And he shall speak [great] words against the most High, and
shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and
laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the
dividing of time. {7:26} But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his
dominion, to consume and to destroy [it] unto the end. {7:27} And the kingdom
and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven,
shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom [is]
an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. (Dan
7:23-27 AV)

The first three beasts are the kingdoms or ancient civilizations that
began in Mesopotamia, but are enumerated by the prophet Daniel in this
order:
(1) Egypt, (2) Mesopotamia, and (3) Media - Persia. These
kingdoms comprised the Fertile Crescent, a term coined by the Orientalist
James Breasted in 1916. The name is given to the area of the Middle East
where the earliest known civilizations of the ancient world began. The
region extends like an arc from the Nile Valley of Egypt north along the
coast of the Mediterranean Sea, then east and south through the Tigris
and Euphrates valley to the head of the Persian Gulf, passing through
present-day Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and western Iran. The Fertile
Crescent includes the areas once occupied by the ancient kingdoms of
Palestine at its western end, Assyria in the central portion, and Babylonia
and Elam in the eastern part. The fertile Nile River delta north of Egypt
characterized by dry summers and rainy winters is where farming
originated in the Middle East at around 9000 BC. Later in 5000 BC, the
oldest urban and literate societies emerged from Egypt at the western
end of the crescent and at Sumer at the eastern end. In the centuries
that followed, the Canaanite kingdoms rose on the Mediterranean coast.
These were succeeded by Phoenicia and ancient Israel while the
Babylonians and Assyrians dominated Mesopotamia. Egypts hegemony
over its area has fairly been consistent, while Mesopotamia gave rise to
Sumer, Babylonia and Assyria. The fourth beast is the equally ancient
civilization of Greece, across the vast Mediterranean.
7

The kingdoms in Chapter 2 of the Book of Daniel also find

themselves mentioned again here, with the addition of Egypt in this
exegesis, but will not appear in the same order. I have refrained from a
complicated and long exegetical comparison of the difference of the vision
of King Nebuchadnezzar in Chapter 2 of the Book of Daniel which was
about and the prophet Daniel's own vision in Chapters 7 and 8. The vision
of the head of gold was expressly spoken of as representing the kingdom
of Babylon while the beasts in Chapter 7 were not expressly identified
while those in Chapter 8 were spoken of to refer to Media-Persia for the
two-horned ram and Greece for the goat. In like manner, I have refrained
from discussing other opinions that merely attempt to create an
interpretation of a segment of Daniel's vision, particularly when it does
not fit the timeline that I have created here.
1

The First Beast - Egypt

Objections have been made over the strict application of science to
the interpretation of scriptures and several books have been published
about it. Not a few of them were about, and none garnered as much
controversy as Darwins On the Origin of Species which propounded how
human beings evolved through branching over the course of generations
through a process of natural selection. His theory implied that all species
of life could probably have come from a single original species. Darwins
theory is very briefly being discussed here together with some new
theories in paleoanthropology to construct a plausible timeline for the
creation of man according to the Books of Genesis and the beginnings of
the kingdoms in the vision of Daniel that is reconciled with established
and authoritative scientific discoveries. By employing this method, I will
never be arbitrary, much less whimsical nor capricious - a charge too
often levied against a strictly spiritual approach to interpretation of
scriptures. Neither am I writing in favor of a particular church or an
alliance thereof but out of a personal motivation. Furthermore, I would like
to declare at the outset, that it is my belief that in this exegesis, I
recognize our human limitation to fathom the power and wisdom of the
Almighty that is awesome in its superiority and beyond our human
capacity to fully comprehend. It goes with it my own limitation to describe
certain parts of scripture using human language. And for this reason, I
am inclined to qualify the use of scripture (including those from the
Quran) whose definitions may actually construe a concept rather than is
traditionally or secularly meant. For example, my study of the Bible has
led me to a conclusion that angels and heavenly beings are not parties to
the covenant that men are bound. It is possible that there is a separate
covenant with them. Nevertheless, it is for this reason I went above and
beyond the average human conception of time, space and the universe.
Its application in this exegesis recognizes the limitation of the account in
the Book of Genesis of creation, for the simple reason that the bodies of
knowledge today that are available to accurately describe it were not
9

available then. For example, the word day as it is used in the Book of
Genesis also describes the awesome power of our Creator and could
simply mean that the power that is behind creation is so great it can
achieve so much in a day. That this is no simple day. As Peter propounds,
one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as
one day; or a watch in the night (2 Peter 3:8; Ps 90:4)). In this verse,
the word like does not exclude other interpretations of day to mean not
just a thousand years, but millions or even billions of years.
10

Strongly worded prejudices of the perceived irreconcilable

differences between the scriptures and science on the subject of creation
and natural law was first exhaustively tackled in Darwins controversial
book Origin of the Species, and arguments like this one by Robert
Chambers, secret author of the book Vestiges of the Natural History of
Creation, are not uncommon, to wit:
It will be objected that the ordinary conceptions of Christian nations on
this subject (creation) are directly derived from Scripture, or, at least, are in
conformity with it. If they were clearly and unequivocally supported by
Scripture, it may readily be allowed that there would be a strong objection to the
reception of any opposite hypothesis. But the fact is, however startling the
present announcement of it may be, that the first chapter of the Mosaic record is
not only not in harmony with the ordinary ideas of mankind respecting cosmical
and organic creation, but is opposed to them, and only in accordance with the
views here taken."11 (italics mine)

which Darwin rebutted in his Origin:

The Vestiges of Creation appeared in 1844. In the tenth and much
improved edition (1853) the anonymous author says (p. 155):
The proposition determined on after much consideration is, that the
several series of animated beings, from the simplest and oldest up to the
highest and most recent, are, under the providence of God, the results,
first, of an impulse which has been imparted to the forms of life,
advancing them, in definite times, by generation, through grades of
organisation terminating in the highest dicotyledons and vertebrata, these
grades being few in number, and generally marked by intervals of organic
character, which we find to be a practical difficulty in ascertaining
affinities; second, of another impulse connected with the vital forces,
tending, in the course of generations, to modify organic structures in
accordance with external circumstances, as food, the nature of the habitat,
and the meteoric agencies, these being the adaptations of the natural
theologian.
The author apparently believes that organisation progresses by sudden leaps, but
that the effects produced by the conditions of life are gradual. He argues with
much force on general grounds that species are not immutable productions. But I
cannot see how the two supposed impulses account in a scientific sense for the

numerous and beautiful co-adaptations which we see throughout nature; I cannot

see that we thus in any insight how, for instance, a woodpecker has become
adapted to its peculiar habits of life. The work, from its powerful and brilliant
style, though displaying in the earlier editions little accurate knowledge and a
great want of scientific caution, immediately had a very wide circulation. 12

How true, for often we hear the church describe creation in a literary
sense than a scientific one. In contemporary times, a more scientific
basis for questioning the theory of evolution espoused by Darwin and
others, may be as aptly illustrated by Mike Riddle. The probability of a
random evolution from molecule to man is immense. Random chance
events, natural selection, and billions of years, are not sufficient to
account for the universe and all life forms. Riddle further defends that
God as the Creator of all things (Gen 1; Col 1:16; John1:13; and Rev
4:11) rule out any possibility of Darwinian evolution, but they do allow for
variation within a created kind. Concerning the origin of life itself - the
transition between lifeless chemical activity to organized biological
metabolism; no direct evidence has been obtained at all, e.g., the Big
Bang Theory. The crucial transition from disorder to order left behind no
observable traces. Natural selection cannot be invoked at the pre-biotic
level because the first living cell must be in place before natural selection
can function.
Life begins to manifest itself only in the single celled
organism but the leap from lifeless molecules made up of chemical
elements to amino acids to biological protein remains devoid of evidence.
Meaning, that if this was true, it would be easily replicated in a laboratory.
However, the living cell contains DNA essential for linking the correct
amino acids in a chain to form a protein. How did DNA acquire the
enormous amount of information (instructions) to form a protein? Could
random processes have constructed a reality - the smallest element of
which is a gene, a functional protein whose complexity is beyond our
own creative capacities? A reality which is the very anti-thesis of chance,
which excels in every sense anything ever produced by the mere
intelligence of man?
The above arguments do not totally dismiss
Darwins theory but qualifies them. It does not negate Darwin's theory
that life could have began from a single species, but that life could not
possible evolve from lifeless elements. As to Darwins faith, evidence of
his lifes history shows him to have great faith in G-d, so that he tasked
himself at reconciling science and the scriptures.
13

14

15

16

17

18

In the period scientists call the Old Stone Age or Paleolithic Period (2.6
million years BC) archaic man was yet primitive, settled in caves
crouched on all fours, pursued the herds or fished in stone-made
implements and gathered fruits. Approximately between 250 000 and
30000 BC, a semi-erect archaic human - the brutish Neanderthals (Homo
sapiens neanderthalensis) existed.
The Neanderthals eked a living
from the most challenging habitat and developed the Levallois stonemaking technique used for making specialized tools (microliths) such as
knives and scrapers for cutting and preparing meat, scraping hides, and
working wood. Evidence of rituals in burials suggests the existence of
religious beliefs. It is believed that the brain of this archaic Homo sapiens
was sufficiently evolved to permit the use of true language. However,
the Neanderthals vocal chords, which the hyoid bone represents, were
not sufficiently developed for complex speech. Paleo-anthropologists
viewed the Neanderthal specimens as an intermediate link between apes
and humans, and developed an ancestor-predecessor relationship to
understand the connection of Neanderthals to modern humans.
19

20

21

22

23

Human history began some 2.6 million years ago with the first stone
tool makers, who were hunters, gatherers, and sometimes scavengers. The
foragers way of life evolved during most of this time, when major changes in the
colonization of the world were taking place. Both fossil and genetic evidence
record a series of out of Africa movements, with the main ones occurring first
some 200,000150,000 years ago and the second, namely the dispersal of modern
humans, some 50,00045,000 years ago. By that time Australia had been
colonized. The Americas were the last to become inhabited around 14,000 years
ago or perhaps earlier. Through all this long period, human societies based their
economy on hunting and gathering and were organized, as we believe on the
basis of ethnographic and historical examples, as bands of foragers, keeping a
mating system that allowed biological survival within the so-called dialectical
tribe. The archaeology of the Palaeolithic period, and especially of the Upper
Palaeolithic, tends to support this general view. The major social and economic
changes occurred in several regions, when groups of foragers became farmers. 24

About 15000 BC, tools that included microliths and new weapons like the
bow and arrow enabled hunters to pursue game and use traps, snares,
and nets to exploit alternative resources. These ushered in the Mesolithic
Age or New Stone Age (8300 to 6500 BC). Earlier, about 9000 BC, sheep
in the Near East was domesticated. Anthropologists believe that it was
only sometime after 10000 BC, as the tundra vegetation and ice sheets
rapidly gave way to coniferous and hardwood forests and great herds of
game were replaced by more elusive animals, that man developed
25

practices and technology to adapt. By 8000 BC, the tundra and taiga was
a well defined area of the northern hemisphere. As a result of the
increasing difficulty of hunting herds that have migrated northward,
anthropologists believe that very few archaic populations may have
directly evolved into the more intelligent modern Homo sapiens sapiens,
the rest displaced as modern man expanded his range. During the
Mesolithic Period, people began to practice farming by sowing seeds and
waiting for the harvest with tools made of a haft of bone, wood, or antler
fitted with a microlith - a small, sharp blade of stone, for reaping grain.
Dogs, the first animals to be tamed, were already in use in hunting and
such herd animals as goats, sheep, and cattle, already domesticated.
26

This revolutionary shift in human history is known as the Neolithic

Revolution. Communities of foragers started cultivating several species of wild
plants (barley, wheat, millet, rice, etc.), eventually also becoming herders in
several regions where wild animals could be domesticated. The importance of the
agricultural economy was the crucial first step towards greater social complexity,
population growth, and the ensuing emergence of states. The process and the
timing were not the same in every region. It started some 11,500 years ago in the
Levant (Near East), in northern China (millet), and later with rice cultivation in
southern China (Fuller etal. 2007). New Guinea was another locus and so were
Ethiopia, south-east North America, Central Meso-America, and South America
(Bellwood 2005; Weiss et. al. 2006; Fuller et. al. 2007). While the number of
original plant domestication loci is still being debated, mostly due to lack of
sufficient archaeo-botanical research in several regions, the evidence for the
dispersal of the agro-pastoral economies in the Old World is relatively well
dated.27

Thus, paleoanthropology, the scientific study of human fossils, confirms

the Book of Daniel concerning the history of ancient civilizations. The
study suggests that civilized modern man originated only very recently,
sometime after 11,500 years ago. To be exact, 5,700 years ago as our
radiometric-dating instruments using carbon-14 can measure. Radiocarbon dating is precise only from a minimum of 5,730, the half-life of
Carbon-14 to a maximum of 80,000 years, beyond which the present-day
instruments can no longer detect the remaining C-14.
This and the
findings of Bible archaeology serve to confirm the cultures which serve to
illumine the periods described by scriptures. It can be theorized that it
coincides with the rise of the ancient civilizations that began in
Mesopotamia and migrated to Egypt. That being as close that our
measuring instruments and processes can best do, does not preclude the
probability that Creation, defined in the Jewish tradition of a 7,000-year,
28

29

or a week, or a seven-day (of a thousand years-a-day) plan by G-d

beginning with Adam and Eve (year zero) which may very well have
begun in 3630 BC; will end at Judgment Day, on the Lords day of rest
on the seventh day the Sabbath, with the year2370 AD marking the
end of the sixth day.
30 31 32

Adam: the word. Adam ( )means human being or person. It

is also related to the words red and earth. Adama ( )is earth
adom ( )is red. Adam ( )literally means man. They are all
spelled similarly in Hebrew but have different pronunciations. Eerdman
defines Adam to mean human and can be used either individually (a
human) or collectively (humankind). In Genesis 1-5 the word is used
to refer to the first human. The word Adam is used collectively in the
creation of humans in Genesis 1:27, later alluded to in Genesis 5:1-2,
where Adam (human) is defined as male and female. When Adam is
created a second time in Genesis 2:7 there is a sense that this is an
individual male human, since it is from him that the woman is later
formed (Genesis 2:22). According to Rabbi Daniel Boron, the first human
ever to walk the earth was named Adam, as in human. The Hebrew word
for earth is adama. God formed man from the dust of the earth, and on
the simplest level, that connection with adama (earth), is the basis for
mans name. Once Adam sinned and ate the forbidden fruit, he introduced
death to the world and was sentenced to once again return to the earth
from which God created him. The word Adam is comprised of the letter
aleph, followed by dalet and mem, the letters that spell the word
dam which means blood, where the lowest aspect of ones soul, also
resides in ones blood. In the name Adam, the word dam is preceded by
the letter aleph. The letter aleph is also a word which means to teach
or inculcate. It indicates leadership, as implied by the related word aluf
which means a tribal head or general. G-d created man the means to
assert control over his basest desires and be an aluf over the dam.
He is thus, created in the image and likeness of G-d. The name Adam
also alludes to the word adameh which means, I will liken myself,
indicating ones ability to emulate G-d.
33

34

35

Adam: the man. A thorough study of the creation of man will note that
that there are three (3) accounts of the creation of man which when
reconciled with scientific facts will show a timeline. The first account is
man mentioned in Genesis 1:26-27, to wit:
{1:26} And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and
let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air,
and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that
creepeth upon the earth. {1:27} So God created man in his [own] image, in the

image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Gen 1:2627 AV)

The first creation account of man in Genesis 1 gave him dominion over
all creatures of the sky, the waters and the ground. These must be the
hunter-gathering hominids
and archaic humans defined under
evolutionary taxonomy. The Latin noun hom (genitive: hominis) means
man, human being. The binomial name Homo sapiens was coined by
Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1758).
The
taxonomic family of the hominids (Hominidae), also known as great apes,
consists of primates, including four extant genera: the chimpanzees (Pan)
with 2 species; gorillas (Gorilla) with 2 species; humans (Homo) with 1
species; and orangutans (Pongo) with 2 species. The Wikipedia article
under Homo, explains that names for other human species were
introduced beginning in the second half of the 19th century (H.
neanderthalensis 1864, H. erectus 1892). The genus Homo was given this
taxonomic name to suggest that its members can be classified as human,
and while there is substantial debate on the delineation of the genus
from Australopithecus or indeed from Pan, classification of fossils within
Homo coincides with evidence of early tool use beginning some 2.6
million years ago; the use of tools signifying the stage of development of
its civilization. The single most defining character of these hominid
cultures are their civilizations, the use of tools most particularly.
36

37

38

39

40

The second account of the creation of man is the man mentioned in

Genesis 2:5-6, to wit:
{2:5} And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of
the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the
earth, and [there was] not a man to till the ground. {2:6} But there went up a
mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. (Gen 2:5-6
AV)

To reconcile Genesis 1 with Genesis 2:56 and dispel conflict between

the two creation accounts, Dr. Walt Brown points out that the objections
come from conflict arising from the creation of vegetation described in
Genesis 1:1112, which Genesis 2:5 later says, there was no
vegetation. The other arises from the account of the creation of man in
Genesis 1:27, yet Genesis 2:5 says there was no man. These objectors
also claim that Genesis 2:56 says there was no man to cultivate the

ground, but man must be present before plants could grow, and in
Genesis 1, plants came before man. These mis-understandings
disappear when one realizes that vegetation in Genesis 1:1112 is the
Hebrew word deshe, meaning the plant kingdom. In Genesis 2:5,
shrub (siach) and plant (eseb) are special kinds of cultivated plants.
Following the latter two words with of the field implies cultivation or
farming of specific plantsnot vegetation in general. Likewise, beasts of
the field (Genesis 2:1920, II Samuel 21:10, Psalm 8:7) are domesticated
animals, while beasts of the earth (Genesis 1:2425) are wild animals.
Plants of the field (cultivated plants) were probably not eaten until
after the fall (Genesis 3:18).
In Genesis 2:56, crops were not yet
growing on the newly created earth. The Lord God had not sent rain, and
man did not yet toil for food. Hard labor came after the fall. Heavy fog
watered the earth.
This period may very well coincide with the Old
Stone Age or Paleolithic Age (2.6 million BC) before the Mesolithic Age
(8300 to 6500 BC) when man evolved from the early hunter-gathering
hominids to the farming man.
41

42

The third account is of the man who was called Adam and whose
genealogy is described in Genesis 5. He is our man. In Genesis 2:8,
And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put
the man whom he had formed. A river went out of Eden to water the
garden. (Gen 2:10) There was no rain then but rivers watered the plants.
The appearance of the hominids, archaic humans and later modern CroMagnon man (Homo sapiens sapiens) based on scientific facts is
separate from the man whom the Lord called Adam who had a wife Eve,
and are not in the same point in the timeline. This particular man, the
Lord called Adam has a genealogy, and all man that is descended from
him is believed to be accounted, unless vague mention is made of a scion
that is no longer significant but does appear in future mention. That this
particular man was chosen, as scripture has often shown that the Lord
chooses persons, or peoples and nations for believing in him (faith) and
justifies them as righteous. That Adam was chosen, and whose creation
together with a woman the Lord named Eve, sometime after 5000 BC,
marks a time which begins the countdown until Judgment Day. The
seventh day being a day of rest for the Lord, it is not counted, so that
there are only 6000 years total from Adam to Judgment Day. Judgment
Day being the seventh day of the week from the creation of Adam. This
is consistent with the belief that the destruction of this world will be
focused on man, whom the Lord has described in Genesis 6:3 as, ... also
flesh, that My Spirit shall not strive with man forever; nevertheless his
days shall be one hundred and twenty years."

The Vision and Meaning. Like a lion means possessing the

character and ferocity of a lion that are best suited in the primitive
environment of ancient times. A lion is lord of the jungle as ancient Egypt
was lord of the kingdoms around it. The wings of an eagle means
possessing an extraordinary mind setting it above its peers. These were
the characters that gave ancient Egypt, the first beast, the capability to
achieve and advance its civilization. The Dynastic Race Theory was the
earliest thesis to attempt to explain how pre-dynastic Egypt developed
into the sophisticated monarchy of Dynastic Egypt. The theory holds that
the earliest roots of the Ancient Egyptian dynastic civilization were
imported by invaders from Mesopotamia who then founded Egypts First
Dynasty and brought culture to the indigenous population. From the
verses: the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the
earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, we may surmise that a
more erect and intelligent Homo sapiens sapiens sans may have evolved
unlike its hunched predecessors and first showed its leadership ability to
build a kingdom in the development of the Egyptian civilization overtaking
Babylon, the earliest known civilization among the Mesopotamian states.
43

44

45

Amid the newly collected and excavated evidence of Egypt from the
Pre-dynastic and Early Dynastic ages there emerged a few cylinder seals, a knife
handle with Mesopotamian-style models: the "dynastic race" theory of the
foreign origin of Egyptian civilization gained a new lease on life. Sir Flinders
Petrie, the founder of modern Egyptology, who himself subscribed to that theory,
thus inferred several invasions of Egypt, on the basis of cultural changes seen in
the shift from Predynastic Naqada I to II, and again from late Naqada III to
Dynastic Egypt. Certain skeletal finds and naturally preserved bodies from
Predynastic cemeteries seemed to support this view. In addition, the apparently
sudden flowering of already well-developed hieroglyphics on First Dynasty
monuments indicated that Egypts writing system also must have been brought
from abroad, probably by the selfsame dynastic race. Supporters of the Aryan
Model could now detach Egyptian pharaonic civilization from any supposed
African origin.
Egypts high civilization was proclaimed the work of the
"dynastic race." This race was variously said to have come from somewhere to
the north, from Mesopotamia, from Elam, or even possibly from India. By the
early decades of the twentieth century the dynastic race theory seemed
unassailable. Thus far, (Martin) Bernals account of Aryan supremacy accords
with the early study of Egyptian antiquity as it is generally recognized. 46

Martin Bernal who wrote the three volumes of Black Athena: The
Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization discussed the improbability of
the Aryan Model of linguistic influence which propounded the theory that
influence from the northern side of the Mediterranean, particularly Greece
traveled to the south, particularly Egypt, and proved the opposite. Bernal
thus affirmed the earlier model of the Dynastic Race Theory.

Objections to proposed Afroasiatic loans in these semantic fields has

been particularly fierce. For example, the proposed derivation, of xiphos, the
most common Greek word for sword, from the Egyptian: sft; Coptic: sefe,
has been challenged on trivial grounds. Similarly, the Semitic etymology for
another frequent Homeric word for sword, phasganon, has been systematically
neglected. For scholars working in the Aryan Model, the idea that these and
many other military terms could have come from Orientals whom Aristotle had
described as of slavish disposition, was inherently impossible. The richest
family of Greek military terms is that around stratos for camp. This derives
from a development of the Egyptian: sdr for to sleep or spend the night;
and sdrt for bivouac, camp.47

To have a mans heart {...} given to it means his animal

tendencies were cast aside and a more intelligent humane side ruled his
behavior. The remains of Homo sapiens sapiens found in ancient Egypt
are evidence of the type of man which flourished during this time its
civilization was developing. It is this species of man characterized by a
developed brain as modern man today possesses.
48

Even those unfamiliar with craniometry will be struck by the difference

in the measurements of the skulls in the two series shown in the table on p .83.
The Predynastic people are seen to have had narrow skulls with a height
measurement exceeding the breadth, [...]. The reverse is the case in the Dynastic
Race, who not only had broader skulls but the height of these skulls, while
exceeding that in the Predynastic Race, is still less than the breadth. This implies
a greater cranial capacity and of course a larger brain in the invading people. [...].
In both races there is little difference in the length of the skull, but a mean of
132.0 mm. For the breadth in the Predynastic people and of 139.0 mm. In the
Dynastic Race came to be regarded in my mind as characteristic. The two series
in the above table which do not conform to this are both from Abydos and almost
certainly, as shown by Dr. Morant, are not the pure Egyptian stock. It was stated
above that only the earliest graves are dealt within this paper for the reason that
mixture of the two races at later dates obscures the outstanding differences so
marked in the earliest periods. It is, however, important to note that infiltration
had begun already in Late Predynastic times, and the results of measurements of
skulls from graves of this date frequently show the presence of a larger-headed
people. This was the case in Petries original discovery at Nakadah where both
Early and Late Predynastic graves were brought to light, the latter including
Early Dynastic burials.49

Egypts early civilization fast developed into the most sophisticated by

3000 BC. It possessed a stratified society and the royal court was replete
with its entourage of advisers. Some of the earliest knowledge of
mathematics are preserved in Egyptian papyri. It also maintained an
army. Its civilization is undoubtedly considered the oldest.
Early History. The first reference to Egypt in the scriptures is found in
the Book of Exodus, shortly after the time of Noah. The scripture tells us
that Cush, Mizraim (Hebrew: Mizraim for Egypt), Put and Canaan were

children of Ham, son of Noah. Mizraim later became Egypt. The

evidence of rock carvings along the Nile terraces and in the desert oases
points to a culture of hunter-gatherers and fishers in 10000 BC. Around
8000 BC as a result of climate changes and overgrazing, pasture was
depleted and migration began into the Nile River where began a
centralized society and settled agricultural economy. The New Grolier
Multimedia Encyclopedia describes Egypts civilization as a hunting
community of archaic humans before 5000 BC, which settled by the Nile
River valley as farmers after 4000 BC establishing villages in Merimdeh
and Fayum in northern Egypt between these periods. Farm surpluses
economically gave rise to an elite class by late Pre-dynastic times (c.
3300 BC) ruled by chieftains identifiable by its tombs, forerunners of the
pyramids. By this time, the local kingdoms had coalesced into two
competitive kingdoms, northern and southern. Throughout the period
5000-3100 BC domesticated grains and animals may have come via Syria
and Palestine, perhaps at the time of Merimdehs earliest phase. Both
northern and southern Egypt traded with Syria, Palestine, and northeast
Africa throughout Pre-dynastic times.
50

51

52

53

King Narmer (a.k.a. Menes) unified the two kingdoms. He and his
immediate predecessors, the pharaohs of the 1 st and 2nd dynasties, were
buried at Abydos in prototypes of the later pyramids also found in
Memphis. Royal power had greatly increased by the 3rd dynasty (2686 2613 BC) characterized by step pyramids in stone. Pyramids like the one
at Giza where Khufus (Cheops) are found were also built. Later, in the
4th and 5th dynasties, Egyptian armies raided Palestine and southern
Nubia. By the 6th dynasty, regional kingdoms became stronger putting
Egypt on the defensive. Egyptian rule began to break down under the 7th
dynasty. In the First Intermediate period (2181 - 2040 BC), provincial
warlords were not prevented by the Memphitic pharaohs from fighting
over territory that eventually resulted in two separate kingdoms. The 9th
and 10th

dynasties ruled from Heracleopolis, the 11th dynasty from

Thebes. Finally, in 2000 BC, Nebhepetre Mentuhotep of the 11th dynasty

conquered the north and rebuilt the monarchy, inaugurating the Middle
Kingdom. About this time, Abraham and his wife, Sarah, came to Egypt
from Canaan, where a famine had struck. They stayed there a little while

until Pharaoh asked them to leave richer than they came after a little
ploy by Abraham gave an unexpectedly handsome result (Gen 12:10).
Decline marked the Second Intermediate period (1786-1567 BC) with
internecine strife between high officials of the 13th dynasty over the
royal succession followed by a severe famine that weakened Egypt to
invasions by the Hyksos.
Hyksos. (Egyptian: heqa khasewet for foreign rulers) Manetho (300
BC), an ancient Egyptian priest-historian, has an early account of the
Hyksos migration and rise to become rulers of Egypt. This event is
significant for at no time in Egypts history was there a period which could
plausibly bring us to a conclusion that this period would account for
Josephs presence in Egypt, his rise to power under the Hyksos rule and
how his family, the whole of Israel, came to Egypt. The biblical account
spoke of a severe famine (Gen 41:53-54) in all the other lands saved in
Egypt where there was food. This was the reason why the people from
Canaan migrated to Egypt. The Hyksos exploited Egyptian ideology but
remained Syro-Palestinian in culture. Another account, some 400 years
year later may be found in the work of Josephus Flavius (37-100 AD), a
Jewish historian known, among others for his account of the Jews under
Roman domination. Josephus works include Against Apion.
Here,
Josephus sharply criticizes Manethos account of two Exodus-like events
for misinterpreting them as the biblical Exodus and attempts to correct
them. Nevertheless, the accounts are evidence of the period when
peoples from Asia did enter Egypt to be later driven or led out during the
Exodus. Manethos work Aegyptiaca, reconstructed from the few
remaining extant fragments (frag. 42, 1.75-79.2) recorded the Hyksos
appearance as an armed invasion by a horde of foreign barbarians who
plundered their cities and took the Egyptians into slavery. This theory is
now overturned by the theory of a non-violent wave of migration. Under
this theory, the Egyptian rulers of the 13th dynasty preoccupied by a
serious famine, were unable to stop migrants from Asia looking for food
and employment in Egypt. Historian Gae Callender notes:
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56

Numerous inscriptions record Amenmhat IIIs mining activities. In the

Sinai region alone, where the kings officials worked the turquoise and copper
mines on a quasi-permanent basis, fifty-nine graffiti have been identified. The
quarries at Wadi Hammamat, Tura, Aswan, and various Nubian sites were also
worked. All this building and industrial activity symbolizes the prosperity that
Egypt enjoyed during the reign, but it may also have exhausted the economy and,
combined with a series of low Nile floods, late in his reign, resulted in political
and economic decline. Ironically, the large intake of Asiatics, which seems to
have occurred partly in order to subsidize the extensive building work, may have
encouraged the so-called Hyksos to settle in the Delta, thus leading eventually to
the collapse of native Egyptian rule.57

By 1700 BC Egypt had broken into local kingdoms in the northeastern

Delta. One of these was ruled by King Nehesy whose capital was at Avaris.
Hyksos of Syro-Palestinian origin, among them soldiers, sailors,
shipbuilders and workmen during the 12th dynasty made up his kingdom.
His dynasty may have been succeeded by West-Semitic-speaking SyroPalestinians who later became the Hyksos kingdom that Joseph belonged
to. Joseph, his brothers and father, Jacob very probably began the
migration of the Israelites to Egypt during this period. Manetho described
an invasion.
Tutimaeus. In his reign, for what cause I know not, a blast of G-d smote us; and
unexpectedly from the regions of the East, invaders of obscure race marched in
confidence of victory against our land. By main force they easily seized it
without striking a blow; and having overpowered the rulers of the land, they then
burned our cities ruthlessly, razed to the ground the temples of the gods, and
treated all the natives with a cruel hostility, massacring some and leading into
slavery the wives and children of others. Finally, they appointed as king one of
their number whose name was Salitis. He had his seat at Memphis, levying
tribute from Upper and Lower Egypt, and always leaving garrisons behind in the
most advantageous positions.58

A study of ceramic artifacts from the Second Intermediate Period

excavated in the Memphis-Fayum region of Lower Egypt by Janine
Bourriau as cited by Oren in The Hyksos: New Historical and
Archaeological Perspectives, did not find Hyksos influence debunking the
view espoused by Manetho that the Hyksos invaded and plundered
Memphis and subjected it to their authority. The Hyksos first appeared in
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the 11th dynasty of Egypt and invaded the eastern Nile Delta in the 12th
dynasty which began the Second Intermediate Period. They rose to power
in the 13th dynasty of Egypt and are often depicted in the art of the
period wearing the cloaks of many colors associated with the mercenary
Mitanni bowmen and cavalry of Northern Canaan, Aram, Kadesh, Sidon
and Tyre. This was also the kind of coat Jacob gave his son, Joseph who
wore it with pride (Gen 37:3). Herbert E. Winlock describes new military
hardware introduced by the Hyksos, such as the composite bow, improved
recurved bow, horse-drawn war chariot, improved arrowheads, various
kinds of swords and daggers, a new type of shield, mailed shirts, and the
metal helmet.
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61

The 15th Hyksos dynasty capital was at Memphis and their summer
residence at Avaris. They ruled Lower Egypt until the end of the 17th
dynasty of Egypt. A hiatus in native Egyptian rule began from the end of

the 12th

dynasty to the start of the 18th

dynasty of Egypt when the

capital moved to Thebes. Only four 15th Hyksos Dynasty rulers were
known by their Canaanite names. The dates of their approximate reigns
are: Sakir-Har (named as an early Hyksos king on a door jamb found at
Avaris whose reign is yet unknown); Khyan (c. 1620 BC); Apophis (c. 1580
- 1540 BC); and Khamudi (c. 1540 - 1530 BC). The Hyksos kingdom was
centered and limited to the eastern Nile Delta and Middle Egypt while the
Theban-based native Egyptian rulers controlled the south into Upper
Egypt. Commerce between them consisted of transit rights through
Hyksos-controlled Middle and Lower Egypt and pasturage rights in the
fertile Delta.
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The Carnarvon Tablet I, narrates the Theban Pharaoh Kamose

proposal to the council to move against the Hyksos, who were seen as a
humiliating stain upon the holy land of Egypt. The councilors clearly did
not wish to disturb the status quo:
The great men of his council spoke: Behold, it is Asiatic water as far as
Cusae, and they have pulled out their tongues that they might speak all together,
(whereas) we are at ease in our (part of) Egypt. Elephantine is strong, and the
middle (of the land) is with us as far as Cusae. The sleekest of their fields are
plowed for us, and our cattle are pastured in the Delta. Emmer is sent for our
pigs. Our cattle have not been taken away He holds the land of the Asiatics; we
hold Egypt. Should someone come and act [against us], then we shall act against
him! 65

Hyksos rule overlapped with the native Egyptian pharaohs of the

16th and 17th dynasties of the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt.
The 15th dynasty Hyksos kings assimilated well into Egyptian cultures
wide use of scarabs, art forms, royal titles and the god Seth. However,
native Egyptians continued to view the Hyksos as invaders. While the
Hyksos controlled the Delta region the Thebans mined gold and traded in
the Red Sea until the 17th dynasty when the Theban wars of liberation
began. Bourriau found Theban wares in the Memphis-Fayum region
corresponding to this period and agrees with Manethos description of
Hyksos rule which is confirmed in the Kamose texts that Kamose rejected
vassal status, the strict control of the border at Cusae, the imposition of
taxes on all Nile traffic and the existence of garrisons. The war against
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the Hyksos began in the latter part of the 17th dynasty when the Theban
king Seqenenre Tao II attacked his Hyksos contemporary Auserra Apophis
(also: Apepi or Apophis). His mummy in the Cairo Museum shows head
wounds from a sharp blade that caused his death. His son Wadjkheperra
Kamose, the last ruler of the 17th dynasty at Thebes, brought Egypt its

first victory. In the third year of his reign, Kamose overran the
southernmost garrison of the Hyksos at Nefrusy, north of Cusae (near
modern Asyut) and led his army as far north as Avaris devastating the
fields around it. A second stele discovered at Thebes continues the
account of the war broken off on the Carnarvon Tablet I, and narrates the
interception and capture of a courier bearing a message from the Hyksos
king Aawoserra Apophis at Avaris to his ally, the ruler of Cush, requesting
support against the threat posed by Kamose on both their kingdoms.
Kamose troops occupied the Bahriya Oasis in the Western Desert to block
the desert route to the south. Kamose then sailed back up the Nile to
Thebes for a joyous victory celebration. By the end of the reign of
Apophis, the second last of the Hyksos kings of the 15th Dynasty, the
Hyksos had been routed from Middle Egypt and had retreated northward
in the vicinity of the Fayyum at Atfih. Apophis outlived his first Egyptian
contemporary, Seqenenre Tao II, and was still on the throne at the end of
Kamoses reign. Khamudi, last Hyksos ruler of the 15th Dynasty had a
relatively shorter reign which fell within the reign of Ahmose, Kamoses
th
successor and the founder of the 18
dynasty. Ahmose I, the first
pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, finally expelled the Hyksos from their last
holdout at Sharuhen after a three-year siege in the Negev desert between
Rafah and Gaza by the 16th year of his reign. Egyptian literature until the
Greek times, depict the Hyksos as Asiatics referring to the Semitic
groups who settled in Aswan or the Delta, and possibly led Manetho to
believe the Hyksos episode with Josephs sojourn in Egypt. Modern
historians have also identified the expulsion of the Hyksos with the
Exodus due to the fact that some Hyksos pharaohs had familiar Semitic
names, such as Jacobaam of the 16th dynasty.
At the end of the 19th dynasty, the Elephantine stele and the
Harris Papyrus records that the first pharaohs of the 20th dynasty revived
the anti-Hyksos sentiment. Setnakht, who founded the 20th dynasty,
records in the Elephantine stele that in the second year he defeated and
expelled a large force of Asiatic invaders during the chaos between the
end of Twosrets reign and the beginning of the 20 th dynasty. In his
Against Apion, Flavius Josephus debates the synchronism between the
biblical Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt and two Exodus-like events
that the Egyptian historian, Manetho records. Josephus identifies the
Biblical Exodus with the first exodus mentioned by Manetho when some
480,000 Hyksos Manetho referred to as shepherd kings, shepherds,
kings, or captive shepherds left Egypt for Jerusalem. The mention of
Hyksos identifies this first exodus with the Hyksos period (c. 1600 BC).
Josephus identifies a second exodus mentioned by Manetho that Josephus
claims is a product of Manethos fictional imagination when a renegade
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Egyptian priest called Osarsiph led 80,000 lepers to rebel against Egypt.

69

Joseph. The 11th son of Jacob (Israel), Joseph was seventeen

when his brothers sold him to Midianite merchants on their way to Egypt,
where he would later become right hand man of the Hyksos Pharaoh. In
Egyptian history, the Hyksos emergence to become rulers of Egypt was an
opportunity for the development of the community of Hebrews brought
about by the migration of Hebrews led by Joseph and his brothers who
brought their families and resettled in Egypt as a result of the periodic
famine which swept through Canaan. The Hebrews will spend
approximately 400 years in Egypt before Moses led them out of it to
return to Canaan. By 1700 BC Egypt was weakened by internal problems
and overran by Hyksos who set up two contemporaneous dynasties and
ruled between 1674-1567 BC. In this study, the secular date of the
Hyksos reign is an important reference for approximating the time of
Moses and Josephs birth, their sojourn in Egypt, and the exodus out of
her. The existence in Egypt of the Hyksos, who became its rulers explains
Josephs rise as the right hand of the Hyksos ruler, both of them coming
from Canaan. With the aid of the midst of the week prophecy found in
Daniel 9:27 and the period covering the 1260 years of the church in the
wilderness discussed later in this study, weve already determined that
the first half of the week (prophetic days of years), which is three and
a half days is also equivalent to 1260 years. These number of years
going backward from 70 AD, the year of the end of the daily sacrifice in
the temple of Solomon, is 1190 BC. This is the year beginning the old
covenant, the covenant where Jesus confirms (the law and the
prophets) together with the new covenant that he brought with him and
sealed by his blood for many (both Jews and Gentiles). 70 AD is the
midst of the week, all of which we shall discuss later. Moses lived to a
hundred and twenty years and his life has been significant every fortieth
year of his life. He was forty when he killed the Egyptian mistreating his
Jew slave (Acts 7:23), eighty when called to argue before pharaoh to
release the Hebrews (Ex 7:7; Acts 7:30), and the last forty spent
wandering around the Sinai peninsula subsisting on manna before he
brings the Hebrews back to Canaan from Egypt (Deut 34:7; Ex 16:35). In
Exodus 12:40-41 it was already 430 years since the time of Joseph that
the Hebrews had lived in Egypt as they are led by Moses and set out for
Canaan. In their third month in the desert, the Lord gave the covenant to
Moses and the Hebrews on Mount Sinai (Ex 24:8). 430 years back from
1190 is 1620 when the Hyksos was on the 54th year of its 107 years of
rule. Joseph was thirty years old (1627 BC) when he was made right hand
of the Hyksos Pharaoh (Gen 41:46) and was already in Egypt for thirteen
years. It was seven years later when the famine started and he called for
his father to live in Egypt (1620 BC). This marks the beginning of the 430
years of Jacob (who is also called Israel; Gen 32:28) in Egypt. Joseph
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would be born in the year 1657 BC. Potiphar, a high Egyptian official who
became the master of Joseph is significantly mentioned as an Egyptian,
i.e. one of the native Egyptian officials at the Hyksos court. Joseph died
at the age of a hundred and ten (Gen 50:26).
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Moses. The Hebrew people had been in slavery in Egypt for 430
years in accord with Gods words to Abraham that his seed, or
descendants, would be in a foreign land in affliction (Ex 12:40; cf: Gen.
15:13). At the end of this time, God brought up Moses, a child of the
Hebrew slaves to set them free. Moses lived to be a hundred and twenty
(Deut 34:7). Moses was eighty years of age when he spoke to Pharaoh to
convince him to let the Hebrews go (Ex 7:7). In that same year, the
Israelites left Egypt and the covenant was given to Moses in Mt. Sinai.
Moses would be born sometime in the year 1270 BC. The native Egyptian
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monarchs of Thebes finally expelled the Hyksos and founded the 18th
dynasty inaugurating ancient Egypts most brilliant period, the New
Kingdom (1570-1085 BC). Among its notable rulers were Hatshepsut,
Thutmose III, Akhenaten, Seti I, and Ramses II. They reconquered
southern Nubia and Palestine. The kingdom ended in a civil war under
Ramses XI.
2

The Second Beast - Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia, from the ancient Greek root words (meso)
middle and (potamia) river (the land between the rivers),
was the Greek name for the triangular area between the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers that stretched northward from Baghdad to the mountains
of Armenia. Today, it refers to Iraq. The rivers Tigris and Euphrates, are
two of the rivers of the Garden of Eden, where once lived Adam and Eve,
the woman formed from Adams rib (Gen 2:14). The river Euphrates
whose head is in Anatolia, or what is now modern Turkey, traverses
through Iraq. Mt. Ararat where the ark of Noah settled after the flood is
also found in Armenia. Anatolia is also the home of a legendary race of
women called Amazons who for a reason dissociated themselves from
men except for procreative purposes. The Greeks and Romans called
western Anatolia Asia. The more unified civilizations of Egypt, Persia or
Greece were unlike Mesopotamia, which was uncommonly a collection of
varied cultures whose only real bonds were their gods, script, and attitude
toward women. Joshua J. Mark writes,
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The social customs, laws, and even language of Akkad, for example, cannot
be assumed to correspond to those of Babylon; it does seem, however, that the
rights of women, the importance of literacy, and the pantheon of the gods were
indeed shared throughout the region (though the gods had different names in
various regions and periods). Mesopotamia would be more properly understood
as a product of multiple empires and civilizations rather than any single
civilization. 77

This is also understood to be the result of the prohibition by the

Lord, an account of which can be found in Genesis 11:1-9, which confused
their otherwise unified language and speech in order to confuse the
people and prevent them from reaching up to heaven and accomplish
great things as they did when they built the Tower of Babylon. The tower
is believed to be the precursor of later known ziggurats that are
architecturally, the Mesopotamian predecessors of the Egyptian pyramids.
These ziggurats were built by kings, it is believed, in the third millennium
BCE Mesopotamia. Even so, Mesopotamia is still rightfully known as the
cradle of civilization. For several hundred years prior to the First World
War, this mostly Arab region lay within the Turkish Ottoman Empire.
During that war, the British invaded Ottoman Mesopotamia, finally
conquering the area. The peace treaty that ended Turkeys part in World
War One, caused the Turks to give up control of Mesopotamia, which
became known by the older name, Iraq. The new Iraq was under British
control at first, a fact which caused a great deal of unrest. The current
borders of Iraq and most Middle Eastern nations, such as Syria and
Palestine/Israel, were drawn by the conquering Europeans, often with little
regard to the preferences of the people who were to live in these newly
created nations.
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The Vision and Meaning. The only occurrence of the word rib
before the Book of Daniel is in the Book of Genesis pertaining to the
creation of Eve (Gen 2:22). The beast being raised up from one side
means the side where this kingdom or nation prospered was the side
where the rib was taken from. Eve was formed from a rib taken from the
side of Adam; they were the first man and woman out of the garden of
Eden, out of whom came the people who populated Mesopotamia and
began mankind and civilization. Theirs was the first kingdom though
secular history cannot account for it. Written history began only with the
cuneiform writings in stone and clay tablets commonplace in Sumer at
around 3000 BC. Unwritten history from the finds of both secular and
Bible archaeologists places several civilizations before Sumer that can
only be identified by their artifacts from their villages that have been
buried in the sands for thousands of years. Bible history however,
accounts for civilization before and after the Flood, so that the three
ribs in its mouth would refer to Ham, Shem and Japheth. They and their
wives restarted mankind after it was wiped out during the Flood. Ham
would populate the African continent, Shem, the Middle East and Japheth
the European continent. They were given the command to: Arise,
devour much flesh, meaning to repopulate the land. Science and the
Bible are not irreconcilable but concepts may be formed of beliefs not
contrary with hard scientific facts. Biblical scholars insist in the theory
that human beings may not be descended from other archaic or primitive
humans that Darwin in his Origin of the Species propounds, so that its
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origin, as they insist, is as narrated in Genesis.

Darwins theory may
then be limited to archaic humans and other lower forms of fauna and
flora. According to a study by Nebel in 2000, more than 70% of Jewish
men and half of the Arab men (inhabitants of Israel and the territories
only) whose DNA was studied, inherited their Y-chromosomes from the
same paternal ancestors who lived in the region within the last few
thousand years. The results are consistent with the biblical account of
Jews and Arabs having a common ancestor. DNA studies of about twothirds of Israeli Arabs and Arabs in the territories and a similar proportion
of Israeli Jews show they are the descendants of at least three common
ancestors who lived in the Middle East in the Neolithic period.
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The beast looked like a bear. Like a lumbering bear crouching on

all fours, however first it may have been conceived, the first man and
woman having been created here and later the species of men and
women to repopulate the earth; where two of the rivers of the garden of
Eden, the Tigris and Euphrates flows, the civilizations that sprung from
Mesopotamia would not become as sophisticated a civilization as Egypt
had later fast become the reason for it to become the second beast in
Daniels vision, instead of the first. A bear is slow and although a great
many advances in early forms of technology were started in
Mesopotamia, the Egyptians were quicker to adapt and improve on them
and discover and invent some of their own. Though the great civilizations
in Mesopotamia started in Sumeria, the Egyptians had overtaken them
after 4000 BC by the villages established in Merimdeh and Fayum. The
Egyptian king Narmer (r. 2686-2613 BC) during the Old Kingdom and the
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pharaohs before him of the 1st and 2nd dynasties made the first
prototypes for the famous pyramids found at Giza. It was not until the
Amorites set up the Sargonid dynasty between 2350 - 2100 BC after
western Semites had occupied Akkad before them, that the Old
Babylonian kingdom after merging with the Sumerians who established
their civilization in 3100 BC south of Mesopotamia, was it at par with
Egyptian civilization.
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Early History.
Some parts of Mesopotamia were sparsely
inhabited-- others not until after about 8000 BC, when nomads and cave
dwellers became farmers and herders. By 6000 BC villages stretched
from Assyria along a fertile strip below the Armenin hills to the Euphrates
River and beyond. Sumerians. Later, about 5000 BC the lower valley,
Babylonia was occupied by the nomadic peoples who started at the
Persian Gulf and moved upriver, thus by 3100 BC a civilization begun
south of Mesopotamia in the area called Babylon which lasted until about
2000 BC. During this period, the Sumerians organized a system of flood
control and irrigation and created an enduring writing system (cuneiform),
religious literature, architectural form, and economic organization.
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Amorites. Semitic-speaking tribes from the west occupied the northern

part of the lower valley (Akkad) around Babylon and set up the Sargonid
dynasty (c.2350-2100 BC) controlling the Sumerians in the south. Shortly
after 2000 BC, the Amorites, a larger Semitic tribe came and established
the Old Babylonian Kingdom with their capital at Babylon, unifying the
whole valley. In the emerging culture with the Sumerians, the Amorite
language prevailed creating a new literature, political organization,
advances in sculpture and commerce. They also developed the
mathematics and astronomy of the Sumerians. Assyrians. About the
same time, another Semitic tribe, the Assyrians, took over the eastern
part (Assyria) of northern Mesopotamia borrowing the culture of the
Sumerians. Between 1550 and 1100 BC Babylon was invaded by Kassites
and Assyria by Mittannians who came from the north that by 745 and 612
BC the Assyrians had built up and then lost a great empire that
encompassed Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, with tributary
nations in western Iran as well. It was during this time that Israel was
destroyed by Assyria in 721 BC. On this year, Shalmaneser, king of
Assyria put Hoshea in prison and besieged Samaria three years, and in
the ninth year of Hosheas reign, took it and carried Israel away to Halah
and Habor by the river Gozan, and to the cities of the Medes (2 Kings
17:1-6). This is the year by which the punishment of the northern
kingdom, by which Israel is differentiated from the southern kingdom of
Judah, begun. Chaldeans. After the fall of Assyria, Babylonia under the
Chaldean kings - Nabopolassar (r. 630-605), Nebuchadnezzar II (r. 605561), and others- flourished until the Persian conquest of 539 BC. Judah
was taken by the Babylonians in 587 BC and the temple destroyed in 586
BC. The period that Bible scholars call the Diaspora (Greek for
dispersion) started during the Babylonian exile in 606 BC when the
Hebrews were taken as slaves to Babylon. The prophet Jeremiah (Jer 25:111), foretold the beginning of the seventy year exile of the Hebrews in
606 BC and end in 536 BC when the Persian Cyrus the Great took Babylon
and freed the Hebrews then issued the decree for them to rebuild the
temple and Jerusalem. In 586 BC the temple was destroyed by the
Babylonians and rebuilt seventy years later in 516 BC under the Persians.
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Nebuchadnezzar. In Babylonian orthography Nabu-kudur-uzur

(Nebuchadnezzar), is derived from Nebo: protect the crown or the
frontiers. He styles himself Nebos favourite, the son and successor of
Nabopolassar, who delivered Babylon from its dependence on Assyria and
laid Nineveh in ruins. As the greatest and most powerful Babylonian king,
he married the daughter of Cyaxares, uniting the Median and Babylonian
dynasties . When Necho II, the king of Egypt, defeated the Assyrians at
Carchemish and took possession of the Syrian provinces of Assyria,
including Palestine, the remaining provinces of the Assyrian empire were
divided between Babylonia and Media. To reconquer from Necho the
western provinces of Syria, Nabopolassar made him send his son
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Nebuchadnezzar with a powerful army westward (Dan 1:1). The Egyptians

met him at Carchemish, which resulted in the complete rout of the
Egyptians (Jer 46:2-12) completing Babylons conquest of Syria and
Phoenicia in 606 BC. Nebuchadnezzar thus subdued the whole of
Palestine, and took Jerusalem, carrying away captive a great multitude of
the Jews, among whom were Daniel and his companions (Dan 1:1, 2; Jer
27:19; 40:1) . Thus were fulfilled the words of the prophets (Jer 46:13-26;
Eze 29:2-20). Having completed the subjugation of Phoenicia and inflicted
chastisement on Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar now set himself to rebuild and
adorn the city of Babylon (Dan 4:30)
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The Third Beast - Media - Persia

The name Persia (from the ancient province of Persis; modern Fars,
Iran) was given by the Greeks to the entire land occupied by various
Iranian tribes from which the Achaemenid dynasty rose. It is the land of
present-day Iran and Afghanistan. The earliest inhabitants were known
from their stone artifacts and their pottery found during the Paleolithic
and Neolithic period. A distinctive painted pottery appears only in the
Chalcolithic Period about 3000 BC. By 2000 BC the Elamites whose
principal city, Susa was on the plain of Mesopotamia, were found
throughout southern Iran. By the end of the millennium Indo-Europeanspeaking invaders from the north had begun to spread. One branch
invaded India while their close relatives, the Iranians penetrated the
plateau. They called themselves Aryans and rode war chariots, but they
soon found that cavalry was more effective in mountain areas. By the 9th
century they had entered the Zagros Mountains. The Medes, the most
prominent of the Iranian peoples are mentioned by Assyrian sources in
836 BC. More than a century later the Parsa, or Persians, appeared in the
south. Other Iranian tribes then spread over the entire plateau.
Medes. The Medes, a federation of tribes created by the Iranians
about 700 BC was the first kingdom that appeared in western Iran. About
625 BC the Medes under Cyaxares formed a united kingdom by defeating
the Scythians. An alliance was then made with the Babylonians and the
allies stormed and destroyed the Assyrian capital Nineveh in 612 BC, a
date used today by the Kurds, who claim descent from the Medes to begin
their Kurdish era of time reckoning. Achaemenids. The Medes also
subdued the Persians and other Iranians on the plateau, but the Median
empire lasted only until 549 BC when the last Median king, Astyages (r.
584-549), was defeated by his Persian vassal Cyrus the Great (590-530
BC.), who became the heir of the Median king and ruled the empire from
549 to 530 BC. Cyrus the Great, king of Persia and founder of the Persian
Empire was born into a family of the Achaemenids who, as vassals of the
Medes, ruled a small kingdom called Persis in Susiana, southwestern
Persia. He succeeded to the throne on the death of his father, Cambyses I
in 558 BC. His early life and rise to power are subjects of legend.
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According to the historian Herodotus, Cyrus mother Maridane, a Median

princess, was the daughter of King Astyages of the Medes. It was
prophesied that she would bear a child who would inherit the world. This
legend maintained that when Cyrus was born, a Median nobleman,
Harpagus, was entrusted with the unwelcome task of killing the baby but
delivered him instead to a herdsman and his wife who, instead of
exposing him to wild beasts, brought him up as their own son. When he
was ten years of age, Cyrus was supposedly brought before Astyages for a
minor offense. The king recognized his grandson, dragged the truth from
the boys foster father, and took grisly vengeance upon Harpagus for his
deceit, but sent the child unharmed to his real parents in Persia. Greek
and Babylonian historian agree that Cyrus rebellion against the Medes
lasted three years until 550 BC when Ecbatana, the Median capital fell and
Astyages was taken prisoner, his downfall brought about by the treachery
of Harpagus. Cyrus was merciful and allowed Astyages to live at the
Persian court. He was succeeded by his son, Cambyses II (r. 530 to 522),
who, extended his kingdom by invading Egypt in 525. In 520, Darius I rose
to power and had the Achaemenid empire established firmly. He
consolidated and further extended Persian conquests so that the empire
stretched from Egypt and Thrace in the west to northwestern India in the
east. Darius son Xerxes I (Greek: Artaxerxes or Persian: Ahasuerus)
reigned from 486-465 BC. According to Faussets Bible Dictionary, the
name in the Persepolitan arrow-headed inscriptions is Kshershe. Xerxes
is explained by Herodotus as meaning martial; the modern title shah
comes from ksahya, a king, which forms the latter part of the name. The
former part is akin to shir, a lion. The Semitic Ahashverosh which is a
transliteration of the Persian Khshayarsha is a common title of many
Medo-Persian kings. After his defeat by the Greeks in the Persian Wars,
Xerxes I retired from active government and set a precedent for future
kings who were kept in power by the efficient bureaucracy organized by
Darius I. Artaxerxes Longimanus (Greek: Macrocheir for Longhand; Latin:
Longimanus) came to the throne after the assassination of his father,
Xerxes I, and his elder brother Darius. He ruled between 464-425 BC.
Court intrigues at the beginning of his reign were followed by revolts in
the provinces of Bactria and Egypt, which were put down only after much
fighting. A peace treaty was signed in 449 BC with Athens. Despite the
levy of high taxes to revive the empire after the Graeco-Persian wars and
discontent, the king maintained his empire in peace during the last years
of his rule. His building inscriptions say that he spent most of his life at
Susa and later retired to Persepolis. He died peacefully and was buried at
Naqsh-e Rustam.
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The Vision and Meaning. The third beast had the swiftness and
strength of a leopard, an animal akin to the lion but not as great and
had the ability to fly with the aid of four wings. At the height of its
power, Persian power swiftly stretched from Egypt in the west to

northwestern India in the east in just 63 years beginning with the reign of
Cyrus the Great. This was the kingdom the Macedonian, Alexander the
Great and the Romans tried to surpass in its breadth and width. The four
heads given authority to rule spoken of in Daniel 7:6 are the Persian
kings Cyrus the Great, Darius I (Darius Hystapses), Xerxes I, and
Artaxerxes Longimanus. Save for Cambyses II, son and successor of Cyrus
the Great, all issued decrees or affirmed the original decree of Cyrus in
favor of the return of the Jews to Israel to rebuild the temple and
Jerusalem. No similar decree was issued by Xerxes I, but he took as one of
his wife the influential Jew, Esther, in place of Queen Vashti.
Cyrus. In his first year, 536 BC, the year he took Babylon, Cyrus
published an edict which freed the Jews exiled by Nebuchadnezzar and
rebuilt the temple (Ezra 1:1-4). An Achaemene, Zoroasters teachings
were strictly adhered to by Cyrus who introduced and adopted policies
based on human rights and equality, and the banning of slavery. It was
one of the reasons for freeing the exiles in Babylon. Cyrus is referred to in
Isaiah as That saith of Cyrus, [He is] my shepherd, and shall perform all
my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the
temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. (Isa 44:28). Isaiah prophesied of
Cyrus whom the Lord calls by his name (Cyrus) for the sake of Jacob (Isa
45:1, 13). Darius (Hystapses) I. Cyrus was succeeded by his son
Cambyses II, the Xerxes referred to by Ezra (Ezra 4:6) who did not act
on the letter sent by those opposing the reconstruction of the temple. In
522 BC, after the death of Cambyses II, the Magian Smerdis, usurped the
throne, pretending to be Cyrus younger son. During this short reign of
eight months, the Magian faith was restored in Persia. Smerdis is the
Artaxerxes referred to in Ezra 4:7. Smerdis favored the opposition to the
reconstruction led by Bishlam, Mithredath, and Tabeel. Darius Hystapses
with six Persian princes overthrew the impostor and became king in 521
BC. Under Darius, the Jews resumed the reconstruction. Their enemies,
hoping that Smerdis had destroyed Cyrus decree, informed the king of
the Jews action and proposed that the archives at Babylon should be
searched for said decree. It was found at Ecbatana (Ezra 5, 6). Darius
own inscription at Behistun stated that in his zeal for Zoroastrianism he
reversed Smerdis policy. Xerxes I. Darius Hystapses son was Xerxes I,
father of Artaxerxes Longimanus (Ezra 7:1). Events between Ezra 6 and
Ezra 7, particularly of another Persian king and of the war which Persia
launched against Greece are filled in by the Book of Esther. The Xerxes in
the Book of Esther is the Xerxes described by Greek historians. Xerxes I, in
a drunken impulse to show off his beautiful queen Vashti during a large
state banquet asked that she show herself to the guests, in reckless
violation of Persian ethics. She refused. Xerxes I did away with queen
Vashti. In his third year, a feast in Shushan (Est 1:3) was held as Xerxes I
prepared to invade Greece. In his seventh year, after gathering all the fair
young virgins to Shushan, Xerxes I replaced Vashti by marrying Esther (Est
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2:16).
Esther found favor with the king and extended her influence to
the protection of the Jews. They were spared from the evil plots of Haman,
who hated them and Mordecai, Esthers uncle became the right hand of
the king. In that same year, Xerxes I saw defeat in the Grecian wars and
laid a large tribute upon the land (Est 10:1) to replenish his treasury
exhausted by the war.
Not long after, all the Jews were sent home to
rebuild the temple and the wall. Artaxerxes Longimanus. Artaxerxes
Longimanus, son of Xerxes I, reigned from 464-425 BC and permitted Ezra
(Ezra 7:1) to go to Jerusalem to oversee the affairs of the Jews. Thirteen
years after Ezras going to Jerusalem in 457 BC it was found that a civil
and ecclesiastical head was needed there. In 444 BC Artaxerxes
Longimanus, noted among the Persian kings for his wisdom, sent
Nehemiah as civil governor of Jerusalem, where Nehemiah spent 12
years. Like Cyrus and Darius, Artaxerxes Longimanus, a Zoroaster,
identified the G-d of Israel with his own god (Ezra 7:12,21,23) and
supported the Jews with grants from the state treasuries and threatened
death, banishment, imprisonment, or confiscation of their properties
against those who opposed it. Ezra and Nehemiah codified the laws of
Israel by order of Artaxerxes Longimanus. It is this reign that the seventy
weeks of Daniel in 9:24-27 (490 days or prophetic years) refers to.
From the time the decree was issued in 457 BC by Artaxerxes
Longimanus permitting Ezra to rebuild the temple.
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They are the four Persian kings spoken of by Ezra, Nehemiah,

Haggai, Esther and Daniel who favored the Jews. In Daniel 10:13, the
angel Gabriel spoke of being detained with or being resisted by the prince
(angel) of Persia for 21 days and only the prince of Israel, the archangel
Michael was there to support him for the angel Gabriel also supported
Darius the Mede (Daniel 11:1), a viceroy of Cyrus the Great who had
jurisdiction over Babylon as a king. In this transition, the angel of G-d
in order to anoint the Persians, worked through Darius the Mede who
conquered the Babylonians and sets Daniel and the Hebrews free. This is
also the time when Daniel so distinguished himself and became
administrator under Darius. Daniel was one of the instruments used by
G-d that the Persians may believe in the G-d of Daniel and of Israel.
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The Fourth Beast Greece

According to Colliers Encyclopedia the Greek mainland and islands
were populated at 4000 BC. By the beginning of the second millennium
BC, a sophisticated culture in the Aegean centered in Crete rose with a
flourishing trade with Egypt and Asia Minor. About the 17th century BC, an
invasion of central Greece and the Peloponessos were begun by
Achaeans, Arcadians, Aeolians, Ionians, and finally about 1100 BC, by the
Dorians - all speaking variants of the Greek tongue. By 1500 BC the
Achaeans, under Minoan sovereignty built a flourishing civilization
beginning the Mycenaean or Late Helladic period. Extensive excavations

at Mycenaea, Tiryns, and Pylos in Greece; at Troy in Asia Minor; and at

Knossus and other sites in Crete have recovered for the world the jewelry,
weapons, pottery and even the written tablets of the people of this early
age showing the splendor of their palaces and their tombs. Tablets written
in a script known as Linear B and found at Mycenaea, Pylos, and Knossus
were deciphered only in 1953 and identified as an archaic form of Greek
indicating that the control of the Aegean area including Knossus passed
from Crete to the Greek mainland.
The Achaeans. The period of Achaean supremacy is also called the
Heroic or the Homeric Age, and the names of many kings of the period,
e.g., Agamemnon of Mycenae and Nestor of Pylos, were preserved in later
legend and song. The story of the Trojan war, which provides the
background for Homers two great epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey,
undoubtedly reflects one of the wars waged by Achaeans and other Greek
peoples as they expanded along the Aegean coast at the beginning of the
12th century BC. The Dorians. After the Achaeans came the Dorians in
1100 BC and established themselves in the Peloponnesus and parts of
Asia Minor, and the islands of Crete, Cos, and Rhodes. The period (1000499 BC) saw the formation of the Greek city states and the development
of a strong racial consciousness. Calling themselves Hellenes, the Greeks
traced their descent from a mythical Hellen through his sons Aeolus,
Dorus, and Xuthus, and his grandson, Ion, the son of Xuthus. The Homeric
epics, composed early in this period, indicate the long development of
Greek poetry, evidence that the main features of Greek mythology go
back much earlier. The Greek pantheon of Olympian divinities, and the
tales of their relations with mortals, set forth by Homer and the bards
succeeding him, were standardized for later ages.
City-states. The early Hellenic city-states were monarchies, but
the growth of a landed nobility developed aristocracies that replaced the
kings. To secure their continued control, they denied political equality to
other classes, especially the middle class which in 680 BC, with the
introduction of the coin became more prosperous. However, in the period
following, monarchs instigated social and political conflicts in the city
states resulting in the overthrow of the aristocrats and the rise to power
of tyrants except in the Ionian city-state of Athens and the Dorian citystate of Sparta where the aristocracy was maintained. Many tyrants
however, were wise and able rulers who fostered the development of the
arts and literature, constructed public buildings, and encouraged industry
and trade. Cruel tyrants were immediately deposed and replaced.
Colonization. The period 750 to 500 BC saw a rise in colonization for
purposes of trade, politics, decongestion of its overpopulated centers, and
adventure. The earliest colony was in Cumae, Italy, by colonists from the
Euboean towns of Chalcis, Eretria, and Cyme. Chalcis founded the Greek

cities Naxos, Catana, Zancle (Messana), and Leontini, in Sicily. The Dorian
city-state of Corinth founded Syracuse in Sicily. The Spartans built
Tarentum, southern Italy. Megara settled the Sicilian Megara. Later, the
new cities themselves sent out colonies. Western Megara built Selinus in
western Sicily and Zancle founded Himera on the northern coast. The
most important colonial area was Sicily and southern Italy comprising the
Magna Graecia - Greek cities established along the Mediterranean coast
as far west as with Massilia (Marseilles) in Spain, where Hellenic culture
was brought to southern France. Greek expansion reached Egypt and
Carthage and in the 7th century BC trade by Greeks from the Miletus,
Samos and Aegina created the Greek city of Naucratis on the west
channel of the Nile. Thera settled Cyrene on the African coast, west of
Egypt. City-states of the Aegean islands established colonies in Thrace, on
the Propontis (Sea of Marmara), and along the coast of the Black Sea.
Megara on the Greek mainland founded Byzantium. The new Greek citystates retained sentimental and commercial ties with the mother city but
were completely and politically independent. They were unlike Roman
colonies, except for the colonies established by Corinth in northwestern
Greece (Epidamnus, Apollonia, Ambracia, and others) which remained
politically dependent on the mother city. Their numerous colonies
extending from the western Mediterannean to the Black Sea promoted a
strong sense of unity among the Greek. In the 6th century BC, the most
important Greek city-states included Thebes, the capital of the Beotians;
the Ionian city-state of Athens; and the Dorian cities of Sparta, Argos, and
Corinth. The latter was powerful because of its industry and commerce.
By 500 BC the two most important were Sparta and Athens. Sparta was
reactionary and dominated by the landed aristocracy, while Athens was
progressive, democratic and dominated by the middle class. The
aristocratic faction of other city-states received support from Sparta, and
the democratic faction looked to Athens for aid.
Philip of Macedon. When they were not fighting the Persians,
Sparta and Athens infrequently fought little wars against each other for
supremacy in the Peloponnesus. In 359 BC, the little known province of
Macedonia gave rise to a king, Philip, whose ambition was to unite all the
Greek city states under his rule. He occupied Thessaly and most of
Thrace; and intervening in the sacred war between the Phocians and the
Beotians, defeated the Phocians and destroyed their city. Philip thus
became the arbiter of Greek affairs and was publicly proclaimed to be a
Hellene. Demosthenes, the orator who headed the anti-Macedonian party
at Athens formed a federation of the Greek city-states under the
leadership of Athens. In the Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC) Philip defeated
the federated troops and placed Macedonian garrisons in Thebes, Corinth,
and other cities, except Athens. Philip convoked a congress at Corinth and
organized the Hellenic League which Sparta refused to join. The Greek

states under the league were independent and self-governing, but Philip
remained commander-in-chief of the combined Greek and Macedonian
forces to wage war against Persia. Philip was assassinated in 336 BC and
his son Alexander succeeded him to the throne at the age of twenty.
Alexander the Great. Alexander, in order to break the rebellious Greek
factions destroyed Thebes and sold the populace to slavery. Assuming the
leadership of the united Greek and Macedonian forces, Alexander carried
out his fathers plans to invade Persia. In 334 BC he crossed the
Hellespont with a force of 35,000 men and defeated a Persian army at the
Granicus River then liberated the Greek cities of Asia Minor. There was
little sympathy for the new Macedonian masters. In 333 BC King Darius
was overwhelmingly defeated at Issus in Cilicia and fled. Alexander
occupied the coast of Syria, Phoenicia, Tyre and Gaza then entered Egypt
without resistance. There he founded the city of Alexandria to become for
centuries the most important city of the Greek world. In 331 BC after
finally defeating King Darius at Gaugamela, he occupied Babylon, Susa,
Persepolis and Ecbatana. An expedition to India in 327 to 325 BC brought
the Punjab within his empire. He died in Babylon in 323 BC.
The Vision and Meaning. The fourth beast of Daniel is a very
powerful and terribly frightening beast with large iron teeth for crushing
and devouring its victims which then trampled whatever remained of it. It
also had ten horns. The Greeks made extensive use of iron. The Greek rise
to power was synchronous with the beginning of the Iron Age, classified in
archaeology as the period following the Bronze Age. This age is
characterized by the rapid spread of iron tools and weapons. Iron was best
put to use by the Greeks as instruments for waging war. Another
exceptionally remarkable character of ancient Greece was its city-state
where the concepts of democracy, a Greek original, were applied. Each
city-state was autonomous with other city-states. They were bound by a
common Greek tongue, religion, culture and trade, but rarely did they
interfere with one another nor ever attempted to conquer and put all the
city-states under one rule. In this aspect, there was respect for the
independence of each city-state. They united under a league, to address a
common issue such as during the war against the Persians but the league
was never used as an instrument to conquer the rest of the city-state and
place them under one rule until Philip of Macedonia. The ten horns of
this beast, Greece, are its city-states.
The Fourth Beast has Ten Horns. The fourth beast then is
Greece and its ten horns are any one of the ten leading city-states.
Leading may mean its influence may be inferred from its being very old.
However, city-states established much later wielded influence far greater
than the older ones. The ten known oldest Greek city-states enumerated
below, namely: Athens (3000 BC), Aegina (1500 BC), Delphi (1500 BC),
Sparta (1100 BC), Rhodes (1000 BC), Corinth (800 BC), Chalcis (750 BC),

Megara (730 BC), Eritrea, and Cyme. A city-state was a unit of

government in which sovereignty was exercised by an independent city.
Although independent cities have existed throughout history, the term
city-state is used most commonly to refer to the polis, the autonomous
city of ancient Greece. According to Grolier, the Greek city-states, of
which Athens and Sparta were the most important, numbered several
hundred. As horns are used by bovids to protect themselves, a large
horn like those of a raging bulls are to be feared. Often they are worn by
ancient warriors on their heads as a symbol of their pride and power. This
practice could be traced back to hunters in the days of the bison or such
similar bovids hunted for their meat. Alexander the Great is often
depicted wearing an iron helmet with horns. The Greek city states were
examples to be emulated in terms of governance. They were known for its
ruling councils called the Senate where laws were debated on before they
were passed and the democratic processes, e.g. elections, by which
members of the Senate were chosen. Under this liberal atmosphere, the
arts flourished such as never before seen in world history. Greek became
the universal language for kingdoms around the Great Sea. Contemporary
arts and sciences trace their early roots to Greek scholars and
philosophers, who are read and quoted up to the present.
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Later, other city-states would be found by older city-states or

existing non-Greek city-states incorporated and come under Greek
influence and grow to exert more influence than the older city-states. Of
the first type of city-state is Byzantium in Asia Minor, founded by Greek
th
sailors in 657 BC. Of the second type is Macedonia. In the 5 century BC.
Macedonia adopted the Attic Greek system of public administration and
looked up to the southern Greek city-states, though many Greeks in the
th
south regarded it as barbarian. Rome, founded in the 7
century BC
existing as an independent non-Greek city-state had economic and civil
relations with the existing Greek city-states of that time. Other city-states
would be established in Alexander the Greats time. Alexandria in Egypt,
founded by and named after him, was one. The capital cities of the
ancient world, like the old city of Babylon, in Mesopotamia where
Alexander spent his last days, in pursuit of further expansion in India,
were also developed. The old Persian cities of Susa (4395 BC), Persepolis
(550 BC), and Ecbatana (625 BC) also came under Alexanders empire.
Since Greece was of minor influence to Israel until Alexander the Greats
reign, the ten horns of the fourth beast must refer to some of the old
city-states, some of the new city-states founded under Alexander the
Great, and the capitals of other kingdoms which came under Alexanders
empire. They must include the new city-state of Alexandria representing
Egypt; the old city of Babylon representing conquered Mesopotamia; and
one of the old cities of Susa, Persepolis or Ecbatana, representing Persia.
Macedonia, Alexanders homeland; and the old city-states of Athens,

Sparta, or Corinth representing Greece. Furthermore, the first beast of

Revelation 13:2 with ten horns which resembled a leopard, a bear, and a
lion, assimilates the characteristics of the first three beasts in Daniels
vision Persia, the Mesopotamian states of which Babylon is foremost,
and Egypt.
In the period, after Alexanders demise, these ten horns would be
divided among his three deputies. These three horns are the kingdoms of
Ptolemy, whose capital is in Alexandria of Egypt; Seleucus, whose capital
is Babylon of Mesopotamia; and Antigonus, whose kingdom is in
Macedonia. These are the three horns uprooted by the little horn
(Rome) which came up among them.
Let us go back to Daniels little horn.
I considered the horns, and, Daniel behold, there came up among them
another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up
by the roots: (Daniel 7:8 AV).

