HIStory, Our Future: The Fourth Kingdom - EU ROMED

Last Updated: 05/31/2008 16:40 |

The HIStory, Our Future: Pearls for the Bride Bible study

For reasons I will get to, I believe the European Union is the fulfillment of the prophecies I'll go over here. Moreover, I believe we are currently in the time of Bible prophecy. I'm not good with politics, so this will be basic and Bible-focused. Herb L. Peters has been watching the political side much closer and has a much greater knowledge than I do, so I refer you to his website, www.fulfilledprophecy.com, for those details. His book, Recommendation 666, is also required reading if you want a greater understanding of the times we live in and what got us here. You can read it for free on his website, but I ask you buy his book to help support him financially. There are many prophecies covering what leads to the final kingdom. There are also many aspects to the final kingdom. I hope to bring those together here for you and straighten them out in my mind in the process.

There are two perspectives to observe in this Bible study, history and modern times. If we didn't study history, we would not have any understanding of the past in an overview to see the big picture. When we take that understanding of history in light of Bible prophecy, we can see how God has dealt with nations over time, specifically Israel, and how the spirit of antichrist has also influenced the kingdoms of the world through history. That is how the historic view can also be seen as the spiritual because we cannot perceive it having not experienced it. I will cover the spiritual first as it is shown by history and is written in Bible prophecy. This will lead us to the summation that covers modern Middle Eastern politics and fits this piece of the puzzle into the big picture and reveals the reality of the times we are in through the HIStory, Our Future Bible studies. Most of all, I pray this brings you to a closer relationship with Christ than you already have.

As you look at the nations through history, you get a big-picture view that allows you to see, with the help of Bible prophecy, the forces at work in the world.

Ephesians 6:11-13
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Supernatural - of, pertaining to, or being above or beyond what is natural; unexplainable by natural law or phenomena; abnormal.

Spiritual - of, pertaining to, or consisting of spirit; incorporeal (not material; insubstantial)

Thought: Voice of the Spirit Realm - How the unperceivable with our 5 senses affects the material world through each of us.

Gentile history in light of Bible prophecy

Daniel gives us the key to understanding history according to Bible prophecy through a series of dreams that are interpreted for us. Living in the times we do now, it becomes easy to see the fulfillments coming to pass. The details of the final kingdom will be covered in the second half, modern political fulfillments of Bible prophecy and the future.

Nebuchadnezzar's Dream [Daniel 2]

Daniel, while in exile in Babylon was called upon by king Nebuchadnezzar to interpret a dream that troubled him. This dream turned out to cover the history of the main Gentile kingdoms of the world. It ends with the kingdom that will be in power when Christ returns and takes the kingdoms of the world and rules.

Daniel 2:31-45
Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all.
[Babylon]
Thou art this head of gold.
[Persia]
And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee,
[Greece]
and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
[Roman Empire]
And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
[Revived Roman Empire of the end-times]
And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
[Millennium]
And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, [Christ, the Rock] and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

Daniel's Dream [Daniel 7]

Daniel 7:1-8
1-3: In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters. Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.
[Babylon]
4: The first was like a lion, and had eagle's 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 man's heart was given to it.
[Persia]
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.
[Greece]
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.
[Rome/Revived Roman Empire]
7,8: After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron [Daniel 2:40-45] 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. [Revelation 13:1-10] I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, [The beast or antichrist] 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.
[Interpretation]
17: These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. [Big picture]

As we saw in Daniel 2 the last two kingdoms are made of the same metal, iron. Nebuchadnezzar's dream actually provides more detail about the final two kingdoms than Daniel had from his own dream. Daniel's dream highlighted animals with each beast. This becomes significant when reading Revelation 13:1,2, where those same animals are used to describe the antichrist, the beast from the sea. What's interesting is that they are in reverse order from Daniel 7 above. This shows us that the Roman Empire and the Revived Roman Empire have the same background. The only difference is the 10 toes and the iron mixed with clay. That however is the modern-day fulfillment of Bible prophecy, which I'll cover below.

Picture from Chuck Missler's Learn the Bible in 24 Hours Series (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

The Woman and the Beast: The spirit of religion controlling the kingdoms

The following passage is focused on the woman riding the beast, but covers the seven heads/mountains through history as well. It really brings to light the spiritual aspect of the control behind these kingdoms through history. It also shows how spiritual control trumps political control all through history.