While Daniel was thinking about the ten horns (the ten Greek citystates), another horn, the city-state of Rome, came up from among them
and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. While the word
among means membership, Rome is not named as one of the ten
horns because it was not Greek; neither did it come under Greek
dominion. It is also possible that such older Greek city-states as Athens
and Sparta, for example, had influenced Rome by way of Sicily because
the concept of democracy exercised by the Greek city-states was also
practiced by Rome during the Republic. The verses below from Daniel
7:24 refers to the same event, viz:
and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and
he shall subdue three kings. (Daniel 7:24 AV)

The then less influential Rome, a city-state but not Greek co-existed
with other Greek (e.g., Athens and Sparta) and nonGreek city-states (e.g.
Macedonia) but would later rise to power and subdue the three horns
before it. These three horns were the three kingdoms of Alexander the
Great divided between his successors upon his death at age 33 at the
height of his power, in 323 BC. His generals, known as the Diadochi
(successors) claimed it so that by 275 BC, three Macedonian dynasties
had established themselves.
The successors of Antigonus I (the
Antigonids) ruled Macedonia; those of Seleucus I (the Seleucids), the
Asian provinces; and those of Ptolemy I (the Ptolemies), Egypt. These
were the three kingdoms that were uprooted before the kingdom of
Rome. After 200 BC Rome ruled Greece taking power from Philip V of
Macedonia in 200-196. Suspected of supporting Hannibal of Carthage,
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against its allies, Pergamum and Rhodes, the Roman general Titus
Quinctius Flamininus at the Isthmian Games of 196 declared the liberty of
the Greeks. Macedonia became a Roman province in 148, and the
Achaean and Aetolian leagues were dissolved in 146. Romans defeated
the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III in 189, and the diminution of his authority
led many of his subjects to rebel so that by 100 BC the Jews had
established a state in Palestine and the Parthians had acquired
Mesopotamia. Attalus III bequeathed Pergamum to the Romans in 133.
The Fourth Beast is not Rome. The often quoted interpretation
by Uriah Smith of Daniels vision makes Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome
as the four beasts or kingdoms. Smith's interpretation did not make a
difference between the kingdoms in Chapter 2 from those in 7 and 8 and
missed the deeper meaning of the little horn. Rome cannot possibly be
the fourth beast because by inference, from Daniel 8:9 consistent with
Daniel 7:8, the horn is described as little. That it is a little horn which
came up among the ten horns of the fourth beast (Dan 7:8). In Daniel
8:9 it is a little horn out of the four notable horns which grew up in place
of the horn of the goat when its great horn was broken off at the height of
its strength. In the following verse in Daniel 8:21, the goat is expressly
declared as the kingdom of Greece. It follows that this little horn is also
the little horn in Daniel 7:8. Thus, the third and fourth kingdoms should
be Persia and Greece. This means that the vision of Nebuchadnezzar in
Chapter 2 is not exactly thes same as Daniel's own vision in 7 and 8. As
for the use of iron, about 2500 to 1200 BC, the Aegean civilizations of the
Minoans and Mycenaeans (forefathers of the Greeks) established centers
of metalworking and extensive trade routes into central Europe in order to
obtain tin and copper. About 1000 BC, an Iron Age civilization arose in
Greece that was based on rain-watered agriculture and used the
implements of the new metallurgy producing wrought iron from higher
furnace temperatures emerging as a red-hot, pasty ball that had to be
worked by hammering, rather than as liquid metal that could be poured
from crucibles into molds like the old copper and bronze metals. Bronze
and iron found their widest use in the paraphernalia of war. Hoplites (from
the Greek hoplon, a round shield) - ranks of drilled infantry armored with
helmets, corselets, greaves, and shields and armed with iron-tipped
spears - became the backbone of Greek military power. They are best
exemplified by the Spartans. We can surmise then, that the Greeks, who
already had developed metallurgy for bronze, easily adapted their
technology to smelt iron.
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The interpretation of Daniel and John the Apostle's beasts by Uriah

Smith of the Seventh Day Adventist was published in a book entitled
Thoughts, Critical and Practical, on the Book of Revelation in 1867. In the
year 1873 he wrote another book entitled, Thoughts, Critical and Practical,
on the Book of Daniel.
From 1897 up to the present time this book is
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known to Seventh-day Adventists as Daniel and the Revelation. It is a

prime example, of what could be an alarming inadequacy in the correct
interpretation of prophecy such that as the end of age approaches as sure
as the signs have ushered them, leaders of great Christian nations can be
misled and decisions may be made outside of the timeline with
catastrophic consequences. Ellen White, considered a prophetess in the
Seventh Day Adventist congregation said, The need is not filled by this
book!, referring to both publications by Uriah Smith and another one
which followed on the prodding of Ms. White written by Elder S. N.
Haskell entitled, The Story of Daniel the Prophet published in 1901. Ms.
Ellen White wanted the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation combined
together and put in small booklets, showing how the prophecies of Daniel
and Revelation relate to each other. A more accurate interpretation, 50
years later was published by Theodor Zahn, who wrote, Of subordinate
importance is the question as to the succession of world empires
presented in Rev. Probably (1) Egypt with Pharaoh as the typical name of
the king, (2) Assyria with Sennacherib, (3) Babylon with Nebuchadnezzar,
(4) the Medo-Persian empire, (5) the Graeco-Macedonian empire, (6) the
Roman Empire with its Caesar, (7) the short-lived empire which is to come,
to be followed by a renewal of the fifth empire of which Antiochus is the
antitype, who is the antichrist of the last days. This is the eighth
kingdom.
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The church of the Seventh Day Adventists is not alone. Most of the
Bible commentaries, dictionaries, and encyclopedias have not been able
to consistently tie all the visions and prophecies into one cohesive,
consistent and plausible interpretation upon which a decision relying on
them may be made. If they were not speculative, consistent, or overly
secular, they had a tendency to interpret to be spiritual, an otherwise
purely physical event. The absence of a consistent and coherent timeline
underlies the lack of interpretations of visions. This can be catastrophic in
decision making for political leaders who are Christians. One such, is a
military strategy which seeks to probe Gog and Magog with pre-emptive
strikes which may instead have adverse consequences. The fact that
scripture is used for political reasons is exemplified by the high priest
Jaddua who met with Alexander the Great upon his victory over the
Persian. Flavius Josephus, the 1st century Jewish historian, records that
Alexander the Great had designed to punish the Jews for their fidelity to
Darius but the high priest Jaddua (332 BC), at the head of a procession,
met him and averted his wrath by showing him Daniels prophecy that a
Grecian monarch would overthrow Persia (Dan 8:5-8). Josephus account
proved that Alexander soon favored the Jews and that the Jews of
Josephus time believed in the existence of Daniels book in Alexanders
time.
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Thus, it is to this little horn, not the fourth beast that is specifically

ascribed the deeds found in Daniel 7:25 concerning the persecution of the
early Christians for a period of 1,260 years.
5

The Little Horn: Rome

A study of the history of Rome is vital to the understanding of the
four beasts of the prophet Daniel in the book named after him and the
two beasts of the apostle Johns Book of Revelation. Only history can give
us the chronological point of views as no other study can and correctly
identify the transformations of the nations and institutions associated with
these beasts. Roman historians dates the founding of the city of Rome by
Latins and Sabines as April 21, 753 BC. From 616 BC it was ruled by
Etruscan kings who adopted much of Greek civilization and turned Rome
into a city-state. The Romans eventually assimilated the Etruscans. The
history of Rome is divided into three distinct epochs and one unique
epoch which historians treats separately for not being Roman but
assumes itself to be sovereign over Italy and the Romans. 1) The Kingship
from its legendary founding in 753 BC until 509 BC; 2) the Republic from
509 to 27 BC marked by the democratic processes of the Senate; 3) the
Empire at its glory best from 27 BC to its fall in 476 AD. The three epochs
are characterized by its Latin roots, whose constituency expanded as its
power grew. The fourth epoch, 4) the Holy Roman empire which lasted
according to secular official historical records from 962 to 1806 AD, saw
the erstwhile enemies of the ancient Roman empire, as at last they
became its conquerors, aspire to supplant itself and acquire legal
jurisdiction over the breadth of the old empire. Failing to acquire a secular
authority, it achieved a vague spiritual authority vested to it by the pope
as high priest of the Roman Catholic church which had dominion over all
the Roman Catholics, a religion that was forced on all the subjects of the
empire. These four distinct epochs in the history of Rome, would become
its transformations as it grew from a small kingdom to the biggest empire
the world had ever seen; then its decline and fall, and its subsequent rise
and revival by other kingdoms who aspired to equal and wield the power
it once held. During the first three transformations, a clear distinction may
be discerned in the increase of its secular power and territory and in the
fourth, it tried to achieve the former power and territory by securing the
spiritual authority of the Roman Catholic church over the Roman Catholics
that inhabited the empire. Roman historians, dates the founding of the
city of Rome by Latins and Sabines as April 21, 753 BC. From 616 BC it
was ruled by Etruscan kings who adopted Greek civilization, including
their alphabet, and turned Rome into a city-state. The Romans eventually
assimilated the Etruscans.
Rome: The Kingship. The settlement of Rome began in the early
Iron Age (1000 BC) when parts of Latium in the vicinity of Mount Alban
were invaded from the north by Indo-European-speaking settlers who built
villages along the left bank of the Tiber River. This villagers were a simple

isolated folk of shepherds and farmers. On the Palatine hill, one of seven
hills found in the site, settled the Latins; and on the Quirinal hill, Sabines.
The union between the Latins and Sabines paved the way to the city of
Rome with a civic and business center, the Forum, on the Capitoline hill.
Roman tradition attributed the union to Romulus, the first king and
legendary founder of Rome, who as legend tells, was raised by a she-wolf
together with his twin brother, Remus, he later murdered. Six more kings
followed, three of whom (Numa Pompilius, Tullus Hostilius, and Ancus
Martius) were Latin or Sabine and three (Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullus,
and Tarquinius Superbus) Etruscan. During the time of the last king,
Superbus, the magnificent temple to Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva on the
Capitoline were built. The citizens of early Rome were divided into two
groups, the patricians, who were the landed aristocrats who ruled over the
plebeians, the freed slaves skilled in crafts and other trade. The patricians
held a monopoly of the magistrates and other legal offices, priesthood,
and oracles. The king was the high priest, final arbiter and commander of
the army. A reform attributed to Servius Tullus had the citizens register in
regional tribes that in 509 BC had four urban and sixteen rural and further
divided them into classes and centuries (groups of one hundred)
according to their property rating and consequent ability to provide
military equipment. In the early republic, this became a political assembly
with 193 centuries as voting units and facilitated the mobilization of the
patricians and the plebeians into an army.
Rome: The Republic. After the expulsion of the king in 509 BC,
power was transferred to magistrates called consuls. The consuls were
patricians elected for annual terms in the centuriate assembly. In 493 BC
the tribunes represented the plebeians. In 451 BC the law was codified
by two boards of ten each. The first was chiefly patrician, called
decemvirs. The admission of plebeians to the Senate replaced the
membership from the aristocracy of birth with one of office. The great
tribunician families now became parts of the senatorial order. The
overthrow of the kings was followed by war with other Latins until 493 BC
when the Latin League was formed. The league defended Rome and its
neighboring Latins from the Volscians in the south, and the Aequi and the
Sabines in the east. An alliance with the Hernici in 486 BC kept the peace.
In 396 BC the Etruscan city of Veii was incorporated into Greater Rome,
now the largest and strongest city of central Italy. In 387 BC Gauls
occupied the city up to the Capitoline but were driven to the Po Valley.
From 340 to 338 a revolt by the Latins over Roman dominance in the
affairs of the league failed but dissolved the league. The southward
expansion to Campaga where Capuans received Roman citizenship
brought victory after a war with the Samnite tribes in 298 to 290 BC. The
colonies of Magna Graecia in the south of Italy soon followed. In 280 BC
an attempt to take Thurii in the chief Greek city of Tarentum failed after
King Pyrrhus of Epirus came to its aid, but Pyrrhus won over the Romans

at a great cost. Retiring in 275 BC he left Tarentum to the Romans. Rome

consolidated all the Greek cities in south Italy under its control until it
became a Mediterranean power in 265 BC.
Punic wars. Between 264-241 BC Rome was at war with the
Phoenician city of Carthage in Africa. In response to an appeal by
Campagian freebooters who were attacked by Carthaginians who had
taken the Greek city of Messana, Rome sent aid beginning the First Punic
war. Rome, using its navy, defeated Carthage and annexed its territory in
Sicily, the first Roman overseas territory. The second Punic war (219-201
BC) was precipitated by a Carthaginian attack on Saguntum, Spain, a
Roman ally. After Saguntum fell, Hannibal Barca, the great Carthaginian
general, marched over the Alps through Gaul into northern Italy and
attacked the Roman armies at the Trebia, Lake Trasimene, and Cannae
which induced Campagia and Syracuse to join him, but the Roman
confederation held. Fabius Cunctators delaying tactics recovered
Campagia and Syracuse but the war resulted in a great loss of farms in
southern Italy ravaged by the Carthaginians for sixteen years. The Roman
general Publius Cornelius Scipio won back Spain and attacked Carthage
where Hannibal was defeated at Zama in 202 BC. Rome now established
itself as the power in the western Mediterranean. Graeco-Roman War.
In 200 BC, Rome was at war with Greece. Philips aggressive behavior in
the Aegean and Epirus and the fear of a secret compact between Philip
and Antiochus the Great of Syria to divide the possession of Egypt
prompted the Roman general Flamininus to rally a Greek coalition
including the Aetolian and Achaean Leagues. Flamininus defeated Philip V
in Thessaly in 196 BC. Antiochus the Greats expansion into Asia Minor
and Thrace created apprehension in Rome who was suspicious of the
presence of Hannibal Barca in exile with Antiochus. In 192-188 BC, the
second war was fought ending in the defeat of Antiochus. A third war in
171-168 BC reduced the Macedonian kingdom to a province of Rome. The
booty from the Punic and Greek wars and expansion into Spain, Gaul and
Africa increased the authority of the Senate. Great senatorial families
linked thru intermarriage and friendships, supported by merchants
monopolized government offices. A middle class made up of equites or
military horsemen became businessmen engaged in tax-gathering, and
other activities barred to the old senatorial families. Outside of these
office-holding families, few rose to the consulship. One of them was
Marcus Porcius Cato supported by a few aristocratic families. Cato, a
moralist, lamented the decadence which sprung from the multitudes of
slaves from the wars and the accumulation of great wealth among the
upper class which favored the growth of large estates displacing small
farmers who moved north or into the cities as squatters. A crisis in
military manpower resulted since the levy for the army was based on
landholding, but Roman literature and the arts rose to new forms with
Greek influence in all of Roman culture. The Gracchis. Catos lament

saw the rise of the Gracchi and the Roman Revolution. Tiberius Gracchus,
a plebeian tribune, attempted to solve the problem by repossessing public
land of over 300 acres for agrarian reform. He had some support from the
aristocrats but ran against heavy senatorial opposition. When Gracchus
sought re-election his senatorial opponents raised a riot and killed him.
Ten years later, his brother Gaius Gracchus (123-122 BC) revived his
program on a wider scale with a grain law and built roads, buildings,
settlements and colonies. He won over the equites and financiers by
giving them sole membership of the juries in the extortion courts and the
contracts for the collection of tithes in Asia. He was undermined by the
tribune Livius Drusus, who promised land and colonies on still more
generous terms and his bill was lost. Failing to be re-elected, he was killed
in the riot of 121 BC ending the long tradition of orderly settling political
disputes.
Marius and Sulla and the First Triumvirate. War occupied the
empire on many fronts in Asia, the Balearic islands south of Spain, Gaul,
Dalmatia, Macedonia, Thrace and Sicily. There was perennial war against
Jugurtha, a Numidian prince in Africa; and two hordes of Teutons, the
Cimbri and the Teutoni who destroyed two Roman armies. The dearth in
manpower and able leadership again roused the popular opposition to
criticize the incompetence and corruption of the Senate and brought
Gaius Marius to the fore. Marius had just won a victory over Jugurtha in
Africa and in 102-101 he exterminated the German hordes. His major
reform was the volunteer proletarian army. Marius would thus start a
succession of rulers with a loyal army who looked upon him for their
rewards. The rising tide of discontent erupted into the Italian Revolution in
90-88 BC checked only by the grant of citizenship. The new registrants
outnumbered the old. This was cause for party strife between Marius who
represented the proletarian and Sulla, his able lieutenant, who
represented the aristocrats. After Mithridates, king of Pontus on the Black
Sea overran Asia Minor and most of Greece and massacred 80,000 Roman
citizens, Sulla in 88 BC received the command against Mithridates. He
exiled or killed his enemies before he left, but hardly had he left, when
Marius supporters massacred Sullas followers, proscripted their
properties and reversed his measures. After a victorious campaign against
Mithridates, Sulla returned to Italy and many leaders, including Gnaeus
Pompeius (Pompey) joined him. Marius had earlier died in 86 BC. Sulla
became dictator in 82 BC. He enforced measures that remedied the
problems which brought about the Italian Revolution. He died in 80 BC.
With Marius and Sulla began the period when commanders of the army
ruled over the Senate and dictatorial powers were bestowed on them.
Pompey soon followed Sulla. In 63 BC, he captured Jerusalem. The
Senates refusal to reward his soldiers led Pompey to ally with Crassus, a
representative of the equites against the Senates disapproval for a
reduction of the Senates share in the unprofitable tax collection in Asia;

and Gaius Julius Caesar, a popular leader of the Marian faction. Together
they formed the First Triumvirate and ruled over the Senate. Their rise to
power signaled the fall of the Republic and the beginning of the empire.
Cesars reforms. In between campaigns Caesar carried out a
program of reform; a modern calendar, legislation on moral and religious
matters, suppression of disorderly societies, juries composed of senators
and equites, reduced the number of recipients of free grain, a building
program, fixed terms for provincial governors, a norm for municipal
constitutions, colonization in Italy and the provinces of both his veterans
and the poor of the city, abolition of farming of the tithe, and grants of
citizenship in all the Roman possession. He increased the Senate to 900
and increased the number of magistracies, but kept commands, foreign
affairs, and finances in his own hands. The constitutional problems
brought about by his repeated consulships and dictatorship remained
unsettled. The divine honors he received, the appointment of a priest to
supervise his cult, and the offer of a diadem, pointed to royal power as his
ultimate solution. During his time Julius Caesar also granted Jews the
freedom to worship in Rome as a reward for their help in Alexandria. His
toleration and assimilation of several religious myths into the GraecoRoman cult is a significant character of his regime which gave Jews and
later the early Christians the freedom to worship and exercise their faith.
In February, 44 BC, he became dictator perpetuis. In March 15, 44 BC he
was assassinated. After Julius Caesars assassination, a second triumvirate
was formed composed of Octavian, Mark Anthony and Marcus Aemilius
Lepidus. Octavian emerged the dominant power between the three after
the disappearance of Lepidus and Anthonys decline after his defeat by
the Parthians and Roman dislike of his associations with Cleopatra. After
Mark Anthonys death Octavian was left to rule without a rival. He
occupied Egypt and used its treasures to finance the reconstruction of
Rome destroyed by a century of civil strife. In 27 BC Octavian assumed
the title and name Imperator Caesar Augustus and continued the reforms
of Julius Caesar. He rebuilt Rome and became a great patron of arts.
During his reign began 200 years of peace known as Pax Romana. He
built the system of roads and postal system to unify the empire.
Commerce boomed even in the frontiers. He also reformed the Senate,
instituted equitable taxation, and revived the census. Thus ended the
Republic and the empire began.
Rome: The Empire. The problems expanded with the empire. The
most pressing were the rebellious frontiers. The urgency could no longer
be addressed by a rule of a representative Senate except by absolute rule
by one man; from an autocratic democracy to a monarchy. In the last
century BC, the 500-year-old Republic beset by a decadent society ruled
by an incompetent and corrupt Senate, was rocked by another civil war
checked only by the army. From then on, Rome saw the rise of army

commanders who subdued the enemies in the frontiers and colonies and
declared emperor by a cowed Senate. Soon the Roman emperors rule
became less constitutional and more monarchical. By effective use of his
loyal army, threats were neutralized but the armys loyalty had to be paid
with citizenship, land, and monetary rewards. In the time of Augustus, the
Praetorian Guards were created from three cohorts of Roman legionnaires
and stationed in Rome to protect the emperor. Roman expansion which
began in the time of the Republic reached its peak under Emperor Trajan
covering approximately 6,500,000
km. of land area. To ensure an
orderly succession, Augustus granted tribunician powers to his stepson
Tiberius in 6 BC and in 13 AD, a law was passed granting Tiberius powers
over the provinces, giving him co-equal and independent powers to those
of Augustus. In that year, Augustus died. The early years of Tiberiuss
reign were peaceful, until became paranoid and accused many of treason,
tried and executed them until his death in 37. Tiberius was succeeded by
his grandnephew, Gaius, also known as Caligula (little boots). His reign
started well until he became insane and in 41 he was assassinated. The
senate debated the merits of restoring the republic but the army, declared
Claudius as emperor. Claudius reign was reasonable but his marriage to
his niece may have been the reason he was poisoned in 54. Diplomatic
Nero succeeded Claudius and trade went well. Nero, however, was a
tyrant and committed suicide in 68. A brief civil war followed. Between
June 68 and December 69, Rome witnessed the successive rise and fall of
Galba, Otho and Vitellius until the final accession of Vespasian, first ruler
of the Flavian dynasty.
124

Under Vespasian, the Senate remained inutile. He constructed the

Colosseum but the First Jewish Revolt of his time resulted in the burning of
the temple of Solomon in Jerusalem by his son, Titus. Titus, Vespasians
successor, was a good emperor, but his short reign was marked by the
eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Pompeii. He opened the unfinished
Colosseum but died in 81 and was succeeded by his brother, Domitian.
Domitians tyrannical reign was noted for its poor relations with the
Senate. In September of 96, he was murdered. The next following five
emperors had peaceful reigns and the empire prospered. The last two and
Commodus were called Antonines. After his accession, Nerva succeeded
Domitian and restored much confiscated property and restored the
Senates rule. In 112, Trajan annexed Armenia then turned south into
Parthia, then declared Mesopotamia a new province of the empire. During
his rule, the Roman empire was to its largest extent, and advanced the
farthest to the east which Hadrian, his successor defended. Antoninus
Piuss reign was peaceful and under the reign of Marcus Aurelius,
Germanic tribes raided the northern border. The relatively peaceful period
ended with the reign of Commodus who became paranoid and was
murdered in 192. The Severan Dynasty was marked by troubles.
Septimius Severus rule successfully gained armys support and promoted

equestrian officers for senators. Caracalla, his son, extended full Roman
citizenship to all free inhabitants of the empire. Unstable and autocratic,
he was assassinated by Macrinus. Macrinus was himself assassinated and
succeeded by Elagabalus. Alexander Severus, the last of the dynasty, was
unable to control the army, and was assassinated in 235. Between 235
and 284 saw the near collapse of the empire under 25 emperors under
whom Rome experienced extreme military, political, and economic crises.
In 251, the Plague of Cyprian broke out which decimated the population
and seriously undermined the defense of the empire. The period ended
under Diocletian, whose reign from 284 until 305 solved many of the
acute problems, except for the main problems. Diocletian, to better
manage the vast empire, split it in half and created two equal emperors to
rule under the title of Augustus, creating a western and an eastern Roman
empire. In 293 each Augustus took a junior emperor called a Caesar to
ensure succession. This constituted what is now known as the Tetrarchy
("rule of four").
The Tetrarchy effectively collapsed with the death of Constantius
Chlorus, the first of the Constantinian dynasty, in 306. Constantiuss
troops immediately proclaimed his son Constantine the Great as
Augustus. Civil wars broke out ending with the entire empire united under
Constantine, who legalized Christianity in 313 through the Edict of Milan.
In 361, Julian became emperor and his edict of toleration in 362 ordered
the reopening of pagan temples, and recalled previously exiled Christian
bishops. Julian resumed the war against Shapur II of Persia, where he died
in battle in 363. His officers then elected Jovian emperor who is
remembered for ceding territories won from the Persians dating back to
Trajan and for restoring the privileges of Christianity before dying in 364.
Valentinian I, the first of the Valentinian dynasty, was elected Augustus,
and chose his brother Valens to serve as his co-emperor. In 367, eightyear-old Gratian was proclaimed emperor. Succession did not go as
planned as Gratian was then only 16 years old. His half-brother was
proclaimed emperor under the title Valentinian II.
The eastern Roman empires perennial problems with the Germanic
tribes continued. A tribe east of the empire resettled by Valens on the
southern bank of the Danube in 376 revolted. On 9 August 378, in the
Battle of Adrianople, Valens was killed and his army defeated. Two thirds
of the Roman army including veteran soldiers and valuable administrators
were lost. Gratian, now responsible for the whole of the empire in 379
choose Theodosius I to replace Valens for the eastern Roman empire.
Theodosius, the founder of the Theodosian dynasty, proclaimed his five
year old son Arcadius an Augustus in 383 to insure succession. Hispanic
Celt general Magnus Maximus, in Roman Britain, was proclaimed
Augustus by his troops in 383 and rebelled against Gratian when he
invaded Gaul. Gratian fled, but was assassinated. Maximus negotiations

with Valentinian II and Theodosius were to no avail. Theodosius

campaigned west in 388 and was victorious against Maximus, who was
executed. In 392 Valentinian II was murdered, and thereafter Arbogast
arranged for the appointment of Eugenius as emperor. However, the
eastern emperor Theodosius I refused to recognize Eugenius as emperor
and invaded the West, defeating and killing Arbogast and Eugenius,
reuniting the entire Roman Empire under his rule. Theodosius was the last
emperor who ruled over the whole empire. As emperor, he made
Christianity the official religion of the Roman empire. After his death in
395, he gave the two halves of the empire to his two sons Arcadius and
Honorius. Two different emperors with different seats of power ruled Rome
th
throughout the 5
century, though the easterners considered
themselves Roman citizens.
Fall of the Roman Empire. After 395, the emperors in the west
were mere figureheads, while military strongmen actually ruled. Finally, in
476 when Orestes refused Germanic mercenaries led by Odoacer for lands
in Italy, they revolted and deposed the last western emperor, Romulus
Augustus. Odoacer quickly conquered the remaining provinces of Italy and
sent the Imperial Regalia back to the Eastern Roman emperor, Zeno
requesting that his control of Italy be formally recognized and he would
acknowledge Zenos supremacy. Nepos, the emperor before Romulus
Augustus, also requested support to regain the throne. Zeno granted
Odoacers request. Upon Neposs death in 480, Zeno claimed Dalmatia for
the East. Odoacer attacked Dalmatia, and the ensuing war ended with
Theodoric the Great, King of the Ostrogoths, conquering Italy. The
emperors gradually became less Roman and increasingly German and
increasingly populated by Germanic peoples long before 476. The Roman
army was outnumbered by the foederati of Goths, Huns, Franks and
others fighting on their behalf until the empire finally fell and Rome seized
by the foederati in a revolt. Thus, the prophecy contained in Revelation
14:8 of an angel proclaiming the fall of Babylon (476 AD), was fulfilled,
following after the angel in Revelation 14:6 who had the everlasting
gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation,
and kindred and tongue, and people. The assimilation of the early
Christian church by the Roman empire early on in 313 AD by
Constantines Edict of Toleration 163 years earlier; in 362 by Julians own
edict of toleration; and in 380 by Theodosius I declaration to make it the
states religion paved the way for the harvest of the earth in Revelation
14:14-20 coinciding with spread of the gospel and the increase of
believers after the fall of the western Roman empire and the assimilation
of the early Christian church, which had the positive effect of spreading
the gospel, even if it was by means of the Roman Catholic church. The
destruction of Rome was such that, in the sixth century, Rome was taken
and retaken by the Goths and Byzantines until after its seizure by Totila.

It was for a time almost completely abandoned by its inhabitants. This

marked the lowest ebb in the fortunes of Rome, when it shrank to a mere
village lost within the vast perimeter of the Aurelian walls.
125

The prophecy in Revelation 16:19 speaks of a second destruction of

Babylon (Rome) which divided the city into three parts. Of several great
earthquakes that have rocked Rome there is not one which has caused a
visible and physical splitting of Rome into three distinct parts. The
prophecy is believed to coincide with the events a hundred years after
the fall of Rome when the Byzantines, to assert its claim as heir apparent
to the empire, sent its military, civic and financial resources to enforce it.
From 585-751 AD, it established in Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region
of northern Italy, the seat of an exarchate of Byzantine rule in Italy with
claims on the erstwhile Roman empire. On the other hand, the pope who
was left alone to confront the barbarians and his Italian subjects alienated
by the iconoclasm of Byzantine emperor Leo the Isaurian (717-741), was
drawn towards and welcomed the intervention of the Frankish king Pepin
the Short and Charlemagne, who conferred on the pope the Papal
States. Rome thus, was divided between the remnants of the empire, the
popes estate and the Byzantines. A third and final destruction of Babylon
is spoken of in Revelation 18:21 which will be spelled for her in an hour
(Rev 18:17) in the end time, after which, she will no longer be heard of
anymore.
126

127

The Byzantine Empire. As the western empire declined plundered

by succeeding revolts and invasions after 476, the eastern empire was
spared. The eastern emperor Justinian I reconquered Italy and parts of
Illyria from the hands of the Ostrogoths, North Africa from the Vandals,
and southern Hispania from the Visigoths. Thus the event in 476 AD is
interpreted to be as the wounding of one of the seven heads of the beast
with ten horns referred to in Rev 13:3 and 13:12. The head with the
fatal wound was Rome. As this head was the greatest head, the demise of
the beast was forthcoming; much to the amazement of the world (Rev
13:3), for it survived its wound but left its mark. The mark left by the
wound also serves to identify it as the main head that brings up the rest
of the heads in its revival as the Holy Roman empire. Several events
marked the rendering of the fatal wound in the head of the beast. The
split of the empire into east and west which resulted in the schism of the
church creating the Eastern Orthodox church soon after Constantine the
Greats transfer of the seat of the empire to Byzantium led ultimately to
its fall in 476 AD. Furthermore, this beast with seven heads, even the
demise of its main head will not terminate it. For with the fall of Rome, it
merely reverted to the use of the head of its Greek predecessor, thus the
Byzantine empire. In 610 AD the Emperor Heraclius revived the old Greek
system. Greek once more became the language of government so that
the eastern empire came under a Greek revival under what modern

historians now call the Byzantine Empire. The people however, still saw
themselves as Romans and Constantinople as the rightful successor to the
ancient empire of Rome. Its sack at the hands of the Fourth Crusade in
1204 is viewed by some historians as the date ending the eastern empire,
thereafter came the destruction of Constantinople, the leadership
intermittent, and its lands divided into rival states. The Byzantines, under
Constantine XI, the last Roman emperor, continued to call themselves
Romans until 1453, when it fell to the Muslim Ottoman Turks. Mehmed II,
the conqueror of Constantinople declared himself the Emperor of the
Roman Empire in 1453.
Rome: The Holy Roman Empire. The late 200 BC saw an
invasion of migrating Celts from Gaul, Italy and Hispania which Julius
Caesar checked by expanding his conquests to the Rhine and Danube
rivers. These Celtic tribes collectively called Germania by official Roman
records were eventually assimilated into the empire. Trade was carried out
most of the time, though at times they warred or entered into an
intermittent military alliance with Rome. As the empire fell, these tribes
because of overpopulation and invading Asians, began migrating to Great
Britain, the Mediterranean, and north Africa. In Denmark the Jutes merged
with the Danes, in Sweden the Geats merged with the Swedes. In
England, the Angles merged with the Saxons to form the Anglo-Saxons.
The Germanic tribes, long been the source of recruits for the Roman army
rose from the ranks and later held administrative positions and became
consuls. Alaric, the Gothic mercenarys sack of Rome in 410 and 418
showed the empires weakening position. However, it was Odoacer who
finally deposed the last Roman Emperor of the west, Romulus Augustulus
in 476 AD. Odoacer, an Arian Christian was followed by Theodoric the
Great, king of the Ostrogoths, who was regarded by Roman citizens and
Gothic settlers alike as legitimate successor to the rule of Rome and Italy.
After him came a succession of Germanic kings who were never able to
consolidate their hold on the Roman empire back to its largest extent
even with its alliance with the Roman Catholic church. Most of these
Germanic tribes were foederati or mercenary allies of Rome from their
erstwhile enemies, who after being subdued, served their masters and
relocated inside the territory of the empire. They also became Roman
Catholics by political convenience. The period is marked by widespread
conversion to Roman Catholicism of the Germanic peoples and the
formation of stable kingdoms replacing the mostly tribal structures of the
migration period. The various Germanic tribal cultures begin their
transformation into the larger nations of later history, English, Norse and
German, and in the case of Burgundy, Lombardy and Normandy blending
into a Romano-Germanic culture.

128

129

130

The kings of the Germanic tribes variably recognized the supremacy

of the eastern or Byzantine empire, avoiding confrontation when possible

and fought each other for supremacy as king of Italy and the whole of the
old western empire. Foremost among them were the the Ostrogoths
(eastern Goths); the Visigoths (western Goths) of Aquitaine, Spain; Franks
(western Gaul); Burgundians (Germany); Alamanni; Saxons; and Vandals
(Sicily and North Africa). In continental Europe, the rise of Francia during
the Merovingian period overshadowed the rise of such kingdoms as
Alemannia. The Wessex unified England. Scandinavias Vendel period saw
the success of the Viking expansion to Britain, Ireland and Iceland in the
west and as far as Russia and Greece in the east. As the Roman empire
crumbled and fought over by the Germanic tribes the power vacuum
which resulted found the pope in position equal to the position the
emperors once held. The unity of the church and state espoused by
Constantine the Great and affirmed by succeeding emperors had
temporarily bestowed on the pope the powers of the emperor over the
Roman Catholics of the vast empire while a Roman emperor could not be
legally installed. The prophecy found in Revelation 13:11-12, was thus
fulfilled.
{13:11} 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. {13:12} And he exerciseth all
the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which
dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
{13:13} And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from
heaven on the earth in the sight of men, {13:14} And deceiveth them that dwell
on the earth by [the means of] those miracles which he had power to do in the
sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should
make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
{13:15} And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the
image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not
worship the image of the beast should be killed. {13:16} And he causeth all,
both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their
right hand, or in their foreheads: {13:17} And that no man might buy or sell,
save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his
name. {13:18} Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the
number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number [is] Six
hundred threescore [and] six. (Rev 13:11-18 AV)

The scope of the churchs power was now equal to the width and
breadth of the empire; far greater than the power of the kings of the
Germanic tribes combined, possessing two horns one, the western
Roman empire and the other, the eastern or Byzantine empire.
The Merovingians. Merovech (Latin: Meroveus or Merovius;
French: Mrove; German: Merowig) is the legendary founder of the
th
Merovingian dynasty of the Salian Franks, during the first half of the 5
century when it became the first dominant Frankish tribe. They were
referred to as the "long-haired kings" (Latin: reges criniti) for their

unshorn hair characteristic of tribal leaders of the Franks of this time.

Unlike the Ostrogoths who were Arian Christians, the Merovingians were
Nicean or Western Christians. Childeric I. Merovech was succeeded by
his son, Childeric I (c. 440 c. 481), who reigned from 457 to 481. He
settled in his capital, Tournai, land which he had received as a foederatus
of the Romans. In 463, with the Roman General Aegidius, based in
Soissons, he defeated the Visigoths along the banks of the Loire River.
After the death of Aegidius, he and Count Paul of Angers with a band of
Gallo-Romans and Franks, defeated the Goths. When Odoacer reached
Angers a battle ensued and Count Paul was killed but Childeric took the
city. He later joined forces with Odoacer against the Alamanni. Gregory of
Tours, the Frankish bishop of Tours (538-594), in his book Libri Historiarum
(Book 11. 12), narrates how Childeric was expelled by the Franks for
taking their women and how his eight-year stay in Thuringia with King
Basin and his wife Basina ended with his arrival in Tournai with Queen
Basina, whom he later married. He died in 481 and was buried in Tournai,
leaving a son, Clovis, afterwards king of the Franks. Clovis. Clovis (c. 466511) was the son of Childeric I and Basina who succeeded him at age 16,
in 481. The Salian Franks were one of two Frankish tribes who were then
occupying the area west of the lower Rhine, with their center in Toxandria,
between the Meuse and Scheldt (now the Netherlands and Belgium).
Clovis power base was to the southwest of this, around Tournai and
Cambrai along the modern frontier between France and Belgium. Clovis
conquered the neighboring Salian Frankish kingdoms and established
himself as sole king of the Salian Franks. He also introduced Christianity
after he was converted to Western Christianity by his Burgundian wife,
Clotilda and was baptized in a small church in what is now the Cathedral
of Rheims, where future French kings would be crowned. With the help of
the church clergy and the pope, Clovis expanded his dominion over most
of the old Roman province of Gaul. This act set the precedence for a
potential future collaboration between the church and state which was not
yet fully utilized this early. In 486, with Ragnachar, he defeated Syagrius,
the last Roman official in northern Gaul. After this, Clovis secured an
alliance with the Ostrogoths through the marriage of his sister Audofleda
to Theodoric the Great. In 491 he defeated a small group of Thuringians
and the Alamanni in the Battle of Tolbiac and systematically eliminated
the other Frankish "reguli" or sub-kings: Sigobert the Lame and his son
Chlodoric the Parricide; Chararic, another king of the Salian Franks;
Ragnachar of Cambrai, his brother Ricchar, and their brother Rignomer of
Le Mans. Under Clovis the Franks in Gaul were unified later to become
what France is today. The synod of Gallic bishops in Orlans was called by
Clovis to create a strong link between the Crown and the Catholic bishops.
This was the First Council of Orlans. His alliance with the papacy made
him its protector as well as that of the mostly Catholic Franks. His four
sons: Theuderic, Chlodomer, Childebert, and Clotaire inherited his
kingdom divided into the new political units of the Kingdoms of Rheims,

Orlans, Paris and Soissons. This division caused the fall of his dynasty for
the conflict it created between its heirs. However, with the support of the
church, the sanction of the pope was sought in matters which justified
succession to the throne. Upon Clovis death in 511, the Merovingian
kingdom included all the Franks and all of Gaul including Burgundy in 534.
The Franks also conquered Provence. After this their borders with Italy
(ruled by the Lombards since 568) and Visigothic Septimania remained
fairly stable. Clotaire II in 613 reunited the warring heirs of the entire
Frankish realm stabilized into Austrasia, Neustria, Burgundy and
Aquitania. Frequent wars weakened royal power and increased the powers
of the counts and dukes, but the Merovingians remained until the eighth
century. Clotaires son Dagobert I (d. 639) was the last powerful
Merovingian King. The later kings would be known as rois fainants (donothing kings), though only Dagobert II and Chilperic II left the mayors of
their palace to rule.
The Carolingians. Mayor of the Palace was an early medieval title
and office, also called majordomo, from the Latin title maior domus
(superior of the house). During the 7th century, the office became the
power behind the throne in Austrasia, the northeastern portion of the
Kingdom of the Franks under the Merovingian dynasty. The majordomo
was de facto king in the mid to late Merovingian period as the kings were
reduced to performing ceremonial functions. The office became hereditary
in the family of the Pippinids with powerful majordomos like Pepin of
Heristal and his illegitimate son, Charles Martel (688-741), majordomo of
the palace in Austrasia. Martel proclaimed himself Duke of the Franks and
became the first Carolingian to bring most of France under his control. The
conflict between mayors was ended when the Austrasians under Pepin the
Heristal triumphed in 687 in the Battle of Tertry. After this, Pepin, though
not a king, was the political ruler of the Frankish kingdom and left this
position as a heritage to his sons. It was now the sons of the mayor that
divided the realm among each other under the rule of a single king.
Charles Martel assumed power, fighting against nobles and his own
stepmother. His reputation for ruthlessness further undermined the kings
position. During the last years of his life he even ruled without a king,
though he did not assume royal dignity. His sons Carloman and Pepin
again appointed a Merovingian figure-head to stem rebellion on the
kingdoms periphery. However, in 751, Pepin finally displaced the last
Merovingian king, Childeric III and, with the support of the nobility and the
blessing of Pope Zachary, became one of the Frankish kings. The deposed
Merovingian was sent into a monastery, bereft of his symbolic long hair.
With Pepin, the Carolingians ruled the Franks as kings.
Pepin and his brother Carloman crushed half a dozen serious revolts
in Bavaria, Alamannia, Saxony, and Aquitaine. With the realm at peace,
Carloman entered a monastery (747). Three years later Pepin altered the

long-standing pro-Lombard policy of his family and arranged with Pope

Zachary to support the papacy in return for papal sanction of Carolingian
usurpation of the Frankish kingship. The pope justified the majordomos
actions in the case when the last of the Merovingians were too young to
rule and thus ratified their de facto rule. This set the precedence for later
cases brought to the popes attention on matters of questionable
succession. Thus, Pepin deposed (751) King Childeric III and was anointed
king of the Franks. To preserve his bond with the papacy, Pepin crushed
the Lombards when they threatened Rome and ceded conquered
territories to the pope (the Donation of Pepin), thus establishing the basis
for the Papal States. Pepin also crushed revolts in Saxony (748, 753) and
Bavaria (749) and conquered Aquitaine. He was succeeded by his sons,
Charlemagne and Carloman. Charlemagne. On Christmas day of 800,
at the church of St. Peters in Rome, Charlemagne, king of the Franks,
received the title of Emperor (Imperator Augustus) from Pope Leo III
reminiscent of the title held by ancient Roman emperors. According to
Einhard, his biographer (Vita Karoli Magni, par. 28), the pope took
Charlemagne by surprise who would never have entered the church had
he known what the pope was up to, though he accepted the title.
Charlemagne nevertheless, initiated the policy of "renovatio Romanorum
imperii" (reviving the Roman Empire) which remained at least in theory as
the official position of the empire until its end in 1806. The title of
emperor was confirmed by Byzantium in 812. His Roman empire lasted
from 800 to 925. The Holy Roman empire originates in the eastern half of
Charlemagnes empire, divided after his death. Charlemagnes empire
was also the first revival of the Roman empire. Other revivals would
follow. The Carolingian imperial crown, disputed among the Carolingian
rulers of Western Francia (France) and Eastern Francia (Germany), were
first held by Charles the Bald (western) and Charles the Fat (eastern).
However, after the death of Charles the Fat in 888, the empire broke and
was never restored and those who were crowned emperors by the Pope
controlled only territories in Italy. The last of such emperors was Berengar
I of Italy who died in 924.
Otto I.
In 911, the leaders of Alemannia, Bavaria, Francia and
Saxonia elected Conrad I of the Franks, not a Carolingian, as their leader.
His successor, Henry I the Fowler (r. 919936), a Saxon, elected at the
Reichstag of Fritzlar in 919, achieved the acceptance of a separate
eastern empire by the West Frankish (still ruled by the Carolingians) in
921. Calling himself Rex Francorum Orientalum (King of the East Franks)
he founded the Ottonian dynasty. Henry designated his son Otto, who was
elected King in Aachen in 936, to be his successor. A marriage alliance
with the widowed queen of Italy gave Otto control over that nation as
well. In 962, when Pope John XII was threatened in his possession of the
papal states by Berengar II, king of Italy, he begged Otto I of Germany to
come to his aid. Otto did so, and the pope solemnly crowned him emperor

of the Romans as a reward. From this time on, the German kings claimed
the right to rule the empire. By 911 eastern and western Franconia, as the
area was known, had completely separated, the latter continuing as
France; the former continuing as Germany. In 962 Otto the Great
reclaimed the imperial dignity, which had lost all prestige and was
conferred by popes on inconsequential bidders in Italian politics. This is
usually taken to be the founding date of the Holy Roman empire. This
crowning would also be referred to as translatio imperii, the transfer of the
empire from the Romans to a new empire. The German emperors thus
thought of themselves as being in direct succession of those of the Roman
empire; this is why they initially called themselves Augustus. They did not
call themselves Roman emperors in order not to provoke conflict with
the Roman emperor who still existed in Constantinople. The term
imperator Romanorum only became common under Conrad II (later than
his crowning in 1027). The Holy Roman empire (official name: Lat.
sacrum romanum imperium; Ger. Heiliges Rmisches Reich) is the name
of the political entity that united a large portion of the territories in central
Europe, centered on Germany, from 962 to 1806 during the Middle Ages
and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman emperor. The first
emperor of the Holy Roman empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last
was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the empire in 1806 during the
Napoleonic Wars. It was officially known as the Holy Roman empire of the
German nation (German: Heiliges Rmisches Reich Deutscher Nation,
Latin: Sacrum Romanum Imperium Nationis Germanic) by 1450. It was
considered to be a restoration and continuation of the ancient Roman
empire, although it had little in common with its predecessor. In fact, it
never equaled the breadth and width of the Roman empire as its territory
was severely limited. The empires territorial extent varied over its
history, but at its peak it encompassed the Kingdom of Germany, the
Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Burgundy; territories embracing
present-day Germany (except southern Schleswig), Austria (except
Burgenland), Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands,
Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, Slovenia (except Prekmurje), as well as
significant parts of modern France (mainly Artois, Alsace, Franche-Comt,
Savoie and Lorraine), Italy (mainly Lombardy, Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna,
Tuscany, and South Tyrol), and present-day Poland (mainly Silesia,
Pomerania, and Neumark). For much of its history the empire consisted of
hundreds of smaller sub-units, principalities, duchies, counties, free
imperial cities, as well as other domains. Despite its name, the empire did
not include Rome within its borders. The Holy Roman empire never
achieved the political unification that France did. Attempts at centralizing
authority starting with Maximilian I (1493-1519) was checked by the
Reformation and the ensuing wars, culminating with the Thirty Years War
(1618-48) and the Treaty of Westphalia (1648). The latter formalized the
relationship between the emperor and his vassals, who thereby achieved
all but complete sovereignty. As a result, the empire was still composed at
131

the end of the 18th century of around 360 distinct entities, differing
widely in size, rank and power. Some were kings and princes, others were
counts; some were clerics, other were secular rulers.
The Holy Roman empire (the word Holy was added during the
12th century) espoused two important medieval values: the unity of all
Christians in a single state as the secular arm of the church ruled by a
moral emperor over all existing states. In practice, the empire achieved
neither. France and England maintained relationships with the empire as
Catholics but never acknowledged any real subordination to the emperor.
Whatever supremacy the emperor held was by virtue of the support of the
church hierarchy and the spiritual or moral ascendancy it held, when it
held any. Otherwise, the emperors eventually saw the influence of the
church as a threat to its power. The empires vision varied according to
the philosophy of the many popes and emperors and the programs they
carried out to achieve it. The German kings called themselves kings of the
Romans, not kings of Germany, as soon as they were elected by the
German princes. This entitled them to become Roman emperor as soon as
they could arrange confirmation by the pope and coronation in Rome. As
emperor he had the right to control Italy and Burgundy as well as
Germany and was thus a potential source of power, wealth, and prestige.
In practice, it was a convenient tool in politics by the emperor and gave
security and power to the pope.
Napoleon I finally destroyed the empire. After defeating Austria and
its imperial allies in 1797 and 1801, he annexed some German land and
suggested that the larger territories compensate themselves by
confiscating the free cities and ecclesiastical states. By the Diets Recess
(1803), 112 small states were thus seized by their neighbors. Three years
later Napoleon compelled 16 German states to form the Confederation of
the Rhine and to secede from the empire. On March 6, 1806, Francis II,
who had previously assumed the title emperor of Austria, abdicated as
Holy Roman emperor and declared the old empire dissolved. The Holy
Roman empire is gone with the demise of the monarchy after French
democracy killed it. Napoleon Bonaparte later sought the crown and
forced the pope to crown him Holy Roman emperor. Adolf Hitlers Third
Reich (1939-1945), was the latest claimant. Thus far, there have been
four significant revivals of the ancient Roman empire as the Holy Roman
empire.
Rome: According to the Prophet Daniel. There is no kingdom in
history to which all of the deeds described in Daniel 7:25 can be ascribed
to other than the Roman empire. To the Greeks may be ascribed some of
them, i.e., the blasphemy and the occasional oppression, but not to the
changing of the set time and laws, and the handing over of the saints for

a period called, time, times and the dividing of time. This period alone,
which encompasses 1,260 years cannot be said of Greece, as its empire
never lasted that long and was superseded by the Roman empire. Rome
gained prominence by subduing the three kingdoms which rose out of the
divided kingdom of Alexander the Great. Rome defeated the Diadochis of
Alexander the Great in battles that are now considered classic war
strategies. The Greek phalanx, classical battle formation of the Greek
armies consisted of a mass of men fighting in unison in heavy armor,
which made discipline and manpower the key element of success in war;
was defeated by the Roman Legion which took advantage of the maniple
formation (each was a tiny phalanx) giving them the tactical advantage of
flexibility in fighting massed armies, such as those of the Greeks and
Persians.
132

And he shall speak [great] words against the most

High, ... In 63 BC, Pompey captured Jerusalem. Earlier, when the Syrian
vassals of the Seleucids of Alexanders empire came under Roman rule in
200 BC, the Hellenization of the Holy Land was already underway. A
Roman version of the Greek gods and goddesses was introduced in
Palestine (Greek: for land of the Hebrews/Jews). To speak against the
Most High is to blaspheme the name of G-d and to dishonor Him, in
violation of the first commandment given to Moses. For the Jew, no
greater blasphemy is there than to worship a G-d other than the G-d of
Israel. The Romans adopted the pagan practices of the Greeks. The
temples and shrines where statutes of Roman gods and goddesses were
built were elevated to an art form in architecture and sculpture. In fact,
history has called the assimilation by the Roman kingdom of Greek culture
as Hellenization - the imbibition of Greek mythology, its culture, arts
and architecture, and government, among others, as well. Under the
Roman empire, these Roman cult of gods and goddesses were propagated
throughout the empire supplanting those of the conquered kingdoms. The
emperor as Maximus Pontificus, dictated upon the religious lives of the
Romans and their subjects, and required of them the appropriate rite of
worship. Some emperors were deified and their cults established and
maintained by priests. The height of this blasphemy occurred under the
Romans, with the destruction of the temple of Solomon and its
replacement with a temple to Jupiter.
... and shall wear out the saints of the most High .... The
oppression of the saints, the early Christians, vis--vis the holy people,
who are the Jews, began with Jesus himself. Jesus was born when Israel
was under Roman rule. When the Roman governor of Judea, Pontius
Pilate, did not find him liable for rebellion nor the appropriate Roman law
violated by Jesus who was brought before him on charges of rebellion
against the Roman authority, he gave independence for the Jewish
Sanhedrin to make a decision based on its own laws. The Romans

affirmed the Sanhedrins sentence of death on the grounds of desecration

of the temple and blasphemy, crimes punishable by death under Jewish
laws. Later on, Stephen, Peter, Andrew and Paul, were likewise meted the
death penalty by stoning or crucifixion during the reign of Nero, the last
emperor in the Julio-Claudian dynasty, who assumed the throne in 54 AD
and was accused of burning Rome in 64 AD. Christians, then viewed as a
new sect of Judaism, were blamed for the fire. This began the first Roman
persecution of the saints, as each Christian believer is deemed to be. The
Colosseum in Rome, built from 75 to 80 AD, was started by the Roman
emperor Vespacian and finished by his son, Titus. It was used for gladiator
fights, Christians against lions and tigers, and the other shows of
barbarism in what the Romans called games. Their refusal to recognize
the divinity of the Roman emperor, who was elevated to a semi-divine
person to inspire awe and respect, or pay homage to any god except their
own subjected Christians to a number of persecutions by the Roman
authorities. The most savage of these were the ones under Emperor
Decius in 249-251 AD and Diocletian in 303-313 AD. Despite these, many
Christians welcomed martyrdom as an opportunity to share in the
sufferings of Christ and the early Christian church continued to grow
despite cruel attempts to suppress it. Among the early Christians who
suffered in these persecutions were Justin Martyr (100-165 AD), Cyprian
(?-258 AD) and Origen (185-254 AD). Considered to be the best of the
scholastics (writers of theological philosophies) and teachers to saints,
bishops, cardinals and priests, they stood to the end and laid their lives
for the faith setting an example for all Christians. In the case of Justin
Martyr and six of his followers - beheaded for refusing to worship the
Roman gods. Origen was tortured and died under Decian. Cyprian was
beheaded for refusing to worship the Roman emperor as deity. As another
sect of Judaism they shared in the Jews plight. The Jewish revolt of 70 AD,
crushed by Titus, was followed by a revolt in 116, in which Trajan died
before crushing. The final revolt, in 135, provoked Hadrian to execute
Simon Bar Kochba (son of a star), its leader and the Rabbi, Ben Akiba
was flayed alive. Hadrian built upon the ruins of Jerusalem, the city of
Aelia Capitolina, and replaced the old temple with a temple to Jupiter. An
imperial edict banished all Jews from Jerusalem and their return
punishable by death.
133

... and think to change times ... The Hebrew reckoning of time is an
adaptation of the Babylonian reckoning of time prevailing at the time that
Daniel wrote about his vision. The Jewish calendar was supplanted by the
Roman calendar under the reign of Julius Caesar when he reorganized the
administration of the colonies. Rome by this time, controlled all of Italy,
Gaul, Spain, Numidia, Macedonia, Greece, Egypt, Palestine and virtually
all of the Mediterranean islands. Subsequent modifications to Julius
Caesars calendar were introduced by Augustus Caesar by 8 AD; by
Dionysius Exiguus by 525 AD; and by Pope Gregory XIII by mid-1500s.
134

... and laws .... As a subject of Rome, Palestine was subject to

the body of Roman laws promulgated by the Roman Senate or the
emperor. The laws of Moses, under which the Jews were subject to and
embodied in the Jewish Torah (Christian Pentateuch), are the Books of
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Under the Roman
empire, they were controlling only between the Jews and Roman law was
silent on conflicts with it and left it to the discretion of the magistrate. The
laws of Moses would have been the laws that were to be followed by the
Jews and aliens among them who placed themselves under Jewish laws,
and later the Gentiles, if the Jews had not failed to follow its decrees.
Roman laws and their principles which supplanted the laws of Moses are
very much alive today. In fact, in the study of law, Roman law is one of the
subjects. Much of the principles of law in use today in the whole of the
Western World and in much of the world today is derived from Roman law.
Lawyers quote Latin maxims, e.g., dura lex sed lex - the law is hard
but it is the law, or ignorantia legis excusat non - ignorance of the law
excuses no one which embodies principles of law directly lifted from
Roman law.
Roman Law and Influence. Roman law refers to the legal system
that originated in ancient Rome and that later became the basis of law in
Western Europe and in countries influenced by European law. By the
time of Justinian, most of Western Europe was in the hands of barbarian
kings who administered a mixture of their own Germanic law and earlier
135

Roman law. In the 11th century, Italian scholars rediscovered, studied

and taught the Corpus Juris Civilis at the very time that expanding trade
and commercial activity found in the law a universal application more
appropriate than any other. The Roman jus gentium (law of the peoples),
developed during the republic to govern relations with non-Romans
became the basis of much of modern commercial law. Roman law thus
became the basis of the law of all Western Europe, except England; the
New World (South and Central America, and Canada). It played a role in
the codes of newly established states. Through Byzantium it reached
Russia. The Hebrew feasts which were an ordinance from the Lord given
to Moses were also changed. Unfortunately, it is deemed that a number of
Christian celebration carried over from pagan Roman practices were not
acceptable to the Lord, such as this one.
136

{11:10} And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make
merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets
tormented them that dwelt on the earth.( Rev 11:10 AV)

Going back to the vision in Daniel 7:25 -

...and they shall be given into his hand until a time and
times and the dividing of time. The persecutions of the early
Christians (the saints), whose faith was viewed as a sect of Judaism, which
faith is later adopted by the Roman empire and the Holy Roman empire,
will prevail for a time, times and the dividing of time of 1,260 years.
Saint Augustine, on an interpretation of this period of time, in his very old
known work, the Civitates Dei, stated:
"How fitly, read Jeromes commentaries upon Daniel, and there you may have
full instruction. But that Antichrists kingdom shall be most cruel against the
Church (although it last but a while) until the saints receive the sovereignty, none
that reads this place, can make question of. The time, times and half a time is
three years and a half; a year, two years and half a year, and this is declared by a
number of days afterwards, and by the numbers of months in other places of the
Scriptures. Times in this place seems indefinite; but the dual number is here used
by the LXX. which the Latins have not: but both the Greeks and Hebrews have.
Times then stands but for two times."137

An exhaustive interpretation of the length of time that is adopted in this

study is available under the same title at Michael Scheiflers Bible Light
Homepage website at: http://www. biblelight.net/times.htm. The phrase
time times and half a time found in Dan 7:25, 12:7 and Rev 12:14 are
also synonymous with the phrases 42 months found in Rev 11:2 and
13:5; 1,260 days in Rev 11:3 and 12:6; and three and a half days in
Rev 11:9 and 11:11. They are, according to Michael Scheifler who formed
his conclusions from the following verses from scriptures (NIV), equivalent
to 1,260 days where each prophetic day is equal to a year, to wit:
138

{14:34} After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, [even]
forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, [even] forty years,
and ye shall know my breach of promise. (Num 14:34 AV)
{4:6} And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and
thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed
thee each day for a year.. (Ezek 4:6 AV)

In Chapter 2 all of these phrases, their meanings including the significant

events related thereto and the arguments for the beginning and end of
the time and times and the dividing of time of 1,260 years are
explained. The midst of the week found in Daniel 9:27 which is also
equivalent to three and a half days is also included here to mean the
same period.
The latter is an exception in Michael Scheifflers
enumeration.
139

This allusion to Rome may also be found in Revelation 13:5, to wit:

{13:5} 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. {13:6} And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to

blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. {13:7}
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. ( Rev
13:5-7 AV)

For purposes of understanding parts of the vision discussed in this

chapter, the beginning of this time is 70 AD and ends in 1330 AD, 1260
years later. A more thorough discussion can be found in Chapter 2: 70 AD
Begins the 1260 Years.
{7:26} But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his
dominion, to consume and to destroy [it] unto the end. {7:27} And the kingdom
and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall
be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom [is] an
everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. (Daniel
7:26-27 AV)
Historys (Ancient of Days) books will be opened by thousands
upon thousands devoted to the truth as ten thousand times ten thousand
more stood to watch. History will judge Rome, the little horn for its
complicity in the persecution of the early Christians as well as of the Jews,
and for frustrating the truth of the gospels; then destroyed forever so that
a return to the rule of G-d will remove the system of Roman laws and time
and reinstate the laws of G-ds kingdom in G-ds own time, to be
administered by the saints, who are G-ds people and the rule by this
kingdom, will be an everlasting one upon which all the rulers of the world
will be subject to.
6

The Second Vision:

The second vision of Daniel found in Chapter 8 comes in two parts.

The first part, verses 2-14 speaks of the goat succeeded by four
prominent horns from which came a little horn which grew up to heaven
and succeeded in everything. The second part, verses 15-27 speaks of a
time in the last end of the indignation (NIV: later in the time of wrath)
for at the time appointed, the end [shall be] (NIV: because the vision
concerns
the appointed time of the end) when a king of fierce
countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up (NIV: a
stern-faced king who is a master of intrigue appears).
The following is the first part:
{8:2} And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I [was] at
Shushan [in] the palace, which [is] in the province of Elam; and I saw in a
vision, and I was by the river of Ulai. {8:3} Then I lifted up mine eyes, and
saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had [two] horns:

and the [two] horns [were] high; but one [was] higher than the other, and the
higher came up last. {8:4} I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward,
and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither [was there
any] that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and
became great. {8:5} And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from
the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the
goat [had] a notable horn between his eyes. {8:6} And he came to the ram that
had [two] horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him
in the fury of his power. {8:7} And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he
was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two
horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him
down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could
deliver the ram out of his hand. {8:8} Therefore the he goat waxed very great:
and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four
notable ones toward the four winds of heaven. {8:9} And out of one of them
came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and
toward the east, and toward the pleasant [land. ]{8:10} 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. {8:11} Yea, he magnified
[himself] even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily [sacrifice] was
taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. {8:12} And an host
was given [him] against the daily [sacrifice] by reason of transgression, and it
cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered. {8:13} Then
I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain [saint]
which spake, How long [shall be] the vision [concerning] the daily [sacrifice,]
and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to
be trodden under foot? {8:14} And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and
three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."(Dan 8:2-14 AV)

In Daniel 8:2-14 above quoted, Daniel is at the citadel at Shushan or

Susa in Elam, the oldest city in Persia where the Persian king resides in a
palace beside the Ulai Canal. He saw a ram with two horns then a goat
with a prominent horn, that the angel Gabriel gives meaning in the
subsequent verses in Daniel 8:20-21 as the kingdoms of Media and Persia
for the two-horned ram and the kingdom of Greece for the goat, who
knocked the former.
{8:8} Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the
great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four
winds of heaven. (Daniel 8:8 AV)

This verse is already given meaning in Daniel 8:21 to be united

Greece under the Macedonians. Phillip II, king of Macedonia united the
Greek city states into a federal union and became its first king. Shortly
afterwards, at age 46, he was assassinated and succeeded by his son,
Alexander the Great.
{8:21} The shaggy goat is the king of Greece,and the large horn between his
eyes is the first king. (Daniel 8:21 AV)

Alexander conquered the entire Persian Empire in ten years (334325 BC). He created an empire stretching from Macedonia to the Indus
River and systematically Hellenized the East fusing Greek and non-Greek
cultures and promoting new concepts of ethics and new religions,
including Christianity. He died at 33 years of age, at the height of his
power. After Alexanders death, his kingdom was divided between his
three greatest generals who succeeded him, the Diadochis. They were
defeated by the Romans (cf: Daniel 7:8) and their kingdom consolidated
under it. These are the four prominent horns of Rome which rose from its
after the Greek defeat. It grew up towards the four winds of heaven in
Daniel 8:8 and are also referred to in Daniel 8:22 below.
{8:22}Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms
shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. (Daniel 8:22 AV)

Another description of these four kingdoms may be found in Daniel

11:2-4 as the kingdom that is neither descended from nor exercised the
power of Greece, to wit:
{11:2} And now will I shew thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet
three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than [they] all: and by
his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia.
{11:3} And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion,
and do according to his will. {11:4} And when he shall stand up, his kingdom
shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not
to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his
kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those. (Dan 11:2-4 AV;
underscroring mine)

History confirms the fourth Persian (Achaemenid) king, Xerxes I,

fought against Greece. After this war, Persia was defeated and became a
vassal of Greece. The mighty king referred to is Alexander the Great
whose empire in turn will be broken up and it will not go to his
descendants but uprooted and given to others, meaning Rome. Rome is
not descended from Greece, nor from Alexanders empire. There are also
four distinct epochs in Romes history representing the four horns in
Daniel 8:8 and 8:22. Each of the four horns represent Rome as it
transforms itself from its tribal roots rising from the surrounding hill tribes
in the time of the first seven kings and conquering and consolidating
other Italian tribes in the time of the Republic then marching west up to
the British Isles and east to Asia Minor and south to Mesopotamia as an
empire, until its fall. It rises again held by ambitious European monarchs
and tyrants who wished to rival the width and breadth of the empire at
the instance of the pope and using the Roman Catholic church to
propagate itself. Together, these are the four prominent horns which grew
up toward the four winds of heaven. The first three transformations of

Rome were basically ruled by Romans. The early kings, consuls (members
of the Senate), and later the emperors, were Roman citizens. The fourth is
a creation by the kingdoms of the former barbarians (the Germanic tribes,
e.g. Franks and Teutons of Gaul) who overthrew Rome and aspired to
wield the power and influence of the former empire. All considered
themselves descended from their predecessor and wielded the power and
influence of the former unto its subjects in the territories under it. Daniel
8:22 describes the powers of this kingdoms as not to be the same. In the
first three, the power of its successor was greater than the predecessor. In
the fourth, the successor aspires to equal the power of its predecessor but
fails.
We continue with the interpretation of Daniels second vision. The
verse below refers to a second little horn which came out of one of
them, the third of the four horns of the transformation of Rome explained
above.
{8:9} And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding
great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant [land].
(Daniel 8:9 AV)

This second little horn (Dan 8:9) grew from out of one of these
four horns, which also rose from the first little horn in Daniel 7:8. This
second little horn is described to expand to the south and to the east
and toward Israel, the Pleasant Land. The deeds described in Daniel
8:10-12 can nowhere find a more perfect fit in the Roman Catholic church
as the second little horn which came out of and has its beginnings in
the third horn which is the Roman empire from the four horns in Daniel
8:22.
The Roman Catholic church rose during the time of the Roman
empire when Constantine the Great was its empreror.
The Roman Catholic church. A horn being a kingdom, this little
horn which grew out of the third horn is a kingdom within a kingdom, or
in present day terms, a state within a state. The Roman Catholic church
originated from the Edict of Milan of Constantine the Great, emperor of
the Roman empire. Today, the temporal and spiritual authority of the
Roman Catholic church is found in the Vatican city, residence of the pope
and officially acknowledged by Italy as independent of Italy by virtue of
the Lateran Treaty in 1929. The city is found within Rome and covers an
area approximately .44 sq. kilometers. It is nonetheless a diminution of its
former glory, the papal states, from the donation of King Pepin the Short
of the Franks to Pope Stephen II in 756 AD. The Vatican is the seat of the
pope, high priest of the Roman Catholic church. The papal states were
territories independent of the Roman empire, belonging to the church,
which was considered a separate state. Another donation which the
Roman Catholic church later admitted to be a forgery was the Donation of

Constantine, purportedly an earlier donation by Emperor Constantine of

territories which comprised the papal states.
The Roman Catholic church believes itself to be the continuation of
the Christian community founded by Jesus that was bequeathed to Saint
Peter with the following basis in scriptures.
Jesus intention to make Simon Peter the foundation rock of his Church (cf. Mt
16:18) has a value that outlasts the apostles earthly life. Jesus actually conceived
his Church and desired her presence and activity in all nations until the ultimate
fulfillment of history (cf. Mt 26:14; 28:19; Mk 16:15; Lk 24:47; Acts 1:8). 140

Saint Peter, by Roman Catholic tradition is believed to have followed up

on the progress of Saint Pauls work on the Gentiles in Rome, as
enunciated in the First Vatican Council of 1864 and confirmed by the
Second Vatican Council in 1962. The same is reiterated by Pope John Paul
II in his catechism The Bishop of Rome Is Peters Successor, saying
thus:
Therefore, as he wanted successors for the other apostles in order to continue
the work of evangelization in the various parts of the world, so too he foresaw
and desired successors for Peter. They would be charged with the same pastoral
mission and equipped with the same power, beginning with the mission and
power of being Rock -- [...]. This was defined by the First Vatican Council:
"What Christ the Lord, prince of pastors and great shepherd of the sheep,
established in the blessed Apostle Peter [...]. will remain indestructible until the
end of time" (DS 3056). [...]. The Second Vatican Council accepted and repeated
this teaching of Vatican I.141

but contradicting this basis by saying further:

In truth, Jesus did not specify the role of Rome in Peters succession. Doubtless
he wanted Peter to have successors, but the New Testament does not state his
specific desire to choose Rome as the primatial See. He preferred to entrust that
to historical events in which the divine plan for the Church, the determination of
the concrete conditions of Peters succession, would appear. The decisive
historical event is that the fisherman of Bethsaida came to Rome and suffered
martyrdom in this city.142
This fact is rich in theological significance, because it shows the mystery of the
divine plan which arranges the course of human events to serve the Churchs
beginnings and development. Peters coming to Rome and his martyrdom here
are part of a very ancient tradition expressed in basic historical documents and
archeological discoveries regarding devotion to Peter on the site of his tomb, [...].
Among the written documents we must first of all recall Pope Clements Letter to
the Corinthians (ca. 89-97), [...]. In this regard it is interesting to underscore the
reference of tradition to the two apostles associated in their martyrdom with this
Church. The Bishop of Rome is the Successor of Peter; however, he can also be
called the heir of Paul, [...].143

Of Pope Clements Letter to the Corinthians, the author William P.

Meyers in Was Peter the First Pope? has this to say: If you look at early
documents there is little or no support for the idea of Peter visiting Rome.
Clements letter of the Romans to the Corinthians, written around 95 A.D.,
mentions Peter, but says nothing about his visiting Rome, being Pope, or
dying in Rome.
Three translations from the original Latin letter were
perused by Meyers in this discourse.
144

Despite this duplicity, the Roman Catholic church thus considers its
bishops, priests, and deacons to be ordained according to the doctrine of
apostolic succession, making them successors to the twelve Apostles in
addition to the primacy of Saint Peter as the first bishop of Rome and the
primacy of the pope as his successor, over Catholic churches, including
the Eastern Orthodox churches and the Anglican Communion which
recognizes the valid consecration of the Catholic churchs bishops as well
as the primacy of the bishop of Rome, although they interpret that
primacy differently.
So, there remains the question for lack of proof
from scriptures or historical record, the claim of the Roman Catholic
church that Saint Peter ever traveled and was martyred in Rome because
Saint Paul in his many letters would have acknowledged him and church
historians would have noted. The same being contrary to the agreement
during the first Council of Jerusalem (Gal. 2:7-9), Marsiglio Padua in his
Defensor Pacis, said:
145

As to the supremacy of the bishop of Rome as the successor of Peter [...] that
people will overlook the fact that the Roman bishops are the successors rather of
Paul than of Peter, and it is supermarvellous when we consider that it is not the
See of Rome but the See of Antioch.which ought justly to claim this succession.
It was Paul who was sent out to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, as Peter was
sent to the Jews. It can be proved by Scripture that Paul was two years at Rome,
preached there [...] in a special sense bishop of Rome and exercised there the
pastoral office, having his authority from Christ, commanded thereto by
revelation and elected by the consent of the other Apostles.' But, as to Peter, I say
that it cannot be proved by Scripture that he was bishop of Rome or, what is
more, that he was ever at Rome. For it seems most amazing if, according to some
popular saints legend, St. Peter came to Rome before St. Paul, preached there
the word of G-d and was then taken prisoner, if then St. Paul after his arrival in
Rome acting together with St. Peter had so many conflicts with Simon Magus
and in defence of the faith fought against emperors and their agents, and if
finally, according to the same story, both were beheaded at the same time for
their confession of Christ, there fell asleep in the Lord, and thus consecrated the
Roman Church of Christ most amazing, I say, that St. Luke, who wrote the
Acts of the Apostles and Paul himself make not the slightest mention of St.
Peter.146

Constantine. When the Roman Emperor Constantine was

converted into the faith of the early Christians. He started a practice that

later became the state religion. The Roman Catholic church started small
during this period but grew in power and reached its peak during the Holy
Roman empire. Before 312 AD, Constantine was a tolerant pagan,
patronizing all but not committed to any one deity. Between 312 and 324
A.D, however, he gradually adopted the Christian G-d as his protector and
on several occasions granted special privileges to individual churches and
bishops. Constantine, (Flavius Valerius Constantinus) was born in the
what is now the city of Nis, Serbia on the 27th of February 272. His
father, Flavius Constantius, was an officer of the Praetorian Guards in the
reign of Emperor Aurelius and became governor of Dalmatia during
Emperor Diocletians. Constantines mother, Helena was a Bithynian
Greek. On 25 July 306 in Eboracum (now York in Great Britain) Constantius
had become severely sick and died, but not before he declared to his
troops to raise Constantine to the rank of full Augustus. His barbarian ally,
the Alamannic king Chrocus proclaimed Constantine as Augustus. The
troops loyal to Constantius followed him and Gaul and Britain came under
his authority. According to the chronicler, Eusebius, during the wars fought
against contenders to the throne, Constantine, while marching at midday,
"saw in the heavens, a trophy of the cross arising from the light of the
sun, carrying the message, In Hoc Signo Vinces or Conquer By This ."
Constantine dreamt the following night, in which Christ appeared with the
same heavenly sign, and told him to make a standard, the labarum.
Eusebius describes the sign as Chi () traversed by Rho (), a symbol
representing the first two letters of the Greek spelling of the word Christos
or Christ. In 313, he met Licinius in Milan to secure their alliance by the
marriage of Licinius and Constantines half-sister Constantia. During this
meeting, the emperors agreed on the so-called Edict of Milan, officially
granting full tolerance to Christianity and all religions in the Empire. This
legalized Christianity and restored all property seized during Diocletians
persecution. In the year 320, Licinius reneged on the religious freedom
promised by the Edict of Milan in 313 and began to oppress Christians
anew. It became a challenge to Constantine, climaxing in the great civil
war of 324 after which Constantine became the sole emperor.
147

148

Declaring himself a Christian when he was over 40 Constantine

supported the church by building basilicas, exempting it from certain
taxes, and promoting Christians to high office. His most famous building
projects include the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and Old Saint Peters
Basilica. With his conversion and the Council of Nicea, the Christian
religion received imperial backing. At the time of the Council (325), Rome
was still seen as the capital of the empire, although the emperor rarely
lived there. With the establishment of a new fixed capital in
Constantinople (330), there arose a new center, which soon grew in
prominence, rivaling those in Rome, Alexandria and Antioch, which
previously had been the most important centers of Christianity. Of these,
Rome claimed the chief place, as illustrated by Pope Leo the Greats

statement in about 446, that "the care of the universal Church should
converge towards Peters one seat, and nothing anywhere should be
separated from its Head", clearly articulating the extension of papal
authority as doctrine, and promulgating his right to exercise "the full
range of apostolic powers that Jesus had first bestowed on the apostle
Peter." During these seven centuries, from the Council of Nicea to the
East-West Schism (325-1054), the church unified by Emperor Constantine
effectively split into a Greek East and a Latin West. The pope became
independent of the emperor in the East, and became a major force in
politics in the West.
149

The Pope. After the fall of the Roman empire in 476 AD, the pope
as spiritual head of the empire remained in power and held it together by
moral suasion. Under the principle of the unity of the state and church
enunciated by Constantine the Great, the pope was the de facto head of
the empire, now made up of Roman Catholics. The next succeeding three
centuries before Charlemagne, king of the Franks and the beginning of
the Holy Roman empire found the pope exercising authority and dominion
over all the Roman Catholics in the empire even as the secular powers
had split into the Byzantine empire in the east and a good number of
independent Germanic tribal kingdoms in the west. As sole
representative of G-d on earth with the power to bind heaven with what it
binds on earth, it spread its influence over the entire Roman Empire from
England in the west as far as Asia Minor in the east, and towards the
south to Israel - the Pleasant Land and the throne of G-d in Jerusalem
where a holy war will be initiated at his behest. The pope also exercised
authority over the kings of the nations who became Roman Catholics by
political convenience and who would later comprise the Holy Roman
empire by virtue of the power to justify succession to the throne by
moral suasion and later to confirm the crown on the emperor-elect to
bestow upon him the authority that comes from G-d to convince their
subjects. The pope thus became the second beast spoken of in Revelation
13:11 that had two horns like a lamb (Western Roman Catholics and
Eastern Orthodox) but spoke like a dragon exercising the authority of the
first beast (Roman empire) becoming the bond which unites the empire
after the schism, even over the bishop of Constantinople under the
principle of the primacy of the bishop of Rome over other bishops, thus it
is said, He exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and
causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast,
whose deadly wound was healed (Rev 13:12). For this reason this brand
of catholicism is called Roman Catholicism, implying the worship of the
ancient empire of Rome, the largest empire to survive over a thousand
years.
it cast down [some] of the host and of the stars to the
ground, and stamped upon them. This means that as this horn

grew, it used its power to cast some of the heavenly host, the multitude in
heaven comprised by the holy people - Jews, the saints early Christians,
including every righteous people of the earth before them, before the law
of Moses and the covenants with Abraham and Noah (and the time
between them) and their prince or angels, in heaven. In short, those who
inhabit heaven were cast down to the earth. In the confusion which
resulted from his rebellion, Satan usurped the authority of
G-d,
supplanted it with his own and made it up to be G-ds. For this reason, this
horn - the Roman Catholic church, Satans evil conception on earth,
reached the host of heaven. The Jews did not believe in the Roman
Catholic church, but neither did they believe in Jesus. In fact, the Roman
Catholic church strengthened their unbelief in their Messiah, for vicarious
salvation was alien to Judaism. The saints, not a few of them, on the other
hand, were misled into believing it to be the true church and obtained
membership. After Satan lost this war in heaven he and his followers are
thrown to the earth and parallel consequences manifested themselves in
the events which occured on the earth to the holy people - the Jews and
the pagans (who are like they have the law in their hearts described by
Paul in Romans 2:14-16); they are likewise trampled on by this horn as the
daily sacrifice in the temple of Solomon ended. In Revelation 12:17 the
dragon Satan continues to war with the woman (the church) and her
children who follow the Word or Jesus on earth. As the dragon gave the
first beast the Roman empire, his power, throne and authority to
exercise them for forty-two months, he blasphemed G-d and slandered his
name and those who live in heaven. On the earth where he was thrown,
he made war against the saints and the holy people and conquered them
and his authority covered every people and nation (Rev 13:5-7). A second
beast the pope, came out exercising all the authority of the first beast
on his behalf and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first
beast (Rev 13:11-12). The Romans had taken note of the vigorous growth
of the early Christian church under the early fathers from the late first
century up to the third century despite the endless and cruel
persecutions. The greater the persecution, the more adherents were
drawn to it - appealing as a sane and sober faith, viewed as a refuge from
the hedonistic but cruel norm of Roman social life, and closer to reality
than all the faiths then existing. King Constantine the Great who became
a Christian promoted it until it became the state religion under Theodosius
I in 380 AD in place of the gods and goddesses of old. Thus it is said that
this horn within a horn, after throwing and trampling a third of the host of
heaven, supplanted the early Christian church with its own.
Events in the spiritual realm, i.e., heaven or in the domain of those
who follow Satan, and in the places in-between fought over by angels and
demons, have a parallel consequence in the temporal or physical, e.g.
earth. Satans rebellion was already on hand since before the expulsion of
Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden when he tempted Eve to eat from

the tree of knowledge. This disobedience to an earlier command from G-d

not to eat from this tree destined man to be forever struggling against sin
and Satan. As Satan or the dragon and his followers, comprising a third of
the heavenly host whom he was able to deceive lost their place in heaven
and are thrown to the earth (Rev 12:4; Rev 12:8-9) they continue the war.
Angels are given power to perform various functions and responsibilities
for the Lord, so that one can imagine the miracles they can do with
them when used against mankind. The following account in scriptures of
events during the Babylonian exile may be inferred from Daniel 10:13
when the angel Gabriel (Dan 8:16) explained he was detained for twenty
one days by war against the angel of Persia and only with the help of the
chief prince of Israel, the Archangel Michael, was he able to disengage
from fighting the angel of Persia. This was the time of Persias shaping as
an instrument of G-ds plan to free the Hebrews from its Babylonian
captivity to rebuild the temple and Jerusalem. We know from secular
history how they were able to find favor with the Persians, so we can
surmise that the archangels Gabriel and Michael won this fight. And the
angel Gabriel continues, saying, ... and now will I return to fight with the
prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall
come. (Dan 10:20. We may infer from what Gabriel said, that he will fight
the prince of Persia again and his mission will be one with the prince of
Greece to accomplish the defeat of the Persians in the hands of the
Greeks. The prince of Persia must be one of the angels thrown with Satan.
Gabriel fought the angel of Persia to support and protect a vassal of Cyrus
the Great of Persia, Darius the Mede, who captured Babylon and
consequently freed the Hebrews from their Babylonian captivity (Dan
5:31; 9:1; 11:1). In this very brief account of what was happening in
heaven during this time, we get a glimpse of loyalist angels overcoming
rebel angels to establish the will of G-d on earth. Media-Persia is the third
beast in Daniels vision and there are four Persian kings who
acknowledged the G-d of Israel and were instrumental in the return of the
exiles from Babylon to Israel. The angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel in this
sealed vision to guide the elect and the times given were a puzzle. The
dates have to be computed after the references are determined by a
precise exegesis of the visions. In Daniels time, most of these references
were still in the distant future. Moreover, Daniel was instructed to seal the
visions. The visions sealed were worded like codes, with their meanings
found in other prophecies in the distinct language of scriptures. However,
part of the vision could be directly understood saving the Jews from
Alexander the Great who was about to punish them for their loyalty to the
Persians. Before he could do this, he was met by the high priest, Jaddua
and showed him Daniels prophecy. Furthermore, a secular approach was
not be sufficient to decipher them as only a student of theology with an
understanding of visions could.
150

151

magnified [himself] even to the prince of the

host, ... This means that the pope, who is also the bishop of Rome, as
high priest of the Roman Catholic church exalts himself up to be as great
as the Prince of the host of heaven Jesus Christ, the Messiah, who under
the new covenant, also held the power and authority of G-d over the host
of heaven, as His son or prince. This power and authority on earth the
pope believes, is vested on him as high priest of the universal Roman
Catholic church, as the church established by Peter with the power to bind
in heaven the things he has bound, is binding and will bind on earth.
Everything on earth that was of Christ - the pope had the final say. It is
this misrepresentation of the authority of Jesus as high priest that the
pope becomes his anti-type, thus the term anti-Christ. The pope also
claims to be infallible as G-d, and like G-d is incapable of making a
mistake. Even assuming itself to be above the Jews, upon whom the
Gentiles are regarded only as ingrafted branches (Rom 11:17-21). The
pope as the second beast spoken of in Revelation 13:11-12 whose
authority comes from the first beast, the Roman empire, whose authority
in turn comes from the dragon, Satan, is now the sole representative of
Satan, who is chief of all deceits. Furthermore, the Roman Catholic
doctrine of apostolic succession and the primacy of the bishop of Rome
supplanted Zion with the Vatican as the throne of G-d on earth when it
brought the sanctuary down and will bring it down again in the end time.
It will play a hand towards this aim in the end by ridiculing and humiliating
the people of the covenant for their obstinate denial of their Messiah as
they raise the temple up to renew the rites that have already been
abrogated.
and by him the daily [sacrifice] was taken away This
was facilitated by the burning of the temple in 70 AD and is symbolic of
the final end of the rite of the daily sacrifice of a lamb in the morning and
another in the afternoon done in the temple of Solomon in Jerusalem
(Num. 28:3). This is significant because the holy people - the Jews, were
constrained from worshiping in the temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, where
the annual sacrifice for the atonement of the sins of Israel (feast of Yom
Hakippurrim) is exclusively done by the high priest who enters the Holy of
Holies or Most Holy Place, the inner sanctuary. Thus, the event is also a
fulfillment of what Jesus said in John 4:21-24 that the hour cometh,
and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father neither in
this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, but in spirit and in truth: for the
Father seeketh such to worship him. The temple then, when it will be
reconstructed, will not serve the purpose for which it was built. However,
it will serve another purpose in the end time. The loss of the temple and
the institution by Jesus of the breaking of bread and drinking of wine in
memory of the sacrifice he will make introduced a renewed rite in
worship. Instead of the sacrificial rites done in the temple, this rite was
the one acceptable to G-d and one of the features of the new covenant.
However, as the early Christian church was still evolving, the doctrines

and rites upon which its foundations were to be built came under scrutiny.
Theologians and scholastics from then on, a number of whom were
martyred by the church it sought to establish, debated on the many
issues of the faith. For the politicians, the adoption of this faith to appease
the growing multitude of Christians in the Roman empire and as an
instrument to unify the empire, was of paramount importance. The church
had to be one with the state as Constantine saw and deemed it fit.
Theodosius I made it the official religion of the state. In place of the daily
sacrifice, is the daily holy communion given during the daily mass
practiced by the Roman Catholic church in memory of Jesus sacrifice as
he bade the apostles do in the last Feast of the Passover he celebrated
with them. Jesus institution of the breaking of the bread and drinking of
wine as a symbol of the final Passover lamb acceptable to G-d was
sufficient to atone for all the sins of mankind in lieu of the various burnt
offerings that were done by the Levite priests in the Holy Place in the
temple daily and during feast days; and annually in the Holy of Holies
during Yom Hakipurrim. Having been instituted thus, this rite came to be
practiced in all fellowships with the brethren in the early Christian church.
When Rome adopted this faith as the official religion of the state, it also
took away this rite (the daily sacrifice) which became under Catholic
doctrine, the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, an essential part of their
worship in the Holy Mass. In the Roman Catholic mass, the Lords
Supper as the Protestant churches call it, is called the holy communion
that the congregation partakes of. The holy communion is done in each
celebration of the mass that may be made several times daily.
Unbeknownst to the early Christians and church leaders, they had been
deceived and given away, including their church, to the Roman empire
and later to the Holy Roman empire for a time and times and the
dividing of time.
and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. Back
when there was no temple, the ark of the covenant which only the
members of the priestly tribe of Levites could carry was placed in a tent.
Not until David was it thought of to enshrine the ark inside a temple. G-ds
glory descended on the place where the ark was laid and the presence of
G-d in the form of a cloud would be seen by anyone. With the destruction
of the Temple of Solomon, this sanctuary ceased to exist. A brief account
of the siege of Jerusalem by Titus according to Fausset quoting Josephus,
is written thus:
The period of bombarding the temple is named by the Jews "the days of
wretchedness." On the 28th of June the daily "sacrifice (Dan 9:27) ceased" from
want of an officiating priest, and Titus again in vain invited to a surrender. On July
15th a soldier, contrary to Titus intention, fired the temple, and all Titus efforts to
stop the fire were unavailing, the very same month and day that Nebuchadnezzar

burnt the first temple, God marking the judgment plainly as from Him. Titus
himself recognized this: "we fought with God on our side, it is God who pulled the
Jews out of these strongholds, for what could the hands of men or machines have
availed against these towers?"152

The word sanctuary is used with at least five different meanings in

the Bible. For purposes of this study, it is as defined by Nelsons
Illustrated Bible Dictionary as a holy place set apart for worship of G-d or
refuge from danger. Israels earliest sanctuary was the portable tent
known as the tabernacle, where the Ark of the Covenant containing the
Ten Commandments was housed (Ex 25:8; 36:1). After the conquest of the
land of Canaan by Joshua, the tabernacle with its sanctuary was placed at
Shiloh, a town in central Palestine (Josh 18:1). In the time of Solomon, he
had a temple built in Jerusalem, as his father David planned when he
became king. This became a more permanent place of worship (1 Chr
22:19). It is also applied to the Most Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies, in
the tabernacle and the Temple (Lev 4:6). The word is also used of G-ds
holy habitation in heaven (Ps 102:19). In the New Jerusalem there will be
no sanctuary, for the Lord G-d Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of
it (Rev 21:22). Where all is made sacred, consecrated, and holy by G-ds
presence, there is no need for one specific holy place.
153

... by reason of transgression... So it has been since the

time of Moses that out of their individual sins rose a collective
transgression or disobedience that may be properly called a rebellion (Ex
23:21; Heb 3:16) and grew from bad to worse and became the rebellion
that causes desolation (NIV) specifically referred to in Leviticus 26:27-35.
It carried the punishment that punished their sins seven times over,
wasted their sanctuaries and cities, uprooted and scattered them, and laid
the land in desolation, among others, to wit:
{26:27} And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary
unto me; {26:28} Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even
I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. {26:29} And ye shall eat the flesh
of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat. {26:30} And I will
destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases
upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you. {26:31} And I
will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I
will not smell the savour of your sweet odours. {26:32} And I will bring the
land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished
at it. {26:33} And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a
sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. {26:34}
Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be
in your enemies land; [even] then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.
{26:35} As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your
sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.. (Lev 26:27-35 AV)

Of the four Levitical ordinances which multiplies the penalty for

disobedience (rebellion) seven times over found in the following verses in

Leviticus Chapter 26: Lev 26:18-20; 21-22; 23-26; 27-35, it is the fourth
which lays to waste and desolates the sanctuary and the land, and
uproots them from the latter. For this reason of the Jews sin,
transgression, disobedience or rebellion, this horn the Roman Catholic
church, was given authority to take over the cudgels for spreading the
gospel and the host of saints given over to it and that done, advanced its
own agenda and prospered over everything it did. As Israel was made
deaf that it would not believe the gospel, it became a boon to the Gentiles
to whom the gospel was brought. As a consequence, the majority of Israel
remained impervious to the gospel and missed to realize the significance
of the prophecy of Daniel, as once again it does, as in the past it had done
several times.
The secular legal definition of rebellion is as a continuing crime. So
was this rebellion which continued under the authority of the Greeks and
the Romans. Unlike the Egyptians, Babylonians and Persians, who were
restrained in their mistreatment of the Israelites being familiar with them
as their kindred and having had several previous experiences with
supernatural events and prophets of the G-d of Israel, the Greeks and
Romans were not. After Alexander the Greats death in 323 BC, Palestine
was torn between Egypt under the Ptolemies in the South, and Syria,
under the Seleucids (whose kings were either called Seleucus or
Antiochus) in the north. For a hundred years they struggled until Palestine
fell to the Seleucids in 223 BC. After two campaigns, Antiochus the Great
finally defeated Egypt in 198 BC at Panium with the help of the Jews.
However, Antiochus was defeated by the Roman Scipio Asiaticus at
Magnesia in 190 BC and under heavy and difficult tribute died in 187 BC
while plundering a Greek temple. After his son and successor Seleucus IV
was murdered, Antiochus Epiphanes, brother of Seleucus IV succeeded as
Antiochus IV and reigned from 175-164 BC. Brought up in the Hellenic
tradition, his enforcement of this influence upon his empire brought him
into conflict with the Jews. Even before his reign many Jews had yielded to
Hellenism and Antiochus influence increased that tendency until Hassidic
Jews faithful to the Jewish tradition resisted until driven to armed
resistance.
His victory over Egypt was short-lived as the Roman
Pompilius Laenas, ordered him to leave Egypt at once. Upon his return in
169 BC he bent his ire on the Jews whom he suspected of betraying him to
the Romans. Irked by their wrangling for the high-priesthood when he
was promoting what he perceived was a more civilized Greek culture, he
resolved to crush Judaism. In 168 BC he devastated the city, defiled the
temple by the sacrifice of swine on the altar, destroyed the holy writings
therein, sold the Jews and their families into slavery, and forbade
circumcision. The Jews rebelled.
154

155

The Romans on the other hand, made instrument of G-ds wrath

(Rom 13:1-2), without regard for the Jewish faith, trampled their most
sacred site, Jerusalem and the temple of Solomon. The rebellion was at its
height with the revolt of the Zealots and the degenerate Sicariis in 66-70
AD. This led the Romans under General Titus in 70 AD to finally destroy
the temple, including the sanctuary. The rebellion also showed the
stubborn resistance the Jews had taken against Roman domination as
early as the first century exemplified by the militant Zealots who adhered
to strict interpretation of the Jewish laws and waged a guerrilla war
against the Roman authorities and uncooperative Jews. The temple has
never been used again since. The daily sacrifice having been taken away,
the rite of a sacrifice of a lamb in the morning and another in the
afternoon was halted with its destruction. The desolation as a
consequence of this rebellion is more familiar today by its contemporary
term as the Middle East conflict. The temple mount as it is called today is
the exact spot where the Temple of Solomon stood and has never been
rebuilt since its destruction in 70 AD putting to final rest the daily sacrifice
done by the Levite priests. (c.f. Daniel 8:13-14). Furthermore, this
rebellion that causes desolation, among others, will end only after 2,300
days when the sanctuary will be cleansed (Daniel 8:13). This means
the temple will be rebuilt in order for it to be cleaned and rededicated as
in the time of the Maccabees. This prophecy will lead us to believe that a
great number of Jews will continue in their unbelief in Jesus Christ as their
Messiah until the end of time, as it happened during the destruction of the
temple by Titus in 70 AD.
156

The rebellion that maketh desolate. Today, even as Israels

restoration is underway, the rebellion that causes desolation remains and
will remain until the rededication of the rebuilt temple in 2370 AD. This
rebellion of disobedience to the will of G-d or total rejection of G-d and
the unbelief in their Messiah, even after her punishment has been fully
satisfied is something that Israel will struggle with until the end. There will
be some who will become Christians as in the time of Jesus and the
apostles and half of Israel at the time of the end. At this very second, the
truth that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, their shepherd David, and their king
shines brightly, one can hardly focus at any other truth. The fact is that
the Jews are home. The Messiah was raised before their homecoming to
be the one to lead them home, as prophesied. Who gathered them home?
There has not been any claimant as Messiah in Israels history, who would
correspond to the time, description, and circumstances prophesied by
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. A messiah of far-reaching
consequence or significance as Jesus Christ. If Simon Bar Kochba is the
Messiah, where is the covenant of peace that he brought with him that
the prophet Ezekiel talked about (Eze 37:18-26)? The one that Christian
nations like America and its allies, follow, i.e., the New Testament
Christian Bible. Surely, they too would have insisted in its late inclusion to
the Jewish canon. Can a messianic age be a son a virgin will give birth to

and be called Immanuel, as Isaiah prophesied? Yet this rebellion is an

issue for Muslims dispossessed by Israels restoration to hold against her.
For if she continues in her unbelief why should the Muslim who revere
Jesus Christ and his covenant of peace be dispossessed of the lands now
claimed by Israel? More so if the Muslim becomes a Christian. Quite an
issue there. So, that there must certainly be a time when many of Israel
will acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah before the temple is cleansed.
For this reason, it is said that, of two men in the field, two in bed and
two women grinding, one of each was taken up, the others left (Matt
24:40-41; Luke 17:34-36).
The desolation have also continued and shall continue to keep the Jews holy forever
in awe of the decrees of the Lord (Dan 9:27). For this purpose, the Arab nations
who as Muslims and descendants and heirs of Ishmael, who harbor a
grudging acknowledgment of the G-d of Israel, will always be there to
remind Israel. True, for if one reads the Quran, one cannot help but
observe the many verses rebuking Israel for the many times she sinned
and is reminded by Muslims how they (the Muslims) became instruments
of their (Israels) punishment as well as a refuge from the Romans. So to
this day, the Arab states have become instruments to threaten Israel to
remember the decrees of the Lord and of their humiliating punishment
which made them the most despicable race of humans in Europe for over
a thousand years. These wars will also prod Israel to follow the Lords
decrees to prepare them for the final battle in Armageddon. In the process
many Muslims will also level-up in their faith. The starting point their
belief in Isa (Jesus) and the acknowledgment in both the Tanakh of the
Jews and the Christian Bible, of the promises G-d made to Hagar and her
son Ishmael. The wars that had been fought regularly since Israels
homecoming and unilateral declaration of its independence has kept
Israel true to its form as in the days of the judges, David and the kings
who did right in the eyes of the Lord, with the world in awe of the might of
the G-d of Israel, who hands her enemies over to her with such ease.
The
abomination which maketh desolate. Abomination is
synonymous with detestable. What is detestable to the Lord was defined
in the Book of Leviticus. There are detestable creatures that were not to
be eaten and whose carcasses were unclean. There were detestable
relationships, detestable periods, detestable practices of foreigners,
detestable objects and things, detestable sacrifices, detestable idols and
images, detestable foreign gods and corresponding prescriptions were
ordered for their cleansing as well as punishments. Other detestable
ways, practices and deeds done by the people of Israel and Judah are
enumerated in the First and Second Book of Kings and First and Second
Book of Chronicles.
There are five times that the phrase abomination which maketh

desolate is referred to in the Bible. Three times in the Old Testament and
all in the Book of Daniel - Daniel: 9:27, 11:31 and 12:11. Twice in the New
Testament in Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14 referring to the same
prophecy. The abomination which maketh desolate is first mentioned in
Daniel 9:27 as part of the seventy weeks prophecy. Daniel 11:31 has
the most interpretation and most of them are in agreement that it refers
to the desecration of the temple by Antiochus Epiphanes of the Seleucid
Syrian dynasty, vassal of the Greeks since Alexander the Great. In 170 BC
Antiochus, an ardent advocate of Hellenization, brazenly sacrificed swine
in the temple and sprinkled it with swine broth, "took away the daily
sacrifice, and placed (on the 15th day of Cisleu, on Jehovahs altar) the
abomination (idol, Jupiter Olympius image) that maketh desolate," i.e.
that pollutes the temple.
The International Standard Bible
Encyclopaedia defines abomination of desolation as:
157

The Hebrew root for abomination is shaqats, "to be filthy," "to loathe," "to
abhor," from which is derived shiqquts, "filthy," especially "idolatrous." This
word is used to describe specific forms of idolatrous worship that were specially
abhorrent, as of the Ammonites (1 Kings 11:5,7); of the Moabites (1 Kings 11:7;
2 Kings 23:13). When Daniel undertook to specify an abomination so
surpassingly disgusting to the sense of morality and decency, and so aggressive
against everything that was godly as to drive all from its presence and leave its
abode desolate, he chose this as the strongest among the several synonyms,
adding the qualification "that maketh desolate" (Daniel 11:31; 12:11), Septuagint
bdel-ug-ma er-e-mo-se-os. The same noun, though in the plural, occurs in
Deuteronomy 29:17; 2 Kings 23:24; Isaiah 66:3; Jeremiah 4:1; 7:30; 13:27;
32:34; Ezekiel 20:7,8,30; Daniel 9:27; Hosea 9:10; Zechariah 9:7. The New
Testament equivalent of the noun is bdel-ug-ma = "detestable," i.e. (specially)
"idolatrous." Alluding to Daniel, Christ spoke of the "abomination of desolation"
(Matthew 24:15; Mark 13:14).158

In this exegesis, as it relates to the warning given to Christians by

Jesus, it refers to the setting up of any one of three persons possessing
any of the following qualifications: king or prince of Israel, high priest or
prophet, or a combination thereof, to come inside the holy place reserved
for priests and serve the interests of a foreign power and not G-ds. It is
also the entry into the holy place reserved for priests to make an offering
by person(s) other than the priests. In the case of the most holy place,
only the high priest can enter it; not even the king is allowed. This
prohibition is found in 2 Chronicles 26:18-21 in reference to Uzziah, king
of Judah, who entered the holy place.
In Daniel 12:11 the prophet speaks of a time after 1290 days
(prophetic years) from the time the daily sacrifice is abolished and the
abomination that causes desolation is set up.
Very briefly, as I will
discuss this matter more exhaustively in the next chapter, the daily
sacrifice abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is referred

together here to mean the year 70 AD when both events occurred. It

refers to the Roman general Titus destruction of the temple during the
siege of Jerusalem. In contrast to the earlier reference in Daniel 11:31 of
the abomination by Antiochus Epiphanes which did not cease the daily
sacrifice. The period, counted from 70 AD, corresponds to the year 1360
AD. He that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and
five and thirty days, which corresponds to 1405 AD, is blessed. These
years were within the period when the indignation or wrath of G-d
(NIV) was upon Jews everywhere. More particularly, those within the
jurisdiction of a Roman Catholic episcopate who suffered persecution.
Relief only came from the aftermath of the invasion by the Seljuk Turks of
Byzantium which prompted the Crusades and the subsequent invasion of
the Mongolian hordes of Genghis Khan who broke western influence as far
west as Poland, the country east of Germany. In 1360 Murad I, son of
Orkhan, son of Osman whose ghazi (clan) became the Ottoman empire,
insured the permanence of the empires presence in Europe by
incorporating the city of Adrianople after overrunning Constantinople. By
1396 the Mongolian hordes of Tamerlane had crossed the Euphrates and
occupied Baghdad and in 1400 Syria and Anatolia were invaded and the
Ottoman sultan Bayezid I defeated at Ankara. However, like Genghis
Khan, he withdrew and returned to Mongolia. He died there in 1405. Since
then, the Balkans, Caucasus and Greater Middle East had become
Islamized and Asia Minor and the Middle East had become dominantly
Muslim under the Ottomans until the end of World War I. These regions
had become a haven for the elect (Messianic or Christian Jews), other
Christians, as well as the Jews who settled here and were tolerated by
Muslims.
The New Testament reference in Matthew and Mark of the
abomination which maketh desolate are the words of Jesus prophesying
of the coming destruction of the Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD
confirming the prophecy of Daniel more than 500 years earlier (Matt
24:15; Mark 13:14). This prophecy is believed to recur like the seasons, as
they did during the Crusades and again they will in the end time. The
Levites from whom the priests came from and who minister in the temple
and tasked with the responsibilities related thereto were especially
segregated for this purpose. The high priest leads the priests in keeping
the regulations to maintain its holiness. They were the keepers of the law
and overseers of the spiritual life of the nation and the people, while kings
ruled over the people and prophets acted as the nations conscience. This
was a regulation the breach thereof was never tolerated. To this date, the
Jews are reluctant to step foot on the temple mount for fear of stepping
on the Holy of Holies which was reserved for the high priest and only once
a year.

{24:15} When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of

by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whosoreadeth, let him
understand:) {24:16} Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the
mountains: {24:17} Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take
any thing out of his house: {24:18} Neither let him which is in the field return
back to take his clothes. {24:19} And woe unto them that are with child, and to
them that give suck in those days! {24:20} But pray ye that your flight be not
in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: {24:21} For then shall be great
tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no,
nor ever shall be. {24:22} And except those days should be shortened, there
should no flesh be saved: but for the elects sake those days shall be shortened.
{24:23} Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here [is] Christ, or there;
believe [it] not. {24:24} For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets,
and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if [it were] possible,
they shall deceive the very elect. {24:25} Behold, I have told you before.
(Matt 24:15-25 AV)

and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it

practised, and prospered. After the Roman Catholic church took over
and claimed everything Christian, the early Christian church was absorbed
and by convenience, acquiesced to the states support. However, in the
controversy over what was orthodox and what was not, the real motive of
the Roman Catholic church as an instrument for the protection of the
state became manifest. It became the most prominent character of this
church: to keep the truth of the Bible from its flock and teach it not in its
entirety, misleading them. By devising excuses and denials for its role in
the persecution of the Jews and Christians (the blood of the prophets and
saints), and to supplant Zion as the throne of G-d, among the other
abominable things it has done, it hides the true purpose of G-d and his
plan for the salvation of all mankind, particularly the historical
significance of Jesus as the Messiah for the Jews, first and foremost and
the Gentiles, second (Rom 1:16). In fact, the one characteristic of Roman
Catholicism which amazes so many is their flocks ignorance of what the
Bible contains, particularly the prophecies in the Old Testament. So much
of the scriptures have become mired in doctrine that only the Vatican,
seat of the pope, has the power to overcome. This effectively vests upon
the pope the only authority capable of interpretation of the Bible as well
as its application, including which parts of the Bible are to be taught and
which parts are not be taught. Much of the story of Israel, particularly
those of the prophets have been set aside to hide the identity of the pope,
and the Roman Catholic church that the prophets Daniel and John spoke
of. The imprimaturs in the Roman Catholic Bible discourages its readers to
read with a divine inspiration that does not come from the Vatican, the
central authority in the exegesis of the Roman Catholic Bible.
two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the
sanctuary be cleansed." This is how long the vision will take. As an

evening and a morning (Dan 8:26) constitutes a day, only after 2,300
prophetic days equivalent to 2,300 years from the time they were taken
away in 70 AD will the temple be reconsecrated and the daily sacrifice
restored. Thus it is said to be cleansed. To do this, the temple has to be
rebuilt. In the year 2370 AD the finished temple will be rededicated. The
rebellion that causes desolation will thus end, which means that all the
Jews, including obstinate Orthodox Jews who persist in their unbelief, will
finally acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Messiah when they see him as the
glory (shekinah) descending on the temple Ezekiel saw in his vision (Eze
43:1-2).
The Host that is Stamped and the Rebellion. The host of
heaven or the multitude of heaven are the inhabitants of heaven
comprising the angels and the souls of the holy people and saints who
once roamed the earth. They include the righteous ones from the time of
Adam before the covenants of Moses, Abraham, and Noah. They watch
over the earth and mankind at the command of G-d Almighty. They
include the souls of the holy people or Jews long dead and their princes or
angels, who watch over them. The host thrown down to the earth were
once among the host but were deceived by Satan. They are the souls of
the lost sheep of the Jews who persist in their unbelief in their Messiah.
They roam the earth. There were also the souls of the saints (Messianic
Jews and early Christians) who were given over to the Roman Catholic
church and died therein in innocent belief. They came out of this state at
the end of the 1260 years in 1330. Of this host of heaven who were
thrown down to the earth who did not come out at the end of the time,
times and the dividing of time or 1,260 years of the saints being given
over, they are the host of the obstinate Orthodox Jews, the lost sheep,
who will be freed only after 2300 years from the end of the daily sacrifice
in 70 AD during the rededication of the temple in 2370 AD. Their
manifestation is not outright in the temporal but in the realm of the spirit.
The temporal world manifests the results of the battles between the host
of heaven and the host led by Satan ony after a time, most of the time not
in a single lifetime.
The verses below tell of three shepherds, (very likely, they refer to
Noah, Abraham and Moses as they are the only three that covenanted
with the Lord) who were unable to look after the whole of their flock.
Moreover, imagine them suffering the plight of their flock - the host
thrown to the earth as they are held responsible for the loss of their flock.
The shepherds, like engineers, have since been mired in the back jobs of
rebuilding and reconstructing.
{23:1} Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my
pasture! saith the LORD. {23:2} Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel
against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven

them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of
your doings, saith the LORD. (Jer 23:1-2 AV)
{34:2} Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and
say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe [be] to the
shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the
flocks? (Eze 34:2 AV)
{34:8} [As] I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a
prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because [there was]
no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds
fed themselves, and fed not my flock; {34:9} Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear
the word of the LORD; {34:10} Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I [am]
against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause
them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed
themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they
may not be meat for them. ( Eze 34:8-10 AV; cf: Jer 50:6-7)
{11:8} Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them,
and their soul also abhorred me. {11:9} Then said I, I will not feed you: that
that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the
rest eat every one the flesh of another. (Zec 11:8-9 AV)
{25:34} Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves [in the ashes,] ye
principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions
are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel. {25:35} And the
shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.
{25:36} A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of
the flock, [shall be heard:] for the LORD hath spoiled their pasture. (Jer
25:34-36 AV)

The spirits or souls of the early Christians who were Gentiles and
Messianic Jews, who were also called saints and lived on earth after they
were given over to the Roman Catholic church and died in this state,
only came out of this hell-like situation when the authority of Satan over
them expired after 1,260 years (Rev 13:1) in 1330 AD and Satan is held in
chain, bound and locked in the Abyss by the angel Abaddon (Rev 20:3).
Isaiah 24:21-23 prophesies of a time like this. It is also believed that a
number of them may have received the mark of the beast (Roman
Catholic baptism) after it was instituted. At the end of the period these
saints were resurrected and reigned with Christ a thousand years (Rev
20:4). The Messianic Jews who were freed were the ones spoken of by
Daniel in 12:1-3, to shine as the brightness of the
firmament; and
they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. As
they were freed, their manifestation in the temporal was in Christians
under enforced Roman Catholicism falling out of the Roman Catholic
church until a mass exodus out of the Roman Catholic church culminated
in the Reformation with the institution of the Protestant churches and

what they stood for. The end of the period was fulfilled in 1330 when the
state finally and irrevocably separated the church from its affairs by
expelling the pope from confirming the emperor-elect of the Holy Roman
empire 1,260 years from the destruction of the temple of Solomon and
end of the daily sacrifice therein in the year 70 AD. Its manifestation
was in the busy conduct by the Inquisition of its business during the
period leading to the Reformation and afterwards and later exoduses out
of the Roman Catholic church which showed that it had long been the
sentiment of many Christians who saw the excesses of the clergy in the
Investiture controversy, the Inquisition and the Crusades.
Without the state to implement the church policies, the fear of the
church was removed once again as in 476 AD when the Roman empire
had just fallen. Concerning the resurrection referred to in Revelation 20:4
we can infer that after the 1,260 years of captivity (Rev 13:10) of the host
of heaven who were saints (Christians vis--vis, the Jews who are the holy
people) and the rest of the righteous ones given over - they were finally
justified and redeemed. They included Christians who were branded as
heretics (Catholics and non-Catholics) who were persecuted by the
Roman Catholic church. They reigned with Christ a thousand years (Rev
20:4). This did not occur, it is believed in the temporal. Otherwise, a
resurrection of this scale and magnitude will not escape historians. It may
be inferred from scriptures that the state of the saints, the holy ones and
righteous ones who were the third of the host of heaven thrown down to
earth, from the year 70 AD was like being held by Satan against their will.
Their souls held hostage. They were used to deceive the living by being
bandied about as a model or a saint of the Roman Catholic church where
they worked to establish it as the true church, while others were set as
examples of what a Christian ought not to be.
They are in danger, those who blindly follow, are mislead and
continue to be mislead by the Roman Catholic church. The Christian
churches who fundamentally have not broken from the policies and
practices of said church by recognizing the primacy of the pope, including
those though they may have broken from it but continue to persecute the
remnant of the Jews, who despite their obstinate and at times, vexatious
unbelief are already saved by grace. Christians cannot arrogate unto
themselves the inheritance of the Jews and leave them out of it (Rom
11:13-36). By this attitude toward the remnants, they unwittingly continue
to propagate the misleading gospel (the worship of the dragon - Satan
and the image of the first beast) represented on earth by a political entity,
the Roman empire, or its latter transformation, the Holy Roman empire,
under which the Roman Catholic church as the little horn which came
forth (Dan 8:9), whose aim it is to supplant the throne of G-d in Zion with
the one in the Vatican at Rome, Italy. There is only one place where the
throne of G-d may be found in Jerusalem where also traditionally sat the

king or prince of Israel (1 Chr 29:23; Jer 3:17; Eze 43:7; Rev 22:1, 3) and
the high priest ministers in the temple of Solomon. A mass awakening, rife
with the realization of the identities of the dragon, beasts and the false
prophet resulted in the exodus out of the Roman Catholic church during
the Reformation. The host of saints who did not come out at the end of
1,260 years and the Reformation, whose followers remain must get out as
it is warned of in Revelation, to wit:
{18:4} And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my
people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her
plagues. (Rev 18:4 AV)

and will otherwise be judged according to Paul, in this wise:

{2:14} For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things
contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
{2:15} Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience
also bearing witness, and [their] thoughts the mean while accusing or else
excusing one another;) {2:16} In the day when God shall judge the secrets of
men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. (Rom 2:14-16 AV)

Saint Augustine (354430 AD), in his book De Civitates Dei (The City
of G-d), criticized the idea of Roman Christian unity under a universal and
eternal Roman Catholic church initiated by Constantine the Great, as a
pagan concept. Medieval scholars however, interpreted the City of G-d
more shrewdly for its political sense than St. Augustine had intended it to
be, stimulated by the commentaries of the Fathers of the Church on the
Book of Daniel, as to the Roman empire that will become the greatest
empire the world will ever see. Roman Catholic overemphasis of the
doctrines based on Jesus bequeathing to Peter the power to bind in
heaven what he binds on earth (Matt 16:19) cannot abolish the law and
the prophets that Jesus came to fulfill (Matt 5:17). The Roman Catholic
church focus on the Jews role in the persecution of Jesus, his apostles
and the early Christians deny the importance of G-ds everlasting
covenant with the Jews and rely solely on the new covenant and away
from serious interpretations of prophecy and from its own role in the
longest concerted and cruelest persecution of the Jews and Christians who
did not wish to become Roman Catholics. This sinister program of
covering with argumentative, if not fallacious doctrines based on
fallacious documents, the fundamental teachings of the scriptures that
much of Roman Catholics are subjected to without their knowledge,
disregard the words of the apostle Paul, himself a Jew, found in Romans
11:13-36, concerning the fundamental relationship of the Gentile to the
Jew, which says:
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{11:13} For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the

Gentiles, I magnify mine office: {11:14} If by any means I may provoke to

emulation [them which are] my flesh, and might save some of them. {11:15}
For if the casting away of them [be] the reconciling of the world, what [shall]
the receiving [of them be,] but life from the dead?{11:16} For if the firstfruit
[be] holy, the lump [is] also [holy:] and if the root [be] holy, so [are] the
branches. {11:17} And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a
wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the
root and fatness of the olive tree; {11:18} Boast not against the branches. But
if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. {11:19} Thou wilt say
then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. {11:20} Well;
because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not
highminded, but fear: {11:21} For if God spared not the natural branches,
[take heed] lest he also spare not thee. {11:22} Behold therefore the goodness
and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if
thou continue in [his] goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. {11:23}
And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is
able to graff them in again. {11:24} For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree
which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive
tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural [branches,] be graffed
into their own olive tree? {11:25} For I would not, brethren, that ye should be
ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that
blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be
come in. {11:26} And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall
come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
{11:27} For this [is] my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
{11:28} As concerning the gospel, [they are] enemies for your sakes: but as
touching the election, [they are] beloved for the fathers sakes. {11:29} For the
gifts and calling of God [are] without repentance. {11:30} For as ye in times
past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their
unbelief: {11:31} Even so have these also now not believed, that through your
mercy they also may obtain mercy. {11:32} For God hath concluded them all in
unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. {11:33} O the depth of the riches
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable [are] his
judgments, and his ways past finding out! {11:34} For who hath known the
mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? {11:35} Or who hath first
given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? {11:36} For of him,
and through him, and to him, [are] all things: to whom [be] glory for ever.
Amen. (Rom 11:13-36 AV)

Chapter 2 The 1260 Years:

2 Its Beginning and End

The years marking the beginning and end of these 1260 years in
prophecy may be inferred from scriptures by an analysis of the specific
elements which characterizes the period and their theological
significance.
70 AD Begins the 1260 Years. From the verses in Daniel 8:9-14
in toto, are laid down the basis for 70 AD as the year beginning the 1,260
years. First, it identifies the second little horn (i.e., the Roman Catholic
church) which came out of the Roman empire (the third horn) that is one
of the four notable horns (Dan 8:8). This second little horn persisted
until the time of the Holy Roman empire (the fourth horn), and allowed to
perpetrate the acts narrated therein, as well as in those verses where said
time (1,260 years) is mentioned, because of the rebellion (AV:
transgression) of Israel (and Judah). Second, it identifies the temple as the
object of the acts or events. The temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem
evolved from the desire to call on the name of the Lord in the time of
Adam (Gen 4:26) that would become an altar in the time of Noah (Gen
8:20), and a tent in the time of Moses (Ex 26:7). Thus, it is this temple
that ultimately became the icon for reverence to G-d and all his holy

precepts. It is, most importantly, where the people received instructions

from G-d and their prayers are heard. What it is akin to in present times is
a direct line for communicating with G-d. It is the highest place for
worship and no other high place is allowed above it. Thus, the most
devious scheme to supplant everything that is related to the worship of Gd must necessarily involve taking over the temple. Not against it, but
inside it. Anyone with an evil desire to destroy what is most precious to Gd the covenant people, must necessarily disguise himself as the high
priest, prophet, or a prince of Israel. History has shown that in the
struggle to attain this aim the beast succeeded to usurp one or two of
these qualities, and when he succeeded in attaining the third, doom fell
on Jerusalem.
Daniel 8:9-14 names the acts perpetrated by this horn within a horn
and speaks for the first time of the end of the daily sacrifice that brought
the sanctuary low (Dan 8:11) after the third of the host are trampled (Dan
8:10; cf: Rev 12:4) and given over to this second
little horn who sets
itself up as great as the Prince of host, Jesus Christ. Antiochus Epiphanes
and the Greeks never claimed themselves to be as great as Jesus by
adopting the faith of the Christians because Jesus was yet to come.
Neither were they for Judaism; they were for Hellenization. Only the
Romans did and only because of an ulterior motive. So, this particular
prophecy must be understood to be relative only to the representative of
the dragon (Satan) that is the Roman empire (the first beast of
Revelation) whose authority is also delegated to the Roman Catholic
church (the horn within a horn; Daniel 8:9) led by the pope (the second
beast of Revelation; Rev 13:11-17). Together, they perpetrated the crime
that sought to destroy the temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, the center of
the worship of God. In this exegesis, it does not matter, that this
disobedience or rebellion started as soon as the covenant was given to
Moses and Israel had worshiped a golden calf, nor that it will not be until
313 AD and not 70 AD that the early Christians faith would be adopted
officially by the Romans and become the Roman Catholic church and the
saints given over and stamped (NIV: trampled underneath).
The
importance of the temple as the center of the worship of G-d made it the
focus of Satans intricate plan to infiltrate the very core of the Jewish faith
in order to supplant it with his own deceptive conception. The earlier
destruction of the temple in the time of the Babylonians in 586 BC which
ended the daily sacrifice and brought the sanctuary low for the first time,
did not give the saints over, for the saints are the believers in Christ, who
would not come for hundreds of years more. The sanctuary was only
accessible to priests, including constructions and repairs, so that
Babylonian troops who destroyed it, desecrated it. The entry of these
troops into the sanctuary was already by itself an abomination.
Notwithstanding this, the prophecy was not fulfilled completely. Neither in
the time of Antiochus Epiphanes in 170 BC when an abomination of swine

was offered in the altar which also brought the temple low and
temporarily put an end to normal daily sacrifice. Worse, Antiochus even
had General Apollonius dismantle Jerusalem, slew the temples
worshipers, consecrated the temple to Jupiter Olympus, and ordered all
the Jews, on pain of death, to conform to the Greek religion. Thus, it is
also said that the daily sacrifice ended and many interpretations have
been made leading many to believe the date of the abominations of
Antiochus as the date when the period covering 1,260 years begins.
However, Daniels little horn is a Roman entity responsible for all the
acts spoken of in verses 10 to 12, while Antiochus was not a vassal of the
Romans but of the Greeks, who were forced to bow down to superior
Roman power.
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This great plan of deception by Satan, executed step by step with

the end of supplanting his representative on the throne of G-d in
Jerusalem neared its completion from the time the Romans defeat of the
Greeks was complete. To consolidate its gains, it was imperative for Rome
to introduce religion as an instrument of unifying the kingdom, its ulterior
motive. In the end, it saw it fit to adopt the tenacious early Christian faith
and the multitude of its adherents as the most facile means to achieve
this end. Satan succeeded because he was allowed and authority was
given him during the period covering forty two months (1,260 years;
Rev 13:1-8). An analysis of this intricate plans execution will bring us to
think to define first, what was set up as the abomination that maketh
desolate and how it happened. Suffice it to say, at this point, that as the
prophet Daniel said in 8:11 of this horn, he magnified [himself] even to
the Prince of the host; for the next succeeding sections will explain
that this was the abomination that maketh desolate standing in the
holy place where it does not belong that was set up. That was what Jesus
had warned about in Matthew 24:15, and Mark 13:14.
For as the
representative of the first beast, the second beast sets up and places his
puppet in the temple of Solomon, bringing it low. In this manner, the
pope supplants the temple and Jerusalem with the Basilica of St. Peter
and the Vatican and sets himself and claims everything that is of G-d, for
by bringing down the other, he raises himself up to be as great as the
Prince of the host of heaven Jesus Christ,
who is high priest of the
church, whom the pope assumes himself to be.
The focus of end time prophecies then, we can conclude, will always
be the temple in Jerusalem where the Lords presence rests. Events in the
spiritual (in heaven and in the domain of demons that is soon to be hell)
are manifested in the temple, but the time from its conception in the spirit
that a prophet is given a vision of, may not right away be seen nor felt in
the temporal in a single lifetime because the demons and the wicked
which comprise the minions of Satan oppose it and G-ds loyal angels and
the righteous have to fight for it. It is for this reason that many prophets

have encountered difficulty over Israels impatience, particularly her

promised redemption and restoration for their fulfillment transcends their
lifetimes and concerns corporate Israel. Two of these events that are
significant in end time prophecies are the daily sacrifice abolished and the
setting up of the abomination that causes desolation. The precedents set
by three previous incomplete fulfillment of these prophecies brought the
elements one by one until all of them will be completed during the
reconsecration of the sanctuary of the rebuilt temple 2300 days from
the time the daily sacrifice is abolished. This date, well into the future, is
the date referred to by Jesus as the end of age.
In the time of the Maccabees. In 198 BC the Seleucids of Syria,
vassals of Greece, finally defeated the Ptolemies of Egypt over jurisdiction
of Palestine, but the Romans had just won its first war against Greece in
200 BC (the last will be in 168 BC). Antiochus the Great, king of Syria,
immediately initiated the Hellenization of Palestine. In 190 BC the Romans
directly interfered in the affairs of the Seleucids on the governance of
Palestine. In 170 BC when Antiochus Epiphanes humiliated the priests by
forcing them to sacrifice swine in the altar of the temple in Jerusalem,
Mattathias, a priest from Modin, Judaea, killed the desecrating priest, the
Syrian commander and his guards and fled with a small band of
followers. Before he died in 167 BC, he commanded his five sons, John,
Simon, Judas, Eleazar and Jonathan to continue the struggle appointing
Judas commander and Simon as counselor. Flavius Josephus has a good
account of this event as recorded in The Antiquities of the Jews.
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Judas who reigned between 166-160 BC, was an excellent tactician.

He successfully infiltrated his small band by night against Antiochus
Syrian generals, Apollonius and Seron (1 Macc 3:10,13). Antiochus
kinsman Lysias and his generals Ptolemaeus, Nicanor and Gorgias met the
same fate at Emmaus, South of Modin. In 165 BC Judas captured
Jerusalem, rededicated the temple, five years after its desecration; an
event now commemorated by the Hanukkah or Festival of Lights", also
Feast of Dedication. After Antiochus death, Demetrius Soter dethroned
the infant king with the aid of the Romans. In the battle of Bethzacharias,
Phillip, the kings guardian marched to Judea with war-elephants
overwhelming Judas and killed Eleazar, the youngest brother. The Syrians
re-captured Jerusalem but an Egyptian attack from the south saved the
Maccabees. Lysias retreated after leaving a strong garrison in Jerusalem
and made Alcimus, a local ally, high priest.
In 162 BC Demetrius, after
assuming the Syrian throne sent a strong army led by Bacchides, but
failed. Nicanor, was defeated and Judas killed him at Beth-horon.
Exhausted, Judas sought a Roman alliance. In April, 161 BC, Bacchides
and Alcimus met Judas at Elasa who was with only 3,000 men, and later
800 after the rest left him. A flanking move by the Syrian right wing under
Bacchides, overwhelmed Judas, who fell surrounded by the bodies of slain
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foes.
Jonathan succeeded Judas (r. 160-143 BC). Bacchides second
campaign failed forcing him to make peace but maintained their garrison
in Jerusalem.
In 153 BC, Alexander Balas, supported by the Romans,
contended with Demetrius, who sought the aid of the Maccabees
promising independence. Balas counter-offered by appointing Jonathan
high priest and prince. Earlier, Alcimus death in 160 BC had left the highpriesthood vacant for seven years. Jonathan sided with Balas and killed
Demetrius in battle. Jonathan, knowing royal intrigues only too well,
played Philometer, Balas and Demetrius II (Nikator), son of Demetrius I
(Soter), against each other. In 148 BC when Apollonius, governor of Syria
allied with Demetrius II, Jonathan gained Balas approval to break down
the Syrian garrison at Jerusalem. Unfortunately, both Balas and
Philometer died in this siege. To appease Demetrius, Jonathan made large
presents. He and his brother Simon then sided with Tryphon, the new
claimant, extending their power over nearly all Palestine, but tired of the
constant struggle, he renewed Roman alliance. Tryphon, who did not trust
him, imprisoned him at Ptolemais, and later killed him and his followers.
Simon, succeeded his brother (r. 143-135 BC), evaded Tryphon, renewed
the alliance with Demetrius II and obtained the high-priesthood. His
peaceful reign was remembered as the beginning of Jewish independence
(1 Macc 13:41). The Syrian strongholds in Jerusalem were destroyed.
Simon brought Maccabean rule to its zenith and built the tomb at Modin.
With his sons, John and Judas, he defeated the Syrian pretender,
Antiochus Sidetes in 139 BC. He fell victim to the treachery of his own
son-in-law, Ptolemaeus (1 Macc 16:11) in 135 BC. John Hyrcanus,
succeeded his father (r. 135-105 BC) as prince and high priest. After
Ptolemaeus died, Antiochus laid siege on Jerusalem with a strong army. In
a truce with Antiochus, Hyrcanus paid a ransom from the spoiled tomb of
David and obtained an army to accompany Antiochus to the Parthian war,
where Antiochus was killed. Hyrcanus conquered the trans-Jordanic
territory, destroyed Samaria and its temple and and enforced circumcision
on Idumaea. He made an alliance with Rome and broke his loyalty with
the Pharisees over disagreement with his holding both the kingship and
the high-priesthood. He affiliated with the Sadducees, enemies of the
Pharisees. Before his death, Hyrcanus had nominated his wife to high
position, while his oldest son, Aristobulus, took the high-priesthood.
Aristobulus, who sat as prince, starved his mother to death and
incarcerated his youngest brothers, except Antigonus, whom he had
murdered. Shortly after, he died of an intestinal disease. Childless, his
widow elevated the oldest of the surviving sons of Hyrcanus, Jannaeus
Alexander, to the throne and married him. Alexander Jannaeus murdered
one of his remaining brothers, and joined the Sadducees against the
Pharisees. To crush the movement he killed some 50,000 of his own
people. He died from fever during the siege of Ragaba. Before dying, he
advised his queen to plead with the Pharisees. She retained the crown
and placed her son Hyrcanus II as high priest. She ruled for nine years
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(78-69 BC) and on her death, her son Aristobulus II, who favored the
Sadducees, aspired to the crown. An internecine war followed and
Aristobulus II was victorious. Hyrcanus II agreed to leave for a large
financial consideration. Herod Antipater, a friend of Hyrcanus II, induced
him to escape to Aretas, king of Arabia at Petra, with whom he made an
alliance. In the ensuing war, Aristobulus II was conquered but repelled the
Arabs with the aid of his Roman allies. Pompey arrived in Damascus, and
found himself between the two brothers, and the Pharisees. Through the
schemes of Antipater, Pompey sided with Hyrcanus II. Aristobulus II
prepared for war. Pompey promptly marched on Jerusalem and Aristobulus
II met him with presents and promises. When his followers however
refused to carry out these promises, Aristobulus II was imprisoned and
Pompey at once laid siege on Jerusalem and after three months took it on
the Passover of 63 BC. Pompey entered the holiest place of the temple but
unlike Antiochus Epiphanes, he did not spoil the temple, but appointed
Hyrcanus II high priest. This event marks the collapse of the Maccabean
power. Aristobulus II, and his two sons, Alexander and Antigonus, were
taken to Rome as prisoners. On the way Alexander escaped and renewed
the struggle and was recaptured. Later, both Aristobulus II and Antigonus
escaped, fought and were re-captured. Aristobulus II was brought to Rome
where he was poisoned in 49 BC. Alexander was executed at Antioch by
Pompey. Only Antigonus and Hyrcanus II remained. Herod the son of
Antipater sided with Hyrcanus II against Antigonus in 40 BC. Herod was in
Judea with Hyrcanus II, when Antigonus and his Parthian allies overran the
country. Herod evacuated to Rome. Antigonus sent his uncle Hyrcanus II
to the East after loping off his ears, to disqualify him as high priest.
Herod now obtained the aid of the Romans to reconquer Judea. In a
furious campaign, marked by the most shocking barbarities, he occupied
the greater part of the country, and finally in 37 BC succeeded in taking
Jerusalem. Antigonus surrendered but was executed at Antioch by
Anthony, at the instigation of Herod.
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This brief history of the Maccabees is a turning point for the period
when Satan through his representative, the Romans, was able to supplant
the position of king or prince of Israel and high priest of the temple with
his puppets. When Judas Maccabeeus sought an alliance with the Romans
after the exhausting wars against Antiochus and Demetrius, the Seleucid
Syrian vassals of the Greeks, he slowly compromised Israel to the
Romans. Not that this was the first time a foreign power appointed the
high priest, but that Rome had become directly involved in it, as the horn
referred to by Daniel (Dan 8:9-14). His successors did likewise until the
Seleucids were defeated, most of the time with Rome as an ally, and the
successors, who had become Roman allies, were pitted against each other
by the Idumaean Jews, the Herods. Jonathans acceptance of the high
priesthood from the Roman puppet Alexander Balas was the second
turning point. In 153 BC, when Alexander Balas, the Roman puppet won

over the Seleucid Demetrius, as governor of Syria and its adjoining

territories, he awarded his ally Jonathan Maccabeeus the high priesthood;
a position that was inherited by the succeeding Maccabees since. The
Maccabees held the position until Pompey took Jerusalem and removed
John Hyrcanus II from the position, the last of the Maccabean priest-kings.
In the time of the Herods. Following the Maccabees rule, the
Herods,
became rulers of Palestine.
Herods rule exceeded the
Maccabees in notoriety. They were more adept at the Roman way of
fueling with political intrigue and treachery their political ambitions and
lived hedonistic, if not scandalous lives. This period is another turning
point as the horn that is the Roman empire or the first beast had now
completely taken over Palestine. It was now finalizing preparations to
fulfill the prophecy in Revelation 12:4 when .... the dragon stood before
the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as
soon as it was born. Shortly before his death in 4 BC, Herod the Great,
threatened by the coming birth of a rival king of the Jews, ordered the
massacre of all infants in Bethlehem after learning of it from the three
Magi from the east who came to honor the child. From the Book of
Matthews account the date is believed to be not more than 2 years
before Herods death in 4 BC because Joseph and Mary would not come
back from Egypt to escape this infanticide until after Herods death.
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There are three characteristics of the coming Messiah that Satan

had to supplant with his own. These characteristics are that of the prince
or king, the high priest, and prophet. Princes and kings were political, that
would not be difficult to enforce on a conquered nation, but priests,
particularly the high priest required more stringent qualifications. These
requirements however, did not deter the Romans from controlling the
appointment of the high priest as to render whoever held the position a
puppet of Rome. In the time of the Maccabees, Roman presence was not
yet actually felt until Pompey, then a general, came to Palestine in 63 BC.
The Maccabees were not loyal to the Romans, but to their own. Neither
were the Seleucids who were loyal to the Greeks. Though the Romans had
completely subdued the Greeks as early as 168 BC and had dominion over
Palestine, their rule would not be completed until the true Roman ally, the
Idumaean Herods, would rise to power replacing the Maccabees in 49 BC.
The Herods, who became Jews by virtue of enforced circumcision after
Idumea was subdued by the Maccabee John Hyrcanus in 125 BC, were
allies and loyal subjects of Rome. They descended from Antipater (d. 78
BC), governor of Judea in the time of the Maccabeean Alexander Jannaeus.
His son, Antipater II rose to power after siding with the Maccabeean John
Hyrcanus II in the civil war against his brother, Aristobulus II in 69 BC.
Together they sought the aid of the Romans under Pompey, then Caesar.
As a reward, Antipater II was given the procuratorship of Judea and
Hyrcanus II, the high priesthood in 47 BC. Antipater II is the father of

Herod the Great. Herod Antipas, a son of Herod the Great, is the Herod
before whom Jesus is tried. Herod Agrippa I is the Herod who put to death
the apostle James and imprisoned Paul. Herod Agrippa II was the last
Herod and ruled when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed in 70 AD.
The Herods were not interested in assuming the high priesthood, nor
would they have succeeded in so doing without causing a rebellion among
the Orthodox Jews. However, most of the Herods were sympathetic to the
Jews as like their own people but took the necessary care to take custody
of the high priests robes which could only be worn with permission from
them. This appointee, a Jew was the abomination of desolation
standing in the holy place that Satan has set up and Jesus spoke of in
Matthew 24:15. Politics was the tool used to achieve the power to set up
this abomination. A confluence of the requisite powers and events came
into play contributing to the final event beginning with the rebellion in the
time of the Maccabees against the Greeks and carried on by the Zealots
of John Giscala and the Sicarii of Eleazar in the time of the Romans. Both
fitted the qualities of the wicked (AV) man of lawlessness (NIV) or the
wicked man (Wycliffe) described in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 and in the
occasion of there rebellion, both acted like kings and
stood on the holy
of holies together with their men as they battled with the Roman
legionnaires.
They also abetted madmen and not-so-mad men who
fancied themselves prophets, if they did not themselves acted like one,
also. In the time of the Roman procurator of Judea, Felix Antonius (53
AD), some of the Zealots had degenerated into hired assassins, the Sicarii
(dagger men) who assassinated Romans and collaborators, but whose
lethal services could also be availed of for hire. Felix engaged their
services to assassinate Jonathan, the high priest. According to Tacitus,
during his governorship in Judea he indulged in all kinds of cruelty and
lust. Felix was capable of committing any crime and avoided punishment
because of his influence with the courts. Under Felixs tyranny, the Sicarii
flourished. It was in retaliation against the Sicarii by the Roman
government that eventually led to the downfall and destruction of
Jerusalem. Herod deposed and substituted high priests at will. In the
time of Christ, we see Annas as high priest at the beginning of John the
Baptists ministry with Caiaphas second priest. At the Lords crucifixion
Caiaphas was high priest and Annas second. Ananias was murdered by
the Zealots before Jerusalems fall. Phannias, the last high priest, was
dragged reluctantly by the Zealots after choosing him by lot, a mere
rustic who scarcely knew what the high priesthood meant.
As Flavius
Josephus said, they sent for one of the pontifical tribes, which is called
Eniachim, and cast lots which of it should be the high priest.
The third
quality of the Messiah - that of a prophet, completed Satans deception in
the wonders and miraculous signs accompanying the false prophets
during the events leading to his taking over the throne of G-d. Though
they could not be directly attributed to these prophets, the events during
the siege had become so desperate as to play on the superstitious minds.
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All through this apostasy, Satan was and must be on top of his game plan
with a few combinations and permutations of set plays to accomplish his
master plan is to supplant the throne of G-d in Jerusalem with that of his
in Rome and the position of high priest, prince or ruler of Israel, and
prophet with his puppets. His chief executive officer was the Roman
emperor, Caesar and his underlings. From the Jew, came various rebels
who were also hailed as messiahs and prophets, just as Jesus said in
Matthew 24:24 and St. Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12.
In the end time, just as Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24:32 the
events of 70 AD will recur like the season. The pope will revive the Holy
Roman empire by giving authority to Satans chief executive officer,
Casesar in the person of the President of the European Union as the
present-day Holy Roman emperor. All the elements necessary for this
intricate plan as the parable of the fig tree teaches, were brewed and
initiated before the Roman empire came into the Holy Land and a
confluence of all these events and the rise into positions of power by key
actors who will play them out will contribute to the final event, the
apostasy which brought the covenant people down and their rejection of
their Messiah. The single remaining element that was not visibly set up in
the 70 AD destruction of the temple was a credible puppet to act as
prophet. There wasnt a need for it anymore for in the crucifixion of
Jesus, the Jews rejection of their Messiah was a fait accompli and Satan
had succeeded. The Romans had made a complete sport of the Jews
Messiah, they even hanged him themselves.
The Prince and High Priest. Since Moses, the priests to minister
to the Tent of Meeting and later the temple would exclusively come from
the Levite tribe of Israel. The Levites were forbidden to carry arms and
shed blood and were not called to participate in the wars except to carry
the ark of the covenant of the Lord as they marched. David, though he
dreamed of building the temple, was restrained by the Lord because of
the blood shed by him. His son Solomon, who was at peace with the
nations around Israel, was permitted to build the temple. This became the
basis later of the Pharisaic doctrine which prohibits the kings or princes of
Israel from ministering in the temple. Also, in 2 Chronicles 26:18-19 is an
account of King Uzziah of Judahs violation of this prohibition and how
leprosy broke out from his forehead. This became an issue between the
Pharisees and the Maccabbean, John Hyrcanus, who held both position of
prince and high priest. We may infer this principle from 1 Chronicles 15:12 and 28:2-3 and of Uzziahs burning incense inside the holy place (2
Chron 26:18-21).
{15:1} And [David] made him houses in the city of David, and prepared a
place for the ark of God, and pitched for it a tent. {15:2} Then David said,
None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the LORD

chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever."( 1 Chron
15:1-2 AV)
{28:2} Then David the king stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my
brethren, and my people: [As for me,] I [had] in mine heart to build an house
of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our
God, and had made ready for the building: {28:3} But God said unto me, Thou
shalt not build an house for my name, because thou [hast been] a man of war,
and hast shed blood. (1 Chron 28:2-3 AV)

The Significance of the Temples Destruction in 70 AD. With

the temples destruction and loss since 70 AD, the prophecies found in
Daniel 8:10-12 and 8:13-14 concerning the end of the daily sacrifice, were
fulfilled. As the focus of the events spoken therein is the temple, it is
unmistakable that the year 70 AD marked the beginning of the 1260
years. Moreover, the significance of the year 70 AD is underscored by a
mysterious hand which stopped an attempt to rebuild the temple. In 363
AD during the Roman emperor Julians reign a whirlwind and earthquake
shattered the stones of the former foundation and a fire from the temple
mount consumed their tools. There were previously one rebuilding and
one renovation of the temple before 70 AD: the rebuilding in Zerubbabels
time in 587 BC after the Babylonian exile and the renovation in Herod the
Greats time carried out in 20-12 BC. Furthermore, prophecies involving
the temple always had what appears to be a parallel event. With the
advent of Jesus the Messiah, there was no more reason for its utility,
except as a symbol of the temple that did not function to save the
covenant people and will figure in the end times, more as an object of
deception. For its spiritual parallel is Jesus in the seventy-weeks
prophecy (Dan 9:24-27) accompanying the first rebuilding after the
Babylonian captivity. It will also be Jesus return during the temples
reconsecration after it will again be rebuilt a second time to belie its old
significance and become instead, an object of Satans schemes. Had the
temple continued to exist after Jesus Christs sacrifice, the Jews would
have readily returned to practicing the rites under the old covenant when
the new covenant was already in effect. Surely, that is not the intention of
G-d. The continuing rebellion of the Jews had grown from bad to worse,
such that most of their sacrifices on the temple to atone for their sins
were no longer acceptable, in this wise:
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{1:11} To what purpose [is] the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith
the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts;
and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. {1:12}
When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to
tread my courts? {1:13} Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an
abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies,
I cannot away with; [it is] iniquity, even the solemn meeting. {1:14} Your new
moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I
am weary to bear [them. ]{1:15} And when ye spread forth your hands, I will

hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear:
your hands are full of blood. {1:16} Wash you, make you clean; put away the
evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; {1:17} Learn to do
well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the
widow. (Isa 1:10-17 AV)

This, the Lord had warned Solomon about during the consecration of the
temple, in this wise:
"{9:6}[But] if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and
will not keep my commandments [and] my statutes which I have set before you,
but go and serve other gods, and worship them: {9:7} Then will I cut off Israel
out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have
hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb
and a byword among all people: (1 Kings 9:6-7 AV)

So in the time of the Babylonians, when the Lord allowed the temple to be
first destroyed, it had already lost its utility save as a sign, for just as
Daniel spoke of its rebuilding, he also spoke of the Messiah and the exact
year His covenant will take effect from the giving of the decree to rebuild
the temple (Dan 9:24-27), to wit:
{9:24} Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city,
to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make
reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to
seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. {9:25} Know
therefore and understand, [that] from the going forth of the commandment to
restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince [shall be] seven
weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the
wall, even in troublous times. {9:26} And after threescore and two weeks shall
Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall
come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof [shall be]
with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. {9:27}
And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst
of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the
overspreading of abominations he shall make [it] desolate, even until the
consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." (Dan
9:24-27 AV)

The rebuilding of the temple by Zerubabbel would also have a

parallel spiritual event in Jesus death and the new covenants ratification
seventy weeks or 490 years from the giving of the decree by the
Persian king, Artaxerxes Longimanus in 457 BC. In 33 AD, 490 years later,
Jesus death ratified the new covenant with his blood as covenants with Gd are. In Jesus death, his body (the most holy; Dan 9:24) is anointed for
the atonement of the sins of Israel. Furthermore, we again read the
command to seal up the vision and prophecy to protect the prophecy
from coming into the hands of G-ds enemies, Satan and his minions, who
would attempt to kill the child before his mission is accomplished (Dan

9:24).
The Lord saw it fit to enter into a new covenant with Israel. To be
able to do this, the terms under the old covenant which are the law and
the prophecies of the prophets have to be complied with and/or closed
and the new covenant provide for a transition before the old is abolished
and the new take effect. Pertaining to the law, judgments proclaimed in
observance of the law under the old covenant are to be fully served . This
was true for the judgment concerning the time of wrath Israel was to
serve was still over two thousand years into the future. Pertaining to
prophecies, all prophecies made under the old covenant must be
confirmed by the new. Everything is reconciled between the old and new
covenant. Only then is the old covenant abolished.
{31:31} Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: {31:32} Not
according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day [that] I took
them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant
they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: {31:33}
But this [shall be] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After
those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write
it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. {31:34}
And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his
brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of
them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD; for I will forgive their
iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." (Jer 31:31-34 AV)

This covenant would be better than all three of the previous

covenants before it. Noahs (Gen 6:18), Abrahams (Gen 15:17), and
Moses (Ex 19:5) which the Lord grew weary of and Israel detested (Zech
11:7-9). In Hebrews 10:1-22 we will find the arguments by the apostle
Paul of the better terms of this new covenant, to wit:
{10:1} For the law having a shadow of good things to come, [and] not the
very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered
year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. {10:2} For then
would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once
purged should have had no more conscience of sins. {10:3} But in those
[sacrifices there is] a remembrance again [made] of sins every year. {10:4} For
[it is] not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
{10:5} Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and
offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: {10:6} In burnt
offerings and [sacrifices] for sin thou hast had no pleasure. {10:7} Then said I,
Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
{10:8}Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and
[offering] for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure [therein;] which
are offered by the law; {10:9} Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.
He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. {10:10} By the

which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ
once [for all. ]{10:11} And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering
oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: {10:12} But
this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the
right hand of God; {10:13} From henceforth expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool. {10:14} For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them
that are sanctified. {10:15} [Whereof] the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us:
for after that he had said before, {10:16} This [is] the covenant that I will
make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their
hearts, and in their minds will I write them; {10:17} And their sins and
iniquities will I remember no more. {10:18} Now where remission of these [is,
there is] no more offering for sin. {10:19} Having therefore, brethren, boldness
to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, {10:20} By a new and living way,
which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
{10:21} And [having] an high priest over the house of God; {10:22} Let us
draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure
water.( Hebrews 10:1-22 AV)

Thus, the need for the temple and the sacrificial rites done under
the Old Covenant are superseded by the new which takes only one
supreme sacrifice to atone for all sin. Despite this promise and the portent
of things to come, the Jews rebellion and their consequent rejection of
Jesus as their Messiah continued, unmindful of the prophecies that needed
to be understood by them for in the fulfillment of one of them (concerning
Jesus, the Messiah) brought a completely new covenant which would have
transformed Judaism (e.g. discarding the sacrificial rites, punishments,
etc.) into Christianity and ended the time of wrath for them by their early
gathering home to Israel. It had taken an Adolf Hitler to accomplish this
task.
Under the New Covenant with Jesus, the temple is no longer
significant in the sense that a Christian is no longer bound under the Old
Covenant.
{10:18} Now where remission of these [is, there is] no more offering for sin.
(Heb 10:18 AV)
{12:6} But I say unto you, That in this place is [one] greater than the temple.
{12:7} But if ye had known what [this] meaneth, I will have mercy, and not
sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. {12:8} For the Son of
man is Lord even of the sabbath day. (Matt 12:6-8 AV)

The old rites were no longer acceptable and the temple is believed
to have become a structure waiting for the abomination that maketh
desolate to be set up. What it has become is a grim reminder of the rites
of atonement and sacrifice which did not save Israel from the Lords
wrath. The abominable things that the sanctuary was subjected to in the
time of Antiochus Epiphanes rendered the temple unclean. However, the

temple was already desecrated by the Jews unrepentant ways, thus its
subsequent rededication or reconsecration during the time of the
Maccabees was no longer significant. Afterwards, it no longer became the
subject of prophecy except for the abomination that will be set up
thereupon. Herods temple was all the more abominable, as it heaped
abomination upon abomination. Its ultimate destruction was a symbol of
the coming end of the Old Covenant as the New Covenant begins; the
latters fullness ending the former. The only sacrifices acceptable in the
old rites are from those who have kept the decrees of G-d in obedience.
These are the ones referred to in Isaiah Chapter 56. The verses are
worded in a way which gives the meaning to mean persons, e.g., the just
man, the eunuch, and the foreigner who obeyed the law and resorted
to sacrifices in a manner that was not done by Israel (not by willful
disobedience of the law and rely on the sacrificial rites to cover for it),
which made it exceptionally pleasing to the Lord. It is believed that among
the very few persons who would keep the Lord from completely forgetting
the sacrifices made in the temple are they who perfected this obedience
to the law embodied in the Old Covenant. They will be the afflicted ones
the prophets, Jesus Christ and his disciples. They are also called the elect
(Matt 24:22, 24, 31; Mark 13:20, 22, 27; Romans 11:7, 2 Tim 2:10). Their
burnt offerings and sacrifices will be made in the New Jerusalem in the
house of prayer the church, and will be acceptable (Isa 56:7). The
church is a house of prayer and is also a symbol of Jesus Christ, where all
is one body in Him. Jesus is also the temple in the New Jerusalem (Rev
21:22). The effectivity of the Old Covenant ended in 1330 AD after the
New Covenant had undergone all the processes to validate its
authenticity, hence its truthfulness, but the rebellion continues and the
wars of desolation that is its consequence remains and will remain until
the end of time. Yet, the remnant is saved by grace. This is the covenant
confirmed by the Messiah for one week of the seventy weeks (Dan
9:24-27) to fulfill the Law and the Prophets (Matt 5:17) for after Jesus
has confirmed them, the Old Covenant will be rendered obsolete and
aging and disappear and the new one takes its place.
{8:13} In that he saith, A new [covenant,] he hath made the first old. Now
that which decayeth and waxeth old [is] ready to vanish away. (Heb 8:13 AV)

The Jews rebellion had already brought the temple low so that the
sacrifices done in it became detestable and unacceptable to G-d.
{66:2}For all those [things] hath mine hand made, and all those [things] have
been, saith the LORD: but to this [man] will I look, [even] to [him that is] poor
and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. {66:3} He that killeth an ox
[is as if] he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, [as if] he cut off a dogs
neck; he that offereth an oblation, [as if he offered] swines blood; he that
burneth incense, [as if] he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own
ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. (Isa 66:2-3 AV)

{51:16} For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give [it:] thou delightest
not in burnt offering.{51:17} The sacrifices of God [are] a broken spirit: a
broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. (Ps 51:16-17 AV)

In the end for the Jew, in keeping with his faith, that required of him
no longer involves the sacrifices done in the temple but his dietary
regimen: refraining from eating pork, celebration of the Feast of
Tabernacles, and keeping the Sabbath holy. And as the defunct temple is
rebuilt, it will be cleansed, thus reconsecrated. According to Fausset: the
fact that the shekinah (glory) was not in the second temple that was
rebuilt after the Babylonian exile, whereas it is to return to the future
temple, proves that Zerubbabels temple cannot be the temple meant in
Ezekiel (compare Eze 43:2-4). Christ shall return in the same manner as
He went up, and to the same place, on the Mount of Olives, east of
Jerusalem (Eze 11:23; Zech 14:4; Acts 1:9-12). This corresponds to the
temple that will be reconsecrated in 2370 AD as described by Ezekiel.
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If we are to pause, to muse over the possible effect to the entire

Jewry (with all the highest respects due) accepting Jesus during his time,
there could possibly have been more Christians from Jews than Jews who
stayed Jews, but what would have happened to the Jews if most, if not all
of them believed? The wrath of G-d would have been stayed but less and
less of the Gentiles would also come to salvation. However, all the
troubles the Jews of the Holocaust have undergone during the time that
G-ds wrath was still upon them could have been anticipated just as was
done by the prophets and those who listened to them before, during and
after the exile. Those of the tribe of Judah were warned before,
encouraged during, and called after the seventy years were over in 536
BC from the time the first exiles were brought to Babylon in 606 BC. In
536 BC Cyrus the Great of the Persians issued a decree to rebuild
Jerusalem and the temple. They knew that the seventy years of their
exile to Babylon was over and they could go home as the prophets Haggai
(Hag 1:4-9) and Zechariah (Ezra 4; 5; 6:14-15 ff) had spoken of.
After
the seventy years were over, Daniels prophecy again, specifically in the
use of the word desolation (Dan 8:13), would have warned them that in
conformity with the rule laid down in Leviticus 26:27-35, their
punishments as a people that were scattered, would be multiplied seven
times; and at the same time that their punishment was prophesied by the
prophet Isaiah was also prophesied a Messiah who will be raised to
redeem them and gather them home for the Lord to restore them (Isa
7:14-17; 9:6). There is an exact time for all of these things to happen
because they are a people under a covenant. Covenants are like contracts
they are subject to a period for their completion, among other things
that are stipulated therein for their compliance. Here we come to
understand, that the people of Israel, as a chosen people are to fulfill their
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end of this covenant. Thus the Lord said in Ezekiel 20:32-34, 37:
{20:32} And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say,
We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and
stone. {20:33} [As] I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and
with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you:
{20:34} And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the
countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched
out arm, and with fury poured out. ( Ezek 20:32-34 AV)
{20:37} And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into
the bond of the covenant.(Ezek 20:37 AV)
{59:21} As for me, this [is] my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit
that [is] upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not
depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth
of thy seeds seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever. (Isa 59:21
AV)

The 1260 Years

For purposes of understanding the different phrases which prescribe
the equivalent of 1260 prophetic days or years, they are grouped below
and their significance discuss in relation to the events they prophesied
within the said period.
8

Time and times and the dividing of time

{7:25} And he shall speak [great] words against the most High, and shall
wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and
they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of
time. (Dan 7:25 AV)

The prophecy above talks of the saints or early Christians being

handed over for a period of a time and times and the dividing of time.
The first to third century was marked by Roman caprice imposing itself on
the early Christians.
First, by ignoring and tolerating them, then
persecuting them for refusing to worship the emperor or anyone of the
regular Romanized Greek gods and goddesses; but later for political
reasons, adopting their faith. The last was really, to insure that its empire
stood to benefit from this faith whose adherents had grown extraordinarily
overturning all the Roman and Greek gods combined; by taking over its
affairs and calling it Roman Catholicism. Understand that the gods and
goddesses were nothing but political instruments to unify the citizens
under the belief that these deities were behind the successes of their
ever-expanding empire. Be that as it may, the phrase wear out the
saints (AV), saints will be handed over to him (NIV) or oppress the
saints (Wycliffe) meant that the early Christians were handed over to

serve the Roman Catholic church, unbeknownst to them because of the

belief of Romes good intentions and that by doing so they were serving
G-d.
During the period starting from late first century saw the early
Christian church busy with resolving heresies which rose out of
disagreements over the exegesis of scriptures and the doctrines that
would be derived from them, for heresies were the product of false
prophets the apostles had warned about. The early fathers who
succeeded the apostles distinguished themselves, not only for their
intelligent theology and wit, but also their courage to stand up against the
Roman empire. Starting the church at the right footing, not a few found
themselves the subjects of scrutiny concerning their own views, and some
of them were themselves judged by the church to harbor heresies of their
own. Barrows Dunham in his book Heroes and Heretics, wrote:
"The Fathers of the Church had lovely names. There was Theodore of
Mopsuestia, who regrettably inclined to the Nestorian heresy. There was
Shenoute of Atripe, who, in the Theban desert, ruled over twenty-two hundred
monks and eighteen hundred nuns, and lived to an age of a hundred and eighteen
years. There were Serapion of Thmuis, Nonnus of Panopolis, Severian of Gabala,
Isidore of Pelusium, and Didymus the Blind. [] During the second and third
centuries, the Fathers labored over a mass of accumulated and contrary doctrines,
with a view to rendering each doctrine clear and the totality consistent. Their
individual results were such as would fail of orthodoxy if measured strictly by
the Nicene canon (325 AD), but they led toward that canon and were indeed
contributions to it."193

When Constantine was baptized into the Christian faith, he caused it

to become state religion of all citizens of the Roman empire. Several
Christian workers and their works submitted themselves to the authority
of the Roman Catholic church, as the church became known to be. This
union of the state and the church paved the way for a collaboration that
strengthened the empire when their leaders are in agreement but also
sowed intrigue and destruction when they did not. Very few suspected
after Constantines adoption of Christianity that the church doctrines
would be protecting the interest of the Roman empire through the Roman
Catholic church, the organization to carry out the evil intentions of Satan.
Be that as it may, it did not stop the Roman empire from falling, and may
even be one of the causes which contributed to its downfall. Thus,
because of the Edict of Toleration for Christians or Edict of Milan of 313 AD
by King Constantine, with which Christians found an unlikely ally, the
saints were handed over to the Romans. In 380 Theodosius I would make
it the religion of the state.
The Early Christian Church. The three centuries between the
crucifixion of Jesus and the First Council of Nicea in 325 AD initiated by

Constantine, is commonly referred to as Early Christianity. The Apostolic

Age, which is the first century Christianity, may be inferred from the Acts
of the Apostles. Jerusalem for a short while, remained the center of the
church, and one of the leaders was James the Just, the brother of the Lord
who was martyred in 62 AD (Galatians 1:19). Following the Great
Commission (Luke 10:1-23), the missionary activity of the Apostles,
including Pauls mission to the Gentiles, spread Christianity to cities
throughout the Hellenistic world, such as in Alexandria, Antioch, Rome,
and beyond the Roman Empire. The term Christian was first applied to
members of the church at Antioch according to Acts 11:26. In 135 AD
when the Jews were banned from Jerusalem after the Bar Kochba revolt
most of the Christian population left the city. Eusebius of Caesarea, an
early church historian records that the ethnically Jewish leadership of the
church was replaced by a Gentile leadership. Emperor Claudius had also
earlier expelled the Jews from Rome in 49 AD, but Nero allowed their
return and turned against them after the Great Fire of Rome of 64 AD that
began the persecution by Roman authorities.
194

195

196

197

Apostolic Fathers. The early Church Fathers or Fathers of the

Church were influential theologians, eminent Christian teachers and great
bishops who came after the apostles of Jesus. Their scholarly works were
used as a precedent in jurisprudence for centuries to come. The term was
used of writers and teachers of the church, not necessarily saints. A rough
classification of these patristic writings is as Apostolic Fathers from the
2nd until the 6th century. The Apostolic Fathers are a small number of
198

early Christian authors who lived and wrote in the second half of the 1st
century and the first half of the 2nd century. They are acknowledged as
leaders in the early church, although their writings were not included in
the New Testament. They include St. Clement of Rome, St. Ignatius of
Antioch, and St. Polycarp of Smyrna. The earliest Christian writings (other
than those collected in the New Testament) are a group of letters credited
to the Apostolic Fathers. These include the Epistle of Barnabas, the
Shepherd of Hermas, the Epistles of Clement, including the Didache. The
collection is notable for its literary simplicity, religious zeal and lack of
Hellenistic philosophy or rhetoric. Fathers such as Ignatius of Antioch (d.
98 to 117 AD) advocated the authority of the apostolic episcopacy
(bishops). The label Apostolic Fathers has been applied to them since
the 17th century to indicate that they were thought of as being of the
generation that had personal contact with the Twelve Apostles. Thus they
provide a link between the Apostles who knew Jesus of Nazareth and the
later generation of Church Fathers: Christian apologists, defenders of
orthodoxy, and developers of doctrine. From an early date the title
Father was applied to bishops as witnesses to the Christian tradition.
Only later, from the end of the fourth century, was it used in a more
199

200

201

restricted sense of a more or less clearly defined group of ecclesiastical

authors of the past whose authority on doctrinal matters carried special
weight. According to another accepted teaching, the Fathers of the Church
are those ancient writers, whether bishops or not, who were characterized
by orthodoxy of doctrine, holiness of life and the approval of the church.
Sometimes Tertullian, Origen and a few others of not unimpeachable
orthodoxy are now classified as Fathers of the Church. Among those
recognized are the Greek Fathers: Irenaeus of Lyons, Clement of
Alexandria, Origen of Alexandria, Athanasius of Alexandria, Cyril of
Alexandria, John Chrysostom, and the Cappadocian Fathers. Among the
Latin Fathers are included: Tertullian, Cyprian of Carthage, Ambrose of
Milan, Jerome of Stridonium, Augustine of Hippo, and Gregory the Great.
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203

Seven churches in the Book of Revelation. There are seven

churches that are named in the Book of Revelation represented by seven
candlesticks. Among the candlesticks stood Jesus (Rev 1:13), the lamb
worthy to break the seals. The churches, all located in Anatolia, (present
day Turkey, also seat of the erstwhile Ottoman empire) are believed to
become the center for learning, understanding and reconciling the Old
and New Covenant with the covenant with Ishmael the Quran. They are
Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea
(Rev 1:11). Their significance lies simply in the obvious, for these
churches were located in the territory of the Ottoman empire and have
been spared the cruel persecution of Jews and Christians by Rome for
almost two millennium and enjoyed the toleration of the Muslim Ottoman
empire which lasted until the end of World War I. Ephesus (Ayasaluk),
was the capital of the western half of Asia Minor. During the time of the
Romans, it became the greatest of the metropolis in Asia distinguished by
its 50,000-capacity amphitheater which was the largest in world. The chief
shrine of the goddess Diana was also found here. It is significant to
Christians for
the church founded by St. Paul here.
It is where
missionaries began to found the other six churches in Asia Minor. Here,
the seeds of the gospel were sown on his second missionary journey in
about 51 AD, while returning from Greece to Syria (Acts 18:18-21). This
short visit left Aquila and Priscilla to carry on. On his third missionary
journey (Acts 19:1) he stayed in Ephesus for about three years such that
all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews
and Greeks" (Acts 19:10). Smyrna (Myrrh), was an ancient city of Ionia,
on the western coast of Asia Minor, about 40 miles to the north of
Ephesus. It is now the chief city of Anatolia, having a mixed population
of about 200,000, of whom about one-third are professed Christians. The
celebrated Polycarp, a pupil of the apostle John, was in the second century
a prominent leader in the church of Smyrna. Here he suffered martyrdom
in 155 AD. Pergamum (Bergama), was the chief city of Mysia, in Asia
Minor that was noted for its wickedness that the Lord called it Satans
seat.
The church of Pergamum was rebuked for embracing the
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doctrines of Balaam and the Nicolaitans.

Antipas, Christs faithful
martyr, here sealed his testimony with his blood. This city stood on the
banks of the river Caicus, about 20 miles from the sea. It now has a
population of some twenty thousand, about two thousand of whom
profess to be Christians. Parchment was first made here, and was called
by the Greeks pergamene, from the name of the city. Thyatira (Akhissar), was a city of Asia Minor on the borders of Lydia and Mysia. Lydia,
the seller of purple-dyed cloth was from this city (Acts 16:14).
Inscriptions found in the ruins of the ancient city have been found
pointing to the guild of dyers that it is still famous for. Sardis (SertKalessi), was the metropolis of Lydia in Asia Minor which stood on the river
Pactolus at the foot of mount Tmolus. It is now a ruin.
Philadelphia
(Allahshehr), was a city of Lydia in Asia Minor, about 25 miles south-east
of Sardis which came into the possession of the Turks in 1392 AD. It has
several times been nearly destroyed by earthquakes. It is now a town of
considerable size. Laodicea (Eski-hissar) laid on the confines of Phrygia
and Lydia, about 40 miles east of Ephesus (Rev. 3:14), on the banks of the
Lycus. It was originally called Diospolis and then Rhoas, but afterwards
Laodicea, from Laodice, the wife of Antiochus II, king of Syria, who rebuilt
it. It was once the most important and flourishing city of Asia Minor.
Once, it was the chief seat of Christianity (Col. 2:1; 4:15; Rev. 1:11). It is
now deserted.
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These churches founded there have likely moved on and relocated

and are believed still existing as one of the many Christian churches
outside of the Roman Catholic and Byzantine churches that are believed
to carry the ideas for understanding and reconciling the differences
between the three major faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This will
be the legacy of these seven churches, who at the latter days, close to
the end of time, shall shed light on the Word of G-d. Their location, Turkey,
is significant for at no other place was found the trunk of the three
branches of the great faiths co-existing, near the root, Israel. In modern
Turkey, one will find the faiths solemnly practiced without the enmity that
brings civil strife. Although it is a dominantly Muslim country, Turkey was
one of the first country to recognize Israel as a nation right after it
declared its independence in 1948.
{12:7} And I heard the man clothed in linen, which [was] upon the waters of
the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and
sware by him that liveth for ever that [it shall be] for a time, times, and an
half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy
people, all these [things] shall be finished. (Dan 12:7 AV)

The power of the holy people (the Jews) derived from their being
chosen as a people and nation of G-d through a covenant. A covenant, like
a contract provides for terms and conditions to be complied with by the

parties, as well as a period for their execution. This power would be

broken when the period expires as the law and the prophecies are
confirmed. Jesus Christ said so in Matthew 5:17. While the New Covenant
was effective at the time of its consummation at Jesus death sealed by his
blood, it did not abolish the Old Covenant until its own time 1,260 years
later, was ripe. Eschatologically, from the destruction of the temple in 70
AD, in 1330 AD. This is also referred to as the times of the Gentiles
(Luke 21:24) or the full number of the Gentiles (Rom 11:25). It is also
implied as the second half of the last seven in the seventy weeks of
Daniel 9:27 which is discussed under the subject midst of the week.
It thus allowed ample time for both Jews and Gentiles to study the
law and believe in Jesus Christ and rely on the New Covenant for guidance
on their salvation. Until the New Covenant, salvation was exclusively for
the chosen people of G-d and not until the gospel of Jesus Christ would
there be salvation for the Gentiles (John 4:21-24). Thus this breaking of
the power is dependent on the good news or the gospel in the New
Testament being brought to the Gentiles in spirit and in truth. This truth
will be emasculated by Satan the dragon and his representative on earth
which is the first beast in the Book of Revelation (the Roman empire)
together with the second beast in the Book of Revelation (the pope), for a
time, times, and an half. When this time passes and the truth of the
gospel is out, then the power of the holy people is broken for it is also
written of the Jews, that God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes
that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear; ... but
[rather] through their fall salvation [is come] unto the Gentiles. (Rom
11:8; 11:11). Matthew 21:43 also spoke in the same wise: "Therefore I tell
you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a
people who will produce its fruit. The good news of the gospel under the
covenant having been consolidated and undergone the test of time for its
truthfulness and authenticity have now produced fruit.
{12:14} And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she
might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time,
and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. (Rev 12:14 AV)

It is also the time of the so called church in the wilderness, for the
dragon is Satan and the woman is the church and her child is the Word of
G-d, Jesus, the word who became flesh (John 1:14). The church is in the
wilderness because Satan was after it, trying to drown it with another
gospel, the gospel taught by the second little horn of the Book of Daniel
(the Roman Catholic church) which is the worship of the first beast in the
Book of Revelation
(the Roman empire).
The true church was
suppressed. The desert here brings to mind of pictures of archaeological
finds where parchments, scrolls and antiquity which are preserved proofs
of not only the Word of G-d, but the rites and the vessels involved in the

worship of G-d by the early Christian church and other proofs of their
existence. Thus, the woman is protected from the river of water spewed
by the dragon which would have rendered the ink in the scrolls and
parchment unreadable (worse, entire scrolls and parchments lost by
moisture) by the earth opening up to swallow the water. Thus, the deserts
of the Middle East was the perfect place for the preservation of these
materials and buried underneath the hot sands, to this day, are more
proofs waiting to be unearthed. However, enough evidence have already
been unearthed of conclusive proof of the true church what it is and
what it is not.
42 months
42 months multiplied by 30 days per month is equivalent to 1260
days. This is again the same period (70 to 1330 AD).
11:2} But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it
not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under
foot forty [and] two months. (Rev 11:2 AV)

Here John is restrained by the angel in his vision from measuring the
outer court of the temple of G-d or the temple of Solomon in Jerusalem,
the holy city, which the Gentiles will trample for 42 months. It is the same
period of time from 70 AD to 1330 AD, still under the Roman empire,
when the Gentiles are allowed to trample on the holy city. By the term
Roman empire, we mean to include the Holy Roman empire revived in its
image by the beast with two horns (the pope). Jerusalem is the throne of
G-d. In this throne, also sits the king of Israel. Jerusalem is also where the
Jews worshiped G-d in a place set for that purpose, the temple of
Solomon, where the high priest sits. Trampling on the holy city was also a
necessary means to bring to light the place and people where G-d chose
to manifest himself as the one true G-d. The Crusades (1095-1291 AD),
the purpose of which was to reclaim Jerusalem from the Muslims for the
Roman Catholic church and the Muslims defense of the Holy Land which
had come to their possession, was the greatest trampling Jerusalem, the
holy city ever had. It is only through the refining action of war that truth
comes out. The Crusades pitted the Muslim who claimed that Allah is the
true G-d of Abraham against the Roman Catholics who represented
everything that was of Christ, the only son of G-d. Both sought from G-d
the victory, but a determinative conclusion of victory could not be
ascertained. The Crusades won in Spain and dislodged the Muslims but
the Muslims held on to the Holy Land until the First World War. For the Jew
on the other hand, the Crusades was Jerusalem again trampled on by
Gentiles, as spoken of by Jesus in Luke 21:20-24, that is to last until the
times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, to wit:

{21:20} And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know
that the desolation thereof is nigh. {21:21} Then let them which are in Judaea
flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and
let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. {21:22} For these be the
days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. {21:23}
But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those
days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.
{21:24} And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away
captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles,
until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. (Luke 21:20-24 AV underscoring
mine)

Unfortunately, after the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled in 1330

AD, when the terms under the Old Covenant are fulfilled and the
prophecies confirmed, then the old abrogated and the covenant of peace
perfected, the wrath of G-d persisted until its consummation in 2009 for
the Jew who is of the kingdom of Israel (Ashkenazims and Sephardims)
who persist in his unbelief (see page 102). He is one of the lost tribes of
Israel. For the Jew who is of the kingdom of Judah (Mizrahims), he is
scattered among the Arab nations around his homeland after his exile of
seventy years in Babylon. For the early Christian who was not among the
saints given over, escaped the giving of the mark of the beast, and is
counted among the elect - he may belong to one of the Christian churches
declared heretical by or is outside of the Roman Catholic church and
Byzantine orthodoxy. They deny the primacy of the pope. For the host of
heaven before the three covenants who are stamped underneath, they
will be freed from the clutches of the dragon and the beasts in 2370 AD,
2300 days from the time of the end of the daily sacrifice until the
sanctuary is rebuilt, cleansed then reconsecrated. These will be the
people before Noah from the time of Adam; their judgment not covered by
the covenants after them. They include the lost tribes of Israel and those
who persist in their unbelief until they see the Messiah with their own
eyes as the shekinah in the reconsecrated sanctuary.
211

The unmeasured outer court in Revelation means that its size is not
yet known as it is dependent on the number of Gentiles reached by the
gospel and the fearless delivery of the same by disciples and preachers
during the 1,260 years. We can surmise that the size of the outer court
may now be determined by extrapolation from the number of true
Christians at the end of the 1,260 years. The Reformation, approximately
200 years from 1330 AD, forever broke Roman Catholic church monopoly
in Europe and gave rise to Protestantism, the common bond that binds
the countries of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia
and New Zealand. These predominantly Protestant countries make up the
Allies which toppled Germanys ambition at world domination, the same
countries who will represent the Word of G-d at Armageddon. After the
1260 years were over, the Word of G-d was out, the church came out of

the wilderness, and truth was preached since then. The zeal by which it
was preached made or unmade the size of the outer court for the
Gentiles. As more and more were drawn to the truth, the bigger the outer
court, or otherwise. This prophecy in the Book of Revelation marks the
period (1260 years) by which all the necessary tools for a preacher to
preach the Word of G-d have already been laid out. The facts, doctrines,
concepts and ideas necessary for the truth to come out have already been
done, threshed thoroughly in blood and refined in fire.
{13:1} 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. {13:2} And the beast which I saw
was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as [the feet] of a bear, and his mouth
as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and
great authority. {13:3} 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.
{13:4} 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? {13:5} 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. (Rev 13:1- 5 AV)

The verses above also identify the beast with ten horns and seven heads
and the power, throne and authority it received from the dragon, Satan.
This is the first beast in the Book of Revelation which is the first little
horn in the Book of Daniel. It refers to the Roman empire. As it subdues
the other beasts before it, assumes their combined characters. As the
Greek beast, it has ten horns, as the Persian beast, it looks like a leopard,
as the Mesopotamian beast, it has legs like that of a bear, as the Egyptian
beast, it has the mouth of a lion. Having the authority from G-d and
forty-two months or 1,260 years to exercise this authority, the beast
sets itself up to be like G-d usurping everything that is of G-d. Men
worshiped the dragon Satan, believing that he is G-d behind the beast out
of the sea. However, this beast blasphemed the G-d of Israel and the host
of heaven and persecuted the holy people and the saints. Yet people were
given a delusion to believe it.
9

1,260 days

Here its meaning is given directly and refers to the same period - 70
to 1330 AD.
{11:3} And I will give [power] unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy
a thousand two hundred [and] threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. (Rev
11:3 AV)

Here the two witnesses (Old and New Testament) will prophesy for

1,260 days clothed in sackcloth. The simplicity of a sackcloth means that

it will be bared as to its truthfulness, it will hide nothing. The poorness of
the clothing subjects it also to all kinds of indignation and abuse, even
destroyed, but its hardiness will endure. As witnesses they will tell of the
truth and its hardiness will endure it for the long period of 1,260 years and
as old as it gets, most of its prophecies are fulfilled and its truthfulness
revealed. The two witnesses are referred to here since both the Old
Testament and the New Testament are integral to each other. Each
testament confirming each other.
It is a time when the Word of G-d in the Old and the New Testaments
are dissected, examined, proved, debated on for its authenticity, its sense
and meaning analyzed, then undergoing the same processes all over
again for a thousand times, by all sorts of people including scholars,
church authorities, skeptics, opportunists, and whoever for whatever
reason might their interest be aroused, in the process refining the Old and
New Testaments, loose ends tied, inconsistencies resolved, its
transliteration perfected, and in harmony or reconciled with history and
not only that the miracles narrated therein reconciled with natural laws.
More importantly, it has also stood up to the supreme test of faith death.
That those who believed in them would die for them. When its relevance
is known, believers then organize themselves to practice the faith as they
interpreted it to be. Therein laid the controversies as each practitioner, in
order to gain adherents to its church or organization disagreed with a
different interpretation of the faith, or simply disagreed in competition
with the other.
It happened too, that those who wanted to totally discredit the word
of G-d died by burning at the stakes. For if those who believed had minor
disagreements on matters already laid by the Roman Catholics as
doctrine were themselves subjected to the Inquisition, and many died at
the stakes for this flimsy reason; what else could have possibly happened
to those who peddled the word of G-d to be completely false? So, it
happened as it is written, And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth
out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt
them, he must in this manner be killed. (Rev 11:5)
Or the complete verse, to wit:
{11:5} And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and
devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this
manner be killed. {11:6} These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in
the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood,
and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. (Rev 11:5-6 AV)

In fulfillment of this prophecy, in 1337, on the eve of the first wave

of the Black Death, England and France went to war in what would
become known as the Hundred Years War (1337-1453). It was an
intermittent conflict between England and France which was an offshoot
of the Norman conquest of England over the fiefs of the king of England
over the king of France. King Edward III of England had reasserted his
claim to the French throne as the son of French King Phillip IVs daughter,
Isabella. Phillip IV had died without a male heir, but a council of French
magnates ruled that royal power could not pass through a woman. Phillip
VI of Valois won the throne and Edward accepted it. However, constant
friction could not be avoided over disputes over the boundaries of
Aquitaine and Phillips support of Bruce, king of Scotlands struggle
against England. The waters of the English Channel was the site of
incessant battles between men-of-war of both sides.
The Battle of
Arnemuiden was the first naval battle fought on September 23, 1338 at
the start of the Hundred Years War. This was followed by the English
Channel naval campaign in 1338 1339, Battle of Sluys on June 24, 1340,
and the Battle of Brest in 1342.
The wars also turned fields into
battlegrounds, inundating everything with blood and contaminating
watering holes, springs, brooks and rivers with the decaying flesh of the
dead. While religion did not seem to be the cause of these wars between
England and France, it was one of the underlying reasons why England did
not wish to be part of the Holy Roman empire and in fact, was never really
a part of it. It was a title added on to a local ruler by the Pope in order to
further the interests of the Papal States in Italy. From the mid 1200s the
position settled onto the Habsburg dynasty. Between 1516 and 1700, after
six hundred years of Islamic control, the Habsburgs had control of Spain,
and was the center of Habsburg power and the Holy Roman Empire. The
rest of Europe, uncomfortable with the Habsburgs having control of
Central Europe and Spain, waged a series of wars to limit Habsburg
power.
Britain never seriously considered the Holy Roman empire,
however when Mary I married Phillip II of Spain they reigned as co-regents
of England. In so much as Phillip was a Habsburg, England was between
1554 and 1558 associated with the Holy Roman Empire, although Phillip
never bore that title. Phillips father (Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor)
passed the title back to the German side of the family rather than passing
it on to his Spanish son. In 1530 Henry the VIII of Britain wished for an
heir and wrote Pope Clement VII for the annulment of his marriage to
Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn. The pope refused, as a
consequence of which King Henry ceded the Church of England in 1534.
Although Henry VIII had the ultimate power to make a break with the
church, the people of Britain largely aligned with Protestant beliefs. The
separation was based in geography, belief and financial gain. Without the
allegiance to the Pope and the Roman Catholic church, English Protestants
returned to the Bible as the basis for their religion. The break that began
under Henry was not completed until Elizabeth I again broke with Rome in
1558 after Mary Tudors brief realignment in 1555.
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217

218

Several European wars of religion were waged in Europe between

1524 to 1648, following the onset of the Protestant Reformation in
Western and Northern Europe strongly influenced by the religious change
of the period. These conflicts include those immediately connected with
the Reformation of the 1520s to 1540s: the German Peasants War (1524
1525); the battle of Kappel in Switzerland (1531); the Schmalkaldic War
(15461547) in the Holy Roman Empire; the Eighty Years War (1568
1648) in the Low Countries; the French Wars of Religion (15621598); the
Thirty Years War (16181648) affecting the Holy Roman Empire including
Habsburg Austria and Bohemia, France, Denmark and Sweden; the Wars
of the Three Kingdoms (16391651) affecting England, Scotland and
Ireland; the Scottish Reformation and Civil Wars; the English Reformation
and Civil War; the Irish Confederate Wars; and the Cromwellian conquest
of Ireland. Later wars such as the Nine Years War (168897) also had a
religious component, but were more fundamentally undertaken for
political reasons, with coalitions forming across religious divisions.
219

The Black Death is now seen as one of the fulfillment of the

prophecy in (Rev 11:5-6). It was an outbreak of bubonic plague caused
by the bacterium Yersinia pestis which is estimated to have killed 30% to
60% of Europes population, reducing the worlds population from an
estimated 450 million to between 350 and 375 million in 1400, peaking in
Europe between 1348 and 1350.
It created religious, social and
economic upheavals with profound effects on the course of European
history. The plague returned at various times, resulting in a larger number
of deaths, until it left Europe in the nineteenth century. Figures for the
death toll vary widely by area and from source to source as new research
and discoveries come to light. It killed an estimated 75200 million
people in the 14th century according to medieval historian Philip
Daileader in 2007. Because fourteenth-century healers were at a loss to
explain the cause, Europeans turned to astrological forces, earthquakes,
and the poisoning of wells by Jews as possible reasons for the plagues
emergence .
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{12:6} And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place
prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred
[and] threescore days. (Rev 12:6 AV)

This verse has the same meaning as Rev 12:14.