Revelation 17:3-6
So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

The woman is identified with Babylon the great. Chuck Missler has written an article which brings to point how Babylon has never been utterly destroyed as Bible prophecy states. Saddam made significant efforts to rebuild Babylon and used Nebuchadnezzar's palace for state occasions. Zechariah 5:5-11 I believe the association is more of a spiritual one rather than a physical one.

Revelation 17:7-9
The beast [antichrist] that thou sawest was [Antiochus IV Epiphanes], and is not [at writing of Revelation]; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition^G684: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains^G3735 [kingdoms], on which the woman sitteth [over which she had power? Suggests a religious system].

I believe the woman is a religious system that presided over seven mountains [kingdoms]. This is represented by her riding the beast with the seven heads that represent seven kingdoms through history, which we'll get to below.

The woman: the religious side of history

Goddess worship has been prevalent all through history up to the Roman Catholic church today with the virgin Mary. She is prayed to as a goddess and is used as a substitution to praying to God Himself. Not by everyone in the Catholic church, but it's certainly part of their ceremony and focus on many things. All the kingdoms had their versions of the same idea, worshipping other gods in female form among others:

Egyptian - Amaunet (fertility goddess), Isis, Hathor, Neftis

Assyrian - De Dea Syria

Babylonian - Ishtar (fertility goddess associated with Virgo)

Medo-Persian - Anaita (the goddess of fertility)

Greek - Aphrodite (fertility goddess through sexual), Bendis, Artemis, Athena, Demeter, Hera and many more

Roman - Flora, Juno Sospita, Libera, Ops, Proserpina and more

Catholicism - Praying to the virgin Mary introduces pagan goddess worship and deflects from praying to God Himself. We have no reason to pray to Mary and I believe this may be the latest subtle incarnation of goddess worship. It's the most common prayed to woman and many Catholics associate miracles to her around the world.

The woman riding the beast is a woman and the idea of a woman sitting on these seven kingdoms shows that her persona is not wrapped up in politics, but religion because she spans several kingdoms of different types and times. Even so, these religions weren't all the same either, so on a deeper level I believe the woman would represent the spirit behind goddess worship, which is meant to take away worship of God and redirect it to probably fallen angels. This is much like how the spirit of antichrist has been prevalent all through history. It is the same spiritual identity, but it never dies so from our perspective, it just takes many incarnations through history. The final incarnation is diverse from the first however, just like the kingdom he controls.

Daniel 11:36-45
[The future antichrist]
36: And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
[This will be when Christ returns in glory and throws the antichrist and false prophet into the lake of fire. Revelation 19:20 He will prosper for 42 months according to Revelation 13:5]

[Description of the antichrist]
37-45: Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces^H4581: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain. And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

Spiritually, the antichrist will shift from that goddess worship to worship of himself. I believe the new age secular humanist concept where every man is god, etc. may be what lifts his pride up and ultimately leads to him to accept the offer of control of the kingdoms of the world that Christ rejected.

Matthew 4:8-10
Again, the devil taketh him [Yeshua] up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

The 7 Kingdoms/7 Mountains

I believe this pictures Satan’s attempt to prevent the reign of the Yeshua by using seven kingdoms (7 heads of the beast): Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Midia, Persia, Greece and Rome. Each of these empires ruled the entire known world. Behind their world dominance was Satan with his agenda to prevent the temporal reign of the Son. As we saw with the goddess worship above, these kingdoms through time were all under the false religion of god and goddess worship.

Egyptian [fallen - Revelation 17:10,11]

Assyrian [fallen - Revelation 17:10,11]

Babylonian [fallen - Revelation 17:10,11] [Gold head - Daniel 2] [Lion w/ plucked eagles wings - Daniel 7]

Medo-Persian [fallen - Revelation 17:10,11] [Silver Breast/Arms - Daniel 2] [Bear - Daniel 7]

Greek [fallen - Revelation 17:10,11] [Brass Belly/Thighs - Daniel 2] [Leopard w/ 4 wings & 4 heads - Daniel 7] [AC comes from one of the four generals: See below - Daniel 8 ]

Seleucid empire - Seleucus, one of Alexander's four generals, received Babylonia, and from that point continued to expand his dominions ruthlessly. Character of note from this empire: Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175–164 BC), who performed the abomination of desolation in Daniel 11:21-35

Roman [on is...at the time of the writing - Revelation 17:10,11] [Iron Legs - Daniel 2] [Iron teeth & 10 horns - Daniel 7] [through the Roman empire]

Seventh Empire [not yet come...at the time of the writing - Revelation 17:10,11 (EU?)] [Iron/Clay 10 Toes - Daniel 2] [Iron teeth & 10 horns - Daniel 7] [building power in the EU]