10

Three and a half days

These number of days is synonymous with an equivalent number of

years in the day = year format. So that 360 days in the Babylonian year
multiplied by three and a half gives us again 1,260 prophetic days or

years.
{11:7} And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that
ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall
overcome them, and kill them. {11:8} And their dead bodies [shall lie] in the
street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also
our Lord was crucified. {11:9} And they of the people and kindreds and
tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and
shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. (Rev 11:9 AV)

Again the verses above refers to 1,260 years during which time the
two witnesses (the Old and New Testaments: Rev. 11:7) after they have
made their testimonies, are attacked, overpowered and killed by the
beast. During this length of time mentioned, people who witnessed for the
Word of G-d and the testimony of Jesus suffered as Jesus had suffered.
There must be thousands of witnesses who were not singularly known for
their contribution to the faith. To be refused burial must mean not to be
laid to rest. It has a similar meaning to the verse found in Revelation 11:3,
where the Word of G-d is examined and strewn about for only in this
manner will their true worth be determined for the future generations who
wish to embark on verifying its veracity, again. The beast that comes up
from the Abyss refers to the revived Holy Roman empire (see page __). In
relation to the midst of the week found in Daniel 9:27, it is the second
half of the week (three and a half days).
{11:11} And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered
into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which
saw them. (Rev 11:11 AV)

However, at the end of 1,260 years, the two witnesses with a breath
of life from G-d, stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw
them. If this were a novel, this is the high point or crest of the story. At the
end of 1,260 years, two significant events occurred: First, heresy was no
longer confined to individuals (heresiarchs individuals who try to get a
monopoly of a particular exegesis of the scriptures for doctrinal purposes)
expressing disagreement over Roman Catholic doctrines, but had grown
to become movements within the church. By this phenomenon, the
Roman Catholic church was bewildered and great fear fell upon them.
The Cathars, of which the Albigenses and the Waldenses were the leading
movements, had grown into a following of tens of thousands and their
movement still gaining momentum. The Cathars were a motley of heretic
movements consisting of the Bogomili of Bosnia, Patarinis of Lombardy,
the Tisserands and Waldenses of Lyon and the Albigenses of Languedoc in
the South of France.
Doctrinal differences existed between the
movements but shared a common view questioning the validity of the
sacraments administered by corrupt clergymen, as well as the teachings
taught by corrupt preachers and teachers and the necessity of oaths.
224

Waldenses. The Waldenses (Vaudois), an Italian Protestant

communion of 22,000 members, traces its origins to the "poor men of
Lyon", founded in the late 12th century by Peter Waldo, or Valdes (d.
c.1218). Waldo, a wealthy Lyon merchant, disbursed his goods to the poor
and became a traveling preacher about 1173, advocating voluntary
poverty for the sake of Christ. He attracted a large following in southern
France and sought papal recognition for his fellowship. Instead he was
excommunicated for heresy in 1184. Waldos followers subsequently
developed as a religious society with its own ministers. They promoted
religious discipline and moral rigor, were critical of unworthy clergy and
the abuses of the church, and rejected the taking of human life under any
circumstances. In 1208 a crusade was authorized against the Waldenses
and other groups (notably the Albigenses) in southern France. After the
burning of 80 of their number at Strasbourg in 1211, the majority of
Waldenses withdrew into Alpine valleys in northern Italy. They led a
marginal existence until they joined (1532) with the Protestant Reformers,
a liberated church. Again, Barrows Dunham, wrote:
These heretics, who styled themselves, very quaintly, Li Poure de Lyod
("The Poor Men of Lyons"), were originally recruited by Peter Waldo, a rich
merchant. Waldo had made a study of the Scriptures, and had discovered that
their message - or at least, some of it - was plain to any intelligent and attentive
mind. For example, the injunction, delivered in all three Synoptic Gospels, "Sell
that thou hast and give to the poor," (Matt. 19:21; Mark 10:21; Luke 18:22) was
surely basic, since it was asserted to be Jesus own answer to the question, "What
good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" Very little in the behavior of
the organized Church suggested accord with the principle; the prelates were
conspicuously acquisitive, and the poor were conspicuously - poor.
The Cathari, however, in all their varieties, had, as we have seen, the
endearing desire to show forth, in every moment of behavior, the ideals that
presumably make a Christian a Christian. Accordingly, Waldo one day offered
his wife a choice between his landed property and his movable effects. She chose
the landed property; the rest he sold. Part of the proceeds he portioned upon his
two daughters, whom he thereupon placed in the nunnery of Fontevraud. The
rest he distributed among the poor. Then he gave himself over to teaching and to
the propagation of his faith.225

Albighenses. During the 12th and 13th centuries in southern

France, a religious sect known as the Albighenses who derived their name
from the French town of Albi, organized themselves and increased in
number. Similar groups in other parts of Europe would later rise and were
collectively called Cathari, meaning the pure ones. They considered the
material world as evil; redemption meant the liberation of the soul from
flesh. This led them to condemn marriage and sex. Meat, milk, eggs, and

other animal products were forbidden. The sects efficient organization,

with bishops and clergy supported by the local nobility, helped it to
survive even when most of its congregations had been destroyed. Official
countermeasures, such as the preaching efforts of the Cistercians and
Dominicans, or conciliar decrees of the church (Combers, 1165; Verona,
1184; Fourth Lateran Council, 1215) were only partly effective. When a
papal legate was assassinated in the territory of Count Raymond of
Toulouse, Pope Innocent III called for a crusade that developed into the
infamous Albigensian wars (1209-29). Simon de Montforts massacre
(1209) of the inhabitants of Beziers stands out as an example of the
crusaders cruel conduct. Asked how to separate Christians from heretics,
the papal legate, Arnold Amalric, is said to have replied: "Slay them all. Gth
d knows his own." Throughout the 13
century the remnants of the
Albigenses, together with other Catharist groups and the Waldenses, were
the main target of the organized Inquisition throughout Europe. Barrows
Dunham wrote:
"The Crusade began in the spring of 1209. Count Raymond collapsed at its
approach, and gave up his rule, his dignity, and many castles. Warmed with these
easy conquests, the Crusades appeared before Beziers, a walled town between
Marseilles and Carcassonne. Here the Albigenses had drawn in their forces for a
resolute stand; but a foray into the besiegers camp miscarried, and in their
retreat they allowed the enemy to enter the town. The ruin was complete. The
Crusaders, not quite comprehending how far morality had been intermitted, and
supposing that in the slaughter they were to distinguish between heretic and
orthodox, asked the papal legate, Arnold Amalric, how they were to know whom
to kill. "Kill them all!" cried this astounding bigot: "G-d will recognize his own!"
(Tuez-les tous! Dieu reconnaitra les siens!, so runs, according to tradition, the
celebrated cry of embattled orthodoxy.)
And so they killed them all, to a number not less than fifteen thousand. And
they killed many, many more throughout Languedoc during subsequent months
and years-in battle, by treachery, and by inquisition. Simon de Montfort had his
brief and pestilential eminence. Innocent died, having seen, along with these
triumphs, the work of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215), which decreed the
sacraments to be necessary channel of grace and condemned the Cathari once
again for thinking otherwise. In 1226 a last campaign by Louis VIII ended the
brilliant civilization of the south. Three years later, the son, Louis IX, Saint
Louis, fifteen years old, officially acquired the County of Toulouse; and thus the
saint saw his dominions stretch, with reputable orthodoxy, from Paris to the
Mediterranean shore.226

After the bloodletting, the Holy Roman emperor was pleased at the
silence of Cathars who had threatened the empire with a system which
had upset so many landlords with their ideas of equality, love and charity,
among other Christian virtues which threatened to supplant the feudal
system of the landed aristocracy and the serfs which served them. But

the movement had only withdrawn to communities deep in the Alpine

forests and survived and was the biggest at the time of the Reformation.
In fact, it is apparent that, explosive events in history, like the
Reformation often are precipitated by prior events before they arrived at
that desired fruition. It is the result of key actors, very often at the cost of
their lives, defending a belief, embodied by a people timid to stand up for
their own beliefs, but often ready to break into an avalanche of support at
a critical point, often after the death of the key actor(s). They were the
Cathars and their examples of Christian living according to the teachings
as taught in the scriptures is the resurrection of the two witnesses and the
end of the 1260 years of the church in the wilderness.
The second significant event was

the formal institution of

the

Inquisition which was earlier prescribed in the 2nd 4th Lateran

Councils.
The Crusades in the Middle East were recalled to enforce a
decision by the Inquisition to quell the movements resulting in the deaths
of tens of thousands of Albigenses. The Waldenses, however, were spared
for the reason that they owned no property which the Crusades could
expropriate for themselves, for this was the condition the Inquisition had
given the Crusades as reward.
11

Midst of the the week

{9:27} And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the
midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for
the overspreading of abominations he shall make [it] desolate, even until the
consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. (Dan
9:27 AV)

The midst of the week or seven in Daniel 9:27 is is a verse found

in the seventy weeks or seventy sevens prophecy (Dan 9:24-27) and
is also synonymous with three and a half days. It also has a double
meaning. There are two persons referred to here. First it is the Messiah,
Jesus Christ, the prince of host. Second is another prince, (Jesus antitype) son of Emperor Vespacian of the Roman empire, General Titus,
commander of the Roman army tasked with putting down the revolt of the
Zealots. Verses 24 and 25 refer to the Messiah who is the Word of G-d
made flesh and is the Most Holy anointed at his death beginning the new
covenant in 33 AD, 490 years from the giving of the decree to rebuild the
temple and the wall in Jerusalem in 457 BC by Artaxerxes Longimanus.
The first seven weeks, quoting Fausset, refers to the last 49 years of
prophecy, also called the restoration prophecies which ends with the
prophet Malachi of the old covenant. The 62 weeks are 434 years without
prophecy from Malachi until the Messiah who is cut off.
The other
prince, Titus, comes to destroy the temple by beginning its siege in 66
227

AD.

On June 28, 70 AD, the daily sacrifice ended for want of a priest.
th
On the 10 of Av of the Jewish calendar (July 15) in 70 AD it was set on
fire until destroyed, the very same month and day Nebuchadnezzar burnt
the first temple. Then the end thereof [shall be] with a flood (Noahs
cleansing flood of thousands of soldiers). The desolations (wars) shall
continue until the end time for unto the end of the war desolations are
determined. (Dan 9:27). The war that began with the siege and fall of
Jerusalem which took the daily sacrifice away and stamped the host of
heaven (Dan 8:11-12) has a parallel spiritual war in heaven. This is the
war between the minions of Satan and of G-d which will see its final end
only after 2300 days at the rededication of the temple (Dan 8:14).
Between this times, the desolations shall continue and in contemporary
time, the desolation is known as the Middle East Conflict which is also
prophesied to culminate in Armageddon at the end time. He (Jesus Christ,
the Messiah) confirmed the covenant (both old and new) for one week of
two three-and-a-half days with many (both Jews and Gentiles). Three and
a half days being 1260 years, we now know that the Old Covenant was
given to Moses in 1190 BC. A total of 2520 years spans the one week to
confirm the Old and New Covenant. In the midst of the week or after
three-and-a-half days (of 1260 years) the Roman prince (General Titus)
puts an end to the daily sacrifice beginning the authority given to Satan
for 42 months. The midst of the week, we already know now to begin in
70 AD, the year of the destruction of the temple. Jesus came to fulfill
the law and the prophets (Old Covenant) for another 1260 years until the
fullness of the Gentiles in 1330 AD, the period covering the second half of
the week. A time that is also referred to as the church in the
wilderness. It is the time, times and an half, the end of which ends
the power of the holy people (Dan 12:7) and the New Covenant is now
firmly established, which also means the old is now obsolete. The 70th
seven or last week was completed in 1330 AD which also abolished the
first covenant, firmly established the second, and most of the law and
the prophets fulfilled (Matt 5:17).
228

229

230

231

General Titus, son of Emperor Vespacian, as prince and

representative of the emperor of the Roman empire (first beast of
Revelation; Rev 13:11), who in turn is the representative of the dragon
Satan, confirms a covenant of disobedience or rebellion to G-ds will.
The same rebellion against the covenant or law given at Sinai to Moses,
who came down from the mountain and found the people worshiping the
image of a golden calf while he was gone (Ex 32:1).
For as Jesus
confirmed the covenant with G-d at his death in 33 AD, Titus also
confirmed their covenant of disobedience with Satan by laying siege to
Jerusalem in 66 AD and destroying the temple of Solomon in Jerusalem in
70 AD. Suffice it to say, that at this time, as the representative of the
Roman emperor, General Titus, son of Vespacian, acted for and in behalf

of the emperor, who was the anti-type of Jesus and should be aptly called
the anti-Christ. The temple was the parallel of Jesus, in that Jesus was the
spiritual equivalent of the physical temple, so that the date of the
destruction of the temple would have coincided with the death of Jesus.
It is the death of Jesus that the effectivity of the covenant is reckoned with
because it is by blood that the parties are bound by the covenant (Ex
24:8). Without the shedding of blood, there is no covenant. The date for
Jesus death was shortened or halved to 33 AD for if it had been allowed to
its consummation to coincide with its parallel, the temples destruction, Gds wrath upon the Jews and mankind would be so great, there would be
no remnant saved by grace. Mankind would not be saved, much less
survived. 66 AD was the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem and lasted
until 70 AD with the defeat of the remaining Jews who held out in the
temple. The abomination referred to by Matthew, which started the
days Jerusalem came under siege, which days were shortened was by
virtue of the shortened days of Jesus on earth at 33 years which was also
33 years before or halfway to the start of the siege of Jerusalem in 66 AD.
However, as the Father cannot bear his son suffer like a human being,
Jesus was taken up at an earlier date, for the sake of the elect, those
days will be shortened (Matt 24:22). Nevertheless, the warning did guide
the elect and the early Christians of this date when the Roman general
Titus came to destroy Jerusalem and the temple, by fleeing to the
mountains. The Jews who stayed in Jerusalem were annihilated. Jesus
sacrifice put an end to sacrifice and offering in the temple (Heb 9:26) and
as representative of G-d as His son or prince, gave authority by this one
time acceptable sacrifice, to lay the basis to abolish the old covenant to
destroy the temple ending the daily sacrifice forever. The end decreed is
the temples destruction. His early death not only shortened the days he
suffered here on earth but it also shortened the days of the elect
(Messianic Jews who carried the seeds of the Christian faith) were to suffer
persecution, thus the saints were to suffer a period of a time, times, and
half a time or a period of 1,260 days. In contrast, the holy people (the
Jews) endured 2,730 years of G-ds wrath and some more for those who
reject their messiah. For it will come to them only after the end of 2300
days from the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished during the
cleansing or rededication or reconsecration of the Third Temple.
The 1260 years end. The 1260 years thus served a purpose in
testing the enduring character of the Word of G-d by determining which is
the true canon of the faith, sound doctrine, and the true church. In order
for this to be achieved with facility, the Roman Catholic church was
instrumental in playing the devils advocate, as indeed it is, for in the time
that the church and state were one, the work of defining what is the Word
of G-d and what is not was made easier. Thus, the separation of the
church from the state ended the role of the Roman Catholic church to
which it was most infatuated with and continues to aspire its revival.

232

During the dispute which seated the duke of Bavaria, Louis IV as king of
Germany and Holy Roman emperor (1282-1347) against intense papal
opposition, occurred the last major medieval church-state conflict that put
an end to the papacys interference over the affairs of the state. When the
immediately preceding emperor, Henry VII of Luxembourg died, the
German electors sought a king from another dynasty. They were divided
between Louis, who was of the Wittelsbach family, who were anti-popes
and the Habsburg, Frederick the Fair of Austria, an ally of the pope. Both
were elected king in 1314, and a war ensued which Louis finally won in
the Battle of Muhldorf in 1322. Pope John XXII in Avignon, intervened,
claiming the right to veto Louis election. When Louis denied this right,
John excommunicated him. Supported by the Franciscan friars Michael
Cesena and William of Ockham who made an issue of the Investiture
Controversy and the philosophers Marsilius of Padua and John of Jandun,
who advocated the separation of the church and state, Louis entered Italy
in 1327 and had himself crowned emperor by lay officials in Rome in 1328
and set up an antipope, Nicholas V. A number of German princes came to
back Louis against papal opposition. In January 13, 1330 Frederick the Fair
died leaving Louis IVs claim to the crown uncontested and emperorship
final. This event marked the end of the papacys power to confirm the
election of the Holy Roman emperor. Without this power over the emperor
of the Holy Roman empire that the popes had sewn together to revive the
defunct Roman empire, it broke up into several sovereign kingdoms and
their aspiration to unite the width and breadth of the ancient Roman
empire broke up with it. Cesena, William of Ockham, Marsilius and Jandun
who otherwise would have perished at the stakes under the Inquisition
were now protected at the emperors court in Munich. In 1338, by the
Declaration of Rense, the electors asserted that they alone, without need
of confirmation from the pope, had the power to elect the German kings,
who automatically became emperors-elect. Louis decree Licet juris
enacted that statement as law. The years after 1330 AD saw the
accumulation of grievances against the papacy and the Roman Catholic
church which culminated in the Reformation and the rise of Protestant
churches who sought to practice the faith without interference from the
pope almost 200 years later at the instance of Calvin Luther. In 1356, King
of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor, Charles IV, acknowledging the
principle of elective monarchy issued the Golden Bull which regularized
elections by naming seven electors: the archbishops of Mainz, Trier, and
Cologne, the duke of Saxony, the margrave of Brandenburg, the count
palatine of the Rhine, and the king of Bohemia. The bull accepted the
political reality of the impossibility of a unified monarchy in Germany and
that real power rested on the princely and ecclesiastical states, the
imperial free cities, and the imperial knights
Friars and Philosophers: Michael of Cesena. Michael of Cesena
(12701342), Italy was a Franciscan who became general of that Order.

He studied at Paris finishing with a doctors degree in theology. He taught

and wrote several commentaries on theology. An advocate of evangelical
poverty, he found himself against Pope John XXII. In May 31, 1316 he was
elected minister general and went to Assisi to convoke a chapter to
consider the revision of the constitutions of their Order. On his return, he
issued the Gravi qua premor (August 21, 1316) and other ordinances
regarding poverty. John XXII reacted by publishing the Bull, Quorumdam
exigit (October 7, 1317) explaining the decretals of Nicholas III, Exiit qui
seminat (August 13, 1279), and of Clement V, Exivi de paradiso (May 6,
1312). As it concerned the principal chapter of the Franciscan rule, this
caused uproar. The Bull was opposed by Michael and his party, who
claimed that strict poverty was taught and lived by Christ and the
Apostles. The controversy raised the theological question: whether or not
it was consonant with Catholic faith to hold property, individually or in
common. In the famous dispute at Narbonne in 1321 the Inquisitor, John
of Belna, claimed that it was heretical. Berengarius of Perpignan declared
it a Catholic dogma in perfect accordance with the decretals of Nicholas III
and Clement V. John XXII settled the controversy by distinguishing
between dominion and simple use, so that both propositions, Christ and
the Apostles had no property. In the Bull Quia nonnunquam (March 26,
1322) the pope declared that he will excommunicate anyone who
attempted to misconstrue the meaning of the papal Constitution
Quorumdam exigit. In June of the same year a general chapter of the
order was convoked at Perugia and asserted that Christ and the apostles
possessed no earthly goods. At the same time Bonagratia of Bergamo was
commissioned to represent the chapter before the papal Curia at Avignon.
However, the controversy continued unabated until in 1327, Michael was
summoned to appear before the pope at Avignon. Michael reluctantly
agreed to go. He obeyed a subsequent summons forbidding him to leave
Avignon. He was thus unable to attend the chapter held at Bologna in May
of 1328. Despite his absence he was reelected minister general. Michael
managed to win over William of Ockham to his cause. Several prelates
and princes wrote to the pope in Michaels behalf. In the following year,
Cesena, Ockham, and a few other high-ranking Franciscans fled from the
papal court and sought the protection of King Robert of Naples (who
favoured their views), but a storm on the Mediterranean forced their
galley back to the port of Aigues-Mortes, where they transferred to
another ship manned by agents of Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor and
were taken to Pisa. At Pisa they were received by the party of Louis. John
XXII was declared to be deposed by the Emperor. Cesena was
excommunicated by the Pope. In 1329 Cesena was deposed from the
Franciscan leadership, now controlled by the Pope, and in 1330 left with
his followers in the entourage of Louis IV for Germany. He was officially
rehabilitated in 1359.
233

William of Ockham.

William of Ockham (1288 - 1348) was an

English Franciscan friar and scholastic philosopher, from the village of

Ockham, in Surrey. He is considered along with Thomas Aquinas, Duns
Scotus, and the Islamic scholar Averroes, as a major figure in intellectual
and political thought in medieval fourteenth century. He joined the
Franciscan order at a young age and studied theology at the University of
Oxford from 1309 to 1321. His work in this period became the subject of
controversy, and many scholars have thought that Ockham was
summoned before the Papal court of Avignon in 1324 under charges of
heresy. Another theory by George Knysh suggests that he was appointed
there as professor of philosophy in the Franciscan school until 1327 when
disciplinary sanctions came against him levied by Oxford chancellor John
Lutterell for his ideas in his Commentary on the Sentences. In 1327 the
Franciscan Minister General Michael of Cesena who was summoned to
Avignon to answer charges of heresy, had asked Ockham to review
arguments surrounding apostolic poverty. Franciscans fundamentally
believed, that Jesus and his apostles owned no personal property, and
survived by begging and accepting the gifts of others. For this, Pope John
XXII called for them for after studying the works and statements of John
XXII Ockham agreed with Michael and went on to unequivocably express
that John XXII was himself guilty of heresy for refusing to accept the
Franciscan claim. Fearing imprisonment and possible execution, Ockham,
Cesena, and other Franciscan sympathizers fled Avignon on May 26, 1328,
and took refuge in the court of the Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV of
Bavaria, who was engaged in a dispute with the papacy. Ockham was
excommunicated for leaving Avignon, but his philosophy was never
officially condemned. He was officially rehabilitated by Innocent VI in
1359.
Marsilius of Padua. Marsilius of Padua (1275 1342) was an
Italian scholar famous for his Defensor pacis, a revolutionary political and
religious treatise of the fourteenth century. Born at Padua, Marsilius began
studying medicine in Italy, became a soldier, and afterwards went to the
University of Paris in 1311. His reputation as a teacher of the physical
sciences raised him to the position of rector of the university. In 1324
while still practicing medicine, he composed Defensor pacis during the
struggle between Pope John XXII and Louis IV, a nominee for Holy Roman
Emperor. When Louis was excommunicated and called upon to give up
the empire, Marsilius with John of Jandun departed for the German court.
Marsilius, argued the independence of the empire from the papacy, and
the emptiness of the prerogatives alleged to have been usurped by the
sovereign pontiffs. His arguments were regarded as heretical. Louis IV
admitted Marsilius and John to his circle while John XXII excommunicated
Louis IV on April, 1327. Marsilius accompanied Louis IV to Italy, where he
preached and wrote attacks against the pope. In the Defensor minor,
Marsilius completed and elaborated on different points in the doctrine laid
down in the Defensor pacis. He dealt with issues on ecclesiastical

jurisdiction, penances, indulgences, crusades and pilgrimages, vows,

excommunication, the general church council, marriage and divorce, and
unity with the Greek Orthodox Church. In this work he expressly proclaims
imperial supremacy over the Church in temporal matters.
John of Jandun. John of Jandun (1300-1328) was an Averroist
philosopher, theologian, and political writer born in Jandun of the
Ardennes (Belgium). He graduated in arts at the College of Navarre in
Paris and was a leading interpreter of Aristotle and philosopher there.
Traditionally cited as co-author with Marsilius of Padua of Defensor Pacis,
he also wrote De Laudibus Parisiis.
The Church Out of the Wilderness. The year 1330 saw the
confluence of two events which later resulted in the exodus out of the
Roman Catholic church: First, the rise of heretic movements with
members of the clergy and German princes supporting them against the
church own excesses; Second, the threat of Islamic kingdoms
overrunning the Byzantine empire. The Inquisition was instituted to repel
heresy which was the result of Christians seeking the truth of the Word of
G-d from the Bible other than the official interpretations from the Vatican
which the faithful saw as riddled with lies hidden in the catch phrase of
traditions of the church, self-serving, and cloaked in mysteries to hide
the abuses and anomalies that the clergy was not immune from. The
bishops of Rome were known to have notorious characters among its
ranks. Foremost was the Borgia family of Spain, who earned notorious
reputations for siring children from mistresses and tolerating their
incestuous relationships. The founder of the familys influence in Italy was
Alfonso de Borgia, who became Pope Callistus III in 1455. His nephew
Rodrigo became Pope Alexander VI in 1492. The heretics also found allies
in the German princes who deplored the interference of the church in
matters which are viewed as secular and temporal like the administration
of feudal estates. Not only were there princes but many Holy Roman
emperors themselves deposed popes and installed anti-popes in the
struggle for power versus the pope. The second event was the spread of
Islam towards Constantinople and the important task for Roman Catholics
to claim the Holy Land from the Muslims which resulted in the failed
Crusades. Both saw the desperation of the church as its power waned and
membership broke apart.
234

The Inquisition. In the first three centuries beginning the Christian

era, before the Roman empire adopted Christianity, the turbulence
experienced reconciling the Jewish faith with that of Christs had brought
about the separation of Judaism from Christianity. The Jews who were able
to reconcile these two great faiths became the early Christians, e.g. the
apostles of Christ and their followers, including Christs family. We might
also properly call them Messianic Jews. This was a period when many

people, small and great, inspired and uninspired, as well as those driven
by opportunism bankrolled in Christianity by speaking with authority on
the theology of Christ or a reconciled philosophy of their time with an
underlying Christian principle. These included the Gnostics, Donatist,
Nestorians,
Ebionites,
Montanists,
Monarchists,
Manichaeans,
Novationists, to name a few. They were the heretics of the early Christian
church long before the emperor Constantine adopted the Christian faith.
After Rome adopted it as the state religion, many a great believer who
dissociated themselves from the Roman Catholic church on matters of
doctrine and practice, found themselves persecuted and subjected to
trials. Some were martyred by losing their heads; the verdict executed by
civil authorities with approval from the bishop of Rome. Many stood up to
their convictions in public, declared as heretics, excommunicated and
burned at the stakes. Even among the Roman Catholic clergy, not a few
bishops and theologians lost their heads for seemingly minor infractions
that threatened the existence of the orthodoxy and the true reason for its
being the preservation of the Roman empire, a political entity. Among
the best-known individuals to be executed by burning were Jacques de
Molay (1314), Jan Hus (1415), St. Joan of Arc (May 30, 1431), Savonarola
(1498) Patrick Hamilton (1528), William Tyndale (1536), Michael Servetus
(1553), Giordano Bruno (1600) and Avvakum (1682). Anglican martyrs
Bishop Hugh Latimer and Bishop Nicholas Ridley (both in 1555) and
Archbishop Thomas Cranmer (1556) were also burned at the stake. John
Wycliffe, Giordano, Bruno, Galileo, and the religious order of knights called
the Templars were also among the innumerable victims of the Inquisition.
Papal documents as well as the Second, Third, and Fourth Lateran
Councils (1139, 1179, 1215) prescribed imprisonment and confiscation of
property as punishment for heresy and threatened to excommunicate
princes who failed to punish heretics. The papal Inquisition was formally
instituted by Pope Gregory IX in 1231.
235

A closer examination of the period when the Inquisition was at the

height of its power brings to fore the great upheaval brought about by the
many believers wanting to escape from the authority of the pope and his
council which ruled the Roman Catholic church, claiming sole authority
over all that is of Christ and those who believed in him, and enforced
Roman Catholic baptism on all the subjects of the Holy Roman empire.
The Inquisition though was limited to the Western Roman Catholic church.
The Eastern Roman or Byzantine empire nor the Greek Orthodox church
could not enforce this policy because of the strong presence of the
Sassanids, the Arab caliphs, and other Islamic kingdoms after them which
continually struggled for supremacy in Asia Minor and the Balkans. This
became the subject of the Crusades. The pope in order to regain control
of the Eastern half of the empire called for the Crusades. Oftentimes in
history, an event cannot be specifically determined as to its beginnings.
Revolutions, for example, are a result of repression when popular

sentiments exists as undercurrents and do not manifest themselves in the

face of authority. It can stay under for several years, decades, even
centuries, before coming out. It can be said thus, that from the year 1330
AD and afterwards, the church had come out of the wilderness, the
oppression of the saints had ceased, and the truth of the Word of G-d was
out with the separation of the church from the empire or state. The church
met its match in the state. By this time, Christian theologians, scholastics,
the clergy, and laymen have learned to reconcile the Old Testament with
the New and what the good news was all about. The 1,260 years had
completely laid all the foundation for the right interpretation of the Word
of G-d. The oppression of the saints also ceased with the freedom to
pursue the truth against what the Roman Catholic church was preaching.
It was the martyrdom of the Cathars led by the Albighenses and
Waldenses, and many individual heretics, which led people to question
the doctrines of the Roman Catholic church and to see the light. This
phenomenon would give rise to the Reformation about 200 years later
and the unstoppable wave of many Christian groups breaking away from
the Roman Catholic church to pursue the truth.
While the influence of the pope in Germany and France had waned
and the Inquisition removed, it persisted in Spain, Portugal and Rome. In
England, Edward Wightman, a Baptist from Burton on Trent, was the last
person to be burned at the stake for heresy on April 11, 1612. In 1478,
King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile had just set up
the Spanish Inquisition with the approval of Pope Sixtus IV operating
independently and completely under royal authority and staffed by
secular clergy and orders. Operating in Spain and in all her colonies it
targeted converts from Judaism (Conversos and Marranos) and from Islam
(Moriscos or secret Moors) who continue to reside in Spain after the end of
the Islamic control of Spain. Later it took an interest in Protestants of
virtually any sect, Greek Orthodox Christians, including political cases,
surviving until 1834. Many place the actual beginning of the Portuguese
Inquisition during the year 1497 when the state expelled many Jews from
Portugal and enforced Catholicism on those who remained. It principally
targeted the Sephardic Jews who were expelled from Spain in 1492 with
the Alhambra decree. The Portuguese Inquisition formally started in
Portugal in 1536 at the request of the King Joo III. At its head stood a
Grand Inquisitor named by the Pope but selected by the Crown from
within the royal family. The Portuguese Inquisition held its first auto da f
in Portugal in 1540. King Joo III who reigned from 1521 to 1557 extended
the activity of the courts to cover book-censorship, divination, witchcraft
and bigamy. Originally oriented for a religious action, the Inquisition had
an influence in almost every aspect of Portuguese society: politically,
culturally and socially. It was abolished in 1821. In 1542, Pope Paul III
established the Congregation of the Holy Office of the Inquisition as a
permanent congregation staffed with cardinals and other officials to
236

237

maintain and defend the integrity of the faith, to examine and proscribe
errors and false doctrines; with supervision over local Inquisitions. One
of the most famous cases tried by the Roman Inquisition involved Galileo
Galilei in 1633. After the restoration of the Pope as the ruler of the Papal
States after 1814, Roman Inquisition activity continued until the mid-19th
century, notably in the well-publicized Mortara Affair (18581870).
238

239

The Crusades. By the end of the 4th century, following Emperor

Constantines conversion to Christianity in 313 AD, the Holy Land had
become predominantly Roman Catholic. Roman Catholic churches were
built at sites commemorating events in the life of Jesus. However, after
Mohammad founded Islam in the 7th century, Muslims conquered
Palestine, occupied the Holy Land, and threatened the Byzantine Empire.
In 1009 AD the Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ordered the
destruction of the church of the Holy Sepulchre. In 1039 his successor
required the payment of large sums for its rebuilding. Pilgrimages were
allowed to the Holy Land before and after the Sepulchre were rebuilt, but
the pilgrims risked capture or death. Only the realization of the big
business of the pilgrimage did it stopped. Sporadic violence however
continued and Muslim advance into territory of the Byzantine Empire was
imminent. In 1071, at the Battle of Manzikert, the Byzantine Empire
suffered a disastrous defeat which led to the loss of all of Asia Minor and
reduced its territory to a region in western Anatolia around
Constantinople. Earlier, Byzantine emperor Alexios I Khomenos had
appealed to Roman pope Gregory VII for aid but Gregory was at odds with
the Roman emperor over the Investiture Controversy. Pope Urban II, his
successor, saw instead an opportunity for leverage in resolving the
papacys claims of supremacy over the bishop of Constantinople which
had resulted in a Great Schism in 1054, by calling for a crusade. Germans
and Normans refused, but the pope found sympathy from his homeland
in northern France.
The Crusades had an enormous influence on Europe during the
Middle Ages because much of the continent was united under a powerful
papacy. This event marks the fulfillment of the prophecy found in
Revelation 13:12-15, to wit:
{13:11} 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. {13:12} And he exerciseth all
the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which
dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
{13:13} And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from
heaven on the earth in the sight of men, {13:14} And deceiveth them that dwell
on the earth by [the means of] those miracles which he had power to do in the
sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should
make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

{13:15} And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the
image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not
worship the image of the beast should be killed. (Rev 13:12-15 AV)

The Crusades in the Middle East which lasted for 196 years between
1095 and 1291 embroiled much of the erstwhile Roman empire,
comprising the territories of the Franks of France and the Holy Roman
Empire of Germany. Other campaigns in Spain and Eastern Europe which
began as early as 1063 continued into the 15th century. The Crusades
were also waged against pagan Slavs, Jews, Russian and Greek Orthodox
Christians, Mongols, Cathars, Hussites, Waldensians, Old Prussians, and
political enemies of the popes. Subsequent campaigns were also
conducted through the 16th century in territories outside the Levant
against pagans, heretics, and peoples under the ban of excommunication
for a mixture of religious, economic, and political reasons. Rivalries among
both Roman Catholics and Muslim powers led also to alliances between
religious factions against their opponents, such as the Roman Catholics
alliance with the Sultanate of Rum during the Fifth Crusade. Because of
internal conflicts among Roman Catholic kingdoms and political powers,
the Fourth Crusade resulted in the sack of Constantinople and the
partition of the Byzantine empire between Venice and the Crusaders,
finally hardening the schism between the West and the East. The Sixth
Crusade was the first crusade to set sail without the official blessing of the
pope. The Seventh, Eighth and finally the Ninth Crusade resulted in
Mamluk and Hafsid victories. As for its objective to claim the Holy Land
from the Muslims, the Roman Catholic church failed, but it checked the
progress of the Muslims into Europe at Anatolia and expelled the Muslims
from Hispania and Greece. The Crusades far-reaching political, economic,
and social impact lasted into contemporary times.
The Crusades and Armageddon. The day of the Lord is an
often repeated phrase in apocalyptic prophecies, and defined by the
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, to be where the absence of
perspective is conspicuous in the fact that chronology is largely
disregarded. What is often missed is that an apocalyptic prophecy may
embody more than a single event. Some of the elements are for an earlier
fulfillment of the prophecy, the others for a later date, building up to the
end time when all the elements spoken of are fulfilled. The delivery of the
message too often defies chronology, but it also is a way to hide the
prophecy from those that ought not to know, and is thus called sealed.
The prophecy thus may be good for an event that will see its fruition in
the near as well as in the distant future. One example is the prophecy of
Jesus concerning Jerusalem in the oft quoted apocalyptic verses found in
Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 when Jesus prophesied of Jerusalems
destruction, not one stone here will be left on another during their
240

generation when all these things will happen, referring to its future
destruction 37 years later in 70 AD. Yet, in the same moment he reminds
his disciples of the lesson of the figs and the seasons (Matt 24:32),
considered an allusion to the same event that will occur again during the
Crusades and again at the final Armageddon. The latter in answer to the
previous query in Matthew 24:3 of his second coming and the end of age.
Furthermore, the use of euphemisms is typical of apocalyptic verses. The
phrases sun and moon darkening and stars falling from the sky
usually accompanies an apocalypse or apocalyptic prophecy to mean the
gloom when hope is lost followed by apostasy; and of leading men and
women of the church falling from grace as their host in heaven falls, as in
the starry host is swept and flung to the earth and the sea (Rev 12:4).
Overall, through the chaos, it is an event when the great equalizer is
imminent and the deliverance of the faithful is coming. Disaster shall
come upon the haughty and the mighty, the rich and poor alike, but the
elect shall be saved. To them, that day is a day of deliverance.
The "Day of the Lord," in prophecy denotes any great manifestation of
Gods power in judgment or salvation (e.g. the locusts in Joel 2), more
eschatologically, of the final crisis in the history of Gods kingdom and Israel
involving the overthrow of all opposition, and the complete triumph of
righteousness (e.g. Isa 2:2-5; Joel 3:1; Amos 9:11 ff; Zech, etc). The two things
are not unconnected; the one is the prelude, anticipatory stage, (or precedent) of
the other. That feature of prophetic vision sometimes spoken of as the absence of
perspective is very conspicuous in the fact that chronology is largely disregarded.
The "Day of the Lord" is seen looming up as the immediate background of every
great crisis in which Israel may for the time be involved (Assyrian invasions;
Babylonian captivity; Maccabean persecution). The one thing ever certain to the
prophets mind is that the "Day" is surely coming-it is the one great, dread, yet
for Gods people joyful, event of the future - but the steps by which the goal is to
be reached are only gradually revealed in the actual march of Gods providence.
(italics mine)241

The Crusades were the beginning of wars setting the precedence for
the end time prophecy found in Revelation 16:12-16 concerning
Armageddon, thus:
{16:12} And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river
Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the
east might be prepared. {16:13} And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs
[come] out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and
out of the mouth of the false prophet. {16:14} For they are the spirits of devils,
working miracles, [which] go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the
whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
{16:15} Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed [is] he that watcheth, and keepeth
his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. {16:16} And he
gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue
Armageddon. (Rev 16:12-16 AV)

Euphrates dries up for the Kings of the East. Revelation 16:12

speaks of the river Euphrates drying up to prepare the way for the kings
from the East. East of the Euphrates today is Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan
and a host of former Soviet satellites to the northeast, the so-called tan
countries of Greater Middle East (their names end with - tan) with a
dominant, Muslim population. These kings from the east will also include
the territories in China that were part of the empire of the Mongolian
Genghis Khan (1167-1227) and Tamerlane (1336-1405) who became
Muslims. The phrase drying up to prepare the way is believed to be a
euphemism for the kingdoms east of the river to cross over for the battle
at the Mountain of Megiddo (Armageddon), as in the past they had done.
Eastons Bible Dictionary defines Armageddon as symbolically
designating the place where the battle of that great day of G-d Almighty
shall be fought. The word properly means the mount of Megiddo. It is the
scene of the final conflict between Christ and the anti-Christ. The idea of
such a scene was suggested by the Old Testament great battlefield, the
plain of Esdraelon. It is also the Valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:2). It is
also known alternatively as Tel Megiddo (Hebrew) and Tell al-Mutesellim
(Arabic). Megiddo was a site of great importance in the ancient world, as
it guarded the western branch of a narrow pass and an ancient trade
route which connected the lands of Egypt and Assyria. Because of its
strategic location at the crossroads of several major routes, Megiddo and
its environs have witnessed several major battles throughout history, with
the site changing hands many times. Three of the more famous battles
include: the first in the 15th century BC between the armies of the
Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III and a Canaanite coalition led by the rulers
of Megiddo and Kadesh; the second in 609 BC between Egypt and the
Kingdom of Judah, in which King Josiah fell; and the third in 1918 during
World War I between Allied troops, led by General Edmund Allenby, and
the defending Ottoman army.
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244

245

246

The significant events leading to the Crusades began in 1074 AD

when Byzantium Emperor Michael VII sent envoys to China pleading for
aid in fighting the Muslims led by Seljuk Turks. Chinese records show
Empreror Michael VII (Fulin) sent an envoy to the Sung Dynasty of China
in 1081. More Byzantine envoys were sent until 1091 with pleas for aid.
In 1095 AD Emperor Alexios I Komnenos again renewed this plea.
Unfortunately China was then being besieged by Genghis Khans Mongol
hordes who were allies of the Seljuk Turks being their neighbors to the
west. In 1099 the Crusaders captured Jerusalem. On the other hand, in
1223 the Khanate of the Golden Horde was established in South Russia as
a result of Genghis Khans bestowal of that area on his son Juchi. Juchis
son, Batu Khan destroyed the most important Russian state of Kiev in
1240, an event that historians described as setting back Russian
civilization backwards. The Mongols merged with the Tatars and other
247

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Turkic peoples such as the Cumans (Kipchaks) and adopted Islam. In

1259 Mongols of the Blue Horde led by Burundai and Nogai Khan had
ravaged the principality of Halych-Volynia, Lithuania and Poland. Pope
Alexander IV tried without success to create a crusade against the Blue
Horde. Meanwhile, in 1360, Murad I, son of Orkhan, founder of the
Ottoman
empire
had
captured
Adrianople
after
overrunning
Constantinople and insured the empires presence in Europe for a long
time. In fact, the Ottomans stayed on until the end of World War I,
outlasting the hordes of Genghis Khan and Tamerlanes.
249

250

Internal strife broke the horde into the White Horde and Blue Horde
weakening the khanate until Dimitry Donskoi of Moscow defeated them
at Kulikovo in 1380. In 1380 Khan Tokhtamysh combined the Blue and
White Hordes forming the Golden Horde. The Golden Horde had begun
to rise, but in 1389, Tokhtamysh decision to wage war on his former
master, the great Tamerlane, ended in Tamerlanes hordes rampaging
through southern Russia, practically wiping out the Golden Horde. After
losing the war, Tokhtamysh was then dethroned by Khan Temur Kutlugh
and Emir Edigu, supported by Tamerlane. Tokhtamysh came to Vytautas
the Great for assistance in retaking the Horde; the latter gathering a huge
army of Lithuanians, Ruthenians, Russians, Mongols, Moldavians, Poles,
Romanians and Teutonic Knights. Vytautas (c. 1350 - October 27, 1430)
was one of the most famous rulers of medieval Lithuania and from 1392
to 1430 was the ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania which chiefly
encompassed the Lithuanians and Ruthenians. He was also the Prince of
Hrodna (1370-1382), the Prince of Lutsk (1387-1389) and postulated king
of Hussites.
In 1398, the huge army moved from Moldavia and
conquered the southern steppe all the way to the Dnieper River and
northern Crimea. Inspired by their great successes, Vytautas declared a
crusade against the Tatars with papal backing. In 1399, the army of
Vytautas once again met the Hordes at the Vorskla River, slightly inside
Lithuanian territory. Although the Lithuanian army was well equipped with
cannon, a rear attack from Edigus reserve units routed it. Vytautas hardly
escaped alive. Twenty of his kindred princes were killed including Stefan
Musat, Prince of Moldavia and two of his brothers. A fourth was badly
injured. The victorious Tatars besieged Kiev and according to one
chronicler, Christian blood flowed like water, up to the Kievan walls."
Meanwhile, Temur Kutlugh died from the wounds received in the battle,
and Tokhtamysh was killed by one of his own men.
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252

253

254

255

Tamerlane belonged to an Islamic, Turkized Mongol tribe in

Transoxania (Uzbekistan) who had become its ruler by 1370 and
established his capital in Samarkand.
By 1381, after conquering
Khorezm and Herat, he successfully laid siege on the kingdoms of the
Middle East and Transcaucasia. He conquered Iran in 1392-96 and
occupied Baghdad. In 1398 he conquered India and occupied New Delhi.
256

In 1400-1402, he crossed the river Euphrates and invaded Syria and

Anatolia. In his last campaign, he captured Aleppo and Damascus and
defeated and took prisoner the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I at Ankara,
setting the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople by half a century. Like
Genghis Khan, he returned to Mongolia. He died in 1405 in his attempt to
conquer China. While the wars which brought the Crusades and the wars
between Muslims after it brought great chaos, particularly on both the
Byzantine and the Holy Roman empire, it brought deliverance to the nonRoman Catholic Christians and the Jews in the regions that were
Islamized.
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258

Revelation 16:13-14 speak of three evil spirits that resemble frogs

comes from the mouths of the dragon, beast, and the false prophet.
They go out into the world to gather the kings of the whole world for
battle to Armageddon on the great day of the Lord. It is figurative of the
false teachers and prophets peddling teachings and prophecies that are
half-truths aimed at preserving their interests in politics and power, first
and foremost, and for other reasons less than the truth of the Word of G-d.
They have power to perform miraculous signs to convince the kings of the
whole world of the worthiness of their cause and the truthfulness of their
teaching and prophecy. Their most potent power is in fueling the intrigues
that had been brewed since the Crusades and created the differences and
animosity between Muslims and Roman Catholics. The kings will take
sides with this trio of anti-types and will battle each other, each
proclaiming to be the bearer of the Word of G-d. The precedent for
Armageddon was set during the Crusades when the Roman Catholics
fought to reclaim the holy land from the Muslims and other Muslim
territories. Since then animosity between Muslims and Roman Catholics
are rife with issues that easily ignite into armed hostilities. The biases and
prejudices of Roman Catholics against Muslims and vice-versa were
brewed since the 196 years of the Crusades. The rest of the Christians will
also be taking sides with the one they believe bears the Word of G-d (Rev
19:13) and the rest of the world drawn into these wars.
There are two wars spoken of in the Armageddon prophecies. The
first found in Revelation 19:19-21 results in the capture of the first beast
and the false prophet. In the series of medieval Crusader wars to protect
the Byzantine empire from the Seljuk Turks and other Muslim incursions to
reclaim the Holy Land for the Roman Catholic church were some of the
reasons which separated the church from the state and broke the Holy
Roman empire causing its fall. Thus this first beast that is the Holy Roman
empire is said to be taken or captured together with the false prophet.
The identity of this false prophet we shall reveal shortly.
As a
consequence of this defeat, the dragon, Satan is bound and locked for a
thousand years in the Abyss (Rev 20:2). This first series of wars of the
Crusades set the precedent for the second series of wars, e.g. another

crusade that will be fought a millennium later when the kings east of the
river Euphrates will again cross it after the dragon is released for a short
period for the final battle (Rev 20:7-8). The wars fought two centuries
earlier before the Crusades, and a century after the Crusades involving
the Mongol hordes and their Muslim allies who came from east of the river
Euphrates were wars not primarily aimed at reclaiming the Holy Land,
though they did involve the Roman Catholics on one side and Muslims on
the other. They were not religious wars initially. They were much more of
conquest aimed against the Byzantine empire and its capital in
Constantinople who was itself expanding into territories dominated by
other ancient peoples, e.g. the Seljuk Turks and other Turkic tribes, that
the west was not familiar with. However, we may look at the event as a
preview of the scale of the future event in the end time when the kings
east of the river Euphrates are again gathered to cross the river on that
day of the Lord towards the mountain of Megiddo. The Mongol hordes of
Genghis Khan and Tamerlane were a fulfillment of the prophecy found in
Isaiah 54:1: {54:1} Sing, O barren, thou [that] didst not bear; break forth
into singing, and cry aloud, thou [that] didst not travail with child: for
more [are] the children of the desolate than the children of the married
wife, saith the LORD. In contemporary times, we see Muslims held by a
belief that teaches hatred of the Jews and deny the inheritance of Israel
and its rightful place on earth. They deny that Israel is the home of the
Jews but of the Palestinians. They deny that the temple of Solomon in
Jerusalem will be rebuilt by the Jews. This opposition to Israels claim has
already ignited the wars that will lead to the second and final series of
religious wars at Armageddon that will see not only the oppositions utter
desolation but will also plunge Israel and her allies into recession. While
the Quran acknowledges the law and the gospel, it is not in complete
agreement with Christian nor Jewish teachings. All three of these books
would not contradict each other, if it were possible; because they
embody the goodness obtainable in G-ds creation.
However, mans
eternal struggle with sinful flesh shows that with power comes more
temptation to fulfill the cravings of the flesh which leaders are not
immune from. Such was the admonition of the Lord when Israel chose to
follow a king rather than Him (1 Sam 8:10-18). For the covenant with
Hagar is a covenant of peace Jesus (Arabic: Isa: Hebrew: Yeshua), upon
whom Muslims who claim the inheritance of Ishmael can rely on. So this
false prophet of the Muslims, is like how the Protestants look at the
Roman Catholic church as an impostor; or like how Messianic Jews look
at Orthodox Jews deaf and blind. This Muslim false prophet will teach
the destruction of Israel and of the Jews. If it were possible to reconcile
the law, the gospel and the covenant with Hagar with justice (Isa 1:17,
9:7, 56:1; Jer 21:12, 23:5; Eze 45:9) then all the world will be saved a
world that G-d so loved, he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever
believes in him shall have eternal life (John 3:16). That the G-d of
Abraham is the G-d first of Isaac, then of Ishmael, then of the Gentiles. We

can look forward to that day when the refining fire of the war at
Armageddon will finally take the dross out of the truth and set all of us
free. For this war is against the rider in the white horse called Faithful
and True (Rev 19:11), who is also called the Word of G-d (Rev 19:13)
and King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev 19:16).
Revelation 16:15 speaks of a thief - often associated with other
verses concerning the Lord Jesus, the masters second coming, the day of
the Lord, or the appointed time of the end found in Revelation 3:3; 2 Peter
3:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; Luke 12:39; and Matthew 24:43. Verse 15 is
believed to liken the end time war at Armageddon with this war during the
Crusades. It is an admonition to take seriously the events during the
Crusades as it is how the wars at Armageddon will be fought over the
Word of G-d, but there will be more kings and nations involved, as the end
of time approaches.
{19:19} And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies,
gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against
his army. {19:20} And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that
wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received
the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were
cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. {19:21} And the remnant
were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which [sword]
proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
( Rev 19:19-21 AV)

In Revelation 19:19-21, the armies of the first beast and the false
prophet were gathered to make war against the Word of G-d (Rev 19:13).
This war, better known as the Crusades, lasted for 196 years from 1095
AD through 1291 AD. At the end of this first battle, the first beast was
captured together with the false prophet. Thirty-nine short years later, in
1330, the pope lost his power over the Holy Roman empire and
desperately held on to his last bastions of power through the Inquisition,
which lasted until 1834 in Spain where it was formally ran by the crown in
1478; up to 1821 in Portugal after its official establishment in 1536; and
up to 1870 in Rome.
259

The Crusades in the Holy Roman empire lasted until 1434 against an
armed resistance and heresies organized by John Hus of Bohemia.
Elsewhere, the cooperation of the state on religious matters dictated by
the Roman Catholic church were no longer heeded. Revelation 19:20 also
speaks of the false prophet performing miraculous signs to escape the
mark of the beast which is the baptism of a Roman Catholic.
Approximately three hundred years after the early Christian church was
adopted by the Roman empire that made it the faith of its subjects, the
Middle East came under the influence of Islam. It is believed that the
minions of the false prophet during this time who came under the

260

influence of Islam, escaped the mark of the beast. A substantial number

could also come from the various Christian congregations that were
declared heretics by the early Christian church and those that the Roman
Catholic church itself later determined. During this time, the Jews
themselves came under several influences, e.g. Pharisees, Saducees,
Zealots, Essenes, as well as Christians. There would be more later, like
the Cabalists, which are denied by most Jews. However, history shows
that only the Muslims engaged the Roman Catholics in a lengthy war over
the Holy Land to claim it as part of the inheritance of Ishmael. By and
large, Muslims were tolerant of these faiths, particularly because they
posed no threat to it. Islam has two major sects: the Sunnis who follow the
Sunnah, the traditions of Mohammad, who claim descent from Kedar, the
second son of Ishmael, oldest son of Abraham; and the Shia or Shiites.
Unique to the Shia is the doctrine of Imamah, or the political and spiritual
leadership of the Imams. The Imams are from the progeny of Ali ibn Abi
Talib, who according to most Shia are in a state of ismah, meaning
infallibility. They believe that Ali ibn Abi Talib, as the cousin and son-in-law
of Muhammad, was his rightful successor, and they call him the first
Imam (leader), rejecting the legitimacy of the previous Muslim caliphs. To
most Shia, an Imam rules by right of divine appointment and holds
absolute spiritual authority among Muslims, having final say in matters of
doctrine and revelation.
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262

263

The sequence of events from Revelation 16:12-16; 19:19-21; and

20:7-8 are chronological. First was the preparation (Rev 16:12-16) for the
battles which first occurred during the Crusades (Rev 19:19-21) that will
culminate at the final Armageddon and the end time (Rev 20:7-8). The
river Euphrates drying up means that it will be reconnoitered by the
kingdoms across it to become aware of what is beyond it. In this particular
sense of the Holy Lands presence and of talk of the one true G-d who is
worshiped there as like the Magis of the East who came to offer gifts for
the Messiah on his birth. In this event, the kings east of the river would
include the Persians, the tan countries comprising Greater Middle East,
and the Mongolian hordes. It must be a time for the kingdoms across the
river to know about the Holy Land. The Persians are no strangers to the
Hebrews or Jews. Neither were the tan countries who were Islamized,
nor the Mongolians. However, almost a century of communist suppression
have repressed the desire to exercise their true faith - Islam. During the
reign of the Mongol hordes from east of the river Euphrates, the breadth
of the world from the British Isles to China heard of the Holy Land. The
first war was during the Crusades when Christians represented by Roman
Catholics fought against the Muslims over the Holy Land and the Word of
G-d, both claiming to be worshipers of one and the same and true G-d
(Rev 19:19-21). At the end of this first war, which corresponds to the end
of the Ninth Crusade in 1291, the beast and the false prophet are thrown
alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This part of the prophecies in the

Book of Revelation, which may be deductively inferred from its

chronology, (the books narration being chronological), will lead us to
conclude from the scant references available in the Bible itself, that the
beast and the false prophet are already tormented alive in the lake of
burning sulfur this early on. The lake of burning sulfur is also called the
second death (Rev 20:14; 21:8). The dragon meanwhile may not be as
miserable but at the end of the authority given him to exercise for fortytwo months (Rev 13:5) corresponding to the year 1330, he is bound in
chain by the powerful angel Abaddon (a.k.a. Appolyon) and locked in the
bottomless Abyss for a thousand years the Millennium (Rev 20:2).
264

So the Crusades was essentially a war between two dominants

faiths of this time, with each one believing it was the true custodian of the
Word of G-d. It never occurred to the Roman Catholics of this time that the
Muslims were going to claim the Holy Land as prophesied by Isaiah and
confirmed by St. Paul, nor that Muslims have a legitimate claim as heirs of
Ishmael, first born of Abraham by Hagar (Gen 16:10; 21:13,18). In fact,
the whole of Chapter 54 of the Book of Isaiah unequivocally speaks of this
time. Thus, the image of the first beast, the Holy Roman empire and the
horn within the horn the Roman Catholic church, at the instigation of the
second beast, the pope, under whose authority the Roman Catholic kings
of France and Germany submitted, financed the sending of troops against
the Muslims. In the opposite corner, the Muslims who believed that
Palestine has been given to them to possess. True, in fulfillment of the
prophecy of Isaiah at the time of Israel and Judahs punishment when the
wrath of G-d was upon them, Isaiah spoke thus:
{54:1} Sing, O barren, thou [that] didst not bear; break forth into singing,
and cry aloud, thou [that] didst not travail with child: for more [are] the
children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.
{54:2} Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of
thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;
{54:3} For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy
seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited
{54:4} Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded;
for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy
youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.
{54:5} For thy Maker [is] thine husband; the LORD of hosts [is] his name;
and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he
be called. {54:6} For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and
grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.
{54:7} For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I
gather thee. {54:8} In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but
with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy
Redeemer. {54:9} For this [is as] the waters of Noah unto me: for [as] I have
sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I
sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. {54:10} For the
mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not

depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the
LORD that hath mercy on thee. {54:11} O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest,
[and] not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy
foundations with sapphires. {54:12} And I will make thy windows of agates,
and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. {54:13}
And all thy children [shall be] taught of the LORD; and great [shall be] the
peace of thy children. {54:14} In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou
shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it
shall not come near thee. {54:15} Behold, they shall surely gather together,
[but] not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy
sake. {54:16} Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the
fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the
waster to destroy. {54:17} No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper;
and every tongue [that] shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt
condemn. This [is] the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their
righteousness [is] of me, saith the LORD.
( Isa 54 AV)

The apostle Paul, in the Book of Galatians, of the New Testament

wrote to confirm:
{4:21} Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
{4:22} For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid,
the other by a freewoman. {4:23} But he [who was] of the bondwoman was
born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman [was] by promise. {4:24} Which
things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the
mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. {4:25} For this Agar
is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in
bondage with her children. {4:26} But Jerusalem which is above is free, which
is the mother of us all. {4:27} For it is written, Rejoice, [thou] barren that
bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath
many more children than she which hath an husband. {4:28} Now we,
brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. {4:29} But as then he that
was born after the flesh persecuted him [that was born] after the Spirit, even
so [it is] now. {4:30} Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the
bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with
the son of the free woman. {4:31} So then, brethren, we are not children of the
bondwoman, but of the free. (Gal 4:21-31 AV)

For Israel was yet to be given to the heirs of Ishmael represented by the
Muslims who ruled the Holy Land until the time of wrath was over and
their Helper was able to gather them home which would not come until
almost two millenniums were over.
Furthermore, the verses in Isaiah 19:18-25 speaks of a time when
Egypt, Assyria and Israel are all one worshiping G-d. The Islamization of
the Middle East particularly that of Egypt and Assyria, marked their
coming near the fold of their salvation. For in Islam was found the
covenant of G-d with Ishmael.

{19:18} In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of
Canaan, and swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall be called, The city of
destruction. {19:19} In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the
midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the LORD.
{19:20} And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in
the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors,
and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them.
{19:21} And the LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know
the LORD in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow
a vow unto the LORD, and perform [it. ]{19:22} And the LORD shall smite
Egypt: he shall smite and heal [it:] and they shall return [even] to the LORD,
and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them. {19:23} In that day
shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come
into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with
the Assyrians. {19:24} In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with
Assyria, [even] a blessing in the midst of the land: {19:25} Whom the LORD of
hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed [be] Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of
my hands, and Israel mine inheritance. (Isa 19:18-25 AV)

So it was, that during this time of fulfillment of the Lords promises

to Ishmael coinciding with the Golden Age of Islam (mid-8th to the mid13th century AD) that travel to Egypt from Assyria via Megiddo, Israel and
vice versa became possible as Muslims worshiped at the mosques in
Jerusalem, the third holiest city in Islam.
The Constitution of Egypt
extends freedom of religion to the three Abrahamic religions (Islam,
Christianity and Judaism), but only those three. Several denominations of
Christian churches exist and make up between 10% and 20% of the
population including the Coptic Orthodox church of Alexandria, Oriental
Orthodox Christian church, and the Coptic Catholic church.
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That 70 AD is the year that marks the beginning of the 1,260

prophetic days or years from the exegesis of Daniel 8:19-14 on the basis
of the historic events that constituted the elements of its fulfillment and
the actions taken by the Roman Catholic church as an instrument of the
empire during the period, particularly during the time that its influence
waned, make for said incontrovertible conclusion. Intercalation - insertion
in the calendar should be able to account for the number of lost days in
the year done every 12 or 13 years to the Babylonian or Hebrew calendar
by adding a 13th month. 1260 years is a long period which will allow the
intercalations to correct the number of years so that there is no longer a
need to convert to the Roman calendar to correct the date. 1330 ADs
significance lies subtly, and most Bible scholars have pointed to the more
obvious manifestation of the end of the 1260 prophetic days to the date
which marks the period beginning the Reformation about 200 years later.
The First Resurrection. After the first beast and false prophet
are thrown alive into the lake of burning sulfur, the second death, Satan

the dragon is bound and locked in the Abyss.

Then all those that are
beheaded for the Word and the testimony of Jesus are resurrected and
reign with the Lord a thousand years until the Millennium will be over (Rev
20:1-5). This is a part of scriptures where interpretations by theologians
since the first century and various sects of the Christian churches,
abound. The period must have a beginning and an end. In this exegesis,
the Millennium must come immediately after the 1,260 years, in 1330 AD.
Understand that there is no reason for the Lord to delay so the Millennium
must occur immediately after Satans authority expired (2 Peter 3:8-9).
The Lord has no longer any reason to extend His arch-enemy Satans
authority, for the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of G-d
are crying out loud for revenge in the revelation seen by John as the Lamb
opened the fifth seal (Rev 6:9). Then those who were beheaded for the
Word and testimony of Jesus (the saints from the early Christians
onwards) were resurrected and reigned with Christ during the Millennium
(Rev 20:4). They join the host of heaven watching over mankind on earth.
We may infer this by analogy from the event which involved the third of
the host of heaven thrown down with Satan on earth, during the time of
the church in the wilderness. Therefore, during these thousand years
with the dragon, Satan locked in the Abyss and the the first beast and the
false prophet tormented alive in the lake of burning sulfur; the saints are
freed from their clutches and resurrected. Once freed, they reigned with
Christ until the Millennium will be over in 2330. For this reason, preachers
say, the kingdom is here, now! By resurrection here is meant that the
souls of the saints who were slain for the Word of G-d and the testimony
of Jesus were freed from their temporal hold. Then during this time that
Jesus reigned, so did they reign, in spirit, that is. However, the second
beast which spoke like a dragon remained and the three frogs and the evil
spirits that emanate from them continue to sow intrigue and cause the
kings of the earth and their armies to fight one another over the Word of
God. Then the final battle spoken of in Revelation 20:7-10 to end time or
begin timelessness or eternity. Speaking of three frogs, they can only
mean the product of this battle for the faith between Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam and the intrigue that comes from the faithful trying to put one
over the other.
The period the saints were given over can only be construed to
mean the fixed period in time that began in 70 AD and lasted until the full
length of the period of 1,260 years was attained for the gains made by
those who came before them and even unto those who were there from
the beginning to do G-ds will have already been sown and their harvest of
knowledge and the liberation and conviction of those who believed the
good news have begun. Others who would come later only served the
remaining time, so that in 1330 AD, it ended. It is also believed that the
resurrection referred to here is only of the saints that were given over
during the 1,260 years to the Roman Catholic church and held in captivity

against their will, by it. They included Messianic Jews, or Jews who were
the early Christians together with their Gentile believers comprising the
early Christian church. They were the saints. It did not include the holy
people (the Jews) who continued to deny that Christ is the Messiah and
were also with the third of the host of heaven thrown with Satan to the
earth. They remain captive to the deceptions created by Satan, because
of their unbelief and this will last until 2300 days or years from the time
the daily sacrifice was abolished in 70 AD until 2370 AD. They are todays
Rabbinic or Orthodox Jews. A physical resurrection in the flesh similar to
Jesus may not be possibly meant here. No historical record is known of
such an event and in such magnitude. What it is more like, is a spiritual
resurrection of the saints from where the beast or Satan held them after
they died to rejoin the host in heaven. When the saints suffered for 1,260
years believing the Roman Catholic church to be the true church is likened
to Satan stamping or trampling on them. The defeat of the beast and the
false prophet after the Crusades near the end of the 1,260 years and the
subsequent incarceration of Satan in the Abyss soon as it ended to begin
the Millennium freed the host of saints who were flung to the earth with
Satan. On earth, the fear of the Roman Catholic church policies was
removed without the states police powers to execute them. Similarly,
Muslims had an equal opportunity in the places where the misguided
elements of the false prophet had no serious influence. The event is
also referred to in Daniel 12:1-3:
267

{12:1} And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which
standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble,
such as never was since there was a nation [even] to that same time: and at
that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in
the book. {12:2} And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall
awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame [and] everlasting contempt.
{12:3} And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament;
and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
(Daniel 12:1-3 AV)

The Abyss where the dragon Satan is temporarily held, is presumed

to be a less miserable place than the lake of burning sulfur. Though Satan
is bound in chain and locked in that bottomless place, his minions await
him and increase in number. The state of having the mark is not a mental
state which one can easily overcome by reason. This is a spiritual state
that can be overcome only by faith (John 3:5). Here lies the difference
between a Christian of the Reformation, Messianic Jew, and other true
Christians vis--vis the Roman Catholic whose faith unknown to him is
accursed and wrought with the wrath of G-d for his enemy, Satan the
dragon who is represented on earth by the Roman empire. Those who
regard and worship it as a god will likewise be condemned to Gehenna
the lake of burning sulfur, in eternity together with the false prophet

(Rev 19:20; 20:10). The Jews unbelief would have earned for him the
same fate, save for grace and the end of G-ds wrath.
The Quran thus distinguishes itself as unique to the Muslims, who
are the descendants of Ishmael for the covenant with Ishmael is peculiar
to him and to him, only. A comparative reading of the New Testament
Bible, particularly of the Book of Revelation viz-a-viz the Quran could
only bring one to a conclusion that as one begins to understand the
relationship between Isaac and Ishmael, and as naturally happened to
them in the course of life, the siblings became rivals for the love of G-d.
The grudging, if not hostile manner by which Muslims regard Jews and
Christians are explicitly worded in the Quran as they are referred to
several times as infidels and in the end-time the prophecy found in the
Quran explicitly refers to the same events in the Bible, but from the point
of view of the other side; as an adversary. That is to say, that while the
Bible holds true for the Christian, the Quran holds likewise for the Muslim.
In other words, the Christian and Muslim will always be at odds with each
other. The Quran does speak of an end time in a manner that is parallel
to the Christian end time spoken of here, but seen from the point of view
of the Muslim. Suffice it to say, that the Muslim whose faith rejects the
return of the Jews to their homeland, Israel is following the false
prophet who is also in the lake of burning sulfur. Their temporal
manifestation is evident. The evil spirit of the first beast is manifest in
dominantly Roman Catholic states where governments leave so much
room for improvement and most of the people live miserable lives their
spirits or souls bound with the first beast in the Book of Revelation who
was thrown alive and in torment in the lake of burning sulfur. The spirit of
the false prophet is also manifest in Middle Eastern countries that
espouse hatred of the Jews, the destruction of Israel and prohibit the
reading of the Bible. They deny the restoration of Israel. They will be laid
desolate as the punishers of Israel have come to, following Egypt; and the
states derived from Mesopotamia, e.g., Assyria and Babylon.
The present-day desolation of Iraq, which saw the Iran-Iraq War
(September 1980 - August 1988) and two Persian Gulf wars can only be
interpreted as continuing the fulfillment of the prophecy found in Jeremiah
25:12, thus;
{25:12} And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, [that]
I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their
iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.
(Jeremiah 25:12 AV)

Now, the kingdom of Babylon only served as an exile for Judah,

while Assyria had not only treated the Israelites with contempt but had
sold them and scattered them so that they became the lost tribes of Israel

and Assyria served the wrath of G-d on the kingdom of Israel according to
the judgment the prophets (Ketuvim) spoke of. It was foreseen that the
desolation of Iraq, in the aftermath of Saddam Husseins belligerence, was
imminent, as both Assyria and Babylon, and more so because of Assyria.
Furthermore, the Lords hand is seen in the hardening of Iraq. Its
possession of technologically superior Russian weapons and weapons
system. e.g., Scud missiles, gave it a delusion that its might was enough
to break Israel and her allies. If one would stretch ones imagination
further, of Iraq success- fully exploding a nuclear weapon on Israel or any
of her allies, would that not give Israel and its mighty allies a reason to
retaliate in kind? Not even Russia thought of giving the first strike with all
the thugs that ran it since Stalin. This delusion and the infatuation which
resulted from it could only have been the reason that Iraq under Saddam
Hussein was foolhardy to challenge America and her allies that doom
may fall upon her to continue the fulfillment of the prophecy. For this
was not the only time that Iraq had become desolate, as the Persian Gulf
Wars only came about as a consequence of the Iran-Iraq War. According
to The Wars of Iraq published online at http://www.historyguy.com/
wars_of_iraq.html there have been about 30 wars fought by Iraq since the
First World War alone.
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In the case of the third beast in the Book of Daniel which is MediaPersia (Kurdistan and Iran) it is thought of that she will not serve the
Lords wrath, until after the Millennium when Gog and Magog will be
released unto the world. For instead of its desolation after Iraqs in the
aftermath of the Persian Gulf wars, we saw instead the extremely severe
economic crisis that befell Greece, the fourth beast and Italy (Rome), the
little horn. As Greece and Italys economy were severely affected by
the European crisis in 2013 by their membership in the European Union,
the consequent instability has caused deterioration of law and order,
particularly Greece, whose debts have amounted to $400 Bn Eurodollars
and required that Germany bail it out. Italy, on the other hand has never
been more decadent as in recent times, the world saw the scandals that
rock its politics. And who else would benefit from the EU? It is Germany,
foremost and France, second. Questions have risen about the role of
Persia as a punisher of Israel for Persia was more a magnanimous
conqueror who freed the Hebrews out of Babylon and rebuilt the temple
and wall of Jerusalem. The only known persecution of the Jews of Iran
(present-day Persia) was after the Shah of Iran was deposed in 1980 and
the Jews fled to Chabad, Thailand to escape persecution. This escape
was through the ancient trade routes that were taken by Baghdadi Jews
through India and reached Southeast Asia. Iran, today is a nuclear power
and the Ayatollah Khomeini, his successor and the heads of states of Iran
that rose to power following the fall of the Shah of Iran have been
particularly bellicose towards Israel and the United States. This is is seen
as a hardening of its belligerent stand, in order that it may serve the

Lords wrath, but not at this time. That the case of Persia (present-day
Iran) is different may be owed to the four Achaemenes who freed the
Jews from Babylon to rebuild the temple and the wall. There is thus, a
danger in a Republican view of Iran which will become US foreign policy
under a Republican president. Flynt Everett and Hillary Mann Everett
while working as Senior Directors for Iran in the National Security Council
outlines former President George Bush, Jr.s diplomacy for Iran.
This
diplomacy, it is perceived, as most diplomacies are, were only meant for
Republicans to delay or clear the hostile lines of communication between
perceived enemies. From the point of view of the US, Iran is a threat to
Israel while Iran also espouses and supports Arab sympathies for the
Palestinians. In scriptures the word Persia, Persian, Persians, shows
how four Persian kings, the Achaemenes: Cyrus; Darius; Xerxes, who
made his queen the Jew, Esther (Book of Esther); and Artaxerxes were
called by the Lord to rebuild the temple and the wall in Jerusalem.
Persia only appeared as an enemy in Ezekiel 38:5 as one of nations with
Gog and Magog. In the context of Gog and Magog in Revelation 20:8,
it states that it will occur only after the Millennium when Satan is released
for a short time. That is undoubtedly a long way into the future of some
300 more years based on the prophet Daniels 2300 years from the last
destruction of the temple (70 AD) to its rebuilding. The fact is, that if the
US does not heed this and hastily crosses the Euphrates river
(Armageddon; Revelation 16:12) before this appointed time, the other
Muslims in the Greater Middle East area will be roused and erode what
little sympathy this nations may have for the US today in favor of their
Muslim brothers. History has shown that western democracy is a hard pill
to swallow, even in the most oppressed of Arab states; the administration
of sharia law being preferred. The major prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Daniel and Ezekiel are unequivocal about the nations that have so far
gone to war against Israel and the US, and were destroyed. However,
Persia is never mentioned at this early time save in the context of Gog
and Magog found in Ezekiel and Revelation.
To decide to go to war
against Iran, the Republicans aim to appease the military-defense
industrial complex and the super-capitalists behind it who desire to test in
actual warfare the weapons and weapons systems it manufactures. They
also serve to justify and protect the employment of the best of Americas
minds whom the state is most mindful of and in fear of their use by
companies and states that espouse a different ideology or faith. They are
also the largest source of funds for the campaign kitty during an election.
However, justifying the maintenance of a large and bloated overseas
armed forces severely drains and dislocates the US economy particularly
during a major engagement. This is what the Democrats are against.
This is what the Far Eastern allies of the US is worried as its presence
becomes insignificant to counter Chinas expansionist design in the
Southeast, paricularly in the light of its most recent island reclamations in
the Spratly Islands and the Paracels. Furthermore, an early escalation of
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the wars towards Armageddon only serves to affirm the waning good
image of America which is perceived to be behind the conflicts which
destabilizes sovereign countries that are against it. Friendly countries
also suffer by Americas support of puppets that are tyrants of its people.
Not only that, the conflicts in the Middle East often bring an imbalance in
trade due to the rise in costs of goods traversing conflict areas as well as
the destruction of vital supplies, such as oil. The cost-benefit of going to
war against Iran on the basis of the staggering costs of two Persian Gulf
wars and the war against Afghanistan is a red line that the US must not
cross.
The Reformation. The exodus out of the Roman Catholic church
grip on the peoples of Europe that was the Protestant Reformation (1517
1648) was a European Christian reform movement that established
Protestantism. In October 31, 1517 the Augustinian friar Martin Luther
who was also a professor at the University of Wittenberg in Saxony
published his The Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of
Indulgences
criticizing the Roman Catholic church and the pope by
posting it on the door of the All Saints Church where it served as the
universitys notice board. Martin Luther called for a reopening of the
debate on the sale of indulgences sparking a new wave of discontent
which had been pushed underground but not resolved. The invention of
the printing press resulted in the swift movement of both ideas and
documents, including The Ninety-Five Theses, widely disseminating it in
manuscript form, as well as by cheap prints and woodcuts amongst the
poorer sections of society. The theses concentrated upon the selling of
indulgences and doctrinal policies about purgatory, particular judgment,
Mariology (devotion to Mary), the intercession of and devotion to the
saints, most of the sacraments, the mandatory clerical celibacy, including
monasticism, and the authority of the Pope. Other religious reformers,
such as Ulrich Zwingli, soon followed Martin Luthers example. His
spiritual predecessors included John Wycliffe and John Hus, who likewise
had attempted to reform the Catholic Church. Earlier in 1510, while
visiting Rome, Martin Luther was shocked by the corruption of the clergy
and of Pope Sixtus IVs (14711484) imposition of a license on brothels, a
special tax on priests who kept a mistress and the practice of selling
indulgences for the dead, as a source of revenue. The most controversial
of the Renaissance popes, Pope Alexander VI (14921503) fathered seven
children including Lucrezia and Cesare Borgia by at least two mistresses.
272

Chapter 3 The Appointed Time of the End

The second part of Daniels vision opens and continues by giving

the identities of the two-horned ram and the rough goat (NIV:

shaggy) as two rival kingdoms of Media-Persia (Dan 8:3; 8:20) and

Greece (Dan 8:5; 8:21). After the latter (Greece) of the two kingdoms
reigns will rise four horns (Dan 8:8; 8:21-22) ). Out of these four horns,
the fourth one - Holy Roman empire, in a latter reign that is a failed
attempt to revive it, the Third Reich gives rise to a king who will destroy
the mighty men and the holy people. This part of the second vision cannot
be limited as most interpretations are prone to. This part, very brief as it
is, concerns the time of wrath or Gods indignation as the punishment of
Israel is referred to; the end of this wrath, her gathering, her restoration,
then the appointed time of the end.
1

The Second Vision Continued:

The vision of Daniel continues, thus:
{8:15} And it came to pass, when I, [even] I Daniel, had seen the vision, and
sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance
of a man. {8:16} And I heard a mans voice between [the banks of] Ulai, which
called, and said, Gabriel, make this [man] to understand the vision. {8:17} So
he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon
my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the
end [shall be] the vision. {8:18} Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a
deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me
upright. {8:19} And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the
last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end [shall be. ]{8:20}
The ram which thou sawest having [two] horns [are] the kings of Media and
Persia. {8:21} And the rough goat [is] the king of Grecia: and the great horn
that [is] between his eyes [is] the first king. {8:22} Now that being broken,
whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation,
but not in his power. {8:23} And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the
transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and
understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. {8:24} And his power shall be
mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall
prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. {8:25}
And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he
shall magnify [himself] in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall
also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without
hand. {8:26} And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told [is]
true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it [shall be] for many days. {8:27}
And I Daniel fainted, and was sick [certain] days; afterward I rose up, and did
the kings business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood
[it]. (Dan 8:15-27 AV underscoring mine)

The angel Gabriel explains the vision to be concerning the time

appointed that the end [shall be]. As the narrative by the angel Gabriel
of the vision referred to kingdoms succeeding kingdoms, and kingdoms
within kingdoms and a revival thereof, the time spanned by the vision
cannot possibly be limited to a single period fulfilling the prophecy but to

another future period which shall again fulfill the next following set of
verses with new modifications or detail of the previous verse. So that,
here, the angel Gabriel in speaking of the appointed time of the end
(NIV) is also referring to the end of Israels punishment, its restoration and
ultimately, as the purpose of G-d nears its end and the world comes to
know of the one true G-d as the G-d of Israel - the end of this world. One
will hardly miss the historicity found in the verses in Daniel 8:15-27.
Through its entirety, its meaning may be inferred deductively while the
events may be inductively verified from each verse and their theological
significance hermeneutically appreciated.
While I have no longer
exhaustively gone to discuss hermeneutics nor the hermeneutics of the
verse(s), for the sake of right guidance and information, let it be noted
that I have made full use of the historical-grammatical principle in
hermeneutics which is based on historical, socio-political, geographical,
cultural and the linguistic/grammatical context of the verse(s). The other
principle in hermeneutics applied here is the repetition principle.
The indignation. The phrase the indignation is the period
which best sums up the time when as a result of Israels rebellion
(disobedience to G-d) she was punished and the wrath of G-d was upon
her. After the reigns of the kings David (1002-962 BC) and his son,
Solomon (972-922 BC), the Hebrews declined into moral deterioration,
worshiping gods other than the G-d of their fathers. As a consequence of
Davids covetousness, his eldest son, Amnon, who held the birthright, was
killed after leading a failed rebellion. Solomon, his son by Bathsheba, the
woman he coveted, inherited the kingdom. The consequence for
Solomons compromise with the gods of his wives was the division of the
kingdom into the northern kingdom of Israel consisting of the inheritance
of the ten tribes and the southern kingdom, consisting of the inheritance
of the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Only eight out of twenty kings
from Judah, as the southern kingdom would be called, rose walking in the
ways of G-d; the others rejected the covenant with G-d. In the northern
kingdom of Israel, all of twenty kings did evil in the eyes of the Lord. As
their punishment, G-d allowed and used the king of Assyria to take the
northern kingdom of Israel into captivity and her people became slaves of
the Assyrians who settled them in other parts of the kingdom while
bringing colonists from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim
to settle them in Samaria. The time of wrath began from the time of the
northern kingdom of Israels destruction in the hands of the Assyrians in
721 BC as prophesied by the prophet Isaiah and the people carried off to
Assyria (Isa 7:14-25; 8:4, 6-10; 10:5-11).
At the same time this
punishment is carried out, Isaiah already prophesies of the Messiah, who
will redeem them; and of this punishment it is a punishment for all the
nations as well.
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Thus of the northern kingdom of Israel, the prophet Isaiah spoke:

{7:14} Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin
shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. {7:15}
Butter and honey shall heeat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose
the good. {7:16} For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose
the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.
{7:17} The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy
fathers house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed
from Judah; [even] the king of Assyria. (Isa 7:14-17 AV)
{8:4} For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my
mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away
before the king of Assyria. (Isa 8:4 AV)
{8:6}Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah [...], and rejoice
in Rezin and Remaliahs son; {8:7}Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth
up upon them [] the king of Assyria, [...]: {8:8} And he shall pass through
Judah; [], he shall reach [even] to the neck; and the stretching out of his
wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel. {8:9} Associate
yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of
far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. {8:10} Take
counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not
stand: for God [is] with us. ( Isa 8:6-10 AV)
{10:5} O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine
indignation. {10:6} I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against
the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take
the prey, and to tread them down like [...]. {10:7} Howbeit he meaneth not so,
[]; but [it is] in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few. {10:8} [...]
{10:9} [...] {10:10} As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and
whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria; {10:11}
Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and
her idols?( Isa 10:5-11 AV)

Read how the Lord so loved his chosen ones, for like a parent who is
about to punish a child, the Lord warns, provides and shows the way out
of the punishment, and even as he is punishing, he yearns for his people
to repent and turn from their wicked ways and he will relent. He says woe
to the Assyrians, the misfortune of being chosen to punish Israel, for she
will receive a greater punishment when the task is over. He fairly warns
the others not chosen (distant lands) that a greater punishment awaits
them for if He loved Israel enough to punish her for her sins and the
instruments of her punishments who were all born in Zion (Psalm 87),
what greater punishment awaits those who were complacent, neither
loved nor used but sinned against the Lord (Isa 59:18).
Of Judahs exile in captivity to Babylon (Diaspora) as foretold by the
prophets Isaiah (Isa 39:1-7) and Jeremiah (Jer 21:1-14; 25:8-16) an
account can be found in 2 Kings 17:18-23, beginning their exile in 606 BC

as prophesied:
{39:1} At that time Merodach-baladan, [], king of Babylon, sent letters and a
present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, [...]. {39:2} And
Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them the house of his precious things,
[...]: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah
shewed them not. {39:3} Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah,
and said unto him, []. {39:4} [...] What have they seen in thine house? And
Hezekiah answered, All that [is] in mine house have they seen: there is
nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them. {39:5} Then said
Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of hosts: {39:6} Behold, the
days come, that all that [is] in thine house, and [that] which thy fathers have
laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left,
saith the LORD. {39:7} And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou
shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of
the king of Babylon. (Isa 39:1-7 AV)
{21:1} The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when king
Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur [], and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the
priest, saying, {21:2} Enquire, [], of the LORD for us; for Nebuchadrezzar
king of Babylon maketh war against us; []. {21:3} Then said Jeremiah unto
them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah: {21:4} Thus saith the LORD [];
Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that [are] in your hands,
wherewith ye fight [against] the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans,
[]. {21:5} And I myself will fight against you [] in fury, and in great wrath.
{21:6} [...], both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence. {21:7} And
afterward,[...], I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the
people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword,
and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, [...],
and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them []; he
shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy. {21:8} And unto this
people thou shalt say, [...]; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way
of death. {21:9} He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the
famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the
Chaldeans [...], he shall live, []. ( Jer 21:1-9 AV)
{25:8} Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; [...], {25:9} Behold, I will
send [] Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring
them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all
these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, [...], and an hissing,
and perpetual desolations. {25:10} Moreover I will take from them the voice of
mirth, [...], the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. {25:11}
[...]; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. {25:12}
[], when seventy years are accomplished, [that] I will punish the king of
Babylon, and that nation, [], for their iniquity, and the land of the
Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations. {25:13} And I will bring
upon that land all my words whichI have pronounced against it, [even] [...],
which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations. {25:14} [...]. {25:15}
For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury
at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it. {25:16}

And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I
will send among them. (Jer 25:8-16 AV)
{17:18} Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them
out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only. {17:19} Also
Judah kept not the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the
statutes of Israel which they made. {17:20} And the LORD rejected all the seed
of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until
he had cast them out of his sight. {17:21} For he rent Israel from the house of
David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drave
Israel from following the LORD, and made them sin a great sin. {17:22} For
the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they
departed not from them; {17:23} Until the LORD removed Israel out of his
sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried
away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day. (2 Kings 17:18-23 AV)

The following verses below from Ezekiel 4:4-6 below gives us the
exact duration of their punishment when G-ds wrath is upon the
kingdoms of Israel and Judah. 390 days of years from the time the whole
of Israel was carried off by Shalmanesser, king of Assyria to Halah, in
Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes in 721 BC (2
Kings 17:6) and 40 days of years from the time Nebuchadnezzar first
carried off the people of Judah to Babylon in 606 BC until in 586 BC after
the last of them were finally brought to Babylon.
{4:4} Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of
Israel upon it: [according] to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it
thou shalt bear their iniquity. {4:5} For I have laid upon thee the years of their
iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days:
so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. {4:6} And when thou hast
accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity
of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.
(Ezek 4:4-6 AV)

An account of the exact beginning of this punishment for the

northern kingdom of Israel is found in 2 Kings 17:1-6. Hoshea was the last
king of Israel before all of the kingdom of Israel was carried off by the
Assyrians.
275

{17:1} In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah
to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years. {17:2} And he did [that which was]
evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel that were before
him. {17:3} Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea
became his servant, and gave him presents. {17:4} And the king of Assyria
found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt,
and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as [he had done] year by year:
therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison. {17:5}
Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to
Samaria, and besieged it three years. {17:6} In the ninth year of Hoshea the

king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed
them in Halah and in Habor [by] the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the
Medes. (2 Kings 17:1-6 AV)

An account of the exact beginning of the captivitiy as punishment

of the southern kingdom of Judah is found in 2 Chron 36:11-21. Zedekiah
was Judahs last king before all of Judah was carried off to Babylon by
Nebuchadnezzar.
{36:11} Zedekiah [was] one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and
reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. {36:12} And he did [that which was] evil in
the sight of the LORD his God, [and] humbled not himself before Jeremiah
the prophet [speaking] from the mouth of the LORD. {36:13} And he also
rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, []: and hardened his heart from
turning unto the LORD God of Israel. {36:14} Moreover all the chief of the
priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of
the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD []. {36:15} And the LORD
God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, ;...]; because he had
compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: {36:16} But they mocked
the messengers of God, and despised his words, [], until the wrath of the
LORD arose against his people, till [there was] no remedy. {36:17} Therefore
he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men
with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon
young man or maiden, old man, [..]: he gave [them] all into his hand. {36:18}
And all the vessels [...], great and small, and the treasures of the house of the
LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; [...] he brought to
Babylon. {36:19} And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of
Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the
goodly vessels thereof. {36:20} And them that had escaped from the sword
carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons
until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: {36:21} To fulfil the word of the
LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths:
[for] as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten
years.(2 Chron 36:11-21 AV)

The respective years when all of Israel and the year when all of
Judah were taken into captivity and uprooted from their respective lands,
were the years that began their punishment and serve the wrath of G-d.
The beginning and lengths of their punishments are different and
understood to be G-ds just and fair hand. The history of their kings who
did right in the eyes of the Lord differed too from those who did evil in the
eyes of the Lord. No king of Israel did right in the eyes of the Lord, while
Judah had eight kings who did right in the eyes of the Lord. Furthermore,
the Lord was also constrained from cutting off the line of David when only
an heir remained because of His promise that David may have a light
always before him in Jerusalem. During the reigns of the twenty kings of
the northern kingdom of Israel from Jeroboam to Hoshea, there was not a
king who struggled to walk in the ways of the Lord. During the same
period, there were eight kings of Judah out of twenty who walked in the

ways of the Lord, fulfilling the promise of the Lord to David and his house.
They were Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joash, Amaziah, Uzziah, Jotham, Hezekiah,
and Josiah.
276

{11:36} And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may
have a light always before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to
put my name there. (1 Kings 11:36 AV)

In 2 Kings 8:19 and 2 Chron 21:7 may also be found the same
promise. There were also kings who did right in the eyes of the Lord,
though not wholeheartedly; those who did evil but turned from their evil
ways after repenting; as well as those who did right but turned away in
the end. All these accounted for, the number of years of their punishment
until their gathering home and restoration also changed as the Lord is
merciful and just.
Moreover, the ordinance set forth in the Book of Leviticus is deemed
to be applied to this punishment accordingly. According to the Levitical
ordinance set in Leviticus 26:27-35 it would be multiplied seven times
over; and of the four ordinances which sets the punishment seven times
over, this is the one which carries the most severe penalty to be
uprooted by the sword from their homeland and scattered among the
nations; their homeland laid waste and desolate including the sanctuary.
The four ordinances are found in Leviticus 26:18-20, 21-22, 23-26, 27-35.
Multiplied seven times the total number of years for Israels punishment is
2730 years and because it began in 721 BC, the year all her people are
uprooted from the land, then it ends in 2009 AD. In the case of Judah, her
total number of years of punishment is 280 and because it began in 586
BC, the year all her people were uprooted from the land, it ended in 306
BC. However, in the case of Judah, a more specific penalty is prescribed
which is the seventy year exile spoken of by Jeremiah (Jer 25:1-11; 29:10)
in Babylon where the captives from the kingdom of Judah were brought;
the Diaspora or Babylonian exile began in 606 BC and ended in 536 BC. It
is an exile, not punishment (the time when the wrath of G-d was upon
them). 606 BC is the year when the first captives of Judah were taken to
Babylon. In the case of Judah, whose lamp will never be extinguished on
account of David, her punishment was deemed repealed by the
Babylonian captivity that Jeremiah prophesied. In contrast to Israels
taken into captivity by the Assyrians, which is a punishment, Judahs exile
was to save her people as the land is made desolate, to be the remnant
that is to return first at an earlier date. The remnant of Judah that
returned from Babylon was accounted for and their account could be
found in Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7. So the year of reckoning for this exile is
the year 606 BC when Judah was first taken captive to Babylon as
prophesied by Jeremiah.

Understand that intervening events have given occasion to

righteous kings, prophets, and priests who mitigated the wrath of G-d.
Severe punishments have been meted by the Lord on the people of Israel
by cutting them off from their tribe (e.g. King Jeroboam of the kingdom of
Israel). So when you are no longer to share in the inheritance of Israel,
you and your heirs will be cut off (your family line terminated by the
absence of an heir) and your share given to others. When the Lord has
pronounced a curse on a person, the curse may be stayed or minimized. A
sin always carries a corresponding punishment which will certainly be
carried out. When the Lord forgives as when a wayward king repents and
humbles himself, e.g. dons sackcloth, throws ashes upon himself and
fasts, the Lord will forgive him by staying his wrath in the sinners time
but carry it out in the time of the sinners son as happened to king Ahab
of the kingdom of Israel. This was the case of Hezekiah, king of Judah,
who humbly destroyed the heathen altars of his father and had the
Levites consecrated to set an offering before the Lord, who destroyed the
Assyrian army set to besiege Judah, with a plague. For this reason
individuals and clans, whose sins were mitigated by the deeds of their
forefathers before them, who did right in the eyes of the Lord, have long
been able to come home after the seventy year exile in Babylon. In the
case of Judah, the Lords wrath is frequently stayed and he will raise up a
man who will rise walking in the ways of the Lord. In the case of the
northern kingdom of Israel where most of the kings rejected the covenant,
the full force of the wrath of G-d was meted on it. In the year 2009 she
completely served the wrath of God. There is no longer an account of the
northern kingdom which returned from the places the Assyrians scattered
them. They would be referred to as the lost tribes of Israel. In contrast,
the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah accounted for the exiles from Babylon
who came back to rebuild the temple and the walls of Jerusalem. These
exiles from the southern kingdom of Judah included the tribe of Benjamin.
Earlier on, it would have been a less difficult task to do as required
under Leviticus 26:40-45, to wit:
{26:40} If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers,
with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have
walked contrary unto me; {26:41} And [that] I also have walked contrary unto
them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their
uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of
their iniquity: {26:42} Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also
my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember;
and I will remember the land. {26:43} The land also shall be left of them, and
shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall
accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised
my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes. {26:44} And yet
for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them
away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my

covenant with them: for I [am] the LORD their God. {26:45} But I will for
their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth
out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God:
I [am] the LORD. (Lev 26:40-45 AV)

Or the Lord could have relented, if they repented or turned away

from their evil practices, to wit:
{18:6} O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD.
Behold, as the clay [is] in the potters hand, so [are] ye in mine hand, O house
of Israel. {18:7} [At what] instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and
concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy [it; ]
{18:8} If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I
will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. {18:9} And [at what]
instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build
and to plant [it; ]{18:10} If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then
I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. (Jer 18:6-10
AV)
{25:5} They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from
the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given unto
you and to your fathers for ever and ever: (Jer 25:5 AV)

Thus, those who knew their salvation from the prophets of their
time: Ezra, Nehemiah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and Haggai and
followed them, were among those who came home to rebuild the temple
and the walls of Jerusalem. Though many returned after seventy years to
rebuild it, many more were not able to. Many Jews preferred to stay
outside of Israel for several reasons then obtaining, such as Israels
occupation by successive conquerors far stronger than the exiles. Many
among the exiles had totally rejected the covenant and though they kept
the Jewish traditions, were not really keen on coming home, save for the
few elect, who were compelled to seek the Lord by coming home. No
matter, it was no longer a simple task to come home to Israel after so
many hundreds of years have passed.
Seventy weeks. Several writers have written about the seventy
weeks or seventy sevens found in Daniel 9:24-27 and interpretations
abound. A study in its exegesis alone will be interesting and may itself
become a specific study on the matter. However, suffice it to say, in this
case, that most of them point at the accuracy of the prophecy of the
coming of Jesus Christ by Daniel. This makes it the most disputed
prophecy. Christians are prejudiced towards bending the facts towards
making Jesus the Jews messiah. Rabbinic and other Orthodox Jews, on
the other hand, towards another messiah other than Jesus. There are
several points to be hurdled but are better understood that the vision as

with most visions are sealed. For this reason, the meaning may not be
directly understood, nor will a purely secular approach help.
{9:24} Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city,
to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make
reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to
seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. {9:25} Know
therefore and understand, [that] from the going forth of the commandment to
restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince [shall be] seven
weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the
wall, even in troublous times. {9:26} And after threescore and two weeks shall
Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall
come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof [shall be]
with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. {9:27}
And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst
of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the
overspreading of abominations he shall make [it] desolate, even until the
consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. (Dan
9:24-27 AV)

The Book of Daniel accepted by both Jews and Christians gives us the
approximate date of the coming of the Messiah as prophesied to be four
hundred ninety years from issuance of the decree to rebuild the temple
and Jerusalem. In this exegesis, these are the only two points of reference
that will exactly bring us to the exact figure of 490 (seventy weeks times
seven days per week). Exact to the year from the decree of Artaxerxes
Longimanus in 457 BC confirming Cyrus earlier decree in 536 BC and
affirmed by his sons Darius and Xerxes.
Four hundred ninety years
from said year ends is 33 AD, the year of Jesus death.
His death
marks the covenant spoken of in Isaiah 42:1-6; 49:1-8 as covenants are
sealed by blood (Ex 24:8; Matt 26:28; Heb 9). Daniel 9:24 commands the
Jews to prepare themselves to anoint the most holy and after his death,
Jesus disciples anoint his body at his burial (Mark 16:1; Luke 23:55). It is
the decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus in 457 BC that the prophecys
beginning is referenced and not the first decree by Cyrus. This made it
difficult to be certain that Jesus was the Messiah. Neither was it through
Jesus birth but through his death. Both references were and still are
disputable, sealing them, protecting Jesus by casting doubt on his true
identity, giving him enough time to accomplish his mission. Not even the
Romans wanted him to die.
277

278

279

280

Of this seventy weeks of Daniel, Fausset has this to say:

281

282

th
The 70 one week, the period of New Testament revelation in Messiah,
consummates the preceding ones, as the Sabbath succeeds and crowns the work
days. The Messianic time (seven years) is the Sabbath of Israels history, in
which it had the offer of all Gods mercies, but was cut off temporarily for
rejecting them. The seven weeks or sevens in the beginning, i.e. 49 years, answer
to the period closing Old Testament revelation, namely, that of Ezra, Nehemiah,
and Malachi. The 62 are the intermediate period of 434 years between the seven
and the one, and in them was no revelation; in all 490 years. The closing one
week (or seven years) includes the 3 1/2, years of Jesus own preaching to the
Jews, and 3 1/2 of the apostles preaching to the Jews only; then the persecution
as to Stephen drove the evangelists from Jerusalem to Samaria. 283

I reserve another opinion to Faussets interpretation of the last or

70th week based on the arguments I have presented earlier. Jesus death
at 33 is also believed to be referred to in the apocalyptic scriptures found
in Matthew 24:15-25 cf: Mark 13:14-23 concerning the days that are cut
short.
The Lords indignation or wrath for the Jews of the kingdom of Israel,
it is believed, did not end with Jesus; and the fullness of the Gentiles did
not come until 1330 AD. Nevertheless, some 200 years later came the
Reformation and a trickle of homecoming Jews were helped by
Protestants all over the world who facilitated the remnants homecoming,
as prophesied by Isaiah. For the shepherd David referred to Jesus Christ
and each Christian became a shepherd of Israel. It was Christians who
understood the new covenant which included the task Christian
believers were burdened with to help in the restoration of Israel. Jesus
brought attention to the Jews plight and generated sympathy for them
though their rebellion continued aggravated by their unbelief in Him as
their Messiah (still a great challenge for todays Christian preachers). The
Muslims, on the one hand, with their belief in Jesus (Isa) as the harbinger
of the new covenant (Gospel), confirmed by the Quran, was also moved
to tolerate and accommodate the Jews of the Diaspora including the elect
(Christians both Jewish and Gentile) until their own Muslim brothers
(Palestinian) diaspora. Thus, we find in the Quran:
3. It is He Who sent down to thee (step by step), in truth, the Book,
confirming what went before it; and He sent down the Law (of Moses) and the
Gospel(of Jesus) before this, as a guide to mankind, and He sent down the
criterion (of judgment between right and wrong). (Sura 3:3 Quran)284

To be able to come home was another thing. It was imperative for

the Jews to come home, to fulfill the terms of the covenant. Their
punishments however, have reduced them to slaves without means to
transport their family home, much less the means to reclaim their land by
force from those who were settled there by the Assyrians, Babylonians,

and succeeding invaders. So many stayed in the places of their exile. It

would take two thousand years more before they could come home and
very likely, for those generations that had long been in exile and had
rejected the covenant, no longer yearned to come home. This however,
had taken 1,912 years since Jesus death in 33 AD and only after Hitler
murdered 6 million of their number was it hastened. Conquered, subdued,
enslaved, persecuted, ridiculed, humiliated, discriminated, massacred in
pogrom after pogrom, and forced to live in ghettos wearing the
distinguishing arm bands and hats were what the Jews faced in the places
of their exile. His country given to its conquerors and her people uprooted
and scattered out of it. The plight of the Jews of Europe gained notoriety
once again in the Dreyfuss Affair, but it would not be until after the
Balfour Declaration of 1917 by Great Britain and the Biltmore Conference
in 1942 would the Jews hope of a homecoming be realized. However, he
could not be completely restored until the time of wrath expires and all
the remnants are free to come home. Moreover, of Jerusalem and the
temple, Daniel prophesied that and unto the end of the war desolations
are determined (Dan 9:26). Looking at the history of Jerusalem and the
temple, in recent years in particular, one cannot miss and wonder at this
desolation. Now, we call it the Middle East Conflict which until Republican
U.S. President George W. Bush Sr.s Road Map to Peace first outlined in a
speech on June 24, 2002 partitioning Israel from the West Bank and Gaza,
exposed the heart of Israel to the threat of a jihad by suicide bombing.
But this had not been an easy task and too often brought the whole world
at the brink of chaos as the US and the Soviet Union with their allies faced
off each other. In the future, these wars to protect Israel will bring the US
and her allies close to bankruptcy as it almost did after the First and
Second Persian Gulf wars against Saddam Hussein and the war against
Afghanistans Taliban and Osama bin Ladens al-Qaeda which wars
plunged the United States into a recession dragging the world with it.
Moreover, during the term of Barak Hussein Obama, a Democrat, who
became president of the United States of America in January 20, 2009
after winning the November 2008 elections, Israel was chastised by the
president over Americas expenses at shouldering the cost of the wars
and the project. Furthermore, the year beginning the term of Barak
Hussein Obama in 2009, after a dismayed American public over two
successive Republican presidents and two Persian Gulf wars, could be a
harbinger of events that will move Israel to make an announcement of its
policy towards Messianic Judaism. The reason, it is theorized is that the
United States will turn its hat to help Muslims as it did during US President
Bill Clintons (Democrat) administration. It did when it waged war against
the genocidal Roman Catholic Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina. President
Barak Hussein Obama will likewise look in this direction; at least at some
of Israels indifference to international human rights laws. More so
because of President Obamas background as the son of a Muslim father.
Protestants, which make up most of the United States of America are very

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much aware of this situation and may lobby to put pressure on Israel. As
in fact, a few insignificant but alarming news of Jews attacked for no
apparent reason in the US and Europe were reported. To the Jews, is the
admonition found in Jeremiah 21:12 and 22:3, to wit:
O house of David, this is what the Lord says: Administer justice every
morning; rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed,
or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done
- burn with no one to quench it. (Jer 21:12 AV)
This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand
of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the
alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this
place. (Jer 22:3 AV)

In 2010, Iran after possessing the capability to produce nuclear

warheads, issued veiled threats to use them on Israel. The probability that
nuclear warheads may be used on Israel and the United States has
increased with the entry of Iran and North Korea, in the heels of Pakistan.
Russias loosening of its hold on the erstwhile Soviet satellites that have
become democracies, it is believed, has also increased the probability
many times over. The propensity of Muslim countries to be sympathetic to
other Muslims should caution both Jews and Christians of the true role of
Ishmael in the whole of G-ds plan for redemption. Christians aid to Israel
have been substantial since 1948, yet many Jews, up to this writing have
yet to recognize Jesus Christ as the Messiah, not Bar Kochba. It is not
likely that Orthodox Judaism will acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah. From
them will also come the people who will rebuild the temple, to set up the
abomination that maketh desolate.
Morton Berman on the subject of Judaism wrote quoting traditional
opposition of Rabbinic Jews from Moses Maimonides on the subject of
Jesus Christ as Messiah, to wit:
Judaisms attitude to Jesus, the founder of Christianity, was long ago (c. 1200)
summed up by Moses Maimonides in the tribute he paid to the Nazarene, who
prepared the way for the Messianic King. However, Judaisms rejection of
Christianity is based not only upon its rejection of Jesus as the Messiah, but upon
its inability to accept the Pauline elements introduced into Jesus teaching. These
elements are listed by Milton Steinberg in his work Basic Judaism as follows: The
insistence that the flesh is evil and to be suppressed; the notion of original sin and
damnation from before birth of all human beings; the conception of Jesus not as a
man but as G-d made flesh; the conviction that men can be saved vicariously, that
indeed this is the only way in which they can be saved; the abrogation of the
authority of Scripture and the Traditions and the nullification of the
commandments of the Torah; the faith that Jesus, having been resurrected from the
dead, bides his time in Heaven until the hour is come for him to return to judge
mankind and establish G-ds Kingdom; the final and climactic doctrine that he who

earnestly believes these things is automatically saved, but that he who denies them,
no matter how virtuous otherwise, is lost.286

Moses Maimonides (1135-1208), probably the most influential of all

rabbis, wrote his tribute in 1200 AD, before the Reformation and before
the fullness of the Gentiles (1330 AD) was fulfilled. The issues he had
raised against Christianity are no longer valid against Protestant
Christians whose doctrines were not as clearly defined as they would
become today, much less in the years immediately following 1330 AD.
His arguments were also mainly addressed to the Roman Catholic church
theology, and not to Protestants who at this time had nothing compared
to the Roman Catholic church by way of doctrine saved those which it was
opposed to. Even though Protestants and Jews shared the same plight in
their persecution by Roman Catholics, the Jews interpretation of the
Messiah and the reason for their rejection of Jesus, is in that: the Messiah
who will come from the line of David will be as mighty and kingly in
short, a warrior-king.
The Maccabees or Bar Kochba, or perhaps the
Zealots and Sicariis were more descriptive of the Jews interpretation of
the Messiah, than Jesus. Among the Jewish rebels who ran aground of the
Roman authorities of this time, Bar Kochba also answers closest to the
time prophesied of by Daniel 9:24-27, but nowhere as exact as Jesus year
of death. Simon Bar Kochba (d. 135 AD), was the leader of the second
Jewish rebellion against Rome in 132-35 AD and the rabbi Akiba Ben
Joseph, who supported him, saw in him the Son of the Star (Bar
Kochba). The rebels fought the Romans as guerrillas. Emperor Hadrian
summoned Severus from Britain to destroy Bar Kochba including fifty
fortresses and a thousand villages as a result. Jerusalem was renamed
Aelia Capitolina (Hadrians name was Aelius); and a temple to Jupiter was
built on the ruins of Solomons Temple. Bar Kochba died in battle. As a
result of this rebellion, Jews were forbidden from Jerusalem and would not
be able to return until 231 AD.
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After the death of Herod the Great in 4 BC and the incorporation of

Judea into the Roman Empire, nationalist resistance movement, like the
Zealots, have hailed various leaders as the Messiah, the last being Bar
Kochba during the revolt of 132-35 AD. So the question is, was anyone
of these messiahs , of consequence as prophesied? Was he the banner
raised to rally the Jews home to Israel and rally the support of the mighty
Christian nations led by America and Great Britain? Did all the prophecies
concerning Jewish fate after the Messiahs coming happen to Israel as a
consequence of Bar Kochbas revolt? Were all the Gentiles, particularly
the nations made up of Protestants and led by Protestants, who were
moved to help Israels homecoming, restitution and restoration, a result of
Bar Kochbas revolt? Isaiah speaks of the Messiah, the Holy One, the root
of Jesse and branch of David, who will be raised as a banner to gather the
exiles from the four corners of the world back to their homeland (Isa 11:1288

6). Not till after the Second World War however, finds the remnants of
the Jews appallingly scattered and shattered and history has shown that
on their own, they would never be able to come home to reconstitute
Israel as their homeland. Before that, the ghettos in the four corners of
the world found itself home to the homeless Jews. Only in the recent
century has it occurred to mankind, in the aftermath of the Holocaust of
Hitler which saw the murder of six million Jews and the pogroms of Stalin
of an undisclosed number of Jews of the twenty million he had murdered
during his administration, the great tragedy that had befallen the Jews, a
people chosen by G-d and even called by his name. Many Jews, in the
aftermath of the Inquisition, pogroms and the Holocaust dreamed of
returning to their homeland, Israel. To date, Israel continues to accept
Jewish immigrants from abroad. It is now undisputable that the Jews have
come home and reclaimed Canaan since the first Arab-Israeli war in 194849. In the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel was within reach of Cairo and
Damascus save for US objection, but took full control of the West Bank
including the entire Jerusalem. The 1973 Yom Kippur War and 1982 Bekaa
Valley intrusion only served to affirm Israels control over its inheritance.
Since May 14, 1948, the Jews have been in Israel for sixty one years and
the events which transpired since then have been nothing less than
awesome. Some of the most wonderful prophecies of the lifting of G-ds
wrath and of the outpouring of blessings for Israel continue and will be so
until the end of time that Daniel spoke of. In fact, it continues to amaze
the whole world how a tiny nation like Israel is very much like David who
defeats the Goliath that is all the Arab nations around it.
The Western Diaspora. Following the destruction of the Temple,
Rome governed Judea through a Procurator at Caesarea and a Jewish
Patriarch. Yohanan ben Zakkai, a leading Pharisee, was appointed the
first Patriarch (Hebrew: Nasi meaning prince or president) who reestablished the Sanhedrin at Javneh under Pharisee control. Around the
first century AD, foremost among the several Jewish sects were the
Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, Essenes, and Christians.
After the
destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, these sects vanished, leaving
the early Christians and the Pharisees. The latter, Pharisaic Judaism today
exists in the form of Rabbinic Judaism while the Sadducees, who rejected
the divine inspiration of the Prophets (Neviim) and the Writings (Ketuviim)
and relied only on the Torah, became extinct. Samaritans who practiced
a similar religion and is traditionally considered separate from Judaism,
also survived. The Ebionites or Nazarenes was a sect of early Christians
who accepted Jesus as the Messiah, accepted the Gospel of Matthew but
rejected the Epistles of St. Paul and continued to follow Jewish law and
celebrate Jewish holidays; they were later declared heretic by the Roman
Catholic church. In 132 when the Emperor Hadrian rebuilt Jerusalem as a
pagan city dedicated to Jupiter calling it Aelia Capitolina, the Sanhedrin
rebelled led by the Rabbi Akiba, who declared Simon bar Kochba as the
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messiah, or king. Up to this time, a number of Christians were still part of

the Jewish community but did not support or take part in this revolt nor in
the First Jewish Revolt of 66-70 AD; reason for the rift between Jews and
Messianic Jews.
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Outside the Roman Empire, a large Jewish community remained in

Mesopotamia. Other Jewish populations could be found dispersed around
the Mediterranean region, with the largest concentrations in the Levant,
Egypt, Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy, including Rome itself. Smaller
communities existed in southern Gaul (France), Spain, and North Africa.
The expansion of the Roman Catholic church prejudiced the Jews who
were blamed for the persecution of Jesus and the early Christians. In
Europe, particularly in Rome and parts of Italy, Gaul, the Rhineland, Spain,
the Balkans and Asia Minor, Judaism enjoyed a short lived proliferation but
deteriorated as more adherents were won by the Roman Catholic church,
who viewed Jews with aversion and suspicion. An attitude that caused
anti-Jewish riots and destruction of synagogues followed by mass
conversions to Catholicism. This anti-Semitic attitude in Europe went on in
a vicious cycle for over two thousand years. The barbarian invaders which
overran the Roman empire in Europe adopted Roman Catholicism and in
seventh-century Spain, under the Visigoths, Judaism was forbidden and
Jews forcibly baptized. Dire economic conditions during the Dark Ages
gave exceptional opportunities for Radanite Jews in Southern France as
traders to India and China importing spices. After the Arab conquest of
Spain in the eight century Jews resettled there. By the tenth century they
played an important role in politics. Hasdai Ibn Shaprut (915-970 AD) was
a diplomat for the caliphate of Cordova. Samuel ibn Nagrela (993-1056
AD) was vizier at the Berber court in Grenada. His son and successor,
Joseph (d. 1066) however, created such resentment that he was
assassinated in a bloody riot and his followers expelled from the city. This
pattern of jealous and suspicious animosity that ended in riots followed
the Jews short-lived triumphs in the towns and cities of Europe.
Nevertheless, the proliferation of Jewish scholars and statesmen climaxed
in such figures as Judah ha-Levi (1075-1141 AD) and physicianphilosopher Moses Maimonides (1135-1204 AD). Spain remained an
important Jewish center even when Muslim control receded and the
peninsula came under Christian rule. In 1135 the Almohades, an Islamic
sect gained control of Andalusia and forbade the practice of Judaism.
Spanish Jewry hence was limited to Roman Catholic kingdoms. By the
11th century, there were Jewish settlements over northern and western
Europe. Large colonies developed in northeastern France and the
Rhineland where trade routes intersected. From this colony came the Jews
of England after the Norman conquest of 1066 and eastward throughout
Germany (excluding Scandinavia) during the wave of Teutonic expansion.
There was an small active colony in Italy which was uninterrupted at any
time. There were also colonies in the Balkans and the Byzantine empire,

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where Jews monopolized the tanning, dyeing, and silk-weaving industries.

Another wave of massacres of Jews began with the First Crusades in
1096. Caught by the religious ideas of Roman Catholics of the time, any
gatherings of Jews were often attacked. Accusations of ritual murder and
the sacrifice of Christian children during the Passover were often followed
by massacres that the Roman Catholic church, wary of the rise of heretical
movements, accused the Jews of instigating. It culminated in the Little St.
Hughs ritual murder of 1255 in England where eighteen Jews were
hanged. The Lateran Council of 1215 required the Jews to wear a
distinguishing badge - the star of David; and forbade them to have a
Roman Catholic in their service. After an unfair public disputation in
France in 1240 the Talmud was declared as blasphemous and burned. In
the late Middle Ages with international trade under the control of powerful
Italian merchants with a religious bias, the Jews were excluded. This, and
the prohibition to farm the land which was implemented religiously under
the feudal system forced them into money lending, a taboo. A small
number remained in metal working, tanning, dyeing and silk weaving, but
the niche in lending soon grew to a lucrative business and became a
monopoly. However, an attack on the Jews during preparations for the
Third Crusade came across records of this business, and its knowledge
prompted the state to organize in 1194 the English Exchequer of the Jews
to profit from these undertaking. The Jews were compelled to give their
profits to the government treasury. This resulted in another wave of
massacres; large scale destruction of their properties; expulsions from
Lombardy and Cahorsin, S. France; and their businesses totally taken
over. It resulted in entire expulsions from England (1290) and France
(1306, 1322, 1394) that culminated in the Black Death (1348 and 1350)
for which the Jews were again blamed, blotting Jewish population to an
insignificant remnant who took refuge in the fief of belligerent feudal lords
and those who found good use for their financial talents. A few large
communities survived in Frankfurt-on-Main or Worms which managed to
exist unbroken from the fifth century onwards.
Ashkenazi Jews. Ashkenazic or Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazim,
Yehudei Ashkenaz, are the Jews of Germany (Hebrew: Ashkenaz). Jews
from Western and Central Europe later came to be called Ashkenaz
because the main centers of Jewish learning were located in Germany.
Ashkenazi Jews are thought to have settled in the Rhine Valley during the
first millennium of the Common Era, then to have migrated into Eastern
Europe between the 11th and 15th centuries, although alternative
theories involving descent from Sorbs (Slavic speakers in Germany) and
Khazars have also been proposed.
Admixture with surrounding
populations had an early role in shaping world Jewry, but, during the past
2000 years, may have been limited by religious law as Judaism evolved
from a proselytizing to an inward-looking religion. Many Ashkenazims
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later migrated eastward forming communities in non-German-speaking

areas, including Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine, Eastern
Europe, and elsewhere between the 11th and 19th centuries. With them,
they took and diversified Yiddish, a basically Germanic language with
Hebrew influence. It had developed in medieval times as the lingua franca
among Ashkenazi Jews. The Jewish communities of three cities along the
Rhine, Speyer, Worms and Mainz created the SHUM league (SHUM after
the first Hebrew letters of Spira, Warmatia and Magentza). The SHUMcities are considered the cradle of the distinct Ashkenazi culture and
liturgy. Although in the 11th century they comprised only three percent of
the worlds Jewish population, Ashkenazi Jews accounted for (at their
peak) ninety-two percent of the worlds Jews in 1931 and today make up
approximately eighty percent of Jews worldwide. This is especially true in
the United States, where most of the 5.3 million American Jewish
population is Ashkenazi, representing the worlds single largest
concentration of Ashkenazims.
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Sephardim
Jews.
The
Sephardim
(Hebrew:
Sefarad
forSpain/Hispania or Iberia), denoting their Spanish and Portuguese
base, were the Jews of the Iberian peninsula`. Sephardi Jews, also known
as Sephardic Jews or simply Sephardim (Hebrew: ,
, Modern Hebrew:
Sfaraddi, Tiberian: Spp radd, lit. The Jews of Spain), are a Jewish ethnic
division whose ethnogenesis and emergence as a distinct community of
Jews coalesced in the Iberian Peninsula around the start of the 2nd
millennium (i.e., about the year 1000). They established communities
throughout Spain and Portugal, where they traditionally resided, evolving
what would become their distinctive characteristics and diasporic identity.
Historically, the vernacular languages of Sephardim and their
descendants have been: Judaeo-Spanish, sometimes called Ladino
Oriental and Haketia, also called Ladino Occidental.
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With the victory of Tariq ibn Ziyad in 711, the lives of the Sephardim
improved dramatically. Sharia laws restrictions on dhimmis (non-Muslim
members of monotheistic faiths) was by and large welcomed by the Jews
of Iberia. Both Muslim and Christian sources claim that Jews provided
valuable aid to the Muslim invaders. Once captured, the defense of
Cordoba was left in the hands of Jews, and Granada, Malaga, Seville, and
Toledo were left to a mixed army of Jews and Muslims. Although in some
towns Jews may have been helpful to Muslim success, they were of limited
impact overall. However it was frequently claimed by Christians in later
centuries that the fall of Iberia was due in large part to Jewish perfidy. In
spite of the restrictions placed upon the Jews as dhimmis, life under
Muslim rule was one of great opportunity and Jews flourished as they did
not under the Christian Visigoths. Many Jews came to Iberia, seen as a
land of tolerance and opportunity. Following initial Arab victories, and the
establishment of Umayyad rule by Abd al-Rahman I in 755, the native

Jewish community was joined by Jews from the rest of Europe, and Arab
lands from Morocco to Babylon. Jewish communities were enriched
culturally, intellectually, and religiously by the co-mingling of these
diverse Jewish traditions.
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Many
Jews distinguished themselves as wealthy financiers,
physicians, scientists and good map-makers. Financiers distinguished
themselves in the royal courts as advisers, e.g., Samuel Abulaffia was
treasurer in the court of King Pedro of Castile. At the beginning of the
fifteenth century, the constant persecutions so deteriorated the economic
conditions of the Jews that it prompted a wave of Aliyah from Europe.
After the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, Don Joseph Nassi,
duke of Naxos, gained approval for a resettlement in Safad, Jerusalem,
Hebron and Tiberias. It was followed in 1775 by an important group of
Hassidim in Safad. In 1840, attempts to persuade Great Britain to
negotiate in their behalf with the Ottomans to establish a Jewish state
organized provisions of economic assistance for the Jews in Palestine from
Jews abroad. In 1896, Dr. Theodor Herzl published The Jewish State, a
voice which called for the need to establish a Jewish state in Palestine.
The first recorded Aliyah of intellectuals and other Jews came in two major
waves, in 1882 and in 1890-91, from persecuted Jews in Russia, Poland
and Romania. In 1898 the unsuccessful attempt to enlist the aid of the
German Kaiser Wilhelm II to obtain the permission of Sultan Abdul
Hammid II to resettle Jews in Palestine paved the way for financial and
economic institutions, i.e., the Jewish National Fund (1901), AngloPalestine Bank (1903), Palestine Office (1920) and the Palestine
Foundation Fund (1920). At a meeting in San Remo, Italy of the Supreme
Council of Allied and Associated Powers, the mandate for Palestine was
given to Great Britain and approved by the League of Nations on July 24,
1922 and the Congress of the United States on July 30, 1922.
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Mizrahi and Other Jewish Groups. The Mizrahim or Easterners

((Hebrew: Mizrach for East), constitutes the third major group, a
diverse collection of Middle Eastern and North African Jews. Smaller
groups include, but are not restricted to: Indian Jews such as the Bene
Israel, Bnei Menashe, Cochin Jews, and Bene Ephraim; the Romaniotes of
Greece; the Italian Jews (Italkim or Ben Roma ); the Teimanim from
Yemen and Oman; various African Jews, including most numerously the
Beta Israel of Ethiopia; and Chinese Jews, most notably the Kaifeng Jews,
as well as various other distinct but now almost extinct communities.
The divisions between them are not always clear. The Mizrahim for
example, are a heterogeneous collection of North African, Central Asian,
Caucasian, and Middle Eastern Jews who are often unrelated to each other
or to the earlier mentioned groups. In modern usage, however, the
Mizrahim are termed Sephardi due to similar styles of liturgy. Thus, among
Mizrahim there are Iraqi Jews, Egyptian Jews, Berber Jews (Morocco),
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Lebanese Jews, Kurdish Jews, Libyan Jews, Syrian Jews, Bukharian Jews,
Mountain Jews, Georgian Jews, and various others. The Teimanim from
Yemen and Oman are sometimes included, although their style of liturgy
is unique and they differ in respect to the admixture found among them to
that found in Mizrahim. In addition, there is a differentiation made
between Sephardi migrants who established themselves in the Middle
East and North Africa after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and
Portugal in the 1490s and the pre-existing Jewish communities in those
regions. In short, the Mizrahims are the Jews of the Eastern Diaspora
made up of the kingdoms of Judah and Benjamin who were scattered just
around Israel.
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The Eastern Diaspora. The diaspora in the East was relatively less
unforgiving sans the ghettos, arm bands and other impositions that
accompanied Roman Catholic persecution of the Jews and early Christians
not Roman Catholics. After the patriarchate was abolished in 425 AD
Jewish center relocated to Alexandria, Egypt while the settlements that
existed in Mesopotamia since the Babylonian exile increased in number
from an influx of Jews which saw a marked rise after the Islamic conquests
of the 7th century. Islam and Judaism have a complex relationship.
Traditionally, Jews and Christians living in Muslim lands known as
dhimmis, were allowed to practice their religions and to administer their
internal affairs subject to certain conditions. They had to pay the jizya (a
per capita tax imposed on free adult non-Muslim males) to the Islamic
state.
Dhimmis had several social and legal disabilities. They were
prohibited from bearing arms or giving testimony in courts in cases
involving Muslims. Many of the disabilities were highly symbolic. The one
described by Bernard Lewis as most degrading was the requirement of
distinctive clothing, not found in the Quran or hadith but invented in early
medieval Baghdad. Its enforcement was highly erratic.
On the other
hand, Jews rarely faced martyrdom, exile, or forced to change their
religion. They were free in their choice of residence and profession.
Exceptions were the massacre of Jews and forcible conversion of Jews by
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the rulers of the Almohad dynasty in Al-Andalus, Iberia in the 12th

century, as well as in Islamic Persia; and the forced confinement of
Moroccan Jews to walled quarters known as mellahs in the 15th century
and in the early 19th century.
Today, it is not uncommon for antiSemitic themes to be conflated with anti-Zionist publications and
pronouncements of Islamic movements such as Hezbollah and Hamas, in
the pronouncements of various agencies of the Islamic Republic of Iran,
particularly after its acquisition of nuclear capability, and in the
newspapers and other publications of Turkish Refah Partisi.
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The history of the persecution of the Jews have seen many rulers,
empires and nations seeking to eliminate their Jewish populations through
methods ranging from expulsion to outright genocide. The threat of these
extreme methods was sufficient to silence dissent. It includes: the First
Crusade which resulted in the massacre of Jews; the Spanish Inquisition
(led by Torquemada), and the Portuguese Inquisition with their Auto de f
against new Christians and Marrano Jews; the Bohdan Chmielnicki
Cossack massacres in Ukraine; the pogroms backed by the Russian Tsars;
as well as expulsions from Spain, Portugal, England, France, and
Germanys Holy Roman empire. According to a recent study published in
the American Journal of Human Genetics 19.8% of the modern Iberian
population has Sephardic Jewish ancestry, indicating that the number of
conversos may have been much higher than originally thought. The
most notable modern day persecution of Jews remains the Holocaust.
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Daniels 1,290 and 1,335 days

The end of Daniels 1,290 and 1,335 days found the Jew blessed,
according to the prophecy, to wit:
{12:11} And from the time [that] the daily [sacrifice] shall be taken away, and
the abomination that maketh desolate set up, [there shall be] a thousand two
hundred and ninety days. {12:12} Blessed [is] he that waiteth, and cometh to
the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.(Dan 12:11-12 AV)

The verses above speaks of a time 1290 days (years) from the
time the daily sacrifice was abolished and the abomination that causes
desolation was set up. Both events are now established to have occurred
in the year 70 AD. 1290 years thence corresponds to the year 1360 AD
and he who waited at the end of 1335 days corresponding to the year
1405 AD was blessed. These two periods in Jewish and world history are
significant for at no time else have events transpired that saw the elect
and Jews who found their way inside the jurisdiction of the Byzantine
empire been freed from suffering persecution, unlike those who found
themselves within the jurisdiction of a Roman Catholic episcopate in the
western parts of Europe. The relief came from the invasion by Seljuk Turks
of Asia Minor threatening Constantinople. The Seljuks were a Turkic tribe
inhabiting the grasslands of Asia that extends from Mongolia to western
Russia. In 1055, the Seljuk Tughrul had taken control of Baghdad and was
conferred the title of sultan by the caliph of Baghdad.
The resulting
Crusades to repel the Seljuk invasion of Byzantium which ended in defeat
of the western armies; the invasion of the Mongol hordes beginning with
Genghis Khan until Tamerlane; and the rise of the Ottoman empire broke
western influence as far west as Poland and extended Islam towards India
in the east. In 1360 Murad I of the Ottomans overran Constantinople with
the conquest of the city of Adrianople north of Constantinople, capital of
the Byzantine empire. The Ottoman empire would last until the end of
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World War I.
In 1405, the khanate of Tamerlane, the rival empire to
Genghis Khans khanate, took over and conquered Aleppo, Syria but his
khanate broke up shortly after his death in pursuit of conquest of China.
Since then the Balkans, Caucasus and Greater Middle East had become
Islamized and Asia Minor and the Middle East had become dominantly
Islamic and consolidated under the Ottomans. These regions had become
a haven for the elect (Christians and Messianic Jews) as well as Mizrahic
Jews, who were tolerated by Muslims. If it may be said at this point, the
Quran attests to the period when the Lord acknowledged His promises to
Ishmael, who was generous and just in his care of the Children of Israel
(al-khitab) and the elect (early Christians). The period between 1360 and
1405 saw the rise into power of great powers which sought to challenge
the dominance of the Byzantine empire in Asia Minor, the Balkans, Russia,
China and the Middle East, namely: the Seljuk Turks who later allied with
the hordes of Genghis Khan, and Tamerlane. It was a time when nonRoman Catholic Christians and Jews in the region once dominated by the
Byzantine empire, were welcomed and tolerated without enmity and
escaped the persecution of the Jews and the Cathari by the Holy Roman
empire in the west. This lasted until the end of the Ottoman empire at the
end of WWI.
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Dreyfuss Affair.
In November 1894 Captain Alfred Dreyfuss, a
French artillery officer of Jewish descent, was sentenced to life
imprisonment following his conviction on charges of passing on French
military secrets to the German embassy in Paris. Two years later,
evidence came to light identifying a French Army major, Ferdinand Walsin
Esterhazy as the real culprit. The scandal rose from the suppression of
this new evidence during the trial of Esterhazy to acquit him. The famed
writer Emile Zola writing as Jaccuse, vehemently published an open letter
to pressure government to reopen the case. In 1899, Dreyfuss case was
retried bringing the scandal to the open and polarizing French society into
Semitic versus anti-Semitic views bringing once again into the open the
issue of what to do with the Jews. In 1906 Dreyfuss was exonerated and
reinstated. He served during the First World War retiring with the rank of
lieutenant-colonel.
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Balfour Declaration of 1917. An official letter from the British

Foreign Office headed by then UKs Foreign Secretary, Lord Arthur Balfour
(1916-1919), to Baron Rothschild, representing the Jewish people stating
that the British government, viewed with favor the establishment in
Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best
endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly
understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and
religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the
rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country. This was
a commitment by Great Britain for the Jews who served with the British in

WWI and became known as the Balfour Declaration of 1917.

324

Biltmore Conference. In a meeting of 600 Zionists from 18

countries held at the Biltmore Hotel in New York City on May 6, 1942 with
American commitment to support its objectives, Zionists aimed to rebuild
the Jewish National Home better than what the British White Paper of
1939 afforded them which severely limited "the Jewish community to a
permanent minority status. However, the pro-British Chaim Weizmann
had objected and bi-nationalists Henrietta Szold and Judah L. Magnes
rejected them and established their own party, Ichud (Unification), which
advocated an Arab Jewish Federation. Opposition to the Biltmore
Program also led to the founding of the anti-Zionist American Council for
Judaism.
325

326

in the last end of the indignation (NIV: later in the time of

wrath) must refer to a time when the indignation or wrath of G-d is about
to come to an end; and may be inferred as a time that soon after its
occurrence the wrath is ended. The wrath completely ended in 2009 for
all of Israels scattered ones from the northern or the ten lost tribes of
Israel. However, before this time of wrath ended, another great tragedy
occurs which precipitated the mass homecoming which swelled the
population of Israel with Jews displacing the Palestinian Arabs therein.
at the time appointed the end [shall] be (NIV: the appointed
time of the end) must refer to a time after G-ds wrath is consummated,
that is after the Messiah will have redeemed Israel as the banner raised to
gather the remnants from the four corners of the world, home. Once
home, they will resume their appointed task as the people and nation
chosen by G-d, no less. After their punishment, they will be restored, this
time G-ds decrees will finally be followed. They will make known to the
kings and nations of the world that He, the G-d of Israel, is G-d - which will
be very shortly before the end of time comes. The phrase speaks of the
end, emphasizing that this will be the appointed time.
{8:22} Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms
shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. (Daniel 8:22 AV)

The four horns mentioned earlier that replaced the kingdom of

Alexander the Great, are the four transformations of the first little horn
which subdued three horns before it. It is Rome during the kingship, the
Republic, the empire, and later, the Holy Roman Empire. Of the four, it is
the Holy Roman empire, in its last revival of the Roman empire, which will
figure in the end. In Daniel 11:2-4 it is said, thus:
{11:2} And now will I shew thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet
three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than [they] all: and by

his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia.
{11:3} And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion,
and do according to his will. {11:4} And when he shall stand up, his kingdom
shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not
to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his
kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those. (Dan 11:2-4 AV
underscoring mine. )

Understand that this four horns will not come from the Diadochis of
Alexander, who were the immediate kingdoms which rose from his broken
kingdom, the kingdoms that were plucked up (NIV: uprooted) not
to his posterity nor according to his dominion but
for
others,
particularly Rome, which is the kingdom which followed that of Greece.
And in the latter time of their kingdom, (NIV: In the latter
part of their reign) the four horns are collectively referred to by the use of
the word their. The phrase
latter time of their kingdom
would mean that in the latter part of their kingdoms reign. Their also
means that all of them are represented in this reign. Since the Holy
Roman empire is the latter reign of the four horns of Rome: a) Rome
during the time of the kings, b) Rome as a republic, c) Rome as an empire,
and d) Rome as the Holy Roman empire; this stern-faced king will come
from this fourth horn. There actually were, from the Roman empires fall in
476 AD, four significant events all involving its revival by means of the
Holy Roman empire. They were significant in the sense that all of them
were initiated to revive the glory of the ancient Roman empire; the first
two initiated by the pope, the third forced on the pope because of imperial
design and the fourth discreetly initiated by the pope which is denied, yet
also because of imperial design. There was Charlemagne of France, Otto I
of Germany, Napoleon Bonaparte of France and last, Adolf Hitler of
Germany. Furthermore, as the Roman Catholic church continued even
with the demise of the empire, the struggle and aspiration to revive the
empire and put it back to power subsisted until its short-lived resurrection
in Adolf Hitlers Third Reich.
Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. The history of the
Holy Roman empire shows Germany, formerly East Francia, exercising
dominion over Italy and coveting and desiring to become sovereign and
exercise authority over the European territories covered by the Roman
empire using Italy, particularly the authority which originally emanated
from it. In the history of the Holy Roman emperors, Germany has outdone
France, Luxembourg, Austria, Italy, Spain, and England in this pursuit.
Germany vigorously pursued to preserve the Holy Roman empire and
aspired to rule over it as sovereign looking at itself as the rightful heir to
the Roman empire so that by 1450 the Holy Roman empire was officially
known as the Holy Roman empire of the German nation (German: Heiliges
Rmisches Reich Deutscher Nation; Latin: Sacrum Romanum Imperium

Nationis Germanic).

327

It was but natural for Germany or France, the erstwhile East and
West Francia, after centuries of wars with the Romans since the Republic,
not to give up its hold over Italy, its erstwhile master. Thus, it is seen as a
fulfillment of the prophecy in Revelation 17:17, to wit:
{17:16} And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate
the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and
burn her with fire. (Rev 17:16 AV)

Rome, after its fall never produced any of the great Roman
emperors of old. Too often they threatened the pope, who wielded a
greater power over all the people. While Italy aspired to place a Roman as
Holy Roman emperor, this was naturally vehemently and violently
opposed by any one of the subject kingdoms of the empire that had risen
to power and destroyed it. This explains why Germany, which was the
closest to it, and France were the nations most concerned with placing
their own kings as the Holy Roman emperor. During this time, France and
Germany were not as defined as they are now. Much of the territory was
ruled by other kings from other Germanic tribes. The territories
comprising what is France and Germany and part of Italy (Lombardy)
today, were fiefdoms or feudal estates ruled by princes whose allegiance
could be swayed by the concessions given to it. Charlemagne the Great
as Holy Roman emperor united it in his time. The Treaty of Verdun of 843
divided Charlemagnes Frankish empire among the three sons of his heir
Louis I (Louis the Pious). The divisions coincided roughly with later
national boundaries in Europe: Charles II (Charles the Bald) received lands
corresponding to most of modern France; Louis the German gained the
lands east of the Rhine River (Germany); and Lothair I, the eldest, took
the imperial title and the Lombard kingdom (Italy) as well as
heterogeneous territories to the north .
328

The system of governance in the old Roman empire (e.g. the laws
and the principles that justifies them and the Latin terms used) find its
duplicate equivalent in German. The exact same organizational structure
was adopted as Germany aspired and looked vainly upon itself as
successor to and rightful heir of, in cahoots with the Roman Catholic
church through the pope, the Roman empire. It is the reign referred to in
Daniel 8:23. The Holy Roman empire of the German nation became the
basis for Hitlers Third Reich (Third in line in succession to the Holy
Roman empire and Bismarks German empire). The transgressors (AV)
or rebels (NIV) referred to here, are the Jews of Europe, who at this time
had become known as shrewd financiers and money-lenders of Europe,
depicted in Shakespeares Merchant of Venice as Shylock, the loan shark
whose debtors losing their capacity to pay their loans were made to lose a

pound of body weight laboring for him for every pound that they owed
him - the meaning of his slogan a pound of flesh for a pound of money.
As the Chinese of Asia held the purse as financiers in Asian economies,
likewise the Jews of Europe were the first to rise to this important position
in business.
Another reason that the Jews are said to have become completely
wicked (NIV), a more modern way of saying that their transgressions
have come to their fullness (AV), came from the observations of the
German Roman Catholic priests. In 1911 Father Overmanns, writing in
Stimmen aus Maria Laach, states:
"It is impossible to deny the harmful influence of the Jews "on the ideal
which we desire in our literature... The Jews make use of the great scope
of their influence to spread corrupt and obscene principles and thus cause
immense damage to the spiritual life... Everyone can see that they create
many literary works which are inspired by vile and worldly ideas... the
hooks of these writers are filled with the base pleasures of life, a vile
sensuality and pure naturalism. The commercial sense of the Jews is not
offended by the worst obscenities, white slavery, prostitution and immorality
of all kinds ...329

As they became wealthy bankers and financiers, they lost their

desire to leave Europe and return to Israel to fulfill their destiny under the
covenant with G-d. They were reaping the benefits of the covenant
without completely complying with it. In Deuteronomy 15:6 one will find
how much of a financial standing was promised to him. It was alright to
claim the promised blessing but their Messiah (unfortunately, the one that
they denied) had already been raised for their homecoming. Instead they
had waited 1,948 years more. As a chosen people, they did not have the
liberty of rejecting the covenant without reaping its consequences. From
the very start, in the time of Moses, there were already those who wished
they had not been chosen and wished to live as Gentiles. G-ds love was
also described by the prophets, in the showers of blessings for obedience,
as well as the consequences upon the disobedient who become the object
of his wrath. All the more reason to believe that there is more in life
waiting after death. This was a mystery, then. The fullness of G-ds love
will never be felt by those whom he loves in life on earth. This was what
Jews failed to understand that even Christians are guilty of. Not after the
world was held hostage by a rebel.
The succeeding verses 24-25, narrows down our search to Hitler of
Germany as no other personality and kingdom or nation could be ascribed
the description in verses 23-25 of Daniel 8. It produced a king of fierce
countenance, understanding dark sentences - referring to Adolf Hitler.
His signature crew-cut hair parted in the middle and the uniquely clipped
moustache added to the fierceness of Adolf Hitler which was accentuated

when executing the Nazi salute, a copy of the fascist Hail Caesar! of the
Romans. His penchant for a feudal system of government speaks well of
his aristocratic demeanor, though he is not known to be of royal descent.
As a master of intrigue, he certainly did steer Germany through violations
of the Treaty of Versailles without difficulty, withdrew from the League of
Nations, annexed Austria, and occupied the Sudeten and ultimately
Czechoslovakia. Adolf Hitlers National Socialist (Nazi) regime (1933-45)
called itself the Third Reich. This designation was chosen to identify
the Nazi Reich, or empire, as third in succession to the Holy Roman
empire and the German empire of Otto Von Bismarck from 1871-1918.
The choice of name for his regime speaks of what Hitler aspired to
achieve. Reich was the term used of the Holy Roman emperors of their
empire and much of the laws justifying the existence of the Roman empire
would be adopted by the Germans in order to continue their supposed
inheritance of this government.
330

He 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. (Daniel 8:24 NIV )

Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler succeeded because he served as G-ds

coup de grace in the punishment of the rebels (the Jews/holy people),
who had reached the height of their wickedness at the time Adolf Hitler
and his Nazi Party assumed power in Germany. The Jews of this time were
best exemplified by Shylock, in Shakespeares Merchant of Venice. He
caused the Second World War and exterminated approximately 6 million
of the holy people of G-d, the Jews; not to mention civilians of the
countries across Europe and Russia, and the Mediterranean as well. Hitler
hated the Jews for dominating over the financial institutions of Germany,
among other things they were blamed for. Most Germans who supported
Hitler during his rise to power did so out of desperation. They saw in
Hitlers charisma, a messianic figure that would take them out of the guilt
of the first world war and the harsh conditions of the Treaty of Versailles.
After the Reichstag granted him absolute power, Hitler founded a
totalitarian state. Hitlers racism gave vent to his anti-Semitism. The
Nuremberg Laws of September 1935 and other measures which deprived
Jews of most civil rights were designed to rid Germany of them
culminating in the extermination of the entire European Jewry during
World War II that has not been equaled to date. In January 1942, at the
Wannsee Conference and under the supervision of Reinhard Heydrich and
command of Heinrich Himmler, a plan for the Final Solution of the Jewish
Question (Endlsung der Judenfrage) in Europe was designed. Some six
million Jews and many others, including homosexuals, Slavs, and political
prisoners, were systematically killed. In addition, more than ten million
people were put into forced labour. This genocide called the Holocaust in
English is Shoah in Hebrew. Thousands were shipped daily to
331

concentration and extermination camps. So it is said that he took his

stand against the Prince of princes (Dan 8:25), Jesus Christ for as the
Reichsfuehrer, Hitler presided over his version of the Holy Roman empire
with the desire to claim everything that is of G-d. A desire in the scale
and magnitude that only Jesus anti-type is capable of.
332

{8:25} And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his
hand; and he shall magnify [himself] in his heart, and by peace shall destroy
many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be
broken without hand. (Dan 8:25 AV)

Hitlers obsessions ran not only to annihilate the Jews but Great
Britain, France, and Russia (the mighty ) who were the acknowledged
powers then. The United States, viewed as a minor power was dragged
into the war only in 1941. Hitlers rule of Germany from 1933 to 1945 was
made under the concept of a superior German race he developed in
Austria during his early years. His obsession to the idea of the superior
Aryan race justified his actions against the Jews and the rest of the
dominant powers for the danger they posed against this race. It is this
message of the superiority of this race exemplified by the blond, blueeyed German that gave Hitler the messianic charm which enthralled a
desperate German people.
Hitlers book, Mein Kampf spelled his foreign-policy - to abrogate the
Treaty of Versailles, destroy communism, and to conquer Europe.
He
withdrew Germany from the League of Nations on October 1933 but hid
his intentions by entering into a series of bilateral agreements, including a
non-aggression pact with Poland (1934). On March 1935 Hitler rearmed
violating the Treaty of Versailles. Britain concurred by entering into an
Anglo-German Naval Pact in June 1935. France was indifferent. After the
Rome-Berlin Axis and the Anti-Comintern Pact with Japan in 1936, Hitler
drew his war plans in a secret meeting in November 1937. He annexed
Austria in March 1938 and later that year, the Sudeten area of western
Czechoslovakia after alleged abuses to ethnic Germans there. Italy,
Britain and France signed the Sudetenland over to Germany at the Munich
Conference. In March 1939, German troops occupied Czechoslovakia.
Britain and France moved to guarantee Polands integrity. In August, 1939,
Hitler concluded the Nazi-Soviet Pact. On September 1, he attacked
Poland. France and Britain declared war on September 3.
333

World War II. The Blitzkrieg campaigns of Hitler in 1939-40 were

victorious in Poland (1939) and France (1940). Hitler was hailed by the
Germans as a military genius and a hero for avenging the injustices of
Versailles. By June 1940, Axis powers controlled the stretch from the Arctic
to North Africa and from France to central Europe. Only Britain persevered
in resisting during the Battle of Britain. Terror hovered over occupied

Europe under the new order of forced labor and concentration camps as
Hitler began implementing the Final Solution of the Jewish Question the liquidation of European Jewry. In June 1941, unmindful of the NaziSoviet Pact, Hitler invaded the Soviet Union victoriously. Hitler had now
reached the extent of the old Roman empire and set a new precedent for
the width and breadth of the revived Holy Roman empire of the future.
The tide however, turned first at Moscow on December 1941 and later at
Stalingrad in the winter of 1942-43 after the entry of the United States in
December 1941. By mid-1943, Hitlers army suffered irreversible losses.
Germany was under intense daily bombing from combined American,
British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealander, Russian and other allied air
forces. He had retreated from Russia, lost North Africa, Italy had fallen,
and his ally in the east Japan was faced with a bloody war in the Pacific.
In June 1944 the Allies landed on the coast of France. An attempt was
made on Hitlers life by a group of his own officers on July 20, 1944, but
failed. With German defenses crumbling he appointed Adm. Karl Doenitz
as his successor, married his long-time girlfriend Eva Braun, and
committed suicide in Berlin on April 30, 1945 ending the Third Reich.
Thus, it can be said that he was broken without
hand but by the power of G-d, as in without hand (Dan 2:34, 45) of
Nebuchadnezzars fate. Nowhere in world history will you find the events
and person fit the verses in Daniels prophecy as Hitlers Third Reich
during the Second World War.
334

It is not without difficulty for mere mortals to fathom Israels fate or

consider her fortunate after the severe misfortune she has gone through
after all the inhumanity man could possibly afflict his fellow man for a
period of over two-thousand six-hundred sixty-six years (from the time of
the Assyrian conquest of Israel in 721 BC until Germanys fall in 1945);
and the desolation continues and will continue until the Lords coming,
this time against Israels punishers. G-d has ransomed Israel with
unconditional grace in the end as befits the remnant that is described by
Paul in Romans 11:16 as the stump that is burnt after the tree is felled.
The stumps root is holy and the shoot that rises thereof is holy. There will
be no end for all of Israel to come home as the lost tribes cannot yet be
accounted. As of late, studies of the DNA sequence of Ashkenazi Jews
have significantly unraveled their roots to four European women whom
their fathers and their descendants before them have intermarried with.
According to said study done in 2006 by Behar et al., based on highresolution analysis of haplogroup K(mtDNA), said study suggested that
40% of the current Ashkenazi population is descended matrilineally from
just four women, or founder lineages, that were likely from a
Hebrew/Levantine mtDNA pool originating in the Middle East in the first
and second centuries CE. Although Haplogroup K is common throughout
western Eurasia, the observed global pattern of distribution renders very
unlikely the possibility that the four aforementioned founder lineages

335

entered the Ashkenazi mtDNA pool via gene flow from a European host
population:
..Both the extent and location of the maternal ancestral deme from which the
Ashkenazi Jewry arose remain obscure. Here, using complete sequences of the
maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), we show that close to onehalf of Ashkenazi Jews, estimated at 8,000,000 people, can be traced back to
only four women carrying distinct mtDNAs that are virtually absent in other
populations, with the important exception of low frequencies among nonAshkenazi Jews. We conclude that four founding mtDNAs, likely of Near
Eastern ancestry, underwent major expansion(s) in Europe within the past
millennium.336

3
The Return, Salvation and Restoration
of the Remnants
The Lord promises Israel a new covenant. The old covenant (Old
Testament) prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel spoke of it.
Under the new covenant (New Testament), all the apostles confirmed it.
{49:8} Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in
a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee
for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the
desolate heritages; {49:9} That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to
them that [are] in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and
their pastures [shall be] in all high places. (Isa 49:8-9 AV)
{31:31} Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: {31:32} Not
according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day [that] I
took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my
covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
{31:33} But this [shall be] the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward
parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my
people. (Jer 31:30-33 AV)
{34:25} And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the
evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the
wilderness, and sleep in the woods. {34:26} And I will make them and the
places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come
down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing. {34:27} And the tree of
the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they
shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I [am] the LORD, when I have
broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those
that served themselves of them. {34:28} And they shall no more be a prey to the
heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell
safely, and none shall make [them] afraid. {34:29} And I will raise up for them
a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the
land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more. {34:30} Thus shall they

know that I the LORD their God [am] with them, and [that] they, [even] the
house of Israel, [are] my people, saith the Lord GOD. (Ezek 34:25-30 AV)
{26:27} And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave [it] to them, saying,
Drink ye all of it; {26:28} For this is my blood of the new testament, which is
shed for many for the remission of sins. (Matt 26:27-28 AV)

Though a remnant of Israel will be all that is left

{10:22} For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, [yet] a
remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with
righteousness. (Isa 10:22 AV)

it will be holy.
{6:13} But yet in it [shall be] a tenth, and [it] shall return, and shall be eaten:
as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast [their
leaves: so] the holy seed [shall be] the substance thereof. ( Isa 6:13 AV)

Their shepherd, will also come from this remnant raised as an

ensign for the Jews from the four corners and the ends of the earth, to
come home
{11:1} And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a
Branch shall grow out of his roots: {11:2} And the spirit of the LORD shall
rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel
and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; (Isa 11:1-2
AV)
{11:10} And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for
an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be
glorious. {11:11} And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the Lord shall set
his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which
shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush,
and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of
the sea. {11:12} And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall
assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah
from the four corners of the earth. (Isa 11:10-12 AV)

in fulfillment of the Lords promises to gather them home.

{43:5} Fear not: for I [am] with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and
gather thee from the west; {43:6} I will say to the north, Give up; and to the
south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends
of the earth; (Isa 43:5-6 AV)
{11:16} Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them
far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the
countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they

shall come. {11:17} Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even
gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye
have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. (Ezek 11:16-17
AV)
{37:21} And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the
children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will
gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: {37:22} And I
will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one
king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither
shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: (Ezek 37:21-22 AV)

He is like David, their great warrior-king.

{37:24} And David my servant [shall be] king over them; and they all shall have
one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes,
and do them. {37:25} And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto
Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein,
[even] they, and their children, and their childrens children for ever: and my
servant David [shall be] their prince for ever. {37:26} Moreover I will make a
covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and
I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of
them for evermore. {37:27} My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be
their God, and they shall be my people. {37:28} And the heathen shall know that
I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them
for evermore. ( Ezek 37:24-28 AV)

The servant spoken of as the stem of Jesse and the branch of David,
also called the Lord s servant David, the shepherd raised for the
remnant, the Messiah, is the Lord Jesus Christ. There is also another
meaning to these verses, in that every true Christian, a follower of Christ,
has become a shepherd of Israel. The Christian is who Matthew in 21:43
spoke of in this wise: Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be
taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.
The year 1330 marking the end of the church in the wilderness, the
beginning of the Millennium, and the resurrection of the saints and their
reign with Jesus Christ has since then slowly brought deliverance on the
elect while the obstinate continue to serve the wrath of G-d. However, not
since the Balfour Declaration of 1917 of Great Britain, after Jews served
with the Allies in WWI, followed by the Biltmore Conference of 1942 (in
the aftermath of the reports of the mass murder of Jews in Germany) of
the United States, did the power and might of these true Christian nations
and their allies, shepherd Israel through each adversity with unwavering
faithfulness until they are gathered home.
{7:13} And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; [Is it] a small thing for
you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? {7:14} Therefore the Lord
himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,

and shall call his name Immanuel. {7:15} Butter and honey shall he eat, that
he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. {7:16} For before the
child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou
abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings. ( Isa 7:13-16 AV)
{1:20} But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord
appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to
take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy
Ghost. {1:21} And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name
JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. {1:22} Now all this was
done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet,
saying, {1:23} Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son,
and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with
us. ( Matt 1:20-23 AV)

All of Israel will be saved as quoted by the apostle Paul from Isaiah
59:20.
{11:26} And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out
of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: {11:27}
For this [is] my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. (Rom
11:26-27 AV)

That is exactly what is meant by the Lord in Ezekiel 37:9-11:

{37:9} Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man,
and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O
breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. {37:10} So I
prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they
lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. {37:11} Then he
said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold,
they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our
parts. (Ezek 37:9-11 AV)

In the New Testament, the apostle Paul declares the remnant is

saved by grace and not by works. :
{11:1} I say then, Hath God cast away his people? G-d forbid. For I also am
an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, [of] the tribe of Benjamin. {11:2} God
hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the
scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to G-d against Israel,
saying, {11:3} Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine
altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. {11:4} But what saith the
answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who
have not bowed the knee to [the image of] Baal. {11:5} Even so then at this
present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. {11:6}
And if by grace, then [is it] no more of works: otherwise grace is no more
grace. But if [it be] of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no
more work. (Romans 11:1-6 AV)

In Romans 9:27 Paul quotes Isaiah 10:22 concerning the remnant of

Israel:
{9:27} Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the
children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: (Rom
9:27 AV)

That the remnant is holy, confirms the apostle, Paul.

{11:16} For if the firstfruit [be] holy, the lump [is] also [holy:] and if the root
[be] holy, so [are] the branches. (Rom 11:16 AV)

For those who believe, salvation is by grace which stems from G-ds
love for the world He created. Israels significance as the people chosen
by G-d to tell the world that He is G-d is also in that: salvation will fail if
we rely in our ability to comply with the law and the law can never be
complied with perfectly, so that we will never be saved by work. Israel has
shown that. That, in a nutshell, is the good news.
{1:16} For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of
God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the
Greek. {1:17} For therein is the righteousness of G-d revealed from faith to
faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. (Rom 1:16-17 AV)

For the Gentile, the apostle Paul said in Ephesians 2:8-9, concerning
salvation, in this wise:
2:8} For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it
is] the gift of God: {2:9} Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Eph 2:8-9
AV)

The prophet Isaiah enjoins believers, to comfort the remnant of

Israel and with tenderness proclaim her liberty.
{40:1} Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. {40:2} Speak ye
comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished,
that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORDS hand
double for all her sins. (Isa 40:1-2 AV)

To the believers whose wisdom gained them understanding of this

mystery, the Lords instructions are best summed up in Isaiah 40:9-12.
Shout to the world and proclaim to Israel, in this wise:
{40:9} O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain;
O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift [it]
up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! {40:10}
Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong [hand,] and his arm shall rule
for him: behold, his reward [is] with him, and his work before him. {40:11} He

shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm,
and carry [them] in his bosom, [and] shall gently lead those that are with
young. {40:12} Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and
meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a
measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
(Isa 40:9-12 AV)

No rest indeed, for the Lord is in a hurry to restore Israel.

{62:10} Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people;
cast up, cast up the highways; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the
people. {62:11} Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world,
Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his
reward [is] with him, and his work before him. {62:12} And they shall call
them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called,
Sought out, A city not forsaken. (Isa 62:10-12 AV)

President George Bushs Road Map to Peace may very well have
been inspired by the above verses from Isaiah 62:10-12. The verses
above, speaks of the great opportunity for blessing for those who come to
bless Israel and the Lord their G-d. The year 2009 ended the wrath of G-d
and the following years will come the restoration of Israel. She is like the
young of a sheep - staggering and needing comfort. Proclaim to her her
freedom and her reward. Of the Gentiles who understand, to witness in
order for the remnant of Israel to understand, thus:
{43:8} Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have
ears. {43:9} Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be
assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? Let
them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear,
and say, [It is] truth. {43:10} Ye [are] my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my
servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and
understand that I [am] he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall
there be after me. ( Isa 43:8-10 AV)

What would Israel be without the Protestants? Could she possibly

have survived the wars since 1967 without their help? Have they not lead
Israel and proclaimed what she was formerly and witnessed for her that
she is the chosen servant of the Lord? The great task of restoring Israel,
since the Biltmore Conference now lies with the United States of America.
Contemporary history can attest to that. The United States is the worlds
greatest economic and military power. It is the envy of the European
powers that once lorded over Americans as serfs. America has also found
for the Jew, fulfillment of the promises of G-d found in Deuteronomy 15:6
that Israel will lend to many nations, but will never borrow from them.
Wall Street in lower Manhattan, Americas financial district, is dominated
by financial institutions owned and controlled by Jews. In this sense,
Israel, with its 5 million Jews at home in America, fulfills the prophecy to

rule over many nations but will not be ruled by anyone as America does.
Of the Gentile nations on Israels restoration:
{49:22} Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the
Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in
[their] arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon [their] shoulders.
{49:23} And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing
mothers: they shall bow down to thee with [their] face toward the earth, and
lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I [am] the LORD: for
they shall not be ashamed that wait for me. (Isa 49:22-23 AV)
{60:11} Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut
day nor night; that [men] may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and
[that] their kings [may be] brought. {60:12} For the nation and kingdom that
will not serve thee shall perish; yea, [those] nations shall be utterly wasted.
(Isa 60:11-12 AV)
{60:14} The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto
thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of
thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy
One of Israel. (Isa 60:14 AV)
16 {60:16} Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the
breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD [am] thy Saviour and
thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. (Isa 60:16 AV)

Who are the nations that have readily bowed before Israel? Whose
kings have been like fathers to them and whose queens nursed them like
their own sons? History attests to the Christian nations who have
gathered the remnants home and nurtured Israel since.
United States of America. Americas unequivocal support for
Israel stems from its history as a haven in the great European migration
which saw the poor and oppressed of Europe escaping from the
notoriously long history of its monarchy lorded over by Roman Catholics
where only the feudal lords with fealty to the Roman Catholic church and
ecclesiastical bodies could own the land. The Pilgrims and other
Protestants, as well as Jews from as far as Russia converged on a land
they swore to free from the clutches of feudal lords and Roman Catholic
monarchs who monopolized ownership of land. The history of the United
States of America attests to that. America and Canada, the land spoiled
by the great rivers of the Hudson, Mississippi, and Yukon, where a tall and
fair-skinned people speak a terrible language (speak of terrible
language!), a people who are feared far and wide, bringing gifts to Mount
Zion the Lord acknowledges (Isaiah 18:1-2; 18:7). Let the world watch as
this mystery is bared (Isaiah 18:3-6). English and French debts of
gratitude for America were in American help in the First and Second World

Wars. In both wars, Americas all out support turned the tide of the war.
Furthermore, America is a melting pot of people, mostly of European
ancestry which still cherish its roots.
{18:1} Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which [is] beyond the rivers of
Ethiopia: {18:2} That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of
bulrushes upon the waters, [saying,] Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation
scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a
nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled! (Isa
18:1-2 AV)
1 Woe to the land of whirring wings along the rivers of Cush, 2 which sends
envoys by sea in papyrus boats over the water. Go, swift messengers, to a
people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people feared far and wide, and
aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers. (Isa
18:1-2 NIV)
{18:7} In that time shall the present be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a
people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning
hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers
have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion.
(Isa 18:7 AV)
7 At that time gifts will be brought to the Lord Almighty from a people tall
and smooth-skinned, from a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation
of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers the gifts will be brought to
Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the Lord Almighty. (Isa 18:7 NIV)

As the prophet Isaiah prophesies of the coming punishment of Israel

and Judah and of events leading to the fulfillment of this punishment he
also speaks of the other events that will prepare Israels restoration,
foremost among them are the prophecies of the coming of the Messiah.
There still are a number of prophecies that up to this day, have not found
interpretation. The ones above are about swift messages sent by
ambassadors by the sea via bulrushes. The King James and Wycliffe
version uses Ethiopia but the New International version uses Cush, the
old name for eastern Africa which covers the Upper Nile region and
includes the present-day countries of Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania from
where headwaters drain into the Nile. This region is also where the
ancient Arab slave traders sourced their black slaves for the international
market. Papyrus boats which have been known to be in use in Egypt as
early as 4000 BC have been proven to travel over oceans as recorded by
Thor Heyerdahl in the voyages of the Kon-Tiki, Ra I and II, and Tigris. In
1970 the Ra II reached the Barbados after crossing the Atlantic via the
Canary Current. The United States and Canada in North America, the
land spoiled by the great rivers of the Alabama, Albany, Arkansas,
Athabasca (US and Canada), Brazos, Churchill (US and Canada), Colorado,
Columbia, Great Whales (US and Canada), Leaf (US and Canada),
337

338

339

Mackenzie (US and Canada), Mississippi, Missouri, North Platte, Ohio,

Peace (US and Canada), Pecos, Red, Rio Grande (with Mexico), St.
Lawrence (Canada), Saskatchewan (US and Canada), Severn (US and
Canada), Slave (US and Canada), Smith (US and Canada), and Yellowstone
rivers.
It is also the land of Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Michael
Jackson, Collin Powell, Tiger Woods, Martin Luther King, Jr., and President
Barak Hussein Obama, whose father hails from Kenya, the land of a swift
people. During the last three decades, Kenyans have dominated middle
and long-distance races; in fact, 55 per cent of the Top 20 lists for men
in distances from 800 m to marathon are Kenyans, their number in the
Top 50 lists in the same distances has increased more than 150 per cent
from 1990 to 2000. In 2009, President Barak Hussein Obama, an AfricanAmerican, whose father hails from Kenya, won the elections for the
presidency by an overwhelming margin of Americans worried about the
desolation that America and its allies military might had brought on Iraq
a desolation that also brought the worlds economies into a recession
after oil prices soared and the escalation of terror activities by Islamic
movements like the al-Qaeda hampered the freedom of movement of
people and of goods traded. It is believed that President Obama is of the
swift ambassador from Ethiopia. The escalation of Islamic terrorism is
directly related to the plight of the Palestinians displaced by homecoming
Jews. It seems that America has to be very careful about restoring Israel
by meting justice as they affect descendants of Ishmael who are also
among those that are displaced, that it might not suffer the backlash of a
worst disaster than the World Trade Centers in 1993 and 2001.
340

It is also a time for Israel to consider who its Messiah is.