Antichrist Empire [EU after the abomination of desolation see 2009/2010 political shifts - Revelation 17:10,11] [Iron/Clay 10 Toes - Daniel 2] [Iron teeth & 10 horns - Daniel 7] [to finally run his end-times empire derived from the EU]

7 Kings: Path of antichrist through history

Revelation 17:10,11
And there are seven kings^G935: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

Excerpt from: The Antichrist and Al-Mahdi: "In the case of the lineage of the antichrist, it appears that he comes from one of the generals of the Greek empire after Alexander the Great's demise according to Daniel 8. Many have also seen that the description of the little horn also fit somewhat Antiochus IV Epiphanes, a ruthless Seleucid king who desecrated the Jewish Temple by sacrificing a pig on its altar and setting up a statue of Zeus. (more detail in Daniel 11) However, the problem of simply treating the passage as dealing with Antiochus is that the Angel Gabriel explicitly told Daniel that 'the vision concerns the time of the end' Daniel 8:17, and the visions concern 'what will happen later in the time of wrath because the vision concerns the appointed time of the end' Daniel 8:19. It's fulfillment, therefore, is two-fold, one concerning Antiochus and the other the Antichrist 'at the appointed time of the end'. It is clear that Antiochus IV Epiphanes was, at the most, a prototype of the Antichrist that is to come."

1 John 2:15-24
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.

This passage shows us that there is a single future "antichrist," who is the beast of Revelation 13. It also shows us a spirit of antichrist, which is not held within the bounds of time and can be manifest in any point in time by any spirit, including ourselves. You are a spirit which manifests daily in the physical world through your temple of flesh. We should desire the Holy Spirit to manifest through us. Having accepted Christ, we accept the Comforter, the Holy Spirit who brings all things to remembrance. Thought: Voice of the Spirit

John 14:25-27
These things have I [Yeshua] spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Egyptian
- Pharaoh Thutmose I (1539-1514 BC) [Ordered that all male children of the Hebrews be thrown in the Nile to drown Exodus 1:22, did not keep one very important person from entering Israelite history, Moses.]
Assyrian
- Ashurnasirpal II (883-858 BC) [embarked on a vast program of merciless expansion, first terrorizing the peoples to the north as far as Nairi, then conquering the Aramaeans between the Khabur and the Euphrates. His harshness prompted a revolt that was crushed decisively in a pitched, two-day battle. Following this victory, he advanced without opposition as far as the Mediterranean and exacted tribute from Phoenicia. Unlike any before, the Assyrians began boasting in their ruthlessness around this time. Ashurnasirpal II also moved his capital to the city of Kalhu (Nimrud). The palaces, temples and other buildings raised by him bear witness to a considerable development of wealth and art.]
Babylonian
- Nimrod [son of Cush, grandson of Ham, great-grandson of Noah, and the builder of the Tower of Babel]
- Nebuchadnezzar (605-652 BC) who "is the head of gold." Daniel 2
Medo-Persian
- 536-526 Cyrus of Persia
- 527-521 Cambyses (Ashasuerus)
- 521-486 Darius the Great
- 486-466 Xerxes
- 466-425 Artaxerxes
- 416-404 Peloponnesian Wars destroyed Athens
- 469-399 Socrates (Next 400 Years known as God’s Silence)
- 368 Philip of Macedon
- 337 League of Corinth
Greek
- Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-163 BC) [Performed the abomination of desolation Daniel 11:21-35 causing the Maccabean revolt in 167 BC]
Roman
- Caligula (Aug. 31, 12-Jan. 24, 41) [Known for his extreme extravagance, eccentricity, depravity and cruelty, he is remembered as a despot. The Roman historian Suetonius referred to Caligula as a "monster", and the surviving sources are universal in their condemnation.]
European Union (Revived Roman Empire)
- Javier Solana is the current leader (Secretary-General)
Antichrist is the 8th king whose working was after the first seven (same spirit of antichrist)
- Is indwelt/given power by Lucifer at the abomination of desolation. This defines the 8th that is of the seven. He is given power for 42 months. Revelation 13:5

The Fourth Beast and the Fourth Kingdom

Daniel 7:7,8
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. 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.

This connects he antichrist to the Revived Roman Empire. The iron teeth are the same metal used for the final two kingdoms from Daniel 2, the legs of iron (Rome), and the feet and 10 toes of the final kingdom (Revived Rome) made out of the same metal, iron.