Furthermore, there are a number of verses in scriptures like Psalm 87:4,
which goes, I will record Rahab (that is Egypt, poetically) and Babylon
(that is Iraq) among those who acknowledge me Philistia (the Philistines)
too, and Tyre (Lebanon), along with Cush (the Upper Nile) and will say,
This one was born in Zion (NIV). These are but a few of scriptures which
uphold the Lords promises to Ishmael that Muslims know about through
their own book, the Quran. So the Lord prepared, long before Judah would
come under the Lords wrath, envoys from Cush swiftly bringing a
message of hope to a land marred by rivers, inhabited by a fair-skinned,
tall, and terrible people, feared far and wide, who will bring gifts to Zion,
that the Lord will acknowledge. Not that Israel has not recognized this fact
of Ishmael, but that this portion of the time-line belongs to Israels
restoration. However, Ishmaels share in its inheritance and those of the
ingrafted branches have to be recognized. That is the good news!
The most famous emigration to America was that of the separatists
from the Church of England, who fled first to Holland, and then later to

America to establish the English colonies of New England, which later

became the United States. These separatists were later called the
Pilgrims. After establishing a colony at Plymouth (that became part of the
colony of Massachusetts) in 1620, the Pilgrims received a charter from
the King of England legitimizing and allowing their colony to trade with
merchants in England. This colony marked the beginning of Protestants
presence in America. The earlier French, Spanish and Portuguese
settlements and plantations had been Roman Catholics. The Pilgrims later
merged with the succeeding Puritan migrations to establish the Puritan
Massachusetts Bay Colony which became a haven for religious and
economic freedom to which persecuted Protestants and other minorities
from the British Isles and Europe (and later, from all over the world) fled
to for peace, freedom and opportunity. The Pilgrims of New England
disapproved of Christmas and celebration was outlawed in Boston from
1659 to 1681. The ban was revoked in 1681 by Sir Edmund Andros, who
also revoked a Puritan ban against festivities on Saturday night. However
it wasnt until the mid 1800s that celebrating Christmas became
fashionable in the Boston region. The original intent of the colonists was
to establish spiritual Puritanism, which had been denied to them in
England and the rest of Europe, to engage in peaceful trade with England
and native American Indians, and to introduce Christ to the peoples of the
Americas. One of the first protests against the enslavement of Africans
(Abolition) came from German and Dutch Quakers in Pennsylvania in
1688.
341

Not only was America a haven for Europeans but the African
American as well. The history of the United States is replete with wars
fought for freedom not only for the European but for the African-American
as well. Since the civil war, African-Americans have fought to implement
the true meaning of justice, equality and freedom until Martin Luther King,
Jr. (1929-1968), a civil rights leader and Baptist minister lead his people
out of segregation and full freedom. The event raised Americas standing
in the world as a true advocate of justice as a Christian nation. The Arab
slave trade brought the African from eastern Africa into America. In Isaiah
18:7 it is believed America will learn much from the African-American,
who embraces Islam, and rise to bring understanding and stability in
conflict-ridden Israel and the Middle East. The African-American will make
possible, the descendants of Ishmael from Nebaoith and Kedar to bring
their offerings to adorn the Lords temple and they will be acceptable. The
African-American will be Christ for the Muslims. In him, the Arabs will trust
as like one of their own, they can sympathize with, just as prophesied by
Isaiah.
{60:7} All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams
of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on
mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory. (Isa 60:7 AV)

The Nations

Of the nations on earth, they were, as originally intended by the

Lord; to be blessed through the offspring of Israel:
{26:4} And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will
give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of
the earth be blessed; (Gen 26:4 AV)

in order to serve her:

27:29} Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy
brethren, and let thy mothers sons bow down to thee: cursed [be] every one
that curseth thee, and blessed [be] he that blesseth thee. (Gen 27:29 AV)

while Israel is also to become a community of nations and of kings:

{35:11} And God said unto him, I [am] God Almighty: be fruitful and
multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall
come out of thy loins; (Gen 35:11 AV)

enlarging her territory without her neighbors coveting it:

{34:24} For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy
borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to
appear before the LORD thy God thrice in the year. (Ex 34:24 AV)
she will be feared among the nations:
{2:25} This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon
the nations [that are] under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee,
and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee. (De 2:25 AV)

conquering greater and stronger nations and taking their land:

{4:38} To drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou
[art,] to bring thee in, to give thee their land [for] an inheritance, as [it is] this
day. (De 4:38 AV)

and be honored among the nations:

{26:19} And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in
praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people
unto the LORD thy God, as he hath spoken. (De 26:19 AV)

to become a showcase for the nations, for the Lord, their G_d.

{14:2} for thou [art] an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the
LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all
the nations that [are] upon the earth. (De 14:2 AV)
But because of her disobedience:
{21:9} But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil
than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.
(2 Kings 21:9 AV)
{5:7} Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye multiplied more than
the nations that [are] round about you, [and] have not walked in my statutes,
neither have kept my judgments, neither have done according to the judgments
of the nations that [are] round about you; (Ezek 5:7 AV)

Israel suffered what the nations have suffered:

{8:20} As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall
ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your
God. (De 8:20 AV)

Of the Lords true intentions for using Assyria as the first nation
to carry out the punishment of the northern kingdom of Israel:
{10:5} O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine
indignation. {10:6} I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against
the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take
the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. {10:7} Howbeit he
meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but [it is] in his heart to
destroy and cut off nations not a few. (Isa 10:5-7 AV)

Of Babylon, after the Lord uses it to carry out the punishment of

the southern kingdom of Judah:
{25:12} And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished,
[that] I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for
their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual
desolations. (Jer 25:12 AV)

to become instruments of G_ds wrath upon the nations:

{8:5} The LORD spake also unto me again, saying, {8:6} Forasmuch as this
people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and
Remaliahs son; {8:7} Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them
the waters of the river, strong and many, [even] the king of Assyria, and all his
glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks:
{8:8} And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall
reach [even] to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the
breadth of thy land, O Immanuel. {8:9} Associate yourselves, O ye people, and

ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird
yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be
broken in pieces. {8:10} Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought;
speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God [is] with us. (Isa 8:5-10 AV)
{10:25} Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the
families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured
him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate. (Jer 10:25
AV)
{25:15} For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of
this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink
it. {25:16} And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the
sword that I will send among them. (Jer 25:15-16 AV)
{51:20} Thou [art] my battle axe [and] weapons of war: for with thee will I
break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms; {51:21} And
with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I
break in pieces the chariot and his rider; {51:22} With thee also will I break in
pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young;
and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid; {51:23} Iwill
also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I
break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I
break in pieces captains and rulers. ( Jer 51:20-23 AV)

The Lord punished Israel, thus:

{5:8} Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, [am] against
thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the
nations. {5:9} And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto
I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations. {5:10}
Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall
eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant
of thee will I scatter into all the winds. {5:11} Wherefore, [as] I live, saith the
Lord GOD; Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy
detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also
diminish [thee;] neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity.
{5:12} A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall
they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword
round about thee and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will
draw out a sword after them. {5:13} Thus shall mine anger be accomplished,
and I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they
shall know that I the LORD have spoken [it] in my zeal, when I have
accomplished my fury in them. {5:14} Moreover I will make thee waste, and a
reproach among the nations that [are] round about thee, in the sight of all that
pass by. {5:15} So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an
astonishment unto the nations that [are] round about thee, when I shall
execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the
LORD have spoken [it. ]{5:16} When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of

famine, which shall be for [their] destruction, [and] which I will send to
destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff
of bread: {5:17} So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall
bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will
bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have spoken [it.] (Ezek 5:8-17 AV)
{6:2} Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy
against them, {6:3} And say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord
GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the
rivers, and to the valleys; Behold, I, [even] I, will bring a sword upon you, and
I will destroy your high places. {6:4} And your altars shall be desolate, and
your images shall be broken: and I will cast down your slain [men] before
your idols. {6:5} And I will lay the dead carcases of the children of Israel
before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars. {6:6}
In all your dwellingplaces the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places
shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and
your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and
your works may be abolished. {6:7} And the slain shall fall in the midst of you,
and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD. {6:8} Yet will I leave a remnant, that
ye may have [some] that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye
shall be scattered through the countries. {6:9} And they that escape of you
shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives,
because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me,
and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall lothe
themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.
{6:10} And they shall know that I [am] the LORD, [and that] I have not said in
vain that I would do this evil unto them. {6:11} Thus saith the Lord GOD;
Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas for all the evil
abominations of the house of Israel! for they shall fall by the sword, by the
famine, and by the pestilence. {6:12} He that is far off shall die of the
pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that remaineth
and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish my fury upon
them. {6:13} Then shall ye know that I [am] the LORD, when their slain [men]
shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all
the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick
oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols. {6:14} So will
I stretch out my hand upon them, and make the land desolate, yea, more
desolate than the wilderness toward Diblath, in all their habitations: and they
shall know that I [am] the LORD. (Ezekiel 6:2-14 AV)

Of the nations among which the Jews were scattered:

{30:11} For I [am] with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a
full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full
end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee
altogether unpunished. (Jer 30:11 AV)
{25:29} For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name,
and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will

call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of
hosts. (Jer 25:29 AV)
{12:9} And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] I will seek to destroy all
the nations that come against Jerusalem. (Zech 12:9 AV)

and the complacent nations:

{1:14} So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying,
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a
great jealousy. {1:15} And I am very sore displeased with the heathen [that are]
at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the
affliction. (Zech 1:14-15 AV)

Once at home:
{61:4} And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former
desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many
generations. {61:5} And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the
sons of the alien [shall be] your plowmen and your vinedressers. (Isa 61:4-5
AV)

We will soon see the ancient ruins of cities and places restored and
overseas workers tending her fields and vineyards.
{61:7} For your shame [ye shall have] double; and [for] confusion they shall
rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double:
everlasting joy shall be unto them. (Isa 61:7 AV)

The inheritance of the tribes will also be doubled. The original

portions allotted to each tribe, except the tribe of Levi will be doubled
in the manner seen by Ezekiel in his vision (Eze 45:1-8 and 47:13 48:35). But how will Israel stand up to be holy? The decrees of the Lord
stand and the consequences for disobedience remains. In the following
verses, are the ways, thus:
{16:60} Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of
thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant. {16:61} Then
thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy
sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for
daughters, but not by thy covenant. {16:62} And I will establish my covenant
with thee; and thou shalt know that I [am] the LORD: {16:63} That thou
mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more
because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast
done, saith the Lord GOD. (Ezek 16:60-63 AV underscoring mine)
{36:24} For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of
all countries, and will bring you into your own land. {36:25} Then will I
sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness,

and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. {36:26} A new heart also will I give
you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart
out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. {36:27} And I will put
my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep
my judgments, and do [them. ]{36:28} And ye shall dwell in the land that I
gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
{36:29} I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the
corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. {36:30} And I will
multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive
no more reproach of famine among the heathen. {36:31} Then shall ye
remember your own evil ways, and your doings that [were] not good, and shall
lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your
abominations. {36:32} Not for your sakes do I [this,] saith the Lord GOD, be it
known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of
Israel. Ezek 36:24-32 AV underscoring mine)
{43:10} Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they
may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern. {43:11}
And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the
house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in
thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the
forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write [it] in their sight, that they
may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do
them. (Ezek 43:10-11 AV underscoring mine)

Mans struggle with sin and on overcoming is best argued by Saint

Paul in Chapter 7 of the Book of Romans where the oft quoted verses
Romans 7:15-16 are found. For the Jew, the prophet Ezekiel gives one of
the best reasons why they will keep the decrees of the Lord. Ezekiels
propound the most viable explanation for its happening. G-d did not make
man to be his robot, but humans have a peculiar psychology. Ezekiel
16:60-63 says the Lord will make atonement for Israel and Judah and they
will remember their sins and be ashamed. Ezekiel 36:32 reminds him to
put on shame. Their story, no less than G-d Almighty has written in His
words, in a book, for all the nations to read - their names, their families,
their fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters, and all the things they had
done in the last 3,000 years since the covenant given to Moses; a book
that is the most read book in the whole wide world, is also an indelible
record of the sins they have committed unto their Lord. Knowing these
truths, the Jew should feel shame for his sordid behavior. The adopted
brother, Christian is discreet but the half-brother Muslim is insulted and
raises hell for his backsliding. The Lord cautions them, as He knows His
obstinate people, the ones who are called by his name, will raise the
temple. In Ezekiel 43:10-11, He speaks to remind them of the temple
plan, its designs and regulations. They are basically the same, particularly
the regulations which are focused on maintaining its holiness. A holiness
they failed to maintain so many times in the past. The reason the Lord
speaks of the shame that should accompany its rebuilding. It is almost

unimaginable that the rebuilding of the temple will not be done amidst so
much wailing as so much emotion will pour out of it as each stone is
raised on top of another faithful to its design for holiness. A holiness they
failed miserably to keep. Will they not realize that the second covenant
the Messiah brought is the better covenant? The pain and the anguish in
each stone raised. And the cornerstone? Will they not stumble on it,
worse, will it not fall on them?
Today, we can imagine Israel in a time very similar to the time of
Christ, when the apostles, Peter, James, Andrew, and the rest, in
Jerusalem continued to celebrate the Jewish feasts and taught at the
synagogues. Their difference from Orthodox Jews lie in that, for them the
Messiah had already arrived; they actually became a sect of Judaism who
believed the Messiah to be Jesus Christ. This is the sect of Judaism that
Jewish believers in Christ can revive the early Christians who celebrated
the Feast of Tabernacles, kept the Sabbath holy, and the dietary
regulations. They are also those the prophets Isaiah and Zechariah spoke
of the Jew who upheld the law and remained faithful to the following to
the end, to wit:
a. keeping the Sabbath holy:
{58:13} If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, [from] doing thy
pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD,
honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding
thine own pleasure, nor speaking [thine own] words: {58:14} Then shalt thou
delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places
of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth
of the LORD hath spoken [it]. (Isa 58:13-14 AV)

b. abstaining from the flesh of pigs:

{66:12} For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a
river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye
shall be borne upon [her] sides, and be dandled upon [her] knees. {66:13} As
one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be
comforted in Jerusalem. {66:14} And when ye see [this,] your heart shall
rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the LORD
shall be known toward his servants, and [his] indignation toward his enemies.
{66:15} For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a
whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
{66:16} For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and
the slain of the LORD shall be many. {66:17} They that sanctify themselves,
and purify themselves in the gardens behind one [tree] in the midst, eating
swines flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed
together, saith the LORD. ( Isa 66:12-17 AV)

c. celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles:

{14:10} All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of
Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from
Benjamins gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and
[from] the tower of Hananeel unto the kings winepresses. {14:11} And [men]
shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem
shall be safely inhabited. (Zech 14:10-11 AV)
{14:16} And it shall come to pass, [that] every one that is left of all the nations
which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship
the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. {14:17} And
it shall be, [that] whoso will not come up of [all] the families of the earth unto
Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be
no rain. {14:18} And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that
[have] no [rain;] there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the
heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. {14:19} This shall be
the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that
come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. (Zech 14:16-19 AV)

Of the Gentiles who share in Israels inheritance:

{60:3} And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of
thy rising. (Isa 60:3 AV)
{60:5} Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and
be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee,
the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. (Isa 60:5 AV)
{60:10} And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings
shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I
had mercy on thee. {60:11} Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they
shall not be shut day nor night; that [men] may bring unto thee the forces of
the Gentiles, and [that] their kings [may be] brought. {60:12} For the nation
and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, [those] nations shall be
utterly wasted. (Isa 60:10-12 AV)
{66:12} For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a
river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye
shall be borne upon [her] sides, and be dandled upon [her] knees. {66:13} As
one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be
comforted in Jerusalem. (Isa 66:12-13 AV)
{3:17} At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all
the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem:
neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.
(Jer 3: 17 AV)

Messianic Judaism. There remains in Israel today, believers in

Jesus Christ as Messiah and the gospel. Acccording to Yaakov Ariel (1995;
2005), as a result of the aggressive and extensive missionary activity of

Evangelical Christians among the Jews, Messianic Jews have risen.

Messianic Judaism is a religious movement of Jews who acknowledge
Jesus Christ as the Messiah. They practice Jewish laws not generally done
by Christian churches, such as: observing the Sabbath from Friday
sundown until Saturday sundown; abstaining from pork, shellfish, and
food forbidden by Jewish law; and some Jewish holidays. Both Christians
and Jews consider Messianic Judaism to be a form of Christianity. The
Supreme Court of Israel in a 1989 ruling ruled that the Law of Return
(enacted in 1950) should treat ethnically Jewish individuals who convert to
Messianic Judaism in the same manner it treats Jews who convert to
Christianity by forfeiting their right to automatic Israeli citizenship.
To
work around the prohibition in the Law of Return, applicants argued that
they had never been Jews according to halakha, and were not therefore
excluded by the conversion clause. They immigrate as the non-Jewish
relative of a Jew much like a foreigner. This argument was upheld in the
ruling, and the government agreed to reprocess their applications.
Messianic Jews are ethnically Jewish and argue that Messianic Judaism is a
sect that is a continuation of the Judaism practiced by Jesus and the
apostles. Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism
who unanimously reject this view are viewed by Messianic Jews as a
continuation of the sect of Judaism represented by the Pharisees in the
time of Jesus.

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Contemporary migrant Messianic Judaism grew out of the HebrewChristian movement of the 19th century in England The first of these was
Beni Abraham in London founded by forty-one Hebrew-Christians. In
1866, the Hebrew-Christian Alliance of Great Britain was organized, with
branches in several European countries and the United States. The
Hebrew Christian Alliance of America (HCAA), was organized in the U.S. in
1915. The International Hebrew-Christian Alliance (IHCA) which was
organized in 1925 became the International Messianic Jewish Alliance.
As of 2003, there were at least 150 Messianic congregations in the U.S.
and over 400 worldwide. By 2008, the number of Messianics in the United
States was around a quarter million. The number of Messianic Jews in
Israel is reported to be anywhere between 6,000 and 15,000, including
the mainly Messianic Jewish village of Yad HaShmona (named after
Hamonah where the burial details of Ezekiel 39:16 lived), near
Jerusalem. There are 200 Messianic groups in Israel. Some Messianic
communities believe that the rabbinic commentaries such as the Mishnah
and the Talmud, while historically informative and useful in understanding
tradition, are not normative and may not be followed where they differ
from the Messianic scriptures. Of halakha, the Talmudic literature that
deals with law and with the interpretation of the laws on the Hebrew
Scriptures, Messianic Jews stands:
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"Accepted halakha follows the centrality of the written Torah as the final
arbiter and standard for behavior and right living. Primary consideration is given
to the teachings of the Messiah, Yeshua, and those of his immediate disciples.
Other sources include traditional rabbinic Judaism, with emphasis on
understandings and traditions accepted during the period of the Taanitic Sages
(Jewish teachers that existed during the time of the 2nd Temple period), as well
as accepted halakha practiced by the majority of the Israelite community today." 349

Other Messianic believers outright call them dangerous. They declare

that followers of rabbinic and halakhic explanations and commentaries
deny Jesus as the Messiah. Furthermore, Messianic believers deny the
authority of the Pharisees and believe they were superseded and
contradicted by Messianism.
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"When we begin to study and observe Torah to become like Messiah,

there are pitfalls we must avoid. One such pitfall is the study of Mishnah and
Talmud (Rabbinic traditional Law). There are many people and congregations
that place a great emphasis on rabbinic legal works, such as the Mishnah and the
Talmud in search of their Hebrew roots. People are looking to the rabbis for
answers on how to keep Gods commands, but if one looks into the Mishnah and
does what it says, he or she is not a follower of the Messiah. Or, if one looks into
the Talmud and does what it says, he or she is not a follower of the Messiah he
or she is a follower of the rabbis because Rabbi Yeshua, the Messiah, is not
quoted there []. Rabbinic Judaism is not Messianic Judaism. Rabbinic Judaism
is not founded in Messiah. Rabbinic Judaism, for the most part, is founded in the
yeast the teachings of the Pharisees. Yeshuas teachings and the discipleship
that He brought His students through was not Rabbinic Judaism. There is a real
danger in Rabbinics. There is a real danger in Mishnah and Talmud. No one
involved in Rabbinics has ever come out on the other side more righteous than
when he or she entered. He or she may look holier than thou but they do not
have the life changing experience clearly represented in the lives of the believers
of the Messianic communities of the first century." 353

Canon. The Old Testament is generally accepted to be divinely

inspired. Theologian David H. Stern in his Jewish New Testament
Commentary in his defense of Paul and his epistles says, he is fully
congruent with Messianic Judaism, and that the New Testament is to be
taken by Messianic Jews as the inspired Word of G-d.
This is the
mainstream view although there are several schools of thought. Very few
Messianic believers are troubled by the writings of Paul and reject his
writings, holding them in less esteem than those of the Gospel writers.
Often, the emphasis is on the idea that the Old Testament is the only
scripture the early believers universally had, and that, except for the
recorded words of Jesus, the New Testament was meant to be an inspired
commentary on the Old Testament. This agrees with Protestant views of
scripture and canon of accepted books which are: the Torah meaning one
or all of: The Law; Teaching; and Instruction. They are also called
the Chumash meaning: The Five Books of Moses which is also the
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Greek Pentateuch. Neviim meaning: "Prophets." Ketuvim meaning

"Writings" or Hagiographa. Including the Gospels of Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John, Acts, Pauline Epistles, General Epistles of James, Peter,
John, Jude and the Book of Revelation. Stern has produced a Messianic
Jewish version of the Bible called the Complete Jewish Bible, a translation
using more Hebrew idioms and loanwords (such as shalom instead of
peace), and using Hebrew transliterations of names (for example, Miryam
and Yosef for Mary and Joseph). The word translated most commonly as
laws is probably more rightly translated as teachings. The Torah contains
the 613 laws of the covenant between God and Israel. For Jews, whether
they are Messianic or not, observance is covenantal. For Messianic
believers, the Torah is held as the foundation for teaching, rebuking,
correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be
thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
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Scriptural commentary.
There are a number of Messianic
commentaries on various books of the Bible, both Tanakh and New
Testament texts from Matthew, Acts, Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews.
David H. Sterns one-volume New Testament Commentary provides select
explanatory notes from a Messianic Jewish point of view without looking
into the issues of composition, history, date and setting. Other noted New
Testament commentary authors include: Joseph Shulams commentaries
on Acts, Romans, and Galatians; TorahResource Tim Heggs
commentaries on Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews; Daniel Thomas
Lancaster, who writes for the First Fruits of Zion Torah Club series; Stuart
Sacks who wrote Hebrews Through a Hebrews Eyes; and J.K. McKee of
TNN Online who has written several volumes under the byline for the
Practical Messianic. Some of the main beliefs and doctrines present in
Messianic Judaism involving biblical eschatology are: the end of days, the
second coming of Jesus as the conquering Messiah, the gathering of
Israel, a rebuilt third temple, a resurrection of the dead (that Jesus was
resurrected after his death), and the Millennial Sabbath. The Bible - the
Tanakh and the Apostolic Writings (sometimes called the Brit
Chadasha) are usually considered to be the established and divinely
inspired biblical scriptures by Messianic Jews.
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The vision of evening and morning. The vision of the

cleansing and subsequent reconsecration or rededication of the temple
begins in Daniel 8:13-14, when the prophet hears two angels conversing;
one asking the other, How long [shall be] the vision [concerning] the
daily [sacrifice,] and the transgression of desolation, to give both the
sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? And the answer was,
Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be
cleansed. (NIV: evenings and mornings) This means that the rebellion
of the Jews which causes desolation, will only finally and completely end
with the temple rebuilt 2300 prophetic days of years from the time the

daily sacrifice ceased in 70 AD. That will be the year 2370 AD. Orthodox
or Rabbinic Judaism believes the revival of the temple sacrifices is still
significant for the remission of sin. That with the temple rebuilt and the
sacrifices restored, the Jews will once again be able to make sacrifices for
the atonement of sins and receive mercy, and so be cleansed and the
desolation ended. But not quite. The end of the wrath of G-d ends for all
of Israel in 2009 at the end of the 390 prophetic days of years of Ezekiel in
Ezekiel 4:4-6 compounded by the ordinance in Leviticus 26:27-35. The
kingdom of Israel fully served the Lords wrath in 2009, the year the first
African-American, Barak Hussein Obama, whose father was a Yemeni
Muslim and mother a white peace corp volunteer, was elected president
of the United States and the European Union had its first Council
President, Hermann van Rompuy. The former is significant in that we saw
Americas war on terror reduced in terms of refraining from directly
putting boots on the ground in the Middle East which saw the
emergence of an intensified sectarian conflict between Muslims brought
about by the religious war led by a predominantly Sunni Islamic Caliphate
of Iraq, Syria and the Levant (ISIS/ISIL) against the American-backed Shi'adominated government of Iraq; a new policy on Israel; and a deal on Irans
nuclear capability. This policy made possible Americas recovering from a
recession due to increased spending in two Persian Gulf wars, and war
against the Taliban in Afghanistan. The latter (the functioning of the EU),
saw the European economic crisis brought about by integration of a
number of European countries into the EU. However, the desolation
continues and Satans deception takes its victims as indeed they continue
to this day, in the unbelief of the Jews to their Messiah, Jesus Christ. Only
in the reconsecration of the third temple when the shekinah the glory of
the Lord in Jesus Christ their Messiah will this unbelief broken. As this
wrath is lifted, we see a more temperate Israel evolve from its hardline
and at times inhumane treatment of its enemies and a more dynamic
relationship between its allies evolve.
The Temple Mount. The single most coveted piece of real property
today in the world is the temple mount where the temple of Solomon in
Jerusalem stood. Administered by the Waqf, the Muslim clergy charged
with the preservation of antiquities by the state of Palestine. Only the
Western Wall, or what is now popularly referred to as the Wailing Wall is
exposed to Western Jerusalem inside the state of Israel. It is the scene, we
too often see in pictures of Jews praying reminiscent of the only time they
were allowed to see Jerusalem 135 years after it was leveled by Hadrian,
only to weep and wail at what befell it. To be cleansed and reconsecrated
or rededicated in the old Jewish rite, the temple mount or the entire
Jerusalem must be reclaimed by Israel and the temple rebuilt by the Jews.
This objective is the ultimate goal of the Jews in present-day Israel. In fact,
Judaisms eschatology demands that the temple be rebuilt and the whole
of Jerusalem reclaimed as in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. All the
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objects used in the rituals related to the temple are duplicated and
searches for the originals have long been underway. The habiliments of
the priests, likewise, have been reproduced.
It was in the temple of Solomon, in Jerusalem where the Levite
priest offered the daily sacrifice of lamb in the morning and evening and
once a year, during the Feast of Yom Hakkipurrim (Day of Atonement) the
high priest enters the Holy of Holies to burn sacrifices for the sins of the
nation. This annual rite is made exclusively in the temple. To this date,
since 70 AD, this Jewish rite, a requirement for the atonement of sins as
decreed in Exodus 29: 38-41 has never been restored. All four events in
Daniel 8:13-14 will end after 2,300 evenings and mornings (or prophetic
days). While the Babylonian calendar has only 360 days, and a year is
some 11 days longer than 12 lunar months, a 13th month ve-Adar, is
added seven times during every 19-year cycle in a process that modern
day calendar makers call intercalation. In this manner, its calendar would
have accounted for the lost days so that after the 2300 evenings and
mornings
it should be synchronized with the modern-day Roman
calendar. Thus, 2370 AD will be the date of the cleansing or
reconsecration and rededication of the sanctuary in the temple of
Solomon. This time in the future, the technological means to rebuild an
ancient structure as the temple of Solomon will make it quicker especially
since data is already being accumulated concerning the materials to be
used and the exact location of the temple on Mount Moriah, as the temple
mount is known in the time of Abrahams sacrifice of Isaac. The exact
position of the temple (Muslim clergy deny the existence of the temple of
Solomon) is currently the subject of exhaustive archaeological research
and satellite reconnaissance. The sight of heavy equipment used in
digging earth, e.g. backhoe, being maneuvered to a position near the
Wailing Wall for archaeological purposes will send the Waqf to a frenzy of
screaming and soon enough Palestinians armed with stones will start an
intifadah. AK-47s will be heard in the distance firing into the air, insisting
that Jerusalem is the Muslims third holiest city.
The act of reviving the temple is the literal and temporal parallel
event in the spiritual. Events that happen concerning the temple are a
consequence of parallel events in heaven. As Jesus is the ultimate temple,
the revival of the temple of Solomon also has a spiritual parallel Jesus,
the temple, coming down from heaven, very likely on the eight day of its
reconsecration, as the glory of G-d (shekinah) descends on the temple, as
seen by Ezekiel in his vision (Eze 10:4). This is the second and final
coming. Thus, the reconsecration of the revived temple which is no longer
significant for the cleansing of sins, will be a reproof of the obstinacy of
the Orthodox Jews. Its utility will be to confirm that the temple is Christ,
for at the same time the temple was prophesied to be rebuilt after their
exile from Babylon was also prophesied the coming of the Messiah in the

same prophecy in Daniel 9:24-27. It will also be used by Satan as an

instrument of deception to set up the abomination. As for desolation,
since the Babylonians under king Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple
Daniel has spoken of the desolation that has been decreed to the very
end. History has shown this prophecy to be true since then. The temple
mounts significance lies in the fact that Jerusalem is G-ds footstool. In
Isaiah 66:1 the Lord said
heaven is my throne and the earth is my
footstool. In 1 Chronicles 28:2, David said of the temple he was about to
build to become the footstool of the Lord. Furthermore, Ezekiels vision
justifies this temple to be the dimension of the temple that will be rebuilt
because of the double inheritance that is spoken of in Israels restoration
and the presence of the shekinah.
Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
In the time of Emperor
Constantine, his mother, Helena had overseen the building of churches
upon sites which commemorated the life of Jesus Christ. One of them, the
Church of the Holy Sepulcher is named after the alleged site where Jesus
tomb was discovered by Helena. In about 325 AD Constantine had
ordered the demolition of Hadrians temple to Venus instructing Macarius
the bishop of Jerusalem to build a church on the site. The church stands
outside the temple mount. According to the Pilgrim of Bordeaux in 333
AD, There, at present, by the command of the Emperor Constantine, has
been built a basilica, that is to say, a church of wondrous beauty.
Helena was present in 326 at the construction of the church and involved
herself in the excavations and construction. The primary custodians of
the church are the Eastern Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, and Roman
Catholic church, with the Greek Orthodox church having the lions share.
In the 19th century, the Coptic Orthodox, the Ethiopian Orthodox and the
Syriac Orthodox acquired lesser responsibilities, which include shrines and
other structures within and around the building. Times and places of
worship for each community are strictly regulated in common areas.

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Dome of the Rock. The shrine of the Dome of the Rock (Arabic:
Masjid Qubbat As-Sakhrah; Hebrew: Kipat Hasela) built in in 691-692 AD,
it is the oldest existing Islamic building in the world. The Dome of the
Rock is located at the visual center of the Temple Mount platform which
Muslims refer to as the Bait-ul-Muqaddas (Noble Sanctuary). In 637 AD
the Rashidun Caliphate army conquered Jerusalem during the Muslim
conquest of Syria. According to Prof. Shlomo Dov Goitein of the Hebrew
University, the Dome of the Rock was intended to compete with the many
fine buildings of worship of other religions. The very form of its rotunda,
although it was foreign to Islam, attempted to rival the many Christian
domes of its time. In the Origin of the plan of the Dome of the Rock, A.C.
Cresswell notes that those who built the shrine used the measurements of
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The diameter of the dome of the
shrine is 20.20 m and its height 20.48 m, while the diameter of the dome
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of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is 20.90m and its height 21.05m.

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Mosque of the al-Aqsa. This is the second mosque located inside

the Temple Mount occupying the southern end. Considered as the third
holiest site in Islam, Muslims believe that Muhammad was transported
from the Sacred Mosque in Mecca to al-Aqsa during the Night Journey
(hegira). The al-Aqsa Mosque was originally a small prayer house built
by the Rashidun caliph Umar, but was rebuilt and expanded by the
Ummayad caliph Abd al-Malik and finished by his son al-Walid in 705 AD.
Architectural historian A. C. Creswell, cites observation made by a Gallic
monk Arculf, of his pilgrimage to Palestine in 67982 AD noting the
possibility that Umar erected a primitive quadrangular building for a
capacity of 3,000 worshipers somewhere on the Haram ash-Sharif or
Temple Mount. Arculf, however, visited Palestine during the reign of
Muawiyah I, and it is possible that Muawiyah ordered the construction,
not Umar. This latter claim is explicitly supported by the early Muslim
scholar al-Muthahhar bin Tahir. After the first known recorded earthquake
in 746 in the time of Muslim occupation of the Temple Mount, the mosque
was completely destroyed and rebuilt by the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur in
754 AD, and again rebuilt by his successor al-Mahdi in 780. According to
several Muslim scholars, including Mujir ad-Din, al-Suyuti, and alMuqaddasi, the mosque was reconstructed and expanded by the caliph
Abd al-Malik in 690 along with the Dome of the Rock. Abd al-Malik
shifted the central axis of the mosque some 40 meters (131 ft) westward,
in his overall plan for the Haram al-Sharif. The earlier axis is represented
in the structure by the niche still known as the mihrab of Umar. In
placing emphasis on the Dome of the Rock, Abd al-Malik had his architects
align his new al-Aqsa Mosque according to the position of the Rock, thus
shifting the main northsouth axis of the Temple Mount, a line running
through the Dome of the Chain and the mihrab of Umar.
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Direct access from palace to mosque was a well-known feature in

the Umayyad period, as evidenced at various early sites. Not until 1033
did the quakes ceased the last one recorded during the first hundred
years after the birth of Islam, which may be presumed to be directly
related to this access. Viewed as a prohibition, persons other than priests
were not allowed to step into the sacred place. Reason enough to believe
it is the probable cause of the earthquakes. The 1033 earthquake
destroyed most of al-Aqsa, but two years later in 1035, the Fatimid caliph
Ali az-Zahir built another mosque which has stood to the present-day.
The earthquakes have also been largely confined to the al Aqsa while the
nearby Dome of the Rock was only once affected by an earthquake on July
11, 1927 rendering useless the repairs made in previous years. Interior
view of the mosque showing the
mihrab,
indicating the qibla
(direction). The historical significance of the al-Aqsa Mosque in Islam is
further emphasized by the fact that Muslims turned towards al-Aqsa when

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they prayed for a period of sixteen or seventeen months after migration

to Medina in 624 AD, thus it became the first qibla that Muslims faced for
prayer. According to Allame Tabatabayee, God prepared for change of
qibla, first by revealing the story of Abraham and his son, Ishmael, their
prayers for the Kaaba and Mecca, their construction of the House
(Kaaba) and the order then received to cleanse it for the worship of Allah.
Then Quranic verses were revealed which ordered Muslims to turn
towards Masjid al-Haram in their prayers. (Sura 2:142151 Quran).
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Implications of the temples rebuilding.

In the aftermath of
the 1967 Six-Day War, the waqf Ministry of Jordan held control of the alAqsa Mosque instead of the Israeli government. Israel transferred the
control of the mosque and the northern Temple Mount to the Islamic waqf
trust, which is independent of the Israeli government, while Israeli
Security Forces patrol and conduct searches within the perimeter of the
mosque. The
1969 arson attack prompted the waqf to employ a
committee of architects, technicians and craftsmen for maintenance and
counteract the escalating presence of Israeli security forces around the
site. Since September 28, 2000, when Ariel Sharon and members of the
Likud Party visited the mosque, the Islamic Movement, in cooperation with
the waqf, have attempted to increase Muslim control inside the Haram AlSharif. Some activities included refurbishing and renovating abandoned
structures. Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, the head imam and manager of
the al-Aqsa Mosque was assigned the role of Grand Mufti of Jerusalem in
2006 by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. Other imams including
Shaykh Yusuf Abu Sneina and the previous Mufti of Palestine, Sheikh
Ikrima Sabri. Another of the former Imams of al-Aqsa, Shaykh Muhammad
Abu Shusha, now resides in Amman. Ownership of the al-Aqsa Mosque is a
contentious issue in the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Israel claims
sovereignty over the mosque along with all of the Temple Mount, but
Palestinians hold unofficial custodianship of the site through the Islamic
waqf. During the negotiations at the 2000 Camp David Summit,
Palestinians demanded complete ownership of the mosque and other
Islamic holy sites in East Jerusalem.
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The temple of Solomons rebuilding will be a tension-filled event

(the desolations being decreed unto the end; Dan 9:26 ) much like the
one in the time of Zerubbabel. It will become one of the main issues that
will be settled in the wars that will fill the final Armageddon - to be
resolved in the battlefield. As in October 13, 1973 at the height of the Yom Kippur
War, With both sides amply supplied, there was no hope for a cease-fire until there was a
resolution in the battlefield. He who wins the war, holds the truth (Rev 19:11).
As in the previous wars which involved Israel and the Arab countries
encircling it, Jerusalem being the site where the prophet Mohammad
ascended to heaven (Hegira), it is holy to the Muslims. It will be nave to
presume they will give it up to Israel, without a war breaking out though
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the consequence of earlier wars have also brought Muslim nations to the
fold of the alliance with Protestants led by the United States and its allies.
Its consequence is such, that as the temple is rebuilt as in the time of Ezra
and Nehemiah, the builders arm to protect themselves as the opposition
against its rebuilding from Muslims is imminent. The events leading to its
rebuilding will likewise be as a gathering of the nations on that great day
of the Lord Almighty. This reconsecration of the sanctuary in 2370 AD is a
parallel event to the return of Jesus, who is himself the temple, which he
often refers to his body, which is also the symbol of the church. His
coming will then be the shekinah that descends and enters the east
gate as in the time of Solomon during this cleansing or reconsecration or
rededication (Eze 43:2). The rededication of the physical temple of
Solomon will be as a light to the faithful and a landmark for the events
which will transpire to guide them through the very difficult times ahead,
more particularly during the confrontation at Armageddon. What it will be
likened to is as the 70 AD destruction of the temple and Jerusalem as
rebellious Hassidims or Rabbinic Jews continue in their disbelief and the
gangs of the Sicarii, Zealots and the high priests defend the temple to
the invading hordes of Muslims that have opposed the rebuilding and laid
siege since then. The same, it is believed, will be destroyed once again
during the final battle at Armaggedon which will roll up to Jerusalem,
destroying it, shortly after it is rebuilt and reconsecrated, henced
cleansed. During this time, Jesus Christ, the shekinah falls back
where the hordes will be obliterated in the valley between the Salt Sea
and the road leading to it. Revelation 21:22 no longer speaks of a
physical temple but a spiritual one, as may be drawn from a simple
exegetical interpretation of Revelation Chapter 11, Daniel, Zechariah and
Ezekiel speaks of a physically rebuilt temple. Thus, the prohibition found
in Revelation 11:2 not to measure the outer court of the Gentiles is an
admonition for preachers to preach with strength and power in order to
bring the good news to as many of the Gentiles so that as many as could
be drawn into the faith, thus enlarging or reducing the outer court for the
Gentiles.
The developments in Israel at the turn of the 20th century since its
unilateral declaration of its independence in May 14, 1948, has seen its
wars with its Arab neighbors who aided Yasser Arafats Palestinian
Liberation Organization subsiding because of the help of Protestantdominated nations led by the United States, United Kingdom, Canada,
Australia, the New Zealand and its allies. True, only by taking concrete
steps by investing in Israel together with military and diplomatic aid, e..g.
the recent Road Map to Peace which removed terroristic suicide bombings
in the heart of Israel, have peace come to Israel. It is a fulfillment of the
prophecies of the punishment of its punishers that the world will see, as
more of the intransigent Middle Eastern countries who seek Israels
destruction, will themselves will be laid desolate, utterly; e.g. Iraq (which

was Assyria and Babylon) in the most recent aftermath of the First and
Second Persian Gulf Wars. However, the events do not augur well for the
Coalition of the Willing. Iraqis are not expected to take the aftermath of
the Persian Gulf war lying down. Neither the belligerent Arab countries
todate, Iran and Syria, nor the rest of the Muslim world in the not so
distant future. The destruction of much of the heritage of Iraq and
Afghanistan as rich sources of much of the history of the three great
faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam will serve to fuel the Muslims rage
after viewing at the desolation it has come to. The Persian Gulf Wars, like
no other wars before it, marked how the elements in Revelation 16:12-16
of the kings of the east (Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan) being gathered by
three evil spirits resembling frogs performing miracles will be fulfilled.
Iraq and Afghanistan have borne the brunt of the test in actual
warfare of the array of high-tech weapons and weapons system that the
United States has prepared against superpowers like itself. Never before
have these weapons and systems been applied in the scale as the Persian
Gulf Wars have allowed to a limited scale, the Western democracies in the
coalition. One such weapon was the controversial depleted uranium
munitions used by American-designed A-10 Warthog subsonic anti-tank
plane; attack helicopters like the AH-64 Apache and AC-130 Spectre
planes fitted with chain guns and cannons. The DE rounds shred tank like
paper and revolutionized war strategies heavily relying on the tank such
as Russia has relied upon in desert warfare and applied similarly by Arab
countries. Electronically equipped with radar, infra-red and laser weapon
systems, night-operating AC-130 Spectre gunships carrying two 155 mm
howitzers, four 30 mm cannons and four 20 mm chain guns, can hit
enemy hiding under dense foliage, inside buildings and underground
bunkers with lethal bunker piercing howitzer rounds or 4,000 rounds per
minute of DE rounds. These planes were lethal in the lush mountains of
Afghanistan, and more so in the exposed desert terrain or tundra. It has
also irradiated battlefields and exposed both friends and foes alike. It has
also left the world in awe of the forthcoming use in increasing number of
by-products of nuclear reactions and the likelihood of contained hybrid
nuclear explosions to level a mountain hideout or destroy with extreme
prejudice an enemys central command. It could be the presidents or
kings palace in order to strategically end a war. Many analysts believe
America and its allies are predisposed to act in favor of retaliation for a
terrorist nuclear attack on their soil. Imagine the desolation Israels allies
will deliver to terrorists and the collaborating nation(s) should they
successfully detonate a nuclear warhead against the alliance.
Furthermore, American technological advances in the space shuttle which
no other country holds today makes it capable to quickly refuel its
satellites, repair, arm and rearm them as satellite hunters and killers
under the Star Wars program initiated under then President Ronald
Reagan in 1983. Without its satellites an enemy is no match to an enemy
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with one. Charles Morris in his book, Iron Destinies and Lost Opportunities,
draws the conclusion that these developments in American arms
technology led to Russias throwing the towel in the arms race with
America as the former has consistently virtually shredded Russian tanks
at a ratio of 3:50 and planes at a ratio of 3:200 in the battles between
Israel and the Arab countries which sought to destroy it during the Cold
War a proxy war.
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The few remaining options for the belligerent is terrorism. One

possible scenario is that international terrorists in the mold of Osama bin
Laden, who is believed to have studied the histories of the Mongol hordes
and the Ottoman empire crosses from any of the war-torn Arab nations
like Iraq and Afghanistan into China and proceed to Korea to make
arrangements for a Korean submarine to transport weapons grade nuclear
material and technical experts to the high seas in the vicinity of the
Moluccas, a Muslim pirates haven then, and is still now. Traveling during a
typhoon, it will unload its lethal cargo to a freighter. The freighter with
Japanese registry was sold some five years back to one of bin Ladens
dummy corporation incorporated in anyone of corrupt governments in
Africa, Latin America or the Pacific, or in the new democracies of eastern
Europe. It travels to destinations around the world. In the span of five
years, all of its original crew have slowly and discreetly been replaced
after a huge retirement pay, with members of al-Qaeda. Their mission is
to assemble the electronics to explode a nuclear devise hidden in a
container deep in the cargo hold and during the course of its normal
business of bringing cargoes to ports all over the world, detonate it at an
American or Israeli port. To find this ship will be like looking for a needle in
a haystack. In March 2010, a South Korean corvette, the Cheonan,
believed to be tracking North Koreas submarines was, according to
investigations, torpedoed by a North Korean submarine.
Since then,
North Korean ships have notoriously been intercepted carrying loads of
weapons which included MiG fighters and SCUD missiles.
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Charles Morris gives us an historical account of some of the more

recent wars between Israel and the Arab countries who sought its
destruction, and wrote:
If the world had lingering doubts of the second-rank military status of
the Soviet Union, they were effectively dispelled by the 1967 six-day desert war
between Israel, and Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. In just a few days, Israel, using
French fighter planes and British and American tanks, and with only relatively
light losses of its own, destroyed a military machine twice as big that had been
painstakingly built up by the Soviet Union since the Suez War at a cost of more
than $1 billion.384

The next war was the 1973 Yom Kippur War when the Israelis came to the

verge of taking both Cairo and Damascus.

Here is an account of that
war by Charles Morris. In October 6, 1973, the Sinai desert air was split
by a barrage of Egyptian artillery as 8,000 Egyptians swarmed across
pontoon bridges for the armored divisions on the Golan Heights. Syria
launched an attack with 900 tanks, artillery barrage and MiG-17. The
first days of fighting shocked the Israelis. Soviet SA-6 SAMs and
antiaircraft guns
downed thirty A-4 Skyhawks and
several F-4E
Phantoms. On the third day of the war 60 tanks headed for the Canal.
The Egyptians raked the Israelis with Sagger anti-tank guided missiles
Losing 34 tanks, the brigade was forced to a humiliating surrender.
Israeli counter-attacks on the second and third days were repulsed. The
Israelis concentrated their forces against the Syrians on the Golan. For
two days, they pushed the Syrians back as 60,000 Egyptian troops
poured across. On the 10th, the SA-6 on the Golan fell silent as the
Syrians ran out of missiles. Regaining control of the air, the Israelis
wrecked havoc in the Syrian lines and the Golan front collapsed within
hours as the Syrians fled toward Damascus.
With both sides amply
supplied, the only resolution on the battlefield was a victory. Egypt
th
mounted an armored assault into the Sinai on the 14 . Out of the
effective range of the SA-6 . The Israeli armor rolled out to meet the
Egyptian each with at least 1,000 tanks. Israel, destroying more than 500
Egyptian tanks in a single day at the cost of only 30 of its own. The next
day, Ariel Sharon forced a crossing of the Canal. By the 18th several
hundred Israeli tanks were taking out the SA-6 batteries restoring control
of the air. Kosygin was already in the capital pleading with Sadat to accept
a ceasefire. On the 19th Sadat understood that the war was lost.
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The 1982 Israeli attack of the Bekaa valley showed that as

technology reshaped the instruments of war, it has reshaped the tactics.
The great efficiency of modern defensive systems deployed had driven
tactical airpower commanders to disable enemy air defenses first before
ground targets can be attacked. Air supremacy became the call of the
day. The Bekaa valley in 1982 was the classic demonstration. The
approaches to Beirut were strictly defended by layered Soviet SAM with
perimeter defenses supplied by MiG-21 and MiG-23. The Israelis managed
their offensive with Grumman E-2C radar planes each capable of tracking
155 targets. The first attacking wave consisted of camera-carrying
pilotless drones able to scan 115 square miles from a 1,000 meter altitude
and transmit real-time photos of areas 40-50 meters across. The E-2Cs
directed anti-SAM rocket strikes as the drones transmitted the information
and the launch signatures of the SAMs as the drones themselves were
targetted. F-4s with Shrike anti-SAM homing missiles attacked SAM
batteries. Israeli electronic countermeasures disabled the Syrian
interceptor force. Their SAM batteries silenced, the Syrian MiGs had no
chance against the F-15s and F-16s. The entire defensive array all the
390

SAMs and all the airfields was eliminated in a single day.

391

American military might at present is such that a second, much less

a third world country has no match against it in a conventional war. The
remaining option for such countries are best exemplified by the Islamic
terrorists use of tactics like suicide bombing and remote detonated
improvised explosive devices. The bane of technology is that it has so
advanced to make possible a discreet nuclear attack. Because the
electronics to assemble the firing mechanism to detonate a nuclear
explosive may now be obtained from your local hardware and weapons
grade nuclear materials are now in the hands of regimes that harbor
animosity against the United States, the primary protector of Israel, the
threat has become real. The Dutch centrifuge which made it possible for
Pakistan (who acquired it legally) to manufacture uranium to initially
power its nuclear reactors is the same design that Iran (who acquired it
clandestinely) used to manufacture its own uranium. United States
reprisals will also be certain and by this time technological advances in
the United States will have made it possible to utilize hybrid nuclear
weapons as munitions in standard army ordnance and equipment. In
1969, the U.S. nuclear arsenal included the Davy Crockett. Manned by a
crew of two, it is believed to be able to deliver the U.S. smallest 5 kiloton
nuclear warhead which has a destructive radius of 120 square meters.
This is enough to level a mountain hideout or a capitol. Imagine what a
terrorist with a few grams of nuclear material can do. While Armageddon
is all about Jerusalem with the people of G-d encamped around it, the
wars to implement it will occur anywhere in the world. The use of nuclear
weapons will be imminent. All it takes is a terror group to initiate it. The
alliance of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New
Zealand are certainly predisposed to retaliating in kind, though they may
not initiate it.

392

Allied Arab nations that have cooperated with America to help

defend Israel like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain, and
even Libya, whose president Khadaffi, when he was alive, has owned up
to its responsibility in previous terrorist attacks, had also joined. The wars
have also been a means for the prophecy to be fulfilled concerning Israel,
that the kings and nations of the world will know that the G-d of Israel is
G-d. This sibling rivalry (not uncommon for the sons of other women to
claim inheritance from their father) has escalated into feuds that have
grown into the scale of the present-day conflict between Israel and the
Arab states. In the end, these wars will end all wars. Muslims have never
become more incessant at their claims to Jerusalem. The Palestinian
administrators of the temple mount, the Waqf, while not entirely denying
its existence or of the ruins after satellite reconnaissance found them
hidden in the Kidron valley, are more concerned with the preservation of
its history when Jerusalem was given over to the heirs of Ishmael. It is one

of the many issues that deny that Israel is the chosen people of G-d.
There is reason to believe that the temple seen by Ezekiel in his vision is
also the temple that will be reconstructed and is the same temple in
Haggai 2:6-9, thus:
{2:6} For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it [is] a little while, and I
will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry [land; ]{2:7}
And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I
will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. {2:8} The silver [is]
mine, and the gold [is] mine, saith the LORD of hosts. {2:9} The glory of this
latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and
in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts. (Hag 2:6-9 AV)

While these were said at the time of the re-dedication of the temple
of Zerubbabel (after the Babylonian exile) by the prophet Haggai, it is
believed, by the very words of the prophet, of a future event after the
restoration of Israel, and refers to the temple in Ezekiels vision which
temples dimensions will be followed in the temple to be rebuilt and
reconsecrated in 2370. The shekinah or the glory of G-d will be Jesus
Christ, the Messiah, descending on the temple. In fact, it is believed that
the temple in Ezekiels vision together with a description of its plan and
dimensions is the temple that will be rebuilt in 2370. The temple of
Ezekiel occupies three square miles and on it the prophet saw the glory
(shekinah) of G-d come down. Of the city of Jerusalem, this is what John,
the apostle said:
{21:23} And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in
it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb [is] the light thereof.
(Rev: 21:23).

Ezekiels vision of the temple is believed to be the dimension of the

temple that will be rebuilt and subsequently reconsecrated in 2370. Paul
Jablonowskis sons to glory replica in scale of the Millennial temple built by
John
W.
Schmitt
may
be
found
in
http://www.sonstoglory.com/ThirdTempleEzekielsMillennialTemple.htm.
The temple is maintained not only as a grim reminder, but also for its
utility for the few who complied with all the decrees of the Lord, e.g. Jesus
Christ and the prophets who are deemed to have done this, perfectly.
Reason enough to believe that the temple remains for the second coming
of Jesus, who is also the temple (Rev 21:22).
393

Ezekiels temple, which is believed to be the dimensions of the third

temple that will be rebuilt in 2370 AD has a measured outer court, the
court of the Gentiles. Its architectural and engineering design gives the
dimension of a physical temple that will actually be built and consecrated
as the third temple. The prohibition to measure the outer court of the
Gentiles found in Revelation 11:2 does not influence the number of the

Jews whose restoration is more appropriately referred to in Revelation

14:1 which numbers the Jews in the inner court to be 144,000 with 12,000
from each tribe. This is believed to mean that all of the Jews will be saved,
144 being the perfect square of 12. Ezekiels vision of the valley of the
dry bones in Chapter 37 refers to the same prophecy concerning the
whole of Israel. On the other hand, the temple referred to in Revelation
11:2 says it is not to be measured until the times of the Gentiles are
fulfilled (Luke 21:24) 1260 years (42 months) later from 70 AD or after
1330 AD. This is a spiritual temple signifying that the number of Gentiles
are not bound by the dimensions of the outer court of the temple
described in Ezekiel, but that it depends on the strong force by which the
Word of G-d is preached to the Gentiles such that the more of the Gentiles
believe, the dimension is thus proportionately determined.
The rebuilding will most certainly involve leaders of nations that
have historically been involved since Israels homecoming, e.g. the Arab
nations in particular, Jordan, the West Bank, and the rest of Arab countries
sympathetic to the Palestinians. Before the temple will be rebuilt, Eastern
Jerusalem and the temple mount must be claimed by Israel first. This act
will be met with violent resistance by Muslims, in particular Jordan who
will see it as an annexation of its territory. It is perceived that Jordan
today enjoys relative peace because one of the wives of the father of
Jordans King Abdullah, the former King Hussein (deceased), is an
American whose father served as assistant Secretary of Defense under
the Truman administration. Queen Noor of Jordan, Elizabeth (Lisa) Najeeb
Halaby by birth, is an American citizen who descends from a Syrian father
who is a Christian and an American mother Doris Carlquist, who is of
Swedish descent. As a Christian nation, the United States of America is
the shepherd David referred to in Ezekiel 37:24 and being thus, it is able
to stay the Lords judgment. Until then this prophecies found in Isaiah
and Jeremiah will be, but for how long?
{63:1} Who [is] this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from
Bozrah? this [that is] glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his
strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. {63:2} Wherefore [art
thou] red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the
winefat? {63:3} I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people [there
was] none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in
my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain
all my raiment. (Isa 63:1-3 AV)
{49:12} For thus saith the LORD; Behold, they whose judgment [was] not to
drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and [art] thou he [that] shall
altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely
drink [of it. ]{49:13} For I have sworn by myself, saith the LORD, that Bozrah
shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities
thereof shall be perpetual wastes. (Jer 49:12-13 AV)

There will be wars, before a concession will be arrived at. Even so,
the desolation having been decreed to the end, will continue (Dan 9:26).
However, as in the time of Cyrus the Great, the Achaemene who rebuilt
the temple of Solomon and the walls of Jerusalem, the Persians (modernday Iran) will again have a hand in this momentous occasion. Today, as
Irans nuclear facilities threaten Israel who seek its destruction, and puts
America and allies in the brink of another conflict, there are reasons not to
go along with Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus plans to
attack Iran and destroy its nuclear facilities. The idea could take some
time to settle in, but after the dilemma of how to end the desolation of
Iraq (present-day Babylon) which up till the present time sees the
formation of Islamic terrorists one on top of the other, it will become
acceptable that Babylons desolation shall be forever as the prophet
Jeremiah foretold (Jer 25:12). For what scriptures say about the end of
these beasts will be how they shall be. In which case, the pope, as an
interested party, will likely surrender the treasures of the temple in the
possession of the Roman Catholic church once it is clear that the plans
upon which a revived Holy Roman empire will be established are in place,
very likely in terms of loans from the European Union for Israels
expansion in the West Bank, aid in the Gaza Strip and funds to finance the
rebuilding of the temple. It is a known secret that original artifacts from
the temple have been in the hands of the Roman Catholic church since
the time of the Romans, particularly after the 70 AD fall of Jerusalem. As
in the time of Daniel, an angel of the Lord will be summoned, as in
Daniels vision, to cause the Muslims to acquiesce into the rebuilding of
the temple without necessarily giving Jerusalem up. Joint use however,
are already in place for Christians, Jews and Muslims who make devotions
in the temple.

Chapter 4 The Beasts of Daniel and John

The end time prophecies in the Book of Daniel are best seen in
the light of related prophecies that are found in the Book of Revelation.
Without difficulty one should be able to find that most of these events are
already history and those which remain are events that will unmistakably
tell who the characters are based on what they were in the past, who they
are now, who they will be in the future and when they will happen.
Understand that the Book of Revelation is also called the revelation of
Jesus Christ. Here, he is the Lamb, worthy to open the seven seals and the

events in the vision of John are believed occurrences that begin shortly
before Jesus Christs time. Where Daniel 8:8-10 left off with the little
horn that came out from one of the four horns that reached the host of
the heavens, and it cast down [some] of the host and of the stars to the
ground, and stamped upon them; Revelation 12: 4 begins with his tail
drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the
earth: beginning the war in heaven. To follow through on the significance
of the temple as the focus of end time prophecies, we will note that
Revelation Chapter 12 opens at the time of Jesus Christs birth. Here
several significant events occurred in heaven and earth. First, it is the
time when the woman (the church) clothed with the sun, with the moon
on her feet and twelve stars crowning her head (twelve apostles)
appeared in heaven. She is pregnant with a child (Jesus who is also the
Word of G-d). Then the red dragon (Satan) with seven heads and ten
horns and seven crowns appeared and swept a third of the stars and
flung them to the earth and stood before the woman ready to devour the
child but the child was snatched up to G-d and His throne while the
woman fled to a place (a desert) where she is protected and taken cared
of for 1,260 years (Rev 12: 1-6). Thus, the church is said to be in the
wilderness. Church is to the new covenant as temple was to the old as
the place reserved for the worship of G-d. However, there is continuity, in
that both would have meant one and the same substance, and church
admitted the Gentiles who are not related consanguinely with the Jews
and did away with the sacrificial rites of the temple with the Lords
Supper. Notice too, that the dragon has ten horns and as horns are the
pride of whosoevers head it is worn, their number is more than there are
heads. Second, a war in heaven ensues between the angels loyal to G-d
against the rebel Satan, also referred to as the dragon. As the loyalist
outnumber the rebels two to one, the rebels (a third of the stars or
host of heaven) were flung to the earth. The dragon continued to make
war against the Word of G-d (Jesus) on earth and stood at the shores of
the sea from whence came the first beast. The dragon is a picture of a
beast with seven heads, ten horns and seven crowns on each head while
the first beast has seven heads, ten horns and ten crowns on each horn.
Third, the dragon gave the first beast (the Roman Empire) its authority.
The Roman emperor, through his representative in Judea, the Idumaean,
Herod the Great, Governor of Galilee and later King of Judea sought to kill
the child Jesus. He failed to do so, but his subsequent heirs to the throne
followed his pro-Roman policies. Fourth, the first beast gave the second
beast with two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon, its authority
(Rev 13:11-12). During this period, the Roman empire (first beast of the
Book of Revelation which is also the little horn of the Book of Daniel)
until its revival as the Holy Roman empire by the pope (second beast of
the Book of Revelation) as its image, gave through their rite of baptism,
the mark of the beast on the foreheads and/or the hands of their
subjects.
Living under the jurisdiction of the Roman empire then and
394

enjoying the convenience, if not luxury of its amenities was sufficient to

receive the mark. Later it is instituted in the chrism as the mark given
in baptism. No one during these times could live normal lives (buying or
selling) if one was not a Roman Catholic. Only barbarians living in the
fringes of the empire were free of the mark of the beast but even this was
not a guarantee that they were safe from the clutches of the beast as
their women-folk knew that their religiosity would come under scrutiny in
public places like the market, where everyone converges in keeping with
good marketing sense and everything is traded, not the least, gossip or
fishwives tales. Nor were they secure that their own villages would not be
conquered and annexed to the empires. Those who desired to enjoy the
cosmopolitan amenities obtainable within the boundaries of the empire,
most especially those whose business involved
trading within the
boundaries of the empire were later baptized in keeping with the culture
of the Romans. As the adage goes, When in Rome, do as the Romans
do. The emperor derived his authority from G-d and the symbol of this
authority, his crown, is set on his head by the bishop of Rome, the pope,
as the representative of G-d on earth. The Holy Roman Empire aspired to
equal the width and breadth of the Roman Empire, which at the height of
its power encompassed the British Isles from the West to Persia in the
East and all of the coastlands around the Mediterranean.
The Mark of the Beast and the Seal on the Foreheads of the
Servants of G-d. As the beast goes into battle, he will be known by his
mark or uniform. Revelation 13:11-18 speaks of the one who gave the
mark and who were given the mark. When the Roman empire (the first
beast) fell, the pope finding himself as the head of the church (the second
beast) and the sole surviving authority that united the empires subjects
who were all Roman Catholics, exercised this divine authority as the
only power from which the power of the Roman emperor could be
derived. His two horns are the Western Roman Catholic church in Rome
and the Eastern Orthodox church in Byzantium. The Roman pope, to
prevent the Roman empire from breaking up, crowned kings from the
former Germanic tribes as Holy Roman emperor to revive the Roman
empire, thus healing the wound of one of its heads (Rome) and preventing
its total disintegration. Having done this, he now exercised the authority
of the first beast, whose image is the Holy Roman empire. Having
established itself as authority, it caused fire to come from heaven in the
Inquisition that was established to put a stop to heresy. Heretics who did
not renounce their heresies were burned at the stakes. True, much of the
doctrines of the Roman Catholic church during the 1260 days that the
early Christian church and saints were given over to, were sound because
they were the work of the saints and the early Christian church who
continued even with the Roman Catholic church jurisdiction over them.
Furthermore, authority was given to the beast to get the truth out of the
Old and New Testaments (Rev 11:3-6) but anyone who tried to harm both

by making or even inserting or taking a word of truth out of it will be

destroyed. After their contribution to canon was made, many of them
were martyred by the Roman Catholic orthodoxy.
The mark of the beast is given to Roman Catholics during the rite
of baptism when a priest marks the forehead of the child and/or the right
hand as described in Revelation 13:16. Thus the mark or chrism, as the
Roman Catholic church calls this, was given soon after the birth of the
infant. Then, it was easy to question the loyalty of a non-Catholic to the
Holy Roman emperor and be suspected of heresy. All of the Christian
movements outside of the Roman Catholic church were declared as
heretics. Jews and Muslims who did not succumb to Roman Catholic
baptism were the subject of the Crusades. It is for this reason that
everyone who did not receive the mark could not buy or sell. You could
not come to a public place where imperial forces were watching for fear of
discrimination and persecution once you were identified as a barbarian,
not being a Roman Catholic. There was absolute fear living under the
feudal system then prevailing when you were not a Roman Catholic. All
the members of the royalty were Roman Catholics saved for those princes
who would later question the authority of the Roman Catholic church, but
who were themselves Roman Catholics by convenience and whose
number were too few and far between. Revelation 13:18 tells us that 666
is the mark of the beast. 6 is mans number, opposed to 7 which is the
number of divinity. 6 is mans number which signifies mans limitations
and falling short of the glory of G-d, but Christ is not mere man but the
Son of G-d. Three 6s are in opposition to Christs three characteristics:
king or prince of Israel, high priest in the temple of Solomon and prophet.
The anti-Christ possesses these three characteristics in opposition to
Christs by falsely assuming these characteristics of Christ with the
intention to deceive. Thus:
395

396

{13:18} Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number
of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number [is] Six hundred
threescore [and] six. (Rev 13:18 AV)

Jesus Christ, as the Messiah in prophecies was likened to the warrior-king

David, as he was often referred to as the root of Jesse and a branch of
David (Isa 11:1-6). He was also the great high priest (Hebrews 4:14-16)
and the prophet of all prophets greater than Elijah as one able to give
back life to the dead, calm a storm, turn water into wine, and perform
other miracles (Matt 11:14; 16:14; 17:12). The popular view believed by
so many Protestants concerning the rapture (Revelation 20:4) and the
anti-Christ who will give the mark of the beast during the last week to
confirm a covenant (Daniel 9:24-27) - such declaration must be viewed
with suspicion as part of a sinister plot to mislead and to hide the truth
from Christians. Many such ideas proliferate which has given rise to false

beliefs espoused by end-time Christians who harbor weapons preparing

for a literal fight with so-called zombies who help the anti-Christ give the
mark of the beast to the remaining Christians still alive on earth. Rome
had long started to give its mark even with the chrism instituted at a
much later time by the Roman Catholic church. The baptism of Jesus by
St. John was also exercised by the early Christian church before it was
adopted by the Roman Catholic church who gave it its own distinguishing
ritual, but the mark of the beast was deemed given as soon as the early
Christian church was given over to the Roman empire beginning the
church in the wilderness in 70 AD. Those who fell under its jurisdiction,
including the saints were deemed to have received the mark. The word
Roman to describe this faith, is so obvious and conspicuous, that this
faith is the faith that worships the ancient Roman empire spoken of in
Revelation 13:8, to wit:
{13:8} 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. (Rev 13:8 AV)

After the fall of the Roman empire, the Merovingians, who were
Salian Franks, and Nicean or Western Christians beginning with Clovis
allied with the Roman Catholic bishops and became protector of the
papacy. In return the pope justified and confirmed their kingship giving it
legal personality. The Ostrogoths and other Germanic tribes who were
Arian Christians were considered heretics by the Roman Catholic church.
Thus, it became politically convenient to convert to Roman Catholicism
and have the support of the bishop of Rome, de facto ruler of the Roman
empire, by them who aspired to rule its breadth and width. With the aid of
the state, the anti-Christ through enforced baptism caused the giving of
the mark of the beast (the Roman empire) to all the peoples who fell
under the jurisdiction of the empire.
The servants of G-d are also distinguished by a seal on their
foreheads. Revelation 7:1-9 describes the giving of the seal on the servant
of G-d, Israel. All of Israel will be saved (Romans 11:26; Eze 37:11-14).
And because Christians, are ingrafted branches - all those who believe in
Jesus Christ (John 3:16) receive the seal as well, and are saved (Romans
11:17).
The False Prophet. The Quran perplexes theologians and
scholars alike for it holds so many of the truths of Jewish and Christian
faith. That though my exegesis would qualifiedly place Muhammad as
the one referred to in the Book of Revelation of the Christian Bible as the
false prophet (Revelation 16:12-14; 19:19-21; and 20:7-10); there
remains a need to reconcile the faiths and acknowledge that the Quran
categorically embodies the covenant of G-d with Ishmael (Gen 17: 4-27;

Gal 3:16-22 4:24-31). Categorically because the canons of Islam are yet
to be in is final form. Who can fathom the ways of the Lord? (Job 11:7) As
Christians often say, we are but mere clay and the Lord is the potter (Jer
18:6-7). That is to say that the Quran may yet evolve its own canon as
the Old and New Testaments have. Its evidence is the contemporary
sectarian conflict between Sunni and Shia Muslims which can be likened
to the religious wars between the Roman Catholics and the Protestants.
Its final form may be reconciled with the much older two covenants. Also,
that the term, e.g. false prophet is used, because it serves a purpose by
its choice which is to define, albeit limited. However, if viewed as a
concept, and in this particular case, to reach beyond the limits of human
language in its definition, we can attain an understanding much like the
wisdom of G-d. That is without saying that one belief while true to its
own set of believers is defined as the others antagonist. The more
important thing is that we gain an understanding that goes beyond the
limits of doctrine or dogma of a single faith by affording us a view of one
faith from the position of another. That there exists at the outset, under
the current state of understanding of the relationship between the Quran
and the Bible, an understandable animosity between the followers of said
faiths that is likened to the quarrel between siblings of the same father
but of two different mothers, such that the law which governs the first
sibling cannot be applied to the second. For the teachings of the prophet
Mohammed are only mandatory to Muslims, particularly those who are
descended from Ishmael, who are bound by a separate covenant with G-d,
the Quran. That is not to say that the truths which bound the Muslim are
not true to the Jew or Christian but that there are truths particularly those
in reference to the end of time which is the main issue here, which will be
shared by both even if one side is on the other side of the fence. Though
not necessarily, always the case.
397

Thus, the term false prophet referred to in Revelation could

unequivocally refer to the prophet that one of the two major sects of Islam
is following. Taken in the context of the anti-Christ False Messiah (alMash ad-Dajjal) in Islam and comparing it with Christian exegesis of the
anti-Christ who deceitfully mimics Jesus Christ who is king of Israel, high
priest and prophet, then we can qualify that this false prophet can also
be an ad-Dajjal. It is my opinion that in the light of the Arab Spring which
began in December 18, 2010 until the middle of 2012, will emerge from
one of either the Sunni or Shia sect of Islam a true interpreter of the
Quran much like the events leading to Bible-based Protestant churches
conflict with the Roman Catholic church that led to the Reformation. The
Arab Spring (Arabic: ; ar-rab al-arab) began as a wave of
non-violent demonstrations and protests ending in riots and civil wars in
the Arab world that began on December 18, 2010 and spread throughout
the countries of the Arab League and its surroundings. While the wave of
initial revolutions and protests had ended by the middle of 2012, the civil

wars that had erupted in the Middle East and North Africa may be viewed
as a continuation of the Arab Spring. Others refer to this aftermath as
the Arab Winter.
If the same length of time of 1260 years is given for
the canons of Islam to be threshed and purified from the time the visions
were given to Muhammad, it certainly already has hurdled that. So that
by this time, from either one of the Sunni or Shiite sect will emerge the
bearer of the truth. However, that requires a deeper study than what is
available in this writing.
398

The Prophet Muhammad and the Quran. Muhammad ibn

Abdullh (Arabic: Muammad also spelled Mohammed or Muhammed; ca.
570/571) was born on June 8, 632 in Medina, is the founder of the religion
of Islam and is regarded by Muslims as a messenger and prophet of G-d
(Arabic: Allah), the last and the greatest law-bearer in a series of Islamic
prophets as taught by the Quran (Sura 33:40). Muslims thus consider
him the restorer of an uncorrupted original monotheistic faith (Islm) of
Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and other prophets. He was also
active as a diplomat, merchant, philosopher, orator, legislator, reformer,
military general, and, according to Muslim belief, an agent of divine
action.
399

400

The Quran. A symbiosis of Judaism and Islam exists where it can

readily be observed that the Qur'an is written from the point of view of
Ishmael and the Jews kin among the descendants of Ishmael, expressing
acknowledgment of the prophets, priests, and kings of Israel. That while it
acknowledges them in both the Old and New Covenant, it propounds
another covenant, the Quran, which also bears witness to the G-d of
Abraham and of Israel, they (Muslims) call Allah. Included among them
would be the descendants of Esau and the aliens among the Jews, who
became their wives, and conscripts in the army and slaves. Galatians 4:24
clearly states that there is a covenant with Hagar, in this manner:
{4:24} Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the
one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. {4:25}
For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which
now is, and is in bondage with her children. (Gal 4:24-25 AV)

A cursory reading of the Quran by an uninitiated novice will note

the word covenant used and the names of Hebrews like Moses, Noah,
David, Jonah and Abraham of the old covenant and Jesus, Mary and John
the Baptist of the New Covenant, acknowledged. Where the books of
Genesis and Galatians left off, we find in the Quran the covenant with
Hagar beginning with Sura 2:27 , thus:
27 Those who break Allahs Covenant after it is ratified, and who sunder
what Allah Has ordered to be joined, and do mischief on earth: These
cause loss (only) to themselves. (Sura 2:27 Quran)401

Here is Yusuf Alis Comment no. 45-A for the above verse;
45-A The mention of the Covenant has a particular and a general
signification. The particular one has reference to the Jewish tradition that a
Covenant was entered into with Father Abraham that in return for Allahs
favours the seed of Abraham would serve Allah faithfully. 402

which is also applicable to the verse below:

83 And remember We took a covenant from the Children of Israel (Sura
2:83 Quran) 403

An express admission of the book of the covenant given to Moses

for Israel that is also spoken of in Exodus 19:3-5;
{19:3} And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of
the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the
children of Israel; {19:4} Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and
[how] I bare you on eagles wings, and brought you unto myself. {19:5} Now
therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall
be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth [is] mine:
(Exodus 19:3-5)

finds confirmation in Sura 3:3 and 17:2, to wit:

It is He Who sent down to thee (step by step), in truth, the Book, confirming
what went before it; and He sent down the Law (of Moses) and the Gospel (of
Jesus) before this, as a guide to mankind, and He sent down the criterion (of
judgment between right and wrong. (Sura 3:3 Quran)
We gave Moses the Book, and made it a Guide to the Children of Israel,
(commanding): Take not other than Me as Disposer of (your) affairs." Sura

17:2 Quran)
In the Quran finds a book that confirms the Law and the Gospel, and a guide for the
descendants of Ishmael for their share in the inheritance as sons of Abraham. It should agree
with these books and all three should agree with each other. In the verses above from the
Quran, both the old and new covenants are referred to, so that a Muslim must necessarily
understand both covenants (the Tanakh and the Gospel). Furthermore, it tells that Muslims
are guided by the Quran which the rest of mankind must acknowledge and understand to
find Ishmaels fitting place in the kingdom.
23. Hast thou not turned Thy vision to those who have been given a portion
of the Book? They are invited to the Book of Allah, to settle their dispute, but a
party of them Turn back and decline (The arbitration). (Sura 3:23 Quran)

Of the verses above, Yusuf Ali comments, thus:

366 A portion of the Book. I conceive that Allahs revelation as a whole

throughout the ages is The Book. The Law of Moses, and the Gospel of Jesus
were portions of the Book. The Quran completes the revelation and is par
excellence the Book of Allah (Cf. 4:44).404

To the Jew and the Christian, there is a call for them to administer justice
(Jer 21:12; 22). The Muslim, himself a victim of the Crusades and the
Inquisition will not succumb to receiving any mark from a Roman Catholic.
Thus the misguided followers of the prophet Mohammad are the ones
referred to in Revelation 19:20 as the false prophet who did not receive
the mark of the beast. Reference from the scriptures concerning Ishmael
and his descendants abound. In Genesis, after Hagar was thrown out of
the house by Sarah, the Lord took pity on her and gave her a blessing
based on the promises made by Him to Abraham (Galatians 3:16).
Ishmael lived with her mother in Paran and took a wife from Egypt (Gen
21:21). From then on, outcasts from Israel took refuge on the land where
he settled. We see Esau, Jacobs twin brother getting married to an
Ishmaelite. It is not uncommon for siblings to quarrel over inheritance. In
the case of Isaac and Ishmael their differences have escalated into feuds
that have grown into the scale of present-day conflict between Israel and
the Arab states it is almost impossible to reconcile the descendants of the
half-brothers without a precise execution of the will of Abraham which are
to be found in the covenant between G-d and Abrahams sons. Thus, it
has become a challenge to reconcile the Tanakh, the Christian Bible, and
the Quran. While most Jews still await the Messiah and do not believe
the gospel of Jesus nor the cause of Simon Bar Kochba; Protestants are
relatively tolerant of Jews in keeping with the admonition of the prophets
concerning the remnants who are saved by grace.
Neither was this
toleration confined to Protestants, for during the Diaspora, particularly in
the east, Jews had found solace among Muslims and enjoyed the situation
from the beginning of the Golden Age of Islam (mid-8th to the mid-13th
century AD) until the end of the Ottoman empire as Daniel had spoken.
Muslims may not have fully understood that G-d intends Israel to be
restored and after she has fully served the wrath of G-d, her punishers will
see their own punishment. While the Jew remains deaf and blind to Jesus
and the New Covenant, Protestants, Messianic Jews, Messianic Muslims,
and other true Christians understand that Ishmaels descendants will be
saved and his offerings will be accepted at Zion.
The problem poised today over the Middle East conflict lies in the
fact that although the remnant is no longer impervious to accepting Jesus
Christ as their Messiah, the conversion to Messianic Judaism remains slow.
In fact, it still is taboo and Jews shun away from this very act blaming the
same as the reason for their continued persecution. The very few
Messianic Jews have barely chinked Orthodox issues on Jesus Christ, who

to a Muslim is a prophet of the gospel (New Testament). Muslims readily

believe in Jesus Christ (Isa), a basis for chastising the Jews unbelief,
consistent with their being made instruments of G-ds punishment since
Shalmanesser in 721 BC. Unless the time of the Jews acknowledgment of
Jesus as Messiah becomes a reality, which may be inferred from Zechariah
14:2 as half of all the Jews (also Matt 24:40-41; Luke 17:34-36), and he is
officially acknowledged by the theocratic Israeli government, the Muslims
have a rational justification for their (Israels) continued chastisement.
Over the period of the Jews immobility on the issue, an advantage
accrues to the Muslim. The year 2009 brought the end of 2730 years of
the wrath of G-d upon the kingdom of Israel and gave rise from America,
her shepherd, a president whose father is a Muslim; an ominous sign that
it is time to gather all of Israel and Judah as one kingdom (Eze 37:18-22),
for as Ishmaels descendants are acknowledged, all of Israel will be free to
come home.
On Jesus, Islam was spared the arguments on the issue of his
divinity which embroiled Christians for hundreds of years because Jesus
was human. While traditionally, Islam teaches the rejection of the
Trinitarian Christian view that Jesus was God incarnate or the son of G-d,
modern contemporary interpretations are not impervious to accepting its
possibility, particularly those from Messianic Muslims. The Quran says
that Jesus himself never claimed to be the Son of God, and it furthermore
indicates that Jesus will deny having ever claimed divinity at the Last
Judgment, and God will vindicate him.
Sura 5:116 also rebukes worship
of Mary which Protestants share with Muslims. Numerous titles are given
to Jesus in the Quran and in Islamic literature, the most common being
al-Mas (the Messiah.) Jesus is also, at times, called Seal of the
Israelite Prophets, because in general Muslim belief, Jesus was the last
prophet sent by God to guide the Children of Israel. Jesus is traditionally
understood in Islam to be the forerunner to Muhammad, and is believed
by Muslims to have foretold the latters coming, a traditional
understanding not declared in the Quran. The story of Jesus begins with
Sura 3 the Family of Imran, Marys family.
405

406

87.We gave Moses the Book and followed him up with a succession of
messengers; We gave Jesus the son of Mary Clear (Signs) and strengthened
him with the holy spirit. Is it that whenever there comes to you a messenger
with what ye yourselves desire not, ye are puffed up with pride?- Some ye
called impostors, and others ye slay! (Sura 2:87)

In Sura 3:47-52 (Quran) an angel appeared to Mary, mother of

Jesus, who Muslims believe is a messenger of G-d to the Children of Israel
to confirm the law and to help Allah (G-d) for the Jews to believe in Jesus
(the message). This is perhaps one of controversial verses among many,
which places the Muslims help as indispensable in bringing the gospel to

the Jews. Controversial because, it can justify the Muslims conviction

that the Jew accept Jesus Christ as his Messiah.
When he had turned away from them and from those whom they worshiped
besides Allah, We bestowed on him Isaac and Jacob, and each one of them. We
made a prophet. (Sura 4:163 Quran)

Isaac and Isaacs son Jacob are mentioned above as carrying on

one line of Abrahams traditions. The other line was carried on by Ishmael,
who is mentioned independently.
407

163. We have sent thee inspiration, as We sent it to Noah and the Messengers
after him: we sent inspiration to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob and the
Tribes, to Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and Solomon, and to David We gave the
Psalms. (Sura 19:49 Quran)

In the above verse, the Psalms in the Old Testament are

attributed by the Quran to David as do the Christians and Jews. The
fact is, the Quran does acknowledge all its historic participation in the
rescue of Israel, particularly during the great Age of Islam (traditionally
dated from the mid-8th to the mid-13th century AD) which coincided
with the deliverance of Israel spoken of by Daniel in 12:11-12
corresponding to the eastern Diaspora.
29. Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that
forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor
acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book,
until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves
subdued. (Sura 19:29 underscoring mine)
61. And (Jesus) shall be a Sign (for the coming of) the Hour (of Judgment):
therefore have no doubt about the (Hour), but follow ye Me: this is a
Straight Way. (Sura 43:61)
63. When Jesus came with Clear Signs, he said: Now have I come to
you with Wisdom, and in order to make clear to you some of the (points) on
which ye dispute: therefore fear Allah and obey me. (Sura 43:63)
66. Do they only wait for the Hour - that it should come on them all of a
sudden, while they perceive not? (Sura 43:66)

In the above verses are acknowledgments of the end time prophecies

that are synchronous with Christian end time prophecies.
Disagreements with Christians and Jews. Muslims believe that
Jesus was a prophet. In Islamic theology, Jesus was just a man for God is
described in Sura 112:1-4 as God, the One and Only; God, the Eternal,
Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like
408

unto Him. Islamic texts depict Judaism and Christianity as prophetic

successor traditions to the teachings of Abraham. The Quran calls Jews
and Christians People of the Book (ahl al-kitb), and distinguishes them
from polytheists. Muslims, however believe that parts of the previously
revealed scriptures, the Tawrat (Torah) and the Injil (Gospels) had become
distorted either in interpretation, in text, or both. As an example, angels
(Arabic: malak; Hebrew: malakh; Greek: angelos), which means
messenger, do not possess free will and worship God in perfect
obedience. On the contrary, Christians believe that Satan was an angel
of G-d who rebelled against Him. Muslims consider the Quran to be the
literal word of God; revealed to Muhammad by God through the angel
Gabriel on many occasions between 610 AD and his death on June 8, 632
AD.
The Quran was written down by Muhammads companions
(sahabah) while he was alive and transmitted primarily by oral tradition.
Compiled in the time of Abu Bakr, the first caliph, it was standardized
under the administration of Uthman, the third caliph. Today, it has not
changed significantly since it was standardized. To Muslims, the Quran is
perfect in the original Arabic; translations are necessarily deficient
because of language differences, the fallibility of translators, and the
impossibility of preserving the originals inspired style. Translations are
therefore regarded only as commentaries on the Quran, or interpretations
of its meaning, not as the Quran itself.
409

410

411

412

Ishmael represents the Muslim. A thorough reading of Chapter

54 of the Book of Isaiah, which speaks of Hagar, the mother of Ishmael,
speaks of what may very well be the hope of Ishmaels descendants that
the apostle Paul confirms in Galatians 4:21-31. The verses bring attention
to the promises made by the Lord to Hagar concerning Ishmael. Ishmael
lived in the fringes of the covenant with Isaac, under another covenant
(e.g. Quran ) but when Israel walked not in the ways of the Lord, Ishmael
became Jacobs prosecutor. And of his mother she is encouraged by the
Lord, her husband (Isa 54:4-8), and promised that her descendants to be
more than Sarahs (Isa 54:1). Her tent, stretched and spread left and
right to dispossess nations and settled in their desolate cities, wayward
Israels included (Isa 54:3-4). Great promises were made by the Lord to
Hagar, too. The Lord will call her back from her rejection with compassion
and swore never to be angry nor rebuke her again and offers her the
covenant of peace Jesus Christ (Isa 54:9-10). One might say that
Muslims are in a better position concerning faith in Jesus Christ, for Jesus
is considered a prophet by Muslims and the early Christians are
acknowledged by the Quran. Furthermore, from the tone of Saint Pauls
message, he knew that this time when Ishmaels heirs will possess the
land would come at a future time, in the time of Muhammad. Thus, he
talks about a Jerusalem that is still on high for Jerusalem will yet come
into the possession of Ishmaels heirs, before it returns to Israel (Gal 4:2131). Be that as it may, Israel as the chosen people, is the favored one,

as concerning the gospel, [they are] enemies for your sakes: but as
touching the election, [they are] beloved for the fathers sakes. (Rom
11:28)
Even the descendants of Kedar and Nebaoith, sons of Ishmael, are
acknowledged from the following verses in Isaiah 60:1-7, thus:
{60:1} Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen
upon thee. {60:2} For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross
darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall
be seen upon thee. {60:3} And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to
the brightness of thy rising. {60:4} Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all
they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from
far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at [thy] side. {60:5} Then thou shalt see,
and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the
abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles
shall come unto thee. {60:6} The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the
dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall
bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD.
{60:7} All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of
Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine
altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory. (Isa 60:1-7 AV)

Nebaoith is Ishmaels firstborn and Kedar, his second son is more

popularly known as
the prophet Muhammads direct ancestor.
Of
course, Ishmael is firstborn of Abraham by Hagar, Sarahs maid. Midian is
the fourth son of Abraham by his concubine, Keturah. Ephah is firstborn of
Midian and grandson of Abraham. Sheba is the firstborn of Jokshan,
second son of Keturah (Gen 25:3). Isaiah Chapter 60 speaks of a time
when the light of G-d shines on Israel and all the nations bow down to the
G-d of Israel to be blessed.
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Islams main strength thus, is in its powerful rebuke of the Jew for
the innumerable times the Jew is castigated for his disobedience and in
the light of the new covenant, his unbelief in his Messiah, Jesus Christ.
However, each of Islamic countries in turn will learn their costly and fatal
lesson once again. In the case of Babylon (present-day Iraq) its desolation
has been decreed since the end of the seventy-year exile (Jer 25:12). For
once restored, Jacob will pay them back all the lashings he has received
and more, until Ishmael licks the dust off Jacobs feet and bows down to
him (Isaiah 49:23) and acknowledges that the G-d of Abraham has
favored Isaac, though not his first born, is the son by the covenant (Gen
17:21). The Muslim however, until the end will be one of the forces that
will make the Jew keep the decrees of the Lord and this will be done by
constantly humiliating him and placing him in war footing so he will not
have the luxury of indulging himself in a worldly way. Israeli morale has
always been kept and maintained to make its defense in top shape and

its soldier, if not the best, one of the best in the world. It is not
uncommon for an Israeli officer to be at the forefront of a fight and be its
first casualty. This simple Israeli strategy has always been what the Lord
wanted for him. As in the past, when Israel walked in the ways of the Lord
and the king did right in the eyes of the Lord, the Lord fought his wars for
him. Israels restoration is now and the road to Armageddon will abound
with the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty
men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh
of all [men, both] free and bond, both small and great. (Rev 19:18)
End Time in Islam.
Islamic eschatology is the branch of Islamic
scholarship that studies the Day of Resurrection (Arabic: Yawm alQiymah) or the Day of Judgment (Arabic: Yawm ad-Dn ). This is believed
to be the final assessment of humanity by G-d, consisting of the
annihilation of all life, resurrection and judgment. Though there might
not be a specific timeline as of present compilation of the hadiths and
tafseers, there are major and minor signs which have been foretold to
happen with Qiyamah at the end of time, depending on the sect and
denomination of Islam.
Many verses of Quranic Sura contain the
motif of the impending Day of Resurrection.
It is believed linked to
Judeo-Christian eschatology for the end time as evidenced by the events
spurred by the erroneous 2012 end-time prophecy which brought the
Arab Spring and the equally erroneous Islamic Caliphate of Syria and
Iraq/Islamic Caliphate of Syria, Iraq and the Levant (ISIS/ISIL) Caliphate
and the return of the Mahdi. The most known end-time prophecies which
tagged the year 2012 as the end of the world began with the conspiracy
theory of the Nibiru.
Probably, the second most known 2012 end-time
prophecy was that one based on the Mayan calendar.
There are also
lesser known 2012 end-time prophecies, like Ronald Weinlands and Jose
Luis de Jesus.
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Sura 75 (The al-Qiyama) has as its main subject the resurrection.

The tribulation associated with it is also described in the hadith, and
commentaries of Islamic expositors such as al-Ghazali, ibn Kathir, ibn
Majah, al-Bukhari, and ibn Khuzaymah.
The Day of Judgment is also
known as the Day of Reckoning, the Last Day and al-sah, or the Hour.
The various hadiths describe the end time with more specificity than the Quran,
describing the events of al-Qiyamah through twelve major signs. At the time of judgment,
terrible corruption and chaos will rule. The Mahdi will be sent and with the help of Isa
(Jesus), will battle al-Mash ad-Dajjl (the Anti-Christ False Messiah). They will
triumph, liberating Islam from cruelty, and this will be followed by a time of serenity with
people living true to religious values. The second coming will see Jesus descend
in the midst of wars fought by al-Mahdi (the rightly guided one), known
in Islamic eschatology as the redeemer of Islam, against al-Mash adDajjl and his followers.
The Mahdi (Arabic: , Mahd) will rule for
seven, nine, or nineteen years (according to differing interpretations)
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before the Day of Judgment (yawm al-qiyamah) and the Day of

Resurrection (yawm ad-Dn) and will rid the world of evil.
However,
there is no mention of the advent of Mahdi and Isa in one era in any of the hadith. Some
Muslim scholars translate the Arabic word Imam as Mahdi to prove the advent of Mahdi
and Isa (Jesus) in a single era.
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Twelver Shia Muslims believe that the Mahdi (the twelfth imam,
Muhammad al-Mahdi) is already on Earth, is in occultation and will return
at the end of time. Whereas Sunnis believe the future Mahdi has not yet
arrived on Earth. Like other Abrahamic religions, Islam also teaches resurrection of the
dead, a final tribulation and eternal division of the righteous and wicked. Islamic
apocalyptic literature describing Armageddon is often known as fitnah, malhim, or ghaybah
in Shi'a Islam. The righteous are rewarded with pleasures of Jannah, while the unrighteous
are tortured in Jahannam.
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Gog and Magog. (Quran: Yajj wa-Majj) Islams version of the

end time is also significant in Gog and Magog. It is first mentioned in the
Sura al-Kahf (The Cave, Sura 18:83-98) and second, in the Sura alAnbiya (The Prophets, Sura 21:95-96). In Sura al-Kahf, a pious warrior
king called Dhul-Qarnayn whom Allah gave power journeys to the place
between the East and the West. On his journey to the West, he comes
across a people who live near the murky waters of the Black Sea and
decrees to punish those who were found to have done acts of Dhulm (i.e.
injustice and oppression) and reward those who have faith and do good.
He then sets out to the East until he comes upon a people who have no
shield against the sun and let them undisturbed. On his third journey
northwards, to the Caucasus Mountains, he meets a people who
scarcely understood a word (Sura 18:93) They seek his help by building a
barrier that separate them from the people of Gog and Magog who do
great mischief on earth (Sura 18:94) and live across the mountain. He
agrees to build it for them, and warns that when the time comes (end of
time), Allah will make it to dust (Sura 18:98) and the people of Gog and
Magog will breach the barrier. There are two likely places that fit the description of
the barrier of Dhul-Qarnayn. The first is located near the western end of the
Caspian Sea and the second one to its southeast. Viewed as one, they
constitute a barrier which inhibit travel from Russia in the north into
Turkey or Iran in the south. The first barrier is the Caspian gates of
Derbent (Persian: Darband; closed gates) through the Pass of Dariel or
Darial in the foreboding Caucasus mountains which extends between the
Black Sea to the west and the Caspian Sea to the east.
The second
barrier blocks travel from the tan countries of the Greater Middle East
from the north into Iran. It extends 195 kilometers from the southeastern
shores of the Caspian Sea towards the east and is known as the ancient
Great Wall of Gorgan.
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The Caspian Gates of Derbent in Georgia, near the Russian border in

the Caucasus mountains was established sometime in the end of the 5th
or the beginning of the 6th century, when the city was refounded by the
Sassanid Kavadh I of Persia. Various medieval historical sources mention
it as the Gog and Magog gate where Georgian kings acted as guards. It is
supposed to be a barrier built by Alexander the Great to keep Gog and
Magog from invading. Josephus records in his Antiquities and Bellum
Judaeum that the Jews of that time identified Gog and Magog with the
Scythians - horse-riding barbarians of the far north Alexander the Great
locked with an iron gate.
In his book Getica, Jordanes identified Magog
as one of the ancestors of his forebears, the Goths.
According to
Isidore of Seville, the Goths, were thought to be descended from Gog and
Magog, and of the same race as the Getae. In the middle of the 16th
century, the Archbishop of Uppsala, Johannes Magnus traced the Gothic
royal family of Sweden back to Magog, son of Japheth. He identified two
of Magogs sons as Suenno, progenitor of the Swedes and Gethar (also
Gog or Gogus), ancestor of the Goths. The Byzantine historian Procopius
of Caesarea (d. after 562) saw Atila and the Huns as the nation locked out
by Alexander. Later in the century, Christian writers identified them with
the Saracens. The Khazars, who dominated Central Asia in the 9th and
10th centuries were identified with Gog and Magog. In the 9th-century
work Expositio in Matthaeum Evangelistam, the Benedictine monk
Christian of Stavelot referred to them as descendants of Gog and Magog
circumcised and observant of the laws of Judaism.
However, in recent
years, alternative theories have become dominant. The most prominent
of these is that Dhul-Qarnayn was none other than Cyrus the Great of
Achaemenid Persia. This theory has been endorsed by such scholars as
Israr Ahmed, Maududi, Javed Ahmed Ghamidi, the Indian minister Maulana
Abul Kalam Azad, Allameh Tabatabaei, and Naser Makarem Shirazi, among
others.
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The second barrier, the legendary and ancient Great Wall of

Gorgan lies on the southeastern shore of the Caspian Sea, 180 kilometers
of which are already breached. It is a series of defensive fortifications of
over 30 fortresses spaced at intervals of between 10 and 50 km (6.2 and
31.1 mi). It is 195 km (121 mi) long and 610 m (2033 ft) wide. It is
located near Gorgan in the Golestn Province of northeastern Iran, at the
southeastern corner of the Caspian Sea. The western end of the wall near
the Caspian Sea is located in the remains of a fort; the eastern end of the
wall is at the remains of another fort near the town of Pishkamar. The wall
is located at a narrow pass between the Caspian Sea and the mountains
of northeastern Iran. It is one of several Caspian Gates at the eastern part
of a region known in antiquity as Hyrcania, on the nomadic route from the
northern steppes to the Iranian heartland. The wall is believed to have
protected the Sassanian Empire to the south from the peoples to the
north. It is surpassed only by the Great Wall of China as the longest
defensive wall in existence. Among archaeologists the wall is also known
447

as The Red Snake due to the color of its bricks. It is also known as the
Gorgan Defence Wall, the Anushirvn Barrier, the Firuz Barrier, the Qazal
Alan, and the Sadd-i-Iskandar (Persian for dam or barrier of Alexander).
The Great Wall of Gorgan was built during the Parthian dynasty
simultaneously with the construction of the Great Wall of China and it was
restored during the Sassanid era.
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Mongolian Invasion of Europe. The tail end of Gog and Magog it

is believed will be like the Mongolian invasion of Europe early in the 13th
century which came from the east destroying both Muslim empires and
Christian kingdoms. In 1235 Genghis Khans Mongol empire stretched
from Persia to China led by the his ablest general, Subotai. While planning
to invade Russia and southern China in 1228, Genghis Khan had died. The
skilled administrator, Ogodei succeeded Genghis, and kept the horde
intact. His generals led by Subotai sacked the Russian principalities of
Ryazan, Suzdal, and Vladimir. Batu Khan invaded Novorod. In 1240 the
Crimeans fell and Chernigov and Perjaslavi destroyed. That winter, Kiev
fell. In 1241 the Mongols began the invasion of Poland. Crossing the
frozen Vistula river, the Mongols divided their forces. Kadan raided
Mazovia while Baidar struck Krakow. Feinting retreat, the Mongols fell
back to their ambush in Chmielnik and wiped out the entire Polish army.
Baidar burned Krakow and laid siege to Breslau. He proceeded to Leignitz
to confront the forces of the Duke of Silesia and King Vaclav of Bohemia of
more than thirty thousand men. In April 9, 1241 in Liegnitz, the usual
feint by a small force of Mongolian mounted archers lured the German
cavalry into an ambush leaving their infantry unprotected. Setting off
smoke bombs, the Mongols rained arrows on the disorganized horsemen
then charged and annihilated the German infantry. King Vaclav retreated.
Hungary and Austria fell victims of the horde stopping only at the Russian
city of Astrakhan where Batu Khan consolidated his conquests and
established his kingdom and named his army as the Goldern Horde.
European kings saw them enter Poland and Hungary and annihilated
Christian armies, and surmised they were Magogoli, (Gog and Magog)
released from the prison and heralding Armageddon. However, the
Mongolian horde decided to turn back because of the death of gdei
Khan and their defeat in the Battle of Ain Jalut in Palestine. The European
defeat in the Crusades and in its aftermath, the wars they fought against
each other, deeply divided Europe unable to withstand the vast and
unified Mongol Empire with its Chinese-inspired encirclements, covers of
smoke, feigned retreats, ambushes, and incessant arrow fire from deadly
bows. The one man who could have successfully led a unified army
against the Mongols, the brilliant Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, was
locked in a deadly power struggle with Pope Gregory IX, and did not pay
attention to the invasion on his doorstep.

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The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community founded by Mirza Ghulam

Ahmad (18351908) linked Gog and Magog to the European nations and
Russia.
His son, Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad further
expounds the connection between Europe and the accounts of Gog and
Magog in the Bible, the Quran, and the hadith in his work Tafseer-eKabeer. According to Mahmood Ahmad in his commentary on Surah AlKahf, Gog and Magog were the Scythians, descendants of Noah who
populated eastern and western Europe long ago. The period of the Cold
War between the two superpowers, capitalist USA and communist Soviet
Union restrained Gog and Magog. The eventual collapse of the latter
occurred in accordance with the prophecies concerning Gog and Magog.
Ahmadis point out that the Arabic words for Gog and Magog i.e. Yjj and
Mjj derive from the root word ajja (to burn, blaze, hasten) which
suggests that Gog and Magog will excel all nations in harnessing fire to
their service and shall fight their battles with fire. In his commentary of
Surah-Al-Masadd, Mirza Mahmood Ahmad, the Second Ahmadiyya leader
has interpreted the two hands of Abu-lahab (the father of flame) as Gog
and Magog, the nations opposed to Islam that will ultimately be destroyed
by the fire of their own making.
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From the above description of the barrier that Dhul-Qarnayn built

one can easily surmise that if Iran were to enter into the battle at
Armageddon before the Millenium ends as prescribed by Revelation 20:7 a
beleaguered Iran will cause the movement of mujahideens north of the
Wall of Gorgan to pour into Iran much like what happened in Iraq and
Syria when sectarian divisions between Sunni and Shiite created ISIS/ISIL.
The other route from the north is through the Balkans or Baltic States in
the steppes of western Russia and down to Europe via Ukraine. Here, it
will be when after the European Union successfully unites Europe and
Russia under the banner of the Roman Catholic church and lay siege to
the Holy Land as in the time of the Crusades. They will engage all of the
Muslims to the east from Turkey together with the awakened Mongolian
hordes of China in what may be one of wings of a final assault in the final
Armageddon at the end time.
Babylon - the woman harlot. The woman harlot or metaphorical
Babylon, which rides on the beast with seven heads and ten horns, is
Rome (Rev 17:3). Note that both the dragon and the first beast have
seven heads and ten horns. The dragon has seven crowns set on its seven
heads while the beast has ten crowns set on its ten horns (Rev 17:6). The
first is Satan; the second is the Roman empire, Satans representative.
Rome, the city with seven hills, was founded by Romulus, the first of
seven kings. The seven heads of the dragon with ten horns and seven
crowns includes the kingdoms of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia and Greece,
which were the four beasts of Daniel. That this beast is part lion
corresponds to the first beast of Daniel which looked like a lion, Egypt. The
part that is a bear corresponds to Mesopotamia and the part that is a

leopard corresponds to Persia. Greece is the fourth beast with iron teeth.
They make up four of the seven heads of the dragon and the first beast.
The other three heads would be Rome and its transformations (Dan 8:8,
cf: 8:22). The fifth head then, is early Rome during the kingship,
comprising of tribes (and their territories, e.g. Latium) around Rome that
were united during the time of Romes first seven kings. The sixth head is
Rome in the time of the Republic - known for its democratic processes and
the Roman Senate, their own adaptation of the Greek Ecclesia and the
Greek concept of the council that ruled the city-state. Its territory now
included most of Italy. Carthage came under Roman rule after the Punic
wars between them. Spain, Sicily, parts of Gaul, and Alexanders empire
would come under Roman control during the Republic. All of the cities that
were the pride of the Greek empire as well as those that Rome had earlier
conquered by itself, would now become Roman possessions. The seventh
head is Rome as an empire which at its height stretched from the British
Isles in the West to Persia in the east and all of the kingdoms around the
Great Sea. We can now include as leading capital cities: the city of
Constantinople of the Byzantines, Ravenna in northern Italy which
became the seat of the Byzantine empire in Italy as it asserted its rights
to the Western Roman empire, and London (Roman: Londinium) of
England which was founded by the Romans in 63 AD. The eight head
which is yet to come is the Holy Roman empire (Rev 17:11).
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We have already a number of candidates for the ten horns of the

dragon or beast, so that if we are to determine them by the criterion set
in Revelation 17:11 and the history of Europe and of the nations around
the Mediterranean, we will have a general idea of who they are. To be
considered one of the ten leading city-states which comprise the ten
horns, the criterion would include its economic, cultural, social, civil,
political, as well as religious contribution to the empire. By this time, ten
would be the nominal number but, suffice it to say that the ten leading
capital cities during this time would include the capital city of the first four
beasts which are: Alexandria of Egypt; Babylon of Mesopotamia; Susa,
Persepolis or Ecbatana, or any one of the three of Persias; Athens or
Sparta of Greece; and of course, Rome. The main head is Rome which is
also the head with the fatal wound that was healed. It is the head which
everyone thought would die when the Roman empire fell in 476 AD, over
which merchants lamented for its loss displaced business and the
economies of ancient Europe ruined. However, after its fall, it became the
aspiration of its conquerors, its erstwhile enemies, to acquire the width
and breadth of the kingdom it had toppled. The fall of the Roman empire
was only a foreshadow of the beginning of the Holy Roman empire, a
more baneful beast which made use of a second beast with two horns like
a lamb and spoke like a dragon - the anti-Christ pope of the Roman
Catholic church. By it, the Roman empire had supposedly become holy as
an entity pre-ordained by G-d. Thus, Revelation 13:3 says that one of the

heads of the beast that received a fatal wound was healed and everyone
was amazed and worshiped the dragon which gave power to the first
beast. The horns of the pope corresponds to the western Roman Catholic
church over which the bishop of Rome, as the pope is also called,
exercises jurisdiction; as well as the Byzantine church, also called the
Eastern Orthodox church, to which the Greek Orthodox and Russian
Orthodox churches belong. The Eastern Orthodox church implicitly
acknowledges the supremacy of the Western church (Roman Catholic
church) though there are differences between them that as of late are
viewed as no longer irreconcilable. In the time of King Constantine, the
Roman capital was moved to Byzantium which was renamed
Constantinople. Several Roman emperors followed suit, foremost among
them was Justinian (500 AD). The rivalry between the bishops of Rome
and Constantinople had grave consequences to the Roman Catholic
church as it resulted in a schism which split the church, however, bishops
of the Eastern Orthodox churches can be seen in attendance when the
bishop of Rome is ordained as pope.
As each head must own a horn, and there are ten horns of the first
beast, one or some of the heads must own more than one horn. If the
seven heads will each have a horn, there still are three more extra horns.
Rome itself, may own up to any of the horns or kingdoms that once was
part of the empire, and there are several. Present day sovereign nations
like Germany (land of the Teutons, eastern part of Gaul, also formerly
known as East Francia), France (western Gaul, West Francia), England
(Londinium), and other prominent European states today were once under
the empire. As horns are the pride of the head that wears it, Rome must
be the horn of Italy; Alexandria of Egypt; Babylon of the Mesopotamian
states; Susa, Persepolis, and/or Ecbatana of Persia; and Athens and/or
Sparta of Greece. However, since after the fall of the secular Holy Roman
empire in 1806, many of these horns have since become sovereign
nations no longer politically dependent on Rome except in ecclesiastical
matters. Present-day France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, for
example were once part of the Roman empire but are now sovereign
states exercising powerful influence over the affairs of Europe. By virtue
of the principle in law of separation of church and state, the pope can
only dictate on the religious affairs of the Roman Catholics which
comprise approximately half of the population of Europe. Furthermore, by
virtue of the Lateran Treaty, the Vatican is treated as a separate state,
independent from Italy. There are presently, two other unions, the
European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
that also binds these horns. However, the NATO is primarily a military
alliance limited to the western half of Europe and excludes the former
member-nations of the Soviet Union and Russia who have their own
military alliance, the Warsaw Pact. The influence of the pope on the other
hand can extend as far east as the Russian Orthodox church from Great

Britain in the west, where a minority Catholics exist and a church that has
not been totally weaned from its traditional Roman Catholic roots. The
NATO, on the other hand, it is believed, will eventually become absorbed
or integrated to evolve into the army of the EU. With the demise of the
Soviet Union, the NATO since the Afghanistan war of 2001 has become
embroiled in the Middle East Conflict and over the escalating war in the
Ukraine in 2014. The crowns of the dragon are on the heads and there are
seven crowns but the first beasts are in the horns and there are ten
crowns one for each horn. Therefore, as the crowns are symbols of
authority, the authority comes from the horns, and there are ten of them.
However, it appears that to be significant only in Revelation 17:12 when,
for an hour, it will receive authority as kings with the beast, when under
the same period of time, they will decide to make war against the Lamb.
Of the seven kings or heads of the beast (Rev 17:10), five have
fallen, and they are at the time of the writing by John of the Book of
Revelations which is approximated to be sometime between 65-90 AD,
the following: Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia and Greece as the first four
heads. The fifth head is Rome during the kingship. These are the five
heads that have fallen. "One is" means that the sixth head is now (during
the time of Johns writing) This is also the time of the Roman Republic. The
seventh head - the Empire is yet to come. This will be the time after
Julius Caesar, in 27 BC and to last until its fall in 476 A.D. Although strictly
speaking, Johns time is already the beginning of Rome as an empire (the
seventh head), or more or less, a century old already, its breadth and
width and its crowning glory as an empire are yet to be achieved. The
glory that was Rome as we call it today, lasted 400 more years, even as
John is writing his visions. Not until 112 AD when Roman emperor Trajan
annexed Armenia and Parthia and made Mesopotamia a new province of
the empire was the Roman Empire to its largest extent.
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Roman Empire Revived. The beast which the harlot Babylon, the
great city of Rome is sitting on, is the dragon, Satan, which The beast
that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless
pit, and go into perdition: (Rev 17:8) which beast will yet come and is
also an eight king belonging to the seven, is the Roman empire
resurrected from out of his detention in the Abyss, the temporary abode
of Satan during the Millennium (Rev 17:11). The reference is to the beast,
but the event could only refer to the dragon which is the only beast that
will come out of the Abyss. As an eight king its revival will be as like the
Holy Roman empire, the eight head; which it was before the Millennium. In
the future event referred to in Revelation 20:7 after his release, Satan
with the aid of the beast with two horns like a lamb, will revive the image
of the first beast, again. The beast that once was means the ancient
Roman empire from its beginnings, its fall, then its revival as the Holy
Roman empire until 1330 when it broke up with the Roman Catholic

church. Now is not because it is locked for a thousand years in the

Abyss beginning the year 1330, and will come up out of the Abyss and
go to his destruction referring to the end of its incarceration from the
Abyss at the end of the Millennium to gather the kings and their armies
for that great day of the Lord Almighty. The tense here is not grammatical.
Neither is it literal. John is writing about the future and the phrases are
descriptions of the beast. The Ninth Crusade was the last Crusade and
further crusades to Jerusalem were halted after Acre, the last Crusader
fort in the Holy Land, fell before night on Friday 18 May 1291 AD.
The
first Armageddon as the Crusades were all about is aptly described in
Revelation 19:19-21. The beast (Holy Roman empire) was captured and
together with the false prophet are thrown into the lake of burning sulfur
alive (Rev 19:20) by the rider in the white horse called Faithful and True
(Rev 19:11) also called the Word of G-d (Rev 19:13) and King of kings
and Lord of lords (Rev 19:16). Captured means they were also defeated
and the faiths founded on them are exposed for what they are by the rider
on the white horse. In the very short period of almost forty (thirty-nine
years and four months, actually) years later, the death in January 13,
1330 AD of Frederick the Fair, the pro-pope contender to the Holy Roman
empire, forever separated the church and state. These two events: the
fall of Acre and the death of Frederick, marked the approach and
beginning of the Millennium, respectively; the latter beginning it when
the dragon or Satan was bound by the angel Abaddon (Gr. Apollyon) in
chain and locked in the Abyss for a thousand years (Rev 20:3). The
second beast, not being specifically mentioned, is presumed neither in the
Abyss nor in the lake of burning sulfur, but remained on earth and
continue to sow deception to prepare for the time his master, Satan is
released from the Abyss. The meaning of Revelation 17:8 could not
possibly mean the first revival of the Roman empire in the Holy Roman
empire of the Franconian king, Charlemagne in 800 AD because the Abyss
where the beast is locked will endure for a thousand years.
Charlemagnes Holy Roman empire (c. 800 AD) is only 324 years from 476
AD (fall of the Roman empire) while it is still 530 years to 1330. It is 486
years from the fall until Otto I of Germanys Holy Roman empire (c. 962
AD) while it is 368 years yet, to 1330. It is 1330 years from the fall until
Napoleon Bonapartes (c. 1806) while it is only 476 years from 1330. It is
1,463 years from the fall until Adolf Hitlers Third Reich (c. 1939 AD) and
only 609 years from 1330.
458 459

The Holy Roman empire is a mere image of the first beast, the
Roman empire (Rev 13:14-15), whose authority comes from Satan who is
depicted as the dragon. The second beast who spoke like a dragon and
looked like a sheep, who created the image, is still free. When the
Millennium is over, Satans revived Roman empire will have full control
and in 40 short years before the temple is reconsecrated in 2370 AD he
will execute his plan to take over Jerusalem. Already, four revivals of the

Roman empire have occurred. They are forewarnings of the pattern of

events the final revival will follow, in order to guide the elect. First, in 800
AD, under the initiative of the pope, Charlemagne, the Franconian king,
was crowned as the first Holy Roman Emperor. Second, Otto I of Germany
in 962 AD aspired to become and was crowned Holy Roman Emperor of
the German Nation. The third, another Frenchman, was Napoleon
Bonaparte, who caused the fall of the Holy Roman empire in 1806, yet
sought the pope for the crown after securing religious freedom for all,
including Jews in the Concordat of 1801. Fourth was Hitlers Third Reich
(1939-1945), as the third in line in succession to the Holy Roman Empire
after Bismarcks empire. Hitler was not crowned by the pope, though
many stories circulate of Hitlers seeking the pope for such purpose and of
the Roman Catholic church obviously manifest and express support of the
Third Reich. One such is during the 1933 elections for the Reichstag
(parliament) when Hitlers Nazis and their allies, the Hugenberg
Nationalists won 340 of the 647 seats. In order to have absolute power,
they needed two-thirds of the total. Two Catholic parties, the Center Party
and the Bavarian Peoples Party which had always opposed the Nazis won
92 seats which was exactly the number that the Nazis needed. So the
papal nuncio in Germany - Eugenio Pacelli, who later became Pius XII, the
infamous Hitlers Pope - struck a deal with the Nazis.
The Roman
Catholic church agreed, among other things, that all clerics and monastics
would be barred from political activity, so they could not effectively
oppose Nazism on the political level (Concordat, Arts. 16, 14(2), and 32).
Acting in his official capacity, Pacelli directed the 92 parliamentarians
who were members of the Catholic parties to vote to give Hitler absolute
power Like good little Catholics they voted the way that the Vatican had
commanded. And that is how Hitler managed to achieve absolute power
in a constitutional fashion.
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In the time of its final revival, after Satans release from the Abyss
after the thousand years are over (in 2330 AD), the pope will breathe life
into the new image of the Roman empire - an European Union dominated
by Roman Catholics or espousing the Roman Catholic ideas of the revival
of the Holy Roman empire. In fact, the present day civil strife in the
Ukraine which began in 2014 seeks to establish the boundaries of the
European Union along the boundaries of the old Roman empire. Which in
the words of a letter from German MP and Vice President of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Willy Wimmer
sent to German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in 2000, ... it would be
good, during NATOs current enlargement, to restore the territorial
situation in the area between the Baltic Sea and Anatolia such as existed
during the Roman Empire.
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European Union. Of existing European associations with an aim to

unite all the countries that were formerly territories of ancient Rome, only

the European Union (EU) has evolved in possession of the elements

(motive and history) for reviving the empire described by the prophets
Daniel and John. In 1951, in the aftermath of the Second World War, the
Treaty of Paris was signed, creating the European Coal and Steel
Community (ECSC), an international community based on supranationalism and international law designed to help the war ravaged
economy of Europe and prevent future war by federating its members into
two communities: a European Defense Community (EDC) and a European
Political Community (EPC). French protest of its political basis replaced it
with one based on economics and in 1955 the Messina Conference and
its customs union became the cornerstone of the 1956 Conference on the
Common Market and European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM).
This became the basis for the two Treaties of Rome signed on 25 March
1957, establishing a European Economic Community (EEC)
and
EURATOM. The six countries who signed them were: Belgium, France,
Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany. The updated
Treaty of Rome is now called the Treaty on the Functioning of the
European Union. In 1967 the Merger Treaty created a single set of
institutions for the three communities, which were collectively referred to
as the European Community (EC). The European Union (EU) was
established by the Treaty of Maastricht on November 1, 1993 on the
foundations of the EC. Todate, the EU is a union of 27 member states,
located primarily in Europe. With over 500 million citizens, the EU
generates an estimated 30% share (US$ 18.4 trillion in 2008) of the
nominal gross world product and about 22% (US$15.2 trillion in 2008) of
the PPP gross world product. The EUs single market ensures the free
movement of people, goods, services, and capital. It maintains common
policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries and regional development. Sixteen
member states have adopted a common currency, the euro, constituting
the Eurozone. The EU has representation at the World Trade Organization,
G8, G-20 major economies and at the United Nations. It enacts legislation
in justice and home affairs, like the abolition of passport controls by the
Schengen Agreement between 22 EU and 3 non-EU states. In certain
areas, decisions are made through negotiation between member states,
while in others; independent supra-national institutions are responsible
without a requirement for unanimity between member states. Important
institutions of the EU include the European Commission, the Council of the
European Union, the European Council, the Court of Justice of the
European Union, and the European Central Bank. The European
Parliament is elected every five years by member states citizens, to
whom the citizenship of the European Union is guaranteed. The EU may
actually function as an empire having now fully instituted executive,
legislative and judicial branches to govern over the member states. So
long as the general membership is satisfied, economically that is, it is
perceived the EU will achieve its ends.

The EU that will become the revived Holy Roman empire which shall
conquer and rule Jerusalem at the final Armageddon shall include the
former Soviet states that are dominantly Russian Orthodox and by this
time will have merged with the Western Roman Catholic church. Today in
Ukraine, despite the conflict which rose out of its bolting the Russian
Federation to become a member of the EU, finds the trend being set for
other Russian Federation members to join the EU. This will be in contrast
to the tan countries will shall seek to belong to a Muslim alliance, a
caliphate protecting the temple mount in Jerusalem. In fact, it is
perceived that the conflict that will boil over in the attempted conquest of
Jerusalem shall also be initiated within the borders of the Russian
Federation between the tan countries who will form a caliphate against
the Russian Orthodox Catholics. Already, the NATO whose primary aim is
protect Europe from the Warsaw Pact countries had been minimally
mobilized for possible action in Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014 while
Islamic extremists have already been in Chechnya in 1994 to support its
independence from the Russian Federation. Chechen and othe
mujahideens have also been found in the 2013 Civil War in Syria.
The
present-day conflict which created the Islamic Caliphate of Iraq, Syria and
the Levant (ISIS/ISIL) is a demonstration of how Islamic extremism can
become a widespread phenomenon which can go against against Roman
Catholic expansionism, as in the time of the Crusades.
Executive. Political leadership through the European Council is
composed of the head of state from each member-state including the
president of the European Commission. Meeting four times a year, the
Council resolves political crises and disagreements over controversial
issues and policies. On 19 November 2009, Herman Van Rompuy was
chosen as the first President of the European Council. He assumed office
on 1 December 2009. Administration. The European Commission is
currently composed of 27 commissioners for different areas of policy, one
from each member state. The President of the Commission and all the
other commissioners are nominated by the Council. Appointments of the
Commission and its President have to be confirmed by Parliament.
Legislative. Laws made by the EU institutions are either passed directly
or passed thru national parliaments.
Legislative responsibilities are
divided equally, with some exceptions, between the Council of the
European Union and the European Parliament. The Council forms one half
of the EUs legislature. The European Parliament forms the other half of
the EUs legislature. The 730 plus Members of the European Parliament
(MEPs) are directly elected by EU citizens every five years. Although MEPs
are elected on a national basis, they sit according to political groups
rather than their nationality. Each country has a set number of seats and
in some cases is divided into sub-national constituencies. The Parliament
and the Council pass legislation jointly in nearly all areas under the
ordinary legislative procedure, e.g., the EU budget. The Commission is

accountable to Parliament, requiring its approval to take office, reporting

back to it and subject to motions of censure from it. The President of the
European Parliament carries out the role of speaker in parliament and
represents it externally. The president and vice presidents are elected by
MEPs every two and a half years. It is in the MEPs that a religious agenda
may be advanced because the members lose their nationality and are
grouped according to their political or religious leanings. Christian
Democrats are likely to find easy categorization. Judiciary. The
interpretation and the application of EU law and the treaties are ensured
by the Court of Justice of the European Union. It consists of three courts:
the Court of Justice, the General Court, and the European Union Civil
Service Tribunal. Together they interpret and apply the treaties and the
law of the EU. The Court of Justice primarily deals with cases referred to it
by the courts of member states. The General Court mainly deals with
cases taken by individuals and companies directly before the EUs courts,
and the European Union Civil Service Tribunal adjudicates disputes
between the European Union and its civil service. Decisions from the
General Court can be appealed to the Court of Justice but only on a point
of law.
Programs. The principal mode of transport in trade between the EU
member-states and its partners will be the freight train, faster than a ship
but cheaper than a plane, yet its load is almost limitless. With the
combined wealth of the resources and technology of the member-states, a
common currency, exclusive trade between members sans tariffs and a
subsidized rail, the EU envisions itself to be very competitive in the
common market. It is an assurance that the products and services of
member-states will be preferred. And in the future, not only in the
continent but globally as well, vice the United States of America which
presently holds the record as the worlds biggest trader. It will ease out
the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in most of the
economic affairs of Europe, primarily because transport costs will be
prohibitive. Furthermore, in the future, as the remaining resources mined
from the earth, e.g. oil and gas, minerals, lumber, rubber, etc. become
more accessible via land-based transport, the EUs edge is in the land
bridges connecting it to the Asian and African continents. Americas
remaining cheap source of essential resources will be limited to the North
and South American continent. NATOs mission will be redefined, as
Eastern Orthodox Russia itself will eventually become a member, so that
from the British Isles in the west to Russia in the east, becomes one.The
NATO will become absorbed or integrated into the army of the EU. As the
EU progresses it will be at par with the US and its allies, excelling at some
points. While the probability of a war between the EU and America will be
nil, their economic competition will result to a war by representatives in
the Middle East because Protestant American dominance in Israels affairs
will come in conflict with Roman Catholics coming to power in the EU, who

dominates the business in the Middle East. The pope, whose desire to
become the supreme authority over the exegesis of the Word of G-d will
be frustrated and sow intrigue instead to ignite a war between any of the
two, or all of the three contenders America and its allies (including
Israel), the EU (led by Roman Catholics), and the Arab countries. The EU
will also become a force to reckon with militarily and will compete with the
US at this point. Because of this economic competition, the EU will take on
the side of the Arab countries (a bigger market) against Israel, which is to
the advantage of the EU. It seeks to overcome by economic means the
United States superiority in this aspect which will jeopardize the
protection Israel enjoys because of the benefit it gets from official US aid,
American Jews and Protestant American churches.
The revived Roman Empire representing the beast which comes out
of the Abyss after a thousand years from 1330 AD (or 2330 AD) will be
supported by ten horns or ten kings who for an hour will be given power
together with the beast spoken of in Revelation 17:12-14. This may be ten
member-nations of the European Union or another similar organization,
the United Nations included, whose ultimate aim is to unite the nations of
what used to be the width and breadth of the Roman empire with the aid
of and influence of the pope among Roman Catholics in about half of the
entire population of the union. It is certain, as in the events during the
time of the last Herod, Herod Agrippa II, that this evil and insidious plan
will be carried out more subtly by the confluence of events which will
transpire through the ascension of Roman Catholics behind the power or
be seated as powers in the kingdoms which make up the ten most
influential member-nations of the European Union who make up the ten
horns of the beast. Furthermore, as in the past, the EU Council shall come
under the head of France, which will be a sign before a German Roman
Catholic shall head it during the taking over of Israel, as in the time of
King Charlemagne of the Franks before Otto I of Germany and Napoleon
Bonaparte before Adolf Hitler.
The present-day situation in united
Germany, where former Nazis from the east once under Soviet rule have
assimilated into German society shall brew a concoction of neo-Nazis who
shall seek to revive the old party.
United Nations Security Council. From 1967 to 1989 the United
Nations thru the UN Security Council passed 131 resolutions directly
addressing the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Revelation 17:12-14 may also be
the 15 members of the UN Security Council meeting. In an hour, it is
imagined that a resolution can be arrived by members of the council to
commit UN Security Forces to any of the hotspots around the world that
the UN is already aware of. The Security Council of the United Nations has
5 permanent members: the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia
and China. A veto by a permanent member is sufficient to deny the
resolution to commit UN forces in a conflict. The other 10 seats are
467

rotated to the other non-permanent members of the United Nations with

two-year terms. In this scenario, you can throw in any of the EU membernations to vote against such a resolution, and they may be, France,
Germany, Italy, Austria, Poland, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg,
Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark,
including Egypt, Iraq, and Iran. However, a vote against said resolution by
France, or any one of five permanent member-nations which includes the
United Kingdom, the US, Russia and China, is sufficient to overturn or veto
the resolution. This happened in the Second Persian Gulf War, as the
French vetoed the resolution in the absence of conclusive evidence of the
existence of weapons of mass destruction by Iraq despite the latters
posturing and arrogant threats of its military might against Israel. The US
was constrained to organize a Coalition of the Willing who went to war
against Iraq and drew sharp criticisms for its action in the Second Persian
Gulf War in the absence of weapons of mass destruction to justify the war;
neither were weapons of mass destruction recovered. It is believed the US
also acted against Iraq for the threat it posed to Israel and the belief by
then US President George Bush, Jr. that the war by Gog and Magog had
begun, inviting then French President Jacques Chirac to invade Iraq to
thwart this threat. Early in 2003 President Bush had secretly made a
phone call to President Chirac asking for French troops to invade Iraq as
a mission from G-d.
However, after Bush told Chirac that biblical
prophecies were being fulfilled and specifically that Gog and Magog are
at work in the Middle East, the French president decided, that France
was not going to fight a war based on an American presidents
interpretation of the Bible. France, together with Russia did veto the
UN Security Council resolution for a 2003 Gulf War.
Nevertheless,
President Chirac wanted to know what President Bush was talking about.
Knowing that Bush was an evangelical Christian, he asked the French
Federation of Protestants, who in turn asked Professor Thomas Rmer, an
Old Testament expert at the University of Lausanne.
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Afghanistans invasion on the other hand, was more in retaliation for

harboring Osama bin Ladin and al-Qaeda who were behind the World
Trade Center terror. Nevertheless, these moves have also flanked Iran
with the forces from the Coalition of the Willing in Iraq to the west and
NATO in Afghanistan to the east. It becomes apparent that these moves
have paved the way for a possible desolation of Iran (Persia).
Furthermore, we can expect the Medes (present-day Kurdistan) to come to
the aid of these forces to attain this objective, as in fact we have seen in
the Peshmerga and YPG.
We can thus expect any member of the union
with a large population of Roman Catholics to be at the forefront of such a
move. The pope has always insisted for peace in the Middle East,
contrary to the prophecy of Daniel concerning the desolation which has
been decreed until the end. Peace in the Holy Land will be raised as an
issue by Roman Catholics against Protestants whose aid to Israel have
473

always been and will always be in the form of an active military

protection. It will be one such resolution among the many that will be
passed which will cause dire consequences for the US and its allies as the
EU withdraws support for such action. Another possible scenario is the
European Union in the future, will have a security council of its own where
its member nations (the ten horns) will vote against support to a
beleaguered Israel. Similar to its plans to supplant Jerusalem with the
Vatican, a plan may also be carried out for Roman Catholics to rise into
power within the UN Security Council to fulfill the prophecy found in
Revelation 17:12-14, to wit:
{17:12} And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have
received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the
beast. {17:13} These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength
unto the beast. {17:14} These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb
shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that
are with him [are] called, and chosen, and faithful. (Rev 17:12-14 AV)

The United States influence on the UN Security Council on very

important issues has always been affirmed by its allies who deemed it fit
to do so as a result of the debt of gratitude it owes the US during the First
and Second World War. However, the NATO, a military alliance supported
by the US and composed of European nations threatened by the Soviets
may someday be drawn toward the larger umbrella of a European Union
defense council sans the US, to check security threats against the union
or become part of the UN security forces with a special mandate over
Palestine in the end time. NATO has an active military presence in
Afghanistan despite the refusal of its influential members to support the
UN Security Council Resolution for a Second Persian Gulf War. The
prophecy in Revelation 17:12-14 may thus come true in this manner. Then
the revived Roman empire shall be defeated at the mountain of Megiddo
by the hordes of the false prophet, as it was in the time of the Crusades.
What it shall come to, are spoken of in Revelation 18:9 in this wise: Woe!
Woe, O great city, O Babylon, city of power! In one hour your doom has
come!" and in Revelation 18:17: "In one hour such great wealth has been
brought to ruin!" For in the hour that she decides to fight against Israel,
her doom is sealed, a fait accompli. In fact, under President Obamas
administration, as we saw the downgrading of United States Armed Forces
(USAF) involvement in the ongoing Syrian Civil War which began in 2013
and the Ukraine Civil War which began in 2014, NATO has become more
involved and led and headed by member-states of the European Union
and not by the United States.
474

The final flashpoint as Daniel prophesied will be the rebuilding of

the temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. Already, it is clear that Israels
intention is to reclaim the whole of Jerusalem and the West Bank, and

ultimately the temple mount. Opposite this, the wars initiated by

Muslims to support the Palestinians and Jordan have occurred sporadically
since 1948. The Oslo Accords of 1993 to implement UN Security Council
Resolution 242 which created the Palestinian National Authority and the
partitioning of Gaza and the West Bank for the Palestinians have stabilized
the situation in the meantime. However, the irreconcilable politics
between Arabs and Jews will serve to spark this battle. Since the Balfour
Declaration and British policy which allowed the return of the Jews to
Palestine, the Palestinians had been at war with the Jews in Israel and the
neighboring Arab countries have been drawn to it to support the
Palestinians. Apart from the western wall of the temple of Solomon in
Jerusalem, the West Bank is inside Jordanian territory. This will draw the
Arabs with the traditional support of the Germans and a number of
European states together with Argentina as in the First and Second World
War, against Israel; with the United States, United Kingdom, Canada,
Australia and New Zealand on the side of Israel. The Muslim nations that
were erstwhile members of the Soviet Union will be initially aligned with
the tan states which are dominantly Muslims on the side of their cofaithful. These will be countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Chechnya, but will fight the
Soviets and its Orthodoxy for religious independence, and will ultimately
form the khilafah, an Islamic caliphate to protect Jerusalem.
As the resource-draining wars drag on with the US and its allies
against these hordes, and the worlds economy in shambles, several
possible combinations of circumstances will be arrived so that a
confluence of events will occur with the end result of Satan carrying out
its plan of deception. It will be one that a politics of compromise has a
very high chance of resolving in the name of peace in the Middle East.
The pope, in the name of peace as have other popes before him, contrary
to the prophecy that the desolation will come until the end; will crown,
so to speak, an emperor of the revived Holy Roman empire, the
European Union. He will preach peace (top priority for doing good
business). In the end time, as the desolation continues unabated without
a peaceful resolution of the Middle East conflict, the world will fall on false
hopes that peace will ever be attained at the behest of the pope. And
when he (the pope) does not achieve his agenda to be acknowledged the
spiritual leader of all Christians and supreme interpreter of the Word of Gd, which is what it will be about, he shall sow intrigue and instigate the
temporarily halted war between the obstinate Orthodox Jews and the
Muslims who follow the false prophet.
The hard earned lessons of the Crusades and the histories of the
conflicts surrounding Jerusalem will have enlightened a great number of
Muslims before the final Armageddon. History itself will have enlightened
the elect including the descendants of Ishmael. The Quran, with its

exceptionally detailed account of the toleration by Muslims of both Jews

and Christians fleeing from Roman Catholic persecution during the time of
Muslims possession of the Holy Land, will make the Muslim continue to
remind both Jew and Christian, these debts of gratitude. Muslims will
themselves also deliver Ishmaels heirs to salvation. As Protestants do
not espouse a hard-line stance nor espouse discriminating policies on
Muslims, it has extended help to Muslims during the conflict in BosniaHerzegovina. In fact, Yugoslavias Slovodan Milosevic, leader of the Serbs
was incarcerated after standing trial and found guilty of war crimes of
genocide against Bosnians and other Muslims in Yugoslavia during the
conflict. American hard line stance has been on Islamic terrorists and
against Palestinians who espouse violent attacks on the civilian populace
as a means to push a Muslim agenda. Unfortunately, Israels restoration
necessarily involves her claiming the Promised Land once again. As
America and her allies become clearly on the side of Israel and supports
her claim, it catches the ire of the entire Muslim world. Protestant
America, on the other hand, as a true Christian, is mindful of the prophets.
Who has not heard of Camp David where the US President meets with
foreign heads of state when Israel or the Middle East is in its agenda? This
truth was carried by the Pilgrims and those who came after them, ever
vigilant of the coming of the Lord, long before it had set foot in America.
The Christian hopes and dreams of sharing in the inheritance of Israel and
acknowledges that the promises of the Lord to Ishmael will find both of
them treading the same path, the latter a half-brother of the Jew and he,
an ingrafted branch. Therefore, it is not surprising that US Presidents like
Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, Jr. look to scriptures in the conduct of
Americas affairs in the Middle East, particularly when it concerns Israel.
The theology expert from the French University of Lausanne, Thomas
Rmer recalls, As Ronald Reagan knew the Bible well, he believed that
the Cold War and the existence of the atomic bomb made it possible for
the prophecy of Ezekiel to come to pass, therefore that the moment had
come. However, without a definitive timeline and a total perspective of
end time prophecy, a scanty understanding of Gog and Magog based only
on Ezekiels propecy can be misleading.
475

A purist view of America is also not obtainable, and it may itself

come under the helm of a Roman Catholic, as it had once come to in the
past. President Barak Hussein Obama himself, political analysts believe, is
prone to prejudices in favor of the Muslim and that more AfricanAmericans will ascend to the presidency in answer to a subjective view of
the Middle East conflict to resolve its conflicts. This augurs well for
Muslims, who in recent years have seen American policies in the Middle
East skewed towards Israel. But, the intelligent, ever vigilant, watchful,
freedom- loving American, who absolutely loves his freedom to speak,
upholds transparency in government, always seeking true justice, will
always go to the networks. The reason the University of Lausanne

revealed the explanations given by Thomas Rmer to Jacques Chirac is

that Chirac has now left office. As for for Jocelyn Rochat, that little private
secret of international politics raises a big question: our lack of religious
culture and lack of knowledge of scripture, at a time when religious
foundations, more often than one might want to believe, are determining
political and military decisions. Religiousness is not confined to a private
sphere, Rochat concludes. It is a parameter to take into account or you
will understand nothing about the current direction of the world.
Furthermore, our time has seen the question of Ishmael vaguely
answered. Are we to wait until a Muslim Holocaust occurs? Is it in the
offing? Can it be averted for the descendants of Ishmael who are not of
the false prophet? Surely, if this is inevitable, the dread of the Mongol
hordes must likewise be inevitable. It is the belief, that if we listen to
prophecy and prepare for it, it can be mitigated. It is for this reason that
the outer court for the Gentiles in the temple of Solomon was not
measured (Rev 11:2). The reason is that the number of Gentiles will
influence the area of the outer court. The inner court of the Jews was
measured and found 12,000 from each tribe of the 12 tribes of Israel or
144,000. 144 is a perfect square of 12, which means all of Israel will be
saved (Eze 37:11; Rom 11:26).
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477

What about the other nations which are in the periphery, neither in
Europe, the Middle East nor among the nations specifically named but are
referred to as distant islands. First, the effect of the wars in the Middle
East will be so profound in that it will plunge the world into an economic
recession and significantly displace businesses. We saw this at the same
time that Hong Kong was returned to the Peoples Republic of China in
1995 and the hub of trading in Southeast Asia was lost.
Whatever
remained of it was below a cloud of uncertainty. The World Trade Center
attack in September 11, 2001 broke the bubble that New York is secure
and in its aftermath, were the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This was
followed by an unprecedented recession that may be likened to the Great
Depression before the Second Great War. The desolation of Iran that
Democrats in the US oppose and the Republicans in support of Israel will
go for, will be a wake up call for the people of the world to take a second
look at where the world is headed and of Armageddon looming. Irans
desolation will open up a flood of sympathy from its Muslim neighbors,
friends, and trading partners from the former Soviet satellites and the
Peoples Republic of China. It will also threaten the Muslims north of Iran
and Afghanistan and awaken them to their faith as they experience a
lifting of the repression which for decades prohibited them from freely
exercising them. Inevitably, they will come to realize that Israel must also
come under the fold of Islam as their third holiest city. Second, as the US
and its allies become embroiled in these wars, maintaining its influence in
the Far East will be difficult and will inure to Chinas advantage. Already it
is on the way to becoming Asias biggest trading partner flooding their

markets with inexpensive and equally competitive goods. Some of the

countries, like the Philippines, unable to comply with stringent conditions
for borrowing from the International Monetary Fund have begun to borrow
from China. Credit from Japan and Korea will also be tight because of its
own security problems. Investments from these countries will mainly be
related to its security. In the light of the tension in November 2010
between North and South Korea and the probability of Communists taking
advantage of a weakened U.S., Senator McCarthy and former President
Eishenhowers domino theory looms likely. The only glimmer of hope will
come from Japan, if it is allowed to rearm itself against China, and only if it
renounces its past tendency to align itself with a revived Nazi Germany
who will lead a revived Roman empire in the future. There may be hope in
the short-term. In the end time, it may renew its alliance with a revived
Roman empire, the European Union. On the other hand, if the said
desolation will be stayed until its time (Gog and Magog), the break up of
the former Russian Republics along religious lines will show that a mostly
Byzantine Catholic Russia will soon be in conflict with its largely Muslim
former republics, including its Muslim allies in the Middle East.
How the EU will come under the helm of a representative of Satan,
who will sow intrigue and by its economic agenda, set up the
abomination which maketh desolate in the rebuilt temple of Solomon in
2370 is a plan whose blueprint will be similar to that which installed the
insignificant common man, Phannias as high priest in the temple in 70
AD. There will be three positions that Satan has to fill up with his
representative. The council president of the revived Roman empire which
is the EU must be his representative. This position is a variable. The beast
with two horns in the Book of Revelation - the pope, will be the position of
the true anti-Christ from whom Satans evil schemes emanate. It is what
might be called in algebra as a constant variable. The high priest that will
be installed in the rebuilt temple is another variable. He will come from
the Jew. Likewise, the king of Israel who is today called the Prime Minister
is another variable. The last two must be puppets of the empire. All three
positions must be replaced with Satans representatives. On the other
hand, the false prophet, a Muslim priest-king, will also influence the
outcome of the choice of these representatives. Muslims who continue to
sow intrigue among their brother Muslims and preach Israels destruction
has many justifications in history to draw from. However, among them, an
elect will also be saved and whose offerings will be acknowledged. The
EUs economic agenda will take every opportunity to offer a better
economic deal, e.g., transport costs are sharply reduced since there are
but the Great Sea and the Hellespont between Europe and Africa and Asia
Minor. On the other hand, the nearest American ally, the United Kingdom,
is much farther, more so with the rest, America and Canada on the
American continent and Australia and New Zealand, farther still. America
on the other hand, maintains a superior edge in military power. It rules

the space and it is now capable of destroying all enemy satellites, cutting
off communications and reconnaissance. The space shuttle has become
an inexpensive means to attend to satellites removing the need to launch
a rocket from earth to repair and retrieve them. The mobility, flexibility
and capacity of deploying armed satellites and rearming and refueling
them afterwards is enhanced by the space shuttle. America has totally
dominated the space.
The Short Period. In the short period of forty years between the
end of Satans Millennium in the year 2330 AD and the reconsecration of
the temple of Solomon in 2370 AD, after he is released from the Abyss, he
will set in motion his plans for the final war that will take over the temple
mount in Jerusalem and meet the hordes of Muslims in the mountain of
Megiddo (Rev 20:7-9). It is the same short period of time between the end
of the Ninth Crusade in 1291 and and the last major conflict between the
Holy Roman empire and the Roman Catholic church in 1330 which
resulted in their separation. The former ended the Crusades, a forerunner
of Armageddon; the latter will begin it. However, unlike the war during
the Crusades, this one will be quick and utterly devastating, and its result
will be the absolute triumph of good over evil. It will be a war to end all
wars, and in the end, it will be fought by the Lord himself. It will be as
Jesus said concerning the end that came in the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD,
the infatuation and divisions of the Jews shortened those days in order
that the elect, the seed of future Israel might be saved. (Matthew
24:22).
478

Released from the Abyss, Satan will gather them again throughout
the four corners of the earth Gog and Magog, with the three evil spirits
looking like frogs to a revival of the images of the first beast (Roman
empire) and the minions of the false prophet who escaped the mark of the
beast (Muslim priest-king; Rev 16:13-14).
{20:7} And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of
his prison, {20:8} And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four
quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the
number of whom [is] as the sand of the sea. {20:9} And they went up on the
breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the
beloved city: and fire came down from G-d out of heaven, and devoured them.
{20:10} And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and
brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [are,] and shall be tormented
day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:7-10 AV)

Much of what has been said, published and pictured in order to ignite a
revival of the Crusade remains. In fact, more fuel has been added to the
Middle East conflict with the conspicuous role Protestants led by the
United States of America have played. The work of these evil spirits to
gather the kings of the whole world for battle at Armageddon has

become much easier. In fact, since the 1948, 1967 and 1973 Arab-Israeli
Wars, the 1990-91 and 2001-10 Persian Gulf Wars, and the 2001-2010
Afghanistan War against the Taliban and al-Qaeda, the issues the three
major faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) have taken against each
other have also taken a one-sided picture of the Word of G-d to favor the
interest of a single faith purporting to be the true Word of G-d. Certainly,
only the elect will see through all of these. All of those caught in their
interests in business and politics will take a myopic view of the conflict.
For example, a lot of the Roman Catholics animosity against Muslims are
unfounded and vice-versa, borne more by more than a thousand years of
lies and intrigues that dates back to the Byzantine empire. Muslims on the
other hand have harbored ancient grudges for the Jews betrayal of
Muslim aid and comfort during the persecution by the Roman Catholic
church of the Jew. The same feeling is also harbored by Muslims against
the early Christians who sought refuge amongst the Muslims of the
Ottoman empire and sought their protection against the Holy Roman
empire. Israel has also taken almost single-handedly in actual fighting,
the Arab countries that resisted its reclamation. It has also given a
macabre meaning to the often quoted justification of a pre-emptive
strike. A military operation against an imminent threat which often brings
the world to the edge of doomsday. The recent wars to protect Israels
claim of its homeland has found countries dominated by Protestants
getting drawn into the war which has seen the desolation of Israel
subsiding and the desolation of its Arab neighbors escalating.
A
fulfillment of the prophecy that the rod by which Israel is beaten will itself
be beaten.
The several bothersome and controversial issues, e.g. the temple
mount in East Jerusalem, where members of clergy of the different sects
of the faiths who have established churches and relics there, and are
responsible for its upkeep, get into a brawl over minute differences over
turf; the West Bank, which until now Israel is but an occupying force and
legally belongs to Jordan; and other nettlesome issues of the faith,
facilitate to fuel this desolation that will bring into the fray, the otherwise
peaceful Muslim nations comprising the former Soviet republics and the
hordes of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane in the bowels of China who are as
yet unmindful of the conflict. One can imagine that since the Word of
G-d is the rider that all the faiths will be fighting against, the issues to
finally resolve conflicting accounts related to the faith, e.g. Muslim belief
that Ishmael was the child to be sacrificed by Abraham and not Isaac, will
be decided on the battlefield. He who wins on the battlefield regarding a
certain issue holds the truth (Rev 19:11-21). Not only that, even within the
faith, wars have been fought and may be fought. Christians were not
exempt; in fact, history records that Roman Catholics and Protestants
have fought several religious wars after the Inquisition. In contemporary
times the guerrilla wars between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the

United Kingdom; and the Bosnia-Herzegovina conflict in 1992-95 between

Roman-Catholic Serbs and Muslim Croats were also such conflicts.
Present-day sectarian wars between Sunni and Shia Muslims are like the
religious wars in Europe which led to the Protestant Reformation. This has
been manifest in the conflict in Syria in 2013 and the rise of the Islamic
Caliphate of Iraq, Syria and the Levant (ISIS/ISIL) in Iraq and Syria in 2014.
However, by 2370 AD, it is believed a number of the ancient Arab
countries will have matured governments who will have been through
these wars earlier, or some 400 years already and know the real issues.
Messianic Muslims will also have exerted their influence on governments.
Following the desolation of Egypt and the Mesopotamian states: Lebanon,
Assyria and Babylon (Lebanon, Syria and Iraq) early on when the Jews
claimed Israel and dispossessed the Palestinians, more circumspect
leaders will rise from them to mitigate Armageddon as prophesied by
Isaiah and Zechariah (Isa 19:19-25; Zech 14:18). For by simply quoting
scriptures for the events that will sequentially follow prophesy and seeing
them unfold before ones very own eyes, people will know which uniform
one is wearing.
Revelation 19:20 speaks of the first beast and the false prophet
captured and thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, not the Abyss.
Revelation 20:1-3 which comes immediately after the event referred to
above, speaks of the dragon (Satan) bound in chains for his thousandyear imprisonment in the Abyss by the angel Abaddon (Gr.: Apollyon).
Most interpretations of the Abyss and Hades describe them as partly a
temporary hold for the dead until Judgment Day. The lake of burning
sulfur (Hebrew: Gehenna) is believed to be a more permanent place for
those who are condemned. Here, the first beast (Roman empire) and the
false prophet (a Muslim priest-king) are already tormented for eternity in
the lake of burning sulfur. Theologically, it is the belief that the lake of
burning sulfur referred to where the first beast and the false prophet are
thrown alive and tormented exists in the spiritual. Just as believers in
Christ experience bliss and abundance in life on earth under the guidance
and protection of the spirit of faith (Holy Spirit), those whose faith
destines them to the lake of burning sulfur misguided by the first beast
and the false prophet experience a life of hell while still on earth. The
kingdom is at hand and the Lord, Jesus Christ reigns during the
Millennium. As there are only two-thirds of the host of heaven and
because it is much easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
than to go to heaven, there is not enough of the host of heaven to watch
over mankind on earth. This was presumed the situation during the birth
of Jesus (Rev 12:1-5), however, the ratio may have now turned gradually
in favor of the minions of the demon because of the souls of their dead
that added to their numbers. The pro-choice stand of Christians against
the other sides pro-Life, anti-birth control, and anti-abortion policies
absolutely help the other sides numbers to increase. This is can only be

overtuned by strenghtening Christian programs on education on the end

time. For this reason, the outer court of the Gentiles in (Rev 11:1-2) is not
measured because by the strength of the preachers preaching, the
numbers can be overturned in favor of Christians increasing the area of
the outer court. With their number already determined at the end of the
42-month period, they also had grown exponentially. Only a slackening by
them would the minions of Satan grow. Daniel 12:4 accounts for the
desire to know of the end times, viz: But you, Daniel, close up and seal
the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and
there to increase knowledege.
The Abyss where the dragon Satan, is temporarily held, is a less
miserable place than the lake of burning sulfur. Though Satan is bound in
chain and locked in that bottomless place, his minions multiply on earth
and await him nurtured by the earlier deception he has taught on earth
which deception continues to be taught by the Roman Catholic church
administered by the second beast, the pope. The state of having the mark
is not a mental state which one can easily overcome by reason. This is a
spiritual state that can be overcome only by faith (John 3:5). Here lies the
difference between the Protestant and the Roman Catholic. The latters
faith is accursed and wrought with the wrath of G-d for His enemy, the
first beast an institution based on the Roman empire that espouses
worship of the dragon, Satan. Likewise, the Muslim whose faith espouses
hatred of the Jew and the return of Canaan to the Palestinians is following
the false prophet who is in the lake of burning sulfur. Their temporal
manifestation is evident. The spirit of the first beast is manifest in
dominantly Roman Catholic states where governments leave so much
room for improvement and most of the people live miserable lives bound
with the spirit of the beast. The spirit of the false prophet is also manifest
in Arab countries that espouse hatred of the Jews, the destruction of Israel
and prohibit the reading of the Bible. They will be laid desolate as the
punishers of Israel will come to for Israels punishment is already fully
served.
By 2330, nearing its end, the earth will already be at the fullest
extent of its leash. Essential resources, e.g., fossil fuel, lumber, clean
uncontaminated air, water, and food will be scarce and fought over.
Overpopulation will be particularly miserable in Latin American countries
but utterly agonizing in China and India. The intensity of the nuclear wars
will lay vast portions of the earth including populated areas desolate and
irradiated. Nature will be gone awry. The unpredictable weather patterns
will bring down agricultural production to impoverished levels.
Governments will be stabilized by truces but an increasingly agitated
populace with access to nuclear weapons easily breaks stability with the
ease by which a nuclear attack can be carried out. The IEDs (improvised
explosive device) of the future will be packed with nuclear explosives. Law

and order will be difficult to maintain and everything will be in short

supply. First world countries who have prepared will be left with barely
enough for its populace and the rest of the world is in shambles. The US
and its allies who have since 1948 been faced with several wars to protect
Israel, will barely be surviving. The lessons learned from the Persian Gulf
wars which decimated Iraq and the war against al-Qaeda and the Taliban
in Afghanistan were that: wars cost and these wars also plunged the US
into a recession. According to a Congressional Reseach Service (CRS)
report by Stephen Daggett, a specialist in defense policy and budgets
published in June 29, 2010 the total costs of the 1990-91 First Persian Gulf
war, the 2003-2010 Second Persian Gulf
war and the 2001-2010
Aghanistan war amounted to $1.207 trillion. These estimates are from US
government budget data for the costs of military operations only, sans
costs of veterans benefits, interest on war-related debt, or assistance to
allies. The resulting recession in the US and Iraq, as the worlds biggest
trader and the worlds third largest producer of oil, respectively had
serious global consequences. Like they say in Third World countries,
When the US has the sniffles, we have the flu; when it has the flu, we are
in the ICU. These were but wars against two nations. What could possibly
become of the world when the wars will involve all the former satellites of
the Soviet Union and China, who are Muslims?
479

Within the 40 short years that will lead to the reconsecration of the
temple, the EU will have long achieved a state of being the primary
economic power as Europeans aim it to be. It will be the chance the pope
needs to flex his influence in the Middle East, particularly in Israel and
pursue its much vaunted peace programs one that will attempt to end
the desolation, against the prophecy of Daniel. Many will bite the bait
after an exhausted world sees no end in sight for peace to end the
desolation in the Holy Land. The wars the United States and its allies
(United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand) will have fought
against Muslim opposition to Israels restoration will have already drained
their resources, while the EU will have the surpluses gained from
abstention. Yet the EU will still be faced with the Muslim who will certainly
oppose the restoration of Israel, no matter who is behind it; more so, of
the rebuilding of Solomons temple which will necessarily cost the
destruction of the mosques in the temple area. This will initiate the latter
day apostasy that will raise the issue why the peace of the whole world
has to be broken because of an ancient temple and in the place that is
called the Holy Land. People will be asking each other: if G-d is love,
why are we at war over this place? Very few will understand that the
holiness of G-d makes it almost impossible for any man to set foot on the
Holy Land without a plague, the sword, famine, and desolation, to say
the least, breaking out to destroy everything that is unclean. The
speculation will plunge Israel and most of the world into a recession. As
Israels support from its allies are withdrawn to support their domestic

requirements, she plunges into desperation. This will give rise to a prince
of Israel who will espouse a politics of appeasing the EUs desires and
policies for Israel in return for loans. Israel will thus come into the claws of
the revived Roman empire who will install a puppet as king of Israel and
prepare another puppet high priest in the reconstructed temple. This will
be made possible by a program that will be advanced by the EU to end
the desolation and bring peace; at least, in paper. This will again be
rejected by Muslims. Again, there will be a number of permutations and
combinations for Satan. He can have a messiah, who is a prophet, a king,
and a high priest all rolled into one a saint performing miracles, just like
Jesus Christ. He can have one puppet for each position. He can have one
act as a king, another as high priest and another, as prophet. He can have
one as both high priest and king and another one as prophet or Messiah,
and so on and so forth, so that once again, he makes a mockery out of the
Jews, as once before he did.
The prophet Zechariahs vision of a day of the Lord, mentions a
great earthquake as in the days of Uzziah (Zech 14:5) that will split the
Mount of Olives in two by a valley formed by the fault runing from the
east to west with one half of the mountain running north and the other
half running south. The events in the life of Uzziah showed he reigned
fifty-two years at the age of sixteen (2 Chronicles 26:3) and he did right in
the eyes of the Lord (2 Chronicles 26:4) and became exceedingly strong
(2 Chronicles 26:8) his name spreading far and abroad (2 Chronicles
26:15). His pride however, corrupted him so that he entered the temple
of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense (2 Chronicles 26:16).
Azariah the High Priest with a band of eighty priests withstood him (2
Chronicles 26:17), saying, It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense
to the LORD. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have
been consecrated to burn incense. (2 Chronicles 26:18). In the mean
time a great earthquake shook the ground and a rent was made in the
temple, and the bright rays of the sun shone through it, and fell upon the
kings face, insomuch that the leprosy seized upon him immediately.
This could mean that if the end would come as in Uzziahs time (c. 520
BC), it will be the king of Israel, who will become an abomination that
causes desolation standing where it is not supposed to be. The prophet
Amos (Amos 1:1) mentions the earthquake during Uzziahs time, that is
described by Steven A. Austin, Gordon W. Franz, and Eric G. Frost:

480

Masonry walls best display the earthquake, especially walls with broken ashlars,
walls with displaced rows of stones, walls still standing but leaning or bowed,
and walls collapsed with large sections still lying course-on-course. Debris at six
sites (Hazor, Deir Alla, Gezer, Lachish, Tell Judeideh, and 'En Haseva) is tightly
confined stratigraphically to the middle of the eighth century B.C., with dating
errors of 30 years []. The earthquake was at least magnitude 7.8, but likely
was 8.2 []. This severe geologic disaster has been linked historically to a

speech delivered at the city of Bethel by a shepherd-farmer named Amos of

Tekoa. 481

As the temple plans have long ago been prepared, the Orthodox
Jews who continue to rebel in their unbelief that Jesus is the Messiah, are
ready for the event. Their numbers may be half of the entire population of
Israel; the other half will, by this time be, Christian Jews or Messianic Jews,
who are the elect but most of them would be outside of Israel, in the
United States. As in the events leading to the destruction of the temple in
70 AD, Orthodox Jews will continue to hold sway in the rebuilding of the
temple, which mature and Christian or Messianic Jews will respect
because of the prophecy. As in the time of the Maccabees, the Zealots
and Simon bar Kochba, zealous Hassidic Jews will rise in power and lead a
rebellion against its foreign helpers, who are the United States and its
allies, who will also experience an overhaul of the alliance. Orthodox Jews
will see them as a humiliation that Israel on whose side G-d is, should
depend on any country. Israel should be free to choose, so that a political
party, led by rebels in the mold of the Zealots, will rise in government to
make this happen. From this party will rise a strong leader like the
Maccabees, the Zealots, and Simon Bar Kochba, asserting Israeli
sovereignty and independence from the US and its allies (who at this time
will be in dire economic condition). Very likely, this leader will have an
exceptional military record, unquestionably a war hero in the mold of king
David, but not quite. By this time, Israel will be deeply indebted to the EU
who uses debt relief as leverage. For this reason, this war heros bid as
Prime Minister by espousing a policy of peace in the region and the
cessation of hostilities in areas it has reclaimed as part of its inheritance,
will be advanced. Yet he will pursue the rebuilding of the temple and
possibly aspire to also stand as the high priest in the rebuilt temple. To do
this, he will lead an army of the EU to secure the temple mount and
destroy the Muslim mosques therein in order for the temple of Solomon to
be rebuilt. The devastation of Israel during the wars culminating in
Armageddon will certainly be on the scale of a nuclear holocaust as the
end nears. Jerusalem herself, might not be spared from this nuclear
holocaust because it is the objective of all the armies fighting for it. The
decision by the Security Council referred to in Revelation 17:12-14 will see
the desolation gradually increasing in the frequency of its occurrence.
This Israeli Prime Ministers objective will be to place Israel as the next
world power as the covenant people of G-d with the help of the EU who
will become the real power behind him. However, his ulterior motive will
be revealed and that is to hold the covenant people hostage and the host
of heaven that remains trampled until the reconsecration of the sanctuary.
The might of America and its allies may be dissipated by this time, but it
will fight when it can. Protestants pro-choice stand to birth control will
reduce its forces in the end time, while Roman Catholic stand against
abortion will increase their number. The Muslims polygamous marriages,

on the other hand, also increase their number in the end time; consistent
with Isaiahs prophecy in Chapter 54 concerning the heirs of Hagar
defending Jerusalem once again, as in the time of the Crusades.
Then the final battle at Armageddon against the people of G-d
whence Satan will die by the breathe of Jesus and the splendor of his
coming, on the day of the reconsecration of the temple, as the
shekinah, the glory of G-d, descends. Of this battle, the restoration
prophet Zechariah wrote:
{14:1} Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in
the midst of thee. {14:2} For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to
battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women
ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of
the people shall not be cut off from the city. {14:3} Then shall the LORD go
forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
{14:4} And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which [is]
before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst
thereof toward the east and toward the west, [and there shall be] a very great
valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it
toward the south. {14:5} And ye shall flee [to] the valley of the mountains; for
the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye
fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the
LORD my G-d shall come, [and] all the saints with thee. (Zech 14:1-5 AV)

As the great day of the Lord approaches, the forces of the antiChrist, an army ran under the command of the revived Holy Roman
empire, the EU in the mold of todays NATO will be deployed in Jerusalem
to secure the temple mount while Muslim armies comprising of
mujahideens from the Islamic Caliphate whose objectives are to retake
the temple mount will engage them. In the last decade, lawlessness once
again rules in Judea as in the time of the Roman procurator Felix and the
Sicarii during the reign of King Herod Agrippa II which led to the
destruction by General Titus of the temple. Apostasy will have already
dug in. The much vaunted peace program of the EU endorsed to it by the
pope will have failed. The city is ransacked, the women raped by
successive taking and retaking of the city by NATO and the followers of
the false prophet, but already Messianic Jews (the elect) will have fled
by the Lords mountain valley created by a great earthquake that extends
to Azel, going into exile as in the time of Uzziah. The day of this great
earthquake, as in the time of the first Jewish revolt, is believed to occur
some few years before the day of destruction, in 66 AD four years before
the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. Since this earthquake was likened
to the days of Uzziah, it is also believed the abomination is the Israeli
Prime Minister who will enter the holy place, as it was in the time when
Uzziah was king of Judah (c. 520 BC). He may, as in the time of the
Maccabean Jonathan Hyrcanus, assume the role of prince of Israel and
482

high priest. Being such, he can enter the holy place. Meanwhile, The other
half of Israel, the Orthodox Hassidims and Rabbinic Jews, who will attend
the reconsecration of the temple, will remain as the other half of Jews will
be as they are today, if not in Europe, in America, where most of them
are.
The Orthodox Jews and their high priest, a puppet of the man of
lawlessness - the EU President, will reconsecrate the temple. It will be
as spoken of by Jesus of the end of age in Matthew 24:40-42, of two men
in the field, one is taken, the other left. As in the days prophesied by
Jesus of the destruction of the temple and the siege of Jerusalem, when
Christians obeyed the Lords warning by fleeing to Pella, when Cestius
Gallus first advanced against Jerusalem, and then providentially, without
seeming reason, withdrew.
The elect will be warned and ready to flee
from Jerusalem.
As the earthquake will be the sign that the
abomination has entered the holy place, they will go into exile. The
contemporary situation where five million or half of the worlds Jewish
population live in America, will persist; America believed to be the place
of exile for the other half who will have become Messianic Jews. The end
will come as in the time of Titus destruction of the temple in 70 AD when
the desolation becomes intense and Orthodox Jews ran out of priests to
offer the daily sacrifice and a common man who does not know what the
high priesthood means -- another abomination, will be set up to offer the
daily sacrifice, instead.
483

Furthermore, the parable of the fig tree in Matthew 24:32 and the
following verses from 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, tells us in no uncertain
terms that as prophesied by Daniel of the abomination that maketh
desolate, there are sure signs of its coming. In fact, it is clear that it
shall follow the events as narrated therein.
{2:1} Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and [by] our gathering together unto him, {2:2} That ye be not soon shaken in
mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as
that the day of Christ is at hand. {2:3} Let no man deceive you by any means:
for [that day shall not come,] except there come a falling away first, and that
man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; {2:4} Who opposeth and exalteth
himself above all that is called G-d, or that is worshipped; so that he as G-d
sitteth in the temple of G-d, shewing himself that he is G-d. {2:5} Remember ye
not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? {2:6} And now ye
know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. {2:7} For the
mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [will let,] until
he betaken out of the way. {2:8} And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom
the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the
brightness of his coming: {2:9} [Even him,] whose coming is after the working
of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, {2:10} And with all
deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received

not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. {2:11} And for this cause Gd shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: {2:12} That
they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness. (2 Thess 2:1-12 AV underscoring mine)

The day of rebellion that will end time will not be unlike the First
Jewish Revolt against the Romans which began in 66 AD, which was not
unlike the rebellion started by the Maccabees in the time of the Greeks in
170 BC. But unlike the time when Antiochus (Epiphanes) the Great set up
his abomination in the temple, the Roman anti-Christ will actually set
himself up as god by putting his ensign inside the holy place reserved for
priests as the abomination that causes desolation. The Roman emperor
or Caesar is a god with his ensign and his cult of worshippers.
In
contrast, Antiochus espoused a Hellenistic religion and not the worship of
himself as a god.
Man of lawlessness is in the singular form. If it were men of
lawlessness, then there were John of Giscala, Eleazar of the Zealots and
Simon bar Giora as well as others who commanded much smaller number
of followers. But this man of lawlessness will set himself up in the
throne of G-d in the Holy of Holies in the temple, much so that it is
believed that primarily, this refers to Caesar himself, the Roman Empreror.
Now most of the Roman Caesars after General Pompey of the First
Triumvirate who subdued Judaea in 63 BC marking the year of the Roman
conquest of Israel, had imperial cults. The practice was began by
Augustus Caesar who by an act of apotheosis by the Roman Senate voting
to grant imperial divinity (divus) bestowed the nature of a god on the
Roman Caesar, as if man-made laws were sufficient to turn man into a
god. The granting of apotheosis served religious, political and moral
purposes for the Roman Caesars and allowed living emperors to associate
themselves with a lineage of imperial divi. The cult (cultus) of a living
emperor acknowledged his office and rule as divinely approved and
constitutional. In gratitude he must demonstrate pious respect for
traditional Republican deities and mores.
This proved a useful
instrument to Nero in his strategy, to allow the Jews in Jerusalem who had
rallied to the symbol of their faith, to destroy each other. This was his
justification to destroy the Jewish faith. Besides the Zealots of Eleazar,
son of Simon and the private army of John of Gischala, a new leader had
come to power, Simon bar Giora (son of the proselyte). He was
supported by men from Idumea, the southern part of Judaea that the
Romans had reconquered only recently. John and Eleazar had different
agendas. The first strove only for political freedom and minted silver coins
with the legend Freedom of Zion. Simon, on the other hand, stood at the
head of a messianic movement; his copper coins have the legend
Redemption of Zion.
Thus by encouraging the lawless movements to
fight against each other, he becomes the man of lawlessness being its
484