I want to cover the scriptural aspects to this final kingdom before going into the modern political structure that I believe these Bible prophecies are speaking of. There are several personalities behind this final kingdom. The following passage connects the dragon, Lucifer, to this same symbology that represents the lineage of Gentile kingdoms through history.

Revelation 12:3
And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

This Beast/antichrist/little horn (Revelation 13) Shows lineage of antichrist and connection to historical kingdoms.

Revelation 13:1,2
And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon (Lucifer) gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

Like a leopard (Historical: Daniel 7:6 - Greece)

Feet as a bear (Historical: Daniel 7:5 - Persia)

Mouth as a lion (Historical: Daniel 7:4 - Babylon)

10 Horns: The Ten Kings

Revelation 17:12-17
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. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. 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. And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 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. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

This pretty well describes the European Union currently. The EU has a revolving presidency, but the Secretary-General remains in power over them all. Javier Solana is the current Secretary-General and emergency powers were given to him by the 10 voting member-states with EU Recommendation 666.

Solana to Restore EU Ties with Syria (March 9, 2007) - Mr. Chirac on Friday said he supported the Solana trip, which would deliver a firm message to Damascus to cooperate with the Hariri inquiry. “We have finally decided that Europe will speak with one voice, that of Mr. Solana,” he said, in response to a question by the Financial Times.

Daniel 2:40-44
And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: [Roman Empire] forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

These 10 toes of the fourth kingdom are a divided kingdom yet united under the same statue with the same iron as the legs before it, which represented the Roman Empire. These 10 toes represent the 10 nations which make up the last kingdom. I believe these to be the 10 voting member-states of the European Union. As you read on, I think you will see that as well.

Daniel 7:23-25
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. 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^H8214 three kings. 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.

Here we see the great tribulation come into play. This is the time when the antichrist goes after the Jews and those holding the testimony of Christ. Revelation 12:13-17 We also see the ten horns again and see that the antichrist, the little horn, comes up after subduing (abase, humble, put down) three kings.

Modern political fulfillments of Bible prophecy and the future?

If you haven't already visited the European Union page, this is where that comes into play. When was the influence of the Roman Empire revived? I believe it was a long time planning and in the making, but I find an interesting word-play connected to an EU peace treaty in 1995 called the Euro-Med. I believe this may have been the "covenant with many" from Daniel 9:27 that is to be confirmed by the man of sin.

The Javier Solana Story by Constance Cumbey - a multi-part series focuses in on Javier Solana and just what he has been up to and how that is lining up with Bible prophecy.

ENP Instrument for Israel (Strategy Paper 2007-2013 & Indicative Program 2007-2010) - This EU document lays out the instrument of the European Neighborhood Policy dealing with Israel specifically.

E.U. "ROMED"

^ Click picture for hyperlink version of image ^

We know the horns are kings. The antichrist fits into this as well because he is a man first and a leader. However he is distinct from the 10 horns. I have a feeling that the subduing of the three will be related to the ratification of the constitution. It is this document waiting to be accepted by the 10 voting member-states of the WEU that will give the Secretary-General more power over the WEU to act as Mr. Europe.

Since some of his power is wrapped up in this going through, I think the three of 10 that are subdued will have to do with not passing the constitution through. Currently the Netherlands and France rejected it and England didn't approve it. That's three nations that stood in the way of Solana's singular power as Foreign Minister of Europe essentially. I think he already has much of that power now, but it isn't official yet.

However, it could be a different three nations as the ratification process is going through now. There's been a change in the political climate of the three nations that didn't pass the constitution before. That's my best estimate for the three plucked horns now.

As for the heads, I believe they represent the seven kingdoms through history as the chart shows. However, I also believe that there are main leaders of each kingdom that acted with the spirit of antichrist above the others who led those heads as well. I need to do more research on that, but of course Antiochus IV Epiphanes was known for performing an abomination of desolation causing the Maccabean revolt. I don't know much history without researching it and I haven't had the time yet.

The main reason I place the heads as including a particular leader from that nation's history has to do with the connection of the last head, the 8th that is of the seven.

Revelation 17:9-11
And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

Here the seven heads are connected to the seven mountains on which the woman sits. These are described as seven kings. At the time of writing, five were fallen. That leaves the current one at the writing, Rome. So the last (7th), in my opinion, is the European Union which I think became official prophetically in 1995 with the EURO-MED agreement, E.U. "ROMED." That also happened to be the covenant with many to attempt to bring in peace through political control brought about through financial offerings to those wishing to participate in exchange for peace. I believe that was the covenant with many that is confirmed through the ENP. As opposed to Herb's perspective though, I don't believe January 1, 2007 was the beginning of the 70th week of Daniel, but rather the first seal, the rider going forth with a bow (token of a covenant -Genesis 9:13) to conquer. Daniel 8:25 is destroying many by peace. This is specifically talking about Antiochus IV Epiphanes, but he has the same spirit of antichrist as the last one will and probably employ the same tactics, flattery, etc.