485

mastermind. Vespacian and his son Titus, continued Neros policies. It

was Titus ensigns which were planted on the east wing of the temple and
his legionnaires offered sacrifices to them.
486

As the man of lawlessnes referred to in this letter of Saint Paul to

the church at Thessalonika, Nero was considered unequaled as Josephus
portrays him in this wise:
Now as to the many things in which Nero acted like a madman, out of the
extravagant degree of the felicity and riches which he enjoyed, and by that means
used his good fortune to the injury of others; and after what manner he slew his
brother, and wife, and mother, from whom his barbarity spread itself to others
that were most nearly related to him;487

Paul who died during Neros persecution Christians in 64 - 69 AD was the

man who was to be removed, and whose removal would begin the end
that is to come. Pauls death as the apostle to the Gentiles was a sign of
the completed part of the gospel for the Gentiles that was bestowed upon
him as his mission. Furthermore, Paul who was born a Roman citizen and
and a Pharisee, had insisted on his rights under the law, which consisted
of the right to be tried before a magistrate in Rome. Until a citizen of
Pauls stature and case sought the law, lawlessness was deemed not
entirely at work. From the Book of Acts, an account of Pauls trial can be
obtained, thus Josephus wrote:
Take the character of this Felix (who is well known from the Acts of the
Apostles, particularly from his trembling when St. Paul discoursed of
righteousness, chastity, and judgment to come (Acts 24:5); and no wonder, when
we have elsewhere seen that he lived in adultery with Drusilla, another mans
wife, (Antiq. B. XX. ch. 7. sect. 1) in the words of Tacitus, produced here by
Dean Aldrich: Felix exercised, says Tacitus, the authority of a king, with the
disposition of a slave, and relying upon the great power of his brother Pallas at
court, thought he might safely be guilty of all kinds of wicked practices. Observe
also the time when he was made procurator, A.D. 52; that when St. Paul pleaded
his cause before him, A.D. 58, he might have been many years a judge unto that
nation, as St. Paul says he had then been (Acts 24:10).488

Smiths Bible Dictionarys narrates that in his fifth and last journey
to Jerusalem in the spring of 58 AD, Paul was imprisoned on account that
his preaching had raised a tumult among the Jews there. In the account
given in Acts 21:34-40 Paul, thought to have committed some heinous
offence was arrested by a Roman officer who ordered that he be
scourged to confess.
Paul, again taking advantage of his Roman
citizenship invoked his rights. The chief captain called together the chief
priests and the Sanhedrin, and brought Paul as a prisoner before them.
The day after, a conspiracy of more than forty Jews bound themselves
neither to eat nor drink until they had killed Paul but the plot was

discovered. The chief captain, Claudius Lysias sent him to Caesarea to

Felix, the governor or procurator of Judea. Soldiers brought Paul to
Antipatris then to Caesarea, into the hands of Felix. He was imprisoned at
Caesarea between 58-60 AD. His Roman citizenship again saved him
from an otherwise inhuman consideration. According to Tacitus and
Josephus, Felix, a mean and dissolute tyrant, only sought to ingratiate
himself with the Jews. After hearing Pauls accusers and his defence, Felix
made an excuse for putting off the trial and gave orders that the prisoner
should be allowed to see his friends. To please his Jew friends he handed
Paul over for more trial by his successor, Festus. Upon Festus arrival in
Jerusalem, the leading Jews asked that Paul be brought to Jeusalem for
trial intending to assassinate him, but Festus instead invited them to
follow him to Caesarea, for the trial. "They had certain questions against
him," Festus says to Agrippa, "of their own superstition (or religion), and
of one Jesus, who was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. And being
puzzled for my part as to such inquiries, I asked him whether he would go
to Jerusalem to be tried there." This proposal was the occasion of Pauls
appeal to Caesar. For this reason, Festus was obliged to send with the
prisoner a report of the trial. But not before consulting with the Jewish
prince Agrippa who arrived with his sister Bernice desiring to hear Paul
himself. Accordingly Paul conducted his defence before the king; and
when it was concluded Festus and Agrippa, and their companions,
resolved that the accused was guilty of nothing that deserved death or
imprisonment. Agrippas final answer to the inquiry of Festus was, "This
man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar."
In the autumn of 60 AD Paul left for Rome and arrived there in the spring
of 61 AD after so much mishap as a shipwreck which delayed them. Paul
was treated with special consideration and was allowed to dwell by
himself with his guard feeling free "to preach the gospel to them that
were at Rome also;" and proceeded without delay "to the Jews first." But
as usual the Jews rejected him so he turned, again to the Gentiles. At
the end of two years, in 63 AD, Nero acquitted him and he left Rome. He
spent some time in visits to Greece, Asia Minor and Spain, and during the
latter part of this time wrote the letters to Timothy and Titus from
Macedonia in 65 AD. In the same year he was apprehended again and
sent to Rome. In the great fire of Rome in July 64 AD which Nero blamed
on Christians, Paul fell victim to the persecution which followed. He now
appears now to have been treated not as an honorable state prisoner but
as a felon (2 Ti 2:9). Concurrent testimonies of ecclesiastical antiquity
points at Paul beheaded at Rome, by Nero sometime between 65 and 69,
depending on the scholar that one follows. For the purpose of this study
and to fit our timeline, Paul died in 66 AD and shortly thereafter, the
siege of Jerusalem was begun by General Titus.
489

Of false prophets on the occasion of the eve of destruction,

Josephus recounts:

A false prophet was the occasion of these peoples destruction, who

made a public proclamation in the city that very day, that G-d commanded them
to get upon the temple that they should receive miraculous signs of their
deliverance. There was a great number of false prophets suborned by the tyrants
to impose on the people, that they should wait for deliverance from God; to keep
them from deserting, and that they might be buoyed up above fear and care by
such hopes.490
But, there was one Jesus, the son of Ananus, who, four years before the
war began, when the city was in very great peace and prosperity, began on a
sudden to cry aloud, A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from
the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the holy house, a voice against the
bridegrooms and the brides, and a voice against this whole people! This was his
cry, as he went about by day and by night. However, the most eminent among
the populace had great indignation at this dire cry of his, and gave him a great
number of severe stripes; yet did not he say any thing for himself, or to those
that chastised him, but went on with the same words which he cried before.
Hereupon they brought him to the Roman procurator, where he was whipped till
his bones were laid bare; yet he did not make any supplication for himself, nor
shed any tears, but at every stroke of the whip his answer was, Woe, woe to
Jerusalem! This cry of his was the loudest at the festivals; for seven years and
five months,until the very time that he saw his presage in earnest fulfilled in our
siege, when it ceased; for as he was going round upon the wall, there came a
stone out of one of the engines, and smote him, and killed him. 491

Thus fulfilling what Jesus had warned in Matthew 24, For many will
come in my name, saying, I am the Christ; and shall deceive many, but
do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will perform great
signs and miracles to deceive even the elect. And of the signs and
wonders:
Thus there was a star resembling a sword, which stood over the city, and
a comet, that continued a whole year. Before the Jews rebellion, when the
people came to the feast of unleavened bread, on the eighth day of the month
Xanthicus, [Nisan,] and at the ninth hour of the night, so great a light shone
round the altar and the holy house, that it appeared to be bright day time; which
lasted for half an hour. At the same festival also, a heifer, as she was led by the
high priest to be sacrificed, brought forth a lamb in the midst of the temple.
Moreover, the eastern gate of the inner [court of the] temple, which was of brass
and heavy, with difficulty twenty men to shut, resting upon a base made of iron,
with bolts fastened deep into the firm floor made of one entire stone, was seen to
be opened of its own accord about the sixth hour of the night. 492
A few days after that feast, on the twenty first day of the month
Artemisius, [Jyar], before sunset, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor
were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding of cities. Moreover,
at the feast of the Pentecost, as the priests were going by night into the inner
court of the temple, they said that they felt a quaking, and heard a great noise,
and heard a sound as of a great multitude, saying, "Let us remove hence." 493

Then the Jews who stayed in Jerusalem were annihilated. Of this

event Fausset, quoting from William Smiths The New Testament and
Josephus Bellum Judaicum, has an account. Gessius Florus (65 AD)
tested the Jews endurance by allowing robbers and leaving the populace
to defend themselves. He did this deliberately and intentionally. His
defense of an uncontrollable rebellion by the Sicarii and the seditious,
though encouraged by him, allowed him to extort from the populace,
money and other valuables. He tried to get the treasure from the temple,
but failed. Young Eleazar, son of Ananias, withheld the regular offerings
from the Roman emperor, renouncing allegiance. So the war began.
The insurgents, reinforced by the Sicarii, set on fire the Asmonaean
palace, the high priests house, and the archives repository. They slew
the Roman garrison, burnt Antonia; murdered the soldiers. Next the high
priest and his brother were slain.
Cestius Gallus was defeated in
November, 66 AD. Gallus retreat gave the Christians the opportunity of
fleeing as Christ counselled them, when ye see Jerusalem compassed
with armies, then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains (Matt
24:16). Vespasian was subduing the northern country (October or
November, 67 AD).
In two years and a half (70 AD) Titus began the
siege. The Zealots in two parties: one under John of Giscala and Eleazar,
with 8,400 men; the other under Simon Burgioras, with 10,000 men and
5,000 Idumeans. Strangers and pilgrims swelled the number to 600,000
(Tacitus). Josephus says a million perished in the siege, and 40,000 were
allowed to depart, an immense number sold to the army, part of the
97,000 carried captive during the whole war. Out of 27 sieges this was
the only one in which Jerusalem was surrounded by a wall literally
fulfilling the prophecy in Luke 19:41-44: "thine enemies shall cast a trench
about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side.
Titus, with 30,000 men, including four legions and auxiliaries (the 12th
and 15th on Scopus far to the N., the 5th a little behind, and the 10th on
Olivet), forced an entrance through the first wall, then the second. Then,
withdrawing the 10th from Olivet, he gave the Jews time for terms of
peace, but in vain. Next he attacked the temple at Antonia and the city.
The wall was completed in three days. Then Antonia was taken on June
11. The period of bombarding the temple is named by the Jews yomin
deeka (the days of wretchedness).
On the 28th of June the daily
sacrifice ceased (Daniel 9:27) from want of an officiating priest, and
th
Titus again in vain invited to a surrender. On July the 15 , a soldier,
contrary to Titus intention, fired the temple, and all Titus efforts to stop
the fire were unavailing, the very same month and day that
Nebuchadnezzar burnt the first temple, God marking the judgment plainly
as from Him. On September 11th the Romans gained the upper city. The
city and temple were wholly burnt and destroyed, excepting the Western
wall of the upper city and Herods three great towers, left as memorials of
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the strength of the defenses. The old and weak were killed, the children
under 17 sold as slaves, the rest were sent to the Egyptian mines, the
amphitheatres, and Rome, where they formed part of Titus triumphal
train. The 10th legion under Terentius Rufus so thoroughly leveled and
dug up, that no one visiting Jerusalem would believe it had ever been
inhabited.
fulfilling Christs words, they shall lay thee even with the
ground and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one
stone upon another, because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.
(Luke 19:44) Thus, it can also be said that Jesus came when the physical
temple, the temple of Solomon was destroyed for as the physical temple
is destroyed, the spiritual one, Jesus, is raised. This, in reference to the
covenants of old which was supplanted by the new which Jesus brought
with him vice the old represented by the rites of worship in the temple.
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510

511

512

The Final Battle of Armageddon. Ezekiels account of the final battle

of Armageddon at Hamon Gog will summon hordes from the following
tribes of peoples descended from Japheth, one of the three sons of Noah
(Eze 38:5-6). While the European Union, as the revived Holy Roman
empire, holds Jerusalem with its army against the Muslims from the
immediate neighborhood made up by Persians, Cush and Put (Iranians,
Libyans and Ethiopians) who will defend Jerusalem, the hordes from the
Greater Middle East made up of Islamic countries who once belonged to
the USSR, will be traveling from a distance through the Caucassus
mountains from Chechnya and ethnic Muslim minorities in Armenia,
Georgia and Azerbaijan through Derbent in the Pass of Dariel to reinforce
them. Those from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyztan, and
Tajekistan will pass through the Wall of Gorgan in northern Iran. As most
of Russia and its Roman Catholic population will have become part of the
EU, it will also become the frontline against Chechnya and Kazakhstan
who are its border neighbors. Once all of these Muslim nations are
embroiled in the conflict, the hordes of Mongolian Muslims will also come
into the fray. This may not happen at once as a single battle but in a
series of wars that will lead to that, and with each war, alliances will be
made and loyalties changed as the elect will find themselves at
Jerusalem near the end of time. They will be followed by the hordes of
Mongolians as in the time of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane.
Japheth is believed to have populated the European continent. Gog, has
been supposed to be the name of a district in the wild north-east steppes
of Central Asia, north of the Hindu-Kush, now a part of Turkistan, a region
about 2,000 miles north-east of Nineveh. Magog is another son of
513

Japheth. This name appears in the Assyrian texts as mat gugu, the
land of Gugu, and means Lydia. Gugu is known in Greek texts as Gyges,
claimed as an ancestor in both Irish and Hungarian medieval traditions.
Flavius Josephus, followed by Jerome and Nennius, makes him ancestor of
the Scythians who dwelt north of the Black Sea.
Eastons Index
describes him as the region of Gog, the second of the sons of Japheth
(Gen. 10:2; 1 Chr 1:5). In Ezekiel (38:2; 39:6) it is the name of a nation,
probably some Scythian or Tartar tribe, descended from Japheth, who are
skilled horsemen experts in the use of the bow. The Latin father, Jerome
says that this word denotes Scythian nations, fierce and innumerable,
who live beyond the Caucasus and the Lake Maeotis, and near the
Caspian Sea, and spread out even onward to India.

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516

Meschech, the sixth son of Japheth (Gen. 10:2), also founded a tribe (1
Chr 1:5; Eze 27:13; 38:2, 3). They were in all probability the Moschi, a
people inhabiting the Moschian Mountains, between the Black and the
Caspian Seas. In Psalm 120:5 the name occurs as simply a synonym for
foreigners or barbarians. During the ascendancy of the Babylonians and
Persians in Western Asia, the Moschi were subdued but it seems probable
that a large number of them crossed the Caucasus range and spread over
the northern steppes, mingling with the Scythians. There they became
known as Muscovs, and gave that name to the Russian nation and its
ancient capital by which they are still generally known throughout the
East. Wikipedia describes Meshech as a son of Japheth and regarded as
the eponym of the Mushki tribe of Anatolia considered one of the
ancestors of the Georgians, but also became connected with the Sea
Peoples who roamed the Mediterranean Sea. Some consider him father of
Moscow, combining his name Meshech (Msc) and his wifes name, Kva
(Cwa). According to one legend found in 17th century from the Russian,
Timothy Kamenevich-Rvovski (1680), Moscow (Moskva) was founded by
King Mosokh son of Japheth (i.e. Meshech), and was named for him and
his wife, Kva. In this legend, they are also said to have had a son, Ya, and
daughter, Vuza, who gave their names to the nearby Yauza river.
Seventy seven percent of Russian population is made up of Slavs which
the ancient Greeks reported as the result of the intermingling of various
tribal groups identified as the Scythians.
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Tubal, the fifth son of Japheth (Gen. 10:2) is mentioned by Isaiah

(66:19), along with Javan, and by Ezekiel (27:13), along with Meshech,

among the traders with Tyre, also among the confederates of Gog (Eze
38:2, 3; 39:1), and with Meshech among the nations which were to be
destroyed (Eze 32:26). This nation was probably the Tiberini of the Greek
historian Herodotus, a people of the Asiatic highland west of the Upper
Euphrates, the southern range of the Caucasus, on the east of the Black
Sea.
Many authors, following the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus,
related the name to Iber. Josephus wrote: Tobal gave rise to the
Thobeles, who are now called Iberes. This version was repeated by the
Patriarch Eustathius of Antioch and Bishop Theodoret. However, Jerome,
Isidore of Seville, and the Welsh historian Nennius stated another tradition
that Tubal was ancestor to not only Iberians, but also the Italians. A
521

rd
divergent tradition recorded by Hippolytus of Rome in the 3 century lists
Tubals descendants as the Hettali (or Thessalians in some later copies),
while the Book of the Bee (1222) states that he was progenitor of
Bithynians.
522

Gomer, the eldest son of Japheth, and father of Ashkenaz, Riphath,

and Togarmah (Gen. 10:2,3), and their descendants formed the principal
branch of the population of southeastern Europe. He is generally regarded
as the ancestor of the Celtae and the Cimmerii, who in early times settled
to the north of the Black Sea, and gave their name to the Crimea, the
ancient Chersonesus Taurica. Traces of their presence are found in the
th
names Cimmerian Bosphorus, Cimmerian Isthmus, etc. In the 7
century
B.C. they were driven out of their original seat by the Scythians, and
overran western Asia Minor, whence they were afterwards expelled. They
subsequently reappeared in the times of the Romans as the Cimbri of the
north and west of Europe, whence they crossed to the British Isles, where
their descendants are still found in the Gaels and Cymry. Thus, the whole
Celtic race may be regarded as descended from Gomer.
523

Persia (Iran), Cush (Eastern Africa consisting of Ethiopia, Kenya,

Taganyika) and Put (Libya) will also be among the hordes.
{38:1} And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, {38:2} Son of man,
set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and
Tubal, and prophesy against him, {38:3} And say, Thus saith the Lord G-D;
Behold I [am] against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
{38:4} And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring
thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with
all sorts [of armour, even] a great company [with] bucklers and shields, all of
them handling swords: {38:5} Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of
them with shield and helmet: {38:6} Gomer, and all his bands; the house of
Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: [and] many people with
thee. {38:7} Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy
company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. {38:8}

After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into
the land [that is] brought back from the sword, [and is] gathered out of many
people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it
is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
{38:9} Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to
cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee. (Ezek
38:1-9 AV)
{38:14} Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the
Lord G-D; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not
know [it? ]{38:15} And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts,
thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great
company, and a mighty army: {38:16} And thou shalt come up against my
people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and
I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall
be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes. (Ezek 38:14-16 AV)
{38:18} And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come
against the land of Israel, saith the Lord G-D, [that] my fury shall come up in
my face. {38:19} For in my jealousy [and] in the fire of my wrath have I
spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
{38:20} So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the
beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all
the men that [are] upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and
the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every
wall shall fall to the ground. {38:21} And I will call for a sword against him
throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord G-D: every mans sword shall be
against his brother. {38:22} And I will plead against him with pestilence and
with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many
people that [are] with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and
brimstone. {38:23} Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will
be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I [am] the
LORD. (Ezek 38:18-23 AV)
{14:12} And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people
that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they
stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their
tongue shall consume away in their mouth. (Zech 14:12 AV)

The verses above speaks of the hordes made up of the tribes descended
from Japheth who will come to war at the plains of Jezreel (Esdraelon)
between Tel-Megiddo (Armageddon) and Mount Tabor. Unfortunately, the
half of Israel that are left to fight, including those of Judah who
reconsecrated the temple, will also perish (Zech 14:14). As the hordes
advanced, the elect (Messianic Jews and Messianic Muslims) will already
have fled via the mountain valley created by the earthquake similar to the
one in the time of Uzziah, this valley will lead to Azel, southwest of
Jerusalem, in the portion of Benjamin below sea level which will protect
them from nuclear blasts aimed at the valley of Jezreel at Tel-Megiddo by

the hordes (Zech 14:5). But the Negev from Geba to Rimmon will be
inundated by water and become like the Arabah. Then the Lord himself
will come to fight for Israel. There will be another earthquake, in fact, it is
believed a great one with mountains overturned, cliffs crumbling and
every wall going down, followed by the classic signature of the Lords
presence, a plague that will decimate everything exposed to the
elements. This will be followed by a deluge. Hailstones and burning
sulfur could also mean mans weapons of war that causes massive
destruction, like nuclear weapons. Hailstones connotes the stones flung
by siege weapons. Burning sulfur similarly refers to gunpowder and other
explosive materials. But the Lord will summon His forces from all His
mountains excepting those who were named to be against her. Nations,
who value her like precious jewels will come to defend Jerusalem and
there will be wars as brother fights against brother. Nations will be divided
as its people take sides of the conflict, according to faith, even within the
faith. The half of the remnant who have left earlier will very likely have
prepared to meet the threat of the hordes. Foremost among them will be
American Jews who belong to Americas fighting forces who will remotely
engage the hordes, striking them with nuclear weapons. Gog and his
hordes will fall on the mountains of Israel. I will smite thy bow out of thy
left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. And I
will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the
isles (Eze 39:3-4, 39:6). Soviet and Chinese strategies have traditionally
relied on the wave assaults putting its advantage on superior number of
soldiers to good use. Strategically, quantity is a good excuse for quality.
This was effective in the tropical battles in North Korea in the 50s and
Vietnam in the 60s and 70s. The lessons in Vietnam have have seen
them and may become strategic in future wars. Unfortunately, the same
strategies will not work in the deserts of the Middle East which have seen
the overwhelming superiority of Western weapons and weapons systems
in such arid and flat terrain, where vegetation is nil. Satellite and aerial
reconnaissance are not hampered by cloud nor forest cover. Other nations
will also be drawn into the war and suffer from nuclear strikes.
524

{54:16} Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and
that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to
destroy. {54:17} No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every
tongue [that] shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This [is] the
heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness [is] of me, saith the
LORD. ( Isa 54:16-17 AV)

The above verses, part of Isaiah 54, speak it is believed for both
Israel and Ishmael. These are not the Messianic Jews and Messianic
Muslims for those will have long gone after the earthquake described as
similar to the time of Uzziah. These are the remnants of the war who will
be united in the battle as they fall back to Jerusalem. Just as in the time

of the fall in 70 AD, there was a remnant who survived the war but were
taken prisoners. They will witness Gog and his hordes buried in a place in
Israel, in the valley of those who travel east towards the Dead Sea. There
they will stopped as the Lord himself engages them. It will be called the
Valley of Hamon Gog (hordes of Gog). This is where the Lord himself will
fight the hordes and consume them in his anger. Near it, a town will be
called Hamonah (horde) where workers from the burial details will live
(Eze 39:12). It will take seven months to bury them. At the end of seven
months a search will be made for the dead to be identified and brought
and buried in the valley. The corpses of those who come to fight for
Jerusalem, it seems, will be painstakingly reconstructed, with many
volunteers doing the work.
Time Ends (Post Armageddon). Zechariah has an account of how it
will be after Armageddon. The verses below speaks of a time when the
war is over and time has ended.
{14:6} And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the light shall not be clear,
[nor] dark: {14:7} But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD,
not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, [that] at evening time it shall be
light. {14:8} And it shall be in that day, [that] living waters shall go out from
Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the
hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. {14:9} And the LORD shall be
king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name
one. {14:10} All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon
south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from
Benjamins gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and
[from] the tower of Hananeel unto the kings winepresses. {14:11} And [men]
shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem
shall be safely inhabited. (Zech 14:6-11 AV)

The Negev and most of Israel south of Jerusalem which is below sea level
will be flooded under water, by nuclear detonations or high-magnitude
earthquakes that will level the obstruction that prevents the waters from
the Gulf of Aqaba from rushing in. Sea level will also have risen by this
time because global warming already melted the polar ice caps and the
pollution from industries churning out paraphernalia for the war goes on
unabated. On that day that is best described by the prophet Zechariah in
the verses above, begins eternity. There will no longer be day or night.
There will always be light. The seasons will end as the world stops
turning. The laws of nature will be changed. Time is stopped for eternity.
But life for the elect and the survivors, continues. This may be inferred
from Zechariah 14:10-21, when rain only comes to the nations who come
to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles which occurs in the

month of Tishri (September-October). It is associated with the giving of

the tenth (tithing) to the Lord. And before that, the clean up undertaken
by the residents of Hamonah, a village near Hamon Gog where the
hordes fell, which clean up takes seven months, and the weapons of war
are turned to fuel. These events will happen after time ends.
{14:16} And it shall come to pass, [that] every one that is left of all the nations
which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship
the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.{14:17} And
it shall be, [that] whoso will not come up of [all] the families of the earth unto
Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be
no rain. {14:18} And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that
[have] no [rain;] there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the
heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. {14:19} This shall be
the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up
to keep the feast of tabernacles.{14:20} In that day shall there be upon the
bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the
LORDS house shall be like the bowls before the altar.{14:21} Yea, every pot in
Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all
they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and see the therein: and in
that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of
hosts. (Zechariah 14:16-20 AV)

Seals lock the visions preventing the enemies of the Lord from understanding them. They are also
worded in the distinct language of scriptures.

Daniel 8:11-13, 11:31, 12:11 (AV)

Daniel 7:25, 12:7; Revelation 12:14 (AV)

Daniel 8:14 (AV)

Yusuf Ali, Sura 9:29; 43:61, The Meaning of the Noble Quran (July 7, 2006), accessed: July 30, 2015, http://www.I.
Tattersall, The Last Neanderthal: The Rise, Success, and Mysterious Extinction of Our Closest Human Relatives (New
York: Macmillan, 1995). pdf-koran.com/Koran.pdf.

There is a significant and substantive amount of the scriptures that are found in the Quran. Sura 3:3 for example,
refers to the Israelites as the People of the Book and the New Testament as the Gospel.

Groliers Encyclopedia of Knowledge, Vol. 7, (Danbury: Grolier Incorporated, 1995), 246, s.v. Fertile
Crescent.

Ibid.

Charles Robert Darwin, An Historical Sketch Of The Progress Of Opinion On The Origin Of Species, ed.
Charles Eliot, The Origin of Species, 6th ed., (New York: P.F. Collier and Son, 1909) 9-19.

10

It is believed millions much less billions in number of units would not be represented at the time the Book of Genesis
was written, much less in the oral tradition of the Hebrews.

11

Robert Chambers, Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation, (London: John Churchill. October, 1844), 154-155.

12

Darwin, The Origin, 13-14.

13

Mike Riddle, Chapter 16: Does Evolution Have a Chance?, Answering in Genesis (May 30, 2014), accessed: July 15,
2015, https://answersingenesis.org/evidence-against-evolution/probability/does-evolution-have-a-chance/#fn_2.

14

Freeman Dyson, Origins of Life (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1999) 36.

15

Mike Riddle, Chapter 16: Does Evolution Have a Chance?, Answering in Genesis (May 30, 2014).

16

Ibid.

17

Michael Denton, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis (Bethesda, MD: Adler and Adler, 1985) 262.

18

Wikipedia contributors, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia , s.v. Religious views of Charles Darwin, accessed: July 8,
2015.

19

Wikipedia contributors, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, s.v. Neanderthals, accessed: September 5, 2015,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal.

20

C. Stringer and C. Gamble, In Search of the Neanderthals: Solving the Puzzle of Human Origins (London:
Thames and Hudson, 1993).

21

I. Tattersall, The Last Neanderthal: The Rise, Success, and Mysterious Extinction of Our Closest Human Relatives
(New York: Macmillan, 1995).

22

Wikipedia, s.v. Hyoid bone, accessed: November 13, 2009.

23

Colin P.T. Baillie, Neanderthals: Unique from Humans, or Uniquely Human?, Kroeber Anthropological Society, 103(1):
93-107.

24

Jean-Pierre Bocquet-Appel and Ofer Bar-Yosef, eds., Prehistoric Demography in a Time of Globalization, ( Springer
Science+Business Media B.V., 2008) 2.

25

Colliers Encyclopedia, Vol. 15, (US: Cromwell-Collier Educational Corporation, 1969), 731a, s.v. Mesolithic
Age.

26

The World Book Great Geographical Atlas, (Mitchell Beazley Publishers, 1982), s.v. Tundra and Taiga.

27

Bocquet-Appel and Bar-Yosef, Prehistoric Demography, 2.

28

Mike Riddle, Chapter 7: Doesnt Carbon-14 dating Disprove the Bible?, Answering in Genesis
(September 20, 2007), accessed: July 6, 2015, https://answersingenesis.org/geology/carbon-14/doesnt-carbon-14dating-disprove-the-bible/

29

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, s.v. Dynastic Race Theory, accessed February 15, 2014.

30

Ken Wood, "Prophetic Times: The 7000 Year Plan," The Christadelphian Advocate, (February 2011);
accessed: July 13, 2015, http://www.christadelphian-advocate.org/issues/2011/02/prophetic-times-the-7000-yearplan.html

31

The 7000 Year Plan of Elohim, Creation Calendar, accessed: July 13, 2015, http://www.torahcalendar.com/PLAN.asp

32

Gods Prophetic Timetable (The 7,000 Year Plan of G-d), Hebraic Heritage Ministries International, accessed: March
6, 2014, http://www.hebroots com /lul6.html.

33

Hrhhrl, What does Adam mean in Hebrew, Adam and Eve, accessed May 4, 2015,
http://www.answers.com/Q/ What_does_Adam_mean_in_Hebrew.

34

David Noel Freedman, Allen C. Myers and Astrid B. Beck, Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, (Eerdmans
Publishing Co., 2000-11) s.v. Adam.

35

Rabbi Daniel Boron, The Meaning of Adam: Insights into the Hebrew Language, Aish.com, accessed:
May 5, 2015, http:// www.aish.com /sp/ph/48956911.html, Navigation: Home>>Spirituality>>Philosophy.

36

Ernst Mayr and W. J. Bock, Classifications and Other Ordering Systems, Journal of Zoological
Systematics and Evolutionary Research 40 (2002) 175, 177, 180.

37

Carl von Linn, Systema natur, Regnum Animale, 10th ed. (1758) 18, 20.

38

W. T. Stearn, The Background of Linnaeuss Contributions to the Nomenclature and Methods of

Systematic Biology," Systematic Zoology 8 1 (1959) 4-22.

39

D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder, Mammal Species of the World, 3rd ed. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University
Press, 2005) 181184. Accessed May 16, 2015. https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=JgAMbNSt8ikC&q. Google
book.

40

Wikipedia, s.v. Homo, accessed : May 4, 2015.

41

Dr. Walt Brown, Frequently Asked Questions > Did It Rain before the Flood? > References and Notes, In the
Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood, 8th ed. (Center for Scientific Creation, Dec. 1, 2008),

accessed: May 14, 2015, http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/FAQ210.html.

42

Ibid.

43

Exodus 19:4

44

Wikipedia, s.v. Dynastic Race Theory.

45

M.R. Lefkowitz and G.M.L. Rogers, Black Athena Revisited (University of North Carolina Press, 1996) 65.

46

Ibid.

47

Martin Bernal, Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization (The Linguistic Evidence), Vol. III, (New
Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2006) 23.

48

D.E. Deary, The Dynastic Race in Egypt, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 42 (1956) 82-84.

49

Ibid, 84.

50

Genesis 10:6 (AV).

51

Faussets Bible Dictionary, s.v. Mizraim, accessed: November 13, 2009, http://studylight.org.

52

Batrix Midant-Reynes, The Prehistory of Egypt: From the First Egyptians to the First Kings (Oxford, UK: Blackwell
Publishers) quoted in Wikipedia, s.v. Egypt, accessed: November 13, 2009.

53

New Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia Release 6. [CD] (Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc. 1993), s.v. Ancient Egypt.

54

Wikipedia, s.v. Hyksos, accessed: November 13, 2009.

55

Josephus Flavius, Against Apion, trans. William Whiston (1737) I, 14.

56

Ibid.

57

Callender, Gae, "The Middle Kingdom Renaissance," in Ian Shaw, ed. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2000), 156-157.

58

Manetho, trans. W. G. Waddell (London: Harvard University Press, 1940) 79-81.

59

Eliezer D. Oren, The Hyksos: New Historical and Archaeological Perspectives (University of Pennsylvania, 1997) as
quoted in Wikipedia, s.v. Hyksos, accessed: November 13, 2009.

60

Ibid.

61

Herbert E. Winlock, The Rise and Fall of the Middle Kingdom in Thebes (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1947)
as quoted in Wikipedia, s.v. Hyksos.

62

Wikipedia, s.v. Hyksos.

63

Ibid.

64

Ibid.

65

Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (ANET), ed. James B. Pritchard, 3rd ed. (New Jersey:
Princeton University Press, 1969) 232.

66
67

Wikipedia, s.v. Hyksos.

Janine Bourriau, Beyond Avaris: The Second Intermediate Period in Egypt Outside the Eastern
Delta, in Eliezer D. Oren, ed., The Hyksos: New Historical and Archaeological Perspectives (Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Museum, 1997) 159-182.

68

Josephus, Against Apion, I, 14.

69

Ibid, I, 26.

70

NGME Rel. 6, s.v. The Hyksos, by David OConnor.

71

Genesis 15:13 (AV)

72

NGME Rel. 6, s.v. The Hyksos.

73

Genesis 39:5 (AV).

74

The figures refer to the same number. 400 is generic and 430 is specific. 430 is used for its
specifity.

75

Wikipedia, s.v. Mesopotamia, accessed February 15, 2014.

76

Ancient History Encyclopedia, s.v. Mesopotamia by Joshua J. Mark, accessed: July 30, 2014,
http://www.ancient.eu.com/Mesopotamia/ .

77

Ibid.

78

John Lendering, Babylonia: Ziggurat, Livius.org, accessed: July 5, 2015,

http://www.livius.org/concept/ziggurat/.

79

The Wars of Iraq, The History Guy, accessed: July 1, 2015, http://www.historyguy.com/wars_of_iraq.Html#.
VZOJ6FIitLN.

80

Wikipedia, s.v. Sons of Noah, accessed February 15, 2014.

81

Colliers Encyclopedia, s.v. Darwinism.

82

Almut Nebel, Dvora Filon, Deborah A. Weiss, Michael Weale, Marina Faerman, Ariella Oppenheim, and Mark G.
Thomas, High-Resolution Y Chromosome Haplotypes of Israeli and Palestinian Arabs Reveal Geographic Substructure
and Substantial Overlap with Haplotypes of Jews, Human Genetics 107 (2000) 630.

83

Stephanie Dalley and John Peter Oleson, Sennacherib, Archimedes, and the Water Screw: The Context of
Invention in the Ancient World, Technology and Culture 44 (January 2003) 1.

84

NGME Rel. 6, s.v. Ancient Egypt.

85

Ibid.

86

NGME Rel 6, s.v. Mesopotamia.

87

Ibid.

88

Ibid.

89

Ibid.

90

Ibid.

91

Ibid.; Genesis 15:19 (AV).

92

Ibid.

93

Ibid.

94

Faussets Bible Dictionary, s.v. Captivity, accessed November 13, 2014, http://www.studylight.org.

95

M.G. Easton, Eastons Bible Dictionary, 3rd ed. (U.S.A: Thomas Nelson, 1897) s.v. Nebuchadnezzar.

96

Ibid.

97

Ibid.

98

NGME Rel 6, s.v. Jews.

99

Colliers Encyclopedia, s.v. Esdras, Book of.

100 Faussets,

s.v. Ahasuerus.

101 Colliers Encyclopedia,

102 Faussets,
103 Wikipedia,
104 NGME

s.v. Xerxes I, King of Persia, by Richard H. Frye.

s.v. Artaxerxes.

s.v. Cyrus the Great, accessed May 6, 2014.

Rel. 6, s.v. Cambyses II, King of Persia.

105 Faussets,

s.v. Ahasuerus.

106 Faussets,

s.v. Artaxerxes.

107 NGME

Rel. 6, s.v. Cambyses II.

108 Faussets,
109 Ibid.

s.v. Darius.

110

NGME Rel. 6, s.v. Greece.

111

NGME Rel. 6, s.v. Alexander the Great.

112

N.S. Gill, Detailed Look at the Diadochi, About.com, accessed: September 11, 2015,
http://ancienthistory.about.com/ od/greekhellenistic/p/080309Diadochi.htm

113

Jona Lendering, Alexander's Successors: The Diadochi, Livius.org, accessed: September 11, 2015,
http://www. livius.org/di-dn/diadochi/diadochi.htm

114

Uriah Smith, The Prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation, (Hagerstown, Maryland: Review and Herald Publishing
Association, 1944, 1972), accessed: July 8, 2015, http://www.littlebookopen.org/history/dr1toc.htm.

115

NGME Rel 6, s.v. Bronze Age, by Ralph S. Solecki.

116

NGME Rel 6, s.v. History of Technology, by John B. Rae.

117

Ibid.

118

Study #9: The Beasts of Daniel, Shepherds Rod, accessed: July 8, 2015, http://shepherds-rod.org/basic/daniel.html.

119

Uriah Smith, The Prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation.

120 Study

#9: The Beasts of Daniel, Shepherds Rod.

121 Theodor

Zahn, The Writings of John, Introduction to the New Testament, trans. John Moore Trout, William Arnot
Mather, Louis Hodous, Edward Strong Worcester, William Hoyt Worrell, and Rowland Backus Dodge, 2nd Revised Ed.
Vol. 3 (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1917) 447.

122 Josephus

Flavius, Antiquities of the Jews, XI, viii, 3-5.

123 Faussets,
124 Wikipedia,

s.v. Daniel, the Book of, accessed November 13, 2014.

s.v. Roman Empire, accessed: August 17, 2009.

125 Colliers Encyclopedia,

126 Grolier

Encyclopedia of Knowledge, s.v. Ravenna.

127 Colliers Encyclopedia,

128 Wikipedia,
129 NGME
130

s.v. Rome, by James M. Houston.

s.v. Rome, by James M. Houston..

s.v. Germanic peoples, accessed: November 13, 2009.

Rel. 6, s.v. Goths, by Bernard S. Bachrach.

Ibid.

131 Wikipedia,

s.v. Holy Roman Empire, accessed August 7, 2009.

132 Colliers Encyclopedia,

s.v. Rome, Ancient, by Robert S. Broughton.

133 Barrows

Dunham, Chapter 4, The Making of an Orthodoxy, Heroes and Heretics: A Social History of Dissent, (Dell
Publishing Co. Inc., March, 1968) 75.

134 NGME
135 NGME

Rel. 6, s.v. Calendar, by William Markowitz.

Rel. 6, s.v. Roman law, by Bourne Frank.

136 Ibid.
137 Saint Augustine,

The City of God (De Civitate Dei), Vol 2, trans. John Healey (Edinburgh: John Grant, 1909), 279.

138 Michael

Scheifler, Time, Times, and Half a Time?, Michael Scheiflers Biblelight, accessed: November 13, 2009,
http://biblelight.net/times.htm

139 Only

the arguments concerning the length of the period covering the time, times and half a time, 42

months, 1,260 days, and three and a half days, espoused by Michael Scheifler are adopted by this author. Their
beginning and end are excluded. Furthermore, middle of the week is not in Scheiflers argument.
140 Pope

John Paul II, The Bishop of Rome Is Peters Successor, The Church: Mystery, Sacrament, Community:
Catechesis on the Creed, Part IV, accessed: March 16, 2014, http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/
audiences/alpha/data/aud19930127en.html

141 Ibid.
142 Ibid.
143 Ibid.
144 William

P. Meyers, Was Peter the First Pope? (III Publishing), accessed: August 4, 2014,
http://www.iiipublishing.com/religion/catholic/peter_ pope.html

145 Ibid.
146 The

Defensor Pacis of Marsiglio of Padua, eds., George F. Moore, James H. Ropes and Kirsopp Lake, trans.
Ephraim Emerton (Cambridge: Harvard University Press) 45.

147 Wikipedia,

s.v. Constantine I, accessed: September 10, 2009.

148 Eusebius

Pamphilius, Church History, Life of Constantine, Oration in Praise of Constantine, ed. Philip Schaff,,
trans., Rev. Arthur Cushman McGiffert, Christian Classics Ethereal Library, (New York: Christian Literature Publishing
Co., 1890) 740-742.

149 Ibid.
150 Faussets,

s.v. Darius.

151 Faussets,

s.v. Jaddua..

152 Faussets,

s.v. Jerusalem.

153 Nelsons Illustrated

Bible Dictionary, s.v. Sanctuary, (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986), accessed November

13, 2014, http://www.studylight.org.

154 International

Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, s.v. Maccabees, accessed November 13, 2014, http://www.studylight.org.

155 International
156 NGME

Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, s.v. Asmoneans.

Rel. 6, s.v. Zealots, by Douglas Ezell,

157 Faussets,

s.v. Antiochus.

158 International

Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, s.v. Abomination of Desolation.

159 Colliers Encyclopedia,

s.v. Holy Roman Empire.

160 Faussets,

s.v. Antiochus.

161 Josephus,

Antiquities, XII, vi, 2.

162 Ibid.,
163

XII, vi, 3.

Ibid., XII, vii, 1.

164 Ibid.,

XII, vii, 3-4.

165 Ibid.,

XII, vii, 6.

166 Ibid.,

XII, ix, 7.

167 International
168 Josephus,

Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, s.v. Alcimus.

Antiquities, XII, x, 5.

169 Ibid.,

XII, xi, 2.

170 Ibid.,

XIII, i, 5- 6.

171 Ibid.,

XIII, ii, 3.

172 Ibid.,

XIII, ii, 4.

173 Ibid.,

XIII, iv, 9.

174 Ibid.,

XIII, vi, 2, 6.

175 Ibid.,

XIII, vi, 7.

176 Ibid.,

XIII, viii, 4.

177 Ibid.,

XIII, ix, 1.

178 Ibid.,

XIII, xi, 1-3.

179 Ibid.,

XIV, ii, 3.

180 Ibid.,

XIV, xiii, 10.

181 Ibid.,

XIV, xvi, 4.

182 The

Magian faith is Persian, and the three Magis were Persians who heard of Daniels prophecy of
the seventy sevens which became the basis for fixing the date of the Messiah.

183 Historians

are unanimous on the date of Herod the Greats death which leaves the question of the
exact date of Jesus Christs birth and of the answer to the missing 4-6 years. The answer could lie in
the changes made by the Romans on their calendar which changed the length of the months in the
interim in order to implement the correction. In 2014, Pope ___ published ____ explaining how the
corrections to the Roman calendar were implemented. The same is a guide to what the dates were before the corrections
were made and when the corrections were implemented.

184 The

New Ungers Bible Dictionary, (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press of Chicago, 1988) 551, s.v. Felix.

185 Nelsons Illustrated

186 Josephus,

Bible Dictionary, (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986) s.v. Felix.

Flavius, Bellum Judaicum, trans. William Whiston, (1737) Book IV, Section iii, Endnote 8.

187 Ibid.
188 Faussets,

s.v. Antichrist.

189 Faussets,

s.v. Zerubbabel.

190 Faussets,

s.v. Temple.

191 Faussets,
192 Faussets,
193 Barrows

s.v. Daniel.
s.v. Jerusalem.

Dunham, Chapter 5, The Making of Heresies, Heroes, 96.

194 E.

Glenn Hinson, The Church Triumphant: A History of Christianity up to 1300 (Mercer University Press, 1995) as
quoted in Wikipedia, s.v. Early Christianity, accessed: August 18, 2009.

195 Ibid.
196 Eusebius

of Caesarea, Historia Ecclesiae, Book IV, Chapters 56.

197 Robin

Lane Fox, Pagans and Christians: In the Mediterranean World from the Second Century AD to the
Conversion of Constantine (London: Viking, 1986) as quoted in Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia, s.v. Early
Christianity, accessed : August 18, 2009, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Christianity.

198 Wikipedia,

s.v. Church Fathers, accessed: September 01, 2010.

199 Philip

Schaff, The Apostolic Fathers, with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus as quoted in Wikipedia, s.v. Apostolic
Fathers, accessed: September 01, 2010.

200 F.

L. Cross, ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (New York: Oxford University Press. 2005) s.v.
Fathers of the Church.

201 Wikipedia,
202 The

s.v. Apostolic Fathers, accessed: September 01, 2010.

Oxford Dictionary, s.v. Fathers of the Church.

203 Britannica

Online Encyclopedia, s.v. Church Father (Christianity). June 25, 2015,

http://www.britannica.com/search?query=church%20fathers
204 Eastons s.v. Ephesus.
205 Eastons,

s.v. Smyrna.

206 Eastons,

s.v.Pergamum.

207 Eastons

s.v. Thyatira.

208 Eastons,

s.v. Sardis.

209 Eastons,

s.v. Philadelphia.

210 Eastons,

s.v. Laodicea.

211 It

is believed he can only be found by means of his DNA.

212 Wikipedia,

s.v. The Hundred Years War, accessed: August 5, 2015.

213 History.com

Staff, The Hundred Years War, History, (A+E Networks, 2009), accessed: August 5, 2015,

http://www.history.com/topics/hundred-years-war.
214 Wikpedia,

s.v. Category: Naval Battles of the Hundred Years War, accessed: August 6, 2015.

215 Robert

Morello, What Caused England & the Catholic Church to Separate?, Synonym, accessed:
August 5, 2015, http://classroom.synonym.com/caused-england-catholic-church-separate-6935.html

216 Ibid.
217 Nandadevi9,

Where Britain & Spain part of the old Holy Roman Empire?, Yahoo! Answers, accessed:

August 5, 2015, http://yhoo.it/1N9bs3a

218 Ibid.
219 Wikipedia,

s.v. European Wars of Religion, accessed August 6, 20015.

220 Wikipedia,

s.v. Black Death, accessed August 17, 2009.

221 Ibid.
222 Ibid.
223 Ibid.
224 Barrows

Dunham, Chapter 7, The Little Foxes That Spoil the Vines, Heroes, p. 192.

225 Ibid.,

198.

226 Ibid.,

197.

227 Faussets,
228 Josephus,

s.v. Daniel, the Book of.

B.J., 2, 18.

229 Ibid,

VI, ii, 1.

230 Ibid,,

VI, iv, 5.

231 Hebrews
232 Leo

8:13

Herbert Lehmann, Chapter IV. The Re-establishment of the Holy Roman Empire, Behind the Dictators: A

Factual Analysis of the Relationship of Nazi-Fascism and Roman Catholicism. 2nd ed. (New York: Agora Pub. Co.,
April, 1994) 20.
233 Stephen

Donovan, The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 10, (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911), s.v. Michael
of Cesena, accessed: June 25, 2015, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10274b.htm.

234 NGME

Rel. 6, s.v. Inquisition by Karlfried Froehlich.

235 Wikipedia,

s.v. Death by burning, accessed: August 17, 2009.

236 Wikipedia,

s.v. Inquisition, accessed: August 17, 2009.

237 Ibid.
238 Ibid.
239 Ibid.
240 International

Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, s.v. Eschatology.

241 Ibid.
242 Merrill

F. Unger, ed. R.K. Harrison, contr. eds., Howard F. Vos and Cyril J. Barber, Ungers Bible Dictionary,

s.v. Armageddon.
243 Eastons,

s.v. Armageddon.

244 Wikipedia,

s.v. Tel Megiddo. accessed: September 2, 2010.

245 Ibid.
246 Ibid.
247 Chinese Accounts

of Rome, Byzantium and the Middle East, c. 91 B.C.E. - 1643 C.E., East Asian History
Sourcebook, as quoted in Wikipedia, s.v. Crusades, accessed: November 09, 2009.

248 Yang

Xianyi, Fundamental Historical Research, as quoted in Wikipedia, s.v. Crusades, accessed November 09,

2009.
249 The

Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge, Vol. 8, 848, s..v. Golden Horde, Khanate of the.

250 Wikipedia,

s.v. Crusades, accessed: November 09, 2009.

251 Colliers Encyclopedia,

s.v. Tamerlane by Owen Lattimore.

252 Wikipedia,

s.v. Crusades.

253 Stephen

Turnbull, The Hussite Wars 1419-36, (Osprey Publishing, 2004) 11, as quoted in Wikipedia, s.v. Vytautas
the Great, accessed: September 01, 2010.

254 Wikipedia,

s.v. Crusades.

255 Ibid.
256 The

Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge, Vol. 18, s.v. Timur.

257 Colliers,
258 The

Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge, s.v. Timur.

259 Wikipedia,
260

s.v. Tamerlane.

s.v. Inquisition, accessed: August 17, 2009.

Ibid.

261 Wikipedia,

s.v. Split of early Christianity and Judaism, accessed: July 17, 2010.

262 Peter

R. Blood, Sunni and Shia Islam, Afghanistan: A Country Study (Washington: U.S. Library of Congress,
2001), accessed: June 25, 2015, http://countrystudies.us/afghanistan/61.htm.
Farah, Islam: Beliefs and Observances, 7th ed. (Barrons Educational Series, 2003) 109, as quoted in Wikipedia,
s.v. Islam, accessed: January 13, 2010.
Momen, Moojan, An Introduction to Shi`i Islam: The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi`ism. (Yale University Press,
1987) 176, as quoted in Wikipedia, s.v. Islam, accessed: January 13, 2010.

263 Caesar

264 No

other logical conclusion may be arrived at from a chronological viewpoint of the narration in the
Book of Revelation.

265 M.

Wasserman, The Process of Islamization in Egypt, Answering Islam: A Christian-Muslim Dialogue,

accessed: August6, 2015, http://www.answering-islam.org/history/islamization_egypt.html.

266 Wikipedia,

s.v. Religion in Egypt, accessed: August 11, 2015.

267 The

event sans the physical resurrection maybe likened to the event spoken of in Matthew 27:51-53, to wit:
At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The
tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and
after Jesus resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

268 Charles

Morris, Chapter 5. In Stalins Wake, Iron Destinies and Lost Opportunities the Arms Race between the
US and the USSR, 1945-1987 (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1988) 82.

269 The

Wars of Iraq, The History Guy, accessed: July 1, 2015, http://www.historyguy.com/wars_of_iraq.html.

270 Flynt

Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett, Interview by Harry Kreisler, Why the United States Must Come to
Terms with the Islamic Republic of Iran, Youtube video, 59:35 (University of California, Berkeley: University of
California Television (UCTV) for The Institute of International Studies, March 25, 2013), accessed: September 21,
2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Mlk7sXRsPc.

271 Rommel

C. Banlaoi, Chapter 6. Renewed Tensions and Continuing Maritime Security Dilemma in the South China
Sea: Current and Emerging Concerns on Philippines-China Security Relations, Philippine-China Security Relations:
Current Issues and Emerging Concerns (Manila: de la Salle University, 2012)72.

272 Wikipedia,

s.v. Martin Luther, accessed: July 1, 2015.

273 Who

were the Kings of Israel and Judah? GotQuestions?org, accessed: August 11, 2015, http://www.gotquestions.org/
kings-Israel-Judah.html.

274 Fausset

places the start of Israels captivity in 721 by Shalmanesser based on 2 Kings 17:1-6 from

Faussets Bible Dictionary, s.v. Captivity, while ISBE places it at 722 BC by Sargon from inscriptions recovered from
the ruins at Khorsabad from International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, s.v. Captivity.
275 Faussets,

s.v. Captivity.

276 Kings

1: Good and Evil Kings of Israel and Judah, Kings Prophets and Intercessors, accessed: August 11, 2015, http://
newbreedmovement.com/kings-1-good-and-evil-kings-of-israel-and-judah/

277 Same

method used to calculate the period spanning 1260 years by analogy from the Book of
Ezekiel.

278 Faussets,

s.v. Artaxerxes.

279 Dr.

William Smith, Smiths Bible Dictionary, s.v. Ezra, accessed: November 4, 2014,
http://classic.studylight.org/ dic/sbd/view.cgi?number= T1502>.

280 Luke

3:23. Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry.

281 Eastons,

s.v. Jesus.
He entered on his public ministry when he was about thirty years of age. It is generally reckoned to have extended to
about three years. "Each of these years had peculiar features of its own. (1.) The first year may be called the year of
obscurity, both because the records of it which we possess are very scanty, and because he seems during it to have been
only slowly emerging into public notice. It was spent for the most part in Judea. (2.) The second year was the year of
public favour, during which the country had become thoroughly aware of him; his activity was incessant, and his frame
rang through the length and breadth of the land. It was almost wholly passed in Galilee. (3.) The third was the year of
opposition, when the public favor ebbed away. His enemies multiplied and assailed him with more and more pertinacity,
and at last he fell a victim to their hatred. The first six months of this final year were passed in Galilee, and the last six in
other parts of the land.", Stalkers Life of Jesus Christ, p. 45.

282 Priests

and prophets answer their calling and start their ministry at age thirty.

283 Faussets,

s.v. Daniel, the Book of.

284 Yusuf Ali,

Meaning of The Noble Quran, accessed: July 17, 2015, http://www.pdf-koran.com/Koran.pdf

285 Wikipedia,
286 Colliers,

s.v. Road Map to Peace, accessed: November 09, 2009.

s.v. Judaism by Morton B. Berman.

287 NGME

Rel. 6, s.v. Bar Kochba.

288 NGME

Rel. 6, s.v. Messiah.

289 Wikipedia,
290 Ibid.

s.v. Split of early Christianity and Judaism, accessed: July 17, 2010.

291 Ibid.
292 Ibid.
293 Anthony

Lewis, WordWeb 4.5a (2006) s.v. "Ebionite."

294 Wikipedia,

s.v. Split of early Christianity and Judaism.

295 Seth

Schwartz, Imperialism and Jewish Society, 200 BCE to 640 CE. (Princeton University Press, 2001) 103-128, as

quoted in Wikipedia, s.v. Ashkenazi Jews, accessed: July 17, 2010.

296 Mouton

de Gruyter, Approaches to Jewish languages,Two-Tiered Relexification in Yiddish: Jews, Sorbs,

Khazars, and the Kiev-Polessian Dialect (New York: 2002) 69, accessed: August 12, 2015, http://bit.ly/1EqwPrY,
Google book.

297 Shaye

J.D. Cohen, The Classic Prohibition of Intermarriage, The Beginnings of Jewishness: Bonaries,
Varieties, Uncertainties, (Berkeley: University of California Press; Jan 2, 1999) 242-248, accessed: August 12, 2015,
http://bit.ly/1DIxc6t. Google book.

298 Jared

Diamond, Who are the Jews, Natural History (November 1993) accessed: August 12, 2015,
http://ftp.beitberl. ac.il/~bbsite/misc/ezer_anglit/klali/05_123.pdf.

299 Daniel

J. Elazar, Can Sephardic Judaism be Reconstructed?, Jerusalem: Center for Public Affairs, accessed: August
14, 2015, http://www.jcpa.org/dje/articles3/sephardic.htm.

300 Anshel

Pfeffer, Jewish Agency: 13.2 Million Jews Worldwide on Eve of Rosh Hashanah, 5768, Haaretz Daily
Newspaper Israel, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/903585.html, accessed: December 9, 2007.

301 Wikipedia,

s.v. Sephardi Jews.

302 Ibid.
303 Colliers,

s.v. Jews.

304 Ibid.
305 Encyclopaedia

Britannica [online] s.v. "Mizrahi Jews," accessed: August 14, 2015, http://www.britannica.com/

topic/Oriental-Jews.
306 Ibid.
307 Ancient

Jewish History: Jews of the Middle East, Jewish Virtual Library, accessed: August 15, 2015,
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/mejews.html.

308 Bernard

Lewis, The Jews of Islam, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984) 10-20 as appeared in Wikipedia,
s.v. Jews, accessed: January 13, 2010.

309 Ibid.
310 Ibid.,

(1987) 9, 27 .

311 Bernard
312 Ibid.

Lewis, Semites and Anti-Semites: An Inquiry into Conflict and Prejudice (W. Norton & Co., 1999) 131.

313 Rosanna

Gorini, Al-Haytham The Man Of Experience. First Steps In The Science Of Vision, Journal of the
International Society for the History of Islamic Medicine 2 (4) (October 2003), 53-55, http://www.ishim.net/
ishimj/4/10.pdf, retrieved 2008-09-25 as appeared in Wikipedia, s.v. Islamic Golden Age, accessed: September 15,
2010.

314 George

Saliba, A History of Arabic Astronomy: Planetary Theories During the Golden Age of Islam, (New York
University Press, 1994), 245, 250, 256-7 as appeared in Wikipedia, s.v. Islamic Golden Age.

315 Abdus

Salam, H. R. Dalafi, and Mohamed Hassan, Renaissance of Sciences in Islamic Countries, World Scientific,
(1994) 162, as appeared in Wikipedia, s.v. Islamic Golden Age, accessed: September 15, 2010.

316 Abid

Ullah Jan, After Fascism: Muslims And The Struggle For Self-Determination, Islam, the West, and the
Question of Dominance, (Pragmatic Publishings, 2006) ) as appeared in Wikipedia, s.v. Islamic Golden Age, accessed:
September 15, 2010.

317 Paul

Johnson, A History of the Jews, (New York: Harper Collins, 1987) ) 207-208 as quoted in Wikipedia, s.v. Jews,
accessed: November 13, 2010.

318 Study:

20 Percent of Spanish, Portuguese Have Jewish Ancestry (FoxNews.com. December 8, 2008) as quoted in
Wikipedia, s.v. Jews, accessed: November 13, 2010.

319 DNA Study

Shows 20 Percent Of Iberian Population Has Jewish Ancestry, (The New York Times. December 4, 2008) as
quoted in Wikipedia, s.v. Jews, accessed: November 13, 2010.

320 Donald

L. Niewyk, The Columbia Guide to the Holocaust (Columbia University Press, 2000) 45, as quoted in
Wikipedia, s.v. Jews, accessed: November 13, 2010.

321 Colliers,

s.v. Turkey by Sydney N. Fisher.

322 Encyclopaedia
323 Wikipedia,

Britannica [online] s.v. Murad I.

s.v. Dreyfyus Affair.

324 Jennifer

Rosenberg, "Balfour Declaration," About Education, Accessed: July 18, 2015,

http://history1900s.about.com/ cs/holocaust/p/balfourdeclare.htm.

325 Michael

Oren, Power, Faith and Fantasy, Decision at Biltmore, 442-445.

326 American
327 Wikipedia,
328 NGME

Jewish Year Book, Vol. 45 (1943-1944), 206-214, s.v. Pro-Palestine and Zionist Activities.

s.v. The Holy Roman Empire, accessed: August 17, 2009.

Rel. 6, s.v. Verdun, Treaty of.

329 Leo

Herbert Lehmann, Behind the Dictators: A Factual Analysis of the Relationship of Nazi-Fascism and Roman
Catholicism. 2nd ed. (New York: Agora Pub. Co., April, 1994) 8.

330 Wikipedia,
331 William

Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice, 1600.

332 Wikipedia,
333 Adolf

s.v. Nazi Germany, accessed: August 18, 2009.

s.v. Nazi Germany.

Hitler, trans. James Murphy, Chapter 6: The First Period of Our Struggle, Mein Kampf

( February 1939) 381-393, 498.

334 Holocaust
335 Ibid.
336 Doron

M. Behar, Ene Metspalu, Toomas Kivisild, Alessandro Achilli, Yarin Hadid, Shay Tzur, Luisa Pereira, Antonio
Amorim, Llus Quintana-Murci, Kari Majamaa, Corinna Herrnstadt, Neil Howell, Oleg Balanovsky, Ildus Kutuev,
Andrey Pshenichnov, David Gurwitz, Batsheva Bonne-Tamir, Antonio Torroni, Richard Villems, and Karl Skorecki,
The Matrilineal Ancestry of Ashkenazi Jewry: Portrait of a Recent Founder Event, The American Journal of Human
Genetics, 78 3 (March 2006) 487-97.

337 Grolier

Encyclopedia of Knowledge, Vol. 13, s.v. Nile River.

338 F.R.C.

Bagley, et al., The Last Great Muslim Empires, (Brill: 1997), 174 as quoted in Wikipedia, s.v. Zanj, accessed:
July 17, 2010.

339 Thor

Heyerdahl, The Ra Expeditions, rev. ed., (Flamingo, 1993).

340 Henrik

B. Larsen, Why Are Kenyan Runners Superior,? Play the Game, (Feb. 2, 2002), accessed:
September 02, 2010, http://www.playthegame.org/knowledge-bank/articles/why-are-kenyan-runners-superior1112.html. Navigation/site map: home > news > news articles >

341 S.M.

Wise, Though the Heavens May Fall, Pimlico (2005) as quoted in Wikipedia, s.v. Slavery, accessed: July 17,

2010.
342 Yaakov Ariel,

Protestant Attitudes to Jews and Judaism During the Last Fifty Years, ed., Robert S. Wistrich, Terms of
Survival: the Jewish World Since 1945, Digital Printing ed. (New York, NY: Routledge, 1995, 2005) 343 as quoted in
Wikipedia, s.v. Messianic Judaism, accessed: May 03, 2010.

343 Wikipedia,

s.v. Law of Return, accessed May 21, 2015.

344 Ibid.
345 Shaye

J. D. Cohen, From the Maccabees to the Mishnah (1988) 224-225, as quoted in Wikipedia, s.v. Split of
early Christianity and Judaism, accessed: July 17, 2010.

346 Baruch

Maoz, Judaism is Not Jewish: A Friendly Critique of the Messianic Movement (Christian Focus Publications,
2003) as quoted in Wikipedia, s.v. Messianic Judaism, accessed: May 03, 2010.

347 Robert

I. Winer, The Calling: the History of the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America, 1915-1990. (Wynnewood, Pa:
Messianic Jewish Alliance of America, June 1990) pp.?? as quoted in Wikipedia, s.v. Messianic Judaism, accessed:
May 03, 2010.

348 Wordweb,

s.v. Halakha.

349 Messianic

Judaism, CH 400 Formation of Identities in Early Christianity, 19, accessed May 26, 2015,
http://martagon.org/ lts/teaching/CH400/CH400-fall2009.php

350 Ibid.
351 Messianic:

Its All About Messiah, Kehilat Sar Shalom (2001), accessed: May 28, 2015, http://rabbiyeshua.com/
item/922-messianic-its-all-about-messiah.

352 Ibid.
353 Ibid.

354 David

Stern

355 Wikipedia,

s.v. Messianic Judaism, accessed: May 03, 2010.

356 Ibid.
357 Ibid.
358 Ibid.
359 Itinerarium
360 Wikipedia,

Burdigalense, trans. by Aubrey Stewart, 28.

s.v. Church of the Holy Sepulchre, accessed: September 01, 2010.

361 Rizwi

Faizer, The Shape of the Holy: Early Islamic Jerusalem, Rizwis Bibliography for Medieval Islam (1998),
http://us.geocities.com/rfaizer/reviews/book9.html as quoted in Wikipedia, s.v. Dome of the Rock, accessed: August
17, 2009.

362 Wikipedia,

s.v. Dome of the Rock.

363 Shlomo

Dov Goitein, The Historication Background of the Erection of the Dome of the Rock, Journal of
American Oriental Society, Vol. 70, No. 2 (1950) 104-108.

364 Ibid.
365 Ibid.
366 Wendy

Doniger, et.al., Merriam-Websters Encyclopedia of World Religions. (Merriam-Webster, 1999) 70, s.v. alAqsa. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ZP_f9icf2roC&q=al-Aqsa#v=snippet&q=al-Aqsa&f=false. Google book.

367 Noble

Sanctuary Online Guide: The Online Guide to Al-Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem, s.v. Al-Aqsa Mosque,
accessed: September 01, 2010, http://www.noblesanctuary.com/AQSAMosque.html.

368 Elad Amikam,,

Major Consruction Works on the Haram During the Umayyad Period, Medieval Jerusalem and Islamic
Worship Holy Places, Ceremonies, Pilgrimage (BRILL, 1995) 29-43, accessed: September 01, 2010,
http://bit.ly/1NOKXmn. Google book.

369 Guy

le Strange, Palestine under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land, Kiraz Theological Archive 19
(Georgia Press: 1890, 2008) 80-98.

370 Rafi

Graflman and Myriam Rosen-Ayalon, The Two Great Syrian Umayyad Mosques: Jerusalem And Damascus
(Jerusalem: Hebrew University, 1998) 8.

371 Wikipedia,

s.v. al-Aqsa Mosque.

372 Wikipedia,

s.v. Dome of the Rock.

373 Edgar Allen,

States, Nations, and Borders: The Ethics of Making Boundaries (Cambridge University Press, 2004),
accessed: September 01, 2010, http://books.google.com/Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa, Google book.

374 Sayyid

Mohammad Hosayn Tabatabae, Al-Mizan: An Exegesis Of The Quran, trans. S. Saeed Rizvi, accessed: August
30, 2015, http://www.almizan.org/Tafseer/Volume2/Baqarah32.asp

375 Social

Structure and Geography Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs

as quoted in Wikipedia, s.v. al-Aqsa Mosque.

376 Yaniv

Berman, Top Palestinian Muslim Cleric Okays Suicide Bombings, Media Line (October 23 , 2006) as quoted in
Wikipedia, s.v. al-Aqsa Mosque.

377 Camp

David Projections Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs (July
2000) http://www.passia.org/publications/bookmaps/page2.htm#_edn8, as quoted in Wikipedia, s.v. al-Aqsa Mosque.

378 Charles

R. Morris, Chapter 17, The Bear Stretches, Iron Destinies and Lost Opportunities, 318.

379 National

Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 55, Volume I: Terrorism and U.S. Policy, eds. Jeffrey
Richelson and Michael L. Evans, (George Washington University, September 21, 2001), accessed: August 10, 2015,
http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB55/index1.html#V

380 Charles

R. Morris, Chapter 17 The Bear Stretches, Iron Destinies, Lost Opportunities, 319.

381 Charles

R. Morris, Notes: Chapter 17, Iron Destinies, Lost Opportunities, 486.

382 Victor

Cha, The Sinking of the Cheonan, Center for Strategic and International Studies (April 22, 2010),
accessed: August 10, 2015, http://csis.org/publication/sinking-cheonan.

383 Scott

Snyder, North Korea's Illicit Arms Trade Unmasked, Forbes (March 3, 2014), accessed:August 10,
2015, http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottasnyder/2014/03/19/north-koreas-illicit-arms-trade-unmasked/.

384 Charles

R. Morris, Chapter 12 Hubris, Iron Destinies, Lost Opportunities, 229.

385 Charles

R. Morris, Chapter 17 The Bear Stretches, Iron Destinies, Lost Opportunities, 315.

386 Ibid.,

316.

387 Ibid.,

317.

388 Ibid.,

318.

389 Ibid.,

319.

390 Charles
391 Ibid.,

R. Morris, Chapter 20 Rearming America, Iron Destinies, Lost Opportunities, 389.

390.

392 Colliers Encyclopedia,

393 Paul

Vol. 17, s.v. Nuclear Weapons by Seymour L. Goldberg.

Jablonowski, Chapter 7: Millennial Temple Model, Sons to Glory, 3rd ed. (Harvest, Alabama: 2012)

83-90, accessed: June 28, 2015, http://www.sonstoglory.com/ThirdTempleEzekielsMillennialTemple. Htm#

JewishTempleHistory.
394 Wikipedia,

s.v. Chrism, accessed: Septermber 5, 2015.

395 The

Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 3 (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908) s.v. Chrism by Patrick
Morrisroe, accessed: 12 May 2014, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03696b.htm.

396 Faussets,
397 In

s.v. Anti-Christ.

the year following the Syrian Civil War of 2013-2015 and the Second Persian Gulf War, the
Islamic Caliphate of Syria, Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) was formed. Made up mainly of Sunni
Muslim, the caliphate went on a rampage killing Shiite Muslims.

398 Wikipedia,
399 Wikipedia,

s.v. Arab Spring, accessed March 11, 2015.

s.v. Muhammad, accessed October 16, 2010.

400 Ibid.
401 Yusuf

Ali, Noble Quran.

402 Yusuf

Ali, Comment 45-A.

403 Yusuf Ali,

404 Yusuf
405 Sura

Noble Quran.

Ali, Comment 366.

5:116 (Quran)

406 Wikipedia,
407 Ibid,

s.v. Jesus in Islam.

Comment 2501,

408 David

Thomas, Encyclopaedia of the Quran Online, s.v. Tathlith, Trinity, as quoted in Wikipedia, accessed: October
20, 2010.

409 Martin Accad,

The Gospels in the Muslim Discourse of the Ninth to the Fourteenth Centuries: An Exegetical
Inventorial Table (Part I), Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 14 (1) (2003).

410 Quran
411 F. E.

21:19-20; Quran 35:1

Peters, The Quest for Historical Muhammad, International Journal of Middle East Studies (1991).

412 Colin

Turner, Islam: the Basics. (Routledge, UK: 2006) 42.

413
414 Wikipedia,

s.v. Islamic Eschatology.

415 Shaykh Ahmad Ali,

Introduction, Major Signs Before the Day of Judgment (Bradford, UK) accessed: July 15, 2015,
http://www.inter-islam.org/faith/Majorsigns.html

416 Signs

of Qiyamah (Doomsday), accessed: July 21, 2015, http://www.inter-islam.org/faith/Signs-Of-Qiyaamah.htm

417 Encyclopaedia

of the Quran, ed. Jane Dammen McAuliffe, s.v. Last Judgment by Isaac Hasson (Washington DC:
Georgetown University) accessed: July 21, 2015, http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/browse/encyclopaedia-of-thequran.

418 Wikipedia,

s.v. List of dates predicted for apocalyptic events.

419 David

Morrison, The Myth of Nibiru and the End of the World in 2012, The Committee for Skepical Inquiry, Vol.
32.5, September/October 2008, accessed: July 22, 2015, http://www.csicop.org/si/show/
myth_of_nibiru_and_the_end_of_the_world_in_2012

420 "Frequently Asked

Question: Beyond 2012, Why the World Didnt End," NASA, accessed: July 22, 2015,
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012_prt.htm

421 Wikipedia,

s.v. List of dates predicted for apocalyptic events.

422 Encyclopaedia
423 Quran

74:38

424 Quran

71:18

425 Quran

31:34

426 Quran

74:47

427 Harun Yahya,

of the Quran, s.v. Qiyama by L. Gardet.

Introduction, Portents And Features Of The Mahdis Coming. Kindle ed. (Global Publishing, May 12,

2010) 11.
428 Tamarra

Sonn, A Brief History of Islam. (Blackwell Publishing, 2004), 209.

429 Encyclopedia

of Islam and the Muslim World, ed. Richard C. Martin, (USA: Macmillan Reference, 2004) 421. s.v.
Mahdi, by Marcia Hermansen.
Glass, The New Encyclopedia of Islam, 4th ed. (Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2013) 280, s.v.
al-Mahdi, accessed: June 30, 2015, https://books.google.com.tr/books/about/The_New_Encyclopedia_of_Islam.html?
hl=tr&id=focLrox-frUC. Google book.

430 Cyril

431 Moojan

Momen, An introduction to Shii Islam : The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shiism, (New Haven,
Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1985), 75,166168, accessed: August 3, 2015,
https://books.google.com.ph/books/about/An_Introduction_to_Shi%CA%BBi_Islam.html?id=B0OL5Z8SV0C&redir_esc=y. Google book.

432 Wikipedia,

s.v. Islamic Eschatology,

433 Wikipedia,

s.v. Mahdi.

434 Eschatology,

Oxford Islamic Studies Online, August 3, 2015, http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/

t125/e588?_hi=1&_pos=2.

435 Nerina

Rustomji, Demons and Unbelievers, The Garden and the Fire: Heaven and Hell in Islamic Culture (Columbia
University Press, 2013) 119.

436 Wikipedia,

s.v. Derbent, accessed June 8, 2015.

437 Wikipedia,

s.v. Great Wall of Gorgan, accessed June 8, 2015.

438 Josephus

Flavius, Ant., I, 6, 1.

439 Josephus

Flavius, B. J., VII, 7, 4.

440 Wikipedia,

s.v. Jordanes, accessed: December 9, 2014.

441 Wikipedia,

s.v. Getica, accessed: December 9, 2014.

Bishop of Seville, trans. Gordon B. Ford, History of the Kings of the Goths, Vandals, and Suevi, 2nd ed. (E.J.
Brill, 1970).

442 Isidore,

443 T. K.

Derry, History of Scandinavia: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland, (University of Minnesota Press,
2000) 129.

444 Peter

G. Bietenholz, Historia and Fabula: Myths and Legends an Historical Thought from Antiquity to the Modern Age
(Brill, 1994) 125-126.

445 Kevin Alan

446 Wikipedia,

Brook, The Jews of Khazar, 2nd ed. (Maryland, U.S.A.: Rowan & Littlefield, 2006) 78, 96.

s.v. Cyrus the Great in the Quran.

447 Hamid

Omrani Rekavandi, Eberhard W. Sauer, Tony Wilkinson, and J. Nokandeh, Secrets of the Red Snake, Current
World Archaeology, Vol. 27 (February/March 2008).

448 Ibid.

p. 14.

449 Timotheus,

"The Mongol Invasion of Europe (Revised Mar 27, 2007)," All Empires History Forum, accessed: July 3,
2015, http://allempires.com/article/index.php?q=invasion_mongol_europe.

450 Ibid.
451 Ibid.
452 Hadrat

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, The Essence of Islam, Vol. 3, trans. Chaudhry Muhammad Zafrull ah Khan,
rev. Munawar Ahmed Saeed (Surrey, United Kingdom: Islam International Publications Ltd.) 307.

453 Tafseer-e-Kabeer,

Vol. 4, p. 1718

454 Chapter

111, Al-Lahab Commentary, English Quran with 5 Volume Commentary, 2905-2907, accessed: June 30,
2015, http://www.alislam.org/quran/tafseer/?page=2905&region=E1.

455 NGME

Rel. 6, s.v. London (England) by Norman J. G. Pounds.

Colliers Encyclopedia, Vol. 13, s.v. Jews.
Grolier Encylopedia Knowledge, Vol. 3, s.v. Benedict XIII, Antipope.

456 Colliers Encyclopedia,

457 Philip

Vol. 13, s.v. John by David Graubart and Gertrude Wexler.

Parker, The Empire Stops Here, p.2. as quoted in Wikipedia, s.v. The Roman Empire, accessed: August 17,

2009.
458 Paul

Crawford, The Templar of Tyre: Part III of the Deeds of the Cypriots (Ashgate, 2003).

459 David
460 Leo

Nicolle, Chronology, Acre 1291: Bloody Sunset of the Crusader States, (Osprey Publishing, 2005) 19.

Herbert Lehmann, Behind the Dictators: A Factual Analysis of the Relationship of Nazi-Fascism and Roman

Catholicism. 2nd ed. (New York: Agora Pub. Co., April, 1994) 413.
461 Comrade

Ogilvy, The Roman Catholic Church and Fascism, The Politics Forum, accessed: July 4, 2015,
http://www.politicsforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40175.

462 Wikipedia,

s.v. Reichskonkordat, accessed: July 4, 2015.

463 Concordat

between the Holy See and the German Reich (with Supplementary Protocol and Secret Supplement)
July 20, 1933 (Ratified 10 September 1933), Concordat Watch, accessed: July 4, 2015, http://www.concordatwatch.eu/
showkb.php?org_id=858&kb_header_id=752&order=kb_rank%20ASC&kb_id=1211.

464 Comrade

Ogilvy, The Roman Catholic Church and Fascism, The Politics Forum.

465 German

MP and Vice President of the OSCE Assembly Willy Wimmer, interview by Kevin Owen,
Unrest in Ukraine Part of NATOs Expansion Plan, RT.com, Youtube, 7:28, (March 11, 2014)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= cKfdfbwkm5I.

466 Ibid.

@0:50.

467 Patrik

Johansson, UN Security Council Chapter VII resolutions, 1946-2002. An Inventory (Uppsala: Department of
Peace and Conflict Research 2003) and Special Research Report on Security Council Action Under Chapter VII: Myths
and Realities (23 June 2008) as quoted in Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia, s.v. List of United Nations Resolutions
concerning Israel, accessed: September 23, 2009, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ List_of_United_Nations_resolutions_
concerning_Israel.

468 Mary

Sneyd, Agog over Bushs comments on Gog and Magog, Cleveland.com, published: Aug. 14,
2009, http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/08/agog_over_bushs_comments_on_go.html

469 Thomas

E. Ricks, Sunday Book Review: 500 Days by Kurt Eichenwald, The New York Times, October 5, 2012,
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/books/review/500-days-by-kurt-eichenwald.html?_r=1

470 Elaine

Sciolino, France to Veto Resolution on Iraq War, Chirac Says, The New York Times (March 11, 2003),
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/11/international/europe/11FRAN.html.

471 Tarik

Kafala, The Veto and How To Use It, BBC News Online (September 17, 2003),
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2828985.stm

472 Andrew

Brown, Bush, Gog and Magog, Andrew Browns Blog, The Guardian (August 10, 2009),
accessed: July 4, 2015 http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/andrewbrown/2009/aug/10/religion-george-bush

473
474
475 Jocelyn

Rochat, Chirac asks theologian to explain George W. Bushs reference to Gog and Magog,
trans. Sedulia Scott, Sedulia.Blogs.Com: Sedulias Translations (2009), accessed: July 6, 2015,
http://sedulia.blogs.com/ sedulias_translations/2009/05/chirac-asks-theologian-to-explain-george-w-bushs-reference-togog-and-magog-early-2003.html

476 Jacques

Sterchi, "Un petit scoop sur Bush, Chirac, Dieu, Gog et Magog," Rue89 (Sep 17, 2007), accessed:
July 6, 2015
http://rue89.nouvelobs.com/2007/09/17/un-petit-scoop-sur-bush-chirac-dieu-gog-et-magog.

477 Jacques

Sterchi, Bush, Chirac, Gog and Magog, trans. Sedulia Scott, Sedulia.Blogs.Com: Sedulias
Translations (May 30, 2009), http://sedulia.blogs.com/sedulias_translations/2009/05/bush-chirac-gog-and-magog.html

478 Faussets,

s.v. Jerusalem.

479 Stephen

Daggett, Costs of Major U.S. Wars, Specialist in Defense Policy and Budgets (Congressional Research

Service, June 29, 2010).

480 Josephus

Flavius, Ant. , IX, 10, 4.

481 Steven A. Austin,

Gordon W. Franz, and Eric G. Frost, Amoss Earthquake: An Extraordinary Middle East Seismic
Event of 750 B.C., International Geology Review 42 (2000) 657-671.

482 Wikipedia,
483 Josephus,

B.J. II, 30.

484 Wikipedia,
485 Jona

s.v. Uzziah, accessed: September 2, 2010.

s.v. Imperial cult (ancient Rome), accessed: June 22, 2014.

Lendering, Wars Between The Jews And Romans: The Destruction Of Jerusalem (70 CE), accessed June 22,

2014, http://www.livius.org/ja-jn/jewish_wars/jwar04.html.
486 Josephus,

B.J., VI, vi, 1.

487 Josephus,

B.J., II, xiii, 1.

488 Josephus,

B.J., II, xxii, 16.

489 Dr. William

490 Josephus,

Smith, Smiths Bible Dictionary (1901), s.v. Entry for Paul.

B.J., VI, v, 2.

491 Ibid..
492 Ibid.
493 Ibid.
494 Faussets,
495 William

s.v. Jerusalem.

Smith, ed. The New Testament History (New York: Harper and Brothers, Publishers, 1868) 124.

496 Josephus,

B.J.,II, xiv, 6.

497 Josephus,

B.J., II, xvii, 2.

498 Josephus,

B.J., II, xiv, 18.

499 Josephus,B.J.,

II, xvii, 6-9.

500 Josephus,

B.J., II, xix, 9.

501 Josephus,

B.J., II, xix, 30.

502 William
503 Ibid.

Smith, p. 126.

p. 127.

504 Josephus,

B.J., V, vi, 1.

505 Josephus,

B.J., VI, ix, 3.

506 Josephus,

B.J., V, ii, 3.

507 William

Smith, p. 133.

508 Ibid.
509 Josephus,
510 Josephus

B.J., VI, ix, 1.

, B.J., VI, ix, 2.

511 Josephus,

B.J., VI, i, 1.

512 Faussets,

s.v. Jerusalem.

513 Eastons,

s.v. Gog.

514 Wikipedia,

s.v. Sons_of_Noah., accessed: September 15, 2010.

515 Josephus,

Ant., I, vi.

516 Eastons,

s.v. Magog.

517 Eastons,

s.v. Meshech.

518 Wikipedia,
519 The

s.v. Sons of Noah.

First Records of Moscow as appeared in Wikipedia, s.v. Meshech, accessed: September 15, 2010.

520 Colliers Encyclopedia,

521 Easton s,

s.v. Tubal.

522 Wikipedia,
523 Eastons,

s.v. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics by A. Vucinich and T. Shabad.

s.v. Tubal, accessed: September 15, 2010.

s.v. Gomer.

524 The

shekinah - the glory of the Lord, will be Jesus Christ who will have come down from heaven and himself fight in
defense of Jerusalem.

Index
abomination 2, 5, 6, 59, 60, 61, 67, 68, 72, 74, 77, 92, 122, 128, 150, 155, 183, 187, 189, 190
beast 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 37, 39, 53, 54, 55, 63, 64, 67, 68,
71, 83, 84, 85, 87, 88, 91, 98, 100, 102, 103, 104, 105, 107, 108, 109, 110, 114, 131, 135, 163, 164, 165, 166,
167, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 178, 179, 180, 183, 184, 185, 186, 189

BIBLIOGRAPHY