So since the heads are kings too, I believe the kingdoms/head of kingdoms are both the focus of the seven heads through history. This also clarifies how the eighth is of the seven, yet separate and distinct. I believe this is referring to the in-dwelt antichrist. How does he get that way? I believe when he goes into the temple and declares himself God, the Jews are going to be much more religious than they are now because of Gog/Magog. I believe the head wounded to death is from an assassination by zealous Jew(s). When the dragon is cast from heaven, Revelation 12, he revives/indwells the man of sin. He now has a justified excuse to wipe out the Jews in Judea for their intolerance of his self-imposed deity. The world, seeing this man come back to life will see the manifestation of Lucifer and wonder at the beast and his power, as he can call fire from heaven, etc.

Revelation 17:18
And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

The only thing that reigns over political structure is religious structure. It has a timeless element because it is a spiritual control through ideas passed through the generations. Political control is a temporary control that shifts constantly through generations. The Vatican is the latest incarnation of the seventh mountain, in my opinion. It has been controlling politics for some time now although its losing its control.

The 10 horns, being 10 kings, are the political control, but they give their power to the antichrist. I believe this is why they hate the woman. Their allegiance is to the antichrist, who is demanding worship of himself. This trumps all other control structure and he has the power and authority from the dragon to enforce it.

I don't think the alliance will truly be global until the abomination of desolation when he has supernatural powers and is raised from the dead. Until that point, I don't think everyone will be ready to give up their control to him completely. The political structure is already being built for that now though, so that when the time comes, it will shift very quickly so that all power and authority comes from the top, the man who became Lucifer (same spirit/indwelt) to deceive the whole world.

So basically, I think the seventh head is the current EU with 10 horns, WEU. The little horn comes up from the 10 and plucks 3 from before him so that he becomes the head of the final head, the little horn leading the head. When he is killed at the abomination of desolation, Lucifer brings him to life and he becomes the eighth head that is from the seven before him. I believe after his resurrection, he is completely different than before spiritually because of the power given to him for 42 months. This distinguishes him from the previous seven heads, but he is now the government and all authority for any actions of that head in the world will be directed by him. So essentially he becomes the government, in complete control.

This is pretty much the history of the EU since 1995. Javier Solana is the head of the 10 member-state WEU, the military arm of the EU. The 10 nations are working to give him their authority to act on their behalf in the world as Europe's Foreign Minister, Mr. Europe. There are currently three nations who have blocked the final official authority he will receive, but we know ultimately if this is what the Bible talks about, he's going to get his power and anyone in his way will be removed. The three horns are kings that are removed. Whether that is physical or they just change their perspective I don't know, but the ones not cooperating are plucked so we'll see. France and England are changing leadership and in both cases that is changing the view of the Constitution or on ratifying it. So everyone can be their own judge to the coincidental similarities between thousand year old Bible prophecy and current events. I personally think there's something to it and it's a confirmation of what I had already come to before understanding Herb's research into the EU, which I lay out in HIStory, Our Future. I'm pretty convinced.

Quick Overview

Since it helps to remember things by seeing the big picture, I will try to represent that here.

Scarlet Beast (Political entity used by the antichrist ~ European Union [EU])

7 heads/mountains - History of political structure from which the final kingdom came about. (Gentile kingdoms through history)

10 horns - Ten leaders of the 10 toes, which represent the 10 voting member-states of the EU

Little horn comes up from three plucked horns among the 10.

Woman Riding the Beast (Religious entity used by principalities and powers to control 7 heads of beast through history. Her final incarnation seems to be centered in Rome, the Vatican. Not all elements, but there is a power structure there in the city on seven hills that has been there for centuries, controlling politics. Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Emperor, the political head of Western Europe. The seven heads represent the earthly kingdoms through history and the 10 horns/10 toes are the final kingdom. The woman is seen riding the beast. Different manifestations of the same religious control have been riding and steering the beast of world politics. I believe this is the mystery of iniquity, more commonly known as secret societies.

Links

Herb L. Peters Presents his study of the EU From the Watchman Speaks 2 Conference
1:09:56 slideshow/audio - Here is part of the conference, specifically Herb Peters presentation of the rise of the EU.